Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Al-Baqarah (The Cow)
Chapter 2: Verse 165 (partial)

Intense Love
"Those who have Iman, are intense in their Love for Allah."

This is how Allah describes the true believers- i.e. those who Love Allah more than anything else and who make Allah their first priority.

The verse doesn't say, that one must love Allah only. Love is a blessing given to us by Allah and is manifested in many aspects of life. In Islam, however, it must be foremost for Allah, our Creator, and Merciful Sustainer.

What is Love?

Perhaps it cannot be defined in terms which adequately reflect its nature and importance in a person's life. It is not possible to define it by a formula in a manner we define a scientific fact. But still each one of us knows what love is and can tell from our experience the powerful force that it is.

It is the overpowering force in life. It captivates you, it grips you, it moves you and you are prepared to do anything for the sake of it. Once love is there, what you do is not something which has to be imposed upon you, because you need imposition only for things you do not love.

Nature of True Iman & Love for Allah

Iman (faith) is something which must penetrate deep into your heart and generate an intense love for Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him), more than anything else. Unless this happens, you cannot experience the real Iman.

To develop this love for Allah does not require us to retire to or seclude ourselves in a monastery / masjid. This love makes us do our duty to Allah, as His representatives, while we are out in the street, at home or in the office. With this love, we live as servants of Allah, everywhere willingly making every sacrifice required of us. In fact, it propels us to share actively in the service of Allah's other creatures. True love of Allah makes one care for people and their needs.

Your Barometer: Salah

Whether or not you have that love is something only for you to examine closely. If you love someone, one of your most intense desires will be to get closer to that person. In Islam, there are several ways of getting closer to Allah, foremost of which is Salah (daily prayers).

Once you are praying to Him, you are in front of Him, you are near to Him, you are speaking to Him, you are responding to Him in gratitude, and you are asking for His forgiveness. Prayer is not just a ritual in which you go through certain postures. The love generated through Salah, by submitting your soul exclusively to Allah, is like a seed which, as it grows, envelops the entire personality!

Compiled From:
"In the Early Hours" - Khurram Murad, pp. 63-64

From Issue: 511 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Stimulate Charity

Because human greed is a major obstacle to the abundance of these acts, the Shariah has taken special care to encourage people and stimulate their interest in gifts and donations by classifying them as acts whose reward for the donor does not cease even after death. Thus, it is reported in an authentic Tradition: "When a man dies, his acts come to an end, except three, recurring charity, or knowledge [by which people] benefit, or a pious son, who prays for him [i.e. for the deceased]." [Muslim]

During the Prophet's time, there were numerous cases of repeated charity (sadaqa jariya) and endowments (awqaf) that were made by either him or his Companions. Mention can be made here of Uthman ibn Affan's charity which he made when he heard the Prophet saying: "Who will buy the well of Rumah [a famous well in Medina] and endow it for the general welfare of the people so that he may use it like the other Muslims without any privilege," Uthman bought it and endowed it for the welfare of all Muslims.[Bukhari]

Compiled From:
"Maqasid Al-Shariah" - Ibn Ashur, pp. 309, 310

From Issue: 978 [Read original issue]

Cool Concepts

The Camera Obscura

Like many eminent philosophers and mathematicians, Ibn al-Haitham was a keen observer. While in a room one day he noticed light coming through a small hole made in the window shutters. It fell onto the wall opposite and it was the half-moon shape of the sun's image during eclipses. From this he explained that light travelled in a straight line and when the rays were reflected off a bright subject they passed through the small hole and did not scatter but crossed and reformed as an upside-down image on a flat white surface parallel to the hole. he then established that the smaller the hole, the clearer the picture.

In later stages, his discoveries led to the invention of the camera obscura, and Ibn al-Haitham built the first camera, or camera obscura or pinhole camera, in history. He went on to explain that we see objects upright and not upside down, as the camera does, because of the connection of the optic nerve with the brain, which analyses and defines the image.

During his practical experiments, Ibn al-Haitham often used the term al-Bayt-al-Muthlim, which was translated into Latin as camera obscura, or dark, private or closed room or enclosed space. Camera is still used today, as is qamara in Arabic which still means a private or dark room.

Many of Ibn al-Haitham's works, especially his huge Book of Optics, were translated into Latin by the medieval scholar Gerard of Cremona. This had a profound impact on the 13th century big thinkers like Roger Bacon and Witelo, and even on the 15th century works of Leonardo da Vinci.

Compiled From:
"1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World" - Salim T S Al-Hassani, pp. 268, 269

From Issue: 624 [Read original issue]