Islamic Focus

Issue 117 Igniting the Spirit of Islam Jul 2014 Bukhara Publications/Tel: 078 672 7797/Fax: 086 651 2125 Email: islamicfocus@gmail.com/Korsten/Port Elizabeth

taining lofty ranks in Para-dise.

A BOY KILLED

When Moosa alaihis salaam accompanied Khidr alaihis salaam on a quest for knowledge, Khidr alaihis sa-laam killed a boy. This was under Allah’s command. Moosa alaihis salaam ques-tioned this killing. The boy’s parents were in grief. But Khidr alaihis salaam re-vealed that, had the boy lived, he would have led his parents astray, a disaster beyond imagining, for the eternity of the Hereafter. Thus, this potential hazard was removed and Allah made a seemingly difficult act a means of blessing for the parents. Trust Allah; He knows best.

The Hadith assures us that every situation that a Mus-lim goes through has good-ness in it, no matter how much outwardly it seems difficult: I am amazed by the be-liever. Verily, Allah does not decree anything for the be-liever except what is good for him. (Ahmad)

APPEARANCES

Many a time something looks like a difficulty, yet the results later prove that in actual fact it was a bless-ing in disguise. When the incident of the slander against the noble wife of the Prophet �, Aey-sha radhiallahu anha, took place, it led to a period of sadness and worry for Aey-sha radhiallahu anha and her family. Yet Allah Ta’ala describes it as being in ac-tual fact a good thing for

the family of Aeysha radhial-lahu anha. Through this they got honor-able mention in this world and raised status in the Hereafter. Allah demon-strated the esteem with which He regarded the family of Abu Bakr radhiallahu anha when He defended Aeysha radhiallahu anah by revealing her innocence in the Quran.

NOBLE PERSONALITY

Prophet Yusuf alaihis salaam was a Prophet, as was his father, grandfather and great grandfather. Yet Allah Ta’ala made him go through the trial of separation from his family, being sold into slav-ery and imprisoned unlaw-fully. All this seemed like a bad thing, yet it was the means of Yusuf alaihis salaam even-tually becoming the Minister of Finance in Egypt and at-

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P4 Beautiful Story

P8 Notes from Gaza

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P11 Gaza’s Rockets

P3 Tables of Mercy

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WORLD NEWS

PALESTINE - Israel’s month long genocide of the

Muslims in Gaza saw schools, UN facilities, the har-

bour, Musjids, homes, hospitals and power plants

ruthlessly bombarded. The UN Secretary General

called Israeli aggression a criminal act and a gross

violation of international law. Even Israel’s staunch

ally, USA, was forced to call some of the massacres

"disgraceful".

So far 1,868 Palestinians have been killed and more

than 9,470 injured. Around 400 of the dead are chil-

dren, 207 are women and 74 elderly. Over 80% are

civilians. The 9,080 injured, include 2,744 children,

1,750 women and 343 elderly.

The world has protested Israeli terror with marches

in countries from America to Australia and UK. Gov-

ernments like those of Bolivia have broken diplo-

matic ties with Israel and even celebrities have con-

demned Israel in social and other media.

Governments of Arab countries like Egypt stand

complicit in the murder of Muslims in Gaza by si-

lence and even aiding in the siege of Gaza. Hamas

has only targeted Israeli soldiers, killing 66 of them.

(News Reports, 3 Aug 2014)

IRAQ - Islamic State fighters took over the town of

Sinjar near Syria after taking over Zumar and two

nearby oilfields from Kurdish forces. The Islamic

State now controls a large swathe of territory in Iraq

and Syria. It also took control of Mosul Dam, the

largest in Iraq and controls several oilfields. (BBC, 3

Aug)

EAST TURKESTAN - At least 59 Uighur Muslims

killed by Chinese occupation forces after protesting

against a Ramadan crackdown on Muslims, when

Chinese authorities stopped Muslims fromm fasting.

(BBC, 3 Aug)

LIBYA - Fighting between rival militias - one estab-

lished by the outgoing parliament and one controlled

by the defence ministry - has spread northwards in

the capital. More than 200 people have been killed

in Tripoli and Benghazi in the past two weeks. (BBC,

3 Aug)

AZERBAIJAN - Clashes in the Christian Armenian

enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan left 18

Muslim Azerbaijan troops dead. (BBC, 2 Aug)

LEBANON - 13 Lebanese soldiers killed in clashes

with Syrian freedom fighters who raided the border

town of Arsal in Lebanon after Lebanese soldiers de-

tained a member of the Syrian Islamist group Nusra

Front. Fighting continued for three days as Lebanese

troops tried to regain control of the town. (BBC, 3

Aug)

INDIA - Bombay High Court found that 45 of 49

mosques in the area didn't have permission to use

loudspeakers for Athan and directed police to re-

move "illegal" loudspeakers from mosques. (IOL, 4

Aug)

BANGLADESH - Bangladesh banned marriages be-

tween Bangladeshis and Burma's Muslim Rohingya

refugees. Marriage registrars cannot officiate any

unions between Bangladeshis and Rohingya and also

between Rohingya. Thousands of Rohingya refugees

in Bangladesh are ill treated. (News, 4 Aug )

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IFTAR / R

AMADAN

Throughout Cairo, the Tables of the Merciful (Maa’idah tur Rahman) spring up at Iftar in Ramadan. Here anyone can have simple meals without charge. Most Tables of the Merciful are simple, well-cooked meals offered humbly on newspaper. Like the drinking water dispensers found throughout the capital, they are gifts largely of anonymous people. The tables provide the city's poor with an open invitation to Iftar. The tradition dates back to the Fatimid era. Prince Ahmed Bin Tolon invited his entourage to an iftar 4 years after he took over Egypt, asking them to show the poor of Egypt the same courtesy. Tables of the merciful are charity Ramadan tables set up on the streets. A few well-off people living in the neighbourhood make food available to anyone for free. Volunteers serve. An example of a meal is chicken, rice and pickles. Some tables are spread featuring col-orful plates of appetizing treats. On both sides of the tables people – both poor and rich – perch, rubbing shoulders, as they waited for the call to the Maghrib prayer to be made. The Prophet � was the most generous of people and he was even more generous dur-ing the month of Ramadan when Jibraeel vis-ited him. Jibraeel � would meet with him every night of Ramadan until the end of the month and the Prophet � would recite the Quran to Jibraeel �. When Jibraeel � met him, he would be more generous than a swift wind bringing rain. (Bukhari, Muslim)

The squares within and outside the Holy Mosque of Makkah witness in Ramadan the biggest iftar in the world. More than 12km of plastic tablecloths are stretched out on the marble floor, and pilgrims from every corner of the earth wait for the world’s largest iftar meal to begin. Every day during Ramadan some 1.5 million people are served a complimentary iftar meal at a daily cost of around R3m. The meals are sponsored by various benefactors. More than 3,000 young volunteers perform tasks including first aid, guidance, interpreta-tion, pushing wheelchairs and serving iftar. Those who break their fast inside the Holy Mosque take only dates and water. Those in the square outside also consume juice, butter-milk, sandwiches, fruit, sweets and cake. The number of dates consumed daily by wor-shippers in the Holy Mosque is estimated to be more than 5 million. More than two million bot-tles of Zam Zam water are consumed. Consumption includes 50,000 litres of coffee, 300,000 bread rolls, 50,000 litres of yoghurt and milk, 50,000 litres of fruit juices and 40 tons of dates daily. After having their iftar the worshippers do not linger as they go directly to perform the Magh-rib prayer. As the worshippers disperse clean-ing crews descend and in no more than 15 minutes from when the iftar was served the remains of the meal are cleared.

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Lessons from the life of Prophet Yusuf alaihis salaam as recounted in the most beautiful of stories in the Quran. 1. Be discrete

When Yusuf alaihis salaam saw a dream of his brothers being subservient to him, he related it to his father Yaqoob alaihis salaam who told him not to relate it to his brothers, as they would plot against him. Seek help in fulfilling your needs (and ambi-tions) by being discrete (and telling as few people as possible); for every person who has a blessing, there are others who harbour jeal-ousy against him (and would love for him fail.) Majmaul Zawaid

2. Forgiveness When Yusuf alaihis salaam’s brothers came to him after all they had done to ruin him, and he now had the authority to seek revenge, he displayed good character by pardoning them unconditionally. The man who had been in jail with him, forgot to remind the king about Yusuf alaihis salaam languishing in jail. When the man came some years later to ask Yusuf alaihis salaam for help, he did not reproach him. 3. Good character Yusuf alaihis salaam was recognised as a good man while he was an imprisoned slave, from the lower levels of society. And he was recog-nised as the same when he was in the govern-ment. Our status in society or life circum-stances should not allow us to lose good char-acter.

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SUNNAH / SOCIAL

Social scientists estimate that 15 to 30%, or, as many as 600,000 to 1.2 million slaves in America were Muslims. These enslaved Mus-lims strove to meet the demands of their faith, most notably the Ramadan fast, prayers, and community meals, in the face of comprehensive slave codes that linked reli-gious activity to rebellion. Many enslaved Muslims demonstrated piety by choosing to fast while bonded. In addition to abstaining from food and drink, enslaved Muslims held holy month prayers in slave quarters, and put together iftars that brought observing Muslims together. These prayers and iftars violated slave codes restricting as-sembly of any kind. For instance, the Virginia Slave Code of 1723 considered the assembly of five slaves as an "unlawful and tumultuous meeting", convened to plot rebellion attempts. Every state in the south codified similar laws barring slave as-semblages, which impacted enslaved African Muslims observing the Holy Month. Practicing Islam and observing Ramadan for enslaved Muslims in America, necessitated the violation of slave codes. This exposed them to barbaric punishment, injury, and oftentimes, even death. However, the courage to observe the holy month while bonded, and in the face of grave risk, highlights the supreme piety of many enslaved Muslims. Muslims were among the first Americans to stand up for freedom.

Adapted from article by Khaled A Beydoun

5 Islamic Focus

QUESTIO

NS & ANSWERS

Q: According to the Shafi

madhab can someone cut their own hair to come

out of Ihram after per-

forming Umrah?

A: The answer is yes. In the Shafi school it is permissible for one to cut one’s own hair. It is also permissible for one to cut the hair of someone else who has completed their Umrah and is seeking to re-lease themselves from the state of Ihram. Imam al-Nawawi mentions in al-Majmu, “it would be permis-sible for a muhrim to shave the head of a person who has completed then rites of Hajj.” This is because a) it is not his or her own hair and b) the person whose head is being shaved is seeking re-lease from Ihram and not in a state where cutting one’s hair or having it shaven is forbidden. Also, if it was a requirement to have someone else cut one’s hair, then that would mean that one could not do Umrah alone. This is what some jurists have men-tioned. Q: Is there a specific rec-

ommended procedure for

the disposing of nails and hair that have been cut?

A: The scholars generally concur that it is recom-mended to bury everything that is separated from a liv-ing human’s body, such as a limb, hair, nails, and the like. [Shafii: Nawawi, al-Majmu` Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, 5.213; Hanbali: Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina 2.96; Hanafi: Turi, Takmilat al-Bahr al-Ra'iq 8.232].

This is because every part of the human being has been honored by Allah Most High: “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam.” [Quran, 17.70] This was from the habitual practice of many of the Com-panions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the early Mus-lims, as mentioned in works such as Ibn Abi Shayba’s Musannaf. Some Hanafi works would seem to indicate that it is necessary (wajib) to bury the hair and nails, but other texts make it clear that what is meant is a linguistic usage of wajib, namely “highly rec-ommended” because they follow it up by saying, “And if one throws it away there is no wrong in it (la ba’sa bihi), though if one throws it in the toilet or washroom it is dis-liked.” [Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Turi, Takmilat al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 8.232, quoting al-Nawazil] Q: What is the ruling re-

garding prayer while car-rying a baby according to

the Shafi school? If the

child’s diaper contains na-jasah, would that be con-

sidered as najasah on our

body and therefore invali-

date the prayer?

How about for a child who

sits on you lap or hangs onto you during the

prayer?

A: If one is directly attached to or carrying something na-jis (filthy) or mutanajjis (filthified) by touching, hold-ing, carrying, or being tied to

it, one’s prayer becomes in-valid. Thus, if a child hangs onto one’s clothes or body or sits on one’s lap during prayer, and one is certain that the child has a filthified mouth (due to vomiting), bottom or anything on his body or clothes, one’s prayer becomes invalid. However, if one is uncertain as to whether the child has a filthified mouth, bottom or anything on his body or clothes, one’s prayer remains valid because the original state of all things is that they are pure unless one knows otherwise. Q: How much hair must be cut after Sa’ee in order to

lift the state of Ihraam?

A: The Shafi ruling is that cutting three strands of hair is sufficient, at a minimum length of one ‘unmula’ (i.e., from the fingertip to the first joint; about 1.5cm). [Shirbini/Nawawi, Mughni al-Muhtaj ila Ma'rifat Alfaz al-Minhaj] Q: What is the proof of

the permissibility of women leading one an-

other in prayer?

A: Women leading other women in prayer is an estab-lished sunna. Both Aishah and Umm Salamah radhialla-hua anhuma used to lead women in prayer, standing in the middle of the row of women, as has been nar-rated by Imam Shafi rahima-hullah in his “Musnad” and Imam Bayhaqi in his “Sunan” with well authenticated (hasan) chains of transmis-sion (cf. al-Majmu by Imam Nawawi, 4.188).

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HANAFI Q & AHANAFI Q & AHANAFI Q & AHANAFI Q & A From various Ulama

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q: What is the ruling for

using mouthwash whilst fasting?

A: It is Makrooh (disliked) to use mouthwash whilst fast-ing. Moreover, if the mouthwash is swallowed, the fast will be nullified and Qadha of that fast will be compulsory. A Miswaak should be used instead to remove any odors from the mouth. Q: In Islam is it permissi-

ble to use permanent hair

dye, and are you allowed to do highlights in your

hair just to please your

husband? A: Permanent hair dye is a long-lasting dye. When ap-plied to the hair, it will last up to eight weeks. Hair highlighting/lowlighting refers to changing a person's hair color, using lightener or hair color to color hair strands. It is permissible to dye ones hair with a color other than black. A woman may also highlight her hair in order to please her husband on condition it does not become the norm of immoral women and also imitating them. Q: What is the correct

pronunciation of Angel Ji-braeel alaihis salaam? Is

it Jibreel or Jibraeel?

A: There are various pronun-ciations for Jibreel (Alayhi Assalam). Both pronuncia-tions, Jibreel and Jibraeel are correct.

Q: I have been diagnosed with kerataconus and may

need a corneal transplant

in my left eye and was

wondering if this is per-missible in Islam.

A: It is permissible to un-dergo a cornea transplant. Q: I calculated my zakat

for the last year and have an amount to pay. For ex-

ample calculated on 25th

June 14 (for the last 12

months). How long do I have to pay off the due

zakat?

Reason I am asking is be-

cause I heard that I have

12 months to pay from the date of calculation.

A: At the outset, the calcula-tion of zakat should be based on the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar. In the example cited by you, if you owned the minimum zakat-able amount on 25 June 2013, ascertain the Islamic date of that day last year and one day before the same date this year which is when one lunar year comes to an end and zakat is due. In principle, upon the expiry of one lunar year, on your zakatable assets, zakat is due immediately. The con-cept of 12 months to pay from the day of calculation is upon attaining the nisaab (minimum threshold) of za-kat. In other words, one may pay his zakat after attaining the nisaab of zakat before the expiry of one lunar year. However, once one lunar year expires, zakat is due. There is no further grace of 12 months to pay zakat. Za-

kat should be discharged as soon as possible. Any undue delay will be sinful. Q: I work in a perfume

shop. Does smelling fra-grance break my fast?

A: Smelling fragrance does not invalidate the fast. Q: Regarding halal meat.

The question was the ani-mal has to be herbivorous

to be Halal, and an animal

becomes Haram if it con-

sumes blood and/or meat (mammal feed). However,

nowadays it is quite com-

mon for farmers to feed their livestock with ani-

mal protein and animal by

-products, including ani-mal food derived from

pigs and dead animals.

What is the ruling with re-

gard to this issue from Hanafi and Shafi schools?

A: In principle, it is not per-missible to deliberately put impure or haram substances in the animal feed. If, however, the main diet of the livestock consists of im-pure substances like pigs, dead animals, blood or any-thing derived from them, it will be impermissible (makrūh tahrīmī) to consume them according to the Hanafis. According to the Shafis , if the flesh of the animal changes as a result of its diet on impure materials, it is slightly disliked (makrūh tanzīhī) to consume. How-ever, if their diet is altered to a pure diet several days be-fore slaughter, they will be permissible according to both schools.

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N

It was the annual lumberjack competition and the final was between an older, experienced lumberjack and a younger, stronger lumber-jack. Who could fell the most trees in a day was the winner. The younger lumberjack worked through the day and night. He could hear the older lum-berjack in another part of the forest and felt confident that he would win. At regular intervals throughout the day, the noise of trees being felled coming from the other part of the forest would stop. The younger lumberjack took heart from this, knowing that this meant the older lumberjack was taking a rest, whereas he could use his superior strength and stamina to keep going. At the end of the competition, the younger lumberjack felt confident he had won. At the medal ceremony, he stood on the podium ex-pecting to be awarded the prize of champion lumberjack. Next to him stood the older lum-berjack who looked surprisingly less ex-hausted than he felt. When the results were read out, he was dev-astated to hear the older lumberjack had chopped down more trees than he had. He turned to him and said: “How can this be? I heard you take a rest every hour and I worked continuously through the night. What's more, I am stronger than you old man”. The older lumberjack turned to him and said: “Every hour, I took a break to rest and sharpen my saw.” We all need breaks to freshen our enthusiasm and output.

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CURRENT / HISTORY

When people go through difficult times, if we cannot help them, then Islam guides us on what to do: 1. Don’t get happy

“Do not rejoice over the misfortune of your brother, lest Allah have mercy upon him and subject you to trials.” (Tirmidhi 2506) 2. Offer moral support

“There is no believer who consoles his brother at the time of a calamity but that Allah the Ex-alted will clothe him with noble garments on the Day of Resurrection.” (Ibn Majah 1601) 3. Give hope “When you enter upon a sick person, reassure him that he is going to live; that does not change anything, but it lifts his spir-its.” (Tirmidhi 2087) 4. Offer condolence The Prophet � wrote a letter of condolence to Muaz ibn Jabal � on the death of his son high-lighting the rewards in store for having pa-tience at loss, and the fact that Allah Ta’ala knows why He puts one through loss. He also offered advice on not allowing the vicious cy-cle of grief to pull him into depression. (Mu'jam Kabir) 5. Every bit counts The Prophet � taught us to relieve the pain of people undergoing loss by seeing to some of their needs such as preparing food for them, visiting them and offering duas and verbal support to help them through their grief. A phone call, a visit, a message, all help.

Life lessons that the noble Muslims of Gaza taught me as they went through yet another Zionist, Israeli genocide: ☑ "I always thought that Israel controls Gaza. But today, I have realised that Israel controls all Muslim countries except Gaza." ~ Sheikh Abdul Jabbar ☑ Palestinian man in Gaza on being asked why he's gone back home: "I would rather die in my own home than in a UN school." #GazaUnderAttack ☑ @iFalasteen: “Palestinians have had the most privileged Ramadan this year. They did Sehri on earth and Iftaar in Jannah…” ☑ "Every side of #Gaza is blocked off, the only entrance open is the one to Jannah (Paradise)." ~ An Imam in #GazaUnderAttack ☑ "Their bombs are above us, but they forget Allah is above them." ~ A child in Gaza ☑ Gaza: birthplace of saints, burial place of Angels. ☑ "While the world buys Eid clothes, Gazans buy shrouds for the dead." The indomitable spirit of the heroes of Gaza saw them come out to celebrate Eid under cowardly Israeli bombardment. The women wear cloaks and hijab day and night, not wanting to be without hijab if they are killed or wounded. They prayed in bombed Musjids. Above all, they only attacked soldiers, not ci-vilians as the Israelis did.

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BIOGRAPHY / IN

SPIRATIO

N

A guide of some things that a believer can ex-pect at death and beyond: 1. Present

“Death is a beloved present for a be-liever.” (Tabrani) 2. Atonement

“Death is an atonement for (the sins of) every Muslim. (For some, all sins are forgiven, and for others, part of their sins are for-given).” (Abu Nuaim) 3. Gentle

The Angel of death assured the Prophet �: “Gladden your heart, cool your eyes and be assured that I am gentle with every be-liever.” (Tabrani) 4. Souls meeting

When a soul of a believer is taken out, then those who have passed away before him come to meet him, asking about the people still alive and who had got married and so forth. (Ibn Abid Dunya) The souls speak among themselves and also visit one another. (Ibn Hibban in Kitabul Wasaaya) 5. Expanded grave In the Barzakh (world between this world and the hereafter), the grave of a believer wel-comes him, expands as far as he can see, and it opens a door to Jannah (paradise) for him. (Tirmidhi) 6. Mercy of Allah Ta’ala “Among all situations, Allah Ta’ala is most merciful with His slave when the slave is put in his grave.” (Ibn Mandah) Desire for the Aakhirah

Turgut Reis (1485-1565) was an Ottoman Ad-miral and privateer who also served as Gover-nor of Algiers; the Mediterranean; and Tripoli. Under his naval command the Ottoman Em-pire's maritime power extended across North Africa. He made Tripoli one of the most im-pressive cities in North Africa. Known in differ-ent languages under such names as Dragut or Darghouth, the name in Turkey is Turgut Reis. Turgut was a Muslim seaman of Greek de-scent. He was captured and taken prisoner in his youth and converted to Islam. By 12 he was recruited in the Ottoman army and be-came a skilled sailor and outstanding gunner. In 1517 he participated in the conquest of Egypt. Turgut went to Alexandria and began his career as a sailor. He became owner of a ship, and arming it with the most advanced cannons, operated in the Eastern Mediterra-nean. In 1520 he joined the fleet of Hayreddin Bar-barossa and was promoted to chief lieutenant. Turgut Reis captured and attacked numerous European cities in Italy, Albania and other European countries. He was captured for 4 years before being ransomed. After Bar-barossa's death in 1546, Turgut succeeded him as supreme commander of Ottoman naval forces in the Mediterranean. In 1548 he was appointed Chief Governor of Algeria by Sultan Suleiman and was awarded Tripoli and the surrounding territory. In 1552, he defeated the Spanish-Italian fleet. In 1565, during the bombardment of a fort in Malta, a cannon shot mortally injured him. He was bur-ied in Tripoli.

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HISTORY / TECHNOLOGY

Islam is the second most widely professed re-ligion in Austria, practiced by 7.0% of the total population. Most Muslims came to Austria dur-ing the 1960s as migrant workers from Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are also communities of Arab and Pakistani origin. Turks are around 300,000. Austria is unique among Western European countries because it granted Muslims the status of a recognized religious community. This dates back to the times following the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878. Austria has regulated the religious freedoms of the Muslim commu-nity with the Act of Recognition in 1912 and was the first Western European country to do so. The Community of Muslim believers in Austria was founded in 1979. The Federation of Turk-ish-Islamic Associations runs some Musjids. With the occupation of the former Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, Austria incorporated a large number of mus-lims into their domain. With the annexation a convention with the Ottoman empire was signed, which guaranteed the religious com-munities of the newly conquered terretories freedom of religion. During its peak, the Ottoman Empire threat-ened to conquer the Austrian capital of Vienna twice: in 1529 and 1683. After the second Ot-toman defeat, Austria captured Hungary and Croatia from the Ottomans. After these gains, Austrians were not able to annex any new ter-ritory until Bosnia in 1908. Austria and Turkey

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It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The hedgehogs, realizing the situation, de-cided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their clos-est companions. After awhile, they decided to distance them-selves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their com-panions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being to-gether. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive. The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each indi-vidual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities. The hadith encourages us to overlook the slings and hurt that others hurl our way. It motivates us to pardon those who hurt us and join ties with those who break them. Life is never a bed of roses. We need to take ride over the rocks to get to our destination, or we will end up going nowhere.

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They are homemade. They cost R8,000 to make, which makes them incredibly primitive. They do not use any advanced technology and cannot be guided, directed, or controlled. They are largely ineffective and have a very limited range. In 9 years, about 6,000 homemade Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza by various groups. Of those, 90% landed in uninhabited areas, causing no injuries or damage. Israel’s rocket defense system is set up to in-tercept rockets fired into Israel. If a rocket is projected to land in a populated area, a R400,000 guided-missile is launched to de-stroy the R8,000 Qassam rocket. This means that very few rockets from Gaza ever land in civilian populated areas. Qassam rockets fired from Gaza have resulted in fewer than 25 deaths in 9 years. For com-parison, Israeli forces killed 1,400 Palestinians in less than one month in 2008/9 and almost the same amount in 2014. Groups in Gaza that rely on Qassam rockets do so because they are the only available op-tions. They do not have access to $40,000 guided missiles. They use crudely made, inef-fective, and unreliable homemade rockets be-cause that is simply all they have access to. The Israelis are clearly in violation of both the Geneva Conventions and Just War Theory. They are recklessly targeting civilian popu-lated areas and, as a result, killing civilians. They are relying on extra-judicial executions. They are using disproportionate force. And

A stranger came by with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy. He was a city type. He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale. I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and howling wind. The sum-mer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned sil-ver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful. The stranger said he planned to use the lum-ber to line the walls of his den in a new coun-try home he's building. He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing storms and scorching sun, can produce beautiful barn wood. It came to me then. We're a lot like that. It's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too, and lean a bit more than when we were young. But Allah knows what He's doing. As the years pass the hard times of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy seasons, do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can. They took the old barn and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house. And someday you and I'll be hauled off to Heaven and we'll be more beautiful then for the seasons we've been through here.