READ'ccm-inc.org/iqra/uploads/file/issues/2011/11_01 Jan Iqra.pdf · 2011-06-15 · In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful A Voice of the MusliM uMMAh 'READ' 16 Safar

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

A Voice of the MusliM uMMAh

'READ'

16 Safar 1432 January 21, 2011

Vol. 23 No. 1

IslamIc concept of prophethoodmaulana sayyid abul hasan ali nadvi

Asmâ-ul-Husnâ : Allâh’s beautiful names and attributes al-hafeeZh the preserVer

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In This Issue... Editorial: What is His Name? ..............2 Muharram .............................................4 ReflectionsontheHijrahandMuslim

Calendar..............................................6 The Eyesight of Hazrat Safoora ........ 10 Qur’an Quiz .......................................11

achievements of muhammad’s g prophethood

2

a few disciples of prophetic school

Let us now take a few examples of thelearnersofthepropheticschool,who were guided and groomed far

awayfromArabia,thebirthplaceofIslam,were born several hundred years after the teacherparexcellence,andwhowerenotArabsbyraceornationality.OneofthesewasSultanSalahUddinAyyubi(d.1193),aKurdbyrace,whowasborninthesixthcenturyafterHijrah.IbnShaddad,hissec-retary,writesabouthim. “Enoughandtospareweretheresourcesof theempireoverwhichhepresidedbuthe had left nothing except one dinar andfortysevendirhams.OnceIsawhimwiththe pilgrims bound for Bait-ul-Maqdis,but he had nothing at all left in the pub-

licexchequertohelpthem.Ispoketohimaboutthematterandat lasthedecidedtosellcertainvaluablesstoredinthetreasuryfor giving out gifts to them. He gave away all,not sparingevenadirhamof thesaleproceeds. “Hegaveasfreelyinstraitenedcircum-stancesasheopenedhispurseintimesofprosperity.Histreasurers,therefore,usedtokeepasecretbalancefortheemergenciesfor,lefttohimself,hewouldhavegiventothe last shell.OnceIheardhimcynicallymakingtheremarkthattherewerecertainpersons for whom money and dust were alike.Hewas,sotosay,indirectlyreferringto his own views in this regard. He always gave away more than one asked for from him.” [An-Nawādir-i-Sultāniā,pp.13/14] Whenthisrulerofthegreatempire,ex-tending from Syria in the north to the Nu-bian desert in the south, left this fleetingworld,hewasliterallyapauperwhoseen-tirebelongingswereinsufficienttomeethisfuneralexpenses!IbnShaddadrecords: “Preparations were then made for his burial. We had to manage it by borrow-

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Editorial


What Is hIs name? (part I)

Belief inGODand thedesire towor-ship Him is ingrained in the nature of

all creations.Man is no exception to thisrule. As long as man has existed on this earth, the knowledge and awareness ofGod has also co-existed.There is no na-tion on earth and never has been that has notknownGOD.Allnationsofthepresentand past have a name in their language for HIM.Thisknowledgewasgiven to themby a warner sent to them by the Creator Himself. “And there never was a nation ex-ceptawarnerhaving livedamongthem”.(Al-Qurân, 35:24). “And to every nationtherewas a guide” (al-Qurân, 13:7).Thenames of a very few of these warners and messengersweknow(25arementionedinQurân),therestAllahhaschosennottore-vealinscriptures,sosuchhavebeenlostorcloudedinsuperstition. Whenmanchangedorignoredthewarn-ings of the warners, they ended up wor-shiping something else other than their true Lord.Thischangehasbeenpervasive, sothat today there exists no other warning in itsoriginalform,exceptAl-Qurân.ThisishowMrs.EllenG.White,a7thDayAd-ventist acknowledges the changes in theBible.“Learnedmenhadinsomeinstanceschangedthewords,thinkingthattheyweremakingitplain,wheninrealitytheyweremystifying thatwhichwasplain.”This ishowBartD.EhrmaninhisbookMisquot-ing Jesus explains what Mrs. White’s “in some instances” reallymeans. “With thisabundance of evidence,what canwe sayabout the total number of variants known today?Scholarsdiffersignificantlyintheirestimates – some say there are 200,000variants known, some say 300,000, somesay400,000ormore.Wedonotknowfor

surebecause,despiteimpressivedevelop-mentsincomputertechnology,noonehasyetbeenabletocountthemall.Perhaps,asIindicatedearlier,itisbestsimplytoleavethematterincomparativeterms.There are more variants among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament”. (HarperSanFrancisco2005) TheresultofthisconfusionisthateventhenameofGodhasbecomeamysterytothosewhorefusetoacceptthefinal,mostcompleteandunchangeableTestament. There are perhaps more than 200 names of God in various languages. The Jews and Christians,havinglosttheoriginalsofthewarnings,portrayedGodafterman’sownpattern. Anthropomorphism is prolific inthe Bible as we know it today: He is like aman (Genesis 11:5),Moses sees God’sbackparts(Exodus33:23),wrestlewithJa-cob(Genesis32:25),likeonedrunk(Psalm78:65),regretsmakingman(Genesis6:6),smellssweetflavor(Genesis8:21),crouch-ing lion (numbers 24:9), devouring fire(Exodus24:17),restedandrefreshed(Exo-dus31:17). This they did in spite of the dire and re-peatedwarnings,“Thoushalthavenoothergods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any image, or any likeness [of anything]that[is]inheavenabove,orthat[is]intheearthbeneath,orthat[is]inthewaterunder the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,nor serve them: for I theLordthyGod[am]ajealousGod,visitingtheiniquityofthefathersuponthechildrenunto the third and fourth of them that hate me”.(Exodus20:3-5) TheconceptofGodin“primitive”peo-ple ofAfrica,Australia and maybe evenamongNativeAmerica by comparison ismuch more truthful and they have givensome beautiful attributive names to the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. InSouthAfrica,theZulus,averyvirileand militant people – a nation akin to the

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is published monthly by con-necticut council of masajid, Islamic center of hamden, Islamic center of connecticut, Islamic center of new haven, faran club, United muslim masjid, Islamic society of Western connecticut, and Islamic center of new london.

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connecticut council of masajidp.o. Box 4456, hamden, ct 06514

Tel:(203)562-2757

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Qureishofpre-IslamicArabia–havegivenanametoGodAlmighty–uMVELINQA-NGI.Thiswordwhenproperlyarticulatedin itsowndialect, sounds identical to theArabic word Walla-hu-gani, meaning– Allâh is self sufficient. It also soundslike “Allegany” of the “Red Indians” ofNorthAmerica.(RemembertheirAlleganyMountains). Themeaningof“Allegany”isnotcom-monlyknowntotheAmericanpeople,butif one is to ask a Zulu who or what the“uMVELINQANGI”isandhewillsurelyexplain in Zulu: HAWU UMNIMZANI!UYENA,UMOYAOINGCWELE.AKA-ZALIYENA,FUTHIAKAZALWANGA;FUTHI,AKUKHOLUTHOOLUFANANAYE. This is almost word for word translation of Sura Ikhlas, Chapter 112 of the HolyQurân. “SAY:HE ISALLÂHTHEONEAND ONLY; ALLÂH THE ETERNALABSOLUTE; HE BEGETTETH NOT,NOR ISHEBEGOTTEN;ANDTHEREISNONELIKEUNTOHIM”(Al-Qurân,112:1-4). Compare itwithwhat the ZulusaidinEnglishtranslation:“OhSir!HeisapureandHolySpirit,HedoesnotbegetandHeisnotbegotten,andfurtherthereisnothing like Him”. The aborigine of SouthAustralia callshis God “Atnatu” because some philoso-pher, poet or prophet had programmedhim, that the“Father inHeaven” isabso-lutelyfreefromallneeds;He is indepen-dent;Heneedsnofoodnodrink.Thisqual-ity,inhisprimitive,un-inhibitedlanguage,he converselynamedAtnatu,which liter-allymeant“theOnewithoutananus–theOnewithoutanyflaw”–i.e.theOnefromWhomnoimpurityflowsoremanates. ThisnovelconceptofGodbya“primi-tive” man is not really altogether novel. Al-lâhconveysthesametruthtomankind,inHis last and Final Revelation – The Holy Qurân,butinalanguagesonobleandsub-

lime as is befitting its author.Becauseofthis finesse, graceful, elegant and refinedmanner of expression we have overlooked the message. We are commanded to sayto all those who wish to wean us from the worship of the One and Only true God,“Say,shallItakeformyprotectoranybutAllâh,theoriginatoroftheheavensandtheearth? When it is He who feeds and is not fed”.(Al-Qurân,6:14) Wearemade todeclare that,“Weshallnot take anyone as our lord and protec-tor,other thanAllâh,Who is thewonder-fuloriginatoroftheuniverse”.Ifanyhavemisgivingsabouthissocalled“man-gods”or “god-men” let them know that our God istheOnewho“feedsbutisnotfed”.Heisnot in need of food. Many nations have created man-gods,among them Christians (Jesus n), Jews(Uzair n or Ezra, or Esdras) and Bud-dhists(Buddha),forexample.(IfonereadstheOldTestament,itshowshowfreelytheexpression “sons of Allâh” was used by the Jews.A sect of them called ‘Uzair a son

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ofAllâh, according to Baidhawi. YousufAli inhiscommentarysays,“InAppendixII(Surav.)Ihaveshownthattheconstitu-tionof Judaismdates from‘Uzair (Ezra).TheChristiansstillcallChrist theSonofAllâh n). Some of these were truly illus-trious and mightiest of Messengers of Al-lâh. For example Jesus n and his mother are honored by Allâh in Holy Qurân at sev-eral occasions.Allâh also tells us “Christthe son of Mary was no more than a Mes-senger; many were the messengers thatpassed away before him. His mother was a saintly woman. They both eat food. See! HowclearWemakeforthemoursigns.Yetsee! How they are deluded away from the truth.”(Al-Quran,5:75) But ask any of their “followers” did they eat food. We know for sure they did. Luke inhisGospelconfirmsthisaboutJesusn,thus“Andtheygavehimapieceofbroiledfish,andofanhoneycomb.Andhetookit,and did eat before them.” (Luke 24:42-4�). Similarly,themotherofJesusn,awomanof truthandpiety, a truly saintlywoman,yetshetooeatsfoodjustlikehersonJesusn. Implications are obvious. Do we needan Australoid to remind us? Indeed, wedo! In this battle for theheart andmindsofpeople,weneedhis“Atnatu”.Heknowsso well that where you have an “input” you must allow for an “output”. The one who eats,musthavethecallofnature. Doesyourman-godeat?Ifhedoesthenhemustsubmittothecallofnature.OURGODEATSNOT!Howsimple the logic,yet how stupendous the argument. The “primitive” Australoid understands well thiswisdom,woulditbetoomuchtoasktherestofthehumanitytocomprehend? For Muslims there are more than 99 names that are His attributes beside His proper name Allâh. There is no beautiful name left out from this list thatman cancreate.ThesenamesweregivenbyAllâhHimself:

Say:“CalluponAllâhorcalluponRah-man:bywhatevernameyecalluponHim(it is well): for to Him belong the Most BeautifulNames.”(AlQurân,17:110). “HeisAllâh;thereisnootherGodbesideHim, theKnowerof the invisibleand thevisible.HeistheBeneficent,theMerciful.He isAllâh, there isnootherGodbesideHim, the Sovereign Lord the Holy One,Peace, theKeeperofFaith, theGuardian,the Majestic, the Compeller, the Superb.Glorified beAllâh from all that they as-cribe as partner (untoHim).He isAllâh,the Creator, the Shaper out of naught,the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earthglorifiethHim,andHeistheMighty,theWise.AlQurân,” 59:22-24. So let usnot substitute God for Allâh when we mean to use it as His proper name.

ing the smallest articles such as bundlesof straw which were required for cover-ing the grave.After the Zuhr prayer, hisbiercoveredwithacheapclothwastakento theburial place ; even the shroudwasprovidedbyhisministerandamanuensis,Qazi Fazil.” {An-Nawādir-i-Sultāniā pp. 13/14} StanelyLanePoole,anotherbiographerofSultanSalahUddin,paystributetotheforbearance,humanityandmagnanimityofthisgreatconquerorinthesewords: “IfthetakingofJerusalemweretheonlyfactknownaboutSaladin,itwereenoughtoprovehimthemostchivalrousandgreat-heartedconquerorofhisown,andperhaps,of any age.” {Saladin,pp.233-34} Thus, the salubrious influence of Mu-hammad’s teachings containing unlimitedpossibilitiesofgoodness,virtueandmerit

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for theposterity, hasbeen atwork in ev-ery period of history. In many countries,situatedatthefringeoftheIslamicworld,the peoplewho have never had any con-tactwiththeArabsortheearlierconvertsto Islam norwere ever affiliated to thembywayofrace,cultureorlanguage,have,on accepting Islam, very often exhibitedwonderfulqualitiesofheadandheart.Of-tentimes,theyacceptedIslamatthehandsofapurersoul,andthentheirprogenypro-ducedrulersandconquerorswhowereasausterepuritansastheascetics.Notafewof themwere so temperate and virtuous,God-fearing and just, selfless and kind-hearted, truthful and noble that they cantake the shine out of monks and priests of other faiths and peoples. Iwillgivehereonlyonemoreexampleout of innumerablemodels of chaste andpious souls whom one can find at everyturnandpassofthelonghistoryofIslaminIndia.Itisaspecimenofsuchcolorandelegance that the luster and freshness ofitssoul-stirringmoralityisstillcapableofwarming the hearts of the people. He was Muzaffar II (1511-26), the King of Gu-jaratwhohadalongstandingenmitywithMahmud Khilji II (1510-31) of Malwa.Mahmud bore ill-will towards Muzaffar since his own brother, Muhammad, hadrebelled against his authority and thrown himself on the protection of Muzaffar.Mahmudhad,thus,beenasourceofcon-stant worry to Muzaffar. In due courseof time, Mahmud fell entirely under theinfluence of his Rajput minister, MendiRai,who,losingpatiencewithhismaster,forcedMahmudtoleaveMandu,hiscapi-tal,andfleetoGujarat,wherehesoughttheaid of Muzaffar. As soon as Muzaffar heard ofMahmud’sarrivalhesenthistents,trea-sure, and elephants, and entertained himatabanquettocelebratetheoccasion.Noman infatuated with the spirit of revenge and desirous of taking advantage of the ad-versity of his former enemy would have en-

continued from page � tertained Mahmud with the highest marks ofrespect.ButMuzaffarhadnoaccountstosettleasheconsidereditaGod-sendop-portunity to be obliging and helpful to his former foe in order to seek the pleasure of God. Muzaffar found this more favourable tohischaracter,since,thewholecourseofhis behaviour towards Mahmud shows his anxiety to help a Muslim sovereign regain his lost power and territory. Muzaffar laid openthesafetyofhisrealmtodanger,buthemarchedattheheadofhisforcestore-lieveMandu.HedefeatedtheRajputgar-risontwicebeforethewallsofthecityandformedthesiegeofthefortress.TheRajputgarrisonperformedtheriteofJauhar(com-mittingwomenfolk to thefirebefore tak-ingtothebattlefieldforfinalaction)withavowtofighttothelast.Atlast,Manduwascarriedbyescaladeafterabloodybattleinwhichnineteen thousand troops lost theirlives,andthestreetsranwithblood,whichstreamed from the drains which carriedrainwaterintotheditch. The capture of Mandu affords anotherproof ofMuzaffar’s nobility of characterand his Islamic conscience. Some noblesof Muzaffar’s army advised him to annex the fertile kingdom ofMandu to Gujaratfor it had been lost owing to the folly of Mahmud. They were, in a way, right inholdingthisviewasaccordingtotheage-old convention of the country, the landwonbyforceofarmbelongedtothevictor.Muzaffarhadconqueredtheprovinceand,therefore,hehadeveryrighttoholditasafeudatory. WhenMuzaffarcametoknowofthede-sireofhisnobles,heforbadehistroopstoenterthecity.MahmudinvitedMuzaffartostay forawhile inhiscapitalbut the lat-ter politely refused the offer and ordered hisforcestoreturntoAhmadabad.Hisre-ply toMahmudwas that he had come toMahmud’shelpmerelytofulfillthedivinecommandwhichsays:

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Reflections on Hijrah and the muslim calendar

shaykh mohammed amin Kholwadia

The Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (g upon him blessings

and peace) over a span of twenty-threeyears. The Prophet g recited each verseaccording to its pre-ordained order in theLawh Mahfuz,orProtectedTablet.AftertheProphet (g uponhimblessingsandpeace)left thisworld, hisCompanions compiled,andthuspreserved,theQur’anintheveryorderitwasrecitedduringhislife.Muslimshave always held the view that this order of recitationwasalsodivinelyinspiredandthatthe Companions preserved the pre-ordained orderofrecitation.Thesciencethatinevita-bly emerged from this is that of understand-ing the nazm, or literary arrangement, oftheQur’an. Inhisbrilliantexegesisof theQur’an,Tafsir Azizi,ShahAbdulAziz, theerudite protégé and son of Shah Waliullah ofDelhi,notes thegeniusof theCompan-ions vis-à-vis their understanding the nazm of theQur’anandhence theirdexterity infathoming the meaning of the Qur’an itself. Wemustunderstandsomehistoricalfactsaboutthepre-Islamiccalendar.Theyearinwhich the Prophet Muhammad (g upon him blessings and peace) was born wasknown as the Year of the Elephant. The YearoftheElephantwastheyearinwhichAbrahahcametoMakkahwiththeintenttodestroytheKa‘bah.Hefailedmiserably,asthe Qur’an notes in Surat al-Fil(105).TheArabsusedthatyearasapointofreferenceto number their years. But they did not agree toanystandardwhenitcametonumberingtheir months, even though their calendarwaslunar.EventheperiodoftheHajjwasnotspecifiedand,consequently, thesacredmonth of Muharram was also shifted every year. This meant that some years had thir-teen months instead of twelve. The responsibility for announcing thedateoftheHajjwasentrustedtoamanfromBanuKinanahnamedHudhayfahbin‘Abd

Fuqaym (better known as al-Qalammas). HewouldannounceontheoccasionoftheHajjwhen the next pilgrimagewas to beperformed,andwhichmonththethirteenthmonthwastofollow.ThefirstQalammaswas an individual, but then the namebe-cameatitlespecifictotheannouncer. The Arabs regarded the months of Ra-jab, Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Mu-harram as months of peace and sanctity.But,withthiscalendar,thesemonthsalsobegantoundergochanges,anditwasoneof the responsibilities of the Qalammas to announce what months would be the sa-credmonths in the followingyear.Whenitsuitedthepurposesofthewarringtribes,the announcer would declare that theiridols had prohibited fighting that year inthemonthofMuhurram;andthefollowingyearhewouldannouncethattheidolshadnowallowedfightinginthemonthofMu-harram.SothemonthofSafar(whichwasnotasacredmonth)waseitherpostponedorkeptonitsregulartimeaccordingtotheproclamation of theQalammas.Thiswasthepracticeknownasal-nasi’ (postponing or transposing) inArabic; theQur’an ad-dresses it in Surat al-Tawbah(9:36–37): “The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)—so ordained by Him the dayHe created the heavens andtheearth;of themfourare sacred: that isthestraightordinance.Sowrongnotyour-selvestherein,andfightthepagansallto-gether as they fight you all together. Butknow that Allah is with those who restrain themselves. Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to disbelief. The dis-believers are led to wrong thereby. For they makeitlawfuloneyear,andforbiddenan-otheryear,inordertoadjustthenumberofmonthsforbiddenbyAllahandmakesuchforbidden ones lawful. The evil of their courseseemspleasing to them.ButAllahdoesnotguidethosewhorejectFaith.” The Prophet g, in his address at the

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Farewell Hajj, announced the abrogationof meddling with the months: “O people! Time after undergoing afull revolution has returned to its original state,1 the dayAllah created the heavensandtheearth.Theyearis twelvemonths;four of them are sacred. Three run con-secutively—Dhul Qa‘dah, Dhul Hijjah,andMuharram—andtheotheristheRajabofMudar,whichcomesbetweenJamadul‘AakhirandSha‘ban.” So the twelve lunar months were or-dained. Muharram was left as the firstmonthoftheMuslimcalendaryear.Butthedeterminationof thefirst year ofMuslimhistorydidnotcomeaboutuntillater.‘Al-1Thispropheticrevelationthattime(zaman) itself was in its own orbit (istadarah) is an ab-stractforthosewhowishtostudytheIslamictheory of time.

lamah Sakhawi gives the following details abouttheoriginoftheIslamiccalendar:2 “AreportontheauthorityofIbn‘Abbasstates that there existed no era in Madinah when the Prophet g arrived there. People cametouseaneraamonthortwoafterhisarrival.ThiscontinueduntilMuhammad’sg death. Then the use of an era was dis-continued,and therewasnoneduring thecaliphateofAbuBakrh andthefirstfouryears of the caliphate of ‘Umarh.Then the (Muslim) erawas established. ‘Umarh is reported to have said to the assem-bled dignitaries among the men around Muhammad g,“Theincomeisconsider-able. What we have distributed has been withoutfixeddates.Howcanwe remedy

2HakimMuhammedSaid,Hamdard Islam-icus,1981.

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DAY FAJR SHURUQZUHRASR———— MAGRIBISHA DWN SUNRISE Shafi’i Hanafi SNSETNGHT

Your (real) friend can be

only Allâh; and His messenger and those who believe-- who

establish prayer and pay the

poor due and bow down (in worship). And whoso turns

(for friendship) to Allâh and

His messenger and those who believe: lo! the party of Allâh,

they are the victorious.(5:55-56)

LUNAR DATES

I f you need prayer t im-ings for your town, p lease send us a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope. Salah sched-ules are per-petual; i.e. they are good for every year.

Prayer times are for the New Haven area and are based on

�8° for Fajr and Isha. Check local newspapers for your local time

difference.

January21 5:35 7:12 12:03 2:34 3:13 4:54 6:3122 5:35 7:12 12:03 2:35 3:14 4:55 6:3223 5:34 7:11 12:04 2:36 3:15 4:57 6:3324 5:34 7:10 12:04 2:37 3:17 4:58 6:3425 5:33 7:09 12:04 2:38 3:18 4:59 6:3526 5:33 7:09 12:04 2:39 3:19 5:00 6:3627 5:32 7:08 12:04 2:40 3:20 5:02 6:3728 5:31 7:07 12:05 2:41 3:21 5:03 6:3829 5:31 7:06 12:05 2:43 3:23 5:04 6:3930 5:30 7:05 12:05 2:44 3:24 5:05 6:4031 5:29 7:04 12:05 2:45 3:25 5:07 6:42

february1 5:28 7:03 12:05 2:46 3:26 5:08 6:432 5:28 7:02 12:05 2:47 3:28 5:09 6:443 5:27 7:01 12:05 2:48 3:29 5:10 6:454 5:26 7:00 12:06 2:49 3:30 5:12 6:465 5:25 6:59 12:06 2:50 3:31 5:13 6:476 5:24 6:58 12:06 2:51 3:32 5:14 6:487 5:23 6:57 12:06 2:52 3:34 5:15 6:498 5:22 6:56 12:06 2:53 3:35 5:17 6:509 5:21 6:54 12:06 2:54 3:36 5:18 6:5110 5:20 6:53 12:06 2:55 3:37 5:19 6:5311 5:19 6:52 12:06 2:56 3:38 5:20 6:5412 5:18 6:51 12:06 2:57 3:40 5:22 6:5513 5:16 6:49 12:06 2:58 3:41 5:23 6:5614 5:15 6:48 12:06 2:59 3:42 5:24 6:5715 5:14 6:47 12:06 3:00 3:43 5:25 6:5816 5:13 6:45 12:06 3:01 3:44 5:27 6:5917 5:12 6:44 12:06 3:02 3:45 5:28 7:0018 5:10 6:43 12:06 3:02 3:46 5:29 7:0219 5:09 6:41 12:05 3:03 3:48 5:30 7:0320 5:08 6:40 12:05 3:04 3:49 5:32 7:0421 5:06 6:38 12:05 3:05 3:50 5:33 7:0522 5:05 6:37 12:05 3:06 3:51 5:34 7:0623 5:03 6:35 12:05 3:07 3:52 5:35 7:0724 5:02 6:34 12:05 3:08 3:53 5:36 7:0825 5:01 6:32 12:05 3:09 3:54 5:38 7:0926 4:59 6:31 12:05 3:09 3:55 5:39 7:1127 4:58 6:29 12:04 3:10 3:56 5:40 7:1228 4:56 6:28 12:04 3:11 3:57 5:41 7:13

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Jan-feB praYer tImes, neW haVen

safar

raBI’-Ul-aWWal

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O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah

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- 10 -

THE CHILDREN’S CORNER


the eyesight of hazrat safoora i

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi V was a very pi-ous scholar who was born in Balkh (in pres-ent day Afghanistan) in 604 H. He studied for someyears inDamascusand then livedmuchof the rest of his life in Konya in the Sultan-ate of Rum (present day Turkey) until his death in672H.Hewroteanumberofbooks,buttheoneforwhichheisfamousaroundtheworldisthe Mathnavi of Maulana Rumi. The Mathnavi is a collection of stories, parables, and expla-nations,allwritteninpoetry,thatvividlyillus-tratevariousaspectsoftheloveofAllahandhismessenger g. The story below is taken from a translation and explanation of the Mathnavi by Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar.---------------------------------------------

Hazrat Moosa n was a prophet of an extremely high status. He is the

prophet who was famous for speaking with Allah directly while alive in thisworld.Oneday,Moosan was spending sometimespeakingwithAllah,drawingneartohim,andenjoyinghiscloseness.InhiseagernessandzealfortheloveofAllah, he asked to seeAllah.Allah in-formedhimthathewoulddefinitelynotbeabletoseeAllah,becausenohumaneyecanseeAllahinthisworld.However,to show Moosa nthatthiswasthecase,Allah told him to look at the mountain of Toor nearby and if the mountain was able toremaininit’splace,Moosan would see Allah. When Allah revealed some of thelightofhispresenceuponthemoun-tain,themountainwasnotstrongenoughtowithstandit.Themountaincrumbledand Moosa nhimselffelldownuncon-scious.Whenheawokefromhisuncon-sciousness,herealizedthathisowneyeswould never be able to withstand per-ceivingAllahinthisworld. When Moosa n returned from the mountain, the effect of the manifesta-

tion Allah had revealed on the mountain remained on his face. For some days,hisfacehadsuchabrightglowthatanyperson who looked directly at his facewould be dazzled and turn blind. There-fore,Moosan prayed to Allah to grant himascreenthathecouldwearoverhisfaceandprotectotherpeople’seyesfromdamage. Allah ordered Moosa ntocov-erhisfacewithapartoftheblankethehadusedtocoverhimselfwhenhewasonthemountain,“Apartfromthatblan-ket,OMoosa,nothingelseintheworldwillbeabletoblockthelightfromyourface.” Moosa nmadeafacecoveringfromthe blanket and prohibited the people fromstaringathisfacewithoutthisveil.BecausethispieceofclothinghadbeenpartoftheclothingofafriendofAllahatthetimewhenthelightwascastonthemountain,Allahmade it able to do thejob that doors and walls could not do.Eveniftheveilhadbeenmadeofiron,ittoo would have melted due to the light on Nabi Moosa’s n face after the shiningsplendoronMountToor.Butbecauseithadbeen touchedby thewarmthofdi-vinelove,itwasmadecapableofcover-ingtheshiningofMoosa’sfacen. Hazrat Safoora i was the wife of Nabi Moosa n and was a great lover ofhisprophethood.Shebecamerestlessand impatient of the veil and wanted to lookat the faceofMoosan. Her love becomesooverwhelmingthat,oneday,sheremovedtheveilandlookeddirectlyat Moosa nwithoneeye.Immediatelythe eye was blinded and she lost sight in it.Still shecouldnotbepatient; sheopenedtheothereye,anditalsoinstantlybecameblinded.

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Paradise lies beneath

the mothers’ feet.

continued from page �0

Question: The word kallaa (“never”) appears �� times in the Qur’an in 15 surahs. What is a commonfeatureofallthesurahs inwhichthiswordappears?

last month’s question: What is the verse in the Qur’an, uponrecitation of which the Prophetgprostrated,andalongwithhimprostrated all those who were lis-tening -- Muslims and disbelievers --exceptoneoldman?answer: (sent by Asra Ali) InMakkah, upon the Prophet’sgrecitationofthe last ayah (ayah 62) of Surah An-Najm,thebeliev-ers and disbelievers all prostrated withtheexceptionofanoldman,UmayyahbinKhalaf,whotookahandful of dust and prostrated on that. [From Ma’ariful Quran, Mufti ShafiUsmani,vol8,pg235]ItisrecordedinBukhariontheauthorityofSayyidnaIbn‘Abbash that when the Holy Prophet g recited this verse he prostrated, and allthose around him also prostrated along with him -Muslims, pagans, jinns, andmankind.Anotherreportfrom‘Abdullahibn Mas’ud h, as recorded in BukhariandMuslim,narratesthatwhentheHolyProphet gfinishedrecitingtheSurahbe-fore a mixed gathering of Muslims and disbelievers,and,alongwithhisfollow-ers,heprostratedhimselfontheground,thedisbelieverstooprostrated,exceptone

At that time a woman asked Hazrat Safoora: “Have you any sorrow at your eyes losing their sight?” She replied: “My great sorrow is that Ionlyhavetwoeyesandnotahundredeyesorathousandeyes.IfIhad,Iwouldhavesacrificedalloftheminordertoseethe light of NabiMoosa’s countenancen.” This reply and her great love for Nabi Moosa n was so pleasing to Allah that he granted her eyesight once more inbotheyes.ShewasgrantedsightofsuchstrengthinbotheyesthatnowshecouldlookdirectlyuponNabiMoosa’sfacen without any covering and not lose hereyesight again. It is through Allah’s power that thefriends of Allah are able to bear the light of Allah in their hearts in this world. The samelightwhichthemountainsareinca-pableofwithstandingisreflectedinthehearts of the pious people. The Messen-ger of Allah g explains this in a Hadith Qudsi (a Hadith Qudsi is when the mes-senger tells us something that Allah has said): “Allah says: Space and orbits do not contain me, neither do minds nor the selves of men. However, in the heart of a believer, I am like a guest who has been given full access and control over the residence of his host.” The hearts of the believers have been madeintoamirrorthatreflectsthelightofAllah.Withoutsuchamirror,noone



- 12 -

Quran Quiz, continued from page ��


low from this that the sajdah is not obligatory or compulsory.It ispossiblethatat thatparticularmoment, he did not have his ablution or theremust have been some other legitimate reason for not performing the sajdah.Insuchsituations,itis not obligatory to perform the sajdah forthwith. Itcanbedelayeduntilthereasonhasceased.AndAllah,thePureandExalted,knowsbest!

couldbeartolookonAllah’sbeauty,nei-theronthisearth,norintheheavens. Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi explains that a seeker after Allah initially of-fers just bread in the path ofAllah. Inotherwords,heisreadytosacrificethestrength that is createdby foodandof-fers that to try to seek the pleasure of Al-lah.ButastheseekerbecomesobedienttoAllah and the light of his obediencetakesoverhim,heiswillingtoofferevenhis life for the pleasure of Allah. This is why Hazrat Safoora had no hesitation inofferingbothhereyesandbecomingblind.Becauseofheruncontrolled loveofAllah,shewaswillingtosacrificehereyesightforjustafewmoments’glanceatthefaceoftheprophetofAllahn.

continued from page ��

old Quraishi man who took a handful of soiland,havingapplieditonhisforeheadsaid, “This is enough forme.” ‘Abdullahibn Mas’ud h said that he saw this man later on killed as a disbeliever. Following the example of the Holy Prophet g, theMuslimswereexpectedtoprostrate.Asfarastheidolatersareconcerned,havingbeenprofoundly impressed with the solemnity oftheoccasionandbeingoverawedbytheaugustrecitationoftheQur’anicwords,aswellasby theDivineMajestyandGlory,might also have fallen in prostration. How-ever,sincethisprostrationwasperformedinthestateofdisbelief,itdidnotcarryanyreward,butitdidleaveadeepimpressiononthem;andasaresultofthisimpact,theyalllateronembracedtheIslamicfaith,ex-cept one personwho died in the state ofkufr,becausehearrogantlyrefrainedfromperforming the sajdah. SahihainrecordareportfromSayyidnaZaidibn Thabit htotheeffectthatherecitedtheen-tireSurahan-NajminthepresenceoftheHolyProphet g,buthe[theHolyProphetg]didnotperform the sajdah.Itdoesnotnecessarilyfol-

“But if they seek help from you in the matter of religion, then it is your duty tohelp(them).”{Qur’aanVIII:72} “A Muslim is brother unto another Mus-lim whom he neither gives over to the enemy nor degrades.” {A tradition of the Prophet g} “Now my mission has been achievedwith honor to me, yourself and Islam,”addedMuzaffar,“but,wereItogiveeartowhatIhaveheardmycompanionstalkingabout,alleffortsandfightinginthewayofGodwouldcometonaught.Itwasnotmebut you who allowed me to partake in this blessingand,therefore,Iwanttoreturntomydominion for Iwishneither to rendermy labour worthless nor to mix my virtu-ousactswithvices.” When Mandu was captured, Mahmudhad taken Muzaffar to have a look at his magnificent fortress and flourishing city,which, amidst the splendid mountains ofMalwa,coveredabroadexpanseofrollingjungle,deepanddensevalley, interruptedbysmilinglakesandfertilefields.Thenat-uralsettingofthecitygaveasolemnitytoitsownintrinsicbeautywhichwasdeckedout on the occasion by the radiant facesofprettyslavegirls lininguptowelcomethetwomonarchs.But,Muzaffarhadcasthis eyes down to avoid the gaze of smil-ing nautch girls.At last, Mahmud couldnot hold himself from asking his bashful friend, “What’s the matter, Sir, that youneitherliftupyoureyesnortakeaglance


- 1� -


to Be continued

at these girls ?” Muzaffar came back calmly, “Mahmudit is not lawful for me. Has not God told us: “Tell the believing men to lower their gaze andbemodest?”{Qur’aanXXIV:30} Taken aback, Mahmud gave tongueagain inbrokenvoice,“But thesearemybondmaids and I am a slave unto you!Youhavepurchasedmebyyourkindnessand thus theywould be lawful to you, ifyour goodself were pleased to have one of them.” But,eventhiscouldnotsatisfyMuzaffarfor he knew that nothing forbidden by God could bemade permissible byman. {Fordetails,seeAsfi’sZafar-ul-Walū} This pious and reverent king had thus set an example of his beauty of holiness regenerated by the teachings and ethicalnormsofIslam.ThisKing,wholivedlikeamaninspiredbyhisreligion,hadbeentheseventhinthelineageofWajīh-ul-MulkofDidwānā,aRājpūt,whohadbeenconvert-ed to Islamduring the reignofFirūzTu-ghlaq.TherecanbenodoubtthatMuzaffarwasimbuedwiththehumanizinginfluenceof Muhammad g,whomhelovedandre-spectedasagratefulfollower,andtriedtoliveuptotheteachingsofthatgreatmas-ter.


continued from page �that?”One answer came from al-Hurmu-zan. He had been king of al-Ahwaz. After hiscaptureduring theconquestofPersia,hehadbeenbroughtto‘Umarhandac-ceptedIslam.Hesaid,“ThePersianshavea (methodof)calculationwhich theycallmahroz and ascribe to their Sassanid rul-ers. The word mahroz was Arabized as mu’arrakh, and the infinitive ta’rikh was formed from it.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Bukhari report through Maymun ibn Mihran that “an IOU payable in Sha‘ban was presentedto‘Umarh.Thereupon‘Umarhasked,‘WhichSha‘ban?Thelastone,thepresentone, or the comingone?Give the peoplesomething that theycanunderstand.’”Hethenissuedaregulardirectiveandfoundedthe present-day calendar in 16AH, fromwhichtimethepracticehasbeenfollowed. [ibid] Suyutiwrites,withreferencetoBukari’sTarikh, thatUmarh askedAllah forDi-vineProvidence(istikharah) for a month. Thereafterheconsulted‘AliibnAbiTalibh and had the Hijrah dates inserted in all administrative directives two and a halfyearsafterassumingtheCaliphate,andthisbecamethepracticefrom16AHonward. That ‘Umarh deliberated for a whole month and asked for Divine ProvidenceisproofthatheattachedgreatimportancetomakingtherightchoicefortheMuslimUmmah.Thatheconsultedhisadvisors,es-peciallyAlih,provesthathehadutmostconfidence in the assemblywith him andrefused to act without their unequivocalsupport. The words of the Prophet g cometomind:“HewhoseeksDivineProvidence[istikhara]willnotbedisappointed;hewhoseeksadvice[istashara]willnotregret.” There was no doubt that the beginning of the months was to be determined by thecrescent.BoththeQur’an,inSurat al-Baqarah (2:189)�and thepracticeof the3“Theyaskyouconcerningthenewmoons.Say:Theyarebutsignstomarkfixedperiods

Prophet (g uponhimblessingsandpeace)confirm this beyond dispute. But ‘Umarwas especially aware of how serious thematterwas,sincetheQur’anexplicitlyfor-bids believers from manipulating time. He wanted to make sure that the both the year he chose and the conference he enactedwould stand the test of time—literally. All nations and civilizations wish toremain constant and consistent in everytheorytheyexpound.Ifacivilizationwereto choose an inconsistent conference formeasuring time itself, itwould inevitably

oftimein(theaffairsof)men,andforPilgrim-age.”

- 14 -

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succumb to thepressures of time and seekmodificationandreform.Suchwasandstillis the fate of what is now the “mainstream” Gregoriancalendarnowinuse.Theproblemwith theGregorian calendar, as one authornotes is the following: “After every four hundred years seasonal changesoccurandprobablybecauseofthisfact the solar calendar requires constantmodification. It is just not possible to re-movethisdiscrepancy. “The League of Nations had set up a Spe-cialCommitteeatGeneva in1923chargedwith the formulation of a calendar thatwouldbeuniversallyacceptableandwouldbereconcilablewithseasonalchanges.Oneof the recommendationsof thisCommitteewas that the year was to be divided into 1� months.4 However, such a calendar wouldnot be devised as the seasons in the hemi-spheres differ in their periodic occurrence.Theproximityandthedistanceofthesuninthe East and the West naturally give rise to substantial differences. Because of this in-herent discrepancy, it was not possible forthe solar calendar to gain universal accep-tance.”5 Havingalreadyacceptedthelunarcyclesas a conference to determine the months,‘Umar did not immediately find any spe-cificmandate regarding fixing a year fromwhich to chronicle Muslim history.AlongwiththeotherCompanions,helookedtothelife of the Prophet g. They wanted to give Islam its trueplace inhistoryand thatwasnot possible without revering the Prophet g

himself.Itwastheirinsatiablelovefortheirleaderthatshookoffanyandeveryconsid-erationthatwasnotexclusivetohim.Theyconsideredtheyearhewasbornandtheyearhedied.Theycouldnotsettleonthoseyears,asthebirthofaprophetwasnotexclusiveto

4Theresurgenceofthepracticeofal-nasi,orintercalation,inmoderntimes?5HakimMuhammedSaid,Hamdard Islamicus,1981.

the Prophet Muhammad g.Otherproph-ets were born and they all passed away,saveone,‘Isan,whowillalsopassawayafter return. They considered the yearwhentheQur’anwasfirstrevealed.Theydidnotchoosethatconferenceeither,sincerevelationcametootherprophetsandwasthusnotexclusivetoourProphetg. After a month of tremendous exertion (ijtihad) and through istikhara and istishara,‘Umarh was guided by the nazm,ororder,oftheQur’an’s verses to a unique solution. The verses in Surat al-Tawbah that speak of theyear’sconsistingof twelvemonthsarefollowedbyadidacticcalltowardsac-rificeinthepathofAllah. “Ifyoudonothelp (your leader), (it isnomatter),forAllahdidindeedhelphim,when the disbelievers drove him out. He hadnomorethanonecompanion;theytwowerein thecave,andhesaidtohiscom-panion,‘Donotgrieve,forindeedAllahiswithus.’ThenAllahsentdownHispeace



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continued from page ��uponhim,andstrengthenedhimwithforceswhichyoudidnotsee,andhumbledtothedepths the word of the disbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights. For AllahisExaltedinmight,Wise.”(Surat al-Tawbah,9:40) ‘Umarh realized that there was a link between the story behind this verse and the previous verses that spoke of the twelve months. He saw the pre-ordained order of recitation as giving him an ordinance forhiscase.Time forMuslimshad tobe reg-ulatedby an acquired act of a human thattranscended time itself. The revelation ofthe Qur’an to the Prophet g was not an acquiredact.Humanbeingsarenotcapableof following the act of revelation. Like-wise,birthanddeatharedivinelyregulatedand human beings cannot determine eachother’sdayofbirthordeath.Similarly,theNight of Isra and Mi‘raj (Ascension)wasnot something the Ummahcouldcopy.Be-ing the role model for Muslims in their af-fairs,theProphetg showedthecommunitythat if they followed his footsteps in matters related to time, theywould be universallyaccepted.‘Umarh thusconcludedthattheHijrah of the Prophet,g the story of the Prophet’sflightandmigrationfromMakkahtoMadinah,was an act that could be andshouldbecommemoratedeveryyear.Itwasajourneyintotheunknown;itwasriddledwith so many intangibles that they were al-mostuncountable.TheMessengerofAllahg threwhimselfintotheinfinitemercyofthe Unseen and voluntarily left all tangible consequences to the Creator of time (al-Dahr). BeingseverelycompromisedbyhisownpeopleinMakkah,Muhammadg,throughDivineProvidence,instructedhisfollowerstomigratetoYathrib,asmalltownnorthofMakkahthatlaterbecameknownasMadi-nah.Muslimsobliged,leavingtheirrelativesand belongings in Makkah and seeking ref-uge in the unknown dimensions of Yathrib. The Prophet g andhisbestcompanion,Abu

Bakr,wereamongthelasttoleaveMakkah.TheirstrategywastohideinacavesouthofMakkahcalledThawr in the hope that the Makkans, if they launched a searchforhim,wouldveernorthward.Theydidnot. The Makkans found out that they had headed south and followed their trail all the wayuptothemouthofthecave.Therewasnothingshieldingtheentranceofthecaveexcept a flimsy spider’s web6 that couldhave been broken by a mere sneeze. The defenseless companionsof the cavewereironicallyguardedbysomethingthatcan-not protect itself. “If they had entered,”said theMakkans,“theywouldhavebro-ken the web.” But it was their web that was broken. These moments of extreme exposure had countless consequences for the two com-panionsofthecave.Historystoodstill,buttime was re-energized by the words of the Prophet g totheconcernedAbuBakrh: “Do not grieve, for indeedAllah is withus.” Abu Bakr’s h expedited and pre-cariousgriefwasthatiftheywerecaught,history indeedwould stand still, as Islamwould definitely perish without Muham-mad g. The Prophet’s g timeless faith in

6 The Qur’an itself states in the Chapter of the Spider:“Trulytheflimsiestofhousesisthespider’shouse”(Surahal-Ankabut,41:29).

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Important Islamic daysashUra’ (Fast on 9th and 10th,or10th and 11th of Muharram.)maUlUd-Un-naBIBirthoftheProphetMuhammad (Rabiul Awwal) - death of the prophet (12 Rabiul Awwal).Isra and mIraJ (The anniversary of the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad toJerusalem&hisAscensionthentoHeaven)(27Rajab).nesfU shaBaan (Shub-e-Barat)(middle of the month of Shabaan)(nightbetween14&15).BeGInnInG of the month of ramadân.laIla tUl Qader (NIGHTOFVALUE)Anightduringthelast 10 days of Ramadân. eId Ul-fItr (1st. Shawwal) WaQfatU-arafat (Pilgrims assemble on Arafat Plain,Makkah)(9Zul-Hijj).eId Ul-adha(Feastofsacrifice)(10Zul-Hijj).

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Allah embodied Divine Ordinanceand Providence that still relent-lessly withstands the test of modern times. ‘Umarh saw this event as the axis aboutwhichMuslimtimewouldre-volve.Hereadtheverse“Ifyoudonothelp(yourleader),itisnomat-ter…”aspushinghimtoappreciateAllah’sassistanceintimeovertime.Fromtheoutsidelookingin,aneu-tralobserverwouldhavecalledtheendofIslaminthecaveofThawr. Fromauniversalstandpoint,‘Umarh observed the infinite powers ofthe Unseen delivering the living fromimminentdeathinthecave.Is-lam’s apparent and imminent death was replaced by Islam’s sure birthanduncheckedgrowth.TheQur’anrepeatedly reminds us of this phe-nomenon: “He [Allah] extracts theliving from the dead.” The Hijrah of the Prophet gand,byassociation,of Abu Bakr hrejuvenatebelieversevery time they pass by that time of the year. The story of the Hijrah is pre-cededbyanordinancenot tomed-dlewith time. Itwouldnecessarilyfollow that the Hijrah was already ordainedbyAllahtobetheconfer-ence uponwhichMuslimswere tosettheircalendar.Sobyreadingintothe pre-ordained order of the verses oftheQur’an,‘UmarandtheCom-panions j of the Prophet g found order in their world. By understand-ingtherecitedorderoftheQur’an’sverses,‘UmarandtheCompanionsj wrote their names in the annals of history and time.

Reprinted from Al-Qasim newsletter; darulqasim.org

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READ'ccm-inc.org/iqra/uploads/file/issues/2011/11_01 Jan Iqra.pdf · 2011-06-15 · In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful A Voice of the MusliM uMMAh 'READ' 16 Safar