  |
Fortnightly Newsletter |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Compiled by: Azeem Ayub |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reflection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In the Name of Allah, |
When Death shall Die
We are all born to die.
Death is the greatest and perhaps the most neglected reality of life. Some
fleeting moments and then off we go. We may fall to the deception of this
transience -- but not for long: the dawn of life relentlessly gives way to
the dusk of death everyday only to herald the advent of a new dawn, a new
life. The process continues and life goes on under the shadow of death.
Inexorable is this practice, unrelenting this law.
And then one day, the
glorious sun and the milky moon, the dazzling stars and the stormy seas
–would also meet their fate:
At the time [O People!]
when the sky is rent asunder, and when the stars are scattered, and when the
seas burst forth, and when the graves are opened, at that time each one [of
these people who have wronged their souls] will come to know what he has
sent forward and what he has left behind. (82:1-5)
And then, as this verse
says, man would be made to stand before his Lord. He who was vanquished by
death would now forever be free from its claws: ‘Death shall be no more:
death thou shalt die’.
But realize he should:
Death he may have overcome – but now he would face a dilemma more critical:
the blissful life of Paradise or the torment of Hell.
Before such a time comes,
would that we all remember that on that fateful day: The disbeliever would cry out: ‘Would that I were dust’. (78:40)
Topic URL: http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=386
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In this Issue |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reflections
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Read & Reflect
* The Rule of an
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Debate & Discuss
Express & Explain
Pause & Ponder:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Announcements
* Successful
|
Read and Reflect: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (Tr. by:Shehzad Saleem)
Man, by nature, is a being who lives by instituting a government. The first manifestation of this took place when people decided that they would select chiefs of their tribes. After that, when these chiefs were able to establish their hegemony by conquering other tribes, they became the owners of the conquered lands and this gradually took the shape of ancestral kingdoms governed by kings. In later periods, these kings, in their capacity as great conquerors, laid the foundations of empires consisting of several countries. This brought into existence governments which include the Sassanid and the Roman empires. These empires have now become extinct but many kingdoms are still extant and have taken the place of constitutional monarchies. Except for some countries, this is the case every where. Among these exceptions is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It still exists with all real glory and majesty. The laws of such kingdoms are enacted by the king and his nobles. The Saudi government was established with the reformist movement of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhāb (d. 1792 AD). Thus on the very first day of its inception it decided that the law of the land would be the Islamic sharī‘ah. A great majority of Sunnī scholars does not regard kingdoms to be governments which are against the sharī‘ah and also more or less agree to the interpretation of the sharī‘ah made by the Saudi government. This is because they think that it is an Islamic government and on this basis they show allegiance to it.
The ideology of an Islamic revolution that has sprung up in recent times can be summarized as follows: it is only the disciplined minority of the righteous (sālihīn) which has the right to rule; if Godless people are rulers, then they are in fact embezzlers; it is the responsibility of the righteous to launch an effort to take back what belongs to them. Among the Shiites, this ideology already existed under the concepts of “government of the infallibles (ma‘sūmīn)” and “guardianship of the jurist” (wilāyat-i faqīh). Consequently, Sunnī and Shiite scholars have instituted religious parties at various places to achieve this very objective of bringing about an Islamic revolution. Moreover, the intellectual class is expending its efforts in various countries to realize this objective by trying to bring into existence a disciplined minority of the righteous. At some places, these efforts have been successful. For example, in Iran where religious scholars, under the leadership of Imām Khumīnī, were able to take the reins of political authority in their hands and are ruling Iran with full power since a quarter of a century. Another example is Afghanistan where, through the support and help of the Pakistani government, the students of religious scholars were able to set up a government which unfortunately succumbed to the incident of 9 / 11 and is now trying to revive itself by waging war against the NATO forces.
The question which arises in this context is: what does Islam want? A deep deliberation on the Qur’ān and Hadīth shows that the real addressee of Islam is the individual. It wants to rule the heart and mind of a person. Thus it makes it mandatory upon him to submit his whole self to the sovereignty of God. Just as the God of Islam is the Lord and Worshipped deity of people, He is also their king. Hence it is necessary that besides worshipping Him, obedience also be shown to Him and if He has prescribed some law or principle in some matter, then people must totally surrender to it. No doubt, Islam also addresses the society but only when the individuals of a society accept its rule over themselves. At that time, no effort or struggle is needed to achieve the supremacy of Islam at the collective level; Islam automatically manifests itself through the social, cultural and political mannerisms and attitudes of people. Thus if in the sharī‘ah of God, there is any directive related to the society, they are prepared to implement it without any hesitation.
This is an Islamic government. When it comes into existence in this way, it becomes a manifestation of God’s mercy on earth; however, if it does not come into existence, even then one should not be worried because the objective of Islam is not the formation of an Islamic government but the attainment of tazkiyah (self-purification). Its call is to the kingdom of God which people will attain on the Day of Judgement as a result attaining this tazkiyah. Islam calls upon people to save themselves from Hell and enter this eternal kingdom of God. It does not call upon people to establish an Islamic government. However, people who are anxious for this – and which in Qur’ānic terms may be called ukhrā tuhibbūnahā (the second thing which you desire, (61:13)) – have seen for themselves the experimentation which has taken place in this regard in the last one and a half century. In my opinion, they should now accept the reality that an Islamic government is neither established through a royal decree nor through the autocratic rule of religious scholars nor by a self appointed army of divine soldiers. This is not an objective but emanates or should emanate from the inner conviction of people on Islam and the Islamic sharī‘ah. If this happens, then the government which is established as a result can be called an Islamic government in every sense of the word. If the objective is to set up such a government, then instead of wasting one’s time in frivolous political stratagems and instead of killing oneself and killing innocent people in the name of jihād, all force should be directed in two things.
Firstly, through reminding and exhortation, knowledge and reasoning, education and instruction, efforts should be made to establish the rule of this government on the hearts of people. This effort should continue until the ruling elite of the Muslims have as strong a conviction in Islam and Islamic sharī‘ah as the one possessed by those who take up the task of calling people towards Islam.
Secondly, at every level democracy and democratic values should be promoted so that if people get prepared to fulfil the requirements of their religion related to the political and economic spheres, no form of despotism causes any hindrance to them. Launching a struggle against despotic forces is in fact a struggle against fitnah and fitnah according to the Qur’ān is a greater sin than murder. Those who commit this grave sin, whether they are monarchs or dictators, deserve to be sent packing from the stage of this world forever.
(Translated from Maqāmāt by Shehzad Saleem)
URL: http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=1289 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debate and Discuss: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tariq
Hashmi
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Express and Explain: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
rimsoo:
[29: 45]:
Surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil.
ibrahim (Moderator):
No, it does
not mean. This Verse Just means that the Prayer has the Potential to do So
Provided it is offered in the best possible way.
rimsoo:
I am very
much grateful to brother ibrahim for your kind reply!
waseem:
023.1-5
See:
http://www.studying-islam.org/forum/topic.aspx?topicid=2599&lang=&forumid=1
return to the top ^ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pause and Ponder: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Istikharah
and Frightening Dreams Question: After doing istikharah, if a person sees a frightening dream he will most probably link it to an indication from God that he should not do what he is planning to do (whatever that may be ). But if common sense tells him to do whatever he is thinking about, then what should a person do? People say that because now you have been given the answer in your dreams it would be incorrect to do something against what the Almighty has suggested. In other words, what should a person do if for instance his dreams tell him not to do that thing but knowledge, common sense and experience tell him to go for it?
Answer:
People generally
think that only through dreams does one get an indication of Allah’s will after
doing istikhārah. It is because of this misconception that they think that an
indication through a dream is the only way to know the Almighty’s will in a
particular matter. Actually, there are a number of ways in which this indication
can come. Dreams are just one of these. There may be several ways. For example,
circumstances sometimes become more clear so that a person is able to judge for
himself. Similarly, someone might just come along and help a person in his
decision. Likewise, the Almighty may directly guide a person by giving him an
inner indication.
URL: http://www.studying-islam.org/querytext.aspx?id=913
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Announcements: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Quran for All" Series: Surah Feel Uploaded
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, Surah Asr, Surah Humazah we have uploaded Surah
Feel in the
“Quran for All” series.
Successful Participants
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recent Additions: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Youtube Videos
English
Urdu Articles
English
Urdu
QnA
English
Urdu
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spot on Site: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Please give us your valued feedback on our guestbook:
Studying Islam |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||