ISLAM, IN THE LIMELIGHT
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST
MERCIFUL
BENEFITS OF RECITING SALAWAT UPON SAYYIDINNA RASULULLAH
(Sallallahu 'alahi Wasallam)
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Undoubtedly Allah and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet. O' you who believe! Send upon Him Blessings and salute Him with all respect.
(Al-Qur'an- 33:56)
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(1) The one who recites Salawat (Durood) once Allah sends ten blessings upon him, eradicates ten of his sins and inproves ten of his grades.
(Mishkat)
(2) On the Day of Judgement the nearest person to me, from amongst the people, would be the one who would have recited Salawat the most in this (mortal) world.
(Tirmidhi)
(3) (Truly) a miserly person is he who (when) heard my name being mentioned did not recite Salawat in my favour.
(Mishkat)
(4) You decorate your meetings by reciting salawat on me because your salawat would (turn out to) be the Divine Light for yourself on the "Day of Judgement."
(Jamih us-Sahih)
(5) Recite salawat on Friday in abundance because it is the "Day of presence of angels (for witness)." On this day Angels present themselves (in my court). And undoubtedly when any one from amongst you recites salawat in my favour then before he has finished his recitation of salawat in my favour, his salawat reaches my court.
(Jamih us-Sahih)
(6) In the magnificent night of Friday (i.e. the night between Thursday and Friday) and the luminous day of Friday recite salawat in my favour abundantly, because your recited salawat is presented to me (by the Angels).
(Jamih us-Sahih)
(7) Recite salawat on the day of "Friday" and the "Friday Night" (The night between Thursday and Friday) excessively because who-so-ever does that, I shall stand witness to him and would be his advocate on the "Day of Judgement."
(Jamih us-Sahih)
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May Allah Ta'ala give us the ability to recite salawat in abundance upon Sayyidinna Rasulullah (sallallahu 'alahi wasallam), so that we can attain his pleasure and achieve success in both, deen and dunya.
May Allah Ta'ala also bestow upon us his mercy, so that we can prove to be true followers of his most beloved Prophet (sallallahu 'alahi wasallam) by acting upon Qur'an and implementing the Sunnah in our communities.
Ameen!
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS:-
The Arabic word "Islam" means peace, submission and obedience. The
religion of the Islam is the complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance
of God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). A Muslim is one who
believes in God and strives for total reorganization of his life according to
His revealed guidance and the sayings of the Prophet. He also works for building
human society of the same basis. "Mohammedanism" is a misnomer for
Islam and offends its very spirit. The word "Allah" is the proper name
of God in Arabic. It is a unique term because it has no plural or feminine
gender.
CONTINUITY OF MESSAGE:-
Islam is not a new religion. It is in essence, the same message and guidance
that Allah revealed to all Prophets:
Say, we believe in Allah and that which has been revealed to us, and that which
was revealed to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes and that
which was given to Moses and Jesus and to other Prophets, from their Lord. We
make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit.(Qur'an 3:83).
The message which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) is Islam in its
comprehensive, complete and final form.
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
There are five pillars of Islam
1. The declaration of faith:- To bear witness that there is none worthy of
worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is his messenger to all human beings
till the Day of Judgment. The Prophet hood of Muhammad obliges the Muslims to
follow his exemplary life as a model.
2. Prayers:- Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah.
They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah and inspire man to a higher
morality. They purify the heart and prevent temptation towards wrong-doings and
evils.
3. Fasting the month of Ramadan:- The Muslims during the month of Ramadan not
only abstain from food drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset, but
also from evil intentions and desires. It teaches love, sincerity and devotion.
It develops a sound social conscience, patience, unselfishness and will-power.
4. Zakat :- To pay annually 2.5% of one's net saving on which a year has passed
as a religious duty and purifying sum to be spent on poorer sections of the
community.
5. Pilgrimage to Makkah:- It is to be performed once in a lifetime, if one can
afford it financially and physically.
Besides the pillars, every action which is done with the awareness, that it
fulfills the will of Allah is also considered an act of worship.
Islam enjoins the faith in the Oneness and Sovereignty of Allah, which makes man
aware of the meaningfulness of the Universe and of his place in it. This belief
frees him from all fears and superstitions by making him conscious of the
presence of the Almighty Allah and of man's obligation towards Him. This faith
must be expressed and tested in action. Faith alone is not enough. Belief in one
God requires that we look upon all humanity as family under the universal
Omnipotence of God- the Creator and Nourisher of all. Islam rejects the idea of
chosen people, making faith in God and good action the only way to heaven. Thus,
a direct relationship is established with God, without any intercessor.
MAN: THE FREE AGENT
Man is the highest creation of God. He is equipped with the highest of
potentialities. He is left relatively free in his will, action and choice. God
has shown him the right path, and the life of the Prophet Muhammad provides a
perfect example. Man's success and salvation lies in following both. Islam
teaches the sanctity of the human personality and confers equal rights upon all
without any distinction of race, gender, or color.
The law of God, enunciated in the Qur'an and exemplified in the life of Prophet,
is supreme in all cases. It applies equally to the highest and the lowest, the
prince and peasant, the ruler and the ruled.
QUR'AN AND HADITH
The Qur'an is the last revealed word of God and the basic source of Islamic
teachings and laws. The Qur'an deals with the bases of creeds, morality, history
of humanity, worship of knowledge, wisdom, God-man relationship, and human
relationship in all aspects. Comprehensive teachings on which, can be built
sound systems of social justice, economics, politics, legislation,
jurisprudence, law and international relations, are important contents of the
Holy Qur'an.
CONCEPT OF WORSHIP
Islam does not teach or accept mere ritualism. It emphasizes intention and action. To
worship God is to know Him and love Him to act upon His law in every aspect of life, to
enjoin goodness and forbid wrong- doing and oppression, to practice charity and
justice and to serve Him by serving mankind. The Qur'an presents this concept in
the following sublime manner:
It is not a righteousness that you turn your faces to the east or west but
righteousness is he who believes in god and the Last day and the Angels and the
Book and the Prophets; and gives his wealth of Love for Him to kinsfolk and to
orphans and the needy and the ware farer and to those who ask and to set slaves
free; and observes proper worship and pays the Zakah. And those who keep their
treaty when they make one, and the patient is tribulation and adversity and time
of stress; such are those who are sincere. Such are the God fearing.
ISLAMIC WAY LIFE OF LIFE
Islam provides definite guidelines for all peoples to follow in all walks of
life. The guidance it gives is comprehensive and includes the social, economic ,
political, moral and spiritual aspects of life. The Qur'an reminds man of the
purpose of his life on earth, of his duties and obligations towards himself, his
kith and kin, his community, his fellow human beings and his Creator. Man is
given fundamental guidelines about a purposeful life and then he is left with
the challenge of human existence before him so that he might put these high
ideals into practice. In Islam , man's life is a wholesome, integrated unit and
not a collection of fragmented, competitive parts. The scared and secular are
not separate parts of man: they are united in the nature of being human.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him) was born in the year 570 A.C in
the city of Makkah in Arabia. He came of a noble family: he received the first
revelation at the age of forty. As soon as he started preaching Islam , he and
his followers were persecuted and had to face severe hardships. He was
,therefore, commanded by God to migrate to Medina , another city in Arabia.
During a short span of 23 years he completed his mission of prophet hood and
died at the age of 63. He led a perfect life and set an example for all human
beings as his life was the embodiment of the Qur'anic teachings.
ISLAM'S RATIONAL APPEAL
Islam in its clear and direct way of expressing truth has a tremendous
amount of appeal for any seeker of knowledge. It is a solution for all the
problems of life. It is a guide towards a better and complete life glorifying ,
in all its phases, god the Almighty Creator and the Merciful nourisher
MUSLIM POPULATION AT A GLANCE (1975 Estimates)
Millions
Africa
.224.20
Asia
575.30
Europe
.20.00
North and South America
& Australia
.4.00
TOTAL *823.50
Number of countries with over 50%
Muslim population is 58.
· Now in view of the growth in population during nine years after 1975 and
world-wide trend of conversions to Islam, the Muslim population is believed to
have risen above one billion.
ISLAM - THE SOLUTION OF MODERN PROBLEMS
The Brotherhood of man: A major problem which modern man faces is that of
racism. The materially advanced nations can send man to the moon but they cannot
stop man from hating and fighting his fellow man. Islam , over the last 1400
year, has shown in practice how racism can be ended. Every year , during Hajj ,
the Islamic miracle of real brotherhood of all races and nations can be seen in
action.
The Family: The family which is the basic unit of civilization is disintegrating
in all western countries. Islam's family system brings into a fine equilibrium
the rights of man, wife, children, relatives. Islam nourished human
unselfishness, generosity and love in a well organized family system.
UNFRAGMENTED VIEW OF LIFE
Human beings live according to their view of life. The tragedy of secular
societies is that they fail to connect the different aspects of life. The
secular and the religious, the scientific and the spiritual seem to be in
conflict. Islam puts an end to this conflict and brings harmony to man's vision
of life.
MAIN OBJECTIVES IF NADWAH (WAMY)
· To serve Islamic thought through elucidation of the faith on the basis of
pure monotheism (Tawheed) and arm the Muslim Youth with full confidence in the
supremacy of the Islamic system over other systems.
· To participate in spelling out the role of youth and students in building
social, economic and technological institutions of the Ummah.
For detailed information on Islam-
contact WAMY headquarters at Riyadh and branch office at Jeddah.
1. WAMY, P.O.Box 10845 , Riyadh 11443, Saudi Arabia. Tel.: (01)4641669/4655431
2. WAMY , P>O>Box 8856 , Jeddah , Saudi Arabia. Tel. (02)6891962
OR the nearest Muslim Organization or center in your town.
You
never really stop and think about this one but it is so true.
It really makes us stop and realize the perspective.
--Funny how a $100
"looks" so big when taken to a mosque,
but so small when taken to the mall.
--Funny how long it takes to serve
God for an hour, but
how quickly a team plays 60 minutes of football.
--Funny how long a couple of hours
spent at the mosque
seem, but how short they are when watching a movie.
--Funny how people can't think of
Anything to say when
they pray, but don't have difficulty thinking of things to talk
about to a friend.
--Funny how people get thrilled
when a baseball game goes
into extra innings, but complain when a khutba is longer than the
regular time.
--Funny how hard it is to read a
chapter in the Qur'an,
but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a best selling novel.
--Funny how people want to get a
front seat at any game
or concert, but scramble to sit in the back of a mosque.
--Funny how people need 2 or 3
weeks advance notice to
fit a Muslim event into their schedule, but can adjust their
schedule for other events at the last moment.
--Funny how hard it is for people
to learn the simple
knowledge, well enough to tell others, but how simple it is for the
same people to understand and repeat gossip.
--Funny how people believe what the
newspaper says, but
question what the Qur'an says.
--Funny how everyone wants to go to
heaven provided they
do not have to believe, think, say or do anything.
--Funny how you can send a thousand
'jokes' through
e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending
messages regarding Allah, people think twice about sharing.
