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The great mountains of Saudi Arabia in Tabuk Region. This valley is surrounded by high mountains peaks, rocky edges of wonderful shapes, carved by water, sand and air, forming beautiful columns.
The region has history of past civilization including Prophet Moses, Prophet Shuaib and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The mountains were carved by then civilization to create homes with beautiful architecture and design.
The Tabuk region is rich in antiquities and archeological sites.
Hundreds of Pilgrims are going up on a two hours climb to Jabal al-Nour or "The Mountain of Light", or "Hill of Illumination" near Makkah which houses the famed Ghar-E-Hira or Hira cave. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) spent a great deal of time in the cave meditating and he had received his first revelation through the archangel Gabriel inside this cave from Almighty Allah.
It is better to sit alone than in company with the bad; and it is better still to sit with the good than alone. It is better to speak to a seeker of knowledge than to remain silent; but silence is better than idle words.
---Prophet Muhammad PBUH
Madinah is the resting place for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Millions of Muslims visit this place every year.
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On 7 The July the Shias all over celebrated 13 Rajjab or the birthday of Hazrat Imam Ai , also known as Willadat e Imam Ali.
Background of Imam Ali.
www.ezsoftech.com/stories/infallible2.asp
On the 13th of the month of Rajab, twenty-three years before the migration of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) a child was born in the family of Abu Talib, the light of whom kindled the whole World. Kunaab Mecci narrates about his birth: "We and Abbas (Ibne Abdul Mutalib) were sitting together when suddenly we saw Fatima bint-e-Asad moving towards the Kaabah in the condition having delivery pain and saying "Oh God I have faith in you and the Prophet (i.e., Abraham) who by your command laid the foundation of this house. O God! I swear you by the same Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) and swear you by the child in my womb make this birth comfortable and easy for me."
This was the time when all of us saw with our own eyes that the wall of Kaabah broke apart and Fatima bint-e-Asad entered into the Kaabah. Then the wall again united.
We ran terrified and trembling to our houses to send our women into the Kaabah for the help and assistance of Fatima bint-e-Asad. We did our best but the door did not open. This event surprised all the people of Makkah.
The women of Makkah were anxiously counting moments to meet Fatima bint-e-Asad till the time she came out of the Kaabah along with a beautiful baby, saying, "God has chosen me from among the ladies of Makkah and He made me His guest in His house and gave me meals and fruits of the heaven to eat.
The ladies who were surrounding her in the form of a circle and escorting her to her home asked her, "What name have you given to this child?"
Fatima bint-e-Asad said: "When I was in the Kaabah, I heard a hidden voice call," Name this child "ALI".
Yes! We are talking about Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) the pious man whose childhood and infancy period lasted in such a pure and chaste way that he himself stated in Nahjul Balagha, "The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) used to pick me in his lap and embrace me and chew the food and put it into my mouth."
Early youth of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS):
Ali ibn Abu Talib describes this enlightening period of his age as under: The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) used to go to the Cave of Hira but nobody except he (pbuh) and I did know about it. At the time when the religion of Islam had not yet reached the homes, he (pbuh) and his wife Khatijah (SA) were the only Muslims. I was the next person to them who saw the light of revelation and prophet hood and smelled the fragrance of the Prophet hood.
When the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) of Islam was ordered by God to invite his family members to embrace Islam. Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) according to the advice of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) invited forty persons of the Prophet's family at his home. Although the food was quite little but all of them ate fully well. After the meal was over the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) spoke to those present saying, "Oh the sons of Abdul Mutalib, God has ordered me to invite you to embrace Islam and get you introduced to it."
Whosoever, having believed in my Prophet hood, promises to help and assist me shall be my brother, deputy and successor and my caliph.
He (pbuh) repeated this sentence thrice but no one except "Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS)" gave a positive response. As many times as the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) addressed the persons present, nobody except Imam Ali (AS) answered. Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) was rising again and again to his feet and promising help to him and announcing his faith.
This is the very reason why the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said: "This Ali, is my brother and successor listen and lend ears to what he says and obey his orders." When Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) entered from his early youth into the phase of puberty, the part of age when all the human energies and powers are strong and firm, even in this part of the life he remained closely associated to the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) like a flying moth which moves around the Candle. He defended Islam and the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) with his strong, energetic arms.
When the enemy besieged and surrounded the Muslims in the battle of Hunain and they abandoned and left behind the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) running away for their lives, it was only and only Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) who defended and saved the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) and made the enemies retreat and take to their heals.
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) killed Marhab the chief of army of Jews in the Khyber battle, whose power and bravery was making everybody tremble but Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) cut him into two and pulled apart the gate of the Khyber fort which used to be opened and closed by twenty men together. Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) used it as a bridge over the trench for the Islamic army to cross over to the Khyber fort. Many such events are the specimens and evidences about the faith, and spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS).
Self-Sacrifice and Devotion of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS):
There is no doubt to it that every body loves his soul and very rarely gets ready to sacrifice it for another person but because of the fact that Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) loved the soul of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) even more than his own one, he got prepared to lay his life for him.
The event takes shape like this. When the polytheists saw that they are in danger, they jointly made a firm determination to take the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) by surprise and martyr him. So all of them gathered in "Dar un Nadva" and choose one person from each family so that every tribe gets involved in getting Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) killed and then no one could take the revenge of him.
The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) had come to know about this conspiracy through revelation. God ordered him (pbuh) to migrate from Makkah in the darkness of the night. The Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) needed someone, prepared to sacrifice his life and must be a trustworthy secret holder.
Hence, there was no one else except Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) in whom he confided, and told him "God has informed me that the infidels will break through the house to kill me so today you sleep on my bed." Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) smilingly accepted it, because he (as) knew that the life of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) would be saved by his action. In fact, Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) used to say later that the best sleep he had ever had was on that night (Shab-e-Hijrat).
Then the time came when the darkness of the night covered everything and Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) was sleeping on the Prophet's (pbuh) bed calmly and peacefully and the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) came out of his house and started proceeding towards the Cave of Saur with Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA). The infidels besieged the house and got prepared with their swords and spears to attack it. The sooner they were instructed to make it, they break through the house rushing with naked swords. But when they found Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) laying on the bed of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) they immediately moved out of the house desperate and astonished, and sent a few horsemen to search the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). But not very long afterwards they too returned defeated and hopeless.
Allah liked this action of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) so much that HE revealed this verse in the Holy Quran: "And among men is he who sells his NAFS (self) in exchange for the pleasure of Allah..." (Surah 2: Baqarah / Verse 207)
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) and Holy War:
Islam is the religion of peace and tranquility and does not like killing, plundering, and bloodshed. But if some one kills another without any reason then Islam has strong punishment to deal with him.
Of course, if an enemy attacks the Muslims then by the standards of wits, common sense, and religious law, self defense which as a form of Jihad/Jehad becomes essential and indispensable.
All the battles of the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) in which Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) fought armed and truthfully were defensive battles.
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) was such a brave, faithful, holy warrior who never got frustrated and upset and tired of the fighting and battles. He was afraid of no one except God. He used to say "By God if I see that on one side is the truth and on the other side all the rest of the people I, without caring and paying heed to those reproaching me, will fight all alone with my sword, on the way and path of the right, against them.
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib's (AS) way or Training:
The city of Kufa was the capital of the Islamic Government. People from all over the World used to gather at that point to get the benefit of knowledge and learning from that great Islamic University.
One of those days two men came across each other in the vicinity of the city one of them was Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) and the other was a Christian who did not recognize him. The Christian man was moving towards the suburban area of Kufa, where as, Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) was on his way to Kufa.
They mutually agreed to accompany each other for a while, talking to each other, so that they do not get tired.
They reached a point where two ways split out, so that each one wanted to move on one of those two different roads. The Christian bade Farwell and went on his way but he observed that his Muslim companion, whose way was on the opposite side, was moving towards him. So he stopped and questioned him, "Don't you want to go to Kufa?"
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) said, "Yes". The Christian man said, "Then why are you coming towards this direction?"
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) replied, "I wish to accompany you to a certain length of distance because the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said, "when two persons are together on a way (journey companions) they get a right over each other."
"Now that you have got a right upon me, I go along with you up to a certain distance so that I must pay you (discharge) that right of yours in this world. Then I will part off on my own way." The Christian man was much pleased and moved by this humanly attitude and conduct and he liked his talk and said, "It is befitting that I should also embrace Islam which has such a culture and students."
His amazement and astonishment was only too enhanced when he discovered that his travel companion is Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS), the ruler of Islam. So he immediately accepted and embraced Islam at his hand. Self-preservation of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS) :
Sayings of Imam Ali
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This picture was shot two years back outside my old workplace at Bandra , and if you see Marziya you see the passion of a street photographer even without a camera and I never even now ever considered the camera an instrument that takes pictures , Marziya shot the Awakener without the camera..
The Awakeners are Muslim beggars but during Ramzan they do this additional service of waking people for the Holy Fast..a superlative service for those poor needy living in the slums tenements in narrow dingy lanes and pigeon holed cubicles.
I must also add that it is not necessary all those who do this sublime job are beggars there are those who do it voluntarily as service to Muslim society, they get paid on Thursdays or on the eve of Ramzan Eid .. people give them generously I also give them as their contribution is immense and they are the beauty of Ramzan..
Their greatest enemy are the stray dogs that hate strangers waking them up from their sleep so they charge at these Awakeners , but the stick in their hands keeps evil canine intentions at bay.
Most of the hafiz kazi lower level Koran teachers of kids , are totally occupied during Ramzan , housing societies invite them to lead the namaz and take care of the roza proceedings.
As I am barefeet and not heavily decked I go to town and break fast with the beggar community , it is a moment snatched from a moment in eternity and I am crying as I write this their frugality hits me hard and not to belittle them , I hand them quietly some money after I have broken my fast.. for me this is the poetic life lasting moment in Islam and as Ramzan.
And I have in all humility captured Ramzan through a poets eyes , human eyes shown you places where angels dare to tread and I might if possible go to Lucky Compund at Byculla to break fast with the hijras..
Of late because of the advent of Ramzan and other personal reasons of pain I kept the hijra profile of my blogs on low key, but here I must add my dear friend Khushi the prettiest most beautiful transgender in the world , sends me her Ramzan message , and keeps all the fast she is a Namazi , she does charity and for me she is a devout Muslim..
I am not God to judge anyone for their life's chosen path, I know of hijra prostitutes in the red light area that stop their business for a month to be one with God.. and this is what I try to show with or without pictures as the humanity of a blog.
And those dear Hindu friends who fast along with us..their support solidifies my own faith , and the messages I received from all of them I bow my head and thank them.
And today is my first fast , and it is the first fast of all us Mumbaikars and it is a great start a great dawn of hope harmony brotherhood..
And I add words of my dear friend Hassan Shirazi he just sent them in my inbox at Facebook
Hassan S Shirazi
Firoze bhai - i tell my sons and even posted here - Pehle Insaan ban phir ban jaa Muslamaan - kya pata neik amal tuje Ek Momin banaa de ... we need to be human first - no hindu no muslim - only humanity then later muslim and who know how sinful we are as to become a MOMIN - sirf shia bolne se shia nahi banta hai - aur Imam Ali (AS) is not ameer ul Shia - but Ameer Ul Momineen .... Prophet (PBUH) came as rehmat ul Aleemeem not for sunni nor shia nor for wahabbis - Islam came for sake of Humanity then those who followed it are Muslim - height to reach the peak is MOMIN
Jazakallah.
Rose Dedicated to Prophet Muhammad [pbuh]
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1. Sheikh Zaid Mosque2, 2. Sufi dervish dance, 3. Mosque Sultan Ahmed L, 4. Pakistan Monument - Islamabad, 5. Dhobhi Ghat, 6. Famous potter of Saidpur Village - Islamabad, 7. Winter girl, 8. Waranda before main prayer hall,
9. Statue at Wincor Nixdorf, 10. Eid Card, 11. Chowkandi tombs, 12. Qurtaba masjid, 13. Mubarak Village, 14. After succesful sale, 15. Quran printed by Raza Shah Pehalvi, 16. Hand written Quran,
17. Quicksand, 18. Hindu Temple at Hingol, 19. Hingol National Park, 20. Calligraphy 1, 21. Sea view Karachi, 22. Badshahi Masjid Lahore, 23. 400 years old Mosque of Kalohra dynesty (WIDE), 24. 400 years old Mosque of Kalohra dynesty,
25. Hand written book, 26. Terrorists of Pakistan, 27. Butterfly, 28. Berbil, 29. An old Sindhi of Umerkot, 30. in safe hands, 31. Muhammad (PBUH) Salallaho alihi wasalem, 32. Habib Bank plaza,
33. Monument in Jeddah, 34. Jannat ul baqeeh - Grave of Bibi Fatima (Razi Allah Taala Anhu), 35. Bab-e-Jibrael (AS), 36. Masjid Nabawi Night shot, 37. BaitUllah - the House of Allah, 38. Muhammad (PBUH), 39. Masjid, Gawalmandi, Lahore, 40. Door3 Lokwirsa Islamabad,
41. Snake charmer and dancing cobra, 42. Islamia mosque pshawer2, 43. Bismillah, 44. La Ilaha Ilah, 45. Mahabat Khan Mosque Inside veiw of waranda, 46. King Fail Mosque, Islamabad, 47. Spider man, 48. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) mosque,
49. Manna, 50. Chowkandi grave yard, 51. Chowkandi Family Grave, 52. Brownie the Cat, 53. FTC Bldg Karachi, 54. A Monoment of 99 Names of Allah in Karachi, 55. Hasan
It was a great coincidence to celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and Christmas Eve at the same day .
I just wanna say, as a Muslim, Merry Christmas to all Christians. I wish the best for all of you. Salaam (peace).
Madina, Saudi Arabia.
This was the actual sky (it was much better over there I am sure)..no PS except lil tweaking of levels!!
Located inside the Grand Mosque in Madinha, Saudi Arabia, the prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) is buried under the middle green sign.
The grave on the far right third green sign is empty and is said to been reserved for Prophet Isha (Jesus) whom Muslims believe will return to earth for the final battle with Satan on the last day of earths existence and immediately before the day of Judgement.
This is frustratingly not known by many Christians, that Muslims are fully devoted to Prophet Jesus, honour his status and love him as a prophet with the utmost respect.
Extremists from both Christianity and Islam conveniently forget this fact and so much blood has been spilt and so many lives lost since the middle ages and the days of the Christian crusades all the way to the modern day.
I find it incredibly frustrating, sad and tragic that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have 99% in common, but its the 1% difference that has caused so much unnecessary pain and conflict through the centuries.
“Seek knowledge from cradle to the grave.”prophet (ﷺ)
May Allah gives all of us the ability to adopt the teachings of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) in our lives and follow his footprints with all faith. ! AMEEN
Kashmiri muslims offer prayers to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims gathered at the Hazratbal shrine, which houses a relic believed to be a hair from the beard of the Prophet, to offer prayers on his birth anniversary. (Photo/Burhaan Kinu)
A most ancient route. The Kings' Highway winds its way through the different ecological zones of the country, including forested highlands, open farmland plateaus, deep ravines, the edge of the eastern desert, and the warm tropical Gulf of Aqaba.
Lining both sides of this 335 kilometer (208 miles) thoroughfare is a rich chain of archaeological sites that reads like an index of ancient history and a biblical gazetteer -- prehistoric villages from the Stone Age, biblical towns from the Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom, Crusader Castles, some of the finest early Christian Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East, a Roman-Herodian fortress, several Nabataean temples, two major Roman fortresses, early Islamic towns, and the rock-cut Nabataean capital of Petra.
First mentioned by name in the Bible (Numbers 20:17 and 21:22), the Kings' Highway was the route that Moses (pbuh) wished to follow as he led his people north through the land of Edom, which is in southern Jordan.
The name may, however, derive from the even earlier episode recounted in Genesis 14, when an alliance of "4 kings from the north" marched their troops along this route to do battle against the 5 kings of the Cities of the Plain, including the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The invading monarchs captured Lot, Abraham's nephew (pbut), before retreating, only to be chased and overpowered near Damascus by Abraham, who rescued Lot before continuing his mission. This may have happened around 5000 years ago.
Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven
---Prophet Muhammad PBUH
Sahih al-Bukhari : Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 38
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) Mosque in Madina, Saudi Arabia.
Canon A620: Hand held ... just before Maghrib (at dusk) prayers
Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) avoided war at all costs, he strove to bring about a peace agreement between Muslims and the Makkans.
After great efforts on his part, the non-Muslims agreed to the finalizing of a 10-year peace treaty, which was drafted and signed at Al-Hudaybiyyah.
E X P L O R E
Hundreds of thousands of Pilgrims gather at Mina near Makkah. The mammoth building complex in the background of the human ocean is the place where stones are thrown towards three wide pillars inside the complex. This is an important ritual which the pilgrims perform at the later stages of Hajj signifying their defiance of the Devil. This symbolizes the trials experienced by Prophet Abraham (pbuh) while he was going to sacrifice his son as demanded by Allah. The Devil challenged him three times, and three times the Prophet Abraham (pbuh) refused. Each pillar marks the location of one of these refusals and stones are thrown for three consecutive days by the pilgrims
"I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful." It was asked, "Do they disbelieve in Allah?" (or are they ungrateful to Allah?) He replied, "They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say, 'I have never received any good from you."
---Prophet Muhammad PBUH
Sahih al-Bukhari 29
Book 2, Hadith 22
ASMA UR RASOOL,99 Names of HOLY PROPHET Mohammad ,99 Names of HOLY PROPHET PBUH, Madina,Madina Munawarah
The Secret of Kabba and the Golden Ratio
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اسرار مقدسة - الكعبة المشرفة
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The first man on earth - Prophet Adam (as) - first built the Kaaba. He (as) was told by Allah to build it "benath" Allah's throne, i.e. the throne of Allah is "above" the Kaba. However, the throne is symbolic in its nature as Allah is not a physical being that needs to rule from a throne. During time, the Kaba was destroyed and it was later re-built by the Prophets Ibrahim (as) and his son Ismail (as).
Before the time of prophet Muhammad (pbuh), pagans worshipped at Kaaba, as they used to have their idol gods within the Kaba) until prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his followers conquested Makkah in a peaceful manner without any blood shed. Since then it has since been a place of worship for Muslims.
Muslims from all over the world face the Kaba when they pray their five daily prayers. Also, many travel to Makkah for the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) or the Hajj (annual pilgrimage). The Hajj is compulsory on every Muslim to do once in their lifetime, if he or she have the financial and medical means for it. One of the rites of the pilgrimage is tawaf - to circumambulate the Kaba counter clock wise. One tawaf is 7 rounds, and is one of the two main rituals of the Umrah.
Mount Arafat or Mount Arafah (Arabic: جبل عرفات transliterated Jabal ‘Arafāt) is a granite hill east of Makkah in the plain of Arafat. It is also known as the Mount of Mercy (Jabal ar-Rahmah). The hill is the place where the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stood and delivered the Farewell Sermon to the Muslims who had accompanied him for the Hajj Pilgrimage towards the end of his life. It reaches about 70 m in height.
The greatest Jihad is to battle your own soul. To fight the evil within yourself.
---Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
The Day of Ashura is on the tenth day of the month of Muharram in the Islamic Calendar.
It is commemorated by Muslims as a day of mourning of the martyrdom of Hazrat Husayn (May allah be pleased with him) the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH ( in AHt: October 10, 680 CE). The massacre of Hazrat Husayn (May allah be pleased with him) with small group of his companions and family members had great impact on the religious conscience of Muslims. Especially Shia Muslims have ever remembered it with sorrow and passion. Mourning for the Prophet's (pbuh) grand son and his companions began almost immediately after the Battle of Karbala, by his survivor relatives and supporters and continued till to date all over the Muslim world.
In almost all the Muslim majority countries including Bangladesh and even in India Ashura is a national holiday. I shot the moment in front of Hussaini Dalan (the main Imamabara or house of Imams of Shia Muslims) in the old part of Dhaka where people from all walks of life gathered to commemorate the very special day.
The road along the Lahore canal, from the Mall to Jail Road, was named after Goethe; but the road across the canal was dedicated to Annemarie Schimmel. The twin roads are a befitting symbol of Pakistan’s special relationship with Germany created by Pakistan’s national poet during his academic sojourn there in the beginning of the 20th century. Schimmel used to say, laughingly: “Pakistan didn’t even wait for me to die before naming a road after me.”
The first disciple of Rumi in our times was Allama Iqbal. In his Persian magnum opus “Javidnamah,” Rumi was his Virgil. Annemarie Schimmel, the greatest living authority on Islamic culture and civilization who passed away in February, loved Iqbal and Rumi with equal intensity.
When she came to Lahore in 1996 to deliver a lecture on “Islam and the West” at the Goethe Institute, she was hardly in her room at Hotel Avari for 10 minutes when the phone bell rang and someone requested her for a meeting. She said she was booked for every hour of the day until June 1997, which included her Iqbal Lecture in London.
She had delivered a lecture on Rahman Baba in Peshawar in Pashtu, which, together with Sindhi, she thought more difficult than her first love, Turkish. (Linguists are agreed that Turkish is one of the most difficult languages to learn.) She loved Sindh, admired its intellectuals, tolerant culture, and its great poet Shah Abdul Latif on whom she wrote a book. She remembered fondly Sindh’s foremost intellectual, Allama I. I. Kazi and his disciple Pir Hisamuddin Rashdi, and visited the Makli tombs many times. Sitting in a café in Bonn once, journalist Tony Rosini told me in a whisper that she wanted to be buried at Makli.
In 1982, she had requested the government of Pakistan to name a road after Goethe, the German national poet that Iqbal admired, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary. But Pakistan went one better. The road along the Lahore canal, from the Mall to Jail Road, was named after Goethe; but the road across the canal was dedicated to Annemarie Schimmel. She was in her mid eighties, in good health, with a mind whose clarity was astounding.
She was recognized by the Islamic world for her knowledge of Islamic civilization. When she went to Egypt lecturing in Arabic about classical Arab poetry, she was received by President Hosni Mubarak. She lectured in Yemen, Syria and Morocco, talking about a heritage that most Arabs have forgotten. In Tunis, she introduced the revivalist thought of Allama Iqbal; in Teheran, she spoke in Persian about the love of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Rumi, disabusing today’s revolutionary Islamists of the misconceptions made current about the great Sufis of the past. She was in Uzbekistan talking to the Uzbeks about their great Muslim heritage. “If an Uzbek speaks slowly I can understand him, and I can answer in Osmanli,” she used to say.
Her first love was Pakistan and Pakistan responded to her in equal measure. She fondly remembered the President of the National Bank of Pakistan, Mumtaz Hassan, the great teacher of philosophy M. M. Sharif, the historian S. M. Ikram, the scholar Khalifa Abdul Hakim and Pir Hisamuddin Rashdi, who welcomed her again and again to Pakistan when she was young. She recalled her Urdu lecture on Iqbal in Government College Lahore in 1963 on the invitation of Bazm-e-Iqbal. Befittingly, Allama Iqbal’s son, Dr. Javid Iqbal, is a devotee who often visited her at her residence on Lennestrasse in Bonn. When national awards were set up, she received the highest of them, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam.
She was so completely at ease with her subject that she hardly realized that she was working so hard, teaching at Bonn University since 1961, and at Harvard University since 1970. The Islamic world did not ignore her work. She received the First Class Award for Art and Science from Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak, and a Gold Medal from Turkey for her services to Turkish cultural heritage. Austria gave her the prestigious Hammar-Purgstall prize; Los Angeles had given her the Della Vida award for Excellence in Islamic Studies; Germany bestowed upon her the famous Ruecart Medal and Voss Medal for Translation; and the Union of German Publishers recently gave her their highest Peace Prize which she treasured. There are many other German awards that celebrated her work in the promotion of understanding between religions.
Annemarie Schimmel was born in Erfurt, a town that fell to East Germany after the Second World War, in the family of a civil servant who greatly loved poetry and philosophy. She recalled reading the German classics at home, including the poetry of Rilke. Her interest in the Orient grew out of the classical trend of treating oriental themes in German poetry and drama. When she was seven, her parents already knew she was a special child on whom normal laws of upbringing couldn’t be applied. At 15, she was able to get hold of a teacher of Arabic who had a taste in Arabic classical poetry. Her second love was Turkish which she learned before she went to the university.
Her subject led her to Persian, which she learned enough to be smitten by the poetry of Rumi. She regretted that she didn’t learn English well since she was busy passing two classes in a term. (She was an extremely articulate speaker in English.) One is not surprised that when she finally finished her doctorate, she was only 19, a German record at a time when women were not encouraged in higher learning. (She once remarked that the bias still existed because she was not given a chair at the University of Bonn.) The topic of her Ph.D. dissertation was “Position of Caliph and Qazi in Mameluke Egypt.” She recalled that her father was killed four days before the war came to an end, and while she studied, she had to do six months of forced labour and work six days a week in a factory. After the war, she went to West Germany, interpreting and translating in Turkish for the Foreign Office and working on her thesis for teaching. Marburg University took her in as a professor of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, history of Islamic art and religion after her graduation when she was only 23!
In 1949, she did another Ph.D. in history of religions and went to Sweden to pursue theological and oriental studies for two months. In 1952, she was able to travel in Turkey, keen to visit Konia where her “murshid” Jalauddin Rumi lay buried. She said that Konia was a sleepy little town where the genius of Rumi was easily invoked. In 1953, she was again at Ankara University lecturing on Islamic art and religion in Turkish. The university offered her, a non-Muslim, the chair of history of religion and she stayed there for five years, writing her books in Turkish, including a Turkish version of Allama Iqbal’s “Javidnamah.” She had written hundreds of books and papers as far apart in subject matter as the mystery of numbers in Arabic, Arabic Names and Persian Sufi poet Qurat-ul-Ain Tahira who she called the first Muslim feminist. Her first book to be known in Pakistan was “Gabriel’s Wing” but it was published in Holland and was not properly distributed in Pakistan.
It is surprising that Pakistani publishers have not tried to get the publishing rights of her great books like “Islam in the Indian Subcontinent” printed 20 years ago, and others like “Deciphering the Science of God” and “Mystery of Numbers” and “Gifford Lectures on Islam.” She translated hundreds of Islamic classics, as is manifest from the awards she received. Her work in German will probably take a long time in reaching the international audience (for instance her beautifully produced work on imagery in Persian poetry), but what she published in English is lying with such obscure publishers in Europe and the United States that it has no way of reaching the Pakistani market.
She remained a recluse in matters of publishing; her publishers seldom wrote to her because of bad marketing. “I don’t care that I haven’t made money from my books; I have enough to live on,” she used to say thoughtfully. Her house in Lennestrasse was full of rare manuscripts on Islam but she gradually began to give them away to institutions, like Bonn University, as she thought they would take care of them and make good use of them.
Annemarie Schimmel was not into the politics of orientology as most of us who are busy thinking about civilizational conflict are inclined to think. While she considered Edward Said’s critique of Western orientalism justified, she believed it was misapplied to German and Russian orientology. Her interest in Islam sprang from her great reverence for its intellectual and spiritual genius. She was a “practicing” scholar who admired Massignon and was deeply involved in the philosophical aspects of the religion of Islam. She believed that Iqbal was the only Muslim genius who responded intellectually to Goethe’s “West-Eastern Divan.” She was the only western intellectual who responded to the true spirit of Islam. Her poems in German and English were published in two volumes and proved that her interest was not merely restricted to bloodless research. She was of no use to those who study a religion only to find fault with it. She has passed away but her work on and love for Islam will continue to illuminate the true path.
30 May 2003
Keep yourself far from envy; because it eats up and takes away good actions, like a fire eats up and burn woods.
---Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
This shot was taken about 4 KM out of my village in pakistan. I find out that this pic was on one of Grave as people Love God (ALLAH) and his massanger Muhammad (PBUH) and his family members Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hussain. this hand thing is sign of their love
When two persons are together, two of them must not whisper to each other, without letting the third hear; because it would hurt him.
---Prophet Muhammad PBUH
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: Don't look to those above you but to those below you as it is best for you to remember God's favors on you.
A beautiful picture of Prophet Muhammd (PBUH)'s Dome in Masjid-e-Nabwi Madina Shareef, on a clear sunny day.
main baaaz dafa humain patah nahi chalta kay hum tareeki (andharay) main say bahir ahyea hain ya tareeki main dakhil howay hain. Andheray main simpt (direction) ka patah nahi chalta magar asman or zameen ka patah zaroor chal jata hai bulkay har haal main chalta hai.
Sir uthanay per asman he hota hai, nazar ayea ya na ayea. Sir jhukanay per zameen he hoti hai dekhayee day ya na day.
Magar......
.................Zindagi main safar kernay kay leya sirf char simtoon (directions) he ki zarooret hoti hai. *da'in*, *Ba'in*, "agay", *peechay*.
paanchvi simt pairoon kay neechay hoti hai. wahan zameen na ho to paataal ajata hai. pataal main poohanchanay kay baad kisi simt ki zarooret nahi rehti.
chati simt say say uper hoti hai. wahan jayea he nahi ja sakta. wahan ALLAH hota hai. Ankhoon say nazar na anay wala, magar dill ki dharkan, khoon ki her gardish, her anay janay walay saans, halaq say utarnay walay her nawalay kay saath mehsoos honay wala...
excerpt taken from Peer-e-Kamil (PBUH)
Umera Ahmed