Thursday, August 26, 2010

What is Sunnah and Hadith?

What is Sunnah and Hadith?

"And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, leave it. And fear Allah: truly Allah is severe in punishment. " [Holy Quran 59:7]


In Islam, the Arabic word sunnah has come to denote the way Prophet Muhammad (saas), the Messenger of Allah, lived his life. The Sunnah is the second source of Islamic jurisprudence, the first being the Qur'an. Both sources are indispensable; one cannot practice Islam without consulting both of them. The Arabic word hadith (pl. ahadith) is very similar to Sunnah, but not identical. A hadith is a narration about the life of the Prophet (saas) or what he approved - as opposed to his life itself, which is the Sunnah as already mentioned.


In M. M. Azami's Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, the following precise definition of a hadith is given,


"According to Muhaddithiin [scholars of hadith -ed.] it stands for 'what was transmitted on the authority of the Prophet, his deeds, sayings, tacit approval, or description of his sifaat (features) meaning his physical appearance. However, physical appearance of the Prophet is not included in the definition used by the jurists.'


Thus hadith literature means the literature which consists of the narrations of the life of the Prophet and the things approved by him. However, the term was used sometimes in much broader sense to cover the narrations about the Companions [of the Prophet -ed.] and Successors [to the Companions -ed.] as well. "


The explosion of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries confronted Islamic scholars with a daunting task: to preserve the knowledge of the Sunnah of the Prophet (saas). Hence a new science of hadith evaluation was born. It is recommend that one who is interested should further read "Introduction to the Science of Hadith" (linked to http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/scienceofhadith/atit.html) to understand the tremendous efforts that were required to sift the true reports from the false reports.

What is Hijab?

What is Hijab?


 
American Muslim women today are rediscovering the pristine Islam as revealed by Allah, (God), to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh1), more than 1,400 years ago, but without any of the contradictions of ancestral culture. Consequently they are essentially engaging in a life-long exercise of rediscovering their own selves – what it means to be a human, a Muslim, and more so, a Muslim woman. Wearing a head-covering (hijab) is an important part of their spiritual journey.

One of the most common questions today, asked by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, is: "Why do Muslim women cover their heads?” The answer is very simple - Muslim women observe hijab because Allah has told them to do so:

"O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed..." (Qur'an 33:59).

Modest clothing and hijab are precautions to avoid social violations. The following verses of the Qur’an highlight that this is not limited to women only.

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)

According to Jabir ibn Abdullah, when he asked the Prophet (pbuh), about a man’s gaze falling inadvertently on a strange woman, the Prophet replied, "Turn your eyes away" (Muslim). In another tradition, the Prophet (pbuh) chided for looking again at a woman – he said, the second glance is from Satan.

American Muslim women today are rediscovering the pristine Islam as revealed by Allah, (God), to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh1), more than 1,400 years ago, but without any of the contradictions of ancestral culture. Consequently they are essentially engaging in a life-long exercise of rediscovering their own selves – what it means to be a human, a Muslim, and more so, a Muslim woman. Wearing a head-covering (hijab) is an important part of their spiritual journey.

One of the most common questions today, asked by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, is: "Why do Muslim women cover their heads?” The answer is very simple - Muslim women observe hijab because Allah has told them to do so:

"O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed..." (Qur'an 33:59).

Modest clothing and hijab are precautions to avoid social violations. The following verses of the Qur’an highlight that this is not limited to women only.

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)

According to Jabir ibn Abdullah, when he asked the Prophet (pbuh), about a man’s gaze falling inadvertently on a strange woman, the Prophet replied, "Turn your eyes away" (Muslim). In another tradition, the Prophet (pbuh) chided for looking again at a woman – he said, the second glance is from Satan.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Ten Sicknesses of the Heart...

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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

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1. You believe in the existance of Allah (SWT) but you do not fulfil His Commands. 
2. You say you love the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) but you do not follow his Sunnah. 
3. You read the Holy Qur'an but you do not put it into practice. 
4. You enjoy all the benefits from Allah (SWT) but you are not grateful to him. 
5. You acknowledge Shaitan as your enemy but you do not go against him. 
6. You want to enter Paradise but you do not work for it. 
7. You do not want to be thrown into Hell-Fire but you do not try to run away from it. 
8. You believe that every living-thing will face death but you do not prepare for it. 
9. You gossip and find faults in others but you forget your own faults and habits. 
10. You bury the Dead but you do not take a lesson from it.

10 Oppressors

  1. The person who prays for himself, but forgets his parents and other believers.
  2. The person who does not recite at least a hundred verses of the Holy Quran daily.
  3. The person who leaves the Masjid (mosque) without performing at least two units of Salah.
  4. The person who passes a graveyard without greeting the deceased or praying for them.
  5. The person who enters a city on Friday and leaves without performing the Friday prayer.
  6. The man or woman in whose vicinity a learned person comes and none acquires any religious knowledge from him.
  7. Those two people who love each other for the pleasure of Allah but are unaware of each others names.
  8. The person who is invited by another, but does not accept his invitation (when acceptance does not contradict the Shariah).
  9. The youngster that has no commitments yet does not acquire any religious knowledge or manners.
  10. The person who has eaten to his fill while his neighbor goes hungry.

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