Passing Vacation Islamically: Growing up with Islam

Passing Vacation Islamically: Growing up with Islam

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 6:51pm


   I was censoring a Group Discussion of Ulema including a prominent educationalist Mubarak Kapdi. The man has been writing on education and parenting for past 15 years. He has conducted  100s of workshops and seminars for students. His biodata is also as impressive as his brother in law Dr. Zakir Naik. Mubarak bhai made a very important point.." Many of our teenage boys drop out of schools and either they join their father's business with almost no extra productivity , or they loiter and waste their remaining teenaage " He had a revolutionary suggestion..It is too negative attitude to nag along with the tag of " Minorities "  when the rest of the minorities in India and abroad incouding US, are proserping and dominating.

  The Brahmins in India are minorities, and so are the Jews in US..  Mubarak bhai is right.. even the British were few thousands in number yet they rules the whole of Indian sub continent for almost a century andn ot only that, they build railways and posstal services and many other useful things required to run a country. Mubarak bhai is a visionary. He argued, " The best  way to reach the dominance is to cling to your religion and along with it work harder than other communities in the field of education, corporate world and business..

  This brings  us to the cross road " How to work harder than other communities "  The answer is simple. Learn as many skills as possible. Use your vacations brightly. When you don't have home works or exams or completing  journals.. you have lot of time to do something you are passionate about. Make that passion your part time course and grow up in it. How about our school students taking up some short courses in vacation for spare income and work experience...

    Consider this bio-data " Abdul is a graduate in Arts and  B. ED. He has applied for the post of a teacher and his biodata says that he can even repair computers and do some electric work too or he has a good knowledge of accounts as well which he learnt during his vacation though he had nothing to do with his syllabus. What do you think will be his prospectus of getting a responsible job when other with just mere certificates of grades have applied for job? In the corporate world the rule is " how beneficial you are for the company" that determines your increment and salary.

 Another important lesson our teens must learn in vacation is "Deen" Most of us over look the fact the vacation is ideal to impart deen. Islamic seminars are ideal...

Last month I was in the famous Azam campus of Pune, one of the finest Muslim Academic Campus in India. Spread over acres with lush greenery and awesome architecture, the place stands as a landmark . There were seven hundred high school students attending a week workshop in vacation to study Islam. What made this workshop unique was the enthuthiasm of the participants. Normally no child in the world would like his vacations be robbed away by the academicians. It is really a hard task to get the children attend from morning to evening for a whole week sacrificing their holidays. It really requires extraordinary  hard work, PR and presentation skills to glue the attention of the teens . The malls, the glamorous sports tournaments, local  matches, the Television programs are our rivals and we have to snatch our teens from them and cultivate Islam in their attitude and habits.

  There were 700 students in the week long seminar for teens and I was glad that they did not find it boring.

  But what about the rest of the children? Do they pass their vacation just loitering around in the malls window shopping or hanging out with friends in parks and theaters. Who should be worried? The Qur'an says "  O you who believe ! save your self and your family from fire... Surah Tahrim...

 Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com
Taken From

Before Its Too Late.....

Before Its Too Late.....

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 11:55pm

Many people ignore precious opportunities when they come on their way. One of the reasons is Procastination. For a common man  it is " Mental Lazinness".... When Allah declares " And any one who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it.. Surah Zalzala verse 7, He is asking us not to ignore or let go even small opportunities of good. It can  be a towering thing in terms of impact or results. Yet we ignore big  opportunities that come in our way." we will do it later " is the most common excuse we have.

Islam emphasises to hurry in good things and some of them are :

1. Repenting for Sins : A scenerio is skeched in the Qur'an about the plight of the delayers.. surah Mo'minoon: When death approaches one of them he cries out " O my Lord! let me return back so that I can do some good in what I m leaving behind..the answer he will receive is " Surely NO!

2. Delayed marriages : I have written umpteen notes on it. In Surah Nahl verse 72.. Allah calls wives and children as blessings and ends the verse with a question to the readers.. will you agree with the false (theories and  ideologies) and reject the Blessings of Allah ?

3. Delayed earnings : Refer the same  verse. It also speaks about Allah appointing  Halal and Tayyab rizq for us... and we delay earning till we reach thirties !!! Earn early if you can and see what a joy it brings when you spend your own money for your parents and needies..

4. Delayed Charity : And spend of the substances which we have bestowed on you,before Death approaches any ofyou and lest you say : My Lord why did you not giveme little respite for a little while? I should have given in charity.. Surah Tahrim ends with  a reminder "Allah will not grant respite to any soul when the appointed timme has come...Many Muslims who are generously fast in harbouring enthusiatic ambitions about doing good to the society fail in taking  even the first step. Many ideas remain in the garage of our minds because we did not bring them out, thinking of doing it later. Let us not award our own selves certificates of lazniess and allow our ideas to get burried along with us.

5. Delay in  amending broken relations : Ego stops us from being blessed by amending or rather initiating to amend broken ties with our Muslim brothers and sisters. Then we go the dead body of the deceased and say " Please  forgive whatever heard and spoken !" Is the dead person in the position to forgive you or embrace you or talk toyou or reply you ? Surah Room says NO !

Mark my words ! Your days are numbered,

Tonight you may die and it may be late

And then you  can never change your fate....

Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com
Taken From

The Human Owls : Late Nights and Waste Nights

The Human Owls : Late Nights and Waste Nights

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 1:55pm

  In the late eightees where life was minus youtube, face book and Dish anteena, my editor asked me to do a write up on Mumbai at midnight. He suggested that I travel  across Mumbai and observe Mumbai. I was asked to interview Taxi drivers and talk to late night train travelers and silently observe things happening on sea beaches and empty roads. I experienced a different Mumbai at night.

  The decent executive at day time was a drunk beast at midnight as he was being dragged by his friends. The obscenely dressed young daughters of rich were screaming and joking out side a discotheque. The taxi driver has unending stories of call girls  and prostitutes. The people in the last local at 1 am were half drunk labourers and tired  last shfit waiters striving to keep their open. Enuchs scoffing money from train travellers and mishceivous yuong men from slum screaming and cracking vulgar jokes in a loud voice were regular commuters.

   Due to my stretched  work assignments, for past few months I am experiencing  Mumbai  at late nights again, this time observing Mumbai from Islamic glasses and weighing  my observations on shariah scales. At around 1 am last local from Mumbai central, large number of burkha clad middle class females with jewellary hanging on their ears and necks and little kids hanging on their arms, is a regular scene They are returning from  marraige parties. They are in large numbers..specially on weekends.

   While passinng from Reay road I see young marathi boys studying under street lights preparing for medical and engineering entrance exams and when I alight at Jogeshwari young Muslimms are zooming their motor cycles on empty roads. The Haji Ali juice center have large number of upper crust of Muslim community sipping expensive juice at 1 am ! The cafetarias of Gujrati and Marathi localities are shut down by 11 pm where as the cafetarias in Muslimm localities have their peak business at this hour.
 
   There is another batch of our community remaining busy at late nights. Last weekend I logged into my face book account and scrolled down the list of my five thousand readers list.  It was 2 am. It was a surprise inspection by me, considering that I take my facebook friends' list as my class room so I also take it as a duty to see their whereabouts. I noted that most of the names had a green light indicating that they were awake. Let me tell you that most of my readers on friends list are from Indian subcontinent so my fear of many of you remaining awake till late nights is a real one. I have no right to question any of you " Hey what are you doing at this hour?" But I have a right to caution you . Late nights , sitting before a bright screen in the dark for long hours may be tolerated byy our eyes for some extent but in  near future when you will entering your forties, your health can rebel and cause you un ending problems some of which may accompany  you till your grave.

   If you study the life style of sahaba they remianed awake late nights during the nights of Ramadhan, but for the rest of the time they slept early n woke up at early hours and did Qur'anic study or tahajjud, wheeras many of my notable and loving and affectionate readers remain awake late (my good assumption says they study Islamic talks on you tube ) but by the time it is the last  hour of night they are exhausted and their eyes are sleepy.  Among the good habits of Prophet peace be upon him is: he disliked talking after Isha,, quite contrary to this sunnah most of us talk, chat, gossip after Isha.  NO wonder our productivity has gone down...

 Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken from

On Choosing a Spouse..What to Look and What to Over Look?

On Choosing a Spouse..What to Look and What to Over Look?

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 2:03pm

  I have a friend who has few daughters and all of them are above 30 years and highely educated but none of them is yet married. The reason is hard to believe. " I did not find a proper practising Muslim  " the man replied casually moving his hand in his beard. There was no regret on his face to display either the shortage of good boys or how long his daughters will remain unmarried ! Some of us are radicallly liberal while some  go to radical extreme when it comes to judging others. Some go for materialistic fulfilment while the rest keep on resting on  just spiritual appeitite. There are no workshops or seminars in training the parents or the guardians  how to finalise or short list a marriage proposal..


  The Wedding season is here and many marraiges are also being fixed so allow me to share some valueable advice to those who are about to say yes or no to a  proposal.  Many youth are confused as to what should they look and what should they over look while finalising the deal. There are some questions which must be tagged to the most common questions posed to the prospective grooms. "How much do you earn ?"  cannot be struck of thinking it to be a materialistic question but add a  sub question to it..." Is your earning certified by the shariah ?' You an add more questions on his expenditure too. See if he is into more expenditure than his income.

   One of the most significant signs  of excellence in the religion is how one conducts his financial affairs. " is that vehicle bought through loan?.. Or is the house bought on loan...?  This will give you an idiea of how is earnings and expenses are. If the earnings are haram then with all the luxury and other facilities he offers the girls yet he is at war with Allah and his Messenger  peace be upon him. So no chance of happiness. You can buy a bed but cannot buy a peaceful sleep.

  Let me be honest with my readers " an overwhelming  large numbers of practising Muslim boys come from the middle class families "  Let me be more honest. All the muslims boys are not as handsome as movie stars and nor are all boys as rich as children of priviledge class.Some compromises have to made especially in the materialistic department, because there can be no compromise on shariah, and as Surah Room says " It is Allah who has put  affection and mercy in the hearts of spouses......after all it is a comfortable akhera that you are looking for.

    Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken From

Isaiah 9:6-7 talks about Jesus (pbuh) ??

In response to the question that "WHERE JESUS (PBUH) HIMSELF SAID THAT HE IS GOD?" christian brother responded---

Quote

He did not only say it but others said it even before He was born of a virgin said He was God And when He was on earth and after He went back into heaven The names given Him before He was born: Isaiah {9:6} For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. {9:7} Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

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First of all the question was "WHERE JESUS (PBUH) HIMSELF SAID THAT HE IS GOD"?
NOT OTHERS!!

This question is based upon Quranic verse (Meaning) 2:111. And they(Jews & Christians) say, "None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian." That is [merely] their wishful thinking. Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."

As per you 'others' say this before he was born so this didn't answer our Question.
Anyway let's proceed further into your quotation-

The verse '6' says “a child IS born”  “a son IS given”. Had this been prophesy it should have like this
 “a son SHALL be born”  “A son SHALL be given”.

As we know Isaiah is a Book from Old Testament (before Prophet Jesus pbuh) as per christian sources Isaiah was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.


Here is the exact Name From Hebrew Bible
5 For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom;
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1009.htm

First of all  there are some rules for translation work.  And one of the rule is  “Names are not translated”. Mr Black remains Mr Black even if he is white. So translating the name is against the rule of translation.

Unfortunately Bible translators while translating even translated the name like in Song Of Solomon 5:16 , John 16:13 etc and people are reading the translation without the original.

Any way look at another Translation here the word is  “Messenger of great counsel”!
which is correct???
6 For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel:
http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Esaias/index.htm
Which is correct???


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Some Christians will still argue and refuse to accept the above mentioned argument. No problem kindly ponder over verse “7” which proclaims some conditions that should be fulfilled
Conditions are -
1-He will establish his government with judgment and justice.
2-Peace will prevail forever.


Did Jesus (as) satisfied these conditions???
NO!!!
1-He never established his government; on the contrary he said that his kingdom is not of this world!!
Bible, John {18:36}
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

2-Did peace prevailed under his Government ?......Instead as per Christians he himself was killed on cross and he cursed God "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Matthew 15:34)"!!
[*Note that we Muslim don't agree with Christian claim of crucifixion]

He didn’t fulfilled these conditions.
So this verse did not talk about Jesus (as) at all.

Still the question remains unanswered!!
"WHERE JESUS (PBUH) HIMSELF SAID THAT
HE IS GOD"?

Bible, Numbers 23:19
"God is not a man.........nor a son of man......"

=============================================================


Dear Christian brothers kindly ponder over these verses from Quran

Meaning of Quran

2: 116. They say, "Allah has taken a son." Exalted is He! Rather, to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are devoutly obedient to Him,

4:171. O People of the Scriptures (Jew & Christians), do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.

6:101. [He is] Originator of the heavens and the earth. How could He have a son when He does not have a companion [i.e., wife] and He created all things? And He is, of all things, Knowing.

10: 68. They(Christians) have said, "Allah has taken a son." Exalted is He; He is the [one] Free of need. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. You have no authority for this [claim]. Do you say about Allah that which you do not know?

17:111 And say, "Praise to Allah, who has not taken a son and has had no partner in [His] dominion and has no [need of a] protector out of weakness; and glorify Him with [great] glorification

25: 2 He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and who has not taken a son and has not had a partner in dominion and has created each thing and determined it with [precise] determination.

43: 81. Say, [O Muhammad], "If the Most Merciful had a son, then I would be the first of [his] worshippers."

49:4. Indeed, those who call you, [O Muhammad], from behind the chambers – most of them do not use reason.

61:6  And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, "O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad." But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, "This is obvious magic.

72: 3. And [it teaches] that exalted is the nobleness of our Lord; He has not taken a wife or a son

112: 3. He neither begets nor is born.

  -:Regards :-
Mohammed Tariq

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Dont Unsheath your Swords....NO shedding of Muslim Blood... The Martydom of Uthman bin Affan

Dont Unsheath your Swords....NO shedding of Muslim Blood... The Martydom of Uthman bin Affan

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 3:02pm

  When Utham r.a. was beseiged by the Kharji'ietes , Ali r.a. appointed Hasan and Hussain as the body guards out side Uthman's house.  O Ameerul Mo'mineen ! Allow us to fight them , inshallah we will finish them. Uthman refused to permit them "No! There are among them who are victims of false propoganda. I cannot let their blood be shed".

  Abdullah b. Amir bin Rabia said : I was with Uthman in the house. He said : I request all of those who think that they should obey me to restrain their hands and weapons. The best of you in abilty is the one who restrains his hands and weapons.

  It was confirmed that al-Hasan, al Hussain, Ibn as Zubay, Ibn Umar nd Marwan were all armed to the teeth when entered the houseof Uthman.. Allah be please with them all. Uthman said : I request you to return and put down your weapons and stay in your houses. There were seven hundred Ansar and Muhajireen to defend Uthman r.a. including abu Hurriara.If he had   permitted them they would have fought for him.

 Abu Hurraira r.a. requested Uthman r.a. : Today it is good to fight for you.. Uthman responded : I request you to leave... Ibn Abbas was summoned by Uthman r.a. and told to take up the leadership of the Hajis. Ibn Abbas requested : I woudl prefer to fight these men instead of going for Haj.  Uthman commanded him to go for  Hajj and be in cchrage of the hajis.

  Ibn Umar came to Uthman and Uthman said to him : See what these rebellious men say ! abdicate (leave the khilafate ) or we will kill you ! IbnUmar responded : Can they domore harm than kill you ? Utham said ; No...Ibn Umar asked : Do they Posess a garden or a fire for you ? Uthman said : NO..Ibn Umar concluded: Do not remove the shirt of Allah from yourself lest that become a sunna. Whenever a people dislike their Khalif, they will depose him or kill him "

   Abdullah ibn Zubair was thelast one to leave. But he continued to call and spoke to them about Uthman and  Uthman and his virtues.

  The man who killed Uthman was Kinana at Tajubi, an Egyptian general. Before that he had embraced ammar bin Yasir r.a. in Fustat  to try to get him in their group. He was the first to enter thehouseof Uthman with a naphtha torch to burn down the door. He unsheated his sword to put it on the belly of Ammerul Mo'minoon. Uthman's wife Na'ila tried to shield him but Kinana cut off her hand and leaned with sword on Uthman's chest.

  The drop of the blood fell on the Qur'anic verse " Allah will be enough for you against them...Kinana the killer of Uthman was killed in the battle with Amr bn al Aas. another killerAbdul Rahman bin udays was killed by a common bedoiun at Hebron. The moment he admitted that he was among the killers, the beoiun lept over him and killed him

  Na'ila the wife of Uthman r.a. narrated :Uthman r.a. said: I saw a dream with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, Abu Bakr and Umar r.a.a. They said : be patient, You will break fast with us tomorrow...

 Courtsey, original Source : Al Bidaya wal Nihaya by Ibn Kathir... History of at-Tabari...

 Adapted from : Defence against Distaster by Qadhi Abu Bakr ibnul Arabi....

  Presented by Nisaar Nadiadwala...

Taken From

The Sahaba and We....

The Sahaba and We....

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 3:27pm

 He  was the seventh to embrace Islam, within the fourth day of the declaration of Prophet hood. It was Abu Bakr As Siddique who gave him Da'wah . He was  one among the Ashharal Mubashhara.. the ten who got glad tiding of Jannah in this life. He was the last to die among the Ashharal Mubashhara. He was the first to shoot an arrow in the way of Allah. He was the first  to injure an enemy of Allah. He was a fierce warrior and was a body guard of the Messenger of Allah till Allah revealed a verse taking up the responsiblity of protecting His messenger peace be upon him. Seeing his zest and spirit in protecting and fighting for Islam, the messenger of Allah, peaceb e upon him said : My parentsbe sacrifice for you ! That was an amazing honour for Sa'ad bin Abbi Waqqas. Ali r.a. said.. I had never heard the Prophet peace be upon him saying this words of honour to any one esle..

   Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas r.a. was a young man whose entry into Islam sent some shocking waves in the heart of his mother. So she stopped eating and went on a huger strike , as an emotional blackmailing attempt. The fast stretched till hismother got extremly weak. So Sa'ad said : My loving mother ! I love you very much but even if you had 100 souls and each departed in pain of my embracing Islam.. even then  I will not leave my faith.

 Musab bin Umair r.a. too an early Muslim. his m other asked him to leave Islam or leave everything that his muhsrik father had given him. Musab choosed to walk out leaving behind all his luxury. A time was there when he applied scent and  walked past a road.. the place remained fragrant for some time, and people would say " Musab must have passed from here."HIs dresses were imported from Yemen. Both these young men did not mind letting their mothers hate them but prefererd Allah happiness.   

  Stories of early Muslims puts us in shock.These early generation Muslims had an amazing faith. They awere great in charity  and possessed superb stamina of sabr. But the thing that amazes me and should amaze you is "This was their  spirit of Islam at a time when the entire Qur'an was still not  revealed. in the early days when they had only few verses of Quran and a few  Surah, what an impact it had on their lives.

   Today we have all types of Tafaseers, scores of books on Hadith, hundreds of books on seerah, thousands of lectures and seminars on Islam, multiple books on Fiqh, yet some thing is lacking. We dont possess that spirit that the early Muslims manage to get jsut within the revelations of few surahs ! The spirit of Istiqamat to sustain in hardship. Rather faith is our first casulty in crises. Their generosity pulled out all their wealth from their  pockets but we find it hard to give share to sisters  from rightful inheritance. We have  distributed  among ourselves all those qualities that were possesed by the ignorant Makkans before Qur'an was revealed after possessing the entire Qur'an. .. This is something unfortunate.. isnt it?

Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes about Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken From

The Wisdom of Luqman....and The Honour of Being Wise

The Wisdom of Luqman....and The Honour of Being Wise

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 3:56pm

 Luqman was not a Prophet  yet he is honoured in the Qur'an as a wise man. Wisdom is declared to be an extremely good thing and is said to be a gift from Allah. Allah grants wisdome to whom ever He wills.. and he to whom wisdom is granted is granted good in abundance...Surah Baqarah ch 2 verse 269.

  According to many commentators and scholars of Qur'an Luqman was an Ethopian slave and worked as a carpentar. Luqman was not a handsome man, he does not fit into the description of  good looks of modern times, rather he short and black, with a flat nose, says Ibn Kathir. Ibn Jareer reported that Luqman was an Ehtopian slave.

Once his master said to him : Slaughter this sheep for us and being the best two pieces from it..

 So he brought the tongue and heart. .. Time passed and few weeks later the master repeated his order wiht a little difference. Bring two worst pieces of meat.. Even this time Luqman brought the same. His master was surprised. So Luqman clarified.. There is nothing better if these two are good and there is nothing worse if these two are bad...

  This is the wisdom. If you want to go to the root of all wisdom read Surah Luqman from verse no. 12 to 19...and see which wise advice he begins from.. Yaa bunayya !! Bunayya is an afectionate way of addressing your son..do not comit shirk...surely shirk is the biggest atrocity...but before that he takes an advice from Allah and heeds to it..Show gratitude to Allah.. The next session of wisdom is to show gratitude towards our parents....another gem of wisdom which remains wise even today.. ever fresh...The rest of the few  verses go on to tell us about personality development.. I want you to read it  so I  am not typing them here.

  The moral of the story of Luqman is simple but motivating.wisdom is not a monoply of educated, graduates, rich or goodlooking people only. If a carpentar of Eithopia can be wise so can be a farmer or a tailor from India.. Wisdom has nothing to do with good looks.. if a flat nosed slave can be wise , so can be a   dark south Indian or a flat nose Chinese can also be wise..and wisdom come from Allah and it begins by being grateful to Allah and clinging to Touhid, the monotheism of Islam...May Allah make us Wise.. Ameen

Author : NIsaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks  on Islam and Muslims..He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken From

Fulfil your Obligations.. Reminders from Surah al Maidah

Fulfil your Obligations.. Reminders from Surah al Maidah

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 1:07pm

  Surah al Maidah begins with a reminder.. O you who believe! Fulfil your Obligations.... There are different words  for promises in the Qur'an...w'ada..misaaq... oqood...Oaths, promises, vows...The Qur'an commands to fulfil all the obligations as long as they don't clashes with the Shariah. But Allah has a generous way of asking us to fulfil our commands.. He promises us a bigger reward if we fulfil or promises, and He testifies in the Surah al Madiah itself.. W'adallahul Haqq.. The promise of Allah is truthful. How beautifully He reminds us " Recall Allah's grace upon you and His covenant when He bound you when you said" we hear and we obey... This was a promise which we are bounded when we claim to be Muslims

   The Surah goes further and narrates us the story of two communities who too gave a promise to Allah but forgot their lessons and broke theri promises and did quite the inverse of what they had promised. Verse 12 says : Allah did before time took a covenant from the children of Israel...The covenant between Allah and Bani Israel was a two way promise.. Allah said : I am with you if you establish regular salah, give charity, believe in My messengers, honour and assist them and give a beautiful loan to Allah... and I will wipe out your sins and admit you in paradise  ....... the verse number 13 says ...But because the Bani Israel broke their promis we cursed them...

  What were the promises that the Bani Israel broke? Many..  some among them are narrated in the same Surah further. ..They changed the words (of Allah) from the right places... and second they dishonoured their prophet Moses and did not help him while fulfilling the commands of Allah. .. go to verse 20..When Moses peace be upon him said to his people.. O  mypeople ! remember the favour of Allah upon you.....then came the test..they were told to attack the  holy land and enter into it, and not to run away...but the reply was : There are strong warriors in that city.. unless they dont   leave the place we will not enter...Some god fearing people  from Bani israel tried to convince them  that it was a command from Allah along with a promise of help.... but they insulted Allah and His messenger...note their arrogant reply...Go you and your Lord and both of you fight while we sit here and watch!!!!!

  What was the result for breaking the promise to Allah ? They roamed and wandered in the desert for forty years... it means that those youth who refused to fulfil the promise to Allah lost their youth in desert...This is the punishment in the world..

  The next in  line were the Chrisitans..same Surah verse 14 ...Those who call themselves Christians.. we did take a covenant from them, but they forgot a part of the message sent to them..... Note an important historical information in this verse...Allah does not address them as O Chrisitans ! rather He says.. those who call them selves Christians..indicating that Allah did not make them Christians but they themselves transformed their deen.... They took Isa ibn Maryam peace be upon him as God... 

  If you study carefully the first 26 verses of Surah Maida you will realise how important is it to obey Allah as it is a promise to Allah when we claim that we submit to Him. From the first verse  to 26 th verse....Allah reminds the Muslims about his favours upon them...verse no. 7 and verse no. 11..whereas in verse no. 3 He reminds us the biggest favour upon us...This day I have completed yuor Religion for you.. and COMPLETED MY FAVOUR UPON YOU....... Which is the favour ? The completion of Qur'an. That was the last verse to be revealed according to many scholars... so what is the Promise? Read, study, Understand, implement and propogate the Qur'an....Do you? Do we ? Do I ?

  Author :  Nisaar Nadiadwala speaks and writes on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken From

The Revival of Learning Deen...

The Revival of Learning Deen...

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 11:37pm

  For the next fornight I will be participating in Shaikh Asimul Hakeem's workshop on Fiqh. A workshop is different from a plain talk. You can interact and put forth questionns in a workshop. This workshop will record atleast 100 episodes on Fiqh , to be aired on Peace TV later.  I love attending workshops though I myself conduct quite a number of it. Among the most memorable workshop I condcuted was " Marriage Preparatory course " for young men. I liked Shaikh Salem al Amry's Workshop too. Now it is Asim al Hakeem. Both the scholars are seniors and speak a common man's language which make their sessions very lively. When ever I attend sessions of scholars I feel as if I am sitting on their lap and learning from them.

   When I met Asim al Hakeem last week he squeezed me with his Rambo like arms and  shouted affectionately " Nisaar Bhai where are you? I was loooking for you, every where" One of my friend commented, "Shaikh !you should have looked for him on the face Book..." The new crops of scholars are really wonderful in nature, they dont blow any   air of stardom. they are friendly. That is how a good teacher should be. While we were having a cup of tea, Asim al Hakim asked me, " How many wives do you have ?" I was little bashful but he continued, " I have two wives and thirteen daughters !" After I knew that he has  13 daughters, my resepct for Asimul Hakeem went higher and higher.

   During every workshop I get to learn some wonderful things that I  did not know previoiusly. This makes me richer in knowledge. Let me share with you a few things that I have learnt in past two days. A beautiful Hadith regarding tahajjud. When a person wakes up for Tahajjud and recites the Qur'an angels come close to his mouth to catch up the Qur'anic words he is reciting...Shaikh Albani said the Hadith is Sahih. The Shaikh gave us a lesson in fiqh after narrating the hadith, " That is why when ever you wake up for tahajjud you must never miss using miswak...dont just rush to wudho and stand up in Qiyaam...

   Shaikh Asim al Hakeem and shaikh salem al Amry speak American shaded English but both have been educated in Arab. It is a great pleasure to hear the Arabs speaking chaste English. When I was in Oman i heard some of the Arab students posing questions to Dr Zakir Naik and they spoke very good English. Their accent was great and their diction too was awesomme. Consider this : More and more Muslims in America are learning Arabic and more  and more Arabs are getting used to fantastic English. This narrows the gap between Arabs and Non Arabs.

   I am looking forward to learn more fiqh from the workshop as it will be useful for me when I handle question and answer sessions as well. When ever scholars of early times like Imam Bukhari, Ibn Taymiya, visited a city people flocked in thousands to listen hadith and learn fiqh from them. This trend is rising and it is a glad news, because on one hand we have the pain of loosing our lands, our natural wealth, our lives in large numbers and on the other hand we are getting into our days when learning  deen was the prime focus of our community. Dr Bilal Philips' Islamic Online University has thousands of students across the world.  Th al Maghrib speakes and scholars are in demand . Nauman ali khan's al Bayyana is growing faster. This is the real spring in the Muslim nations .It is the knowledge of religion that will help us in solving our problems and subhanallah we have begun it..

Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on Islam and Muslims. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com

Taken From

A Season of Marriages : When Yokes are Garlanded on Our Necks...Happily..

A Season of Marriages : When Yokes are Garlanded on Our Necks...Happily..

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 1:08pm

   A couple of month back a rich Muslim family from a metropolitian south Indian city flew all the way to Mumbai to order a wedding gown for their daugther in law. The wedding is in summer but the gown was ordered 6 months before. Few weeks later they flew back to Mumbai to check if the stitching work was going on properly ! Calculate the expenditure of travelling and add it to the cost of wedding gown. It reached more than a couple of lac Indian rupees

   From November till June, India celebrates weddings. Indian marriages are like the  Big Bang Theory with money  sprinkling in evey direction.  This reminds me the 157 th verse of Surah al-Ar'af where two important obligations of the Prophet peace be upon him are reminded..wa'ud'oo anhu israhoom, wal aglalalti kanat alaihim... And he eases their burden and releases them off their yokes which are upon them.... These two obligations are applicable to our marriages, even for a rich man's marriage who can afford a fattish  and a lavish  entertaining feast.

Though our weddings seem celebrations but they are burdens upon the society. We have tied up the yokes of social obligations on our necks. Those obligations which were removed by the Prophet peace be upon him are now back like  garlands of ritual and customs. Our marriages are just entertainments attached with a string of expenses in gold jewellry, rent and decoration of Halls, ultra expensive wedding gowns, multi cuisine menu studded with varieties of ice creams, faloodas....All these have become a compulsory expendtiture and a status symbol of a marriage. Even a poor man is not exempted from it.

 

  Inorder to curb fornication , Islam made marriages easy and simple, but our marraiges have made fornication easier. It is very difficult to have  toto hijab based waleema, because in every gathering there are males and females guests and relatives who seem to have never heard of hijab and are roaming every whre in the partitioned hall. They are on the stage with the Non-mahram cousin to have a pciture with her in her wedding gown, they are laughing and joking with other Non-mahram cousins and  relatives. Count this too as a yoke on our necks. A girl who is regular in observing hijab finds her self helpless amidst the crowd of unwanted  males in the walima .

   Our weddings have become places and events that  build new walls of  complexes between various classes. A middle class man attending a rich man's wedding returns home planning to organise his own sons'  wedding in a similar manner but out of his budget What the rich men do lavishly the middle class men do it lavishly within his own circle but beyond his capacity.  A Memon refuses to marry a non Memon and so does a Punjabi looks down upon a Bihari, whereas a Sayyed always looks for Sayyed.. Traditions of ignorance which were trampled under his feet by the Prophet peace be upon him are revived by this Ummah in a large number.

   No wonder the yokes are back but this time in the form of garlands so that no body finds it a burden....

Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala writes and speaks on Islam and Muslims.. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com
Taken from

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM by Dr. Zakir Naik

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM 

Dr. Zakir Naik

1. Common Concept of God in Hinduism:

Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.

The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God!

Islam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God.

Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s.

2. Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures:

We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures. 

BHAGAVAD GITA

The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita.

Consider the following verse from the Gita:

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures." [Bhagavad Gita 7:20]

The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God.

UPANISHADS:

The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus.

The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:

"Ekam evadvitiyam"

"He is One only without a second."

        [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1] 1

"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."

"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."

         [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9] 2

"Na tasya pratima asti"

"There is no likeness of Him."

        [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19] 3

The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:

"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."

"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."

        [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4

THE VEDAS

Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.

Yajurveda

The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:

"na tasya pratima asti

"There is no image of Him."

[Yajurveda 32:3]5

"shudhama poapvidham"

"He is bodyless and pure."

[Yajurveda 40:8]6

"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"

"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."

[Yajurveda 40:9]7

Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.

The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:

"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."

[Yajurveda 40:16]8

Atharvaveda

The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:

"Dev maha osi"

"God is verily great"

[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9 

Rigveda

The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:

"Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names."

                          [Rigveda 1:164:46]

The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1.

Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it.

Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda:

"Na tasya Pratima asti"

"There is no image of Him."

              [Yajurveda 32:3]

Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19.

"Na tasya pratima asti"

"There is no likeness of Him"

The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being:

"Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"

"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."

[Rigveda 8:1:1]10

"Devasya samituk parishtutih"

"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."

[Rigveda 5:1:81]11

The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:

"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"

"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."

Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448]

[Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93]

2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745]

[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.]

3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737]

[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]

4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737]

[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]

5[Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377]

6[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]

7[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]

8[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith page 541]9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910]

10[Rigveda Samhita vol. 9, pages 2810 and 2811 by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]

11[Rigveda Samhita vol. 6, pages 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]

The End of Dr Zakir's Article
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PS-
1-Then why Hindus deviated from worship of one formless God to worship of 33 million idols??.............Because they have left their scriptures. 99.99% Hindus have never ever seen any of the Vedas in their whole life so there is no point of reading and following. They just believe blindly what they see their parents doing without thinking.

2-Another major reason is reading lower level books (smriti and epics written by saints as per their understanding) like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagwatgeeta  as a gospel in place of real books Vedas (shruti) .

3- There is no concept of cross checking religious claims with proofs from authentic scriptures, they never cross check whether what they are following/doing (ritual, rites, worship method) has got any basis in authentic scriptures or not. Even if you quote refrence from their book they will refuse and stick to their heresy.

4- No proof is required in Hinduism. You can believe in anything without cross checking its authenticity with Scriptures (like verse number from Vedas). [You can try to test this claim of mine : Just ask any religious question from some different Pandits....u ll never get one uniform answer not only this they will never support their answer with reference from authentic scriptures]

5- Corrupt clergy, generally Hindu clergy themselve don't know abt vedas or even if they know they hide from followers, they allow their followers to follow their ignorance. Sri Sri Ravi Shanker in his debate with Dr Zakir Naik, while answering one question accepted that each and every word said by Dr Zakir about concept of God in Hinduism is 100 %correct but started stated if and but (excuses for idol worshipping).Kindy watch the last video of this page to know more about corrupt clergy, once he was Shankaracharya who used to charge 50 lakh just for conducting one marriage....now  a Muslim. He will explain that while studying Vedas at vidya peeth they have to take an oath that they will not diclose what they learn about vedas to anyone .....let them(general public) busy with Mahabharata, Ramayana only but never tell them the truth.

Similarities Between Islam & Hinduism

 ISN'T THIS STRANGE WORSHIPPING 33 MILLION GODS NAME OF NOT EVEN A SINGLE ONE IS MENTIONED IN VEDAS......BUT THEY DONT ACCEPT N FOLLOW THE ONE WHOSE NAME AHMAD (ie PROPHET MOHAMMED saw) APPEARS AGAIN AND AGAIN IN VEDAS.
WATCH THIS FOR DETAILS WITH REFRENCE. 

Prophet Mohammed (saw) Prophesied in Hindu Scriptures

Islam aur Hindu Dharam mei Samaanta (in Hindi/Urdu)

Ex Shankaracharya Sharing his experience and contradiction between what he learned in vedas n what people are following and his oath "he will nvr tell others about what he learned." Let them away from Vedas n be busy in Ramayana, Bhagwat Geeta only.

M

Mohammed (saw) Prophesied in Bhawgat Geeta by Ahmed Pandit

  

May God grant you guidance.