<b>Cleanliness</b>


Islam places great emphasis on cleanliness, in both its physical and spiritual aspects. On the physical side, Islam requires the Muslim to clean his body, his clothes, his house, and the whole community, and he is rewarded by God for doing so. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, for example:


<b>"Removing any harm from the road is charity (that will be rewarded by Allah)</b>." (Bukhari)


While people generally consider cleanliness a desirable attribute, Islam insists on it , making it an indispensible fundamental of the faith. A muslim is required to to be pure morally and spiritually as well as physically. Through the Qur'an and Sunnah Islam requires the sincere believer to sanitize and purify his entire way of life. In the Qur'an Allah commends those who are accustomed to cleanliness:


<b>"Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean." </b>(2: 22)


In Islam the Arabic term for purity is Taharah. Books of Islamic jurisprudence often contain an entire chapter with Taharah as a heading. Allah orders the believer to be tidy in appearance:


<b> "Keep your clothes clean."</b> (74:4)


The Qur'an insists that the believer maintain a constant state of purity:


<b> "Believers! When you prepare for prayer wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads (with water) and (wash) your feet up to the ankles. If you are ritually impure bathe your whole body."</b> (5: 6)


Ritual impurity refers to that resulting from sexual release, menstruation and the first forty days after childbirth. Muslims also use water, not paper or anything else to after eliminating body wastes.


Prophet Muhammad )pbuh) advised the Muslims to appear neat and tidy in private and in public. Once when returning home from battle he advised his army:


<b>"You are soon going to meet your brothers, so tidy your saddles and clothes.Be distinguished in the eyes of the people."</b> (Abu Dawud)


On another occasion he said:


<b>"Don't ever come with your hair and beard disheveled like a devil." [Al-Tirmidhi]</b>


And on another:


<b>"Had I not been afraid of overburdening my community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth for every prayer."</b> (Bukhari)


Moral hygiene was not ignored, either, for the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged the muslims to make a special prayer upon seeing themselves in the mirror:


<b>"Allah, You have endowed me with a good form; likewise bless me with an immaculate character and forbid my face from touching the Hellfire."</b> (Ahmad)


And modesty in dress, for men as well as for women, assists one in maintaining purity of thought. Being charitable is a way of purifying one's wealth. A Muslim who does not give charity (Sadaqah) and pay the required annual Zakah, the 2.5% alms-tax, has in effect contaminated his wealth by hoarding that which rightfully belongs to others:


<b> "Of their wealth take alms so that you may purify and sanctify them." (9: 103)</b>


All the laws and injunctions given by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) are pure; on the other hand, man-made laws suffer from the impurities of human bias and other imperfections. Thus any formal law can only be truly just when it is purified by divine guidance - as elucidated by the Qur'an and the Sunnah - or if it is divinely ordained to begin with - the Shari'ah.

<b>Isaiah 7:14 </b>


"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."


Isaiah then goes on to write in chapter 9,


<b>1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,</b>


As when at first He lightly esteemed


The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,


And afterward more heavily oppressed her,


By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,


In Galilee of the Gentiles.


<i>2 The people who walked in darkness </i>


Have seen a great light;


Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,


Upon them a light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation


And increased its joy;[a]


They rejoice before You


According to the joy of harvest,


As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.


4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden


And the staff of his shoulder,


The rod of his oppressor,


As in the day of Midian.


5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,


And garments rolled in blood,


Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.


<i>6 For unto us a Child is born, </i>


Unto us a Son is given;


And the government will be upon His shoulder.


And His name will be called


Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God
,


Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


7 Of the increase of His government and peace


There will beno end,


Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,


To order it and establish it with judgment and justice


From that time forward, even forever.


The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.


Jesus is clearly called "Mighty God" in Isaiah.

AssalmuAlaikum-inspiration story


long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered. Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible. He came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself.”


The story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain power and recognition. We neglect our religion,health , time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and preparation for death.. One day when we look back , we will realise that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed.

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and <b>beat them</b>. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is high, supreme." (Quran, 4:34)


Does this condone beating of wives?

Citizenship Education


Citizenship education has been added to the National Curriculum and its aims to teach pupils: about the origins and implications of the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding. The introduction to the National Curriculum proclaims: promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through citizenship.


In an ideal world, Muslims would have integrated schools where people of different faiths could specialize in them within the curriculum. But we are a long way from that and as a consequence I think we have no choice but to have state funded Muslim schools. All the evidence shows that faith schools raise pupils’ confidence and self esteem better than state schools do. If you understand the moral parameters of your own faith properly and are confident in who you are, that makes you a good citizen, it means that you do not feel threatened by others and you are not susceptible to extremism. Muslim schools give a strong moral and spiritual out look on the world, the children feel secure. Muslims are no longer considered to be merely part of the sub-continent immigrant labouring class. They are British and part of the British society in all walks of life. Muslims schools are worthy of support. Parents of private Muslim schools are taxpayers too and are entitled to a share of the education budget. Muslim schools are promoting good citizenship and are promoting a better understanding of people and communities around them.


Islamic school does not foster separatism and hatred. There is ample evidence that state schools foster intolerance, hate and bullying. There is no evidence that Islamic schools indoctrinate children with values that endanger shared society. David Bell, the chief school’s inspector was wrong to say that Islamic schools must do more to promote social cohesion. There is no evidence that there is a link between Islamic schools and terrorism. Islamic education actively discourages terrorism. Muslim parents want their children to keep their faith, culture and languages and not fall into Western way such as binge drinking, yobish culture and loose morals. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. It is the state schools who have been producing intolerance.


Citizenship lessons do not make full sense” unless they are taught within the context of Islam. In the same way Multicultural studies should also be taught in the context of Islam. Just because people do not throw bricks at each other on a daily basis, does not mean everything is rosy in the garden. We do need a common sense of British Identity but it has nothing to do with “common values or shared culture”. We can learn from Ottoman multi ethnic empire which achieved remarkable degree of religious tolerance.


Terrorism is nothing to do with British Muslim community. It is an international problem, created by the unjust policies of the West towards Muslims. Government measures to tackle terrorism are creating a climate of fear among Muslims and risk encouraging Islomophobic attacks. Recent government proposals to screen clerics and close down Masajid were sending out a message that Muslims cannot be trusted.


Iftikhar Ahmad


www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Is the "Nation of Islam" in the United States and Farrakhan reall "Islam."


Here is pretty much what I think of them...


link


Do you believe that they are honestly a group founded in Islam?

http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...5006506,00.html


AN Israeli air strike today hit a truck carrying medical and food supplies donated to Lebanon by the United Arab Emirates, killing its Syrian driver and wounding two others, security sources said.


The truck was destroyed just a few kilometres from Lebanon's eastern border with Syria in the town of Anjar. Israel has been hitting targets in southern Lebanon, Beirut and other parts of the country in a war with Hezbollah.


An Israeli air strike on July 18 hit another truck carrying aid donated by the UAE. The truck, whose driver was killed, was travelling from Damascus.

Bismilah


Asalamalaikum


Just as we see things that make us smile.... The reality is also that there are also plenty of things that make us go :( . JohnDoe created the "Things that make you smile" Thread, This is the opposite version of it. So if there is anything that ticks u off. If anything gets on ur nervers. Had a bad day? This is your vent room.


What upsets me is when I see People in Power Who MisUse their Power. Any Authority Figure who Thinks they can walk all over you just because they have some "Uniform".


I am tired of people fakin it just to fit in.


Families who abandon their Own, no matter how on Earth they try justify it.


-The Current situation of our Ummah-

Bismillah


In the Bible, I know of passages that tell children to obey their parents. Are their any passages that warn people to not sever kinship ties regardless of who they are, eg parent, sibling, ect?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...e14069.htm


These are pics of the Terrorist attacks by the Zionist : Graphic.