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In the Name of Allah, |
Charity: Points to Ponder
To give in charity is a very coveted human trait. Looking after the need of others is an acknowledgement of God’s favours on one’s self. It is also our unwritten obligation towards the society. People who are sensitive to the needs of others will find others sensitive to their own needs. The pinnacle of this charitable attitude towards others is to spend on them even if we ourselves are in need. The Qur’ān while extolling believers says: “Those who, in spite of being needy, give preference to the needs of others.” (59:9)
However, at times spending in charity is marred by blemishes and shortcomings. We need to be very careful about them. Some of the common ones are:
i. At times we condescendingly remind people of our charitable behaviour towards them and in this way hurt their self-esteem. The Qur’ān has emphatically stopped us from this and said: “Believers! Do not mar your charity by reminders of generosity and by hurting [the recipients].” (2:264)
ii. Many a time we show off and even blatantly publicize the amount we spend in charity. This obviously is very detrimental to our own inner-purification and spiritual advancement.
iii. More often than not we shy away to give in charity if we do not have a substantial amount; we may be going through stringent circumstances and can only afford a meagre amount to give in charity. We should realize that it is not the amount that counts; it is the concern and capacity that we have that counts. If our capacity is to give a few pennies, we should not shy away. It is our responsibility to look after the needs of others in proportion to our own financial status. The Qur’ān states: “Those who spend in all circumstances whether they are in ease or in hardship.” (3:134)
iv. There are instances in which we do not take pains to find out the most deserving recipients of our charity.
At times, we do not realize that people among our friends and relatives are in need while we spend huge amounts in charity by giving to various charities not directly related to us. It is a natural right of our close ones that if they are in need they should be the first recipients of our charity.
Similarly, there may be people around us who in spite of appearing financially sound are in fact in deep financial stress; however, their self-esteem does not let them make fuss of the situation and they conduct themselves in a dignified manner. It is our responsibility to find out such people; it only requires a little insight and careful observation. The Qur’ān points out: “This [spending] is for the poor who are stranded in the cause of God and are not able to travel in the land to earn their livelihood. The ignorant take them for men of wealth on account of their modest behaviour. You can recognize them by their faces – they are not annoyingly insistent in begging.” (2:273)
v. At times, we end up scolding a beggar or a person who asks for monetary help. This is something very despicable. If a person is not in a position to help, he can still show sympathy and then withdraw in a dignified way. The Qur’ān says: “A kind word and forgiveness [at unpleasant instances] is better than charity followed by inflicting hurt.” (2:262)
These are some points that we need to ponder while spending in charity. They may go unnoticed. Let us resolve to be more cautious and more vigilant about them.
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Read & Reflect
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Debate & Discuss * Discussion Forum: Introduction to the Hadith | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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* General Discussion Forum: Are Taliban Justified in Taking Human Life?
Participants
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Read and Reflect |
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Rights of Parents Author Javed Ahmad
Ghamidi
وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَى وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ أَنْ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ وَإِنْ جَاهَدَاكَ عَلى أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِي الدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا وَاتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ مَنْ أَنَابَ إِلَيَّ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (٣١: ١٤-١٥) We enjoined man to show kindness to his parents, for with much pain his mother bears him and he is not weaned before he is two years of age. We said: ‘Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me shall all things return. But if they press you to serve besides Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. Remain kind to them in this world, and turn to Me with all devotion. To Me you shall all return, and I will declare to you everything you have done’. (31:14-15)
All divine scriptures instruct man to show
kindness to the parents. Various verses of the Qur’ān also direct the
believers to be well behaved to the parents1.
The above quoted verses however specifically determine the limits of good
behaviour with the parents. The details of this directive as stated in these
verses are:
1. It is the parents who bring into existence a new life and become the
means to nourish it. No doubt, the care and affection of the father is quite
a lot, however the hardships a mother encounters in bringing up the child
starting from her pregnancy, to childbirth and then breast feeding the child
are unmatched and no child can repay her for this great service. On these
very grounds, the Prophet (sws) has regarded the right of the mother as
three times that of the father.2
Consequently, the Almighty exhorts man to be the most grateful to his
parents after his Lord. This gratitude must not be expressed merely by the
tongue. It should manifest into good behaviour towards them. He should
respect them and never become fed up of them. He must not utter a single
word of disrespect to them. Instead, he should be soft, sympathetic, loving
and obedient to them. He should listen to them and be caring and
affectionate to them in the tenderness of old age. The Qur’ān says: وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنْ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُلْ رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا رَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِي نُفُوسِكُمْ إِنْ تَكُونُوا صَالِحِينَ فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا (١٧: ٢٣-٢٥)
Your Lord has enjoined you to worship none but Him, and to show kindness to
your parents, If either or both of them attain old age in your dwelling,
show them no sign of impatience, nor rebuke them; but speak to them kind
words. Treat them with humility and tenderness and say: ‘Lord, be merciful
to them. They nursed me when I was an infant’. Your Lord best knows what is
in your hearts. If you remain obedient, He will forgive those that turn to
Him. (17:23-25) Ibn Mas‘ūd (rta) narrates that he asked the Prophet (sws): ‘Which deed does God like the most’. The Prophet (sws) replied: ‘To say the prayer on time’. I inquired: ‘After that’. He replied: ‘To be well-mannered with the parents’.3 Abū Hurayrah (rta) reports from the Prophet (sws): ‘Humiliation to that person, humiliation to that person, humiliation to that person’. ‘For whom’, asked the people. He replied: ‘Whose parents or any one of them reached old age in his presence and he in spite of that could not enter Paradise.4 ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar (rta) says that once a person asked the Prophet (sws) to participate in Jihād. At this the Prophet (sws) inquired: ‘Are your parents alive?’. The person replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (sws) then remarked: ‘Keep serving them. This is Jihād.5 Abū Sa‘īd Khudrī (rta) says that a person from the people of Yemen migrated and came to the Prophet (sws) in order to participate in Jihād. The Prophet (sws) asked: ‘Do you have any relative in Yemen?’ He replied that he had his parents there. The Prophet (sws) remarked: ‘Did you ask their permission?’ He said: ‘No’. The Prophet (sws) then said: ‘Go back and seek their permission and if they grant permission then only should you take part in Jihād, other wise keep serving them’.6 Mu‘āwiyyah narrated from his father Jāhimah that he came to the Prophet (sws) and said: ‘O Messenger of God! I would like to participate in Jihād and have come to consult you [regarding this]’. The Prophet asked: ‘Is your mother alive?’ He said: ‘Yes’. At this the Prophet said: ‘Stay with her and serve her because Paradise is beneath her feet’.7
‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar (rta) narrates from the Prophet (sws): ‘The pleasure of
the Almighty resides in the pleasure of the father and the wrath of the
Almighty resides in the wrath of the Almighty.8
Abū Dardā (rta) says that he heard the Prophet (sws) saying that the best
door to Paradise is the father; so, if you want you can waste him and if you
want you can protect him.9
‘Umar Ibn Shu‘ayb narrates from his mother who narrates from her grandfather
that once a person came to the Prophet (sws) and said: ‘I have some wealth
and I also have children but my father needs this wealth’. The Prophet (sws)
replied: ‘Both you and your wealth belong to your father’.10
2. In spite of the status that Islam confers upon parents they do not have
the right to force their children to baselessly associate someone with the
Almighty. The Prophet (sws) has said that showing disobedience to parents is
the greatest sin after polytheism11;
however the above quoted verses of Sūrah Luqmān say that the children should
openly disobey their parents with regard to polytheism and should follow the
way of those who follow God. Any calls to evade the Almighty must not
receive any positive response even if it is parents giving the call. On
these very grounds, the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: ‘No one can
be obeyed if he calls to disobey the Almighty; one can only obey what is
good’, (Bukhārī, No: 7257).
Consequently, all other
directives of the Almighty shall also be considered subservient to this
directive, and one cannot disobey these directives if the parents ask them
to do so.
3. Even if the parents force their children to commit a sin as heinous as
polytheism they must always be treated in a befitting manner. Their needs
should be met as far as possible and a prayer of guidance be continued to be
made for them. This is what the words ‘وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِي
الدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا’ (Remain kind to them in this world) of the
verse quoted above entail. The children may have a right to disobey their
parents if they insist upon disobedience to the directives of religion but
they must still not be slack or indifferent, in any way, to their duty
towards their parents.
The last part of the verses
‘ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ
فَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ’
caution a person that one
day he has to return to the Almighty to give account of his deeds. While
commenting upon this part of the verse, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:
This part of the verse addresses both the parents
and the children and carries both a warning and an assurance. One day, each
person will have to return to the Almighty. Whatever he would have done
would be brought before him. If some parents had violated the rights given
to them regarding their children by making them deviate from the path of the
Almighty, they will have to face punishment for this attitude and if
children duly recognized the rights of the Almighty together with those of
their parents, as well as remaining steadfast in following the obligations
these rights entail, they will be rewarded for their perseverance.12
1. See for example 17:23-4, 29:8 and 46:15 2. Bukhārī, No: 5971 3. Bukhārī, No: 5970 4. Muslim, No: 4627 5. Bukhārī, No: 5972 6. Abū Dā’ūd, No: 2530 7. Nasā’ī, No: 3104 8. Tirmadhī, No: 1899 9. Tirmadhī, No: 1900 10. Abū Dā’ūd, No: 3530 11. Bukhārī, No: 5976 12. Islāhī, Amīn Ahsan, Tadabbur-i-Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 6, (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), p. 130
Read URL: http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=1010
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Discussion Forum:
Introduction to Hadith
Tariq
Hashmi
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General Discussion Forum: Are Taliban Justified in Taking Human Life?
atifrafi The Qur'an claims there is no contradictions in its text. What it says in one part of the book must agree with the other part. If that is not the case, it cannot be claimed that the book is authored by God. Humans have contradictions because, unless they are stubborn, they learn, unlearn, and relearn all the time. God is perfect; there is no learning curve in His case. The Qur'an challenges the reader to reflect upon its verses carefully and see the evidence of this reality. "Do they not ponder over the Qur'an? Had it been from anyone other than God, they would have found in it a lot of discrepancy." (4:82)
The Qur'an categorically states that taking life of one human is as big a crime as killing the entire humanity. "The one who kills a soul -- not as a punishment for murder nor for mischief on earth -- it is as if he has killed the entire humankind." (5:33) War is a game of killing. People enter a battlefield to kill others. Soldiers don't participate in battles to just shave off the mustaches of their enemies.
How can the facts mentioned in the first two paragraphs be reconciled? How can the sanctity of life and legitimacy of war be simultaneously acceptable to Islam? The answer can be inferred from the exception stated in the Qur'anic verse (5:33) quoted above: A state can engage in a war to kill those who are guilty of killing or to crush mischief on earth. And if the Qur'an allows war for a reason other than killing or mischief on earth, it would contradict itself, which the book of God would never do. War can be undertaken only for these two reasons and for no other purpose. If it is undertaken for a purpose other than these two, it would tantamount to killing the entire humanity each time a human is killed. This conclusion brings us to the important question: What is mischief on earth?
Mischief of on earth is a crime caused by criminal activities of those individuals or groups of them who do not commit crimes at their ordinary level. They commit them in a way that their criminal inclination becomes a threat to the life, wealth, and honour of the ordinary citizens. When murder takes the form of serial killing, depriving of their wealth rises from the level of theft to that of robbery, and extra-marital sex reaches the extent of raping, what is happening is no ordinary crime: It is mischief on earth which is a constant threat to all members of the society. In Pakistan, indeed it is Taliban are the most obvious example of a group that is involved in the crime of creating mischief on earth.
Taliban, however, believe that refusing to establish God's law (the Shari'ah) in Pakistan is mischief on earth which justifies their policy of killing people. Quite aside from the question whether this argument is justifiable or not, how could killing of innocent people who have nothing to do with the question of implementing the Shari'ah be justified by Taliban even by their own logic? Even though the ordinary Pakistanis in the streets have no say in deciding the question of implementing the Shari'ah, Taliban keep killing them with impunity. Going by a clear verdict of the Qur'an, Taliban are guilty of believing in one part of the book (implementing the Shari'ah) but rejecting another part of it (ensuring sanctity of human life). The verdict of the Qur'an for practicing such double-standards is that people who indulge in it deserve "... insult in the worldly life and on the day of judgment they shall be assigned to an even more grievous penalty. And God is not unaware of what you do?" (Qur'an; 2:85) Is failing to implement God's religion in the society by Muslim rulers mischief on earth? There could be several possible scenarios, only one of which can be claimed to come close to a case of creating mischief on earth: The Muslim rulers know clearly what God's law is but they are stubbornly resisting the possibility of implementing it because of their vested interests despite being presented with a clear understanding of it. In that case indeed they can be described of being guilty of preventing God's verdict to get implemented.
The other possibilities could be wherein the Muslim rulers are either not fully aware of or are not convinced that what is being presented to them is in reality God's law. There could also be a possibility that the rulers are aware of what the Shari'ah law is but they have put in place a system which will enable the law to get gradually implemented exactly in accordance with what they think is God's requirement of doing it by mutual consultation.
The truth is that no human can conclude that the rulers of his time are stubbornly rejecting the possibility of implementing God's law despite knowing it to be from Him. Only God can tell if a certain ruler is arrogantly rejecting His law and therefore He deserves to be killed for creating mischief on earth. And God has chosen to make such disclosures only when He sends His messengers; and He has decided to not send them anymore.
Even in case if some people are convinced that their rulers are hypocritically blocking the process of implementing the Shari'ah law, they have no right to fight against the rulers, because that would tantamount to resorting to one form of mischief on earth to remove another form of it. In no case Islamic law allows individuals or non-state agents to resort to arms for getting their demands implemented because in doing so they will resort to killing humans which individuals cannot be allowed to do under any pretext.
If the rulers are not fully aware of what the Shari'ah law is or are not convinced that what is being presented to them is God's law, those who are interested in getting the Shari'ah implemented in Pakistan should use their pens and tongues and not bullets and guns to help the rulers and masses know the truth. As followers of the last messenger of God (pbuh) they should consider themselves in the Makkan period when the prophet (pbuh) preached and invited people to understand and accept God's message. Despite being God's messenger, he did not resort to Jihad for getting God's will implemented.
And if the rulers have already taken the path of introducing the Shari'ah law gradually through mutual consultation, allowing debate and getting implemented what is agreed upon by the majority, as indeed is the case in Pakistan, then it is an excellent opportunity for Taliban to grab with both hands and convince the majority that their understanding of what constitutes God's law is the right one. And if they would not avail this opportunity and kill innocent people instead, they will not only be guilty of killing the entire humanity but also of killing the only available opportunity of implementing the true Islamic Shari'ah. Who then should be considered a more deserving candidate for being described as perpetrator of mischief on earth: Pakistani rulers or Taliban?
To conclude, the Qur'an is categorical in its condemnation of the crime of killing. The book presents only two acceptable justifications for taking a human life. Both make it allowable only for rulers to kill after proper measures are adopted to ensure that the extreme decision is correct. An ordinary citizen is not allowed to take human life under any pretext. If he kills, it is as if he has killed the entire mankind. And that is the volume of sin Taliban are accumulating for themselves. It is they who are the biggest criminals in the eyes of the Islamic law. They are very likely to face its consequences on the judgment day.
student7
My question is that does Islam allow us to have political negotiations
with Talibaan? Is the government of Pakistan correct religiously speaking
in undertaking negotiations with Talaibaan? saba2 (Moderator) Governments don't negotiate with terrorists. They have to establish the Ritt of the government in every corner of the State. It is only politics on the government's part and lack of education in religious matters from the masses that negotiation is even considered.
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Pause
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Question: How can I be certain that I am following the right version of Islam. There are so many sects and diverse views that one tends to get confused and afraid also. The reason is that one might end up with the wrong version of Islam. What should one do then? Answer: In my humble opinion, one basic thing needs to be understood: Human intellect, you would agree, has its own limitations. It can falter and err and of course be different in different scholars. Hence the different interpretations of certain directives of Islam are but a natural outcome of this premise. In this regard, the real thing is the arguments which are presented in support of a viewpoint. A person is required to weigh these arguments in the scales of sense and reason and decide which one appeals to his intellect the most. He should adopt that particular viewpoint, since he would be held accountable according to his own understanding of religion.
Furthermore, no one is guided by divine revelation after the termination of the institution of Prophethood with the departure of Muhammad (sws) and it is his or her judgement which must be exercised. Therefore, no one can be certain whether he has attained the absolute truth or not. He must keep his eyes and ears open to criticism and cling to whatever he thinks to be the truth till he has reason to abandon it and accept a new premise as truth. Moreover, in adopting or forming an opinion in religious matters, the real thing is sincerity of judgement. As long as a person is sincere in exercising his judgement, it does not matter what conclusion is reached. As the Prophet of Allah has put it: a person who strives to form an opinion can reach the right conclusion and he can also reach the wrong one; if he reaches the right conclusion he will be rewarded twice in magnitude and if he is lead to the wrong conclusion he shall still be rewarded though of single magnitude. This shows that the real thing in this regard is the sincerity of effort put in.
wassalam
Dr Shehzad Saleem
URL: http://www.studying-islam.org/querytext.aspx?id=1013
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