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\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n| \r\n QURAN \r\n |
Translation:
\r\nSurah \r\n al-Ankaboot
\r\n The Spider \r\n (29) - Ayah 69
\r\n In the name \r\n of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\"And \r\n those who Strive in Our (Cause), We \r\n will certainly guide them to Our paths: for \r\n verily Allah is with those who do Right.\"
\r\nCommentary:
\r\nApplication \r\n of Qur'an: A Dynamic Process
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What \r\n one receives from the Qur'an, how much one \r\n understands of the Qur'an, and how much one \r\n is truly guided by it, is not a static process. \r\n It is indeed a dynamic process that is directly \r\n related to one's faith and willingness to \r\n apply the Qur'an
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As \r\n the person learns and applies the Qur'an, \r\n his or her understanding of the Qur'an increases \r\n even further. This was precisely the case \r\n with the Companions of the Prophet (peace \r\n and blessings be upon him)
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Living \r\n in the Shade of the Qur'an: The Real Sweetness \r\n of Faith
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Sayyid \r\n Qutb (rahimahullah) convincingly elaborates \r\n that unless we apply the Qur'an in our actions \r\n and actually begins to live in the shade of \r\n the Qur'an, we will never really taste the \r\n sweetness or experience the guidance of the \r\n Qur'an
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\"The \r\n [sweet taste] of this Qur'an can not be tasted \r\n except by the one who dives into the struggle: \r\n The one who faces the same situations and \r\n struggles concerning which the Qur'an as revealed.\"
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\"Those \r\n who just search for the meaning and evidences \r\n of the Qur'an, while they are sitting studying \r\n it as a speech or art only, will never be \r\n able to discover the reality of the Qur'an \r\n from that motionless, barren sitting, far \r\n away from the struggle and far away from the \r\n movement. The reality of the Qur'an is never \r\n revealed to those who simply sit around and \r\n watch\" commented Imam Qutb in his tafseer.
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It \r\n is not a Book of Abstract Theories:
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Sayyid \r\n Abul A'la Mawdudi (rahimahullah) eloquently \r\n echoed similar thoughts, \"The Qur'an is neither \r\n a book of abstract theories and cold doctrines, \r\n which the reader can grasp while seated in \r\n a cozy armchair, no r is it merely a religious \r\n book like any other religious books, the secrets \r\n of which can be grasped in oratories\"
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\"This \r\n is the Book which inspired and directed a \r\n great movement which began with the preaching \r\n of a powerful message that transformed the \r\n world!\"
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[compiled from \r\n \"How to Approach and Understand the Quran\", pp. \r\n 178-182, by Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo]
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| \r\n MODESTY \r\n IN ISLAM & MANNERS OF DRESSING \r\n \r\n |
Conclusion \r\n of series on 'Haya' from YMFN issues 115 - 120
\r\n:!: \r\n ‘Awrah for Women :!:
For females, \r\n the ‘Awrah is the whole body, except \r\n the face and hands. Women are required to cover \r\n themselves as such whenever they leave the house \r\n or are in the presence of non-Mahrams (a \r\n male not related by birth, marriage, or fosterhood \r\n as in al-Nur 24:31). The Prophet of Allah \r\n (peace be upon him) clearly outlined the proper \r\n bounds of a women's dress:
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Aisha (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) \r\n said, “When a woman attains maturity, \r\n it is not lawful for her to uncover any portion \r\n of her body except the face and this” \r\n and then he put his hand on his wrist joint \r\n so as to leave only a little space between \r\n the place he gripped and the palm. [Ibn \r\n Majah]
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Asma (ra), \r\n the daughter of Abu Bakr (ra), once \r\n came before the Prophet in a thin dress that \r\n revealed some of her body. The Prophet (saw) \r\n turned his eyes away and said, “O Asma, \r\n when a woman attains maturity, it is not allowed \r\n that any part of her body be seen, except \r\n this and this.” and then \r\n he pointed to his face and the palms of his \r\n hands. [Abu Dawood, Fath-al-Qadir]
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In light of these requirements, a Muslim women's dress (or \r\n Hijab) should
\r\n1 - cover the entire body except what is exempted, \r\n i.e. face and hands, using a Khimar (head-covering) \r\n and Jilbab (long outer gown)
\r\n2 - be loose-fitting so as not to describe \r\n the contours of the body
\r\n3 - be thick \r\n enough to not be seen through, and
\r\n4 - not be \r\n a dress of vanity or pride
\r\n5 - not resemble the dress of men or of those who are known to be indecent/immoral.
\r\nIn addition to the Hijab being a commandment of Allah, \r\n it is important to realize the role it plays in \r\n the life of a Muslimah, and in the field of Da'wah. \r\n Far from being a 'symbol of oppression', as some \r\n would have us believe, it is a symbol of simplicity, \r\n modesty, and true freedom in righteousness. A \r\n Muslim woman who observes this dress enjoys the \r\n social recognition, intellectual empowerment and \r\n spiritual upliftment deserving of her, something \r\n that the so-called 'liberated women' has been \r\n longing to attain for centuries.
\r\nAs Sr. Aminah Assilmi has said \r\n \"This veil warns people up front that I am \r\n not a woman to be messed with! It shows that I \r\n am a woman with a mind and that I know I am more \r\n than a body.\"
\r\nThese \r\n are the Islamic directives of Hijab. The \r\n social etiquette they depict is poised magnificently \r\n between the extremes human civilizations have \r\n often witnessed. Like all other directives of \r\n Islam their object is to purify the soul and to \r\n purge it from evil, which is essential if men \r\n and women are to become worthy of eternal life \r\n in Heaven -- the eternal life for which the All-Mighty \r\n actually created them.
\r\n[compiled from \r\n \"al-Hijab and the Status of Women in Islam\" by \r\n Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi]
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\r\n| \r\n Islamic Vocab. \r\n |
Gha'ib
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metaphysically, \r\n refers to the Unseen world, includes \r\n all that is not visible to humans, such \r\n as Paradise, Hellfire, Jinns, Angels, \r\n and other heavenly phenomena.
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physically, \r\n means something that is not present, \r\n as in \"O Allah, forgive those you are \r\n present and those who are in the Gha'ib\".
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\r\n| \r\n Quotes to ponder over \r\n |
Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu \r\n 'alayhi wa sallam) is reported to have \r\n said:
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When \r\n a man dies, the angels say, 'What has he \r\n sent forward?'
\r\nBut the people \r\n say, 'What has he left behind?'
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[compiled by Imam al-Bayhaqi]
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