Islam is the gift from Allah for Muhammad(P.B.U.H) - Easy Islam

Islam: The Next American Religion?

2005-12-09T13:05:00.000+05:00

Islam: The Next American Religion?

The U.S. began as a haven for Christian outcasts. But what religion fits our current zeitgeist? The answer may be Islam.

by Michael Wolfe

Americans tend to think of their country as, at the very least, a nominally Christian nation. Didn't the Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice their Christian religion? Don't Christian values of righteousness under God, and freedom, reinforce America's democratic, capitalist ideals?

True enough. But there's a new religion on the block now, one that fits the current zeitgeist nicely. It's Islam.

Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing religious community in the United States. This is not just because of immigration. More than 50% of America's six million Muslims were born here. Statistics like these imply some basic agreement between core American values and the beliefs that Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look beyond popular stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam are surprised to find themselves on familiar ground.

Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the answer may be yes.

Islam is monotheistic.

Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christians. They also revere the same prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from Abraham, the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and messenger of God, to Jesus not leaving out Noah, Job, or Isaiah along the way. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the 1940s in America. Now, as a nation, we may be transcending it, turning to a more inclusive "Abrahamic" view.

In January, President Bush grouped mosques with churches and synagogues in his inaugural address. A few days later, when he posed for photographers at a meeting of several dozen religious figures, the Shi'ite imam Muhammad Qazwini, of Orange County, Calif., stood directly behind Bush's chair like a presiding angel, dressed in the robes and turban of his south Iraqi youth.

Islam is democratic in spirit.

Islam advocates the right to vote and educate yourself and pursue a profession. The Qur'an, on which Islamic law is based, enjoins Muslims to govern themselves by discussion and consensus. In mosques, there is no particular priestly hierarchy. With Islam, each individual is responsible for the condition of her or his own soul. Everyone stands equal before God.

Americans, who mostly associate Islamic government with a handful of tyrants, may find this independent spirit surprising, supposing that Muslims are somehow predisposed to passive submission. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dictators reigning today in the Middle East are not the result of Islamic principles. They are more a result of global economics and the aftermath of European colonialism. Meanwhile, like everyone else, average Muslims the world over want a larger say in what goes on in the countries where they live. Those in America may actually succeed in it. In this way, America is closer in spirit to Islam than many Arab countries.

Islam contains an attractive mystical tradition.

Mysticism is grounded in the individual search for God. Where better to do that than in America, land of individualists and spiritual seekers? And who might better benefit than Americans from the centuries-long tradition of teachers and students that characterize Islam. Surprising as it may seem, America's best-selling poet du jour is a Muslim mystic named Rumi, the 800-year-old Persian bard and founder of the Mevlevi Path, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. Even book packagers are now rushing him into print to meet and profit from mainstream demand for this visionary. Translators as various as Robert Bly, Coleman Barks, and Kabir and Camille Helminski have produced dozens of books of Rumi's verse and have only begun to bring his enormous output before the English-speaking world. This is a concrete poetry of ecstasy, where physical reality and the longing for God are joined by flashes of metaphor and insight that continue to speak across the centuries.

Islam is egalitarian.

From New York to California, the only houses of worship that are routinely integrated today are the approximately 4,000 Muslim mosques. That is because Islam is predicated on a level playing field, especially when it comes to standing before God. The Pledge of Allegiance (one nation, "under God") and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (all people are "created equal") express themes that are also basic to Islam.

Islam is often viewed as an aggressive faith because of the concept of jihad, but this is actually a misunderstood term. Because Muslims believe that God wants a just world, they tend to be activists, and they emphasize that people are equal before God. These are two reasons why African Americans have been drawn in such large numbers to Islam. They now comprise about one-third of all Muslims in America.

Meanwhile, this egalitarian streak also plays itself out in relations between the sexes. Muhammad (P.B.U.H), Islam's prophet, actually was a reformer in his day. Following the Qur'an, he limited the number of wives a man could have and strongly recommended against polygamy. The Qur'an laid out a set of marriage laws that guarantees married women their family names, their own possessions and capital, the right to agree upon whom they will marry, and the right to initiate divorce. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as increasingly they are today. None of this may seem obvious to most Americans because of cultural overlays that at times make Islam appear to be a repressive faith toward women but if you look more closely, you can see the egalitarian streak preserved in the Qur'an finding expression in contemporary terms. In today's Iran, for example, more women than men attend university, and in recent local elections there, 5,000 women ran for public office.

Islam shares America's new interest in food purity and diet.

Muslims conduct a monthlong fast during the holy month of Ramadan, a practice that many Americans admire and even seek to emulate. I happened to spend quite a bit of time with a non-Muslim friend during Ramadan this year. After a month of being exposed to a practice that brings some annual control to human consumption, my friend let me know, in January, that he was "doing a little Ramadan" of his own. I asked what he meant. "Well, I'm not drinking anything or smoking anything for at least a month, and I'm going off coffee." Given this friend's normal intake of coffee, I could not believe my ears.

Muslims also observe dietary laws that restrict the kind of meat they can eat. These laws require that the permitted, or halal, meat is prepared in a manner that emphasizes cleanliness and a humane treatment of animals. These laws ride on the same trends that have made organic foods so popular.

Islam is tolerant of other faiths.

Like America, Islam has a history of respecting other religions. In Muhammad's (P.B.U.H) day, Christians, Sabeans, and Jews in Muslim lands retained their own courts and enjoyed considerable autonomy. As Islam spread east toward India and China, it came to view Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as valid paths to salvation. As Islam spread north and west, Judaism especially benefited. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after centuries as outcasts, only came about after Muslims took the city in 638. The first thing the Muslims did there was to rescue the Temple Mount, which by then had been turned into a garbage heap.

Today, of course, the long discord between Israel and Palestine has acquired harsh religious overtones. Yet the fact remains that this is a battle for real estate, not a war between two faiths. Islam and Judaism revere the same prophetic lineage, back to Abraham, and no amount of bullets or barbed wire can change that. As The New York Times recently reported, while Muslim/Jewish tensions sometimes flare on university campuses, lately these same students have found ways to forge common links. For one thing, the two religions share similar dietary laws, including ritual slaughter and a prohibition on pork. Joining forces at Dartmouth this fall, the first kosher/halal dining hall is scheduled to open its doors this autumn. That isn't all: They're already planning a joint Thanksgiving dinner, with birds dressed at a nearby farm by a rabbi and an imam. If the American Pilgrims were watching now, they'd be rubbing their eyes with amazement. And, because they came here fleeing religious persecution, they might also understand.

Islam encourages the pursuit of religious freedom.

The Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock is not the world's first story of religious emigration. Muhammad and his little band of 100 followers fled religious persecution, too, from Mecca in the year 622. They only survived by going to Madinah, an oasis a few hundred miles north, where they established a new community based on a religion they could only practice secretly back home. No wonder then that, in our own day, many Muslims have come here as pilgrims from oppression, leaving places like Kashmir, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where being a Muslim may radically shorten your life span. When the 20th century's list of emigrant exiles is added up, it will prove to be heavy with Muslims, that's for sure.

All in all, there seems to be a deep resonance between Islam and the United States. Although one is a world religion and the other is a sovereign nation, both are traditionally very strong on individual responsibility. Like New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die," America is wedded to individual liberty and an ethic based on right action. For a Muslim, spiritual salvation depends on these. This is best expressed in a popular saying: Even when you think God isn't watching you, act as if he is.

Who knows? Perhaps it won't be long now before words like salat (Muslim prayer) and Ramadan join karma and Nirvana in Webster's Dictionary, and Muslims take their place in America's mainstream.

Michael Abdul Majeed Wolfe is the author of books of poetry, fiction, travel, and history. His most recent works are a pair of books from Grove Press on the pilgrimage to Mecca: "The Hajj" (1993), a first-person travel account, and "One Thousand Roads to Mecca" (1997), an anthology of 10 centuries of travelers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage. In April 1997, he hosted a televised account of the Hajj from Mecca for Ted Koppel's "Nightline" on ABC. He is currently at work on a four-hour television documentary on the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).

Extracted 12/09/2005 from http://www.beliefnet.com/story/69/story_6982.html

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Bible Facts from the Encyclopedia

2005-12-08T13:39:00.000+05:00

Bible

[Gr.,=the books], term used since the 4th
cent. to denote the Christian Scriptures and later, by extension, those
of various religious traditions. This article discusses the nature of
religious scripture generally and the Christian Scriptures specifically,
as well as the history of the translation of the Bible into English. For
the composition and the canon of the Hebrew and Christian Bible.

The Nature of Scripture

The sacred writings of the religions of the
world exhibit a variety of genres?prayers, visions, ritual, moral codes,
myths, historical narratives, legends, and revelatory discourses. Such works
have tended to be transmitted orally at first and committed to writing at
a later date. This is true of much of the content of the Christian Bible
as well as of the Hindu Vedas and the Jewish Mishnah.

The sacred character of such writings is
accorded them by communities that have come to value the traditions they
embody. Scripture is also perceived in some sense as heavenly in origin?the
Qur'an and the Book of Mormon are good examples of this. Religious communities
value highly those who interpret their scriptures at both the scholarly
and popular levels. Translation of scripture into the vernacular, though
resisted in some religious traditions, is a common phenomenon. However,
the original Arabic of the Qur'an is regarded as the actual words of God,
and therefore as sacrosanct, and is printed alongside its translation. Translations
can assume the status of inspired text, as did the Greek translation of
the Jewish Scriptures (the Septuagint) in Hellenistic Jewish
and Christian communities. The process of canonizing scripture has been
an extended one in many religious traditions, e.g., the Jewish, Christian,
and Buddhist faiths. Other traditions authorized their respective bodies
of scripture early, e.g., the Sikhs, Muslims, and Manichaeans. Inspiration
is an adjunct of the idea of the divine authority of scripture.

The role of scripture in the life of the
community involves its public recitation or reading at worship, its veneration
as a cult object, and its citation in public prayer and in prescribing appropriate
rituals. In the private devotional life of the faithful, scripture is the
focus of meditation. The use of scripture to function as a charm to ward
off evil or to induce healing is also common. Scripture is also the inspiration
for cultural expression in art, music, and literature.

The Bible as Christian Scripture

The traditional Christian view of the Bible
is that it was written under the guidance of God and that it therefore conveys
truth, either literally or figuratively. In recent times the view of many
Christians has been influenced by the pronouncements of critics; this has
produced a counteraction in the form of fundamentalism,
whose chief emphasis has been on the literal inerrancy of the Bible. The
interpretation of the Bible is one of the traditional points of difference
between Protestants, who believe that the Scriptures speak for themselves,
and Roman Catholics, who hold that the church has ultimate authority in
the interpretation of the Scriptures.

English Translations of the Christian Bible

John Wyclif was one of the
first to project the publication and distribution of the Bible in the vernacular
among the English people, and two translations go by his name. In the 15th
cent. the Lollards did much to extend the use of the Wyclifite translation.
The next name in the history of the English Bible is that of William Tyndale,
whose translation was not from the Latin Vulgate, like Wyclif's, but from
the Hebrew and Greek. Its quality is attested by its use as a basis of the
Authorized Version. Tyndale's New Testament (1525?26) was the first English
translation to be printed. Contemporary with Tyndale was Miles Coverdale.
The second version of Coverdale and the translation of Thomas Matthew closely
followed Tyndale. In 1539 the English crown issued its first official version,
in the name of Henry VIII. This, the Great Bible, was done principally by
Coverdale. The Geneva Bible, or Breeches Bible, was a revision of the Great
Bible, financed and annotated by the Calvinists of Geneva. The Bishops'
Bible (1568) was a recasting of Tyndale.

The greatest of all English translations
was the Authorized Version (AV), or King James Version (KJV), of 1611, made
by a committee of churchmen led by Lancelot Andrewes and
composed of many of the finest scholars in England. The beautiful English
of this version has had great influence and is generally ranked in English
literature with the work of Shakespeare. The phraseology of much of it is
that of Tyndale. The Douay, or Rheims-Douay, Version was published by Roman
Catholic scholars at Reims (New Testament, 1582) and Douai, France (Old
Testament, 1610); it was extensively revised by Richard Challoner.
In the 19th cent. the project of revising the Authorized Version from the
original tongues was undertaken by the Church of England with the cooperation
of nonconformist churches. The results of this revision were the English
Revised Version and the American Revised Version (pub. 1880?90).

Many scholars, either cooperatively or independently,
have translated the Bible into English. In other literatures, also, the
translation of the Bible has had a formative effect on the literary language,
notably in the case of Martin Luther's German translation. Occasionally
translation of the Bible has been the first or the only notable work in
a language, e.g., the translation by Ulfilas into Gothic.

In the 20th cent., American biblical scholars
combined to produce the Revised Standard Version (RSV), published in 1952
and immediately adopted by many churches. A completely new translation,
the work of a joint committee of representatives of all Protestant denominations
in Great Britain, aided by Roman Catholic consultants, was begun in 1946.
The New Testament was first published in 1961, and the entire Bible, called
The New English Bible, appeared in 1970. New Roman Catholic translations
were also undertaken, the Westminster Version in England, and a complete
revision of the Rheims-Douay edition sponsored by the Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine in the United States. The latter, after undergoing
several major revisions and retranslations, was finally published as the
New American Bible (1970). In addition, an English translation of the
French Catholic Bible de Jerusalem (1961) appeared as the Jerusalem Bible
(1966). A revision of the RSV was published in 1989 as the New Revised
Standard Version.

Bibliography

See The Cambridge History of the Bible
(3 vol., 1963?70); F. F. Bruce and E. G. Rupp, ed., Holy Scripture
and Holy Tradition (1968); F. M. Denny and R. L. Taylor, The Holy
Bible in Comparative Perspective (1985); H. M. Orlinsky and R. M.
Bratcher, A History of Bible Translation and the North American Contribution
(1991); J. Miles, God: A Biography (1995); J. L. Kugel, The
Bible as It Was (1997); R. E. Friedman, The Hidden Book of the
Bible (1998); C. Murphy, The Word According to Eve (1998);
D. H. Akensen, Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the
Talmuds (1999); A. Nicolson, God's Secretaries: The Making of the
King James Bible (2003).

Ref: http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Bible

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How to Offer Namaz (Prayer)

2005-12-08T10:13:00.000+05:00

How
to Offer Namaz (Prayer)

Namaz
(Prayer) of Holy Prophet (SAW)

Special
prayers and formulas of Allah-remembrance

Recital
of Holy Qur?aan in Namaz (Prayer)

Points
of views of legist Doctors

Recital
of Holy Qur?aan by the Holy Prophet (SAW) during Fajr

It is related by Hadhrat Abu hurairah (R.A.)
that (once) the Apostle of Allah (Sallallaho alaiho wasallam) was sitting
to one side in the mosque that a man came in and offered his Namaz (Prayer).
Afterwards, he came to the holy Prophet (SAW) and paid his respects
to him. The Holy Prophet (SAW) returned the salutation and remarked:
"Go and offer the Namaz (Prayer) again. You have not said it properly."
He went back and said the prayers again and returned to the Holy Prophet
(SAW), and paid his respects. The Holy Prophet (SAW), returning the
salutation, once again remarked: "Go and offer the Namaz (Prayer) again.
You have not said it properly". After offering Namaz (Prayer) for the
third (and the fourth) time, the man said to the Holy Prophet (SAW):
"Sir, tell me how to offer Namaz (Prayer)". The Holy Prophet (SAW) replied:
"When you decide to offer Namaz (Prayer), first perform Wadhu throughly
and well, then turn to Qibla, then begin the Namaz (Prayer), after uttering
Takbir-i-Tahrima. After it recite some part of the Holy Qur?aan which
you know by heart and can recite easily. (In other Traditions relating
to the same incident it is stated that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) told
the questioner, specifically, to recite Surah-i-Fateha and whatever
he liked, in addition to it). Then after the recital, perform Ruku till
you are still and at ease in Ruku. Then, arise from Ruku till you stand
erect. Then, perform the Sajadah till you are still and at ease in Sajadah.
Then arise till you sit up comfortably. (According to another narrator,
the Holy Prophet (SAW), instead of it, said: "Then arise till you stand
erect). Then, do like that throughout the Namaz (Prayer) (i.e., in every
Ruku, Sujud, Qauma and Jalsa in a calm and collected manner)." (Bukhari
and Muslim)

The incident mentioned above related to Hadhrat
Khallad bin Rafay (RA), the brother of the well-known Sahabi, Hadhrat
Rifa?ah bin Rafay (RA). According to Nassai, he had offered up two Raka?ah
of Namaz (Prayer) in the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) mosque but some other
commentators suggest that these Raka?ah were of Tahiyyat-ul-Masjid which
Hadhrat Khallad (RA), had said rather hurriedly, and upon it, he was
reproached by the Holy Prophet (SAW) and told to offer them up again.

It shows that the Holy Prophet (SAW) did
not plainly tell Hadhrat Khallad bin Rafay (RA), at the first time,
what was wrong with his Namaz (Prayer) and how it was to be said correctly
but at the third or fourth time, and, then, at his own request. It was,
probably, for the simple reason that a lesson imparted in such a manner
suffices for a lifetime and gets talked about among others as well.

The paractical teaching imparted in the above
Tradition is that Namaz (Prayer) should be offered up in a calm and
composed manner and if it is offered hurriedly and wiithout making the
necessary pauses and carrying out the various acts properly it be as
good as unsaid.

Namaz (Prayer) of Holy Prophet (SAW)

Hadhrat Ayeshah (RA) narrated that the Apostle
of Allah (SAW) commenced his Namaz (Prayer) with Takbir and the recital
with Al-Hamdu-Lilaahi Rabbil ?Alameen, and while performing Ruku he
neither raised his head upward nor bent it downwards but kept it in
the middle position (i.e., in line with the waist) and when he from
Rukuh he did not go into Sajadah till he had stood erect, and when he
raised the head from Sajadah he did not perform the second Sajadah until
he had sat upright and he recited At-Tahiyyatu after every two Rak?ah
and at that time, he flattened the left foot under him and kept the
right foot in the upright postion and he forbade Uqbatish Shaitan (sitting
like the Devil), and he, also, forbade that a man sat (in Sajadah) with
his forearms (i.e., parts of arms between elbow and wrist) placed on
the ground like the animals, and he brought the Namaz (Prayer) to an
end by saying Assalmu ?alaikum wa rahmatullah." ----Muslim

Namaz (Prayer) is a worship of a very high
order. For it such forms and postures of Qayam, Qaood, Ruku and Sujood
have been prescribed as constitute the finest marks and expressions
of adoration and humbleness, and all the unbecoming manners of holding
the body that are indicative of vanity, awkwardness or indifference,
or bear a resemblance with the lowly creatures have been, particularly,
forbidden. The Holy Prophet (SAW) has, accordingly, ordered us not to
sit in Sajadah with forearms spread on the ground as the dogs and wolves
do or in the manner which, in this Tradition, has been described as
Uqbatish Shaitan , and, in another, as Aq?aa-al-kalb.

Commentators have differed in their explanation
of the two terms. In our humble view, however, they denote sitting on
the heels with the feet held upright on the toes and since this posture
gives the impression of haste and exaggerated self-es-teem and only
the knees touch the ground and it is the way dogs and wolves and other
wild animals, generally, sit, the Holy Prophet (SAW) took special care
to forbid against sitting like that in Namaz (Prayer).

It is to be remmembered that such a manner
of sitting is disallowed only when one is not constrained to do so owing
to a disease or deformity.

Special prayers and formulas of Allah-remembrance

The inner feelling of earnestness and deep
devotion that runs through the prayer-formulas through which the revere
and adore the Lord during the various parts or acts of Namaz (Prayer)
like Qayam, Ruku and Sujood, and the entreaties he made in them, form
the essence of Namaz (Prayer). The sayings we are now going to discuss
should be read from that point of view and the endeavour should be to
produce the same emotional and spiritual state of feeling because it
is the characteristic legacy of the Holy Prophet (SAW).

Hadhrat Ayeshah (RA) related to us that ?when
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) began (to offer up) Namaz (Prayer) he first
glorified the Lord in these words: Subhaanakal-laa-humma wabihamdika
wa tabarakasmuka wa ta?ala jadduka wa laa-ilaaha ghiruka (O Allah, with
Thy glorification and Thy praise; blessed is Thy Name; and there is
no Allah save thee). Tirmidhi, and Abu Dawood.

Hadhrat Ibn-Taimiyah (RA) writes in Muntaqa
about Hadhrat Abu Bakr (RA), on the authority of Hadhrat Sunnan-i-Saeed
bin Mansur (RA), and about Hazrat Omer (RA) on the authority of Sahih
Muslim, and about Hadhrat Osman (RA) and Hadhrat Abdullah bin Masud
(RA), on the authority of Qutni, that they began their Namaz (Prayer)
with Subhaanakallahumma wa bihamdika... and, then, goes on to observe
that it appears from it that the Holy Prophet (SAW), usually, recited
this short prayer after Takbir in Namaz (Prayer). It, therefore, enjoys
preference over all the other prayers of adoration mentioned in the
traditions with relation to the commencement of the service though there
is no harm in reciting the other proven hymns, as for instance, the
one occurring in the next Tradition related on the authority of Hadhrat
Ali (RA).

Hadhrat Ali (R.A.) related that "when the
Apostle of Allah (SAW) stood up to offer Namaz (Prayer) he recited the
following prayer after Takbir: Waj-jahtu Waj-hil-lazi fataras samawati
wal-arz hanifan wa maana minal-mushrikeena in-nasalaati wa nusuki wa
mahya-yawa ma-matillahii rabbil ?Aalimeena Laa Shareeka Lauhu Wa bizaalika
omirtu wa ana minal muslimeena allahumma antal maliku laa ilaaha anta
anta rabbi wa ana abduka azlamtu mafsi wa-?ataraftu bizanbi faghfirli
zunubi jamee?an in-nahu laayaghfiruzzunuba illa anta wahdin li-absaril
akhlaq laa yahdi liahsaniha illa anta was-rif? annisaiyyi-aha laa yahsnifu
?an-nisajyyi-aha illa anta, labbaika wa sa?adaika was-sharru laisa ilaika
anabika wa ilaika tabarkta wa ta?a-laita astghfiruka wa atoobuilaika
(I have turned away from every direction and set the Creator of the
heavens and the earth, and I am not of those who associate anyone with
Him in allegiance. My worship, and my every religious act, and my life
and my death are for Allah alone, the Lord of the Worlds. To this I
have been commanded and I am of those who obey. O Allah Thou art the
Sovereign and Master. No one is worthy of obedience save Thee. Thou
art my Lord and Owner, and I am Thy slave. I have wronged my soul, and
ruined myself, and I confess my inquities. O Lord! Forgive me my sins;
no one can forgive sins expect Thee. And remove all bad manners and
deplorable morals from my side, and take them away from me. This, too,
no one aside of Thee can do. I am in THY presence the service and Thy
victory. Here I am, O Lord! All the good things, and every kind of piety
and virtue are in Thy hands, and evil has no access towards Thee. Thou
art the Blessed, the Most High, then art my only hope and my face is
turned towards Thee. I beg The forgiveness and unto the do I turn penitent).

This prayer the holy Prophet (SAW) recited
after Takbir and before the commencement (of recitation from the Holy
Qur?aan. Then, as he perform the Ruku?, (after completing the recital),
he used to say: Allahumma laka rak?atu wa bika aamantu wa laka aslamtu
khash?a laka sam?anini wa basari wa mukhkhi wa?azmi wa ?asbi (O Allah!
I am bowed low before Thee and I have believed in Thee and placed myself
I Thy charge. My earns, and my eyes, and my marrow and my bones, and
my muscles, and my nerves are all bent in submission to Thee). Later,
as the Holy Prophet (SAW) raised his head from Rukuo? and stood erect,
he said: "Allahhumma rabbana lakal-hamdu mila-a-as- samawaati wal-arzi
wa ma bainahuma wa mila-a ma shiata min shaiyyan b?adu" (O Allah! Praise
is for Thee alone, such boundless praise as my cover the extensiveness
of the heavens and the earth and fill all the empty space between them).
After it when the Holy Prophet (SAW) performed Sajadah, he used to say
(placing his forehead on the ground): Allahumma laka sajad-tu wa bika
aamantu wa laka aslamtu sajada waj-hiyyallazi khalaqa-hu wa sawwar-tuhwa
shaq-qa sam-?ahu wa basarahu tabarak-allahu ahsanul khaliqeen (O Allah!
I am prostrating myself for Thy sake, and in Thy presence, amd I have
believe in Thee, and I have placed myself in Thy charge. My face is
carrying out genuflexion before the Creator who created it, and gave
it its shape, and its ear, and its eyes out of nothing. \Blessed, indeed,
is the Best of Creators).

In the end, between Attahyyaatu (Also known
as Tashahhud) and Salutation,he would pray: Allahummaghfirli ma qaddamtu
wa ma akhkhartu wa ma anta a?alamu bihi minni antalmuqqdimu wa ant-al
muwakhkhartu la ilaaha illa anta (O Allah! Forgive me all the sins I
have committed earlier or later, and secretly or openly) and whatever
in equity I have been guilty of, and of which Thou art better informed
than me.

"Thou it is who raises to higher rank and
reduces to lower position. Verily, there is no deity save Thee)."--Muslim

From the narratives relating to the Namaz
(Prayer) of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is it clear that it was not the Prophet?s
(SAW) regular practice to recite in Namaz (Prayer) the prayers mentioned
by Hadhrat Ali (RA) in the above report. Perhaps, he did so occasionally,
and most probably,in Tahajjud. Infact, Imam Muslim (RA) has quoted this
Tradition in connection with the traditions appertaining Tahajjud.

Many other prayers were, also, recited by
the Holy Prophet (SAW) in Namaz (Prayer), particularly in Tahajjud which
will be taken up at the approbate time. These possess a special significance
and are charged with rare feeling. The Imam can read them in Fardh Namaz
(Prayer) as well if he is satisfied that it will not go hard with the
Muqtadis, and as far as supererogatory services are concerned, there
is no reason why one should not avail oneself of this marvellous bequest
in them.

Recital of Holy Qur?aan in Namaz (Prayer)

Like Qyam Rukuo? and Sujud, recital of the
Holy Qur?aan, also, is a principal part of Namaz (Prayer), and it is
done during Qayam. It is common knowledge that after Takbir some prayers
in the nature of a hymn are recited. We have just mentioned two of them
from the Traditions. It is followed by the recital of the first surah
or opening chapter of the Holy Qur?aan, i.e., Surah-i-Fateha, which
is a priceless gem of adoration and constains a most inspiring and comprehensive
description of the Attributes of Allah. Along with the rejection and
repudiation of every form of Polytheism there is, in it, an emphatic
affirmation of Divine Oneness and an earnest prayer for the Straight
Path, i.e., for guidance towards Faith and the Shari?ah. Anyhow, first
of all, this Surah is recited without which there can be no Namaz (Prayer).
After it the worshipper is required to recite any other Surah or a part
of it. Whatever passage of the Holy Qur?aan he recites will, invariably,
impart a message of guidance to him.

Either it will be way of glorification of
the Lord and exposition of His Immaculate attributes or dealing with
the Last Day, Heaven and Hell, and Divine reward and punishment or conveying
a command for practical life or narrating an event that has a religious
or moral significance. It will thus, be a ready answer to the worship?s
entreaty for guidance. In the second Rak?aah, too, another Surah or
some verses of it will be recited after Surah-i-Fateha but if the service
consists of three of four Rak?ah, but it is not necessary to recite
some other Surah with it.

Now, the Traditons:

It is relatedd by Hadhrat Abu Huraira (RA)
that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "There can be no Namaz (Prayer)
without the recital of the Holy Qur?aan," Proceeding, Hadhrat Abu Huraira
remarks on his own that "we recited the Holy Qur?aan." with a loud voice
in the prayer service in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) recited it with
a loud voice and silently in the prayer-services in which the Holy Prophet
)SAW) recited it sliently." Muslim

It is recited by Hadhrat Abadah bin Samit
(SAW) that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "Whoever did not recite
Surah-i-Fateha in Namaz (Prayer) did not offer Namaz (Prayer) at all."
--Bukhari and Muslim

In another version of the above Tradition,
quoted, also, in Sahih Muslim, it is stated that "whoever did not recite
Surah-i-Fateha and something else after it did not offer Namaz (Prayer)
at all." (Bukhari and Muslim)

It shows that while Surah-Fateha is an essential
constituent to Namaz (Prayer) it is, also, necessary to recite something
else from the Holy Qur?aan after it, although one is at liberty to make
one?s choice.

Points of views of legist Doctors

Hadhrat Imam Shafa?i (Rahmatullahe alaih)
and some other leading legist-doctors have inferred from the foregoing
and few other similar Traditions that it is obligatory to recite Surah-i-Fateha
in Namaz (Prayer), on matter whether one is offering it alone or in
congregation leading the service or participating in it as a Muqtadi,
and saying it with a loud voice or silently. Imam Maalke (Rahmatullahe
alaih) and Imam Ahmed Hambali (Rahmatullahe alaih), on the other hand,
hold that if the worshippers be a Muqtadi and Namaz (Prayer) is celebrated
along, the recital of Surah-i-Fateha by the Imam will suffice for the
Muqtadis. In this case the Muqtadi should abstain from doing the recitation.
But in all other circumstances one must recite Surah-i-Fateha in Namaz
(Prayer).

The same view is supported by Hadhrat Imam
Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullah alaih) who, further, believes that the recital
by the Imam will do for the Muqtadis as well in Raka?at that are offered
up sliently.

It is related by Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (RA)
that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) said: "The Imam has been appointed for
no other reason than that the Muqtadis follow him. Thus, say Allah-o-Akbar,
and listen in silence when he does the recitation." Abu Dawood, Nassai
and Ibn-i-Maja

Some other Ashat too have related in the
same words, the advice of the Holy Prophet (SAW) about listening quietly
when the Imam does the recitation. For instance, in the course of a
long Tradition, quoted in Sahih Muslim, on the authority of Hadhrat
Abu Musa Ash?ari (RA), the aforementioned instruction is given in identical
words. The Holy Prophet?s (SAW) exhortation, evidently, is based upon
the Qur?aanic injunction that when the have faith in their sincerity
and to believe that whatever conclusion they have arrived at in the
light of the Holy Qur?aan and the Sunnah and the coduct of the Ashab,
are in good faith and none of them is guilty of falsehood or distortion.
It is not, at all, opposed or antithetical to aligning oneself with
a particular school of jurisprudence. The path of justice and moderation
pursued by Hadhrat Shah Waliullah (Rahmatullah alih) in Hujjatullah
-i-Baligha is, in our view, the best and the wisest course in the current
circumstance through which unity can be brought back into the disintegrated
ranks of the Muslim.)

Recital of Holy Qur?aan by the Holy Prophet (SAW)
during Fajr

Hadhrat Jabir bin Samura (RA) narrated that
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) recited Surah-i-Kaaf and other Surahs like
it in the Namaz (Prayer) used to be light. --Muslim

Commentators have interprated the concluding
part of the above Tradition in two ways: one that the Holy Prophet?s
(SAW) prayers, i.e., those of Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha used to be
lighter, and in them, he recited less of the Holy Qura?an compared Fajr,
and the other that the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) prayers were usually long
in the earlier days of Islam when the Ashab were few in number and those
who formed the congregation behind him were Muslims of the highest caliber,
but letter when the number of worshipers had increased and they included
Believers of the second and third grades as well, the Holy Prophet (SAW)
began to celebrate comparatively shorter services and the more the worshipers,
the greater was the possibility of there being among them some weak
sick and faint-hearted people for whom a long service could be tiresome.

Both the interpretations are correct from
the factual point of view, but, to us, the latter apperars to be more
convincing.

It is related on the authority of Hadhrat
?Amr bin Hurais (RA) that he heard the Apostle of Allah (SAW) reciting
Wal-ley-i-Iza-? as-asa (i.e., Surah-i-Takvir) in the Namaz (Prayer)
of Fajr. --Muslim

Hadhrat Ma?az bin Abdullah elJuhani (RA)
related that a member of the tribe of Juhama told him that once he heard
the Apostle of Allah (SAW) reciting Iza zulzilat in both the Raka?at
of the morning service. (The narrator, then added that) he did not know
whether the Holy Prophet (SAW) did so deliberately or inadvertently.
--Abu Dawood

The usual pration of the Holy Prophet (SAW)
was to recite different Surahs in the two Raka?at of a service. So when
he, once recited the Surah of Iza zulzilat in both the Raka?at, the
Sahabi, on whose authority the above Traditon has been related, felt
uncertain If the Holy Prophet (SAW) had done so unintentionally or intentionally
in order to indicate that it, too, was permissible.

Hadhrat Ibn-i-Abbas (RA) related that hte
Apostle of Allah (SAW) used to recite the verses, Qooloo aamanna billahi
wa ma unzila ilaina.. of Surah-i-Baqara, and the verses, Qul yaa aiyyuhal
Kitaabi ta? aloo ilaa Kalimatin Sawaa-in baina-nana wa bainakum... of
Surah-i-Imraan (respectively) in the two Raka?at of Fajr. ?Muslim It
is related by Hadhrat Uqba bin Aamir (RA) that "in a journey I was going
along on foot, holding the reins of the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) camel in
hand. During the gonrny of the Holy Prophet?s (SAW) said to me: ?Uqba,
may I teach you two of the best Surahs of the Holy Qur?aan?? After it,
he taught (me) the Surahs of Qul aoozn be rabble falaga and Qul ?aoozu
be rabbin naas. He, then felt that I had not been very happy with the
choice of the two Surahs. So, when the Holy Propeht (SAW) dismounted
for the Fajr service, he let the prayers by recitig both the surahs.
At the end of the Service he turned towards me and said: Uqba! What
did you see and how did you feel??? --Musnadi-i-Ahmad, Abu Dawood and
Nassai.

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Ref: http://www.binoria.org/

Chronology of Events in the Life of Muhammad (P.B.U.H)

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Chronology of Events in the Life of Muhammad (P.B.U.H)

Brief Description of the Event

Approximate Date
Age of the Holy Prophet according
to Lunar Calendar

Approximate Gregorian and Hijra dates BH=Before Hijra AH=After Hijra

The Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him, born an orphan His father Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, had died a few months before the birth of his son.

0 years

9 or 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 52 or 53 BH April 570 or 571 AD


Hadrat Halima Sadiyya, may Allah be pleased with her, appointed wet nurse.	8 days


Return to Mecca under the care of his mother	6 Years	46 BH 577 AD


Mother, Hadrat Amina, may Allah be pleased with her, passes away	6 Years	46 BH 577 AD


Grandfather, Hadrat Abdul-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, died	8 Years	44 BH 579 AD


First visit to Syria with a trading caravan 12 years 40 BH, 583 AD	12 Years	40 BH 583 AD


Pledge of Fudul to help the needy and the oppressed	15 Years	37 BH 586 AD


Second journey to Syria for trade as an agent of Hadrat Khadija, may Allah be pleased with her	25 Years	28 BH 595 AD


Marriage with Hadrat Khadija, may Allah be pleased with her	25 Years	28 BH 595 AD


Birth of a son, Hadrat Qasim (may Allah be pleased with him)	28 Years	25 BH 598 AD


Birth of his daughter, Hadrat Zainab, may Allah be pleased with her	30 Years	23 BH 600 AD


Birth of his daughter, Hadrat Ruqayya, may Allah be pleased with her	33 Years	20 BH 603 AD


Birth of his daughter, Hadrat Um-e-Kalthum, may Allah be pleased with her	34 years	19 BH 604 AD


Renovation of Ka'aba and the placement of Hajr-e-Aswad (Black Stone)	35 years	18 BH 605 AD


Birth of his daughter, Hadrat Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her	35 years	18 BH605 AD


Hadrat Jibrail bought the First Revelation in the Cave of Hira	40 Year	12 BH 610 AD


Revelation of the Holy Quran continues, Ministry of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is established. Hadrat Khadija (the wife), Hadrat Abu Bakr (the best friend), Hadrat Ali (the dearest cousin) and Hadrat Zaid (a freed slave and adopted son), may Allah be pleased with them all, accept Islam	40 Years 6 months	Friday18 Ramadan 12 BH 14 August 610 AD


Open invitation to the people of Mecca to join Islam under Allah's command	43 Years	9 BH 614 AD


A group of Muslims emigrates to Abyssinia	46 Years	7 BH 615 AD


Blockade of Shi'b Abi-Talib	46 Years	7 BH 30 September 615 AD


Hadrat Hamza (paternal uncle) and Hadrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, accept Islam	46 Years	6 BH 616 AD


Hadrat Abu Talib, (beloved uncle and guardian) and only a few days later, Hadrat Khadija, the most beloved wife, may Allah be pleased with them, passed away	49 Years	Ramadan 3 BH January 619 AD


Marriage with Hadrat Sau'da, may Allah be pleased with her	49 Years	3 BH 619 AD


Marriage with Hadrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her	49 Years	3 BH 619 AD


Journey to Ta'if, about 40 miles from Mecca, for calling the citizens of Ta'if to Islam	49 Years	3 BH 619 AD


Journey of Mi'raj. Five daily prayers made obligatory for Muslims	50 Years	27 Rajab 2 BH 8 March 620 AD


Deputation from Medina accepts Islam	50 Years	2 BH 620 AD


First Pledge of 'Aq'ba'	52 Years	Dhul Haj, 1 BH 621 AD


Second Pledge of 'Aq'ba	52 Years	3 months BH June 622 AD


Hijra (migration) from Mecca to the cave of Thaur	52 Years	Friday 27 Safar 10 September 622


Emigration to Medina begins	52 Years	Monday 1 Rabi-ul-Awwal 13 September 622 AD


Arrival at Medina after the first Friday Prayer at Quba's Mosque	53 Years	12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1st year AH 24 September 622 AD


Construction of the Holy Prophet's Mosque at Medina. Hadrat Bilal's call for Prayer (Adhan)	53 Years	1st year AH 622 AD


Brotherhood pacts between Ansar (Muslims from Medina) and Muhajirin (immigrants from Mecca)	53 Years	1st year AH 622 AD


Treaty with Jews of Medina	53 Years	1st year AH


Permission to fight in self-defense is granted by Allah	53 Years	12 Safar 2 AH 14 August 623 AD


Ghazwa (Battle) of Waddan	53 Years	29 Safar 2 AH 31 August 623


Ghazwa (Battle) of Safwan	54 Years	2 AH 623 AD


Ghazwa (Battle) Dul-'Ashir	54 Years	2 AH 623 AD


Hadrat Salman Farsi, may Allah be pleased with him, accepts Islam	54 Years	2 AH 624 AD


Revelation and change of Qibla (direction to face for Formal Prayers, Salat) towards Ka'ba Fasting in the month of Ramadan becomes obligatory	54 Years	Sha'abn 2 AH February 624 A


Ghazwa (Battle) of Badr	54 Years	12-17 Ramadan 2 AH March 8-13, 624 AD


Ghazwa (Battle) of Bani Salim	54 Years	25 Ramadan 2 AH 21 March 524 AD

<hr align="center" wi

Allah

2005-11-26T17:39:00.000+05:00

Allah, I love Allah.

Allah and Quran

2005-11-21T18:22:00.000+05:00

Allah
and the Quran

All of Allah’s words,
which the Angel Gabriel brought to the Prophet Muhammad, are written
down in a book. This book is called the Quran. In the Quran, we
can read all that Allah says to us and to all mankind.

In the Quran, we can find
stories of many other prophets, for Allah always sent prophets
to mankind so that they would worship Him alone and do good. That
is why there were many prophets before Muhammad.

We can also find many other
things in the Quran. All that we as Muslims believe, and should
do, is written there. when we know what is written in the Quran
and follow it, we become good Muslims.

All that we know about Allah
is what He Himself has told us. Allah told the Angel Gabriel to
speak to Muhammad, and Muhammad told the people what the Angel
Gabriel had said to him.

Allah is the only God. There
is no god apart from Allah. That means, only Allah could have
made mankind and the earth, moon, sun and stars. Allah is the
only One who created all these.

Of course, you know that
many things on earth just work by themselves. For example, when
you put seeds in the earth and wait a few months, plants will
grow out of them. To put the seeds in the earth is easy, but there
is an important question you must ask yourself: Where do we get
the earth and from where do we take the seeds? You may say that
the seeds can be taken from other plants, and you would be right.
But just think: those other plants also need earth to grow in,
so where does the earth come from?

Earth is made out of fine
particles of sand, minerals, salts and other materials. Where
can we obtain the sand and other things from? Plants also need
water to grow, so where does it come from? The plants need sunshine
in order to shoot out from the ground. Where do we get sunshine
from? We also need the day and night so that we can count how
many days it takes for the plants to grow.

As we have already said,
it is easy to put the seeds in the earth and wait till the plants
grow out of it, but nobody can make all the things that are needed
to make it work. No man can make earth and air, light and water,
or the day and the night. It is exactly the same with all other
things.

For instance, man can build
houses. He needs stones to do this, but he cannot make the stones
himself. Man can also build cars and aeroplanes. To do this he
also needs, among other things, iron and rubber. Again, he cannot
make iron and rubber himself. Iron can be found in some rocks,
and when these rocks are made hot, the iron turns to fluid and
flows out of them. Rubber can be found in certain trees. When
the bark of these trees is cut, liquid rubber juice flows out.
But the rocks in which the iron is found and the trees from which
rubber flows were not made by man. Despite all his cleverness
and skill, man is not able to do these things. This means that
when man makes cars or aeroplanes or manufactures anything else,
he is using materials which are already there on earth. Had they
not been there ready to be used, man could not have made those
cars, aeroplanes and other things. Everything man uses to make
something has been created by Allah. Allah has made all these
things which man needs so that people are able to live, build
houses, plant crops and rear animals for food and clothing and
even make cars and aeroplanes. Without Allah, man would not be
able to do anything, for the simple reason that but for the will
of Allah, man would not exist. It is Allah Who has created the
earth, air, sun, water and the many other things which man needs
in order to live. Without these, man cannot live and that means
man could not exist on earth. It is Allah Who created man and
He Who keeps him alive. Everything is from Allah. That is why
we say: There is no god apart from Allah.

It is Allah Who has created
everything. Allah has also told man what he should do, because
that is good for him. Allah sent prophets to speak to man. Man
should always think of Allah and be grateful to Him, and obey
the commands he has given through His prophets.
Easy Islam

What is Islam?

2004-12-30T12:15:00.000+05:00

Islam is the best religion in the world. It teaches us, how to live.

Islam is the gift from Allah for Muhammad(P.B.U.H) - Easy Islam

Islam: The Next American Religion?

Bible Facts from the Encyclopedia

Bible

How to Offer Namaz (Prayer)

Namaz (Prayer) of Holy Prophet (SAW)

Special prayers and formulas of Allah-remembrance

Recital of Holy Qur?aan in Namaz (Prayer)

Points of views of legist Doctors

Recital of Holy Qur?aan by the Holy Prophet (SAW) during Fajr

Chronology of Events in the Life of Muhammad (P.B.U.H)

Allah

Allah and Quran

What is Islam?

Recital of Holy Qur?aan by the Holy Prophet (SAW)
during Fajr