Bismillah


http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&am...11139555C570353


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Egyptian woman killed in German court drama


July 03 2009 at 12:13PM


Cairo - A woman stabbed to death in a German court was an Egyptian who had sued her attacker after he insulted her for wearing the Islamic headscarf, Egyptian newspapers reported on Friday.


Marwa al-Sherbini, 32, who was killed in a court in Dresden on Wednesday, was the wife of Egyptian academic Elwi Ali Okaz who was also hurt in the incident and is now in critical condition in hospital, the state-owned Al-Akhbar reported.


The attacker stabbed Sherbini "shortly before she was to give evidence in an appeal lodged by the man against a conviction for insulting her over wearing the hijab," said the state-owned Egyptian Gazette.


The 28-year-old man, identified only as Axel W, was overpowered and was being investigated for manslaughter over the killing of the woman, a spokesman for the Dresden prosecutor's office said.


Magdi al-Sayed, press officer at the German embassy in Cairo, said the case was isolated and did not reflect German attitude towards Muslims.


"It is a criminal act. It has nothing to do with persecution against Muslims," Sayed told the Gazette.

Bismillah


Welcome to the board


However, I m afraid that you are not getting that this is an English board.


Any posts in any other language is not allowed, unless of course you provide full translation. Besides I m not sure what links you were providing??? care to explain!!

Michael Jackson dies. YahooNews.

Bismillah: Assalamo ALikum.


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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Muslim inmates held in a special unit at the federal prison in Terre Haute say they aren't allowed to pray in groups as often as their religion commands and have asked a federal judge to ease worship limits imposed by the Bureau of Prisons.


The prison in western Indiana houses several high-security inmates, including American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding Afghanistan's now-defunct Taliban government.


The June 16 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana challenges limits on Islamic worship in the prison's restrictive Communications Management Unit, where about 30 of the 40 inmates are Muslim.


Muslims are required to pray five times a day, but the lawsuit, filed on behalf of inmates Enaam Arnaout and Randall T. Royer, says inmates in the CMU are allowed to pray as a group just one hour a week. The ACLU claims that violates a federal law barring the government from restricting religious activities without showing a compelling need.


The lawsuit echoes a 2007 complaint from convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid that he was denied access to group prayer at the Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colo.


The Indiana lawsuit is one of two the ACLU has filed in the past week concerning conditions in the CMU. Its other lawsuit claimed the unit was created in secrecy and keeps its mostly Muslim inmates in virtual isolation.


A Justice Department spokesman said last week that the government followed federal rules in creating the special unit in November 2006. Designed to house prisoners who require additional security, the unit closely monitors inmates' outside contacts.


Bureau of Prisons officials declined Tuesday comment on the prayer lawsuit.


Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, questioned policies allowing prisoners out of their cells to watch television, play cards or engage in other group activities but limiting group worship to one hour on Fridays.


"That means four people can sit around the table playing cards or talking about the basketball game but they can't worship," Falk said.


The lawsuit asks the Bureau of Prisons to reinstate daily prayers that were held in a multipurpose room for several months after the CMU opened.


Louay Safi, director of leadership development with the Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America, said Muslims try to pray in groups whenever possible.


"Muhammad said there is a much greater reward for people who pray in congregation than those who pray individually," he said.


Arnaout, 46, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, is serving a 10-year sentence for racketeering after admitting in 2003 that he defrauded donors to his Benevolence International Foundation by diverting some of the money to Islamic military groups in Bosnia and Chechnya.


Royer, 36, a former spokesman for the Muslim American Society, is serving 20 years for his participation in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network." The group used paintball games in 2000 and 2001 as military training in preparation for holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, prosecutors say.


USA Today.

Bismillah: Assalamo Alikum.


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By AMY SULLIVAN Amy Sullivan – Mon Jun 22, 6:50 am ET


It's hard out there for a pope these days. On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI launched what he is calling "The Year of Priests," exhorting Roman Catholics to spend the coming year honoring the sacrifice of their local pastors and directing priests to encourage each other so that they might, among other things, "be able to live fully the gift of celibacy and build thriving Christian communities."


Overshadowing the Pope's declaration, however, was the news that earlier in the week Father Alberto Cutie - the Miami-based priest and television personality who left the Catholic church last month amid soap opera-worthy scandal - had married his girlfriend of two years. Also making waves was the publication of former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland's memoir detailing his life as a closeted gay man within the church and the loneliness that drove him to pursue a sexual relationship with another man. Weakland, who stepped down seven years ago when he turned 75, the age when priests typically submit letters of resignation that the Church may or may not accept, is the highest-ranking Catholic leader to publicly reveal his homosexuality.


Full article? click here

Muslim Children and Sex Education


Muslim parents teach their children to respect their teachers. From a very young age, we are taught that Islam teaches us that after our parents, our teachers are most deserving of respect.


It must be an extremely confusing time for the Muslim parent in Leytonstone, London. For up to 30 parents may face prosecution for withdrawing their children from school, disobeying the teachers in the school, simply to secure a decent moral upbringing for their children. The school had decided to have a week of lessons about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history. Part of this was a special adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retitled Romeo and Julian as well as fairytales and stories changed to show men falling in love with men. Rather than filling the heads of impressionable boys and girls with fatuous drivel about gay penguins, schools should be ashamed of the fact that they are sending children out into the world barely able to read, write and add up properly. Muslim children are leaving schools without learning their cultural roots and linguistic skills.


The action was being taken against the parents as part of a policy of ' promoting tolerance'. So why not tolerate parents, who, for sincerely-held reasons, consider their children too young to be taught about gay relationships? This isn't education, its cultural fascism. A record numbers of pupils persistently played truant in 2006-07, with around 272,950 pupils persistently absent in 2007, missing more than 20% of school. We rarely see councils prosecute the parents of these persistent truants. Yet, the parents who removed their children as a one-off to protect their morality may be prosecuted!


If the local council does decide to go through with a prosecution, it would be in line with the government's approach to the Muslim community. Muslims who believe homosexuality is a sin would be labelled as extremists. Liberal totalitarianism is a growing phenomenon in Britain and the west in general but many people will be shocked that the school can override a parent's view of what's appropriate or inappropriate to teach their children.


This latest episode should be a wakeup call for Muslim parents. Muslim parents MUST explain our moral standards to schools and be prepared to take steps to protect our children’s morals and values from a growing agenda to impose liberal values upon them. This is an eye opening for those Muslim parents who keep on sending their children to state schools to be mis-educated and de-educated by non-Muslim monolingual teachers.


The solution of all the problems facing Muslim children is state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers. Those state schools where Muslim children are in majority may be designated as Muslim community schools. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods.


Iftikhar Ahmad


www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

1. Allah is God. The great majority of the non-Muslims I meet believe that Allah is a kind of personal name for some kind of small-"g" god, perhaps like Jupiter or Vulcan (gods of the Roman pantheon). I have even heard people refer contemptuously to the God of Islam as a "desert god," as if Judaism and Christianity originated in Yankee Stadium or something. The fact is that Allah is simply a compound word made from the Arabic words al (the) and ilah, (god): the God. Monotheism - the belief in a single, supreme, divine creator - is the central and most important aspect of Islam. (And it's pronounced ul-LAH, not "Al, uh?")


I have taken several Muslims to task for using the Arabic term for God when speaking to non-Muslims: all it does is, it serves to confuse those for whom it's never been made clear that Allah is the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians. Muslims may differ on various points with Jews and Christians, but this is not one of them. You'd never know, though, from the way these groups act with each other much of the time, that they each hold dear the same belief in the God of Abraham, Moses, and of Jesus (for Christians and Muslims) and, for Muslims, of Muhammad. (Muslims accept all the prophets prior to Muhammad, including Jesus. More on Jesus shortly.)


2. The biggest sin in Islam is shirk: "associating partners with God." Shirk may be generally defined as polytheism, but also includes such things as the Christian concept of a triune God, or the worshipping of anything other than God, whether it's a human being, any natural/human creation or phenomenon. This tends to create quite a theological abyss between Muslims and polytheists, but also with Christians and certain other religious groups.


You can imagine from this that expressions such as "Holy Mother of God!" give most observant Muslims the theological willies.


3. Muslims don't believe that Jesus was the son of God. As mentioned in #1, Muslims accept Jesus (in Arabic, "Isa") as a prophet, and an extremely important one at that. Following from #2, however, they do not accept the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God (literally or metaphorically), although they do believe he is the son of Mary (in Arabic, "Maryam").


This is probably the most significant point of difference between Christians and Muslims. Some Christian theologians and clergy believe that Christians err by placing too much emphasis on Jesus and elevating him to God's level, but that's an argument for another time and place.


4. Muslims don't worship the Prophet Muhammad. This naturally follows from #2, but, I suspect because of the extreme emphasis on Jesus in much of Christian practice, many assume that Islam parallels this with Muhammad and Muslims. While the Prophet is considered by Muslims to have been the human being with the best character, he is still regarded as a human being, albeit an exceptional one. And while he is regarded as the final prophet of God, he is not the only one. He does not have divine status, although Muslims hold him in the highest regard and are expected and encouraged to try to emulate his habits and characteristics, those being of the highest quality.


Muslims were for years incorrectly referred to as Mohammedans (spelled variously). This has generally become archaic, but you still see it now and then. It's actually profoundly offensive, since it implies shirk. (And while we're on it, it's Muslim, not Moslem, and Qur'an or Quran, not Koran.)


5. Translations of the Qur'an are not the Qur'an. It's well-known that something is always lost in translation. For those English speakers who don't ever expect to read the Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic, and whatever other languages in which its component texts originally appeared, it seems to be accepted that translations of the Bible are all more or less equally valid, although one may have a preferred translation. But only the Qur'an in its original Arabic is considered to be the Qur'an; translations are treated with great respect but are simply not equally valid. Muslims believe that the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) by God through the angel Gabriel. Muhammad memorized the passages as they were revealed and recited them and shared them with his family and followers. Pre-Islamic Arab culture was predominantly oral, and others ultimately learned and memorized the entire Qur'an; it was also completely written down during the Prophet's lifetime.


There have been many, many translations over the 1400-odd years since it was first written down; plenty of them are bad - a few of them deliberately so in order to discredit Islam. Many poor translations offer little more than the bias and ignorance of the translator. But it's imperative to remember that any translation is at best an approximation, and it can be very dangerous to make sweeping judgments based on translated verses, especially in isolation.




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6. Not all Muslims are Arabs; not all Arabs are Muslims. There seems to be widespread confusion about this. I suppose that, on some level, it's understandable: the Qur'an was revealed to an Arab speaker in Arabia, and two of Islam's holiest sites (the Holy Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah) are in what is now Saudi Arabia. But Arab people live in many countries, not just Saudi Arabia, and subscribe to many different religions, not just Islam: Christianity, Judaism, and Druze among them. The most populous Muslim country in the world is not even an Arab country: it's Indonesia. Only about twelve percent of the world's Muslims are Arabs. Muslims are nationals of many countries, from India to Sweden to Australia. Anyone who wants to can convert to Islam, and it's actually only a minority of Muslims who are also of Arab heritage. Also, not all Arab customs are Muslim. All Muslims do not speak Arabic, although prayers are to be said in Arabic, and Muslims are encouraged to learn to read Arabic so that they can understand the Qur'an. And while I would really, really like to believe this doesn't even need to be said, recent events have proved me wrong: not everyone with brown skin or wearing a turban is a Muslim or an Arab.


7. Culture is not religion. So much of the oppression and misogyny (female illiteracy, "honor" killing, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, physical abuse, etc.) we hear about in quasi- and pseudo-Islamic countries stems from patriarchal cultural customs and baggage and not from Islam, although it's always "justified" sixty ways to Sunday with supposed religious dictates and self-serving interpretations of scripture.


If any of these countries actually thoroughly implemented Islam as intended and honored the spirit as well as the letter of the "law," women, for example, would not only have far more rights and freedoms than they currently do in any of these countries, but the behavior of men and the actions of governments would have to change so radically that you would probably not recognize these countries at all. Islamic concepts and requirements are that different from how some Muslim countries currently operate.


8. Islam is not a monolith. It is a large, widespread, rich, and complex religion, with an extremely intricate and sometimes enigmatic scripture, and an estimated 1.2 billion followers worldwide. There is overwhelming diversity within the Islamic world, beginning with the major Islamic subgroups: Sunni Muslims (accounting for around 85-90% of Muslims), and Shi'ite Muslims (mainly found in Iran). Within these groups there are schools of legal thought; there are four major ones within Sunni Islam alone. Muslims might be born into the religion or convert to it, and this contributes to the diversity within its adherents. It's absolutely essential not to see any one Muslim, genuine or otherwise, as representative of all Muslims.


The very diversity of Muslims worldwide is one reason the annual pilgrimage (hajj) to Makkah, the birthplace of Islam, is so compelling: every year for over fourteen hundred years, millions of Muslims have united for a few days, putting aside all differences of race, ethnic background, class, gender and language, to participate in a ritual established by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).


9. Jihad does not mean "holy war." This has to be one of the most damaging, most persistent myths about Islam. The Western media have helped perpetuate this, but there are some benighted Muslims who insist on misapprehending and incorrectly using this term. Jihad, (which comes from the Arabic root word jahada, meaning "to toil, to exert oneself, to strive for a better way of life") is correctly translated as "struggle" or "endeavor," and can easily apply to such things as a student working to earn a medical degree or a group of people raising money to build a mosque. It can apply to the struggle to control one's temper, or to learn to read and write. Part of my husband's jihad as a Muslim is the effort it takes for him to get up in time to offer the first prayers of the day, which occur before dawn. It encompasses the idea of struggling or fighting for good or against evil, but that does not necessarily mean with violence, and it certainly does not mean that any crackpot claiming to be Muslim and waving a Qur'an around can decide who is good and who is evil, and start killing people.


There are certain extreme circumstances under which the notion of jihad might encompass aggression or armed conflict, but these are only to be engaged in as a last resort, when all legal, political, economic, social, and diplomatic attempts to defend Muslims and their right to worship, or to combat other severe oppression (and not only against Muslims), have failed. Any kind of military action is, at best, a subset of the concept of jihad.


Some of the passages in the Qur'an describing battle and aggression (the passages militants often quote out of context to support their agendas) are narrating actual historical events, not advising them as a course of action. They are also offset by many other passages enjoining peace, mercy, goodness, tolerance, patience, forgiveness, compassion, restrictions in warfare, etc.


10. Islam does not promote, sponsor, condone or encourage terrorism or murder. The smear campaign against Islam (during the twentieth century in particular) has been extremely thorough and successful.

<b>What is Islam?</b>


<i>Islam</i> is an Arabic word meaning "surrender" or "submission." It is a faith that encompasses approximately one-fifth of humanity. Its adherents reside in almost every country of the world and comprise majorities in large segments of Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Asia. Approximately 6 million Americans follow Islam.


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<b>The Origins of Islam</b>


The historical origins of Islam date back to seventh century Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), an aristocratic Arabian born and raised an orphan in the sanctuary city of Makkah, experienced a revelation in his fortieth year. He began to preach to his own people, most of whom initially persecuted him. After thirteen years of suffering with patience and endurance, he migrated to the nearby city of Madinah. For over twenty-three years, beginning in 610 C.E., the Prophet orally transmitted the Qur'an. Muslims believe the Qur'an was revealed from God through the archangel Gabriel. In it, a cosmology, a theology, and an elaborate eschatology are described. By the end of the Prophet's life in 632 C.E., almost the entire Arabian Peninsula had converted from paganism to Islam, and within a hundred years, its followers stretched from France to China.


Although considered the youngest of the three great Abrahamic faiths that include Judaism and Christianity, Islam does not view itself as a new religion but rather as a reformed Abrahamic faith. Muslims believe that the Qur'an corrects distortions of previous prophetic dispensations while not departing from the aboriginal faith of humanity, which according to the Muslims is Islam, or sub-mission to one God. While Muslims believe all prophets have taught the unity of God and that their beliefs about God were the same, their actual practices have changed to suit various times and places. According to Muslims, this is why religions tend to differ outwardly, while retaining an essential inward truth common to them all. However, the Qur'an declares its message as uniquely universal applying to all people for all remaining time.


<b>Basic Beliefs of Muslims</b>


Islam is based upon five "pillars" that represent the bedrock upon which all else is based. The first pillar, which makes one a Muslim, is called the <i>shahadah,</i> meaning, "testimony" or "witnessing." It is fulfilled by declaring to two witnesses the foundational creed of Islam: "<i>Ashhadu an la ilaha illa God wa anna Muhammadan rasulullah.</i>" This means, "I witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is God's messenger." The first part of the testimony is a belief that God is unique with no partners. Thus, nothing in creation can be associated with God, as creation has no real substantiation without the sustaining power of God. Indeed, creation is not God nor does it have any eternal qualities of the divine that are worthy of worship. Rather, creation is a theater of divine manifestations. Creation is seen as a place where analogies of the divine reveal themselves. The intellect of a person is the vehicle given by God to discern this truth about creation as indicated by several verses in the Qur'an.


The second part of the declaration, Muhammad is the messenger of God, acknowledges the means through which this understanding of God has come. All prophets are special human beings capable of refracting divine light, acting like prisms that allow others to see it. The intensity of direct divine light is something only a prophet can bear. Muslims believe that the revelation given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is like refracted green light, which lies in the middle of the light spectrum. Muslims consider Islam to be the most balanced of the prophetic dispensations, the "middle way." The Prophet Muhammad's life is considered to be moderate and exemplary for both men and women. He abhorred extremes saying, "Beware of extremism in your religion." After the Qur'an, the Prophet's practice, or <i>Sunnah</i>, is the second most important authority in Islam.


The second pillar of Islam is prayer. While people may supplicate anytime they wish to do so, there is a specific prayer every adult Muslim, female and male, is obliged to perform five times a day. The times are determined by the perceived movement of the sun as a way of reminding people of the temporal nature of the world. Thus, each day is considered to be a microcosm of one's own life: the dawn prayer as one's coming into the world, the midday prayer as the end of youth, the afternoon prayer as old age, the sunset prayer as death, and the evening prayer as the beginning of the descent into the darkness of the grave and returning to the dawn prayer as the awakening and resurrection of the dead. After the testimony of faith, prayer is considered the most important pillar.


The third pillar of Islam is paying <i>zakah,</i> an obligatory alms given once every lunar year from the standing capital of every responsible adult. It is not an income tax, as income tax is prohibited in Islamic law, but rather a capital tax on wealth that has been stagnate for at least a year. It is one-fortieth of a person's liquid assets. According to the Qur'an, zakah is distributed among eight categories of people, the two most important recipients being the poor and the needy.


The fourth pillar is fasting the entire lunar month of Ramadan, and it begins with the sighting of the new crescent for that month. Fasting entails abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations from dawn to sunset and is obligatory on adults healthy enough to do so.


The fifth pillar is the <i>Hajj</i>, or pilgrimage to Makkah. Muslims believe Makkah to be the site of the first house of worship built by the Prophet Adam and his wife Eve and then restored millennia later by the Prophet Abraham and his son, the Prophet Ishmael. At the end of his mission, the Prophet Muhammad restored its monotheistic purpose by destroying the 365 idols in it that the Arabs had been worshiping prior to Islam. The rituals performed in the pilgrimage follow the footsteps of Abraham and his second wife Hagar. The Hajj culminates on a vast desert plain where approximately 3 million pilgrims from almost every country on Earth gather every year and prepare for standing before God on the Day of Judgment.


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<b>Customs and Practices of Muslims</b>


Due to the broad cultural diversity in the Muslim world, Islam is a quilt of many colors rather than a monolithic faith etched in stone. The majority of Muslims have never considered Islam to be "straight and narrow" but rather "straight and broad." The word in Arabic for the sacred law of Islam, <i>shariah</i>, literally means "the broad path to water." The shariah, rather than being a rigid and inflexible law, is governed by a fluid and elastic set of principles, and Muslim legal theorists consider it rationally comprehensible and thus capable of being altered when the rationale is absent or the circumstances warrant.


Most Muslim cultures manifest their own characteristics. For instance, the Islam of Indonesia, while essentially the same in its skeletal form, is quite different culturally from the Islam of Senegal. Muslims are required to wear modest clothes, and women are required to cover their hair and entire body when in the presence of unrelated males.


However, the bright colors of the women of Nigeria contrast sharply with the moribund black of the Arabian Peninsula—both are considered acceptable. Food and merrymaking also differ greatly, and Muslims, like other peoples, have diverse ways of enjoying themselves and appreciating the milestones of life such as weddings, births, graduations, and religious holidays. Religious songs and chanting are widespread in the Muslim world, and Qur'an reciters with beautiful voices have statuses in some Muslim countries.


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<b>Living and Dying in Islam</b>


The German philosopher Goethe wrote, "If Islam means submission to the will of God, then in Islam we all live and die." This succinctly summarizes the goal of Muslims: To live and die in accordance with God's will as revealed in the Qur'an and practiced by the Prophet. Muslims attempt to adjust their view of the world with the lens of the Qur'an. The will of God is expressed in the Qur'an through both expectations and examples. The expectations are usually descriptions of how a believer should live his or her life, and various stories in the Qur'an provide positive and negative examples. The epitome of a positive exemplar is Moses, whose story is dealt with in great detail in the Qur'an. Struggle is at the root of life on earth, a spiritual survival of the fittest. The fittest are those closest to God; they are those who are "steadfast in prayer and spend out of what We have provided for them" (Qur'an 2:3; Ali 1999, p. 17). The negative prototype is embodied in Pharaoh, who elevates himself above God's law and makes his own law the only source of guidance. Moses is given the Promised Land for his perseverance and steadfastness, and Pharaoh is destroyed by his own hubris and rebellion against the divine will. The story of Moses is an example of submission (Islam), and Pharaoh's is of rebellion and infidelity (<i>kufr</i>). Between these two lies the struggle of humanity.


Life is meant to be an arena whereby one struggles with good and evil. The Qur'an teaches that good and evil exist in the heart of every individual as well as in the society. The individual struggle is to act righteously in accordance with the Qur'an and prophetic example, and to shun one's own evil and its impulses. The collective struggle is to work with others to make the world a more righteous place. In Arabic, this inward and outward struggle is called <i>jihad.</i> While it can mean a militant struggle against those who attack the Muslim lands, it also signifies a person's struggle with the lower tendencies of the soul, the gravitational pull of self-destructive forces that lead to alienation from God and a state of spiritual disequilibrium. Because humans inevitably fall short morally and succumb to these destructive tendencies from time to time, a means of reestablishing spiritual balance is given, called <i>tauba</i> or atonement. This is done by experiencing a genuine sense of remorse for one's transgressions and a removal of the unhealthy effects of that state by turning to God and seeking divine grace through prayer, charity, and a sincere resolution not to return to the destructive patterns of the past.


While life is seen as a spiritual test and journey, it is also seen as being filled with blessings from God to be enjoyed: "Eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for God loveth not the wasters. Say: 'Who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of God which He hath produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which He hath provided) for sustenance?" (Qur'an, p. 352). Thus, in Islam, marriage is highly recommended and celibacy is frowned upon. The Muslim savants of the past identified sexual relations between a wife and her husband as a foretaste of eternal bliss in the afterlife. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) encouraged marriage and stated, "There is no monasticism in Islam." In Islam, children are highly esteemed and seen as one of God's greatest blessings to humanity. The Prophet stated that humans were born innocent and later corrupted by their societies. Thus, parents are held responsible for maintaining that state of innocence and raising them with a sense of love and awe of the divine. Motherhood is highly regarded in the Qur'an and the prophetic tradition. In most Muslim societies, adult women are still predominantly mothers and housewives during their productive years.


<b>Death and Its Relevance to Muslims</b>


Death is a question of ultimate concern for every human being, and Islam has a very vivid portrayal of the stages of death and the afterlife. Death is likened to sleep in Islam; interestingly, sleep in Arabic is called "the little brother of death." The Prophet spoke often of death, and the Qur'an is filled with warnings of the dangers of ignoring one's mortality and of not preparing for death before it is too late. In one poignant passage, the Qur'an reads,


And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you before death should come to any of you and he should say, "O my Lord! Why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good." But to no soul will God grant respite when the time appointed (for it) has come; and God is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. <i>(Qur'an, pp. 1473–1474)</i>


Hence, the world is seen as an opportunity to cultivate for the hereafter, and time is seen as capital that human beings either invest wisely or squander, only to find themselves bankrupt in the next life. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "One of you says, 'My wealth! My wealth!' Indeed, have any of you anything other than your food that you eat and consume, your clothes that you wear out, and your wealth that you give in charity which thus increases in return in the next world?"


The idea of mentioning death and reflecting on death is very important in a Muslim's daily life, and attending any Muslim's funeral, whether known or not, is highly encouraged; for such attendance, one is rewarded greatly by God. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) advised, "Make much mention of the destroyer of delights," which is death. He also said, "Introduce into your gatherings some mention of death to keep things in perspective." This is not seen as a morbid exercise, and Muslims surprisingly accept death, resigned to what is called "one's appointed time" (<i>ajal</i>). Like the telemere in biology that dictates how many times a cell may regenerate before dying, an individual's appointed term, according to Islam, is inescapable and fated. When a Muslim survives a near-death experience, such as a serious car accident, an operation, or an illness, he or she will often remark, "My appointed time did not come yet."


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<b>After Death</b>


Once a Muslim dies, the people left behind must prepare the body by washing, perfuming, and shrouding it. The funeral prayer is then performed, and the deceased is buried in a graveyard without a coffin, simply laid in the earth and covered. A person, usually a relative, informs the deceased of what is happening, as Muslims believe that the deceased can hear and understand what is being said. Muslims believe the dead person is not always aware of the transition, and so the one giving instructions informs the deceased that he or she has died, is being laid in the grave, and that two angels known as Munkar and Nakir will soon come into the grave to ask three questions. To the first question, "Who is your Lord?," the deceased is instructed to reply, "God." In answer to the second question, "Who is your Prophet?," the deceased should say, "Muhammad," and the correct response to the third question, "What is your religion?," is "Islam." If the individual passes this first phase of the afterlife, the experience of the grave is pleasant, and he or she is given glimpses of the pleasures of paradise. If however, the deceased does not pass this phase, then the grave is the first stage of chastisement.


After this, the soul sleeps and does not awake until a blast from an angel at God's command. According to Islamic tradition, this blast signals the end of the world and kills any remaining souls on the earth. It is followed by a second blast that causes all of the souls to be resurrected. At this point, humanity is raised up and assembled on a plain. The Qur'an states, "On that day We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another; the trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together" (Qur'an, p. 735). From there, humanity will beg each of the prophets to intercede for them and hasten the Day of Judgment because the waiting is so terrible, but the prophets will refuse. Finally, all of humanity goes to the Prophet Muhammad. He will agree to intercede for them and ask that the Judgment commence. This intercession is granted to him alone. Then, each soul is judged based upon its beliefs and actions, which are weighed in the scales of divine justice. At this point, the two guardian angels assigned to all people throughout their adult lives will testify for or against them. According to the Qur'an, the limbs of each person will testify, and the earth herself is resurrected and bears witness against those who caused her harm. Next, a person will be given a book either in the right or left hand. For those given a book in the right hand, they pass the Judgment and are given the grace of God. For those given a book in their left hand, they fail the Judgment and are condemned to hell. However, at this point, prophets and other righteous people are allowed to intercede for their relatives, followers, or friends among the condemned, and their intercession is accepted.


Once the Day of Judgment is over, humanity proceeds to a bridge known as the <i>sirat,</i> which crosses over hell. The saved cross it safely to the other side and are greeted by their respective prophets. The Muslims who make it safely across are greeted by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who will take them to a great pool and give them a drink that will quench their thirst forever. The condemned fall into hell. The Qur'an states that some will only spend a brief time there, while others, the unrepenting and idolatrous ingrates, are condemned forever. Muslims see death as a transition to the other side. Islam is seen as the vehicle that will take one safely there. It is only in paradise that the believer finds ultimate peace and happiness.


<b> </b>


<b>Common Misconceptions about Islam</b>


Perhaps the most common misunderstanding about Islam is its attitude toward women. In light of modern sensibilities, Islam, as practiced by most Muslims, does retain some pre-modern attitudes. Much of this is cultural; however, some is not. For example, although the home is generally considered the best place for a woman, Islam does not prohibit a woman from a career in the outside world. In fact, many early Muslim women including the Prophet's wife, Khadijah, were scholars and merchants. While Islamic law does legislate some differences between men and women, they are few in number. The majority of practicing Muslim women do not view them as demeaning because a woman is considered equal to a man before God. The Qur'an clearly states, "Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him will We give a new life, and life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions" (Qur'an, p. 663).


Another aspect of Islam that tends to spark interest is the idea of Jihad, or holy war. Some people think Islam condones violence and even terrorism. In reality, Islam rarely permits Muslims to use coercive force and does so only for reasons such as self-defense. Moreover, with the exception of self-defense, only legitimate state authority can exercise coercive force. Although there is a religious duty to fight to defend the lands of Islam, strict rules of engagement apply. The Prophet specifically prohibited the killing of religious people, old people, as well as women and children. Later, Muslim legal theorists included any noncombatants in this prohibition. Sadly, like other religions, Islam has violent fanatics and extremists who justify their crimes by distorting Qur'anic verses and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for heinous ends.


Muslims are a racially diverse community, the majority of which are non-Arab. Although Islam began in Arabia, Arabs comprise less than 15 percent of Muslims. The largest Muslim population is in Indonesia, and the second largest is in Bangladesh. There are estimated to be over 60 million Muslims in modern China. Islam is considered to be the fastest growing religion in the twenty-first century. In 2000 it was the third largest religion in the United States and is expected to be the second after Christianity.

Salam all


I did not know that I am a member here actually, however I received a PM today informing me of a reply to a thread that I participated in, in the past, so I will take the chance and show you in a serious of comments, how the man made books of hadith are silly enough to be dismissed.


We all know what the oneness of Allah means, a child should even know that, simply, Allah is One, there no god but Him, HOW SIMPLE?


Well, let's see how mister Bukhari explains to us the oneness of Allah:


Mister Bukhari elaborated on the oneness of Allah in a hadith under a chapter in his Sahih that he named <b>التوحيد </b>, <b>Al-Tawhid</b> , let’s have a look:


http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/Display...=6930&doc=0





Hmm what was that exactly dear Muslim brothers and sisters?


Well, the above hadith is not a saying or an action of Mohammed, rather an alleged saying and action by Aysha


Aysha is telling us through Bukhari that she never was jealous of any woman except Khadijah, then she ended her hadith by saying that His Lord (the Lord of Mohammed) commanded him to inform her (Khadijah) that she will have a house in Paradise.


Hold on a minute, was that suppose to be the oneness of Allah?


It seems that mister Bikhari was so confused that he listed absolutely non sense under a chapter that he named Al-Tawhid, what is more revolting, that the above hadith suppose to explain to us the Quran words <b>قول الله تعالى ولا تنفع الشفاعة عنده إلا لمن أذن </b>, i.e. <b>intercession will not be allowed except to those who will be permitted</b> as in the Quran verse: <b> 20:109 يومئذ لا تنفع الشفاعة الا من اذن له الرحمن ورضي له قولا </b>


Now I am asking mister Bukhari and all his followers, how the jealousy of Aysha towards Kahdijah is explaining to us verse 20:109 that <b> لا تنفع الشفاعة الا من اذن له الرحمن ورضي له قولا</b>, i.e. <b> intercession will not be allowed except to those who will be permitted </b>?


Well, how about this question, how the jealousy of Aysha towards Kahdijah is explaining to us the oneness of Allah?


I guess no one will be able to answer those two simple questions, which should lead to the final survey:


Who is the confused one:


1) Bukhari


2) His followers


3) All the above


I guess you should know the answer by now


Salam

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