General
From Issue: 444 [Read full issue]
| Living the Quran |
Surah Al-Maun (Small Kindness) This surah brings forth the fundamental truth intrinsic in the nature of the Islamic faith, the enormous benefit it offers to all humanity and the abundant blessings with which Allah favoured mankind when He sent them His last Message. "Have you seen him who denies Our religion? It is he who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy." The surah starts with a question addressed to all who can "see", generating suspense and holding their attention in order to make them discover the target and subject of the surah. Ah! Who is this creature identified by the Qur'an as the one who denies the religion of Islam? Hence, the answer: "It is he who harshly repels the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy." This definition of the disbelievers may sound surprising when compared with the traditional definition of faith but this is the core of the whole matter. Indeed the one who denies the faith is he who wickedly repels the orphan, humiliating him and hurting his feelings! And who does not care for the needy or their welfare. For if the truth of Islam has in any degree touched his heart, he would commit no such acts. True belief in Islam is not a spoken word but an overall change of the individual's heart, motivating him to benevolence and goodwill for all his fellow beings that are in need of his care and protection. Allah does not want mere words from His servants but demands deeds to support the spoken words. Next, Allah offers a practical illustration of what is meant above: "Woe to those who pray, but are heedless of their prayers." These verses contain Allah's invocation against, or a threat of destruction to those who offer prayers but are careless about them. Who exactly are such? They are those "who put on a show of piety but refuse to give even the smallest help to others," those who perform prayers but do not aptly meet their requirements. They execute the mechanical aspects and pronounce the verbal formulae of prayers but their hearts are never alive to them, nor are they nourished by praying. The essence and purpose of prayer and its component parts (recitation, supplication and exaltation of Allah) are never present in their souls. Muslims are required to offer their prayers regularly, having in mind that their prayers are a manifestation of their servitude to Allah alone. Thus, prayer leaves no result in those who are neglectful and inattentive to it. Consequently they refuse to be kind or helpful to their fellow beings and deny the slightest charity to any of the servants of Allah. From all these, we gather the purpose behind what Allah demands of His servants when He instructs them to believe in, and worship Him. He seeks no benefit thereof for Himself, as He is All-Affluent, but all He cares for is their own welfare and prosperity, purification of their hearts and happiness in their lives. Allah wishes human life to be elevated, happy, based on pure motives and characterized by mutual compassion, brotherhood and purity of hearts and behaviour. Source: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
Taraweeh – A Beautiful Sunnah Basis The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was the first to establish the Sunnah of congregational prayer of taraweeh in the Masjid. In the books of Bukhari and Muslim, Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) has been reported as saying: "The Messenger of Allah observed Taraweeh prayer in the Masjid one night and people prayed with him. He repeated the following night and the number of participants grew. The companions congregated the third and fourth night, but the Messenger did not show up. In the morning he told them, "I saw what you did last night, but nothing prevented me from joining you except my fear that it might be made mandatory on you in Ramadan."" This hadith is a clear indication that the Taraweeh in congregation was not an innovation of Umar, the second Khalifah, despite his saying to the contrary. For it was the Messenger of Allah himself who started Taraweeh by praying in congregation and then stopped only when he feared that it would become mandatory. After his death, the prospect of Taraweeh becoming mandatory (Fard) was impossible, since there was to be no further revelation to change any law or rule by abrogation. The Numbers Game As for the number of raka'ats in Taraweeh and Witr, the worthy ancestor, Salaf as-Saalih disagreed on the amount of Raka'ats. These numbers are mentioned for raka'ats: 39, 29, 23, 19, 13, and 11 raka'ats. Aishah was asked how was the prayer of the Prophet? She replied: "He did not pray in Ramadan or some other times more than eleven raka'ats." (Muslim/Bukhari) However, there is nothing wrong with praying more than 11 raka'ats. Perhaps that is why different numbers are observed. The Prophet himself was asked about night prayer and he said: "It may be done in two raka'ats, and if anyone fears the appearance of morning, he should pray one rak'ah as a Witr for what he has already prayed." (Bukhari/Muslim) Note, though in their desire to pray more raka'ats, some people make Taraweeh in extreme speed. That is wrong, especially when the speed leads to a breach of certain rules of prayer. In that case, the prayer will not be valid. Similarly, it is undesirable for an Imam to pray with such speed whereby the followers will have difficulty observing the necessary actions in Salah or even hearing his recitation. Source: |
| Blindspot! |
Zakah & Ramadan Over the centuries, it has become a practice among the Muslims to offer their Zakah in the month of Ramadan. This is generally done to increase one’s blessings. However, we should remember that Zakah becomes due, 1 year after a person’s wealth reaches the value of Nisab (minimum amount) for a type of item (Gold, Silver, Savings, etc) and according to most scholars, his wealth has to remain above that Nisab level throughout the course of the year. So it is impossible for the whole Ummah to have reached the obligation of paying Zakah, at the onset of Ramadan. We should be clear in our minds that Zakah is not tied in with the month of Ramadan. An individual can bring forward his Zakah due date (notice: not push back), in order to take advantage of the multifold blessings of Ramadan. In fact, to make it easy on the recipients whose needs have to be met, one might chose Ramadan for the extra Sadaqa he gives out, maintaining his Zakah due date as is. This will allow for greater circulation of wealth throughout the year. Finally, Zakah is not simply the calculation of your dues on your gold and silver ornaments. Its scope and implication is wide-ranging. As such, it requires us to be diligent and aware of various details relating to our context and various forms of wealth. At the minimum, a learned scholar should be consulted, if one does not wish to get into the details. For the North American audience, Dr Monzer Kahf has a schedule that has been in use for the last 30 years available on his site at www.kahf.net. Let us all pray to Allah, that He blesses us with the ability to follow the dictates of his Deen with sincerity and perfection. Source: |
