Our social:

Post from category:

I Discovered The Right Religion In Islam

HUDA, Nadia, and Selvi—all converts to Islam—stood outside the Taipei Grand Mosque in Taiwan after a noon prayer service and said their faith had given them strength. A list of questions brought Huda to the Taipei Grand Mosque: “Why can’t they eat pork? Why must women cover up? And why, if men can take four wives, can’t women take four husbands?”

After enrolling in a six-week course on the fundamentals of Islam, she found her answers, and she found religion. “When I first heard about the course, I told myself, ‘This is your time to learn something new.’ I discovered how to live according to the Qur’an, and now I feel very peaceful,” she said.

While stories of suicide attacks and beheading permeate news coverage from Afghanistan and the Middle East, Taipei Grand Mosque Imam Ma Shiao-chi said the number of people visiting the mosque with questions about Islam had increased.

“The news always highlights the bad things. About 90 percent of the news is negative. They hear stories about people getting their heads cut off and think Islam is a bad religion. They know very few things about Islam. They want to know what makes people do these things,” he said.

Their reasons for converting to Islam vary, but these women are finding freedom in Islam.

He said most of those going to the mosque are women. Whether they were born into a non-practicing Muslim family, converted for marriage, or, like Huda, are simply curious to learn more about the religion, the women Ma meets want to better understand the role of women in Islam. Perhaps they have no intentions of converting, Ma said, but at least they take the time to dispel a few stereotypes about the religion.

Some, however, do convert. As a teenager, Sana researched various religions and recalls visiting several temples, but it was Islam that appealed most to her. “So many things led me to feel Islam was the right religion. Even, when I was a child, I never liked to eat pork,” she said.

After living in Pakistan with her husband and children for eight years, Sana said she is now re-adjusting to being part of a minority religion in Taiwan. Taiwan has an estimated 130,000 Muslims, less than half of whom are Chinese Muslims.

“I am Chinese, and I am Muslim,” said Sana, giving the example of wearing a white headscarf, a color often associated with death in Taiwan.

Sana and Huda describe wearing the hijab as an honor and affirmation of their faith. They agreed, however, that while its purpose is to prevent unwanted attention to their bodies, it in fact often draws more attention. This they said is part of learning to live in a non-Muslim society.

Likewise, Huda, who works in an international trading company, was originally told she could not wear her hijab to work, as it might make clients uncomfortable. “Eventually my colleagues and boss accepted it. It took time, but they know being Muslim is an important part of my life,” she said.

While he criticized the unfair portrayal of Islam in the media, Ma said Muslim practitioners in Taiwan experience little harassment from the public. One reason, he said, might have to do with the small number of followers. “We are very few, so we are not really a risk to them,” he said.

The majority of Chinese practicing Islam are second and third-generation Muslims, whose families came to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 1949. As years passed, people started to relax their religious compliance, Ma said.

“A lot of Muslims in Taiwan were born Muslims, but not all of them pray every day. But Islam is a lifestyle. You need to do the Muslim practices [the Five Pillars of Islam] or else it is easy to lose the religion,” he said.

Nadia was born into a non-practicing Chinese-Muslim household. Following in her sister’s footsteps, she made the transition to a more pious observance during college. As she learned more about the religion, she began to dress more conservatively, covering all but her face and hands. “It was just an outfit on the outside, but it changed my life on the inside. I felt more confident,” she said.

In addition to Muslims rediscovering their lost faith, Ma said most women embracing Islam in Taiwan do so for marriage. Of the 20 new converts last year, 12 were for marriage, he said.

According to the Qur’an, a Muslim man can marry a woman from a monotheistic religion (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism), but he is prohibited from marrying a woman from a polytheistic religion (Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, etc.).

Marriage is how Aisha entered Islam 20 years ago. “In the beginning, it was just for marriage. I could accept that there is only one god and not eat pork. I couldn’t wear the hijab,” she said. A decade later she started reading the Qur’an, attending classes, and wearing the headscarf, and feels her relationship with her husband is better for it. “Now we have the same way of looking at things. I can communicate better with my husband,” she said.

Each of the women said Islam places a large emphasis on respect and equality for women. One of the most debated gender issues in the Qur’an is the tradition that allows Muslim men to take four wives. – The News

By Diana Freundl

How To Remove Sins

Overview:
An admonishment that every son of Aadam should heed. How many of us are overcome by our smaller sins that we do not give importance to? Indeed, there is a way to rectify the problem, listen to the lecture and benefit yourself O sinful son or daughter of Aadam!

TRANSCRIPTION:
Khutbatul Haajah ….
“Say, O My Servant, those who have been excessive, those who have been extreme o­n their own soul, do not despair of the mercy of Allah subhana wa ta’ala for surely Allah forgives all sins. And surely Allah, He is Al-Ghaffoor and Ar-Raheem. He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Merciful. He is extremely forgiving and extremely merciful.”

In this above Ayah, respected brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah among other things explains to us that He forgives our sins. He forgives all sins, whether they are Major or Minor. No matter what color the sin may be, no matter what size the sin may be, how old or new it is, Allah subhana is Al-Ghaffoor Ar-Raheem. And if the Muslim, the Abd (the Slave of Allah subhana wa ta’ala) fulfills the conditions, Allah will forgive. This type of forgiveness is a unique forgiveness. Allah subhana wa ta’ala is unique as He says: “Qul Huw-Allaahu Ahad” – Say, He Alaah is unique.

For His forgiveness is not like any type of forgiveness and His Mercy is not like any type of Mercy.

“Wa laisa kamislihi shaiun wa huwas Sameeul Baseer” – There is nothing like Him and He is As-Sameeh and Al-Baseer – He is the Hearer and He is the Seer.

We would like to talk about the methodology or the road that we can use the way and the method that we can utilize in gaining the atonement and forgiveness of our sins. How we can gain the atonement, the expiation, the effacing, the erasing of our sins. What is the methodology of erasing these sins? What can we do to remove these sins? Because all of us are sinners as Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said in an authentic Hadith: “All of the children of Aadam are sinners and the best of sinners are those who repent.”

So we need to learn brothers and sisters in Islam how we can efface, how we can remove, how we can make atonement for az-zunoob; How we can get rid of these sins. When we talk about the erasing and the atonement of sins according to the ahlul Ilm, according to the people of knowledge, there are two types (two ways to remove the sins):

One as Allah subhana wa ta’ala mentions: “Follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will wipe it out. It will erase it. This is the first type of removing (the erasing) of sins.”

The second is the exchange of o­ne thing for another. As Allah subhana wa ta’ala says: “For them, those individuals who do these sins, Allah will exchange for their bad deeds, good deeds. He will replace their bad deeds with good deeds and Allah subhana wa ta’ala is Ghaffoorur Raheema. He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”

There are many ways brothers and sisters and we can have many Khutba’as o­n this subject. But we would just like to cite just a few of these ways that we can atone for and erase our sins. The first and foremost and Allah subhana ‘alam, Allah the Majestic, the Most High above all creation knows best to accept Islam. Alhamdulillah, which we have all done. If a Kaafir from among the Kuffaar (no matter how good they may seem or how righteous they may seem in the eyes of the people), if they want to have their sins erased, (their tawbah is different from our tawbah) their tawbah is to accept Islam. And there is no tawbah for them except this.

Allah subhana wa ta’ala says: “Surely the Deen with Allah is not Christianity, it is not Judaism, it is not Hinduism, it is Islam.”

And again Allah subhana wa ta’ala says: “Whoever seeks a Deen other than Islam, it will never ever be accepted from him. And in the Last Day, they will be the losers.”

So those individuals who are among the Kuffar of this life, for their actions to be accepted and for them to be forgiven, they have to accept Islam. And Allah subhana wa ta’ala says: “Say to the Kuffar if they seize (stop) what they did in the past, they will be forgiven.”

What does that mean? It means that if they leave off their kufr, if they stop disbelieving, then Allah will forgive them.

So, the person who wants to have the forgiveness of Allah, who is still among the groups of the Ahlul Kitaab and the Mushrikoon, has to accept Islam. And Allah subhana wa ta’ala will remove their sins and He will forgive them.

Those individuals whom Allah subhana wa ta’ala had raised among the Sahaba to accept Islam when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was alive, there is a clear, clear record of this.

Perfect Our Light For Us Till We Cross The Sirat

And there is NONE of you except he will come to it. This is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed. (Quran Surat Maryam (Mary) – سورة مريم19 A# 71.)

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) Allah’s Apostle [Peace Be Upon Him] said  ‘When the Believers pass safely over the Bridge across Hell, they will be stopped at a bridge in between Hell and Paradise.  Where they will retaliate upon each other for the injustices done among them in the world, and when they get purified of all their sins they will be admitted into Paradise.

‘By Him in Whose Hands the life of Muhammad is, everybody will recognize his dwelling in Paradise better than he recognizes his dwellings in this world.’ (Sahih Bukhari, Book 43: Volume 3 Book # 43 Hadith # 620)

‘O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will remit from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise)the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and those who believe with him, their Light will run forward before them and with their Record Books of Deeds in their right hands they will say ‘Our Lord, keep perfect our Light for us and do not put it off till we cross over the ‘Sirat’ (a slippery bridge over Hell) safely and grant us forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things.’ (Quran Surat Tahrim 66 A # 8) It is narrated on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) I have come to know that the Bridge would be thinner even than the hair and sharper than the Sword. ‘SUBHAN ALLAH’. (Sahih Muslim – Book # 031 Hadith # 6090)

Prohibition of Arrogance

Arrogance is one of the most dangerous inner diseases of the heart. Those inner diseases reside in the hearts, but their destructive effects are reflected in the behavior and conduct of the sick person, who can be prevented from entering paradise on the Day of Judgment. In the authentic hadith reported by Imams Muslim and At-Tirmithi the prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart.”

This hadith is evidence that arrogance is one of the major sins because it prevents the arrogant from entering Paradise on the Day of Judgment. There is also evidence that arrogance is caused by heart disease and that the degree of arrogance varies. The heart can be filled with arrogance, or can have only up to a small atom’s weight of arrogance.

In scolding arrogance and demonstrating its danger, many verses and authentic ahadith have been revealed, and we will mention some of them.

First, what is arrogance? The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) defined it for us in an authentic hadith reported by Imams Muslim and At-Tirmithi, “One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart.” a man then asked, “One may love his clothes to look good and his shoes to look good?!” The prophet replied, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty, arrogance is: rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”

The different degrees and types of arrogance: The most evil kind of arrogance is rejection of the truth and not following it. In this context, many verses were revealed to scold arrogance and the arrogant people. Examples are: On the Day of Judgment, it is said to the arrogant people in surah Ghafer, (Verse 76), which can be translated as,
“Enter the gates of Hell to abide therein, and (indeed) what an evil abode of the arrogant!”

Hellfire is the abode of the arrogant people. This is emphasized in the hadith of the prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) that is reported by Imam Muslim, “Paradise and Hell Fire have argued. Hellfire said: Inside me are the merciless and the arrogant people….and Allah has judged between them:… You (Hell Fire) are my torture, with you, I torture whom I will….”

Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) turns the arrogant people away from being guided by his signs. He (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) say sin surat Al-A’raaf, (Verse 146), which can be translated as, “I shall turn away from My Ayah (verses of the Qur’an) those who behave arrogantly on the earth, in a wrongful manner.”

The most severe arrogance is being arrogant against Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) and rejecting submission and worshiping Him. Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) says in surah Ghafer, (Verse 60), which can be translated as, “Verily! Those who disdain My worship (because of arrogance), they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!”

Arrogance is being arrogant against the messengers, rejecting their message and not following them just because they are human. This is the case of many non-believers about whom Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) says in the Qur’an in surah Al-Mu’minoon, (Verse 47), what can be translated as “They said: “Shall we believe in two men like ourselves.” And in surat, Ibrahim, (Verse 10), can be translated as, “They said to their messengers: “You are no more than human beings like us.” And the tribe of Quraish also said, when it rejected and looked down on the prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) because he was an orphan and poor, as Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) told us in surat Az-Zukhruf, (Verse 31), what can be translated as, “And they say: “Why is not this Qur’an sent down to some great man of the two towns (Makkah and Ta’if).”

Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) described to us the real situation of the disbelievers in surat An-Namal, (Verse 14), which can be translated as, “And they belied them (those Ayat) wrongfully and arrogantly, though their own selves were convinced thereof (i.e. those Ayahs are from Allah).”

From the examples of arrogance against the prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) reported by Imam Muslim that a man who came and ate in the presence of the prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) with his left hand, so the prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said to him, “Eat with your right hand.” The man said, “I cannot.” The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) then supplicated to Allah against this man, “May Allah, make you unable to use your right hand.” “Nothing prevented him from doing so (eating with his right hand) except his arrogance, so he forever could not lift his right hand to his mouth.”

Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) told us the story of Iblees so that we may learn lessons from it, when he ordered him to prostrate to Adam, and he rejected because of his Arrogance and Envy towards Adam, claiming that he was better than him. Allah said in surat Al-A’raaf, Verse (12), what can be translated as, “… I am better than him (Adam), you created me from fire, and you created him from clay.”

Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) demonstrated to us that arrogance is an exclusive attribute of Himself. In a Qudsi hadith reported by Imam Muslim Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) says, “Dignity is my lower garment, and arrogance is my covering. If anyone competes with Me in either of these two, surely I torture him.” Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) says in surah Luqman, (Verse 18), what can be translated as, “And do not turn your face away from men with arrogance, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah does not like each arrogant boaster.”

Allah does not like the one who is conceited and arrogant. The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says what was reported by Imams Bukhari and Muslim, “While a man was showing off in his garment, he looked proudly to himself, all of a sudden, Allah immediately crumbled the earth underneath him, and he is still dropping with struggle through it till the Day of Judgment.”

Allah (Subhanuhu Wa Ta’ala) does not look with mercy, on the Day of Judgment, at the one who lengthened his clothes out of arrogance. The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says reported by Imams Bukhari, Muslim, and others, “Whosoever drags his clothes out of arrogance, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgment.” Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah: My garment slips (slightly off his waist) to the ground, but I lift it!?” The prophet replied, “You are not among those who do it out of arrogance.”

After we have heard all these verses and ahadith about the dangers of arrogance and how bad the consequences are, we should be cautioned and get away from it and its effects and its characteristics. So we teach ourselves to follow the truth when we know it and humble ourselves in front of others. Imam Muslim reported that the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “…. And no one has humbled himself for the sake of Allah, but Allah has elevated him.”

The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is the best example of humility in his life. Imams Bukhari and Muslim reported that “The prophet used to pass by children and give Salaam to them (greet them).” Imam Bukhari reported that, “A female slave from Madinah used to take the prophet’s sleeve and take him wherever she wanted.” Imam Bukhari also reported, “That the Prophet used to be at the service of his family.”

The Rivers Of Paradise

Allah (SWT), may He be Blessed and Exalted, has told us that rivers flow from beneath Paradise: “And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow..” [2:25]

“For them will be Gardens of Eternity: beneath them, rivers will flow” [18:31]

The Prophet (SAW) told us clearly about the rivers of Paradise. He said that during his Israa’ (Night Journey): “… I saw four rivers flowing out from beneath Sidrat al-Muntahaa, two visible and two hidden. He asked, “O Jibreel, What are these rivers?” He said, “The two hidden rivers are rivers of Paradise, and the two visible rivers are the Nile and the Euphrates”. [Muslim, Kitaab al-Imaan, Baab al-Israa’, 1/150, no. 164; AL-Bukhari reports the same from Anas ibn Maalik, Jaami’ al-Usool, 10/507, narrated by Abu Awanah, al-Isma’eelee and at-Tabaranee in as-Sagheer]

Muslim reports from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “Sihran, Jihran, the Euphrates and the Nile are all from the rivers of Paradise”. [Sahih Muslim, Kitaab al-Jannah, Baab ma fid-dunyaa min anhaar al-jannah, 4/2183, no. 2839, al-Albaani attributed it, in Silsilat al-Hadith as-Saheehah 1/6, to Muslim, Ahmad, al-Ajirri and al-Khateeb]

Sheikh Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani said, “Perhaps what is meant is that these rivers originated in Paradise just as mankind did; this hadith does not contradict the well-established fact that these rivers spring forth from known sources on earth. If this is not in fact the meaning of this hadith, then it is one of the matters of al-Ghayb [the unseen], which we must believe and accept because the Prophet (SAW) has told us about it”. [Silsilat al-Hadith as-Saheehah, 1/18]

al-Qaree’ said, “These four rivers are considered to be among the rivers of paradise because they are so fresh and beneficial, and contain blessings from Allah, and were honored by the fact that the Prophets came to them and drank from them”. [reported by al-Albaani in his footnotes on Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/80]

Another of the rivers of Paradise is al-Kawthar, which Allah has given to His Messenger (SAW): “Verily We have granted you [O Muhammad] al-Kawthar [a river in Paradise]” [108:1]

The Prophet (SAW) saw it and told us about it. al-Bukhaari reported from Anas ibn Maalik that the Prophet (saw) said, “While I was walking in Paradise I saw a river whose banks were domes of hollow pearls, and I asked, “What is this, O Jibreel?” He said, “This is al-Kawthar which your Rabb has given to you”. And its scent – or its mud – was of fragrant musk”.

Hudbah [one of the narrators] was not sure if he said tib [scent] or teen [mud]. [Sahih al-Bukhaari, Kitaab ar-Riqaaq, Baab fil-Hawd, Fath al-Baari, 11/464]

Ibn ‘Abbaas explained, “al-Kawthar means the abundant blessings which Allah has bestowed upon His Messenger (SAW).” Then Abu Bishr said to Sa’eed ibn Jaabir, who reported this comment from Ibn ‘Abbaas, “There are people who claim that it is a river in Paradise”. Sa’eed said, “The river in Paradise is one of the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon him”. [Sahih al-Bukhaari, Kitaab ar-Riqaaq, Baab fil-Hawd, Fath al-Baari, 11/463]

al-Haafidh ibn Katheer compiled a number of hadith [an-Nihaayah, 2/246] in which the Prophet (SAW) spoke about al-Kawthar, such as the report narrated by Muslim from Anas, which states that when the ayah “Verily We have granted you al-Kawthar” [108] was revealed, the Prophet (SAW) said, “Do you know what al-Kawthar is?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best”. He said, “It is a river that Allah (SAW) has promised me and in it is much goodness”.

He also quoted the hadith narrated by Ahmad from Anas, according to which the Prophet (SAW) said, “I have been given al-Kawthar, which is a river flowing across the face of the earth; its banks are domes of pearl, and it is not covered. I touched its mud with my hand, and found that it was fragrant musk and its pebbles were pearls”.

Also narrated by Ahmad from Anas, the Prophet (SAW) said, “It is a river that Allah (SAW) has given to me in Paradise. Its mud is musk and its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. Birds with necks like the necks of camels drink from it.”

The rivers of Paradise do not just contain water. There are rivers of water, of milk, of wine, and of clear honey.

Allah (SWT) says: “The description of Paradise which the Muttaqoon have been promised is that in it are rivers of water the taste and smell of which are not changed; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine delicious to those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey [clear and pure]…” [47:15]

at-Tirmidhi reports, with a sahih isnaad, from Haakim ibn Mu’aawiyah that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “In Paradise, there is a sea of honey, a sea of wine, a sea of milk and a sea of water, and the rivers flow out of these seas.” [Jaami’ al-Usool, 10/508]

He also told us of a river called Baariq, which flows by the gate of Paradise. During the period of al-Barzakh [the time between death and the day of Judgement] the shuhadaa are beside this river:

Ibn ‘Abbaas narrated that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “The shuhadaa [martyrs] are in a green dome beside the river of Baariq, near the gate of Paradise, from which provision comes to them morning and evening.” [Saheeh al-Jaami’ as-Sagheer, 3/235, no. 3636]