Salam Alaikum...

<b> Wathilah bin Al-Asqa` (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Do not express pleasure at the misfortune of a (Muslim) brother lest Allah should bestow mercy upon him and make you suffer from a misfortune.''</b>

[At-Tirmidhi].

Salam Alaikum. i wish blessed rajab 4 ever1. my Allah swt accept our duas and ibadah..and we beig to HiM to forgive us for sake of this blessed mounth inshaAllah..amin..wassalam

The Sins Of Youth

From : Al-Haramain .org

In this issue we feature sins and their harmful effects. Some special mention is needed regarding young Muslims, especially those in their teenage years.

It is often taken for granted that these are the years of carelessness and not those of serious thought. This is not an Islamic position. Indeed we find youth in the time of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) performing heroic deeds and very serious in their practice and dedication. Examples such as Ali Ibn Abi Taalib, Ibn Abbaas, Anas Ibn Malik, Usaamah Ibn Zaid, Mus'ab Ibn 'Umayr, Ammaar Ibn Yaasir and others (radiallahu 'anhum ajma'een) will be forever remembered for their sacrifices and willingness to give their lives in the cause of Islam at tender ages.This is a character assessment checklist aimed at the youth to assist them in making their own assessment of themselves and decide if changes in their character are in order. Parents too can use it as a gauge.

In fact, what is listed are sins certainly not limited to youth. Each point is an interrelated sin that either weakens eemaan or comes from weak eemaan. Some stem from others while others lead to something worse. Possessing any of them makes change necessary because to continue doing them may lead to worse sin, hypocrisy and disbelief. It may not seem like it, but even you, as young as you are, could face death at any moment. Do you want to meet Allah in a sorry moral condition? One step toward correction is recognizing one’s faults and setting out to do the opposite.

A second step is honestly seeking Allaha help and asking His forgiveness. There have been people who commit terrible sins and Allah has guided and forgiven them after true repentance and struggle with themselves. Certainly you can too.

Look at yourself and ask yourself if you do any of the following:

1. Lie to and disobey parents .

2. Raise your voice to or abuse parents or other family members.

3. Disregard the advice of parents.

4. Disrespect adults.

5. Break your promises.

6. Insult the opposite sex.

7.Freely mix with the opposite sex by flirting or looking lustfully at them Backbite and gossip.

8.Look at bad movies and listen to music, especially sexually explicit types or that have a lot of profanity.

9.Use profanity Lie or steal.

10. Devise ways to avoid anything Islamic.

11. Spend your money on what is haraam.

12.Think mostly of yourself and little of others .

13.Do as little as you can to assist in the home.

14.Put minimum effort into schoolwork.

15.Imitate, respect or love the ways and manners of kuffaar.

16. Act hard with Muslims and easy with kuffaar .

17. Smoke or do drugs.

18. Mostly keep company with weak and sinful Muslims or kuffaar.

18. Waste a lot of time and never study the deen.

19. Find it easy to do wrong and difficult to do right.

20. Hate to be reminded of religious duties.

21. Feel little or no sense of shame or modesty.

22. Hate proper hijaab.

23. Do not enjoy listening to the Quran.

24. Only try to learn Arabic or how to recite the Quraan if pressured.

25. Donât go to the masjid or consistently go late to prayer (for males) when there is no obstacle to doing so regularly and on time.

26. Dislike going to prayers or concentrate little in them and hurry to get them over with.

27.Rarely give charity or gifts.

28. Avoid the company of striving Muslims.

29. Rarely or never make extra (sunnah) prayers

Read anything else other than the Quraan or authentic hadeeth that is of little or no value or haram.

30. Read the Quraan or the hadeeth only if forced to Attend circles of Islamic knowledge only if forced and pay little attention.

31. when you do Never give thanks, seek forgiveness from Allah nor seek refuge from wrong doing.

32. Dont use the faulty logic that کI am young so I want to enjoy as much as I can before I get old and I will ask forgiveness before I die!

Such people almost never change on their own. They usually get worse because sins become a part of their character that they can no more rid themselves of than they could the noses on their faces. Being good or right according to Islam has absolutely no importance in their lives. Almost anything else is more important than their religion and they couldnt care less about how Allah sees them. They may even be ashamed to be Muslim! This is a sure sign that they are headed for the worst fate if they dont change.

You are a Muslim and you must not take a defeated attitude or think that your sins affect you only. When the Muslims complain of their position or situation it is because there are too many of them who take the attitude that Islam is not the number one concern in their lives and it is not important to follow or that its for کold people. Are you a part of the problem or part of the solution? Practicing Islam to the fullest is a cause for great inner joy, satisfaction and happiness and totally eliminates the desire or need for any other means to feel good, better or best.

May Allah help you to be the kind of youth that all Muslims can be proud of and not ashamed of or whom they disdain. We pray that you are a boon and not a burden to Islam and the Muslims.

This can only occur if you are first a youth that Allah taala is pleased with.

Avoid Hypocrisy

Strengthen Your Faith

Depend On Allah

Make Your Islam Real

Dilemma Facing the Youth

Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Uthaymeen rahimahullaah

It gives me great pleasure to present to my brothers a very serious problem not only in Islaamic society but in every society, and that is the problem facing the youth in this age. The hearts of the youth are sick with psychological problems which sometimes makes them uneasy with life and they spend their energies in trying to free themselves from those difficulties and removing that sorrow.

The removal of the difficulties will will never take place except with Deen (Religion) and character in which there is the strengthening of society and the betterment of this world and the hereafter. With this (religion and character), goodness and blessings will descend and evil and calamities will end.

Countries do prosper except with the help of its citizens and religion does not gain strength except with its followers. When the followers of Islaam will stand up for it, Allaah will help them no matter how many enemies they have.

Allaah Ta'ala says: "O believers, if you help Allaah's cause, he will help you and make your feet firm (against your enemies) and those who disbelieved, woe unto them and their actions are in vain." [47:7,8]

If Deen (religion) cannot be strong except with it's followers, then it is necessary for us, the followers of Islaam and it's flag-bearers, that we firstly strengthen ourselves so that we may become worthy of leadership and guidance. It is imperative that we learn from the book of Allaah (The Qur'aan) and the Sunnah of His Rasool (Messenger) sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam which will equip us for speech, action, guiding and inviting. This will enable us to carry the weapons of the guidance of Islaam to all those who seek the truth and also to wield it against all those who seek falsehood. Then it is neccesary for us to put into practice what we have learnt from the Qur'aan and Sunnah, on the basis of Eemaan (faith), conviction and sincerity our character should not be one of speech only because if speech is not backed up by action, it's effect will not extend beyond the speaker and this speech will have an opposite effect: "O believers, why do you say that which you do not do. It is most hateful in the sight of Allaah that you say that which you do not practice." [61:2-3]

It is most appropriate for us that we start at the beginning and ponder over our youth and their thoughts and actions, so that we may increase those which are good and correct those who are incorrect because the youth of today are the men (and women) of tomorrow and they are the foundation on which a future nation will be built. It is for this reason that the text of the Sharee'ah (Islaamic Law) has encouraged giving the youth due consideration and directing them to which is good and correct. They are the basis of the Ummah of which it's future will be built and if their reformation is grounded upon the strong pillars of the Deen (Religion) and character, there will be a brilliant future for this Ummah, if Allaah wills.

A glance at the youth If we closely examine the the youth, it will be possible for us to conclude that the youth are generally of three types:

Rightly guided youth,

deviated or perverted youth and

youth who are confused (between evil and good).

The First Type

Rightly guided youth are:

Youth who firmly believe in all the implications of this Kalima (the shahadatain). They termly believe in their Deen (Religion). Eemaan (Faith) is beloved to them and they are content and satisfied with their Eemaan. They consider aquiring Imaam as a profit and deprivation from it as a big loss. Youth who worship Allaah sincerely. They worship Allaah alone who has no partner.

Youth who follow the Messenger of Allaah, Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam practically in his speech and action because they believe that he is the Messenger of Allaah and the leader of all Messengers.

Youth who establish salah (Prayer) perfectly to the best of their ability, because they believe in the benefit and the religious, worldly and social merit found in prayer and the dangerous consequences of neglecting salah for both the individual andd the nation.

Youth who give Zakah in full to those who are deserving of it, because they believe that Zakah fulfils the needs of Islaam and it is one of the five Pillars of Islaam.

Youth who fast during the month of Ramadaan. They stop themselves from their desires and cravings, whether it is summer or winter because they believe that actions are for the pleasure of Allaah. Thus they give preference to that which pleases Allaah over that which they desire.

Youth who perform the compulsory duty of Hajj (Pilgrimage) to the sacred house of Allaah because they love Allaah. Thus they love the house of Allaah and they love going to the places of his mercy and forgiveness and collaborating with his Muslim brothers who come to these places.

Youth who believe in Allaah who is their Creator and the Creator of the skies and the earth, because they see from amongst the signs of Allaah that which leaves no doubt even for a moment whatsoever in the existence and being of Allaah. They see in this vast unique universe, in the form and system of the universe, that which clearly indicates towards the existence of it's Creator and His total power and complete wisdom, because it is not possible for this universe to come into existence on it's own, nor is it possible for it to come into existence coincidentally.

The reason for this is that the universe was non-existent before it was brought into existence, and that which is non-existent cannot bring anything into existence, because it itself is non-existent. It is not possible that the universe camee into existence coincidentally because it has a unique well-arranged system, which does not change nor deviate from the procedure predestined for it. "You will never find a change in the system of Allaah." [33:62] "You will never fmd any reversal in the system of Allaah." [35:43] "You will not see in the creation of the most gracious any disparity, so turn your vision again. Do you see any rupture? Then turn your vision again, a second time, your vision will return to you dull an in a state of fatigue." [67:3-4] The fact that this universe has a unique, well-arranged system, prevents it's existence being coincidental. That which is in existence coincidentally will also have a system which is coincidental, which is likely to change or be disturbed in a short period of time.

Youth who believe in the angels of Allaah because Allaah has given information regarding them (the angels) in his book the Qur'aan and his Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has given information regarding to in the Sunnah (the traditions). The Qur'aan and Sunnah explain their qualities, their worship and their actions to which they rigidly stick to for the goodness of the creation. This clearly points to the existence of the angels.

Youth who believe in the Books of Allaah. Allaah revealed these books to his Messengers as a source of guidance for the creation towards the straight path. It is not possible for the mind of man to understand the intricacies of worship and social life except with the books of Allaah.

Youth who believe in the prophets and Messengers of Allaah whom Allaah sent to his creation to call them towards good and enjoin them with good and prevent them from evil so that people do not have any proof against Allaah after the sending of prophets. The very first Messenger was Nooh alayhis-salam and the last Messenger was Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

Youth who believe in the last day in which people will be resurrected after dying, so they may be compensed for their actions. Whoever does good equal to an atom, will reap it, and whoever does evil equal to an atom, will reap it. This is the consequence of this world, otherwise what is the benefit of life and what is the wisdom of life if there is no day for the creation in which the doer of good will be compensated for his good, and the perpetrator of evil, punished for his evil?

Youth who believe in the predestination of good and evil. Thus they believe that everything is with the decree of Allaah and his divine foreordainment. This is despite their belief in causes and their related effects and that for both good and evil there are means. Youth who adhere to the advice of Allaah, His Messengers, His book, the leaders of the Muslims and the general masses. They interact with Muslims with frankness and openness - the way it is incumbent upon them. They neither mislead, deceive nor conceal anything.

Youth who call towards Allaah with deep insight, in accordance to the manner Allaah has laid down in his book. "Call towards the path of your Sustainer with wisdom and sound advice and debate with them in a manner that is befitting." [16:125]

Youth who enjoin good and forbid from evil because they believe that in this is the success of the nation. "You are the best of nations, taken out for the guidance of mankind. You enjoin good and forbid from evil and you have full faith in Allaah." [3:110]

Youth who strive in the changing of evil in the way established by the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam: "Whomsoever from amongst you see an evil he should change it with his hand. If he does not have the power to do this, then he should change it with his tongue. If he does not have the ability to do even this, then he should change it with his heart (by scheming in the eradication of this evil)." (Hadith)

Youth who speak the truth and accept the truth, because truth leads to good and good leads to paradise. A person will continue being truthful and pursue the truth until Allaah records him as being a truthful person.

Youth who love good for the general Muslims because they believe in the saying of An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam: "None from amongst you can be a true believer until he loves for his (Muslim) brother that which he loves for himself." (Hadith)

A teenager who is cognizant of his responsiblity to Allaah and his nation. He strives always for the goodness of his Deen (Religion), his nation and homeland, keeping far from egoism and far from giving consideration to his own good at the expense of the good of others.

A teenager who strives for the pleasure of Allaah and with the help of Allaah in the path of Allaah. He strives with sincerity without pride or want of reputation. He strikes with the help of Allaah without being conceited and without depending on his own might and power. He strives in the path of Allaah for the upliftment of his Deen without exceeding the bounds and without laxity. He strives with his tongue, hand and wealth in the manner that the needs of Islaam, and the Muslims demand of him.

Youth who have character and Deen in them, thus they are of refined character, religion, gentle, liberal, noble-minded. clean-hearted, steadfast, enduring and resolute. They do not waste any opportunity nor do they let compassion overcome intelligence and the need for reformation.

A teenager who is systematic. He works with wisdom and silence despite being firm and excellent in his work. He does not waste any opportunity but instead occupies himself in actions which are beneficial for him and his nation. Together with this, this teenager safe-guards his Deen, character and conduct. Thus he is extremely distant from those qualities which contradict this, like kufr (disbelief), apostasy, inequity, disobedience, lowly character and evil mutual relations.

These types of youth are the pride of a nation and a symbol of it's prosperity and Deen. These are the youth who will obtain the good of this world and the hereafter. They are the youth who we hope that Allaah, with his grace, will use to rectify the corruption amongst the Muslims and illuminate the spiritual path of the seekers of truth.

The Second Type

The second type of teenager is the one who is corrupt in his beliefs, irresponsible in his conduct, himself misled, ingulfed in vice.

He does not accept the truth from anyone nor does he refrain from falsehood and he is selfish in his conduct.

He is a teenager who is stubborn.

He does not yield to the truth nor does he renounce falsehood.

He does not care about his neglect of the rights of man nor the rights of Allaah.

He is a confused teenager bereft of impartiality in his thinking and in his behaviour.

Likewise he lacks balance in all his affairs.

A teenager who is conceited with his own opinion as if truth flows from his tongue. He, in his opinion, is free from mishaps, while others are a source of mistakes and slip-ups as long as they contradict his opinion.

A teenager who has turnned away from the straight path in his deen and the accepted norms of conduct. The evil of his conduct has been made alluring to him. Therefore he regards it as virtuous. Thus he is the greatest of losers in respect of his deeds.

These are the ones whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they presumed that they were doing good. He is an evil omen upon himself and a misfortune for his society, one who is driving his nation towards the lowest stage. He is a barrier between his nation and their respect and munificence, a lethal influence, difficult to treat - except if Allaah wishes. Allaah has power over everything.

The Third Type

The third type of teenager is he who is confused and doubtful. He recognises the truth and is content with it. He lives in a guarded society except that the doors of evil have opened up for him from every direction. This has created doubt in his beliefs, deviation in his conduct, weakness in his action, a foray from known practices and an influx of diverse falsehood. Thus he is in eternal thought and inner search. Opposing this influx or movement (of falsehood) is uncertainty. He does not know whether the truth lies in the prevailing idealogies or in the way of his pious predecessors and his safeguarded society. He is thus in doubt - sometimes he accords preference to one side and sometimes the next according to the strength of the influx of these thoughts.

This type of teenager is passive in his life. He is in need of captivating strength which will guide him towards the enclosure of truth and the path of goodness. How easy will this be if Allaah does not prepare for him a person who calls towards good, who is wise, knowledgeable and of good intentions?

These types of teenagers are found in abundance. They obtain a smattering of Islaamic education but they acquire much more secular knowlege which conflicts with the basics of Deen either in reality or in their presumptions. Thus they are helpless between the two cultures. It is possible for them to gain liberation from this helplessness by establishing themselves upon Islaamic education and acquiring this education from it's original sources - the book of Allaah (the Qur'aan) and the Sunnah (traditions) of Muhammad sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam at the hands of devoted Ulema (learned men) - and this is not difficult for them.

The Digression Of The Youth And Their Problems

The reasons for the digression and the difficulties of the youth are many and varied. Man, during the phase of youth is to a large extent in the process of the development of the body, thought processes and the mind, because this is the phase of growth during which he undergoes rapid changes. In this stage it is of extreme importance that the tools of self-control are prepared for him coupled with wise leadership to steer him towards the straight path.

From amongst the important reasons for this retrogression are the following:

1) Idleness: Idleness is a malady which kills thought processes, the mind and the strength of the body, because the body is always in need of movement and work. Thus when the body is idle thoughts become dull and the mind weakens, body movements weaken and devilish insinuations and evil thoughts form on to the heart. Many times an exil intention is create as a result of this suppression which was a direct consequence of idleness. The cure for this problem is that the teenage should strive in the attaining of work which befits him like reading, business or writing which will then become a barrier between him and his idleness. It is necessary that he becomes a stable member of society, working in his society for himself and for others.

2) Alienation and aloofness between the youth and the elderly members of their families or between the youth and others: We see some elders witnessing deviation in their youth but they hesitate, are disconcerted, helpless to strengthen them and dependent from reforming them. The result of this is hatred is for these youth, estrangement from them and a dont-care attitude towards their condition, whether their condition is one of piety or corruption. Sometimes they pass judgement concerning all the youth which translates into a blank impression of the youth in general. This splits the community whereby the youth and their elders begin looking at one another with the eyes of contempt. This is amongst the greatest dangers that can encompass human society.

The cure for this problem is that the youth and their elders should make an effort to eradicate this alienation between them and trust everyone because the society together with it's youth and elders are like one body. When one part of it decays, it leads to the decay of the whole body. It is incumbent upon the elders that they give deep thought to their responsibility concerning the reformation of the youth and dispel this contagious despondency from their hearts, because Allaah has power over everything. How many corrupt people did not Allaah guide, after which they became beacons of guidance and callers towards reform?

It is necessary for the youths to entertain respect, regard for the opinions and acceptance of the guidance of their seniors who experienced the realities of life which these youth have not. When the wisdom of the seniors will meet with the strength of the youth, the society will attain prosperity with the will of Allaah.

3) Liason with deviated and corrupt people and befriending them. This has a great effect on the mind, the thinking and ways of the youth. For this reason An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam is reported to have said: "A person is on the Deen (Religion) of his companion, so each one of you should take care in the matter of who he befriends." He sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam also said: "The similitude of an evil companion is like an ironsmith using an oven. Either you will burn your clothes in his company or you will experience an offensive odour." (Hadith) The cure for this problem is that the teenager should choose for his companionship those who are good and intelligent go that he may benefit from their virtue, reformed ways and intelligence. He should weigh up their condition and reputation before befriending them. If they are people of character, virtue, correct Deen and good reputation, then befriend them. If they do not possess these qualities, then it is incumbent to distance oneself from them so that one is not deceived by sweet talk and beautiful outward appearances. This is deception and misguidance. This path is traversed by evil people to allure the simple-minded in order to increase their multitude and conseal their evil condition. A poet has said it most beautifully:

Test men when you intend to befriend them, Scrutinize and study their affairs.

4) Reading of destructive periodicals, booklets and magazines which create doubt in the Deen of a person and in his beliefs. This draws a person towards the abrogation of virtuous character and lands him in Kufr (disbelief) and vice. This is especially true when the teenager does not possess deep Deeni education and acute thinking by means of which he can differentiate between truth and falsehood, benefit and harm. The reading of these types of books totally confounds them because they imbibe a false pleasure in the minds and thinking of the youth without reservation. The cure for this problem is that he should keep away from these books and read other books which will plant in his heart the love of Allaah and his Rasool sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and the reality of Eemaan (Belief) and good deeds. No doubt his inner self will entice him greatly towards those books which he loved previously and make him feel discontent with other beneficial woks. This is similar to the position of that person who fights with his inner self to establish the obedience of Allaah in his life, but his soul rebels and becomes involved in futility and lies. The most important of beneficial books is the book of Allaah and those which the people of knowledge have written by way commentary with correct transmission. In the same way the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, then that which the people of knowledge have written by extracting from these two sources or by way of deep understanding.

5) The impression of some youth that Islaam is a curtailment of freedom and a repression of strength. Thus they turn away from Islaam regarding it as retrogression and a barrier between them and progress. The cure for this problem is that the veil of the reality of Islaam be lifted from these youth who are ignorant of it's reality because of their wrong notions, inadequate knowledge or both. Islaam does not restrict freedom but it is a control and a correct channeling for it, so much so that the freedom of one person does not clash with the freedom of the next person. General freedom leads to chaos and eruption. It is for this reason that the injunctions of Deen are called Hudood (limits). If the injunction is one of prohibition Allaah says: "They are the limits imposed by Allaah, do not approach them." [2:187] If it is one of consent, Allaah Ta'ala says, "These are the limits imposed by Allaah, do not transgress them." [2:229] This is the difference between restriction (which is the impression of some) and control and guidance which the most wise, the all-knowing Allaah has decreed for His servants.

There is no basis for this problem because systemization is a reality in all domains and man by nature is submissive to this systematic reality. He is submissive to the pressure of hunger and thirst and to the system of his food and drink as far as quantity, quality and type is concerned so that he may safeguard his body and it's health. He is in the same way submissive to the system of his society, holding on to the customs of his city in it's dwellings, garb and modes of transport. If he does not subject himself to this, he will be considered as being abnormal and he will be treated the way extraordinary people are treated. Life is totally a submission to specified limits so that everything progresses according to it's intended aim. This subjucation is for the order of society, eg. submission which is necessary for the reformation of society and the prevention of anarchy. In the same way submission to the system of the Sharee'ah entails that which is necessary for the reformation of the naion so how can some people be annoyed with it and think of it as being a restriction of freedom? Verily this is a great untruth and a baseless, evil presumption.

Islaam in the same way is not a suppression of capabilities. It is a wide sphere for all strengths. Islaam calls towards reflection so that man contemplates and his mind and thoughts grow. Allaah Ta'ala says: "Say O Muhammad, I advise you of one thing only, that you stand up in two's and singlely and then reflect." [34:46] and Allaah says: "Say O Muhammad, see what is in the heavens and the earth." [10:101] Islaam does not confine itself to calling towards contemplation and deep thought but it denounces those who do not think, observe and contemplate. Allaah Ta'ala says: "Have they not considered the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and what things Allaah has created?" [7:185] Allaah Ta'ala says: "Have they not pondered upon themselves? Allaah did not create the heavens and the earth and that which is between them, except with truth." [30:8] And Allaah Ta'ala says: "And he who we give old age. We reverse him in creation (making him go back to weakness after strength), do you not ponder?" [36:68]

The order of observing and pondering opens up the power of the mind and thoughts, so how can some people say; that it restricts capabilities? Dreadful is the word they utter; they only speak a lie. Islaam has legalized for it's people all pleasures in which there is no harm for the individual either physically, mentally or spiritually.

Islaam has authorised the eating and drinking of all pure things: "O believers, eat of the good things from which we have provided you, and render thanks to Allaah." [2:172] Allaah Ta'ala says: ''And eat and drink and do not waste. He does not love those who waste." [7:31]

Islaam has legalised all clothing to the demands of wisdom and nature: "O Children of Adam! We have revealed unto you clothing to conceal your shame, and splendid countenance, but the clothing of piety, that is best." [7:26] Allaah Ta'ala says: "Say O Muhammed, who has forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of Allaah which He has produced for His servants and the pure things (which He has produced) for sustenance? Say, they are in the life of this world for those who believe, and only for them on the Day of Judgement.'' [7:32]

He has authorised enjoyment of women by legitimate Nikaah (Marriage): Allaah Ta'ala says: "Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one." [4:3]

In the domain of economics, Islaam has not suppressed the capabilities of it's people but legalized for them all business dealings which are just and emanate from mutual happiness. Allaah says: "Allaah has permitted trade and forbidden usury." [2:276] And he says: "lt is He who has made the earth manageable for you, so traverse through its tracks and eat of the sustenance which He provides, and He is responsible for the resurrection." [67:15] And He says, "And when the prayer is finished, then disperse through the land, and seek of the bounty of Allaah." [62:10]

After all this, is the impression or saying of some people correct, that Islaam suppresses capabilities?

Problems That Recur In The Heart Of The Teenager

Misgivings and evil thoughts keep recurring on a dead heart which contradicts Deen. It is for this reason that when it was said to Ibn Masud or Ibn-e-Abbas (Radiallaahu anhum) that the Jews say that they do not get evil thoughts in their prayers, i.e. they do not experience apprehensions, he replied, ''They have spoken the truth, what can Shaytaan do with an empty heart?" If the heart is alive and there is even a bit of Eemaan (faith) in it, then Shaytaan attacks it. His attack is devoid of leniency and sluggishness. He throws in the heart such evil thoughts which are detrimental to Deen. It is most destructive if the servant accepts these evil thoughts until Shaytaan induces him to create doubts in his Lord, Deen and beliefs. If he finds in the heart any weakness and frustration, Shaytaan overwhelms that heart until he takes it out of the confines of Deen. However, if he finds in the heart strength and steadfastness, he devises a contemptible scheme to mislead the servant.

These evil thoughts that Shaytaan casts in the him will not harm a person if he practices the therapy mentioned by Rasulullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam concerning it: Ibn-e-Abbas (RadiAllaahu anhuma) narrates than a person came to An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and said: "I am having a certain feeling within myself which being a burning ember is more desirable to me than my uttering it." An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "All praise are due to Allaah who has rejected his scheme i.e. driven away Shaytaan's evil thoughts." (Hadith)

Some people from the Sahabah (companions) came and said, "O Messenger of Allaah, we find within ourselves (such a feeling) which overwhelms each one of us from speaking about it i.e. he feels it imposing to speak about it." An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam asked: "Do you also experience it?" The companions replied, "Yes." An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam replied, "That is true faith (Eemaan)."

The meaning of having true faith is that evil thoughts and your rejection of them does not harm your Eemaan even a bit but it is a proof that your Imaam is sincere and has not been affected by any loss. An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has said: "Shaytaan (the Devil) comes to one of you and says. Who has created this? Who has created this? Until he says : Who has created your Lord? When he reaches this limit, then seek refuge in Allaah and in His compassion." (Hadith) It is stated in another Hadith regarding the same situation. "You should say: I believe in Allaah and His Messengers." And in a similar Hadith that Abu Dawood has narrated, An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Say Allaah is One, Allaah is Independent, He does not give birth nor was He given birth to, then blow a little saliva towards the left thrice and seek refuge from the accursed Shaytaan."

Once the Sahaaba (RadiAllaahu anhum) described this ambition to the An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam for which he prescribed the cure in four steps:

First: The termination of evil thoughts by completely shunning and forgetting them until they do not exist and then occupying oneself away from these thoughts with balanced thinking.

Second: Seek refuge in Allaah from these evil thoughts and from the accursed Shaytaan.

Third: He should say, I believe in Allaah and His Messengers.

Fourth: He should say, Allaah is one, Allaah is independent, He does not give birth nor was He given birth to, there is none comparable to Him, spit to his left side thrice and say, "I seek refuge in Allaah from the cursed Shaytaan."

Confusion Regarding The Issue Of Predestination (Al-Qadr)

From those issues which keep recurring and leaves the youth bewildered is the issue of predestination. Belief in predestination is one of the pillars of Eemaan and Imaam is not complete without it. This belief entails the belief that Allaah, Who is Pure, knows what is going to happen and what is predestined for the skies and earth, as Allaah says: "Don't you know that Allaah knows all that is in the heaven and on the earth? Indeed, it is all in a record and it is easy for Allaah." [22:70]

An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has prevented us from quarrelling and debating in the matter of predestination. Abu Hurairah (RadiAllaahu-anhu) relates that RasullAllaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam came to us while we were debating about predestination. Seeing this he became angry until his blessed face turned red with anger. Then he said: "Did I order you to do this? Is it for this that I was at to you? The nations before you were destroyed when they debated this issue. I take a firm resolution from you that you will not quarrell in this matter." (Hadith)

Engrossing oneself and quarrelling in the matter of predestination lands a person in a maze from which he does not have the ability to emerge. The path of salvation is that you should aspire to do good and strive in the doing of good as you have been ordered because Allaah, who is pure, has granted you intellect and understanding, and sent to you Messengers and revealed with them. Allaah Ta'ala says, "So that mankind, after the coming of the Messengers, should have no proof against Allaah for Allaah is Exalted in Power and Wise." [4:165]

When An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam informed his companions that there is no person except that his abode in Al-Jannah (heaven) and Jahannam (hell) has been foreordained, they said, "O Messenger of Allaah, should we not depend upon our book (predestinations) and leave the doing of good deeds." An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam replied: "Do good deeds, everything is made easy for what is was created. Those who are from the fortunate people, the actions of fortunate people will be made easy for them, and those who are from the wretched people, for them the actions of the wretched will be made easy." Then the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam recited the verse: "He who gives in charity and fears (Allaah), and in all sincerity testifies to good, We will indeed make smooth for him the path to ease, but he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient and disbelieves in good, We will indeed make his path to adversity easy." [92:5-10]

An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam ordered them to do good deeds and did not permit them to depend upon their preordainment because those who are predestined to be from the people of Jannah will not be from amongst them except if they do the actions and deeds of the people of Jannah, and those who are predestined to be from the people of Hell will not be from amongst them except if they do their actions.

Action is according to the ability of a person because he himself knows that Allaah has given him a choice in the doing of action and predestined it for him. If he wishes, he can either do it or leave it. If a man makes an intention to travel, then he will travel and if he intends halting, then he will do so. If sees a fire, he will flee from it and if he sees a thing which is beloved to him, he will go forward. Similarly with regards to obedience and sin, a person practices them by his own choice and leaves them by his own choice.

There are two objections according to some people regarding the issue of predestination (Al-Qadr):

Firstly: Man sees that he does something by his own choice and he leaves all action by his own choice without perceiving any compulsion upon the doing or leaving of an action, so how does this coincide with the belief that everything is with the decree and foreordainment of Allaah? The answer to this is that if we contemplate the action and movement of man, we will find that it is the result of two things viz. intention i.e. the choice to do something, and ability. If these two things are not found, the action will not occur. Intention and ability are both the creation of Allaah, who is Most Pure, because intention is the result of the strength of the mind and ability is the result of the strength of the body. If Allaah so wishes he can snatch away the mind of man and he would be left without any intention or snatch away his ability leaving action impossible for him. When man makes a firm intention to do an action and he executes it, it is our knowledge with conviction that Allaah had intended and destined that action, otherwise his intention would have changed or he would have found a barrier between himself and ability to carry out that action.

A Bedouin was asked, "How do you recognise Allaah?" He replied, "By the breaking of firm intentions and the changing of resolutions."

The second objection which recurs according to some people in the matter of predestination is that man will be punished for his sinful deeds. How can he be punished for it when it is predestined for him and it is not possible for him to escape from something which is predestined for him. How is he rewarded for his obedience when it is predestined for him and it is not possible for him to escape from something which is predestined for him? It is unjust that you make predestination an argument for disobedience while you do not make it an argument for obedience. The second answer is that Allaah has negated this argument in the Qur'aan and classified it as an ignorant statement. Thus Allaah Ta'ala says, "Soon the idolaters will say, if Allaah willed we would not have ascribed partners to Allaah nor would our fathers have, nor would we have forbidden anything. In the same way their ancestors argued falsely, until they tasted our wrath. Say, have you any (certain) knowledge? If so, produce it before us. You follow nothing but presumption and you only lie." [6: 148]

Allaah Ta'ala has explained that these objectors of predestination, have in their ranks those who were before them, who falsified (the Messengers) the way these people falsify (the Prophets), and they remained firm upon this action of theirs until they earned Allaah's punishment. If their proof was correct, Allaah would not have made the taste of His punishment. Then Allaah ordered His An-Nabi to challenge them to prove the correctness of their beliefs and explain to them that they have no proof for this.

The third answer is that preordainment is a hidden secret. Nobody knows about it except Allaah until it happens. How can a sinner have knowledge about the text that Allaah has predestined for him sin until he does it? Is it not possible that Allaah had ordained for him obedience? So why does he not in place of going towards sin, go towards obedience and say Allaah has definitely predestined for me that I obey Him?

The fourth answer is that Allaah has blessed man by what He has given him of intelligence and understanding, and revealed upon him books and sent to him Messengers and outlined to him what is beneficial and what is non-beneficial and blessed him with intention and ability with which he has the power to traverse either path. So why does this sinner choose the path of harm over the path of benefit?

If this sinner intended going on a journey to another place and he had two roads to choose from: one is easy and peaceful and the other difficult and frightful, he most definitely would traverse the easy, peaceful path and not the difficult, frightful path because of the argument that Allaah had predestined it for him. If he traversed the path of difficulty and used the argument that Allaah had predestined it for him, people would think of him as being naive and insane. In the same way are the paths of good and evil. Man will traverse the path of good and not deceive himself by traversing the path of evil on the pretext that Allaah had predestined it for him. We see that every person has the ability to earn his livelihood. We see that he traverses every path in the gaining of his livelihood. He dos not sit in his house and leave earning, holding on to the excuse of predestination. Otherwise, what is the difference between striving for the world and striving in the obedience of Allaah? Why do you make divine foredainment a proof for yourself upon the leaving out of obedience and you do not make it a proof for the leaving out of worldly action? The clarity of an argument is in it's place but desires make a person blind and deaf. Ahadeeth In Which There Is Mention Of The Youth

When these words have revolved around the problems of the youth, I would like to mention some Ahadith in which there is a mention of the youth. From amongst them are:

1. "Your Lord is pleased with that teenager who is free of youthful passion.'' (Narrated by Ahmad)

2. "There are seven such persons for whom Allaah will provide shade from his shade on that day who there will be no other shade except his. A just ruler, a youth who was nurtured in the obedience of Allaah, a man whose heart is attached to the Masjid, two people who love each other only for the pleasure of Allaah. They meet for the pleasure of Allaah. A man who is enticed by a woman of status and beauty and he says, "I fear Allaah." A man who given charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given and a person who remembers Allaah in seclusion and tears flow from his eyes (due to the fear of Allaah)." (Narrated by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

3. "Hasan and Husain (RadiAllaahu-anhuma) will both be the leaders of the youth of Jannah." (Narrated by Tirmidhi)

4. "It will be said to the people of Jannah, for you is youth and you will never grow old." (Narratted by Muslim)

5. "Never does a youngster honour an elderly person because of his old age but Allaah appoints somebody who will honour him during his old age." (Narrated by Tirmidhi with a weak chain of narrators).

6. Abu Bakr said to Zaid bin Habit while Umar bin Khattaab was beside him (RadiAllaahu anhum): "You are young and intelligent. We are not suspicious of you and you used to write the revelation for the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam so pursue the Qur'aan and gather it" (Narrated by Al-Bukhaaree)

7. An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam came to a youngster while he was in the throes of death. An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam asked him, "In what condition do you find yourself?" He said, "I have hope in Allaah, O Messenger of Allaah and I fear for my sins." An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "These two things (hope and fear) do not gather in the heart of a servant at a moment like this, but Allaah grants him what he hopes for and saves him from that which he fears." (Narrated by Ibn-e-Majah)

8. Bara Bin 'Aazib (RadiAllaahu anhu) said concerning the battle of Hunain, "No, by Allaah, Rasullaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam did not turn away, but even his young companions who were fatigued and ill equiped emerged to fight." (Narrated by Al-Bukhaaree)

9. Ibn Mas'ood (RadiAllaahu anhu) narrates, "We used to fight beside the An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam while we were young." (Narrated by Ahmed)

10. Anas Bin Malik (RadiAllaahu anhu) narrates: "There were seventy youth from among the Ansar, who were called Qurra (reciters), who used to remain in the masjid. When evening approached, they retreated to a corner in Medinah, where they learnt, taught each other and prayed. Their families were under the impression that they were in the Masjid and the people of the Masjid were under the impression that they were with their families, until the crack of dawn. They brought fresh water and gathered firewood which they presented at the room of An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.'' (Narrated by Ahmad). With this they used to buy food for the Ashaabus Suffah (people of the platform). The people of the platform were those destitutes who migrated to Madinah. They did not have any family in Madinah so they sought refuge at a platform in the Masjid.

11. Alqamah who is one of the companions of Ibn Masood (RadiAllaahu anhu) narrates, he says, "I was walking with Abdullah by Mina when he met Uthmaan (RadiAllaahu anhu). Abdullah stood talking with Uthmaan (RadiAllaahu anhu) when he said, "O Abu Abdir-Rahman, should we not marry you to a young girl so that she would remind you of some things which have passed during your era." Abdullah said: "If you say that then surely Rasulullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam told us, "O youth. Whoever from amongst you has the means, should marry, because it is more effective in the safeguarding of the gaze and more chaste for the private parts. If one does not have the ability to do this, then he should fast because it is a shield for him (from sins)." (Narrated by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).

12. In the tradition concerning Dajjaal reported from An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "Dajjaal will call a person who is in the prime of his youth and strike him with a sword, slicing him into two pieces, like the striking of a target. Then Dajjaal will call the youth. The youth will respond, his face being radiant - laughing." (Narrated by Muslim)

13. Malik Bin Huwairith (RadiAllaahu anbu) narrates, "We came to Rasullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam while we were youngsters of similar age. We stayed by him for twenty days and nights. The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam was merciful and gentle. When he guessed that we longed for our families into difficulty, he questioned us about what we had left behind, so we informed him. Then An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Return to your families, live with them, teach them, invoke them," and he mentioned a few other things. "Pray the way you see me performing the prayer. When the time of prayer approaches, then one of you should call out the call for prayer (Adhaan) and the eldest amongst you should lead the prayer." (Narrated by Al-Bukhaaree)

We ask Allaah to grant us benefit from this treatise and praises are only for Allaah Who is the Lord of the Universe. May Allaah shower His choicest blessings and peace upon our An-Nabi sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and upon all his family and companions.

Taken from www.islaam.org.uk

How To Support A New Muslim?

Written By: A'nas Abd Al-Hamed Al Qos

Translated By: IslamWay Sisters Team

1. You should give the new Muslim the feeling that Islam is a perfect religion, its source is divine, and it is totally inclusive. You have to emphasize that there is no truth but the truth of this religion.

2. You should clarify to the new Muslim that Islam erases every sin before it. Otherwise, he will keep thinking about his previous sins. You should make it clear for him that the moment he converted to Islam, his records became clean, and if he was Christian in the past, he will receive twice the reward from Allah.

3. Assure him that the only reference for Islam is quraan and sunnah, not the wrongdoings of Muslims. Only Qur’an and Sunnah can define what is right and what is wrong.

4. Advise the new Muslim to read Qur’an, Hadith and Serah as often as possible.

5. Advise him to take care of his personal cleanness in all its types, (Ablution, Ghusl…etc.)

6. He should perform prayers in time, and you should point out the importance of praying in Gama’ah.

7. It is very important that the new Muslim lives in an Islamic environment. This will help him to obey Allah, mainly by keeping him away from sins, and wrongdoings.

8. Take the new Muslim to a nearby mosque. It is better to have someone from the neighborhood accompanying him and following his progress.

9. Let the Imam of the mosque know about this new Muslim, and remind the Imam to take special care of him.

10. Advise him to read and learn more about Islam. It is better if he can dedicate some of his time to do that, whether by himself, or with a group.

11. It is very important for the new Muslim to ask about everything he doesn’t know or can’t understand. He should try to contact scholars or at least ask anyone he trusts.

12. Try to know about his financial status, and help him as much as possible to make him feel friendlier. It will be more encouraging to have his salary raised a little, if you are in a position to make that possible.

13. You should make it clear to him, that his conversion to Islam would cause him some problems. Allah is testing his faith by these problems. He can always handle these problems by referring to Qur’an and Sunnah.

14. You should emphasize the importance of Monotheism and Islamic belief basics. You can provide him with a book that explains these important things in a simple way.

15. Try to keep him away from his previous atmosphere, and to involve him in an environment that suits, and helps his development as a Muslim.

16. Try to engage him in some Islamic activities, and provide him with important books and recorded lectures.

17. Try introducing him to group from his nationality. The communication between them will be easier; he can also have lessons with them.

18. He should feel that he is important and loved by everyone, because of his conversion to Islam. Giving him a gift would be a good start…

19. Make it clear to him that the problems he faces have occurred to every new Muslim, so they are expected. Try to follow-up with his problems, and help him solving them, so that he can handle them without doing something terribly wrong.

20. There should be a simple approach that helps him to learn Arabic language (reading and writing), In order to be able to read quran by himself and understand it.

Top 10 excuses of Muslim Women who don't wear Islamic Hijaab!

By Dr. Huwayda Ismaeel

Rendered into English from Al-Bayaan Magazine

Get on the train of repentance my sister, before it passes by your station. Deeply consider my sister, what is happening today before tomorrow comes. Think, my sister - starting now.

All praise is due to Allah ta'aala as is deserved by His Majesty and Great Power. I send prayers and ask for blessings upon His Noble Messenger who drew the path for us to the pleasure of Allah and His Jannah. This path is a straight one that is surrounded by virtue from all sides and attends to the best moral characteristics which are increased by the clothing of purity, concealment, and chastity. It is the path trod by the two halves of human society, namely the man and the woman, toward harmonious contentment and happiness in this life and the Hereafter.

This is precisely why the Protector, the blessed and above all imperfection, has made wearing hijaab (see As-Sunnah Articles) an obligation upon the woman as a safeguard of her chastity and protection of her honor and sign of her faith (Eemaan). It is on account of this that societies (both Muslim and non-Muslim) that have distanced themselves from the way of Allah and deviated from His straight path, are ill societies in need of treatment that will lead them to recovery and happiness.

Among the pictures that point to the distance of society from that path and that make clear the level of its deviation and separation from it is the open spread of women not just uncovering their faces but enhancing and making a display of their beauty. We find that this is manifested regretfully, in Islamic (Muslim) society despite that Islamic clothing is also widespread. So then, what are the reasons that have led to this digression?

We put this question to a varied group of women from whom we derived ten major excuses and upon examination and scrutiny, the frailty of the excuses became evident to us.

Stay with us dear Muslim sister in these few lines so that we can know through them the reasons for turning away from the hijaab and then discuss each.

Excuse One:I'm not yet convinced (of the necessity) of hijaab.

We then ask this sister two questions.

One: Is she truly convinced of the correctness of the religion of Islam? The natural answer is: Yes she is convinced for she responds "Laa ilaaha illallah!" (There is no god but Allah), meaning she is convinced of the aqeedah, and then she says: "Muhammadun rasoolullah!" (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), meaning by that that she is convinced of its legislation or law (sharee'ah). Therefore, she is convinced of Islam as a belief system and a law by which one governs and rules their life.

Two: Is the hijaab then a part of Islamic Law (sharee'ah) and an obligation?

If this sister is honest and sincere in her intention and has looked into the issue as one who truly wants to know the truth her answer could only be: Yes. For Allah ta'aala, Whose deity (Uloohiyyah) she believes in has commanded wearing hijaab in His Book (Al-Qur'aan) and the noble prophet ('alaihi salaat wa salaam)whose message she believes in has commanded wearing the hijaab in his sunnah. What do we call a person who says they believe in and are content with the correctness of Islam but who nonetheless does not do what Allah or His Messenger have ordered? Certainly they can in no way be described as those whom Allah speaks of in this aayah: The only saying of the faithful believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say 'we hear and obey' and such are the successful. [soorah An-Noor 24:51] In summary: If this sister is convinced of Islam, how then can she not be convinced of its orders?

Excuse Two: I am convinced of Islamic dress but my mother prevents me from wearing it and if I disobey her I will go to the Fire.

The one who has answered this excuse is the most noble of Allah's creation, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) in concise and comprehensive words of wisdom: There is no obedience to the created in the disobedience of Allah.[Ahmed]

The status of parents in Islam, especially the mother, is a high and elevated one. Indeed Allah ta'aala has combined it with the greatest of matters, worshipping Him and His tawheed, in many aayaat. He stated:Worship Allah and join none with Him and do good to parent [soorah An-Nisaa 4:36]

Obedience to parents is not limited except in one aspect, and that is if they order to disobedience of Allah. Allah said: But if they strive with you to make you join in worship with Me others that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not.[soorah Luqmaan 31:15] The lack of obedience to them in sinfulness does not prevent being good to them and kind treatment of them. Allah said afterward in the same aayah: But behave with them in the world kindly.

In summary: How can you obey your mother and disobey Allah Who created you and your mother?

Excuse Three: My position does not allow me to substitute my dress for Islamic dress.

This sister is either one or the other of two types: She is sincere and honest, or she is a slippery liar who desires to make a showy display of her "hijaab" clamoring with colors to be "in line with the times" and expensive.

We will begin with an answer to the honest and sincere sister. Are you unaware my dear sister, that it is not permissible for the Muslim woman to leave her home in any instance unless her clothing meets the conditions of Islamic hijaab (Hijaab shar'ee) and it is a duty of every Muslim woman to know what they are?

If you have taken the time and effort to learn so many matters of this world how then can you be neglectful of learning those matters which will save you from the punishment of Allah and His anger after death!!? Does Allah not say: Ask the people of remembrance (i.e. knowledgeable scholars) if you do not know. [soorah An-Nahl 16:43]. Learn therefore, the requirements of proper hijaab.

If you must go out, then do not do so without the correct hijaab, seeking the pleasure of Allah and the degradation of Shaitaan. That is because the corruption brought about by your going out adorned and "beautified" is far greater than the matter which you deem necessary to go out for.

My dear sister if you are really truthful in your intention and correctly determined you will find a thousands hands of good assisting you and Allah will make the matter easy for you! Is He not the One Who says:And whoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty) and He will provide him from sources he never could imagine[soorah At-Talaaq 65:2-3]?

With regards to the 'slippery' one we say: Honor and position is something determined by Allah ta'aala and it is not due to embellishment of clothing and show of colors and keeping up with the trendsetters. It is rather due to obedience to Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) and holding to the pure law of Allah and correct Islamic hijaab. Listen to the words of Allah: Indeed, the most honorable amongst you are those who are the most pious. [soorah Al-Hujuraat 49:35]

In summary: Do things in the way of seeking Allah's pleasure and entering His Jannah and give less value to the high priced and costly objects and wealth of this world.

Excuse Four:It is so very hot in my country and I can't stand it. How could I take it if I wore the hijaab?

Allah gives an example by saying: Say: The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat if they only understand. [soorah At-Taubah 9:81] How can you compare the heat of your land to the heat of the Hellfire?

Know, my sister, that Shaitaan has trapped you in one of his feeble ropes to drag you from the heat of this world to the heat of the Hellfire. Free yourself from his net and view the heat of the sun as a favor and not an affliction especially in that it reminds you of the intensity of the punishment of Allah which is many times greater than the heat you now feel. Return to the order of Allah and sacrifice this worldly comfort in the way of following the path of salvation from the Hellfire about which Allah says: They will neither feel coolness nor have any drink except that of boiling water and the discharge of dirty wounds.[soorah An-Naba' 78:24-25]

In summary: The Jannah is surrounded by hardships and toil, while Hellfire is surrounded by temptations, lusts and desires.

Excuse Five:I'm afraid that if I wear the hijaab I will put it off at another time because I have seen so many others do so!!

To her I say: If everyone was to apply your logic then they would have left the Deen in its entirety! They would have left off salaat because some would be afraid of leaving it later. They would have left fasting in Ramadhan because so many are afraid of not doing it later?etc. Haven't you seen how Shaitaan has trapped you in his snare again and blocked you from guidance?

Allah ta'aala loves continuous obedience even if it be small or recommended. How about something that is an absolute obligation like wearing hijaab?! The prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: The most beloved deed with Allah is the consistent one though it be little.Why haven't you sought out the causes leading those people to leave off the hijaab so that you can avoid them and work to keep away from them? Why haven't you sought out reasons and causes to affirm truth and guidance until you can hold firm to them? Among these causes is much supplication to Allah (du'aa) to make the heart firm upon the Deen as did the prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam). Also is making salaat and having mindfulness of it as Allah stated:And seek help in patience and the prayer and truly it is extremely heavy except for the true believers in Allah who obey Allah with full submission and believe in His promise of Jannah and in His warnings (Al-Khaashi'oon).[soorah Al-Baqarah 2:45]

Other causes to put one upon guidance and truth is adherence to the laws of Islam and one of them is indeed wearing the hijaab. Allah said: If they had done what they were told, it would have been better for them and would have strengthened their faith. [soorah Al-Baqarah 2:66]

In summary: If you hold tight to the causes of guidance and taste the sweetness of faith you will not neglect the orders of Allah after having held to them.

Excuse Six: If I wear the hijaab then nobody will marry me, so I'm going to leave it off until then.

Any husband who desires that you be uncovered and adorned in public in defiance of and in disobedience to Allah, is not a worthy husband in the first place. He is a husband who has no feeling to protect what Allah has made inviolable, most notably yourself, and he will not help you in any way to enter Al-Jannah or escape from the Hellfire. A home which is founded upon disobedience to Allah and provocation of His anger is fitting that He decree misery and hardship for it in this life and in the Hereafter. As Allah stated: But whosoever turns away from My reminder (i.e. neither believes in the Qur'aan nor acts upon its teachings) verily for him is a life of hardship and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection. [soorah Ta Ha 20:124]

Marriage is a favor and blessing from Allah to whom He give whom He wills. How many women who wear hijaab (mutahajibah) are in fact married while many who don't aren't? If you were to say that '..my being made-up and uncovered is a means to reach a pure end, namely marriage', a pure goal or end is not attained through impure and corrupt means in Islam. If the goal is honorable then it must necessarily be achieved by pure and clean method. We say the rule in Islam is: The means are according to the rules of the intended goals.

In summary: There is no blessing in a marriage established upon sinfulness and corruption.

Excuse Seven:I don't wear hijaab based on what Allah says: And proclaim the grace of your Rabb [soorah Ad-Dhuhaa 93:11] How can I cover what Allah has blessed me with of silky soft hair and captivating beauty?

So?this sister of ours adheres to the Book of Allah and its commands as long as they coincide with her personal desires and understanding! She leaves behind those matters when they don't please her. If this was not the case, then why doesn't she follow the aayah:And do not show off their adornment except only that which is apparent[soorah An-Noor 24:31] and the statement of Allah subhaanah:Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies [soorah Al-Ahzaab 33:59]?

With this statement my sister you have now made a shari'ah (law) for yourself of what Allah ta'aala has strictly forbidden, namely beautification (at-tabarruj) and uncovering (as-sufoor), and the reason:

Your lack of wanting to adhere to the order. The greatest blessing or favor that Allah has bestowed upon us is that of Eemaan (faith) and hidaayah (guidance) and among them is the Islamic hijaab. Why then do you not manifest and talk about this greatest of blessings given to you?

In summary: Is there a greater blessing and favor upon the woman than guidance and hijaab?

Excuse Eight:I know that hijaab is obligatory (waajib), but I will wear it when Allah guides me to do so.

We ask this sister on what plans or steps she will undertake until she accepts this divine guidance? We know that Allah has in His wisdom made a cause or means for everything. That is why the sick take medicine to regain health, and the traveler rides a vehicle or an animal to reach his destination, and other limitless examples.

Has this sister of ours seriously endeavored to seek true guidance and exerted the proper means to get it such as: Supplicating Allah sincerely as He stated: Guide us to the Straight Path. [soorah Al-Faatihah 1:6]; Keeping company with the righteous good sisters - for they are among the best to assist her to guidance and to continue to point her to it until Allah guides her and increases her guidance and inspires her to further guidance and taqwaa. She would then adhere to the orders of Allah and wear the hijaab that the believing women are commanded to wear. In summary: If this sister was really serious about seeking guidance she would have exerted herself by the proper means to get it.

Excuse Nine:It's not time for that yet. I'm still too young for wearing hijaab. I'll do it when I get older and after I make Hajj!

The Angel of Death my sister, is visiting and waiting at your door for the order of Allah ta'aala to open it on you at any moment in your life. Allah said: When their term comes, neither can they delay it nor can they advance it and hour (or a moment). [soorah Al-An'aam 7:34].

Death my sister doesn't discriminate between the young or the old and it may come while you are in this state of great sinfulness disobedience, fighting against the Lord of Honor with your uncovering and shameless adornment. My sister, you should race to obedience along with those others who race to answer the call of Allah tabaaraka wa ta'aala:Race with one another in hastening towards forgiveness from your Lord and Paradise the width whereof is as the width of the heavens and the earth. [soorah Al-Hadeed 57:21] Sister, don't forget Allah or He will forget you by turning His mercy away from you in this life and the next. You are forgetting your own soul by not fulfilling the right of your soul to obey Allah and proper worship of Him.

Allah stated about the hypocrites (Al-Munaafiqoon): And be not like those who forgot Allah and He caused them to forget their own selves.[soorah Al-Hashr 59:19]

My sister wear the hijaab in your young age in opposition to the sinful deed because Allah is intense in punishment and will ask you on the Day of Resurrection about your youth and every moment of your life.

In summary: Stop presuming some future expectation in your life will indeed occur!! How can you guarantee your own life until tomorrow?

Excuse Ten:I'm afraid that if I wear Islamic clothing that I'll be labeled as belonging to some group or another and I hate partisanship.

My sister in Islam, there are only two parties in Islam, and they are both mentioned by Allah Almighty in His Noble Book.

The first party is the party of of Allah (hizbullah) that He gives victory to because of their obedience to His commands and staying away from what He has forbidden. The second party is the party of the accursed Shaitaan (hizbush-Shaitaan) which disobeys the Most Merciful and increase corruption in the earth. When you hold tight to and adhere to the commands of Allah, and among them is wearing the hijaab - you then become a part of the successful party of Allah. When you beautify and display your charms you are riding in the boat of Shaitaan and his friends and partners from among the hypocrites and the disbelievers and none worse could there be as friends.

Don't you see how you are running from Allah and to the Shaitaan, trading filth for good? Run instead my sister to Allah and follow His way:So flee to Allah (from His Torment to His mercy). Verily I (Muhammad) am a plain warner to you from Him.[soorah Adh-Dhaariyaat 51:50] The hijaab is a high form of worship that is not subject to the opinions of people and their orientations and choices because the one who legislated it is the Most Wise Creator. In summary: In the way of seeking the pleasure of Allah and in hope of His Mercy and success in His Jannah and throw the statements of the devils among people and jinn against the wall! Hold tight to the legislation of Allah by your molars and follow the example of the striving and knowledgeable Mothers of the Believers and the female companions (radiallahu 'anhum ajma'een).

In Conclusion Your body is on display in the market of Shaitaan seducing the hearts of men.The hairstyles, the tight clothing showing every detail of your figure, the short dresses showing off your legs and feet, the showy, decorative and fragrant clothing all angers the Merciful and pleases the Shaitaan. Every day that passes while you are in this condition, distances you further from Allah and brings you closer to Shaitaan. Each day curses and anger are directed toward you from the heavens until you repent. Every day brings you closer to the grave and the Angel of Death is ready to capture your soul.

Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Hellfire and admitted to Al-Jannah, is indeed successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing).[soorah Aale 'Imraan 3:185]

Get on the train of repentance my sister, before it passes by your station. Deeply consider my sister, what is happening today before tomorrow comes. Think about it, my sister - Now, before it is too late!

The Status Of Two Who Love One Another For The Sake Of Allah

Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi

Many hadith describe the status of two people who love one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala), and describe the high position in Paradise which He has promised them and the great honour which He will bestow upon them on the Day when mankind is resurrected to meet the Rabb of the Worlds: Among them is the hadith which describes the seven whom Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) will shade on the Day when there is no shade but His:

"...a just leader; a youth who grows up worshipping Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala); a man who is deeply attached to the mosque; two men who love one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala), meeting for His sake and parting for His sake; a man who is called by a beautiful woman and says, I fear Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)'; a man who gives charity in secret such that his left hand does not know what his right hand is doing; and a man who remembers Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) when he is alone and his eyes fill with tears." (Bukhari and Muslim)

The two who love one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) are clearly shown to be among those whom Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) will shelter with His shade and upon whom He will shower His mercy and kindness. What a great honour! It is enough honour for those who love one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala that their Almighty Rabb will greet them on the Day of Resurrection and say to them: "Where are those who loved one another for My glory? Today I will shade them in My shade on the Day when there is no shade but Mine." (Muslim)

Such is the magnificent honour and tremendous reward that will be bestowed upon those who truly loved one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala), on that awesome Day.

Love for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala), and not for the sake of anything else in this life which is filled with greed, desires and interests, is very difficult, and none can attain it except the one who is pure of heart, for whom this world is as nothing compared to the pleasure of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala). It is not surprising that Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) should give them a status and blessing which is commensurate with their position in this world, above whose concerns they have risen. We find proof of this in the hadith of Mu'adh who said that the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) said: 'Those who love one another for My glory, will have minbars of light, and the Prophets and martyrs will wish that they had the same." [Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said it is a hasan sahih hadith]

Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) gives to those who love one another for His sake a gift which is even greater than this status and blessing: that is His precious love which is very difficult to attain. This is proven by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (radhiallahu `anhu) in which the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:

"A man went to visit a brother of his in another village. Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) sent an angel to wait for him on the road. When the man came along, the angel asked him, 'Where do you intend to go?' He said, 'I am going to visit a brother of mine who lives in this village.' The angel asked, 'Have you done him any favour (for which you are now seeking repayment)?' He said, 'No. I just love him for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala).' The angel told him, I am a messenger to you from Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala), sent to tell you that He loves you as you love your brother for His sake."' (Muslim)

What a great love, that raises a man to a position where Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) loves him and is pleased with him!

The teaching of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) goes even further and states that the better of two brothers who love one another for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) is the one who loves his brother more. The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:

"No two men love one another, but the better of them is the one whose love for his brother is greater." [Reported by Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad]

Islam goes even further in spreading love in the rightly guided Muslim society by telling the Muslim that if he loves his brother, he should tell him. The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said: "If a man loves his brother, let him tell him that he loves him." [Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, who said it is a sahih hadith]

The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) understood the impact of this strong, pure love in building societies and nations, so he never let any occasion pass without advocating this love and commanding the Muslims to announce their love for one another, in order to open hearts and spread love and purity among the ranks of the Ummah.

Anas (radhiallahu `anhu) said that a man was with the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), when another man passed by. The first man said, "O Messenger of Allah, indeed I truly love this man." The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) asked him, "Have you let him know that?" He said, "No." The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, "Tell him." He caught up with him and told him, "Truly I love you for the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)," and the man said, "May Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) love you who loves me for His sake." [Reported by Abu Dawud, with a sahih isnad]

Mu'adh began to spread this pure love among the Muslims throughout the Muslim lands, telling them what he had heard from the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) about the great reward that Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) had prepared for those who loved one another for His sake, and about His great love for them. In al-Muwatta', Imam Malik gives a report with a sahih isnad from Abu Idris al-Khulani who said: "I entered the mosque of Damascus, where I saw a young man who had a bright smile, and I saw the people gathered around him. When they disagreed on some matter, they referred it to him, and accepted his opinion. I asked who he was, and they told me, 'This is Mu'adh ibn Jabal (radhiallahu `anhu)." Early the next day, I went to the mosque but I found that he had arrived even earlier than I. He was praying, so I waited until he had finished, then I approached him from in front, greeted him and said, 'By Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) I love you.' He said, 'For the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)?' I said, 'For the sake of Allah'. He repeated his question, 'For the sake of Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)?' and I said, 'For the sake of Allah.' So he took hold of my collar and pulled me towards him and said, 'I have good news for you. I heard the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) say:

"Allah Almighty says: 'My love is granted to those who love one another for My sake, who visit one another for My sake, and who spend on one another for My sake.'"'

My Mother Died While She Was Angry with Me

Question: My mother died about six years ago during Ramadhan. When I was young, I was always arguing with her and talking back to her. When she died, she was angry with me. I became older and more mature and now I am remorseful about what happened between me and her. I cannot do anything now except ask for forgiveness and repent to Allah and pray for mercy for her and forgiveness. Is this sufficient to have Allah forgive my sin and have mercy on me for that deed on the Day that we meet?

Second, we do not fast on her behalf.1 Are we being sinful? Is it allowed for us to fast on her behalf afterwards even though we were not aware of that matter except recently?

Response: Perhaps during the lifetime of your mother you were very young and, at the same time, ignorant and childish. You are excused for what you did during that time. Furthermore, since you are full of remorse after you have become more mature and you have repented to Allah and sought His forgiveness for that sin, Allah willing, that has erased what has occurred. Repentance wipes away what preceded it. Also, the acts of praying for her, asking for mercy and forgiveness for her, charity on her behalf and so forth all are means by which Allah wipes away sins. As for the fasting that she did not do and her breaking of her fast during the days of her illness, she is excused due to her illness that she was suffering and she did not have the ability to make up those days later.

Shaikh ibn Jibreen

"Allah Came Knocking At My Heart"

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been a surge in conversions to Islam since September 11, especially among affluent young white Britons.

Six months ago Elizabeth L. — a graduate in political science, the daughter of affluent white British parents, an opponent of terrorism in all its forms — climbed Mount Sinai at night to watch the desert sunrise from its summit.

“It was the stillest, most peaceful place I’ve ever been,” she says. “I could hear my feelings come up from within me, and in one surreal moment it all seemed to come together.”

Last Friday, at 4.45pm, Elizabeth went to Regent’s Park Mosque in Central London and converted to Islam.

It wasn’t hard. She didn’t even have to wear a scarf. Witnessed by two Muslim men and nine other friends squeezed into the imam’s office, she pronounced, in Arabic learnt from a tape the night before, the words she will repeat like a mantra five times a day for the rest of her life: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Afterwards there was a modest celebration at Al-Dar on the Edgware Road. Elizabeth and her well-wishers sipped mint tea and smoked apple-flavoured tobacco from a hookah. There was no booze, but she never drank much anyway.

Why has she done this? “I know it sounds clichéd, but Allah came knocking at my heart. That’s really how it feels. In many ways it is beyond articulating, rather like falling in love.”

It was, in other words, intensely personal. As she read the Koran and prepared for her conversion, the September attacks came and went and failed to derail her spiritual journey, despite their proven link to a fundamentalist Islamist terror network. In as far as they featured in her thinking, they even elicited some sympathy. All terrorism is cowardly, she says. “But I can see why people get fed up with the West. Capitalism is enormously oppressive.”

Elizabeth is not a freak, and she is certainly not alone. There is compelling anecdotal evidence of a surge in conversions to Islam since September 11, not just in Britain, but across Europe and America. One Dutch Islamic centre claims a tenfold increase, while the New Muslims Project, based in Leicester and run by a former Irish Roman Catholic housewife, reports a “steady stream” of new converts.

This fits a pattern set by recent history. Similar surges followed the outbreak of the Gulf War, the Bosnian conflict and the declaration of a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Some of the newcomers doubtless do not share David Blunkett’s enthusiasm for overt espousals of Britishness. They may even have been caught on police videos flag-waving for the Taleban. But most will speak our language and support our football teams with roughly average fervour, and some — by all accounts a rapidly expanding minority — are white, more educated and more middle-class than the Home Secretary himself.

These are some of Islam’s more surprising converts. They have chosen their new creed over the world’s other great religions having had the privilege of choice, often confounding their own and their families’ prejudices in the process. They are highly articulate and tolerant to a degree. They’re People Like Us, only they’re not. They’re Muslims. They pray five times a day, fast during Ramadan and hope to go to Mecca before they die. They answer their mobiles with “salaam alaikum”.

Unlike Richard Reid, the would-be shoe bomber of American Airlines Flight 63, Britain’s pukka Muslim converts, as the label implies, tend to be over-privileged, not under. Unlike James McLintock, the Scots lecturer’s son being held in a Peshawar jail, the fighting in Afghanistan has dismayed rather than attracted them.

They are people like Elizabeth (who asked for her name to be changed because she has not told her parents yet); like Lucy Bushill-Matthews, a 30-year-old graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, who flirted with Islam as a student in order to dismiss it, but found it “so simple and logical I couldn’t push it away”; like “Yahya”, whose father is a pillar of the Anglo Establishment and who feels that Islam “fits right into British tradition”; and like Joe Ahmed-Dobson, a son of the former Labour Minister Frank Dobson who believes that Islam transformed his spiritual life — and helped him to get a first at university.

If there is something familiar about these people’s startling choices, there should be. We have been here before, or at least Imperial Britain’s adventuring classes and their moneyed gap-year successors have.

T. E. Lawrence fell hard for the romance and otherness of Islam and came to embody them for succeeding generations even though he never converted. Gai Eaton, a former British diplomat now in his seventies, did convert. His influential work Islam and the Destiny of Man has become required reading for bright young Anglo-Saxons turning to his adopted faith, often as an expression of dissatisfaction with a Western culture that appeared to have offered them everything.

Matthew Wilkinson made headlines when he converted and changed his name to Tariq in 1993; he was a former Eton head boy. He and Nicholas Brandt, another Etonian and the son of an investment banker, swapped their destinies as scions of the Establishment for a Slough semi shared with four other Muslims.

Lord Birt’s son, Jonathan, forsook a fast track into the ranks of the great and the good by converting in 1997 and starting a PhD on British Islam. So did a son and a daughter of Lord Justice Scott, the scourge of Tory sleaze and the chairman of the Arms to Iraq inquiry.

And so did Jemima Khan. “My decision . . . was entirely my own choice and in no way hurried,” the 21-year-old daughter of the billionaire James Goldsmith declared angrily after suggestions that she had converted to marry Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain. She noted accurately that the Koran allowed Imran to marry any Muslim, Jew or Christian (even though it bars Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men). She pointed out that Imran’s sisters, far from being oppressed by his brothers-in-law, were all educated professionals, and she insisted that she found the tunic and trousers she would henceforth have to wear “far more elegant and feminine than anything in my wardrobe”.

Her plea seemed hard to credit in the circumstances, but it is a common one from educated British women trying to persuade baffled non-Muslims that conversion did not mean surrendering their independence or their critical faculties.

For Lucy Bushill-Matthews, it meant the reverse. “When I went to Cambridge I joined the Christian and Islamic societies and all three political parties,” she says. “I wanted to explore all the possibilities in order to dismiss them.”

She thinks of herself as pragmatic and not all that spiritual, and as such she found Islam irresistible. “It made sense of all the world’s faiths. It was a clear, simple way to believe in God.” She claims that it has even helped her to land good jobs by marking her out as a free thinker. Her husband is a Muslim of English and Iranian descent whom she married after converting.

Yahya, too, chose Islam from the broadest possible religious gamut. He was raised in a high-profile London family that, because of his father’s position, could not be seen to favour one faith over another. He then took a degree in comparative religion — the theological equivalent of a blind wine tasting — and Islam, quite simply, won.

“It’s pure monotheism,” he says. “It has a clear moral system and an intact tradition of religious scholarship. No scripture expresses its message of the oneness of God as clearly as the Koran. It also has a remarkably rich mysticism, which may be what appeals to middle-class white Brits like me.”

Yahya converted five years ago. Now 33, he is at Oxford writing a PhD on British Islam and is dismayed not just by last September’s attacks, but also by the mauling he says his religion has suffered since in the media, even — or especially — at the hands of would-be sympathisers. “It’s very painful for all of us to be associated with such sickening barbarism (of the attacks),” he says. “That’s not what we signed up for. And now we can’t portray our religion in undiluted form. It’s always mediated by someone else. It’s incredibly frustrating to have Polly Toynbee trying to save you from yourself.”

So does this wry and thoughtful soul share the credo of al-Qaeda? Of course not. But the belief system in which he and the terrorists co-exist has a serious and often lethal public relations problem. The parallel that comes to mind is with the environmental movement, boasting tens of millions of members paying dues to the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Sierra Club, and a handful bent on burning down ski lodges in the Rockies.

Well before September 11, well-heeled defectors from Anglicanism to Islam proved so unsettling to traditionalists that the Cold War author and journalist Philip Knightley branded them “the new Philbys”. They were running from privilege, he suggested, driven as much by a sense of guilt at what they had as wonder at the mysteries of Islam. The fact that Kim Philby’s father happens to have converted to Islam was taken to support the accusation. Levelled at Joe Ahmed-Dobson, it quickly seems ridiculous. The son of the former Health Secretary is a child of new Labour and the opposite of a rebel. He works on inner city regeneration, finds spiritual satisfaction in Islam’s “constant impetus to do the right thing”, and credits his first-class degree to the structure his faith has brought to his life.

All those I spoke to agreed that Christianity claims to answer the same yearnings for meaning and guidance. All had rejected it on intellectual grounds. Why grapple with mental puzzles such as the Holy Trinity and Original Sin, they asked, when the alternative, asserting neither, proved to them so much more satisfying?It was this clarity that won over Batool Al-Toma, the former Catholic who offers guidance to converts at the New Muslims Project. She tells them they need not change their names, advises women to dress modestly but not alienate their families with radical wardrobe changes and checks they have converted freely. Islam is not generally a missionary faith, she says. At one billion and counting, history shows it doesn’t need to be.

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,7-200...2010026,00.html

Mum, I've decided I want to follow Allah

Western women are turning to Islam in rapidly increasing numbers. KAY JARDINE discovers why they are so keen to become Muslims

Bullying, depression, and insomnia made Kimberley McCrindle's teenage years particularly difficult. Taunts from classmates about her weight and how she looked left the 19-year-old student feeling like she didn't really fit in, and always searching for something that would make her feel happy, that would make her feel she belonged.

McCrindle, from a family of atheists, did not encounter religion until she began religious studies at high school in Penicuik, when her new interest prompted her to start going to her local church on Sundays. But the peace and happiness McCrindle was looking for eluded her until she started college in Edinburgh, where she made friends with some Muslim people and discovered Islam.

"I was looking for peace," she says. "I'd had a rough past. My teenage years weren't great: I was bullied at school, people called me fat and ugly, and I was looking for something to make me happy. I tried to go to church once a week but I wouldn't class myself a Christian; I was just interested. But it wasn't for me, I didn't feel in place there.

"When you walk into a mosque you feel really peaceful. Praying five times a day is really focused. It gives you a purpose in your life. The Koran is like a guide to help you: when you read it, it makes you feel better."

McCrindle became a Muslim three years ago and is now known by her married Arabic name, Tasnim Salih. She is one of a rapidly increasing number of British women turning to Islam, thought to be the fastest growing religion in the world. Although there are no official figures on the subject, there is no doubt that the number of converts is on the rise and the majority are women, according to Nicole Bourque, a senior lecturer in social anthropology at Glasgow University and an expert in conversion to Islam in Britain.

"There are people converting all the time," she says. "I would estimate that there are probably around 200 converts to Islam in Glasgow alone, but that's just a rough estimate. The data is difficult to acquire." Other estimates put the Glasgow figure closer to 500.

Mohammad Faroghul-Quadri, imam at the Khazra mosque in Glasgow, says that whichever religion people choose to reach God, whether it's Christianity or Islam or something else, the important thing is that they are getting peace of mind and heart, and proper guidance from God.[1]

The appeal of Islam to liberated western women is difficult for many to understand, largely because of the widespread perception in the west that it treats women badly. A forthcoming documentary, Mum I'm a Muslim, addresses this very issue by talking to converts in Sheffield about their experiences. At a preview in Glasgow, I asked a group of converts from Glasgow and Edinburgh what motivated them to change every aspect of their lives, including their names, to become Muslim.

For 27-year-old Bahiya Malik, or Lucy Norris to her parents, it's difficult to explain. Bahiya, who lives in Edinburgh, her twin sister, Victoria, and their brother, Matthew, grew up as practising Christians in a rural area in the West Midlands, where they attended Sunday school in the little church at the top of their road. As they got older, the three stopped going to church and seven years ago, at the age of 20, both Bahiya and her sister converted to Islam - six months after their brother.

"Maybe all through our teenage years we hadn't been that happy. I can't really say what it was. I don't know if we felt there was something missing or that we didn't fit in. We were a little bit shy and we weren't really outgoing sort of people," she says. At the time, Bahiya was two years into a media and television course in Edinburgh but was feeling uninspired. After around six months of learning about Islam, Bahiya realised that living her life according to the rules of Islam was what would make her happy and, during an emotional visit to a mosque in London, made her declaration of faith.

"I think it's something you feel in your heart, this pull," she says. "You can't really put it into words. It's like your heart speaking, something you feel inside and you know it's for you. Allah has chosen this for you, it's out of your power."

Women who turn to Islam are aware of the widespread western perception that they are oppressed and discriminated against, but insist that the depiction is a false image. For many it is a spiritual journey, which, far from repressing them, improves their social status and gives them new rights.

"You seem to be really looked after," says Tasnim. "As a Muslim woman, Muslim men really respect you; they do everything for you. You're highly thought of and protected." Bahiya says: "I feel that because you cover yourself up you're not seen as a sex symbol, and because people can't judge you on your appearance, they have to judge you as a human being. That's quite liberating."

As an act of modesty, many Muslim women don't wear make up outside the home and it is often a part of their old life that new female converts are happy to discard because of the liberating feeling that comes from knowing their appearance doesn't matter. They resist being shown as they were before their conversion.

Hafsa Hashmi, who lives in Glasgow, converted to Islam 24 years ago and felt life outside Islam was like having to "keep up with the Joneses". Under Islam, however, she says: "Your aim is not for this life, your aim is for the afterlife. To some people that sounds pretty horrific: they can't think about death, but in Islam belief in the afterlife is one of its main features, because you know if you're doing the right thing you've got a better life to come. So why go for all the material things?"

Converting to Islam usually means a complete change of lifestyle for those who take the plunge, including a different diet, often a new Arabic name, and your time revolving around the five daily Islamic prayers. In the workplace, some people organise with their employer a room where they can have some peace and quiet to pray. Wherever they are in the world, all Muslims face in the direction of the Kab'aa, or the Holy House in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during prayer.

For female converts, the experience can also involve a quite dramatic change in appearance. Muslim law provides that women must dress modestly. The hijab, or the head scarf, is a particular focal point and can be a tricky area for new Muslim women to deal with. Dr Bourque suggests this is because it is such a visible symbol of the faith. Tasnim wore the hijab straight away, although she found wearing it in public scary at first because she felt people were looking at her. She was then forced to take it off when she was out because of some of the comments directed at her.

"People would shout, 'Go back home to your own country'. I had someone spit at me once when I was standing at the bus stop at college."

Now, though, she wears it all the time and says: "People don't say anything to me now and I feel more confident about wearing it." Bahiya was happy wearing the hijab from the beginning, but her parents found it quite difficult. She says her sister, her brother, and herself were lucky because their parents were "quite good" about their conversion. For others, however, families are not always so accepting, often because they know little about the religion and why their loved ones want to follow it. For Tasnim, telling her parents, who are atheist, was nerve-wracking. "They thought I was going through a phase at first but they realised when I started wearing the hijab that I was serious. They started getting angry when I began to talk about getting married. They weren't too pleased that I'd met someone older than me, who was Muslim as well, and a different nationality."

While Tasnim and her mother are still close and enjoy a good relationship, they tend not to talk about her faith much. She and her father no longer speak. For Hafsa, telling her parents 24 years ago was perhaps even more difficult because converting to Islam then was anything but a common occurrence. The reactions of her parents were totally opposite. "I think my mother felt that I was only becoming a Muslim because of who I was marrying, but that wasn't the case because I had been introduced to Islam about four years previously although I didn't convert until I got married. It took her practically her whole life to get over it. When we got married, my mum said, 'If you're happy, I'm happy', but obviously she wasn't. My dad said it and he meant it, that was the difference between them."

Tasnim has been married to Sabir, who is Sudanese, for two years, and says she has never been happier. "I met my husband at college and it seemed like the right thing to do. I was teaching him English and he was talking to me about Islam, and we just fell in love," she says. Bahiya's husband, Sharafuddin, is also is also a convert, formerly known as Cameron. They have two children, aged two and four.

For Tasnim, Bahiya, and Hafsa, life revolves around the five daily prayers, they cannot eat certain foods, or drink alcohol. But the women say they miss nothing from the days before they converted to Islam. "Islam is enough for me," says Bahiya. "You don't need anything else once you've found it."

Becoming Muslim has provided Tasnim with the happiness and belonging she was looking for. "It's a complete change in your attitude, behaviour, and the way you think," she says. "I'm now more confident, happy and satisfied. I've achieved the fulfilment I was looking for."

Source: http://www.theherald.co.uk/perspective/arc...02-21-6-52.html

Notes

[1] This is a a false statement. The only religion acceptable to Allah - the one which leads to true guidance and peace, is Islam: "Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers" [Qur'an 3:85]