KHUTAB I - F (26-31)
26. FASTING IN
ISLAM (1)
The
Muslims of Edmonton and elsewhere are observing the fasting of the month of
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. Fasting (الصَّوْم) technically
means to abstain completely from food, drink, intimate intercourse and smoking,
before the break of the dawn till sunset, during the entire month of Ramadan.
Fasting is the
third pillar of Islam after the shahādah (bearing witness that there is
no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger) and the five daily prayers.
Other pillars of Islam are zakāh and h.ajj.
Zakāh is an annual tax of 2.5 % of one’s net savings as a purifying sum
to be distributed among the poor in the community. H...ajj
is the pilgrimage to the Ka‘bah in Mecca, once in a lifetime, to those who are
healthy and have the means to do so.
The prescription of fasting was
revealed by Allah to Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) in the second year of Hijrah
(migration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Madinah in 622 to
avoid the persecution of the Meccan infidels). The Qur’ān, the very words of
Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) says:
يَا أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ
عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (البقرة: ۱٨٣)
“O ye who
believe! Fasting is prescribed to you
as
it was prescribed to those before you, that
ye may (learn)
self-restraint.” (Q. 2:183)
As the Muslim calendar is based on
lunar calendar, Ramadan can be in any season of the year. As Ramadan this year
(1986 here in Edmonton) is in late spring, the Muslim community of this area is
fasting about 18 hours (in summer, about 19 hours). Before dawn Muslims are
highly recommended to have their light meal so that fasting will not be too
hard for them.
Very old
people, pregnant women and the sick are exempt from fasting. Old people have to pay a sum of money or food
to feed the poor. Pregnant women and sick people fast respectively after
delivery and recovery. To healthy people fasting is far from being dangerous.
Man can survive without food for several weeks. Without water in normal
condition he can survive not more than 70 or 80 hours, i.e., about 3 days.
However, it was reported that a baby survived miraculously after being trapped
in a collapsed building for one week in Mexico City when this city was being
devastated by earthquake last year (1985).
Abstaining from water in 18 or 19 hours
is only one-fourth of the length of time that can cause death from starvation.
Allah says in the Qur’ān:
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا
إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا (البقرة: ۲٨٦)
“On
no soul doth Allah placed a burden
greater than it can bear” (Q. 2: 286)
Beside
spiritual advantage such as patience, self-restraint, sympathy with the poor
and sincere and deep love for Allah, fasting has also its physical advantages.
It has a healing power. The fact that hunger is the best cure to many ailments
has been proved and defended by many medical authorities. The historian
Herodotus described the early Egyptian who fasted three days a month as
extremely healthy people. The Arab and Muslim physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
prescribed fasting for all ailments. The Nobel Prize winner Dr. Alexis Carrel
described important hidden phenomena in fasting when he said:
The sugar of
the liver and the fat of the subcutaneous
deposits are
mobilized, and also the proteins of the muscles
and the glands. All the organs sacrifice their
own substances
in order
to maintain blood, heart and brain in a normal
condition. Fasting purifies and profoundly
modifies our tissues.
We Muslims are recommended to break our
fast with dates or water. The Prophet
said: “Break your fast with a date, for it is blessing; if you have no date,
then with water, for it is pure.” According to late Dr. Anwar al-Mufti sweet
liquid is absorbed by the intestine in less than five minutes eliminating the
symptom of sugar deficiency; sugar in food is absorbed within three or four
hours, so that the symptom of sugar deficiency still remains in a person who
breaks his fasting with solids rather than sweet liquids as if one is still fasting.
Dr. Allen Scott said: ‘Water is a faster’s best friend. It facilitates the
flushing or toxins and waste materials that accumulate when fatty tissues are
being burned.’” Our beloved Prophet Muhammad had said thirteen centuries ago: صُوْمُوْا
تَصِحُّوْا “Fast so that you will
be healthy.”
27. FASTING IN ISLAM (2)
a.
The Meaning of صَوْم (Fasting)
The
root-meaning of صوم is “to abstain (from
doing something), to stand still” (الصَّوْمُ لُغَةً:
الإمْسَاكُ وَ تَرْكُ التَّنَقُّلِ مِنْ حَالٍ إلىَ حَالٍ). It includes being
silent, as it is abstention from talking. The example from the Qur’ān is when Mary said:
إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ
إِنْسِيًّا (مريم : ۲٦)
“I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most
Gracious,
and this day will I enter into no talk
with
any human being.” (Q. 19:26)
When the wind stops blowing it is called doing s.awm (الصَّوْمُ: رُكُوْدُ
الرِّيْحِ, وَهُوَ إمْسَاكُهَا عَنِ اْلهُبُوب). When the sun is at the zenith, the highest
point in the sky, it is called doing sawm,
as if it is standstill, not moving. In
Islamic law, s.awm means abstaining from those which will break the fast
from dawn to sunset.” (شَرْعًا: الإمْسَاكُ عَنِ اْلمُفْطِرَاتِ مَعَ اقْتِرَانِ النِّيَّةِ
بِهِ مِنْ طُلُوْعِ اْلفَجْرِ إِلىَ غُرُوْبِ الشَّمْسِ).
Allah says in the Qur’ān:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا
كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ. أَيَّامًا
مَعْدُودَاتٍ
فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ
مِسْكِينٍ فَمَنْ تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ
لَهُ وَأَنْ تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ.
(البقرة : ۱٨٤)
“O ye who
believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as
it was prescribed to
those before you that ye may (learn)
self-restraint.
(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if
any of you is ill or
on a journey the prescribed number
(should be made up)
from days later. For those who can
do it (with hardship)
is a ransom the feeding of one that
is indigent.; but he
that will give more of his own free
will it is better for
him and it isbetter for you
that ye fast if ye only knew.” (Q. 2:183-4)
Explanation of the verse:
كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ “
as it was prescribed to those before you”
Several
interpretations are given by Qur’ānic commentators on this expression, among
which are as follows:
1. The similarity is in the time and
the quantity of fasting (وَقْتُ الصَّوْمِ وَقَدْرُالصَّوْم) according
to al-Sha‘bī and Qatādah. Muh.āhid states
that fasting in the month of Ramad.ān was
prescribed to every nation.
2. The similarity is in being
prescribed (التَّشْبِيْهُ رَاجِعٌ إلىَ أَصْلِ وُجُوْبِهِ)
, not in its time and nature.
3. The similarity is in the nature
of fasting, namely, the abstention from eating, drinking and sex until one is
asleep, according to al-Suddī, Abū ’l-‘Āliyah and al-Rabī‘.
This was later abrogated with the verse
that follows, namely,
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ الصِّيَامِ
الرَّفَثُ إِلَى نِسَائِكُمْ (البقرة : ٨٧۱)
“Permitted to you on
the night of the fasts is
the approach to your wives…”(Q.
2: 187)
4. The similarity is in the time and nature of fasting
in the beginning, namely, three days every month and the day of ‘Āshūrā’ (10th
of Muh.arram, from sunset to sunset),
according to Mu‘ādh bin Jabal. Then it was abrogated with the prescription of
fasting in the month of Ramad.ān, as
mentioned in the next verse, namely,
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ
فِيهِ الْقُرْآَنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ ...(البقرة :۱٨٥)
“Ramadan
is the( month) in which was sent down
the Qur’an as a guide to mankind…” (Q. 2:185)
فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَرِيضًا “but if any of you is ill…”
It means that a
person who cannot fast because of his illness he is allowed to abstain from
fasting, but if he can fast with hardship, he is recommended to abstain from
fasting.
وَعَلَى الَّذِينَ
يُطِيقُونَهُ فِدْيَةٌ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍ “For those who can do it (with hardship) is
a ransom the feeding of one that is indigent.”
According
to Ibn ‘Abbās it is a permission رُخْصة)) for old people, pregnant and nursing
women, if they are anxious about their babies, to abstain from fasting, and
feed a poor person (a day). According to Imām Mālik a woman who is sick in
pregnancy has to make up the fasting she is missing (without feeding a poor
person a day), whereas a woman who is sick in nursing has to make up the missed
fasting and to feed a poor person. According to al-Shāfi‘ī and Ah.mad ibn H...anbal,
the sick and pregnant women have to make up their missed day of fasting as well
as to feed a poor person a day.
فَمَنْ تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَهُ “but
he that will give more of his own free will it is better for him”
Some interpretations of this part of the verse:
1. Feeding a poor person as
well as fasting according to Ibn Shihāb.
2.
Increasing the food according to Mujāhid.
3.
Feeding another poor person according to Ibn ‘Abbās
وَأَنْ تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ “and it is better for you that ye fast”
It means that fasting is still better than
breaking the fast by paying fidyah (redemption) from the omission of
fasting for travelling or non-serious sickness.
Then
Allah said:
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ
فِيهِ الْقُرْآَنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ فَمَنْ
شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ
فَلْيَصُمْهُ وَمَنْ كَانَ
مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ
الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ
وَلِتُكْمِلُوا الْعِدَّةَ
وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
(البقرة : ۱٨٥)
“The month of Ramadan
in which was sent down the Qur’an as
a guide to mankind
also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment
(between right and
wrong). So everyone of you who is present (at
his home) during that
month should spend it in fasting but if
anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed
period (should be
made up) by days later. Allah intends every
facility for you. He
does not want to put you
to difficulties. (He wants you) to
complete the
prescribed period and to glorify Him
in that He has guided you;and perchance
ye shall be grateful.” (Q. 2:185)
Names of the Months
The names of the months in
Arabic are originally taken from the time it occurred. For example, Rabī‘(رَبِيْع)
means “spring”.
مُحَرَّم (Muh.arram, 30 days) means “inviolable, cannot be violated”
as this month was one of the four month where the pre-Islamic Arabs stopped
fighting.
صَفَر (S.afar, 29 days) means “hunger,
emptiness”; the word cipher, صَفْر (s.afr) or صِفْر (s.ifr) means “zero”. It was the time
when the city of Mecca (Makkah) became vacant, because its people at this month
were travelling. It is also said that people in this month attacked other
tribes taking their possessions and making them empty-handed (صِفْرُ
اْليَدَيْن)ِ , as they had
nothing left. The two S.afars means Muh.arram and S.afar.
رَبِيِيْعُ الأوَّل
(Rabī‘ al-Awwal, 30 days)
means “the first spring” and
الآخِر(الثَّانِي) رَبِيْعُ (Rabī‘ al-Ākhar, Rabī‘ al-Ākhir or Rabī‘ al-Thānī, 29 days) “the other
spring,” “the last spring” or “the second spring”
جُمَادَى الأُوْلَى
(Jumādā ‘l-Ūlā or Jumādī ’l-Awwal, 30
days) “the first freezing” month, and
(الثَّانِيَة) جُمَادَى الآخِرَة (Jumādā ’l-ākhirah, Jumādī ’l-Ākhir
or Jumādī ’l-Thānī, 29 days) “the other freezing”,
“the last freezing” or “the second freezing” month. These two names of the two
months were given while water was freezing at that time.
رَجَب (Rajab, 30 days) The verb رَجَِبَ
رَجْبا وَ رُجُوْبًا means “to be ashamed, to be shy”. The word
أَرْجَبَ الرَّجُلُ رَجْبًا وَ تَرْجِيْبًا means هَابَهُ وَ عَظَّمَهُ “the man respects
and glorifies it (something)”, as this month of Rajab was glorified in
pre-Islamic Arabia (Jāhiliyyah period), they did not go to war in this month.
The expression “the two رَجَبْRajabs
means
Rajab and Sha‘bān.
شَعْبَان
(Sha‘bān, 29
days) means “scattered”. تَشَعَّبَ اْلقَوْمُ means “people
dispersed”. The word shu‘bah originally means “a group of people, فِرْقَة
”.
Now it means “section, division, department.” In this month the Arabs scattered
searching for water.
رَمَضَان (Ramad.ān, 30 days) is from the word الرَّمْضَاء (al-ramd.ā’),
meaning “the sun-baked ground”. The name was given to this month when it was so
hot that the ground became sun-baked. It is also said that in this month people
heat (sharpened) their weapons to fight with it in the month of Shawwāl before
the arrival of the inviolable months where fighting was not allowed by their
traditional law. These months were Dhu ’l-Qi‘dah, Dhu ’l-H...ijjah, Muh.arram and Rajab. Another
view says that in this month the sins will be heated (burned) with good deeds. Al-Māwardī said that the name of this month
in pre-Islamic time was Nāt.iq (نَاطِق).
شَوَّال (Shawwāl,
29 days) was called so when the
camels raised their tails (لِشَوْلانِ
النَّاَقةِ بِذَنَبِهَا), probably, the
mating season.
ذُو ْالقِعْدَة (Dhu ’l-Qi‘dah, 30 days) (lit. “time for sitting down”), it was the
time where the Arabs avoid raiding, looking for supply and searching for
pasture. It was the month of relaxation.
ذُو ْالحِجَّة (Dhu ’l-H...ijjah, 29
days) the month of pilgrimage. H...ajj had
been practised by the pagan Arabs in pre-Islamic Arabia. Upon their return from
their travel, they did not go directly home and changed their clothes; instead,
they took them off, and went to make t.awāf
around the Ka‘bah, naked, at night. At the early period of Islam the Muslims
performed the h.ajj with
them but in Islamic way.
The
meaning of the verse:
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآَنُ
“The
month of Ramadan in which was sent down the Qur’ān”
1.The
month of Ramadan is the month in which the Qur’ān was revealed.
2. (The month
in which you are enjoined to fast is) the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’ān
was revealed.
3. (It is
prescribed to you) the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’ān was revealed.
فَمَنْ شَهِدَ
مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ “So everyone of you
who is present (at his home) during that month.”
The word شَهِدَ means, “to see,
to witness” either with eyesight or with insight. The word الشَّهْر means “the month” not “the crescent” which is اْلهِلال in Arabic. Therefore, the verse means, if we
just stop here, lit. “Whoever witness the month (of Ramadan) with his insight”
and in a better expression “whosoever is present in this month.” However, in pre-Islamic poetry, the word شَهْر (month) could also mean هِلال (crescent). An
unidentified poet says:
أَخَـوَانِ
مِنْ نَجْـدٍ عَـلىَ ثِقَـةٍ * وَ الشَّهْـرُ مِثُلُ قُلامَـةِ الظّفُـرِ
حَـتّى
تَكَامَـلَ فِي ْاسـتِدَارَتِـهِ * فِي أَرْبَـٍع زَادَتْ عَـلىَ عَشَـِر
"The
coming of two brothers from Najd is certain
when the crescent
[lit. ‘the month’] is like the cutting
of the nail until it becomes completely round
at the 14th (of the month)".
The
Significance of Fasting
Al-Ghazālī says
that hunger produces the following beneficial results: (a) Purification of the
soul and illumination of the mind; (b) the capacity to employ spiritual
pleasures; (c) humility (d) remembrance of the poor; (e) freedom from all
sinful desires; (f) resistance to the temptation to sleep, and a stimulus to
vigils; (g) the affording opportunity for the ritual of worship; (h) gaining
physical health; (i) the reduction of expenses; and (j) provision of means to
feed the poor.
There are three levels of fasting:
1. The fasting of the ‘awām, the common people:
abstaining from food and sexual passion.
2. The fasting of the khawās., the elect: abstaining from
seeing, hearing, speaking, and committing sin with hands, legs and the rest of
the limbs.
3. The fasting of the khawāṣ al-khawāṣ , the elect
of the elect: abstaining from bad
intention and from thinking of worldly things.
Ramad.ān iس the month of patience (شَهْرُ
الصَّبْر), the month of self control: controlling our emotion by
avoiding bad intentions, controlling our tongue from saying bad things, and
controlling our actions from doing bad things. Junayd was asked about
patience. He said, “Swallowing something
bitter without wrinkling your face.” Dhū 'l-Nūn al-Mis.rī said: “Patience is avoiding what is against
religion, and being calm, not being upset or complaining in the face of
calamity, poverty and the hardship of life.” An unidentified poet says:
إذَا
شَكَوْتَ إلىَ ابْنِ آدَمَ إنَّمَا * تَشْكِيْ الرَّحِيْمَ إلىَ الَّذِي لا يَرْحَمُ
“If you complain to the son of
Adam (i.e., a human being), you
actually complain to a non-mercufil against
the Merciful”
28. FASTING AND HEALTH
Sometimes we are in a
situation where we are compelled to fast. For example, we are on a journey and
suddenly stranded in a foreign land and are short of food. Yet, we survive. In
winter 1963, two people survived from a plane crash on a mountainside in
Northern British Columbia in Canada. For over one month they lived on water
only without food. They had been very fat.
When they were rescued 49 days after the crash they were found in good
condition.
In the animal kingdom, fasting, lack
of food, even famine are common. Yet,
the animals survive. They rarely die of starvation. The hibernating bear, for
example, without taking any food for
long periods, will give birth to her cub and secrete milk for her young. It is
said that the starfish may grow a new stomach, new tube feet and new arms while
fasting. The same with the salamandar. Without taking any food its lost tail
will grow a new one. In spite of temporal lack of food life continues in the animal world.
Fasting
(الصَّوْم) is one of the fundamentals of Islam. By showing our
devotion to Allah in fasting, we get spiritual and physical benefits from
it. Physicians throughout history have
confirmed the truth of the statement of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
when he said:
صُوْمُوْا تَصِحُّوْا
(رواه الطبراني)
"Fast, so that you will be
healthy." (Reported by al-Ṭabrānī)
The Greek historian and
traveler Herodotus (484-420 B.C.) described the early Egyptians who fasted
three days a month as extremely healthy people. This type of fasting was
prescribed in Islam shortly after the Prophet's emigration from Mecca to
Madinah. Allah says: "O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as
it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,
- (Fasting) for a fixed number of
days;..." (Q. 2:183-184) "A fixed number of days"
means three days a month. (See Ibn Kathir's Tafsir on these verses.)
This type of fasting was later replaced with the fasting in the month of
Ramadan. Allah says: "Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the
Qur’ān, as a guide to mankind, also clear (signs) for
guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his
home) during that month should spend it in fasting,..." (Q. 2:185)
The Muslim physician and
philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037 C.E.) was said to have prescribed
fasting for all ailments. Fasting has been used in the treatment of patients
suffering from metabolic disorders, allergic diseases, skin diseases, asthma,
etc., in clinics and sanitariums in Switzerland, France, Russia, India, and
Germany since the mid-19th century. Dr. Edward Dewey wrote a century ago:
"I contend that during illness
feeding
becomes a burden to the sick. It uses
energy that
otherwise would be used to fight
illness."
The French
Noble Prize winner in 1912, Dr. Alexis Carrel (1837-1944 C.E.) described the
important phenomena in fasting when he said:
"The sugar of the liver and
the fat of subcutaneous deposits are
mobilized, also the proteins of the
muscles
and the glands. All the organs
sacrifice their
own substances in order to maintain
blood,
heart and brain in a normal condition.
Fasting purifies and profoundly
modifies our tissues."
Among
the 27 benefits of fasting mentioned by Dr. Allan Cott in his Fasting: the
Ultimate Diet are to lose weight, to give the whole system a rest, to clean
out the body, to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, to cut down on
smoking and drinking, to let the body heal itself, to relief tension, to sleep
better, to digest food better, to regulate bowels, to learn better eating
habits, and to slow the aging process.
In the
animal world animals use nature's way to heal themselves. When they are ill,
they find a quiet place where they rest and stop eating. Even domesticated
animals such as cats and dogs and even "dumb" cows are smart enough
to stop eating when they are ill. By fasting the animal creates within its body
a biochemical state which help it to quick recovery. But man acts on the
opposite direction of the animal law when he is ill. Man and only man who
persists and insists in eating when he is ill, although his body rejects food,
when sweets taste bitter, and even when he has no appetite.
An article in the Health
magazine stated that if the average person were to fast one day out of every
week for the whole year "he would be no older in body at the year's end
than in the beginning." In other words, although his chronological age
continues, his physical age stops with fasting. This is very good news for us
Muslims. If we fast every Monday or every Thursday, or every Monday and
Thursday of the week as recommended by our religion, we shall not only get
reward from Allah, but also slow the process of our aging.
Prof. C.M. Child of the University of
Chicago reveals in his over fifteen years of research on aging in animals that
periodic fasting is generally conductive to rejuvenescence. He found that in
certain species of insects, insects with abundant food live in three to four
weeks. But if the food is greatly reduced or the insects are forced to fast,
they may continue to be active and young for at least three years. This
statement reminds us of the swarm of locusts that suddenly appeared and
multiplied in millions and devastating crops in Africa and Asia, but suddenly
disappeared. Why? Being overfed, they killed themselves by eating too much.
However, some were not overfed, and therefore, were not completely destroyed,
and had chance to survive longer and to breed and to threaten us again in the
future. Overeating is dangerous, but fasting could maintain your health. Let us
learn from nature. Nature is a book, and
to read it nobody is illiterate.
Fasting is
not starving. It takes a long fast to come to starvation. Doctors say that man can survive without food
for several weeks, but can survive without water for about three days only.
However, an exception did occur when a baby was reported to have survived
miraculously after being trapped in a collapsed building for one week in Mexico
city when this city was being devastated by earthquake in 1985. Abstaining from
water in 18 or even 19 hours of fasting in summer for Muslim people living near
the northern or the southern pole is only one-fourth on the length of time that
can cause death from starvation. Even if they fast without having their suhur
(pre-dawn meal) and fast 24 hours, this is still only one-third of the length
of time that can cause them die of starvation. Therefore, fasting on the
longest day of Ramadan in summer is far from being dangerous to healthy people.
Allah Himself says:
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
(البقرة : ٨٦۲)
"Allah asketh not a soul beyond
its scope..."
(Q. 2:286, M.M. Pickthall's
translation)
In
order to make fasting easier, the Prophet recommends us to have our pre-dawn
meal (suh.ūr). Mālik b. Anas reported the
Prophet said: "Have your pre-dawn meal for it is blessing." He also
recommends us to break our fasting with dates or water. He said: "Break
your fast with dates, for they are a blessing; if you do not have dates, then
with water, for it is pure." The
late Dr. Anwar al-Muftī gives us his comment on the last h.adīth, saying that sweet liquid is absorbed by the intestines in less than
five minutes, eliminating the symptom of sugar deficiency in a short time;
sugar in food is absorbed within three or four hours, so that the symptom of
sugar deficiency still remains in a person who breaks his fasting with solids
rather than sweet liquids as if one is still fasting.
We have
one teaspoonful of sugar in our blood. If the amount of sugar in our blood
increases, we may have sugar problem, diabetes, namely, the pancreas cannot
properly absorb sugar and starchy foods. If the amount is reduced a little, we
may feel tired, but if it is reduced to half, we shall lose consciousness. This
is the importance of sugar. The fastest way of supplying our blood with sugar
is by drinking sweet liquids, and the best sweet liquid for our blood is honey.
It is because honey contains 40 % dextrose which is quickly absorbed into our
blood, and 34 % levulose which is slowly absorbed into our blood, so that with
honey the supply of sugar into our blood lasts longer.
With regard to the benefit of water
for breaking the fast, Dr. Allan Cott said: "Water is the faster's best
friend. It facilitates the flushing of toxins and waste materials that
accumulate when fatty tissues are being 'burned.'"
Wild animals know by instinct how to
live, what to eat and drink. But man, the most intelligent being on earth, eats
the food that is most difficult to digest and drink unhealthy,
"poisonous" drinks. The caffeine in coffee, tea, chocolate, and soft
drinks like coca-cola, and the nicotine in tobacco are all "poisons,"
not the lethal poisons that kill instantly, but the legal ones. They are
stimulants that just tickle our body. When our body cries for sleep and rest,
instead of giving what it wants, we say: "No, this is no time for sleep
and rest." So, we take these stimulants and feel "fresh" again,
an artificial freshness. Stimulating our nervous system the caffeine makes us
feel more awake and encourages activity and conversation. And we do this everyday
throughout our lives. No wonder if man does not live long enough and reach
easily the age of 100 years.
The animal's minimum life span is said
to be five times the period required for it to mature. For example, the chicken
matures at the age of six months, easily lives to be two and a half years old;
the dog matures at the age of one, easily lives to be five; the calf matures at
two, easily lives to be twelve; the horse matures at four, easily lives to be
twenty. Man matures at the age of twenty, and is supposed to be able to live
easily to be one hundred years old, but, alas, at the age of sixty he has
already become semi-invalid.
Fasting is the key to health. It
purifies every cell in our body. Fourteen centuries ago our beloved Prophet
Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) had said: "Fast, so that you will be healthy."
May
this little information be helpful in strengthening our faith and heightening
our spirit in performing the obligatory fasting in this holy month of Ramadan
as well as the recommended fasting on other days of the year, amin!!!
29. ‘ĪD AL-FIṬR
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر (9 مرات)
اللهُ أَكْبَرُ كَبِيْرًا وَ الْحَمْدُ
لِلهِ كَثِيْرًا وَ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ بُكْرَةً وَ أَصِيْلًا.
الْحَمْدُ
لِلّهِ الَّذِيْ جَعَلَ الْيَوْمَ عِيْدًا لِعِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَخَتَمَ بِهِ
شَهْرَ الصِّيَامِ لِلْمُخْلِصِيْنَ وَ جَعَلَ فِيْ طَاعَتِهِ عِزَّ الدُّنْيَا وَ
اْلآخِرَةِ لِلطَّائِعِيْنَ وَ فِيْ مَعْصِيَتِهِ ذُلُّ الدَّارَيْنِ للْعَاصِيْنَ.
أْشْهَدُ
أَنْ لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ صَدَقَ وَعْدَهُ وَ نَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ وَ أَعَزَّ
جُنْدَهُ وَ هَزَمَ اْلأحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ.
وَ
أشْهَدُ أنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُوْلُهُ اْلمَشْهُوْرُ بِفَطَانَتِهِ وَ
أمَانَتِهِ وَ صِدْقِهِ وَ تَبْلِيْغِهِ. صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ
صَحْبِهِ أجْمَعِيْن.
Brothers and
sisters in Islam:
Today
is ‘Īd al-Fit.r, the feast day of fast
breaking, celebrated by Muslims all over the world as a sign of thanks and
appreciation to Allah Who gave them the ability to endure hunger and thirst for
His sake alone. Today is the day of
happiness and therefore we shall make other people happy: our children, our
spouses, our brothers and sisters, our parents, our relatives, friends,
neighbours, any Muslim. To those who fast out of faith Allah will forgive their
sins, minor sins. With regard to major sins, such as killing and drinking
alcohol, one has to repent to Allah in order to be forgiven.
Brothers and
sisters in Islam
To
err is human, nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we hurt other
people’s feelings, intentionally or unintentionally. We might have quarreled,
fought and resented each other. This is the time for forgiving each other, for
the sake of keeping the unity among us and strengthening our relations. This is
the time to erase any bad feeling among us. Without doing this we are not going
to be happy on this day, we are just pretending to be happy.
Let us take away from us any idea of
revenge. The Prophet as our model never took revenge for himself. He did not
revenge for the killing of his uncle by al-Wahshi. After the death of the
Prophet, al-Wah.shī killed
Musaylimah who claimed to be a prophet at the battle of Yamamah. Al- Wah.shī then said: “I have killed the best
man (meaning the Prophet’s uncle Hamzah) and the worst man (meaning
Musaylimah). Listen to the following ḥ adīth:
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَلَا أُخْبِرُكُمْ بِمَنْ
يَحْرُمُ عَلَى النَّارِ أَوْ بِمَنْ تَحْرُمُ
عَلَيْهِ النَّارُ عَلَى كُلِّ قَرِيبٍ هَيِّنٍ سَهْلٍ (رواه الترمذي).
“It was narrated by Ibn Mas‘ūd, may Allah
be
pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of
Allah
said: Shall I tell you the thing which is prohibited
from
Hellfire, or the person who is prohibited from
Hellfire?
It is prohibited to every simple, gentle
and easy person.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhī)
In another tradition the Prophet said:
“There are three kinds of persons who are decreed to enter Heaven: the just
ruler, the compassionate tender-hearted person, and the modest and honest
person.” Isolating oneself from the community because of one’s inability to
stand other people’s wrongdoing is not recommended by the Prophet. Listen to
the following tradition:
عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْمُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ
وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ أَعْظَمُ أَجْرًا مِنْ
الْمُؤْمِنِ الَّذِي لَا يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ
(رواه ابن ماجة وأحمد
والبيهقي والطبراني)
“It is narrated by Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet said:
‘The
Muslim who mingles with people and is
patient
with
their wrong-doings has more recompense than
a Muslim who does not mingle with people
because
he cannot tolerate their wrong-doings.”
(Reported
by Ibn Mājah, Aḥmad,
al-Bayhaqī, and al-Ṭabrānī)
Brothers and
sisters in Islam:
Whoever among you is able to fast six
days after Ramad.ān, let him
do it, for the Prophet said that those who do it will have the reward of
fasting the whole year. As the reward of one good deed is ten-fold, the reward
of 36 (or 35) days of fasting is that of 360 (or 350) days of fasting, namely,
one year.
Let us celebrate this day with full of
joy and happiness by forgiving each other and visiting each other. Visit the
Muslims whom you have not visited.
اللهُ
أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر , لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَ اللهُ أَكْبَر , اللهُ أَكْبَر وَ لِلّهِ اْلحَمْد
(THE
SECOND KHUT.BAH)
اللهُ
أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر (9 مرات)
لا إلَهَ
إلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ صَدَقَ وَعْدَهُ وَ نَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ وَ أَعَزَّ جُنْدَهُ وَ هَزَمَ
اْلأحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ.
لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَ لا نَعْبُدُ إلاّ إيَّاهُ
مُخْلِصِيْنَ لَهُ الدِّْينَ وَ لَوْ كَرِهَ اْلكَافِرُوْن.
نَحْمَدُ اللهَ حَقَّ
حَمْدِهِ وَ نَشْكُرُهُ حَقَّ شُكْرِهِ.
أْشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ
لا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَ أَشْهَدُ أنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُوْلُهُ.
Brothers and
sisters in Islam:
Let us forgive each other and shake
hands. Now let us pray together:
اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِلْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ
وَ اْلمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ وَ اْلمُسْلِمَاتِ الأحْيَاءِ مِنْهُمْ وِ الأمْوَات.
رَبَّنَا آَتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً
وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
(You can cite any
other du‘a you know or remember, even in English or other language
understood by the congregation). Then conclude the khut.bah with the following takbir, i.e.,
glorification of Allah, but it is only optional).
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر, لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَ اللهُ أَكْبَر , اللهُ أَكْبَر وَ لِلّهِ اْلحَمْد
30. ‘ĪD AL-AD.HYĀ
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر (9 مرات)
اللهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلِلَّهِ
الْحَمْدُ
الْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ الَّذِيْ
جَعَلَ الْيَوْمَ عِيْدًا لِلِمُسْلِمِيْنَ وَ جَعَلَ عِبَادَةَ الْحَجِّ وَعِيْدَ الأضْحَى مِنْ شَعَائِرِ
اللهِ وَإحْيَائِهَا مِنْ تَقْوَى ْ اْلقُلُوْبِ.
أْشْهَدُ
أَنْ لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَ أَشْهَدُ أنَّ مُحَمَّدًا
عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُوْلُهُ اْلمَبْعُوْثُ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِيْنَ بَشِيْرًا وَ نَذِيْرًا
وَ دَاعِيَا إلىَ اللهِ وَ سِرَاجًا مُنِيْرًا.
أَعُوْذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ
الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ . بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ . وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا
مِنْ تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ
Brothers and
sisters in Islam
Today
we are celebrating ‘Īd al-Ad.h.ā, the Feast of Sacrifice. Two
important events occur on this day. The fist is that Muslims in various parts
of the world are performing their pilgrimage at Makkah. It is an international
convention for mankind where over two million people get together in one place
at one time once a year. They come irrespective of their colour, nationality,
social status or language. It is a journey where you can see your brothers and
sisters in faith coming from every corner of the world. It is the most
significant journey for a Muslim, as Qbū Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet
said:
الْحَجُّ الْمَبْرُورُ لَيْسَ
لَهُ جَزَاءٌ إِلَّا الْجَنَّةُ (رواه أحمد و البيهقي و
الطبراني)
“The reward of
accepted pilgrimage
is nothing but
Paradise.”
(Reported by Aḥmad, al-Bayhaqī, and al-Ṭabrānī)
Pilgrimage is a kind of jihād. A tradition runs as follows:
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا أَنَّهَا
قَالَتْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ تُرَى الْجِهَادَ أَفْضَلَ الْعَمَلِ
أَفَلَا نُجَاهِدُ قَالَ لَكِنَّ أَفْضَلَ الْجِهَادِ
حَجٌّ مَبْرُورٌ (رواه البخاري و البيهقي)
“‘Ā’ishah, may
Allah be pleased with her,
said: I said ‘O Messenger of Allah, since jihād
is
the best work, why don’t we (women) go for
the
jihād?’ He replied: ‘But the best
jihad
is doing the pilgrimage’”
(Reported by al-Bukhārī and al-Bayhaqī)
The
second event is that Muslims all over the world go to the mosque or the field
to perform the ‘Id al-Adha prayer and listen to the khut.bah (sermon).
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر
When Prophet Abraham (Ibrāhīm,
p.b.u.h.) became old and still had no son, his wife Sarah permitted him to
marry his servant Hajar. From Hajar, Ishmael (Ismā‘īl) was born. The Old
Testament said that Abraham was 86 years old at that time. Fourteen years
later, Isaac (Ish.āq) was born
from Sarah. Before Isaac was born Allah had ordered Prophet Abraham through a
dream to sacrifice his only son Ishmael. It is mentioned in the Qur’ān as
follows:
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ
قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا
أَبَتِ افْعَلْ
مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ
شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ. فَلَمَّا
أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ. وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ.
قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا
كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ. إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلَاءُ الْمُبِينُ.
وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ (الصافات:
۲٠۱ -
۱٠٧)
“Then, when (the son) reached (the age
of) (serious) work
with him, he
said: “O my son! I have seen in a dream that I
offer thee in
sacrifice: now see what is thy view!’
(The son) said:
‘O my father!
Do as thou art commanded: Thou will find me, if Allah so wills one of
the steadfast.’ So when they had both
submitted (toAllah) and he
had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice) We called out
to him, ‘O Abraham! Thou hast already
fulfilled the dream! Thus indeed do We reward those who do
right. For this was a
clear trial—and We ransomed him
with a
momentous sacrifice.” (Q. 37:102-107)
Satan had tried to persuade Prophet
Abraham to disobey Allah, not to sacrifice his son, but Prophet Abraham was firm
in his decision to obey Allah. He threw stones at Satan. Following this example
of not listening to Satan and obeying Allah completely, even to sacrifice one’s
own son, Muslims at Mina threw pebbles at stones symbolizing Satan in three
places where Satan appeared to Prophet Abraham.
This is the Qur’ānic version which we
believe. The other version is that of the Old Testament. In Genesis 16:16 it is
said: “And Abraham was fourscore and six years (namely, 86 years) old when
Hajar bare Ishmael to Abraham.” In the Genesis 21:5 it is said “And Abraham was
an hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him.” This is comfirmed
with Genesis 17:24-25 in which it is stated that Ishmael was thirteen years old
when Abraham was ninety-nine. Notice the difference between those two verses:
In the first verse it is mentioned “Hajar bare Ishmael to him,” namely his son
through implication, not explicitly, while in the other verse it is said ”his
son Isaac was born” where Isaac is mentioned explicitly the son of Abraham.
From these two Biblical verses we also learn that Ishmael was fourteen years
older than his younger brother Isaac. But Genesis chapter 22 that mentions this
story said in verse as follows: ‘[God told Abraham]: Take now thy son, thine
only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into land of Moriah.” This verse
implies, either Prophet Abraham had one son only (Isaac) whom he loved, which
is contradictory to the previous verse (Genesis 16:16 and 21: 5), or he had another son (Ishmael) but he loved Isaac only, an
attitude which should not be attributed to a great prophet of
Allah who was a model to his people. Moreover, Ishmael was the answer of
Prophet Abraham’s prayer for a son. He
prayed:
رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ. فَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِغُلَامٍ حَلِيمٍ
(الصافات
:۱٠٠
-۱٠۱)
“O my Lord!
Grant me a righteous (son).
So We gave him the good new of
a forbearing son.” (Q. 37:100-101)
It is unthinkable that a chosen person
like Prophet Abraham did not love his righteous and forbearing son Ishmael. He
took his baby Ishmael and wife Hajar to the valley of Mecca, not because he did
not love them, but because it was the command of Allah.
Prophet
Abraham showed his happiness and gratitude to Allah for having two sons, as
mentioned in the Qur’ān,
الْحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ الَّذِي وَهَبَ لِي عَلَى الْكِبَرِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ
إِنَّ رَبِّي لَسَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ
(إبراهيم : ٣٩)
. “Praise
be to Allah, Who hath granted
unto me in old age
Isma‘il and Isaac: for truly my
Lord is He, the
Hearer of prayer.” (Q. 14:39)
He
also prayed for himself and his offspring, as follows
رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي
مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَاءِ (إبراهيم
: ٤٠)
“O my Lord! Make me one who
establishes regular
prayer, and also (raise such) among my
offspring.
O my Lord! And accept my prayer.” (Q. 14:40)
In Mecca Prophet Abraham and his son
Ishmael built the foundation of the Ka‘bah.
Allah says:
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ
الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ.
رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُسْلِمَةً
لَكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا
وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ. رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ
فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو
عَلَيْهِمْ آَيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ
وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ
إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
(البقرة : ۱۲٧-۱۲٩)
“And remember Abraham and
Isma‘il raised the foundations
of the House (with this prayer): ‘O our Lord! Accept (this
service) from us: for
Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-
Knowing. Our Lord! Make of us
Muslims, bowing to Thy
(will), and of our progeny a people Muslim, bowing to Thy
(will); and show us our places for the celebration of (due)
rites; and turn unto us (in mercy); for Thou art the Oft-
Relenting, Most Merciful. Our Lord! Send amongst them
a messenger of their own, who shall rehearse Thy signs
to them and instruct them in scripture and wisdom,
and purify them: for Thou art the Exalted in
Might, the Wise.” (Q.
2:127-129)
This prayer was accepted with the
advent of Prophet Muhammad who said, as narrated by Abū Ummamah,
دَعْوَةُ أَبِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ
وَبُشْرَى عِيسَى (رواه أحمد و البيهقي و الطبراني)
“(I am the answer of) the prayer of my
forefather
Abraham and the good tidying of Jesus”
(Reported by Aḥmad, al-Bayhaqī
and al-Ṭabrānī)
Unlike the
Qur’ānic version where Prophet Abraham told his son Ishmael about his dream
and, Genesis chapter 22 says that Abraham did not tell his son Isaac that God
wanted him to be sacrificed. He kept it secret when Isaac asked: “… but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt
offering…” (Genesis 22:7-8). He did
not tell his son Isaac that God wanted him to be sacrificed, and did not ask
his view. Isaac knew only that he was “the lamb” to be sacrificed when he was
bound as mentioned in Genesis 22:9.
As mentioned in the Qur’ān, Ishmael
was consulted, informed that he was to be sacrificed by the command of Allah.
He told his father: “Do as you are commanded, I shall be patient”. He was not
bound. Both the father and the son were obeying Allah’s command, a tremendous
test for both. A man approaching his 100
years longed for a son, but when he was blessed with a son, an only son, he had
to sacrifice him.
Following the example of Prophet
Abraham we Muslims perform the pilgrimage at Mecca, we throw pebbles at the
stone pillars symbolizing Satan and sacrifice a lamb at Mina near Mecca. The
ritual is much easier than what Prophet Abraham and Ishmael had gone
through.
(THE SECOND KHUT.BAH)
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر, لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَ اللهُ أَكْبَر , اللهُ أَكْبَر وَ لِلّهِ اْلحَمْد
الْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ رَبِّ
اْلعَالَمِيْنَ. وَ الصَّلاةُ وَ السَّلامُ
عَلىَ أَشْرَفِ اْلمُرْسَلِيْنَ, سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلىَ آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ
أَجْمَعِيْنِ.
أمَّا بَعْـُـد
Brothers and
sisters in Islam
Satan always tries to lead us
away from the right way and from obeying Allah.
Allah says:
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا
(فاطر: ٦)
“Verily Satan is an enemy to you:
so
treat him as an enemy.” (Q. 35:6)
There
are two kinds of Satan: Satan which we cannot see, among the jinn
(genie); the other is Satan from among human beings. They whisper to man’s
heart to do bad things.
There is a story of a pious scholar
who was lying on his deathbed and was surrounded by his disciples. They asked
him to say the shahādah, namely, lā
ilāha illallāh, muhammadun rasūlullah (“there is no god but Allah and
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”), as a Muslim is recommended to say. But
the scholar said, “No, I won’t.” The disciples started doubting the piety of
their teacher who was semi-conscious.
Suddenly, he became conscious and asked: “Did anything happen?” They said, “yes” and told him what happened.
He said: “This is the work of Satan. As he could not deceive me, he was trying
to deceive you and make you doubt of my teaching. When you asked me to say the shahādah
at the same time Satan asked me to say that there are two gods (meaning god of
light and that of darkness). I told Satan ‘No, I won’t,’ I was not talking to
you.
In a tradition narrated by H...udhayfah b. al-Yamān the
Prophet said:
يَكُونُ بَعْدِي
أَئِمَّةٌ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ بِهُدَايَ وَلَا يَسْتَنُّونَ بِسُنَّتِي وَسَيَقُومُ فِيهِمْ
رِجَالٌ قُلُوبُهُمْ قُلُوبُ الشَّيَاطِينِ
فِي جُثْمَانِ إِنْسٍ
(رواه مسلم)
“After me there will be people who do not follow
my way and guidance, and there will be people
who have
the hearts of Satan in the body of human
beings.”
(Reported by Muslim)
In
another tradition Abī Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said:
يَخْرُجُ
فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ رِجَالٌ يَخْتِلُونَ الدُّنْيَا بِالدِّينِ يَلْبَسُونَ لِلنَّاسِ
جُلُودَ الضَّأْنِ مِنْ
اللِّينِ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ أَحْلَى
مِنْ السُّكَّرِ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ قُلُوبُ الذِّئَابِ (رواه الترمذي)
“At the end of time there will be crooked
people, wearing the skin of goat in
tenderness,
having tongues sweeter than sugar,
but have the hearts of wolves.”
(Reported by al-Tirmidhī)
Let us be careful so that Satan would
not be able to lead us away from the right path, and let us make of
supplication together.
أَللّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِلْمٌسْلِمِيْنَ وَ
اْلمُسْلِمَاتِ وَ اْلمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَ اْلمُؤْمِنَاتِ اْلأَحْيَاءِ مِنْهثمْ وَ اْلأَمْوَاتِ,
إنَّكَ سَمِيْعٌ قَرِيْبٌ مُجِيْبُ الدَّعَوَاتِ وَ قَاضِيُ الْحَاجَات.
رَبَّنَا
آَتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
(You can cite any supplication you know, even in English or the language
known by the majority of the members of the congregation)
اللهُ
أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
اللهُ أَكْبَر, لا إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ وَ اللهُ أَكْبَر , اللهُ أَكْبَر وَ لِلّهِ اْلحَمْد
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
أَلْحَمْدُ ِللهِ رَبِّ
اْلعَالمَيِنْ, وَالصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ عَلىَ أَشْرَفِ اْلمُرْسَلِيْن, سَيِّدِنَا
مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْن. أَمَّا بَعْد : Brothers and sisters in Islam,
Today one of our lucky brothers and
our lucky sisters are proclaiming their intention to end their solitary
lives. Br. … and Sr. … are lucky
because they have finally found each other.
Br.
… and Sr. ..., you are lucky to find what is called “the life companion” (شَرِيْكُ
الْحَيَاةِ وَ شَرِيْكَةُ الْحَيَاة) You are lucky
to find your other half. You are lucky for yoAu are going to fulfil the other
half of your religion. Anas b. Mālik
narrated that Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said,
إذَا تَزَوَّجَ اْلعَبْدُ فَقَدَ كَمُلَ
نِصْفُ الدِّيْنِ ، فَلْيَتَّقِ اللهَ فِي النِّصْفِ البَاقِيْ.
(رواه البيهقي)
“If the servant (of Allah) gets married, half of
his
religion is completed;
then he should
fear
Allah with the other half.”
(Reported by al-Bayhaqī)
No matter how hard one practices
Islam, without marriage one cannot make it complete. You see how important
marriage is for a Muslim?
Through marriage you are expected to
have children. Having children is an investment. How? By raising your children
properly and in Islamic way they will be expected to pray for you when you die,
and their prayer will be accepted by Allah.
In one tradition narrated by Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet says:
إِذَا مَاتَ اِبْن آدَمَ
اِنْقَطَعَ عَمَلُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثٍ. صَدَقَةٌ جَارِيَةٌ
أَوْ عِلْمٌ يُنْتَفَعُ
بِهِ أَوْ وَلَدٌ صَالِحٌ يَدْعُو لَهُ. (رواه مسلم)
“When the son of Adam dies his deed ceased except in
three things: perpetual charity, knowledge from
which
people get benefit, or a pious son [or
daughter] who
prays for him.” (Reported by Muslim)
This
decision you are taking is one of the most important events in your lives. If
you see a person more handsome or more beautiful, do not be tempted by Satan
into saying that you should have married that person. No! One does not marry
for beauty alone. One marries personality, character, and now you have found
someone you have already trusted, loved, and respected.
In
Indonesia we have a proverb saying “Open your eyes before marriage, and after
marriage close your eyes.” It means, before marriage you can look around and
try to find the right person. Once you have found her, close your eyes for
other girls.
It
is sad to know that one-third of all marriages in North America [as well as in
Australia] end with divorce. Although it is permitted in Islam, divorce is
discouraged. Abdullah ibn ‘Umar narrated
that Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said:
أَبْغَضُ الْحَلَالِ إِلَى
اللَّهِ تَعَالَى الطَّلَاقُ (رواه أبوداؤد وابن ماجة والبيهقي)
“The most
detested permitted thing according
to Allah is the divorce.”
(Reported by Abū Dā’ūd, Ibn Mājah, and al-Bayhaqī)
Now,
why are there so many divorces? There are many factors. One of them is the lack
of mutual understanding. A person you think you have known very well before
marriage suddenly becomes a stranger after marriage. If your wife does not
work, but stays at home as a housewife, this does not mean that she just stays
at home without doing anything. Therefore, do not be surprised to find your
wife tired of working. The following stories may explain my point:
A businessman, as usual, came to his
office in the morning. He was busy reading a newspaper. In the afternoon he
called his secretary to whom he dictated a letter. His wife at home was working
hard cooking, washing dishes, cleaning the house and many other tasks until she
became tired. In the evening her husband came and found her tired. He said to
her: “It is unfair! I am the one who works, and you are the one who is tired.”
His wife said: “Yes, it is unfair, indeed!” What she means is that although she
works hard but because she is not paid, she is considered doing nothing.
A couple went to a marital counselor
for advice. They were complaining against each other. The husband claimed that
he worked hard in his office while his wife did not do her work well at home.
His wife claimed that housework is very hard, harder than her husband’s work in
the office. Each claimed to have harder job. The marital counselor suggested to
exchange jobs: the wife to go to her husband’s office and the husband to stay
at home cooking, baby sitting, washing dishes and cleaning the house.
Amazingly, both the husband and the wife rejected the idea. They knew that each of them had hard work.
Brothers and
sisters
Allah says in the Qur’ān:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنْبِتُ
الْأَرْضُ وَمِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ.(يس: ٣٦)
“Glory to Allah, who created in pairs all
things that the earth produces, aswell as
their
own (human) kind and (other) things of which
they have no knowledge.” (Q. 36:36)
Allah created human beings in pairs:
man and woman, identical, yet different, and none of them is more human than
the other. It is said that men follow reason, while women follow intuition.
They are more often right than men in spite of men’s research and fact finding.
“In sailing the matrimonial bark,” said Dr. Peck in his book Life with Women
and How to Survive It (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PrenticeHall, Inc., 1961, p.
82) “always point the ship in the direction you do not want to go.” What he means is that your spouse will argue
with you and will point to another direction. Once she points to the direction
you want to go, then agree, or least, you will not go where you really do not
want to go.
Husband
and wife relationship is metaphorically portrayed in the Qur’ān as a garment to
each other:
هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ
لَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَهُنَّ (البقرة: ۱٨٧)
"…
they are your garments and ye are their garments." (Q. 2:187).
It means that,
they are fitting to each other as a garment to the body. Like garments which are for show and
concealment, they are each other’s show
and concealment. They conceal each other’s secret, (except for consultation,
such as to a marital councelor for solving any marital problem). They support,
comfort and protect each other. Our garments protect us from hot and cold
temprature, and our spouses protect us from commiting indecency and immorality.
It is oftenly said that for men, love
is only a small part of their lives. For women, it is their whole lives. How?
Men go to work and become busy, so busy that they do not remember their wives
at home. For women at home, they remember their husbands most of the time. They
cook for their husbands, and so they remember them. They wash their husbands’
clothes and so they remember them. Everything at home will remind them of their
husbands. However, nowadays, women also work, especially if they work full
time, there is possible danger of neglecting their husbands. Harmonious
marriage life is much better than wealth that could become a threat to this
peaceful life.
Allah created men and women with their
pluses and minuses. Men have stronger muscles, are usually taller and have
bigger brains. This does not mean that men are more intelligent than women.
Cows have even bigger brains. Men are created to be the protectors of their
family. That is why they are created with stronger muscles and bigger brains,
to act more reasonably rather than following their emotion and intuition. In
general men choose women, but women choose men among those who choose them.
But women in general are healthier
than men, although apparently women see the physicians more than men, probably
for general checkup. They live longer
statistically, probably because their natural hormones, the estrogens, seem to
protect them from the most common form of heart disease. Their response to
stress chemically and behaviourally is different from that of men.
At birth and in infancy male babies
who are born dead are more than female ones. In the first month of their lives
thirty percent of male babies die more than female ones. It is said that thirty
percent of major birth defects are related to males. Why? Because male babies
have to go through more elaborate transformation in the womb. More things can
go wrong with them than with female babies.
The slightest brain damage occurring
during or after birth often affect the behaviour and language skills of the
baby boys in the left hemisphere of their brains. Therefore, they are four or
five times more likely to suffer from language disorders and disabilities than
girls. They are more likely to suffer difficulty learning to talk than girls (5
to 1), and with reading and writing (4 to 1). We have just heard (in 1988 in
Edmonton) from the radio and watched on TV a two year old girl saved the life
of her baby-sitter who suddenly became unconscious. The little girl tried to
call the telephone operator. The operator tried to locate the house from which
she was calling, then called the police and the ambulance.
In any community or nation violent
crime are mostly committed by men rather than women. Apart from their
environment, they have most probably something wrong with the left hemisphere
of their brains, which governs their behaviour.
Another disadvantage of men but an
advantage for women is that men are less resistant to disease than women, and
therefore, as mentioned earlier, are healthier. When a woman became pregnant,
she has to defend and support the fetus, not to reject or destroy it. In the
meantime she has to defend herself against infection. Therefore, she must have
inherited an extremely sophisticated immune system more than man. But this
advantage for women could turn into disadvantage. This sophisticated immune
system sometimes becomes over-efficient or over-active and attacks the body it
is supposed to protect. Therefore, women suffer from certain auto immune
disease more than men do.
In
conclusion, there are pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages making
us complementary and necessary to one another.
Neither is better, neither is worse. They are equal although not the
same. Allah has no preference in matter
of gender, either male or female. He says:
مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِنْ ذَكَرٍ
أَوْ أُنْثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً
وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
(النحل: ٩٧)
“Whoever works righteousness, man or
woman, and has faith, verily, to him will We
give
a life that is good and pure, and We will
bestow
on such their reward according to the
best of their actions.” (Q. 16:97)
In
one tradition narrated by Abū Hurayrah the Prophet says:
إنَّ اللهَ
لا يَنْظُرُ إلَى أَجْسَامِكُمْ وَلَا إلىَ صُوَرِكُمْ وَلكِنْ يَنْظُرُ
إلىَ قُلُوْبِكُمِ [ وَأَشَارَ
بِأَصَاِبعِهِ إلىَ صَدِرْه ] (رواه مسلم)
“Allah
does not look at your body nor your
appearance, but He looks at your heart
[and he pointed his fingers at his breast].”
(Reported by Muslim)
Now let us pray for the (future) bride and
groom, may Allah bless their marriage and give them happy and harmonious life.
[Any prayer for the prosperity of both
the bride and bridegroom can be cited together].
تمت مراجعة الجزء الأول من سلسلة الخطب
المختارة مع بعض التصليحات و التصحيحات
في شهر نوفمبر سنة 2017 م - و لله
الحمد و الشّكر. المؤلف
****
For the collection of my Islamic
speeches
and
writings please
visit:
independent.academia.edu/MuhammadAminSamad
http://issuu.com/muhammadaminsamad
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