Islamic Society
It is also equally important to realise that lakhs of children are studying in these madrasas and the present state of affairs does not equip them to even understand the location of different countries on the world map. In the name of protecting of our tradition, are we not sacrificing the future of these Muslim children? Yogi Adityanath may be doing this for political reasons, but why should we blindly oppose the introduction of a superior quality of textbooks in our madrasas? ...
In the land of
the pure, the law relating to blasphemy is yet again in the limelight. The
hysterical expression of the rulers, the sardonic behaviour of theocracy and
the bizarre yet pernicious attitude of the lumpen simply reflect that redeeming
the state from the quagmire of religious fanaticism has become an impossible
task....
The visible
religiosity of the new middle class is often identified as the Wahhabi Islam of
Saudi Arabia. However, it is not Wahhabi Islam but the globalized Islam
practiced by Muslims in the West that better explains contemporary religious
trends. Made familiar with Muslim practices abroad through relatives living
abroad and returning migrants, many members of the new middle class have
started incorporating them in their own lives....
Mohammed Hanif
Mohammed Hanif
Two kids or 20,
for parents they are all precious. For some, even divine. There are men who
believe that by bringing more children into the world they are helping build up
the Muslim Ummah. Every few years, a silly news story is published about a man
with 30 or more children who claims to be having fun doing God’s work. But nobody
ever asks the three or four mothers involved in producing all those children if
sitting around a stove making food for more than 30 people makes them
happy.....
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
"There it
stood, almost a perfect cube ... entirely covered with black brocade, a quiet
island in the middle of the vast quadrangle of the mosque: much quieter than
any other work of architecture anywhere in the world. ….. The builder knew that
no beauty of architectural rhythm and no perfection of line, however great,
could ever do justice to the idea of God: and so he confined himself to the
simplest three-dimensional form imaginable—a cube of stone." It is a
symbol, as Asad wrote, "of God's oneness; and the pilgrim's bodily
movement around it is a symbolic expression of human activity, implying that
not only our thoughts and feelings—all that is comprised in the term 'inner
life'—but also our outward, active life, our doings and practical endeavours
must have God as their centre."….
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
Incidentally, Sufism has become
a kind of New-Age amalgam of spiritual practices, even though its roots reach
back to the earliest days of Islam. As the early Muslim conquerors took their
faith to different lands, Sufism began to borrow from different traditions,
including Greek and Hindu philosophy and Christian theology. Hence, many of the
early Sufis believed that all faiths were equal. This is where Sufism went astray.The way forward
that can provide a unifier effect to the Muslims would be that the Salafis
soften their stance and the Sufis to
discipline their loose practices.
Clearly, this solemn occasion cannot be confined to only animal sacrifice. We must engage in all virtuous and harmonious acts based on kindness and sharing to achieve the noble objectives of Eid-ul-Adha. It is indeed ordained on Muslims to sacrifice Halal or permissible animals in remembrance of Prophet Ibrahim’s devotional sacrifice to God and distribute them to the poor and the less fortunate. Some affluent Muslims go as far as donating money and several kilos of meat to feed the poor families in their country as well as abroad. However, the ritualistic animal sacrifice is not the core essence of this festival. Muslims may go for many other ways to emulate Ibrahim’s devotion to God during Eid-ul-Azha.....
Is our fate in
the otherworld linked to following particular juristic school in a given case?
Is animal sacrifice (Qurbani) mandatory for every individual who can afford it
(Sahibi Istita'at)? Is the popular understanding of Qurbani (especially
Hanafi one) based on certain reading of prophetic traditions uncontested in
Islamic tradition? No is the answer to
all these questions....
Syed Rizvi, New Age Islam
Syed Rizvi, New Age Islam
It is not a
surprise that no Muslim leader or clergy condemned this action of the Muslims
but it is deplorable that no lefts, liberals, or secularist said a word against
this despicable behaviour of the main stream India’s Muslims....
<
The way out of
ignorance lies in the middle, in a synthesis of these poles. Is it possible
Islam, the religion of 1.3 billion people, does contain its share of
ultra-conservatives and militants? But could it also be many Muslims seek
progressive, moderate leadership? I’ve had the privilege to know Muslims in
Canada and around the world. In my personal life, and in work with the
International Association of Religion Journalists, I’ve become colleagues and
friends with Muslims in North America, Europe, Malaysia, Lebanon, South Africa,
Algeria, Pakistan and elsewhere.....
The slander
heaped on them, then, is its own metaphorical death, a kind of destruction just
as tragic as the actual robbing of life. Pakistani society is a champion at
this practice; there are many Asieh Aminis here, silenced, sometimes killed,
all for the crime of raising a voice, demanding a more equal life....
When Abraham
was asked to sacrifice his son, his faith was so strong that he actually went
ahead with it. Fortunately, a messenger of God interrupted him and Abraham
ended up sacrificing a ram instead and, in the subsequent centuries, God was
kind enough to continue the tradition of sacrificing animals instead of
children. The second Eid brings with it perhaps the most contentious of 21st
century practices, and one of the most misconstrued of religious
traditions.....
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
“Who is it who
has maltreated you in this way?” the Caliph asked. The old woman pointed to the
person sitting next to the caliph. Mamun Rashid saw that it was his own son,
Abbas that she was pointing at. He ordered his Vazir, i.e. his chief advisor,
to take Abbas and stand him up next to the old woman. This order was carried
out. Now the Caliph asked them both to state their cases....
The majority of the present Muslims have deviated
from Islam. They have adopted a political goal, and a political goal always
leads to violence and war. I can say that political rule is not the goal or
target of Islam. But many present-day Muslims have adopted political rule as
their target and they claim that this is an ‘Islamic’ mission and that their
activities in this regard are a ‘jihad’. But I say that this is completely
wrong. This claim of theirs has no sanction in the Quran and Hadith. It is an innovation—or
what is called Biddah. All these
activities in the name of jihad, in the name of ‘Islamic rule’, are wrongful
innovations....
Kashif Shahzada
Kashif Shahzada
The Haj is
indeed a life-changing experience when it is done as the Quran says “Lillah”
or for Allah and no one else (3:97). Its motivation is the love of Allah; and
it is a hardship undertaken only for His sake. The transformation takes place
by self-imposed regulations for a fixed number of days and by experiencing some
events which will all leave their mark on the pilgrim....
The two
unstitched pieces of white cloth that men wear during the Hajj, strips them of
clothes that could reveal worldly status. This Ihram that male pilgrims
wear resembles the shroud used to wrap a body before it is lowered into a
grave. This serves as reminder of death and the afterlife.....
Of late, Darul
Uloom Deoband issued a strongly-worded fatwa declaring the Tablighi Jama’at
"misguided" and the “preacher of perverted views". Deoband
seminary has also urged the current chief of the Tablighi Jama’at, Maulvi Sa'ad
Kandhalvi to ‘repent in the court of God’. Accusing him of ‘an ideological
perversion, misinterpretation of Islamic texts and desecration of Prophethood’,
the fatwa pronounced by the Deoband clergy has stated: “It is our religious
duty to warn Muslims particularly those with the Tablighi jam ‘at that Maulvi
Sa'ad Kandhalvi, the current chief of the Jama’at, is misinterpreting Quran and
Hadith”. ....
The
main reason behind incidents of terrorism being carried out by the Muslims, is
the religious thoughts that are being taught in Madrasas and what are the
teachings being delivered to them in their political movements. And there are
four things that every Madrasa teaches and every religious thinker preaches, if
not in front of you, but he certainly preaches it. And what are those four
things, Listen, I will tell you....
<
A feeling of
citizenship can arise among Pakistanis only if all of them have identical
rights and responsibilities. This requires several actions on part of the state
including removal of laws that discriminate against religious minorities and
promotion of pluralism....
Simply,
designate the child so killed as an object of sacrifice, and close to the
religious sacrifice external to the precinct of Hajj. What is more, honour the
child as the martyr “Shaheed” for the politician’s imperatives! Thus many birds
are killed with one stone. The politician gains a symbol for his cause, the
child is elevated as Jannati entitled to enter paradise and the parents raised
to the exalted position of – however very reluctantly and heartbroken though –
to apostolic status of Ibrahim the Haneef, the apostle who willingly (almost)
sacrificed his son and in whose name this festival is celebrated....
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
Eid-ul-Adha
isn’t just a time to reflect on sacrifices, but it is a time to reflect on the
universality of the world’s religions. Sacrificing ourselves for others is what
we all can learn from Abraham. Believers and nonbelievers alike can appreciate
the human capacity to sacrifice one’s most prized possession for one’s
beloved.....
Misbahul Huda, New Age Islam
Misbahul Huda, New Age Islam
In Islamic
scriptures (the Qur’an and the Sunnah), There are plenty of evidence on
intrinsic supremacy of the Ramadan over all the other months of the Islamic
calendar, and the same holds true for its last ten days (Asharah Akheerah) over
its earlier two Asharas, as Laylatul Qadr, popularly known as The Night of
Power falls on the odd nights (21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th), of this
Asharah, which is described batter then a thousand months, in the Holy Qur’an,
Because in this night Qur’an was revealed to Prophet (PBUH), and the angels and
the Spirit descend on earth. Since we all are observing the last Asharah of
Ramadan, this Article will discuss what Allah (SWT) wants form us to fully
observe it, in order to attain salvation from Hellfire.
We can take or
not take their take on an issue but we can’t afford to be old selves after
reading them. Encountering such philosophers is like encountering spiritual
Masters who indelibly mark us. They open up our eyes and one begins to see
another world. One learns to appreciate the other, the other point of view or
other paths to truth....
So brothers if
you’re planning to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad regarding
marriage and polygamy, please consider all of the above, and if after reading
that you’re still game, Masha Allah you’re a better man than me!....
Sustained
cultural relevance to distinct peoples, diverse places, and different times
underlay Islam’s long success as a global civilization.” So the strength of Islam, the reason it has
survived and thrived as a religion in the past 13 centuries comes from the fact
that it accepts and is flexible enough to compliment believers of diverse
backgrounds.....