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Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah al-Ju‘fī al-Bukhārī 19 July 810 – 1 September 870), or Bukhārī, commonly referred to as Imam al-Bukhari or Imam Bukhari, was a Persian Islamic scholar who was born in Bukhara (the capital of the Bukhara Region (viloyat) of Uzbekistan). He authored the hadith collection known as Sahih al-Bukhari, regarded by Sunni Muslims as one of the most authentic (sahih) hadith collections. He also wrote other books such as Al-Adab al-Mufrad.
Imam al-Bukhari was the great theologian of the East. He collected and recorded about 600 thousand hadith, i.e. legend based on cases of life or some sayings of the Prophet. Out of them, al-Bukhari selected as “flawless” about 7400 hadith to include into the famous “As-Sahih” which became the second most important book after the Koran for the majority of Sunni.
The mausoleum of Imam al-Bukhari presents in all of its magnificence. In the complex that occupies a vast territory, there are mausoleums, mosques, hotel for tourists and pilgrims, souvenir shops and religious literature.
The mausoleum of Imam al-Bukhari is one of the main pilgrimage sites in Uzbekistan. The visiting of three shrines in Samarkand – the mausoleums of al-Bukhari, Shakhi-Zinda and Rukhabad – within one day, is called “small Hajj”.
'Evet', said the white-bearded Turkish gentleman -ak sakallı dede -, 'evet'; 'yes, flowers are good for the heart', I understood him to say. And he shuffled away over the muddy path.
So at home i went to Google to look up daffodils or narcissus and Islam. There's a large literature in the East about flowers and plants in prose and in poetry as well.
But I was searching more specifically for my bulb-friends. Almost immediately I hit upon a quote attributed to the Prophet: 'If a man has two loaves of bread, let him exchange one for some flowers of the narcissus; for bread only nourishes the body, but to look on the narcissus feeds the soul'. For various reasons, it seemed to me that this quote - in circulation perhaps 150 years in the western world - must be apocryphal. Moreover, I couldn't find any reputable source traceable to either Quran or Hadith.
I carried on and saw that somtimes 'daffodil' or 'narcissus' is replaced by 'hyacinth', and that others claim the quote goes back on Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī's, Gulistan (Rose Garden), middle of the thirteenth century CE. But I couldn't find that citation there either.
Anyone out there in Flickrland in the know? Please tell me.
Regardless, my heart danced with this Late-Winter Yellow, to half-quote someone.
The musaharati is a public waker for suhur and dawn prayer during Ramadan. According to the history books, Bilal Ibn Rabah was the first musaharati in Islamic history, as he used to roam the streets and roads throughout the night to wake people up.
According to Abbas Qatish, who is considered Sidon's best musaharati, the attributes every musaharati should possess are physical fitness and good health, "because he is required to walk long distances every day. He should also have a loud voice and good lungs, as well as an ability to read poems. A musaharati should supplicate God throughout the night to wake the sleepers.
The tradition is practised in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and Palestine. However, there has been a gradual disappearance of the musaharati due to several factors, including: Muslims staying up later; using technology such as alarm clocks to awake for suhur; and louder and larger homes and cities that make the voice of the musaharati harder to hear. However the old Dhakaiya tradition of singing qasidas can still be found in the streets of Old Dhaka in Bangladesh.
Similarly, in Indonesia and nearby countries, a slit drum known as a kentongan is used to wake households up to eat the suhur meal.
Sahūr or Suhūr, also called Sahrī or Sehri is the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before fasting (sawm), before dawn during or outside the Islamic month of Ramadan. The meal is eaten before fajr prayer. Sahur is matched to iftar as the evening meal, during Ramadan, replacing the traditional three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) although in some places dinner is also consumed after iftar later during the night.
Being the last meal eaten by Muslims before fasting from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan, suhur is regarded by Islamic traditions as a benefit of the blessings in that it allows the person fasting to avoid the crankiness or the weakness caused by the fast. According to a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, Anas ibn Malik narrated, "The Prophet said, 'take suhur as there is a blessing in it. Source Wikipedia.
TD : Agfapan 100 Professional 35mm film, developed in D-76 1+1 for 7 minutes. Exposure ISO 100 @35mm lens, natural daylight. Scanned with Alpha 6000 edited in ACR, inverted in CS6.
"When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me: that they may walk in the right way." [Al-Baqarah, 2:186]
"O My servant! Take one step towards me, I will take ten steps towards you. Walk towards me, I will run towards you" [Hadith Qudsi]
The Hadith claims that Muslims dress modestly and different than non-believers. Women in Cairo take this more seriously than men. Read more in my blog.
Abdul Somad Batubara (born May 18, 1977), also known as Ustadz Abdul Somad, is an Indonesian Islamic preacher and ulama from Asahan, North Sumatra. He lectures on various religious issues, especially regarding hadith studies and Islamic jurisprudence. He is very famous in Indonesia today since his lectures often broadcast through the YouTube channel and other social media. Every time he lectures anywhere, people are very enthusiastic to come and listen, hundreds to thousands.
On October 31 to November 4 2018, he gave public religious lectures in some places in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta), Indonesia. I attended his lectures three times. I not only heard the lecture, but also took a close photo like this one :)
This photo: Ustadz Abdul Somad on Pondok Pesantren Quraniyyah, Jurang Mangu, Pondok Aren, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia. Closing lecture on November 4, 2018.
Salam & Good Night To All My Beloved Friends..
Alhamdulillah,at the end, I got another subject.Talk about this spider,It is very small, around 2-3mm and I just shot with my built in flash in the dark of the night..
Hadith :
Dari Abdullah bin Qais r.a katanya: “ Rasulullah saw bersabda:”Tidak ada yang lebih sabar mendengar ejekan selain Allah Taala. Orang-orang kafir mengatakan-Nya berbilang (banyak atau bersekutu) atau mereka mengangkat anak bagi-Nya. Namun begitu Allah tetap memberi mereka rezeki, memaafkan mereka dan memberikan apa yang mereka minta.”
(Muslim)
All that is beautiful comes from the Beauty of God; says a hadith.
Moslems readily affirm the link between beauty and love and show little inclination to dissociate these two elements which for them are but the two faces of one and the same reality; whoever says beauty, says love, and conversely, whereas for Christians mystical love is almost exclusively associated with sacrifice, except in chivalric esoterism and its prolongations.
The hadith just quoted really contains the whole doctrine of the earthly concomitances of the love of God, in conjunction with the following hadith: 'God is beautiful, and He loves beauty'; this is the doctrine of the metaphysical transparency of phenomena. This notion of beauty or harmony, with all the subtle rhythms and symmetries which it implies, has in Islam the widest possible significance: 'to God belong the most beautiful Names; says the Quran more than once, and the virtues are called 'beautiful things'. 'Women and perfumes': spiritually speaking these are forms and qualities, that is to say, they are truths that are both dilating and fruitful, and they are also the virtues which these truths exhale and which correspond to them within us.
'Everything on earth is accursed except the remembrance of God; said the Prophet, a saying which must be interpreted not only from the standpoint of abstraction but also from that of analogy; that is to say, the remembrance of God is not only an inwardness free from images and flavours, but also a perception of the Divine in the symbols (ayat) of the world. To put it another way: things are accursed (or perishable) in so far as they are purely outward and externalizing, but not in so far as they actualize the remembrance of God and manifest the archetypes contained in the Inward and Divine Reality.
And everything in the world that surrounds us which gives rise to a concomitance of our love of God or of our choice of the 'inward dimension; is at the same time a concomitance of the love which God shows towards us, or a message of hope from the 'Kingdom of Heaven which is within you.'
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Frithjof Schuon
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Quoted in: The Essential Frithjof Schuon (edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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Image: Kano Eitoku - Cypress Trees
RAMADAN AL-MUBARAK ( HAPPY RAMADAN)
Ramadan and Islam: Introduction to Ramadan, the month of fasting for muslims•*´¨´¨*•.¸♥♪♥
Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان Ramaḍān) is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days according to the visual sightings of the crescent moon according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in Hadiths. It is the Muslim month of fasting, in which Muslims refrain from dawn until sunset from eating, drinking, and sexual relations.
The sawab (rewards) of fasting are many, but in this month, they are believed to be multiplied.Muslims fast in this month for the sake of demonstrating submission to God and to offer more prayers and Quran recitations.
For more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
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Salam / Good Day To All My Beloved Friends..
Meaning of the one droplet..
Location: my kitchen
Bersandarkan Hanya Kerana Allah
Hadith :
Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w maksudnya:“Tidak ada sesuatu yang paling disukai Allah SWT selain daripada dua titisan dan dua kesan. Dua titisan itu ialah titisan air mata yang keluar kerana takutkan Allah SWT dan titisan darah yang tumpah di dalam perjuangan di jalan Allah. Manakala dua kesan ialah kesan berjuang di jalan Allah SWT dan kesan kerana menunaikan kefardhuan yang telah difardhukan oleh Allah.”
(at-Tirmidzi)
Sebaik-baik Rezeki
Hadith :
Dari Miqdam r.a, dari rasulullah s.a.w,:”Tidak ada makanan yang dimakan oleh seseorang sekali-kali tidak, yang lebih baik daripada memakan makanan hasil dari usaha tangannya sendiri. Sesungguhnya nabi Allah daud a.s makan dari hasil usaha tangan baginda sendiri.”
(Bukhari)
🇫🇷 S’appuyant sur un verset du Coran rejetant les statues des idoles et sur un hadîth accusant les faiseurs d’images de vouloir rivaliser avec Dieu, seul créateur et insuffleur de vie, certains théologiens musulmans ont condamné formellement la représentation des êtres animés. Cet interdit de la figuration, strictement appliqué pour le Coran et les ouvrages de hadîths ou de fiqh, a favorisé l’émergence des arts de la calligraphie et d’une ornementation fondée uniquement sur l’arabesque et la géométrie. Cette règle est généralement suivie , sauf exception....
.(essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/societe/spiritualites/c9241816-9f5b-...)
🇬🇧 Based on a Qur'anic verse rejecting idol statues and a hadîth accusing image-makers of competing with God, the sole Creator and Breather of life, certain Muslim theologians formally condemned the depiction of animate beings. This ban on figuration, strictly applied to the Qur'an and hadîth or fiqh works, encouraged the emergence of the art of calligraphy and ornamentation, based solely on arabesque and geometry. This rule is generally followed, with some exceptions....
🇩🇪 Gestützt auf einen Koranvers, der Götzenstatuen ablehnt, und einen Hadith, der die Bildhauer beschuldigt, Gott, dem einzigen Schöpfer und Lebensspender, Konkurrenz machen zu wollen, haben einige muslimische Theologen die Darstellung von Lebewesen ausdrücklich verurteilt. Dieses Bilderverbot, das im Koran, in den Hadithen und in den Werken des Fiqh strikt eingehalten wird, hat die Entwicklung der Kalligraphie und der Ornamentik begünstigt, die ausschließlich auf Arabesken und Geometrie beruhen. Diese Regel wird im Allgemeinen befolgt, mit einigen Ausnahmen. ....
🇪🇸 Basándose en una aleya del Corán que rechaza las estatuas de ídolos y en un hadiz que acusa a los creadores de imágenes de querer competir con Dios, único creador e insuflador de vida, ciertos teólogos musulmanes condenaron formalmente la representación de seres animados. Esta prohibición de la figuración, aplicada estrictamente al Corán y a las obras del hadiz o del fiqh, favoreció la aparición de las artes de la caligrafía y la ornamentación basadas únicamente en el arabesco y la geometría. Esta norma se sigue en general, con algunas excepciones.
🇮🇹 Basandosi su un versetto del Corano che condanna le statue degli idoli e su un hadîth che accusa i creatori di immagini di voler competere con Dio, unico creatore e ispiratore della vita, alcuni teologi musulmani condannarono formalmente la rappresentazione di esseri animati. Questo divieto di figurazione, applicato rigorosamente al Corano e alle opere hadîth o fiqh, ha favorito la nascita delle arti della calligrafia e dell'ornamento basate esclusivamente sull'arabesco e sulla geometria. Questa regola è generalmente seguita, con alcune eccezioni.
Riwayat: Bukhari
Hadith:
Daripada Ibnu Umar R.huma katanya, bersabda Rasulullah SAW, "Orang mukmin sentiasa berada di dalam ketenangan agamanya (dengan mengharapkan rahmat Allah) selagi dia tidak menumpahkan darah secara haram (tidak pernah membunuh melainkan dengan kebenaran yang hak)".
Not a day passes without a flashback of these places. Not a reminiscence goes without reliving the urge to go back again and again insha Allah.
Over 2 million Muslims will prostrate toward the direction of this House and see it for themselves over the course of next 10 days insha Allah. Their Host is none but their Creator – the Almighty of the heavens and the earth – the One Allah ‘Azza wa Jal.
May Allah Sub’hana wa Ta’ala guide and help His guests, fill their hearts with righteousness, accept their good efforts, forgive the conscious and the unconscious errors, and grant them all the Hajj Mabroor, for which His Messenger (ﷺ) has taught us, “there is no reward except Paradise”. (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 933)
These 10 days are of enormous significance for those who are not going to perform Hajj too, which can be understood from the words of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), “There are no days during which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these days.” When his companions asked at this, “Not even Jihad in the cause of Allah?” Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) replied, “Not even Jihad in the cause of Allah, unless a man goes out with himself and his wealth and does not bring anything back.” (Ibn Majah book 7, Hadith 1799).
Allahumma a’inni ‘ala zhikrik, wa shukrik, wa ‘husni ‘ibadatik. Amin.
Masjid al-'Haram
Sempadan Ketaatan
Hadith :
Dari Ali (bin Abi Talib) r.a, katanya: “Pada suatu ketika, Rasulullah SAW mengirim sepasukan tentera (ke medan perang) dan melantik seorang lelaki menjadi komandan mereka. Satibanya di suatu tempat, komandan tersebut menyalakan api (unggun) dan memerintahkan anak buahnya melompat ke dalam unggun api tersebut. Sebahagian anak buahnya telah bersedia untuk melompat ke dalam unggun api tersebut tetapi yang lain berkata:”Kita harus lari dari api itu.” Peristiwa itu mereka laporkan kepada Rasulullah SAW. Maka beliau bersabda:”Seandainya kamu melompat ke dalam api itu kamu akan sentiasa berada di dalamnya hingga hari kiamat nanti.” Kemudian baginda bersabda pula kepada yang lain dengan lemah lembut:”Tidak wajib taat kepada perintah untuk menderhakai Allah. Taat itu hanya wajib dalam rangka menegakkan kebajikan.”
(Muslim)
This is a Hadith - Hadith is something Mohammed (PBUH) said - ...
And I have non-muslim friends so I would like to share some with you ... or anyone entres this page =)
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Sheikh Muhammad Naasirudden al-Albaani
The following then, are those etiquettes:
1. Kindness toward your wife when you wish to enter into her
It is desirable, when one goes into his wife on his wedding night, to show her kindness, such as presenting her with something to drink, etc. This is found in the hadith narrated by Asmaa' bint Yazid ibn As-Sakan who said: "I beautified 'As'ishah for Allaah's Messenger, then called him to come to see her unveiled. He came, sat next to her, and brought a large cup of milk from which he drank. Then, he offered it to 'Aa'ishah, but she lowered her head and felt shy. I scolded her and said to her: "Take from the hand of the Prophet." She then took it and drank some. Then, the Prophet said to her, "Give some to your companion." At that point, I said: "O Messenger of Allaah, rather take it yourself and drink, and then give it to me from your hand." He took it, drank some, and then offered it to me. I sat down and put it on my kness. Then, I began rotating it and following it with my lips in order that I might hit the spot from which the Prophet had drunk. Then, the Prophet said about some women who were there with me: "Give them some." But, they said: "We don't want it." (ie. we are not hungry). The Prophet said: "Do not combine hunger and fibbing!" [Ahmad and al-Humaidi. Ahmad reports it with 2 isnaads - one of which supports the other, and it is supported...]"
2. Placing your hands on your wife's head and praying for her
The husband should, at the time of consummating the marriage with his wife or before that, place his hand on the front part of her head, mention the name of Allah Most High, and pray for Allah's blessings. As in the statement of the Prophet: "When any of you marries a woman ... he should hold her forelock, mention Allah Most High, and pray for His blessings saying: "O Allaah, I ask You for the good in her and the good with which You have created her, and I seek refuge in You from the evil in her and the evil with which You have created her." {Allaahumma innee as'aluka min khairiha wa khairi maa jabaltaha 'alaihi wa a'oodhubika min sharriha wa sharri maa jabaltaha 'alaihi} [Aboo Dawood and others. Al-Bukhari in "Af'aalul-'Ibaad", Aboo Dawood, Ibn Majah, al-Haakim, al-Baihaqee and Aboo Ya'laa with hasan isnaad ...]
3. The praying of husband and wife together
It is desirable for the husband and wife to pray 2 rakaat together on their wedding night. This has been narrated from the earliest generation of Muslims, as in the following 2 narrations:
First: On the authority of Abu Sa'eed Mawla Abu Asyad who said: "I got married while I was a slave. I invited a number of the companions of the Prophet, among them was Ibn Mas'ood, Abu Dharr and Hudhaifa. When the prayer was called, Abu Dharr began to step forward when the others said to him: 'No!' He said: 'Is it so?' And they said: 'Yes.' Then, I stepped forward and led the prayer though I was a slave possessed. They taught me, saying: 'When your wife comes to you, pray 2 rakaat. Then, ask Allaah for the good of that which has come to you, and seek refuge in Him from its evil. Then it is up to you and it is up to your wife.'" [Ibn Abi Shaibah and 'Abdur-Razzaaq]
Second: On the authority of Shaqeeq who said: "A man named Abu Hareez came and said: 'I have married a young girl, and I am afraid that she will despise me.' 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood said to him: "Verily, closeness is from Allaah, and hatred is from Shaitaan, who wishes to make despicable that which Allaah has allowed. So, when your wife comes to you, tell her to pray behind you 2 rakaat.'" In another version of the same story, "'Abdullah went on to say: 'And say: 'O Allah give Your blessings on me in my wife, and to her in me. O Allaah join us together as long as You join us in good, and split us apart if You send to us that which is better.'" [Ibn Abi Shaibah and at-Tabaraani and 'Abdur-Razzaaq: Saheeh].
4. What to say at the time of making Love
When a Muslim man is about to enter his wife, he should always say first:
Bismillahi, Allahumma jannibnaa ash-shaitaan, wa jannib
ash-shaitaan maa razaqtanna
[In the name of Allah, O Allah, keep us away from the devil, and keep the
devil away from that which You may grant us (ie. offspring).]
About this, the Prophet said: "After that, if Allah decrees that they will have a child, the devil will never be able to harm that child". [al-Bukharee][1]
FOOTNOTE:
[Some Scholars say that children are disobedient to their parents usually because the parents forget/forgot to say the above duaa before having sex. Ed. of Salaf-us-Salih Page]
5. How he should come to her
It is allowed for a Muslim man to enter his wife in her vagina from any direction he wishes - from behind or from the front. About this Allaah revealed the following verse:
"Your wives are a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth
when or how ye will" [al-Baqarah 2:223]
There are also various hadith on this subject, of which I will give only 2:
On the authority of Jaabir who said: "The Jews used to say that if a man entered his wife in the vagina but from behind, their child would be cross-eyed! Then Allaah revealed the verse: "Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will;" [al-Baqarah 2:223]. The Prophet said : "From the front or the back, as long as it is in the vagina". [Al-Bukharee and Muslim]
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas who said: "The Ansaar, who had been polytheists, lived with the Jews, who were people of the book. The former viewed the latter as being superior to them in knowledge, and used to follow their example in many things. The people of the book would only make love to their wives from the side, this being the most modest way for the woman, and the Ansaar had followed their example in that. These people from the Quraish, on the other hand, used to expose their women in an uncomely manner. They took pleasure in them from the front, from the back, or laid out flat. When the Makkans came to al-Madeenah at the time of the Hijrah, one of them married a woman from among the Ansaar, and began doing that with her. She disapproved of it and told him: "We used only to be approached from the side, so do that or stay away from me!" This dispute became very serious until it reached the ears of the Prophet. So Allaah, revealed the verse: "Your wives are as a tilth unto you, so approach your tilth when or how ye will;" [al-Baqarah 2:223] (ie. from the front, the back, or laid out flat). What is meant here is the entry which produces children." [Aboo Dawood, al-Haakim and others: Hasan isnaad and is supported].
6. The Prohibition of Sodomy
It is forbidden for a Muslim man to enter his wife in her anus. This is understood from the verse quoted above (i.e. since a "planting ground" can only refer to a place where something might grow), and from the narrations cited above. There are also other hadith on the subject, among them:
First: On the authority of Umm Salama who said: "When the Muhajireen came to Ansaar at al-Madeenah, some of them married women from the Ansaar. The women of the Muhajireen used to lie on their faces (during intercourse), while the women of the Ansaar never did it that way. Then, one of the men of the Muhajireen wanted his wife to do that. She refused until such time as she could ask the Prophet about it. She went to the Prophet but was embarassed to ask the question, adn so Umm Salama asked him. Then the verse was revealed which says: "Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will;" [al-Baqarah 2:223]. The Prophet> said: "No! (not any way you wish) Except in one opening! (ie. the vagina)". [Ahmad, at-Tirmidhee and others : Saheeh]
Second: On the authority of Ibn 'Abbaas who said: "'Umar ibn Al-Khattaab came to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allaah, I am destroyed!' The Prophet asked: 'And what has destroyed you, O 'Umar?' 'Umar said: `I turned my mount around last night.' (An expression which means he has sexual intercourse with his wife penetrating the vagina while mounting her from the rear.) The Prophet gave him no answer and when the revelation came and the verse was revealed which says: "Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will;" [al-Baqarah 2:223] and the Prophet said: "From the front and from the back, just beware of her anus and her menses". [an-Nasaa'ee in "`Ishratun-Nisaa" with hasan isnaad, at-Tirmidhee and others].
Third: On the authority of Khuzaima ibn Thaabit who said: "A man asked the Prophet about entering women in the rear, or the entering by a man of his wife in her rear, and the Prohet answered: `Halaal (ie. permissible).' When the man turned to leave, the Prophet called him or ordered for him to be called back and said : "What did you say? In which of the 2 openings did you mean? If what you meant was from her rear and in her vagina, then yes. But if what you meant was from her rear and in her anus, then no. Verily Allaah is not ashamed of the truth - do not enter your wives in their anuses!" [as-Shaafi, al-Baihaqi and others: Saheeh]
Fourth: "Allaah does not look at one who comes to his wife in her anus". [an-Nasaa'ee: Hasan isnaad and supported in "al-'Ishrah"; at-Tirmidhee and Ibn Hibbaan].
Fifth: "Cursed are those who come to their wives in their anuses." [Aboo Dawood, Ahmad and others with hasan isnaad and is supported].
Sixth: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a mentruating woman, or a woman in her anus, or approaches a soothsayer and believes what he is told has disbelieved in that which was revealed to Muhammad. [Aboo Dawood, at-Tirmidhee and others: Saheeh].
7. Making Wudhuu' between 2 acts with one's wife
When a Muslim man has had sexual intercourse with his wife in the legal manner and then wishes to return another time, he should first perform wudhuu', based on the statement of the Prophet : "When one of you comes to his wife and then wishes to return another time, let him perform wudhuu' between the 2 times (In another version, the same wudhuu' which he performs for prayer) for verily, it will invigorate his return."[Muslim, Ibn Abi Shaibah and others].
8. Bathing is preferable
Bathing, however, is preferable to merely making wudhuu' in such situations. Abu Raafi' narrates: "That the Prophet made the rounds of all his wives one night, bathing in the house of each one. He (i.e. the narrator) asked the Prophet: "Couldn't you have just bathed once (i.e. at the end)? The Prophet answered : "This way is purer, cleaner and better". [Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee: Hasan in "al-'Ishrah", and others].
9. The Bathing of Husband and Wife together
It is permissible for the husband and wife to bath together in the same place even though he sees her private parts, and she sees his. This is established by a number of authentic hadith, among them:
On the authority of 'Aa'ishah (radiallahu anha) who said: "I used to bathe with the Prophet from a single container of water which was placed between us such that our hands collided inside it. He used to race me such that I would say: `Leave some for me, leave some for me!' She added: `We were in a state of Janaba (i.e. the state of having slept together).'"[Al-Bukharee and Muslim].
On the authority of Mu'aawiya ibn Haida, who said: "I said: `O Messenger of Allaah, which of our nakedness is allowed, and of which must we beware?' The Prophet answered, "Guard your nakedness excpet from your wife or those whom your right hand possesses." (So it is permissible for both spouses to look at and touch the body of his or her companion even the private parts). He said: `O Messenger of Allah, what about if the relatives live together with each other?' The Prophet answered : "If you can make sure that no one ever sees your nakedness, then do so." He said: `O Messenger of Allah, what about when one is alone?' The Prophet said: "Allah is more deserving of your modesty than are the people"."[Ahmad, Abu Dawood, at-Tirmidhee and others: Saheeh].
10. Making Wudhuu' after Sex and before Sleeping
It is best for husband and wife not to sleep after having sex until they first perform wudhuu'. There are various hadith about this, among them:
First: On the authority of 'Aa'shah who said: "Whenever the Prophet wished to sleep or eat while in a state of Janaba (i.e. after having sex and before bathing), he would wash his private parts and perform wudhuu' as for prayer." [Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim].
Second: On the authority of Ibn 'Umar who said: "O Messenger of Allah, should we go to sleep in a state of janaba?" The Prophet answered: "Yes, after making wudhuu." [Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. In another version: "Perform wudhuu' and wash your private parts, and then sleep." [Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. And, in another version: "Yes, you can perform wudhuu', sleep, and bathe whenever you want." [Muslim and al-Baihaqi]. And, in still another version: "Yes, and perform wudhuu' if you wish." (This last version proves that this wudhuu' is not obligatory.) [Ibn Khuzima and Ibn Hibban: Saheeh].
Third: On the authority of 'Ammaar ibn Yaasir, the Prophet said: "There are three which the angels will never approach: The corpse of a disbeliever; a man who wears perfume of women; and, one who has had sex until he performs wudhuu'." [Abu Dawood, Ahmad and others: Hasan].
11. The Ruling of this Wudhuu'
This wudhuu' is not obligatory, but is very highly and definitely commendable. This (i.e. its not being obligatory) is based on the hadith narrated by 'Umar in which he asked the Prophet: "Should we go to sleep in a state of janaba?" To which the Prophet answered: "Yes, and perform wudhuu' if you wish." [Ibn Hibbaan: Saheeh]. This is also supported by other hadith, among them a hadith narrated by 'Aa'ishah who said: "The Prophet used to sleep in a state of janaba without having touched water, until he would get up later and bathe." [Ibn Abi Shaiba, at-Tirmidhee, Abu Daawood and others: Saheeh].
In another version narrated by 'Aa'ishah , she said: ""He used to spend the night in a state of janaba until Bilal came in the morning to make the adhaan. Then, he would get up, bathe while I looked at the water dripping from his head, and go out. Then, I would hear his voice in the Fajr prayer. Then, he would remain fasting." Mutarrif said: "I said to Aamir: In the month of Ramadhaan?" He said: "Yes, in Ramadhaan and in other than Ramadhaan." [Ibn Abi Shaiba, Ahmad and others: Saheeh].
12. Making Tayammum in a state of Janaba instead of Wudhuu'
It is also permissible to make Tayammum sometimes instead of wudhuu' before sleeping. This is based on a hadith of 'Aa'ishah in which she said: "When the Prophet was in a state of janaba and wished to sleep, he used to make wudhuu' or Tayammum." [Al-Baihaqi: Hasan]
13. Bathing before Sleeping is Perferable
Bathing however, is perferable to any of the above-mentioned possibilities as is clear in the hadith of `Abullaah ibn Qais who said: "I asked 'Ai'ishah : "What did the Prophet do when in a state of janaba? Did he bathe before sleeping or sleep before bathing?" She answered: "He did all of those things. Sometimes he bathe and then slept. And sometimes he performed wudhuu' and then slept." I said: "Praise be to Allah who made things flexible."[Muslim, Ahmad and Abu `Auwaana].
14. The Prohibition of sex when She is Menstruating
It is forbidden for a Muslim man to have sexual intercourse with his wife when she is menstruating. This is clear in the following verse of the Qur'an:
"They ask thee concerning women's courses. Say: They
are a hurt and a pollution: So keep away from women in
their courses, and do not approach them until they are
clean. But when they have purified themselves, ye may
approach them in any manner, time, or place ordained for
you by Allah. For Allah loves those who turn to Him
constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure
and clean." [Al-Baqarah, 2:222]
There are also hadith about this, among them:
First: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman, or a woman in her anus, or approaches a soothsayer and believes what he is told has disbelieved in that which was revealed to Muhammad."
Second: On the authority of Anas ibn Malik, who said: "When one of their women has their period, the Jews used to put her out of the house, and they would not eat, drink, or sleep with her in the house. The Prophet was asked about this, and Allaah revealed the verse:
"They ask thee concerning women's courses. Say: They are a
hurt and a pollution: so keep away from women in their courses, ...
Then the Prophet said: "Be with them in the house, and do everything except for intercourse itself." The Jews said: "This man wants to leave nothing which we do without doing something different." Then, Asyad ibn Hudair said: "O Messenger of Allah, verily the Jews says such-and-such, shoudl we not then have sexual intercourse during menstruation?" The Prophet's face changed such that they thought that he was enraged with them, so they left. As they were coming out, they saw a gift of milk being brought to the Prophet. The Prophet then sent someone after them to give them a drink of milk, so they felt that he was not actually angry with them." [Muslim, Abu 'Auwaana and Abu Daawood].
15. The Penitence of One who Has Sex during Menses
Whoever is overcome by desire and has sexual intercourse with his wife when she is menstruating and before she becomes clean must give the value of one dinar's weight of gold or about 4.25 grams (4.2315 to be more precise), or half that amount. This is based on a hadith narrated by 'Abdullaah ibn 'Abbaas from the Prophet in relation to one who enters his wife while she is on her period as follows: "Let him give one dinar in charity, or one half dinar." [At-Tirmidhee, Abu Dawood, At-Tabaraani and others: Saheeh].
16. What is Permissible when She is on her Periods
It is allowed for him to enjoy pleasure with his wife in any way except for her private parts when she is on her period. There are several hadiths about this:
First: "and do everything except intercourse itself." [Muslim, Abu 'Auwaana and Aboo Daawood]
Second: On the authority of 'Aa'ishah who said: "When we were on our periods, the Prophet used to order us to put on a waist cloth that her husband can then lie with her." One time she said: "... her husband can then fondle and caress her." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslims and others].
Third: On the authority of one of the wives of the Prophet who said: "When the Prophet wanted something from one of his wives who was on her period, he put a cloth over her private parts, and then did whatever he wanted." [Abo Daawood: Saheeh]
17. When is it Allowed to resume Sexual Activity after Menses?
When she becomes clean of any menstrual blood, and the flow stops completely, it is allowed for them to resume sexual activity after she washes the place where the blood had been, or performs wudhuu', or takes a complete bath. Whichever of these three alternatives she does makes it allowed for them to resume sexual activity, based on Allaah's statement in the Qur'an:
"But when they have purified themselves, ye may
approach them in any manner, time, or place ordained for you
by Allah. For Allah loves those who turn to Him
constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean."
[Al-Baqarah 2:222]
This is the position of Ibn Hazm, 'Ataa, Qatadah, al-Awzaa'ee and Daawud az-Zaahiree and of Mujaahid: as Ibn Hazm says: "All three of these are a purification - so whichever of them she uses after the cessation of her periods, then she is lawful for her husband."
The same term is used to mean washing the private parts in the Aayah revealed concerning the people of Qubaa:
"In it are men who love to be purified; and Allah loves
those who make themselves pure." [at-Tawbah 9:108]
There is nothing here in the Aayah however, or in the Sunnah, to restrict the Aayah in question to any of the three meanings - and to do so requires a further proof.
18. The Lawfulness of Coitus Interruptus
(Withdrawl of the penis from the vagina at the time of ejaculation with the purpose of avoiding impregnation. This can be done only with the permission of one's wife).
It is allowed for a Muslim man to practise coitus interruptus with his wife. There are several hadith about this:
First: On the authority of Jaabir who said: "We were practising coitus interruptus, and the Qur'an was being revealed." [al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. In another version, he said: "We used to practise coitus interruptus in the lifetime of the Prophet. This reached the Prophet, and he did not prohibit us from doing it." [Muslim, an-Nasaa'ee and at-Tirmidhee].
Second: On the authority of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudhriy, who said: "A man came to the Prophet and said: "I have a young girl (right-hand possession), and I practise coitus interruptus with her. I want that which men want, but the Jews claim that coitus interruptus is minor infanticide." The Prophet said: "The Jews have lied, the Jews have lied. If Allaah wished to create a child, you would not be able to prevent it." [An-Naasaa'ee in al-'Ishrah: Abu Dawood and others: Saheeh].
Third: On the authority of Jaabir, a man came to the Prophet and said: "I have a slave girl who serves us and waters our date trees. Sometimes I go to her, but I dislike that she should become pregnant by me". The Prophet said: "use coitus interruptus if you like, but whatever has been ordained for her will come." After some time, the man again came to the Prophet and said: "She has become pregnant!" The Prophettold him: "I told you that whatever has been ordained for her will come." [Muslim, Abu Dawood and others].
19. It is Preferrable not to Practice Coitus Interruptus.
Not practising coitus interruptus is preferable for a number of reasons:
First: It is harmful for the woman, since it reduces her pleasure by cutting it short. If she agrees to it, it still contains the following negetive points.
Second: It negates part of the purpose of marriage which is enlarging the Muslim nation through offspring, as in the statement of the Prophet: "Marry the loving and fertile, for I will compete with the other Prophets with the number of my followers." [Abu Dawood, an-Nasaa'ee and others: Saheeh]. This is why the Prophet once referred to it as "minor infanticide" (and not because it is forbidden as infanticide is forbidden) when asked about it saying: "That is minor infanticide". [Muslim, Ahmad and al-Baihaqi]. For this was preferable in the hadith narrated by Abu Sa'eed al-Khudhriy saying: "Coitus Interruptus was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet and he said: "Why would one of you do that? (note he did not say "let none of you do that") Allah is the Creator of every single soul." [Muslim]. In another version, he said: "You act and you act. There are no people destined to be from now until the day of Qiyama but that all of them will be." [Muslim]
20. What the two Spouses should Intend with their Marriage
Both spouses should enter into marriage with the following intentions: freeing themselves of unfulfilled sexual desires, and protecting themselves from falling into that which Allaah has forbidden (i.e. adultery and fornication). What's more, a reward as the reward for sadaqa (voluntary giving of charity) is recorded for them every time they have sex. This is based on the following hadith of the Prohpet narrated by Abu Dharr: "Some of the companions of the Prophet said to him: 'O Messenger of Allaah, the affluent among us have taken the rewards (of the hereafter)! They pray as we pray, fast as we fast, and then they give charity from the surplus of their wealth!" The Prophet said: "Did Allaah not make for you that from which you can give sadaqa? Verily for every time you say Subhannallah (Exalted is Allah) there is a sadaqa, and for every time you say Allahuakbar (Allah is Most Great) there is a sadaqa, and for every time you say Al-Hamdulillah (Praise is to Allah) there is sadaqa, and in every act of enjoining what is right there is sadaqa, and in every act of forbidding what is wrong there is a sadaqa, and in your sexual relations there is a sadaqa." The Companions said: "O Messenger of Allaah , is there a reward for one of us when he satisfies his sexual desire?" The Prophet said: "Don't you see, if he had satisfied it with the forbidden, would there not have been a sin upon him?" They said: "Why, yes! He said: "In the same way, when he satisfies it with that which is lawful, there is for him in that a reward." [Muslim, an-Nasaa'ee in al-'Ishrah, and Ahamd].
21. What he should do the Morning After His Wedding Night
It is desireable for the husband to go to his relatives who came to visit him in his house, on the following morning, to give them greetings and pray for them. It is also desireable for them to do likewise for him, as in the following hadith narrated by Anas : "The Messenger of Allaah gave a feast on the morning of his wedding night with Zainab, at which he fed the Muslims to satisfaction on bread and meat. Then, he went out to the Mothers of the Believers (i.e. to his other wives), gave them greetings and prayed for them, which they returned in kind. This is the way he used to do on the morning after a wedding night." [Ibn Sa'd and an-Nasaa'ee: Saheeh].
22. The House must have a Place for Bathing
The married couple must have a place to bathe in their house, and the husband must not allow his wife to go to the public bath houses. This is forbidden, and there are various hadith about it, among them:
First: On the authority of Jaabir who said: "The Prophet said: "Whoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day, let him not allow his wife to go to the Public baths. Whoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day, let him not go to the baths except with a waist-cloth. And whoever believes in Allaah and the Last Day, let him never sit at a table at which intoxicants are being circulated." [Al-Haakim, at-Tirmidhee and others: Saheeh]
Second: On the authority of Umm ad-Dardaa' who said: "I came out of the public bath and I met Allaah's Messenger who said to me: 'From where have you come O Umm Dardaa'?' I said: 'From the baths'. Then he said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, every woman who removes her clothes anywhere except the house of one of her mothers has torn down all that veils her before ar-Rahman." [Ahmad : Saheeh]
Third: On the authority of Abu al-Maleeh who said: "Some women from Ash-Shaam entered upon 'Aa'ishah and said: "Where are you from?" The women answered: "We are of the people of Ash-Shaam (the area of present-day Syria)." 'Aa'ishah said: "Are you perhaps from that district which allows its women to enter the public baths?" The said: "Yes". She said: "As for me, I heard the Messenger of Allaah say: "Every woman who removes her clothes other than in her house has torn down all veils of modesty between herself and Allaah." [at-Tirmidhee, Abu Dawood and others: Saheeh]
23. The Prohibition of Spreading Bedroom Secrets
It is forbidden for either the husband or the wife to spread any of the secrets of their bedroom to anyone outside. The following two hadith are about this:
First: "Verily among the worst people before Allaah on the Day of Judgement is a man who approaches his wife sexually and she responds and then he spreads her secrets." [Muslim, Ibn Abi Shaiba, Ahmad and others].
Second: "On the authority of Asmaa bint Yazid who narrated "that she was once in the presence of the Prophet and there were both men and women sitting. The Prophet then said: "Perhaps a man might discuss what he does with his wife, or perhaps a woman might inform someone what she did with her husband?" The people were silent. Then I said: "O, Yes! O Messenger of Allaah verily both the women and men do that." Then the Prophet said: "Do not do that. It is like a male shaitaan who meets a female shaitaan along the way, and has sex with her while the people look on!" [Ahmad: Hasan or Saheeh due to supports]
24. The Obligation of a Wedding Feast
The husband must sponsor a feast after the consummation of the marriage. This is based on the order of the Prophet to 'Abur-Rahman ibn 'Auf to do so, and on the hadith narrated by Buraida ibn At-Haseeb, who said: "When 'Ali sought the hand of Faatimah (the Prophet's daughter) in marraige, he said that the Prophet said: "A wedding (and in another version "a bridegroom") must have a feast." The narrator said: "Sa'ad said: '(a feast) of a sheep.' Someone else said: 'Of such and such a quantity of corn." [Ahmad and at-Tabaraani: Its isnaad is acceptable as al-Haafiz Ibn Hajr says in Fathul-Baaree: 9/188]
25. The Sunnah of the Wedding Feast
The following should be observed with regard to the wedding banquet:
First: It should be held ('aqb - Fathul Baaree: 9/242-244) three days after the first wedding night, since this is the tradition of the Prophet which has reached us. On the authority of Anas who said: "The Prophet entered upon his wife and sent me to invite some men for food." [al-Bukhaaree and al-Baihaqi]. Also on the authority of Anas, he said: "The Prophet married Safiya, and her freedom was her dowry. He gave the feast for three days." [Abu Ya'laa and others: Hasan].
Second: One should invite the righteous to his banquet whether they be rich or poor. The Prophet said: "Do not be the friend of any except believers, and have only the pious eat your food." [Abu Dawood, at-Tirmidhee and others: Saheeh].
Third: If one is able, he should have a feast of one or more sheep. Based on the following hadith, Anas said: "Abdur-Rahmaan came to al-Madeenah, and the Prophet assigned Sa'ad ibn Ar-Rabee' al-Ansaariy as his brother. Sa'ad took him to his house, called for food, and they both ate. The Sa'ad said: "O my brother, I am the wealthiest of the people of al-Madeenah (in another version: "... of the Ansaar"), so look to half of my property and take it (in another version: "... and I will divide my garden in half"). Also, I have two wives (and you, my brother in Allaah, have no wife), so look to which of mine pleases you more, so I can divorce her for you. Then upon the completion of the prescribed waiting period, you may marry her." 'Abdur-Rahmaan said: "No, by Allaah, may Allah bless you in your family and your property. Show me the way to the market-place."And so they showed him the way to the market-place and he went there. He bought and he sold and he made a profit. In the evening , he came back to the people of his house with some dried milk for cooking and some ghee. After that some time elapsed, until he appeared one day with traces of saffron on his garments. The Prophet said to him: "What is this?" He said: "O Messenger of Allaah, I have married a woman among the Ansaar." The Prophet answered: "What did you give her for her dowry?" He answered: "The weight of five dirhams in gold." Then, the Prophet said: "May Allaah bless you, give a feast if only with one sheep." 'Abdur-Rahmaan said: "I have seen myself in such a state that if I were to lift a stone, I would expect to find some gold or silver under it." Anas said: "I saw after his death that each of his wives inherited one hundred thousand Dinars." [Al-Bukhaaree, an-Nasaa'ee and others].
Also on the authority of Anas he said: "I never saw the Prophet sponsor such a wedding feast as the one he gave for Zainab. He slaughtered a sheep and fed everyone meat and bread until they ate no more." [Al-Bukhaaree, Muslim and others].
26. Wedding Feasts can be give with Other than Meat
It is allowed to give the wedding banquet with any food which is available and affordable, even if that does not include meat. This is based on the following hadith narrated by Anas: "The Prophet stayed between Khaibar and al-Madeenah for three days during which he had entered with his wife Safiya . Then I invited the Muslims to his Wedding feast. There was neither meat nor bread at his feast. Rather, leather eating mats were brought out and on them were placed dates, dried milk, and clarified butter. The people ate their fill." [Al-Bukhaaree, Muslim and others].
27. Participation of the Wealthy in the Feast with their Wealth
It is commendable for the wealthy to help in the preparations for the wedding feast based on the hadith narrated by Anas about the Prophet's marriage to Safiya: "Then, when we were on the road, Umm Sulaim prepared her (Safiya) for him (the Prophet and brought her to him at night, and so the the Prophet awoke the next morning a new bridgegroom. Then he said: "Whoever has something, let him bring it." (In another version, he said "Whoever has an excess of provisions, let him bring it.") Anas continues: "And so the leather eating mats were spread out and one man would bring dried milk, another dates and another clarified butter and so they made Hais (hais is a mixture of the above three things). The people then ate of this hais and drank from pools of rainwater which were nearby, and that was the wedding feast of the Prophet." [Al-Bukhaaree, Muslims and others].
Nilai Seorang Manusia
Hadith :
Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda, maksudnya:
“Sesungguhnya Allah S.W.T tidak memandang kepada rupa paras dan harta benda kamu tetapi Allah hanya memandang kepada niat hati dan amalan-amalan kamu.”
Riwayat Muslim
The Rabbis taught: Four [Sages] entered the Pardes [literally "the orchard."]. Rashi explains that they ascended to heaven by utilizing the [Divine] Name [i.e., they achieved a spiritual elevation through intense meditation on G‑d's Name] (Tosafot, ad loc). They were Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher [Elisha ben Avuya, called Acher— the other one — because of what happened to him after he entered the Pardes] and Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva said to them [prior to their ascension]: "When you come to the place of pure marble stones, do not say, 'Water! Water!' for it is said, 'He who speaks untruths shall not stand before My eyes' (Psalms 101:7)." Ben Azzai gazed [at the Divine Presence - Rashi] and died. Regarding him the verse states, "Precious in the eyes of G‑d is the death of His pious ones" (Psalms 116:15). Ben Zoma gazed and was harmed [he lost his sanity — Rashi]. Regarding him the verse states, "Did you find honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be overfilled and vomit it up" (Proverbs 25:16). Acher cut down the plantings [he became a heretic]. Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace. Ramak now cites the Tikunei Zohar which adds some details not mentioned in the Talmud. The ancient Saba [an old man] stood up and said [to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai], "Rabbi, Rabbi! What is the meaning of what Rabbi Akiva said to his students, "When you come to the place of pure marble stones, do not say, 'Water! Water!' lest you place yourselves in danger, for it is said, 'He who speaks untruths shall not stand before My eyes.' But it is written, "There shall be a firmament between the waters and it shall separate between water [above the firmament] and water [below the firmament]" (Genesis 1:6). Since the Torah describes the division of the waters in to upper and lower, why should it be problematic to mention this division? Furthermore, since there are [in fact] upper and lower waters, why did Rabbi Akiva warn them, "do not say, 'Water! Water!'"
The Holy Lamp [a title accorded to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai] replied, "Saba, it is proper that you reveal this secret that the chevraya [Rabbi Shimon's circle of disciples] have not grasped clearly." The ancient Saba answered, "Rabbi, Rabbi, Holy Lamp. Surely the pure marble stones are the letter yud — one the upper yud of the letter aleph, and one the lower yud of the letter aleph [an aleph in script is formed by an upright yud at the top to the right, and an upside-down yud at the bottom to the left, joined by a vav, the diagonal line between them]. Here there is no spiritual impurity; only pure marble stones, and so there is no separation between one water and the other; they form a single unity from the aspect of the Tree of Life, which is the vav in the midst of the letter aleph. In this regard it states, "[lest he put forth his hand] and if he take of the Tree of Life [and eat and live forever]…(Gen. 3:22) Ramak now begins to analyze these passages. The meaning of Rabbi Akiva's exhortation is that the Sages should not declare that there are two types of water. Since there are not [two types of water] one would be causing a separation. This is the meaning of "do not say, 'water, water'" — do not say that there are two types of water, lest you endanger yourself because of the sin of separation. For this reason the old man asked two questions, both of which are real questions: "There shall be a firmament between the waters and it shall separate…" (Genesis 1:6). Thus there are two types of water and a separation between them. In this case, does it not appear to be permissible to refer to two types of water? Even more problematic is that the Torah itself states, "It shall separate between water and water" — the water above the firmament and the water below the firmament. This is a complete separation. The marble stones represent the letter yud. The old man asked a second question — the waters are in fact of two types: water of the firmament and water below the firmament [in rivers, lakes and seas]. Why then did Rabbi Akiva exhort them not to say "water, water, lest they endanger themselves?" On the contrary; it should be permitted to mention two types of water, for this is no worse than the language used by the Torah, and this is also the situation in fact! Now Rabbi Shimon did not wish to explain this matter himself; he wanted his disciples to hear it from the old man. The old man explained that each of the marble stones represents the letter yud. As we have explained elsewhere this means a yud at the beginning, and a yud at the end, according to the mystical explanation of "I am first and I am last" (Isaiah 44:6). The first yud represents chochma, and the second yud represents malchut, which is also chochma according to the mystical explanation of the light that returns from below to above (called or chozer). The upper yud is the yud of the Tetragrammaton (Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei) while the lower yud is the yud of the Name Alef-Dalet-Nun-Yud. The latter is the concept of "female waters" (Mayin Nukvin), and the former the concept of "male waters" (Mayin Dechurin). They are called "female waters" because they receive from below, from the performance of the commandments, and through them a person has the ability to affect the higher worlds so that the light will shine forth and become clothed in them, as in a palace. Thus the light that is elicited [by the performance of the commandments is like] a king in his palace. These are also the keys to the inner and outer aspects. The inner aspect is the light of the Tetragrammaton, which undoubtedly descends as or yashar from above to below. The outer aspect is that which returns according to the mystical explanation of or chozer. This is the meaning of the statement in regard to the sefirot "from below to above, and from above to below," as explained elsewhere. This is signified by the top and the bottom yuds of the aleph. This is also the secret of the intertwining (shiluv) of the two Names --Yud-Alef-Hei-Dalet-Vov-Nun-Hei-Yud — with the upper yud at the beginning and the lower yud at the end. These two yuds are referred to in the passage "pure marble stones." Each of the yuds is a stone because its shape is round like a stone. It is called "marble" because marble is generally white, which is indicative of the attribute of Mercy (in Hebrew rachamim). In this sense it is also similar to water [which represents kindness]. Now since these two yuds are the aspect of compassion, just like water, which is called "waters of kindness," they are therefore referred to as "marble," as we just explained. We can also explain this by way of [the science of] tzeiruf (letter combinations and permutations): The sefira of chochma is called yesh — "being" [since it is the first immanent sefira], spelled Yud-Shin in Hebrew. The lower chochma [i.e., malchut] is called shai [Shin-Yud — the identical letters, but in reverse order]. When both words are combined they form the word shayish — Shin-Yud-Shin ("marble"). The yud is chochma, the source, and the shin is the emanation of its branches [i.e., the branching out into sefirot according to the mystical explanation of or yashar]…Malchut is called shai according to the mystical explanation of the light that reverses (or chozer). When these two words, signifying these two types of light, are combined to form the word shayish (the two yuds combine into one). They are the letter yud...the upper and lower yuds of the aleph are joined by a diagonal vav
They are called "pure," for there are a number of different types of water [mentioned in the Torah]; one of these is mei nida — literally waters of impurity [because they are used to purify a person after he became contaminated by contact with the dead. Water from a living spring is mixed with the ashes of the red heifer and is then sprinkled upon the impure person]. Separation and division is mentioned in regard to this type of water, as will be explained. These waters [of the pure] marble stones are completely pure and pertain to Atzilut.
"They are the letter yud — one the upper yud of the letter aleph…" We already explained above that the Name Yud-Alef-Hei-Dalet-Vav-Nun-Hei-Yud has the upper and lower aspects of chochma [represented by the two yuds] and six letters in between, alluding to the letter vav [which has a numerical value of 6. Note that the upper and lower yuds of the aleph are joined by a diagonal vav. This is the way a scribe traditionally writes the letter א]. This symbolizes tiferet, which branches out into six extremities [tiferet is the central sefira of the six sefirot of Zeir Anpin]. The vav is situated between the yuds in order to join them. That is to say, through tiferet the daughter [malchut] is able to ascend "to her father's house as in her youth."
It is for this reason that Rabbi Akiva warned them not to say that those two marble stones were separated from one another, G‑d forbid, for this is not true. On the contrary, the firmament between them, which is tiferet, actually unites them and through it they are joined together. There is no separation other than in a place of spiritual impurity, as it is written, "to separate between the impure and the pure" (Leviticus 11:47). But in a place of purity — pure marble stones — "do not say, 'water, water." This is what the old man was explaining, "Here there is no spiritual impurity… they are from the aspect of the Tree of Life…" These waters are in Atzilut and therefore there is no separation between them… on the contrary, the firmament unites them….
The tree of life. It is arguably one of the most popular symbols in the Bible. It’s too bad that so many people read Genesis, discover the tree of life, and think it’s literal. To do so robs the mind of this ancient symbol’s true beauty and essence! Sometimes called the cosmic or world tree, the tree of life did not originate with the authors of Genesis. For thousands of years it has been used in sacred literature to describe man’s connection with the divine. Although different cultures have known this tree by different names, the essence of this tree’s significance is essentially the same; it represents both divine and natural man, the spiritual and natural world. And just as the tree of life symbolically spans all the worlds of existence, so does man. I know the above sounds super spiritual, so what does it really mean for all of us down here on earth? Simply put, the tree of life is about the evolution of subjective consciousness from the lower planes to the higher planes—the world of physical matter to the world of energetic spirit. And consciousness is the center of it all! Consider the Buddha. He was enlightened under the great Bodhi tree. Is it really just a coincidence that Odin gained supernatural abilities (enlightenment) under the branches of Yggdrasil, the mythological tree of the ancient Scandinavians? How about the fact that ancient Mayan kings, including Pakal Votan, were portrayed on stone monuments with the world tree emerging from their headdress (more enlightenment imagery)? I apologize in advance to the fundamentalist that believes the concept behind the tree of life is unique to Biblical literature, but I don’t think all this imagery is coincidental. In fact, we can easily connect enlightenment with the Biblical tree of life. Consider the scripture from Revelations: “…To him that overcometh [achieves enlightenment] will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7). The seven seals being opened throughout the course of the Book of Revelations corresponds to the opening of the seven chakras, the cause of enlightenment, and eating from the tree of life is symbolic of the fruit one gains after traversing the many planes of consciousness. They key to understanding the above statement must include a knowledge of both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ,Let’s review the scripture from genesis that references both trees. Unveiling it will reveal some heavy esoteric knowledge . “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9). Why do you think the Genesis author implies that both trees are in the midst of the garden? It is because together they represent different aspects of ONE tree! The world tree is comprised of both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In the realm of duality you cannot have one tree without the other. The experience of man includes both trees, from limited individual consciousness to the liberation gained through cosmic consciousness. When consciousness (spirit) incarnated on the physical plane, man began living out his existence among hardship and pain. This is part of the growing process, and there is going to be some wounds to lick. But to he who overcomes by continuing to grow consciously will be given to eat of the tree of life.
The key is in the fruit! Within the experience of duality lies consciousness evolution and moving up the tree of life to partake of its fruit. Again, we can prove all this with scripture. Review Genesis 2:9 again. God said the trees in the garden were for food. This has nothing to do with physical food. It’s a about spiritual food. Let’s compare the fruit of each tree from Gaskell’s Dictionary of Scripture and myth. Fruit of the tree of life: “Symbolic of the higher emotions and faculties of the buddhic [Christ] nature laid up for the soul when perfected.” In Revelations Jesus states that the tree of life on either side of the river bears twelve fruits that provide healing. What causes us to express the higher emotions and mental faculties of the Christ? It is through the acquisition of wisdom, which brings healing. “She [wisdom] is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her…” (Proverbs 3:18). How does anyone gain wisdom? It starts with obedience to God on the physical plane. It ends when one truly learns the lessons (on the soul level) that experience in duality provides. Now consider the other side of this coin: Fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: “A symbol of the experience acquired through the activities of the lower nature and the development of the moral nature.” How does the Bible explain how man acquired experience and learned to develop the moral nature? By being kicked out of the garden (spiritual existence) to live life among “thorns” and “thistles” (duality). This is the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil! Sometimes the tree of life is inverted in Kabbalah. The inverted tree of life has its roots firmly established in heaven (spiritual planes) and the rest of the tree emanates into the physical world. Likewise, man originated in the Eden, a spiritual plane, and ended up in the physical world, earth. The inverted tree depicts this process. Now it is up to us to climb back up the spiritual worlds. I like to picture the inverted tree as the tree of life and the right-side up tree as the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It makes sense for me to picture the two in this way because remember that the true world tree contains both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Picturing one tree as inverted and the other right-side up helps me to get a clear picture for the functions of both trees. Tree of LifeThe tree of life then is the ultimate motif of the evolution of consciousness. Its branches reach into heaven, the spiritual planes. The trunk resides on the material plane, and the roots grow into the earth, or underworld, which represents many subconscious aspects of our soul.
The consciousness of man then can be likened unto a tree itself. The ultimate goal is to become complete and whole, which is the true meaning of Biblical perfection. This is accomplished through following and understanding the deeper esoteric meanings of God’s commands.
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf [true ideals] shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).
Returning to the tree of life is to gain enlightenment. It is guarded by Cherubim because we must go through the planes of existence and experience duality in order to raise consciousness before we can gain access. It’s that simple.
Every day that you wake up, consider it your day to experience something that brings you one step closer to again gaining access to the tree of life, or enlightenment! And it’s all Biblical! I especially want Christians who are questioning orthodox interpretation to know this, so I’ll say it again. It’s all Biblical! Don’t fret the fact that the Bible is truly a book with eastern concepts woven throughout. Doing so only limits the truths provided through this great book. It certainly isn’t of isolation.
Did the Tree of Life mentioned in the book of Genesis, have power to impart immortality to mortal man, as might be deduced from Genesis 3:22?’
The Tree of Life stood in the centre of the Garden of Eden which elsewhere is called ‘The Garden of the LORD’.1 It was a real tree, to be sure, but let me suggest that it was also symbolic of the fact that God was, and is, the source of eternal life and blessing. Adam and Eve were to have their life centred in Him, even as the Tree was in the centre of His Garden. Other parts of the Bible also mention The Tree of Life. In Ezekiel 47:12 (NASB) we read of trees whose ‘fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing’. This image is taken up also in Revelation 22:2. It is clear particularly in Proverbs where a number of things are referred to as ‘a tree of life’ (wisdom (3:15), the fruit of the righteous (11:30), desire fulfilled (13:12), and a soothing tongue (15:4)) that the Tree of Life in these references symbolises that which brings joy and healing to people. This, I suspect, was what the original, the real Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden symbolised. It was material, yet it stood for the blessing of eternal life which God would give to Adam and Eve, and their descendants, if they were to pass the test of obedience. They were permitted to eat of any tree in the Garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on pain of death.2 Now, use a little lateral thinking. What else in the Bible is real and material, yet at the same time symbolises the life which is in Christ and points us repeatedly to Him? Something in which Christians share, and which reminds them that Jesus’ death brings us life? It is the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
IF ADAM PASSED THE TEST OF OBEDIENCE, IT WOULD BE THE MEANS OF GOD’S IMPARTING ETERNAL LIFE TO HIM. Now, let us return to the Garden of Eden. I want to suggest that the Tree of Life was there to perform such a sacramental function. If Adam passed the test of obedience, it would be the means of God’s imparting eternal life to him, not by magic, but by the working of his Spirit ‘by, with and under’ the fruit of the Tree. But Adam sinned. He failed the test and lost his right to eat from the Tree. As one commentator puts it, ‘that he might understand himself to be deprived of his former life, a solemn excommunication is added; not that the Lord would cut him off from all hope of salvation, but, by taking away what he had given, would cause man to seek new assistance elsewhere.’3 Just as Christians who profane the Lord’s Supper are subject to judgment, so Adam would have been further condemned if he had presumed to eat the fruit to which he was not now entitled. In doing so, he would have been trying to rob life from God, a grave blasphemy. The implication of Genesis 3:22 (NIV) ‘And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever,”’ is that he, and us with him,4 would have been plunged into a condition of absolute lostness. He would have lived eternally cut off from God without hope of escape from the terrible consequences of sin. This would have been God’s just punishment for such a presumptuous sin, not merely a ‘magical’ effect of the Tree of Life. Mercifully, God did not permit this to happen.5 Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden. No longer could he even contemplate eating from the Tree of Life. It was beyond his reach. Physical death now began to enter the human race. Adam began to die! The last Adam (Christ) later came to Earth to die so that through faith in Jesus, we may now inherit the eternal life Adam forfeited. Indeed, Jesus says to those who persevere in faith, ‘To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God.’6 The Genesis account of the Tree of Life reminds us there is only one way to attain to an eternal life of blessedness—the way God has appointed. That is through His Son, the Creator of heaven and Earth—the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He alone who can say, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’
The Muslim man explained that probably the most fundamental difference is that the Koran2 speaks of Jesus as a prophet—definitely not the Son of God. That evening, the Australian-born student told her father of the encounter, and asked, ‘Dad, I’ve been thinking … our bodies are unclean! Why would God, who is pure, sully himself by coming down to Earth in human form?’ After her father failed to give a reasoned answer, she turned her back on the church, converted to Islam and later married a Muslim.3. Such a question requires only a basic understanding of the Atonement to answer. Salvation required a sacrificial ‘last Adam’ (1 Cor. 15:45) to shed His blood in death, one who was a physical descendant of the first, yet sinless. This could be fulfilled only through God incarnate, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:12, 22). Notice, though, how all this is built upon the foundational Genesis truths of the first Adam bringing in sin and death, and the first shedding of blood as a covering for sin (Genesis 3:21). The increasing confusion caused in the church by long-age compromises (which, by putting suffering, death and bloodshed before Adam, undermine these truths) is a major reason why so many today cannot give reasoned answers to basic Gospel-related questions (contravening 1 Peter 3:15). This leaves young people in the church vulnerable to being tossed by winds of false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).
Following September 11, 2001, the increased prominence of Islam in the media, and public declarations by government (and many church) leaders that Islam is a ‘great’ religion, will likely raise further questions in the minds of many young people in the churches. E.g. ‘Do Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God?’ and ‘What does the Koran say about the Bible?’ Many Christian commentators have sought to raise awareness of fundamental doctrinal differences between the Koran and the Bible (see below), but few people are aware of how the Muslim’s holy book starkly contradicts the Biblical account of our origins. Genesis provides a unified description of Creation; the Koran does not. Creation, The Fall, Flood and Babel . Genesis provides a unified description of Creation; the Koran does not. Instead, fragmented passages are scattered across many of its 114 chapters (‘Sura’). The tables (below) attempt to assimilate these fragments for a clearer picture of what the Koran says, compared to the Bible. The many contradictions highlighted in these tables surely demolish any claims that the ‘revelation’ given to Muhammad is not a corruption of, but reliably builds upon, Judeo-Christian history. Eve’s distorted view, obviously wrong, is portrayed as truth in the Koran. For instance, the Koranic account prohibits Adam from going anywhere near the Forbidden Tree, while Genesis says that God only commanded Adam not to eat its fruit (see Table 2). (Man had been placed in the garden to tend it (Genesis 2:15), which seems to require physical access to each tree for e.g. pruning.) Interestingly, the Bible relates that Eve, who was deceived (1 Timothy 2:14), had misconstrued God’s instruction to not eat of the fruit from the tree to instead also mean not to touch it (Genesis 3:3). Yet Eve’s distorted view, obviously wrong, is portrayed as truth in the Koran [update: see Did Eve lie before the Fall?—Ed.]. The Biblical account of origins also makes more sense of today’s world than does the Koran—e.g. the presence of sin, violence, death and the origin of languages (and concomitant minor ‘racial’ differences). The Bible explains why the whole creation is so obviously groaning, in bondage to decay (Romans 8:19–22). In contrast, the Koran makes God responsible for death and suffering (see Tables 1 and 2), in common with long-age and evolutionary Christian views, and Eastern religions.
The Koran and evolution
With the increased adoption of evolution-based curricula, some Muslim leaders and scholars began to recognize the threat to Islam from a rising tide of evolutionary thinking. Their response has been either to attack evolution, or, more commonly, to blend it with Islam.
New Scientist reported that Islamic creationist books cite and copy Christian creationists, but with Biblical references deleted.
1. The Islamic creationists
The creationist Muslims claim that ‘The theory [of evolution] and the holy Qur’an are in direct conflict with each other and no compatibility is possible anywhere.’4 New Scientist reported that Islamic creationist books cite and copy Christian creationists, but with Biblical references deleted.5
2. The Islamic evolutionists
Evolution-believing Muslims seem to be far more numerous, and vocal, than creationist Muslims.
They have a substantial strategic advantage precisely because the Koran is so vague, nebulous and seemingly open to various interpretations.6 They delight in pointing out that, in contrast, ‘There is absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever in the Biblical description of the Creation in six days followed by a day of rest, the sabbath, analogous with the days of the week.’7 These evolution-accommodating Muslims are adamant that the ‘days’ of Creation in the Koran ‘mean in reality “very long Periods, or Ages, or Aeons”?’.7 Muslim apologists gleefully point out that the Koran is compatible with evolution where the Bible is not. Muslim apologists gleefully point out that the Koran is compatible with evolution where the Bible is not, e.g.: ‘Neither here nor anywhere else in the Holy Qur-án is it affirmed that Adam was the first man, or that there was no creation by God before Adam, nor that Adam lived or man was created, or the earth made, only six thousand years ago.’8,9 Long-age Muslims exploit the Bible’s explicit detail of the Flood, too. They say that because the Bible clearly says there was a recent global Flood, while ‘science’ says there was not, the Bible is wrong and the Koran is thus confirmed to be right!10 Some of the Muslim literature even claims that the Koran shows that Allah revealed to Muhammad details about the ‘big bang’, ancient universe and evolution long before scientists began to ‘discover’ such ‘facts’.11
Christian awareness: In the same way that being aware of evolutionary challenges to our faith helps us to be ready with answers,12 so, too, we need to be aware of what religions, including Islam, actually say, in order to be better prepared to answer our children’s questions.13 When men teach things that are contrary to the Bible, we are commanded to actively oppose such ideas (2 Corinthians 10:5). Christians need to be ready to help guide young people through the kinds of ‘intellectual crisis of faith’ that many confront in their teenage years—whether because of exposure to evolutionary teaching, or to other religions.
Knowing that the Word of God accurately explains our world ahead of all opposing ideas not only strengthens our own faith, but gives us the confidence to reach out in love to challengers—including Muslims. In Koran 6:91, the Book given to Moses is described as ‘a light and guidance to man …’
Using Genesis to reach Muslims?
Just as the Apostle Paul used Athenian beliefs to draw his Greek listeners to the truth of the Gospel (Acts 17:22–23, 28), Christians could use a similar approach when talking with Muslims. One could start by reminding the Muslim that the Koran says that the Scriptures of Jews and Christians were given by God, e.g. Koran 2:87—‘We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit.’ Similarly, in Koran 6:91, the Book given to Moses is described as ‘a light and guidance to man …’ . So why so many irreconcilable differences between Genesis 1–11 and the Koran? A Muslim might say that today’s copies of the Bible have been corrupted. But the earliest Biblical manuscripts (e.g. in the British Museum14) date from before Muhammad, demonstrating the reliability of our current copies. The Bible explains that death, violence, pain and decay entered a once-perfect Creation as a result of Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden. A further challenge for the Muslim would concern the presence of death, suffering, grief, etc., in the world. Consider the following exchange between American TV host Larry King and Georgetown University’s Islamic professor of theology, Maysam Al-Faruqi:
KING: Maysam, if you believe in heaven and paradise, then dying is good?
AL-FARUQI: Absolutely. And dying is perfectly natural, it’s the end of things.
KING: Why do we treat it tragically? … …
AL-FARUQI: Well, there is the pain …15
So in this Muslim (also theistic evolutionary) view of death as ‘perfectly natural’, why grieve and wail at the death of a loved one? The Islamic professor’s answer, ‘Well, there is the pain …’ begs the question: ‘So pain and suffering are a “natural”? part of God’s good (Koran 32:7) creation, too?’ Clearly, Muslims have no satisfactory answer.But the Bible explains that death, violence, pain and decay entered a once-perfect Creation as a result of Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:17, 3:19; Romans 5:12–17; 8:19–22; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22). Thankfully, this situation is only temporary, as God gave his Son, Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, that those who believe in Him can look forward to the coming restoration, to a world with ‘no more death, mourning, crying or pain’, i.e. no more Genesis Curse (John 1:18, 3:16; Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:4, 22:3).
In Islam, Adam (Ādam; Arabic: آدم), whose role is being the father of humanity, is looked upon by Muslims with reverence. Eve (Ḥawwāʼ;Arabic: حواء ) is the “mother of humanity.” The creation of Adam and Eve is referred to in the Qurʼān, although different Qurʼanic interpreters give different views on the actual creation story (Qurʼan, Surat al-Nisaʼ, verse 1).
In al-Qummi’s tafsir on the Garden of Eden, such place was not entirely earthly. According to the Qurʼān, both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in a Heavenly Eden (See alsoJannah). As a result, they were both sent down to Earth as God’s representatives. Each person was sent to a mountain peak: Adam on al-Safa, and Eve on al-Marwah. In this Islamic tradition, Adam wept 40 days until he repented, after which God sent down the Black Stone, teaching him the Hajj. According to a prophetic hadith, Adam and Eve reunited in the plain of ʻArafat, near Mecca. They had two sons together, Qabil (Cain) and Habil (Abel). There is also a legend of a younger son, named Rocail, who created a palace and sepulcher containing autonomous statues that lived out the lives of men so realistically they were mistaken for having souls. The concept of original sin does not exist in Islam, because Adam and Eve were forgiven by God. When God orders the angels to bow to Adam, Iblis questioned, “Why should I bow to man? I am made of pure fire and he is made of soil.” The liberal movements within Islam have viewed God’s commanding the angels to bow before Adam as an exaltation of humanity, and as a means of supporting human rights; others view it as an act of showing Adam that the biggest enemy of humans on earth will be their ego. The Garden of Eden is spoken about prominently in the Quran and the tafsir (interpretation). This includes surat Sad, which features 21 verses on the subject, surat al-Baqarah, surat al-A’raf, and surat al-Hijr. The narrative mainly surrounds the expulsion of Iblis from the garden and his subsequent tempting of Adam and Eve. After Iblis refuses to follow God’s command to bow down to Adam for being his greatest creation, Allah transforms him into Satan as a punishment. Unlike the Biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, the tree of immortality, which Allah specifically forbade to Adam and Eve. Satan, disguised as a serpent, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, thus disobeying Allah.These stories are also featured in the Islamic hadith collections, including al- Tabari. The Tree of Immortality (Arabic: شجرة الخلود) is the tree of life motif as it appears in the Quran. It is also alluded to in hadiths and tafsir. Unlike the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, also called the tree of immortality, which Allah specifically forbade to Adam and Eve. Satan, disguised as a serpent, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, thus disobeying Allah. The hadiths however speak about other trees in heaven.
'WOMEN, PERFUMES AND PRAYER': these three things, according to a famous hadith, 'were made worthy of love' to the Prophet; and this symbolism provides us with a concise doctrine of the outward reverberations of the love of the Inward.
Woman, synthesizing in her substance virgin nature, the sanctuary and spiritual company, is for man what is most lovable; in her highest aspect, she is the formal projection of merciful and infinite Inwardness in the outward; and in this regard she assumes a quasi-sacramental and liberating function.
As for 'perfumes,' they represent qualities or beauties that are formless, exactly in the same way as music; that is to say that side by side with the formal projection of Inwardness, there exists also a complementary formless projection, symbolized, not by visual or tangible qualities, but by auditory and olfactory ones; perfumes are silent music.
As for 'prayer’, the third element mentioned in the hadith, its function is precisely to lead from outward to Inward, and it both consecrates and transmutes the qualitative elements of the outward realm; from this it may be seen that the ternary comprised in the saying of Muhammad, far from being of an astonishing arbitrariness and a shocking worldliness (as is believed by those who have no idea either of Oriental symbolism in general or of the Islamic perspective in particular) provides on the contrary a doctrine which is entirely homogeneous, and which is founded, not on the moral or ascetical alternative, but on the metaphysical transparency of things.
The nature of the three elements of the ternary can be further delineated with the help of the notions -enumerated in the corresponding order- of 'beauty; 'love' and 'sanctity': it is beauty and love that reflect the Inward in the outward world, and it is sanctity, or the sacred, which establishes the bridgein both directions -between the outward and inward planes.
All that is beautiful comes from the Beauty of God; says a hadith.
Moslems readily affirm the link between beauty and love and show little inclination to dissociate these two elements which for them are but the two faces of one and the same reality; whoever says beauty, says love, and conversely, whereas for Christians mystical love is almost exclusively associated with sacrifice, except in chivalric esoterism
and its prolongations.
The hadith just quoted really contains the whole doctrine of the earthly concomitances of the love of God, in conjunction with the following hadith: 'God is beautiful, and He loves beauty'; this is the doctrine of the metaphysical transparency of phenomena. This notion of beauty or harmony, with all the subtle rhythms and symmetries which it implies, has in Islam the widest possible significance: 'to God belong the most beautiful Names; says the Quran more than once, and the virtues are called 'beautiful things'. 'Women and perfumes': spiritually speaking these are forms and qualities, that is to say, they are truths that are both dilating and fruitful, and they are also the virtues which these truths exhale and which correspond to them within us.
'Everything on earth is accursed except the remembrance of God’, said the Prophet, a saying which must be interpreted not only from the standpoint of abstraction but also from that of analogy; that is to say, the remembrance of God is not only an inwardness free from images and flavours, but also a perception of the Divine in the symbols (ayat) of the world. To put it another way: things are accursed (or perishable) in so far as they are purely outward and externalizing, but not in so far as they actualize the remembrance of God and manifest the archetypes contained in the Inward and Divine Reality.
And everything in the world that surrounds us which gives rise to a concomitance of our love of God or of our choice of the 'inward dimension; is at the same time a concomitance of the love which God shows towards us, or a message of hope from the 'Kingdom of Heaven which is within you’.
These considerations (or even simply the notion of the 'love of God’) lead us to a related question, that of the Divine Person in relation to our capacity for love: what, it may be asked, is the meaning of the masculine character attributed to God by the Scriptures, and how can man (the male) accord all his love, naturally centered on woman, on a Divine Person who seems to exclude femininity?
The answer to this is that the masculine character of God in Semitic monotheism signifies, not that the Divine Perfection could possibly exclude the feminine perfections (which is unthinkable), but simply that God is totality and not part, and this totality has its image, precisely, in the human male, whence his priority with regard to woman (a priority which in other respects is either relative or nonexistent).
It is indeed important to understand that the male is not totality in the same way that God is, and likewise that woman is not 'part' in an absolute manner, for each sex, being equally human, shares in the nature of the other.
If each of the sexes constituted a pole, God could neither be masculine nor feminine, for it would be an error of language to reduce God to one of two reciprocally complementary poles; but if, on the contrary, each sex represents a perfection, God cannot but possess the characteristics of both – active perfection, however, always having priority over passive perfection.
Whether one likes it or not, in Christianity the Blessed Virgin assumes the function of the feminine aspect of the Divinity, at least in practice, and in spite of every theological precaution; however, this observation, far from being a cause of reproach in the eyes of the writer, has on the contrary for him the most positive meanings.
In Islam it is sometimes said that man has a feminine character in relation to God; but from another point of view, the doctrine of the Divine Names implies that the Divinity possesses all conceivable qualities, and if we see in the perfect woman certain qualities which are proper to her, she cannot have them except in so far as they are a reverberation of the corresponding Divine Qualities ...
(Frithjof Schuon: Dimensions of Islam - Woman and lnteriorization)
Jama Masjid, Old Delhi
Largest Mosque in INDIA
during EId-il Fitr- the end of RAMADAN
Islam (Arabic: الإسلام al-’islām, is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the teachings contained in a religious book, the Qur'an, considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of Allah (the sole divine entity in Islam) as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure and his personally demonstrated examples throughout his lifetime (collected through narration of his companions in the volumes of Hadith) for implementing them. The word Islam is a homograph having multiple meanings and a triliteral of the word salam, which directly translates as peace. Other meanings include submission, or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh) (see Islam (term)) An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits [to God]".[2][3] The word Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive. There are approximately 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity
Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet, through the angel Gabriel, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Jews and Christians distorted the revelations God gave to these prophets by either altering the text, introducing a false interpretation, or both.
Islam includes many religious practices. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community. In addition to the Five Pillars, Islamic law (sharia) has developed a tradition of rulings that touch on virtually all aspects of life and society. This tradition encompasses everything from practical matters like dietary laws and banking to warfare and welfare. Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni (85%) and Shi'a (15%). The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Islam is the predominant religion in much of Africa and the Middle East, as well as in major parts of Asia. Large communities are also found in China, the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe and Russia. There are also large Muslim immigrant communities in other parts of the world, such as Western Europe. Of the total world Muslim population, about 20% live in the Arab countries (where Muslims comprise majority populations, with Christian and other religious minorities of differing sizes by country), 30% in the countries of the Indian subcontinent, and 15.6% in Indonesia alone, which is the largest Muslim country in absolute numbers
Photography’s new conscience
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For rock throwing in general, see Rock throwing. For the method of metalworking, see Stoning (metalworking). For other uses, see Stoning (disambiguation).
"Lapidation" redirects here. For the album by Anthony Coleman, see Lapidation (album).
Saint Stephen, first martyr of Christianity, painted in 1506 by Marx Reichlich (1460–1520)
(Pinakothek of Munich)
Virasundara is stoned to death on the order of Rajasinha II of Kandy (Sri Lanka, c. 1672)
Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Its adoption in some legal systems has caused controversy in recent decades.
The Torah and Talmud prescribe stoning as punishment for a number of offenses. Over the centuries, Rabbinic Judaism developed a number of procedural constraints which made these laws practically unenforceable. Although stoning is not mentioned in the Quran, classical Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) imposed stoning as a hadd (sharia-prescribed) punishment for certain forms of zina (illicit sexual intercourse) on the basis of hadith (sayings and actions attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad). It also developed a number of procedural requirements which made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice.
Stoning appears to have been the standard method of capital punishment in ancient Israel. Its use is attested in the early Christian era, but Jewish courts generally avoided stoning sentences in later times. Only a few isolated instances of legal stoning are recorded in pre-modern history of the Islamic world. Criminal laws of most modern Muslim-majority countries have been derived from Western models. In recent decades several states have inserted stoning and other hudud (pl. of hadd) punishments into their penal codes under the influence of Islamist movements. These laws hold particular importance for religious conservatives due to their scriptural origin, though in practice they have played a largely symbolic role and tended to fall into disuse.
In recent times, stoning has been a legal or customary punishment in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, northern Nigeria, Afghanistan, Brunei, and tribal parts of Pakistan, including northwest Kurram Valley and the northwest Khwezai-Baezai region.[1][2][3][4] In some of these countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq, where stoning is not legal, it has been carried out extrajudicially by militants, tribal leaders, and others.[2] In some other countries, including Nigeria and Pakistan, although stoning is a legal form of punishment, it has never been legally carried out. Stoning is condemned by human rights organizations and stoning sentences have sparked international controversies. Punishing adultery with stoning has varying levels of public support in the Muslim world, ranging from 86% of Muslims in Pakistan to 6% of Muslims in Albania and Bosnia.
Contents
1Religious scripture and law
1.1Judaism
1.2Islam
2History
3Contemporary legal status and use
3.1Afghanistan
3.2Brunei
3.3Indonesia
3.4Iran
3.5Iraq
3.6Nigeria
3.7Pakistan
3.8Saudi Arabia
3.9Sudan
3.10Somalia
3.11United Arab Emirates
3.12ISIL
4Views
4.1Support
4.2Opposition
5Human rights
5.1Women's rights
5.2LGBT rights
5.3Right to private life
6Examples
6.1Ancient
6.2Modern
6.3Averted
7Biblical
7.1Averted
8In literature
9In film and television
10See also
11References
12External links
Jesus and the woman taken in adultery by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, 1860, where Jesus said that the man who was without sin should throw the first stone.
Religious scripture and law[edit]
Judaism[edit]
The Sabbath-breaker Stoned. Artistic impression of episode narrated in Numbers 15. James Tissot c.1900
Further information: Capital and corporal punishment in Judaism
Torah[edit]
The Jewish Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) serves as a common religious reference for Judaism. Stoning is the method of execution mentioned most frequently in the Torah. (Murder is not mentioned as an offense punishable by stoning, but it seems that a member of the victim's family was allowed to kill the murderer; see avenger of blood.) The crimes punishable by stoning were the following:
Touching Mount Sinai while God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments, Exodus 19:13
An ox that gores someone to death should be stoned, Exodus 21:28
Breaking Sabbath, Numbers 15:32–36
Giving one's "offspring" "to Molech" Leviticus 20:2-5
Having a "familiar spirit" (or being a necromancer) or being a "wizard", Leviticus 20:27
Enticing others to polytheism, Deuteronomy 13:7–11
Cursing God, Leviticus 24:10–16
Engaging in idolatry, Deuteronomy 17:2–7; or seducing others to do so, Deuteronomy 13:7–12
"Rebellion" against parents Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
Getting married as though a virgin, when not a virgin, Deuteronomy 22:13–21
Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman engaged to another man in a town, since she did not cry out, Deuteronomy 22:23-24; both parties should be stoned to death.
Forced sexual intercourse between a man and a woman engaged to another man in a field, where no one could hear her cries and save her, Deuteronomy 22:25-27; the man should be stoned.
Describing the stoning of those who entice others to apostates from Judaism, the Torah states:
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
— Deuteronomy 13:6–10[5]
A case noted in the Bible, not falling into any of the above categories, was that of Achan, stoned to death together with his sheep, other livestock and his children for having pillaged valuables from Jericho during Joshua's Conquest of Canaan.
Mishna[edit]
The Talmud describes four methods of execution: stoning, pouring molten lead down the throat of the condemned person, beheading, and strangulation (see Capital and corporal punishment in Judaism). The Mishna gives the following list of persons who should be stoned.[6][7]
"To the following sinners stoning applies – אלו הן הנסקלין
one who has had relations with his mother – הבא על האם
with his father's wife – ועל אשת האב
with his daughter-in-law – ועל הכלה
a human male with a human male – ועל הזכור
or with cattle – ועל הבהמה
and the same is the case with a woman who uncovers herself before cattle – והאשה המביאה את הבהמה
with a blasphemer – והמגדף
an idolater – והעובד עבודת כוכבים
he who sacrifices one of his children to Molech – והנותן מזרעו למולך
one that occupies himself with familiar spirits – ובעל אוב
a wizard – וידעוני
one who violates Sabbath – והמחלל את השבת
one who curses his father or mother – והמקלל אביו ואמו
one who has assaulted a betrothed damsel – והבא על נערה המאורסה
a seducer who has seduced men to worship idols – והמסית
and the one who misleads a whole town – והמדיח
a witch (male or female) – והמכשף
a stubborn and rebellious son – ובן סורר ומורה"
As God alone was deemed to be the only arbiter in the use of capital punishment, not fallible people, the Sanhedrin made stoning a hypothetical upper limit on the severity of punishment.[8]
The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron (1480–1482), by Sandro Botticelli, Sistine Chapel, Rome.
Prior to early Christianity, particularly in the Mishnah, doubts were growing in Jewish society about the effectiveness of capital punishment in general (and stoning in particular) in acting as a useful deterrent. Subsequently, its use was dissuaded by the central legislators. The Mishnah states:
A Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seven years is called destructive. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says that this extends to a Sanhedrin that puts a man to death even once in seventy years. Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Tarfon say: Had we been in the Sanhedrin none would ever have been put to death. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says: they would have multiplied shedders of blood in Israel.[9][10][11]
In the following centuries the leading Jewish sages imposed so many restrictions on the implementation of capital punishment as to make it de facto illegal. The restrictions were to prevent execution of the innocent, and included many conditions for a testimony to be admissible that were difficult to fulfill.
Philosopher Moses Maimonides wrote, "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death."[12] He was concerned that the law guard its public perception, to preserve its majesty and retain the people's respect. He saw errors of commission as much more threatening to the integrity of law than errors of omission.[13]
Mode of Judgment[edit]
In rabbinic law, capital punishment may only be inflicted by the verdict of a regularly constituted court of twenty-three qualified members. There must be the most trustworthy and convincing testimony of at least two qualified eyewitnesses to the crime, who must also depose that the culprit had been forewarned of the criminality and the consequences of his project.[7] The culprit must be a person of legal age and of sound mind, and the crime must be proved to have been committed of the culprit's free will and without the aid of others.
On the day the verdict is pronounced, the convict is led forth to execution. The Torah law (Leviticus 19:18) prescribes, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"; and the Rabbis maintain that this love must be extended beyond the limits of social intercourse in life, and applied even to the convicted criminal who, "though a sinner, is still thy brother" (Mak. 3:15; Sanh. 44a): "The spirit of love must be manifested by according him a decent death" (Sanh. 45a, 52a). Torah law provides (Deut. 24:16), "The parents shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the parents; every man shall be put to death for his own sins", and rabbinic jurisprudence follows this principle both to the letter and in spirit. A sentence is not attended by confiscation of the convict's goods; the person's possessions descend to their legal heirs.
The Talmud limits the use of the death penalty to Jewish criminals who:
(A) while about to do the crime were warned not to commit the crime while in the presence of two witnesses (and only individuals who meet a strict list of standards are considered acceptable witnesses); and
(B) having been warned, committed the crime in front of the same two witnesses.[14]
In theory, the Talmudic method of how stoning is to be carried out differs from mob stoning. According to the Jewish oral law, after the Jewish criminal has been determined as guilty before the Great Sanhedrin, the two valid witnesses and the sentenced criminal go to the edge of a two-story building. From there the two witnesses are to push the criminal off the roof of a two-story building. The two-story height is chosen as this height is estimated by the Talmud to effect a quick and painless demise but is not so high that the body will become dismembered.[15] After the criminal has fallen, the two witnesses are to drop a large boulder onto the criminal – requiring both of the witnesses to lift the boulder together. If the criminal did not die from the fall or from the crushing of the large boulder, then any people in the surrounding area are to quickly cause him to die by stoning with whatever rocks they can find.
Islam[edit]
Main articles: Rajm and Zina
The Stoning of an Adulteress, illustration to a manuscript of 1001 Nights by Abu'l Hasan Ghaffari or his atelier. Tehran, 1853-1857.
Stoning of the Devil, 2006 Hajj
Islamic sharia law is based on the Quran and the hadith as primary sources.
Quran[edit]
The Qur'an does not mention the act of stoning (Rajm) for any crime.
Contrary to popular belief, the punishment for Adultery (Zina) in the Quran is not stoning to death but flogging with a 100 lashes (if the accuser can provide 4 witnesses to the act). If the accuser cannot produce 4 witnesses, he himself will be punished by flogging with 80 lashes.
The woman and the man guilty of fornication/adultery,- flog each of them with a hundred stripes: Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment.
— Qur'an 24:2 [16]
And those who accuse chaste women then do not bring four witnesses, flog them, (giving) eighty stripes, and do not admit any evidence from them ever; and these it is that are the transgressors. Except those who repent after this and act aright, for surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
— Qur'an 24:4-5 [17]
Hadith[edit]
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Hadith refers to orally transmitted reports of statements or actions attributed to Muhammad. It was forbidden to record any Hadith on paper by Muhammad himself[citation needed], the first 4 righteous Caliphs after the death of Muhammed and the later Caliphs. They believed the Quran was clear, fully detailed, complete, perfect and sufficient. There were fears that people would confuse hadith with the Qur'an, influence would seep in from other creeds, fear for fabrications by heretics, for personal or political gain. The first Hadith (that have survived) were recorded 200 years after the prophet's death. There were tens of thousands Muhaddiths who had each memorised at least 400,000 narrations along with the chain of narrators for each narration. Out of the hundreds of thousands of Hadith only a very, very small percentage were declared authentic (Sahih) by Hadith Scholars. Hadith Scholars used a number of methods of evaluation to determine the veracity of the recorded oral reports. This is achieved by analyzing the text of the report, the scale of the report's transmission, the routes through which the report was transmitted, the individual narrators involved in its transmission and cross-referincing the reports.
Muslims vary in degrees of acceptance of the Hadith. To many Sunnite and Shiite Muslims (different collections of) the hadith are almost on par with the Quran itself. To others the Quran is the word of Allah but the Hadith are the words and deeds of a human (the prophet Muhammed) transmitted down by the 200 years old fallible memory of men. Useful but not completely reliable. Some Muslims give little to no credence to the Hadith. Then there are also the different sets of Hadith accepted by different branches of Islam (Temporary Marriage or Female Genital Mutilation) who consider each other's Hadith fake.
Stoning in the Sunnah mainly follows on the Jewish stoning rules of the Torah. A few hadiths refer to Muhammad ordering the stoning of a married[failed verification] Jewish man and a married[failed verification] woman committing an illegal sexual act after consulting the Torah.[18]
Narrated Ibn 'Umar: A Jew and Jewess were brought to the Prophet on a charge of committing an illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet asked the Jews, "What do you (usually) do with them?" They said, "We blacken their faces and disgrace them." He said, "Bring here the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful." They (fetched it and) came and asked a one-eyed man to recite. He went on reciting till he reached a portion on which he put his hand. The Prophet said, "Lift up your hand!" He lifted his hand up and behold, there appeared the verse of Ar-Rajm (stoning of the adulterers to death). Then he said, "O Muhammad! They should be stoned to death but we conceal this Divine Law among ourselves." Then the Prophet ordered that the two sinners be stoned to death and, and they were stoned to death, and I saw the man protecting the woman from the stones.
— Volume 9, Book 93, Number 633: (See Hadith No. 809, Vol. 8)
Narrated by 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:The Jews came to Allah's Apostle and told him that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah's Apostle said to them, "What do you find in the Torah (old Testament) about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?" They replied, (But) we announce their crime and lash them." Abdullah bin Salam said, "You are telling a lie; Torah contains the order of Rajm." They brought and opened the Torah and one of them solaced his hand on the Verse of Rajm and read the verses preceding and following it. Abdullah bin Salam said to him, "Lift your hand." When he lifted his hand, the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, "Muhammad has told the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm. The Prophet then gave the order that both of them should be stoned to death. ('Abdullah bin 'Umar said, "I saw the man leaning over the woman to shelter her from the stones."
— Volume 4, Book 56, Number 829:
In a few others, a Bedouin man is lashed, while a Jewish woman is stoned to death, for having sex outside marriage.[19]
Stoning is described as punishment in multiple hadiths.[20][21][22] Shia and Sunni hadith collections differ because scholars from the two traditions differ as to the reliability of the narrators and transmitters and the Imamah. Shi'a sayings related to stoning can be found in Kitab al-Kafi,[23] and Sunni sayings related to stoning can be found in the Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.[24] Based on these hadiths, in some Muslim countries, married adulterers are sentenced to death, while consensual sex between unmarried people results in 100 lashes.
Hadiths describe stoning as punishment under sharia.[21][22][25] In others stoning is prescribed as punishment for illegal sex between man and woman,[26] illegal sex by a slave girl, as well as anyone involved in any homosexual relations.[21][27] In some sunnah, the method of stoning, by first digging a pit and partly burying the person's lower half in it, is described.[28][29]
Narrated by Abu Huraira and Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani: A bedouin came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's apostle! I ask you by Allah to judge My case according to Allah's Laws." His opponent, who was more learned than he, said, "Yes, judge between us according to Allah's Laws, and allow me to speak." Allah's Apostle said, "Speak." He (i .e. the bedouin or the other man) said, "My son was working as a laborer for this (man) and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that it was obligatory that my son should be stoned to death, so in lieu of that I ransomed my son by paying one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious scholars about it, and they informed me that my son must be lashed one hundred lashes, and be exiled for one year, and the wife of this (man) must be stoned to death." Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to be returned to you, your son is to receive a hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. You, Unais, go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses her guilt, stone her to death." Unais went to that woman next morning and she confessed. Allah's Apostle ordered that she be stoned to death.
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:50:885 see also Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:49:860, 8:82:842, 9:89:303
Narrated by Ash-Shaibani: I asked 'Abdullah bin Abi 'Aufa about the Rajam (stoning somebody to death for committing illegal sexual intercourse). He replied, "The Prophet carried out the penalty of Rajam," I asked, "Was that before or after the revelation of Surat-an-Nur?" He replied, "I do not know."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:82:824 see also Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:82:809 9:92:432
Aisha reported: Abd b. Zam'a said Messenger of Allah, he is my brother as he was born on the bed of my father from his slave-girl. Allah's Messenger looked at his resemblance and found a clear resemblance with 'Utba. (But) he said: He is yours 'Abd (b. Zam'a), for the child is to be attributed to one on whose bed it is born, and stoning for a fornicator.
— Sahih Muslim, 8:3435 see also Sahih Muslim, 17:4216, 17:4191, 17:4212
Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh)[edit]
Stoning (Arabic: رجم Rajm, sometimes spelled as Rajam) has been extensively discussed in the texts of early, medieval and modern era Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).[30]
According to traditional jurisprudence, zina can include adultery (of married parties), fornication (of unmarried parties), prostitution, bestiality, and rape.[31] Classification of homosexual intercourse as zina differs according to legal school.[32] Although stoning for zina is not mentioned in the Quran, all schools of traditional jurisprudence agreed on the basis of hadith that it is to be punished by stoning if the offender is muhsan (adult, free, Muslim, and having been married), with some extending this punishment to certain other cases and milder punishment prescribed in other scenarios.[32][31] The offenders must have acted of their own free will.[32] According to traditional jurisprudence, zina must be proved by testimony of four eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later.[32][31] The Maliki legal school also allows an unmarried woman's pregnancy to be used as evidence, but the punishment can be averted by a number of legal "semblances" (shubuhat), such as existence of an invalid marriage contract.[32] These requirements made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice.[31] Rape was traditionally prosecuted under different legal categories which used normal evidentiary rules.[33] Making an accusation of zina without presenting the required eyewitnesses is called qadhf (القذف), which is itself a hadd crime[34][35][36] liable to a punishment of 80 lashes and to be unacceptable as witnesses unless they repent and reform.
According to the Islamic concept of Li'an, the testimony of a man who accuses his own wife without any other witnesses may be accepted if he swears by God four times that he is telling the truth with a fifth oath to incur God's condemnation if they be lying. In this case, if his wife counter swears, no punishment will be enforced.[37][38]
One of the widely followed Islamic legal commentaries, Al-Muwatta by Malik ibn Anas, state that contested pregnancy is sufficient proof of adultery and the woman must be stoned to death.[39][40]
Hanafi
Hanafi jurists have held that the accused must be a muhsan at the time of religiously disallowed sex, to be punished by Rajm (stoning).[41] A Muhsan is an adult, free, Muslim who has previously enjoyed legitimate sexual relations in matrimony, regardless of whether the marriage still exists.[39] In other words, stoning does not apply to someone who was never married in his or her life (only lashing in public is the mandatory punishment in such cases).[41]
For evidence, Hanafi fiqh accepts the following: self-confession, or testimony of four male witnesses (female witness is not acceptable).[41] Hanafi Islamic law literature specifies two types of stoning.[41] One, when the punishment is based on bayyina, or concrete evidence (four male witnesses). In this case the person is bound, a pit dug, the bound person placed and partially buried inside the pit so that he or she may not escape, thereafter the public stoning punishment is executed.[41] A woman sentenced to stoning must be partially buried up to her chest.[42] The first stones are thrown by the witnesses and the accuser, thereafter the Muslim community present, stated Abū Ḥanīfa and other Hanafi scholars.[41] In second type of stoning, when the punishment is based on self-confession, the stoning is to be performed without digging a pit or partially burying the person. In this case, the qadi (judge) should throw the first stone before other Muslims join in. Further, if the person flees, the person is allowed to leave.[41]
Hanafi scholars specify the stone size to be used for Rajm, to be the size of one's hand. It should not be too large to cause death too quickly, nor too small to extend only pain.[41]
Hanafis have traditionally held that the witnesses should throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by witnesses, and the qadi must throw the first stones in case the conviction was brought about by a confession.[43]
Shafi'i
The Shafii school literature has the same Islamic law analysis as the Hanafi. However, it recommends, that the first stone be thrown by the Imam or his deputy in all cases, followed by the Muslim community witnessing the stoning punishment.[42]
Hanbali
Hanbali jurist Ibn Qudamah states, "Muslim jurists are unanimous on the fact that stoning to death is a specified punishment for the married adulterer and adulteress. The punishment is recorded in number of traditions and the practice of Muhammad stands as an authentic source supporting it. This is the view held by all Companions, Successors and other Muslim scholars with the exception of Kharijites."[44]
Hanbali Islamic law sentences all forms of consensual but religiously illegal sex as punishable with Rajm.[45]
Maliki
Maliki school of jurisprudence (fiqh) holds that stoning is the required punishment for illegal sex by a married or widowed person, as well as for any form of homosexual relations among men.[21] Malik ibn Anas, founded of Maliki fiqh, considered pregnancy in an unmarried woman as a conclusive proof of zina. He also stated that contested pregnancy is also sufficient proof of adultery and any Muslim woman who is pregnant by a man who she is not married to, at the time of getting pregnant, must be stoned to death.[39][40] Later Maliki Muslim scholars admitted the concept of "sleeping embryo", where a divorced woman could escape the stoning punishment, if she remained unmarried and became pregnant anytime within five years of her divorce, and it was assumed that she was impregnated by her previous husband but the embryo remained dormant for five years.[46]
History[edit]
Stoning is attested in the Near East since ancient times as a form of capital punishment for grave sins.[47] Stoning was "presumably" the standard form of capital punishment in ancient Israel.[48] It is attested in the Old Testament as a punishment for blasphemy, idolatry and other crimes, in which the entire community pelted the offender with stones outside a city.[49] The death of Stephen, as reported in the New Testament (Acts 7:58) was also organized in this way. Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra (Acts 14:19). Josephus and Eusebius report that Pharisees stoned James, brother of Jesus, after hurling him from the pinnacle of the Temple shortly before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historians disagree as to whether Roman authorities allowed Jewish communities to apply capital punishment to those who broke religious laws, or whether these episodes represented a form of lynching.[49] During the Late Antiquity, the tendency of not applying the death penalty at all became predominant in Jewish courts.[50] Where medieval Jewish courts had the power to pass and execute death sentences, they continued to do so for particularly grave offenses, although not necessarily the ones defined by the law, and they generally refrained from use of stoning.[48]
Aside from "a few rare and isolated" instances from the pre-modern era and several recent cases, there is no historical record of stoning for zina being legally carried out in the Islamic world.[31] In the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws have been widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models.[51][52] However, the Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along the emergence of Islamist movements calling for full implementation of sharia, including reinstatement of stoning and other hudud punishments.[51][53] A number of factors have contributed to the rise of these movements, including the failure of authoritarian secular regimes to meet the expectations of their citizens, and a desire of Muslim populations to return to more culturally authentic forms of socio-political organization in the face of a perceived cultural invasion from the West.[54][55] Supporters of sharia-based legal reforms felt that "Western law" had had its chance to bring development and justice, and hoped that a return to Islamic law would produce better results. They also hoped that introduction of harsh penalties would put an end to crime and social problems.[56]
In practice, Islamization campaigns have focused on a few highly visible issues associated with the conservative Muslim identity, particularly women's hijab and the hudud criminal punishments (whipping, stoning and amputation) prescribed for certain crimes.[54] For many Islamists, hudud punishments are at the core of the divine sharia because they are specified by the letter of scripture rather than by human interpreters. Modern Islamists have often rejected, at least in theory, the stringent procedural constraints developed by classical jurists to restrict their application.[51] Several countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, and some Nigerian states have incorporated hudud rules into their criminal justice systems, which, however, retained fundamental influences of earlier Westernizing reforms.[51][53] In practice, these changes were largely symbolic, and aside from some cases brought to trial to demonstrate that the new rules were being enforced, hudud punishments tended to fall into disuse, sometimes to be revived depending on the local political climate.[51][52] The supreme courts of Sudan and Iran have rarely approved verdicts of stoning or amputation, and the supreme courts of Pakistan and Nigeria have never done so.[52]
Unlike other countries, where stoning was introduced into state law as part of recent reforms, Saudi Arabia has never adopted a criminal code and Saudi judges still follow traditional Hanbali jurisprudence.[57] Death sentences in Saudi Arabia are pronounced almost exclusively based on the system of judicial sentencing discretion (tazir) rather than sharia-prescribed (hudud) punishments, following the classical principle that hudud penalties should be avoided if possible.[58]
Contemporary legal status and use[edit]
As of September 2010, stoning is a punishment that is included in the laws in some countries including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Yemen and some predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria as punishment for Zina ("adultery by married persons").[59][60][61]
A map showing countries where public stoning is a judicial or extrajudicial form of punishment, as of 2013.[1]
Afghanistan[edit]
See also: Murder of Farkhunda
Stoning is illegal in Afghanistan, but is sometimes carried out by tribal leaders[2][62][63][64] and Taliban insurgents extrajudicially in certain parts of the country.[63][64][65][66] Before the Taliban government, most areas of Afghanistan, aside from the capital, Kabul, were controlled by warlords or tribal leaders. The Afghan legal system depended highly on an individual community's local culture and the political or religious ideology of its leaders. Stoning also occurred in lawless areas, where vigilantes committed the act for political purposes. Once the Taliban took over, it became a form of punishment for certain serious crimes or adultery. After the fall of the Taliban government, the Karzai administration re-enforced the 1976 penal code which made no provision for the use of stoning as a punishment. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice proposed public stoning as punishment for adultery.[67] However, the government had to back down from the proposal after it was leaked and triggered international outcry.[64] While stoning is officially banned in Afghanistan, it has continued to be reported occasionally as a crime.[65][68][69][70]
Brunei[edit]
Further information: Capital punishment in Brunei
Beginning on 3 April 2019, any Muslim individuals found guilty of gay sex and adultery will be stoned to death, according to a new penal code announced by Brunei. The punishment will be "witnessed by a group of Muslims."[71] Brunei has become the first Southeast Asian country which officially adopts public stoning as a judicial form of punishment.
On 5 May, the Sultan of Brunei confirmed that the de facto moratorium (a delay or suspension of an activity or a law) on the death penalty will apply to the Sharia Penal Code and committed Brunei to ratifying the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).
Indonesia[edit]
Further information: Capital punishment in Indonesia
On 14 September 2009, the outgoing Aceh Legislative Council passed a bylaw that called for the stoning of married adulterers.[72] However, then governor Irwandi Yusuf refused to sign the bylaw, thereby keeping it a law without legal force and, in some views, therefore still a law draft, rather than actual law.[73] In March 2013, the Aceh government removed the stoning provision from its own draft of a new criminal code.[74]
Iran[edit]
Further information: Capital punishment in Iran
The Iranian judiciary officially placed a moratorium on stoning in 2002; however, in 2007, the Iranian judiciary confirmed that a man who had been convicted of adultery 10 years earlier, was stoned to death in Qazvin province.[75] In 2008, the judiciary tried to eliminate the punishment from the books in legislation submitted to parliament for approval.[76] In 2009, two people were stoned to death in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province as punishment for the crime of adultery.[77] The amended penal code, adopted in 2013, no longer contains explicit language prescribing stoning as punishment for adultery. According to legal experts, while an explicit prescription of stoning as punishment for adultery has been removed from Iran's new penal code, stoning remains a possible form of punishment, since the penal code still lists it, without specifying when it should be used, and allows punishment to be based on fiqh (traditional Islamic jurisprudence), which includes provisions for stoning.[78][79] In 2013 the spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Justice Commission confirmed that while the Penal Code no longer prescribes stoning, it remains a valid punishment under sharia, which is enforceable under the Penal Code.[78][80] The most known case in Iran was the stoning of Soraya Manutchehri in 1986.
Methods
In the 2008 version of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran detailed how stoning punishments are to be carried out for adultery, and even hints in some contexts that the punishment may allow for its victims to avoid death:[81]
Article 102 – An adulterous man shall be buried in a ditch up to near his waist and an adulterous woman up to near her chest and then stoned to death.
Article 103 – In case the person sentenced to stoning escapes the ditch in which they are buried, then if the adultery is proven by testimony then they will be returned for the punishment but if it is proven by their own confession then they will not be returned.[81]
Article 104 – The size of the stone used in stoning shall not be too large to kill the convict by one or two throws and at the same time shall not be too small to be called a stone.[81]
Depending upon the details of the case, the stoning may be initiated by the judge overseeing the matter or by one of the original witnesses to the adultery.[81] Certain religious procedures may also need to be followed both before and after the implementation of a stoning execution, such as wrapping the person being stoned in traditional burial dress before the procedure.[82]
The method of stoning set out in the 2008 code was similar to that in a 1999 version of Iran's penal code.[83] Iran revised its penal code in 2013. The new code does not include the above passages, but does include stoning as a hadd punishment.[79] For example, Book I, Part III, Chapter 5, Article 132 of the new Islamic Penal Code (IPC) of 2013 in the Islamic Republic of Iran states, "If a man and a woman commit zina together more than one time, if the death penalty and flogging or stoning and flogging are imposed, only the death penalty or stoning, whichever is applicable, shall be executed".[84] Book 2, Part II, Chapter 1, Article 225 of the Iran's IPC released in 2013 states, "the hadd punishment for zina of a man and a woman who meet the conditions of ihsan shall be stoning to death".[84][85]
Iraq[edit]
In 2007, Du'a Khalil Aswad, a Yazidi girl, was stoned by her fellow tribesmen in northern Iraq for dating a Muslim boy.[86]
In 2012 at least 14 youths were stoned to death in Baghdad, apparently as part of a Shi'ite militant campaign against Western-style "emo" fashion.[87]
An Iraqi man was stoned to death, in August 2014, in the northern city of Mosul after one Sunni Islamic court sentenced him to die for the crime of adultery.[88]
Nigeria[edit]
Since the sharia legal system was introduced in the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria in 2000, more than a dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning for sexual offences ranging from adultery to homosexuality. However, none of these sentences has actually been carried out. They have either been thrown out on appeal, commuted to prison terms or left unenforced, in part as a result of pressure from human rights groups.[89][90][91][92]
Pakistan[edit]
Further information: Capital punishment in Pakistan
As part of Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization measures, stoning to death (rajm) at a public place was introduced into law via the 1979 Hudood Ordinances as punishment for adultery (zina) and rape (zina-bil-jabr) when committed by a married person.[93] However, stoning has never been officially utilized since the law came into effect and all judicial executions occur by hanging.[94] The first conviction and sentence of stoning (of Fehmida and Allah-Bakhsh) in September 1981 was overturned under national and international pressure. A conviction for adultery of Safia Bibi, a 13-year-old blind girl who alleged that she was raped by her employer and his son, was reversed and the conviction was set aside on appeal after bitter public criticism. Another conviction for adultery and sentence of stoning (of Shahida Parveen and Muhammad Sarwar) in early 1988 sparked outrage and led to a retrial and acquittal by the Federal Sharia Court. In this case the trial court took the view that notice of divorce by Shahida's former husband, Khushi Muhammad, should have been given to the Chairman of the local council, as stipulated under Section-7(3) of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961. This section states that any man who divorces his wife must register it with the Union Council. Otherwise, the court concluded that the divorce stood invalidated and the couple became liable to conviction under the Adultery ordinance. In 2006, the ordinances providing for stoning in the case of adultery or rape were legislatively demoted from overriding status.[95]
Extrajudicial stonings in Pakistan have been known to happen in recent times. In March 2013, Pakistani soldier Anwar Din, stationed in Parachinar, was publicly stoned to death for allegedly having a love affair with a girl from a village in the country's north western Kurram Agency.[96] On 11 July 2013, Arifa Bibi, a young mother of two, was sentenced by a tribal court in Dera Ghazi Khan District, in Punjab, to be stoned to death for possessing a cell phone. Members of her family were ordered to execute her sentence and her body was buried in the desert far away from her village.[2][97]
In February 2014, a couple in a remote area of Baluchistan province was stoned to death after being accused of an adulterous relationship.[98] On 27 May 2014, Farzana Parveen, a 25-year-old married woman who was three months pregnant, was killed by being attacked with batons and bricks by nearly 20 members of her family outside the high court of Lahore in front of "a crowd of onlookers" according to a statement by a police investigator. The assailants, who allegedly included her father and brothers, attacked Farzana and her husband Mohammad Iqbal with batons and bricks. Her father Mohammad Azeem, who was arrested for murder, reportedly called the murder an "honor killing" and said "I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent."[99] The man whose second wife Farzana had become, Iqbal, told a news agency that he had strangled his previous wife in order to marry Farzana, and police said that he had been released for killing his first wife because a "compromise" had been reached with his family.[100]
Saudi Arabia[edit]
Further information: Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia
Legal stoning sentences have been reported in Saudi Arabia.[101][102] There were four cases of execution by stoning reported between 1981 and 1992.[103]
Sudan[edit]
In May 2012, a Sudanese court convicted Intisar Sharif Abdallah of adultery and sentenced her to death; the charges were appealed and dropped two months later.[104] In July 2012, a criminal court in Khartoum, Sudan, sentenced 23-year-old Layla Ibrahim Issa Jumul to death by stoning for adultery.[105] Amnesty International reported that she was denied legal counsel during the trial and was convicted only on the basis of her confession. The organization designated her a prisoner of conscience, "held in detention solely for consensual sexual relations", and lobbied for her release.[104] In September, Article 126 of the 1991 Sudan Criminal Law, which provided for death by stoning for apostasy, was amended to provide for death by hanging.[106]
Somalia[edit]
In October 2008, a girl, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, was buried up to her neck at a Somalian football stadium, then stoned to death in front of more than 1,000 people. The stoning occurred after she had allegedly pleaded guilty to adultery in a sharia court in Kismayo, a city that was controlled by Islamist insurgents. According to the insurgents she had stated that she wanted sharia law to apply.[107] However, other sources state that the victim had been crying, had begged for mercy and had to be forced into the hole before being buried up to her neck in the ground.[108] Amnesty International later learned that the girl was in fact 13 years old and had been arrested by al-Shabab militia after she had reported being gang-raped by three men.[109]
In December 2009, another instance of stoning was publicised after Mohamed Abukar Ibrahim was accused of adultery by the Hizbul Islam militant group.[110]
In September 2014, Somali al Shabaab militants stoned a woman to death, after she was declared guilty of adultery by an informal court.[111]
United Arab Emirates[edit]
Stoning is a legal form of judicial punishment in UAE. In 2006, an expatriate was sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery.[112] Between 2009 and 2013, several people were sentenced to death by stoning.[113][114][115] In May 2014, an Asian housemaid was sentenced to death by stoning in Abu Dhabi.[116][117][118]
ISIL[edit]
Further information: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Several adultery executions by stoning committed by IS have been reported in the autumn of 2014.[119][120][121] The Islamic State's magazine, Dabiq, documented the stoning of a woman in Raqqa as a punishment for adultery.[122]
In October 2014, IS released a video appearing to show a Syrian man stone his daughter to death for alleged adultery.[121][123]
Maksud Hadith : "Tidak ada daripada binatang yang mempunyai perut lalu kamu memberinya sesuap makanan maka balasan pahala sedekah keatas kamu"
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Berusaha Mencari Rezeki
Hadith :
Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda, maksudnya:“Meraka yang mencari harta dunia (kekayaan ) dengan jalan yang halal dan menahan dirinya dari meminta-minta (tidak menjadi pengemis ) dan berusaha mencari nafkah untuk keluarganya serta belas kasihan, kasih sayang terhadap jiran tetangganya, nescaya di hari kiamat kelak ia akan berjumpa dengan Allah dengan mukanya berseri-seri seperti bulan purnama pada waktu malam.”
Riwayat At-Tabrani
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Hadith :
Dari Aisyah r.a katanya:”Ketika hari raya, orang-orang Habsyi datang ke masjid mempertunjukkan permainan pencak silat. Lalu Rasulullah s.a.w memanggilku dan kuletakkan kepalaku di bahunya. Aku ikut menonton pertunjukkan itu hingga aku puas melihatnya.”
(Muslim)
Photographer : Greenboy a.k.a Budakijau
::pandu uji picture control "Greenboy Landscape" baru,foto ini hanya melalui proses auto contras dalam photoshop,selebihnya original from my gear::
Exif :
23 July 2012/7:35AM
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View my video for Ramadan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=meA_IR14o8Y&feature=g-upl
Tajuk :
Malam Lailatul Qadar
Hadith :
Daripada Aisyah r.a. Sesungguhnya Rasulullah SAW telah bersabda: “ Berusahalah untuk mencari Lailatul Qadar pada malam yang ganjil dari sepuluh malam terakhir di bulan Ramadhan.”
(al-Bukhari)
Huraian
1.Malam Lailatul qadar adalah satu malam yang paling istimewa yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh semua umat Islam. Ia merupakan satu malam yang penuh rahmat dan nikmat yang paling besar daripada Allah S.W.T.
2.Umat Islam hendaklah mengambil peluang ini dengan berusaha bersungguh-sungguh memperbanyakkan amal ibadat di malam yang kesepuluh akhir bulan Ramadhan iaitu dengan mengerjakan sembahyang terawih, membaca Quran, berzikir dan sebagainya kerana sesungguhnya Allah S.W.T. akan memberi keampunan bagi mereka yang menghidupkan malam tersebut
3.Lailatul Qadar adalah tanda kasihnya Allah kepada hambanya yang beriman dan beramal soleh yang beribadah semata-mata mengharapkan keredaan dan keampunan dari-Nya.
4.Berlakunya malam Lailatul Qadar itu hanya Allah sahaja yang mengetahuinya, bila masa dan kepada siapa yang dapat dari kalangan hamba-hambanya yang dikehendakinya.
Abu Isa Muhammad Imam Termezi (Abū ʿĪsā Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā as-Sulamī aḍ-Ḍarīr al-Būghī at-Tirmidhī) 824-892, was an Islamic scholar, and collector of hadith. He compiled one of the six canonical hadith collections in Sunni Islam, as well as being well versed in Arabic grammar.
It was narrated from Ibn Abbas that: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “There is nothing like marriage, for two who love one another.” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 3, Book 9, Hadith 1847)
Hadith :
Diriwayatkan daripada Aisyah r.a :” Ketika saya sedang duduk dengan seorang perempuan, datang rasulullah SAW dan bertanya kepada ku :”Siapa dia?” Aku menjawab :” Si fulanah” dan aku ceritakan kepada nabi SAW bahawa dia beribadah dengan berlebihan. Nabi SAW bersabda dengan memperlihatkan tanda tidak bersetujunya. “Perbuatan baik yang dilakukan secara berlebihan tidak akan membuat Allah letih (untuk memberi pahala) namun engkaulah yang akan letih dan ad-din (perbuatan baik-ibadah yang paling dicintai Allah SWT) adalah yang dikerjakan secara tetap.”
(al-Bukhari)
A Love Non-Distracting
آں دم کہ دل بعشق دھی خوش دمے بود
درکار خیر حاجت ھیچ استخارہ نیست
O what a blessed moment it is for the heart,
when the pain of love for the Almighty is granted to it.
Maulana Rum (ra)
The month of the Urs Mubarik of Maulana Rum (ra) began on the 14th of December. It is celebrated for a month in Konya. I had posted the video for Ghaus Pak’s (ra) Urs only a few days earlier. I thought I might take some time off but I was leaving for Karachi for a month. I decided to at least do the narration and record the kalam before I left. I thought I might be able to do the rest from there.
I gave it my everything but sadly it didn’t happen. In the days just before, I had a class with Qari Sahib in which he told me a hadith. All the ahadith are spectacular. All aspects of Nabi Kareem’s life are extraordinary, most of all in the layering effect of his words and actions. Each read is unique in what it reveals. The Quran and the hadith are in fact precisely from where the Sufis inherit the impact of their words, in both poetry and prose. Each word is written as if for the individual reader alone!
“Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) was sitting with his companions one day when Hazrat Bilal (ratu) came to see him.
“You came yesterday as well Bilal,” he said to his beloved Muazzen (the one who gives the call for prayer), “but you don’t have to come every day. Know that separation from the one you love increases the affection between you.”
As always Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique was listening intently to the words of his Master. The next day when the afternoon came and Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) had not arrived, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked about his whereabouts.
“I saw him working in the field,” someone said.
The next day again Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) did not come. Again Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) asked where he was and was given an answer by whoever saw him last.
On the third day when he came, the Prophet (peace be upon him) turned his face from him.
It was the sunnah of the Beloved of God (peace be upon him) to always maintain eye contact with the one who came before him, until the person averted their attention elsewhere. It was also his sunnah to never retract his hand when in a handshake until the other person withdrew his first.
His manners never ceased to amaze me. What must he have thought of this world in which we barely lift the eyes to acknowledge anyone’s presence, before shooting it back toward a phone, a tv, a tablet, even a book. And important people hardly ever want to come near them, much less touch another’s hands. Holding on to them till they were withdrawn, pre-COVID that is, was a near impossibility.
Siddiq e Akbar (ratu) immediately went to his side and said, “May my parents be sacrificed upon you, O Messenger of God, are you upset with me?”
The Prophet of God (peace be upon him) asked his why he had not come to see him. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) told him that he had heard what he had said to Hazrat Bilal (ratu), so was trying to follow his advice.
“That advice was for Bilal,” Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) said, “not for you. When you are around me, my focus upon my Lord intensifies. And when you are away from me, in wondering where you are, my concentration upon my Lord becomes distracted.”
“Wow,” I thought!
The hadith floored me. For many days after and even now, I think about how I never experienced a love of any kind in the world that enhanced my focus on God. Maybe my mother in the sense that I was dutiful and all my acts of obedience were unquestioned but I wasn’t aware of it as bringing me closer to God. Otherwise all my “loves,” platonic and otherwise, distracted me from Him. For starters, they caused delayed and hurried prayers, if not causing me to outright miss them.
It would happen the most with friends. I was always worried about missing out on some joke or conversation happening without me. We met so rarely now. Sometimes as I sped through my recitation, I would tell myself, "I should be with my guests so it’s ok to go fast." But in my heart I knew it was all excuses. I had been told what the conduct commanded was by Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) when the Azaan sounded.
Hazrat Bibi Ayesha (ratu) narrates: When the time of the namaz came, the Prophet of God (peace be upon him) would disconnect from us, as if we didn’t know each other at all.
I started to wonder if a person existed for me in the remainder of my life that would be like Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (ratu) was for the Prophet (peace be upon him). I knew of the enhanced effect upon the heart, intensifying its attention towards God in the company of a Spiritual Master but in this case Hazrat Abu Bakr (ratu) was the disciple. He was a childhood friend, then a Companion.
The hadith made me want to ask for a love, a first love, that would be a cause for focus upon my Lord, take me closer to Him. I knew it wouldn’t be coming from wealth or children, people’s general go-to for happiness.
For the Quran says as often as it was a blessing, it was a trial. The word most alerting to the two was startling; “fitna.”
إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيم
Indeed, your wealth and your children are but a trial for you,
whereas with God there is a great reward.
Surah At-Taghabun, Verse 15
So I began to wonder, was it even possible?
In the days before Karachi, I had started working with some local orphanages situated in the outer neighborhoods of Lahore. It was an entirely new thing for me. In my life I had had different kinds of experiences when it came to working with different community-based organizations, doing charitable work. I had even done it for money (in a job) post 9/11.
At the time I was living in New York and I worked with what was mostly the Muslim-Arab population in Brooklyn and Queens whose lives were permanently altered by the disaster. The work was easy. I used to present cases for financial assistance on behalf of mostly the disaster-impacted women before various Charities, mostly Christian.
Some of them had a rule to not help Muslims at all, deeming them to be the cause of the catastrophe but most were not only sensitive but also extremely generous. My salary that year in 2001 was less than what I had made post-college, 10 years earlier, working at a management consulting firm but the work was the most meaningful of my life up to that point.
Other than that I had tried to do things as I learnt them from the Friends of God. Feeding the hungry has topped my list since I started it a few years ago, courtesy of Ghaus Pak (ra). Other things had been the usual for Pakistanis; helping an indigent family with a marriage, paying for a child’s tuition, taking care of someone’s medical bill, buying blankets in the winter and distributing clothes seasonally. It was a little bit of everything that a lot of people did.
Then earlier this year for the first time in my life I made the intention to “honor” the orphan as the Quran instructs. To that end in the fall I visited three orphanages in Kaana on the day of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthday. One of my rich friends, after hearing about the trip, offered to adopt one of the orphanages. It was an excellent idea since it didn’t seem anyone might adopt a child. There were no babies. The youngest child was five.
All three orphanages were run by people who lived in the neighborhood and were by no means of wealth. No foundations, no NGOs. There reason for starting the work was personal concern for the children or to give the blessings of the work to a family member who had passed away. One of the women who had started what was a shelter for widows and their children was in her early 30s. She wanted to send the reward of her effort to her younger brother who had passed away from cancer recently.
She was married and had three sons of her own, the eldest of whom was 15. She told me laughingly she had developed diabetes because of the stress of the work, not knowing how each month’s needs would be met. All three orphanages relied on the generosity of family friends or posted their needs on their social media accounts which were then met by "the kindness of strangers."
I told my friend. If she was going to take over the running of the place then the point should be to elevate the standard of living for the children, not just maintain it. Stressfully or otherwise, they were already sustaining themselves. The houses were old, the living was cramped. There were 4-5 kids in a single room which was small. Hot running water was scarce. There was no room dedicated to play or study. There was no room at all! My friend agreed and they were off. That’s the thing about being rich, I noticed. Things happen overnight!
Appliances, including a tv, a washing machine, a microwave, gas heaters, mattresses, blankets, a set of clothes, socks and shoes arrived the next day. Someone was assigned to look for a bigger home. The donor wanted to paint the new place, get new furniture. Make it nice. I was the middleman so to speak. If there was any concern on either end, I communicated it to the other party. Both sides were excited and happy. We will see what happens.
For my part I wanted to hang with the kids. To that end I planned a day in the park. It was November. Lahore was in a corona hike but the sun was gorgeously warm and the days bright and sunny. The parks were empty, schools were closed.
Along with a young man, Saad, I arranged for a picnic in Model Town park, the nearest one to the orphanage that was the newest of them all having just opened their doors in July. There were 18 kids. I had once before gone to the house to teach them Pictionary. I thought we had given them the game but that turned out to be wrong.
I had arrived with a white board and markers of all colours, only to realize that we had to wing it. But the kids ended up writing words for the other team to draw and it was a hilarious afternoon. Then I only interacted with the older boys and girls. Saad was playing Jenga with the little ones. On the day of the picnic, I had thought of games for everyone to play together beforehand.
Playing with a child is not for all adults. I know few who can do it with their own children. It’s a natural skill and it cannot be acquired. Saad brought a couple of frisbees and a badminton set. When I arrived at the park with Qari Sahib, my only invited guest, the kids were still on their way. Qari Sahib and I decided to walk around. It was a gorgeous day. The grass was soft and green, the trees majestic. It was my first time there. I’m a Jinnah Gardens fan and being a creature of habit always end up there.
A little while later the kids arrived in their bus. I waved to them from where I was and all 18 of them made a dash for me yelling, “As-Salam Alaikum Aapi.” It was definitely a giant group hug with no social distancing possible, unless I planned to sprint away from them. Which would have been weird as hell!
First we played Tag and Hide n Seek. Then L.O.N.D.O.N which is a game we used to play as kids in the boarding school. I had wondered once if it had anything to do with the rich being obsessed with the city for the remainder of their lives?
The game could be played anywhere. One person stood near a wall, in this case tree, and yelled the spelling of the word while the others ran towards them. As soon as the word was uttered and the person turned around, everyone had to freeze. Then if they could make them laugh or move, they had to move back to the starting point. The goal was to reach the wall. Become the person yelling L.O.N.D.O.N.
Making all 18 of them laugh turned out to be easy. Even the ones who bent their heads all the way down to avoid eye contact or covered their mouth with their little hands. With lightening speed I went from one child to the next, making some dumb crack that made them giggle.
Then the little kids spotted some rides in one side of the park so we all moved there. The rides were rundown and not fast at all but everyone wanted to try them. There was a jumping castle and some went there. Qari Sahib and I started played frisbee.
Lunch arrived. We sat in a huge circle on the grass and starting eating our boxes of rice, half biryani, half zarda. It was yummy. While we sat there I asked Qari Sahib to tell the kids something about Ghaus Pak (ra). It was the 11 of Rabu Thani, the day of his Urs (death anniversary). It was a deliberate choice to come on that day. I wanted to mark my happiness of the celebration with a supposed good deed. Qari Sahib didn’t say much, only one line. Ghaus Pak never told a lie in his life.
I decided to tell the kids the story of him as a child when he was going away from his mother to study. He was in his teens. His mother had stitched his money in a hidden pocket under his shirt. He was in a caravan but traveling by himself. In the night the caravan was attacked by dacoits. The robbers asked everyone, one by one, if they had any money.
When they came to him, the boy replied in the affirmative. The robber searched hum but could not find anything so repeated the question. Again Ghaus Pak (ra) said “Yes.” When they still couldn’t find anything, he turned his shirt over and showed them the pocket with his coins. The robbers were amazed.
“Why are you telling us this when you know we will take it from you?” they asked.
He simply replied, “Because my mother told me never to lie.”
I looked at the kids as I related the incident in Urdu. They listened intently to each word like a child does when being told a story. I didn’t know the end.
“So what happened then Qari Sahib?” I reverted to my teacher.
From outside the circle he uttered a single line, “They repented. And gave up being robbers.”
After lunch we all played frisbee. Some were better than others. I noticed how the older children were gentle and kind with the younger ones. When a little boy couldn’t finish their food or stopped eating, an elder boy would be told to help them and they did. When a little girl, who had taken her shoes and socks off to play on the grass, couldn’t put them back on and I just stared at her, an older one ran over to help her without being asked.
There was no tantrum, no fights, no arguing, no tears, not even a raised voice. Not even when someone was doing something another kid wanted to do. In my life and circle of society, I had only always seen that if a younger child wanted something an older sibling or cousin possessed, all they had to do was wail and the older kid was immediately ordered to hand it over. There was not a single sound in all the hours we were there that was the sound of being upset.
The kids all called the woman who ran the orphanage with her husband “Mama.” I thought it was striking. I had expected it would be “Aunty” or “Khala” or something. Anything that created a degree of separation, marked that they were not hers. She was not entirely theirs. She had two children of her own, a boy and a girl, who were 14 and 15. But they all called her “Mama.” I guess that’s how she took care of them.
Her tone was gentle, her demeanour soft. When they first arrived she told me she had almost not come.
“Why?” I asked.
“My foot was hurting so much,” she said, “I couldn’t even step on it. I don’t know what happened. So I told the children today you go without me and next time I will come with you.”
Then she smiled. They were all around her hearing her relate the story.
“’No, no they said to me. We will not go without you Mama.’
Then they said a prayer for me and look, here I am. No pain at all anywhere.”
The kids were all beaming.
It was Friday. Qari Sahib had already missed all the calls to prayer to go a Mosque. I suggested he lead us all for Zuhr right there. That’s when I found out that half the kids were Christian. Me and a couple of the girls lined up behind a few boys. After the prayer, the kids spotted some jungle jim structures in another side of the park and ran over.
I wanted to read the rest of the prayer so I found a quiet spot. It was then that I thought maybe I might like to ask God for something. When a king celebrates a happy occasion, gifts are given to the entire kingdom. It was a big day indeed and I kept thinking of Ghaus Pak (ra). What Qari Sahib had said about him in the class from the day before which had been dedicated to him: “Ask Allah for things, for what you want Ghaus Pak (ra) says. For it is in the Quran:
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدْعُونِىٓ أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ۚ
And your Lord says, “Call upon Me and I will respond to you.
Surah Al-Ghafir, Verse 60”
That afternoon taking in the sun while I prayed, I wondered if I should ask for that love finally that didn’t distract me. But In the past, whenever I asked for things I got them so quickly, I was now careful to ask. Mostly because a few times in the course of my life, as soon as my wish had been granted, I had myself destroyed what I had received, kicking it in the face. Sometimes within days of receiving it. The insanity of the action had once given me a nervous breakdown. Now I was hesitant.
Setting the matter aside, I decided to head home. We had been in the park for over three hours. I went up to some of the kids who were closer to me to say goodbye.
“I’m going to leave now,” I said waving and smiling at them. “I’ll see you guys next time.”
They all waved and smiled back at me. Then one little kid, who must have been five, turns around and not even looking at me, quietly says, “Khiyaal se jaana Aapi.” Which just means “Get home safely Aapi,” the term of endearment being the word for an elder sister.
I let out a laugh. It was so funny to me that a child as young as that was telling a 50 year old to do anything safely. I left with Qari Sahib. For the next several days, I couldn’t get that line out of my head. I told everyone I met the story. Each person was visibly moved. One friend of mine who never ever cries burst into tears. But they all said the same thing; the child wanted me to be safe because I had been kind to her and she wanted me to be alright so perhaps we would meet again.
But every time I heard people say that my heart disagreed with them. If someone had asked me what I had given and received that day, if I were to weigh the two, I would have said, “I gave my time, my emotional energy, my physical energy. I gave some money, I taught the kids something. I played with them. I prayed with them.” And what did I get in turn? “I got four words from a child.”
I felt that way because it was not a prayer, yet it felt like an utterance of a prayer. But even more than that because it was a prayer way beyond her years. I have been lucky enough to receive prayers from many in my life. Some out of love, some out of gratitude. Never did a prayer sound so beautiful to my heart than the one I heard that day.
The nisbat, association, of the orphan child with the Beloved of God (peace be upon him) who was an orphan himself is the most intense of all. I had noticed that almost all the Auliya e Karaam, the Friends of God, shared that nisbat with him. They lost their fathers in the early years of their lives, if not before birth.
I told my friends who had adopted children to always tell them who they shared the most painful part of their identity with. As often as they could. There always came the time when they might wonder who they belonged to at birth and when the pain from that loss or the sadness of not knowing them would set in, it would be a balm. Like no other, in fact, if you were able to tell yourself that the one you were similar to, so distinctly, in a way that hardly anyone else in the world was, was the reason the Universe existed.
In the weeks that followed I planned different activities with the children and my attachment to them started becoming more intense, especially with the little ones. As did theirs. In those days I was reading Al-Fath Ar-Rabbani, the discourses of Hazrat Ghaus Pak (ra). In one of his sermons he explained to me why the loves of the world are so distracting. The world itself is just a distraction.
Huzoor Pak (peace be upon him) said, “Visit the sick and participate in funerals for they will remind you of the Afterlife.”
Ghaus Pak (ra) says that the purpose of these words is to highlight that humans run from the thought of their life after death and make the world and all in it their beloved.
“But the price of that love, superficial, is that soon, there will come between you and the same world, obstacles which, without your say, will be out of your control. What you are happy about will be taken from you and instead of happiness, suffering will prevail.
People will only steal your heart, your faith, your goodness and make you a “mushrik” because you will associate them with God and become forgetful of Him. And if you cannot do without material things, then ask Him for them and not others because what Allah dislikes the most is when even the meager wants of the world are asked of others instead of Him.”
It was in the days I was in Karachi taking in the sun for hours a day before returning to Lahore where it would not appear for another month or so, that I started writing my piece for Maulana Rum (ra). In my reading, I came across a story in the Masnavi in which he explained the concept of asking for anything, even in the world, from Allah alone.
In the time of the Prophet Dawood (as), the story of the man who wanted his livelihood without working.
All day long he prayed and pleaded to God for only one thing, “Dear Lord, grant me livelihood from the Unseen and without the hardships of working and earning.” His prayer became well known amongst the people in the area and they resented him for it. They labeled him as lazy and worthless but he was unaffected by their attitude of condescension towards him.
The one who seeks will ultimately find; Allah listens to everyone’s prayers and fulfills their ask.
One day the door of his house flung open and a large cow burst in. The man was elated. He grabbed the cow, took it to the butcher and had it cut up for the meat. When the owner of the animal came searching for it and found his cow dead, slaughtered, he let out a wail.
The man told him not to create such havoc. “For years I have been asking Allah to grant me rizq and now my prayers have been answered.” Livid, the owner grabbed the man. First he beat him then took him before the Prophet Dawood (as) to have him punished and to seek justice.
The owner stated his case, then turned to the man asking the Prophet (as) to ask him why he committed such a crime. The man simply said, “All my life I have never touched the property of another. I have never stolen anything. I have never given trouble to a soul in the city. For several years now it has been my practice that I have prayed to God to grant me livelihood without having to toil for it.
Every man, woman and child in the area knows of this prayer of mine. After years my voice was heard. The cow came into my house. When I saw it my heart was ecstatic. I knew my prayers were answered so I took it to the butcher and had it slaughtered it to express my gratitude to The One who sent it to me.”
Addressing the accused, Hazrat Dawood (as) said, “Give a better argument for what you have done. From what is being said, it is clear you neither bought the cow nor was it given to you by its owner.”
Upon hearing his words echoing the sentiment of everyone else surrounding him, the man turned his face towards the sky and pleaded, “O Knower of the pain in my heart! Reveal to Your Prophet the truth of my words so he can become aware of the reality.”
His cries were so full of anguish, Hazrat Dawood’s (as) heart was deeply affected. He told the owner of the cow he would render his decision the next morning.
When the two reappeared before him the next day, the Prophet (as) said to the owner, “Do not pursue your matter with this man and forgive him. Allah has granted you a cover for your sins. Be grateful for that veiling and exercise patience.”
The owner was astounded. “This is justice? Your sense of fairness is famed from the Earth to the skies, yet for me you give such an unfair pronouncement?”
The second time he addressed him, Hazrat Dawood (as) said, “Give your wealth to this man. Otherwise all that you have done which was unjust will be revealed and you will be vilified.”
Again the man let out a cry and continued his protest. The Prophet (as) once again asked him to reconsider; “O unfortunate one! Stop this spectacle before it is the cause of your own demise. What you have sowed is only what you are reaping.”
The words had no effect on the owner of the cow. The people watching also became bewildered. They could not understand why the Prophet (as) was siding with the one who took another’s property, whilst leashing anger towards the one who was clearly the victim.
Finally Hazrat Dawood (as) decided that the matter could no longer remain a secret as he had tried so hard for it to be for the sake of the owner. He took them to a tree near the bank of a river. Then pointing towards it he said, “A man was killed her by his servant a long time ago. After the murder, the slave took all his wealth and deprived his family and the orphan children of their rightful inheritance. At the base of the tree lies the bloodied knife that he used to commit the crime and on it are etched his initials.”
Upon his command, the land was dug up. A skeleton and the knife was found with the owner’s initials. When he saw it he started trembling. The people watching the scene were shocked and with deep humility, they came before their Prophet. Removing their caps from their heads, they expressed their apologies to Hazrat Dawood (as) for letting doubt enter their hearts.
“We became blind and did not hear what you said. And this despite that we have seen so many miracles by your hand. Mountains spoke to you, saying, ‘take me in your hand to fight Talout.’ So you took three rocks and a sling and destroyed the armies of the enemy. The three stones became hundreds of thousands and decimated all. Your hand melted iron to make armour. The mountains echoed the sound of your reading of the Zabur. The hearts of many opened to God because of you.”
وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ مِنَّا فَضْلًۭا ۖ يَـٰجِبَالُ أَوِّبِى مَعَهُۥ وَٱلطَّيْرَ ۖ وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ ٱلْحَدِيدَ
أَنِ ٱعْمَلْ سَـٰبِغَـٰتٍۢ وَقَدِّرْ فِى ٱلسَّرْدِ ۖ
And certainly We gave Dawood (as) great favours from Us. “O Mountains! Sing with him the praises of God. And likewise, you the birds.
And We made iron soft for him. Instructing him to make full coats of armour.”
Surah Saba, Verse 10-11
According to the law which the owner was insistently demanding be applied, he was sentenced and the man was given his entire wealth.
It was not the first time I had come upon the story. I had read it once before when I was living in New York. I was 30. Then of course I had no clue about the nafs and the havoc it wreaked in my life. Then it had just me reflect on my sources of livelihood.
All my life I had strange jobs, if I even had them at all. I use the word “strange” because nerds like me are usually career focused and on some trajectory of “success.” But my mother’s death derailed all that when I was 26 and I never got back on track. Mostly after that I earned next to nothing. But for one reason of another, I lived a life of ease.
When I had read the story then I had cried because I felt like the man who was praying for livelihood for years whilst not working. But I had not even prayed for that. I guess someone else might have prayed for me. That was what came to my mind then. Coming upon the story 20 years later, Maulana highlighted something entirely different for me.
I kept going back to the lines of not asking anything of people. It was exactly what I had just read from Ghaus Pak (ra) that God disliked it. It was about to play out before my eyes.
Whilst in Karachi I desperately wanted something from my host. My friend, her sister, was leaving for Scotland and I wanted to move back into the room I always stayed in.
The problem was my host had converted the same room to her own. She had a super early routine of getting up at 6 am with machines whirling to make smoothies and I didn’t want to be near the noise for the entire trip. I’m an insanely light sleeper and I was there for another few weeks. I meant to ask her if it was possible but was hesitant even though the thought was making me miserable inside. Then I read the line and it had a two-fold effect on me.
The first made me focus on what I wanted which was so petty, I felt ashamed even asking for it from God. Two, it made me rethink if it was even necessary. I decided to give it a pass. But that night I ended up thinking about it anyway. Each time I woke up, the same thing played in my head like a tape running on repeat. It created agitation for me precisely because I knew how superficial it was. After all the decision to not ask had already been made.
The next day I was sitting in the sun reading when my friend walked into the room and announced, “I’ve decided to move out of that room you want and give it to you.” I was so shocked by the words that I just raised my hands in the air and uttered the verse, “Alhamdolillah e Rabb ul Alimeen.” She burst out laughing.
Later in the evening I asked her why she changed her mind. What she said was the exact same thing I had been feeling. My reason for not asking her for the room was exactly her reason for giving it to me.
“I have done this before. Become fixated on a shallow aspect of life that doesn’t warrant the fixation. The trials I have faced after have been so difficult for me that I just thought to myself, ‘I’m giving her the room man. I can’t even take a chance of dealing with what test comes for not doing so. For being stuck on something so stupid!’”
I love those moments. When two people, who are on their own spiritual quests, meet at the same point. Glance at each other acknowledging the moment and then move on. It’s intense and it’s lovely. It happens to me with a couple of my friends in my life a lot.
Maulana (ra) writes the Masnvavi in the style of the Quran. A story starts in one place, continues elsewhere and finishes in a third. A few days later I came upon a continuation of the story where the “batin” of the story was explained. It was totally unexpected!
“The owner of the cow is your nafs, the ego. It has made itself your lord and master. The one who slaughtered it is your aql, the power to reflect. It becomes hostage to the ego and prays for blessings from the Divine without struggling for them. But the price of receiving that blessing without trial is the killing of the ego, for it is the root of all wrongdoing. And it is impossible without a guide.”
رزق جانی کے بری با سعی و جست
جز با عدل شیخ کو داؤد تست
How can you ever gain blessings from your own struggles and endeavours,
without the assistance of the Spiritual Master who intervenes for you like Hazrat Dawood (as)?
نفس چوں با شیخ بیندگام تو
از بن دندان شود او رام تو
When your nafs, your ego, sees you in the footsteps of your guide, it will have no choice but to become obedient to you.
صاحب آں گاؤ رام آنگاہ شد
کز دم داؤد او آگاہ شد
The owner of the cow, the nafs, submitted when he heard the decision of the Prophet (as), the decision from The Unseen.
عقل گایے غالب آید در شکار
بر سگ نفست کہ باشد شیخ یار
The aql, your powers to reflect, will only conquer the enemy, your ego, in this battle,
when you are accompanied by your Sheikh.
Overtly, the story didn’t just, hopefully permanently, adjust my overt, namely to not rely on people for things. What it reminded me of otherwise as well was that all livelihood and all blessings were always and only received as a kindness and mercy from God. Nothing could be claimed as deserved. Not for an act of goodness nor for devoted worship. Like the story of the man who prayed for 500 years and then died.
When he appeared before God, he wanted that worship recognized for his own self, not realizing he was allowed it by God in the first place.
Begin excerpt “The Softest Heart”
When it came to love for Allah, Iblis demonstrated, without doubt, that worship alone was an insufficient expression of love. No wonder he didn’t try to deter it in others. The hadith that further made the point most beautifully was this:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “My friend Gibrael (as) came to me and said, ‘O Muhammad (peace be upon you), I swear by the Authority who has sent you as the Message of Truth, there was a servant of God named Abdullah who prayed for 500 years on the top of a mountain in the sea. Sprout from it sweet water for him and a pomegranate tree bearing him fruit every night.
He performed ablution from the water and ate the fruit, then prayed and asked Allah his Lord that when the time would come for his death, may he die in the position of prostration and be raised such. And his body does not decompose nor does any creature defile it. And so it was. And we (the angels) used to pass by him when we ascended and descended from the Heavens and we knew that on the Day of Judgement and when he will be raised and brought before Allah, He will say, “Let My Servant enter Heaven by My Mercy.”
So the man will say, “But my Lord God, what about my worship?”
And Allah will repeat, “Let My Servant enter Heaven by My Mercy.”
So the man will persist, “But my Lord God, what about my worship?”
So Allah will proclaim, “Count My Blessings towards My Servant against his actions.”
And it will be found that the blessing of (mere) sight exceeded the servant’s worship of 500 years and still were remaining the many bounties granted him by Allah.
So Allah will say, “Take My Servant towards Hell.”
The man will cry out, “By Your Mercy, send me to Heaven.”
He will be brought back before Allah who will then say, “Who created you out of nothing?”
“You did, My Lord God.”
And Allah will say, “Who gave you the strength to pray for 500 years?”
“You did, My Lord God.”
“And who sprouted for you atop a mountain sea sweet water from bitter and pomegranates, which only grow once a year, every night from a tree the entire year? And you asked for your soul to be taken while you are in prostration and it was done?”
Again he will answer, “You did, My Lord God.”
So God will respond, “This is My Mercy and by My Mercy I made you enter Heaven and the angels were ordered, ‘Take My servant to Heaven’ for you are a good servant.”
And so he will be delivered to Heaven.
Hazrat Gibrael (as) said to me, “O Muhammad (peace be upon you)! Verily each and every thing is by the Mercy of Allah.””
End excerpt “The Softest Heart”
Yet the Quran says, in its overt read of the verse, that the purpose of the creation of both Man and Jinn is exactly that: worship.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.
Surah Ad-Dhariyaat, Verse 56
It was the Friends of God who explained to me that “ibadat,” worship, is not the mere execution of ritual. It is the practice of gaining “ma’rifat,” recognizing God.
Ghaus Pak (ra) explains it this way: “The nafs, the self is “zahir” (overt). The “qalb,” the heart within the heart, is “batin” (the inner being). Love is allowed for the nafs, (between the nafs and nafs) but not for the “qalb,” the inner heart. The zahir is allowed to love but not the batin. The batin and the qalb are made so as to only fall in love with God, be occupied by Him.”
All types of loss were experience by the “nafs” in its overt existence. Therefore in the verse in which Allah directs us to be patient when a loss is incurred and grateful for a bestowing, it is because the “qalb” should not affected by either. It reacted with sadness and joy regarding the world, only because we had allowed the love to enter the space that was set aside only for God.
لِّكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا۟ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍۢ فَخُورٍ
(Know this), so that you may not despair over whatever has escaped you,
Nor exult over whatever good has come to you.
For God does not like any of those who, out of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner.
Surah Al-Hadid, Verse 23
It struck me how Iblis lay in waiting just to nudge people towards waywardness in both states. When one was unhappy because of the loss of something, he suggested sin as a distraction, encouraging the self-pity. When a person was happy because of what they had been bestowed with, he nudged towards sin to celebrate it. When God wanted patience for the first and gratitude for the second, he suggested wrongdoing. And most of us went along with it.
For what did Iblis want more than anything was for us to emulate him, rather than those who are chosen to show the path leading to God. The same Iblis who himself forgot everything he had been bestowed by the Grace of the Divine when refusing to do that which he was commanded to. Although he apparently remembers every single moment of his life to this day with the deepest nostalgia, he remains insistent on his defiance and never apologizes for it.
The Waking of Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) by Iblis to say his prayers.
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) was asleep one day when he was awakened by someone. When he looked around he saw no one. Then he noticed a man skulking behind the door. He asked, “Who are you?” The man replied, “The world knows me. I am unfortunate Iblis.”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) asked him sternly, “Why have you woken me?” He responded, “The time for prayer is about to pass, O Amir.” Then he quoted the Prophet of God (peace be upon him),
عجلوا ألطاعات قبل الفوت
'Complete your worship before it (its time) expires.'
You should run to the mosque before you miss it.”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) retorted, “You can never want such a thing so as to guide someone. You came in like a thief and now you tell me you are a well-wisher? Why would I believe a thief and then one who claims he wants to benefit me?”
Here Iblis uttered the words revealing his envy:
‘Once I was ranked amongst the angels and walked the path of obedience willingly. I was the knower of Divine Secrets and a companion of the ones who lived near to Allah’s Throne. As travelers roam wherever they might go, the love of the homeland never leaves them. Who has ever forgotten their first love?
I have also drunk the waters from the rivers of The Divine’s Blessings and I have also walked in the Gardens of His Pleasure. He placed His Affection upon me as well, looked upon me with Favour. When I was a child, who fed me and guided me? He did.
Once I too was a lover of His Entity and Essence. If then that mighty Ocean of His Generosity rejected me, so what? When the heart is separated from what it once loved, then it learns to value the days where there was union.’
تا دهد جان را فراقش گوشمال
جان بداند قدر ايام وصال
When the separation from Him softly reproaches, then one is nostalgic for days passed.
Whether it was “kufr,” refusal or whether it was “imaan,” believing, both were made by that Power and both belong to Him.”
Hazrat Amir Muawaia (ratu) remained unmoved. “What you say is true but you have no part in it anymore. You misguided countless before me. You are fire, yet you expect me to believe you will not burn me? Who has not been deceived by you?
Because of your cunning, the nation of Nuh (as) is still burning in regret. You caused the destruction of the nation of A’ad, drowning them in punishment and grief. The people of Lut (as) were stoned because of you.
You have created countless trials for Mankind. Firaoun, the philosopher, scholarly, his powers to reflect were blinded by you. Abu Lahab became ignorant because of you. Abul Hikm was rendered Abu Jahal because of you. You are the ocean of deceit, people but a drop. Answer truthfully. Why would you wake me to pray?”
Iblis replied, “Oh man of despair! You do not accept the truth despite a 100 arguments. My fault is only that one bad deed has made me renowned for sinfulness. The truth is that if you had missed your prayer, nothing of the world would have remained of value before your eyes.
Tears of pain and loss would have been shed. Such crying, this softness of the heart, this intense pain and sadness, would have become the reward of a 100 prayers. I did not want you to let out the sigh that would gain you the deep appreciation of Allah.
Remember the man who arrived at the Mosque late and was told by the congregation leaving it that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) had already said the last “salam.” The young man sighed so deeply, the sound of it shook the listeners’ hearts.
One of them said to him, ‘Give me your sigh and take the blessing of my prayer.’
The man accepted his namaz and presented his sigh to me in turn. The sigh was filled with such humility and submission, the one who traded his prayer for it attained a higher rank and more. A voice of the Unseen said to him in a dream, ‘In your trade, you have received the best of life, so rejoice!’
Your fear, O Amir, of The Divine and my envy are the reason I woke you. I woke you from the fear that your cries of repentance would burn me with jealousy. I am the envier of Mankind. I can never want anything good for them. In this envy I did what I did. I am the enemy of humans. How can I want that any benefit comes to them?”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) listened to his words then said to Iblis, “Now you have told the truth, O thief. In reality, you do not want that I humbly plead before my Lord with sincerity, that I weep tears of regret and repentance because the rank of that sighing and distress is more dear to Allah than anything else.”
ﮐﮧ ﺑﺮﺍﺑﺮ می ﮐﻨﺪ ﺷﺎﮦ ﻣﺠﯿﺪ
ﺍﺷﮏ ﺭﺍ ﺩﺭ ﻭﺯﻥ ﺑﺎ ﺧﻮﻥ ﺷﮩﯿﺪ
In equal regard holds The Almighty,
the tears of the sinner, repentant, and the blood of the martyr.
Now the story of the man who prayed for 500 years revealed another layer. It was no wonder Iblis didn’t care about prayers offered endlessly. For so many they became the cause of smugness. But repentance, he would give anything to prevent a human being from admitting fault or shedding tears over wrongdoing before God. That is what he was really envious of because he knew he would never do that himself.
But both the zahir and batin are essential for living in the world.
Maulana Rum (ra) says that without the zahir there is no “shariat,” the laws of Jurisprudence and the world is useless. Prayer and fasting are overt practices to express love for God and deemed essential. For even those already friends engage in the giving of gifts to express the friendship and deepen it. Hidden love is revealed through the giving of gifts.
And as Uzair says in one of his lectures on the verse of the purpose of creation, our presentation begins from before the break of dawn at Fajr to the darkness of the night at Isha. All worldly activity, be it working, eating, sleeping, is interrupted again and again to make that appearance before God.
It was the first time in my life I began to think; if my appearance became one of a gift from my end, as flawed and distracted as it may be, if I thought of it as Maulana says, as my gift of love, before my Lord, what effect would that have on my essence?
I am a giver of gifts. I have turned hearts that were entirely indifferent towards me through that giving, most easily when the gifts were in the form of my words. If my prayer became a gift, what would happen then?
Whilst in Karachi, I worked on refining the translation of the narration and the kalam for my video with Qari Sahib. For all my other videos the narration had been from one Friend of God, the poetry another. This time both were by Maulana Rum (ra). And why not? Who else had written something that was called by scholars of Islam, the Quran in Farsi, as his Masnavi was.
The video started with a verse on Allah marking His Hand as the hand of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The ayat was revealed in the incident of the Suleh Hudaibiah.
ۚإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ يَدُ ٱللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ
Indeed those who pledge allegiance to you, O Beloved (peace be upon you), actually pledge allegiance to Allah.
Allah’s Hand is placed over theirs.
Surah Al-Fath, Verse 10
The narration I had chosen referenced the verse as well. Maulana had written several couplets on the instances in the Quran where Allah had said that His Beloved’s (peace be upon him) hand was in fact his own. I share just one below, the case of the throwing of the dust:
وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَىٰ وَلِيُبْلِيَ
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْهُ بَلَاءً حَسَنًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
And when you threw (a handful of dust), it was not your act, but Allah's (act), in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself.
For verily, Allah is He Who hears and knows (all things).
Surah Al-Anfal, Verse 17
But Allah doesn’t have a hand. He is Nur, Light. Yet the words are making His Beloved’s acts His Own as one and the same and Maulana (ra) uses the words Ma Ramayta Id Ramayta in his Masnavi on 15 different occasions.
ما رمیت اذ رمیت احمد بدست
دیدن او دیدن خالق شدست
“When he threw, it was if Allah threw” with the hand of Ahmed,
Seeing Him is the same as the Seeing of God.
It was then that I wondered what Uzair had said about Maulana Rum (ra). I had not heard him speak about him in an entire lecture myself. Upon searching, I found a short 15 minute piece by him on Maulana from 2019. And I can’t say my heart didn’t miss a beat when he started his talk with exactly the same verse that began my video.
Uzair: “Inspired by this performance (that preceded his speech), I want to say something about the relationship between the Spiritual Master and the disciple as I have found it to relate to the Masnavi for myself. And that is why I chose this verse to begin.
'Indeed those who pledge allegiance to you, O Beloved (peace be upon you), actually pledge allegiance to Allah.
Allah’s Hand is placed over theirs.'
The first 18 couplets of the Masnavi are also called the foreword. And the first couplet. which you might be familiar with, is this:
کند بشنو این نی چون شکایت می
کند از جدائی ها حکایت می
Hearken to this reed forlorn, breathing, even since 'twas torn
From its rushy bed, a strain of impassioned love and pain.
And the 18th couplet is:
محرم این هوش جز بےھوش نیست
مر زبان را مشتری جز گوش نیست
No one knows the secret of this except the lover.
It is a special language only certain ears can hear.
In the first couplet Rumi says the neh, the reed, wants to say something, it wants to express something. And in the 18th he says, the only one who knows this consciousness is the one who is himself unconscious, as only the lover is.
When the Sufis discuss these beginning verses in their inner circles, they say the first letter “ba” in the first word “bishnu” is the “ba e Bismillah,” In the Name of Allah! And the letter “meem” in the 18th in the first word “mahram” is the Muhammadan Reality. So it is the journey from Allah to His Beloved (peace be upon him).
In those same 18 verses, Maulana describes amazingly the seven stations of Man which must be explored. The first is that of a person who is worldly, who is in fact living their life like an animal. From there he travels and reaches the stage where a teacher, a guide, takes his hand so that he moves from the animal kingdom towards an awakening. This is the second station.
From the awakening he moves to the third station of" ishq," love. Then from love he reaches towards “khuloos,” sincerity. From sincerity he moves to land in “qata,’” where he becomes cut off from worldliness and all things material. And then there is the 7th station which is the “maqam e tahhur”, the state of bewilderment, where the love reaches perfection, completion.”
Needless to say I was surprised to learn that the second stage was the connection with a Spiritual Master. I thought that was something that came in the end sometime. Those of us who were made disciples at a young age by our family, sometimes only as a result of their sheer insistence, suddenly appeared lucky. Without knowing it we at least arrived at the doorstep of stage two, even if sometimes we deprived our own selves by refusing to enter it willingly.
Uzair: “I am choosing to speak on these 18 verses that can be explored any number of ways. Although as a Qadri I can be dry,” he smiled, “for a change I am choosing the emotional approach. Hence the verse:
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ يَدُ ٱللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ ۚ
Indeed those who pledge allegiance to you (O Beloved), actually pledge allegiance to Allah.
Allah’s Hand is placed over theirs.
Surah Al-Fath, Verse 10
It is the incident of Suleh Hudaibiah when some of the Companions are upset as to why the truce from their end was being made with such accommodations that favoured the infidels. Why was such an agreement being signed? So Huzoor (saw) is sitting under a tree and he says, “Take a bay’at, a pledge of alliegiance, on my hand.”
And the Companions do so saying that they will never turn their backs on him, they will never leave him, they will never betray him. Come death or anything else. Allah is so pleased by this promise they make to His Beloved that the verse is revealed upon his heart; “Those who have made this pledge to you” and “innama,” without going into grammar deeply, means “only and only” and “in reality” or “in actuality,” they have pledged their allegiance to God and not to you and it was His Hand upon theirs and not your own.
Hazrat Shahubuddin Suhrawardy (ra) says for in his tafseer of the instance that Allah is not found by those who search for Him. He is a non-material Being. But the “bay’at,” a pledge of allegiance to a Spiritual Master, is a thing that if you take it, you can find the Hand of God.”
Subhan Allah!
“It’s a very subtle reference. That is why these people are iconic. He is saying that you can fast and pray and perform Haj but you will not find Allah’s Hand. But if you give your hand in the hand of the one chosen by Him, you will place your hand in His Hand.”
At this point Uzair quoted a hadith:
“Although authentic, it is not commonly related and you will see why.
ومَن مات وليس في عُنُقِه بَيْعَةٌ مات مِيتَةً جاهليَّةً
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever dies without a “bay’at” around his neck, dies a death having known nothing.”
The words reminded me of a story from the Masnavi about the instruction given to Imam Ali (ratu) by Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him). I had translated an entire section of it in “The Softest Heart.” As I read it, I decided to translate the rest of it.
“The advice from Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) to Hazrat Ali (ratu) that every man seeks closeness to Allah through some form of obedience. And that he should seek His Closeness through the company of the wise and special friend of His so that he reaches his goal quickly and leave all others behind.
Continued at www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/50819754552/in/datepos...