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A Spiritual Note
Edition 4 - 15 July 2005 - 8 Jumada al-Thani 1426
As-salaamu 'alaikum (Peace be upon you).
It is with great sadness that we announce the demise of Br. M. Rashid Pierkhan, the President of the Surinaamse Islamitische Vereniging AAII (SIV), who passed away on Wednesday 13 July 2005. Please pray for the departed soul. Inna lillaahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un. Our heartfelt condolences go to the family of Br Pierkhan and members of the SIV.
We have selected an appropriate article for you to read at this time entitled The Necessity and Benefits of Trials and Tribulations, by Imam Kalamazad Mohammed: www.geocities.com/ivisep/files/trials_tribulations.pdf
London attacks
We all abhor and strongly condemn the barbaric act of terrorism that took innocent lives in the cowardly and despicable act of violence last week within the London transport system. As a peaceful, loving community we painfully regret the loss of innocent lives. Again, a very wrong interpretation of jihad, with disastrous consequences for so many people, has been perpetuated in the name of Islam.
This Spiritual Note is meant to remind all of us about the right meaning of jihad. Please forward this edition, in particular, to those who are not aware of the true meaning.
The excerpts below are taken from the book Introduction to Islam by Dr. Zahid Aziz. You can read the entire article on jihad at http://www.muslim.org/islam/int-is45.htm
Jihad is an Arabic word meaning "striving hard" or exerting yourself to the best of your power and ability. The Holy Quran mentions the following purposes for which a Muslim should strive hard:
1. To attain nearness to God, by struggling to overcome your bad desires: "Those who strive hard towards Us, We certainly guide them in Our ways." (29:69)
2. To stick to Islam under difficult circumstances, such as when facing persecution and other problems: "To those who flee after they are persecuted, then strive hard and are patient, surely your Lord after that is protecting, merciful." (16:110)
3. To take part in the defence of the Muslim community when it is attacked by an enemy who wishes to destroy Islam: "Allah has made those who strive, with their property and their lives, to excel by a high degree those who hold back." (4:95)
4. To take the message
of Islam to others, by devoting your time and money for this work: "Strive
against them (the non-believers) a mighty striving with it (i.e. with
the Quran)." (25:52)
So jihad then doesn't mean war waged by Muslims against non-Muslims. Neither
does the word jihad itself mean war, nor is it used in the Holy Quran
to mean war.
Khuda Haafiz,
Riaz Ahmadali
Institute for Islamic Studies and Publications
Paramaribo, Suriname
[email protected]
http://moeslim.8m.net
A Spiritual Note
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Qur'anic quotations in the Notes are from the English translation of the Holy Qur'an by Maulana Muhammad 'Ali, which you can read at http://www.muslim.org/english-quran/index.htm and http://aaiil.org/text/hq/trans/ma_list.shtml
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