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From Issue: 439 [Read full issue]

Living the Quran

Surah al-Balad (The City)
Chapter 90: Verses 17-18

Effects of Mercy
"Then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion. Such are the Companions of the Right Hand."

The Muslim is merciful, for mercy is one of the traits of a Muslim, since it is the source of a pure soul and spirit. By being kind, doing righteous deeds, staying away from evil, and shunning corruption, the Muslim's soul abides in purity and his spirit remains in goodness. Since this is the case, then mercy would never separate from his heart at all. It is for this reason that the Muslim loves mercy, he spreads and encourages it and calls others to it.

Since the reality of mercy is a kindness of the heart and compassion of the soul that leads to being forgiving and beneficent, it does not merely exist as internal kindness without external results. Rather the heart's mercy is the essence of external results whose physical reality is visible. Among the external effects of mercy are: pardoning those who slip, forgiving those who are mistaken, helping those in trouble, assisting the weak, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending to the sick, and consoling the grieved. All of these, as well as many other things are among the effects of mercy.

Source:
“Minhaj Al-Muslim Volume: 1" - Abu Bakr Jabir Al-Jaza'iry
Understanding the Prophet's Life

The Islamic Revival

"Allah will raise at the head of each century, such people for this ummah as will revive its deen for it."
[Abu Dawud]

The process of revival (tajdeed) has been shouldered by many great personalities like 'Umar bin 'Abdul-Aziz, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam as-Shafi'i, Imam al-Ghazzali, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, Imam ibn Taymiyyah, Shah Waliullah, and others. The greatness of these personalities lies not only in the vastness of their knowledge but in the way that they applied both their mind and their knowledge to the prevailing situation of their age and then in the way that they strove to revive the deen (way of life).

So, they would examine the situation of the Muslims and then they would compare this situation with the demands of Islam and if they found any discrepancies then they would work on this particular weakness to make the situation fulfill the demands of Islam. Thus movements have arisen concentrating variously on jihad, morality, asceticism, prayers, politics, philosophy, belief and dedication to the Sunnah depending upon what was particularly lacking in the Muslims of that time.

It is obvious though, that today, we are not only lacking in just one aspect of Islam but rather, we are lacking in almost every aspect. This has been the natural conclusion of many of the century's great revivers. They maintain that today's comprehensive disease requires a comprehensive cure. Consequently, we have witnessed this century the emergence of Islamic movements in almost every country all essentially aiming to return mankind in a comprehensive manner back to the worship of Allah.

From Palestine to the Phillippines and from Tunisia to the Tajikistan, these movements are today one single global Islamic movement united by a common Cause and a common Struggle.

Source:
“The Islamic Revival: Al-Tajdeed Al-Islami” - Young Muslims UK
Blindspot!

Employee's Rights

One form of oppression or injustice that is common in Muslim societies is the failure to give employees and workers their rights. This takes many forms, for example:

Denying an employee’s rights in totality, where the employee has no proof of his rights. He may have lost his dues in this world, but he will not lose them before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. So the oppressor who consumed the money due to the victim will be brought forth, and his victim will be given some of his hasanaat in compensation (i.e. some of the oppressor’s good deeds will be added to his victim’s credit). If the hasanaat are not enough, some of the victim’s sayi’aat (bad deeds) will be added to the oppressor, and then he will be thrown into Hell.

Not giving the employee his full rights. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Woe to al-Mutaffifeen [those who give less in measure and weight (decrease the rights of others)].” [al-Mutaffifeen 83:1] One example of this is the action of some bosses who bring workers from another country with a contract to pay a certain wage. Once the people are committed and have started to work for him, he goes and changes the contracts, altering them to state a lower wage than the one actually agreed upon. If the employer is a Muslim and the employee is not, this lowering of wages is a way of turning people away from the Straight Path, and he will carry his sin.

Making the employee do extra work or put in longer hours, without paying him overtime or giving him any more than the basic salary. Some bosses delay payment of wages and pay up only after much struggle, complaining, chasing and court cases. Their aim may be to make the employee give up his claim to his rightful wages and stop asking. Meanwhile, the poor employee cannot buy his daily bread or send anything home to his needy wife and children for whose sake he left to work overseas. Woe to those oppressors on that painful Day! Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah says: ‘There are three whom I will oppose on the Day of Resurrection: a man who gives his word, swearing by Me, then breaks it, a man who sells a free man into slavery and keeps the money, and a man who hires another and benefits from his labour, then does not pay him his wages.'” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, see Fath al-Baari, 4/447).

Source:
“Muharramat” - Salih al-Munajjid

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