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Insinuation, Prying, Quran Journal

Issue 354 » November 25, 2005 - Shawwal 22, 1426

General

Living the Quran

Al-Hujurat (The Chambers)
Chapter 49: Verse 6

Satan's Insinuation
"Believers, if a scoundrel brings you news, examine it carefully, lest you should unwittingly wrong others and then regret your actions."

Muslims are urged to verify the truth and accuracy of what they hear; rumour and fabricated reports could cause irreparable damage to the fabric of society.

Islam teaches that Satan is capable of cunning hostile ideas into people's minds. He is ever eager to fan the flames of dispute and would exploit any small disagreements and turn them into huge conflicts. This is the dangerous and unseen cause behind many a destructive and divisive confrontation. Within a Muslim community, any such hostile scheming must be pre-empted and such aggressive situations must not be allowed to rise. Instead, the community must promote harmony and peace and stand united against those who persist in aggression and threaten the unity and cohesion of Muslim society.

Source:
"Thematic Commentary on the Quran" - Muhammad Al-Ghazali, p. 578

Understanding the Prophet's Life

Do Not Pry

Do not grope after the secrets of the people; do not search for their defects and weaknesses; do not pry into their conditions and affairs. Whether this is done because of suspicion, or for causing harm to somebody with an evil intention, or for satisfying one's own curiosity, it is forbidden by the Shariah in every case. It does not suit a believer that he should spy on the hidden affairs of other people, and should try to peep at them from behind curtains to find out their defects and their weaknesses. This also includes reading other people's private letters, listening secretly to private conversation, peeping into the neighbour's house, and trying to get information in different ways about the domestic life or private affairs of others. This is grave immorality which causes serious mischief in society. That is why the Prophet once said in an address about those who pry into other people's affairs:

"O people, who have professed belief verbally, but faith has not yet entered your hearts: Do not pry into the affairs of the Muslims, for he who pries into the affairs of the Muslims, Allah will pry into his affairs, and he whom Allah follows inquisitively, is disgraced by Him in his own house." (Abu Dawud).

Muawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, says that he himself heard the Prophet say: “If you start prying into the secret affairs of the people, you will corrupt them, or at least drive them very near corruption." (Abu Da'ud).

In another Hadith he said: "When you happen to form an evil opinion about somebody, do not pry about it." (AI-Jassas, Ahkam al-Quran).

According to still another Hadith, the Prophet said: "The one who saw a secret affair of somebody and then concealed it is as though he saved a girl who had been buried alive." (AI-Jassas).

This prohibition of spying is not only applicable to the individuals but also to the Islamic government. The duty of forbidding the people to do evil that the Shariah has entrusted to the government does not require that it should establish a system of spying to enquire too curiously into the people's secret evils and then punish them, but it should use force only against those evils which are manifested openly. As for the hidden evils spying is not the way to reform them but it is education, advice and counselling, collective training of the people and trying to create a pure social environment.

The only exception from this command are the special cases and situations in which spying is actually needed. For instance, if in the conduct of a person (or persons) some signs of corruption are visible and there is the concern that he is about to commit a crime, the government can enquire into his affairs; or, for instance, if somebody sends a proposal of marriage, or wants to enter into business with a person, the other person can, enquire and investigate into his affairs for her own satisfaction.

Source:
"Towards Understanding the Quran" - Syed Abul Ala Mawdudi, Sura Hujurat, Verse 12

Free Tips!

Quran Journal

Writing a journal is an exercise many of us who have gone through the North American school system may have encountered in English classes. They are a way for students to develop their writing skills.

But many self-help gurus also extol the virtues of keeping a journal as a tool for self-development. It's a way to get in touch with your feelings, a way to track your development as a person, and a way to develop a better understanding of who you are.

Amidst these uses for a journal, there is one that has been rarely talked about: the Quran journal.

There are moments in life when you read some Ayahs (verses) in the Quran, and they seem to have been revealed precisely for your needs at those moments. You have read them a hundred times before, but only now have your life experiences prepared you to understand them. Keep a Quran journal of these moments when certain verses click and become real in your life.

Why keep a Quran journal?

1. Creates reverence for the Quran
For many Muslims today the value of the Quran as the Word of Allah may not be as strongly entrenched. The Quran journal is a way to develop a stronger connection to the Quran by noting our reactions to it.

2. It can help the words of Allah sink in
One problem many Muslims in our day and age and in our culture have is a lack of concentration. In our fast-paced culture, squeezing in time to read the Quran is sometimes hard. Those times that we do read, the words don't seem to sink in. The Quran journal can help do that.

3. The Quran journal is about you
The Quran is not simply a Book to be read and memorized. It is a Book to be lived. That means the deeper our understanding, and the more we connect what we learn from the Quran to our daily lives and experiences, the better we can see it as THE tool of guidance in our affairs. We will see the Quran as part of our daily life in this time. The lessons in it will not be lessons for people from centuries ago, irrelevant to us. Rather, they will be our lessons, regardless of whether we live in Makkah or Mississauga.

Source:
The Quranic Journal: Why and How” – SoundVision.com