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Fortnightly Newsletter |
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Compiled by: Azeem Ayub |
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In the Name of Allah, |
Perhaps the greatest asset of a person is his faith. It helps us in warding off evil. The greater the level of faith, the deeper is one’s relationship with the Almighty. Like a lamp, faith illuminates the places where light falls. A true believer is a person who not only benefits from the radiance of his faith, but also helps illuminate the path of others. The glow of faith he carries with him needs not only to be fueled, but also to be protected from the onslaughts of adverse winds. To constantly think about enhancing the level and extent of our faith is something which pleases the Almighty and which earns us His special help in this regard. Here are a few measures which may prove helpful to us: 1) We need to take out some time regularly, everyday to study the Qur’ān with specific stress on its meanings. 2) We need to develop a habit of gradually memorizing parts of the Qur’ān. This will make us feel closer to God and will also make our prayers more involving. Needless to say, we should have an idea of all that we are reciting in our prayer. 3) We should memorize the supplications (Ad‘iyah) of the Prophet (sws), and remember to recite them at appropriate times of the day. 4) We should try to spend as much time as is possible in the company of pious people. It is difficult to fight evil and more so when one is alone. Environment makes a great difference. The cleaner it is the more the strength to subdue evil. 5) Whenever we feel depressed or low, we need to recount the blessings of Allah which we have, and which others around us may not have. With the vicissitudes of life, one is bound to face trying circumstances. One needs to pull one’s self up and fight one’s way through. Remembering the blessings of Allah in such times keeps a person in a positive frame of mind and gives him the opportunity to earn more reward by being patient and steadfast. May Allah always bless us with the concern of increasing our faith: this in itself is a sign of faith.
Author: Shehzad Saleem
Further more URL: http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=309
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In this Issue |
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Reflections
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Read & Reflect * Insurance
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Debate & Discuss
Express & Explain
Pause & Ponder:
Announcements
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"Qur'an for All"
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Insurance is a sort of contract for mutual help in which people pay a fixed amount in installments. The purpose is that if any of them is inflicted with losses relating to their persons or their wealth they are compensated from this pooled money in a prescribed manner. The money given is never returned and all the people or institutes which provide this service are granted this right by people who enter into this contract of mutual help with them that in return for this service they can spend the accumulated money in whatever way they want. This is an extraordinary scheme which has been chalked out to compensate losses and to help people in difficult circumstances. Its benefits are now acknowledged everywhere. After the termination of the institutions of tribes, fraternities and ‘āqilah, this is the best substitute for them which contemporary economic systems have provided to this world. There seem to be no objection against it; however, Islamic scholars generally regard it to be prohibited. Following are the objections they have raised against Insurance: 1. The amounts which Insurance Companies pay to their clients are generally more than the installments their clients have paid them; this is interest and interest is forbidden in Islam. Moreover, Insurance Companies further invest this money in interest-based schemes. Some part of the interest earned by them is also used in paying off their clients who had bought their insurance policies. 2. Insurance Policy holders repeatedly receive large sums of money against death, accidents or losses. This is gambling which is prohibited in the Islamic sharī‘ah. 3. The entity for which an Insurance Policy is bought does not typically exist; the locus of the contract is also not ascertained and the Policy holders do not even know the number of installments and the time till which they will have to pay them. In the terminology of the jurists these are called gharar (deception), jahālah (ignorance) and ghaban (embezzlement) respectively in the presence of which no contract is allowable. The Prophet (sws) has forbidden such deals. A little deliberation will show that all these three objections are baseless. The first of these is not tenable because the installments paid by an Insurance Policy holder are not loans. They are given by him for the help and support of others on the condition that he too could be the recipient. Thus they are never returned. If Insurance institutions invest them in interest-bearing transactions, it is because they have been given the right by the policy holders to use them. No responsibility of the nature of this use rests on the Policy holders. If a person is to receive Insurance money for the purpose he had bought an Insurance Policy, then as per the contract, he receives it from the accumulated amount. This is the real nature of Insurance, and it must be viewed on its basis. The second of these objections is not tenable because gambling is a game and a matter of purely chancing one’s luck. People who buy Insurance Policies do so to become part of a system which caters for helping one another in case of losses. The nature of the two is entirely different, and the basis of religious directives is not marginal similarity between two things; it is and should be based on the actual nature of the two. The third of these objections is not tenable because the directives of the Prophet (sws) related to gharar (deception), jahālah (ignorance) and ghaban (embezzlement) are not of the nature of an absolute prohibition: they are meant to resolve disputes and to close the door to ways which may result in these evils in cases of financial transactions. Insurance, however, is not a financial transaction. It is a scheme which relates to mutual help. It is executed and managed by individuals and institutions who are given the right to use the accumulated money in return for the service they provide. It is not appropriate at all to judge it by ignoring the nature of this scheme.
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anisac
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General Discussion Forum:
aijaz47 Dear Mr. Hanif
Existence does not necessarily have to be physical. As regards Mermaids, their existence is imaginary or fictional. Thus if it has a name it exists.
Secondly, denial does not mean that that particular thing does not exist. One shall have to provide the prove for the denial. Physical existence is an attribute. So far it seems Mermaids do not have that attribute. Their existence is fictional. Can you deny the fictional existence of Mermaids?
Thirdly, Allah is The Creator of Universe and Claims to be so. I have not heard of anyone claiming to be the creator of The Creator. Answer shall be provided when the question arises.
student1 This is your reply to Mr. Hanif but I would like to present my comments on your reply and I hope you wont mind.
quote:
Dear Mr. Hanif
aijaz47
So you agree that
denial does not mean that a particular thing does not exist. Thanks for
accepting my point.
aijaz47
aijaz47
This is in reply to
your question "who created Allah?"
aijaz47 Kindly go to Forums> History of Quran> Collection under Abu Bakar ( may Allah be pleased with him).
Jhangeer Hanif (modeator)
I think you want to
say that existence does not have to be 'actual'. Because we know that
mermaids do not actually exist; they are fictitious in contrast to
reality. We are not taking about the nature of God's existence -
spirirtual or physical; we are talking about whether it is actual or not.
Hence when we talk about mermaids, we know that their existence is not
actual or real. Is this the case with God?
In the second
response, you are again confusing 'actual or real' with 'physical'. I am
not talking about the nature of existence. I am talking about whether
something really exists? Hence the stress is on real. I had written
Comments:
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Significance of the Worldly Life
Question:
While well knowing the amount of time there, when one day would be equal to thousands of days on this earth one can easily infer that the infinite life over there would be greater than million years on the earth. This implies that we should completely forget/ignore this world as it would have infinitesimal value as compared to the hereafter and pass our whole life only in worrying about the life after death.
I personally believe that there should be a balance. I remember an author quoting the daily schedule of the Holy Prophet (sws) that he had divided his day into three (3) portions, i.e., one for worship, one for the people/trade and one for his family. But I’m not sure how far are these Ahadith quoted properly. I need your guidance in this regard.
Answer:
The truth of the matter is that we are expected to earn our rewards for the Hereafter from this very life. That would require us to get involved not only in ibadat but also in ‘‘mundane worldly affairs’’. However, in the case of the latter activities, we are expected to abide by the rules laid down by Islam. Thus if we carry out our worldly obligations in accordance with the injunctions and the spirit of Islamic shari‘ah, we will be leading a fully akhirah-oriented life.
As for the question of how an individual should allocate his time for various possible engagements that would enable him to get the best results (from the point of view of the afterlife), there can be no one answer for everyone. It depends on many factors: one’s circumstances, abilities, and natural inclinations. However, whatever one does, one should be obsessed with the concerns of the life hereafter. Allah Almighty, it is hoped, will be kind in forgiving our minor blemishes.
wassalam
Dr Khalid Zaheer
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After Surah Mulk, Surah Qalam, Surah Haaqqah,Surah Ma'aarij, Surah Nuh, Surah Jinn, Surah Muzzammil, Surah Muddaththir, Surah Qiyamah, Surah Dahr, Surah Mursalat, Surah Naba, Surah Nazi'aat, Surah Abas, Surah Takweer, Surah Infitar, Surah Mutaffifin, Surah Inshiqaq, Surah Buruj, Surah Tariq, Surah A'laa, Surah Ghashiyah, Surah Fajr, Surah Balad, Surah Shams, Surah Layl, Surah Duha, Surah Alam Nashrah, Surah Teen, Surah Alaq, Surah Qadr, Surah Bayyinah, Surah Zilzal Surah ‘Adiyat, Surah Qariah and Surah Takathur we have uploaded Surah Asr in the “Quran for All” series.
The “Quran for All” Series is a software for understanding the meanings of the Quran for those who do not have any knowledge of Arabic but are able to read the Quran.
Remember in order to study Surah Asr one must first study Surah Mulk and then other surahs in the sequence that they occur in the Quran and are also provided in the software in this sequence.
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