Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Repel the Evil with Good
Al-Rad (Thunder) Chapter 13: Verse 22 (Partial)

"... and (those who) repel the evil with good."

This phrase has several meanings:

• Whatever evil people have done, or whatever sin they have committed, they repel (its effect) immediately by repentance.
• Whatever evil they have done, they immediately do a good deed in atonement for it.
• They repel the evil done to them by doing good to those who did evil to them.
• "When they are deprived (of anything), they give; and when they are wronged, they forgive."

Fethullah Gulen writes about this matter:

The most distinctive feature of a soul overflowing with faith is to love all types of love that are expressed in deeds, and to feel enmity for all deeds in which enmity is expressed. To hate everything is a sign of insanity or of infatuation with Satan.

Accept how God treats you. Make it the measure by which you treat others, so that you may represent the truth among them, and be free from the fear of loneliness in either world.

Compiled From:
"The Quran: Annotated Interpretation in Modern English" - Ali Unal, p. 506

From Issue: 591 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Women in Masjid

It is certain that the Prophet, peace be upon him, set aside one of the doors of the mosque especially for women and that he put them in the last rows of the mosque to protect them when they bowed and prostrated. He forbade men to go too near their rows in the same way that he forbade women to come too close to the rows of the men. These rows of women remained in the mosque throughout the era of the Prophet and the time of the Rashidun Khalifs. No one protested. It began with Fajr and ended with Isha. There were sometimes large groups of women for the Tarawih prayers during Ramadan. It is also known that they took part in the Eid prayers; and listening to the khutbas is one of the hallmarks of Islam.

In spite of the flowering that Islam produced in the world of women, it rapidly began to fade and disappear. A hadith was forged forbidding teaching women to write, in order that they should remain illiterate! What will be the reckoning of the person responsible for this piece of Jahiliyya? When was ignorance and blindness imposed on half of the Community? Then another hadith was disseminated which rejected the idea of women attending group prayers:

"Umm Humayda, the wife of Abu Humayd as-Saidi, reports that she went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah. I want to pray with you.' He said, I know that you want to pray with me. But your prayer in your bedroom is letter than your prayer in your living room, and your prayer in your living room is better than your prayer in your house, and your prayer in your house is better than your prayer in the mosque of your people. Your prayer in the mosque of your people is better than your prayer in my mosque.'" The transmitter said that she gave orders that a prayer room be constructed for herself in the furthest and darkest part of her house. She prayed in it until she met Allah Almighty." [Ibn Khuzayma]

The transmitter of this hadith casts behind his back the sunna of action transmitted by multiple paths from the Message-bearer. This transmitter regards a woman praying as something filthy which should be confined to the narrowest and most distant place possible. From this it would seem that the more constricted and distant the place the better the prayer!

The immediate question arising from this is: if these words are true, why did the Prophet let women attend the group prayers with him for ten years from Fajr to Isha? Why did he single out one of the doors of the mosque for them to enter by? Why did he not advise them to remain in their rooms instead of helping them in this way? Why did he shorten the Fajr prayer to two short suras when he heard a child with its mother weeping, so that their hearts would not be distracted? Why did he say, "Do not forbid the female servants of Allah from going to the mosques of Allah"? [Bukhari] Why did the Rashidun Khalifs allow the rows of women to remain in the mosque after the death of the Messenger?

Ibn Hazm spares himself and others when he says that the hadiths which forbid women to pray in mosques are lies and considers them false. Scholars of technical usage say that this hadith is considered aberrant (shadhdh) since it is opposed by someone who is more reliable.

Compiled From:
"The Sunna of the Prophet" - Muhammad al-Ghazali

From Issue: 947 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Here are some tips of things we can do on the Night of Power and the time before and after it.

1. Do Itikaf

It was a practice of the Prophet to spend the last ten days and nights of Ramadan in the masjid for Itikaf.

Those in Itikaf stay in the masjid all this time, performing various forms of zikr (the remembrance of Allah), like doing extra Salat, recitation and study of the Quran. They do not go outside the masjid except in case of emergencies, therefore, they sleep in the masjid. Their families or the masjid administration takes care of their food needs.

Itikaf of a shorter period of time, like one night, a day or a couple of days is encouraged as well.

2. Make this special Dua

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I asked the Messenger of Allah: 'O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I say during it?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, You are pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.' "(Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi).

The transliteration of this Dua is "Allahumma innaka `afuwwun tuhibbul `afwa fa`fu `annee"

3. Reflect on the meaning of the Quran

Choose the latest Surah or Surahs you've heard in Tarawih and read their translation and Tafseer. Then think deeply about their meaning and how it affects you on a personal level.

4. Make a personal Dua list.

Ask yourself what you really want from Allah. Make a list of each and everything, no matter how small or how big it is, whether it deals with this world or not. Allah loves to hear from us. Once this list is ready, you can do three things:

• Ask Allah to give you those things
• Think about what actions you have taken to get those things
• Develop a work plan to get those things in future.

5. Evaluate yourself.

Ask yourself those questions that need to be asked. Do an evaluation of where you are and where you are going. Let this evaluation lead you to feel happiness for the good you have done and remorse for the bad you have done. This latter feeling should make it easier to seek Allah's sincere forgiveness when making the Dua mentioned in tip number one above.

6. Have Iftar with the family

If you've spent Iftar time on weekdays in your cubicle at work alone with a couple of dates, now is the last few days you'll have this Ramadan to spend with your family. Use it wisely.

7. Finish reading a book on the Prophet

Read about the Prophet's life, which can increase your love for him and Islam by seeing how much he struggled for Allah's sake. It may inspire you to push yourself even harder during these last ten nights. This community is built on sacrifice.

Compiled From:
"16 things you can do on the Night of Power" - Abdul Malik Mujahid

From Issue: 546 [Read original issue]