MY JOURNEY OF FAITH

Mirza Yawar Baig

Allah s Promise

Al-Ankabut 29:69 As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Way), We will surely guide them to Our Paths (Islam). And verily, Allh is with the Muhsinn (those who in are sincere in doing good)

FOREWORD
My esteemed friend, Mirza Yawar Baig, has asked me to write a foreword to his latest book, A Journey of Faith. His request is based on his misplaced assumption that I qualify to do so. But when I glanced through the book I realized that almost everyone goes through this kind of journey in life and then attains maturity of faith. This book tells the story of Yawar Baigs journey of faith and, in fact, gives glimpses of the story of his life and how his faith (Imaan) progressed from the initial stages of his life to where he stands now. The subject of the book in terms of a sort of autobiography is not a new phenomenon. Many Muslim scholars and writers have written the story of their lives and did not shy away from telling the world a full story of their journey of life and how they finally reached the pinnacle of faith. To name a few, Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi ( d. 1999 ), Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi ( d. d. 1977 ), Maulana Manzoor Numani ( d. 1997 ), Muhammad Asad ( d. 1992 ) and others have all told the story of their lives describing how they progressed from stage to stage and how they attained the pinnacle of faith under the strong guidance of their parents and esteemed teachers. A most outstanding journey of faith is that of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali ( d. 1111 ) who in his autobiography, al-Munqidh min al-Dalal, ( Deliverer from Error,

translated into English by Montgomery Watt with the title, Faith and Practice ) describes his period of scepticism and how he struggled to find an answer to his question, how to avoid Hell and attain Paradise in order to achieve eternal bliss. Finally, he came to the conclusion that the true path which would deliver him from Hell and would lead him to the eternal bliss was through the firm and unshakable faith the dictates of which demanded reconciliation between the external and internal ( Zahir and Batin ) aspects of ones life through the process of internal purification ( Tazkiyah and Ihsan ). He then wrote his magnum opus, Ihya Ulum al-Din ( Revival of the Religious Sciences ) a standard textbook for the seekers of truth. Faith ( Iman ) begins initially during childhood through a period of indoctrination by parents and then a stage comes when man matures in age and knowledge and then at this stage he looks for answers to questions relating to his faith and deeds. Successful are those who find good teachers who do not allow them to deviate from the right path and help them strengthen in faith. Thus, Yawar Baig also joins the luminaries describing his journey in faith from the initial period of indoctrination to attaining the firmness of faith delivering him from error and guiding him to the right path without ifs and buts. This is not a story and not a narrative to enjoy.

It is an expose from which the readers will learn how to avoid the pitfalls lying in their journey of faith. Finally, I would like to close this foreword with a telling couplet of the poet- philosopher, Iqbal (d. 1938): NO ONE KNOWS THE SECRET THAT WHILE A MUMIN (BELIEVER) WHO APPEARS TO BE A MERE RECITER OF THE QURAN, IS IN FACT, AN EMBODIMENT OF THE QURAN ITSELF. (YEH BAAT KISEE KO NAHEEN MALOOM KI MUMIN QAAREE NAZAR AATA HEY HAQEEQAT MEYN HAI QURAN).

WA MA TAWFEEQI ILLA BILLAH.

Syed Salman Nadvi Durban, South Africa

05 February, 2010 20 Safar, 1431

Why this book

Some of my friends have been asking me to write about my own spiritual journey in Islam. How did it begin? Maybe why? What did I find useful and beneficial? What was difficult and what gave me the most joy? Though I was born in a Muslim family, belief is a matter of conscious acceptance, not of accidental birth. What we choose to believe or reject must be done thoughtfully after due reflection and investigation because our present and our everlasting future both depend on it. It cant be left to incidental following of traditions and customs we dont even know the origin or meanings of just because our parents or elders used to do them. Ones spiritual journey is as important, if not more, than ones journey in this life in terms of ones career or other criteria and so deserves equal mindshare and effort. In the course of this writing, I have also tried to answer questions that are commonly asked about Islam. Ive shared my own understanding on these issues, which made sense to me. I believe that for the vast majority of people, accurate information about any religion is hard to get while on the other hand they are bombarded with propaganda all day. About Islam today this is even more true.

Those who are interested enough to seek good information often have no idea who to ask. I have tried to answer questions in the simplest and most objective way that I can. To me, these were not hypothetical or intellectual questions but real questions of faith and their answers impacted my own understanding of my religion. I started my own journey from a position of neutrality and intense critical assessment of whatever I heard or read. I have a very strongly scientific bent of mind and dont accept what I hear unless it satisfies my logical and analytical criteria. So that meant more questions and more answers and a lot of reflection and soul searching. The latter because I came to the conclusion very early that my own difficulty in accepting what I was hearing had less to do with understanding and more to do with the fact that if I accepted it, I would have to change my life. I realized that this would not be easy because some of the rules of Islam were contrary to my personal desires. So though I could see the truth I didnt want to accept it because it would mean a change in lifestyle that I didnt want to make. Until.?? Read on. But once I made that connection, the rest was easy.

I wish you all the best in your quest for knowledge and pray that you are guided to the truth because in the end it is essential that we know what the truth is and that we believe in it and prepare for it. It is the nature of reality that it does not depend on belief for its existence and that one day it has to be faced whether we chose to believe in it or not.

Glossary of Terms
Rasoolullah Muhammad, Messenger of Allah The Arabic script after the English means: Peace & Blessings be on him Allah The personal name of God. The Arabic script after the English means The Glorious & High above all His creation Aakhira Jannah Jahannam Rib Hereafter Paradise Hell fire Interest - Any growth to the capital cash amount or investment is considered interest Shariah Fajr Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Islamic Law Dawn prayer Mid-day prayer Afternoon prayer Sunset prayer

Isha Tahajjud Dhikr Jibreel

Night prayer Prayer in the last part of the night, before dawn Remembering Allah in any way Angel Gabriel

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The Boundary of the Discussion

To answer any question about Islam or the Muslims way of life in the light of the Quran it is essential to first define the boundaries of the dialogue. Only if the boundaries are clearly understood can the power of the Revealed Word be appreciated in its full majesty. So I would like to begin by stating the boundaries. There are two kinds of knowledge that are available to humankind. 1. Knowledge that we gain by exploration, experimentation & testing, deductive reasoning, logical argument and all other such means. 2. Knowledge gained from listening to the voice of the Creator when He speaks to us, which we call the Revelation. The last of these Revelations is the Quran, which Allah revealed to His last and

final Messenger, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him and all other Messengers who came before him). The essential difference between the two bodies of knowledge mentioned above is that the second one begins where the first one ends. Islam invites the researcher towards the humility of real learning by acknowledging that his own efforts can take him only thus far and

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that beyond that frontier he needs the help of his Creator to know more.

The Quran is the Revealed Word of Allah

. It is His Speech. It is

He, as our Creator, Sustainer, Provider of every need, the One we worship alone without ascribing any partners, helpers, assistants or relatives and the One to whom we will all return on the Day of Judgment; who is speaking to us through His Messenger, Muhammad to whom the Quran was revealed. As such the Quran

is perfection itself; based on the logic that there can never be anything devised or created by humans that can exceed in beauty, insight, power or truth, the Word of Allah Himself. The wisdom of

the Creator can never be less than the wisdom of His Creatures.

Just like a computer, no matter how complex and powerful can never exceed the power and intelligence of its maker, so also a human being, no matter who he or she is, can never exceed his own Creator. Whether he accepts the Creator or not, does not matter because a fact does not change because you refuse to accept it.

Introducing any change into the Revelation in the name of progress or development, is therefore not acceptable because it is illegal and a

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violation of copyright (the author did not authorize any changes) and in reality can only be detrimental because logically someone who knows less cant make a progressive change to the writing of someone who knows more. Thus the Revelation, the Quran is perfection itself and cant be improved by anyone. The Message has been perfected and completed and no further changes are possible or necessary. It is totally illogical to first accept that the Quran is in fact the Word of Allah and then to say that it needs to be changed

because it is not relevant any longer.

Muslims believe that the Quran can never become out of date for the simple reason that its author is Allah world and then sent His Messenger in it. himself who created the with instructions of how to live

Allah

stated categorically:

Maaida: 5:3 Today have I perfected for you your religion, and have completed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and have chosen Islam for you as your religion.
Therefore Islam does not need to be reinterpreted or altered to suit any new situation. Islam is not a philosophy or system of blind faith,

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superstition, mythology or cultural rituals, which need constant reinterpretation and readjustment to be aligned to new emerging facts. Islam is the result of the Revelation of knowledge from the Creator, so all facts, if indeed they are facts, will automatically be aligned to the Revelation. Islam is therefore not only, not in danger from any new discoveries in any branch of science but welcomes all such research and waits to welcome the researchers into its fold as they stand there marveling at the creation, aware of their own insignificance. If they are people of integrity then they have no alternative but to acknowledge and bow down before the Creator and to worship Him alone.

Fussilat: 41:53

Verily We will show them Our signs in the

utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves, so that it will become clear to them that this [Quran] is indeed the truth. Is it not enough [for them to know] that your Rabb is witness unto everything?
For others, Islam invites them to wait for the day when they will see their Creator face to face.

Qaf: 50:19

And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the

[full] truth that [very thing, O man,] from which you would always look away!

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As-Sajda 32:10 They are those who say, What! After we have been [dead and] lost in the earth, shall we indeed be [restored to life] in a new act of creation? Nay, but [by saying this] they deny the truth that they are destined to meet their Rabb! Say (to them): [One day] the angel of death who has been given charge of you will gather you (extract your soul), and then unto your Rabb you will be brought back. If you (Muhammad) could but see [how it will be on Judgment Day], when those who are lost in sin will hang their heads before their Rabb, [saying:] O our Rabb! [Now] we have seen, and we have heard! Return us, then, [to our earthly life] that we may do good deeds: for [now], behold, we are certain [of the truth]!
Allah challenges all intelligent people, particularly all scientists and

researchers to think and use their reason:

Fussilat 41:53

Verily We will show them Our signs in the

utmost horizons [of the universe] and within themselves, so that it will become clear to them that this [Quran] is indeed the truth. Is it not enough [for them to know] that your Rabb is witness unto everything?
All discoveries, realizations and understanding about the universe can only confirm and reinforce the message of the Quran. If they dont then it means that the discovery is faulty and needs to be checked

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again. The discovery does not prove the authenticity of the Quran; the Quran proves the authenticity of the discovery. Islam therefore welcomes all research to gain more understanding of ourselves and our nature and of the universe in which we live, because these discoveries can only bring the researcher closer to Allah and to the

point where he/she will acknowledge and worship the one who created him.

Allah

mentions this clearly and encourages scientific research the promises will be an understanding of where

result of which Allah

we stand in terms of ourselves and our Creator and our responsibility to Him as well as to each other on this earth. It is when research is done with sincerity and the genuine desire to learn, that true realization about ourselves happens.

Aal Imraan 3:190

Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the

earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for people of intelligence, [They are those] who remember Allah, standing sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on (research into) the creation of the heavens and the earth (and spontaneously cry out): "O our Rabb! You have not created [any of] this without

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meaning and purpose. Limitless are You in your glory! Keep us safe, from the punishment of the Fire.

Islam means submission so when a Muslim writes about Islam he does so from that perspective. This is often the most difficult step to take; to submit ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our will, our feelings and emotions, thoughts and logic to the will of Allah . Submit

unquestioningly and with complete acceptance and trust that His way is the best and in it is our own success in this world and the next. Islam invites the person to reflect that though a seatbelt restricts movement, it is precisely this restriction that is the reason for saving life. The one who recognizes the value of the restriction actually welcomes it and invites others to wear seatbelts. So also in Islam, the Muslim recognizes that in submitting to the restrictions and rules of Islam lies his own benefit in this world and deliverance in the Aakhira. The one who wants freedom from seatbelts is opening himself to grievous injury, even death in the event of a crash, so also someone who refuses to recognize Allah is opening himself to the

embarrassment of facing Him on the Day of Judgment and realizing too late that what he had been told all through his life in the world was not fantasy or imaginary but fact. That is why Islam emphasizes submission to such an extent that even worship is to be done in a

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prescribed manner. One cant worship Allah

in any way that one by

may wish. One has to do it in the way shown to Rasoolullah Allah and by Rasoolullah to us. Any worship that is done

without following the prescribed way is not acceptable. Naturally the same principle of submission extends to every single aspect of life, both private and public. Islam is not about our private space alone. It is about our public life, about our relations with society, our dealings, manners, legal framework and government. This is logical because Allah s instructions naturally must extend to all aspects of life and

cannot be restricted to some rituals of worship alone. Islam prescribes what is good for all of society, Muslim or not and prohibits what is bad for society. It is the general good which is uppermost.

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What the Qur'an means to the Muslim

Islam is a religion based on a book; on knowledge. That book is the Quran. The Quran is the actual word of Allah , recorded as it was

received and preserved without any alteration or change to this day. It is preserved in writing, in the memory of millions of Muslims, as the primary source of Islamic Law (the Shariah) and through the practice of its dictates. The Quran is not the word of any human being (sage, philosopher, prophet, wali, sanyasi, saint or teacher; however wise or good) nor of any angel (however powerful or glorious). It is a record of the Creator of all humans, angels, stars, planets, animals, plants, seas and earth; of all that we know about and of all that we are yet to discover; speaking to mankind. The first thing to do therefore is to try to understand and come to grips with what this really means.

Imagine that you receive a message from the Head of an alien civilization which is aeons ahead of us in technological advancement. This message gives all kinds of indicators about courses of action you can adopt to become a world leader and to leave behind a legacy that would do you proud. How would you feel when you read that message? Excited, urgent, energized, motivated to follow the directions?

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Now enhance that example from Head of Alien Civilization to The Creator of the Universe. Now try to notice how you would feel. That is what the Qur'an is to the Muslim. An actual message from the Creator of the Universe, from Our Creator, Our Sustainer and the One to Whom is our return. He is talking to us. It is His actual speech. His Words. He is speaking and we are listening. See how that feels? That is what I feel, as a Muslim, when I read the Qur'an.

Allah

himself speaks about this physical and emotional effect of

listening to the Quran:

Zumar 39: 22 -23

Is he whose breast Allh has opened to

Islm, so that he is in light from His Lord (similar to one who does not believe)? So, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allh! They are in plain error! Allh has sent down the best statement, a Book (Qur'n), its parts resembling each other in goodness and truth, oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it (when they recite it or hear it). Then their skin and their heart soften to the remembrance of Allh. That is the guidance of Allh. He Guides therewith whom He pleases and whomever Allh (allows to go) astray, for him there is no guide.

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Anfaal 8: 2-4 The believers are only those who, when Allh is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (Qur'n) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone); Who perform AsSalt (Iqmat as Salt) and spend out of that We have provided them. It is they who are the believers in truth. For them are grades of dignity with their Lord, and Forgiveness and a generous provision (Paradise).
The Quran is not an intellectual concept. It is not literature. It is not simply something recited so beautifully that it brings tears to the eyes even if you dont understand what is being said. It is more than all those things. It is the Word of Allah . My Allah . My Creator, my

Sustainer, my Rabb. To Whom I belong. And to Whom the whole universe and all that it contains, belongs. Every word is there because He put it there. Every sentence is constructed in that precise manner by Him. The grammar is a miracle in itself. It is neither poetry nor prose. It is something that is so majestic in its address that you can actually feel the Creator speaking. You can hear Him. You can feel His power. And you spontaneously say, Truly this is not the word of any man!

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There are many historical incidents recorded where famous poets, linguists and writers of Arabic of the time, who listened to Rasoolullah reciting the Quran spontaneously said, This is not the

creation of any man, and embraced Islam. That is why a Muslim will not even touch the Qur'an unless he is a state of purity, having bathed or washed himself first in the prescribed way. The Qur'an is very personal. It is very precious. It is very holy. It is very inspiring. It is very uplifting, calming, and peaceful, charges up, energizes, empowers and guides. It is the last word in everything. It is the highest possible evidence for any action, stance, position or decision. For what can be higher and more powerful than the Word of Allah ?

It is unchangeable, unchanged and unchanging. It has been preserved without any change in as much as a single letter for 1443 years and so it shall remain as long as there is a single Muslim left on the face of the earth to defend it. It is memorized in its entirety by millions of Muslims all over the world; a tradition from the first day that it was revealed. It is read for blessing, for strength, for patience in suffering, to give thanks, for pleasure, for peace of mind, for solace to the broken heart and most of all and most importantly, for guidance in the life of this world and for deliverance in the Hereafter.

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When a Muslim reads the Qur'an he feels a personal connection to his Creator, to Allah , which is impossible for me to describe in words.

As in all matters of the heart, it has to be experienced and can never be explained.

For a sample of what it sounds like, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idEtUObmX0A&feature=related As I read the Qur'an, I reflect on the life and times when the Revelation was in progress. 23 years, the like of which the world will never see again. 23 years during which a window was open in the heavens and God spoke to man. Years during which Rasoolullah ,

his family and his Companions actually saw the Angel Jibreel descend with the Word of Allah . They saw him speak to Rasoolullah .

They asked questions and Allah

answered them. What amazing

days those must have been when God spoke to man?

Days of a direct connection between the Divine and man. I reflect on the circumstances of the Revelation. Many parts came in response to something that was happening concurrently. Yet its meaning and message is for all time and not restricted to the time and place of its revelation. The entire Qur'an was revealed over 23 years in Makkah and Madina which are today in Saudi Arabia. It was not revealed in

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entirety at once, but was sent down in keeping with the wisdom of Allah when He considered it necessary to say something. The

Quran is an abiding miracle that lives on after the Prophet Muhammad passed away; testimony to the existence of our Creator

and to His concern for His creatures.

It is essential to be aware of the circumstances of the Revelation to appreciate how and why something has been prescribed or prohibited. For example the verses relating to fighting came after 13 years of merciless persecution, killing, torture, economic and social blockade. Only then were the Muslims permitted to fight back. Until then they were told to simply bear the pain and pray for strength. The principle being established was that it is character which wins in the end, not muscle power.

If you want to influence people it cant be done by force but by personal example and for that it is necessary to be tempered in the fire of personal hardship.

I marvel at the faith of people who accepted this message and did not lift a finger even though they had the power, strength, courage and skill to do so. When fighting was finally permitted all this became

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abundantly clear. But until that time they bore all hardships without complaint because they understood the intention of their Lord in ordering them to remain steadfast and not to retaliate. Obedience is the soul of Islam and this was the training of those days. Obedience in hardship and ease. Obedience whether you like the order or not. Obedience to Allah and to His Messenger without question.

That is why the Quran needs to be read and understood in the context of its history so that one can appreciate how its injunctions were true to the time, yet they remain true for all time. For example, the verses relating to war were needed at the time when the early Muslims were fighting their enemies. They were taught the etiquette of battle. They learnt and they applied them. The result was that their victory became a source of inspiration for those who they vanquished. People who were vanquished saw the way Rasoolullah entered

Makkah, not arrogantly as a victor but with his head lowered in submission to His Lord, thanking Him for the victory, granting amnesty and protection to his erstwhile enemies who had persecuted him so mercilessly and not exacting revenge which is what they expected him to do.

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That night the vanquished people saw the victorious soldiers gathered in the Masjid Al Haram around the Kaaba, praying for mercy and forgiveness and giving thanks for their victory. Not drinking and dancing and looting as is the custom of victorious armies. They did this because the Quran taught them how to behave when victorious in war. So their behavior became a source of inspiration for others who loved them instead of hating them.

That is why the Muslim cant even imagine changing so much as a single letter in the Quran, because he knows that its author is the Creator Himself. The Muslim knows and acknowledges the fact that Allah is superior to His creatures in every possible way. So His

Word is superior to the word of any man, no matter how wise and learned that person may be. Therefore if anyone changes any part of the Revelation (Quran) in any way, the new change must necessarily be inferior to the original. Now why would anyone who was intelligent and reasonable want to replace something superior with something inferior? The Quran is protected by Allah Himself. He said:

Al-Hijr 15:9. Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (Qur'n) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)

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The Muslim realizes that the Quran is an attribute of Allah

. It is

His Speech, His Kalaam and it is the closest sign of the Creator that one can hope to see, feel, and touch. It is to be honored, venerated, read, memorized, understood and practiced. Not changed, because it is perfect. That is what the Quran means to the Muslim.

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Is Quran the word of God?

I am pasting below an article which someone sent me. Unfortunately it came without the name of the author. I am not its author and dont claim any credit for it. The reason I am pasting it here is because it very neatly encapsulates all the points which convinced me about the critical question, Is Quran really the word of Allah ? Naturally Himself

when we base all our arguments on the fact that it is Allah

speaking to us, it is only natural to take a step back and ask, How do we know this? What is the proof that the Quran is actually the word of Allah Rasoolullah and not something which was written or compiled by or by someone on his instructions?

I asked this question and I received the answers. The answers were so convincing that my heart is at peace that I am actually reading the Word of Allah . I would like to share my own realization, which

convinced me; evidence of the Divine origin of the Quran with you. Science is the religion of the modern godless world and scientists are its high priests. They demand unquestioning belief as do the priests of religion. Islam has no priesthood neither does it demand blind faith. It invites us to question and research and then to believe when we

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become convinced. The only requirement is an open mind, free from prejudice.

Allah

told Rasoolullah

to introduce himself thus:

Yusuf 12: 108. Say (O Muhammad ): "This is my way; I invite unto Allh (Islm) with sure knowledge (clear evidence), I and whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allh). And Glorified and Exalted be Allh (above all that they associate as partners with Him). And I am not of the Mushrikoon (polytheists)."

Is Quran the Word of God?

"Say: What thing is greatest in testimony? Say: God is witness between you and I, and that this Qur'an has been inspired in me that I many warn with it you and whomsoever it be conveyed to... (Qur'an 6:19)"

Religion throughout the history of humankind has had a tremendous hold on humanity. According to Emile Durkheim, the French Sociologist, the first organized institutions of mankind were religious in character. Even today, religion is of primary importance to millions

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of individuals who try to live by it and give it a special place in their lives. Therefore, any issue involving religion in today's world is worthy of discussion. Science, in its popular usage, is generally defined as the systematic observation of natural phenomena and their workings. Since the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century it is seen as the thing in control of human destiny and its future survival. Those who fail to utilize science and modern discovery are kept at the lowest strata of society in today's highly competitive world.

As today, both science and religion are widespread, each having dogmatic believers, antagonism has resulted. The common notion being that science and religion are opposites; i.e. they repel each other as like poles of a magnet. According to the sociologist Max Weber, in his article, Science as a vocation, science has resulted in the "disenchantment" of the world. The enchantment of the world was due to, according to him, people relying on religion and giving magical explanations to perfectly logical, natural phenomena.

This article attempts to use the Qur'an to examine Max Weber's claims about religion. The source of Islam is a book, the Qur'an. Added to this are the authentic sayings and teachings of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Together, they form the basis of Islamic Law

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known as the Shariah. Out of these two seminal sources, the Quran is the actual word of Allah without any explanation, addition or subtraction by anyone. It is this nature of the Quran, recorded faithfully and unchanged for 1427 years that Muslims are proud to acknowledge as a unique feature of their religion. No other religion in the world can make and prove such a claim.

In order to fully appreciate the Quran and its position in Islamic theology, it is essential to remember this integrity of its preservation which is a proven historical fact and not a matter of belief. Within its text, the Qur'an names itself many times as a book revealed directly by God, in which God is speaking in the first person. The Quran says that true believers "reason about the origin of the heavens and the earth (Qur'an 3:190-191)." This itself is science by definition when done in a systematic way. According to the Qur'an, by applying science in this way a person gets to the truth by discovering the "nature of God [His Sunnah- in Arabic]," as reflected by his creation and brought to mind by the Quran which is his revelation. In contrast to the concept of a "supernatural", the Quran talks about nature and creation being an expression of God's attributes.

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The scientific system of inquiry is emphasized time and again by the Qur'an. The linking of science and rationality with the verses of the Quran is not only legitimized but also encouraged by God in the Quran. The Quran tells the reader that if he/she does not know something or are unsure they should ask those who are informed (Qur'an 25:59)." In the case of all the scientific and natural phenomena discussed in the Qur'an, the people having knowledge and information would most definitely be the scientists. Thus the Qur'an discourages unreasoned belief.

4:82: "Do they not carefully consider the Qur'an. If it had been from anyone other than Allah, they would have found in it many contradictions." If the Qur'an is indeed the word of the Creator, as it claims to be (Qur'an 4:166), then it must be error-free when it discusses details about proven facts of science, like description of stages in embryology. The Qur'an claims, to originate from the one who has "knowledge of everything" (Qur'an 20:98). Thus it implies complete accuracy.

The Qur'an encourages verifying its claims when it presents information. For example, the details about embryology in the Qur'an

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are presented in a fashion that would facilitate belief only after those verses have been checked by known findings. They are presented as a challenge: "If you are in doubt then (consider this).... (22:5 etc)"

The same is also witnessed throughout the Qur'an when the book makes statements like, "Do you not know.... (Or) Have you not seen and considered etc." Also consider all the falsification tests contained in the Qur'an, like the one which challenges people to produce a chapter comparable to the Book (Koran 2:23). All these legitimize and encourage a rational/scientific inquiry into the truthfulness of the Qur'an.

Dr. Maurice Bucaille, one of the first to popularize the linking of the Qur'an and Science, in his bestselling books, The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, and What is the Origin of Man, concluded that given the history of the origin of the Qur'an, it could not have been the work of a man or group of men living in Arabia or anywhere else at that time, considering the nature of the scientific information in the Qur'an. Lecturing at the French Academy of Medicine, he concluded on the subject:

"It makes us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammads

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time to have been the author of such statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are what give the Qur'anic revelation its unique place and forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely on materialistic reasoning."(Bucaille 1985) Keith Moore, head of the department of anatomy, at the University of Toronto, was shown verses of the Qur'an dealing with the microscopic stages of the human embryo. He was so surprised at what he found that he went back and revised the history of embryology in his standard texts on the subject. The books that Keith Moore authored are used at prestigious institutions like Yale and at universities all around the world. He stated, after being unable to provide an explanation on how microscopic details of the embryo could be accurately described in a book written before the discovery of the microscope:

"It is clear to me that these statements (in the Qur'an on embryology) must have come to Muhammad from God. This proves to me that Muhammed must have been the messenger of God or Allah." (Rehaili 1995)

Consider yourself an inhabitant of 7th Century Arabia.

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Society has very little scientific knowledge. Myth and magic control people's thoughts. How far would you go if you wanted to discover the true origin or the universe? How much progress would you make if you wanted to uncover the origin of life? We can move away from Arabia and scan the world scene at that period in history. Nothing in the literature of the world comes even remotely close to the scientific accuracy of statements about the natural world contained in the Qur'an. In fact some of the information that we come across in the Qur'an wasn't known till about 40 years ago and some of it wasn't known until the day it was read in the Qur'an by scientists just a few years ago.

Since the Qur'an claims to originate with the one (God) who originated everything (Qur'an 55:2), and has knowledge of everything (Qur'an 20:98), we have every right to logically inquire if the originator of the earth and the heavens, in the knowledge that he gives us about them knows what we have discovered about their origin through modern science. The Qur'an can thus be scientifically tested in order to verify its claims. The Qur'an exists in the world today. Therefore, if we do not accept the book's claim of being a revelation, then we must come up with an explanation as to its origin.

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The existence of the Qur'an cannot be denied. If we choose to deny it then we need to at least present a sound explanation to justify denial. People who reject the Qur'an's claim throughout the ages have come up with explanations and theories as to the origin of the Koran. No matter what the details of the particular theory might be, they all reduce to basically two hypotheses:

i) Muhammad was a liar. He got his information from the outside and presented it to people as a revelation from God. The proponents of this hypothesis claim that the Qur'an was composed by Muhammad who "borrowed" information from other sources. Some even suggest that Muhammad was helped by a "group" of people to compose the Qur'an.

ii) The second hypothesis suggests that Muhammed was deceived or deluded in that he believed that he was a prophet when in fact he was not. To the people who offer this hypothesis, the Qur'an is the product of the "deluded" mind of Muhammed. It may sound surprising but the book that is being attacked, the Qur'an, is also well aware of these two hypotheses that people have been presenting throughout the ages in trying to reject it:

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Hypothesis 1: suggests that Muhammad was a liar. The Qur'an states:

"They (the rejecters) say: 'these are tales of the ancients, which he has caused to be written down so that they are dictated to him morning and evening (Qur'an 5:25)."

Hypothesis 2: suggests that Muhammed was self-deceived. The Qur'an states:

"The ones who reject almost trip you up by glaring at you when they hear The Reminder (Qur'an), and they say,' He is indeed deranged (Qur'an 68:51)."

Most people who present these hypotheses are forced to take them together in conjunction. Logically speaking however, both these hypothesis are mutually exclusive and cannot be taken together. They can stand on their own, if facts support them, but taken together they collapse. As an example: If a man is a liar (Hypothesis 1) then when someone asks the man a question, he has to search for the answer. He looks either within himself for the answer or asks his friends in secrecy so that he can give the inquirer a satisfactory response. He

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knows that he is not a prophet so he has to lie to convince the questioner. On the other hand, if the man is deluded (Hypothesis 2) then when someone asks the man a question, he does not search for the answer, if he doesn't know it. He is deluded, self-deceived, he believes he is a prophet and the answer will be given to him by revelation.

To repeat the above, if the man is a liar, he knows he is not a prophet and investigation can provide evidence as to where the material came from, but if he is deluded, even though the material presented is his own hallucinations, still he cannot be termed a liar for he believes he is a prophet. If a man is a liar then he is not self-deceived, if he is self- deceived then he is not a liar. Therefore Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 cannot be mixed up in explaining the Qur'an. However, what we see is that people need both excuses to explain certain things in the Qur'an. They often start by presenting Hypothesis 1 (Muhammed was a liar) and end up with Hypothesis 2 (Muhammed was self-deceived), i.e. Muhammed was a liar and self-deceived. This cannot be, logically speaking as we have seen above.

It may again surprise you but the Qur'an is also aware of this illogical stand that people take by terming Muhammad both a liar and self

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deluded. The Qur'an states:

" And they have turned away and said, 'One taught (by others), and a madman (44:14). The Qur'an can be Hypothesis (1) i.e. the product of a liar, or Hypothesis (2) i.e. the product of a deceived mind, or it can be what it claims to be, i.e. God's revelation; but it can never be both Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 at the same time. Hypothesis 1 and its implications: If the Qur'an is the product of a man's mind who is a "liar", who got his information from the outside and then presented it to the world as a revelation then:

1. We have to explain the confidence portrayed by the various statements in the Qur'an. A confidence that shows that whosoever is presenting this is convinced that he indeed has the truth. As examples: a) The Qur'an challenges people to find a mistake in the book by its claim that if God was not the author many mistakes would be found in it (Qur'an 4:82) Now only a person who is convinced about what he has can make such a claim. Do you know of any book that makes a claim that it doesn't contain any errors and that if it had a human origin it would contain many.

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The Bible never makes such a claim.

b) Another example would be the invitation given to Christians who dispute with Muslims about the nature of Jesus as presented in the Qur'an. The verse says:

"Come let us call our sons and your sons...our families and your families and let us ask God to curse the ones who are lying (about the true information on Jesus) (Qur'an 3:61)." This shows that whoever is presenting this is confident and sure that he has the truth on which the challenge is based.

c) Another example of this confidence that a liar is incapable of portraying, is the account of when the Makkans who wanted to kill Muhammad came unto the mouth of the cave in which he and his friend Abu-Bakr were hiding. Abu-Bakr was afraid, Muhammed told him to "Have no fear", "Allah is with us," he told him. Now if the man is a liar, one who lies to convince people that he is a prophet, you might expect him to say, "Go and look for a back way out," or "lie low and be quiet." But what he actually said shows that he had no doubt that he was a prophet and that God would save them. Hypothesis 1 cannot explain these in the Qur'an.

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2. If the Qur'an is a lie, the product of a man's lying mind, how do you account for the following: The Qur'an claims that it contains information that was "new" to the people it was being read to. Now the Makkans hated Muhammad, if this statement in the Qur'an was not true and the information was not "new" they would have loved to point out the source. Yet they never answered this challenge to produce similar "knowledge" as the Qur'an (chapter 46: verse 4)

As proof of the above, I'll give two examples:

1. The Qur'an mentions the wall of "Zulqarnain," the two-horned one. It gives a complete description of this wall and how it was built to protect a people from outside invaders (Qur'an 18:96-98). The Arabs had never heard of it, or what it looked like, neither had the Arab Jews or the Arab Christians. Now, after the death of the prophet, they were curious about this wall mentioned in the Qur'an. Omar (RA) the Khalifa sent out travelers to verify the existence of this wall. They found it in Durbent in the former Soviet Union. It is referred to as Alexander's wall however modern historians dispute on whether Alexander had anything to do with it. Compare what the Qur'an said over fourteen centuries ago, before any Arab had set foot on Derbent to what the Columbia Encyclopedia

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says:

"Derbent was founded (A.D 438) by the Persians as a strategic fortress at the Iron Gates. There are remains of the Caucasian Wall (also called Alexander's Wall), built by the Persians in the 6th century, as a bulwark against northern invaders. (6th Edition, 2000)." If Muhammed was a liar, who told him about this wall thousands of miles to the east, about which no one in his area knew anything?

2. The Qur'an mentions a city by the name of Iram where a prosperous people the Aad lived. It was a city of "tall pillars":

"Have you seen how your sustainer (Allah) dealt with the Aad people? Iram, of the lofty pillars (Qur'an 89:8-8)"

Until very recently no historic or legendary record existed about Iram. However in 1973, the ancient city of Ebla was excavated in Syria. While going through the tablet library of Ebla archaeologists came across a list of cities that Ebla traded with and on that list was a city named Iram. When reporting it in the National Geographic of December 1978, the only reference to Iram they could cite other than the tablets was the Qur'an, chapter 89.

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In 1992 using SIR-C imaging [Synthetic Aperture Radar] using the Space Shuttle, GPR [Ground Penetrating Radar] and GMT [Geophysical Diffraction Tomography], scientists discovered Iram [also called Ubar] in southern Oman, buried under 12 meters of sand. The city contained evidence of "tall pillars" exactly as mentioned in the Qur'an chapter 89. The Qur'an described this fact, over fourteen centuries ago at a time when no one in the world could have had access to this city. Now, if Muhammad was a liar where did he get this information?

Hypothesis 2 and its implications:

Hypothesis 2 suggests that the Qur'an is the product of a man's deluded mind. If the Qur'an is a product of a man's hallucinations then what comes out as a result are things that are in his mind. What do you think went on in Muhammads mind? He didn't have an easy life. He was an orphan to start with, then his grandfather who looked after him died, then his uncle who adopted him died as well. After that, his life companion, his wife of 24 years Khadija died. All his children except for one daughter died in his lifetime. Does the Qur'an reflect

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any of this? It doesn't even mention these things at all. Yet these were the things that surely bothered him and caused him pain throughout his life, but they never show up in a book, which is said to be the product of his deluded mind!

In fact, the information contained in the Qur'an is such that no man living anywhere in the 7th century could have known it. I'll give some examples, which should make the point clear:

1. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE The Qur'an mentions that all life originated from water (Qur'an 21:30) and that man himself is "created" of water and so are all the animals on earth (Qur'an 25:54, and 24:45). Now these statements to an Arab would have sounded atrocious in that day and age. Even today such statements in the Qur'an might cause you to wonder if scientific facts about them are unknown. The fact that all life originated in water is well established by the scientific community today. They have evidence to support the fact that the first living beings were algae, and they existed in water. The fact that human beings and animals are created of water is also well established since cytoplasm the basic component of "life" in any animal cell is over 80% water.

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2. MATURITY The Qur'an mentions that a human being reaches full maturity at age forty (Qur'an 46:15). This is a very unusual statement. Even today most people accept that full maturity is reached at puberty and laws usually put it between 18 to 21. However, the Qur'an is scientifically correct where even modern laws are inaccurate. If we analyze the statement based on psychological tests conducted by scientists, what we find is that the "overall quantity of stored knowledge in the mind of an individual reaches a peak at age thirty-nine and after that it gradually declines." Arthur C. Guyton, in his standard textbook on physiology, Physiology of the Human Body ( 6th ed, pg.207), states this. Guyton's book is used as a standard text in at many pre-medical schools around the world.

3. THE FEMALE BEE & THE QUEEN ANT The Qur'an mentions the bee, which leaves its home in search for food, in the verses that discuss honey (Qur'an 16:68, 69). It uses the feminine verb to describe the bee, in Arabic faslukee. This, to the Arab, suggests that the bee, which leaves its home in search for food, is female.

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Does anyone except an expert know how to differentiate between a male and a female bee? Even today, let alone Muhammad's time, 1400 plus years ago, we need a specialist to differentiate between a male and a female bee. The Qur'an is accurate when it mentions that the female bee leaves its home in search for food; the males never leave their homes for food, it is the females who have to feed them. The Quran mentions the queen ant (Quran 27:18) who ordered the other ants (Arabic: qaalat) to go underground to escape being trodden underfoot by the army of Sulaiman (Solomon) which was passing by. Once again the feminine verb to describe the ant who gave the order. Today we know that the only one in an ant colony that can actually give an order and is obeyed unquestioningly is the queen ant which is female. 4. EMBRYO SEX DETERMINATION The Qur'an says that the "ejaculated drop" determines the sex of a human baby (Qur'an 53:45). It is common knowledge that semen is the fluid that is ejaculated by males during sexual acts. Females do not possess such "ejaculated semen."

The sex of the baby, whether it is male or female, will indeed be determined by the 'ejaculated drop', i.e. the father's sperm, as

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mentioned by the Qur'an It has been scientifically established only recently that the female ovum contains only X-chromosomes. If the ejaculated drop, the father's sperm bears the Y chromosome, the offspring will be male, and otherwise the offspring will be female. No one living at the time of Muhammed or even Darwin for that matter had any knowledge of such genetics foretold centuries earlier in the Qur'an. 5. THE INVISIBLE BARRIER The Qur'an states that there are two seas that meet but don't intermingle because of a barrier between them (Qur'an 55:19-20). It is a necessity that seas intermingle through straits between them. The Qur'an however is aware of a very unusual phenomenon, which scientists discovered only recently. The Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans differ in their chemical and biological constitution. The French scientist Jacques Yves Cousteau conducted various undersea investigations at the Strait of Gibraltar and explaining these phenomena concluded:

"Unexpected fresh water springs issue from the southern and northern coasts of Gibraltar. These mammoth springs gush towards each other at angles of 45 degrees forming a reciprocal dam. Due to this fact the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Oceans cannot

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intermingle (as quoted by Nurbaki)."

Did Muhammed do research on the chemical and biological components of seawater to discover this unusual phenomena? 6. THE GASEOUS ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE The Qur'an mentions that the universe originated, at a stage, from a "gaseous material." (Qur'an 41:11). It uses the Arabic word Dukhan, which stands for smoke. A perfect analogy for gas and particles in suspension and the gasses being hot.

Scientists have only very recently confirmed that the universe did indeed originate from a gaseous mass composed of hydrogen and helium, a big mass of hot gasses, a mass over 300,000 times that of the earth. That mass then fragmented to form galaxies. Muhammad, who had no schooling of any kind and was unlettered all his life, could not have possibly known this. 7. THE BIG BANG The Qur'an gives an accurate visual description of the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. In the 21st chapter, verse 30 (21:30), the Qur'an states:

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"Do not the rejecters see that the heavens and earth were a unit joined together then we split them apart (21:30)."

This is exactly how the 'rejecter' scientists envision the creation of the universe, from one singularity, which then exploded, termed the 'big bang'. Thus the Qur'an told us about the "common origin" of everything in the universe much before scientists described it in the 20th century. How do we explain this information in the Qur'an if it is not what it claims to be, the words of an All-knowing Creator?

Professor Alfred Kroner, chairman of the Department of Geology at the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenburg University, Mainz, Germany stated about this verse in the Koran:

"Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics 1400 years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out from his own mind for instance that the earth and the heavens had the same origin, or many others of the questions that we have discussed here. (Rehaili 1995)" 8. THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE The Qur'an talks about a universe that is continuously "expanding" (Qur'an 51:47).

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The concept of an expanding universe is very popular with scientists today, however no one knew of it until recently. Do you know that the universe is expanding? Can you feel or see it expanding? No, the verification of this requires specialized knowledge and instruments, which no one at the time of Muhammad had access to. The Qur'an states:

"And the sky we built it with might and We cause the 'expansion' of it (Koran 51:47)."

9. THE DEATH OF STARS The Qur'an mentions the 'death of stars' (Qur'an 77:7-8). Astronomers including Dr. Patterson of Southwest Missouri State University were surprised at finding this information in the Qur'an. They know that at the time of Muhammad, people believed that once a thing was formed, it was permanent. The Qur'an is very accurate when it mentions dying stars. Our own sun is a dying star. 10. PHASES OF THE MOON The Qur'an talks about the phases of the moon (Qur'an 36:38-39). There is no book, to my knowledge, that predates the Qur'an that mentions the modern term "phase" in connection with the moon. Dr.

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Patterson confirms this. The Arabic word used for "phase" in the Qur'an is Manazil. 11. MOVEMENT OF THE SUN The sun's movement is not something that is evident to our eyes or experience but requires specialized equipment. The Qur'an states in chapter 36, verse 39:

"And the sun constantly journeys towards a homing place for it and for the moon, We have determined phases (36:39)."

Modern science has found out that the sun rotates around its axis every 26 days. The Qur'an mentions the movement of the sun, with its own motion, signified by the verb Yasbahoon in Arabic. Thus according to the Qur'an the sun is not just flying through space but moving on its own, i.e. rotating. The sun is also continually on a journey in space towards its homing place, the solar apex, just like mentioned in the Qur'an (36:39). How could Muhammed have known these facts if the Qur'an is the product of his mind? 12. ISOSTACY AND MOUNTAIN ROOTS The Qur'an states that mountains are like "tent-pegs", i.e. they have a

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root extending down into the earth like "anchors" and this gives stability and balance to the earth. "Have we not expanded the earth and made the mountains as tent pegs" (Qur'an 78:6-7)

" We have cast into the earth anchors lest it shake with you" (Qur'an 31:10 etc.)

This fact was discovered less than 150 years ago by scientists and now accepted as a fundamental law in geology, the concept of isostacy. M. J Selby in a standard-text on the subject entitled "Earth's Changing Surface (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1985) states: "G.B Airy in 1855 suggested that the crust of the earth could be likened to rafts of timber floating on water. Thick pieces of timber float higher above the water surface than thin pieces and similarly thick sections of the earth's crust will float on a liquid or plastic substratum of greater density. Airy was suggesting that mountains have a deep root of lower density rock, which the plains lack. Four years after Airy published his work, J.H Pratt offered an alternative hypothesis...By this hypothesis, and rock columns below mountains must have a lower density, because of their greater length, than

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shorter rock columns beneath plains. Both Airy and Pratt's hypothesis imply that surface irregularities are balanced by differences in density of rocks below the major features (mountains and plains) of the crust. This state of BALANCE is described as the concept of ISOSTACY (Selby1985:32)." 13. HUMAN EMBRYOLOGY The Qur'an is known to be the first book to give microscopic details of human embryology (Qur'an 23:13-14 etc.), hundreds of years before the discovery of the microscope! The Qur'an contains information on embryology, which was not discovered until recently and certain details were new even to modern scientists but were immediately confirmed as being accurate.

The Qur'an mentions that at a certain stage, the developing human is like "allaqa", a leech-like clot. If you take a microscopic picture of a human embryo of days 7-12 and place it next to a picture of a leech, they both look identical. Not only do they look the same but they function in the same way too. Just like a leech derives nourishment from its host's blood, the embryo derives nourishment from the decidua or the pregnant endometrium. These facts about the Qur'an are well documented and listed by Keith L. Moore in his standard

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textbooks on embryology taught among other places in Yale Medical School. 14. RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD "Nay! I swear by the day of resurrection. Nay! I swear by the reproachful self (Super Ego?). Does man think that We shall not gather his bones? Yea! We are able to make complete his very fingertips. ..What, does humankind think that they will be left to roam at will? Was he not a drop ejaculated? Then he was a leech-like structure. And He (God) created and formed. And made of him a pair, the male and the female. What, is He (God) then not able to bring alive the dead?" Qur'an 75:1-40

The above verse of the Qur'an questions those who reject the notion of the resurrection of the dead. What is the more difficult task: That you were created from an insignificant drop, which was so small that it couldn't be seen except through a microscope, or that one day you will be formed from your remnants? Russian scientists recently discussed reproducing an extinct species of elephant (Mammoth) by use of a microscopic unit of long-dead gene

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material. No one in the scientific community said that that was unreasonable. The point is that the resurrection of the dead might be an unusual think but it certainly is not unreasonable. The use of cloning techniques throws further light on the amazing nature of the Quranic verse which compares the resurrection of the dead with human development from an insignificant zygote to the fetus. Cloning provides theoretic and empirical evidence for the resurrection of the dead. 15. CIRCULATION OF BLOOD AND FOOD "And surely in the cattle, there is a lesson for you. We give you to drink of what is inside their bodies, from between digested food and blood, pure milk, pleasant to those who drink it (Qur'an 16:6)."

The above verse of the Qur'an calls our attention to the food distribution function of blood. It should be kept in mind however that a Muslim scientist formally discovered the circulation of blood 600 years after Muhammads death and it was made known to the west by William Harvey, 1000 years after Muhammed had died. If Muhammed was the author of the Qur'an how would he have known, at the time that he lived that digested food is transported via blood and then becomes the constituent of milk secreted by the mammary glands?

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16. THE "CONSTANTS" AND THE INITIAL CONDITIONS "Do they [the disbelievers] not see that Allah has subjected for them whatsoever is in the heavens and on earth (Koran 31:20)? Indeed We have created everything with a set measure (Qur'an 54:49) Compare these statements in the Qur'an to what the physicist Paul Davies writes in his book, The Accidental Universe (1982):

"The numerical values that nature has assigned to the fundamental constants, such as the charge on the electron, the mass of the proton, and the Newtonian Gravitational constant, may be mysterious, but they are critically relevant to the structure of the universe that we perceive. As more and more physical systems from nuclei to galaxies have become better understood, scientists have begun to realize that many characteristics of these systems are remarkably sensitive to the precise value of the fundamental constants. Had nature opted for a slightly different set of numbers, the world would have been a very different place and we would not be here to see it." (Davies 1982) At around 300,000 years after the big bang, all parts of the universe, even separated by more than 20 times the horizon distance, and expanding in opposite directions, in causally disconnected regions (i.e.. no cause or physical effect could pass from one region to the other), began to expand with the same expansion rate and

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temperature. No natural explanation exists to explain how a chaotic explosion, the big bang resulted in a uniform expansion pattern among causally disconnected regions, expanding in opposite directions. Calculations indicate that when the universe was less than a trillionth of a second old, it consisted of 10 to the power 80 causally disconnected regions, and no physical effect could have traveled from one region to another and yet 300,000 years after, cosmic background radiation proves that they all started expanding with the same expansion rate and the same temperature. It was as if they acted upon uniformly communicated intelligent direction. Consider what the Qur'an says: "... And He (Allah) inspired in all the heavens their affair (Qur'an 41:12)."

The "Flatness" or "smoothness" of the universe is established by modern science and leads scientists to wonder as to how a uniform distribution of matter resulted from the big bang. The Qur'an is aware of this and presents the "smoothness" of the universe as a challenge to unbelievers:

"[It is Allah] who has created the multiple skies, one separate from the other (as layers). You cannot see any flaw in the Merciful (Allah's)

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creation. Look again, can you make out any rifts?"(Qur'an 67:3)

If we deny the Qur'an's claim of being God's revelation, we have to account for the above information, and how it made its way into the Qur'an, always without error, and always accurate. Justice and truth demand that or we are fooling ourselves alone. FALSIFICATION TESTS The Qur'an offers what is not offered by religions, generally speaking. It offers what the scientific community demands before they even listen to any new theory, falsification tests. The Qur'an presents itself with tests to disprove it, if it is false.

The Qur'an in 4:82 challenges people to find a mistake or contradiction in the book and hence disqualify it, if it is indeed a lie. The Quran talks about people and how they will behave. If they were to act contrary to how the Quran pre-told their behavior, it would be disqualified.

Muhammad (SAS) had an uncle by the name of Abu-Lahab. This man hated Muhammad and was always strong in opposing him. Many years before the man died, the small chapter in the Qur'an documented his behavior, saying that he will be condemned and will

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never change (Qur'an 111:1-5). He knew the verse. He must have understood that all he needed to do, to prove the Qurans prediction false was to say, I am a Muslim. I change my behavior. Your book is wrong. Yet he did not do it until he died several years later. Why??

The Qur'an claims that in a pluralistic society, the Christians would always treat the Muslims better than the Jews and Idolaters (Qur'an 5:85,86).

Scan the world scene where Jews, Christians and Muslims live together. Are the Jews closer to the Muslims or the Christians? The only thing the Jews have to do to disprove the Qur'an is to band together and treat the Muslims better than the Christians do for a little while and the Qur'an is disproved. However this has not happened yet. The Qur'an says that if it is not what it claims to be then people should produce a document comparable to it (Qur'an 2:23 etc).

Comparison criteria would be what I have discussed earlier: i) It should contain information, which no one knows today, but will be found out tomorrow as scientifically accurate. ii) It should contain falsification tests as the Qur'an. iii) It should stand the test of

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"forgery" and "hallucination" as the Qur'an does. iv) It should give "sound" scientifically testable social advice as the Qur'an. v) Equal the Qur'an on literary merits. vi) Should have God speaking in the first person as the Qur'an does and then pass the test of inerrancy.

In the face of all the facts that the Qur'an provides, it is evident that it challenges human intellect and explanation and presents itself as a challenge to traditional religion and skeptical scientists. In the light of this, let us consider this claim that it makes: If all of humankind and the other intelligent life were to band together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they would not be able to, even if they backed up each other with help and support (Qur'an 17:89).

REFERENCES 1. Miller, Gary. The Amazing Quran. (Video Recording, transcribed, Sept 1990, Asadi, Muhammed. Lahore, Pakistan). 2. Asadi, Muhammed A. 1992. Qur'an: A Scientific Analysis. Lahore. Pakistan. 3. Asadi, Muhammed A. 1995. The Message of Qur'an and Islam. Lahore, Pakistan: Ferozsons' Ltd.

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4. Asadi, Muhammed A. 2000. The Unifying Theory of Everything: Qur'an & Nature's Testimony. Writers Club Press. New York. 5. Maurice. What is the Origin of Man? 1987. Seghers, Paris. 6. Bucaille, Maurice. The Bible, the Qur'an and Science. 1985. Seghers. Paris. 7. Rehaili. Abdullah. M. This is the Truth. 1995. Riyadh. Saudi Arabia.
As I said, I discovered all these things in my search to answer the question, Is the Quran the actual Word of Allah ? I found the

answers over more than 2 years of searching. I sought proof in my own heart when I read something and I asked Allah He did and I am at peace. to guide me.

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The Position of Hadith

The teachings of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah are the

second most important source of learning and legal framework in Islam. The role of Rasoolullah was to prepare the ground (cleanse

the hearts from all self worship and rebellion) for the reception of Allah s commands, recite the Revelation as received, from Allah

in its actual words, explain it to enable people to understand it fully and then to physically demonstrate it by living it in his personal life. Muslims study the life of Rasoolullah as it is the best example of said about this

how a Muslim should live in this world. Allah multifaceted responsibility of Rasoolullah :

Jumuah 62:2

He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones

a Messenger (Muhammad SAW) from among themselves, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them (from disbelief and polytheism), and teaching them the Book (Qur'n, Islmic laws) and Al-Hikmah (AsSunnah: teachings of Prophet Muhammad). And verily, before this, they had been in manifest error
Without this guidance it would be impossible to practice Islam. If for example one were to say, I will only do what the Quran says, then the Quran says, Establish Salah and pay Zakaah, but is silent on

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how to do both. It was Rasoolullah

to whom the method of both

was revealed in the revelation that we call Hadith (Wahi Ghair Matloo the unrecited revelation) which he then taught and demonstrated to his Sahaba (Companions).

The Ahadith of Rasoolullah

were compiled and preserved with great

care in his own lifetime and the compilers would check what they had written down with him and ensure that it was correct. Ahadith were preserved in 4 distinct ways: Memorization, writing, discussion and practice. These were the same ways in which the Quran was also preserved and the same care and rigor was applied to the preservation of the explanations of the Quran which is what the hadith is. Ahadith were written down during the lifetime of Rasoolullah himself. The recorders would read to him what they

had written and he would certify its correctness. One of them asked him if he should write down what he would sometimes say in anger. He replied that Allah was the protector of his tongue and whatever

he said was to be recorded.

This incident among many others is witness to the fact that Ahadith were recorded in the lifetime of Rasoolullah himself by his

permission and he corrected what was written where this was

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necessary. This refutes the false claim of the deniers of hadith who claim that his sayings were only collected 200 years after he passed away. This is a totally false claim. Hadith was also protected and recorded simply by practice. People lived and continue to live, their entire lives exactly as Rasoolullah did, to the last detail. They ate

what he ate, sitting in the way he sat. The slept the way he slept, on the right side with his hand under his head. They trimmed their nails in the sequence that he did, starting with the right index finger and going on the little finger and then the same way on the other hand, coming back last to the thumb of the right hand.

They drank water the way he used to drink, sitting, holding the tumbler in his right hand, looking into it first and in three sips. To this day, all practicing Muslims search for every little action of Rasoolullah to emulate to demonstrate their love for him. Naturally

this resulted in his sayings, teachings and ways being preserved. Those who claim that Ahadith were not recorded choose to deny all this evidence because in reality they dont want to follow the religion. It would be far simpler for them simply to leave Islam which is what they in effect end up doing when they deny Rasoolullah s message.

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It was the desire to authenticate and preserve hadith that led to the whole branch of knowledge called Al Ilm-ul-Asma-ur-Rijaal (The Study of the Names of People). This relates to research that was done by the later compilers of hadith into the lives of those who narrated Ahadith to ascertain their suitability as narrators in terms of reliability, integrity, memory and so on.

This work of rigorous authentication through research is so remarkable that it does not have a parallel in any history of any nation. More than 300,000 people were investigated and this data is preserved for posterity, a testimony to the love that the scholars of Hadith had for Islam and for the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad these people were guided by the famous saying of Rasoolullah where he is reported to have said, If anyone narrates something from me that I did not say, he will search for his own place in the Hellfire. The compilers and recorders of Hadith were conscious of their responsibility more than anyone else and ensured that they fulfilled it with total integrity. . All

Women were at the forefront of this work. Currently there is a scholar in Oxford, Ml. Syed Akram Nadwi who is compiling a list (with short biographies) of the women teachers of hadith, called Al

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Muhaddithaat. This work is at present in its 40th volume. He has written an introduction for this book called Al-Muqaddimah which is 350 pages in length.

I will not go into any more detail here as it is beyond the scope of this book but I would recommend an excellent work on the subject called

The Authority of the Sunnah, by Justice Mufti Taqi Usmani which

explains the subject simply yet in compete detail so that all doubts may be clarified. Suffice it to say that it is illogical to suppose that the Companions of Rasoolullah would preserve the revelation and not

bother about preserving its explanation which relates to how the orders of Allah are to be carried out, their rewards, benefits,

punishments for not obeying and so on. Not only was all this preserved but it was done with such excellence in scholarship that as I said, it has no comparison in the world.

There are many more such examples which underline the importance of Rasoolullah to Islam and Muslims and the need to follow his

Sunnah in all that we do, because only by that can true guidance come. Allah said this in so many words when he made this

obedience to His Messenger a condition of faith. This is a very critical aspect to understand especially in todays world where there are some

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Muslims who in their ignorance deny the teachings of Rasoolullah and refuse to obey him. Allah however made faith itself conditional

upon complete unquestioning, unconditional obedience to His Messenger. He said:

Nisa 4:65

But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until

they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.

An-Nur 24:51 The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allh (His Words, the Qur'n) and His Messenger, to judge between them, is that they say: "We hear and we obey." And such are the successful ones.

Those claiming today that Ahadith are false and were only recorded after 200 years are at best ignorant and at worst liars. By their claim they are casting aspersions on the integrity of people like Abu Bakr Siddique, Omar Ibn Al Khattab, Ayesha bint Abi Bakr, Abu Hurairah, Abu Saeed Al Khudri, Ali bin Abi Talib, Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Omar, Abdullah bin Masood, Fatima bint Muhammad Rasoolullah , and many others of the Sahaba and family of be

who recorded and narrated Ahadith. May Allah

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pleased with them all. In addition they are casting aspersions on the integrity of the Imaams of this Ummah including Imaam Malik, Abu Haneefa, Ash-Shafaae, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Al Qayyim and others. May Allah them all. have mercy on

I must admit to terror in my heart and a total inability to count myself among those who have the temerity and audacity to take this course. I leave them to my Rabb.

This is the boundary of our discussion. It is important to remember this when you read the rest of this book.

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My Own Journey
Like most of us born in Muslim families in the Indian subcontinent, I was taught to read the Quran by character recognition. In my case it was my mother who taught me and all my siblings and my father. In most cases it is the local Imam who is hired for a pittance to teach the children to read the Quran. Once the kids have completed one complete reading of the Quran, there is a little celebration and often, that is the last time the person reads the Quran in totality. Arabs find it very strange to see that Indian/ Pakistani/ Bangladeshi Muslims read the Quran in Arabic but understand nothing of what they are reading or hearing when they listen to the Imam leading the Salah (called Namaz in the subcontinent). This was also my situation. Naturally it is impossible to be moved or touched by something which you cant understand and so it was in my case. Many years later (almost 30 years) I learned to read the Quran all over again and learned enough Arabic to understand what I was reading and then my life changed. It is interesting how this happened. I used to live in the United States in Somers, CT at that time and prayed in the Springfield, MA masjid. One day I was there for Magrib (dusk) Salah and the Imam Shaikh Wissam Abdel Baki who had gone out for something, did not come

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back in time for the prayer, so the people who were in the masjid asked me to lead the prayer. I stepped forward and as I started the prayer I saw the Imam (peripheral vision) come up from behind and join the congregation. When the prayer finished, I was sitting in Dhikr when I saw the Imam repeat his Salah. I became very concerned at this and when he finished I called on him in his office and asked him why hed repeated his Salah. At first he did not want to tell me for fear of hurting my feelings but I persuaded him by telling him that if I had done anything wrong, it was his duty to correct me. So he said to me that my Tajweed (pronunciation while reading the Quran) in Sura Al Fatiha was wrong and so the Salah of someone like him, who knew the Usool (rules) of Tajweed, was not valid behind me. To make a long story short, that was the re-start of my formal education in Islam with learning to read the Quran again. I had received almost 6 years of education in Islam in my childhood in Hyderabad at a local Madrassa but that was long lost. So in effect my formal Islamic education started in America in 1997. Tajweed is essential to know because the Arabic language is so sensitive that a wrong pronunciation changes the meaning of what

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you are reciting and in some cases invalidates your prayer. For example if you make a slight variation in the pronunciation of the letter Q; it sounds like K and that makes the word Qalb (heart) sound like Kalb (dog). People with a Punjabi accent when speaking Arabic are constantly making this mistake and talking about being thankful from the bottom of their dogs. As I mentioned earlier if this sort of mistake is made during the recitation of the Quran in prayer it invalidates the prayer. So it is essential to learn how to read the Quran properly. Learning to read the Quran well ignited my love for the Kalaam (speech, word) of Allah and my love for reciting it and listening to

it and a great desire to understand it. Much more followed in what eventually turned out to be an exclusive one-on-one Islamic course lasting almost 3 years in which more than anything else, I became grounded firmly in the principles of Islamic Sciences and developed in my heart a love for Allah Allah and Rasoolullah and for the Book of which I hope will be

and the teachings of His Messenger

the means of my deliverance on the Day when I stand before my Rabb. It was a matter of deep satisfaction and thanks to Allah when one

day several months after I started my Tajweed classes Shaikh Wissam

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asked me to lead the Salah and prayed behind me. I can never thank Allah enough for this privilege. That was my Graduation

Ceremony. Learning how to learn There is a wonderful story of a professor who in his middle age when he was very learned and much acclaimed, decided to learn about Islam. So he went to a Shaikh who lived in a far off country and whose wisdom and knowledge were very well known. He met the Shaikh, introduced himself and asked to be admitted to the Shaikhs class and said, I have spent my life in learning and teaching and have now come to you to learn. So please teach me. The Shaikh stood up, picked up a pitcher and walked to a well in the courtyard of his house, signaling the professor to accompany him. At the well, the Shaikh started drawing water and filling the pitcher and kept on pouring water into the pitcher even after the pitcher was full. Naturally water started to overflow and spill out on the wall of the well. But the Shaikh kept on pouring more water. After a few minutes, the professor couldnt watch silently and exclaimed, Ya Shaikh, that pitcher is full. It cant hold any more water. The Shaikh looked at him, smiled and picked up the pitcher and walked back to his house.

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When they reached there, the professor said, Thank you for teaching me the lesson, my Shaikh. I have to empty my pitcher, if I want to fill it with your water. The Shaikh replied, For the intelligent man, a simple signal is enough. This story was in my mind when I started learning with Shaikh Wissam. I was at the top of my profession and had done my foundational religious schooling in Hyderabad at one of the most famous Madrassas, under the direct supervision of the Shaikh who was a very famous and powerful man. The Madrassa was of the Barelwi sect which was predominant at the time and I was too young to know the difference. Over the years, I had also read and learned and had gained a considerable amount of knowledge. True, that my Tajweed needed correction but it was not as if I was an ignorant fool who knew nothing. I knew a great deal but Alhamdulillah I had the awareness to realize that this feeling of knowing a great deal could be the biggest barrier to learning if I allowed it to be. That is why I remembered this story which I first remember listening to from Shaikh Noori Shah Sahib Chishti (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) when he was speaking to my father (he was a doctor) and a group of doctors and engineers in 1963. I was a young boy sitting on the floor and listening to words that would be useful more than 3 decades later.

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When I started my classes with Shaikh Wissam I realized that there would be much in my original schooling that would have to be unlearned; much in the Barelwi Aqeeda that I had been schooled in which I needed to re-examine in the light of the Quran and Sunnah to bring it in line with the true teachings of Rasoolullah . I knew that

this would be very tough to say the least. It is never easy to change what you have done all your life. Never easy to accept that your belief was wrong and that you spent untold hours, energy and emotion on it in vain. Never easy to unlearn and relearn. So I evolved a set of rules that I call my Adaab of learning. These proved very useful for me and I want to share them with you. Before we can hope to learn anything at all about Islam, Allah Rasoolullah it is essential to remind ourselves of the Adaab or

(manners) of approaching the knowledge of Islam. The knowledge of Islam is not a mechanical collection of random information. It is the thoughtful acquisition of knowledge with the intention to practice it because the Muslim realizes that this is essential for his life in this world and the next. Allah called it a sign of His guidance. Allah said:

Al-Anam: 6:125 Whoever Allah wishes to guide, He opens his heart to Islam

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When Islamic knowledge is approached without Adab (respect) it does not guide the student to the truth. Students get embroiled in pointless argument and worthless debate that leads them astray. Adaab (manners) of learning are essential to understanding and benefiting from the knowledge that the teacher is trying to share. These Adaab are as follows: 1. Consider oneself to be in critical and dire need of this knowledge. Remember it is your need and not the need of the teacher to teach you in particular. Remember that we are not learning about Islam as a matter of idle curiosity or even of genuine interest. We are learning about it because it is essential and critical to our own existence and our future in the Hereafter. Its more than just interest. 2. Ask Allah to open our hearts to His Word and to the

knowledge of Islam because Hidaya is only in His control. Pray Salt-ul-Haajah before coming to the class and make dua that Allah should enable us to understand what is being taught.

3. Come with the intention of practicing what we learn. Acquiring knowledge of Islam is obligatory on us. To practice it, is the only way to benefit from it. Remind ourselves that if we learn and dont practice we will become liable for punishment. Remember

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that ignorance is not defense in law so remaining ignorant is not an option to learning but not practicing. 4. Focus on What. Not on Who or How. Focus on what is being taught. Not on who is teaching or his/her style or accent or looks or way of speaking. 5. Remind ourselves that not liking what you hear with respect to Islam and the orders of Allah or the Sunnah of His Nabi is a

disease of the heart and a sign of the sickness of our Imaan. It must be corrected through Tawba. Not pampered and allowed to lead us back into the darkness of ignorance. 6. Behave with the utmost respect and consideration for the teacher and fellow students. Dont interrupt, or disturb the session by talking to others, or making or answering phone calls, or fidgeting or otherwise behaving in ways that can be distracting for others. 7. Be fanatical about punctuality. NEVER be late. Punctuality is a sign of respect and being late is a sign of disrespect. If you have to leave for some personal reason, tell the teacher in advance and leave quietly without disturbing others. 8. Dont argue. Remember that this knowledge is not mere words. To sink in, it takes time and practice. It takes lots of dua and effort to get control of our Nafs (heart full of desires) which has become used to having its own way all our lives. Now suddenly

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when you want it to become obedient to Allah

it will resist. It

is not the teachers responsibility to convince you. It is his responsibility to convey the knowledge to you clearly and with proof. You are free to accept or reject what you learn. Both options produce their own results. 9. So listen carefully, record the learning and then stand in the night (in Tahajjud) and ask Allah to allow it to sink into our hearts.

Arguing with the teacher who is speaking with proof from the Quran and Sunnah is fruitless and indicates our own ignorance and lack of manners. The teacher did not make the rules and he cant change them whether we like the rules or not. 10. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Once again remind yourself that listening and hearing are two different things. Dont get so engrossed in writing down every single word that the teacher says that you miss the whole atmosphere and essence of what has been said. It is far better to listen and then note down what you remembered. That way you may miss some points but you can fill them in later. Meanwhile Allah you really need to know. 11. If you have any questions, please note them down and ask them privately. will enable you to retain what

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12. Listen with the intention to accept and to practice. Not with the intention to find fault. 13. If you genuinely have a personal problem with a particular teacher and feel you cant learn from them, then do yourself and everyone else a favor: LEAVE. Find another teacher. 14. Thank Allah for giving us the opportunity to learn. Thank the

teacher for taking the time and trouble to teach. Remember that Rasoolullah said: The one who does not thank the person has

not thanked Allah

I cannot overemphasize the importance of the teacher in learning about Islam. I dont say that you cant learn anything without a teacher. There is indeed much that you can learn on your own and one must make an attempt to do so. But to inculcate the true meaning of knowledge, to understand it, to remove doubts, to deal with spiritual blocks as you learn and to keep yourself on the track of the Quran and Sunnah and not be misled by Shaytaan it is essential to have a good teacher. I had some of the best and continue to keep close relations with them and others which I consider to be one of the most essential things in my own spiritual development. I ask for correction and Alhamdulillah I have Asaatiza (Pl. Ustaaz = teacher)

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who do my islah (correction) when I need it. The gain is entirely mine and for this I am profoundly grateful to Allah .

Benefiting from Islamic Knowledge It is one of the paradoxes of our time, the Age of Paradox that we find more and more people who have a lot of knowledge about Islam but who seem to use it to find ways of getting away from the obedience of Allah . They believe that their knowledge enables and to legalize all kinds of prohibited

them to escape from Allah

activity. I call this a paradox because when we look at the early generations of Muslims, the Sahaba of Rasoolullah , their students

the Tabayeen we find that the more knowledgeable they acquired, the more submissive they became to Allah and the more careful of

His Hudood and boundaries. This is in keeping with what Allah says about those who have knowledge. He said:

Faatir 35:28 It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allh.
Fearing Allah and having His taqwa is a sign of knowledge. The

more knowledge of Islam you have the more careful you become about Allah and the more Muttaqi you become. The reward for this

is high stations with Him about which He said:

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Hujuraat 49:13 Verily, the most honorable of you with Allh is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa. Verily, Allh is All-Knowing, All-Aware.
So knowledge about Allah and His Glory and Majesty and Power

and about the Aakhira, about His Messenger and His Deen only makes a person realize more and more who he is worshipping and makes him that much more submissive. However as I mentioned, today we are seeing the strange phenomenon where people claim to have read many important and weighty books on Islam, they claim to have an understanding of Quran and Sunnah to the extent that they have the courage to advise others, yet when you see their actions or listen to their speech you see that they are showing people ways to indulge their base desires, to find loop holes in the Shariah or to somehow escape the restrictions of Islam that Rasoolullah and his Sahaba lived by and the

joyously. We see such people twisting the Ayaat of Allah

Ahadith of His Nabi to extract meanings which suit them and which they think now license them to do what Rasoolullah clearly

pronounced as Haraam. Clearly this is wrong and has no parallel in the lives of the Sahaba yet we see this happening today more and more. So what is the reason?

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Actually the reason is not so difficult to understand. It relates to three basic principles of agriculture. These three principles relate to the sequence of activities which must be done if you want to grow a successful crop. This sequence is as follows: Prepare the soil > Plant the seed > Water the soil. If this sequence is not followed or is interrupted then you will find that despite the fact that you may have the best seed it will either not germinate at all or it will germinate and die. To explain this a little more, if you plant the best seed on rocky ground full of thorns and weeds, insects and disease, the seed will not germinate or will germinate and die. Similarly if you plant the seed in good soil, but dont water it, it will still germinate and die. So all three steps of the sequence are important if you want the seed to germinate and flourish. If we relate this to the teaching methodology of Rasoolullah and

the great teachers of Islam, we see that for Islamic knowledge to take root, the heart must be prepared first. It must be cleansed of personal desire, arrogance, deceit, rebellion. It must be prepared to bow in submission and ask, "What pleases you O Allah ? Tell me so that I

can do that?" Only then will knowledge benefit. That is why knowledge acquired without the preparation of the heart results in misguidance and more ignorance. Not in opening of the inner eye of Ma'arifat (enlightenment). You may well ask how this is different from

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learning math or physics or chemistry. Why this whole emphasis on Tarbiyyat (training)? Why cant we simply read the Quran (or translations) some books of hadith and then we are ready to give out rulings or to teach others Quran or hadith? The answer is very simple. It lies in the difference in teaching methodology between teaching a class of history students and a class of aircraft pilots. Both require to read books, but one needs also to fly a plane and his and the lives of all the passengers in the plane will depend on how well he learns to fly. A student of history only needs some knowledge of facts and events. The pilot needs the knowledge plus he needs training. If he does not train himself then reading all the books in the world on aerodynamics or aero-engineering will not make him a pilot. The knowledge of aerodynamics is important but it must be understood while experiencing the fear and thrill of flight. The sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach as the plane gathers speed and the air flow over the aerofoil of the wings producing lift drives the principles of aerodynamics into the brain with a welding torch. The fact that the plane is flying is proof that the laws of lift are true. The pilot needs no convincing and he is not in any doubt. But he needs to sit in the cockpit and pull the stick back as he opens the throttles to truly understand this principle. The student of history does not need any of this because nobodys life depends on his knowledge.

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Allah

said about the Sahaba:

Hujuraat 49:15.

Only those are the Mumineen (believers) who

have believed in Allh and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allh. Only Those! They are the truthful.
To reach this stage of not doubting, which Allah is categorically

calling a sign of being a Believer (Mumin Only those are the Mumineen) it is necessary to first train yourself by preparing your heart to receive the Hidaya of the Quran. That is the reason Allah trained the Sahaba in the 13 year long

training course in Makkah by exposing them to all kinds of hardship so that their hearts would be opened to Islam and His Power and Majesty. Only then did the doors of temporal power open for them. Until then they were being tempered in the fire of hunger and hatred and enmity and poverty hardships which were both physical and emotional. Then when like fine steel, they emerged, tempered from this fire, they were ready to be shaped into swords that would then rise to establish justice in the land. This is the reason that when one wants to learn Islam, it is necessary first to subject yourself to some tests: Here are some questions you may like to answer for yourself to see how you stand on the scale of Tarbiyyat:

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Tarbiyyat Self Test 1. Do I love Allah and His Messenger more or do I love myself,

my wealth, position, society, friends and associates more? Because Allah said:

Tawba 9:24.

Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers,

your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allh and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allh brings about His Decision (torment). And Allh guides not the people who are Al-Fsiqn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allh).

2. Do I want to live to establish Allah

s law on the face of the

earth or do I want to really live my life the way I feel like and follow whatever is suitable to it in Islam and either leave the rest or try to change it? For Allah said:

An-Nisa 4:65

But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith,

until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.

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Al-Ahzaab 33:36 It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allh and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error. An-Nur 24:51 All that the believers say, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is that they say, We hear, and we obey: it is these who are successful.

3. Am I ready to enter into Islam fully or am I among those who want to take what suits them and leave the rest? Because Allah said:

Baqara 2:208. O you who believe! Enter completely into Islm (by obeying all the rules and regulations of Islm) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitn (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. Baqara 2:85 Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense of those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment. And Allh is not unaware of what you do.
4. Am I proud of being a Muslim, confident in myself, following the Sunnah of Rasoolullah with love as a standard bearer of Islam

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or am I among those who laugh at the ways of Muslims and consider the ways of others superior to the ways of Rasoolullah Allah ? Am I among those who make fun of the orders of

and the blessed Sunnah of His Messenger because it is says about such as

not fashionable in todays world? Allah these:

Al-Furqaan 25:41 And when they see you (O Muhammad SAW), they treat you only as a mockery (saying):"Is this the one whom Allh has sent as a Messenger? At-Taubah 9:65 If you ask them (about this), they declare: "We

were only talking idly and joking." Say: "Was it at Allh, and His Ayt (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger (SAW) that you were mocking? At-Taubah 9:66 Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you

had believed. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others amongst you because they were Mujrimn (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, criminals, etc.). An-Nisa 4:140 And it has already been revealed to you in

the Book (this Qur'n) that when you hear the Verses of Allh being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a

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talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them. Surely, Allh will collect the hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell,
This self test is not exhaustive by any means and I am sure you can add some more questions of your own. My intention is to give you an idea of the framework. Once you are ready with the answers it will give you an idea of the areas you need to work on to get yourself ready to receive the message. For the Baraka of Islam to manifest itself in our lives it is essential to prepare the heart to receive the message by intense training. This is by no means easy or painless. How much difficulty and pain you will suffer in this preparatory stage depends on the degree to which your heart has become used to worshipping your desires. It is like the famous Native American story of the two wolves one good and one bad that are in eternal combat in our heart. The child asked his grandfather who told him the story, Grandfather, which wolf wins? His grandfather smiled and replied, The one you feed. Similarly the Nafs desire which you nurtured all your life and allowed to have its own way and to grow fat and strong on self indulgence will not take kindly to being curbed and prevented from fulfilling its every desire. After all this is what you allowed it to do all

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its life until now. Suddenly now you say, You cant do this and that and the other. You have to pray regularly and lower your gaze and cover yourself. Naturally the Nafs will rebel. So be prepared for pain and turmoil. This sometimes takes the form of doubts, fears and anger with yourself though you may not recognize it as such and direct the anger at others. But you have to get through this stage and subdue your Nafs to the law of Rasoolullah . Because he said, Your Imaan is not complete until

you submit your desires to the Deen which I have brought. (Approximate meaning). Allah said about the Nafs;

Al-Anbiya 21:35 Every human being is bound to taste death; and We test you [all] through the bad and the good [things of life] by way of trial: and unto Us you all must return. Al-Furqaan 25:43-44 Have you (O Muhammad) seen him who

takes as his ilah (god) his own vain desire? Would you then be a Wakil over him?? Or do you think that most of them hear and understand? They are only cattle nay they are even farther astray from the Path (worse than cattle). Al-Anam 6:44 Then, when they had forgotten all that they had

been told to take to heart, We threw open to them the gates of all

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[good] things until -even as they were rejoicing in what they had been granted - We suddenly took them to task: and lo! they were broken in spirit;
So you see, if we want the Baraka of the knowledge of Islam to permeate our lives then we have to make some effort to become ready for the knowledge to work. Otherwise let us remember that knowledge that only increases us in disobedience and which we use to try to deceive Allah and His

Messenger and to try to find ways to indulge ourselves at the expense of the laws of Allah is knowledge from Shaytaan and on the Day of

Judgment this knowledge will become witness against us instead of helping us to achieve salvation.

Baqara 2:8-10 And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: "We believe in Allh and the Last Day" while in fact they believe not. 9. They (think to) deceive Allh and those who believe, while they only deceive themselves, and perceive (it) not! 10. In their hearts is a disease (of doubt and hypocrisy) and Allh has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies.
I ask Allah for His help to do what is pleasing to Him at all times

irrespective of whether it pleases anyone else or not.

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In addition to learning to read the Quran properly and while I was learning Arabic, I started my lessons in understanding it by reading the English translation of the last section (Juz Aamma) of the Quran by Sayyid Qutub in his Tafseer (explanation) called In the Shade of the Quran. This is an amazing book as it opened my eyes to the Quran from a very modern and scientific perspective which for my kind of education and upbringing was the best approach to take. Simultaneously I started reading a biography of Rasoolullah by

Martin Lings (Life of Muhammad) which became the introduction to a life that has no parallel in terms of the shortness of time, meagerness of means and greatness of achievement. Truly today as a behavioral scientist and leadership development coach I believe that if one reads the life of the Prophet Muhammad one can learn lessons to deal with every leadership challenge that one may be faced with. It is amazing to reflect on how one man with so little at his command was able to bring about global transformation that has lasted through centuries of persecution and neglect for a millennium and half and continues to inspire people across nationalities and races. There is no other life that can compare to the life of Rasoolullah achievements. in terms of its

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The message of Islam is a message of integration and bringing together of hearts. This is seen most powerfully among those who believe in it and are inspired by its message. One has only to see the congregation during Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Makkah to realize the meaning of globalization. Globalization the basis of which is faith; the worship of Allah alone

without partners. There is not a color, shape or size of human being who is not represented in that gathering, all focused on one thing only; to please their Lord. This message of universal brotherhood, if retained and translated into our normal lives would result in creating a world without strife and exploitation. However the tragedy is that it is often left behind in Makkah when we board our transport to return to our homes across the world. But that is another story. It was the combined reading of these two books with my on-going lessons in Islamic Sciences that paved the way for all my further Islamic education by creating that most essential of connections Taalluq MaAllah - Connection with Allah . This is the first

purpose of Islam to connect the individual with his Creator. To create the bond between the slave and his Master where the slave is no longer alone but has access to the power of His Master in everything that he says or does.

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Allah

says:

Baqara 2:186 And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided. Qaf 50:16 And indeed We have created man, and We know

what his own self whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (by Our Knowledge).
Sadly today even in Islamic schools, it is this connection that is ignored and missed in the routine of teaching and learning Islamic subjects which is the greatest loss to the students. Usool are taught without reference to the Asl. Rules are taught without reference to the Rule Maker; without experiencing His Majesty, His Grace or His Mercy. That is why the spirit of the law is often lost when implementing the law and it becomes mechanical and dry instead of inspiring and energizing. The student of Islam then becomes like the student of any other subject. He knows the facts but cant place them in context nor does he know how to use them. For the student of Islam that is particularly

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tragic because he is speaking about Allah

and does not know how

to connect to Him in a personal way such that he can draw strength from this connection in his life. He reads the Quran, yet he is afraid of the world. The Word of Allah does not free him from anxiety,

weakness or despair. He has the words but he never experienced their power. Without this connection the purpose of religious education is defeated. The great teachers of Islam of the past recognized the importance of connecting the student to Allah very well and there

are many stories of some students being made to spend years in developing this connection. The connection with Allah overcoming ones desires and making the will of Allah is made by supreme in

our life. For people from backgrounds of wealth and worldly power this is very difficult to do. Such students were made to spend years in service and labor to bring their desires under control and connect with the Majesty and Glory of Allah today, to our own detriment. In my case, the combination of the Grace of Allah and the . This seems to be mostly ignored

wonderful teacher who taught by example, led to my developing a deep feeling for this connection which is my most treasured asset in life. This enables me to connect to people across boundaries of

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culture, religion, race and nationality while retaining my own Muslim identity with confidence. I have never felt victimized for visibly being a practicing Muslim but on the other hand have experienced innumerable instances of my non-Muslim friends and even strangers, appreciating what I do in line with Islam. If you love Allah and it

shows, then people connect to that, even if they dont worship Allah themselves, yet.

One other incident happened at about this time which was instrumental in enabling me to build this internal connection with Allah . I was invited to attend a convention of the Tableeghi Jamat

(Ijtima) in Baltimore. Since there were several people going from our masjid we went in two cars, one of which I was driving. My brother in law was driving his Toyota Land Cruiser and I was driving his BMW. We arrived at the site of the Ijtima in the evening. It was in a shopping mall which had not opened yet and so we were all to ourselves in the massive sheds, without any disturbance from anyone else. We put our bedrolls on the floor along with about 3000 other Muslims mostly from all over the Northeast. For me this was the first time that I was in a place with so many people; so many Muslims. I was highly uncomfortable and apprehensive. The hall we were supposed to sleep in was cavernous,

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lighted with huge lamps and the effect of 3000 people talking simultaneously was very audible. I cant sleep if there is noise and I cant sleep if there is light but here there were both in full measure. However I dont know if it was exhaustion or a sense of peace that descended on me, but I fell asleep almost immediately and slept very soundly until I heard the Adhaan (prayer call) for Fajr. An Ijtima is an amazing experience. Thousands of people living in complete harmony, being nice to each other, focused on only one thing to learn about Islam. Eating, sleeping, worshiping and talking together. Enquiring about each other; networking not for business but to ask about the state of Muslims where you live. There is a sense of community that is hard to equal. The food is simple but wholesome. All service for the delegates; cooking, serving, cleaning including washing of toilets is done by the delegates themselves. There is something salutary about seeing highly qualified doctors, engineers, professors, religious scholars sweeping the floor or working hard over the kitchen fires preparing a meal for all of us. There is a lesson in that they do this only to please Allah Allah like nothing else. because service pleases

The schedule of the Ijtima (which I later discovered is a standard schedule globally) was as follows:

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People wake up before Fajr (dawn prayer) and pray on their own and read the Quran. Then the call for the Fajr prayer would be given. There would be a general awakening of thousands of people which I discovered was a very good thing to avoid by getting up early. The long lines at the toilets are highly stressful. About 30 minutes after the Adhaan we would pray Fajr. Once Fajr was over, we would all sit down to listen to the first lecture for the day, which was usually on the so-called 6-points of Tabligh

1. Kalimah: The article of faith that there is nobody worthy of

worship but Allah and final Messenger. and that Prophet Muhammad is His last

2. Salah: Five daily prayers that are obligatory and prescribed for
the Muslim and are a condition of faith. Ways to improve the quality of Salah so that one can repair ones connection with Allah .

3. Ilm wa Dhikr: The importance of knowledge of Islam at least in

as much as is required to practice the religion properly and completely. Remembrance of Allah accountability to Him in all matters. to inculcate a sense of

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4. Ikram-ul-Muslim: Treating fellow Muslims and others with

honor and deference. This starts with Muslims and extends to all people on the principle that charity begins at home.

5. Ikhlas-un-Niyyah: Sincerity of intention by performing every

human action for the sake of Allah alone seeking His Pleasure and not for fame or popularity or any other reason.

6. Tafrigh-ul-Awqaat: Setting aside time to live a life based on

faith and learning its virtues, following in the footsteps of the Prophet, and taking His message door-to-door for the sake of faith. Listening to this talk was a tough job because soon after Fajr was the time of the best sleep. To remain not only awake but attentive was a struggle. I used to write notes which is a good way to ensure both these objectives. After the talk we would have a little free time to freshen up and then breakfast would be served. Eating together is a very strong social bonding process. About half an hour after breakfast we would go in to the second lecture session of the day, what the Tableeghis call Taleem-e-Fadhaail. This consists of reading ahadith (pl. hadith) related to the benefits of various acts of worship and piety. The logic being that if one knows the benefit then one is encouraged to do more of those deeds.

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The ahadith were very interesting to listen to, whether or not one did the deeds only for the reward or for the pleasure of Allah . For me

this was more a session for personal reflection on my own life and what I was doing or neglecting. I remember being very concerned about how my life was almost totally devoid of the thought of what would happen to me after I die and how it was important for me to do something about this. I remember a conversation with a very dear friend in this Ijtima where, mostly talking to myself, I said to him, If you write a list of things to do in order of priority, where would you put working for Allah s pleasure and to prepare for the Aakhira (Hereafter life

after death)? As I said, I was mostly talking to myself. But his answer shocked the daylights out of me. He thought for a little while and said, Your know something, Yawar bhai, it is not even on the list. I was horrified to discover that, that was exactly my own situation. The Hereafter and the pleasure of Allah were not even

on my list. So actually doing something to prepare for my death was out of the question because I was not even thinking in that direction. I decided then that it was time to change this situation immediately. After this session which was usually for about an hour or so, there would be another talk on the importance of taking the message of

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Islam to others, first to our own fellow Muslims and then to nonMuslims. I remember an example that one of the speakers gave. He said, If you feed a hungry person or alleviate the pain of someone who was suffering you would be called a kind person and would be applauded. How about it if your concern was not about a temporary pain or a temporary difficulty but to save someone from everlasting pain and suffering? How much more valuable would your work be and how much more deserving of appreciation would you be? That made a lot of meaning to me and I realized for the first time what a huge responsibility it was to take the message of Islam to the world. It was my responsibility and I decided that I needed to prepare myself to do it properly. I was most thankful to Allah for alerting me to this

before it was too late and put this on the top of my list. By now it is afternoon and time for Dhuhr Salah. So our meeting ends and we get ready for prayer. After prayer is another short talk, then lunch, then a very civilized siesta. We wake up in time for the Asr prayer. Then there is a talk about the etiquette of Daawa (inviting people to Islam). Then teams are formed and people go out to meet Muslims in the locality. These teams return by Magrib. After Magrib Salah is the main lecture of the day which focuses on the work of Daawa. That takes us up to Isha.

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We pray and eat and then there is a discussion in small groups on various topics before we call it a day and go to bed. A long and full day which left me strangely full of energy and not tired and drained. The purpose of the Ijtima is to get people to go out in teams all across the country and the world to meet Muslims in different cities, enquire about them, talk to them about Islam and encourage them to practice the religion. I signed up for a 40-day tour straight away from the Ijtima which in Tableeghi language is called going out cash. However cash or not, I had to drive back home to Connecticut where I lived and leave the car at home before I could go in Jamat so a friend of mine and I started on the way home, after the Ijtima. I was wearing a long Arab robe (thobe) and a black turban (which is something that the Prophet is reputed to have worn) and was driving. My friend was a Pakistani businessman who had a successful retail business and he was in the passenger seat. We started out from Baltimore and drove up into New Jersey on the way to Connecticut. As I was driving on the New Jersey turnpike, just before we came to a toll gate, I saw a police car in my rear view mirror, flashing his lights. I thought that he wanted to pass and so I moved over into the slow lane but he came behind me. My heart skipped a couple of beats as I realized that he wanted me to stop so I pulled over.

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He kept his lights flashing and came out of the police cruiser and walked up to me and said, Excuse me Sir, can I see your license and registration please? I gave him both, wondering what I had done. I had an unblemished record and this was the first time that Id ever been stopped by a policeman and so I was concerned to say the least. The officer went back to his cruiser with my license and registration and then returned a little later. He said to me still holding my papers, Do you know what speed you were doing? I have no idea Officer, I dont think I looked at my speedometer at all, I said. Yes, you didnt look at it once. Ive been following you for a long time. You didnt even look in your rear view mirror. Do you know what the speed limit is here? 55 miles per hour? Yes, and you were doing 75, he said. I knew I was in trouble. You dont do 20 miles over the speed limit in New Jersey and get away with it. Points on my license were the last thing I needed. Then the Officer said, You know, you spoke the truth. And I know this car is smooth. You probably didnt realize what speed you were doing.

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So I am going to let you off. Just drive carefully and keep to the speed limit. Saying that he handed my papers back to me. I was shocked. A State Trooper not giving me a ticket for speeding 20 miles over the speed limit? I suddenly had tears of relief in my eyes. The Officer saw that and hurriedly said, Dont worry. There is no problem. I am not putting anything on your license. I said to him, Officer may I speak to you? He looked surprised but said, Yes please. I got out of the car and both of us stood on the verge. Officer, I said, I am a Muslim and we are just returning from an Islamic conference in Baltimore. I was telling my friend here that if you do the work of Allah , He takes care of you. I was driving fast. You put it in your heart

caught me. I admitted my mistake and Allah

not to penalize me. I did not ask you for clemency. You were kind enough on your own to let me off without any remarks. Thats why I had tears in my eyes. Tears of gratitude to my Lord. The police officer looked at me and said, Allah is for you only or also for me? I replied, Allah is for all of us.

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He took a step back and saluted me and said, Go in peace my brother. A strange sight we must have looked to passersby. A man in a white thobe and black turban being saluted by a white State Trooper in uniform. He got into his car and drove past me and beeped his horn in greeting. Then as I drove along and crossed the toll gate, I saw him with someone else who he had caught. I beeped my horn and he looked up and waved. Wherever he is, I wish him well. He was a good man. I have very pleasant memories of my life in America. When I returned to Connecticut, I dropped off the car and then set off with the group that I had been allocated to spend 40 days in the path of Allah . We were allotted New York City. What this means is that

our team would spend 40 days in the city, moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, staying 2-3 days in each, in the local masjid. We would carry our own provisions, cook our own food and pay for everything ourselves. In some places some of the local people bring some food for the Jamat. But in most places, you eat what you can cook. Every morning after Fajr we would sit together and the Ameer (leader) would ask who was ready for Khidmat (service i.e. cooking

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and cleaning). We would all raise our hands and he would pick one of us. On most days he would join that person to make the two man team that was required. Our Ameer worked harder than all of us. The Jamat tour is a wonderful demonstration of the equality and discipline of Islam. The Ameer would either be designated by the Markaz (Central Office) or would be chosen by consultation and he would be obeyed. Many a time I have been in Jamats where the members were doctors and businessmen and professors and the Ameer was a smalltime shopkeeper or a schoolteacher. Yet he would be obeyed and his counsel would be sought. For his part he played the classic role of the servant of the people which is what Islam calls the Ameer. The Ameer would sleep the least, work the hardest and be a living example of what a true leader should be. Those days were an eye opener in many ways. Our team consisted of a Bangladeshi Ameer who couldnt speak more than two or three words in English or any other language other than Bangla (Bengali). Apart from him and me there was a Hispanic American brother who had recently reverted to Islam, one very large African American, and another equally large West Indian African, a Pakistani doctor, three Pakistani students from NYU and one young Pakistani man, most energetic and enthusiastic.

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For some reason which I am still unable to understand I became the interpreter between the Ameer and the others even though I dont speak a word of Bangla except Mishti Doi and Rossagolla (both delicious Bengali sweets). So the Ameer would speak and I would say to the others what I thought he had said. He seemed pleased enough with the results and nobody complained. Our Ameer was a pious young man, in his 30s and despite this deficiency in language between us, I learnt in the course of the tour that he was from a village in Bangladesh where his wife still lived. He loved her very much and missed her and his little daughter terribly. He worked in a store in New York and was trying to accumulate enough money to go home to visit her. Yet here he was spending 40 days in the path of Allah instead of working to earn

money to go home. It is this dedication to the service of Islam that has always struck me about the people in Tabligh. People leave homes and businesses and spend their savings to travel long distances only to take the message of Islam to other Muslims. Theres no publicity, no public recognition, only the desire to take the message to others. They stand in the night and worship Allah and cry before Him as

they supplicate, not for themselves but for the benefit of others who

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they dont even know. How many times have I heard whispered pleas as the worshiper lay in sajda, his forehead on the earth; pleading with Allah saying, Ya Rabbi please put Your love into the hearts of in whose Hands is guidance, guide these accept this dua

these people. O Allah

people to that which is pleasing to You. O Allah

because we have come all this way only to please you. Open the hearts of these people to Your message before our words reach their ears. O Allah , You are the Acceptor of dua and the Listener to the

thoughts in our hearts and the Seer of all that is hidden. O Allah give us Ikhlaas (sincerity) in our work and be pleased with us. Someone of them must have made this dua for me (I have a strong suspicion who that surely must have been) and Allah and put His love into my heart. I always loved Allah accepted it . Even in the

days of my Jahiliyya (ignorance) when I heard a Qawwali in praise of Allah , tears would spontaneously flow down my cheeks. My wife

told me that when we first got married and she saw me cry like this, she thought to herself, What a strange man I seem to have married? Why does he cry so much? So as I walked in the path of Allah , in

the streets of New York City and rode the subway from one masjid in one district to another, this love for my Creator increased. The more I learnt about Him, the more I read His Book, the more I learnt to see His signs, the more I loved Him. And this continues to this day.

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We went all over New York. Queens to Brooklyn to Long Island to Greenwich to Mayfair to the Bronx. A racially diverse group of men, carrying their bags and bedding, MUSLIM written all over them, walking or riding the trains quietly. What must those who saw us, have thought? We walked the streets visiting shops and homes of Muslims surrounding the masaajid (mosques) in each district or neighborhood that we visited. Sometimes this would be late in the night because our constituents were taxi drivers, convenience store employees, waiters, subway conductors, students; many of them sharing one small apartment. Working late into the night and then sitting with us listening to the glory of Allah instead of sleeping.

We appreciated their dedication and went to visit them when it was convenient for them. It was summer and so walking down the street at night was pleasant. But that also meant that we saw a reality of New York that those who live by daylight never see. We saw the drug addicts, the small time criminals, the holdup artists, the peddlers, the prostitutes all going about their business. But as we walked past in our robes and turbans, conversations would fall silent and people would simply look. Maybe they were thinking, Who are these people crazy enough to walk in the night in places where people are afraid to walk in the day? Nobody ever bothered us. Some called out, As salaamu alaikum, and we replied, Wa alaikum salaam.

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We saw the pavements of Mayfair and Greenwich Village littered with the contents of their own garbage bins. What on earth is this? I asked my companions. This is where the wealthiest live, but why is it so dirty? My companions laughed and said, Where the wealthy live is where the best garbage is. Those who live under the earth come out to get it in the night. I was even more perplexed. Who live under the earth? People, they said. People live in the subway tunnels because they are heated. But the rails are electrified, I said. What if as they sleep, they roll over and their hand touches the rail? Then there is a flash and a dead man, said my companion. All quite simple, it seems. Not so simple to explain however why in the lap of capitalism there is such deprivation while the world is running behind the dream. Certainly what was clear was the need to seriously re-look at my own priorities in life and walking the streets of New York at night was a good, if unorthodox way to do it. Living cheek by jowl with people is the best training in human relations. Living with these companions meant that I needed to get used to many things that I was not used to. The first night in Jamat was an illustration of times to come and the personal challenge I

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needed to face. We were billeted in a small masjid in Queens, right outside which ran the Subway. That meant the deafening rumble of the train at regular frequency. We were told by the caretaker to put our luggage in the basement, a cramped, dark place without windows. After Isha the caretaker told us while collecting his shoes to go home, Please sleep in the basement and not in this main prayer hall. Now it is an unbreakable rule of the Tableeghi Jamat that you follow the rules of the house and if some masjid caretaker tells you to sleep on the roof, you do that and dont change the rule or argue. So we tamely agreed. When I reached the basement I found that the only place I had, to spread my sleeping bag was between my two companions, the African American and the African West Indian. All was well until about 5 minutes after lights out. Then it was as if someone had started a tractor. There was a deep rumble that rose in crescendo and ended in a whoosh. I could not only hear but feel it through the floorboards. This was answered from the other side with what can only be described as a gurgling roar ending in a whistle. My two companions were soundly asleep. I learned very graphically why they call it sound sleep. I realized that this situation was not tenable and that I needed to do something to ensure that I got some sleep. Well, so what was the solution?

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I decided that the only option I had was to break the Tableeghi rule and to go upstairs to the main prayer hall and sleep there. I wake up well before Fajr and so nobody would be the wiser. I got up and quietly crept up the stairs and with a big sigh of relief spread my sleeping bag before the minbar (pulpit) and lay down. The whole masjid was dark but on this floor there was some light from the street that filtered in through the grimy windows which gave the pleasant illusion of moonlight. I could still hear a muted rumble from below but this was quite pleasant sounding like clouds promising rain. As I lay there, finally ready to drift off to sleep, I heard a scratching sound and had a very strange and eerie feeling as if I was being watched. I raised my head and looked all around me, but there was nobody. Suddenly something told me to look behind me at the minbar and what do I see? A huge rat, the size of a housecat sitting on his haunches on the top of the minbar looking earnestly down at me. That was the final straw. I was not prepared to listen to any sermon delivered by a New Yorker rat. I gathered up my sleeping bag and went back downstairs to sleep between my two tractors. I definitely didnt fancy the rat. One benefit of this experience is that today I can sleep in any circumstances and with any amount of noise.

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One thing I realized during this journey; you cant have a problem free life. What you can do is to exchange one problem for another. So you can have a bad problem (the rat) and exchange it with a better problem (snorers). So also in life one can have a bad problem (say a bad boss) and exchange it for a better problem (learn how to deal with a bad boss). Life gives us problems to solve. If we sit and whimper and groan, we are left to live out that phase. If we do and then decide to tackle the problem, a solution presents itself. Once that is over a new problem starts which teaches us new skills. The key thing to do is to stop complaining and start asking, What is this problem supposed to teach me? What can I do to solve it? The biggest mistake people make is to search for a problem free life. In my view there is no such thing. It is because we have problems that we have a sense of achievement, of the joy of conquest and the satisfaction of looking down from the mountain top and taking a deep breath before we start down the slope and up the next mountain. That deep breath is the only rest that we are allowed to take; between climbs. The days passed and we learnt to live with each other, to enjoy the company, to be patient with things we did not like and to help one another. We grew close as a family and our memories of our time

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together are fresh today more than 15 years later. I particularly enjoyed the company of two of the students, Faisal and Mamoon. I still remember one day when I had just completed a lecture on the importance of Shukr (thankfulness) Mamoon came to me and said, Yawar bhai, I am very thankful to Allah for my knuckles. At first I

thought he was being flippant. So I asked him what he meant. He held out his hands and said, Look at these knuckles. How many times a day do they flex? Yet there is no pain, no strain, nothing. They just work smoothly. So I thought of what you said about being grateful for the small things and this is what came into my mind. What a beautiful lesson for us. Today Mamoon is a family man and the head of his masjid committee. There are many experiences of the 40 days and much learning, as much in self realization and human relations as in Islam and matters Islamic. Some incidents stick in the mind. One night, we were in a masjid in the Bronx. After Isha our Ameer who was an early sleeper had retired. We had been sitting around chatting for an hour or more, when a Pakistani doctor who was with us said, Yawar bhai, it will be nice to have a cup of tea. Now I am also a tea lover and agreed with him. The big question was where to get it. We had two choices; we could either make it ourselves, which meant lighting the stove and all the

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rest of it which we were both too lazy to do. Or to go out to the nearest Seven-Eleven store for it. We decided on the latter. Now came another question; one of the strict rules of Jamat is that you never leave the masjid without the permission of the Ameer, but ours was asleep. So I decided that since it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission, we would go and tell him in the morning. Maybe he would be thankful for our consideration in not disturbing his sleep for something trivial. As we were leaving our Hispanic companion asked where we thought we were going. I told him, We want to find a Seven-Eleven and get some tea. He looked at me as if I was insane. Are you crazy? Do you know where we are? This is THE BRONX. I dont even walk on the street here in the day and you want to walk out in the night? You are insane, he said with great passion. Are you willing to make tea for us now? I asked him. He refused. So I said, Well, then we have to go. I want to come with you. I want to see this thing. You Indians are crazy, he said. My Pakistani friend immediately objected to being called Indian and corrected him. Ah! Same thing, he said.

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We started out. I was wearing a robe and turban. My two friends had skull caps. As we went along the pavement, we came to a street corner across which there were 4 or 5 African American brothers standing in a group. O! My God, O! My God, this is it. Weve had it. You are crazy; I should never have come, our Hispanic brother was having a fit. Suddenly one of the African Americans looked up, noticed our presence and raising his arm, called out to us, As salaamu alaikum Shaikh, How ya doin man!!, he asked. Wa alaikum salaam my brother, Alhamdulillah, and yourself? A doin good man, doin good! he replied. Now you take care, ya hear! Thanks my brother, I replied. And we went along. My Hispanic friend did not say another word until we had returned to the masjid. Then he only asked me one thing, What is this brother stuff, haan!! I said to him, One day you will know. The interesting closure to this story is that this Hispanic man who was a former drug addict and alcoholic and had accepted Islam and come

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with us in Jamat, later went to Syria to learn Arabic and to study Islam in one of the universities there and is today an Imam and Shaikh. One hears many such stories of total transformation in the Jamat. One last story it was the last day of my Jamat. Forty days had passed. When I started out I used to wonder sometimes how this time would pass. But pass it did and before I knew it. We had returned to the Tabligh Markaz Masjid in Queens the previous night. My brother in law was supposed to pick me up between Dhuhr and Asr. We had just finished Dhuhr and I was thinking of lunch when a thought came into my mind and I said to Allah , Ya Rabbi, today

I want you to feed me. Directly from you. I will make no effort for this and I will not spend any money. And I want to eat biryani. Having made this dua, I completed my Dhuhr Salah and sat down in a corner of the masjid in Dhikr. When all the people had left and only some of those who had gone in Jamat and the caretakers of the masjid were left, the brother who was in charge of the cooking saw me and said to me, Please come downstairs and have lunch. I asked him, What is there for lunch? He said, Roti and mutton curry. So I told him that I was not hungry and didnt want any lunch. Inside me I smiled and

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said to myself, This is not my lunch. I asked Allah simply for lunch. And I continued to sit where I was.

for biryani. Not

About 15- 20 minutes must have passed when I heard someone calling my name and saying Salaam. I looked up and there was one of the young students who was with us in Jamat. He had spent 10 days and then returned to his home in upstate New York. I was happy to see him and I asked him how he happened to be here because he did not live in Queens. I came to meet you, he said. How did you know I would be here? I asked him. I didnt know for sure but I knew that your tour was finishing today and I was hoping I would find you. I dont know if we will meet again so I didnt want you to go away without saying salaam to you. The he asked me, Have you had lunch? I said that I was thinking of it. Then lets go and have some lunch. My treat, he said. Where do you have in mind? I asked him.

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Lets eat some great biryani. Theres a very nice restaurant just a little way down the road here which does some really nice biryani. I know how much you like biryani and youll enjoy it. Then he looked at me quizzically and said, You have tears in your eyes? I cleared my throat and said, No. No tears.

Ad-Duha 93: 11. And proclaim the Grace of your Rabb.

True to what he said that day, I never saw this brother again. I hope he is well and that Allah is with him in all his actions. I remember will

him with great affection and hope that by His Grace, Allah

cause him to read this book and then he will recall this incident where I recognized my Rabb because of him. Allah teaches in His own ways and I am most grateful to Him for

what He did for me. One such incident happened when I was returning from a Jamat in the UK. I had gone to the UK and spent 3 weeks in Jamat there touring seven cities in the company of one of the most remarkable men that I have ever met, a gastroenterologist who spent 25 years in the company of Maulana Sayeed Ahmed Khan sahib in Madina. The stories he told me about this great Aalim and Zaahid need another book so I will not mention them here. I ask Allah to bless Maulana with the best in Jannah. The incident that I

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want to relate here has to do with my experientially learning the meaning of the Ayt where Allah says that the time of death is

fixed and can neither be delayed not hastened. I arrived from London in New York and my brother Dr. Muhammad Ali picked me up from the airport and we headed home to Connecticut. Before we left New York City we decided to eat some kawaabs in Queens and went to a very nice Pakistani restaurant which had some delicious food though in unappetizing surroundings. I dont know whats with our restaurants; the taste of the food is directly proportional to the dirt in the restaurant. This one was trying to prove this theory right and was being rather successful. However we were both too hungry to care. It was very late in the night by the time we started out of New York. My brother had a very peculiar way of driving with his seat almost in a horizontal position and he drove very fast. As we were going along the almost deserted highway I distinctly remember looking at the speedometer of the BMW which showed the arrow steady at 90 mph. I thought to myself that if I stuck my hand out of the window we would probably become airborne.

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The highway was almost deserted as it was that hour between the late night home comers and the early morning starters. Just after we crossed into Connecticut the highway passed through some forested countryside. In the distance, in the lane beside ours I saw the tail of a sixteen-wheeler trailer truck. On the back of it there was some sort of design painted in fluorescent paint which shone in our lights even though we were quite a distance behind the truck. My brother asked me in a conversational tone, Yawar sahib, if that design becomes the face of the Angel of Death, are you prepared to meet our Rabb? I was used to being asked such things by him so was not taken aback by it though it was not the best time of the night to consider such serious matters. I thought about it for a minute or so and said, I am not prepared to meet Him on the basis of my deeds, but I rely on His mercy that if He has ordained that I should meet Him then He will meet me with His forgiveness. As we were talking, we caught up with the truck. When you are travelling at 90 mph it doesnt take long to catch up with anything. We were now parallel with the truck, our car in the fast lane right by the barrier and the truck in the next lane to our right. Just at that moment a huge female deer leapt out of the forest on our left, cleared the barrier, landed in our lane right before our car and took another leap and slammed into the truck on our right.

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All this takes much longer to write or read than the split second during which it happened. We were doing 90 mph as I mentioned and the deers first landing was right before the car, maybe 30 or 40 meters ahead of us. At our speed if it had hesitated or been a split second slower we would have hit it at full speed and it would have smashed through our windscreen into our laps and we would have all three traveled to the next world together. But our time had not come. So the deer went on to meet its own ending. The truck slammed into it with an explosive bang and dragged it along for half a kilometer before it could halt. We continued on our way in silence. I remember thinking that this one incident that took less than two seconds to happen taught me more than a lifetime of lectures would have done that life and death is in the hands of Allah and that my only

concern is to think of what state I want to meet Him in. The biggest benefit for me was that gradually over the time I strengthened my confidence in my religion. I became more and more confident to be recognized as a Muslim. I became conscious of the need to be a Standard Bearer of Islam. A demonstrator who takes pride in his identity. Who loves being a Muslim and is a living example of the beauty of this faith. That was my goal. Today this is the biggest crisis; the gap between our speech and action, through which credibility falls. I became more and more conscious of the importance

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of following the way of Muhammad

, his Sunnah in all things in life. did something before

I consciously enquired to ask how Rasoolullah

doing it. I tried to do his Ittiba (imitate him) in everything as much as I could, because Allah said that He loves those who imitate His .

Messenger. I wanted to experience being loved by Allah

Since I could speak well, I was nominated most often to be the spokesperson (mutakallim) for the Jamat and also to give the public lecture on many evenings. This resulted in researching and reflection during the day and then speaking about the Glory and Majesty of Allah in the night.

The most important and visible result of that was that my heart became more and more filled with the love of Allah and that

strengthened me to stand up and be counted as a practicing Muslim, without apology or fear. The more I learnt about my religion, the more confident I became about it and the more eager to tell others about my discovery. I became passionate that while I lived nobody must meet me and remain ignorant about Islam. I consider it a condition of friendship that a friend must share his gains with his friends. He must tell them things that work for him, the secrets of his own success so that his friends can also benefit from

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them. If a friend keeps his learning, his insights, his tools for success to himself and does not share them with others then he is not fulfilling his duty of friendship. The world always appreciates those who share their knowledge and wisdom freely and who work to help others. I found later that this attitude of the world does not extend to religion but thats another story. I realized that it was my duty, the purpose of my creation to bring goodness to the world and the first rule of that is to introduce the Creator to His creatures. Strangely I was surprised to find that it was not only the non-Muslims who were surprised with what I had discovered about Islam but that it was the Muslims who were often even more surprised to know what their religion meant or was. It reinforced for me the fact that most Muslims know little or nothing about their own religion and so need to learn. Since most traditional ways of teaching are not available easily to most people who cant leave their homes to enroll in an Islamic university, the best and easiest way to learn is the Jamat; a mobile school which comes to your home. You join them and learn what you can and then you go with them to reinforce that teaching through practice. In the course of that you also help others to learn but the main purpose is your own correction (Islaah). The Jamat was a class in humility. I acknowledged that not only was I ignorant and derelict in my duty but also the fact that others were doing the work of Islam

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quietly and unremarked, year in and year out, while I was busy making excuses. This served to humble any feelings of great sacrifice or achievement that I may have had. All excellent training. What more could I have wished for with respect to the Jamat experience? Well, since we had dedicated a considerable amount of time, full time, to learning about Islam I would have been very happy if there had been a specific learning syllabus and curriculum. Focused learning. Unfortunately apart from the reading of Ahadith of Fadhaail for about 2 hours or so daily there was no formal learning. If each Jamat could have an Aalim accompanying it and a curriculum that the participants have to complete then much can be accomplished. Correct knowledge is supremely important and it must be given its due place in any learning curriculum. Also people going every year must have a progressively more complex syllabus to complete. As of now there is no difference in what happens in a Jamat of novices and a Jamat of people who have been doing the work of Tabligh for decades. A systematic syllabus will promote learning and over the years will increase the knowledge and understanding of the people and be something to look forward to. Otherwise over the years the experience gets repetitive and the law of diminishing returns applies.

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It is very difficult to describe internal processes in words. How can I describe the feelings in my heart as I stood in prayer in the dark of the night reciting the Book of Allah and then supplicating to him in

Sajda? Someone asked one of the great teachers of Islam how he could say if his dua (supplication) was accepted. He replied, When the tears start flowing, I know that my dua is accepted. I realized that the connection with Allah was not something that one could

explain. When it happens you know. It is something to be experienced. Like applying for a job, one has to first make an application and then beg and plead for it to be accepted. And demonstrate that one is worthy of being accepted into the service of Allah and His Deen, Islam. As the days passed, the Glory and entered my heart and by His Grace has remained

Majesty of Allah

there. I believe this is the secret of obedience. When you understand the Glory of Allah and His Power, then it is easy to obey.

Also when you understand His Power and are obedient to His orders, you find that you are given access to the power. You see your dua being accepted and making a difference in your life. You become independent of the world as you learn to take from the treasures of Allah . Fear of this world and its threats, fear of losing a job, or is

security or safety, all leave your heart as you realize that Allah

the one who gives and takes away. Actually the correct way to say

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that is, Allah you have Allah

is the only one who can give and take away. So if in your corner then you dont fear the world. It is

this feeling about which the poet Iqbal said:

Wo ek sajda jisay thu giraan samajhta hai, Hazar sajdon say deta hai aadmi ko najaat. (That one prostration Salah which you consider difficult, actually frees man from a thousand prostrations)

65:2-3 And whosoever fears Allh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allh, then He will suffice him. 39:36 Is not Allh Sufficient for His slave? Yet they try to frighten you with those (whom they worship) besides Him! 4:45 Allh has full knowledge of your enemies, and Allh is Sufficient as a Wal (Protector), and Allh is Sufficient as a Helper.
Thus Allah comforts those who believe in Him and rely on Him and

entrust their affairs to Him. This is the secret of peace of mind; to

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entrust your affairs to the Only One who has control over them; for peace of mind lies in the remembrance of Allah . Allah said:

13:28 Those who believe (in the Oneness of Allh), and whose hearts find peace & comfort in the remembrance of Allh, Verily, in the remembrance of Allh do hearts find peace (comfort, tranquility, rest).
I had gone to America to make a living, to set up a new business and naturally all my focus was on that. I was anxious to succeed, fearful of failure, very aware of all the constraints under which I was working, very conscious that there were no safety nets, nobody to help. I was alone and I knew it. Sometimes as I lay in the night in some small masjid or the other in New York and tried to sleep I would ask myself why I was there at all. Why wasnt I hitting the street, hustling for work like the rest of my countrymen? What was I doing sitting in a masjid talking about the greatness of Allah that too for 40 days. all day and worshipping Him in the night? And

People in America did not even take a vacation for 40 days. Was I serious about success? Was this my way of copping out to justify my own laziness or fear of failure in the real world? Was this whole Jamat

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thing an escape from life, from struggling, from competing? My mind was plagued by doubt. Walking clears my mind and helps me to focus attention. So I would walk for hours, many miles along country roads where I lived, thinking, reflecting and asking Allah for answers.

But I ensured that doubts or not, I did what I had to do. So I studied and worshipped and spoke and answered questions about Islam. As time passed I began to see signs of guidance from Allah .

Meanings of Ayaat would suddenly become clear in ways that answered my unasked questions. I would suddenly see Ayaat or Ahadith which I would have read a million times but it was as if the ayah jumped out of the page and hit me in the eye just then. People would come and ask me questions which were really in my own heart. And as I answered them, it was as if I was standing outside myself, answering my own questions. I would listen to lectures or Tafseer (explanation) of the Quran and certain points would become suddenly clear to me, as if the person was addressing me directly.

People would come and say things which I knew were meant only for me and that the person had been sent to give me a message. In the middle of all this, doubt and questioning, one thing was supremely

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clear to me and that was a tremendous sense of peace. It was as if someone was saying to me, Dont worry, ask whatever you want. Youll get all the answers. You are being prepared and this is all part of preparation. It is all training. Some will be painful but no pain, no gain. Now sleep well. My heart was at peace.

I will quote just one example of how Allah

solved for me all

questions relating to my provision. This is often the most important question in the lives of most people so I hope this will be of benefit to all of you. The most often asked questions and the ones in my own mind at this time in Jamat related to Rizq (sustenance, provision, wealth) were: 1. Is Rizq preordained or is it related to how much I work? 2. If it is preordained why should I work at all? 3. What are the criteria of winning or losing? I dont want to give the impression that suddenly one day there was this huge flash and everything became crystal clear. The process of understanding was gradual but sustained. I have tried to put it all together here for you.

There are 6 points that I will deal with in this section:

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1. That all Rizq (sustenance) is preordained in terms of its quantity and that Allah has taken its responsibility unto himself.

2. That we have a choice only in terms of what sources we would like to choose to obtain it and where we would like to spend it. 3. That Shaytaan will try to frighten us with poverty while Allah comforts us with His Power. The Shaytaan has no power over the one who believes and seeks the protection of Allah .

4. Action to take in case of difficulties with respect to sustenance. 5. That sustenance both its plenty as well as its shortage are tests. 6. The reason why we still need to work and do the best we can while we live in this world.
1. That all Rizq (sustenance) is preordained in terms of its quantity and that Allah unto himself. Rizq is an all-encompassing word that takes into account everything that one needs to live in the world. It is not restricted to money or food. It includes, time, knowledge, energy, health and every kind of resource that we need to survive and grow. Let me begin by quoting the ayah where Allah speaks about His has taken its responsibility

Majesty and Power and ends with saying that He is the one who gives

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sustenance to who He wills without limit. This ayah in itself should be enough to settle the issue. However I will present more evidence before you.

3: 26-27 Say (O Muhammad): "O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things. You make the night to enter into the day, and You make the day to enter into the night (i.e. increase and decrease in the hours of the night and the day during winter and summer), You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You will, without limit (measure or account).
In this ayah Allah is informing us about His power and showing us

that He has the power to do things that are much more difficult than feeding us. After reminding us about His power over the movement of the sun, moon and earth and over life and death, He tells us that He gives sustenance to who He pleases without measure. He mentions the sun, moon and earth and life and death to draw our attention to these things over which we have no control and then mentions sustenance to show that we have no control over it either.

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We are reminded that we get sustenance by the will of Allah not by our effort. And that Allah us. Allah

and

does not need our help to feed

reminds us that He is the one who enlarges or restricts

our sustenance and in this we have no say. We dont get richer or poorer or more or less knowledgeable by our effort or cleverness but by the will of Allah quoted a few below. All of them are meant to instill comfort into our hearts that Allah knows what we need and has the power to give it to us. We are asked not to worry and stress ourselves but only to ensure we earn this sustenance in the right way. It is for this reason that the questions of the Day of Judgment are only about the means of earning and the ways of spending. Not about the amount we earned. The amount is fixed by Allah His knowledge and His pleasure. according to . There are many Ayaat to this effect. I have

29:62 Allah enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and straitens it for whom (He wills). Verily, Allah is the All Knower of everything.

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17:30 Truly, your Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills and straitens (for whom He wills). Verily, He is Ever All-Knower, AllSeer of His slaves. 30:37 Do they not see that Allah enlarges the provision for whom He wills and straitens (it for whom He wills). Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who believe. 34:36 Say (O Muhammad): "Verily, my Lord enlarges and restricts the provision to whom He pleases, but most men know not." 34:39 Say: "Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and (also) restricts (it) for him, and whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allahs Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers." 39:52 Do they not know that Allah enlarges the provision for whom He wills, and straitens it (for whom He wills). Verily, in this are signs for the folk who believe! 42: 12 To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth, He enlarges provision for whom He wills, and straitens (it for whom He wills). Verily! He is the All-Knower of everything.

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He orders His Messenger

to inform people about this fact which He

says most people do not know and do not understand. He also says that He replaces whatever we spend in His path with something better than what we spent. And that He knows full well all that is going on. He tells us that the fact that our provision and sustenance is regulated by Him without any interference from us and despite all our efforts to the contrary, is a sign from Him (Ayaat-ullah). For people of faith this is a sign that enhances our faith. It is for this reason that Sayyidina Ali (Radhiallahu anhu) said. Araftu rabbi bi fasqil adhaaim I recognized my Lord by the failure of my plans and intentions. In my case what Sayyidina Ali (RA) said literally came true. I am a very systematic person. When I moved to America in 2006-7 it was not tentative. I was going with a very clear purpose; to set up my leadership consulting business there; and so I planned for it. I activated my network and they all assured me that all I needed to do was to think about which bank I wanted to open my account in. Given my contacts and track record as a leadership trainer, business would be automatic. I wrote letters to existing and prospective clients. I created new brochures and courses. I tested these out, took feedback and fine tuned them. In short I did everything I knew to develop business and all the responses were good. But strangely for one full year when I landed in the US and was engaged in my internal

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dialogue about Rizq, I did not get a single assignment. I tried every trick in the book and several others that I invented. Nothing worked. I called up every one of my contacts. Not one delivered. My friends and relatives on the other hand suggested that I should do what all immigrants do; work in gas stations and malls to make a living. I refused. My logic was that I had not gone to the US to make a living. I already had a living and savings. I had gone to set up a particular business. If I could not do that, I would return home to India where I had a thriving business which I could re-start. So I was not going to waste my time pumping gas. I would try to develop my consulting business and I would pursue my Islamic studies and I would trust in Allah . Working on a full time job would put paid to

my Islamic studies which I was not willing to do. And if it was trust in Allah that was needed, then Id learn to trust.

But nothing happened for one year. And remember, when I was in this stage I did not know that it would take one year. As far as I was concerned all my efforts were failing and I couldnt understand why? I was trying things that I had tried multiple times and they had succeeded. I was working in my own expert area in which I knew I was good but I was failing. Not occasionally but every single time. But strangely after all these failures, my heart was at peace. I found that

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strangest of all. I should have been desperate, depressed, angry but I wasnt. I was at peace because inside me I knew that I was being guided. I knew that left to myself I would never have failed in my business development endeavors. So it meant to me that I was not left to myself. Allah was in control and I was being prepared and tested;

to put myself and my life where my mouth was. It was like I was being told, Okay, you tell others to trust Allah Allah and that it is

who gives us sustenance just as He gives it to all living

creatures. But do you believe it yourself? Prove that you trust Allah yourself. So I said to myself that if Allah tests, then He

also helps you to pass the test. So I would do everything reasonable to develop my business but would not leave my Islamic studies. Another interesting thing that happened was that whenever I needed money for something essential, Allah would provide it from places

that I would not have dreamt of. For my part I never indulged in any expenditure that was not essential. I lived for 3 years a stones throw (driving time wise) from one of the biggest malls in America but did not even enter it. I love wildlife and nature but did not go to a single national park. I did not go to Disney.

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For 3 years I did not do anything that could be called entertainment or leisure activity. That is why I am a great believer in seriousness and focus. Gradually as time passed and I learnt the lessons that I needed to learn doors started to open. I was selected by AMA International (1 out of 6 out of 1600 trainers in 2008) which resulted in regular work. My GE contacts came alive and once again I started training there. New business developed. People called it the result of my efforts culminating in success. I knew it had nothing to do with my efforts. I was being taught a lesson. And once I learnt the lesson, Allah opened the doors. My Rizq was what I was getting, except

that now I knew its real source and would not get confused with the whispering of Shaytaan. Since I knew where it was coming from, I would now have my priorities in the right order. My heart was content. Allah reminded us that it is He who feeds every living thing.

11:6

And no (moving) living creature is there on earth but its

provision is due from Allah. And He knows its dwelling place and its deposit (in the uterous, grave, etc.). All is in a Clear Book (Al-Lauh AlMahfooz - the Book of Decrees with Allah).

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The next thing to remember is that Allah

does not need our help

to do this. He is not dependent on what we do or not do in order to feed us or to give us our Rizq in any way. He reminds us to look at His signs around us and understand the fact that everything happens by His will alone. Allah reminds us about the purpose of our creation and what is

expected of us in this life.

51: 56-58

And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except

they should worship Me (Alone). I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me (i.e. feed themselves or My creatures). Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.
If you look at the last ayah in the context of the Arabic grammar, Allah has emphasized the fact that He is our Raaziq, six times..

And finally in the last words of the ayah, He invokes His own word of power Quwwatil Mateen in order to lay our minds at rest about His ability to provide for us. The issue is not His ability but our faith. Allah tells us that our sustenance is in the Heavens and not in our

hands or efforts. And He forcefully stresses it by saying that this is the truth as is the fact that we speak intelligently to each other.

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It is by various similes that Allah is one of them.

teaches us in the Qur'an and this

51: 21-23 And on the earth are signs for those who have Faith with certainty, And also in your own selves. Will you not then see? And in the heaven is your provision, and that which you are promised. Then, by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth (i.e. what has been promised to you), just as it is the truth that you can speak.
He challenges even those who do not believe in Islam to say who it is that gives them sustenance. And He says to His Messenger he asked them they would say that it is Allah exist in the heavens and earth. that if

who feeds all that

34: 24 Say (O Muhammad to these polytheists, pagans, etc.) "Who gives you provision from the heavens and the earth?" say: "Allah, And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in a plain error."
2. That we have a choice only in terms of what sources we would like to choose to obtain it from and what places we would like to spend it. Allah clearly differentiates between desiring things of this world

instead of and (often) at the expense of the Aakhira. All these ayahs underline two things:

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That we have the power to choose how we want our sustenance and where we want to spend it. We can choose it at the expense of our Aakhira or as a means of enhancing the value of the Aakhira. The Ayaat also clearly state that though we are free to choose, the choice is not free of cost. Each choice has an outcome. Allah in His

immense mercy has clearly shown us what those outcomes are likely to be. It is our responsibility to choose.

17:18-21 Whoever wishes for the quick-passing (transitory enjoyment of this world), We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell, he will burn therein disgraced and rejected, (far away from Allahs Mercy). And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it (i.e. do righteous deeds of Allahs Obedience) while he is a believer (in the Oneness of Allah), then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, thanked and rewarded (by Allah). To each these as well as those (obedient ones and disobedient ones) We bestow from the Bounties of your Lord. And the Bounties of your Lord are not closed to anyone. See how We prefer one above another (in this world) and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preference.

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42: 19 Gracious is Allah to His servants: He gives Sustenance to whom He pleases: and He has Power and can carry out His Will. To any that desires the tilth of the Hereafter We give increase in his tilth; and to any that desires the tilth of this world We grant somewhat thereof but he has no share or lot in the Hereafter.
He tells us that what we see as His bounties on people of this world, are from His Will (Mashee-ah) and according to His plan. These are not the result of the efforts of those people and often are a test and a source of great loss in the hereafter (as was the case with Qaroon, one of the nobles of Pharaoh Ramses IV who Musa (AS) was sent to). Qaroon opposed Musa (AS) and behaved with great arrogance and in the end perished with his treasures by the order of Allah . The

earth was ordered to swallow him and his treasure, so he perished. Allah also warns those of us who hanker after this life that if He

were to increase their provision they would become rebellious. And indeed we know this is true. And so a shortening of provision is actually a sign of the grace of Allah in order that we may be

protected from transgression. We dont ask for our provision to be restricted but when we are faced with difficulties we dont complain but turn towards Allah (forbearance). for His mercy and act with Sabr

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42: 27 And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth, but He sends down by measure as He wills. Verily! He is in respect of His slaves, the Well-Aware, the AllSeer (of things that benefit them).
3. That Shaytaan will try to frighten us with poverty while Allah Allah comforts us with His power.

tells us not to be misled by Shaytaan into believing that we

earn by our effort and that if we do not do forbidden things (deal in Rib usury, interest or other forbidden things) we would become poor or starve. Allah says that He on the contrary promises

forgiveness and bounties. It is for us to ask ourselves, whose promises we believe in; Allah Allah s or Shaytaans.

also tells us that the Shaytaan has no power over those who and ask for the protection of

have Imaan and believe in Allah Allah

from the whisperings of Shaytaan.

2: 268 Shaytaan (Satan) threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahsha (evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins etc.); whereas Allah promises you Forgiveness from Himself and Bounty, and Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures needs, All-Knower.

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17:64 "And Istafziz (literally means: befool them gradually) those whom you can among them with your voice (i.e. songs, music, and any other call for Allahs disobedience), make assaults on them with your cavalry and your infantry, mutually share with them wealth and children (by tempting them to earn money by illegal ways usury, or by other illegal means) and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but deceit. 17:27 Verily, spendthrifts (people who do Israaf) are brothers of the Shayateen (devils), and the Shaytaan is ever ungrateful to his Lord. 4:120 He (Shaytaan) makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires; and Shaytaans promises are nothing but deceptions.
The term ghuroor signifies anything by which the mind is beguiled or deceived - for instance, utter self-abandonment to earthly joys, or the absurd belief that there is no limit to man's aims and achievements.

(Quran Ref: 4:120) 3:175 It is only Shaytaan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliy (supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger, Muhammad), so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers.

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7:200-201

And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shaytaan

(Satan) then seek refuge with Allah. Verily, He is All-Hearer, AllKnower. Verily, those who are Al-Muttaqoon (the pious - see V.2:2), when an evil thought comes to them from Shaytaan (Satan), they remember (Allah), and (indeed) they then see (aright). 14:22 And Shaytaan (Satan) will say when the matter has been

decided: "Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you, so you responded to me. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your former act in associating me (Satan) as a partner with Allah (by obeying me in the life of the world). Verily, there is a painful torment for the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.)." 41:36 And if an evil whisper from Shaytaan (Satan) tries to turn you away (O Muhammad) (from doing good, etc.), then seek refuge in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower. 58:10 Secret counsels (conspiracies) are only from Shaytaan (Satan), in order that he may cause grief to the believers. But he cannot harm them in the least, except as Allah permits, and in Allah let the believers put their trust.

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4. Action to take in case of difficulties with respect to sustenance So what is to be done in case of straightened provision and reduced sustenance? Allah shows us the way. He tells us to perform Salah

(namaz) and to be patient. Look at our lives and surroundings to see which of Allah orders are being broken and correct them. And to are being disregarded for His

see which of the Sunnahs of the Messenger

and to start following them. And keep asking Allah forgiveness and mercy.

2: 153 O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer). Truly! Allah is with As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.). 2: 45 And seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer) and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for Al-Khashioon (i.e. the true believers in Allah - those who obey Allah with full submission, fear much from His Punishment, and believe in His Promise (Paradise, etc.) and in His Warnings (Hell, etc.). The Arabic word Sabr implies many shades of meaning, which it is impossible to gather in one English word. It implies (1) patience in the sense of being thorough, not hasty; (2) patient perseverance, constancy, steadfastness, firmness of purpose; (3) systematic as

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opposed to spasmodic or chance action; (4) a cheerful attitude of resignation and understanding in sorrow, defeat, or suffering, as opposed to murmuring or rebellion, but saved from mere passivity or listlessness, by the element of constancy or steadfastness. (Commentary: Abdullah Yusuf Ali)
There is a strong link between asking for forgiveness and the increase of provision and sustenance and the removal of difficulties. Especially if we have been transgressing and provision is shortened, then doing Tawba and begging for the forgiveness of Allah Allah will increase it.

mentions Prophet Nooh (Alaihis salaam)s dua:

71: 10-12

"I said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord;

Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving; He will send rain to you in abundance; And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.
Allah shows us what our attitude should be towards what He has

taken the responsibility to provide and for which He has not asked for our help.

18:28 And keep yourself (O Muhammad) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, and other righteous deeds) morning

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and afternoon, seeking his Face (pleasure), and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.
Allah warns us that sometimes we may be doing things which we

think are good for us whereas they may be harmful for us. All kinds of bidaat and shirk which is done in the belief that these actions lead to Allah s pleasure would be examples of such deeds. The solution to

that is to seek proof of the value of a deed in the Book of Allah and in the Sunnah of His Messenger course of action. before committing to that

18: 103-4 Say (O Muhammad): "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds!
Allah puts our minds at rest and assures us that no calamity can

befall us except by His Will. And so the one to whom obedience to Allah is the first priority, will always be protected from the

calamities of this life and the Aakhira.

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64:11 No calamity befalls, but with the Leave (i.e. decision and Qadr (Divine Preordainments)) of Allah, and whosoever believes in Allah, He guides his heart (to the true Faith with certainty, i.e. what has befallen him was already written for him by Allah from the Qadr (Divine Preordainments)), and Allah is the All-Knower of everything.
Allah warns us that what we seek for ourselves in this life is often

a great test for us and in the Aakhira can make us among the losers.

64:14 O you who believe! Verily, among your wives and your children there are enemies for you (i.e. may stop you from the obedience of Allah), therefore beware of them! But if you pardon (them) and overlook, and forgive (their faults), then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
5. That sustenance both its plenty as well as its shortage are tests. This is a matter about which we often lose consciousness; that sustenance is a test. Both having a lot of it as well as not having enough. Allah tests with both. The Believer is one who acts with and does

Sabr (patience) in times of hardship and thanks Allah Shukr (thankfulness) in times of plenty. Allah

says that He will test

us with something of hunger and fear and loss in order to prove to us

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who are the faithful ones who bow in submission to His Will and who are the ungrateful ones who complain and rebel.

29:2

Do people think that they will be left alone because they say:

"We believe," and will not be tested. 29:3 And We indeed tested those who were before them. And

Allah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test). 2: 155-157 And certainly, We shall test you with something of

fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.). Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return." They are those on whom are the Salawat (i.e. blessings, etc.) (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided-ones. 3: 186 You shall certainly be tried and tested in your wealth and properties and in your personal selves, and you shall certainly hear much that will grieve you from those who received the Scripture before you (Jews and Christians) and from those who ascribe partners to Allah, but if you persevere patiently, and become Al-Muttaqoon

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(the pious - see V.2:2) then verily, that will be a determining factor in all affairs, and that is from the great matters, (which you must hold on with all your efforts).
And for those who pass this test by being patient and praying for forgiveness and strength He promises success in this life and the Hereafter. And that He does not allow any effort in His path to go to waste, no matter how small or by whom it was done; male or female.

3: 195 So their Lord accepted of them (their supplication and answered them), "Never will I allow to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female. you are (members) one of another, so those who emigrated and were driven out from their homes, and suffered harm in My Cause, and who fought, and were killed (in My Cause), verily, I will remit from them their evil deeds and admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise); a reward from Allah, and with Allah is the best of rewards."
Allah also draws our attention to our usual tendency to look at

others and try to compete with them in worldly matters, feel jealous and envious and somehow try to keep up with the Joneses by any means. Allah warns us against these follies that lie at the heart of

so many social evils that we have created for ourselves and are victims of.

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20: 131 And strain not your eyes in longing for the things We have given for enjoyment to various groups of them (polytheists and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah), the splendor of the life of this world that We may test them thereby. But the provision (good reward in the Hereafter) of your lord is better and more lasting. 42:36 So whatever you have been given is but a passing

enjoyment for this worldly life, but that which is with Allah (Paradise) is better and more lasting for those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah) and put their trust in their lord (concerning all of their affairs). 43:33-36 And were it not that all mankind would have become of one community (all disbelievers, desiring worldly life only), We would have provided for those who disbelieve in the Most Beneficent (Allah), silver roofs for their houses, and elevators (and stair-ways, etc. of silver) whereby they ascend, And for their houses, doors (of silver), and thrones (of silver) on which they could recline, And adornments of gold. Yet all this (i.e. the roofs, doors, stairs, elevators, thrones etc. of their houses) would have been nothing but an enjoyment of this world. And the Hereafter with your Lord is only for the Muttaqoon. And whosoever turns away (blinds himself) from the remembrance of the Most Beneficent (Allah), We appoint for him Shaytaan (Satan devil) to be a Qareen (an intimate companion) to him.

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For those who dont learn from adversity Allah

tells us about past

nations and what happened to them as a result of their rebelliousness. Once again it is clear that sustenance is linked to deeds and behavior and the obedience of Allah schemes and machinations and so-called effort. and not to our own

6: 42-45 Verily, We sent (Messengers) to many nations before you (O Muhammad). And We seized them with extreme poverty (or loss in wealth) and loss in health with calamities so that they might believe with humility. Verily, We sent (Messengers) to many nations before you (O Muhammad). And We seized them with extreme poverty (or loss in wealth) and loss in health with calamities so that they might believe with humility. When Our Torment reached them, why then did they not believe with humility? But their hearts became hardened, and Shaytaan (Satan) made fair-seeming to them that which they used to do. So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows. So the roots of the people who did wrong were cut off. And all the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the Aalamin (mankind, jinns, and all that exists).

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7: 94-96 And We sent no Prophet unto any town (and they denied him), but We seized its people with suffering from extreme poverty (or loss in wealth) and loss of health and calamities, so that they might humiliate themselves (and repent to Allah). Then We changed the evil for the good, until they increased in number and in wealth, and said: "Our fathers were touched with evil (loss of health and calamities) and with good (prosperity, etc.)." So We seized them of a sudden while they were unaware. And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn (polytheism and crimes, etc.).
6. The reason why we still need to work while we live in this world.

The big question that comes to mind of course is, If indeed Allah has taken the responsibility for feeding me and my family and if indeed the quantum of my sustenance is fixed and I have no control over it, then why should I do any work at all? What about competing in the market? What are the criteria of winning or losing?

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I believe there are 3 major reasons why we need to work and do the best that we can, given whatever talents Allah 1. Because Allah permitted us to work. has given us.

He has called it, searching or seeking His Bounty (Fadhl). Not to seek it would then be a form of ungratefulness. So we seek His Bounty because He told us to seek it in obedience to Him. Our work therefore becomes a source of reward as it would be counted as obeying His wishes.

62:9

O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for

the Salat (prayer) on the day of Friday (Juma prayer), come to the remembrance of Allah (Khutbah) and Salat (prayer)) and leave your business (and every other thing), that is better for you if you did but know! 62:10 Then when the (Jumuah) Salat (prayer) is finished, you may disperse through the land, and seek the Bounty of Allah (by working, etc.), and remember Allah much, that you may be successful.
At the same time Allah tells us how to go about this searching for

His Bounty. Not by His disobedience, but while remembering Him at all times and praising Him much. Allah also reminds us to think

about the Aakhira and not to sacrifice that for the sake of this Duniya.

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He warns us against neglecting our religious duties (the first of them is the Salah) by giving precedence to searching for His Bounty. His greatest Bounty is to permit us to go into His presence 5 times daily. It would be very foolish to neglect to show our gratitude for that honor in the name of searching for livelihood.

62:11 And when they see some merchandise or some amusement (beating of Tambur (drum) etc.) they disperse headlong to it, and leave you (Muhammad SAW) standing (Khutba)). Say "That which Allah has is better than any amusement or merchandise! And Allah is the Best of providers."
Sc., "O Prophet" - thus alluding to an historical incident, when most of the congregation, on hearing that a long-expected trade caravan had come from Syria, rushed out of the mosque in the midst of the Prophet's Friday-sermon. In a wider, timeless sense, the above verse contains an allusion to an all-too-human weakness against which even true believers are not always immune: namely, the tendency to overlook religious obligations for the sake of a transitory, worldly advantage. (Quran Ref: 62:11)

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2.

As a way of Daawat-ul-Islam:

The second major reason to work and to do the best that we can with our talents is to become beacons of guidance for others about the Islamic Way of Life. To make our lives in terms of our Muamilaat (Dealings); Muaashirat (Society) and Akhlaaq (Manners) a source of daawa to Islam. If we involve ourselves actively in social and commercial activity then we can become exemplars of Islam and its wonderful teachings. People will be drawn to Islam by looking at us, dealing with us, having us work for them or working for us. We become Standard Bearers of Islam. We work not to fill our belly but to make a mark, to create brand, to leave a legacy. We work so that we can create powerful institutions which will make possible the Islamic Way in all walks of life. We work to give the world a working model of an alternate way of life to the one it practices and is so unhappy with. We work so that the world will look at us and say, There goes a Muslim. Our life is better because he lives among us. We work so that when we are gone it will be said, We regret his passing. He fought for our rights, he alleviated our suffering, he helped us in need, he gave us hope and he lighted our path.

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He challenged us to be the best that we could be not by lecturing or haranguing, but by being a living example of the best that he could be. This world is a better place today because he walked the earth. This is why we work. Not to put some food in our bellies. That is a reason why animals work; to fill their bellies. It is not a worthy reason for humans to work and most certainly not for Muslims to work. But guess what? The big secret is that if you deliver quality, you will also be hugely successful. You will create Brand in the market. Your customers will be loyal to you. You will gain influence and wealth and Allah will put Baraka in it, all the while living with great peace of in the process.

mind and earning rewards with Allah 3.

Because the quantum of sustenance is fixed but the way is in our control.

Whereas the quantum of earnings is fixed, Allah

has given us the

liberty to earn it in any way we please. So we have the freedom to earn this sustenance in value added ways that will give us the benefit of reward in the Aakhira as well as create influence for ourselves in this world. This is a sign of the bounty of Allah who gave us a way

to earn rewards while doing what we would have done anyway.

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For example, the sustenance of an individual may be Rs. 15,000 per month. This person may earn that working as an agent in a Call Center. Or instead they may choose to earn that working as a teacher, or as a nurse or physician or as a social worker in an NGO. Naturally in the latter cases, there would be additional reward for helping people that may not be in answering calls about credit card transactions or some such matter. In addition, as a teacher, nurse, NGO activist, you would have more influence in society, more prestige, more visibility and you would be able to touch more lives and add more value to yourself and others. That is why in Islam the means to achieve anything are as important as the goal itself. If one has a noble goal but adopts means which are ignoble and prohibited then the goal does not justify the means. For example, for Muslims, the most commendable goal is to present the message of Islam to the world, Daawa. But in the name of Daawa if one were to host a gathering in which there was free mixing of men and women, music and other prohibited actions then the meeting would be a means of attracting the anger of Allah instead of His

Pleasure. Muslims must therefore always ensure that they adopt means that are legal in the land and also which are not against the tenets of the Shariah at all times. Islam does not permit Muslims to engage in corrupt practices or fudge taxes or pollute, waste, oppress,

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deceive or exaggerate or to indulge in anything that is illegal according to the laws of the land; on the plea that this is accepted in society or that others do it. Muslims did not come to follow. They came to lead and to show the way. The means and the end are both important in Islam and this must not be lost sight of. Today it is very sad to see that Muslims are almost known for bad quality, shoddy work, lying, cheating and not delivering on commitments all the while speaking about Islamic principles. This causes a great deal of harm not only to themselves but to the whole image of Islam and Muslims globally and people rightfully ask, If your religion is so good, how is it that you are so bad? Work is the most powerful source of Daawa as is also established by the famous stories in history of the spreading of Islam which spread all over South Asia through the practices of traders. People saw how they worked with integrity and industry and saw a direct relationship between how they worked, their success as businessmen and their beliefs and religion. It was for this reason that they accepted Islam and entire countries became Muslim. As they say, The proof of the pudding is in the eating. So also when people can see the goodness of life in this world visible in the lives of those who practice Islam, they are likely to believe in the theology

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about the Hereafter which they cant see. But when they see Muslims hustling, cheating, fearful, taking shortcuts, breaking the law, giving sub-standard goods accompanied by lame excuses, oppressing the weak, fawning before the powerful, demeaning themselves and their religion; then naturally people ask the question, Why should we even consider Islam when it does nothing for those who already follow it? In my view these three reasons are why we must work and do the best that we can, while being absolutely clear in our mind that the sustenance is coming from Allah , in accordance with His plan and

not as a result of our own effort or cleverness. To see something happening from one source but to know that it is not happening from there but from Allah essence of Imaan. And that is what makes the mind of a Muslim full of peace and his life free of anxiety. Finally Allah shows us the way that leads to His pleasure, which is is the

the highest goodness.

64:16-17 So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can; listen and obey; and spend in charity, that is better for yourselves. And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, is the

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successful one. If you lend to Allah a goodly loan (i.e. spend in Allahs Cause) He will double it for you, and will forgive you. And Allah is Most Ready to appreciate and to reward, Most Forbearing,
From all of the above it is clear that it is the duty of the one who understands Allah that please Allah Allah s word to keep himself engaged in all pursuits and not to worry about his sustenance which

will surely provide him as He has promised.

Hadith Qudsi: Abu Huraira (Radhiallahu anhu) reports that

Rasoolullah

said: Allah demands: O son of Adam, devote yourself

to my worship. I shall make you feel contented and remove your poverty. But if you do not do so, I shall keep you busy with worldly engagements and will not remove your poverty.
Its been a long journey but in which I've never been alone. Its only the first step that you are left alone to take. From then on the doors open as you come to them. They all have automatic openers. They only open when you come to them. Not before. So you have to keep walking. If you stop and look you'll only see closed doors. But if you have faith and walk onwards as soon as you come to the door it opens. Faith is to know that the door will open and to keep walking on the path to Allah s pleasure because He owns us and the

Universe. Muslims know all about automatic door openers, see?

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It is from this connection with Allah

that emerges the cardinal who is All-Seeing, All-

principle in Islam of accountability to Allah

Knowing in every respect. That is why there is a huge importance not only on the acquisition of knowledge but on practicing it, because the purpose of knowing is to act on what one knows. Knowledge without practice is like walking on a dark street with an unlighted torch in your hand. If you are not going to light the torch and see your way, then what is the purpose of carrying it? So also with knowledge, if one knows what is right, yet commits sin, then the purpose of knowledge is defeated and one will have to answer to Allah on the Day when

all will be called to account. Remaining ignorant is not an option. One must learn and act on it. About accountability Allah says:

An-Najm 53:38-41

That no burdened person (with sins) shall

bear the burden (sins) of another, And that man can have nothing but what he does (good or bad). And that his deeds will be seen. Then he will be recompensed with a full and the best recompense Al-Alaq 96:14 Knows he not that Allh does see (what he does)?

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Zalzala 99:7-8 So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. Naba 78:39 That is without doubt the True Day, so, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!

This connection with Allah theme in Islam. Allah

and accountability to Him is the central

is real; someone who we talk to daily,

formally in prayer and informally in any state of being. Someone we actively seek to please, someone whose commands are real to us and which we seek to learn and obey and someone who we hope to meet on the Day of Judgment when all will be called to account for their beliefs and deeds.

Since Allah

is real and has a clear specific personal identity, it is as the only one worthy of worship

necessary to believe in Allah

and the only Creator and Sustainer of the universe and that one day we will be called to account by Him on the Day of Judgment. In Islam it is NOT acceptable to simply believe in One God or in All Gods or in A Supreme Being or any such concept. To enter Islam and for our faith and worship to be accepted by Allah , we have to believe in

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Him and not in some abstract concept of our own creation. Islamic Monotheism is to believe in Allah and not in One God by any

name as some people seem to interpret it. Just as you would not answer unless someone called you by your name, so also Allah does not answer unless you call Him by His beautiful names. Allah does not answer if you call him by the names of other deities or by names that you may have invented, no matter how beautiful those names may appear to you.

I remember an instance when I was speaking at a gathering in the US when someone asked me, What is the concept of God in Islam? I replied, There is no concept of God in Islam. In Islam God is real. He exists, we know Him, we talk to Him, ask Him, He answers us. He is not a concept. For the Muslim Allah is real. And it is in getting

close to Him that our own spiritual development lies. For a Muslim it is normal to ask before doing anything, Will this please Allah ?

There are three possibilities that emerge from this question: Yes it does so he does it. No it doesnt so she doesnt do it. I dont know he finds out what the right thing to do is and then does that.

This is a very important part of Muslim upbringing, to be concerned about whether or not our speech and actions please Allah and to

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make the decision to act or speak on that basis. This makes Allah very real to the Muslim. It is common for little children in Muslim homes to be told, Dont do that. It displeases Allah wonderful. Allah . Or, That is

will surely be pleased with what you did. I

remember this conversation many times as I was growing up. Allah is very real to Muslims not simply when they stand before

Him in formal worship but all the time in all that they do. Celebration in Islam is through prayer as in the two Eid festivals. Mourning in Islam is also through prayer as in the funeral prayer for the dead. Allah is always present, always considered and always a source of

power and comfort.

Morality and virtue in Islam are not based on whether or not an action is liked, approved of or rejected by society. Societys moral values and what society considers virtuous change from time to time, generally progressing from being more moral and virtuous to progressively less. This is a universal phenomenon that we are all witness to in our lives. Islams moral values are therefore not based on peoples passing whims and fancies but on Divine Writ which is based on what is good for society; on what spreads goodness and abolishes evil, on what promotes equity and removes discrimination. This is irrespective of whether or not society happens to like or dislike those things at any

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given point in time. Islamic values are based on whether or not an action is pleasing to Allah . The best example of this standard of has dealt with the issue of

morality and virtue is to see how Allah

interest (usury) which is banned in Islam as it is in Christianity and Judaism.

Baqara 2:275.

Those who eat Rib (usury) will not stand (on

the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaytaan (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: "Trading is only like Rib (usury)," whereas Allh has permitted trading and forbidden Rib (usury). So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Rib (usury) shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allh (to judge); but whoever returns [to Rib (usury)], such are the dwellers of the Fire - they will abide therein.

In this verse it becomes clear that even though in some cases usury may resemble trade it is not a justification to legalize it just because it resembles something legal. Allah intricate details of trade or usury. therefore does not go into the

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He states simply, in His Majestic way, Allah and forbidden usury (interest).

has permitted trade

The principle established here is that to decide if something is legal or illegal the only thing to see is whether it is permitted or prohibited. For example, a bribe or a gift both look alike but one is prohibited and the other is encouraged and rewarded. If someone were to argue that because a bribe looks like a gift and since giving and receiving of gifts is permitted, therefore to give or receive a bribe is also permitted, they would be wrong because resemblance with a legal thing is not a justification to make something legal. It is for this reason that in Islam it is not permitted to legalize or prohibit things that have already been dealt with by Allah and His Messenger. On matters that are new; or Rasoolullah exists, scholars who

on which no ruling by Allah

are qualified to do so may pass a ruling. Even there, they must ensure that their ruling does not violate any existing ruling in any other matter. For lay people to pass rulings based on their logic is both illegal and dangerous.

A point must be made here since it is hoped that non-Muslims will read this; that even though all laws and practices prescribed in Islam are in keeping with intrinsic human nature and are in themselves

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beneficial and good, yet that is not the reason a Muslim practices them. He practices them because Allah ordered him to do so and . The

therefore he lives his life according to them to please Allah purpose of life is to please Allah by that criterion.

and every action must be judged

So if you ask a Muslim, why he prays or fasts and he says, To please Allah , dont be surprised. Despite the health related reasons for

fasting, that is not why he is doing it. He is doing it to please Allah alone.

In Islam, the intention behind an action is of primary importance. One of the most famous teachings of Rasoolullah is that the reward of

the deed is based on its intention. And so a Muslim will always examine his intention for doing anything. Sincerity of purpose to please Allah Allah is essential in Islam for any action to be accepted by

and so it has great importance. Actions done for fame or for . Rasoolullah said,

any other reason are not accepted by Allah Allah

is pure and accepts only that which is pure.

This is the essence of the concept of Taqwa which is translated differently as God-consciousness, fear of God and so on. Taqwa is all that and more. Someone asked Sayyidina Omar ibn Al Khattab

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once to explain Taqwa. He asked the man, When you have to walk down a narrow path winding through thorn bushes what do you do? The man replied, I gather up my robes closely around me, I watch very carefully where I place my feet all the while being careful not to get my clothes snagged on the thorns. Sayyidina Omar That is Taqwa; to live your life in the same manner. said,

In the famous narration known as Hadith Jibreel the definition of AlIhsaan is the description of the attitude of Taqwa: Inform me about

al-Ihsaan (excellence). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you. I have given the entire hadith
where the Companions saw Jibreel (AS) in human form and listened to him speaking to Rasoolullah Rasoolullah and to the answers that

gave him. How wonderful those days must have been

when people saw the angels. Taqwa is to behave in a way that acknowledges the fact that you are aware that Allah sees all and

knows all and that you have to answer to Him for all that you do. Taqwa is to seek never to displease Him in any way. Taqwa is to place the pleasure of Allah above all else in everything.

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Umar ibn al-Khattab, narrated: One day we were sitting in the company of Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Apostle (peace be upon him) He knelt before him placed his palms on his thighs and said: Muhammad, inform me about al-Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth. He (the inquirer) said: Inform me about Imaan (faith). He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (the inquirer) again said: Inform me about al-Ihsan (excellence). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you. He (the enquirer) again

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said: Inform me about the hour (of the Doom). He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: One who is asked knows no more than the one who is inquiring (about it). He (the inquirer) said: Tell me some of its indications. He (the Holy Prophet) said: That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and master, that you will find barefooted, destitute goat-herds vying with one another in the construction of magnificent buildings. He (the narrator, Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: Then he (the inquirer) went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet) for a long while. He then, said to me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was? I replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: He was Jibreel (the angel). He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Hadith #0001)
Naturally there is an element of fear in Taqwa. It is the fear to displease someone who we love above all else. Someone whose approval is the only approval that matters to us. Someone who one day we will stand before and we dont want to be among those who disobeyed Him and have to stand with our heads hanging in shame. He said about such people:

32:12

And if you only could see when the Mujrimoon (criminals,

disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) shall hang their heads before

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their Lord (saying): "Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world), we will do righteous good deeds. Verily! We now believe with certainty."

Taqwa is to use this criterion in everything that we say or do in life. The best way to inculcate Taqwa that I have ever read about is the description of Niyyah (intention) in Imaam Nawawis Ar-Riyaadus Saliheen. In the first chapter on Niyyah he describes what Niyyah is. He says: It is to be conscious of the reason why you are doing what

you are doing, in all that you say, in all that you do and in all the situations that you find yourself in life.

For the Muslim there is only one reason to do anything and that is to please Allah . So for every speech, action or situation in life a ?

Muslim will ask himself, What will please Allah

This focus and approach to life is understandable if we look at the reason for our creation. Allah and human beings: said about why he created the Jinn

51:56 And I (Allh) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone).

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This is the reason why the intention is critical. It is the intention which decides whether a deed is to be counted among the good deeds which are done only to please Allah or a deed which on the face of

it is good, but the intention behind it is such (to show off, to please self or others) that it is not pleasing to Allah and instead of being

a source of benefit, it will be a source of grief. It was this which Rasoolullah termed Ash-Shirk ul Khafi (the hidden shirk) where a as

person joins the approval of others with the approval of Allah the basis of his deeds.

When one seeks only to please Allah

in all that one says, does or

in any situation that one finds oneself in life, then one reaches a state of Taqwa. Before the person says or does anything he checks his own intention first. Then he checks to see what is permitted and what is not. Then he does the action strictly within the prescribed parameters and then he still asks for the forgiveness of Allah unintentional slips or transgressions. For such a person, the intention, the means and the goal are all one to please Allah . So for such a person, to sin becomes impossible for any

and if he does slip up and does something wrong, he is immediately conscious and contrite and seeks forgiveness without delay. For such a person therefore, every action becomes an act of worship and he

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lives a life that fulfills the purpose of his creation to worship Allah alone. That is Taqwa. To live in this way is the way of and his Sahaba with whom Allah said that He was

Rasoolullah pleased.

98:8 Their reward with their Lord is 'Adn (Eden) Paradise (Gardens of Eternity), underneath which rivers flow, they will abide therein forever, Allh Well-Pleased with them, and they with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord.
All the promises in the Quran are for the Muttaqoon People of Taqwa. Being Muslim, having Imaan is merely the entry condition. Once you are a Muslim, it is your actions that define what happens next. Do you progress in your faith or do you remain stagnant? It is not about making claims but about satisfying Allah by your

sincerity that you are truly trying to please Him. He said about those who make claims to having faith, that simply making the claim is not sufficient. The claim has to be substantiated with actions that demonstrate your obedience to Allah .

49:14 The Bedouins say: "We believe." Say: "You believe not but you only say, 'We have surrendered (in Islm),' for Faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey Allh and His Messenger (SAW),

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He will not decrease anything in reward for your deeds. Verily, Allh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." 15. Only those are the believers who have believed in Allh and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allh. Those! They are the truthful.

So what is the benefit of having Taqwa?

Well it is the same benefit that a soldier has when he is performing his duty. He knows that as long as he is wearing the uniform and is doing what he has been ordered to do, he can rely on the support of the full force of the army if he encounters any difficulty. All he needs to do is to radio for support and he will be supported. However the condition is that he must be doing what he had been ordered to do. If he goes off and decides to do his own thing then not only would such support not be forthcoming but he would instead be reprimanded or court-martialed.

The same is the case with Taqwa: Allah

said:

65:2 And whosoever has Taqwa of Allh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). 3. And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And

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whosoever puts his trust in Allh, then He will become sufficient for him.
For the one who has Taqwa, the doors of the treasures of the heavens are opened. Whatever he asks is given to him and every difficulty is eased for him. It is the Majesty of Allah that one must

reflect on when reading this verse and try to imagine the power of what Allah means when he says: And whosoever puts his trust in

Allah, then He will become sufficient for him. What more can one ask? Allah sometimes surprises us with gifts. In my case one of

them happened thus:

I was traveling from Hartford, CT to Los Angeles. I was traveling Northwest Airlines which has a hub in Detroit, so the plane stopped there. To my great disgust I had a middle seat. Imagine a middle seat in economy on a trans-America flight of more than 6 hours!! It was Friday and I was dressed in my usual get up of long white thobe, white turban and fawn mishlaah (over robe). In Hartford airport a woman came up to me and said, Excuse me, are you a Sultan? I replied, No Madam. Not yet. We both had a good laugh. Then we boarded the flight and off to Detroit. In Detroit the person who was in the window seat got off and a white American lady got on.

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When the flight took off, I pulled out my Quran and started to read Sura Al Kahf which is the Sunnah to read on Friday. I could see the woman in the window seat looking at me sideways and trying to see what I was doing. After a few minutes she said to me, Excuse me, what are you reading? I am reading the Quran, Madam. What language is it? Arabic. Then she bent down and pulled out her handbag from under the front seat and from it she took out a pendant and showed it to me. Can you read this? It was a silver pendant on which was written SubhanAllah on one side and Alhamdulillah on the other. I was intrigued especially at where she could have obtained this from. I pointed to it and said, This means Glory be to Allah and this means All praise and thanks be to Allah. Where did you get this? I asked her. She smiled and told me a wonderful story which I shall narrate here as best as I can recall. She said, This pendant was given to me by my grandmother. It was given to her by an Iranian friend who said to her that it would bring her luck. I had no idea what was written on it. When I saw you I thought maybe you could tell me so I showed it to you.

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Then she said, You know, our meeting here is not accidental. I live in LA and came to Detroit for a conference. My conference ended yesterday and I was to leave for LA. I travel Delta. I am a frequent flyer on Delta. But something told me to stay back another day. I cancelled my ticket and got this ticket on Northwest Airlines. I never travel Northwest. She showed me her cancelled ticket as proof of her statement.

She continued, Last evening, I was sitting alone watching TV in my hotel room wondering what I was doing in Detroit. Why had I paid for an extra night? Why had I changed my flight? All my friends and colleagues had gone. Then this morning, when I boarded this flight, I met you and you told me what this means. Now can you please read aloud what you were reading just now? I want to hear what it sounds like.

I read Sura Al Kahf aloud. When I finished and closed the Quran she exclaimed, That was beautiful. Is it finished? I thought you would read to the end of the book. I had tears in my eyes. Here was a woman who did not understand a single word of what she heard of the Word of Allah . Yet she was moved enough to want to listen to

more and more. I made dua and said, Ya Rabbi, open her heart to

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your message. I dont know how to present Islam to her. Please let her ask me questions.

So she asked me, Can you tell me about Islam? I said, Islam is the worship of our Creator and Sustainer, alone without ascribing any partners or relatives to Him because He is alone in His Power, Majesty and Glory. Because He created everything without anyones help and sustains it without anyones help and will end it all one day without anyones help and to Him is our return. Islam is to accept Muhammad Allah as the last and final messenger of

in a long and glorious continuum of messengers.

Islam is to believe in those messengers without distinguishing between them as to who is more important and who is less. Islam is to accept them all as the messengers of Allah , who did what they

were sent to do which is to invite people to the worship of Allah without ascribing partners or shareholders. We Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus (May peace be on them all) and all other messengers of Allah . We believe that Allah sent not only

these messengers but that He sent messengers to every place on the earth and to all people of all time. Some He mentioned in the Quran and others He did not mention. Islam is to believe in life after death and a Day of Judgment when we will be called to account for our

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deeds and will be assigned Heaven (Al Jannah) or Hell (Jahannam) depending on the results.

She listened carefully and nodded her head as if in agreement. What do you say about Jesus? she asked.

We say what the Book of Allah

says. I replied. We say that Jesus

was the son of Mary who was a virgin and not the son of God. That he was a sign of Allah . That Allah sent Jibraeel (Gabriel) to his

mother Maryam (Mary) who was a pious virgin and announced the birth of a son. Maraym said, How can I have a son when no man has touched me? Jibraeel said, For your Rabb (Lord) that is easy. So Jesus was born to a virgin mother. He was a Messenger of Allah who spoke in the cradle. He was sent with many miracles; he healed the leper, gave sight to the blind and raised the dead and did many other miraculous things. We believe that he did all these things by the Will of Allah and not on his own. He came to bring the People of

Israel back to the Law of Moses and to warn them against spreading corruption in the land. They attempted to kill him but were not successful. Allah saved him and raised him alive unto Himself. We

believe that Jesus will return towards the end of time and his coming will be a sign of the approach of the Day of Judgment.

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He will fight the Dajjal (Antichrist) and kill him and that the Muslims will fight for and alongside Jesus. We believe that Jesus will live a normal life, marry and die and will be buried.

She nodded in agreement and said, That makes a lot of sense. What do you say about Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of mankind.

We say that Allah

is not unjust. It would be gross injustice to

condemn an innocent man to a horrific death because other people committed sins. Also Allah forgive someone else. If Allah is not compelled to kill someone to wants to forgive, He can forgive

because He is All-Powerful. All that one needs to do is to be genuinely repentant and ask forgiveness and Allah theres to it. will forgive. Thats all

She nodded once again and said, I agree. God cant punish an innocent man for the sake of others? So how does one become Muslim?

I said, By saying: Ash-hadu al-laa ilaha ill-Allahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullahi (I bear witness that theres nobody worthy of worship other than Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad

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is His Messenger). And by believing this in your heart. By cleansing your heart of all false beliefs including that Jesus is the son of god or that there is anyone else, man, spirit, angel or other who is worthy of worship or can help or harm in any way.

Thats all? If I simply say this and believe it in my heart, I become Muslim?

Thats right, I said. You say this and believe it and you are a Muslim.

What more do I need to do? she asked. I replied, Pray in the prescribed manner 5 times a day; give in charity 2.5% of your savings annually and fast in the month of Ramadan. And make pilgrimage to the house of Allah if you can, at least once in your lifetime.

Respect the food laws (dont eat pork or drink alcohol or take any drugs), live a pious, ethical, moral and responsible life with the consciousness always that you will be called to account for every action of yours.

Can I become a Muslim now? she asked. In my heart I said, Ya Allah you are her Rabb and mine. You are showing me how you

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give guidance to who you wish without anyones help. Ya Rabbi I have no words to thank you. I thank you with whatever words are worthy of the Majesty of your Grace.

Then I said to her, Yes you can become Muslim now if you wish. Then tell me what to do.

Repeat after me, Ash-hadu al-laa ilaha ill-Allahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullahi.

She did and entered Islam 35,000 feet in the air, travelling at 900 miles an hour flying west across America. Such is the Grace of my Rabb.

I dont know where this sister of mine now is. I hope that one day she will read this account and remember that fateful day.

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So who is Allah

The foundational concept of Islam is At-Tawheed (Monotheism) the worship of Allah alone, without any partners or sons or daughters

or relatives or shareholders in His Majesty, work or creation. Allah introduces Himself thus:

Al-Hashr 59:22-24 He is Allh, than Whom there is L ilha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He) the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen (open). He is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. He is Allh than Whom there is L ilha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He) the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allh! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him. He is Allh, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
In another place Allah introduces himself thus:

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An-Nur 24:35 Allh is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east (it does not get only the morning sun) nor of the west (it does not get only the evening sun, but it is exposed to the sun all day long), whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself), though no fire touched it. Light upon Light! Allh guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allh sets forth parables for mankind, and Allh is All-Knower of everything.
And in another place He introduces himself thus:

Baqara 2: 255 Allh! L ilha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber, nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.

His Kurs (footstool) extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.

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It was this majesty of address that struck me first when I read these verses. When you hear them in Arabic and if you understand the language, the effect is to shake you to your foundations; to spontaneously bring tears to your eyes and for your heart to shake with the awesome power of the speech of Allah .

This is God speaking to man. It is my Creator speaking to ME. Now if that does not shake you, nothing will. Then I looked further and found this:

Baqara 2: 186

And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad)

concerning Me, then I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided.

A promise of mercy and guidance which touched my heart. I was living in troubled times and I asked for help and protection. I looked further in His Book and this is what I found:

At-Talaq 65:2-3

And whosoever fears Allh and keeps his duty

to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could

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imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allh, then He will be sufficient for him.

An-Nisa 4:45 Allh has full knowledge of your enemies, and Allh is Sufficient as a Wal (Protector), and Allh is Sufficient as a Helper.

It is not my intention to mention all the times that I turned to the Quran and found the guidance that it promises right up front when Allah teaches us in the very first chapter to ask for guidance:

Al-Fatiha 1-7 In the Name of Allh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allh, the Lord of the 'Alamn (mankind, jinns and all that exists). The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (Day of Judgment). You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for everything). Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray

And then in the next chapter He describes the Quran as a book of guidance for those who believe in Allah ; who have Taqwa.

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Baqara 2: 2

This is the Book (the Qur'n), in which there is no

doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqn [the pious and righteous people who fear and love Allah and seek to please Him always.]

I have quoted these verses to show the foundational concept of AtTawheed (Monotheism) that is central to Islam. A connection between me and my Creator who is alive and real and who listens and responds to me. Muslims dont worship any concept or any mythological figures who share many of our own attributes, weaknesses and desires. Only the One who needs nothing and who everyone and everything needs is worthy of worship. Only the One who is beyond and above all weakness and the source of infinite power and mercy is worthy of worship.

Muslims therefore dont worship anything in creation. They worship the Creator alone. They dont worship any saint or prophet, concept or theory, land or flag. They dont worship even Muhammad , the

Prophet of Islam. In fact that was a specific order from him in the last days when he was approaching death when he said, Dont make my grave a place of worship. May Allah curse and destroy those who

make the graves of their saints and prophets places of worship.

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So Muslims dont worship Muhammad Creator of Muhammad

, they worship the Lord and

. Muslims dont worship the sun or the moon

or the stars but the Creator of all celestial bodies. They dont worship rivers or mountains or lakes or the sea but the Creator of all of them who made them, changes their courses or causes them to dry up.

Muslims understand the scientific reasons how things happen but they see the real reason why the scientific reason comes into play the order of Allah . That is why Islam accepts and honors all scientific

knowledge as it only confirms the power of the Creator. Muslims recognize that science peels back the appearance of things to reveal their underlying nature and that Islam peels back the appearance of things to reveal their underlying purpose. Muslims dont confuse the nature with the purpose. They dont confuse the how with the why. They know that each has its place and that the why always supersedes the how. This is because the method is always subservient to the purpose. Allah the phenomena to manifest His will. decides the purpose and creates

Muslims dont believe that the creation of the earth was an accident. Muslims believe that Allah created the earth for His purpose.

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Today the scientific community talks about the probability of this. http://www.illustramedia.com/tpppreview.htm A one in trillion chance that all the necessary factors come together at the appointed time and place to make the earth inhabitable? And yet people find it difficult to accept that the only way that could have happened was if it was not chance at all but a deliberate action of the Creator. Muslims have no difficulty believing this. That is why we worship Allah because nobody else could have made it happen.

Love or Fear?
A source of much confusion among people is this hypothetical question, Should God be loved or feared?

In Islam the answer lies in our understanding of who Allah have mentioned several instances where Allah

is. I

introduced Himself

to us. One thing becomes clear from this, which is that even though there is a connection between mankind and God, He is nothing like us. Allah is not a superman with superior powers but also with

failings, moods, emotions, motivations or thoughts similar to human beings. Allah doesnt tire of labor as we do because He does not is not subject

labor as we do. So He does not need to rest. Allah

to time or space because He is the Creator of both time and space.

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For Allah

, the past, present and future are all the same and He is

aware of whatever there is in all of them simultaneously. For Allah there is no day or night because He is the Creator of the sun and the moon, of day and night. He did not create man in His own image because He is not limited by images or designs. It is not necessary for the carpenter to look like the chair he creates; so also the Creator of mankind does not need to look like a man. So He created man in the image He wished. Just as he created the starfish, the stingray, the bar-headed goose, the blue whale and the elephant in the images He wished.

He creates to display His power to create in infinite ways and forms. So that those with intelligence will recognize the hand of the Creator in the images He creates and will worship the Creator and not the image. Mankind gets overawed with creatures and starts to worship them instead of recognizing that it is not any mountain or river or any celestial body or animal or human who is worthy of worship but the One who created them all and who sustains them as He wills. This is Islam. He said about this uniqueness of His Being:

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Ash-Shura 42:11

The Creator of the heavens and the earth.

He has made for you mates from yourselves, and for the cattle (also) mates. By this means He creates you (in the wombs). There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.

Allah

clearly says that there is nothing like Him; that nothing in the

creation resembles Him in form or power or nature or majesty or glory and to emphasize this He mentions just two of His powers, AllSeeing and All-Hearing. So the first feeling that one gets when one contemplates on the Glory and Majesty of Allah is that of awe. It is not fear as in being afraid

of something that has the potential to cause harm. Neither is it love as in the love we feel for other creatures; human and non-human. Just as Allah is above His creatures, his relationship with the

creatures is also unlike the relationship of the creatures between themselves.

It is out of this awe then that arises the feeling of love for Him for all the blessings that we enjoy and all the care and concern for our welfare that is manifest in all His actions and all that He does for us. This, as I mentioned earlier, is not the kind of love we feel for one another. But a very much higher and sublime love arising out of awe.

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As Ive mentioned earlier, fear is a part of this feeling, as in fearing to displease someone who created us, sustains us and to whom is our return to give an account of our lives; whether we obeyed Him or disobeyed Him; to be rewarded or punished. Naturally at one level we are afraid of the power of Allah . And this fear is very good to have

as it keeps us safe from all disobedience. We fear His anger, we fear His punishment, we fear to displease Him. But at another level we are also aware of His Mercy, His Forgiveness and His power to forgive all sins of the one who repents his mistakes and seeks to return to Him as an obedient slave.

Az-Zumar 39: 53-54. Say: "O 'Ibd (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allh, verily Allh forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 54. "And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islm) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islm), before the torment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.
In Islam we believe that Allah is the only one who can forgive sins

and can do so at will. He does not punish one for the sins of another and so Muslims dont believe that Jesus or anyone else died for the

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sins of others. Allah

said: Nobody will carry anothers burden. Each

person will pay for his own deeds or be rewarded for them.

An-Najm 53: 38. That no burdened person (with sins) shall bear the burden (sins) of another Az-Zumar 39: 7. If you disbelieve, then verily, Allh is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you what you used to do. Verily, He is the All-Knower of that which is in (men's) breasts. Fatir 35: 18. And no bearer of burdens shall bear another's burden, and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin. You (O Muhammad) can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen, and perform AsSalt (Iqmat as Salt). And he who purifies himself (from all kinds of sins), then he purifies only for the benefit of his ownself. And to Allh is the (final) Return (of all). Al-Isra 17:15. Whoever goes right, then he goes right only for the benefit of his own self. And whoever goes astray, then he goes astray

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to his own loss. No one laden with burdens can bear another's burden. And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning). Al-Anam 6:164. Say: "Shall I seek a lord other than Allh, while He is the Lord of all things? No person earns any (sin) except against himself (only), and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then unto your Lord is your return, so He will tell you that wherein you have been differing."
Nobody will carry anothers burden because firstly it would be a very unjust thing to do, to torture someone who is innocent because someone else committed a sin. Secondly because Allah has the

power to forgive who He wills and so does not need to sacrifice anyone in order to forgive. All that is required is that the one, who committed the sin, is genuinely repentant and gives up his evil actions and asks for pardon. That is why in Islam we believe that Messengers and Prophets came to warn and to show the right way. They did not come to die for others as Allah has no need to kill them in order to forgives us and thats

forgive anyone. If we repent sincerely Allah

all that theres to it. His Mercy has no bounds. Neither does His Forgiveness. He forgives all those who ask to be forgiven.

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Allah

s power is absolute and without limits. He is not limited or

forced to torture His Messengers or to kill them in order to forgive those who seek forgiveness. This is not even logical to believe. We as humans would be amazed and flabbergasted if our bosses punished us because someone else committed a crime. In feudal times, princes of royal blood used to have whipping boys who the teacher would punish if the prince did anything wrong since as a commoner the teacher had no authority to strike or punish the prince. This was eventually abolished as it was rightly considered highly unjust and unacceptable. Yet we choose to believe this about a Prophet of Allah Allah and about Allah Himself.

can and does forgive anyone who is repentant and asks to is such

be forgiven. Its that simple. Moreover, the Mercy of Allah

that not only did He promise to forgive all the sins of those who repent but He said that He would convert them to good deeds. Now whats better than that?

Al-Furqan 25:70.

Except those who repent and believe (in

Islmic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allh will change their sins into good deeds, and Allh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 71. And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allh with true repentance

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This is Islams message of love. A message of the love of the Creator for His creatures which is based on the creatures recognizing the Creator, worshipping Him and being obedient to Him. Allah the obedient. The disobedient display arrogance and Allah those who are arrogant. To stand before Allah in a state that is between hope of loves hates

forgiveness and fear of retribution is the position of the Believer. To supplicate to Allah and to worship Him with a feeling of being

afraid of His anger which we richly deserve yet hopeful of being forgiven as we approach Him with penitence and beg His pardon. Allah said about this:

As-Sajda 32 15-18. Only those believe in Our Ayat (revelation, signs), who, when they are reminded of them fall down prostrate, and glorify the Praises of their Lord, and they are not proud.16. Their sides forsake their beds (worship in the night), to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (charity in Allh's Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them.17. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do.18. Is then he who is a believer; like him who is Fsiq (disbeliever and disobedient to Allh)? Not equal are they.

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Denying Allah

or ascribing partners to Him

in worship

The biggest sin in Islam is to ascribe partners to Allah or to deny that Allah

is the only one worthy of worship. Allah

will forgive even this sin if one repents and asks pardon. But if one dies in a state where one has not asked for pardon and one used to ascribe partners to Allah , then this sin will not be forgiven and that

person will be in the Hellfire.

An-Nisa 4:48. Verily, Allh forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allh in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin An-Nisa 4:116. Verily! Allh forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners in worship with Him, but He forgives whom he pleases sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allh, has indeed strayed far away. Al-Maaida 5:72. Surely, they have disbelieved who say: "Allh is the Messiah ['Iesa (Jesus)], son of Maryam (Mary)." But the Messiah ['Iesa (Jesus)] said: "O Children of Israel! Worship Allh, my Lord and your Lord." Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allh,

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then Allh has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the Zlimn (polytheists and wrong doers) there are no helpers.73. Surely, disbelievers are those who said: "Allh is the third of the three (in a Trinity)." But there is no ilh (god) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but One Ilh (God -Allh). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them.74. Will they not repent to Allh and ask His Forgiveness? For Allh is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful
Allah warns people not to exceed their limits and not to create

imaginary theological doctrine ascribing partners to Him in worship. Allah states that He is alone in His Majesty and Glory and has no

shareholders in it. He said:

Al-Maaida 5: 75. The Messiah ['Iesa (Jesus)], son of Maryam (Mary), was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him. His mother [Maryam (Mary)] was a Siddiqah [highest level of piety]. They both used to eat food (as any other human being, while Allh does not eat). Look how We make the Ayt (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations) clear to them, yet look how they are deluded away (from the truth).76. Say (O Muhammad, to mankind): "How do you worship besides Allh something which has no power either to harm or to benefit you? But

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it is Allh Who is the All-Hearer, All-Knower." 77. Say (O Muhammad): "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Exceed not the limits in your religion (by believing in something) other than the truth, and do not follow the vain desires of people who went astray in times gone by, and who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the Right Path."
Muslims worship Allah alone who is free from all defects and is

above all that He created and does not share any of their attributes or qualities. Allah who all His creatures need for every instant in their

lives and who live and die by His command and to Him they return. Allah who has the power to re-create them and give them life after

He created them in the first instance and gave them death after the period for which He had decided that they would live, had elapsed. Allah whose creation knows nothing about Him except what He

permitted them to know but about whom He knows everything because He is their Creator and Sustainer. Allah who has no wife

or son or daughter, father or mother, relative or friend, equal or partner in either His Being or His actions or His Will or His Power or Ability to do whatever He wills to whoever He wills.

Ash-Shura 42:11

The Creator of the heavens and the earth.

He has made for you mates from yourselves, and for the cattle (also) 199

mates. By this means He creates you (in the wombs). There is nothing that resembles Him (He is unlike anything in His creation), and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. Al-Ikhlaas 112:1-4 Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)): "He is Allh, (the) One. The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, (Yet all creatures need Him. He neither eats nor drinks). "He begets not, nor was He begotten (He was not born from anyone nor does he have any children, relatives, wife or parents) And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.(He has no partners, associates, shareholders in His power)

This is the essence of At-Tawheed, Isalmic Monotheism and this is the foundation of Islam.

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Who was Muhammadur Rasoolullah

(Muhammad the Messenger of Allah )

Allah

called the coming of His Messenger Muhammad a great favor from Himself on the Muslims, which

Rasoolullah indeed it was.

Aal-Imraan 3:164

Indeed Allh conferred a great favour on

the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad ) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur'n), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'n) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Messenger had been in manifest error.
It is not my intention to write about the Seerah (biography) of Rasoolullah in detail but to simply give a very short introduction of

], while before that they

the man who has more than 1.5 billion followers alive today. One of the best descriptions of his blessed personality was given by Umma Maabad, a Bedouin lady who Rasoolullah Companion Abu Bakr As Siddique and his

met during the migration (Hijra)

from Makkah to Madina. Her husband was away at the time, grazing their flock of sheep. When he returned she told him about her visitor

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and described him. That description remains to this day as one of the best descriptions of the beautiful personality of the Messenger of Allah . She said:

I saw him to be a man of evident splendor. Fine in figure, his face handsome, slim in form, his head not too small, elegant and good looking, his eyes black, eyelashes long, his voice deep, very intelligent, his brows high and arched, his hair in plaits, his neck long and beard thick. He gave an impression of dignity when silent and of high intelligence when he spoke. His words were impressive and he was decisive, not trivial not trite, his ideas like pearls moving on their string. He seemed the most splendid and fine looking man from a distance and the very best of all from close by. Medium in height, the eye not finding him too tall nor too short. A tree branch as it were between two others but he was the finest looking of the three. The best proportioned. He was the center of his companions attention. When he spoke they listened well and if he ordered they hurried to obey. A man well helped, well served, never sullen, never refuted.
He was named Muhammad (One who draws praise the Praised fulfilled the

One), by his grandfather Abdul Muttalib. Allah

meaning of his name and his name is praised like no other one. In the

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Adhaan his name is exalted throughout the day and night all over the world. The Arabs used to send their young children to the desert because it was considered healthier and the language of the Bedouins was purer. So the children were sent for Tarbiyyat (training & upbringing) to the tribes of the desert. The Arabs were very particular about their language and traditions and took care to see that these were taught to their children by people expert in them. The people of Makkah were concerned that since Makkah was a place of pilgrimage and a center of trade and attracted many foreigners, that if their children grew up there, their language and ways would get influenced by non-Arabs. To prevent this as well as because the desert was clearly a more healthy place to grow up in they used to send their newborn babies to be nursed and brought up by the women of the desert tribes. This was an important source of income for the tribeswomen and so they were keen to take the children of the city people and looked after them carefully. This also happened with Muhammad who lived with Banu Saad.

Haleema Saadiya was his foster-mother and wet nurse and he remained with them until he was about 3 years old. Muhammad grew up in Makkah under the care of his grandfather and after he

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passed away, under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. Like most children of the time he spent several years as a shepherd of sheep and goats and so a lot of his time was spent in the outdoors. He learnt to speak and was an eloquent speaker but never learnt to read or write as that was not a common practice in those days and people went to scribes if they wanted anything read or written. That is why he is called the Unlettered Prophet (An Nabi ul Ummi). This is a major proof against those who claim that he wrote the Quran. The Quran is Divine and Muhammad is not its author.

Marriage: Khadija (RA) a wealthy businesswoman of Makkah, hired Rasoolullah to do business on her behalf. When he took her goods

in a trade caravan to Ash-Shaam she sent her servant Maysara to accompany him with instructions to watch and report all that he saw. Maysara was most impressed with Muhammad s honesty, manners,

wisdom and shrewd business sense and reported to Khadija. She was impressed and proposed marriage to him and he accepted. He was 25 and she was 40. He was totally devoted to her and she was his greatest supporter, closest confidant and dearest friend. He did not marry anyone before her or until she passed away 25 years later. Zaynab, Ruqaiyya, Umm Kulthum, Fatima, Al Qasim,

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Abdullah were all children who she bore him. None of them had descendents except Fatima whose children from her marriage with Ali are the surviving lineage of Rasoolullah .

Since this book is about the creed of Muslims this is what we believe about Muhammad . All of these are a part of the creed and denying

or not believing any of them results in the person leaving the fold of Islam. 1. That he was human and was the Messenger of Allah last of them. This belief in Muhammad and the

being the last of the

Prophets is a part of the creed of Islam and anyone who claims that there is a prophet after Muhammad (Nabi or Rasool)

ceases to be a Muslim. Muslims therefore reject all those who claimed Prophethood after Muhammad , like Musailma the Liar,

Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani and others and consider them and all those who follow them to be non-Muslim. Muhammad last of the Messengers of Allah Allah said about this: was the

and the Seal of the Prophets.

Al-Ahzab 33: 40

Muhammad is not the father of any man

among you, but he is the Messenger of Allh and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allh is Ever All Aware of everything.

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2. That he was divinely inspired and was the recipient of Revelation from Allah . Allah said about this:

An-Najm 53:1-11

By the star when it goes down, (or ) has neither gone astray

vanishes). Your companion (Muhammad

nor has erred. Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. What he conveys to you is a Divine Revelation that has been revealed to him. He has been taught (this Qur'n) by one mighty in power [Jibreel (Gabriel)]. Dhu Mirrah (free from any defect in body & mind Fastawa [established]. While he [Jibreel (Gabriel)] was in the highest part of the horizon. Then he [Jibreel (Gabriel)] approached and came closer. And was at a distance of two bows' length or (even) nearer. So did (Allh) convey the Revelation to His slave [Muhammad through Jibreel (Gabriel). The (Prophet's) heart lied not (in seeing) what he (Muhammad) saw.

3. That he is the law giver and has absolute authority from Allah to permit and prohibit whatever Allah revealed to him to do.

His commands are to be obeyed without question and not to be disobeyed. This is a condition of faith and denying it, a cause for leaving the faith.

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An-Nisa 4:65

But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until

they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.

Al-Ahzaab 33:36

It is not for a believer, man or woman, when

Allh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allh and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error.

An-Nur 24:51 All that the believers say, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, is that they say, We hear, and we obey: it is these who are successful.

An-Najm 53:3-4

And he (the Prophet) does not speak out of

his own desire. It is nothing but a revelation revealed (to him) An-Nisa 4:80 And whoever obeys the Messenger, thereby obeys Allah. And as for those who turn away We have not sent you as a guardian over them An-Nur 24:54 Say: "Obey Allh and obey the Messenger, but if you turn away, he (Messenger Muhammad) is only responsible for the duty placed on him (i.e. to convey Allh's Message) and you for that

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placed on you. If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance. The Messenger's duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear way (i.e. to preach in a plain way) An-Nisa 4:42 On that day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger (Muhammad) will wish that they were buried in the earth, but they will never be able to hide a single fact from Allh. Al-Hujuraat 49:15 Only those are the believers who have believed in Allh and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allh. Those! They are the truthful.
There is no verse in the entire Quran where the obedience of Allah has been mentioned alone with no reference to the Obedience of the Messenger. This is because it is impossible to obey Allah without obeying Rasoolullah

On the contrary, the Quran did not deem it sufficient to refer to the obedience of Allah without referring to the obedience of the Messenger, to remove even the remotest excuse for ignoring the obedience of the prophet and to leave no doubt whatsoever in the fact that the obedience of Allah is not complete unless the obedience of Rasoolullah is fully observed with all its implications.

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One last word: From the above Ayaat it must be clearly noted that Rasoolullah was a human being in terms of his existential reality and the one who has the

but he was the Messenger of Allah highest status before Allah that Rasoolullah be in grave error.

. If anyone assumes from these Ayaat

was a human being like himself, then he would

It is like the difference between the king of a country and an ordinary citizen. In terms of their humanity they are both human and so they are alike. But in every other way the king is different. So also Rasoolullah is human but he is the beloved of Allah and is our

leader and the one who will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment. He is the Imaam-ul-Anbiya (Imaam of the Prophets), Sayyidul Mursaleen (Leader of the Messengers), Rahmatullil-Aalameen (Mercy to the Worlds), the one to whom the Quran was revealed and who Allah praised and along with his angels sends Salt and Salaam on also ordered us to do the same.

him. Allah

Al-Ahzaab 33:56

Allh sends His Salt (Grace, Honor,

Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad) and also His angels too (ask Allh to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salt on (ask Allh to bless) him (Muhammad), and (you should)

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greet (salute) him with the Islmic way of greeting (As Salmu 'Alaikum).
4. To love Rasoolullah faith and Allah above all other people is a condition of

promised His punishment for anyone who does

not comply. He said:

At-Taubah 9: 24. Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allh and His Messenger, and striving hard in His Cause, then wait until Allh brings about His Decision (torment). And Allh guides not the people who are AlFsiqn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allh).

Allah

praised the Companions of Rasoolullah

and said that they

love the Messenger more than their own selves. He said:

Al-Ahzaab 33:6

The Prophet is closer to the believers than

their own selves and his wives are their (believers') mothers.
Allah also mentioned how much Rasoolullah loved his

followers. He said:

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At-Taubah 9:128. Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves (i.e. whom you know well). It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He (Muhammad) is anxious over you (to be rightly guided, to repent to Allh, and beg Him to pardon and forgive your sins, in order that you may enter Paradise and be saved from the punishment of the Hellfire), for the believers (he is) full of concern, kind, and merciful.

It is not my intention to go into all the details of the rights of Rasoolullah on the Muslims. That is out of the scope of this book. I is central to

will suffice to say that the position of the Messenger

the religion and his contribution fundamental. He not only conveyed Allah s commands to the people but built a generation which

became the benchmarks for all future generations to compare themselves against.

He created the ideal Islamic state and laid the foundations for politics, statesmanship and propagation of Islam to every corner of the globe. His followers took his message from Europe to China and everywhere in between and through their own emulation of his method became the role models for the world. Entire countries became Muslim, not by

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force but because they loved what they saw in the Companions of Muhammad .

In a world today that makes profane everything that is sacred and which makes disrespectful jokes about prophets it is almost impossible for most non-Muslims to understand how Muslims today can actually love a man they have never seen, who is not from their land and who lived 1430 years ago. And how they not only love him but are willing to die to defend his name and honor and will not let a single word be said, criticizing him.

To understand this, to really know the reason, one has to be a Muslim. It has to do with the fact that Rasoolullah s name, his

story, his teachings, his likes and dislikes are matters of everyday mention and concern in Muslim homes.

Muhammad

is indeed the most common name in the world, but

what many dont know is that boys (this is very true of the subcontinent) given the name Muhammad are actually called by a

different pet name. This is because others are afraid of being disrespectful to the name if they have to scold the child or even simply to call him. It is considered disrespectful to simply call out to

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somebody by the name Muhammad

. Indian/Pakistani Muslims find

it very strange and disapprove of the Arab habit of calling people they dont know, Muhammad. Interestingly the Arabs actually do it as a mark of the highest respect for the unknown man by referring to the Ummati of Rasoolullah by his own blessed name.

The life of Muhammad

, the Messenger of Allah

is perhaps the

most authentically and effectively documented life in the history of mankind. His Companions and those who came after them, wrote down every single detail of his life and personal history, his habits, likes, dislikes, appearance, dress and motivations, private and public behavior. His words are the words of revelation or its explanation and so were recorded, memorized, taught, repeated and most importantly obeyed and practiced. His judgments are law. Muslims through the ages have taken full advantage of this wealth of information and teach their children about the life of Rasoolullah in great detail. are

These meetings to learn about the life of Rasoolullah

considered to be a form of worship and are treated accordingly, with great respect.

Allah

said: Aal Imraan 3: 31. Say (O Muhammad, to mankind):

"If you (really) love Allh then follow me (i.e. follow my Sunnah),

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Allh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allh is OftForgiving, Most Merciful."

Allah

made following Muhammad

in every respect and imitating . And said that , then

his every action a condition of being loved by Allah

if someone does so i.e. imitates and follows Rasoolullah Allah

will love him. What bigger incentive can a believer ask for?

So naturally Muslims make all efforts to learn about every little thing in the life of Rasoolullah and seek to practice those things in their

own lives with the certainty that to do so brings blessings to them in many ways. People hold formal and informal classes to teach and learn about the life of Muhammad . In these classes we learn about

the time and circumstances before his birth, his parents, grandparents, tribe and family. We learn about his birth and all the circumstances surrounding it. We learn about his early childhood and the events during it, how he was as a little boy. We learn about his youth, his upbringing, and the events during it.

We learn about his adulthood, his business trips to Ash-Shaam. We learn about his marriage to Khadija (RA) and his life with her. We learn about his character, manners, trustworthiness and truthfulness

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which earned him the title of As-Saadiq-ul-Ameen (The Truthful and the Trustworthy) among his people. We learn about his thoughtfulness and his concern for a people steeped in idolatry, profanity and injustice. About his meditation in the cave and the receipt of the first revelation and his calling to Prophethood. We learn about all that followed; his rejection by the very people who loved him more than anyone else. His steadfastness in the face of opposition. We learn about the deprivation, torture, embargo and ban and attacks that he and his followers had to suffer for 13 years at the hands of his own family and tribe of Quraysh in Makkah and eventually of his emigration to Madina. We learn about the death of his beloved wife Khadija (RA) and his uncle Abu Talib, in the same year; the year that came to be known as Al-Aam-il-Huzn (The Year of Sadness). In Madina we learn about his struggle to establish an Islamic state, his vision in writing the first Constitution in history, giving equal rights to all citizens irrespective of faith. His establishment of systems and processes of administration, defense and nation building. We learn about the most amazing initiative of all time, the formation of the Muslim Ummah a brotherhood of faith the like of which the world had not seen until then and which it has not seen since.

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A brotherhood in which tribes which were ancient enemies lived in peace together and forgave each other generations of bloodshed. We learn about the opposition to his plans to establish Islam, the battles he had to fight and their results. We learn about his injuries in battle, about those who were martyred in the cause of faith and about those who tried to undermine his efforts from within the fold. We learn about his life in Madina as a statesman, governor, commanding officer of the army, husband and father, a householder who used to clean his own house, wash dishes and serve his family. We learn about his role as teacher, Imam, judge and companion, first among equals. We learn about the high esteem and honor that his Companions held him in and his own self-effacing humility

Knowledge is the foundation of love. You cant love someone you dont know. And when you know someone good, the more you find out about that person that is good, the more you love that person. This is the reason Muslims study the life of Muhammad , the best

among all those who ever walked the earth. It is not an exaggeration to say that most Muslims are more familiar with the life of Muhammad than they are with the lives of their own fathers and

grandfathers. For example, both my father and grandfather have passed away but if you ask me what I know of their childhood, their

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youth, their intimate moments with their family, their dreams and passions which they achieved or did not achieve and a myriad other things, I may at best be able to give you a very sketchy account. I can safely say that this would be true of almost anyone today. Especially today because to speak about ancestors and their stories (authenticity apart) is a lost practice. But ask me the same questions about Muhammad and I will be able to give you a detailed

documented response. In most Muslim homes it is a safe bet to say that the name of Rasoolullah is taken more and he is mentioned far

more than the ancestors of that family. It is not that Muslims love their ancestors less; it is that they love Muhammad more.

Since there is great virtue in following the way of Rasoolullah

in

every little thing that he did, Muslims wash, bathe, cut their nails, style their hair and beards, wear clothes, eat, drink, put on their clothes, put on and take off their footwear, sleep and awake the way Muhammad did. Every one of these and many others of his ways is

documented and Muslims take pride in learning these ways and in following them. It is common for Muslims to ask how Rasoolullah did some of the most common things in life and then to scrupulously follow his way.

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For example it is common for one Muslim who sees another drinking water standing up and say, Please sit down while you drink. The other Muslim would obey and would not ask why he should do so, because he would be familiar with the way in which Muhammad used to drink water i.e. sitting down. It is common when one Muslim sees another getting angry and shouting at someone to say, It is against the Sunnah to behave in this way. Please speak softly. The life of Muhammad over the world. is a constant reference point for Muslims all

Muslim children learn the different supplications (dua) that Rasoolullah used to make for all kinds of things. They memorize in the same words that Muhammad

these duas and ask Allah

used. As they listen to these stories of his blessed life, they react to them. When Muslims hear about his hardships they weep spontaneous tears. When they hear about his victories they rejoice as if they are witnessing the actual event right before their eyes. When they listen to the stories of his sacrifice for his Ummah they feel blessed and they love him all the more for what he did for them.

The life of Muhammad

is such that there is no shortage of factual

detail that is inspiring, uplifting, challenging, encouraging and

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humbling. If you are depressed at the lack of support for your noble plans, read the life of Muhammad . If you are feeling overly proud

of your success in the face of great odds, read the life of Muhammad . If you are feeling afraid of failing in the face of

opposition and apprehensive of danger to your life and liberty because you want to take a stand for justice, read the life of Muhammad . If you are feeling sad and fearful about establishing . The life of Rasoolullah is a

peace, read the life of Muhammad

beacon of guidance for all mankind for all time. And that is why Allah called it the best example to follow.

Al-Ahzab 33: 21. Indeed in the Messenger of Allh (Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allh and the Last Day and remembers Allh much.

This is the message that the Messenger of Allah Abdullah

Muhammad bin

brought to his people and to all of mankind. The message

that introduced our Creator to us, invited us to worship Him alone because only He is worthy of worship and reminded us that one day we would all be called forth to meet Him. He warned people about that day, the Day of Judgment, and advised them to prepare for it by being just, moral, responsible, truthful, kind and charitable and by

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doing all kinds of good deeds. He warned people against worshipping anyone other than Allah worship. or joining partners with Allah in His

He warned them against committing all kinds of sins, against oppressing others, especially those helpless and weak members of society like orphans and widows who are most prone to being oppressed. He warned them against transgressing limits in all their actions, be it in expressing happiness or in expressing anger or sadness. He advised them to cultivate the best manners and to create a society that is based on equity and justice for all, where there is the rule of law as different from the rule of man. In a period of 23 years he actually created such a society to which history is witness, such that until the end of time, nobody will be able to say that the teachings of Islam cant be implemented in real life. Islams teachings can and were implemented and people lived lives of tranquility, harmony and grace in that period, under the Divine Law.

That is why Allah

said about His Blessed Messenger:

Al-Ahzab 33: 56. Allh sends His Salt (Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad) and also His angels too (ask Allh to bless and

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forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salt on (ask Allh to bless) him (Muhammad), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting (As Salmu 'Alaikum).

We salute our leader and Imam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Rasoolullah and ask Allah to give him the best of rewards, in

keeping with His Majesty and Glory and grant him the highest station of Maqam-al-Mahmood on the Day of Judgment and give him the power to intercede with Allah ask Allah for the forgiveness of his people. We

to include us among those who he will intercede for and

who will be forgiven.

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Living Islam The Joy of being a Muslim

Many people talk about the struggle of being a Muslim. Frankly I dont understand. For me, being a Muslim is a joy, a state of grace which once you enter it, you never want to leave. It is easy. It frees you from the slavery of trends, fads, fashion, peoples opinions, popularity seeking anxiety and pleasing others. You know that the only one you need to please is Allah . You know what pleases Him and you are

happy doing that. You learn to see the world with different eyes, looking at it as something that you have been entrusted with, to care for, to use with wisdom and to pass on to others in a better condition than you inherited it in.

You see all the happiness that comes your way as a blessing, far in excess of what you really deserve and are thankful for it. You see difficulties as things that have been sent to promote you to a higher station with Allah . You see calamities and bereavement as things

which are sent to test your Sabr (fortitude) and you bow your head in submission to your Creator and accept His wisdom in whatever happened even if you cant see it just then. To put it in another way, you learn the joy of slavery. Slavery to Allah whose slaves we all

are; obedient slaves or disobedient slaves. I know that you may find

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that statement very strange. So let me explain what I mean by the joy of slavery. Islam means Submission. Submission of your will, desires, wishes, aspirations and ambition to the Will of Allah . To do only what pleases Him and to stand up said about Himself:

against what displeases Him. Allah

Al-Muminoon 23: 116. So Exalted be Allh, the True King, L ilha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Lord of the Supreme Throne!

Allah

said about His intention to create mankind:

Al- Baqara 2: 30. And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place (mankind generations after generations) on earth as my vicegerent (Khalifa)."

So what is the difference between a Viceroy and a King? In my view there are 4 critical differences between a king and a vicegerent.

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King 1. Makes the laws and is himself above the law 2. Holds others to account 3. Not answerable to anyone 4. Good = Whatever pleases him

Viceroy 1. Applies the law and is subject to the same law 2. Gives account for his actions 3. Answerable to the King 4. Good = Whatever pleases the King

It is essential to remember these 4 critical differences as we go through life. I believe that all the confusion and transgressions in life are a result of one single major fault in understanding i.e. mankind thinks that it is the King and not a vicegerent of the Real King, Allah . It is this confusion that results in mankind behaving as if

they own the earth to do with as they please. That mistaken belief is the root of all evil. The most stupid words in the language are, Its my life! How can it be your life when you did not create it? It has been given to you in trust and it belongs to the One who created it. That is why in Islam suicide is haraam (prohibited) and the one who commits suicide will be sent to the Hellfire because he sought to destroy what was not his and which he did not create. That is why murder is the worst sin after Shirk (polytheism) and killing one person

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has been termed killing the whole world and saving one life is equated to saving the whole world.

Allah

said:

Al-Maaida 5: 32. Because of that We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land - it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.
I believe that we were not sent into this world to dominate it or conquer it or to impose our will on it. We were sent to live in it, in consonance with it, in harmony with it, as its caretakers and trustees. We were given special skills and knowledge not so that we could use them to oppress others and destroy all those who opposed us, but to better be able to ensure that peace prevails in the land and justice is done and the earth and its inhabitants are happy that we live on it. We need to remember that free fall and free flight both feel the same at one point, but it is the ending which spells life or death. In this case, not only our own but that of this beleaguered planet, whose enemies all live on it and draw sustenance from it.

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The first benefit of living Islam is that you understand this responsibility and gladly accept it. I believe that all goodness starts with accepting our responsibility as the Viceroy of Allah . One of

the confusions that I have seen some people in is that they want to take Islam piecemeal. They want to take what they like and leave out things which they are not too happy with or which they choose to see as restrictive and curbing their free spirits. Allah said:

Al-Baqara 2:208. O you who believe! Enter perfectly (completely) into Islm (by obeying all the rules) and do not follow in the footsteps of Shaytaan (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy.
It is only when you fully enter into Islam that you start to feel the power of being the Viceroy of Allah . Otherwise it is like standing

halfway in the doorway of the most beautiful palace in the world. As long as you are standing halfway in the door, neither in nor out, you can never know the beauty of what is inside. Only once you enter into the palace completely will you be able to go from room to room, taste the food, sleep in the beds, read the books in the library, enjoy the super luxury service and so on. None of this is available to the one who cant make up his mind and is hanging in the doorway. Everyone in the palace is waiting for him to make up his mind.

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Once he does and enters, then and only then does the service start. So the first step is to consciously and completely accept Islam. That may sound like another strange statement especially to those of us who have had the good fortune to be born to Muslim parents in Muslim homes. We have become used to considering ourselves as Muslims just because we happened to be born in a Muslim home. Islam does not consider this as a condition of being Muslim. To be Muslim there are three primary conditions: In Arabic we say: Iqraarum bil lissan, wa tasdeequm bil qalb, wal aamaal bil arkaan. {Declaring (the Kalima testifying to the faith) by your tongue, confirming it in your heart and acting according to it by your faculties (hands, feet, tongue, eyes, ears, heart, mind)}. Until one does these three things consciously and congruently one is not a true Muslim. Just stop for a minute and consider the wisdom of this. This is what I call living thoughtfully. Being a Muslim by choice, not merely by chance. When you make the choice to be a Muslim consciously the first question you ask naturally is, So what must I do now? And that is the beginning of all knowledge. To ask what you are expected to do, now that you have accepted the job of vicegerent.

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The first thing you are asked to do is to present your credentials in the Court and to make your connection to the One who sent you otherwise known as Salah. The prayer is the daily renewal of faith. That is why Rasoolullah if you see Allah defined Al-Ihsaan (excellence) as, Pray as

. And though you dont see him, know that He sees

you. Everything begins with the Salah. Thats why Rasoolullah said, Between us and them is the Salah.

The one who leaves it is a disbeliever. The Salah is the sign that you have accepted your job of vicegerent and that you have been accepted. It is your connection to the source of all power, Allah . It is your time to ask for any help you need to

carry out the responsibility of Viceroy. It is the time to ask for forgiveness for any mishaps or misdemeanors in your actions. It is the time to cut yourself off from all others and join yourself to Allah is the time when you speak and Allah answers. . It

The Salah has a central position in Islam because it is the physical manifestation of Imaan. It is the 3rd principle, which I mentioned above Aamaal bil Arkaan acting according to the Kalima (testifying to the faith). The Salah culminates in the final position in each rakaat of the sajda (prostration). This is a very important thing

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to understand because in my opinion the sajda is the symbol of the Muslim. It is the manifestation of the position of the Abd (slave) before his Rabb (Lord). For the uninitiated it may appear like a position of weakness. But the Muslim knows that it is the position of supreme strength. The position which invokes the power of Allah For He said: .

Al-Alaq 96:19

Fall prostrate and draw near to Allh!

He did not say, Stand up and draw near or walk or run and draw near. He said, Fall in prostration and draw near. Strange order because in prostration a person cant even move. He cant defend himself, he cant speak with authority, he cant argue, he cant fight, he cant do anything that conveys his personality, his confidence, his pride, his authority or his will. The prostration is the ultimate position of surrender, of complete helplessness, of putting yourself at the mercy of the One you are prostrating to. Thats why sajda is haraam to anyone other than Allah sajda and draw near? Because it is only the right of the slave to draw near to His Owner. To seek strength from His Power, knowledge from His wisdom and protection from His Jalaal. It is only the slave who can throw himself at the mercy of his Owner and expect to be pardoned and rewarded. . So why's Allah saying, Fall in

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It is only the slave who can expect the help of his Owner when he stands forth in the face of opposition to order others who have become rebellious to obey. On the other hand, for the one who says, Allah wants but I also

want well it is for him to make Tawba and fall in prostration. Otherwise he will stand in opposition to the Creator of the Universe, to his own Creator on whom he depends for every breath. Need I say more? That's why we must realize that it doesnt matter that you cant move in sajda because its His Mercy which will draw you close to Him. So make up your minds O People. You want to face Allah with

your head in sajda before His Throne or standing up tall and looking defiantly at Him. For if it is the former, He will ask you to raise your head and He will make you stand by His Strength. If it is the latter, then believe me you will not be standing for too long. That's why I always say, 'The worst phrase in the language is 'I want.' It makes a slave forget his place. For those who want to take Islam piecemeal and take what they like and leave what they dont like, Allah said:

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Al-Baqara 2:85 Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense for those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment. And Allh is not unaware of what you do.
Allah demands what is His right as our Creator, Sustainer and to

whom we will return; complete unquestioning obedience. The beauty of this, I found, is that once you put your head down before His Throne, then He raises your head and hands you the keys to His treasures. The first sign of that is that peace descends on you. Your heart is emptied of all fear and anxiety. After all you have just accepted permanent employment as the Viceroy of the Creator of the Universe. So what is there to fear in the Universe when its Creator and Owner has appointed you to rule over it? A Viceroy of the King is a king before everyone except his own liege lord, his sovereign. Everyone else obeys him because they know whose power is behind him. What if the One whose power we are talking about is not some temporary occupant of a transient throne, but the Originator of everything who will still remain when everything has ended? In my own journey of faith, I consider this understanding to be the most significant threshold that I crossed. I like to use the Arabic word,

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Is-teh-zaar which is closer to realization than to a more superficial understanding. Is-teh-zaar is to know from the core of your being, to experience the power, to be completely and totally convinced about the truth of the matter and to live that knowledge in every aspect of your life. So for me the most significant threshold was the Is-tehzaar of being an Abd of Allah ; a slave of Allah . The kind of

feeling that it gives me every time I think of it is something that I cant describe. That is why I say that to live Islam is very easy. All you need to do is this one transition and the rest just falls into place. Once you align yourself to Allah the universe aligns itself to you.

Doors open where you did not know that there were doors. You have a conversation with Allah any time you want. Either formally in

two rakaat of Salah or informally in your heart all the time. It is when you have the Is-teh-zaar of being Abdullah (slave of Allah ) that

you understand the power of the two rakaat of Salah. It is when you have the Is-teh-zaar of being Abdullah (or Amatullah feminine) that you realize the meaning of the hadith where Rasoolullah said that

the most powerful weapon of the Momin is his dua. It is strange when people say, All that we can do is dua. It is like saying to someone who needs financial help, All that I can do is to give you the

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keys to the vault. Or to say to someone who needs help against enemies, All that I can do is to send the 6th Fleet. People who say, All we can do is dua, have not understood the meaning of dua. And that is because they have not understood the meaning of being Abdullah. It is because they have not tasted the sweetness of slavery to Allah . It is because they are not aware of the meaning and

power of being Viceroy. So how does one get to this place where one is eager to align to Allah ? The answer as always is in His Book. He said about the

people who the Quran guides; Al Muttaqoon:

Al-Baqara 2:2. This is the Book (the Qur'n), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqn [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allh much and love Allh much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)]. 3. Who believe in the Ghaib and perform As-Salt (Iqmat-as-Salt), and spend out of what we have provided for them [i.e. give Zakt
The condition of Hidaya (guidance) is Taqwa (being a Muttaqi) and the first sign of that is belief in the unseen (al-ghaib). The first stage of Al-Ghaib is death. So the beginning of Hidaya is to remember our death and that we will be called to account before Allah . It is for

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this reason that Rasoolullah

said, The most intelligent among you

is the one who remembers his death often. It is when we remember that one day we will die, that we will die alone, we will be buried alone and we will stand before Allah alone; that we are able to put

things in the right perspective. It is when we remember this and then someone tells us to disobey Allah we ask the questions, Is this

person going to come with me in my grave? Is this person going to intercede with Allah for me? Is this person going to protect me if I displease Allah and anger

from the punishment of Allah Him? The rest is obvious.

It is this Imaan-bil-Ghaib that helped me to put my own life in line and to take decisions which otherwise would have been very tough to take. Let me share my story. I had started an IT services business in California and my partner (who was not Muslim) and I were raising funds for it. We needed $ 1 million to start. We floated shares with private financiers and had the company valued and it was valued at $1 per share. Between us we held 2 million shares, one million each. So the notional value of my net worth was $ 1 million. It was the heyday of the dotcom boom and funds were not difficult to get. We had raised $ 250,000, when my friend and partner told me, Weve done it. Now we can start.

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I was surprised and asked him, What do you mean? We need $ 1 million. We only have 25% of that. So how do you say we can start? Yawar, he said, we are in America. We take the 250k to the bank and we get the rest from them. Well, I replied, that is a problem. He was surprised. What problem? he asked. Allah does not permit us to take a loan on interest, I said. I could

see the struggle in his face to understand, be polite, remain serious, not laugh in my face, all struggling against his desire to say, For Gods sake man, grow up!! What the hell are you talking about? What Allah ? What permission? This is business, boss. This is America. permits or does

This is how we do business here and what Allah

not permit does not matter here. But he was a very polite man and continues to be a dear friend. So he said nothing. He just looked at me. I remember, we sat on the floor in his house and talked all night. I told him what Allah interest. says in the Quran about borrowing on

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Al-Baqara 2:275. Those who eat Rib (usury) will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaitn (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: "Trading is only like Rib (usury)," whereas Allh has permitted trading and forbidden Rib (usury). So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Rib (usury) shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allh (to judge); but whoever returns [to Rib (usury)], such are the dwellers of the Fire - they will abide therein. 276. Allh will destroy Rib (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqt (deeds of charity, alms, etc.) And Allh likes not the disbelievers, sinners. 277. Truly those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and perform As-Salt (Iqmat-as-Salt), and give Zakt, they will have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. 278. O you who believe! Be afraid of Allh and give up what remains (due to you) from Rib (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really) believers. 279. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allh and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums).
I told him that I was not prepared to enter a business in a way that Allah has promised to destroy. I told him that I could not even

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contemplate accepting a declaration of war from Allah Messenger Muhammad

and His

. I told him about my faith in the Aakhira

(life after death) and that I saw this matter as a test of this faith. I told him that I had no intention of failing this test. I would not disobey Allah no matter the consequences because I believed that

the consequences of disobeying Him were infinitely worse. My friend listened to me in silence. Then he said to me, I respect your faith and your principled stand. However what this means is that we cant do business together. Since I had a shareholding worth $1 million he would have to buy it from me. However he had no money to buy it and so what did I want to do? I told him, I realize all that. So you can have my share for nothing. I am leaving it for Allah and he will give me better than that. My friend was a very honorable man and was very unhappy to take my share for nothing. So he said to me, Do me a favor. Just stay on for 3 years. That is all I ask. I will make you a millionaire in actual fact, not a notional one, and then you take your money and go. Why do you want to give up your share of this business when you worked so hard to get it to where it is now?

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I told him, I am happy to do that on one condition; that you guarantee me that I will live for 3 years. He said, I have nothing more to say. It is your decision. I respect you for your principles but wish things could have been different. When I walked away early that morning, I had just a few hundred dollars in the bank. But what I was amazed at was that I was completely at peace. I was happy. My heart was singing in my breast and I didnt have a care in the world. That was the strangest feeling for someone who had just kissed a million dollars goodbye. To this day I do not have a single regret about this. I can put that day as the date on which Allah opened doors for me to the knowledge

of His Deen, to acceptance of my duas, to new business from sources I could not imagine and to prestige, love and acclaim from people all over the world. That was the threshold which I crossed and which drove home to me the logic of sustenance (rizq) about which I have written earlier. And I crossed that threshold only because I remembered my death. I crossed it because Allah was real to me.

Because I was conscious of His presence and most of all because He helped me when I needed His help the most.

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I am sharing this story so that you realize that when you stand up and say that you are ready, you will be tested. And if you stick to your principles of not displeasing Allah , then you will be helped from

sources you could not imagine. We are never compelled to make one choice or another. But the doors that open, the vista that unfolds before our eyes and the road that beckons ahead all depend on the choice that we make. Behind each door is a different destiny. We get to choose which one we want to open and walk through into the world that it opens for us. Living Islam is about understanding the fundamental laws of Allah and living our lives in accordance with them. Not violating them. Knowing that one day we will be called to account for what we did or chose not to do with that which was entrusted to us. We learn to be trustees.

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Becoming a Standard Bearer of Islam

It was Ramadan of 2002. The critical incidents that became the symbols of the focus on Islam and Muslims globally had happened. My heart was a reflection of the turmoil in the hearts of the Ummah with only one question repeating, WHY? I had no answers. But I couldnt sleep or eat or do anything with peace of mind. This was when I decided to go to Makkah and spend Ramadan there. My dear friend and brother Taqui decided to accompany me. I had arranged with a friend in Makkah to reserve accommodation near the Haram (Al Masjid Al Haraam).

As the plane took the turn to land I looked, at the scene below us; four lane highways, snaking overpasses, neatly laid-out housing complexes, the minarets of masaajid everywhere. We were about to descend into the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since Taqui and I intended to do an Umrah and we were landing in Jeddah, which is inside the Meeqaat, we were in Ihraam. After landing we boarded a low chassis bus which drove for more than 10 minutes to take us to the terminal. This is a single storey building, built in sections each with a boat like upswept roof giving the whole structure a wave-like appearance.

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Strangely, though this is one of the busiest airports in the world, it still has a very primitive passenger handling facility. We get off the bus and walk up a flight of stairs into the main immigration hallway to be greeted by officials gesticulating and calling out in Arabic apparently asking us to go off to the left into a hall where we are greeted by a large lady with a niqaab (veil). She was a doctor and was screening passengers for SARS. People had to fill out forms which asked if they have SARS and as long as you said that you didnt, it seemed to do the trick. Quite simple really. Talk about trust. I looked at her and said, As salaamu alaikum! And she replied, Wa alaikum salaamu wa rahmatullah, and waved me away..without any form. I guess I looked healthy enough. As I turned I heard someone calling my name and saw a young man (turns out he is Abdullah, the Meet-and-Assist official) asking me if I am myself. Since I was, I handed over our passports to him and we took the very comfortable seats he offered us while Abdullah vanished somewhere with the passports. This is such a civilized service in a land where most people who come in cant speak Arabic and most immigration officers can speak only that. So they have this service where some bilingual people take over and demystify the process for you. Very smooth and convenient indeed and well worth the SAR 150

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they charge for it. Five minutes later, well before the regular Economy Class passengers have come in, we are at the Great Equalizer the luggage carousel.waiting for our First Class baggage to emerge. But of course even though it is festooned with various stickers and labels loudly proclaiming how important it is, nobody pays the slightest attention and it comes along as always, way behind a lot of sundry bundles and bags. Having collected the baggage we walked behind the porter who trundled my trolley to the X-ray machine where everything was scanned and then a couple of minutes later we walked out into the reception area. Here we have to run the gauntlet of the Hajj & Umrah agents who grab you, your passport, your hands, whatever they can get their hands on, until you convince them using a mixture of Arabic, hauteur and a disgusted facial expression that you are not legitimate prey. This is actually a very stupid system or a lack of one. All that is required is a desk where people who have come to make Umrah can register and have their passports photocopied and the agents can take the copies. That is all that they do anyway, but the combination of their grabbing, gesticulating, yelling in Arabic which most incoming passengers cant understand, is very unnerving for most people.

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The plight of elderly passengers especially from the Subcontinent, Malaysia and Indonesia who cant speak Arabic, in a frenzy of anxiety and helplessness is pitiful to see. So unnecessary and so easily avoidable. We were received by Saad, my dear friend and the husband of my cousin and we went to their home. From there we immediately left for Makkah to complete our Umrah and be back for Suhoor with them as Ramadan was starting that day. They had a wonderful Pakistani driver, a very considerate, kind and resourceful man. He dropped us at the Haram with our luggage because we were supposed to meet the person who had promised to do our bookings near the McDonalds restaurant there. We met this worthy and he assured us that everything was under control and took us to the Hyderabad Rabat (rest house) and told us to leave our luggage in the corridor and complete our Umrah. We did this with complete certainty that it would not acquire new owners, because this was Makkah. After completing Umrah, tired to the bone, we came out of the Haram to meet him again so that he could take us to our accommodation which he said hed reserved. He however took us from one hotel to the other and kept asking the person at the desk if they had room. After the 3rd hotel, lugging our rapidly heavier luggage I realized that

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there was something seriously wrong. The man had deceived us. He had not made any booking at all and was now trying to wing it and find a room. I was furious and it was only my sense of where I was (the Haram) which saved him from a thrashing. Trying to get a room in a hotel around the Haram in Ramadan when you have not booked in advance is like trying to save a snowflake from melting in a bonfire. I caught our friend and asked him, Did you make a booking or are you trying to get one now? He said, Dont worry, just come with me and Ill get one just now. I simply turned away and decided that wed go back to Jeddah to Saads home and then decide what to do. There was no sense in walking the streets of Makkah at 2am trying to find a place to sleep. We found our driver and returned to Jeddah and reached Saads place just in time for Suhoor. Saad and his family are Arab. As we sat down to eat, to my great surprise, I saw that our Pakistani driver was sitting at table with us. And Saad was serving us all, getting the food from the womens section of the house, where the kitchen was. The equality of Islam in practice. I thought to myself that in India, no matter how much we speak of the equality of Islam, you will never see it in practice like this. I salute those who practice what they believe in. I told Saad and his father about our situation and they confirmed my worst fears; that to get a room in Makkah in Ramadan

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was impossible, no matter what we were prepared to pay. Not that we could pay too much either. My heart sank. Though we had completed our Umrah in Ramadan and were hopeful for its blessings and though we could have stayed with Saad for a couple of days and done another Umrah, my dream of spending the whole of Ramadan in Makkah looked like it would not be possible. I was devastated. I had dreamt of spending the whole of Ramadan in Makkah and making Itikaaf in Al Masjid Al Haram and had cancelled all my work assignments for the whole month to be able to do this. And now it looked like wed have to return in a few days and would not be able to spend the whole month or make Itikaaf in the last 10 days in the Haram. As I drifted off to sleep, I made dua. I said to Allah , Ya Rabbi, it is your house that we came

to. We are your guests. If you want us to return then we are your slaves. If you want us to remain, then you are the best host of all. I slept all the way until Dhuhr. When we awoke and met our hosts to go to the masjid for Dhuhr, Saads father, Shaikh Omar said, I spoke to my brother Saeed, who spends the whole month in Makkah. They are staying in a hotel about 2 kilometers from the Haram and he said that they could arrange a room for you at SAR 100 per day. Are you interested?

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We moved into the hotel. All we needed was a room to keep our luggage safely and wash our clothes. Other than that we would spend all our time in the Haram. Praying with a million other Muslims from every corner of the globe. Listening to the Quran in the voices of Shuyookh Abdur Rahman Al Sudais, Saud Al Shraim (May Allah protect them), in Magrib, Isha, Taraweeh, Fajr and in the last 10 days, in Qiyaam. Names that conjure up visions of recitation that takes the heart out of the body and sends it soaring into the heavens, crying out in ecstasy, I bear witness that this is not the word of a human being. Truly this can only be the word of Allah .

Then all too fast come the last ten days of Ramadan, where with the sadness of the passing of the glorious month is the happiness of the Qiyam ul Lail (Tahajjud in Jamaa) where we get a chance to listen to some more Qur'an by these Qurra (reciters). Qiyam starts at 1.00 am and goes on until 2.30 am. 10 rakaat of Salah followed by 3 rakaat of Witr with the dua in the last rakaat of Witr. And what a dua!! SubhanAllah it is truly the right of the Ulama to make dua. For truly has Allah said: Verily it is the Ulama who fear Allah the most that not only did he

among all his slaves. It is the mercy of Allah

give me and all of us there the benefit of listening to His word recited so very beautifully but also gave us the benefit of dua that left to myself, I could never have done. And that too in the Masjid Al

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Haraam, looking at the Kaaba as I pray. I remember Shaikh Abdur Rahman As Sudais one evening leading Salat-ul-Magrib. In the first rakaat he recited Sura Feel. As he came to the ayah, So worship the Lord of this House, his voice rose as he delivered the command of our Rabb. I shivered and tears flowed down my cheeks as I realized that I was standing before that very House. How can I describe what I feel as I listen to the Qari recite the word of Allah and the

meaning becomes clear to me as if I had heard that ayah that very day? How can I describe the feeling which squeezes my heart as I hear his voice rising to a higher pitch as he recites ayahs of the magnificence and majesty of my Lord? And then finally how can I describe my feelings when I remember that this is the very place in which this word was revealed and that it was the ancestors of these same people who listened to it in the voice of the one on whom it was revealed, Muhammad , The Messenger of Allah and that today I

am standing with the children of those Companions and listening to the Word that is the same without any change. Time passed. I would constantly read the Quran, make Tawf and pray. Living in the Haram with, in the last 10 days, 2 million people is not easy to say the least. Going to the toilet is a major expedition that you have to plan and execute with a huge sense of victory at the end. The Saudi Government moves mountains to ensure that the toilets are

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clean and usable and seeing that a million people (and I am not speaking figuratively) use them, it is a task that has no parallel. But to use the toilet you have to first get to it through 2 million people who are literally living in and around the Haram. People sitting, sleeping, praying and eating, children playing; the sight of Muslims in the Haram during Ramadan (and Hajj) is awesome. They come from all over the world but the Haram is home to them. And they belong to it. As all this happened, the turmoil in my mind and heart remained. I would cry constantly as ask Allah why the Muslims were being

besieged. What was the solution for this? What should we be doing to change our situation? I said, I know we are not what we should be. I know we are sinners. But so are others. What should we do? Our families are being destroyed, our babies are being slaughtered. What should we do? I know that nothing happens without Your knowledge or permission. What can I do as an ordinary person? Truly Allah s mercy is all encompassing and truly Allah sees,

hears and responds. Gradually my heart became peaceful. The reason for the tears changed from anguish to love. Love for my Rabb, my Creator and Sustainer. Love for the One who is alive, listens to my dua and answers it. The thought took root in my mind and heart that

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the answer to our problems lay in the life of Rasoolullah Allah

who

pointed out to us as the example to follow. It became clear

to me that what Muslims needed to do globally was to become and create walking-talking models of Islam, as Rasoolullah Companions, the Sahaba (May Allah and His

be pleased with them) were.

We need to stop talking about Islam and start demonstrating Islam. We need to walk our talk and to be able to do that we need to create working models of the Islamic Way in every aspect of life. We need tools. We need to show How to those who know Why. Given that the Islamic Way is a way that is in general good for the whole world, this approach; that is to make Islam visible in action would be welcomed everywhere and would be the most effective counter to the anti-Islam propaganda which has become the order of the day. And that is where the idea of the Standard Bearers Academy was born; in Al Masjid Al Haraam in Ramadan. So what is this idea?

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Standard Bearers of Islam

The Movement

"Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers."

Saheeh Hadeeth [Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al fitan 3986

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Genesis Like most thinking Muslims of our time, over the last few years, I have also been thinking about the sad state that the Muslim Ummah finds itself in. Like lost sheep we are large in number but distracted, disconnected and dispersed, prey to every passing wolf. All the power, authority, wealth and influence seems to be in the hands of those who are arrayed against us, leaving us with little choice if any, even with respect to the wealth which is apparently in our hands. It is they who dispose of it at will even though on the face of it, we are its owners. Like most people I too complained, defined our problem and re-defined it; discussed it, debated it and agonized over it until I came to the conclusion that none of this was getting me any closer to a solution. And frankly that was all that mattered. I read the Quran and the Seerah of Rasoolullah and our history,

both ancient and modern because history has the potential to teach us lessons. I spoke to people wiser and more learned than I am and listened carefully to what they had to say; Ulama and others in several countries. I prayed and asked for the help of Allah to

understand our situation and devise a way out of it. As I thought about these times I couldnt help but see many similarities between the situation today and the situation as it existed in the time of

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Rasoolullah

and his Sahaba during the major part of his life in

Makkah. They too had almost no influence, power or wealth. They were the victims of all kinds of persecution and deprivation. They were evicted from their homes, boycotted and embargoed, tortured and some were killed. Yet in one generation, in less than 20 years, the situation completely transformed and Muhammad and his

followers became the leaders of Arabia and the known world. The big question of course is, HOW DID IT HAPPEN? HOW DID THEY DO IT? The answer is very simple this happened simply by Muhammad and his followers living Islam. All that they did was to be Muslims. They were living models of Islam; Standard Bearers of Islam. They did not spend time in giving speeches about Islam or holding seminars and symposia about points of Fiqh. They did not write momentous treatises on the hidden aspects of this Ayt or that. They lived the Quran. They did not lecture others about the importance of the Sunnah. They followed the Sunnah in every single aspect of it. They did not debate and create nomenclature to distinguish between what is Haraam and what is Makrooh and within Makrooh what is Tanzeehi and what is Tahreemi. They did not get stuck in minor matters of religious observance thereby creating divisions.

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They simply did not do anything that was displeasing to Allah His Messenger

and

. They did not ask which sin was big and which was

small. They avoided sin because in their mind it was not the quantum or nature of the disobedience but who was being disobeyed, that was important. And that is why when Allah meant the Sahaba. So there it was the answer to my question, What should we do to help ourselves? The solution was clear as daylight: said the word Believers He

Be Muslims as the Sahaba were Muslim. Become Standard Bearers of Islam.

I realized that it was necessary for us to go back to the basics and see how Rasoolullah and his Sahaba practiced Islam and do the same would then change our condition when

with the hope that Allah

He saw that we were ready to do His work and to give it precedence over our own desires and pursuits. It is really quite simple. We are the ones who complicate it for ourselves and then suffer.

The Quran is quite clear on the fact that the decisions of Allah that are made with respect to our lives in this world are related to our actions. Good begets good and evil begets evil.

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Ar-Rum 30:41. Evil (sins and disobedience of Allh) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds), that Allh may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting to Allh).
Also that the solution lies within us:

Ar Raad 13: 11.. Verily! Allh will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allh).
And that is how the idea of becoming Standard Bearers of Islam was born. I believe therefore that the solution to our problems today globally is to return to the Sunnah of Rasoolullah and be as the

Sahaba were true to Islam to the best of our ability. I agree we are weak and we ask for the help of Allah . But we need to do our part.

I want to begin with a quote from the great scholar and student of Shaikh ul Islam Ibn Taimiya, Imam Ibn al Qayyim Al Jawziyya who says in his booklet Al Ghurbathu wa Al Ghuraba:

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The Meaning of Strangeness

Many times in many situations the people who follow the religion of Allah feel a sense of not belonging, of being out of place, of not

fitting in, and, in other words, of being strange. This feeling could occur in a gathering of non-Muslims, but, unfortunately, this feeling sometimes also occurs when one is with his fellow Muslims. A person sees his brothers and sisters doing acts that are contrary to Islam, or taking part in innovations that sometimes even border on kufr (apostasy), yet he feels that he does not have enough power or courage to stop them in these acts. Some brothers and sisters, especially if they do not have enough taqwa or Islamic knowledge, sometimes buckle under the pressure of their peers and join in these acts, knowing that this is not what Allah wants them to do.

However, feeling helpless, since it seems that they are alone in their ideas and without any support to help them do what is right, they succumb to such pressures. These brothers and sisters, May Allah have mercy on them, should

take consolation in the verses of the Quran and the many statements of the Messenger they feel. describing this very situation of strangeness that

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Why Have They Been Called Strangers? Allah says in the Quran,

Hud 11:116. If only there had been among the generations before you, persons having wisdom, prohibiting (others) from AlFasad (disbelief, polytheism, and all kinds of crimes and sins) in the earth, except a few of those whom We saved from among them. Those who did wrong pursued the enjoyment of good things of (this worldly) life, and were Mujrimn (criminals, sinners). This verse speaks of the few people on earth, the strangers, who prohibit mankind from evil. These are the same people the Messenger spoke about when he said, "Islam began as

something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings [ar. Tooba. This is a tree in Paradise. So the Messenger is giving the good news of Paradise to these

strangers] to the strangers." He was asked, "Who are those strangers, Ya Rasoolullah ?" He replied, Those that correct the

people when they become corrupt. [Reported by Abu Amr alDani, from the hadith of ibn Masoud].

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Another narration says, Those that correct my Sunnah which has been corrupted by the people after me. In another narration he said in response to the same question, They are a small group of people among a large evil population. Those who oppose them are more than those who follow them. [Reported by ibn Asaakir] These praiseworthy people are called strangers since they are a small minority among mankind. Thus, Muslims are strangers among mankind; the true believers are strangers among Muslims; and the scholars are strangers among the true believers. And the followers of the Sunnah, those that clear themselves from all peoples of innovation, are likewise strangers. In reality, however, their strangeness is only because they are the minority and it is not because their actions and beliefs are strange. This is what Allah says in Sura al-Anaam,

Anam 6:116. And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allh's Path. They follow nothing but conjectures, and they do nothing but lie.
Allah also says,

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Yusuf 12:103. And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly. Al Maaidah 5:49. . And so judge (you O Muhammad) between them by what Allh has revealed and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they turn you (O Muhammad) far away from some of that which Allh has sent down to you. And if they turn away, then know that Allh's Will is to punish them for some sins of theirs. And truly, most of men are Fsiqn (rebellious and disobedient) Yusuf 12: 38. "And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrahm, Ishque and Ya'qb, and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allh. This is from the Grace of Allh to us and to mankind, but most of mankind are ungrateful. Therefore, Allah , the all-Knowing Creator, knows the most of

mankind will not follow the truth. Instead, only a small group of people will be set apart that truly and correctly believe in Him, the strangers from among mankind. The strangers in belief, however, and the strangers in character and actions are in reality the majority of mankind, for they are strange to Islam and to the laws that Allah has revealed.

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I would like to begin with this quote from Imam Ibn al Qayyim Al Jawziyya because I believe it describes in the words of the hadith the essence of the concept of being a Standard Bearer of Islam. It encapsulates the purpose for which Allah sent Rasoolullah - to

guide and show the way. This is the purpose that we inherited by being his followers to give to the world. To give to mankind a standard by which to live. To give it by living it ourselves and demonstrating it as did Rasoolullah .

A standard is something to aspire to, to aim to reach, to benchmark and measure yourself against to see if you are able to meet it. A standard is a flag, high and alone on its staff; establishing its presence, a symbol of great thoughts and ideas, a guide to the lost. A standard is the flag which represents its nation, a symbol of respect. A standard is called a standard because it stands out. A flag drying on a clothes line is laundry. A flag flying high on its staff is saluted. A Standard Bearer is the one who carries the flag in battle. In the days of cavalry warfare the Standard Bearer would carry the battle standard around which the troops would rally. As long as they saw their flag flying their morale remained high. If the flag fell it would demoralize the soldiers. The Standard Bearer would not be armed.

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His only job was to keep the flag flying as the battle wore on. His comrades would surround him and protect him from the enemy. On the other hand the Standard Bearer would be the focus of attack of the enemy because if they could cut him down it would have a far bigger effect than the death of any other soldier and would be a great victory. The Standard Bearer was the symbol of the force, the symbol of the nation. The Standard Bearer was not an ordinary soldier. To relate this to our lives today as Muslims, living in a world that seems to be rushing headlong towards moral and ethical destruction, the term Standard Bearer has special relevance. A Standard Bearer of Islam therefore is someone who is the embodiment of the Islamic Way. This person is a walking, talking, living model of the beauty of Islam; completely obedient to Allah of Rasoolullah and a follower of the Sunnah

. A Standard Bearer of Islam is someone who you

would point to if someone asked you, Who is a Muslim? A Standard Bearer of Islam would be confident of him/herself, not apologetic; stand out from the crowd, not blend in; be proud of his/her Islam and practice it joyously as a matter of choice. Islam to the Standard Bearer would be the primary focus, the criterion for every decision, the basis of his/her identity and definition. He/she would differentiate on the basis of Islam and Islam would be their Brand; their Signature.

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A Standard Bearer of Islam would be someone who considers their Islam to be the greatest gift from Allah and consider it a privilege

to be its Standard Bearer which they would not exchange for all the gold in the world. A Standard Bearer of Islam would understand that being a Standard Bearer is sometimes a lonely job and would be ready for it and be proud of it. After all it is the ideology behind the flag that converts a piece of cloth into a symbol that is saluted. Becoming a Standard Bearer of Islam So what does it take to become a Standard Bearer of Islam? Allah said about the first Standard Bearer of Islam:

Al Ahzab 33:21

Indeed in the Messenger of Allh

(Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes

in (the Meeting with) Allh and the Last Day and remembers Allh much.
Allah sent Muhammad to be a living model of His Message, to

demonstrate Islam in practice in every aspect of life and therefore in this Ayt Allah quoted the whole life of Rasoolullah as an

example for us to follow and related it to our meeting with Him on the Day of Judgment. An example is meant to be followed and to be

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handed down from generation to generation and that is what the Sahaba did with the model they learnt from Rasoolullah . They were

Standard Bearers of Islam who carried this standard with them wherever they went and practiced it in societies where they stood out as Strangers because their way was Strange. Strange in the way that the one who stands up for justice looks strange in a land where oppression is the way of life. Strange in the way as the one who is modest and dignified looks strange among a collection of people intoxicated with self indulgent shamelessness. Strange in the way that honesty and integrity looks strange amidst corruption and lies. But it was this very strangeness that caused people to stop and look; to compare themselves to the Strangers; to consider their own lives and the bankruptcy of values, ethics and morals that they were immersed in and to decide to change. Islam did not spread because the Sahaba became like everyone else. Islam spread because the Sahaba stood out. Islam spread because it was Strange. It spread because of the Strangers. There are four steps to becoming a Standard Bearer of Islam: 1. The Niyyah making the intention 2. Taalluq MaAllah connection with Allah 3. Tarbiyyat thoughtful upbringing

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4. Ihsaan excellence in everything we do

1. The Niyyah making the intention

On the authority of Ameer ul -Mumineen Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, Actions are but by intentions and every man shall have only that which he intended. Thus he whose migration (Hijra from Makkah to Madina) was for Allah and His Messenger, his migration was for Allah and His Messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Choosing to become a Standard Bearer of Islam starts in a quiet, small, dark room with making a conscious intention because it is a very serious business. It is a lifestyle choice that depending on the kind of society we live in, can be difficult to practice. Making a conscious intention to be a Standard Bearer of Islam means transforming our life. It means deciding to change our own way of thinking, seeing, living, speaking, acting and being satisfied. It changes the way we look at life; what we are happy about, what we

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aspire for, what we stay away from and what we stand up for irrespective of how inconvenient or painful this may prove to be. It means changing our standards, role models, icons; who we like and who we dont and the reasons for both. Choosing to be a Standard Bearer of Islam means not only changing behavior but going deeper than that to the ethics, morals, values, beliefs, attitudes and desires that the behavior emanates from. Yet the person who is conscious of the value of being a Standard Bearer of Islam chooses this path not despite its difficulty but because of it. He does it for the same reason that a person chooses to climb Mount Everest not because of the ease or difficulty of the climb but for the satisfaction of reaching the top a place where only the best can hope to reach. So we begin with the intention and ask Allah Allah for His help.

does not accept anything that is impure, so the purity of the

intention must also be examined what is the intention for? Is it to please Allah alone or is it for worldly gain, name, fame or

popularity? In the course of this reflection and consciously making the niyyah we must not forget to examine our niyyah for Ikhlaas sincerity and the desire to please Allah alone. If this is missing

then the whole exercise is futile. So one must constantly monitor the niyyah. It is important to remember that making the niyyah is not a

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one-time thing. The niyyah must be made and constantly renewed, examined for sincerity and re-examined again and again. It is like going into a crowded fair with a lot of money in our pocket. We are ever conscious of the money and continuously check to keep it safe from pickpockets. The biggest pickpocket of niyyah is Shaytaan and so one must always be aware of this and guard against him and not allow the slightest Riya (ostentation, showing off, seeking others approval) from creeping into the niyyah. 2. Taalluq MaAllah connection with Allah It is not within the scope of this paper to go into the details of all that needs to be done to gain closeness to Allah that in order of priority the steps are: a. Tazkiyatun Nafs Purifying the Self b. Glorifying and thanking Allah c. - Shukr . I will suffice to say

Kasratus Sujood wa Tilawatil Quran wa Dhikrullah

a. Tazkiyatun Nafs Purifying the Self What do you do when you have the best seed in the world and want to plant it? You first prepare the soil. Without preparing the soil the best seed in the world will not germinate or grow satisfactorily.

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So also with becoming a Standard Bearer of Islam; we have to prepare the soil the Self first. The Self must be prepared to receive the message of Islam. This preparation is the essence of Tazkiyatun Nafs purification of the self. Tazkiyya begins with Tawba repentance from all sin and disobedience and returning to Allah from whom Shaytaan had

separated us. Of being genuinely contrite and repentant, making amends where this may be required and hating the actions of disobedience that we used to do such that we would never consider repeating any of them at any cost. Tazkiyya also consists of Tahara purifying ones body, clothes, home, friends and ones life from all forms of impurity and disobedience. We must make a detailed Muhasiba accounting of our entire life to identify the impurities that it contains. Some may be physical and others mental and spiritual. Arrogance, race or caste pride, absence of humility, argumentativeness, rebelliousness, rigidity on own opinion, self-importance, self righteousness, seeking pleasure, avoiding the pain of learning, unwillingness to accept own mistakes, tendency to point out others mistakes, looking down on others, high opinion about our own knowledge or ability and a lack of respect for others are all illnesses of

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the self which must be cured. Each must be addressed individually and worked on to eliminate. Still others may be with respect to people unsuitable friends whose ideas, beliefs and attitudes dont match with our intention to become Standard Bearers of Islam. Such people are an impediment to our own growth and will inhibit our connection with Allah . All impurities must be cleansed and removed from our . This

lives in order to prepare the ground to connect with Allah

cleansing must be done with what we eat, earn, spend, wear, see, read, listen, speak and live with. Everything must be examined to ensure that it is pure. Allah is pure and likes only what is pure. - Shukr

b. Glorifying and thanking Allah

Then comes reaffirming the Tawheed of Allah ( )that He is pure and free from all associates and purifying our lives from all forms of Shirk. Along with this we must be thankful to Him ( ) for all that He has given us and praising His Majesty and Magnificence () It is essential to develop the habit to constantly thank Allah glorify Him as it is His right. Allah and

promised to increase His bounty is

if we thank Him for what He has given us and so thanking Allah

a very important part of developing closeness to Him. Learning to see the glory of Allah in His creation increases our Imaan and Yaqeen

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and enables us to love Allah

. In todays world, given our scientific

development and tools it becomes ever easier to see the glory of Allah s creation and to praise His greatness provided of course . This love makes it easy to obey

that we learn to recognize Allah

Him because we want to please the One we love who is the only one worth pleasing. We only have to look around us and within ourselves and all that Allah has created and blessed us with to simply spend

the rest of our days in Sujood.

Ibrahim 14: 7. And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks, I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe."
But unfortunately it seems to be human nature to be thankless and this is something that we must guard against very carefully.

Al Aaraf 7: 10.

And surely, We gave you authority on the

earth and appointed for you therein provisions (for your life). Little thanks do you give. Al Muminoon 23:78. It is He, Who has created for you (the sense of) hearing (ears), sight (eyes), and hearts (understanding). Little thanks you give.

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As Sajda 32: 9.

Then He fashioned him in due proportion, and

breathed into him the soul (created by Allh for that person), and He gave you hearing (ears), sight (eyes) and hearts. Little is the thanks you give!

The problem is that we have become conditioned to taking His blessings for granted and ignoring them until they are taken away and only then we become aware of what we lost. How many of us thank Allah for painless joints which enable us to perform Salah in the for good

right manner without pain? How many of us thank Allah

eyesight which enables us to read without glasses? I could go on endlessly but I believe the point is made. We need to live thoughtfully and consciously and count the blessings of Allah for them and glorify His Majesty and Magnificence. and thank Him

c. Kasratus Sujood wa Tilawatil Quran wa Dhikrullah (Increased worship of Allah Allah ) , reading the Quran and remembering

One of the students of Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) asked his servant about the private life of Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA); what he did when he was at home. The servant said, He would recite Quran and wait

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for the time of Salah. Constant remembrance of Allah way of Rasoolullah and his Sahaba.

was the

Rasoolullah

taught us to say Ghufraanak when we leave the toilet

because that is the only place which is not suitable for us to remember Allah and so His Dhikr is interrupted. Rasoolullah in sajda so increasing our descends to told

us that the slave is closest to Allah

prayers is essential. Tahajjud is the time where Allah

the lowest heaven in a manner that is in keeping with His Majesty and about which He knows best and listens to our dua. We must make tahajjud fardh on ourselves. Imaam Sufyan Thawri (RA) said, I was prevented from Tahajjud for 5 months because of a sin I committed. Hasan Al Basri (RA) said, Obey Allah during the day and He will

make it easy for you to get up in the night. The Salaf understood that good deeds are a result of the tawfeeq of Allah needs to ask Allah and that one would make

for them and work so that Allah

them possible and easy to do. Rasoolullah

said that if Allah

accepts a deed He makes it easy for one to do that deed again. So therefore the ability to do good deeds is a sign of the pleasure of Allah and if a good deed that one used to do, starts to be missed is displeased.

then it is a sign that perhaps Allah

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One must immediately take heed and make Tawba and seek to reestablish his connection with Allah .

There is a mistaken notion among the people that Nawaafil are unimportant and may be neglected. This is one of the signs of ignorance that happens when knowledge is learnt by those who have had no tarbiyyat. They extract wrong meanings from knowledge. The only difference between Faraaidh and Nawaafil is that with respect to the latter there is no punishment associated with leaving them. This is the grace and mercy of Allah and not a reason to neglect them.

We need to remember that it is with Nawaafil that a slave shows Allah how much he loves Him and due to which Allah permits

him among His Awlia as we know from the Hadith Qudsi where Rasoolullah informed us:

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (RA), who said that

Rasoolullah

said: Allah

said: Whosoever shows enmity to my

Awlia (someone devoted to Me), I shall be at war with him. My slave draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works (Nawaafil) so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his 271

foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful slave: he hates death and I hate hurting him." [Bukhari]
This extends to all acts of Nawaafil including fasting, charity, service, keeping good relations with family and neighbors, being hospitable to guests and so on and so one must seek to increase all of these deeds. The Sahaba understood this best and their lives mirrored this understanding. They extended themselves in doing all kinds of extra actions to please Allah . Imagine a situation where Muslims today

start to imitate the Sahaba and do what they used to do. What do you think will happen to the Muslim image if we imitated Abu Bakr Siddeeq (RA) in the way we deal with others?

Every morning before Fajr Abu Bakr Siddeeq (RA) used to go to the outskirts of Madina to a camp. He would enter the camp and spend some time there and then would return. When Abu Bakr Siddeeq (RA) passed away Sayyidina Omar (RA) decided to find out who lived in this camp. He went there and found an old woman who was almost blind with age. He asked her about herself and she replied, I am an old woman who has nobody in the world and I live alone here with

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my sheep. Every morning there is a man from Madina who comes here, sweeps my tent, cooks my food, milks my sheep and takes care of them and leaves. Without him and his care I would have been unable to survive. Omar asked, Do you know who that is? She said that she had no idea who the man was. He had never mentioned this to her. Omar (RA) told her, That was the Ameer ul Mumineen Abu Bakr Siddeeq (RA).

I will suffice with this example as it is not in the scope of this paper to go into more detail. What is important to remember is that Tazkiyya is like a special health checkup and regimen; it needs to be done under the supervision of a Shaikh trained in its science and knowledgeable in diagnosing the illness and prescribing a cure. Like physical illnesses, spiritual illnesses also have specific symptoms and cures which must be applied. While we dont need a Shaikh to tell us to perform Tahajjud or make Dhikr; to diagnose problems that may be hindering us in our spiritual journey of getting close to Allah we need to

consult an expert. Considering ourselves self-sufficient with respect to a teacher; that we dont need a teacher; is a sign of arrogance and a major illness of the heart which will inhibit all learning and closeness to Allah .

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Meanwhile it is important to have taqwa and ask Allah understanding His knowledge.

s help with

Al Baqarah 2:282 So have taqwa of Allah (will teach) you

In a Hadith Qudsi Rasoolullah

and Allah

teaches

informed us:

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (RA), who said that

Rasoolullah

said:

"Allah the Almighty said: 'I am as My slave thinks I am (1). I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed." (1) Another possible rendering of the Arabic is: 'I am as My slave expects Me to be.' The meaning is that forgiveness and acceptance of repentance by the Almighty is subject to His slave truly believing that He is forgiving and merciful. However, not to accompany such belief

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with right action would be to mock the Almighty. [Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn-Majah]
3. Tarbiyyat Thoughtful upbringing Islam is all about practice. Islamically there is no such thing as a nonpracticing Muslim. A Muslim by definition is one who practices Islam, not someone who merely knows about Islam but does not practice it. So if someone does not practice Islam he cant be called a Muslim. That is the reason Tarbiyyat is so critical in Islam. Rules of behavior, of dealing with people in all aspects of life are essential to create morally upright citizens who can influence society. Todays social problems, be those at a micro or a global level can all be essentially traced to a lack of Tarbiyyat. Quite illogically today we take our frenetic lifestyles chasing after material wealth as the given and seek magic foolproof automated methods to bring up our children which dont include our own time and energy. We imagine that if we throw enough money at it, this problem of badly brought up children who will grow up into uncaring, selfish adults will vanish on its own. This is a fallacy. Upbringing is not a factor of money but of time and thoughtfulness. And there are no shortcuts to it.

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The areas of operation of Islamic influence are five: 1. Aqeeda (Belief & Creed), 2. Ibaadah (Worship), 3. Muamilaat (Dealings), 4. Muaashirat (Society), 5. Akhlaaq (Manners)

It is important to pay equal attention to all. That is the reason why Rasoolullah said, I have been sent to teach Akhlaaq. That does

not mean that the Aqeeda is not important but that Akhlaaq are as important as Aqeeda in the upbringing of people. Today while some attention is paid to the first two of these five aspects of the Islamic Way, the last three are either totally neglected altogether or we adopt the ways of others leaving our own ways, mostly because of ignorance.

The source material for Muamilaat, Muaashirat and Akhlaaq is also to be found in the Quran and Sunnah and the Seerah of Rasoolullah and the life history of his Sahaba. It is important to study this in detail with a view to extracting relevant information from it and then convert it into a teachable form that can be imparted to children and adults alike and implemented in society.

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For example if we look at modern so-called democratic systems of government and how they are manipulated by people in leadership positions and ask, What is the Islamic Way; which is not open to manipulation and which will ensure that we elect good leaders with integrity? The answer lies in looking at what made Abu Bakr Siddique and Omar ibn Al Khattab good leaders. What was the

foundation, the basic strength which ensured that they did the right thing? That was the taqwa of Allah and the certainty that they

would be held accountable. That is what protected them from Shaytaan and all his devices. It is not that they did not have desires or that they did not know what they could get by manipulation. It is their taqwa that prevented them from doing anything that would anger Allah . That is the key and Tarbiyyat is the tool to achieve

this level of taqwa.

Any system has two aspects to it the structure and the person in the structure. Like two sides of an equation both are equally important if one is to get the result that their combination is supposed to give. If we have the right people in the wrong structure their energy will get dissipated in coping with the stress of the structure. If we have the wrong kind of people in the right structure the people will sabotage the structure and manipulate it to suit their own selfish ends.

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That is why both are important the right structure and the right people. One cant substitute for the other.

Tarbiyyat must cover all aspects of Muamilaat, Muaashirat and Akhlaaq. The right way to do anything must be reinforced through demonstration by elders/teachers in daily life as well as by simulations, questions, assignments and tasks that are specially designed to extract the desired learning. Once again this paper is not the place to go into the details of all these things but I would like to emphasize the importance of ensuring that Tarbiyyat is given the importance that it eminently deserves. Lastly Tarbiyyat is not a onetime thing. It is ongoing training by practical demonstration where standards are clearly practiced by those who set them and then are insisted upon without fear or favor from everyone who claims to be Muslim.

Punctuality is a good case in point. Muslims are today known for their lack of punctuality. We hear a lot of jokes about Muslim time or Arab time. This is shameful because making an appointment or promising to deliver something at a particular time and not adhering to it is to break trust which is one of the signs of Nifaaq (hypocrisy). Time is a number. It is not a concept open to interpretation. 8.00 am means

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precisely 8.00 am. Nothing more. Nothing less. When you are late for an appointment it indicates a lack of respect for the other person, a lack of seriousness about the matter, no value for others time, a lack of reliability on your part with respect to all that is to follow and a breach of trust which may happen again and therefore which renders you untrustworthy. We need to seriously ask if this is what we want people to believe about us; that we are a people who cant be trusted and relied upon, who dont respect others and who are not serious about any matter.

Sadly this is the general opinion about Muslims arising out of an apparently small matter of failing to be punctual. Tarbiyyat is about sensitizing people to the serious consequences of so-called small matters which they tend to ignore.

4. Ihsaan excellence in everything we do

The fourth issue is of excellence Al Ihsaan. It is amazing how many of these concepts have their origin in Islam yet we Muslims seem to be innocent of them both in knowledge and practice. It is high time that we changed our ways and went back to the Sunnah of Rasoolullah and the teachings he brought for us so that once again

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we are looked up to as role models by the world. In the famous hadith of Jibreel Rasoolullah as: narrated by Omar Ibn Al Khattab ,

answered the question of Jibreel

about Al Ihsaan

He (the enquirer Jibreel (excellence). He (Rasoolullah

) said: Inform me about al-Ihsan ) said: That you worship Allah as if

you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you.
If we look at this hadith it gives us the best example possible to define the Muslim attitude to everything in life to seek excellence. As the hadith says, we are supposed to pray as if we see Allah .

And to be aware that He sees us even though we cant see him. Ihsan or the Islamic concept of excellence is to do everything knowing that Allah is seeing us and is aware not only of what we are doing but

of why we are doing it. Allah not only sees everything but is also aware of what we have

in our hearts, our reasons for doing things and so knows whether those reasons are honorable or not. This is important because the reason determines the worth of the action as we mentioned in the beginning of this article. So what we do and why we do it are both important and Allah is aware of both.

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A Muslim therefore does every action knowing that Allah

is all

aware and all seeing and so he does only that which is pleasing to Allah .

Another major reason for excellence is because the person recognizes that he/she is defined and recognized by his output. He does not work to show others; he works because his work is his signature and differentiator in the market. I recall an incident when I used to live in South India on the Kerala-Karnataka border. I was having some wooden furniture made. The carpenters were from Kerala and were famous for their quality. As is the practice in these matters, the client is supposed to provide material and pay for the labor. As we were making a list of the material, the carpenter asked for 7 grades of sandpaper. I was astonished and my immediate reaction was irritation at what I saw as something that would only delay the whole process. Why do you need 7 grades? Why cant you do with less and work faster? I demanded. As I mentioned, the carpenter was from Kerala and not long on patience. He simply told me, This is what I need. If you want to bring it, I will take this job. Otherwise you can give it to someone else. Then he softened a little and said to me, When someone comes to

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visit you and sees this furniture, I want them to ask, Who made this furniture? Not, Who on earth made this furniture?

Actually he said this in Malayalam and used the exact same words but with a slight change in intonation and a slight pause which completely changes the meaning from praise to blame.

I got the message and brought him his sandpaper and he made me wooden furniture which when finished was as smooth as glass. Indeed when our friends visited they marveled at the quality of the finish. The lesson for me was in the pride that a master craftsman takes in his work because he knows it defines him and his art. That is what I understand by Al Ihsaan. To do something in the best way that I know how because that is who I am, that is what gives me joy, that is my signature. Finally another reason for Muslims to focus on excellence even more today is because of the tendency of the world to define everything a Muslim does as a factor of his Islam. Sometimes we feel this is unjustified and complain that the actions of Muslims should not be taken to be reflective of Islam but I remind myself and you that is that this complaining is a modern phenomenon. The Sahaba, when asked about Islam used to say, Kunu mith-lana. Be like us.

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For the Sahaba, Islam was them and their life and they were Islam to all those who wanted to know what Islam was. So why should we run away from this definition today?

Let the world see every action of ours as a reflection of Islam and let us therefore ensure that this reflection is always positive. Let us show the people of the world that the people have changed but the religion is the same and can still be the beacon of guidance today that it was 1400 years ago.

I believe passionately that this is possible with the right training and education. What we need is to create a system where children are given the knowledge and tarbiyyat that will make them true representatives of Islam in terms of their beliefs, values, ethics, morals attitudes, speech and action. If we can achieve this, we would have succeeded in bringing alive the memory of the generation of the Sahaba in all its goodness. It is true that all of the above can be done individually but global influence is also a numbers game. So if we want the goodness of the Islamic Way to become visible and palpable worldwide we believe that a systems approach is necessary. With that in mind we have conceptualized a learning institution that is designed to produce men

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and women with the values, ethics and character of the blessed generation that I mentioned above. We believe that in order to achieve greatness it is necessary to first dream of great things and this we are not afraid to do. We dream and we ask the One who sent the dream for the strength and guidance to make it come true.

Others have understood the importance of institutionalizing leadership development to get powerful results for a long time. The British Empire established two schools; Eton (Estd. 1440 by Royal Charter King Henry VI) and Harrow (Estd. 1572 by Royal Charter, Queen Elizabeth I) who between them have produced 27 British Prime Ministers alone. Global leadership is not an accident. It is the result of investing thought, time and resources consistently in pursuit of a vision that spans generations. People who are serious about ruling the world have long understood this and have invested unstintingly in something that they have always considered worthwhile. As Muslims we are fond of talking about global leadership and about how this is a sacred duty and a task that Allah sent us to

accomplish. The question is, Are we willing to put our money where our mouth is? Or are we going to remain among those who talk

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about global leadership but spend our money to build palaces, malls, hotels and towers and to buy toys albeit expensive ones? We need to remember that no matter what we decide to do, Allah will hold us

accountable for what He sent us to accomplish. We can either be honored for a job well done or be punished for neglecting our duty. And just to put this in perspective; the cost of one A-380 standard jet without customizing will build 42 academies like the one I am describing below. The choice is ours to make. We are currently a repository of knowledge. We are like those who own a library of automobile engineering books but walk home every day. We need to convert knowledge into practical reality that makes winners in this world. Then not only we, but the whole world will ride. As we know from the history of Montessori education, the most powerful way to convince the world to try a new method is to show them a successful working model and that is why we conceptualized the Standard Bearers Academy. To show the Muslims what is possible to do. After that it is up to them.

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The Standard Bearers Academy

Lighting up the world by igniting minds

IB Islamic School

Teachers Training College

Standard Bearers Academy

Research Center

Academy for Applied Islam

A unique comprehensive integrated global initiative with: 1. International school to create Muslim Role Models 2. Research Center to give solutions to the world based on the Islamic Way

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3. Academy for Applied Islam: PG Course in Applied Islam for youth to become Standard Bearers of Islam 4. Teachers Training College: Give teachers to the World: Teaching an integrated curriculum of Islam & Science To give Role Models to the world who will make Islam visible in all its beauty in all aspects of life for the benefit of all mankind. The Standard Bearers Academy (SBA) will be an international center of learning and excellence comprised of four units: 1. SBA International School: Children who will get the best education that is possible to get in terms of todays technology in an institution built to global standards: IGCSE & IBO syllabus Tahfeezul Quran + Uloom ul Shari'ah Arabic, English + 1 other language Integrated teaching methodology Leadership development, Islamic values, etiquette, sports, international exposure, inter-religious contact 2. Research Center: Through in-depth research create concept papers and working models for: Sustainable economic development

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Local government & international relations Value based education for social justice Solutions for emerging societal issues

3. Academy of Applied Islam: Young achievers from all over the world (21+) educated in various disciplines: One year PG Course in Applied Islam Muslim Identity, Muslim Character, Leadership Skills Will return to their countries & create Centers of Excellence to demonstrate Islam in practice 4. Teachers Training College: Giving teachers to the world Tarbiyyat: Mould the complete person Integrated teaching How to bring the Creator into the class Teaching values by demonstration Teaching love for service Teaching communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, decision making & leadership The IB Islamic International School This will be a residential school built to global standards: World Class Education in a World Class Center.

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We have created a comprehensive integrated curriculum taught creatively giving individual attention to each child in our patented way to give the best of modern education along with Islamic education. Our focus is on building global leaders. So this is not yet another international school. The curriculum will include: Personal attention to value based upbringing including Quran, Tazkiyya, Sunnah, Seerah, social skills, communication & presentation, public speaking, teamwork, influencing, problem solving. Special focus on Tarbiyyat because values cant be legislated. They must be inculcated. Social service and interaction to experientially understand the problems of people and develop a desire to solve them. Interreligious dialogue, international and cross cultural exposure to build mutual understanding in a pluralistic society. Elocution, debates, creative writing, journalism and news reporting, internet based communication, poetry, art, hobbies. Leadership education including all its aspects High quality sports and games Outdoor leadership development training Swimming and water sports, sailing, navigation Horse riding as a subject in character development

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Facilities at the SBA Campus will include: Masjid & Quranic School Globally networked eco-friendly, world class facilities, Retreat center open to scholars from around the world Gym, Swimming Pool, Horse Riding, Games fields Hospital, Conferencing, Library & multimedia center

On completion of schooling, students will go to international universities to specialize in the subjects of their choice. Some will become Islamic scholars. Others will become scientists, doctors, engineers, administrators, diplomats, entrepreneurs. All will be Standard Bearers of Islam in their chosen field of endeavor. Academy of Applied Islam Handpicked young achievers who have completed their basic education and are poised to enter working life will be invited to join the Academy for a one-year Post Graduate Course in Applied Islam. The curriculum will focus on three core areas: 1. Muslim Identity a. Exploring own attitudes about the Muslim identity b. Understanding the Muslim identity: Brand

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c.

What does the Muslim identity comprise of? Male and Female

d. Muslim womens role and contribution in society e. Aqeeda: The Correct Islamic Aqeeda of Tawheed f. Tafseer of Quran & Tajweed & Recitation

g. Usool of Hadith and study of selected Ahadith h. Usool of Fiqh of all four schools i. j. Maqaasid us Shariah Total Immersion Course in Arabic

2. Muslim Character a. What differentiates me as a Muslim and how does it make me a winner? b. With reference to the Quran and Sunnah, what are the essential elements of the Muslim character? c. Personal Assessment with respect to the Muslim Character: Where do I stand and what do I need to do to meet the standard? d. Tazkiyatun Nafs Baatini Islah (Purification of the soul & Internal correction) e. Seerah of Rasoolullah f. : Lessons to apply

History of Khulafa ar Raashida & Sahaba

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g. History of Sahabiyaat and women of the Salaf: Women in leadership roles h. Brief history of Islam: Lessons to be learnt today i. History of Revivers of Islam: Male and Female: Lessons to apply j. Critical study of various Islamic movements: Lessons

3. Leadership Skills a. Public Speaking & Presentation b. Negotiation & Arbitration Skills c. Conflict Resolution: Relating between genders

d. Understanding womens issues: family, society, global e. Upbringing of children: Role of husband & wife f. Leading Teams & Working on Teams

g. Disagreeing without being disagreeable h. Problem Solving & Decision Making: Tools & Techniques i. Creative Writing, Investigative Journalism, News Reporting, Film Making, Photography, Web Design, Blogging, Internet Broadcasting, New technology j. Daawa of Islam: Presenting Islam & Inviting towards Allah

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The emphasis will be to empower graduates to set up centers of excellence on the SBA model in their countries where they become sources of goodness for all in their society. Research Center for Application Models Research forms a very critical element of this entire vision and SBAs research will be focused on creating initiatives to handle the challenges of the current and future environment. Our research scholars will focus on societal issues and create working models to solve problems, using Islamic ideology. Working models and research papers will be published internationally. Our purpose is to show the world a better way that will benefit all people irrespective of their religion, race, nationality or culture. I coined the term Applied Islam in order to focus on specifically taking the teachings of Islam the final leg, to demonstrate their beauty through practice. This is an area that the Muslim Ummah worldwide has been very lacking in. There has and continues to be a great deal of focus on preserving and learning the theoretical teachings of Islam but almost nothing on actually converting them into practical working models in todays world that can be easily taught and practiced. It is our intention to bridge this gap in the SBA so that people can actually see Islam in practice.

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Teachers will be research scholars and professors who may be engaged on a remote, visiting or full time basis. There will be a vibrant exchange program with major international universities where faculty from the Academy will spend time in learning, teaching and influencing. Faculty and research scholars of the Academy will be on an intensive scholastic-academic assessment program which will enable them to benchmark themselves against the Best-in-the-World and become role models. Major importance will be given to publishing, consulting with international bodies and a 360 degree Appraisal system will be implemented for faculty to help them assess their own teaching effectiveness. Research may also be done remotely through affiliation with international universities where doctoral thesis and post-doctoral projects on specific areas of interest may be funded by the Academy. This will help us to leverage resources globally. State of the art communication, networking and data processing facilities will be available for the research scholars to work in a highly conducive and intellectually stimulating and challenging environment. We recognize that learning does not come from books alone but from the company of the learned. It was the company of Rasoolullah that made the Sahaba the special generation that they were.

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Consequently eminent scholars will be invited to spend sabbaticals in the Academy and use our facilities and mentor and guide our students in Tazkiyya and Tarbiyyat. Their company will give the young minds benchmarks to measure themselves against and standards to aspire to reach. Facilities for research with a state-of-the-art library and all relevant material will be available to those scholars who wish to conduct research. The Academy will offer to publish such research at their expense and to conduct international seminars at which these scholars will have the opportunity to present their ideas to an audience of peers and students to enhance learning. Teachers Training College We recognize that it is likely to be difficult to get teachers of the kind we want i.e. with dedication, a sense of mission and commitment to the long term goal and with the ability to teach Islam and modern knowledge subjects in a seamless integrated manner. Therefore we will train our own teachers; but with an additional advantage. It is the fact that if we do it through a training college and award a degree in education, then not only can we skim the cream from the top for ourselves but we will in effect be seeding the global teaching landscape with teachers, committed to being Standard Bearers of

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Islam themselves and supportive of setting up institutions like the SBA all over the world. The effect of this hardly needs to be explained. Furthermore teaching is a field that faces a shortage of committed and competent people. High quality teachers are in demand all over the world and are able to command their own salaries. Our college will therefore also perform the service of creating employable people and starting them off on a highly remunerative and rewarding career. The final Result InshaAllah The Mufassir who is a cardiac surgeon The Muhaddith who is an industry head The Mufti who is an administrator The Haafidh who is a scientist Our dream is that one day; a graduate of this Academy will become a cardiac surgeon. And that when he is about to do the operation, he will ask Allah Allah for His help as he knows that the cure is from

alone. That when he holds the scalpel to start the operation, said in the Hadith

his hand will be the hand about which Allah

Qudsi, My slave comes so close to me with his obedience and Nawaafil that I become the hand by which he holds. And it is our

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dream that it is a Friday and when the operation is over, this cardiac surgeon will go to the masjid, ascend the Minbar and deliver the Khutba. I ask Allah to give us the dedication, resources and

energy to make this dream come true. Conclusion While writing this I am acutely aware of our insignificance and weakness and inability to make any of this happen on our own. But I take strength from the promise of Allah where He said:

Sura At-Talaaq: 2-3:

And whosoever has taqwa and fears Allah,

Allah will make a way out (of every difficulty) for him. And He will provide him from (sources/means) he could never imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, He will be sufficient for him.
I also take strength from two other facts: 1. All global movements start small. It is the dedicated effort of a small group of people who passionately believe in their ideology and are willing to work consistently to implement it that in the end bears fruit. I remember the image of a weighing scale. Have you ever seen a traditional weighing scale in a shop in India selling food grains and notice what the seller does.

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First he puts the weight measure in one pan. Say 20 kilos. Then he uses a scoop and starts to put rice into the other pan. As the pan fills, even when he has put 19 kilos in it, what do you see? Nothing! There is no change in the situation. The pan with the weight remains firmly on the counter top. And the pan with the rice remains in the air. But then what else do you see? You see that the man does not stop putting the rice into the pan. He continues to do that until he sees a small movement in the pans as the pan with the rice starts to descend. Once that happens and the pans are almost level, the man changes his method of putting in the grain. Now instead of the scoop, he uses his hand. He takes a handful of rice and very gently he drops a few grains at a time into the pan. And then lo! and behold, the pan with the rice descends to the counter top and the pan with the weight rises in the air. When I saw this, I learnt two essential lessons in life; both equally true: Lesson # 1: Lesson # 2: Until 19 kilos, nothing will happen. The last few grains always make the difference

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So also in life, even when 19 kilos of effort have gone into the issue, nothing is supposed to happen. One who understands this does not lose hope or energy but smiles in anticipation of reaching the last stage when he knows that the pan will start to descend to the counter-top. 2. Allah will not ask us, What happened? He will ask us, What

did you do? We believe therefore that it is our duty to do our best and to trust in His Will for the result. For the one who has His help, nobody can overcome. I ask Allah to guide us to do what is pleasing to Him. In the end that is all that matters.

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The Continuation
The journey of faith is a continuing journey. It has no ending until the day when we stand before the One for whom we did all that we did.

I remember an incident many years ago when I was invited to speak to a group of elderly non-Muslims about Islam. I gave a talk titled, Introduction to Islam, in which I explained the Islamic perspective about Allah , His Messenger Muhammad , life after death, the

Day of Judgment and Jannah (Heaven) and Jahannam (Hell). Usually such talks are held in a very cordial atmosphere. People who come are interested in listening and ask questions and thank you for taking the trouble to talk to them.

On this day however something very strange happened. One gentleman who I later discovered was 75 and lived alone in an old peoples home and who was sitting in the first row, suddenly started shouting. You are talking nonsense. There is no Day of Judgment. There is no god. No Allah . Have you seen Allah ? How do you

say with so much certainty that this will happen and that will happen? Have you seen your god? Have you seen Allah ?

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There was total silence in the room. Everyone was shocked at this totally unexpected and rude behavior. I too was shocked and for a few seconds my whole body went cold. Someone started to say something, but I held up my hand. The person fell silent and everyone looked at me. I smiled at the old man and said to him in a very soft and gentle voice, Sir, thanks for your comment. No I have not seen Allah . Yet I believe in Him. You have not seen Allah

either and you deny Him. Now listen to me very carefully. A day will come when both you and I will see Allah . Remember my words to .

you today. A day will come when you and I will both see Allah

On that day I will know that what I believed was true. But what will you do?

Faith, in Islam is not blind. Far from it. Allah how he should introduce himself. He said:

taught Rasoolullah

Yusuf 12:108. Say (O Muhammad): "This is my way; I invite unto Allh (Islm) with sure knowledge (clear evidence) I and whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allh) with sure knowledge. And Glorified and Exalted be Allh (above all that they associate as partners with Him). And I am not of the Mushrikn (polytheists)."

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Our belief in Allah

, His Messenger Muhammad

, His Book the

Quran, His promises, our meeting with Him on the Day of Judgment, the Jannah and the Jahannam; all this is based on clear evidence. We believe with knowledge and with all our faculties fully functional. Islam is not blind faith or mythological belief. Muhammad was a

historical figure who lived in Arabia and whose life is perhaps the most well recorded and documented life of any public figure in history. He was the last and final Messenger in a long line of messengers. There is no Messenger after him. Allah perfectly clearly when he declared: stated this

Al-Ahzab 33: 40. Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allh (Rasoolullah) and the last (end) of the Prophets (Khatamun Nabiyeen). And Allh is Ever All Aware of everything. Narrated Sahl: Rasoolullah said, "I have been sent and the Hour

(is at hand) as these two," showing his two fingers and sticking (separating) them out. (Bukhari)
Since Muhammad was the last of the Prophets, his mission was for

all mankind and till the end of time. This distinguishes his mission from the mission of other prophets who were sent to specific people

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and for specific periods, to be replaced by other prophets. For example:

Nuh 71: 1. Verily, We sent Nh (Noah) to his people Al-Aaraf 7: 65. And to 'Ad (We sent) their brother Hd. Al-Aaraf 7: 73. And to Thamd (We sent) their brother Slih (Saleh). Al-Aaraf 7: 85. And to (the people of) Madyan (Midian), (We sent) their brother Shu'aib.
But Allah sent Muhammad for the entire world and for all time

and so He said:

Al-Anbiya 21: 107. And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the 'Alamn (mankind, jinns and all that exists) Saba 34: 28. And We have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most of men know not Al-Aaraf 7: 158. Say (O Muhammad): "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allh - to Whom belongs the dominion

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of the heavens and the earth. L ilha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He); It is He Who gives life and causes death. So believe in Allh and His Messenger (Muhammad), the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad) who believes in Allh and His Words and follow him so that you may be guided.
Since Prophethood has ended but the need for guidance continues, Allah perfected and completed the religion of Islam and sent it as

the final religion for all time. He said:

Maaidah 5:3. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.
And He said that if anyone comes on the Day of Judgment with any religion other than Islam it will not be accepted from him. The boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not have been clearly drawn so that nobody will be able to claim that they did not understand or were confused about the truth.

Aal Imraan 3: 85. And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers (people of the Hellfire)

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The truth has been clearly spelt out and mankind has been given the freedom to accept or to reject it. Naturally each choice has a consequence but we are free to choose. Allah clearly says that is

whatever choice we make is for ourselves and that He, Allah

above all need and the Universe belongs to Him whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. He said:

An-Nisa 4: 170. O mankind! Verily, there has come to you the Messenger (Muhammad) with the truth from your Lord, so believe in him, it is better for you. But if you disbelieve, then certainly to Allh belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. And Allh is Ever All Knowing, All Wise. Yunus 10: 108. Say: "O you mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Quran and Prophet Muhammad), has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever receives guidance, he does so for the good of his own self, and whosoever goes astray, he does so to his own loss, and I am not (set) over you as a Wakl (to force you to be guided)." Al-Kahf 18: 29. And say: "The truth is from your Lord." Then whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve. Verily, We have prepared for the Zlimn (transgressors,

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oppressors), a Fire whose walls will surround them (disbelievers in Allh).

In order to continue the work of conveying the message that the final Messenger, Muhammad brought, the job has been given to his

followers, his Ummah. This is a special honor bestowed on the Ummah of Muhammad as he is the last and final Prophet (Nabi)

and Messenger (Rasool) and was not a responsibility given to any people before him, because until his coming Prophethood had not been ended. Allah said about this responsibility:

Aal Imraan 3: 104. Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islm), enjoining Al-Ma'rf (i.e. all that Islm orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islm has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful. Aal Imraan 3: 110. You [Muslims] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'rf (i.e. all that Islm has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islm has forbidden), and you believe in Allh.

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Yusuf 12:108. Say (O Muhammad): "This is my way; I invite unto Allh (Islm) with sure knowledge (clear evidence) I and whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Allh) with sure knowledge. And Glorified and Exalted be Allh (above all that they associate as partners with Him). And I am not of the Mushrikn (polytheists)."
The greatest honor and benefit of being Muslim is that we have been given this honor of carrying on the work of our leader, Muhammad, Rasoolullah to save everyone in the world from Hellfire and enter

them into Jannah. What can be better? There can be no bigger honor that Allah to give us the work of His Messenger . could bestow on us than

As I walked the streets of New York those many years ago and as I walked the streets of many cities and villages since then; as I talked to people in many different countries, what I am most conscious and aware of is that I am doing the most honorable and powerful work that exists which is to join the slave to His Rabb. To enable the human being to connect with His Creator. To show him how to access the treasures of the heavens. To show him how to live his life so that when he dies he will see the good that he sent before him and then he will be pleased that he had accepted the truth and followed it.

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To remind people that one day they will stand before Allah

and

that the wise thing to do is therefore to prepare for a day that will most certainly come, whether we accept it or not.

An-Naba 78: 39. That is without doubt the True Day, so, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!
I ask Allah to accept the work of all of us that we do for His

Pleasure. To help all those who seek His Pleasure. To guide all those who seek to know Him and to obey Him. To open the hearts of all people to His Message. To fill our hearts with His love and the love of His Messenger Muhammad . To enable us to follow

Islam easily and to fill our lives with the Baraka and blessing of doing so. I ask Allah to help and guide and protect the Muslims from all

those who seek to harm them and to ease their path to fulfill the responsibility that He has given them. I ask Allah to bless His Messenger Muhammad and his family

and to grant him the most magnificent reward in keeping with His Own Majesty and Power. Was salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mirza Yawar Baig is an International Speaker, Trainer, Corporate Consultant, specializing in Leadership Development helping technical specialists transition into Management and Leadership roles. Founder & President of Yawar Baig & Associates He received his initial Islamic education at the Jamia Ilahiyaat Nooria in Hyderabad and later at the feet of Ulama and Shuyookh in Saudi Arabia, India and America. Thanks to his openness, competence, value-based professionalism and the ability to speak five languages, Yawar has instilled leadership and management fundamentals within many local, national and global organizations. Yawar Baig teaches leadership in the United States, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Yawar has extensive multicultural teaching experience having taught managers, teachers, students, administrators, NGOs and clergy in three continents. With his own background in Islamic education and a global perspective, Yawar speaks internationally on Islam and Muslim issues, especially about the need for Muslims to become Standard Bearers of Islam. Advisor, Jamiat ul Ulama , South Africa Advisor, Jamiat ul Ulama, Sri Lanka Advisor, Jamia Syed Ahmed Shaheed, India Advisor, Al Mahad Al Islami, Hyderabad, India Advisor, Association of Muslim Schools, South Africa
www.yawarbaig.in

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