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This Issue contains mostly detals for upcoming events, with two very inspiring articles which are definitely worth reading. It title says it all Mini issue, micro would probably be more accurate.
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IQRA
Mini Issue / April 3, 2010
In this Issue:
What Does Islam say About Mothers 1-2
Inspiring words— A Story of a Smile 3
Keep an eye out– 4-5
Bake sale, Mothers Day run and much more
What does Islam say about "mothers"?
This is one of the most convincing things about
Islam - the treatment of women in general and es-
pecially the high position mothers held in Islam.
Amongst the clearest examples in Islam of honor-
ing women is the great status of the mother. Islam
commands kindness, respect and obedience to par-
ents and specifically emphasizes and gives prefer-
ence to the mother, as shall be shown in this arti-
cle. Islam raises parents to a status greater than that
found in any other religion or ideology.
The
command to be good to one's parents begins right
from the Qur'an. Allah (swt) says:
"Worship God and join not any partners with Him;
and be kind to your parents..." [Noble Quran 4:36]
The mention of servitude to parents follows imme-
diately after servitude to God. This is repeated
throughout the Qur'an.
"Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but
Him and that you be kind to parents. Whether one
or both of them attain old age in your life, say not
to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but
address them in terms of honor. And out of kind-
ness, lower to them the wing of humility and say,
"My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy even as
they cherished me in childhood." [Noble Quran
17:23-24]
The great scholar, Abu al-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzî (d.
1201CE) explained:
To be kind to one's parents is: to obey them when
they order you to do something, unless it is some-
thing which Allah has forbidden; to give priority to
their orders over voluntary acts of worship; to ab-
stain from that which they forbid you to do; to pro-
vide for them; to serve them; to approach them
with gentle humility and mercy; not to raise your
voice in front of them; nor to fix your glance on
them; nor to call them by their names; and to be
patient with them. (Ibn al-Jawzî, Birr al-Wâlidayn)
The Qur'an emphasizes the great struggle the
mother goes through for her child, to highlight the
need for one to reciprocate their parents and sacri-
fice for them:
"And We have enjoined on man [to be good] to his
parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear
him and his weaning was over two years. Be
thankful to Me and to your parents, unto Me is the
final destination."[Noble Quran 31:14]
The renowned exegete, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman As
-Sa'di (d. 1956), says about this verse:
{And to your parents} meaning, be kind to your
parents, shower on them love, affection and piety,
both in words and deeds, treat them with tender
humility, provide for them and never harm them
verbally nor physically. Then, Allah mentions the
reason why we should be kind to our parents,
where He says {“His mother bore him in travail
upon travail”}.
That is, the mother bore constant suffering; in pain
and hardship from the first moment she felt the
child moving in her womb to the worst pangs dur-
ing the time of delivery. And {his weaning is for
two years}, that is, during these two years the
Mothers in Islam
Mini Issue - p. 1
mother breast-feeds her child and looks after him/
her. So after all the years of suffering, hardship,
love and care, could we not, at least, compensate
our mothers for what they have done for us and pay
them back their rights?
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) also said in a famous narration:
'Paradise lies at the feet of your mother' [Musnad
Ahmad, Sunan An-Nasâ’i, Sunan Ibn Mâjah]
What can be greater evidence of honoring women
than this? Islam has effectively placed the ultimate
reward for human beings in their devotion to their
mothers.
Shaykh Ibrahîm Ibn Sâlih Al-Mahmud writes:
Treat your mother with the best companionship,
then your father; because paradise is under the
mother's feet. Never disobey your parents, nor make
them angry, otherwise you will live a miserable life
in this world and the hereafter, and your children
will treat you likewise. Ask your parents gently if
you need something. Always thank them if they
give it to you, and excuse them if they do not and
never insist on a matter if they refuse to give you
something. (Al-Mahmoud, How to be kind to your
Parents, p.40)
It is narrated from Talhah ibn Mu'âwiyah as-Salamî
who said:
I came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of
Allah, I want to perform Jihad in the way of Allah.
He asked, "Is your mother alive?" I replied, "Yes."
The Prophet then said: "Cling to her feet, because
paradise is there." (at-Tabarânî).
Shaykh Nidhaam Sakkijihaa comments:
Cling to her feet means to submit yourself to her, be
close to her, protect her, serve her because in this is
Paradise and with her satisfaction you will enjoy the
good blessings of Allah. (Sakkijihaa, Honoring the
Parents, p. 52)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) showed us the importance of serving
one's parents in the following narration reported by
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud:
I asked the Prophet, 'O Messenger of Allah, what is
the best deed?' He replied 'Prayer offered on time.' I
asked, 'What is next in goodness?' He replied, 'To
be dutiful and kind to one's parents.' I further asked,
'What is next in goodness?' He replied, 'Jihad in the
Allah's cause. [Sahîh Bukhârî, Sahîh Muslim]
Just as the Prophet said that kindness to one's par-
ents was of the best deeds, he also said that disobe-
dience to them was amongst the major sins:
"The greatest sins are to associate partners in wor-
ship with Allah, to be undutiful or unkind to one's
parents, to kill a soul forbidden by Allah and to bear
false witness." [Sahîh Bukhârî]
So great was the Islamic emphasis on parents, that
the Muslims considered a great opportunity to attain
paradise in service to one's mother. Iyâs Ibn
Mu'âwiyah was a famous Islamic scholar from the
second generation of Muslims. When his mother
died, Iyâs Ibn Mu'âwiyah cried. He was asked,
"Why do you cry?" He said, "I used to have two
gates open to Paradise, now one of them is closed."
All that has preceded shows how the status of moth-
ers - and consequently that of women - is elevated
to the highest position in Islam, the honor Islam has
given to mothers is beyond that found in any other
religion, ideology or culture. This is clear proof of
the lofty status of Muslim Women. Mashallah and
Alhmadulilah.
Mothers in Islam
Mini Issue - p. 2
The Story of A Smile- and The healing hands of the
Prophet Muhammad By: Faisal Ansari
As we move through history and
the chaos of our time, and amid
the chaos in places like Gaza,
when all they can hear is the
thunder of gunshots, and all we
can hear is the thunder of mate-
rialism and greed and all they
could smell is the violence in the
air, and all we can smell is our
own lack of content. I think back and am amazed at how I
could allow myself to loose hope whatever the circum-
stance in my own life be here in the land of the free and the
home of the brave. We all have something we are hurting
from and we reach out to each other as Muslims hoping
someone will lend a helping hand. Maybe it is time to re-
think whether we really care or not, or are we just living
day to day?
And it is then that my thoughts become so clear and true,
that three words run through my mind endlessly, repeating
themselves like a broken record: Smiling is a charity, Smil-
ing is a charity, smiling is a charity. His saying softening
my heart somehow and seeing things differently allowing
the anguish and the pain to fade like the stars at dawn.
The final messenger of God named Muhammad (peace
be upon him), when first learning of him it was through a
smile that I became a practicing Muslim.
And now when thinking of the Prophet he reminds me
of a Desert Rose, a desert rose dressed tall in Red standing
and illuminated by the light of the moon, his message calls
to me like a siren in the night and he is a freedom to me
from the evil of my soul, hope, faith and the strength to
carry on and his selfless message contained the greatest gift
to me and to you, a healing and a solace - the greatest gift
being the love of God and a clean soul. A hope that through
a smile we can end the injustice and hatred against the in-
nocent.
In every story of the Prophet Muhammad there is a re-
minder of how he would treat people with a soft heart, af-
fection, concern, love, and most of all, a smile. They say
that He once said something magnificent- "Even a smile is
charity."
A long time ago this young man in his early twenties used
to hate going to the mosque and would only go when his
mother would force him to. When he would go there all he
would see were faces of hatred and discontent. One day
feeling lost and alone he found himself at the footsteps of
that mosque. As he stood outside it, a brother of Syrian ori-
gin appeared and he had a great big smile on his face and
he was smiling right at the young man. This brother had
noor (Iight) on his face and around him, metaphorically
speaking. He really did, and the young man could not
gather why he smiled at him and actually greeted him and
asked him how he was doing. The young man developed a
burning desire after that day to seek out this man and he
eventually became his student and learned the basics of
Islam from him.
It was a smile that brought that confused young man to the
light of God. A simple implementation of the practice of
our beloved Prophet Muhammad being a smile that
shined the light of Islam on him. Who would have every
thought that a smile could go so far and it came from the
heart connected to the light of God. "Light upon Light."
It is through learning about the Prophet and how he
dealt with people that we can learn to love again and treat
our loved ones with respect and a kind word. It is not easy
to do but it can be attained. The Prophet Muhammad
who had a prayer for everything one could think of con-
veyed stories of how he dealt with his people including the
non-Muslims, the new converts to Islam, travelers, the
poor, the passerby, his friends and his loved ones and so
on. And we learn from his history that he took everyone's
situation into consideration and dealt with them with a gen-
tle word and not with harshness as we are so accustomed to
these days. As the Prophet said, "one who is devoid of
mercy is not shown any mercy (Sahih Muslim)."
I What will we do as Muslims? Let's, let the hurt go, be-
cause it is time to stop playing victim to depression, anger,
hatred, guilt, and greed as our Prophet taught us to not
dwell on the past.. As one scholar said, if we were tested
with some of the things that Muhammad , had to deal
with, then we would end up in the puzzle factory wonder-
ing what hit us. Because the problem with our new culture
is that we can't handle pressure and we break at the slight-
est things because we live in a Prozac society of instant
gratification.
It is time to stop running and hiding between the shadows
and the lies wherever that may be for us and to be a light to
other people and make the world a better place.
Mini Issue - p. 3
Mini Issue - p. 4
Keep an eye out :)
Mini Issue - p. 5
Keep an eye out :)
Mini Issue: April 3, 2010