Al-Fatiha is the first chapter of the Quran. It is known as one of the treasures of paradise. Its is essential to be recited in every unit prayer.
The word comes from the Arabic word to open as this opens the Quran.
It is usually asked to be recited as a supplication, sometimes after a religious lecture or lesson.
The text is as follows;
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Master of the Day of Judgement,
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Show us the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray"
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Does God favour sinners?
I'll give you a general answer.
Muslims believe that God/Allah is not like his creation and therefore doesn't need anything whilst the whole of creation needs God.
Sometimes if people seem to get away with things on this earth that because the punishment is going to given to them on the day of judgement. This is the day of justice and this is day that anyone who did wrong will be paid back his evil and given the good of his works also.
Even if people don't believe that there will be a day of reckoning that even the smallest good and the smallest evil will be repaid to the doer.
There is no doubt in this
Muslims believe that God/Allah is not like his creation and therefore doesn't need anything whilst the whole of creation needs God.
Sometimes if people seem to get away with things on this earth that because the punishment is going to given to them on the day of judgement. This is the day of justice and this is day that anyone who did wrong will be paid back his evil and given the good of his works also.
Even if people don't believe that there will be a day of reckoning that even the smallest good and the smallest evil will be repaid to the doer.
There is no doubt in this
Muslims seem to take their religion more seriously than Christians - what response can christians give to that?
Thanks for answering this question.
You see Muslims believe that Islam is the truth and some are happy to lay down their lives for this cause.
I am of course talking about in normal circumstances killing innocent people is condemned in Islam.
Also Muslims are encouraged to follow the everlasting example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This helps us put into practice the holy text of the Muslims the Quran.
So the religion and its rules are made clear for us and for us to change them in itself is almost heresy.
The point that you are trying to make but stop short of, is that Islam must be the truth otherwise why would someone refuse to compromise on his beliefs. The way in Islam is clear, really clear.
If you would like to ask me anything please email me. I really liked your question and your honesty.
You see Muslims believe that Islam is the truth and some are happy to lay down their lives for this cause.
I am of course talking about in normal circumstances killing innocent people is condemned in Islam.
Also Muslims are encouraged to follow the everlasting example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This helps us put into practice the holy text of the Muslims the Quran.
So the religion and its rules are made clear for us and for us to change them in itself is almost heresy.
The point that you are trying to make but stop short of, is that Islam must be the truth otherwise why would someone refuse to compromise on his beliefs. The way in Islam is clear, really clear.
If you would like to ask me anything please email me. I really liked your question and your honesty.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Human inspiration
There are four types of inspiration man can receive
1. From God
2. Angelic
3. Satanic
4. from the self
one and two encourage good deeds like giving charity, helping people etc.
three comes of a sudden and then leaves all of a sudden, and its always bad.
Four is the worst and it will be constant, this is the one you have to care of.
1. From God
2. Angelic
3. Satanic
4. from the self
one and two encourage good deeds like giving charity, helping people etc.
three comes of a sudden and then leaves all of a sudden, and its always bad.
Four is the worst and it will be constant, this is the one you have to care of.
Judgement day
On the day people will be brought into account, everything they said and did will be brought forward. People will either enter heaven or hell.
We will be brought back to life and then proceed to the pool of the Prophet we believed in, where we will be given a drink from that pool. Then we will be taken to a place that looks like the earth but isn't, it resembles a large plain.
Then Humanity will stand for thousand of years, the sun will be brought over our heads.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) will intercede for the believers, the Muslims.
With God permission he will help the Muslims on that day. Some Muslims who did bad things will enter hell for a time but will be eventually brought out. Purified of their sins and then will enter heaven.
The angels at the gates of heaven will say peace to the one who enter it. The angels who at the gates of hell will say to people who enter it, Did a Warner come to you? They will say yes but we denied them.
After this a ram will be brought and it will symbolise death and after it is killed, there will be a shout, there will be no more death, the people who are in heaven and hell are there forever.
I haven't given you all the details but i have given you a broad outline. Any questions, drop me a line.
We will be brought back to life and then proceed to the pool of the Prophet we believed in, where we will be given a drink from that pool. Then we will be taken to a place that looks like the earth but isn't, it resembles a large plain.
Then Humanity will stand for thousand of years, the sun will be brought over our heads.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) will intercede for the believers, the Muslims.
With God permission he will help the Muslims on that day. Some Muslims who did bad things will enter hell for a time but will be eventually brought out. Purified of their sins and then will enter heaven.
The angels at the gates of heaven will say peace to the one who enter it. The angels who at the gates of hell will say to people who enter it, Did a Warner come to you? They will say yes but we denied them.
After this a ram will be brought and it will symbolise death and after it is killed, there will be a shout, there will be no more death, the people who are in heaven and hell are there forever.
I haven't given you all the details but i have given you a broad outline. Any questions, drop me a line.
Human nature or Fitra
Fitra According to the Quran, the original state in which humans are created by God. In the Quran, God is called Fatir, that is, creator of heaven and earth, and the verb fatara is also used to mean "to create." However, the commonly accepted meaning of the word derives from the traditions of Muhammad, according to which God creates children according to fitra, and their parents later make them Jews or Christians. As such, every child is born a Muslim. The concept of fitra was commonly invoked by Sufis, who often viewed their own quest as the means for restoring the original harmony of creation.
Salvation is believe in God and the last messenger.
Salvation is believe in God and the last messenger.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Why don't Muslims do more to stop terrorism?
There are things being done at a local level but there are things that must be considered. There is a particular radical group that have very little access to local mosques but are in every university. This is not all one way, a certain London cleric was known to be delivering fire-brand sermons, The Mi5 knew this, interviewed him and told him as long there is not blood on the streets they wouldn't do anything to him.
Most of these radical clerics are coming from the Wahhabi school of thought which is being funded by petrol dollars. The majority cannot compete with free literature.
This is not clear cut by any means, at the same time other countries must not facilitate radical thought by using the media humiliate Muslims. If a country want to end terrorism its done by not participating in it, in the first place.
Most of these radical clerics are coming from the Wahhabi school of thought which is being funded by petrol dollars. The majority cannot compete with free literature.
This is not clear cut by any means, at the same time other countries must not facilitate radical thought by using the media humiliate Muslims. If a country want to end terrorism its done by not participating in it, in the first place.
More Miracles
Thats a good point and here is another one. A tradition narrated from him
During the first 40 days of gestation, all the body parts and organs are completely, though consecutively formed. We can notice in Figure 2.1 that the organs begin to be formed, assembled, and the fetus appears twisted. The Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), has informed us in a hadeeth that: In every one of you, all components of your creation are gathered together in your mothers womb by 40 days. (Narrated in Saheeh Muslim and Al-Bukhaari).
In another Hadeeth, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, O Lord, is it male or female? and your Lord decides what he wishes. (Muslim).
Professor Simpson studied these two hadeeths extensively, noting that the first 40 days constitute a clearly distinguishable stage of embryo genesis. He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those hadeeths. Then during one of the conferences which he attended he gave the following opinion: "So that the two hadeeths that have been noted can provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before 40 days. Again, the point had been made repeatedly by other speakers this morning that these hadeeths could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of their recording."
Professor Simpson says that religion can successfully guide the pursuit of knowledge. The West, as we said, has rejected this. Here is an American scientist who says that religion, namely Islam, can achieve this with success. By analogy, if you go to a factory and have with you the operation manual of the factory, then you will be able to easily understand the kind of operation that goes on in that factory, thanks to that manual by the factory designer and builder. If you do not have this manual with you, chances are much less that you will have good understanding of the various processes there.
Professor Simpson said: "It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exist statements in the Qur'an shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from Allah."
This is true. Certainly, the Muslims can lead the way in the pursuit of knowledge and that they can accord knowledge in its proper status. Moreover, Muslims know how to use knowledge as a proof of the existence of Allah, May Allah be Exalted and Glorified, and to affirm the Messenger ship of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
What else do you need?
Soon will we show them our signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord does witness all things? (Qur'an 41:53).
During the first 40 days of gestation, all the body parts and organs are completely, though consecutively formed. We can notice in Figure 2.1 that the organs begin to be formed, assembled, and the fetus appears twisted. The Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), has informed us in a hadeeth that: In every one of you, all components of your creation are gathered together in your mothers womb by 40 days. (Narrated in Saheeh Muslim and Al-Bukhaari).
In another Hadeeth, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, O Lord, is it male or female? and your Lord decides what he wishes. (Muslim).
Professor Simpson studied these two hadeeths extensively, noting that the first 40 days constitute a clearly distinguishable stage of embryo genesis. He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those hadeeths. Then during one of the conferences which he attended he gave the following opinion: "So that the two hadeeths that have been noted can provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before 40 days. Again, the point had been made repeatedly by other speakers this morning that these hadeeths could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of their recording."
Professor Simpson says that religion can successfully guide the pursuit of knowledge. The West, as we said, has rejected this. Here is an American scientist who says that religion, namely Islam, can achieve this with success. By analogy, if you go to a factory and have with you the operation manual of the factory, then you will be able to easily understand the kind of operation that goes on in that factory, thanks to that manual by the factory designer and builder. If you do not have this manual with you, chances are much less that you will have good understanding of the various processes there.
Professor Simpson said: "It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exist statements in the Qur'an shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from Allah."
This is true. Certainly, the Muslims can lead the way in the pursuit of knowledge and that they can accord knowledge in its proper status. Moreover, Muslims know how to use knowledge as a proof of the existence of Allah, May Allah be Exalted and Glorified, and to affirm the Messenger ship of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
What else do you need?
Soon will we show them our signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord does witness all things? (Qur'an 41:53).
Shia and Sunni
The only real difference was the succession of leadership, to who must it go. The Sunni believe that it went to the correct people, whilst the Shia said it should've been the Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings of God be upon him) cousin, Ali.
This is where the initial difference stems, later they developed other beliefs/theology and separated into different sects. It must be noted that the Shia did start off as a political group at first then changed from there.
This is where the initial difference stems, later they developed other beliefs/theology and separated into different sects. It must be noted that the Shia did start off as a political group at first then changed from there.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Why can't we question God?
Would you question a king who has looked after you all your life and hopes that you will believe in him, so he can take you to heaven? Would you want to question him?
After all the king knows what you are doing, all the time.
After all the king knows what you are doing, all the time.
Is satan an angel?
This puzzled me for a while.
As far as Islam goes the dominate opinion is that he was a Jinn (ghost-like/demon) who because of his piety was with the Angels. When he refused to bow down to Adam (upon him peace), he was expelled from Heaven, to earth.
There is another opinion that he was an angel but that doesn't make sense for me. As an angel has no other purpose but to obey God, it therefore cannot disobey God. He has to be from the Jinn to have this ability to disobey like Humans do.
So for me he is a jinn not an angel.
As far as Islam goes the dominate opinion is that he was a Jinn (ghost-like/demon) who because of his piety was with the Angels. When he refused to bow down to Adam (upon him peace), he was expelled from Heaven, to earth.
There is another opinion that he was an angel but that doesn't make sense for me. As an angel has no other purpose but to obey God, it therefore cannot disobey God. He has to be from the Jinn to have this ability to disobey like Humans do.
So for me he is a jinn not an angel.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
More proof of the Last Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Many people take from things what they bring, others take a pieces out and call it a whole.
This is a case of stolen treasure, the owner was murdered and then the treasure was hidden. Now you can follow the story and it makes sense, doesn't it.
So in this occurred in his capacity as a ruler and he had to uphold the law.
I would like to say that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) lived in mud brick for his entire life.
He went for months having no food except dates and water, the dates here are the cheapest dates, not even them sometimes.
He had no inheritance left to his children, he used to sleep on the floor with a bed made from palm fibres.
He had sometimes two, other times one set of clothing, for most of his life. He was not interested in money, ever.
His house lacked even the most basic furniture, in fact he had some cushions for guests to sit on, that's it.
He had a cup that he fixed himself because he didn't have the money to afford a new one.
So you tell me, from all what I have posted here, does it look like he wanted money? It doesn't, does it and any reasonable minded person can see that. If you want to read about his life read the book that you can find in the link below.
He was once offered money and property if he stopped preaching Islam, he refused both.
This is a case of stolen treasure, the owner was murdered and then the treasure was hidden. Now you can follow the story and it makes sense, doesn't it.
So in this occurred in his capacity as a ruler and he had to uphold the law.
I would like to say that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) lived in mud brick for his entire life.
He went for months having no food except dates and water, the dates here are the cheapest dates, not even them sometimes.
He had no inheritance left to his children, he used to sleep on the floor with a bed made from palm fibres.
He had sometimes two, other times one set of clothing, for most of his life. He was not interested in money, ever.
His house lacked even the most basic furniture, in fact he had some cushions for guests to sit on, that's it.
He had a cup that he fixed himself because he didn't have the money to afford a new one.
So you tell me, from all what I have posted here, does it look like he wanted money? It doesn't, does it and any reasonable minded person can see that. If you want to read about his life read the book that you can find in the link below.
He was once offered money and property if he stopped preaching Islam, he refused both.
Repentance
The Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him & give him peace) said, “The one who repents from sin is like the one who never sinned.”
As long as a muslim asks for forgiveness then he/she is in a good condition. Even disliking the sin is a good sign, a person should try to remove themselves from that situtation or circumstance, if they are able to.
A Muslim flies with two wings one of hope and one of fear, we fear not to commit sins and we hope to be forgiven if we do.
The conditions for repentance are:
1. Leaving the sin;
2. Remorse over having committed the sin;
3. Resolve never to return to the sin;
4. Return the rights or property one wrongly took - this depends on circumstances.
As long as a muslim asks for forgiveness then he/she is in a good condition. Even disliking the sin is a good sign, a person should try to remove themselves from that situtation or circumstance, if they are able to.
A Muslim flies with two wings one of hope and one of fear, we fear not to commit sins and we hope to be forgiven if we do.
The conditions for repentance are:
1. Leaving the sin;
2. Remorse over having committed the sin;
3. Resolve never to return to the sin;
4. Return the rights or property one wrongly took - this depends on circumstances.
The Fate of Non-Muslims in the Afterlife
You have an excellent point.
What about the people who died before him?
This is the Islamic version
Sheikh Nuh Keller dealt with this in the attached article [from:
http://www.masud.co.uk, a brilliant site], a refutation of the idea of the 'universal validity of all religions,' saying:
5. The Fate of Non-Muslims in the Afterlife
The reason that contemporary writers affected by the writings of Gunon and Schuon, such as Chittick and Gai Eaton (or such as Martin Lings, Titus Burckhardt etc.), seem to want the universal validity of all religions at any price, even to the extent of attributing it to masters like Muhyiddin ibn al-`Arabi ("in principle") or Emir `Abd al-Qadir ("he protected the Christians against massacre by taking them into his own home because he understood" [as if other scholars considered massacring them halal]) would seem to be the emotive impalatability of followers of other religions going to hell. Where is the mercy? Would Allah put someone in the hellfire merely for worshipping in another religion besides Islam? This question is answered by traditional Islam according to two possibilities:
(1) There are some peoples who have not been reached by the message of the Prophet of Islam (Allah bless him and give him peace) that we must worship the One God alone, associating nothing else with Him. Such people are innocent, and will not be punished no matter what they do. Allah says in surat al-Isra',
"We do not punish until We send a Messenger" (Koran 17:15).
These include, for example, Christians and others who lived in the period after the spread of the myth of Jesus godhood, until the time of the prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), who renewed the call to pure monotheism.
The great Muslim scholar, Imam Ghazali, includes in this category those who have only been reached with a distorted picture of the Messenger of Islam (Allah bless him and give him peace), presumably including many people in the West today who know nothing about Allah's religion but newspaper stories about Ayatollahs and mad Muslim bombers. Is it within such people's capacity to believe? In Ghazali's view, such people are excused until after they have had an opportunity to learn the undistorted truth about Islam (Ghazali: "Faysal al - tafriqa," Majmu'a rasa'il al-Imam al-Ghazali, 3.96). This of course does not alter our own obligation as Muslims to reach them with the da'wa.
(2) A second group of people consists of those who turn away from God's divine message of Islam, rejecting the command to make their worship God's alone; whether because of blindly imitating the religion of their ancestors, or for some other reason. These are people to whom God has sent a prophetic messenger and reached with His message, and to whom He has given hearing and an intellect with which to grasp it but after all this, persist in associating others with Allah, either by actually worshipping another, or by rejecting the laws brought by His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), which associates their own customs with His prerogative to be worshipped as He directs. Such people have violated God's rights, and have accepted to go to hell, which is precisely what His messengers have warned them of, so they have no excuse:
"Truly, Allah does not forgive that any be associated with Him; but He forgives what is less than that to whomever He wills" (Koran 4:48).
In either case, Allah's mercy exists, though for non-Muslims unreached by the message, it is a question of divine amnesty for their ignorance, not a confirmation of their religions validity. It is worth knowing the difference between these two things, for one's eternal fate depends on it.
(end)
What about the people who died before him?
This is the Islamic version
Sheikh Nuh Keller dealt with this in the attached article [from:
http://www.masud.co.uk, a brilliant site], a refutation of the idea of the 'universal validity of all religions,' saying:
5. The Fate of Non-Muslims in the Afterlife
The reason that contemporary writers affected by the writings of Gunon and Schuon, such as Chittick and Gai Eaton (or such as Martin Lings, Titus Burckhardt etc.), seem to want the universal validity of all religions at any price, even to the extent of attributing it to masters like Muhyiddin ibn al-`Arabi ("in principle") or Emir `Abd al-Qadir ("he protected the Christians against massacre by taking them into his own home because he understood" [as if other scholars considered massacring them halal]) would seem to be the emotive impalatability of followers of other religions going to hell. Where is the mercy? Would Allah put someone in the hellfire merely for worshipping in another religion besides Islam? This question is answered by traditional Islam according to two possibilities:
(1) There are some peoples who have not been reached by the message of the Prophet of Islam (Allah bless him and give him peace) that we must worship the One God alone, associating nothing else with Him. Such people are innocent, and will not be punished no matter what they do. Allah says in surat al-Isra',
"We do not punish until We send a Messenger" (Koran 17:15).
These include, for example, Christians and others who lived in the period after the spread of the myth of Jesus godhood, until the time of the prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), who renewed the call to pure monotheism.
The great Muslim scholar, Imam Ghazali, includes in this category those who have only been reached with a distorted picture of the Messenger of Islam (Allah bless him and give him peace), presumably including many people in the West today who know nothing about Allah's religion but newspaper stories about Ayatollahs and mad Muslim bombers. Is it within such people's capacity to believe? In Ghazali's view, such people are excused until after they have had an opportunity to learn the undistorted truth about Islam (Ghazali: "Faysal al - tafriqa," Majmu'a rasa'il al-Imam al-Ghazali, 3.96). This of course does not alter our own obligation as Muslims to reach them with the da'wa.
(2) A second group of people consists of those who turn away from God's divine message of Islam, rejecting the command to make their worship God's alone; whether because of blindly imitating the religion of their ancestors, or for some other reason. These are people to whom God has sent a prophetic messenger and reached with His message, and to whom He has given hearing and an intellect with which to grasp it but after all this, persist in associating others with Allah, either by actually worshipping another, or by rejecting the laws brought by His messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), which associates their own customs with His prerogative to be worshipped as He directs. Such people have violated God's rights, and have accepted to go to hell, which is precisely what His messengers have warned them of, so they have no excuse:
"Truly, Allah does not forgive that any be associated with Him; but He forgives what is less than that to whomever He wills" (Koran 4:48).
In either case, Allah's mercy exists, though for non-Muslims unreached by the message, it is a question of divine amnesty for their ignorance, not a confirmation of their religions validity. It is worth knowing the difference between these two things, for one's eternal fate depends on it.
(end)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Original sin?
As far as Islam is concerned we do not believe that we are born in sin, far from it. We believe that everyone is innocent until they can understand what they are doing which is after the have reached the age of maturity. Even then they are responsible for their own sins. the Catholic church as recently turned its back on believing that unbaptized children will enter hell - maybe they read our stuff!!
We believe that Jesus (upon him peace) was raised up by God to heaven and someone who looked like him was crucified.
We also believe that Jesus (upon him peace) will return before the end of time a Muslim and will kill the Antichrist or Dajjal in Arabic.
He will live a full life and get married, there will be an unprecedented peace on the planet in his time.
Salvation is in belief of one God and this is where you should start, I pray that you'll be relieved on this soon.
We believe that Jesus (upon him peace) was raised up by God to heaven and someone who looked like him was crucified.
We also believe that Jesus (upon him peace) will return before the end of time a Muslim and will kill the Antichrist or Dajjal in Arabic.
He will live a full life and get married, there will be an unprecedented peace on the planet in his time.
Salvation is in belief of one God and this is where you should start, I pray that you'll be relieved on this soon.
What is Sufism?
Spirituality as far as Islam is concerned, is an inward journey to God, through purifying the soul of bad traits and adopting good traits. Thus reaching your true human potential by following the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad (may God's peace and blessings be upon him)
This means ridding the heart of the haram/prohibited.
For example if see someone will an expensive car you do not desire him to loose that blessing nor do you desire it for yourself. This is all internal and not external.
A Muslim can be a good Muslim without being a Sufi but a Sufi cannot be good without being a Muslim.
This means ridding the heart of the haram/prohibited.
For example if see someone will an expensive car you do not desire him to loose that blessing nor do you desire it for yourself. This is all internal and not external.
A Muslim can be a good Muslim without being a Sufi but a Sufi cannot be good without being a Muslim.
Why don't Christians claim every invention to be invented in the west to be a Christian invention like Muslims?
Thats because Christianity restricted inventions in the world. This is why science destroyed Christianity and many left that religion because it didn't have the truth.
Harun Rashid sent a clock to french ruler who couldn't work out it worked so he said it had a devil in it that made it work!
This was in the 9th century.
Algebra is an Arabic word which means to compel, Jabr is the arabic word.
The zero was invented by the Muslims and the whole numbering system is another legacy of Islam. Can the west survive if they use the roman numeral system again? Impossible. Your computer uses algebra, would you be without your computer?
Please see this video from Muslim heritage website by Doctor George Saliba who will explain this legacy. I dare you to watch it!
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=693
Astronomy including names of Arabic origin
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=833
What is Islam did for us? Review of the book by Tim Wallace-Murphy - A Christan historian!!
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=811
1001 Muslim inventions
http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID=309
Harun Rashid sent a clock to french ruler who couldn't work out it worked so he said it had a devil in it that made it work!
This was in the 9th century.
Algebra is an Arabic word which means to compel, Jabr is the arabic word.
The zero was invented by the Muslims and the whole numbering system is another legacy of Islam. Can the west survive if they use the roman numeral system again? Impossible. Your computer uses algebra, would you be without your computer?
Please see this video from Muslim heritage website by Doctor George Saliba who will explain this legacy. I dare you to watch it!
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=693
Astronomy including names of Arabic origin
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=833
What is Islam did for us? Review of the book by Tim Wallace-Murphy - A Christan historian!!
http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=811
1001 Muslim inventions
http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID=309
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Was Budda a Prophet?
Sorry i meant to reply to you sooner
Heres a story we narrate in the following book finality of Propheood
http://www.darulehsan.net/learningcentre/Literature/dar_ul_ehsan_literature_Finality_of_the_Divine_Revelations_and_Prophethood_on_Muhammad_SAW.php
Page 8 and 9
Basically Muslims believe that every nation or people had a Prophet sent to it. We believe in the ones in the Quran by name but we also know that there are some we do not know.
Our criteria would be that he call to the worship of one God.
Was Budda a Prophet? I don't know thats the answer there are signs that he had a powerful message because he broke down the caste barrier in his locality. If he was poor then people could've said he was poor and that why, but he was the son of the Raja so he was rich and he didn't need to.
I hope this answers your question
Heres a story we narrate in the following book finality of Propheood
http://www.darulehsan.net/learningcentre/Literature/dar_ul_ehsan_literature_Finality_of_the_Divine_Revelations_and_Prophethood_on_Muhammad_SAW.php
Page 8 and 9
Basically Muslims believe that every nation or people had a Prophet sent to it. We believe in the ones in the Quran by name but we also know that there are some we do not know.
Our criteria would be that he call to the worship of one God.
Was Budda a Prophet? I don't know thats the answer there are signs that he had a powerful message because he broke down the caste barrier in his locality. If he was poor then people could've said he was poor and that why, but he was the son of the Raja so he was rich and he didn't need to.
I hope this answers your question
Why is life full of challenges?
The world is the place of work and paradise is the place of reward so we need to work now to get some reward later.
Its like the farmer who prepares the soil and plants the seeds then nurtures the buds and hopefully he shall see the result of his good work.
We only reap what we sow is a popular saying but for a Muslim it can be ten times any other people and even more than that if planted in Ramadan or other times.
There is a famous Arabic saying, "The world is the plantation field of the afterlife."
The place that we'll get what we want is paradise, we will get what we choose, paradise is the place when we can get what we want. Only thru believing that there is one God/Allah and Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) is the final messenger.
Its like the farmer who prepares the soil and plants the seeds then nurtures the buds and hopefully he shall see the result of his good work.
We only reap what we sow is a popular saying but for a Muslim it can be ten times any other people and even more than that if planted in Ramadan or other times.
There is a famous Arabic saying, "The world is the plantation field of the afterlife."
The place that we'll get what we want is paradise, we will get what we choose, paradise is the place when we can get what we want. Only thru believing that there is one God/Allah and Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) is the final messenger.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Who created God?
Well, in this world of cause and effect we believe that there has to be a beginning of something and then there is an eventual end.
So can we define when God began? No we can't. Can we determine when God ends? No we cannot do that either.
Now we can see neither does he end nor begin like creations do, so we have to conclude that he is beyond the way we understand things in this world.
Muslims believe that everything was created by God and he is uncreated. Its as simple as that but I wanted to give you some logic before answering it might make more sense.
God is beyond all the combined imaginations of mankind, even greater than that.
Beyond all understanding, Muslims do not limit God to one thing, he is without beginning or end. Any description of man to God is always limited and doomed to failure.
As a Muslim I would explain it like this logically;
We cannot say when God began, neither can we say when he finishes. So he must be uncreated, for every created thing has a beginning and an end. So we are unable to define this so we must come to the conclusion that God is uncreated.
One of main problems that people have is due to them trying to understand God using baseless premises. What I mean is that man tries to understand God, from a human perspective using this world as a reference. The Laws of creation apply to creation not to what made the laws.
Does this make sense? Please contact me if I haven't explained this correctly.
So can we define when God began? No we can't. Can we determine when God ends? No we cannot do that either.
Now we can see neither does he end nor begin like creations do, so we have to conclude that he is beyond the way we understand things in this world.
Muslims believe that everything was created by God and he is uncreated. Its as simple as that but I wanted to give you some logic before answering it might make more sense.
God is beyond all the combined imaginations of mankind, even greater than that.
Beyond all understanding, Muslims do not limit God to one thing, he is without beginning or end. Any description of man to God is always limited and doomed to failure.
As a Muslim I would explain it like this logically;
We cannot say when God began, neither can we say when he finishes. So he must be uncreated, for every created thing has a beginning and an end. So we are unable to define this so we must come to the conclusion that God is uncreated.
One of main problems that people have is due to them trying to understand God using baseless premises. What I mean is that man tries to understand God, from a human perspective using this world as a reference. The Laws of creation apply to creation not to what made the laws.
Does this make sense? Please contact me if I haven't explained this correctly.
Punishments Or hudud?
1.) What are lashes?
2.) What is the person lashed with?
3.) Does it have to be with anything specific?
4.) Who actually has to carry out the lashes punishment?
5.) Can anyone do it?
6.) What if the sin/crime has been committed in a non-Islamic country?
7.) Can that person be forgiven without the punishment?
8.) If not, how can they be forgiven?
First of all the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to advise people to avoid punishing people if there was anything doubtful.
For example for the punishment of fornication, there needs to be four just witnesses who have actually witnesses the act. In other words they have to see the female and male part meet!
Sorry about being so graphic!!
But, if someone comes to a judge and admits his sin then the judge has to carry out the punishment.
Right now we cannot perform the hadd punishments because there is no caliph; as the caliph appoints the judge.
1. Lashes is a strike
2. a type of wood or stick
3. as above
4. a qadi or judge after the court case has been firmly established.
5. no only on the judges order, the judge has to be appointed by the caliph
6. nothing happens
7. The can make sincere repentance which means that they must show remorse
8. See above
2.) What is the person lashed with?
3.) Does it have to be with anything specific?
4.) Who actually has to carry out the lashes punishment?
5.) Can anyone do it?
6.) What if the sin/crime has been committed in a non-Islamic country?
7.) Can that person be forgiven without the punishment?
8.) If not, how can they be forgiven?
First of all the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to advise people to avoid punishing people if there was anything doubtful.
For example for the punishment of fornication, there needs to be four just witnesses who have actually witnesses the act. In other words they have to see the female and male part meet!
Sorry about being so graphic!!
But, if someone comes to a judge and admits his sin then the judge has to carry out the punishment.
Right now we cannot perform the hadd punishments because there is no caliph; as the caliph appoints the judge.
1. Lashes is a strike
2. a type of wood or stick
3. as above
4. a qadi or judge after the court case has been firmly established.
5. no only on the judges order, the judge has to be appointed by the caliph
6. nothing happens
7. The can make sincere repentance which means that they must show remorse
8. See above
What does Jihad mean?
Just one thing jihad comes from a root word Jahd which means to struggle.
It does not mean war; the word in arabic for war is Harb.
From Hadith it is narrated that,
"The best struggle is a truthful to tyranical ruler."
It does not mean war; the word in arabic for war is Harb.
From Hadith it is narrated that,
"The best struggle is a truthful to tyranical ruler."
Monday, January 21, 2008
ISLAM changed the world
This is an article that was published in the Indepentant newspaper
How Islamic inventors changed the world
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them
Published: 11 March 2006
1 The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2 The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3 A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4 A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5 Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6 Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7 The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8 Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9 The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10 Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11 The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12 The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13 The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14 The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15 Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16 Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17 The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18 By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19 Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20 Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com.
1 The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2 The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3 A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4 A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5 Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6 Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7 The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8 Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9 The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10 Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11 The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12 The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13 The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14 The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15 Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16 Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17 The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18 By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19 Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20 Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com.
How Islamic inventors changed the world
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given us many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. As a new exhibition opens, Paul Vallely nominates 20 of the most influential- and identifies the men of genius behind them
Published: 11 March 2006
1 The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2 The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3 A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4 A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5 Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6 Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7 The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8 Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9 The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10 Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11 The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12 The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13 The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14 The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15 Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16 Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17 The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18 By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19 Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20 Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com.
1 The story goes that an Arab named Khalid was tending his goats in the Kaffa region of southern Ethiopia, when he noticed his animals became livelier after eating a certain berry. He boiled the berries to make the first coffee. Certainly the first record of the drink is of beans exported from Ethiopia to Yemen where Sufis drank it to stay awake all night to pray on special occasions. By the late 15th century it had arrived in Mecca and Turkey from where it made its way to Venice in 1645. It was brought to England in 1650 by a Turk named Pasqua Rosee who opened the first coffee house in Lombard Street in the City of London. The Arabic qahwa became the Turkish kahve then the Italian caffé and then English coffee.
2 The ancient Greeks thought our eyes emitted rays, like a laser, which enabled us to see. The first person to realise that light enters the eye, rather than leaving it, was the 10th-century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn al-Haitham. He invented the first pin-hole camera after noticing the way light came through a hole in window shutters. The smaller the hole, the better the picture, he worked out, and set up the first Camera Obscura (from the Arab word qamara for a dark or private room). He is also credited with being the first man to shift physics from a philosophical activity to an experimental one.
3 A form of chess was played in ancient India but the game was developed into the form we know it today in Persia. From there it spread westward to Europe - where it was introduced by the Moors in Spain in the 10th century - and eastward as far as Japan. The word rook comes from the Persian rukh, which means chariot.
4 A thousand years before the Wright brothers a Muslim poet, astronomer, musician and engineer named Abbas ibn Firnas made several attempts to construct a flying machine. In 852 he jumped from the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba using a loose cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He hoped to glide like a bird. He didn't. But the cloak slowed his fall, creating what is thought to be the first parachute, and leaving him with only minor injuries. In 875, aged 70, having perfected a machine of silk and eagles' feathers he tried again, jumping from a mountain. He flew to a significant height and stayed aloft for ten minutes but crashed on landing - concluding, correctly, that it was because he had not given his device a tail so it would stall on landing. Baghdad international airport and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
5 Washing and bathing are religious requirements for Muslims, which is perhaps why they perfected the recipe for soap which we still use today. The ancient Egyptians had soap of a kind, as did the Romans who used it more as a pomade. But it was the Arabs who combined vegetable oils with sodium hydroxide and aromatics such as thyme oil. One of the Crusaders' most striking characteristics, to Arab nostrils, was that they did not wash. Shampoo was introduced to England by a Muslim who opened Mahomed's Indian Vapour Baths on Brighton seafront in 1759 and was appointed Shampooing Surgeon to Kings George IV and William IV.
6 Distillation, the means of separating liquids through differences in their boiling points, was invented around the year 800 by Islam's foremost scientist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, who transformed alchemy into chemistry, inventing many of the basic processes and apparatus still in use today - liquefaction, crystallisation, distillation, purification, oxidisation, evaporation and filtration. As well as discovering sulphuric and nitric acid, he invented the alembic still, giving the world intense rosewater and other perfumes and alcoholic spirits (although drinking them is haram, or forbidden, in Islam). Ibn Hayyan emphasised systematic experimentation and was the founder of modern chemistry.
7 The crank-shaft is a device which translates rotary into linear motion and is central to much of the machinery in the modern world, not least the internal combustion engine. One of the most important mechanical inventions in the history of humankind, it was created by an ingenious Muslim engineer called al-Jazari to raise water for irrigation. His 1206 Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices shows he also invented or refined the use of valves and pistons, devised some of the first mechanical clocks driven by water and weights, and was the father of robotics. Among his 50 other inventions was the combination lock.
8 Quilting is a method of sewing or tying two layers of cloth with a layer of insulating material in between. It is not clear whether it was invented in the Muslim world or whether it was imported there from India or China. But it certainly came to the West via the Crusaders. They saw it used by Saracen warriors, who wore straw-filled quilted canvas shirts instead of armour. As well as a form of protection, it proved an effective guard against the chafing of the Crusaders' metal armour and was an effective form of insulation - so much so that it became a cottage industry back home in colder climates such as Britain and Holland.
9 The pointed arch so characteristic of Europe's Gothic cathedrals was an invention borrowed from Islamic architecture. It was much stronger than the rounded arch used by the Romans and Normans, thus allowing the building of bigger, higher, more complex and grander buildings. Other borrowings from Muslim genius included ribbed vaulting, rose windows and dome-building techniques. Europe's castles were also adapted to copy the Islamic world's - with arrow slits, battlements, a barbican and parapets. Square towers and keeps gave way to more easily defended round ones. Henry V's castle architect was a Muslim.
10 Many modern surgical instruments are of exactly the same design as those devised in the 10th century by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi. His scalpels, bone saws, forceps, fine scissors for eye surgery and many of the 200 instruments he devised are recognisable to a modern surgeon. It was he who discovered that catgut used for internal stitches dissolves away naturally (a discovery he made when his monkey ate his lute strings) and that it can be also used to make medicine capsules. In the 13th century, another Muslim medic named Ibn Nafis described the circulation of the blood, 300 years before William Harvey discovered it. Muslims doctors also invented anaesthetics of opium and alcohol mixes and developed hollow needles to suck cataracts from eyes in a technique still used today.
11 The windmill was invented in 634 for a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water for irrigation. In the vast deserts of Arabia, when the seasonal streams ran dry, the only source of power was the wind which blew steadily from one direction for months. Mills had six or 12 sails covered in fabric or palm leaves. It was 500 years before the first windmill was seen in Europe.
12 The technique of inoculation was not invented by Jenner and Pasteur but was devised in the Muslim world and brought to Europe from Turkey by the wife of the English ambassador to Istanbul in 1724. Children in Turkey were vaccinated with cowpox to fight the deadly smallpox at least 50 years before the West discovered it.
13 The fountain pen was invented for the Sultan of Egypt in 953 after he demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes. It held ink in a reservoir and, as with modern pens, fed ink to the nib by a combination of gravity and capillary action.
14 The system of numbering in use all round the world is probably Indian in origin but the style of the numerals is Arabic and first appears in print in the work of the Muslim mathematicians al-Khwarizmi and al-Kindi around 825. Algebra was named after al-Khwarizmi's book, Al-Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, much of whose contents are still in use. The work of Muslim maths scholars was imported into Europe 300 years later by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci. Algorithms and much of the theory of trigonometry came from the Muslim world. And Al-Kindi's discovery of frequency analysis rendered all the codes of the ancient world soluble and created the basis of modern cryptology.
15 Ali ibn Nafi, known by his nickname of Ziryab (Blackbird) came from Iraq to Cordoba in the 9th century and brought with him the concept of the three-course meal - soup, followed by fish or meat, then fruit and nuts. He also introduced crystal glasses (which had been invented after experiments with rock crystal by Abbas ibn Firnas - see No 4).
16 Carpets were regarded as part of Paradise by medieval Muslims, thanks to their advanced weaving techniques, new tinctures from Islamic chemistry and highly developed sense of pattern and arabesque which were the basis of Islam's non-representational art. In contrast, Europe's floors were distinctly earthly, not to say earthy, until Arabian and Persian carpets were introduced. In England, as Erasmus recorded, floors were "covered in rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for 20 years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned". Carpets, unsurprisingly, caught on quickly.
17 The modern cheque comes from the Arabic saqq, a written vow to pay for goods when they were delivered, to avoid money having to be transported across dangerous terrain. In the 9th century, a Muslim businessman could cash a cheque in China drawn on his bank in Baghdad.
18 By the 9th century, many Muslim scholars took it for granted that the Earth was a sphere. The proof, said astronomer Ibn Hazm, "is that the Sun is always vertical to a particular spot on Earth". It was 500 years before that realisation dawned on Galileo. The calculations of Muslim astronomers were so accurate that in the 9th century they reckoned the Earth's circumference to be 40,253.4km - less than 200km out. The scholar al-Idrisi took a globe depicting the world to the court of King Roger of Sicily in 1139.
19 Though the Chinese invented saltpetre gunpowder, and used it in their fireworks, it was the Arabs who worked out that it could be purified using potassium nitrate for military use. Muslim incendiary devices terrified the Crusaders. By the 15th century they had invented both a rocket, which they called a "self-moving and combusting egg", and a torpedo - a self-propelled pear-shaped bomb with a spear at the front which impaled itself in enemy ships and then blew up.
20 Medieval Europe had kitchen and herb gardens, but it was the Arabs who developed the idea of the garden as a place of beauty and meditation. The first royal pleasure gardens in Europe were opened in 11th-century Muslim Spain. Flowers which originated in Muslim gardens include the carnation and the tulip.
"1001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World" is a new exhibition which began a nationwide tour this week. It is currently at the Science Museum in Manchester. For more information, go to www.1001inventions.com.
Among the first dragged into hell
Abu Huraira narrated that Messenger of God (Peace and blessings of God be upon him) narrated a story about three people on the Day of Judgment. "The first of the people whose case will be decided on Judgment Day will be a man who died as a martyr. He will be brought forth. God will make him know about His blessings (which He had bestowed on him in the World). The man will acknowledge them. Then God will ask him: What did you do with them? He will say: I fought in Your way until I died as a martyr. God will remark: You are lying. You fought so that you may be called a brave warrior. Then orders will be passed against him. So he will be dragged along on his face and cast into Hell.
Second will be a man who studied religious knowledge. Then he taught it to others and recited the Quran. He will be brought for Judgment. God will remind him of His favors (showered on him in the world). He will admit them (having enjoyed them in his life). Then God will ask him: What did you do with them? He will reply: I acquired knowledge and imparted it and also recited the Quran for Your sake. God will observe: You have told a lie, for you got knowledge to be renowned as a scholar; and you recited the Quran to be marked as a Qari (one who recites the Quran according to the rules). Then orders will be passed against him. So he will be dragged along on his face and thrown into Hell.
The third person will be a man to whom God had made abundantly rich and granted him every kind of wealth. He will be brought for judgment. God will let him know about His gifts conferred upon him in the world. He will recognize them. Then God will inquire: What did you with them? He will say: I left no way in which you like money to be spent without spending in it for your sake. God will say: You are lying. You did so to be described as generous and philanthropic in the society; It means you got your reward in the world according to your intention. Now you deserve nothing in the Hereafter except Hell. So orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged along on his face until he will be hurled into Hell."
Please links to a Fatwa about suicide bombings and the second has other general info.
Second will be a man who studied religious knowledge. Then he taught it to others and recited the Quran. He will be brought for Judgment. God will remind him of His favors (showered on him in the world). He will admit them (having enjoyed them in his life). Then God will ask him: What did you do with them? He will reply: I acquired knowledge and imparted it and also recited the Quran for Your sake. God will observe: You have told a lie, for you got knowledge to be renowned as a scholar; and you recited the Quran to be marked as a Qari (one who recites the Quran according to the rules). Then orders will be passed against him. So he will be dragged along on his face and thrown into Hell.
The third person will be a man to whom God had made abundantly rich and granted him every kind of wealth. He will be brought for judgment. God will let him know about His gifts conferred upon him in the world. He will recognize them. Then God will inquire: What did you with them? He will say: I left no way in which you like money to be spent without spending in it for your sake. God will say: You are lying. You did so to be described as generous and philanthropic in the society; It means you got your reward in the world according to your intention. Now you deserve nothing in the Hereafter except Hell. So orders will be passed against him and he will be dragged along on his face until he will be hurled into Hell."
Please links to a Fatwa about suicide bombings and the second has other general info.
Who made God?
The Islamic belief about God/Allah is that he is uncreated.
What does that mean?
Everything in the world is created in need of space and time to exist. And everything here has a beginning and an end.
So God has no being nor an end because he is uncreated. God does not need anything to exist unlike creation who needs God to exist.
When people try to understand God they to use what they know about the world around them and then apply to God.
This does not work because is unlike anything else. Its like a television tring to understand man. How can it? When it was not created to do that!
What does that mean?
Everything in the world is created in need of space and time to exist. And everything here has a beginning and an end.
So God has no being nor an end because he is uncreated. God does not need anything to exist unlike creation who needs God to exist.
When people try to understand God they to use what they know about the world around them and then apply to God.
This does not work because is unlike anything else. Its like a television tring to understand man. How can it? When it was not created to do that!
Salvation
As far as Islam is concerned, you might not have asked this but its an interesting contrast.
A person salvation depends on the time and place that they were born into. Did they belief in the Prophet of that time?
If they did then they have a good chance.
Who is the Prophet of this time?
The final Prophet of this time is Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). So did they hear about Islam? Did they no get a chance? If they studied IIslam and had a chance to meet good Muslims and rejected it; then this person has nothing to complain about.
On the other hand people who haven't heard about Islam and never had a chance to study it, nor met any true Muslims.
Then he will have a last chance with God/Allah.
A person salvation depends on the time and place that they were born into. Did they belief in the Prophet of that time?
If they did then they have a good chance.
Who is the Prophet of this time?
The final Prophet of this time is Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him). So did they hear about Islam? Did they no get a chance? If they studied IIslam and had a chance to meet good Muslims and rejected it; then this person has nothing to complain about.
On the other hand people who haven't heard about Islam and never had a chance to study it, nor met any true Muslims.
Then he will have a last chance with God/Allah.
How can you believe in God when you can't see him?
Do you believe in the wind? Yet you have never seen it.
All you have seen is its effects and sometimes the wind on your face.
Likewise when you see a tree blown over then you must think that the wind blew it down because there was a storm last night.
Likewise if you look at the way the earth is made for man to thrive and prosper on this earth. You must consider that something made all these things that we use. Food, shelter and other things this is all created by God/Allah.
So when someone does something for you its polite to say thank you, right?
What about the one who created everything for you, why don't you thank him? why don't you thank God/Allah.
All you have seen is its effects and sometimes the wind on your face.
Likewise when you see a tree blown over then you must think that the wind blew it down because there was a storm last night.
Likewise if you look at the way the earth is made for man to thrive and prosper on this earth. You must consider that something made all these things that we use. Food, shelter and other things this is all created by God/Allah.
So when someone does something for you its polite to say thank you, right?
What about the one who created everything for you, why don't you thank him? why don't you thank God/Allah.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Muslim tolerance
There are stories that Saladin, or Salahudeen to give him his arabic name, disguised himself as a physican and treated Richard the lionheart.
When Richards horse fell during a battle with Saladin, Saladin sent Richard a horse with a message that a warrior like him should only fight on a horse.
When Saladin conqueured the city of jersualam he pronounced an general amnestiy; Christans could stay or go with their belongs. Where did he get this from?
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon) conquered Mecca and defeated the pagans there.
He gave them a general amnesty no massacre occured. These were a people who had tortured him, his companions and murdered defenceless hundreds just because they became Muslims. He let them all go. The following conversation occured
"O Quraish, what do you think I should do to you?"
And they said, "Mercy, O Prophet of Allah. We expect nothing but good from you."
Thereupon Muhammad declared: "I speak to you in the same words as Joseph spoke to his brothers. This day there is no reproof against you; Go your way, for you are free."
Does this sound like someone who was a blood thirsty king that people portray no.
On another point there are many non muslims in arabic up to this day, Millions in fact.
When Richards horse fell during a battle with Saladin, Saladin sent Richard a horse with a message that a warrior like him should only fight on a horse.
When Saladin conqueured the city of jersualam he pronounced an general amnestiy; Christans could stay or go with their belongs. Where did he get this from?
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon) conquered Mecca and defeated the pagans there.
He gave them a general amnesty no massacre occured. These were a people who had tortured him, his companions and murdered defenceless hundreds just because they became Muslims. He let them all go. The following conversation occured
"O Quraish, what do you think I should do to you?"
And they said, "Mercy, O Prophet of Allah. We expect nothing but good from you."
Thereupon Muhammad declared: "I speak to you in the same words as Joseph spoke to his brothers. This day there is no reproof against you; Go your way, for you are free."
Does this sound like someone who was a blood thirsty king that people portray no.
On another point there are many non muslims in arabic up to this day, Millions in fact.
Clothing
Heres some links
The levels of clothing
Clothing has three levels:
1. Obligatory. This is covering one’s nakedness, and warding off the harms of heat and cold…
2. Recommended. This is wearing beautiful clothing, in order to look good and adorn oneself, displaying the blessings of Allah.
3. Prohibited. This is dressing out of haughtiness and arrogance.” [Zayn al-Din al-Razi, Tuhftat al-Muluk, 277, Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya ed.]
And Allah alone gives success.
The levels of clothing
Clothing has three levels:
1. Obligatory. This is covering one’s nakedness, and warding off the harms of heat and cold…
2. Recommended. This is wearing beautiful clothing, in order to look good and adorn oneself, displaying the blessings of Allah.
3. Prohibited. This is dressing out of haughtiness and arrogance.” [Zayn al-Din al-Razi, Tuhftat al-Muluk, 277, Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya ed.]
And Allah alone gives success.
Is Islam hard?
Heaven is not so cheap, that you can obtain it for free, without working for it.
Belief in God and the Prophet saves at the end of the day.
I try to make people understand this and those who don't want to, then that's fine, its their choice not to. I have done my bit.
Belief in God and the Prophet saves at the end of the day.
I try to make people understand this and those who don't want to, then that's fine, its their choice not to. I have done my bit.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Prophetic Miracles Of the Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless him and give him peace)
Some scholars name the amount as much as three thousand. I'll try to mention some here.
He had water pour form his hands enough for about 1,000 people to perform ablution, to drink and their animals to drink.
He was told that they wouldn't believe unless the moon split into two. He raised his hands and the moon split in two, there is a narration that a king in India saw it and became Muslim after hearing the news of a new religion.
Once a man came with a lizard in his hand and said I wont believe until this lizard believes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) asked the lizard, it said, "I testify there is only one God and that you are his messenger."
Another time, some rocks could be heard praising God in his hand.
During the first 40 days of gestation, all the body parts and organs are completely, though consecutively formed. We can notice in Figure 2.1 that the organs begin to be formed, assembled, and the fetus appears twisted. The Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), has informed us in a hadeeth that: In every one of you, all components of your creation are gathered together in your mothers womb by 40 days. (Narrated in Saheeh Muslim and Al-Bukhaari).
In another Hadeeth, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, O Lord, is it male or female? and your Lord decides what he wishes. (Muslim).
Professor Simpson studied these two hadeeths extensively, noting that the first 40 days constitute a clearly distinguishable stage of embryo genesis. He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those hadeeths. Then during one of the conferences which he attended he gave the following opinion: "So that the two hadeeths that have been noted can provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before 40 days. Again, the point had been made repeatedly by other speakers this morning that these hadeeths could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of their recording."
Professor Simpson says that religion can successfully guide the pursuit of knowledge. The West, as we said, has rejected this. Here is an American scientist who says that religion, namely Islam, can achieve this with success. By analogy, if you go to a factory and have with you the operation manual of the factory, then you will be able to easily understand the kind of operation that goes on in that factory, thanks to that manual by the factory designer and builder. If you do not have this manual with you, chances are much less that you will have good understanding of the various processes there.
Professor Simpson said: "It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exist statements in the Qur'an shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from Allah."
This is true. Certainly, the Muslims can lead the way in the pursuit of knowledge and that they can accord knowledge in its proper status. Moreover, Muslims know how to use knowledge as a proof of the existence of Allah, May Allah be Exalted and Glorified, and to affirm the Messenger ship of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
What else do you need?
Soon will we show them our signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord does witness all things? (Qur'an 41:53).
Once someone told him he wouldn't believe unless he saw a miracle. The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) called a tree, which uprooted itself and came to the Prophet.
Many times, food would be multiplied when he was there
The greatest miracle is the Quran which is in the same language as its revelation and is preserved from all harm.
His guardian Abu Talib noticed that when Muhammad would eat first then the food would be enough for the rest of his family. They were poor, Abu Talib would make Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) start first. If they didn’t then the food would not suffice them.
He one went to a companions house, who cooked a small lamb and told him not to look in the pot and keep dishing it out. He did so about 500 people where fed, with the lamb as it was when it was cooked.
Once they had little food, so they gathered their dates and ate from them and the number did not decease.
He used to talk to the Muslim whilst leaning on a tree, when a Muslim woman built him a platform to stand on. The tree began to cry like a baby and he had to hug it to stop, to the companions, it sounded like a baby being comforted.
He predicted future events like the fall of Constantinople to the Muslims.
He had water pour form his hands enough for about 1,000 people to perform ablution, to drink and their animals to drink.
He was told that they wouldn't believe unless the moon split into two. He raised his hands and the moon split in two, there is a narration that a king in India saw it and became Muslim after hearing the news of a new religion.
Once a man came with a lizard in his hand and said I wont believe until this lizard believes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) asked the lizard, it said, "I testify there is only one God and that you are his messenger."
Another time, some rocks could be heard praising God in his hand.
During the first 40 days of gestation, all the body parts and organs are completely, though consecutively formed. We can notice in Figure 2.1 that the organs begin to be formed, assembled, and the fetus appears twisted. The Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), has informed us in a hadeeth that: In every one of you, all components of your creation are gathered together in your mothers womb by 40 days. (Narrated in Saheeh Muslim and Al-Bukhaari).
In another Hadeeth, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: When forty-two nights have passed over the drop (nutfah), Allah sends an angel to it, who shapes it and makes its ears, eyes, skin, flesh and bones. Then he says, O Lord, is it male or female? and your Lord decides what he wishes. (Muslim).
Professor Simpson studied these two hadeeths extensively, noting that the first 40 days constitute a clearly distinguishable stage of embryo genesis. He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those hadeeths. Then during one of the conferences which he attended he gave the following opinion: "So that the two hadeeths that have been noted can provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before 40 days. Again, the point had been made repeatedly by other speakers this morning that these hadeeths could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available at the time of their recording."
Professor Simpson says that religion can successfully guide the pursuit of knowledge. The West, as we said, has rejected this. Here is an American scientist who says that religion, namely Islam, can achieve this with success. By analogy, if you go to a factory and have with you the operation manual of the factory, then you will be able to easily understand the kind of operation that goes on in that factory, thanks to that manual by the factory designer and builder. If you do not have this manual with you, chances are much less that you will have good understanding of the various processes there.
Professor Simpson said: "It follows, I think, that not only is there no conflict between genetics and religion, but in fact religion can guide science by adding revelation to some traditional scientific approaches. That there exist statements in the Qur'an shown by science to be valid, which supports knowledge in the Qur'an having been derived from Allah."
This is true. Certainly, the Muslims can lead the way in the pursuit of knowledge and that they can accord knowledge in its proper status. Moreover, Muslims know how to use knowledge as a proof of the existence of Allah, May Allah be Exalted and Glorified, and to affirm the Messenger ship of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
What else do you need?
Soon will we show them our signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord does witness all things? (Qur'an 41:53).
Once someone told him he wouldn't believe unless he saw a miracle. The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) called a tree, which uprooted itself and came to the Prophet.
Many times, food would be multiplied when he was there
The greatest miracle is the Quran which is in the same language as its revelation and is preserved from all harm.
His guardian Abu Talib noticed that when Muhammad would eat first then the food would be enough for the rest of his family. They were poor, Abu Talib would make Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) start first. If they didn’t then the food would not suffice them.
He one went to a companions house, who cooked a small lamb and told him not to look in the pot and keep dishing it out. He did so about 500 people where fed, with the lamb as it was when it was cooked.
Once they had little food, so they gathered their dates and ate from them and the number did not decease.
He used to talk to the Muslim whilst leaning on a tree, when a Muslim woman built him a platform to stand on. The tree began to cry like a baby and he had to hug it to stop, to the companions, it sounded like a baby being comforted.
He predicted future events like the fall of Constantinople to the Muslims.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Angels literally are made to serve or to love God. Satan had one chance and blew it. That represents free will?
satan is a jinn - demon like spirit and therefore is able to choose. He was in the company of the angels due to his peity but showed his true nature when he refused to obey God and bow down to Adam (upon him peace). Therefore he was thrown out of heaven and he swore to lead mankind astray from it ever since.
He says that he was created from fire and Adam from clay and that fire is better from clay. Thus showing his arrogance!
Angels are made soley for the worship of God/Allah and therefore can only obey because thats why they were created.
He says that he was created from fire and Adam from clay and that fire is better from clay. Thus showing his arrogance!
Angels are made soley for the worship of God/Allah and therefore can only obey because thats why they were created.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Muslim view of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him)
Basically its part of faith to accept Jesus (upon him peace) as a Prophet. We also say that he has no share divinity and only God/Allah is divine.
We believe in the miracle of his birth without the means of father.
Al-Imran 3.45 " (And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah)."
"But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah ? The disciples said: We will be Allah’s helpers. We believe in Allah, and bear thou witness that we have surrendered (unto Him)." 3.52 Al ‘Imrân
"(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ." Al ‘Imrân 3.55
"Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is."
Al-Imran 3.59
We don't accept that he was crucified; we say he was raised up to Paradise and will return to kill the Antichrist; just before the end of time.
"And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain." Nisa 4.157
We believe in the original revelation of the Injeel but we accept its no longer valid.
Sura Al-maidah 6.46
" And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing."
We believe all the miracles he performed were by the permission of God/Allah
" When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic; 6.110 Al-Mâ’idah
"When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is thy Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven ? He said: Observe your duty to Allah, if ye are true believers." 6.112 Al-Mâ’idah
"Jesus, son of Mary, said: O Allah, Lord of us! Send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from Thee. Give us sustenance, for Thou art the Best of Sustainers." 6.114 Al-Mâ’idah
Divinity is for God/Allah alone
"And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah ? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?" Sura Al-Madiah 6.116
You can search on the website for his name
http://www.altafsir.com/Quran_Search_Eng.asp
We believe in the miracle of his birth without the means of father.
Al-Imran 3.45 " (And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah)."
"But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah ? The disciples said: We will be Allah’s helpers. We believe in Allah, and bear thou witness that we have surrendered (unto Him)." 3.52 Al ‘Imrân
"(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ." Al ‘Imrân 3.55
"Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is."
Al-Imran 3.59
We don't accept that he was crucified; we say he was raised up to Paradise and will return to kill the Antichrist; just before the end of time.
"And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain." Nisa 4.157
We believe in the original revelation of the Injeel but we accept its no longer valid.
Sura Al-maidah 6.46
" And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing."
We believe all the miracles he performed were by the permission of God/Allah
" When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic; 6.110 Al-Mâ’idah
"When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary! Is thy Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven ? He said: Observe your duty to Allah, if ye are true believers." 6.112 Al-Mâ’idah
"Jesus, son of Mary, said: O Allah, Lord of us! Send down for us a table spread with food from heaven, that it may be a feast for us, for the first of us and for the last of us, and a sign from Thee. Give us sustenance, for Thou art the Best of Sustainers." 6.114 Al-Mâ’idah
Divinity is for God/Allah alone
"And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah ? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?" Sura Al-Madiah 6.116
You can search on the website for his name
http://www.altafsir.com/Quran_Search_Eng.asp
Womens rights
Yes there is a lot of misleading information out there. Some has been twisted by those who hate Islam. I wish I could say it another way but thats how it is.
Women in Islam are elevated from being an object who wear scant clothing, to women who are modest in their clothing. What I mean is that women in Islam are dressed to impress God/Allah and not dressed to impress men.
Which is not always the case.
Many men treat women differently according to their dress.
A Hindi convert to Islam commented on this when she came to England, she was surprised the women were treated in this way and found it demeaning to women.
A lot of the bad press is from people who are culturally expressing there desire to control the woman, not from the religion. Many cases can be cited but you could find a pattern, if men hurt women that's because of their sicknesses.
It is true that a woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man. This is because it is difficult to watch an evil action for a normal person and a woman is naturally squeamish. Also a woman is more likely to be cohereced into giving up here testimony than a man. But there are other cases that only a womans testimony can be accepted and not a mans which is the case of milk nursing or wet nursing. Also if she was a female Judge could she overrule other men's words.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said, "Heaven is at the feet of your mothers." What this is understood as that Heaven is the service of mothers. This was not said about the father.
You see Islam gave the freedom for women to inherit in the 7th century something that Christianity was never able to do and only recently with the abandonment of Christianity have we seen women inherit.
There are many examples that I could bring seen as marriage is also a hot topic please read the following rights for women in a marriage. If you have anymore questions please contact me. I would recommend L. Ahmeds book on Women in Islam you can find it on Amazon.com.
For someone looking at it from the outside it might seem unequal but that because only some of the picture is shown, when you see the entire picture it makes a lot more sense.
Here are some marriage rights
I would just like to share some information about women’s rights that I have just found out. The woman has the right to have the similar levels of food as she had before she was married. In terms of quality.
He does not have to cook or clean for him. she can refuse and he would have to pay for someone to do it.
He can refuse to life with the in laws and demand her own house.
She has the right to take money from him if he is tight fisted.
She has the right to the mahr which is a wedding gift from the husband. If she wants a divorce she pays some of this back.
Another answer
Right to inherit, right to be provided for in terms of expenses and living arrangements, from husband. Right to keep any money she worked for, she is not obligated to pay for anything from this money. She is also not obligated to cook. No one can take anything that she owns, the right to have a marriage gift from her husband. Most of them as the same the male of the species.
She cannot be forced into a marriage, if she is she can walk away.
Women in Islam are elevated from being an object who wear scant clothing, to women who are modest in their clothing. What I mean is that women in Islam are dressed to impress God/Allah and not dressed to impress men.
Which is not always the case.
Many men treat women differently according to their dress.
A Hindi convert to Islam commented on this when she came to England, she was surprised the women were treated in this way and found it demeaning to women.
A lot of the bad press is from people who are culturally expressing there desire to control the woman, not from the religion. Many cases can be cited but you could find a pattern, if men hurt women that's because of their sicknesses.
It is true that a woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man. This is because it is difficult to watch an evil action for a normal person and a woman is naturally squeamish. Also a woman is more likely to be cohereced into giving up here testimony than a man. But there are other cases that only a womans testimony can be accepted and not a mans which is the case of milk nursing or wet nursing. Also if she was a female Judge could she overrule other men's words.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said, "Heaven is at the feet of your mothers." What this is understood as that Heaven is the service of mothers. This was not said about the father.
You see Islam gave the freedom for women to inherit in the 7th century something that Christianity was never able to do and only recently with the abandonment of Christianity have we seen women inherit.
There are many examples that I could bring seen as marriage is also a hot topic please read the following rights for women in a marriage. If you have anymore questions please contact me. I would recommend L. Ahmeds book on Women in Islam you can find it on Amazon.com.
For someone looking at it from the outside it might seem unequal but that because only some of the picture is shown, when you see the entire picture it makes a lot more sense.
Here are some marriage rights
I would just like to share some information about women’s rights that I have just found out. The woman has the right to have the similar levels of food as she had before she was married. In terms of quality.
He does not have to cook or clean for him. she can refuse and he would have to pay for someone to do it.
He can refuse to life with the in laws and demand her own house.
She has the right to take money from him if he is tight fisted.
She has the right to the mahr which is a wedding gift from the husband. If she wants a divorce she pays some of this back.
Another answer
Right to inherit, right to be provided for in terms of expenses and living arrangements, from husband. Right to keep any money she worked for, she is not obligated to pay for anything from this money. She is also not obligated to cook. No one can take anything that she owns, the right to have a marriage gift from her husband. Most of them as the same the male of the species.
She cannot be forced into a marriage, if she is she can walk away.
Why are (most) muslim converts more religious and eager to know about their religion; than those who are born muslims?
I have thought about this myself and pondered over it for a while.
You see when someone is born rich, does not appreciate his wealth. He will spend it and not even consider how much he is spending.
On the other hand when a person works and attains wealth. He is more careful of his money and appreciates more than the one born with wealth.
So a born Muslim doesn't know the greatness of the blessing of Islam that he has been given and the new Muslim knows what he has been given because they have had to struggle hard to get it.
Is there a greater blessing than Islam? There is no greater gift in this world than being Muslim.
You see when someone is born rich, does not appreciate his wealth. He will spend it and not even consider how much he is spending.
On the other hand when a person works and attains wealth. He is more careful of his money and appreciates more than the one born with wealth.
So a born Muslim doesn't know the greatness of the blessing of Islam that he has been given and the new Muslim knows what he has been given because they have had to struggle hard to get it.
Is there a greater blessing than Islam? There is no greater gift in this world than being Muslim.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
God/Allah in Islam
Q
Does your Quran say that God is one and you should only worship him? Does the word Allah have plural? Gender? Or is it as I understand that :
"Allah is one and the meaning on this word is the only thing worthy of worship" - If so does that mean that Muslims pray to only one God??? And you attribute no gender to God?
A
What you have to understand here is God in his terms not in mans terms, what I mean is that there is a Christan belief that God is man, this is not how we view God in Islam.
We see his as the creator of everything and nothing is like, nor could anything come close. As I have said before compare this to man making a television, can the television understand man? Can the television accurately describe man? No why? because the television is limited. So when describes God he doing an injustice to his majesty. We describe the details as they are described in the Quran without interpreation.
So God is not a gender, neither is more than one, in fact God is one, In Arabic one is not a number, number start with two.
We worship one God that is God, the word Allah is another name for God. Christan Arabs call God Allah and in the bible translation of the Arabic they have the word Allah.
Those who attribute human attributes to God
That is a problem for some people who cannot relate to this, as far as Islamic law is concerned we have a ruling about this, which translates as. "Anything that occurs to your mind, God is completely different to it."
Humans are limited and therefore project their own imagine onto God in an effort to understand him, this is wrong and someone is being unjust when they do this.
In other words God is unimaginable, beyond description in any shape or form. Neither does he have a partner or equal in any shape or form.
Does your Quran say that God is one and you should only worship him? Does the word Allah have plural? Gender? Or is it as I understand that :
"Allah is one and the meaning on this word is the only thing worthy of worship" - If so does that mean that Muslims pray to only one God??? And you attribute no gender to God?
A
What you have to understand here is God in his terms not in mans terms, what I mean is that there is a Christan belief that God is man, this is not how we view God in Islam.
We see his as the creator of everything and nothing is like, nor could anything come close. As I have said before compare this to man making a television, can the television understand man? Can the television accurately describe man? No why? because the television is limited. So when describes God he doing an injustice to his majesty. We describe the details as they are described in the Quran without interpreation.
So God is not a gender, neither is more than one, in fact God is one, In Arabic one is not a number, number start with two.
We worship one God that is God, the word Allah is another name for God. Christan Arabs call God Allah and in the bible translation of the Arabic they have the word Allah.
Those who attribute human attributes to God
That is a problem for some people who cannot relate to this, as far as Islamic law is concerned we have a ruling about this, which translates as. "Anything that occurs to your mind, God is completely different to it."
Humans are limited and therefore project their own imagine onto God in an effort to understand him, this is wrong and someone is being unjust when they do this.
In other words God is unimaginable, beyond description in any shape or form. Neither does he have a partner or equal in any shape or form.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Jesus (upon him peace) in Islam
Consider this, a cow gives birth to a cow, a chicken gives birth to chick, a dog gives birth to a dog. So how can a woman give birth to a god?
All these verse prove that he is not diety because:
-Jesus talked about God as His God, but God has no God. He talked to God as if they were seperate, if he was part of the same being then why would he need to talk. He could just think.
-Jesus prayed to God instead of to himself. Did Jesus worship himself? How is that possible!!
-Jesus got hungry and thirsty (Matt. 4:2; John 19:28), but God never gets hungry or thirsty (Psalm 50:9-13; Acts 17:25). How can a deity need food? that means he needs something, how can a god be in need? This negates deity.
-Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matt.4:1 & Heb.4:15), but God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). This means that the devil can control god, how can that be correct!
-Jesus learned obedience and grew up into a mature and perfect man (Hebrews 5:9), but God never changes (James 1:17). How can god grow? so was he eternally as a child or as an adult this is cannot be.
-Jesus was born and also died, but God is everlasting.
- The father is greater than I - this means he is not equal or eternal. Negating more facts that he is not a diety
This idea of sacrificial lamb comes from the pagan deity Mythra, he was known as the sacrifice that would bring the world out of sin. Yet this could any number of pagan deity's such as Baal, who is was believed was the son of the sun, he was born on December 25th, the exact time of the winter solstice and was killed for all our sins. Early christains used to worship on saturday and then it was changed to sun-day, the day of the sun!
The verses he has quoted is prove for sacrifice which was animal sacrifice not a human one. Human sacrifices were banned by God so why would he then change his mind!
We believe that Jesus is in heaven and will return to kill the dajjal or anti-christ.
I'd advise you check out Ahmed deedats work, you can view it here, you'll have to scroll and join then you can view the video is Jesus a god?
Muslims are bound to believe in the books that God/Allah sent to previous prophets. Although we cannot be certain of the content we are can read the texts but we cannot take laws from them. I have read both the old testement and the new one.
During the nicean creed more than 200+ gospels were thrown out including the gospel of Banarbus. If he was a god then everything he said would've been perfect and wouldn't need to be edited would it? Yet there are the apocraphal gospels which cause problems to the belief of trinity.
How can a deity feel pain? when it is supposed to complete and unable to be human?
If he suffered for our sins then he would have to feel pain, right?
Is that why they weren't used?
All these verse prove that he is not diety because:
-Jesus talked about God as His God, but God has no God. He talked to God as if they were seperate, if he was part of the same being then why would he need to talk. He could just think.
-Jesus prayed to God instead of to himself. Did Jesus worship himself? How is that possible!!
-Jesus got hungry and thirsty (Matt. 4:2; John 19:28), but God never gets hungry or thirsty (Psalm 50:9-13; Acts 17:25). How can a deity need food? that means he needs something, how can a god be in need? This negates deity.
-Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matt.4:1 & Heb.4:15), but God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). This means that the devil can control god, how can that be correct!
-Jesus learned obedience and grew up into a mature and perfect man (Hebrews 5:9), but God never changes (James 1:17). How can god grow? so was he eternally as a child or as an adult this is cannot be.
-Jesus was born and also died, but God is everlasting.
- The father is greater than I - this means he is not equal or eternal. Negating more facts that he is not a diety
This idea of sacrificial lamb comes from the pagan deity Mythra, he was known as the sacrifice that would bring the world out of sin. Yet this could any number of pagan deity's such as Baal, who is was believed was the son of the sun, he was born on December 25th, the exact time of the winter solstice and was killed for all our sins. Early christains used to worship on saturday and then it was changed to sun-day, the day of the sun!
The verses he has quoted is prove for sacrifice which was animal sacrifice not a human one. Human sacrifices were banned by God so why would he then change his mind!
We believe that Jesus is in heaven and will return to kill the dajjal or anti-christ.
I'd advise you check out Ahmed deedats work, you can view it here, you'll have to scroll and join then you can view the video is Jesus a god?
Muslims are bound to believe in the books that God/Allah sent to previous prophets. Although we cannot be certain of the content we are can read the texts but we cannot take laws from them. I have read both the old testement and the new one.
During the nicean creed more than 200+ gospels were thrown out including the gospel of Banarbus. If he was a god then everything he said would've been perfect and wouldn't need to be edited would it? Yet there are the apocraphal gospels which cause problems to the belief of trinity.
How can a deity feel pain? when it is supposed to complete and unable to be human?
If he suffered for our sins then he would have to feel pain, right?
Is that why they weren't used?
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Give me a Proof for God?
Can your prove he doesn't? No you can't, what you are really saying is that your belief in God is not there.
Denying the existence of God is like using a computer and refusing to believe that it was built by Microsoft and Bill gates. How do you think he will feel when he finds out and do you think he allow you to live on his estate?
If someone believes him and works for him, what do you think that person will get?
Think.
Denying the existence of God is like using a computer and refusing to believe that it was built by Microsoft and Bill gates. How do you think he will feel when he finds out and do you think he allow you to live on his estate?
If someone believes him and works for him, what do you think that person will get?
Think.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Does Islam really allow husbands to beat their wives?
Well it does not, the verse means strike not beating. The word used is Darb which can mean to beat but it does not meaning beating. It means strike. It is also used in the phrase Darb Al-Mathal which means to set an example or set a simplitude; it could never mean beat and example!
Some Muslim men even don't understand this correctly. The Quran is saying that if a woman disobeys you continuously then you can take steps. This does not mean he can beat her. This is not part of the classical position because that was explained by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to mean a strike that does not leave a mark.
So how can a beating without brusing? Ibn Abbas the cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained this is his commentary on the Quran as a strike that does not wound.
So if it meant beating, how can a beating not leave any mark? So it cannot mean beating can it! So it means strike but how?
One of the companions say that you should strike with a miswak which is like a twig which is used to clean the teeth.
With the Quran under your arm to make sure that you don't raise your arm because then the Quran would fall on the floor.
Men who beat their wives are some of the greatest idiots on the planet. There is a tradition that states the some men will be raised up with the tyrants even though all they had responsibility over was their families.
If people say this is why Muslim men beat their wives! Well what justification do other men use to beat their wives? Answer is this is not about religion but about men and their insecurities. Men who beat their wives need help and there is no way beating wives could ever be justified.
Any man who beats his wife had better hope that she forgives him on the day of judgement because she will have her day then.
Here's link to more details
http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e32.html
Below is a link to a lecture by Sheikh Hamza yusuf explaining Women's status in Islam.
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2007/11/sheikh-hamza-yusuf.html
Some Muslim men even don't understand this correctly. The Quran is saying that if a woman disobeys you continuously then you can take steps. This does not mean he can beat her. This is not part of the classical position because that was explained by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to mean a strike that does not leave a mark.
So how can a beating without brusing? Ibn Abbas the cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained this is his commentary on the Quran as a strike that does not wound.
So if it meant beating, how can a beating not leave any mark? So it cannot mean beating can it! So it means strike but how?
One of the companions say that you should strike with a miswak which is like a twig which is used to clean the teeth.
With the Quran under your arm to make sure that you don't raise your arm because then the Quran would fall on the floor.
Men who beat their wives are some of the greatest idiots on the planet. There is a tradition that states the some men will be raised up with the tyrants even though all they had responsibility over was their families.
If people say this is why Muslim men beat their wives! Well what justification do other men use to beat their wives? Answer is this is not about religion but about men and their insecurities. Men who beat their wives need help and there is no way beating wives could ever be justified.
Any man who beats his wife had better hope that she forgives him on the day of judgement because she will have her day then.
Here's link to more details
http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e32.html
Below is a link to a lecture by Sheikh Hamza yusuf explaining Women's status in Islam.
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2007/11/sheikh-hamza-yusuf.html
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Female scholars in Islam
This is an article of notes of a lecture by Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi on female scholars in Islam
http://www.interfacepublications.com/images/pdf/AKRAM_Article2.pdf
Below is also another article on Women scholars in Islam
http://www.islamfortoday.com/womenscholars.htm
http://www.interfacepublications.com/images/pdf/AKRAM_Article2.pdf
Below is also another article on Women scholars in Islam
http://www.islamfortoday.com/womenscholars.htm
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Death and Islam
When a person dies, his body is buried, his soul goes up to heaven and will either float or be thrown down. Depending on the life and belief he followed.
He will be in the grave where he will be questioned by two angels about;
1. Who is your Lord?
2. What is your religion?
3. What do you say about this man? (He will be shown a picture of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
Depending on the truthfulness of his answers and of course the life he led. He will either be punished or shown a window to paradise.
The soul will be told to rest and be resurrected in body on Judgement day. On Judgement day a trumpet will be blown that will destroy everything that Allah wills, then second blow everything that died will be resurrected. The third and final blow will be the beginning of the day of judgement.
Then there records will be brought out for their actions to be judged, scary isn't it?
Also after the accounting there will cross the sirat which is a bridge over hell. It will be different for each person. I have left out many details.
That's it! This will happen to everyone.
He will be in the grave where he will be questioned by two angels about;
1. Who is your Lord?
2. What is your religion?
3. What do you say about this man? (He will be shown a picture of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
Depending on the truthfulness of his answers and of course the life he led. He will either be punished or shown a window to paradise.
The soul will be told to rest and be resurrected in body on Judgement day. On Judgement day a trumpet will be blown that will destroy everything that Allah wills, then second blow everything that died will be resurrected. The third and final blow will be the beginning of the day of judgement.
Then there records will be brought out for their actions to be judged, scary isn't it?
Also after the accounting there will cross the sirat which is a bridge over hell. It will be different for each person. I have left out many details.
That's it! This will happen to everyone.
Women in Islam and covering up
That's a good question, mashallah.
A man has to cover less up but he is not allowed to look at women more than the first forgiven glance anymore than that and he is committing a sin. The men should cover up and many do.
The point of women covering themselves is for their own safety and not to attract the opposite gender. Now a woman can wear any set of clothes she wants as long as they cover themselves in a modest manner. This is by not showing their figure to strangers. This is also a Quranic injunction, so when a woman is covering herself she is in worship. This for her is an act of worship and even if the man did this he would not get the same reward as will, inshallah.
There are lots reasons to wear the Hijab most is a sign of chastity, its a sign of a righteous women who believes in God and covers herself. See the pictures of Mary (upon her peace).
Do you remember the clothing of Nuns? They cover up out of fear of God, why shouldn't others?
This goes back to the new testament where one of the strongest commands, is for a praying woman to cover her head. This is where the background comes from, I have added some interesting quotes.
Corinthians 11.6 "but every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head."
Jewish orthodoxy states a married Jewish Muslim cannot show her hair to anyone other than her husband. So they wear wigs and or hats.
This is the same for Muslims women
Marrying more than one woman
Generally, most Muslims are monogamous and there are no other relations outside this.
Marring more than one wife in a time can help support them in times and places where there would be no support.
After the second world war Germany legalised polygamy to solve the problem of unmarried single women.
I have heard an issue that a man married a second wife, after she fell in love with him and could not do without him. So they married and she was the second wife, this is by no means ideal but this solves the problem of adultery.
Remember that true beauty is not the skin, true beauty is whats in the heart. Beauty as they say is skin deep.
A man has to cover less up but he is not allowed to look at women more than the first forgiven glance anymore than that and he is committing a sin. The men should cover up and many do.
The point of women covering themselves is for their own safety and not to attract the opposite gender. Now a woman can wear any set of clothes she wants as long as they cover themselves in a modest manner. This is by not showing their figure to strangers. This is also a Quranic injunction, so when a woman is covering herself she is in worship. This for her is an act of worship and even if the man did this he would not get the same reward as will, inshallah.
There are lots reasons to wear the Hijab most is a sign of chastity, its a sign of a righteous women who believes in God and covers herself. See the pictures of Mary (upon her peace).
Do you remember the clothing of Nuns? They cover up out of fear of God, why shouldn't others?
This goes back to the new testament where one of the strongest commands, is for a praying woman to cover her head. This is where the background comes from, I have added some interesting quotes.
Corinthians 11.6 "but every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head."
Jewish orthodoxy states a married Jewish Muslim cannot show her hair to anyone other than her husband. So they wear wigs and or hats.
This is the same for Muslims women
Marrying more than one woman
Generally, most Muslims are monogamous and there are no other relations outside this.
Marring more than one wife in a time can help support them in times and places where there would be no support.
After the second world war Germany legalised polygamy to solve the problem of unmarried single women.
I have heard an issue that a man married a second wife, after she fell in love with him and could not do without him. So they married and she was the second wife, this is by no means ideal but this solves the problem of adultery.
Remember that true beauty is not the skin, true beauty is whats in the heart. Beauty as they say is skin deep.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Women in Islam
Before answering the question people are not equal in Islam. The better Muslim is not equal to the worst, peity is what seperates people and this does not depend on gender.
There is a lot of misleading information out there. Some has been twisted by those who hate Islam. I wish I could say it another way but thats how it is.
Okay Women in Islam are elevated from being an object who wear scant clothing, to women who are modest in their clothing. What I mean is that women in Islam are dressed to impress God/Allah and not dressed to impress men.
Which is not always the case.
Many men treat women differently according to their dress.
A Hindi convert to Islam commented on this when she came to England, she was surprised the women were treated in this way and found it demeaning to women.
A lot of the bad press is from people who are culturally expressing there desire to control the woman, not from the religion. Many cases can be cited but you could find a pattern, if men hurt women that's because of their sicknesses.
It is true that a woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man. This is because it is difficult to watch an evil action for a normal person and a woman is naturally squeamish. Also a woman is more likely to be cohereced into giving up here testimony than a man. But there are other cases that only a womans testimony can be accepted and not a mans which is the case of milk nursing or wet nursing. Also if she was a female Judge could she overrule other men's words.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said, "Heaven is at the feet of your mothers." What this is understood as that Heaven is the service of mothers. This was not said about the father.
You see Islam gave the freedom for women to inherit in the 7th century something that Christianity was never able to do and only recently with the abandonment of Christianity have we seen women inherit.
There are many examples that I could bring seen as marriage is also a hot topic please read the following rights for women in a marriage. If you have anymore questions please contact me. I would recommend L. Ahmeds book on Women in Islam you can find it on Amazon.com.
For someone looking at it from the outside it might seem unequal but that because only some of the picture is shown, when you see the entire picture it makes a lot more sense.
Here are some marriage rights
I would just like to share some information about women’s rights that I have just found out. The woman has the right to have the similar levels of food as she had before she was married. In terms of quality.
He does not have to cook or clean for him. she can refuse and he would have to pay for someone to do it.
He can refuse to life with the in laws and demand her own house.
She has the right to take money from him if he is tight fisted.
She has the right to the mahr which is a wedding gift from the husband. If she wants a divorce she pays some of this back.
She cannot be forced into a marriage, if she is she can walk away.
There is a lot of misleading information out there. Some has been twisted by those who hate Islam. I wish I could say it another way but thats how it is.
Okay Women in Islam are elevated from being an object who wear scant clothing, to women who are modest in their clothing. What I mean is that women in Islam are dressed to impress God/Allah and not dressed to impress men.
Which is not always the case.
Many men treat women differently according to their dress.
A Hindi convert to Islam commented on this when she came to England, she was surprised the women were treated in this way and found it demeaning to women.
A lot of the bad press is from people who are culturally expressing there desire to control the woman, not from the religion. Many cases can be cited but you could find a pattern, if men hurt women that's because of their sicknesses.
It is true that a woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man. This is because it is difficult to watch an evil action for a normal person and a woman is naturally squeamish. Also a woman is more likely to be cohereced into giving up here testimony than a man. But there are other cases that only a womans testimony can be accepted and not a mans which is the case of milk nursing or wet nursing. Also if she was a female Judge could she overrule other men's words.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) said, "Heaven is at the feet of your mothers." What this is understood as that Heaven is the service of mothers. This was not said about the father.
You see Islam gave the freedom for women to inherit in the 7th century something that Christianity was never able to do and only recently with the abandonment of Christianity have we seen women inherit.
There are many examples that I could bring seen as marriage is also a hot topic please read the following rights for women in a marriage. If you have anymore questions please contact me. I would recommend L. Ahmeds book on Women in Islam you can find it on Amazon.com.
For someone looking at it from the outside it might seem unequal but that because only some of the picture is shown, when you see the entire picture it makes a lot more sense.
Here are some marriage rights
I would just like to share some information about women’s rights that I have just found out. The woman has the right to have the similar levels of food as she had before she was married. In terms of quality.
He does not have to cook or clean for him. she can refuse and he would have to pay for someone to do it.
He can refuse to life with the in laws and demand her own house.
She has the right to take money from him if he is tight fisted.
She has the right to the mahr which is a wedding gift from the husband. If she wants a divorce she pays some of this back.
She cannot be forced into a marriage, if she is she can walk away.
What does Allah mean?
The word is the all encompassing name of God, it carries all means known and unknown.
As for the word Allah coming from the the word Deity with the definite article attached, this is false. As whenever the word has ya attached to it would be Ya halu then the word, if it followed this pattern. When ya is attached to it, the word stays the same. So it cannot be this.
Allah is word if recited bring relief to the reciter, I have tried it myself many times.
There is also a link here, for an article written by Dr Umar Abdullah about the name God.
http://www.nawawi.org/downloads/article2.pdf
As for the word Allah coming from the the word Deity with the definite article attached, this is false. As whenever the word has ya attached to it would be Ya halu then the word, if it followed this pattern. When ya is attached to it, the word stays the same. So it cannot be this.
Allah is word if recited bring relief to the reciter, I have tried it myself many times.
There is also a link here, for an article written by Dr Umar Abdullah about the name God.
http://www.nawawi.org/downloads/article2.pdf
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Aisha marriage what age was it?
The Ancient Myth Exposed
by T.O. Shanavas
A Christian friend asked me once, “Will you marry your seven year old daughter to a fifty year old man?” I kept my silence. He continued, “If you would not, how can you approve the marriage of an innocent seven year old, Ayesha, with your Prophet?” I told him, “I don’t have an answer to your question at this time.” My friend smiled and left me with a thorn in the heart of my faith. Most Muslims answer that such marriages were accepted in those days. Otherwise, people would have objected to Prophet’s marriage with Ayesha.
However, such an explanation would be gullible only for those who are naive enough to believe it. But unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the answer.
The Prophet was an exemplary man. All his actions were most virtuous so that we, Muslims, can emulate them. However, most people in our Islamic Center of Toledo, including me, would not think of betrothing our seven years daughter to a fifty-two year-old man. If a parent agrees to such a wedding, most people, if not all, would look down upon the father and the old husband.
In 1923, registrars of marriage in Egypt were instructed not to register and issue official certificates of marriage for brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years of age. Eight years later, the Law of the Organization and Procedure of Sheriah courts of 1931 consolidated the above provision by not hearing the marriage disputes involving brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years old. (Women in Muslim Family Law, John Esposito, 1982). It shows that even in the Muslim majority country of Egypt the child marriages are unacceptable.
So, I believed, without solid evidence other than my reverence to my Prophet, that the stories of the marriage of seven-year-old Ayesha to 50-year-old Prophet are only myths. However, my long pursuit in search of the truth on this matter proved my intuition correct. My Prophet was a gentleman. And he did not marry an innocent seven or nine year old girl. The age of Ayesha has been erroneously reported in the hadith literature. Furthermore, I think that the narratives reporting this event are highly unreliable. Some of the hadith (traditions of the Prophet) regarding Ayesha’s age at the time of her wedding with prophet are problematic. I present the following evidences against the acceptance of the fictitious story by Hisham ibn ‘Urwah and to clear the name of my Prophet as an irresponsible old man preying on an innocent little girl.
EVIDENCE #1: Reliability of Source
Most of the narratives printed in the books of hadith are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah, who was reporting on the authority of his father. First of all, more people than just one, two or three should logically have reported. It is strange that no one from Medina, where Hisham ibn `Urwah lived the first 71 years of his life narrated the event, despite the fact that his Medinan pupils included the well-respected Malik ibn Anas. The origins of the report of the narratives of this event are people from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have shifted after living in Medina for most of his life.
Tehzibu’l-Tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet, reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: “He [Hisham] is highly reliable, his narratives are acceptable, except what he narrated after moving over to Iraq” (Tehzi’bu’l-tehzi’b, Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, 15th century. Vol 11, p. 50).
It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people in Iraq: “I have been told that Malik objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq” (Tehzi’b u’l-tehzi’b, Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, Vol.11, p. 50).
Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, another book on the life sketches of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet reports: “When he was old, Hisham’s memory suffered quite badly” (Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, Al-Zahbi, Al-Maktabatu’l-athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol. 4, p. 301).
CONCLUSION: Based on these references, Hisham’s memory was failing and his narratives while in Iraq were unreliable. So, his narrative of Ayesha’s marriage and age are unreliable.
CHRONOLOGY: It is vital also to keep in mind some of the pertinent dates in the history of Islam: pre-610 CE: Jahiliya (pre-Islamic age) before revelation
610 CE: First revelation
610 CE: AbuBakr accepts Islam
613 CE: Prophet Muhammad begins preaching publicly.
615 CE: Emigration to Abyssinia
616 CE: Umar bin al Khattab accepts Islam
620 CE: Generally accepted betrothal of Ayesha to the Prophet
622 CE: Hijrah (emigation to Yathrib, later renamed Medina)
623/624 CE: Generally accepted year of Ayesha living with the Prophet
EVIDENCE #2: The Betrothal
According to Tabari (also according to Hisham ibn ‘Urwah, Ibn Hunbal and Ibn Sad), Ayesha was betrothed at seven years of age and began to cohabit with the Prophet at the age of nine years.
However, in another work, Al-Tabari says: “All four of his [Abu Bakr’s] children were born of his two wives during the pre-Islamic period” (Tarikhu’l-umam wa’l-mamlu’k, Al-Tabari (died 922), Vol. 4, p. 50, Arabic, Dara’l-fikr, Beirut, 1979).
If Ayesha was betrothed in 620 CE (at the age of seven) and started to live with the Prophet in 624 CE (at the age of nine), that would indicate that she was born in 613 CE and was nine when she began living with the Prophet. Therefore, based on one account of Al-Tabari, the numbers show that Ayesha must have born in 613 CE, three years after the beginning of revelation (610 CE). Tabari also states that Ayesha was born in the pre-Islamic era (in Jahiliya). If she was born before 610 CE, she would have been at least 14 years old when she began living with the Prophet. Essentially, Tabari contradicts himself.
CONCLUSION: Al-Tabari is unreliable in the matter of determining Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE # 3: The Age of Ayesha in Relation to the Age of Fatima
According to Ibn Hajar, “Fatima was born at the time the Ka`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet was 35 years old... she was five years older that Ayesha” (Al-isabah fi tamyizi’l-sahabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol. 4, p. 377, Maktabatu’l-Riyadh al-haditha, al-Riyadh, 1978).
If Ibn Hajar’s statement is factual, Ayesha was born when the Prophet was 40 years old. If Ayesha was married to the Prophet when he was 52 years old, Ayesha’s age at marriage would be 12 years.
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar, Tabari an Ibn Hisham and Ibn Humbal contradict each other. So, the marriage of Ayesha at seven years of age is a myth.
EVIDENCE #4: Ayesha’s Age in relation to Asma’s Age
According to Abda’l-Rahman ibn abi zanna’d: “Asma was 10 years older than Ayesha (Siyar A`la’ma’l-nubala’, Al-Zahabi, Vol. 2, p. 289, Arabic, Mu’assasatu’l-risalah, Beirut, 1992).
According to Ibn Kathir: “She [Asma] was elder to her sister [Ayesha] by 10 years” (Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, p. 371, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933).
According to Ibn Kathir: “She [Asma] saw the killing of her son during that year [73 AH], as we have already mentioned, and five days later she herself died. According to other narratives, she died not after five days but 10 or 20, or a few days over 20, or 100 days later. The most well known narrative is that of 100 days later. At the time of her death, she was 100 years old.” (Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, p. 372, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933)
According to Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani: “She [Asma] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH.” (Taqribu’l-tehzib, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, p. 654, Arabic, Bab fi’l-nisa’, al-harfu’l-alif, Lucknow).
According to almost all the historians, Asma, the elder sister of Ayesha was 10 years older than Ayesha. If Asma was 100 years old in 73 AH, she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of the hijrah.
If Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha should have been 17 or 18 years old. Thus, Ayesha, being 17 or 18 years of at the time of Hijra, she started to cohabit with the Prophet between at either 19 to 20 years of age.
Based on Hajar, Ibn Katir, and Abda’l-Rahman ibn abi zanna’d, Ayesha’s age at the time she began living with the Prophet would be 19 or 20. In Evidence # 3, Ibn Hajar suggests that Ayesha was 12 years old and in Evidence #4 he contradicts himself with a 17 or 18-year-old Ayesha. What is the correct age, twelve or eighteen?
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar is an unreliable source for Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE #5: The Battles of Badr and Uhud
A narrative regarding Ayesha’s participation in Badr is given in the hadith of Muslim, (Kitabu’l-jihad wa’l-siyar, Bab karahiyati’l-isti`anah fi’l-ghazwi bikafir). Ayesha, while narrating the journey to Badr and one of the important events that took place in that journey, says: “when we reached Shajarah”. Obviously, Ayesha was with the group travelling towards Badr. A narrative regarding Ayesha’s participation in the Battle of Uhud is given in Bukhari (Kitabu’l-jihad wa’l-siyar, Bab Ghazwi’l-nisa’ wa qitalihinna ma`a’lrijal): “Anas reports that on the day of Uhud, people could not stand their ground around the Prophet. [On that day,] I saw Ayesha and Umm-i-Sulaim, they had pulled their dress up from their feet [to avoid any hindrance in their movement].” Again, this indicates that Ayesha was present in the Battles of Uhud and Badr.
It is narrated in Bukhari (Kitabu’l-maghazi, Bab Ghazwati’l-khandaq wa hiya’l-ahza’b): “Ibn `Umar states that the Prophet did not permit me to participate in Uhud, as at that time, I was 14 years old. But on the day of Khandaq, when I was 15 years old, the Prophet permitted my participation.”
Based on the above narratives, (a) the children below 15 years were sent back and were not allowed to participate in the Battle of Uhud, and (b) Ayesha participated in the Battles of Badr and Uhud
CONCLUSION: Ayesha’s participation in the Battles of Badr and Uhud clearly indicates that she was not nine years old but at least 15 years old. After all, women used to accompany men to the battlefields to help them, not to be a burden on them. This account is another contradiction regarding Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE #6: Surat al-Qamar (The Moon)
According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha was born about eight years before hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari, Ayesha is reported to have said: “I was a young girl (jariyah in Arabic)” when Surah Al-Qamar was revealed (Sahih Bukhari, kitabu’l-tafsir, Bab Qaulihi Bal al-sa`atu Maw`iduhum wa’l-sa`atu adha’ wa amarr).
Chapter 54 of the Quran was revealed eight years before hijrah (The Bounteous Koran, M.M. Khatib, 1985), indicating that it was revealed in 614 CE. If Ayesha started living with the Prophet at the age of nine in 623 CE or 624 CE, she was a newborn infant (sibyah in Arabic) at the time that Surah Al-Qamar (The Moon) was revealed. According to the above tradition, Ayesha was actually a young girl, not an infant in the year of revelation of Al-Qamar. Jariyah means young playful girl (Lane’s Arabic English Lexicon). So, Ayesha, being a jariyah not a sibyah (infant), must be somewhere between 6-13 years old at the time of revelation of Al-Qamar, and therefore must have been 14-21 years at the time she married the Prophet.
CONCLUSION: This tradition also contradicts the marriage of Ayesha at the age of nine.
EVIDENCE #7: Arabic Terminology
According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of the Prophet’s first wife Khadijah, when Khaulah came to the Prophet advising him to marry again, the Prophet asked her regarding the choices she had in mind. Khaulah said: “You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)”. When the Prophet asked the identity of the bikr (virgin), Khaulah mentioned Ayesha’s name.
All those who know the Arabic language are aware that the word bikr in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine-year-old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier, is jariyah. Bikr on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady without conjugal experience prior to marriage, as we understand the word “virgin” in English. Therefore, obviously a nine-year-old girl is not a “lady” (bikr) (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Vol. 6, p. .210, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi, Beirut).
CONCLUSION: The literal meaning of the word, bikr (virgin), in the above hadith is “adult woman with no sexual experience prior to marriage.” Therefore, Ayesha was an adult woman at the time of her marriage.
EVIDENCE #8. The Qur’anic Text
All Muslims agree that the Quran is the book of guidance. So, we need to seek the guidance from the Quran to clear the smoke and confusion created by the eminent men of the classical period of Islam in the matter of Ayesha’s age at her marriage. Does the Quran allow or disallow marriage of an immature child of seven years of age?
There are no verses that explicitly allow such marriage. There is a verse, however, that guides Muslims in their duty to raise an orphaned child. The Quran’s guidance on the topic of raising orphans is also valid in the case of our own children. The verse states: “And make not over your property (property of the orphan), which Allah had made a (means of) support for you, to the weak of understanding, and maintain them out of it, clothe them and give them good education. And test them until they reach the age of marriage. Then if you find them maturity of intellect, make over them their property...” (Quran, 4:5-6).
In the matter of children who have lost a parent, a Muslim is ordered to (a) feed them, (b) clothe them, (c) educate them, and (d) test them for maturity “until the age of marriage” before entrusting them with management of finances.
Here the Quranic verse demands meticulous proof of their intellectual and physical maturity by objective test results before the age of marriage in order to entrust their property to them.
In light of the above verses, no responsible Muslim would hand over financial management to a seven- or nine-year-old immature girl. If we cannot trust a seven-year-old to manage financial matters, she cannot be intellectually or physically fit for marriage. Ibn Hambal (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hambal, vol.6, p. 33 and 99) claims that nine-year-old Ayesha was rather more interested in playing with toy-horses than taking up the responsible task of a wife. It is difficult to believe, therefore, that AbuBakr, a great believer among Muslims, would betroth his immature seven-year-old daughter to the 50-year-old Prophet. Equally difficult to imagine is that the Prophet would marry an immature seven-year-old girl.
Another important duty demanded from the guardian of a child is to educate them. Let us ask the question, “How many of us believe that we can educate our children satisfactorily before they reach the age of seven or nine years?” The answer is none. Logically, it is an impossible task to educate a child satisfactorily before the child attains the age of seven. Then, how can we believe that Ayesha was educated satisfactorily at the claimed age of seven at the time of her marriage?
AbuBakr was a more judicious man than all of us. So, he definitely would have judged that Ayesha was a child at heart and was not satisfactorily educated as demanded by the Quran. He would not have married her to anyone. If a proposal of marrying the immature and yet to be educated seven-year-old Ayesha came to the Prophet, he would have rejected it outright because neither the Prophet nor AbuBakr would violate any clause in the Quran.
CONCLUSION: The marriage of Ayesha at the age of seven years would violate the maturity clause or requirement of the Quran. Therefore, the story of the marriage of the seven-year-old immature Ayesha is a myth.
EVIDENCE #9: Consent in Marriage
A women must be consulted and must agree in order to make a marriage valid (Mishakat al Masabiah, translation by James Robson, Vol. I, p. 665). Islamically, credible permission from women is a prerequisite for a marriage to be valid.
By any stretch of the imagination, the permission given by an immature seven-year-old girl cannot be valid authorization for marriage.
It is inconceivable that AbuBakr, an intelligent man, would take seriously the permission of a seven-year-old girl to marry a 50-year-old man.
Similarly, the Prophet would not have accepted the permission given by a girl who, according to the hadith of Muslim, took her toys with her when she went live with Prophet.
CONCLUSION: The Prophet did not marry a seven-year-old Ayesha because it would have violated the requirement of the valid permission clause of the Islamic Marriage Decree. Therefore, the Prophet married an intellectually and physically mature lady Ayesha.
SUMMARY:
It was neither an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as seven or nine years, nor did the Prophet marry Ayesha at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.
Obviously, the narrative of the marriage of nine-year-old Ayesha by Hisham ibn `Urwah cannot be held true when it is contradicted by many other reported narratives. Moreover, there is absolutely no reason to accept the narrative of Hisham ibn `Urwah as true when other scholars, including Malik ibn Anas, view his narrative while in Iraq, as unreliable. The quotations from Tabari, Bukhari and Muslim show they contradict each other regarding Ayesha’s age. Furthermore, many of these scholars contradict themselves in their own records. Thus, the narrative of Ayesha’s age at the time of the marriage is not reliable due to the clear contradictions seen in the works of classical scholars of Islam.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the information on Ayesha’s age is accepted as true when there are adequate grounds to reject it as myth. Moreover, the Quran rejects the marriage of immature girls and boys as well as entrusting them with responsibilities.
T.O. Shanavas is a physician based in Michigan. This article first appeared in The Minaret in March 1999.
© 2001 Minaret
Extracted 09/06/02 from The Minaret
by T.O. Shanavas
A Christian friend asked me once, “Will you marry your seven year old daughter to a fifty year old man?” I kept my silence. He continued, “If you would not, how can you approve the marriage of an innocent seven year old, Ayesha, with your Prophet?” I told him, “I don’t have an answer to your question at this time.” My friend smiled and left me with a thorn in the heart of my faith. Most Muslims answer that such marriages were accepted in those days. Otherwise, people would have objected to Prophet’s marriage with Ayesha.
However, such an explanation would be gullible only for those who are naive enough to believe it. But unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the answer.
The Prophet was an exemplary man. All his actions were most virtuous so that we, Muslims, can emulate them. However, most people in our Islamic Center of Toledo, including me, would not think of betrothing our seven years daughter to a fifty-two year-old man. If a parent agrees to such a wedding, most people, if not all, would look down upon the father and the old husband.
In 1923, registrars of marriage in Egypt were instructed not to register and issue official certificates of marriage for brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years of age. Eight years later, the Law of the Organization and Procedure of Sheriah courts of 1931 consolidated the above provision by not hearing the marriage disputes involving brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years old. (Women in Muslim Family Law, John Esposito, 1982). It shows that even in the Muslim majority country of Egypt the child marriages are unacceptable.
So, I believed, without solid evidence other than my reverence to my Prophet, that the stories of the marriage of seven-year-old Ayesha to 50-year-old Prophet are only myths. However, my long pursuit in search of the truth on this matter proved my intuition correct. My Prophet was a gentleman. And he did not marry an innocent seven or nine year old girl. The age of Ayesha has been erroneously reported in the hadith literature. Furthermore, I think that the narratives reporting this event are highly unreliable. Some of the hadith (traditions of the Prophet) regarding Ayesha’s age at the time of her wedding with prophet are problematic. I present the following evidences against the acceptance of the fictitious story by Hisham ibn ‘Urwah and to clear the name of my Prophet as an irresponsible old man preying on an innocent little girl.
EVIDENCE #1: Reliability of Source
Most of the narratives printed in the books of hadith are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah, who was reporting on the authority of his father. First of all, more people than just one, two or three should logically have reported. It is strange that no one from Medina, where Hisham ibn `Urwah lived the first 71 years of his life narrated the event, despite the fact that his Medinan pupils included the well-respected Malik ibn Anas. The origins of the report of the narratives of this event are people from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have shifted after living in Medina for most of his life.
Tehzibu’l-Tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet, reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: “He [Hisham] is highly reliable, his narratives are acceptable, except what he narrated after moving over to Iraq” (Tehzi’bu’l-tehzi’b, Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, 15th century. Vol 11, p. 50).
It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people in Iraq: “I have been told that Malik objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq” (Tehzi’b u’l-tehzi’b, Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, Vol.11, p. 50).
Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, another book on the life sketches of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet reports: “When he was old, Hisham’s memory suffered quite badly” (Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, Al-Zahbi, Al-Maktabatu’l-athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol. 4, p. 301).
CONCLUSION: Based on these references, Hisham’s memory was failing and his narratives while in Iraq were unreliable. So, his narrative of Ayesha’s marriage and age are unreliable.
CHRONOLOGY: It is vital also to keep in mind some of the pertinent dates in the history of Islam: pre-610 CE: Jahiliya (pre-Islamic age) before revelation
610 CE: First revelation
610 CE: AbuBakr accepts Islam
613 CE: Prophet Muhammad begins preaching publicly.
615 CE: Emigration to Abyssinia
616 CE: Umar bin al Khattab accepts Islam
620 CE: Generally accepted betrothal of Ayesha to the Prophet
622 CE: Hijrah (emigation to Yathrib, later renamed Medina)
623/624 CE: Generally accepted year of Ayesha living with the Prophet
EVIDENCE #2: The Betrothal
According to Tabari (also according to Hisham ibn ‘Urwah, Ibn Hunbal and Ibn Sad), Ayesha was betrothed at seven years of age and began to cohabit with the Prophet at the age of nine years.
However, in another work, Al-Tabari says: “All four of his [Abu Bakr’s] children were born of his two wives during the pre-Islamic period” (Tarikhu’l-umam wa’l-mamlu’k, Al-Tabari (died 922), Vol. 4, p. 50, Arabic, Dara’l-fikr, Beirut, 1979).
If Ayesha was betrothed in 620 CE (at the age of seven) and started to live with the Prophet in 624 CE (at the age of nine), that would indicate that she was born in 613 CE and was nine when she began living with the Prophet. Therefore, based on one account of Al-Tabari, the numbers show that Ayesha must have born in 613 CE, three years after the beginning of revelation (610 CE). Tabari also states that Ayesha was born in the pre-Islamic era (in Jahiliya). If she was born before 610 CE, she would have been at least 14 years old when she began living with the Prophet. Essentially, Tabari contradicts himself.
CONCLUSION: Al-Tabari is unreliable in the matter of determining Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE # 3: The Age of Ayesha in Relation to the Age of Fatima
According to Ibn Hajar, “Fatima was born at the time the Ka`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet was 35 years old... she was five years older that Ayesha” (Al-isabah fi tamyizi’l-sahabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol. 4, p. 377, Maktabatu’l-Riyadh al-haditha, al-Riyadh, 1978).
If Ibn Hajar’s statement is factual, Ayesha was born when the Prophet was 40 years old. If Ayesha was married to the Prophet when he was 52 years old, Ayesha’s age at marriage would be 12 years.
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar, Tabari an Ibn Hisham and Ibn Humbal contradict each other. So, the marriage of Ayesha at seven years of age is a myth.
EVIDENCE #4: Ayesha’s Age in relation to Asma’s Age
According to Abda’l-Rahman ibn abi zanna’d: “Asma was 10 years older than Ayesha (Siyar A`la’ma’l-nubala’, Al-Zahabi, Vol. 2, p. 289, Arabic, Mu’assasatu’l-risalah, Beirut, 1992).
According to Ibn Kathir: “She [Asma] was elder to her sister [Ayesha] by 10 years” (Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, p. 371, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933).
According to Ibn Kathir: “She [Asma] saw the killing of her son during that year [73 AH], as we have already mentioned, and five days later she herself died. According to other narratives, she died not after five days but 10 or 20, or a few days over 20, or 100 days later. The most well known narrative is that of 100 days later. At the time of her death, she was 100 years old.” (Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, p. 372, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933)
According to Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani: “She [Asma] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH.” (Taqribu’l-tehzib, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, p. 654, Arabic, Bab fi’l-nisa’, al-harfu’l-alif, Lucknow).
According to almost all the historians, Asma, the elder sister of Ayesha was 10 years older than Ayesha. If Asma was 100 years old in 73 AH, she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of the hijrah.
If Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha should have been 17 or 18 years old. Thus, Ayesha, being 17 or 18 years of at the time of Hijra, she started to cohabit with the Prophet between at either 19 to 20 years of age.
Based on Hajar, Ibn Katir, and Abda’l-Rahman ibn abi zanna’d, Ayesha’s age at the time she began living with the Prophet would be 19 or 20. In Evidence # 3, Ibn Hajar suggests that Ayesha was 12 years old and in Evidence #4 he contradicts himself with a 17 or 18-year-old Ayesha. What is the correct age, twelve or eighteen?
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar is an unreliable source for Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE #5: The Battles of Badr and Uhud
A narrative regarding Ayesha’s participation in Badr is given in the hadith of Muslim, (Kitabu’l-jihad wa’l-siyar, Bab karahiyati’l-isti`anah fi’l-ghazwi bikafir). Ayesha, while narrating the journey to Badr and one of the important events that took place in that journey, says: “when we reached Shajarah”. Obviously, Ayesha was with the group travelling towards Badr. A narrative regarding Ayesha’s participation in the Battle of Uhud is given in Bukhari (Kitabu’l-jihad wa’l-siyar, Bab Ghazwi’l-nisa’ wa qitalihinna ma`a’lrijal): “Anas reports that on the day of Uhud, people could not stand their ground around the Prophet. [On that day,] I saw Ayesha and Umm-i-Sulaim, they had pulled their dress up from their feet [to avoid any hindrance in their movement].” Again, this indicates that Ayesha was present in the Battles of Uhud and Badr.
It is narrated in Bukhari (Kitabu’l-maghazi, Bab Ghazwati’l-khandaq wa hiya’l-ahza’b): “Ibn `Umar states that the Prophet did not permit me to participate in Uhud, as at that time, I was 14 years old. But on the day of Khandaq, when I was 15 years old, the Prophet permitted my participation.”
Based on the above narratives, (a) the children below 15 years were sent back and were not allowed to participate in the Battle of Uhud, and (b) Ayesha participated in the Battles of Badr and Uhud
CONCLUSION: Ayesha’s participation in the Battles of Badr and Uhud clearly indicates that she was not nine years old but at least 15 years old. After all, women used to accompany men to the battlefields to help them, not to be a burden on them. This account is another contradiction regarding Ayesha’s age.
EVIDENCE #6: Surat al-Qamar (The Moon)
According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha was born about eight years before hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari, Ayesha is reported to have said: “I was a young girl (jariyah in Arabic)” when Surah Al-Qamar was revealed (Sahih Bukhari, kitabu’l-tafsir, Bab Qaulihi Bal al-sa`atu Maw`iduhum wa’l-sa`atu adha’ wa amarr).
Chapter 54 of the Quran was revealed eight years before hijrah (The Bounteous Koran, M.M. Khatib, 1985), indicating that it was revealed in 614 CE. If Ayesha started living with the Prophet at the age of nine in 623 CE or 624 CE, she was a newborn infant (sibyah in Arabic) at the time that Surah Al-Qamar (The Moon) was revealed. According to the above tradition, Ayesha was actually a young girl, not an infant in the year of revelation of Al-Qamar. Jariyah means young playful girl (Lane’s Arabic English Lexicon). So, Ayesha, being a jariyah not a sibyah (infant), must be somewhere between 6-13 years old at the time of revelation of Al-Qamar, and therefore must have been 14-21 years at the time she married the Prophet.
CONCLUSION: This tradition also contradicts the marriage of Ayesha at the age of nine.
EVIDENCE #7: Arabic Terminology
According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of the Prophet’s first wife Khadijah, when Khaulah came to the Prophet advising him to marry again, the Prophet asked her regarding the choices she had in mind. Khaulah said: “You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)”. When the Prophet asked the identity of the bikr (virgin), Khaulah mentioned Ayesha’s name.
All those who know the Arabic language are aware that the word bikr in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine-year-old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier, is jariyah. Bikr on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady without conjugal experience prior to marriage, as we understand the word “virgin” in English. Therefore, obviously a nine-year-old girl is not a “lady” (bikr) (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Vol. 6, p. .210, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi, Beirut).
CONCLUSION: The literal meaning of the word, bikr (virgin), in the above hadith is “adult woman with no sexual experience prior to marriage.” Therefore, Ayesha was an adult woman at the time of her marriage.
EVIDENCE #8. The Qur’anic Text
All Muslims agree that the Quran is the book of guidance. So, we need to seek the guidance from the Quran to clear the smoke and confusion created by the eminent men of the classical period of Islam in the matter of Ayesha’s age at her marriage. Does the Quran allow or disallow marriage of an immature child of seven years of age?
There are no verses that explicitly allow such marriage. There is a verse, however, that guides Muslims in their duty to raise an orphaned child. The Quran’s guidance on the topic of raising orphans is also valid in the case of our own children. The verse states: “And make not over your property (property of the orphan), which Allah had made a (means of) support for you, to the weak of understanding, and maintain them out of it, clothe them and give them good education. And test them until they reach the age of marriage. Then if you find them maturity of intellect, make over them their property...” (Quran, 4:5-6).
In the matter of children who have lost a parent, a Muslim is ordered to (a) feed them, (b) clothe them, (c) educate them, and (d) test them for maturity “until the age of marriage” before entrusting them with management of finances.
Here the Quranic verse demands meticulous proof of their intellectual and physical maturity by objective test results before the age of marriage in order to entrust their property to them.
In light of the above verses, no responsible Muslim would hand over financial management to a seven- or nine-year-old immature girl. If we cannot trust a seven-year-old to manage financial matters, she cannot be intellectually or physically fit for marriage. Ibn Hambal (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hambal, vol.6, p. 33 and 99) claims that nine-year-old Ayesha was rather more interested in playing with toy-horses than taking up the responsible task of a wife. It is difficult to believe, therefore, that AbuBakr, a great believer among Muslims, would betroth his immature seven-year-old daughter to the 50-year-old Prophet. Equally difficult to imagine is that the Prophet would marry an immature seven-year-old girl.
Another important duty demanded from the guardian of a child is to educate them. Let us ask the question, “How many of us believe that we can educate our children satisfactorily before they reach the age of seven or nine years?” The answer is none. Logically, it is an impossible task to educate a child satisfactorily before the child attains the age of seven. Then, how can we believe that Ayesha was educated satisfactorily at the claimed age of seven at the time of her marriage?
AbuBakr was a more judicious man than all of us. So, he definitely would have judged that Ayesha was a child at heart and was not satisfactorily educated as demanded by the Quran. He would not have married her to anyone. If a proposal of marrying the immature and yet to be educated seven-year-old Ayesha came to the Prophet, he would have rejected it outright because neither the Prophet nor AbuBakr would violate any clause in the Quran.
CONCLUSION: The marriage of Ayesha at the age of seven years would violate the maturity clause or requirement of the Quran. Therefore, the story of the marriage of the seven-year-old immature Ayesha is a myth.
EVIDENCE #9: Consent in Marriage
A women must be consulted and must agree in order to make a marriage valid (Mishakat al Masabiah, translation by James Robson, Vol. I, p. 665). Islamically, credible permission from women is a prerequisite for a marriage to be valid.
By any stretch of the imagination, the permission given by an immature seven-year-old girl cannot be valid authorization for marriage.
It is inconceivable that AbuBakr, an intelligent man, would take seriously the permission of a seven-year-old girl to marry a 50-year-old man.
Similarly, the Prophet would not have accepted the permission given by a girl who, according to the hadith of Muslim, took her toys with her when she went live with Prophet.
CONCLUSION: The Prophet did not marry a seven-year-old Ayesha because it would have violated the requirement of the valid permission clause of the Islamic Marriage Decree. Therefore, the Prophet married an intellectually and physically mature lady Ayesha.
SUMMARY:
It was neither an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as seven or nine years, nor did the Prophet marry Ayesha at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.
Obviously, the narrative of the marriage of nine-year-old Ayesha by Hisham ibn `Urwah cannot be held true when it is contradicted by many other reported narratives. Moreover, there is absolutely no reason to accept the narrative of Hisham ibn `Urwah as true when other scholars, including Malik ibn Anas, view his narrative while in Iraq, as unreliable. The quotations from Tabari, Bukhari and Muslim show they contradict each other regarding Ayesha’s age. Furthermore, many of these scholars contradict themselves in their own records. Thus, the narrative of Ayesha’s age at the time of the marriage is not reliable due to the clear contradictions seen in the works of classical scholars of Islam.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the information on Ayesha’s age is accepted as true when there are adequate grounds to reject it as myth. Moreover, the Quran rejects the marriage of immature girls and boys as well as entrusting them with responsibilities.
T.O. Shanavas is a physician based in Michigan. This article first appeared in The Minaret in March 1999.
© 2001 Minaret
Extracted 09/06/02 from The Minaret
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