Entries Tagged 'Muhammad (PBUH)' ↓

Islam is a religion of love and peace. Islam teaches its followers to live in a state of peace and harmony by eliminating the differences and finding out the commonalities. However, the followers of Islam like others are Humans, and where there are humans there are differences of opinion. One such prevalent difference of opinion is on the celebration of 12 of Rabiul Awal.

Across the world in different Muslim countries, 12^th of Rabiul Awal is celebrated as the day of birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). There are two opinions regarding the celebration of 12^th of Rabiul Awal, one group is in favor while the other opposes its celebration. However, both these groups do it out of love and respect for Prophet (PBUH), and not out of personal likings or disliking.

The lines below give the importance of love of Prophet (PBUH) for a Muslim and the arguments put forward by both the sides regarding the celebrations of 12^th of Rabiul Awal.

The Love of Prophet:

For a Muslim, the love of Prophet (PBUH) is the essence of faith. A Muslim cannot complete his faith without the love of Prophet (PBUH). The hadith of Prophet (PBUH) in this regard is:

“None of you believes until he loves Me more than he loves his children, his parents, and all people.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

This hadith shows that for a Muslim to be a true believer, he needs to love Prophet (PBUH) more than anything else in the world. Therefore, there are no two opinions regarding the love for Prophet (PBUH). In Quran, Allah Almighty also emphasizes on the love of Prophet (PBUH) by saying:

“So fear Allah and set things right between you, and obey Allah and His Messenger if you are (in truth) believers.” (8:1)

In this ayah, Allah Almighty makes the obeying of Prophet (PBUH) equal to obeying Him. Therefore, for a Muslim it is imperative to love and obey Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

After establishing the roots, let us now move on to the topic of the opinion of two groups regarding celebration of 12^th of Rabiul Awal. Let us first consider the group that opposes its celebration and their arguments.

Opposing Arguments:

The first argument put forward by the opposing group is that as there is no sound historical consensus on the date of birth of Prophet (PBUH). Some think of it to be in different months of lunar year, while if the month be Rabiul Awal, there is still a contradiction on the 12^th of the month. So, when there is no proven date then there is no point in accepting 12^th as a date of the birth of Prophet (PBUH).

The second argument put forward by the opposing group is that the celebration of 12^th Rabiul Awal has no roots in hadith of Prophet (PBUH) and none of His Sahaba celebrated it therefore, it is a Bidah (innovation) therefore, one cannot celebrate it. The hadith to support this argument is the following:

“…The people of Israel were divided into 72 sects, my Ummah will divide into 73 sects, all of them will be in the hellfire, and one of them will be in paradise.” The Companions asked “Which one is saved?” The Prophet (PBUH) replied: “The one that is with Me and my Companions.”” (Tirmidhi)

Another hadith put forward by the opposing group is:

Anas bin Malik (RA) said: “The Messenger of Allah came to Madinah and the people had two days when they would play and have fun. He said, ‘What are these two days?’ They said, ‘We use to play and have fun on these days during the Jaahiliyyah. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Allah has given you something bettern than them, the da of Adhaa and the day of Fitr.” (Abu Dawood)

Therefore, according to the opposing group, as there is no evidence of either Prophet (PBUH) commending the celebration of his day of birth, celebrating it Himself, or any of the Sahabaas of Prophet (PBUH) celebrating it after His passing away. Basing on this argument, the opposing group detests the celebration of 12^th of Rabiul Awal.

Moving on to the arguments of the group who celebrate the 12^th of Rabiul Awal as a day of Birth of Prophet (PBUH), the following arguments are given by the favoring group in support of celebration:

Arguments in Favor:

The first argument is regarding the birth of Prophet (PBUH), and the following hadith of Prophet
(PBUH) is quoted as a reference:

“Iblis cried loudly four times, first when Allah declared him as cursed, second when he was thrown out, third When Prophet (PBUH) was born and fourth when Surah al-Fatiha was revealed.” (Ibn Al Kathir)

Therefore, the celebrating groups says that it was satan who was disturbed and in anguish upon the birth of Prophet (PBUH), meaning that the day of His birth is of importance for Muslim, because it brought anguish to Satan. Therefore, such a day is worth celebrating.

The second argument given by the favoring group is in the light of Quran. The 12th Rabiul Awal celebrating group refers to the following ayah in which Allah Almighty says:

“Say: in the bounty of God. And in His Mercy, in that “Let Them rejoice”: that is better than the (wealth) they hoard.” (10:58)

In this ayah, Allah Almighty commends the Muslims to rejoice the Mercy and bounty of God. Further, in Quran Allah Almighty calls Prophet (PBUH) as Mercy:

“We have not sent you but as a ‘Mercy to the worlds’. (21:107)

So when joining these two verses, Allah Almighty says to Muslims to rejoice His Mercy and Prophet (PBUH) is the Mercy of Allah Almighty upon mankind. Therefore, in light of these verses, it is allowed to celebrate the birth of Prophet (PBUH) as the Mercy was revealed to Mankind on this day.

The 12^th Rabiul Awal celebrating group also puts forward a hadith of Prophet (PBUH) that indirectly supports the celebration. The hadith is:

“Abu Qatada Ansari (RA) reported that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) was asked about fasting on Monday, whereupon he said: It is (the day) when I was born and revelation was sent down to me.” (Sahih Muslim)

From this hadith it is evident that Prophet (PBUH) would fast on Monday in remembrance of His birth. Fasting is a kind of worship and worship represents the gratitude of a person, therefore, Muslims must also show gratitude on the day of Birth of Prophet (PBUH).

Conclusion:

In short, both these groups hold their opinion just because of the love for Prophet (PBUH) and Islam. Both these groups have numerous arguments in support of their stance. Therefore, no final verdict can be given in this regard, and only Allah Almighty can be asked for guidance to the right path.

May Allah Almighty guide us towards the right path and keep the love of Prophet (PBUH) alive and throbbing in our hearts! Ameen!

Every now and then the biggest issue Muslim world faces is a person or a group of people publishing, writing, or creating something that is against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In response to which the Muslims all across the globe protest in despair and try everything possible that emphasizes their protest even if it’s violent.

Although a Muslim, who reads Quran, knows about hadith and Sunnah of Prophet (PBUH) has every right to protest in the strongest way possible. However, the Muslims of today need to learn Quran preaching, be cautious and sensible and try to understand the reasons behind these offenses against Prophet (PBUH) and what are their aftermaths. The lines below explain that why the evil people offend Prophet (PBUH) and how should Muslims react in response to it, but before that a little background of the current situation.

Background of Current Situation:

The situation at hand is that an unknown person has made a movie about Muslims and in the movie Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has shown in an insulting manner. The movie was to be released in the remembrance of 9/11. The information about the movie caused great anger among Muslims and strong protests were made in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia and other Middle East countries along with all other countries with Muslim population. The rallies started as peaceful turned out violent, resulting in fires and the Ambassador of US getting killed in Libya along with 4 other diplomats. From then onwards the protests have been going on across the globe.

The Reasons Why They Offend:

A Muslim needs to analyze the reasons for why such people offend Islam in particular and Muslims in general, so that the according response could be exhibited. First of all the need is to analyze the kind of love and revere Muslims have for the Prophet (PBUH). Some of the major hadith’s in this regard are:

The Prophet (PBUH) said that no one can have true faith until “Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to you than anything else” (ibn Al- Arabi)

Moreover the Prophet (PBUH) also said that “No one is a believer until I become more beloved to him than his father, son, and the whole humanity.” (Ibn Dakik)

These two hadith’s show the love Muslims carry for the Prophet (PBUH) and the importance the reverence and lover for Him holds in Islamic faith.

Now coming to the reasons why such people offend against the feeling of Muslims for Prophet (PBUH). There are several reasons besides them being non-Muslims. The major ones are:

• The reason for such offense could be that such people want Muslims to be distracted from Islam by doing such things. This situation is the same as the people of Makkah would do where they would tell the visitors not to meet Prophet (PBUH) by calling him a wizard, and magician.
• The other reason could be to gain fame. All those people who have offended Prophet (PBUH) previously and those who did it now were unknown to the world prior to their offence. Therefore, to gain fame the cheap way they offend Muslims that makes such people the subject of talk across the globe.
• The third major reason is to earn money. With an offensive picture or movie, that gets publicity all over the world, it is bound to generate a lot of money compared to if it were ignored.
• Political tactics and political gains is another reason for such offense. Like in this particular case, Libya was to select its political government and the riots broke.
• Last but not the least of all reasons could be to harm the image of Islam and Muslims. The culprits know that Muslims get extremely offended by such actions. Thus they want to show Muslims as barbarians, savages and violent people and portray Islam in the same way.

It is the duty of every Muslim to respond to such offense only after knowing the above mentioned reasons or any other reasons behind the offense.

How Muslims Should Respond:

Before moving forward to how Muslims should respond to such an offense, the need is to develop an ideology for the response.

There is no denying the fact that every Muslim loves Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more than anything and anyone in this world. However, fiqh also teaches us to keep an eye on the consequences as well. A Muslim must take an action after considering the principle, and consequences.

In the given case, the principal is to take as severe stance against the offender as possible. However, when the consequences are considered, where most of the times it results in loss of life, property of others, a bad image of Islam, violence and distress in the country, then fiqh tells us to give the consequence priority. By Quran reading a Muslim can find the perfect example of it in the instance of when Prophet Moses went on the mountain and on his back people made a bull god and started worshiping it, and upon his arrival Moses became furious and angry with Harun (his brother). As mentioned in Quran, the reply of Harun was:

“I was afraid lest you should say: You have caused a division among the children of Israel and not waited for my word.” (Taha 20:94)

In this case also the principle was to stop Bani Israel from worshiping a bull god; however, the consequences would have been division among the people and violence. Therefore, Harun opted for consequences, and Moses asked for his forgiveness from Allah Almighty.

Now coming back to the point of how to address such offense, the lines below give details that are totally practical while keeping both the principle and consequences in mind.

Ignore- The first and most effective way of responding to such offenses is to ignore them. This seriously demoralizes the offenders and does not let them succeed in their plans mentioned above. In Quran Allah also says:

“And turn away from the ignorant” (Al-A’raf 7:199)

Therefore, responding to such offenses in any way gives air to fire. So totally ignore!

Reflect- The second thing the Muslims must do is to take a leaf out of the life of Prophet’s (PBUH) life. He was an epitome of forbearance, patience and forgiveness. Whenever such an epitome strikes, Muslims should try to idealize how He would have reacted to such situation. His obvious response would have been to bear such a person as He did all his life and to view things from forgiveness perspective.

Be Smart- Muslims should use their head and consider such an offense as an opportunity to show their positive side. Everyone in the world thinks of Muslims as vicious people, therefore, by reacting to such offenses calmly and peacefully would send a positive message about Islam and Muslims to all the people of world.

Appreciate Denouncers- Everyone who denounces and disregards such an offensive movie, the Muslim should appreciate them and join hands with them. Every statement of apology from any embassy or State should be appreciated instead of attacking them.

Professional Response- On contrary to the response showed by Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Libya the right way of expressing the freedom would have been to show it the way the offender’s show, by making a movie, journalistic writing, poetry and all other forms of arts.

Concluding Remarks:

There is no denying the fact that the love for Prophet (PBUH) is the life of a Muslim and nothing is above that, and Muslims possess every right to be furious. However, in Quran Allah Almighty says:

“No one should be held accountable for others’ mistakes.” (Al- An’am)

Therefore, Muslims must show forbearance and appreciate those who denounced the movie and all the people associated with it. Moreover, burning building and property of others who are not affiliated with the offending person goes against the preaching of Islam. Hence it is the duty of every Muslim to record protest against every offense made against Islam in the most professional, peaceful and calm manner, so that the world sees the peaceful, forgiving, loving and humanitarian side of Islam.

May Allah guide us all to the right path and make us better Muslims and lovers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Ameen!

Every person who is born to Muslim parents is a Muslim by birth and a person who accepts Islam after by saying the Kalma is also a Muslim. However, being a Muslim is far more than merely being born to Muslim parents or just entering Islam by saying Kalma. The need for a Muslim is to follow and practice Islam.

After entering Islam or realizing the fact of being a Muslim, it is the duty of every Muslim to follow the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The lines below give useful tips extracted from Sunnah and Quran that can help a Muslim to become a pure:

1. Faith In Allah-

First of all you need to have a strong unflinching faith on the Supremacy of Allah. He is the creator of all and whatever happens in this world is as per His will. Have strong faith in Allah, all His Prophets and Books He bestowed upon mankind.

2. Pray- Thing to adhere to in prayers is not saying them as a robot, rather there needs to be sincerity in your prayers. Take prayers as a source that helps you avoid all other sins, instead of just performing prayers and continuing sins likewise. Pray with true heart and spirit.

3. Midnight Prayers- Say the prayer of Tahajjud at midnight when most of the people are in sleep. Waking up at midnight shows that your love with Allah and for only him you have woke up and not for reasons of boasting in front of others.

4. Zikr- Reciting the name of Allah Almighty all the times makes a person blessing full. The Zikr purifies a person and makes him close to Allah Almighty.

5. Shukar- Being grateful to Allah Almighty for all you have whether it’s physical, spiritual or mental is another trait of a pure Muslim. When a person believes that all is from Allah Almighty and he becomes more thankful and grateful to Allah for all His blessings.

6. Quran and Hadith- In order to become a true Muslim, a person needs to stay in constant touch with Quran and Hadith of Prophet (PBUH). Both these sources provide guidelines to becoming a true Muslim, no matter whichever walk of life you belong to. If you don’t have time to read Quran at home, you can read Quran online in your office, same goes for Hadith as well.

7. Protect Chastity- Adultery is one of the major sins, therefore, to become a true, you need to protect chastity and always ask Allah for protection.

8. Keeping Promises- Prophet (PBUH) always kept His promise no matter whatever the situation is. Therefore, to become a pure and true Muslim you need to keep your promises, and honor your commitments.

9. Fast- Besides the month of Ramadan fast in other months as well. But do not fast to impress, rather fast only because you want to do it for Allah and Prophet (PBUH) did it as well.

10. Never Lie- One among the people who is most hated by Allah is whom who lies. In order to become a pure Muslim, you need to be a void of lying. When you become a pure Muslim, you become a role model, and a role models are not worth following if the person is a liar. Therefore, commit never to lie.

11. Be Kind- To become a pure you also need to be a kind to everyone, regardless of that they are Muslim or not, as it is what our Prophet (PBUH) did. Moreover, if you are a man, then the best thing you can do is to be kind to your family, as Prophet (PBUH) said:

“The best of you is he who is best to his family.”

12. Strive Towards Goodwill- The path of becoming a pure Muslim also requires sacrifice. In order to practice goodwill, you will have to sacrifice your personal will, be giving, be considerate, helpful, courteous, and charitable, participate in Quran teaching and be a source of providing happiness to others.

In short, being a pure Muslim is not just following a single instruction of Islam. Rather, to become a true Muslim you will have to follow Quran and Sunnah and make them a part of your life, and to seek guidance from both these sources.

There are several occasions that are deemed as a blessing and gift from Allah Almighty other than Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adhaa in Islamic societies all around the world, and one such revered occasion is Isra or Me’raj that occurs on 27^th of Islamic month of Rajab (the 7^th month according to Islamic calendar). This year, Isra/Me’raj will fall on 17^th of 2012.

Isra or Me’raj, according to Islamic theology, concerns establishment and acknowledgement of Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) miraculous journey from Mecca through Jerusalem and his eventual ascension to Heavens before the all mighty all powerful Allah (SWT).

Isra, Me’raj and Qur’an

Some people refer to this revered event as a fabrication because of its details that do not concede with common human intellect. In fact, the ascension of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to Heavens is the truest of events as there are narrations of it in a source as authentic and eternal as Holy Qur’an:

“Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allaah) [above all that (evil) they associate with Him] Who took His slave (Muhammad) for a journey by night from Al‑Masjid Al‑Haraam (at Makkah) to Al‑Masjid Al‑Aqsa (in Jerusalem), the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad) of Our Ayaat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.). Verily, He is the All‑Hearer, the All‑Seer”[al-Isra’ 17:1]

In fact, that is why learning Qur’an is seen as a religious obligation on Muslims ever since its revelation, as it contains knowledge and information on everything that people might ever need. Today, one can even recite and read holy Quran online, getting high quality assistance needed to do so while sitting within the comforts of their own homes.

Explanation

Fact of the matter is that Isra/Me’raj is not described in detail in Qur’an. The details come to us from hadith and other authentic Islamic traditions that explain this miraculous journey in fine details. According to those details, this journey comprised of two parts:

Isra – First part of the journey

Islamic scholars are of the view that this miraculous journey comprised of two parts; the first one referred as Isra that involves Muhammad’s (PBUH) visit to Jerusalem in company of Archangel Gabriel (may peace be upon him) where he prayed with all the Prophets including Adam, Jesus, Moses, and others. Gabriel presented Muhammad (PBUH) with Burraq, a special kind of ride bestowed to them by Allah Almighty that travelled lightening fast to enable them complete this multidimensional journey merely in a matter of one night.

Burraq

According to Islamic traditions, Burraq was a ride specially sent from heavens for Muhammad (PBUH) to help him travel at lightening speeds. Many scholars also believe it resembled a horse, which by the way, should not matter, because the point lies in its lightening fast speed rather than its size, shape, or nature.

Me’raj – Second part of the journey

Islamic theology states that Me’raj constitutes the latter half of this revered journey when Muhammad was ascended to Heavens where he practically witnessed hell and heaven by wish and will of Allah Almighty. The word Me’raj equates to “ladder” in Arabic that is also expressive of the nature of this journey. Different levels and intensities of hell and heaven were shown to Muhammad (PBH) during this phase of journey as well.

Incumbency of daily prayers

It is also through Me’raj that Muslims were granted the gift of 5 daily prayers by Allah Almighty. As a matter of fact, Allah initially awarded 50 prayers a day to Muhammad (PBUH), which was later on reduced to 5 times a day. This is another great significance of Me’raj.

How Muslims honor Isra/Me’raj

Muslims commemorate this gracious event by praying to Allah Almighty and praising Muhammad (PBUH). They try to pray as much as possible this day to appease Allah (SWT). Muslims try to recite as much of Qur’an this day as possible. As stated earlier, one can also perform Quran recitation to express their love, respect, and gratitude to The One Who deserves all praise and worship, i.e. Allah Almighty.

Conclusion

This revered occasion bestows Muslims with great opportunity of not only thanking Allah Almighty and His beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), but it also serves as a reminder to them about the power and might of Allah (SWT) Who is capable of showing us anything He wants. May Allah Almighty bestow us with all the blessings this Isra/Me’raj and set our direction right.

Allah Almighty created this universe as a symbol of his might and also created human beings, bestowing them with intellect, so that His creatures can ponder on diversified signs reflecting His power and strength; all this to submit themselves in humbleness to Allah (SWT).

There are many verses in Holy Quran in this regard, such as:

[24:45] …Allah creates what He wills… And

[49:13] O mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him…

Constant guidance by Allah Almighty

It is very important to realize the fact that Allah not only created human beings, but also arranged the means and resources for their guidance and information. This started from appointment of Adam (A.S) as the first messenger of Allah on earth to guide His offspring to the ultimate realities as instructed by Allah Almighty. Ever since then, there had been around one hundred and twenty four thousand messengers sent by Allah (SWT) to keep human beings furnished with the guidance they might need to stay on the path desired by Him.

Exemplary guidance of Muhammad (PBUH)

This chain of guidance ends at Muhammad (PBUH), Allah’s last Apostle appointed more than 1400 years ago. Since Allah (SWT) intended to finalize one religion as true guidance till times to come (as evident from the verse mentioned below), He chose Muhammad (PBUH) for this reverence, who lived a perfectly exemplary life that made others believe in him till the end of times.

“Most certainly, you have in Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern (of behavior)” (Al Qur’an 33:21).

Not only is it important to realize the literal meanings of this verse reflecting Muhammad (PBUH) as best of example for humans, but we should also contemplate on what’s implicated indirectly from it, i.e. Qur’an is the ultimate source of the most true, diverse, and authentic information. That is definitely the reason learning Qur’an is considered so important for Muslims. In fact, Muhammad (PBUH) himself established first Quran Education School comprising of his companions who devoted their lives solely to the purpose of learning Quran (and whatever else they could learn from Muhammad PBUH), also commonly referred as “the Companions of Suffah”.

Muhammad’s (PBUH) imminence to commoners

The point of focus here is that such positively influenced transformation of a whole nation would not have been possible had Muhammad (PBUH) not lived an exemplary life. Despite his exalted status of prophethood, he lived a humble and pious life; very much close to the lives of people he lived with. In fact, he owned and possessed many things before his appointment as Prophet, which he had to get devoid of afterwards.

Before his prophethood, Muhammad (PBUH) enjoyed a successful and respectable career as a tradesman making satisfactory amount of money. After he announced his prophethood when Allah ordered him, the whole society turned against him. To keep Muhammad (PBUH) from making claims of his prophethood, he was offered everything by the elite of the society, which he plainly refused. This turned them totally against him and they tried not only to persecute him and his followers, but also tried to kill them, as a result of which Muhammad (PBUH) and his followers migrated to Madina from Makkah.

Despite all the pains and miseries inflicted to him by people around him, Muhammad (PBUH) always showed character of highest level and kept his calm.

(68;4).  And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. And

“And We sent you not (O Muhammad), but as a mercy to all the worlds”. (Al Qur’an 21:107).

As mentioned earlier, it is Qur’an that serves as the greatest and truest source of information on everything imaginable. How strange would it appear if in this era of communications, someone is still not able to go through the amazing content of Allah Almighty as mentioned in Quran; especially when online Quran reading is also at one’s disposal?

Conclusion

The truth is that true teachings of Islam can never be understood without getting aware of Quran knowledge and character traits of Muhammad (PBUH). Make sure to work for your own betterment by knowing more about both of these. May Allah help us all in doing so successfully.