Have we seen people of high status and celebrities and kings and high priests when they walk down the aisle? Full of pomp and circumstance, with their heads and noses help up high all the while the common peoples cheer and rave in awe of such grandeur!
Yet Allah the most great who all the time looking upon us lovingly... eagerly awaiting for us to just give Him one chance to see Him. He yearned for us...yet we yearn for all the glitter of the worlds except the Creator of the glitter.
And how often when in the presence of other human beings do they intent to benefit us? Except that they grant us audience with the only wish to rake benefits and leave us as paupers!
Yet Allah the most rich is ever waiting for us to grant Him the audience so that He may shower upon us all the bags of gold coins and blessings of a wonderful future we even wanted.
How so we are still seeking for all except Him. But surely to Him is the perfection of everything He had ordained and He bestow upon us out of His bounties that which we are not even worth of getting.
GOODNESS & PURITY OF FAITH
What is the purpose of this life? It is the only life which must be spent to realise that we are accountable for our deeds in the hereafter. Allah in all His Wisdom and Justice will seek of his creation, whom amongst have led righteous lives benefitting the poor and oppressed.
This great religion named Islam by Allah Himself is only worthy to be spread by the chosen Messengers and Prophets who had been entrusted with the message of monotheism and leading mankind onto the right path.
The Last of the Prophets, Muhammad peace be upon him, was revered even before his Prophethood amongst the factions of Arabia. While deciding who should place the Black Stone upon the Ka'ba, Muhammad entered the Holy Makka. Yet with all the decision in his hands, Rasulullah placed the stone on a cloth. That wisdom of his allowed the factions to be united as each one held the corners of the cloth. And so everyone was pleased by this.
Had we seen how while thirsty in a hot desert and the wayfarer saw a mirage, thinking it was water to quench his thirst? So were the past nations of Ad, Thamud, Lot, Nuh and none were spared from the strict punishment of Allah Almighty when they remained insolent. When the warnings fell on dead ears, even the great civilisations of Fir'aun and those transgressing and sinned were destroyed.
The Qur'an today remains as our only source of guidance. Coupled with the authentic hadiths narrating the deeds of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Muslims are being tested in ways different from the past nations.
Only our good thoughts of Allah will remain as salvation. We continue to be his good slaves and humble servants. To execute amr ma'ruf nahi munkar as his worthy vicegerent. And Allah does not burden us more than we can bear.
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PART I: Mazhab Matters
There is no proof of faith in Allah if there is no communion in the Islamic prayers. While the unbelievers always ask in mocking when the promised doomsday will be, Muslims remain steadfast in Solah amidst busy days. Surely when Allah decreed the Time, none can stop nor hasten it.
Terminology
Terms 'fard' and 'wajib' refer to obligatory performances and whose omissions are impermissible.
1. 'Fard 'is a duty with definite proof based on
(i) Qur'anic text
(ii) mutawatir sunnah
(iii) ijma' (consensus)
2. 'Wajib' is a duty of a Dhanni (non-definite) proof
(i) qiyas (analogy)
(ii) khabar al-wahid (isolated tradition)
3. Preferable, rather than performance to be omitted
(i) 'masnun' - acts performed regularly by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and 'Rashidun' caliphs
(ii) 'mandub' - acts ordered by the Prophet (peace be upon him) though not irregularly performed
4. Haram - impermissible acts ie wajib to avoid
(i) established by a definite proof or
(ii) based on a Dhanni proof
5. Forbidden - category of "makruh'
*Salat al-witr
• Hanafis = 3 rak'ahs with a single Salam, performed from the disappearance of twilight after sunset to dawn
• Hanbalis and Shafi'is = minimum one rak'ah and maximum eleven rak'ahs, performed after the 'isha' prayer
• Malikis = one rak'ah only
**In A Journey
All 4 mazhabs agree on the timing regards setting of the sun I. E. Vanish from sigh. And the enjoining of prayers is allowed only due to travel.
***Understanding Qiblat
• If at a loss, to pray in any direction:
To God belong the East and the West; where ever you turn there is the Face of God (al-Baqarah verse 115)
• If one knows direction, commandment to face Masjid al-Haram:
...So turn your face towards Masjid al-Haram (al-Baqarah verse144)
****Women's Aurah
• Shafi'is Malikis and Hanafis - forbidden to expose adornment is Muslim woman before a non-Muslim woman (an-Nur verse 31) ie Tahrim
• Hanbalis - no such prohibition
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PART II: Tribute to Ibn Sina
Islam is not a way of life based on Darwin’s evolutionary theory where survival of the fittest rules. In fact Qur’an clearly outlines principles of guidance to achieve salvation despite one’s social standings or status in the world. The recompense for one’s strivings or negligence will be meted out in the hereafter. Hell and heaven will take in dwellers until Allah says Qat... enough!
So it is we must fully utilise our physical, mental, emotional prowess during the early years of life towards honourable deeds. As age increases, one’s dependency may increase except those whose early years of rigorous spiritual momentum puts them on a state of equilibrium, ready for the final breath with ease.
Allah has not created a soul more than it can bear. Each human being is endowed with a myriad of thoughts and emotions. Every living second, we can experience multiple emotions. Sadness at a death, happiness at a newborn, anger at a wrong done, shocked at an outrageous action being done and so on. We must merge understanding regards the human psyche with the accuracy of the Prophetic hadiths.
Ibn Sina expresses the point in his concise Book of Remarks and Admonitions. Succinctly:
1. Purpose of logic / cognition (1960, Pt I, pp. 167-78)
(i) provides a canonical tool (ala qanuniyya) that prevents aberration of thought
(ii) "thought" (fikr) - what takes place when a person, having pulled himself up, passes from what is present in his mind, what he has a notion of or what he is certain of... to what is not [present] there
(iii) transition has certain order and figure that might be correct and might happen to be incorrect
(iv) incorrect often looks correct or makes you believe that it is correct
2. Possibility of direct intuitive (hadsiyy) knowledge
(i) granted as immediate manifestation
(ii) the thing unconditionally and completely expresses itself as such
(iii) paradigm served by knowledge of our manifest ego - conscious "flying person"
(iv) sophisticated proof needed to understand it
Quoted in 1957, Pt 2, pp. 319-20:
"Look at your soul and answer: when you are in sound health, or even not, but correctly perceive things, did it ever happen that you were ignorant of your self (dhat) or didn't ascertain your soul? ... Imagine that your self has just been created: assume that it is in its right mind and figure, sees none of its parts and its members don't feel each other, but it is spread and suspended at some moment in pure air. Then you will find that it notices nothing: however it observes fixity of its egoness (ana'iyya).
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PART III: Resolution
Not a babe born is without that of the father and mother. The union between the semen and the egg ensures the perpetuation of our human race. Except with high regards to the creation of Adam (peace be upon him) and Jesus Christ who is born of the Virgin Maryam (Mary). The similitudes of these then are the pride of Allah and must be taken as proof of His Truth and Essence of the Beginning and the Last.
Yet many today in a bid to claim superiority over one another, haughtily assert that they are the bloodline of the Prophets. Even Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is abused as such. Qur’an clearly denounces this. In Al-Ahzab (33:40), the verses revealed in full clarity, “Not is Muhammad (the) father (of) anyone of your men but (he is the) Messenger (of) Allah and Seal (of) the Prophets. And Allah is of every thing All-Knower.”
If there is any claim of paternity, it is the birthright of our Patriach Abraham (peace be upon him). We must inherit his zest in searching for the truth. As the narration goes:
"One night, Ibrahim went up to the mountain, leaned against a rock, and looked up to the sky. He saw a shining star and said to himself, "Could this be my Lord?" But when it set he said: "I don't like those that set." The star had disappeared so it could not be God. God is always present. Then he saw the moon rising in splendor and said, "Could this be my Lord?" but the moon also set. At daybreak, he saw the sun rising and said, "Could this be my Lord? This is the biggest and brightest!" But when the sun also set he said, "O my people! I am free from all that you join as partners with Allah! I have turned my face towards Allah who created the heavens and the earth and never shall I associate partners with Allah. Our Lord is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in between. He has the power to make the stars rise and set."
After this declaration, Ibrahim then heard Allah calling him, "O Ibrahim!" Ibrahim trembled and said, "Here I am O my Lord!" Allah replied, "Submit to Me! Be a Muslim!" Ibrahim fell to the ground, crying. He said: "I submit to the Lord of the universe!" Ibrahim kept prostrating himself until nightfall. He then got up and went back to his home, in peace and full of conviction that Allah has guided him to the truth."
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