nterrogating Islam:

مراقب عام المنتدى

Interrogating Islam:

Questions and Answers
on Islam

Abha-Saudia Arabia

مراقب عام المنتدى

A
Introduction

Praise be to Allah, God of the people, Lord of them all. Creator of all creatures, the Luminous Truth, who created man of mud, the angels from lustrous light, and the ginn from blazing fire, who sent prophets, and made of paradise a home for the faithful, and fire the end for the blasphemous. The prayers and the peace of God be on the last of His prophets, who was dispatched as an envoy of mercy to all creation, heralding the rightful religion, and pointing out the straight path. He called on people to follow God, dilegently toiled for this aim, established minarets and centres for knowledge, salvation, profusion and justice. He solidified the verdicts of Islam among the best nation ever created, and formed the most righteous society that ever appeared on earth.

I proceed
To guide people to worship the One God in the manner He advocates and condones is one of the most sublime pursuits, the loftiest objectives and the noblest activities. Such is the occupation of peophets, and messengers, peace be upon them, for the sake of which they were dispatched, and in the pursuit of which they faced injury, affliction, armed conflict, hostility, comabt and false charges. Such were natural consequences of the clash between truth and falsehood, virtue and vice, and righeteousness and waywardness. Promulgators and religious scholars are the prophets’ heirs. Each enjoys a share of the burden of prophecy in proportion to his knowledge and achievement. They suffer as much as did their predecessors—injury, accusation and skepticism. At present we note that each one devotes himself to one or another of the aspects of the da’wa (the call to Islam), and undertakes to propagate it among people. Each adopts the method that suits his mission. Some are occupied in writing and authorship; others undertake preaching and oratory; a third party follows up instruction and pedagogy; while some are preoccupied in matters connected with charity and alms.

A number of promulgators channel the da’wa to non-Muslims with a view to guiding them to salvation and deliverance, both here and hereafter. For this purpose they adopt whichever ways and means conducive to the realization of these and similar objectives, and consequently make use of appropriate procedures and measures. This category of promulgators stood up to --------------------------

[1] It is a long established and cherished
tradition among Muslims to follow the mention of a prophet’a name by the
benediction “peace be upon him.’ This
practice will be folowed here as an abbreviation (pbuh).

مراقب عام المنتدى

such an ardous task, faced what others had to face, and what once had been the lot of the prophets, that is falsification of the creed, acustion, neglect, repulse and indifference to the faith they preach. Examples of such devoid ways are posing questions implying skepticism, protest suggesting disrespect, and queries promoting unequivocal answers, requests masking objections aimed at rejecting, defying and denying truth. Such are qualities in our times where diseases of skepticism, hedonism and sensual urges have become deeprooted, and are being taught and propounded, sanctified by centres of learning and mass media, and backed by forces buttressing and protecting them. In this tumultuous vortex, and unfavourable atmosphere, a group of highly revered Muslims took up the task of inviting some newcomers to the Arab peninsula, who belonged to other faiths and ideologies. With the grace and guidance of God, some converted; others, however, on the brink of conversion and about to witness the light, drew back on account of doubt and hesitation, residua of their sombre past, and remains of doubts and misgivings. Instead, they resisted those who sought to clear up such clouds with satisfactory replies and sufficient data.

Like other proponents of virtue, these promulgators, too, need backing of knowledge and sagacity to repel doubt, unmask falsehood, reveal truth and illustrate proof. With all these and other objectives in mind, this book has been formulated, through the efforts of a number of revered religious leaders and distinguished men of learning and virtue, having applied themselves to strenuous studies, research and dialogue.

Before delving into the depths of this book and tackling queries and responses, it is pertinent to introduce a number of issues which might raise certain ambiguities responsible for protests among whoever has not been vouchsafed the comfort of faith in his heart. Some of these issues are as follows:

1. CULTURAL BACKGROUND:
Man is likely to be influenced by such a background which takes years to consolidate and crystallize prejudicing his judgements and decisions which are likely to run counter to the judicious criteria conducive to sound vision. Consequently, such a man may have his path refracted and aim wide of the mark or at best be undecided as to which is true and which is false. Take for instance someone who is living in a jungle or on a distant mountain among people who believe in pagan fables and lead a retarded life as to patterns of behaviours, ethical premises and the rest of the living activities. Suppose, further, that suhc a man moved into an

مراقب عام المنتدى

intellectually developed community offering sophisticated ideas, systems and ways of living. As soon as such set of ideas and modes of behaviours clash with the symbols of underdevlopment prevalent in the jungle, we expect such a man to undergo a serious reassessment of the earlier hocus-pocus culture which once governed his earlier primitive life, and a close scrutiny of the unprecedented patterns he never knew under the law of animalism, anarchy and licentiousness.

Would this reassessment, this scrutiny, be valid? Would such a person reach any set of truths or gain any benefits? Many are those who protest to Islam on vindicative grounds, or through devious and indirect ways. They resemble the underdeveloped man of the jungle when assessing the values of a highly advanced academic centre against his native cultural background. Such people project their prefigured vision of Islam without committing themselves to an academic methodology or a true dialectic which should distinguish right from wrong, true from false.

A Christain for example brings in defective a priori arguments concerning God Almighty and His prophets, then begins to pose questions which accord with these fallacious presuppositions. He says, for instance, that Muslims assume that they worship One God while they actually commit themselves, in the manner the Christians do invoke the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) in as much as they say “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”.

Similar assumptions are also propounded, which are built on erroneous assumptions and faulty cultural backgrounds. It is incumbent on man to look for truth through authenticated evidences and proofs, and not be dominated by prior cultural precepts. He has to examine such a culture under the microscope of truth, and reality, on grounds of proof and evidence.

Because of the domination of prior cultural backgrounds—whether old or contemporary—we meet with wrong questions based upon equally defective data. All talk about freedom and equality is but one more clear example of such a category of vitiated questions. It is possible even to argue that most questions promoted by ostensible openmindedness or masked skepticism belong to this category. Therefore, we have found it imperative that we should illustrate this issue and rectify the thought of those who tackle Islam as if it was a refractory

مراقب عام المنتدى

religion or a number of erroneous theories,
the product of human minds and unpropped by a true scientific methodology.

2. Freedom:

Here we are up against one of the most
recurrent quibblings motivated by skepticism or the wish to destabilize Islamic
faith. It is only one among many samples
induced by wrong cultural backgrounds resulting in equally erroneous
judgements.

The modern world is infatuated by the so
called “freedom” which is considered the cornerstone of civilization, justice,
distinction, progress and promotion.
This is so because Europe had long
emerged from despostism and injustice which prevailed before the French Revolution. It came in the wake of an extended period of
confiscation of the rights and the freedom of the small man and the individuals
who were unable to werest their rights.
The church and its advocates were the mightiest and most tyrannical
agents who solidified the foundations of domination among the classes of the
society and its individuals. They were
foremost in justifying the corrective measures adopted by the ruling classes.

People in Europe staged more than one
revolt, basically the French Revolution which propounded the slogans of Liberty, Fraternity and
Equality. Organizations and directives,
motivated by egocentric ambitions, exploited the slogan of liberty, expanded
its implications, magnified its range, making use of people’s ignorance and regression,
and rendering them victims to the heonistic sensualism, voluptuousness and
mental degenerecy.

The conspiracy of unconditioned, unbridled,
and uncontrolled liberation proved a volcano ejecting its lava and submerging
logic, ethics, as well as people’s interests on both the individual and the
collective planes. The giants of
corruption among the Jews and their stooges exploited exploited this
uncontrollable morbidity among peole.
They enkindled the fire, extended its periphery further and further.
Soonl it comprehended all creeds, ethical values and behavioural control,
through descrating all sanctities, disfiguring all religions and moral
precepts. It stamped out all religious
and deterrents in individuals and societies alike under the banner of the novel
religion and the worshipped god in flagrant challenge of the One Supreme
God. They called this new deity “Liberty and Liberalism”.

The aim behind these seditious manoeuvrings
was the obliteration of the dignity and the humanity of man and the
transformation of such a being into a terrible monster, a ranging beast. Man would corrupt, destroy and trample down
all principles, values, morals and virtues, and all under the maligned liberty.

Men ranged as far afield as their instincts
took them, infatuated by these placards, each wading in corruption and
self-demoralization with utmost energy and drive. The wayward in thought and creed used the
slogan of liberty to crush the sound beliefs, raise doublts in their validity,
and circulate atheism, nihilism, and deviant capricious creeds.

So did the rebels against settled
systems—social, administrative, political, etc.
They used the slogan of liberty to destabilize societies, sidetrack
institutions through fraudulent schemes, monopolies, ususry, speculations,
intriguing parties and by rigging elections.

As the slogan of liberty widened in scope
and surreptitiously dominated the minds and hearts of the majority of people,
every control examplified in profound creed, sound religion, and every judicious
restriction of behaviour, values, conventions, or authorities, were deemed,
among the worshippers of such unbridled liberty, enemies to man, detrimental to
self-esteem, despots that impede his rights.

Thus stiffened the coils of this sinister
conspiracy to such an extent that a disinterested favour or good turn was
anathema, anathema a good turn.
Analogously, the corrupter was pictured as a reformer, the reformer a
corrupter. A highly perceptive man,
rationally minded, and sagacious, one possessing moral integrity, would be
thought of as a cocooned, underdeveloped, and a reactionary, while the
sensualist imbecile is deemed shrewd, civilized and progressive. An investigation of the sort of liberty which
fascinates humanity in our times reveals that it has become a slogan raised to
justify licentiousness, corruption and anarchy.

A close scrutiny of
the true identity of “liberty” would convince us that there can be no absolute
freedom, limitless or unbound, because man has got an innate disposition to commitment
to, and control by, specific laws which he is constrained to implement. Should man find no outer commitment to curb
his actions he would still impose upon himself specific issues wherewith he
would bind himself in response to his inherent desire for self-commitment. His individual life can never do away with a
commitment to a definite discipline.
There are times for waking up,

مراقب عام المنتدى

The aim behind these seditious manoeuvrings
was the obliteration of the dignity and the humanity of man and the
transformation of such a being into a terrible monster, a ranging beast. Man would corrupt, destroy and trample down
all principles, values, morals and virtues, and all under the maligned liberty.

Men ranged as far afield as their instincts
took them, infatuated by these placards, each wading in corruption and
self-demoralization with utmost energy and drive. The wayward in thought and creed used the
slogan of liberty to crush the sound beliefs, raise doublts in their validity,
and circulate atheism, nihilism, and deviant capricious creeds.

So did the rebels against settled
systems—social, administrative, political, etc.
They used the slogan of liberty to destabilize societies, sidetrack
institutions through fraudulent schemes, monopolies, ususry, speculations,
intriguing parties and by rigging elections.

As the slogan of liberty widened in scope
and surreptitiously dominated the minds and hearts of the majority of people,
every control examplified in profound creed, sound religion, and every judicious
restriction of behaviour, values, conventions, or authorities, were deemed,
among the worshippers of such unbridled liberty, enemies to man, detrimental to
self-esteem, despots that impede his rights.

Thus stiffened the coils of this sinister
conspiracy to such an extent that a disinterested favour or good turn was
anathema, anathema a good turn.
Analogously, the corrupter was pictured as a reformer, the reformer a
corrupter. A highly perceptive man,
rationally minded, and sagacious, one possessing moral integrity, would be
thought of as a cocooned, underdeveloped, and a reactionary, while the
sensualist imbecile is deemed shrewd, civilized and progressive. An investigation of the sort of liberty which
fascinates humanity in our times reveals that it has become a slogan raised to
justify licentiousness, corruption and anarchy.

A close scrutiny of
the true identity of “liberty” would convince us that there can be no absolute
freedom, limitless or unbound, because man has got an innate disposition to commitment
to, and control by, specific laws which he is constrained to implement. Should man find no outer commitment to curb
his actions he would still impose upon himself specific issues wherewith he
would bind himself in response to his inherent desire for self-commitment. His individual life can never do away with a
commitment to a definite discipline.
There are times for waking up,

مراقب عام المنتدى

going to bed, partaking of food, working and
rest. These activities govern his
individual life. As to social patterns, man
is not without taut relations binding him to his family and society. It is common knowledge that the life of
society is not devoid of specific systems governing social, political and
economic relations as well as behavioural and moral patterns.

In short, it is onconceivable to visualize
either an individual or a social life devoid of regulations, control or
commitment. All these are restrictions
to uncontrolled liberty. They should go
to prove that there can be no absolute liberty in the sense of being free from
all restrictions. This being so, the
call for unshackled liberty becomes none other than a call for something
non-exixtent, even in the actual life of its exponents. It is a deceptive slogan implying fraud and
confusion, for an unconditional liberty does not and cannot exist, because it
does not inhere in the nature of man whom God created with an innate
disposition to restraint. What lies
behind this continuous yelling, this clamorous call for freedom? In a word, it is a response to a call for
egotism, propounded by “…and who is more astray than one who follows his own
lusts, devoid of guidance from Allah?” (Holy Qur’an: 28: 50). Among the so called “progressive peopl,”
freedom of thought is concomitant with atheism, denial of religion, God’s
inspiration, and the Call. Among the
“liberals” it denotes skepticism as to the religion of God and His prophets, as
well as practising moral degeneracy, sensous anarchy, injustice to the folks,
plundering the wealth of countries, self-deception, manipulating the minds of
poepl, practising monopoly, economic, legal and political maneouvering, and all
the atrocities that come under the mask of “liberty.” Such misdemeaners are rife under the slogan
of freedom of thought, while the real objective is self-interest, caprice,
sensuality, ad base desires. The
ultimate target is to realize private claims.
The intellectual aspect is none other than a screen to conceal their
bondage to wantonness and sensualism, under the ostensible claim of being
intelletually emancipated.

3. Equality:

This is one more contemeraneous slogan
through which infiltrated the stench of agnosticism in the minds of a
substantial number of people as well as the problems in their lives, owing to
the clashes among the individuals and the classes of society, motivated by
their void claim to eqaulity.

This motto brought in
various misconceptions and forms of deception among people. With the expansion of its boundaries and the
enlargement of its content, this motto has grown into a colossal attraction for
mankind, specially as it has now culminated, among thinkers and

مراقب عام المنتدى

authors, into a mainspring of human
principles, a basis of advancement, modernism and supremacy.

Under the canopy of this deceptive banner
the storms of injustice, coercion and aggresison were launched, and the
unemployed and the indolent ranged ahead, claiming equality with the diligent,
assiduoud, and persistent workers. The
ignorant claimed to be treated on a par with the connoisseurs and the
learned. And the trash and subversive
stretched out and claimed equality with the prestigious in all walks of
life. Analogously, the dependent
failures claimed equality with the successful and the hardworking. Thus criteria dimmed and tottered, and the
controls of life got mixed up. A number
of countries witnessed revolts which disrupted all stability. Others saw the rise of organizations and
associations that claimed unjustly grounded equality regarding the laws of
God. These laws which regulate the life
of man and are the permanent cosmic premises whereupon are based the principles
of distinction and meritorious priority.

A profound and a practical scrutiny of the
issue of equality would reveal that it runs counter to identicality. And existence presents us with no two absolutely
identical entities in all facets. It is,
therefore, unjust to equalize intrinsically competitive entities or
reasons. Distinction—a cosmic law—exists
in all things, animate as well as inanimate, in the floral as much as in the
faunal, worlds, including man.

Iron is distinct from gold, so is myrrh in
relation to the palm tree. So is a hog
dissimilar to a stag. Consequently, an
ignorant person is not to be equated with the connoisseur, nor is the
quick-witted with the daft, nor, again, the useful with the harmful.

Whether we apply intellectual or practical
standards of judgment and discrimination we cannot equalize all races, species
or individuals. In actual fact, each is
distinct from the other. Therefore,
contemporary theories, systems and philosophical principles have failed to
establish equality among people. Two
obvious examples are socialism and communism.
This is not to exclude democracy.
It, too, abounds in all sorts of the current injustice represented in
the name of equality, but it is sugar-coated by a colossal propaganda and the
media as well as by an embellished web of democratic intrigues.

مراقب عام المنتدى

A call for absolute equality runs counter to
the principles of justice. It is a
contradiction to the reality of things, an invalidation of the issue of
distinctiveness which God has ingrained in His creation. To adopt such a call for assumed eqaulity
results in verdicts being based on prejudice and life being steered away.

No doubt humanity lived and is living
through various manifestations of despotism, injustice and tyranny, represented
by individual and social classes.
Therefore, people sought that principle of equality which has lately
been propounded. They assumed that it
would be a saviour from such injustice and oppression, but such an action
resembles escape from Scylla to Charybdis.

It would have been more pertinent to adopt
the principle of justice based on the dictates of the truth, including
observation of the practically existent and deeply rooted facets of
distinctness and priorities, qualities referred to by God in His dictum:

“It is He who has made you (His)
agents, inheritors of the earth: He hath raised you in ranks, some above
others: that He may try you in the gifts He has given you: for your Lord is
quick in punishment: yet He is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Holy
Qur’an: 6: 165).

This is the type of distinction wherewith
God Almighty examines man to grant him that grace and that charity destined to
him. He said:

“Of the bounties of thy Lord We
bestow freely on all these as well as those: the bounties of your Lord are not
closed (to anyone). See how We have
bestowed more on some than on others; but verily the Hereafter is more in rank
and gradation and more in excellence”
(Holy Qur’an: 17: 20-21).

Owing to such difference in God’s bounty to
people the Almighty enjoined the faithful not to covet others’ grace:

“And in no wise covet those
things in which Allah hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than
on others: to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: but
ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah hath full knowledge of all things...” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 32).

In view of this
difference God granted man the right to preside over woman. It is a distinction based on qualities of
physique, creation, ability, disposition, as well as bodily, intellectual, and

مراقب عام المنتدى

emotional qualification. He granted each sex an appropriate function
that qulifies him/her for the social role in a proper manner:

“Men are the protectors and
maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the
other, and because they support them from their means...” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 34).

Therefore, equality between rivalries for
precedence is both unjust and impracticable.
It is a transgression, a contradiction to the intellectually evidenced,
a violation of actual considerations. In
the revered Book there are proofs regarding equality of different things. Indeed, the Holy Qur’an illustrates that such
equality is neither proper nor will it last, nor, again, can it be
acceptable. We read:

“…Say: ‘Are those equal, those who know and
those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding that
receive admonition’.” (Holy Qur’an: 39:
9).

“Say: ‘Not equal are things that are bad and
things that are good, even though the abundance of the bad may dazzle you…’.” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 100).

“The blind and the seeing are not alike. Nor are the depths of darkness and the light. Nor are the (chilly) shade and the (genial)
heat of the sun. Nor are alike those
that are living and those that are dead...”
(Holy Qur’an: 35: 19-22).

“Verily, for the righteous, are gardens of delight,
in the presence of their Lord. Shall We
then treat the people of faith like the people of sin? What is the matter with you? How judge you?...” (Holy Qur’an: 68: 34-36).

Seeing that
distinction and priorities exist, then justice does require inequality. However, as regards things which are equal in
reality they have rightfully to be equal in assessment. For example people are equal in
creation. They all descend from Adam, a
creature from dust. They are also equal
in being servants to God, as well being under constraint to worship the One
God.

Equality also
extends to immunity of individual rights from being unrighteously
infringed. Such rights pertain to body,
finance, chastity, mind and soul, etc.
Men are equal in recognition of their rights and preservation of their
belongings, as well as in the right to litigation and legal proceedings in case
of prosecution or defence.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Analogously, men
are equal in the right to ownership, buying and selling, dealing in their
possessions, the right to work, acquisition and learning whatever they need to
learn with a view to promoting their living conditions here and hereafter. Such are occasions for equality, and justice
expresses itself in the pursuit of the above fields. Similarly, where people are different,
justice requires inequality; for justice is placing a thing in its proper
perspective, affords each man his rights while inequality would be to give the
undeserving what another has a right to, or making both share the same right,
in which case it is an unjust action and a violation of rights.

4. Subservience to God Almighty:

Man cannot afford to disengage himself from
two issues: first, submission to some power that is superior and more potent
than his own beings. Secondly, following
in the footsteps of another. These are
amongst basic foundations in man; they constitute the major stimuli to man’s
actions, sensations and relations. Their
presence in man is a must, like love, hate and volition.

Therefore, God directed man’s actions in
such a way as to secure his guidance, righteousness and hsppiness, pursuant to
these issues. God argued that in no way
can man rescue himself except by his sound orientation in the pursuit of these
targets. He indicated such an
orientation and provided such evidences, proofs and bases as to boast and
enhance this orientation. As for the
first issue, God delivered man from subservience to whatever causes misery and
chargin. He oriented man to serve His
Almighty Self alone, thus securing honour, self-esteem, prestige and
happiness. Should man refuse, he will never get rid of
slavery. Rather, he will get lost in a
labyrinth of vain, evanescent and mock idols, thereby lose prestige and fall
into ignominious humility.

This is an inevitable issue from which there
can be no deliverance in any way. It
exists in reality. Its imperative nature
stems from the fact that in man inheres a need and an impoverishment for some
sort of service. He is torn between two
issues, either to serve God, in which case he is monotheistic, obedient, happy
here and hereafter, or worship something other than God, some mock idol among
diverse deities, viz. caprice, voluptuousness, money, hedonism, laws,
conventions, parties, indeed any of the excesses that are today cherished,
adopted and obeyed.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Such being the reward—and it is so in
reality—in no way can man reach a state of well being except in subservience to
his Creator, the All Potent, the dominant Power over him and all things. Should he abide by this true worship, man is
promoted up the scale of human perfection.
His life acquires an exalted value other than that whereto falls the one
who worships other than God Almighty.
The more righteous man’s subservience to God, the greater are his
rewards. Thus the true Muslim is keen on
cherishing the quality of serving God, an act which means complete acquiescence
and resignation to God’s commands and admonitions, without protest or doubt
because he has become confident that no deliverance or success can be gained
except by practising such a service, following up its pathway which eventually
leads him to satisfying God Almighty, the penultimate objective of each man who
has faith in God
One of the fundamental cornerstones of this
subservience is that the believer in the sole Diety of God proceeds under the
canopy of obedience, implementing all that God requires, whether or not he
realizes the aim or the moral behind this, because when he has testified that
there is no deity other than God he has thereby committed himself to absolute
acquiescence that harbours no perplexity, hesitation or swerving. Such a composite and complementary action
illustrates the meaning, the importance, and the urgency of an undivided
allegiance to God.

No wonder that whoever fails to understand
such glorious meanings as they are would protest thereto and experience doubts
for his mind cannot emerge from the deep depth of ignorance and wayward
servilities. As regards the second
issue, God has set an example in the person of the revered prophets who are the
best and most perfect of men. To follow
in their footsteps is the way to the good, to virtues and delight. They are the lifeboats among the waves, the
terrors and the darkness of the human example since olden times. This being inevitable, God made faith in His
prophets concomitant with faith in His Almighty Self.

An obvious proof is that the first pillar of
Islam is the testimony that there is no deity execpt God, and that Muhammad is
His messenger. One of the results
incumbent upon God’s commandments is that the prophet (pbuh) is the practical
example of applying absolute service to God Almighty. Consequently, he should be the model and the
example that imperatively must be followed by every Muslim. Thus become complete all the symbols of
service and imitation without one straightforward track that guides man to the
grace of God and paradise.

Whoever fails to
understand such exhortations resembles an idiot, born blind, unable to
comprehend whatever beauty coulours possess.
Analogously, the one who fails to realize the composite meaning and the
plenteous consequences of service is bound to pose questions like: why kiss the
black stone in the Ka’ba? Why immolate
on the immolation day (during the pilgrimage)?
Why pray four cycles at midday and three times in the evening? Such and similar questions stem from the
heart of whomsoever fails to grasp the truth about worship, neither does he
taste its sweetness, fruits or man’s
dire need for them.

We request God’s
guidance and succour in what pleases and satisfies Him. May the prayers of God and His peace be upon
our prophet and his family and companions.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Part One:

Questions and Answers on

Islamic Doctrine

Translated by

Munzer A. Absi with contributionm from

Ahmad Sheik Bangura

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 1:

Belief in Almighty God

Question 01: So long
as the three principal religions have emanated from God, why should differences
appear as to the essence of God among their adherents? Why should a Christian or a Jew be required
to abandon his religion and adopt Islam?

Answer 01: There is
no doubt that the three religions acknowledge one source, God. They all agree as to the uniquness, the
absolute omniscience and omnipresence of God, to the exclusion of any parallel
power to be worshipped. All agree as to
attributing to God all perfection and excluding all defects and blemishes. Whatever differences may appear is sporadic
extraneous, accretious developing over the ages from distortions interpolated
by members of both Judaism and Christianity.
Herein came differences as to the essence of God. The difference, therefore, is between Islam,
which God entrusted His prophet with, and other religions which have been
distorted and adulterated. The
difference is not between authentic religions, rather, it is between a true
religion and others that have been invalidated and turned away. The latter category has been manipulated by
vicious hands which misdirected them.

When we
call upon a Jew or Christian to discard his/her religion and adopt Islam, we
are in reality asking him/her to revert to the true religion which has been
preached by all prophets. Should an
impartial thinker consider Islam in relation to other religions, he/she is
bound to acknowledge the radical difference between both categories. He/she is likely to find in the former the
truth and monotheism, while the latter would reveal innovations and
polytheism. Moreover, Islam advocates
justice and tolerance, while the others imply racism and discrimination. In the one there are moral commitment and decency;
in the other, disintegration and corruption.

Question 02: What is
the penultimate reason behind the creation of man? Does God need man’s worship?

Answer 02: Man has
been created in order to worship God: “And I (God) created not the jinn and
mankind except that they should worship me (alone)” (Holy Qur’an: 51: 56). The Primary incumbency on man is to know God
through His oneness, and thence to worship Him truly.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Secondly,
man is required to act his role as God’s vicegerent on earth, so as to enjoy
bliss both here and hereafter. Indeed,
his/her need to acknowledge the supremacy of God exceeds his/her need and
drink: “O mankind! It is you who stand
in need of God. But God is rich, worthy
of all praise” (Holy Qur’an: 35: 15).

God is
above the need for man’s worship. He
does not benefit from man’s devotion, nor would He be adversely affected by
man’s blasphemy. From beginning to end
the story of man’s existence on earth, no matter how many are its incidents, is
an ordeal, a test, whether for him/her as an individual or for all humanity. Man’s performance in this test determines
either his praise and reward or reproof and punishment.

Question 03: You
Muslims claim that you worship One God, while in actual fact you resemble the
Christians who say “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,”
for you say “In the name of God, the Mercifu; the Compaasionate.” How would you account for this resemblence?

Answer 03: In the
Christian creed, God is the Creator. The
Son is Jesus the Deliverer. And the Holy
Spirit is His life or one of His creations chosen by Him as a messenger and/or
prophet imparting God’s inspiration or cosmic order to whoever He wishes. Whatever the mission carried out by the Holy
Spirit, the Christians believe in the above powers as three entities, three aspects,
three qualities. They say: “Oneness in
Trinity and Trinity in Oneness.” They
are all phenomena of one God, etc.
Therefore, the One God, they claim, consists of three separate
categories, which they call the Trinity.
As a matter of fact, God, as they take Him, is not one but three. In the Qur’an God says: “Surely, disbelievers
are those who said: ‘God is the third of the three (in aTrinity)’.” (Holy
Qur’an: 5: 73). The verse means that God
the Creator is the third in relation to the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As for the
Muslim dictum “In the name of God, the Mercifu, the Compaasionate,” it means
three names of God which exceed ninety nine, all denoting one Entity. A name is not separate from the named. The Being named and described is not to be
conceived except by His names and qualities, unlike the case of the Christian
Entities, for they are three dimentional, but separate, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question 04: How can
you claim that your God is Mercifu and Compasionate, while He created evil in
the world, expressed in illnesses, volcanoes, toxics, earthquakes, hatred,
etc.?

Answer 04: The answer
to this question is threefold:

1. God almighty is a universal
God, the God of all creation. This is
obvious in the following verse: “And your God is One (God), there is none who
has the right to be worshipped but He, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful…”
(Holy Qur’an: 2: 163).

------------------

2.
Undoubtedly, God’s mercy is comprehensive.
It encompasses all creatures under its canopy. The evidence is clear: “…And My Mercy
embraces all things...” (Holy Qur’an: 7: 156).
Such a spacious clemency expresses itself in bestowing upon His creation
so much bliss: material sustenance, the gifts of sight and hearing. Indeed, such blesisngs are countless.

3. Whatever
adversities may befall man in this world, like pain, illness, poison,
earthquakes, volcanoes, etc., are not exclusively evils. They are mixed blessings. For some who are harassed by such evils they
are a punishment for their disobedience or heresy, while for some others they
are a reminder, a nudge, to awaken them from their slumber. They also indicate the absolute power of God,
His ability to deal with His creation, the sphere of His dominion, in the ways
He deems just and wise. All that God
decrees emanates from His compassion, wisdom and justice.

Question 05: Does
God allow prostration to any power or creature other than Himself? If the answer is negative how can we account
for the prostration of Jospeh’s brothers and parents before him?

Answer 05: Initialy,
it is to be maintained that there are two kinds of prostration:

1. Expressive of worship and favour-seeking, which is
permissible only to God. If it is
practised to appease some other power, this is polytheism.

2. Indicative of man’s desire to glorify an absolute power,
in which case the action of prostration is not polytheistic. Kneeling down and/or prostration before human
beings as a way of showing respect or greeting was quite acceptable in earlier
creeds. But it has been abrogated in
Islam. Joseph’s brothers did not worship
him. They bent down before him in a
expression of esteem and reverence. Such
a posture was permissible in their creed, but abolished and abrogated in Islam. Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa was reported to have
said that on coming from Sham (currently greater Syria) Mu’az ibn Jabal knelt down
before the prophet (pbuh) whereupon the prophet enquired what the man
meant. In explanation, Mu’az said that
in Sham he had seen people bending down before their bishops and patriarchs, so
he thought it would be fit to do so in front of the prophet. In response the prophet denied this by
saying: “Muslims may not bow down to anybody except God…”.[1]

It was obvious that Mu’az’s postutre before the prophet
implies reverence, a sentiment he noted in the case of the faithful, but in no
way does it denote worship, which is exclusive to God. When the prophet knew that Mu’az’s posture
did not denote worship, he still exhorted him not to perform such an action. Consequently, abrogation was applied to
kneeling down and prostration in glorification of human grandeur.

It is true that Joseph’s father and brother prostrated
before him, and equally true that God almighty enjoined the angels to prostrate
before Adam, but in neither case did the posture imply worship, rather it meant
a gesture of honour and recognition of merit.

[1]
Cited in Abu Dawud, Hadith No. 214; Al-Turmudhi, No. 1159;
Ibn Majah, No. 1853.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 2:

Belief in Prophets and
Missions

Question 06: What is
the indisputable evidence that the teachings of Muhammad have all come from
God?

Answer 06: There are
numerous irrefutable evidences indicating that such teachings originated from
God almighty. Here are some:

1.
All that has been enjoined, and denied, can be found highly propitious and
useful to all mankind, everywhere and at any time. They are commensurate with the sound mind and
the chaste insight. Examples are
commandments on solidifying family ties, preserving superior moral qualities,
avoiding usury and all misdemeanors. All
that the prophet (pbuh) has been told in inspiration has been proved
valid. Such material falls in two
categories:

A.
Pertaining to the past. These are
corroborated by former books as well as authenticated evidence confirmed by
science and modern discoveries, e.g. finindgs in geology as the era of the
deluge, in archeology as the relics from the epochs of Thamud and the
Pharaos.

B.
Pertaining to the future. Certain
incidents were predicted by the prophet, e.g. the fire which blasted Medina in
654 hijra, the good offices performed by Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib in
reconcilating between two major factions of Muslims, the gathering of the Jews
in Palestine today, the emergence of nudist women who earn their living in
immodest ways, and the spread of ususry, corruption, murder, etc.

C.
Evidences derived from the prophet’s own life and morals, a study of both of
which can only cofirms that such actions can never emerge except from one who
is both true and honest. Whoever
considers God’s support of His prophet (pbuh), the victory over his enemies,
and the spread of his religion, must come to the conclusion that this prophet
was sustained by God and that all he preached had come from the Almighty.

D. Some
contemporary scientific discoveries support the prophet’s tenets, e.g. stages
of the life of the embryo, the way in which milk comes into being in the
mammals, the existence of the aquarian barrier between two adjecent seas, the
fact that the Dead Sea is the nethermost place on earth, etc.

E. The
miracles performed by him: these were simultaneously witnessed by both his
followers and antagonists, e.g. the fissure of the moon surface, the springing
of water from his fingers, the healing of the sick, etc. His greatest miracle remains the glorious
Qur’an that has proved the authenticity of its contents over the ages.

Question
07: Who is the prophet?

Answer 07: He is a
man chosen by almighty God, inspired by Him, and enjoined to proclaim the call
to the people he was sent to.

Question 08: How can
prophet Muhammad (pbuh) be the imam
(leader) of all the prophets when he is the last messenger?

Answer 08: Preference
is God’s own prerogative. It is
exclusive to such and not to others, in accordance with His emmiscience and
wisdom. Preference has no relation with
precedence or antecedence in time. Moses
and Jesus are are among the latter batch of prophets, still they are the best
among all those who preceded them except Noah and Abraham (peace be uponh
them). Furthermore, prophet Muhammad’s
religion, in terms of creeds and the morals, conforms to those preached by the
previous prophets. As for the rules of
these religions, the prophet (pbuh), by commandments from almighty God,
nullified some, modified others; altered some, and augmented others. Accordingly, his call has become more
comprehensive, more perfect, hence has dominion over precedences. The one in charge of such a call deserves
being an imam to those who preceded him.
Those were made to pledge to the be faithful to him and support him,
almighty God says:

“And (remember) when God took the covenant
of the prophets, saying: ‘Take whatever I gave you from the book and hikmah (understanding
of the laws of God), and afterwards there will come to you a messenger
(Muhammad) confirming what is with you; you must, then, believe in him and help
him.’ God said: ‘Do you agree (to it)
and will you take up my covenant (which I conclude with you)?’ They said: ‘We agree.’ He said: ‘Then bear
witness; and I am with you among the witnesses (for this)’.” (Holy Qur’an: 3:
81).

Such
favours prove that he is the best.

Question
09: What evidence proves that Jesus was not a God, but only a
messenger from God?

Answer 09: Jesus
Christ (pbuh), following
both the Gospels and the Qur’an, was born of the virgin Mary, who was just like
any other human being. It is common
knowledge that whoever is born cannot be deified. Jesus Christ was a human being who used to
eat and drink just like anybody else. He
was susceptible to hunger, grief and/or merriment. He experienced all the paraphernalia
pertaining to human life. His miraculous
creation from no father is no stranger than that of Adam, a being who was both
fatherless and motherless. This is an
evidence of God’s omnipotence. Jesus
Christ was no more than a servant to, and messenger of God, who revealed the
scripture in order to promulgate it and carry out His call. On the day of judgement Jesus Christ is not
to be judged because of those who deified him in exclusion of God or thought of
him as parallel. In the Qur’an we have a
mentioning of this, where in the hereafter God will ask Jesus if he had asked his
followers to deify him, whereby Jesus will answer God by saying: “If you punish
them, they are your slaves, and if you forgive them, verily, you, only you, are
the all-Mighty, the all-Wise” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 118). Here is one more reply to the one who seeks
an evidence as to the deification of Jesus Christ, while he has none of the
qualities of God. Whatever miracles he
performed emanated from God, just as He supported other prophets.

Question
10: In what way was Jesus Christ a Muslim, as well as all the
other prophets?

Answer 10: There is
no doubt that all prophets (peace be upon them), beginning with Adam and ending
in Muhammad, preached one religion—the worship of God alone and disregarding
all other powers. This is something
advocated by Islam. God says: “Truly,
the true religion with God is Islam” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 19). About Abraham (pbuh), God says: “Abraham was
neither a Jew nor a Christian, but was a true Muslim (hanif:
monotheist—a worshipper one God alone) and he was not a mushrik—a polytheist”
(Holy Qur’an: 3: 67). On the question of
the disciples of Jesus, God says: “And when I (God) inspired al-hawariun (the
disciples of Jesus) to believe in Me and My Messenger, they said: ‘We
believe. And bear witness that we are
Muslims’.” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 111).
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) confirmed this in his saying: “Prophets are
paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”[1]

Question 11: If
people have managed to distort the message of Christ, is not this sufficient evidence
that he failed in his mission? If he was
great, how could God allow his call to peter out into failure?

Answer 11: Christ (pbuh) cannot be
said to have failed in his mission. God
supported him with astounding miracle and convincing arguments. Whatever distortion has befallen the
scripture

[1]
Cited in Bukhalri, Hadith No. 1437.

مراقب عام المنتدى

preached by
Christ, it must have happened after his ascention to heaven. Failure and disintegration are the works of
the followes who fell a prey to whims and caprice. In this connection God says:

[And (remember)
when God will say (on the day of reurrection): ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: ‘worship me and my
mother as two gods besides God?’ He will say: ‘Glory is to You! It
is not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely,
have know it. You know what is in my
inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours; truly You, only You, are the
All-Knower of all that is hidden (and seen).
Never did I say to them aught except what You (God) did command me to
say: worship God my Lord and your Lord.
And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when you
took me up, You were the Watcher over them; and You are a Witness to all
things’.”] (Holy Qur’an: 5: 116-117)

Question 12: Seeing
that God’s message to humanity is one and the same, why was it partitioned
among more than one prophet and not revealed in one package?

Answer 12: The
message entrusted to all prophets is one and the same. It finds expression in a call for the worship
of the one God and the avoidance of false dieties, God says: “And verily, we
have sent among every ummah (community/nation) a messenger
(proclaiming): ‘Worship God (alone), and avoid taghut (all false
deities)’.” (Holy Qur’an: 16: 36). God
almighty also said: “And We did not send any messenger before you (Muhammad)
but We revealed to him (saying): ‘None has the right to be worshipped but I
(God), so worship Me (alone and none else)’.” (Holy Qur’an: 21: 25). As for the multiplicity of the prophets, it
has been caused by various motives:

1. So that people in any age
may not have the pretext as to have been ignorant of God’s commandments. God says: “Messengers as bearers of good news
as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against God
after the (coming of) messengers.” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 165).

2. Specifying individual laws
for each nation which shall conform to its nature and circumstances. God says: “…To each among you, We have
prescribed a law and a clear way…” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 48).

3. The differences among
languages and their multiplicity, required entrusting more than one
prophet/messenger, each speaks the language of a certain nation. This is obvious in the Almighty’s words: “And
We sent not a messenger except with the language of his people in order that he
make (the message) clear for them” (Holy Qur’an: 14: 4).

Question
13: Is the Muslim entitled to blend his/her faith with other faiths
or creeds?

Answer 13: In no way
should a Mulslim adopt other creeds or principles which conflict with the
fundamentals underlying the Islamic doctrine.
Monotheism runs counter to polytheism, nor does sunna (prophet’s
words and deeds) agrees with innovations.
Likewise, the love of God is incompatiable with the love of some other
power, etc.

Question 14: Why
were the first batch of prophets sent to certain geographical areas and not
others? How can we judge those areas
which received no prophets? Why were
they left without the word of God?

Answer 14: Judging by
the accounts given by the prophet’s hadiths (sayings) God sent to
various folks 124,000 prophets, while God’s messengers numbered 314.[1] Such a large number of prophets and
messengers prove that not one nation or area went without one (or some). In this regard God almighty says: “…And there never was a nation but a warner
had passed among them” (Holy Qur’an: 35: 24).
And again, He also says: “And verily, we have sent among every ummah
(community/nation) a messenger (proclaiming): ‘Worship God (alone), and avoid taghut
(all false deities)’.” (Holy Qur’an: 16: 36).

Question 15: Why
should Muhammad (pbuh) be considered the last prophet while Jesus Christ will
reappear?

Answer 15: Muhammad (pbuh) is actually the last of all
prophets, according to what he siad. The
descent of Jesus Christ (pbuh) from heaven is not a new mission. It is a return whose aim is to reinforce
Islam and its shari’a (Islamic laws and rules) our propeht called for,
and the last celestial techings. This is
clear in his words: “The coming of Jesus is imminent. He will come as a just ruler, destroy the
cross, and nullify the poll tax. There
would be so much money that no one would accept charity.”[2] In another long hadith, he says: “…He
(Jesus Christ) will call peope to Islam and God would abolish all religions
leaving Islam alone.”[3]

-------------------------

[1]
Cited in Ahmad (vol., 5 Hadith No. 178), Al-Hakim (vol., 2
Hadith No. 288) and others.

[2]
Cited in Bukhari (vol., 4 Hadith No. 134)

[3]
Cited in Bukhari (vol., 4 Hadith No. 134)

مراقب عام المنتدى

It
is quite obvious from the above evidences that whatever Jesus Christ preaches
is nothing but Islam and the law of Muhammad (peace be upon them both). He will even pray behind a Muslim. The prophet says: “How will you be when the
son of Mary (Jesus Christ) descends among you, while you are praying behind an imam
(a prayer leader) from among you?”[1]

Muslim
scholars referred to the return of Jesus Christ (pbuh) at the end of time. They mentioned that his return will be
especially significant to:

1.
Empashize the facts of Islam as preached by prophet Muhammad (pbuh);

2. Reply to
the claims of the Jews and the Christians as to his death, crucifixion.;

3. His return indicates the
approach of the end of his life and his his burial.

4. The prophet’s
report about Jesus Christ must be the truth, because it is something that had
been revealed to him from God.

Question 16:
How can you claim that Jesus did not die while his death is actually
mentioned in Surrat
Al-Imraan (Chapter 3 of the Holy Qur’an)?

Answer 16: No verse
in the Qur’an relates the death of Jesus Christ (pbuh). The
term used in the chapter ‘wafaat‘ does not refer to death as much as it
refers to departure from earthly existence.
His appointed time on earth had elapsed.
Accordingly, God says: “And
(remember ) when God said: ‘O Jesus! I
will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of those who disbelieve…’.”
(Holy Qur’an: 3: 55). This can be
paraphrased thus: I have teken you body and soul. The term wafaat can also be used to indicate sleep. God says: “It is He who takes your sould by
night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by
day…” (Holy Qur’an: 6: 60).

Contrary to what the Chrstians claim, the
Qur’an confirms that Jesus Christ (pbuh) was not killed. God raised him up to Himself: “…For Surely,
they killed him (Jesus) not. But God
raised him up (with his body and soul) unto Himself…” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 157-158). The truth of the matter is that Jesus was
ascended alive and will come back alive.

[1]
Cited in Bukhari (vol., 4 Hadith No. 143)

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question 17: How can you prove that Jesus Christ was not
crucified?

Answer 17: This question can be answered from different
angles:

1. There are many ambiguities surrounding
the issue of Christ’s crucifixion in the canonical Gospels. How was the Crucifixion carried out? For how long did Jesus hung on the
cross? What are the precise dates? Who carried the cross? What was his prayer while he was on the
cross? How do you explain his cry of
despair? Who were the witnesses? What happened after the crucifixion? There is no consensus on these
questions. So much of the crucifixion
story is based on mere conjecture.

2. The issue of crucifixion is based on the
belief in the original sin and redemption by blood. This issue contradicts common sense, and it
is irreconcilable with God’s justice and mercy.
How can the innocents be held accountable for the actions of the guilty?

3. Finally, the Qur’an has unambiguously
refuted the Bible’s crucifixion story.
God says: “…They killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance
of Jesus was put over another man, and those who differ therein are full of
doubts. They have no knowledge, they
follow nothing but conjecture. For
surely, they killed him (Jesus) not. But
God raised him up (with his body and soul) unto Himself. And God is ever all-powerful, all wise” (Holy
Qur’an: 4: 157-158).

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 3:

Belief in the Divine
Scriptures

Question 18: You
always say that the Old and New Testaments contain fabrications. Why then do you sometimes use them as
references when it is convenient for you?

Answer 18: I would
like to clarify that Muslims believe that books were revealed by God to His
prophets; and among these are the Torah, the Gospels, David’s Psalms, and the
Qur’an and accounts of prophet Abraham’s life.
Their belief in these reveations is a fundamental aspect of islamic
teachings. Therefore, the Muslims
believe that, generally speaking, the Torah and the Gospels are divinely
revealed. But people who follow these
revelations have introduced fabrications in them. God has revealed this fact to us in the
Qur’an. Therefore not all of the Bible
is fabricated. And not all that Jews and
Christians claim to be true of the Bible is wholly from God. As a result Islamic scholars have articulated
a sound position regarding these books which can be summerized as follows:

1. Whatever
is in acordance with the Qur’an, we believe in and quote for the benefit of
those who follow these scriptures.

2. Whatever contradicts the
Qur’an, we reject, knowing that it is a fabrication. We do not quote it, and do not believe in it.

3. We maintain silence over
what neither agrees nor contradicts Qur’anic teachings. This is due to our fear of refuting what may
be well true or accepting what might be false.

The latter
attitude is imposed by the teachings of the prophet (pbuh), who said: “Do not
give credence to what the people of the Book (Jews and Christians); and do not
refute it outright.” Therefore, when we
quote te Bible, we are in fact quoting what finds support in the qur’an, and
not arbitrarily.

Question 19: Why do
you believe that the divine reveltions were not preserved in the same way that
you claim the Qur’an was?

Answer 19: God made
the preservation of earlier scriptures the responsibilities of the followers of
these books. God says: “…For to them was
entrusted the protection of God’s books, and they were witnesses thereto” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 44). But they were negligent of this; distorted
the books with their interpolations and the reversal of some facts. This is not a total loss, because God
intended another scripture whose teachings and principles will serve the good
of man and under all conditions.

God did not give the responsibility of
protecting the Qur’an to man. He pledged
to protect it Himself, knowing that this was the last revelation to
mankind. This is the absolute necessity
that it be preserved intact. God says: “Verily, it
is We Who have sent down the dhikr (the Qur’an) and surely, we will
guard it (from corruption)”
(Holy Qur’an: 15: 9). Due to this divine
pledge, the Qur’an has been preserved.
It is impossible for anyone to do to the Qur’an what was done to
previous scriptures.

Question
20: To what extent, do you think, are the present Gospels
authentic?

Answer 20: The
present Gospels, as attested by Christian scholars, were written by
historians. They are therefore not
totally authentic. Parts of these books
are authentic, others are fabricated.
The falsehood in them supercedes the truth, espacially in those parts
which deify Jesus Christ (pbuh)
and
make him the son of God. The Muslim
accepts what is in accord with the Islamic teachings and rejects what
contrdicts them. He is silent over
aspects that are not clearly in agreement or disagreement with Islamic teachings.

Question
21: How can you tell a true religion from a false one?

Answer 21: All the
religions that God revealed through His prophets are true. Any discernible corruption in these religions
is a result of human interpolation.
People had been entrusted with the preservation of these religions, but
failed to fully care for this trust. We
can mention here a few criteria that can help distinguish a true religion from
a false one.

1. Examine the core contents
of the religion both in terms of the foundational texts and how they have been
transmitted from generation to generaion.
See if there is internal consistency in the texts. Do the prescriptions of the religion uplift man
or oppress him?

2. Examine
the methods of transmission in terms of their reliability and the claims of
transmision.

3. Look
into the life of the founder of the religion (the prophet), if applicable.

4. Look
into the lives of the disciples of the prophet.

5. Is the
religion monotheistic or ploytheistic?

6. Are the
religion’s teachings in clear contradiction with known facts about the world?

Question 22: Can
Muslisms read scriptures, other tha the Qur’an?
Explain with regards to the prophet’s position on this question?

Answer 22: The
prophet (pbuh) once showed displeasure when he saw Umar ibn al-Khattab reading
the Bible. Umar asked the prophet:
“Sometimes we hear fine words from the Jews, can we write some of these
words?” The prophet replied: “Are you
confused about your religion, just as the Jews and the Christians are about
theirs? I have brought you a crystal
clear teaching. Had Moses been alive, no
doubt he would have been my follower.”[1] In the beginnig of the prophet’s mission he
disallowed his disciples from meddling with Torah for fear of confusing it with
the Qur’an, which was being revealed.
The Qur’an having, been completely revealed, the prophet told his
disciples to teach about the Jews. The
prophet says: “Do not believ the people of the Book or disbelieve them, but say
‘We believ in God and that which has been sent down to us (Holy Qur’an: 2:
136)’.”[2] The study of different sacred texts can only
strengthen a Muslim’s faith. What is
true in these faiths has been confirmed by the Qur’an; and falsehood in them
had likewise been made manifest in the Qur’an.

Question
23: Where in the Bible was the prophet’s name mentioned?

Answer
23: In John 14: 16. “And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever” (John: 14: 16).

Parclete
means “Muhammad” or “Ahmad.” The
statement that the “Parclete will remain with us forever points to the eternal
validity of Muhammad’s religion, book and way of life. God vowed to protect and preserve them. This is what is meant by “He will remain with
you forever.”

[1] Cited in Ahmad (vol., 3 Hadith No.
338).

[2] Cited in Bukhari, Hadith No. 1719).

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question 24: Why did
God reveal the Qur’an in Arabic, rather than in another language? What is the wisdom behind this choice?

Answer 24: It was
God’s choice to reveal Qur’an in Arabic, just as it was his choice to reveal
previous scriptures in other languages.
God does as He pleases. No one
has the right to question His will; He can question the actions of His
creatures. The wisdom behind the choice
of Arabic to be the vehicle in which the Qur’an was revealed can be summed up
in the follwoing points:

1. The
prophet through whom the Qur’an was revealed was an Arab, and Arabic was his
language. How could God have revealed to
him a scripture in a foreign tongue?

2. The past people to whom the
prophet was sent were Arabs. Had the
book been revealed in other than their language, that would have given them a
pretext to reject it. They would have
accused him of absurd innovations and would have refused to heed his call.

3. Arabic
os best equipped to articulate the nuance of the revelatin.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 4:

Questions on Sects and
Schools of Thoughts

Question 25: If only
those who follow Muhammad will be admitted into paradise, what about the
generations who lived before his advent?

Answer 25: Those who
lived before the prophet’s mission fall into two groups:

A. Those
who worshipped God, the One, and kept his laws as revealed through a succession
prophets. They will be rewarded or
punishe according to their own deeds.
Ultimately, they will enter paradise.

B. Those to whom a divine
scripture was not revealed. They will be
tested by God on the day of reckoning.
Those who, then, manifest obedience to God will enter paradise, and
those who manifest disobedience will enter hell.

Question 26: What
are the differences and similarities netween Sinnism and Shi’ism? Are there other sects that are considered
belonging to the fold of Islam?

Answer 26: Both
Sunnis and Shi’as believe in God, His angels, His scriptures, His prophets, the
day of judgement, fate, and the pillars of Islam, generally speaking.

Sunnis and
Shi’as differ in some respects which include:

1. The
Shi’as believe in the inerrancy and infalliablity of the imams coming
from the prophet’s family.

2. Their
belief that imams are divinely inspired, but to a lesser degree than
prophets.

3. Their practice
of tactical dissimulation in their dealings with their adversaries, whereby
they believe that they are allowed to hide their beliefs.

4. The
practice of mut’a, or temporary marriages. From a sunni perspective such marriages
constitute adultry. There are many hadiths
condemn this practice.

Undoubtedly,
many other sects claim to belong to the fold of Islam. The mainstream Islamic population considers
such sects in relation to their closeness to, or distance from, the teachings
of mainstream Islam.

Judaism and
Christianity are not accepted as viable religions after the advent of
Islam. Islam has superseded them God says: “And whoever seeks a religion other
than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be
one of the losers” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 85).

Question 27: Since
Muslims have been allowed to build a mosque in Rome,
why should not Christians be permitted to build churches in Arabia? Also, why are non-Muslims banned from
entering Mecca and/or Medina,
while Muslims have access to the Vatican?

Answer 27: Rome is just like any
other place in the world. There is no
particular sacredness attached to it.
Building a mosque in Rome,
therefore, should not be considered unusual.
The prophet of Islam specifically proscribed the existence of two faiths
in the Arabian penninsula. Hence, there
are no churches in the penninsula. The
Arabian penninsula is the bedrock of Islam, its nursery and the home of its
sacred sites.

We can
compare the Vatican and Mecca only to a certain
extent. In the Qur’an, God explicitly
conferred sacredness to Mecca. The Vaticsn enjoys no such status even from a
biblical point of view. In fact only the
Cathoic denomination in Christendom attaches a special importance to the Vatican. Moreover, every country in the world has visa
and entry regulations. Only those
fulfilling such conditions are admitted.
The only condition for entry to Mecca
is to verify the Oneness of God and the belief in the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh).

Question 28: If Islam
is viable for all times and places, why is that Muslims are the world’s most
backward people today?

Answer 28: It is a
fact that Islam is valid for all times and places. Islamic civilization flourished for many
centuries, especially at a time when the rest of the world was steeped in
ignorance and backwardness. The west
learnt a great deal and benefitted from the Islamic culture. The west built upon this past at the time Muslims
became materialistic and lost their spiritual and civilizational focus. The backwardness of contemporary Muslims is
the fault of Muslims not of Islam. Their
backwardness is due to their deviation from Islamic teachings. However, Muslims still have the potential and
the ability to achieve civilizational greatness. They have the elements of strength and
progress. God gave us teachings to
follow, and granted us geographical, natural and human resources. If we build upon these assets, we can enter
into new renaissance,

مراقب عام المنتدى

provided
that we adhere to the teachings of Islam.
Indeed the future belongs to the God-conscious. Islam’s future is bright. And It is a known fact that the achievement
of a given system can only be sustained if the right people continue to work
for it.

Question 29: Muslims
claim to love Jesus, honour him, and believe in his message. Why then do they prefer Muhammad to him? Jesus is after all not only a messenger, but
also the son of God.

Answer 29: There are
two parts to this question:

A. We, as
Muslims, truly believe that Jesus, son of Mary, is one of the prophets
belonging to the eleveated category of ulu al’azm prophets(possessors
of steadfastness). Muslims love him,
honour him and do believe in his message.
However, Muslims consider him to be a servant to God and not a son of
Him.

B. It is up to God to
establish hierarchy among his messengers
based on His divine wisdom. He made
prophet Muhammad (pbuh) special in certain repects. He is the seal of the prophets. His message completes and abrogates all that
came before him. He was also known as
God’s intimate. Also, he was sent to all
of the creation.

Question 30: Some
Christian missionaries claim that Islam is not a rvealed religion. It is a
distorted derivative version of Judaism and Christianity. Please comment.

Answer 30: What these
missionaries are claiming is simply a misleading conjecture. While the prophet was preaching the new
faith, the Jews and the Christians were, at the same time, practising their own
religions. The new faith clearly
contradicted Judaism and Christianity in very fundamental issues. Islam contradicted such beliefs held by
Christians and Jews such as: ascribing human qualities to God (Jews witness
that Uzair is the son of God). Their claim
that Jesus was an illigitimate child and that they killed him. They also ascribed major sins to the
prophets. They also claimed themselves
to be the chosen people of God, His children and His beloved. The Christians claimed that Jesus is the son
of God; that God is one person in a trinity and their belief in Jesus’s crucifixion
and death. They also believe in the
original sin an the Jesus’s atonement from the sins of mankind. The prophet’ teachings strongly refuted such
beliefs. And in their stead he taught
radical monotheism, God’s transcendence, and that He neither had a spouse, nor
an offspring.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Islam also
taught that all prophets were free from committing major sins. Also, the blessed Virgin Mary was not an
adultress, and her son, Jesus, was God’s servant and messenger. He was neither crucified nor killed. The doctrine of trinity is false. The atonement for sins is also false. Jews are not a chosen people, rather all
humans are God’s creation and equal in His sight except for those who manifest
faith and God-consciousness.

Islam also
brought many new rules which contradict with those of Judaism and
Christianity. How then can one hold that
Islam is a distorted copy of Judaism and/or Christinaity?

Question 31: Christians
are civilized and rational. They
therefore look critically at their scriptures.
Muslims, on the other hand, avoid such practice. Do not you think that this shows regressive
thinking and lack of rational thought?

Answer 31: This
question calls for a multifaced answer:

1. The
claim that Christians are civilized and rationa is counter-factual. How can a progressive man believe in
superstitions, obscurist dogmas? How can
we account for the moral decay through which their societies are passing?

2. It is not a civilized
theory, nor it is progressive to criticize God.

3. The Christian’s criticism
of their scriptures is due to the fact that these books have been distorted and
changed. They have been added to and
removed from. As a result some of these
teachings clearly contradict reason, the facts and the common sense. The critical approach towards these
scriptures is therefore only normal.
Nonetheless, such criticismdid not clarify the issues as much as it
obscured them and made many people lose faith in God.

4. The Qur’an and the
prophet’s tradition are both divinely revealed.
They are authentic. They do not
abuse human reason, or contradict the facts of science. No critical approach in this case is,
therefore, useful or warranted. No
matter how educated a man is, he/she is still a created being. Human criticism of God is therefore an irrational
proportion.

Man has to
receive all that is authentically revealed by God with humility and
submissiveness. Man needs to practice
the revelation and live his life accordingly.
Following such an attitude is not putting contraints on the mind, rather,
it frees the mind to explore reality within what is humanly possible.

Question 32: Where
do Jews and Christians stand today? Do
you, Muslims, consider them believers or non-believers?

Answer 32: This
question calls for a two-faced answer:

1. Their
religious doctrines include a degradation of God’s ststus, as well as what
amounts to insulting Him. These
doctrines imply attributing partners to God, and ascribing to Him human
biological qualities such as having an offspring, procreating, getting tired,
oblivion, weeping and regretting. God’s
prophets are also degraded by imputing to them major moral defects. All the above in addition to other
contradictory and fabricated issues exist in their books. To Muslims, whoever holds such beliefs is a
disbeliever without doubt.

2. Sincet the commandment of
Muhammad’s prophetic mission, it has become incumbent upon all human beings to
believe in his message. Anyone who has
heard the call of Muhammad to embrace Islam and refute it is a disbeliever and
will dwell in hell.

Question 33: Is
Islam ready to accord to Christians in Mulsim countries the kind of freedom
that Muslims enjoy in Christians countries?
Can Christians enter mosques? Can
they freely express their religious views?
And can they freely proselytize?

Answer 33: Islam has
historically granted to Christians living in Musim countries far more rights in
than the rights Muslims have enjoyed in Christian countries. These rights and freedoms include:

1. The
Christians’ right to retain their faith and pay some tax (jizya) in
return for their protection.

2. They are granted security
in terms of their lives, their properties and their religious institutions.

3. Islam
forbade alcohol for Muslims, but allowed it for non-Muslims. This ruling also applies for the consumption
of pork.

4. A dimension of this tolerance is Islam’s
prescription of moderation and sound reason in their dialogue with Christians
and Jews. God says: “And argue not with
the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) unless it be in (a way) that
is better (with good words and in good manner)” (Holy Qur’an: 29: 46).

5. We call
Jews and Christians living in Muslim dominions as ahl al-dhimmah (the
protected people). The full designation
is dhimatu al-Lah was ‘ahdihi wa ri’ayatihi (people under the protection, covenant and
care of God). Muslims are forbidden from
harming them. Instead they are urged to
maintain good relationship with them.
The prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
taught: “Whoever verbally insults a dhimmi (a jew or a Christian living
in a Mulsim country) will be flogged in the hereafter with whips from
hellfire.”[1]

[1] Cited in Tabarani’s Lexicon,
vol. 22. hadith No. 135.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Can you
say, then, that Muslims in Chritians countries enjoy the same privillages as
accorded to Christians in Muslim countries?
Even today, Muslim girls living in the west are being deprived of their
right to wear their Muslim clothes at school.

As
regarding admission of Christians and Jews in mosques, see answer to question
120.

Finally,
Muslims, convinced as they are of the false nature of Jewish and Christian
teachings, how can they be expected to allow the spread of such techings in
Muslim communities?

Question 34: It was
said that God created all human beings equal, in rights and
responsibilities. Why there is then
disparity in the religious rights of Muslims, on the one hand, and Jews and
Chriastians on the other?

Answer 34: It is
said:

1. Absolute equality between
human beings is logically and practically groundless. Human beings are not equal. Islam simply advocates justice. God says: “Verily God enjoins justice and the
doing of good…” (Holy Qur’an: 16: 90).

2. Undoubtedly a Mulsim cannot
be equal to a non-Muslim, because God is pleased with those who have embraced
the truth of Islam, not withstanding the prohibition of forced conversion to Islam. Muslims enjoy equal status in the sight of
God: “The believers are nothing but brothers (in Islamic religion)…” (Holy
Qur’an: 49: 10). Anyone who rejects this
teaching cannot be deemed equal to those who embrace it.

God decrees the following: “Is
he who walks prone (without seeing) on his face, more rightly guided, or he who
(sees and) walks uprighly on the straight way (Islamic monotheism)?” (Holy
Qur’an: 67: 22). Based on these divine
revelations, it becomes inonceivable to equal Muslims and non-Muslims: “Shall
We then treat the Muslims like the mujrimun (criminals,
disbelievers)? What is the matter with
you? How judge you? (Holy Qur’an: 68:
35-36).

Question 35 (A): If one of the spouses embraces Islam while the
other remains Christian, is their marriage still islamically valid?

Answer 35 (A): If
God guides the husband to Islam, then it is his duty to invite his family to
Islam. If it is the wife who embraces
Islam, while the husband remains Christian, she should invite her husband to Islam with wisdom and
beautiful exhortations. Should he still
refuse to become Muslim, then she is obligated to sever their marital
relationship. A husband is practically
the leader in any family, and it is unacceptable for a believer to be subjected
to the leadership of a non-Muslim.

Question
35 (B): When the man is
Muslim and the woman is a Christian, can the wife take the children to church?

Answer 35 (B): As stated above, the newly converted Muslim
husband should invite his Christian spouse to the path of Islam. Should he fail to persuade her, he must not
allow their children to practice any religion beside Islam.

Question 36: Why is it prohibited for non-Muslims to
be buried in Muslim symmetries?

Answer 36: In Islamic understanding death is simply a transition from one
life to another. Out of respect and
honour, Muslims upon their departure from this life should be assigned a
special place of burial. Being dead, man
can no longer take care of himself. It
is therefore incumbent upon the living to look after his comfort and
needs. It is expected of Muslims to
visit the departed in the symmetries and make supplications on their behalf and
ask God for their forgiveness. When
Muslims are buried with non-Muslims, the sanctity of the dead is compromised. Islam proscribes the making of supplications
on behalf of those who have ascribed partners to God.

Question
37: God says “Let there
be no compulsion in religion”. How can
we reconcile this teaching and the principle of killing Islam’s apostates?

Answer 37: No one should be compelled to become Muslim, as the statement
above instructs. If one after knowing
about the true religion of Islam, chooses any other path, one is accountable to
God with regards to one’s choice in life.
However, once any one freely makes a choice to become a Muslim, this
choice becomes a perpetual commitment to Islam and the community of
Muslims. Betrayal of that commitment is
treasonable and calls for the death penalty.
Islam is not only a religion in the conventional sense, it is also a
community. One who seeks membership in a
new community, such as a nation, is obligated to protect the interests of that community or nation. Failure to do so, is an act of treason.

مراقب عام المنتدى

which regards apostasy. This stern measure is designed to discourage
opportunistic adventurism that places security of the Muslim community in
peril. This measure, thus, protects the
interests of Islam and the security of
the Muslim community.

Question
38: Does God reward one
who believes in Him without necessarily following any Whoever freely enters Islam becomes
obligated to abide by the legal statutes of Islam, one of particular
religion? If there is indeed such a
reward what then would be the importance of following a particular prophet? If this is not the case, does it mean that it
is mandatory to follow one religion such as a monotheistic creed?

Answer 38: It is not possible for one to believe in God
and worship Him as He would like to be worshipped without following a prophet. Consequently, there is no recompense for any
one who does not follow the religion, which God has chosen for His people, and
revealed to them, through a prophet.
Faith in God is acceptable only if its object is God and God alone, and
if it is based on authentic teachings of a prophet. All prophets preached Islam which is
monotheism, observing of God’s laws, and assenting to the revelation which God
sent through them.

Question
39: Some person says “He
is Christian, but he believes in total submission to God”. Will this save him from God’s wrath?

Answer: 39: True and total submission to God implies
obeying all the commandments of almighty God and observing all His
prohibitions, and believing the prophet and the teachings that he brought. God sent His prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to all mankind and has shut all accesses to
Him, leaving only one open: Islam as taught by the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The
submission of the person mentioned above is neither genuine nor complete. If it were genuine, he would have been one of
the followers of prophet Muhammad (pbuh). And that would have sufficed for his
salvation.

Question
40: We Christians have
many denominations, and so do you Muslims.
You have Shi’as, Druzes, Isma’iliyyas.
Why all these sects, and what are the differences between them?

Answer 40: Sectarian divisions occurred in Islam as
they occurred in previous religious communities. The prophet (pbuh) had predicted this
phenomenon by stating that his community will split up, but only one sect will
be on the right path, that is the people of the prophet’s way, the orthodox
community (ahl al-sunnah wal jama’a).
They will remain true to the path of the prophet and his
companions. As for the other sects,
which developed in the Islamic world, they have, generally speaking, deviated
from the truth. The reasons for this

1. Ignorance about the religion, whims and
ethnocentrism.

2. Conspiracy against its people.

Our stance towards these sects depends on
how much they have deviated from the truth.
Accordingly, we place some of these sects, such the Druze and Isma’ilis,
beyond the pale of Islam.

Question
41: Why do you believe
that you are the people of truth, while the rest are pagans and have strayed
away from the truth?

Answer 41: The case is not a matter of mere claims of superiority, as
much as it is an issue of sound common sense, and conclusive proofs which
confirm the absolute truth in Islam’s claims, which call for pure
monotheism.

Jews for example believe in Yahweh, to whom
they attribute qualities that are denigrate God’s majesty. They say for example that He has a son named
Uzair, [“And the Jews say: ’Uzair (Ezra) is the son of God’.”] (Holy Qur’an: 9:
30). How can we attribute a son to Him
when non of His creation resembles Him?
They also ascribed miserliness to Him, God says: “The Jews say ‘God’s
hand is tied up’ (i.e. He does not give and spend of His bounty” (Holy Qur’an:
5: 64). They also attributed to Him
qualities that are incmopatiable with His majesty, perfection, and power.

Then came the
Christians and claimed likewise, that Jesus Christ (pbuh) is the son of
God. They also attributed divinity to
Jesus and his mother. God says in the
Qur’an:

[And
(remember) when God will say (on the day of reurrection): “O Jesus, son of
Mary! Did you say unto men: ‘worship me
and my mother as two gods besides God?’ He will say: ‘Glory is to You! It is not for me to say what I had no right
(to say). Had I said such a thing, You
would surely, have known it. You know
what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours; truly You, only
You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden (and seen). Never did I say to them aught except what You
(God) did command me to say: worship God my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them while I dwelt
amongst them,

مراقب عام المنتدى

but when you took me up, You were the
Watcher over them; and You are a Witness to all things’.”] (Holy
Qur’an: 5: 116-117).

Then Islam came with pure monotheism. God says:

“Say ‘He is God, (the) One.
God is self-sufficnet. He begets
not, nor was He begotten. And there is
none co-equal or comaprable unto Him’.” (Holy Qur’an: 112: 1-4).

He also says:

“There is nothing like Him; and He is the
All-Hearer, the All-seer” (Holy Qur’an: 42: 11).

The religious wars erupted in Europe as a result of the unresolved doctrinal
controversies surrounding the person of Jesus.
In Islam there are no controversies as to who God is, His names, His
essence, and His attributes. The
Qur’an’s call remains ever relevent: “Surely, in disbelief are they who say
that ‘God is the Messiah, son of Maryam (Mary)’.” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 17).

Our refutation of Christian teachings in
this regard are not based on personal whim or malice. We are simply stating God’s judgement on the
matter. Whoever ascribes partners to God
has rejected faith. God says:

“And verily, this is my straight path, so
follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from
His path. This he has ordained for you
that you may become the pious” (Holy Qur’an:6: 153).

Question 42: What is Islam’s position with regards to
nationalism?

Answer 42: It is natural to love one’s country and people, as long as it
does not lead to unjust dealings with other nations and peoples. A Muslim is also expected to show compassion
and concern for people outside his country.

Nationalism, according to the contemporary
proponents implies a kind of identity based on nationhood without reference to
religious considerations. This
understanding is clearly false.
Nationalism, tribalism and regionalism had great influence on the lives
of the people. When Islam came it
refined these concepts and set rules and regulations to them, these include: no
blind allegiance to nationality, race, country, and skin colour. Loyalty is first and foremost to God, and to
His prophet and the community of believers wherever they may be. Love to one’s country must now be defined by
the supreme allegiance to God’s religion.

Question 43: Is the one dies defending his country
considered a martyr?

Answer 43: Intention is a vital issue here. Whoever is killed while defending his country
with the intention of upholding the truth as revealed by God is a martyr. Whoever dies defending his country with the
intention of safeguarding his honour and wealth is a martyr. However, if one dies while fighting to gain
personal wealth and fame is not a martyr.
One has to be a Muslim and be driven by Muslim ideals to be a candidate
for martyrdom. The prophet says:
“Whoever fights so that God’s word remain supreme is indeed striving on the
path of God.”

مراقب عام المنتدى

PART TWO

Questions and Answers on

Islamic Jurisprudence:

Wisdom & Purposes

Translated by

Ahmad H. Al-Hout

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 1:

Islamic Jurisprudence:
Wisdom and Purposes

Question
44: What is the meaning of Islam?

Answer 44: Islam
is total surrendering to almighty God’s command and obeying Him in all of His
legislation and rules whose basis is the well-known five pillars: The two
words, prayer, zakat, fasting and pilgrimage.

The perfect
form of Islam is achieved when the Muslim’s life is completely involved in
Islam. almighty God said: “[Our sibghah (religion) is] the Sibghah (religion)
of God (Islam) and which Sibghah (religion) can be better than God’s? And he is
the All-Hearer, the All-Knower. (Holy Qur’an: 2: 138) and ‘Say (O Muhammad)
Verily, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for God, the Lord
of all that exists’.”) (Holy Qur’an: 6:162).

Question
45: What does faith mean?

Answer
45: Faith is the absolute belief in God, whose location is the
heart. It is associated with the saying
of the tongue and the observation of the senses. The basis of this faith is the belief in God,
His angels, books, messengers, the doom’s day, fate (both good and evil) are
all from almighty God. Therefore, the
saying of the tongue indicates this absolute belief in those fundamentals and
rules. The perfect action can best be
testified by the implementation of Islam in the private and public life.

Question
46: What is the meaning of “perfect worship”?

Answer
46: This means “to worship God as if you were seeing Him; as you
cannot see Him, He sees you”, as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) related. It is a high degree of emotional feeling to
the Muslim when dealing with God as if he were seeing Him before his own eyes
in terms of ability, greatness, authority and power, mercy, assistance and
generosity. One who feels these divine
qualities and other ones in all his conditions, will be whole-heartedly sincere
and good in all his acts, behavior, manners, and will not be affected by his
materialistic and personal interests and benefits. When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
was asked by `Uqbah bin Nafi’ about the perfect manners, he said, “O `Uqbah,
visit those who refrained from visiting you, be kind to whoever deprived you,
and do not harm those who have harmed you.” This kind of honesty makes the self
of the Muslim pure, immaculate privately and publicly, whether one is alone or
with others, in times of prevention and bounty, in loyalty, and in integrity—indeed,
in all matters, small and big, it is a self that believes in God and attached
to Him while looking at him all the time.
If man’s eye may sleep sometimes, it believes, nevertheless that God’s
eye does not sleep and continues to see him, that is perfect worship (ihsan).

Question 47: When
did man known faith for the first time?
Did people in ancient times believe in almighty God, or were they
unbelievers, as anthropologists claim?

Answer
47: Belief in God is deeply rooted in the human nature. It is intrinsic in people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Every child is
born intrinsically believing in God, but his parents make him a Jew, a
Christian or a Magi,”[1] i.e. every
newborn is born with spontaneous belief in almighty God and surrendering to him. Islam has its own concept about the beginning
of creation and human evolution. The gist is that almighty God created Adam
from earth and soul was then blown into him.
Next Eve was created from Adam.
Then marriage began and people multiplied and populated the earth.

Adam was
the first believer. He recognized God’s
power and greatness. Therefore, when he
sinned, he soon regretted and asked God to pardon him: he prostrated before Him
implored for reconciliation and forgiveness.
Almighty God said; “They said ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If
you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of
the losers”(Holy Qur’an: 7: 23).
Almighty God has already said to them: “And We said; ‘O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in paradise, and eat
both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you
will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of thewrong-doers.’ Then Satan made them slip therefrom (paradise),
and got them out from that in which they were. We said: O get you down, all,
with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and
an enjoyment for a time.” Then Adam received from his Lord Words.

[1] Cited in al-Siuti, vol. 2, hadith
No. 6356.

مراقب عام المنتدى

And his
Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, he is the One Who
forgives, the Most Merciful.”

It is
clear from the holy verses that Adam was a true believer in God. He lived in Paradise
with his spouse, then he sinned because of the insinuations of Satan. But Adam soon repented, and God accepted his
repentance. This incident indicates that
faith occurred before disobedience, unbelieving and polytheism took place. Prophet Muhammad confirmed this fact by
saying: “God created people to be intrinsically believing, but they were
deceived by the devils.”[1] This means that devils ornamented polytheism
for people and they deviated from the right path.

Question 48: Since
no one has able to see God, and since no dead person was resurrected to tell us
what happened to him after death, how could we believe in any religion?

Answer
48: This question is based on the material world, where sense becomes
the reference to determine the facts of the universe. Fundamentally, this basis is a void one. In this life we believe in many things
without being able to see them or feel them tangibly. We do not know for example the essence of the
soul, its secrets, and where does it inhabit our bodies? So far this field has been immune to
scientists and scientific laboratories, fine radiology and microscopes, which
biologists and doctors use. We
absolutely believe in the presence of the soul although we do not see it. We also believe in the existence of many
other things like magnetism, electric current, air and many other things, which
we do not touch physically.

All
religions are based on miracles, which God performs on the hands of the
prophets. Ordinary human beings cannot
perform these miracles. Only prophets
could carry out these actions in order to confirm the fact that they are true
emissaries of God. All prophets were sent
to people and performed miracles in front of them, so that they believed
them. These are well-known historical
facts.

Prophet
Moses (pbuh) performed miracles: his club was transformed into a snake, the sea
was split into two parts through a hit with his club, and the bursting of the
water from the rock in the form of twelve springs good for drinking.

[1] Cited in Muslim, hadith No. 2637.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Prophet
Jesus (pbuh) healed the blind and the leprous, and gave life to the dead
through God’s will.

Prophet
Muhammad also had many miracles including the splitting apart of the moon, the
gushing of water from his hands and the night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem
and his ascension though the heaven. But
the most enduring and challenging miracle revealed through him is the Qur’an.

Belief
in almighty God and in the unseen is therefore an intuitive matter, without
which life cannot be right; without which the human self does not feel fully
contented. People’s lives, both today
and land in the past, testify this if only they are truthful about their thoughts,
feelings, and ideas.

Question
49: Do people inherit the religion of Islam from their parents?

Answer
49: It has already been stated above that people are born to be
intrinsically God believing, i.e. Muslims.
Islam regards a child before puberty to be subordinate to his father in
terms of religion and belief. Coming of
age, he/she becomes responsible and will be held accountable for his/her
deeds. This requires him/her to embrace
the religion of Islam as a result of conviction, thinking and choice. However, if the child dies before puberty age
(15 years) he/she will be considered as one of the escapees from Hell even
though his parents are non-believers.
This is a prerequisite of the justice of God who says: “… and no burdens
shall bear the burden of another” (Holy Qur’an: 6: 164).

Question
50: Is Islam to be imposed on people or do people have to embrace it
willingly?

Answer
50: Islam is the religion of God, He knows human self better than
human beings themselves. He also knows
what is good and what is bad for them.
It is to the best interest and righteousness to man of mankind if they
follow the right path revealed by God out of conviction, choice, love and
desire, so that they could be salvaged.
Almighty God made this clear in the holy book: “There is no compulsion
in religion. Verily, the right Path has become distinct from the wrong
path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut
(false deities) and believes in God, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold
that will never break. And God is
All-Hearer, All-Knower” (Holy Qur’an: 2: 256).
It has never occurred in history that Muslims compelled anyone to
embrace Islam even when they were at the height of their power.

Question
51: Is it possible that the whole system of this universe has occurred
by coincidence?

Answer
51: This can never be the case at all. In fact, no rational person
could ever envisage that this world has come into existence without a wise
capable and knowing creator. With the
least contemplation, a rational person can recognize the invalidity of
coincidence in this case. When a person
looks at a beautiful building that is architecturally organized, wonderful and
firm, foe example, he intuitively believes that someone must have built,
organized and planned its plan and designed its foundations, lounges and
balconies. When we look at the watch on
our wrists, we cannot believe that its first maker found it by coincidence in
that shape. So how could we believe that
the creation of man to have come by coincidence? And how could this universe which runs
according to an absolute accurate system (in terms of night and day, stars,
planets and galaxies) how could it have come by pure coincidence? The idea of coincidence is something obsolete
and has become outside the rational circle in the world of science and
knowledge, and the world of reason and cause.

Question 52: If a
person embraces Islam for mere secular benefits, like marriage, can he/she be
still be regarded as true Muslim?

Answer
52: Islam is the religion of almighty God. It should be embraced exclusively for His
sake. God says: “Surely the religion is
for God only” (Holy Qur’an: 39:3).
Almighty God does not accept anyone who converts for a particular
interest while implying infidelity, his Islam.
Prophet Muhammad reported that deeds will be judged by God according to
people’s intentions:

“Deeds
are rated according to the intentions of the people who carry them out. Each person is to be rewarded according to
his/her intention. Anyone who migrates for the sake of God and His prophet, his
migration will be to them then, and anyone who migrates for worldly interests,
or a woman he wants to marry, his migration will be to what he has migrated
to.”[1]

There
are, however, some people who embrace Islam for mere personal interests; but
after a while, they become committed and truthful in their intention of
faith. God will forgive this group of
people and grant them salvation.

Muslims
are required to deal with anyone who proclaims Islam publicly according to
his/her actions and/or deeds. Only God
can tell about people’s hearts and motivations.
The word Muslims scholars most use in such likely contexts is: “We have
to judge the apparent and only God judges the actual.” If this fake Muslim continues to be elusive,
then he/she is deceiving the community and God will count him/her among the
hypocrites. If the true character of
this “hypocrite” is revealed to the community, then he/she will be held
responsible and the divine rules of apostasy will apply upon him/her.

Question 53: Is
person’s intention sufficient for him/her to be a Muslim or does he/she have to
say the two testimonies: that there is no deity but God and that Muhammad is
His messenger?

Answer
53: Intention is not sufficient.
The two testimonies must be proclaimed, as announcing them is what
distinguishes a Muslim from a non-Muslim.
It is the proof of honesty and of being convinced of Islam, because it
is difficult to know that person is a Muslim if he/she does not claim so? How could a Muslim perform his duties towards
other Muslims if he does not know them and they do not know him? However, there are cases when intention
becomes sufficient, especially if this person is afraid of being killed in case
he/she announces Islam in a fanatic non-Muslim environment. In this case, he/she may practice Islam
secretly and say the two testimonies privately until he/she could move to a
safer environment and could perform their rituals in public.

Question 54: Is
it possible for a convert to say the two testimonies in a language other than
Arabic if he/she does not know this language?

Answer 54: Yes, it
is possible to say the two testimonies in any language. Arabic is not required at this stage. However, once the convert is able to say the
two testimonies in Arabic, it is

[1] Cited in all canonical books of hadith.

مراقب عام المنتدى

advisable
that he/she does so, in which case other Muslims could be more acquainted with
him/her. If he cannot do that, it is not
obligatory.

Question 55: Is
it obligatory for a sister wanting to embrace Islam to be dictated the two
testimonies by a Muslim female or should only a Muslim male achieve this?

Answer
55: Islam is the religion of God, it is an open invitation for
everybody to join in. Anyone who says
the two testimonies out of truthful intention has entered the gate of
Islam. A convert does not have to be
dictated how to become a Muslim if he/she knows how to. But in the likely case he/she does not know
what to do, instructions become indispensable for mere educational purposes.

A
convert is never required to have witnesses testifying his/her Islam. Embracing Islam starts with saying the two
testimonies, which are followed by manner and conduct: all rites, like prayer,
and fasting must be performed. These
acts of worship when are performed well become enough witness for someone’s
faith.

When
need is required that someone proves his/her Islamic faith, like the cases and
matters related to law and religious courts, then witnesses are rendered
necessary in this case.

Question
56: What is the meaning of polytheism? And why does Islam reject
it?

Answer
56: Polytheism means worshipping something else with God whether this
thing is animate like a prophet, a messenger, a leader, a wealthy man, or a
prominent person; or inanimate, like a stone, a planet and the like. Islam rejects polytheism altogether. It is regarded as the antithesis of faith, as
there are different reasons that prove this, the most important of which are:

1.
Anyone who really knows God, through His most beautiful Names, Qualities, Acts
and Virtues, will despise having a peer to God.

2.
Polytheism does not go with the true nature that God gave to man. A God-believing person feels contented, safe
and psychologically settled, while a polytheist experiences an uneasy kind of
life. His/her feelings are mostly distracted,
and psychology unsettled. The least
social study will show the great differences between the Islamic societies and
other ones, the reason being the dogmas that direct each of these societies.

3.
Polytheism contradicts reason. Rightful
minds do not place the creator and created on equal grounds. The same applies to learned and ignorant
persons, and the able and disable. When
contemplating the world around us, we realize it inevitable that there exists a
great, all-knowing and able creator of this universe, and all that it includes,
according to a very accurate and meticulous system. Normal minds absolutely believe that this
creator must be single and all alone, because if there were more than one
deity, conflict and difference would have emerged. If there had been more than one deity, things
would have gone wrong, and one of them would have dominated the other.

Question
57: What are the qualities of spirit?

Answer
57: Spirit is God’s most ambiguous and invisible secret. Only Him
knows and realizes its everlasting truth and essence. Almighty God relates: “And they ask you (O
Muhammad, concerning the spirit; say: ‘the spirit is one of the things, the
knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have
been given only a little’.” (Holy Qur’an: 17: 85).

Contemporary
scientists have attempted tom make some research on the truth of this
secret. They have held conferences for
the same purpose. But their conclusion
was that the spirit is an unknown secret which mankind has not known its truth
yet.

One of
the conferences is the one which was held in New York in 1959, when six scientists from
different parts of the world met at a round table in an attempt to understand
something about the origin and evolution of life on the surface of this
earth. The Russian scientist Alexander
Obarin, a biochemist in he Soviet Academy of Sciences, and greatly interested
in the evolution of life, was among the participants. The end of the conference was no better than
its beginning. It did not lead to any
findings, but confirmed the fact that the secret of life is unknown, and that
there is no hope that science will reach one day.

We
believe in the existence of the spirit because of its outstanding effects in a
tangible world, which is replete with life and living creatures. The difference between the life of human
beings and that of animals is that the life of the animal is instinctive and
confined to the world of concrete material of food, drink and desire, while the
life of man is distinguished to be above that, as it belongs to a world of
values, manners, ideals, virtues and noble feelings, and the life of science,
thought, and search for the secrets of the universe and benefiting from
them. If human beings try to do without
these values, they regresses into the world of animals. This fact is typically portrayed in the
Qur’an, God says: “while those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as
cattle eat; and the Fire will be their abode” and “And surely, We have created
many of the jinn and mankind for Hell.
They have hearts wherewith they understand not, and they have eyes
wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth).
They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.” (Holy Qur’an:
7:179)

Question
58: What is the relationship between life, death and the
hereafter?

Answer
58: Almighty God is the one who created both life and death to see
who is better in terms of deeds. This is the core of the matter “to see who is
better in deeds” (Holy Qur’an: 67: 2). God has created this universe and showed
the wonders of His capability so that His creatures could really know Him, give
Him His due, and observe the system that He designed for them and live
according to His decree. The entire
universe is bound to show true submission due to God’s supreme power. This worldly life is the experimental
setting, God wanted to see on it the obedient and the disobedient, the deviant
and the straight, the just and the oppressive, the lost and the guided, the
believer and the infidel. This is why
God gave man wisdom and freedom, and granted him the authority and ability to
choose between good and evil, guidance and aberration. He sent messengers and supported them with
miracles in order to warn people and inform them that they should play the role
of His vicegerent on earth, and implement His law accordingly.

God has
provided man, through His prophets/messengers, with a complete system for life
that goes well with his/her mind and nature.

Almighty
God has announced to all people that this worldly life is an arena, or a
wrestling ring. Reward or punishment is
to be delayed to the hereafter, to which all people will go. This worldly life is limited and narrow, and
cannot be sufficient for obtaining rights according to God’s criteria. This
life is, therefore, a place for work.
Death is only a bridge across which human beings move to the eternal
life so that each could obtain his/her rights in accordance with fair judgment,
which saves nothing, however it is small or big. God said: “So whosoever does good equal to
the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight
of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.” (Holy Qur’an: 100: 7-8). A poet expressed his view about the meaning
of life by saying: “Death is but a journey from this perishing abode to the
eternal one.”

Question
59: Will the other non-human creatures be resurrected beside man?

Answer
59: On the Doom’s Day almighty God will resurrect all living
creatures and then will rule justly among them all. He will obtain the right of the oppressed
from the oppressor, even the animals.
Then He dignifies his honest worshippers by allowing them into Paradise and granting them eternal stay in it. He will
punish the infidels and polytheists by forcing them into Hell and granting them
eternal stay in it.

What
indicates the resurrection of animals on the doom’s day is the prophet’s
saying: “(On the doom’s day) everybody will get his/her due, even the hornless
goat will be redressed from the one with horns.”

Question
60: Is man by nature sinful?

Answer
60: God created man and granted him an intrinsic nature of belief in
the true religion. He provided him with
a potential to do good or evil, right or wrong.
He gave him talents and abilities, which enable him to do all of that
completely at his own free will. God
then sent messengers for man’s guidance, to follow the straight path, and warn
people of the grave consequences in case they strayed off. With this perception, test and examination
become fair, and man eventually may either succeed this test or fail it; hence,
gain reward or punishment. If man had
been born to be good and infallible only, how does he/she deserve reward
then? On the other hand, if people were
created to be evil only, how could they deserve punishment for something they
themselves did not choose to do?

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question
61: If man dies as a non-Muslim, will he/she eternally stay in
paradise or hell?

Answer:
61: God’s true religion is Islam; all previous religions were no more
than preparations for this final and eternal religion, Islam. Before the advent of Islam, religions were
limited to a certain time and place, and they were deemed to prepare people for
the acceptance of the final divine religion embodied in the message of the last
and seal of prophets, Muhammad (pbuh).
God almighty says: “And whosoever seeks a religion other than Islam it
will never be accepted of him, and in the hereafter he will be one of the
losers” (Holy Qur’an: 3: 85).

Question
62: What does make man eligible to enter Paradise?

Answer
62: Paradise, in the concept of
Islam, is a delightful abode prepared for the believers to enter in the
Hereafter. Every true Muslim that dies
will ultimately enter paradise. This
means that if a Muslim commits sins but who repents before his death, will be
granted forgiveness by almighty God. God
said: “And He it is who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins,
and He knows that you do” (Holy Qur’an: 42: 25). If, however, a sinful Muslim dies before
repenting, it will be up to God, whether He punishes or forgives him/her. Prophet Muhammad reported that no single
Muslim would eternally stay in hell, so long as he/she has the slightest amount
of faith in his/her heart. The
un-committed Muslims in this case will have to be tortured in Hell for a period
God knows; then they come out to enter Heaven so that it could be their
everlasting abode if God wills. Muslims
believe that people would be admitted into paradise not because of their good
deeds as much as the mercy of almighty God.

It is
reported that prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “None of you will enter Paradise owing to his good deeds”. They asked: “Not even
you, Messenger of God?” He said: “Not even me, unless God has bestowed mercy
and blessing upon me.”[1] However, the prophet confirmed the fact that
God does not neglect the good deeds of anyone—the ultimate goal being to
encourage Muslims to keep in touch with God, to resort to Him and plead Him. This helps to improve the conduct of Muslims
in both their private and public lives.

[1] Cited in Bukhari.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question 63: Is
the reciting of the Holy Qur’an without understanding its meanings considered
to be a kind of worship?

Answer
63: Reciting the Qur’an is indeed some kind of worship. However, there is a big difference between
the one who recites it passively, and/or the one who deeply contemplates its
meaning while reciting it. God rewards
both types, but on varying level. The
happy life in the shadows of the Noble Qur’an is difficult to achieve, except
for one who contemplates ponder it when he reads or listens to it. The Holy Qur’an, has a great influences on
man’s life and can easily change the course of people’s history. It did have its great influence on the
prophet’s companions when it was being revealed upon the prophet.

Question
64: What is the wisdom behind each of Islam’s five pillars?

Answer
64: The pillars of Islam are five in number, they are:

1. The
testimony that there is no deity except God and that Muhammad is His messenger,

2.
Performing prayer,

3.
Paying zakat,

4.
Fasting the month of Ramadhan, and

5.
Performing greater pilgrimage to Mecca
for the one who can afford it.

It is on
these foundations that Islam is built.
The question cited above is too wide to handle in a limited period of
time. Besides, it requires a
comprehensive knowledge of this religion, its fundamentals and branches. This, however, does not prevent us from
mentioning some part of the wisdom of these fundamentals and branches in accordance
with God’s will and help.

There is
no deity except God and Muhammad is His messenger: This is the testimony of
truth and the foundation of Islamic faith, as there is no deity except God to
be worshipped, to be surrendered to and resorted to in all times especially in
crisis. This is the monotheistic creed,
which guarantees tranquility and safety that is homogeneous to human
nature. If there were two deities in
heaven and earth, they would have been corrupted, and one of would have
dominated the other. Muhammad is the
messenger of God. He is the guide to
God, and the conveyor of His system and rules of life according to which God
runs life. The prophet is the one who
guides people to their God and acquaints them with the methods of virtuous and
happy life.

Through
this testimony the sources of slavery to God and the revelation from Him are
unified. Beyond it, no man lives a lost
or uneasy life. Through this testimony,
man becomes able to know where he is going and to whom to surrender. With the testimony man cannot be confused as
to the path he is leading in his life.
It is drawn clearly as it was shown by the messenger who received
revelation from God in the form of a complete and integrated system, which is
lenient and easy in terms of perception and conduct, and as a method of public
and private life.

Performance
of prayer: It is the link between man and God. It implies submission to God and surrendering
to Him. It is man’s address to the
creator, supplication and request to Him for guidance in this world, which is
the footstep to the hereafter. It is
expressive of man’s willingness to follow God’s commands and avoid what He
prohibits. Prayer is the food for
spirit, it plants in the human soul emotions, love for purity, and order. A performance of prayer five times a day
refreshes the feelings and purifies the soul every now and then. No sooner than man surrenders to life and its
worldly affairs, which distract his/her spirit and overwhelm his/her mind and
thought, than prayer is called for. When
the prayer is called for, the Muslim promptly stands up to prepare
himself/herself for the prayer (by cleaning up and/or making ablution). Then men (it is preferable that women perform
their prayers at home) move to the mosque to stand in one respectable row
addressing the Lord through reading supplications, invocations, and recitation
of the Qur’anic verses. The Muslim’s
attention in this context is revived and enlivened, his/her heart and conscience
are awakened; and all are to be reflected on his/her personal qualities,
manners and dealings with the society surrounding him/her, starting with the
family and ending up with the society.

There is
a huge difference between the life of a committed Muslim and a non-committed
one in terms of hygiene, psychology, personality, society, and even private and
public life.

Paying Zakat: Paying
zakat in Islam is the basis of social solidarity in the Muslim community. It is the guarantor of the rights of the
poor, set to them by God in order to sustain communication and mutual mercy
among the various classes of society; and to nourish the feelings of love and
cooperation among them. It is also meant
to put an end to the incentives of grudge and vanity amongst the
believers. Zakat is a symbol of
an integrated economic structure in Islam, and a clear indication of the fact
that this religion is not merely emotions inside the human self; rather a
comprehensive system of life; in addition to being a dogma strong and alive in
the human self.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Islam is
a religion that lives up to people’s demands and concerns, and tries to solve
whatever problems Muslims face. As such,
it paves the way to respectable and virtuous life; eventually makes everybody
happy. By this, zakat is deemed
to achieves security and stability to the community.

Fasting
the month of Ramadhan: Fasting is abstaining from food, drink,
and sexual desire for the from dawn to sunset in accordance with almighty God
commandment. There is strength in
fasting for both man self and will so that it goes above the captivity of
necessities and desire and rises to transcendental horizons, and it implies
control and order which should be familiar to Muslims in their lives. Thus he
does not become negligent or careless.

Fasting
makes Muslims accustomed to fasting at a specific time, to abstain from food
and drink and at the same time to break their fast at a specific time. When the
month of Ramadhan ends, the Muslims become God’s guests on the occasion of the
Feast and he is prohibited from fasting that day after fasting was obligatory
the day before. It is order, obedience, and noble education of the magnanimous
selves.

Fasting
in Islam is deemed to remind the rich and healthy of the concerns of the poor,
the sick and the weak. When a wealthy person feels hungry, he/she will mostly
remember the needy who might always be hungry.
This will make the rich sympathize with them and takes interest in their
affairs. Thus, a fasting person may conclude from his fast great spiritual,
psychological and social lessons.

Pilgrimage
to Mecca: Pilgrimage
is also one of the great pillars of worship in Islam. It encourages Muslims to sacrifice their
money, and comfort for the sake of God, in order to go above the material, and
aspire to the world of values and ideals.

Pilgrimage
is a strong link in the structure of Islamic system, which is used to bring up
the Muslim society on values, like acquaintance, cooperation and consultation.
Let us look at the educational array in this community: Islam legislated congregational prayer, which
calls Muslims on a street level to meet five times a day, where they get
acquainted with the concerns, pains and situations of each other. Islam legislated a meeting on the village or
town level in the form of the Friday prayer, so that a preaching scholar from
among them would remind, advice and guide them to the best of their
interest. The Friday preacher treats the
problems, which may have happened on a week’s term from a conscious Islamic
educational perspective so that people leave the mosque after having known and
taken a dose of guidance, and knowledge by which they make their way to the
future.

Still,
Islam legislated a larger meeting on the level of the whole Islamic world every
year, i.e. the day of the Greater Pilgrimage to Holy Mecca, that blessed
meeting when people are required to abandon their local customs, conventions,
dress and languages, and perform universal rituals of the state of
consecration, standing in `Arafat, circumambulating the Holy Kaabah, strolling
between Safa and Marwa, and uttering devotional calls, standing
around the Kaabah in heir prayers seeing one another, and calling altogether
most of their time: “Here I am, O my Great God, answering Your call. I am indeed here to do Your bidding. You have no partner. Here I am to do Your bidding. Indeed, praise, bounty, grace and sovereignty
are Yours. You have no partner.”

The
Islamic world meets in pilgrimage to benefit, and show the power and greatness
of Islam in the form of one aim, one power and one unity. They exchange opinion and consultation
pertaining to their urgent local and international concerns and problems and
conclude useful lessons, wisdom and experience, which lighten their path in
life and help them to achieve their purpose and great tasks. Pilgrimage, thus becomes sacrifice,
cooperation, consultation, acquaintance with others, order, education, a symbol
of unity and power, and many benefits from which each Muslim takes a specific
part.

This is
a quick reply and an expressive glimpse of wisdom and secrets of the pillars of
Islam. What is more important is the
taste of sweetness of slavery to almighty God through the scientific
implementation of those pillars, while observing Islam sincerely and honestly,
oneself and one’s strong keenness to follow the method of the prophet and
imitating the guiding prophet (pbuh) in all rules and situations. From the altar of slavery, the lights of
guidance rise and the darkness of life vanishes. Almighty God said:

“Is he
who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life
(by knowledge and Faith) and set on him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk
amongst men–like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and
hypocrisy) from which he can never come out?” (Holy Qur’an: 6:122)

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question
66: If there is no celibacy in Islam, why do the Sufi groups
exist?

Answer
66: Truly, in Islam, there is no celibacy, that is, to abstain from
marriage and prevent oneself from legal desires and pleasures. Islam has replaced this term with what goes
along with its rules, as Prophet Muhammad said: “Jihad (holy war) is the
celibacy of Islam.”[1] Some people understood the meaning of
celibacy to be abstaining from life and having a passive stance towards
it. Islam considers jihad in the path of
God to spread the religion of God and defend the truth that God has revealed as
celibacy of Muslims. It is the Islamic
positivety versus negativity of others.

It is a
fact that many Sufi groups exist in the Islamic world. These groups originally emerged as a reaction
against the kind of luxurious life certain Islamic societies were
enjoying. This motivated them to adopt
the call for asceticism and reduce the interest in life at the expense of the
hereafter and the necessity to keep away from all that drives the attention
from almighty God. None of these groups
did really call for celibacy; if they had done, their action would undoubtedly
be sinful. Islam renders enjoying good
things legal; it prohibits abominations and calls for marriage. It even made marriage and reproduction
desirable so that the nation would increase in number, and goodness increases
alongside it. Those are
taken-for-granted matters, which all people know and do not need a proof or
evidence for. This is how the story of
Sufism began, and in the course of time and as a result of ignorance in
religion and having little or no contacts with scholars, deviation and
extremism spread among many of these groups.
By the time they became, however, at complete distance from the guidance
of Islam, its orthodox teachings and rules.
In order to achieve all goodness Muslims should commit themselves to the
guidance of the Noble Qur’an, the path of the prophetic traditions, as they
contain all that makes one do without the thought and understanding of people.

Question 67: How
can you interpret the contradiction between a Muslim’s acts (like prayer,
fasting, pilgrimage) and his/her daily behavior and manner, especially when
dealing with people?

Answer 67: It goes
without saying that Islam should guide the Muslim in both his/her private and
public life. The purpose of prayer is to proscribe
adultery and evil, as almighty God said: “Verily,

[1]
Cited in Ahmad.

مراقب عام المنتدى

the
prayer prevents from great sins of every kind, and every kind of evil wicked
deed” (Holy Qur’an: 29:45). This should
be the norm, but, often, we do not find the proper effect of prayer and the
other forms of worship on a good number of people. It seems that a great deal of them are not
sincere and in their worship and do not take their prayers seriously. They lack the education and enlightenment that
help them perform their rituals perfectly.
It is only when these people take their religious affairs more
carefully, honestly, and faithfully that their worshipping rituals will have
its true effect on their lives; consequently, end any likely contradiction
between their worships and daily interactions with the society.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 2:

Matterss of Physical
and Moral Cleanness

Question
68: When is a person considered to be pure from the Islamic point
of view?

Answer
68: Purity in Islam has two meanings: moral and physical. Moral purity is embodied in the belief in
almighty God only and not believing in another deity besides Him. It also involves belief in God’s
messengers/prophets, in His books, in the hereafter and the prerequisites of
faith. What is also involved here is the
cleanliness of the heart from grudge, from vanity, from hypocrisy, from pride
and jealousy; and the acquisition of all virtues so that one may aspire above
any immoral act or sinful custom.

As to
the physical purity (hygiene and cleanliness), this can be of two kinds for
man:

1.
Purity or purification from major hadath (for men and women after a
sexual intercourse; for women, after the menstruation period) by bathing. And purity from a minor hadath (after
sleep and in case something comes out from the human body, whether material or
immaterial) by ablution. All of that has
a great deal of details, but they have no place here to discuss.

2.
Cleanliness from impurities: one should keep away from all forms of impurities
in terms of body, and clothes, and should remove any likely traces of such
things as blood, urine, excrescence, wine, etc.
If man’s heart is clear from polytheism, and endowed with moral virtues;
and if man abstains from bad manners and cleans his body from impurities and
dirt, he/she will be completely pure in the view of Islam.

Question
69: What is the relationship between the purity of the soul and
that of the body?

Answer
69: Islam insists on purity (which of course include cleanliness and
hygiene), as it accounts for half of the religion. Almighty God said: “Truly, God loves those
who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by
taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies,
for their prayers)” (Holy Qur’an 1: 222).
Prophet Muhammad: “Cleanliness constitutes half man’s faith.”[1] He also said: “God is gracious and loves
graciousness, He is Pure and loves purity and.”[2]

Purity,
as such is values and beauty. But
cleanliness of the soul and the heart from moral abominations is more important
than the cleanliness of the body from material dirt and impurities. Islam insists on purity in general and the
purity of the soul and the heart in particular.
Anyone whose heart is pure and clean, his/her appearance is bound to be
so, and vice-versa. This is the basis
and the principle upon which the Islamic values are based. If this principle is missing in people’s lives,
they will never know cleanliness, neither spiritually nor physically. The manifestations of physical cleanliness,
which non-Muslims seem to enjoy, are not more than a deceptive appearance from
afar. If one approaches any of them,
he/she would mostly likely sense a disgusting smell coming out of them. This is not to mention purity of their soul
and heart, which has no place in those who do not really believe in God. The least contemplation of the situation of
the non-Islamic societies would give us so much evidence and proof.

Question
70: When a person embraces Islam, is it obligatory upon him/her to
have a bath or shower?

Answer
70: Bathing or taking a shower for those who embrace Islam is a
divine requirement. It is required and
strongly recommended both physically and morally. What a beautiful beginning for one who embraces
this religion, after saying the testimony, with the intention of starting a new
period in his life based on physical and moral cleanliness. Also, it could be
possible that the one who has embraced Islam has had a sexual intercourse with
his wife. This, as such, confirms bathing and it becomes obligatory, as it is
seen by the majority of scholars. The purpose of this bathing is the emphasis
of the cleanliness.

Question 71: When
a person embraces Islam, will ablution suffice for a bath, or is a bath obligatory?

Answer
71: Ablution does not exempt one who has embraced Islam from having a
bath.

[1]
Cited in Muslim, hadith No. 328.

[2] Cited in Al-Tirmidhi, hadith No.
2723.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Question
72: If a person wants to embrace Islam and does not find water,
what can he do?

Answer
72: Absence of water does not prevent one from embracing Islam. He
embraces Islam and says the testimony: “There is no deity by God, and Muhammad
is His Messenger”, then he/she can bathe when water becomes available.

Question 73: Is
removing hair for one wanting to embrace Islam obligatory? And is that a part of purity and/or
cleanliness?

Answer
73: The question about hair here is a vague one, for it does not
specify which hair should be removed.
However, if it refers to the hair of the head, it is not required to be
removed, as it is not considered part of cleanliness to remove it. However, prophet Muhammad (pbuh) related:
“Any man who has long hair, should honor it”, i.e. keep it clean and tidy. As to the moustaches and the beard, Islam
shows their rule in the saying of the prophet: “Trim the moustaches and leave
the beards.” So Muslims are required by
this hadith to cut the hair of the moustache so that the edge of the
upper lip could be seen; and to leave without shaving it, because it is an
emblem of Islam and a sign of manhood.

As to
the hair of the armpit and pubic hair (round the private parts) it is
recommended to be removed whenever it gets long, but it should not be left for
more than forty days. This as well as
other things, like trimming the fingernails, is the natural signs according to
which God created people.

Question 74: Can
a convert wear garments he/she used to put on before his/her conversion while
these clothes still have some of his/her sweat on the same clothes?

Answer
74: Sweat is not considered to be an impurity. If these clothes were known to have some
impurity on them, like urine, it would suffice to wash them before wearing them
again.

Question 75: Is
not it self-contradictory in Islam when it urges its followers to be clean and
to use water before prayer for cleanliness, and then requires them to use earth
when water is not available?

Answer
75: There is no contradiction whatsoever between Islam’s legislative
system and any of its rules. As
mentioned above, Purity and/or cleanliness is a fundamental requirement in
Islam. Using clean earth (or sand) in
Islam does not contradict hygiene. The
whole process can be summarized as follows: a Muslim can tap the earth with
one’s hands without carrying anything, then rubbing the face with his hands. It is a symbolic meaning of the moral
cleanliness, which should precede prayer when water is not available to be used
in ablution, or when one is unable to use water for some reason, like
illness. Observing almighty God’s
commands and obeying Him in every matter is the deeper aim of washing one’s
face with earth, though it is not regarded as a real cleaning material as much
as a symbol of worship and compliance with God’s commands in the establishment
of prayer and getting ready for it.

Question 76: In
matters related to bathing, why do Muslims waste large amounts of water for
bathing, while it might be possible to wash the private parts only, like an
apple falling from a bag, it is enough to wash it in isolation of the other
apples in the bag.

Answer
76: This sound to be a naïve question and far removed from
truth. It is not rational to compare the
refined human being (with all his/her qualities, feelings, emotions, texture,
cells, nerves, etc.) to a bag of apples!
I do not think that it is feasible to compare the sexual intercourse, in
which the whole human being interacts and from which the extraction of man’s
blood and genes comes, to an apple falling from a bag. This operation may cause a psychological
change and form a new creature that has both its development and intricate living
world. Islam requires bathing, because
it is a rule of the all-knowing God, blessed by the Lord, the Best of Creators.

Question 77: What
is Islam’s position regarding women’s circumcision? Isn’t it a savage act and a loss of dignity
and abuse of their sexual rights?

Answer 77:
Circumcision of women is legal if not desirable in Islam, depending on the
state of the woman and her environment.
In some countries with hot climate, woman circumcision might become a
necessity for a perfect conjugal life with her husband. What harm or bestiality happens

مراقب عام المنتدى

to the
woman if she is circumcised? There is no
difference between the circumcision of a male and that of a female. It is an extra piece of flesh in the body of
a little child, which can carefully be removed and for the sake f purity,
beauty; which verify the aspects of manhood in the circumcised little boy and
the qualities of womanhood in the little girl.
We see no wrong with it, and there is no loss whatsoever in dignity.

Question 78: Are
Muslims allowed to eat from the food and/or slaughtered animals of the People
of the Scripture (Christians and Jews)?

Answer
78: Muslims can at any time eat from the food and/or the slaughtered
animals of the people of the book.
Almighty God says: “The food (slaughtered cattle, eatable animals) of
the People of the Scripture is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them” (Holy
Qur’an: 5:5). This testifies the ease of
Islam and its tolerance in dealing with non-Muslims, so that they come closer
to Muslim and cohabit with them peacefully.
This is the beginning of the way to understand Islam closely through
action and behavior, not through speech and pretension only.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 3:

Matters Relating to
Prayer

Question 79: Is
it all right for a Muslim to say his/hers prayer in a languages other than
Arabic? Can he/she read surah al-fatiha
(the opening chapter of the Qur’an) and any other (short) surah in a different
language than Arabic? Also, is it
obligatory to supplicate and revere God in Arabic only?

Answer
79: Saying one’s prayer cannot not be considered acceptable unless it
is read in Arabic. Every non-Arab Muslim
should learn some Arabic so that he/she could at least perform his obligatory
religious rituals. Arabic is the
language of the Qur’an and Islam.
However, it is possible only temporarily to read the meaning of the surat al-fatiha
in another language (other than Arabic) until the person has learnt to read it
in Arabic. It should be emphasized at
the same time that learning to read Arabic is easy, especially the Noble
Qur’an. Almighty God says: “And We have
indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; then is there an one
who will remember (or receive admonition)?” (Holy Qur’an: 54: 17).

As to
supplication and glorification in languages other than Arabic it is lawful,
though it is preferable to be performed in the language of the Qur’an itself.

Question 80: What
is the divine rule regarding a non-committed Muslim who does not perform
his/her prayer, not out of denial, but negligence? Is he/she considered to be
an infidel?

Answer
80: Prayer is one of the basic pillars of Islam, if not the most
important one. It comes second to the
declaration of faith (the two testimonies).
It is the pillar, which distinguishes the Muslim from the infidel. It is usually the last thing that Muslims
maintain from Islam. Any Muslim who
abandons it becomes so close to infidelity, if not considered an infidel
indeed. Some scholars believe that when
a Muslim neglects prayer because of laziness, he/she becomes an infidel. Others regard it as sinful and very close to
infidelity, so long as this lazy Muslim recognizes it and believes it is
obligation.

Question 81: Is
the prayer performed when one is absent-minded or busy about worldly affairs considered
to be invalid?

Answer
81: Prayer is not considered invalid when one is absent-minded or
busy, but the worshipper will not obtain the reward of this prayer. Full reward cannot be achieved except through
humble and content prayer.

Question 82: Does
it suffice a Muslim to perform his/her prayer only verbally? Are the physical movements (of bowing,
prostrating, etc.) integrated in the prayer itself?

Answer
82: Prayer is worshipping God, and it is made in a particular manner
which Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) taught us.
Almighty God instructed the prophet to perform it this manner through
the revelation of angel Gabriel. The
prophet (pbuh) said: “Pray in the manner you saw me doing.” Following the prophet’s tradition is an
Islamic obligation, whether we realize the purpose of some of his deeds or
not. However, when we do not fully
comprehend the purpose and surrender to God’s commands, that is a kind of
belief in the unseen and a testimony to the belief in God—although we can never
see Him.

Question 83: Is
it permissible for a Muslim to pray in a church if he/she does not have time or
could not find a more appropriate place?

Answer
83: Praying in a church is undesirable because it is a place for
non-Muslims. A Muslim can perform
his/her prayer in any other place on earth, so long as it is clean pure. The prophet says that whole of the globe has
been made a place for worshipping. A
Muslims who does not have enough time to pray while he is in a church for some
reason could go out and pray nearby the church, in the street, or in any other
clean place. However, prayer in a clean
church for a Muslim can still be valid though it may not be favourable.

Question 84: What
is the divine rule concerning the convert’s past obligatory prayers, which he had
missed before conversion? She he/she
perform them all?

Answer
84: Islam is a religion of tolerance.
“It nullifies everything before it,” as related by Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh).[1] Accordingly, a person who has embraced Islam
is not required to compensate for any Islamic obligations before embracing
Islam.

Question
85: Is the prayer of someone who has converted but not yet
circumcised, acceptable?

Answer
85: The prayer of one who has embraced Islam and has not been
circumcised is acceptable if he insures that he cleans the circumcision
location properly, i.e. if he is sure that he has cleaned the inner part of the
piece to be cut in circumcision, and he has to do circumcision as soon as
possible, for it is one of the requirement of Islam.

[1]
Cited in sahih al-Jame’ by Al-Allabani, hadith No. 3777.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 4:

Matters Relating to Zakat

Question 86: If a
Muslim struggles hard in order to achieve his own wealth, why should he/she
give a certain amount of this wealth in the form of zakat? Is not all the money his/hers? Cannot God give the poor money?

Answer
86: Islam has its own comprehensive educational system which takes
care of both the individual and the society at the same time. It maintains balance in rights and duties,
chastens and purifies the soul from greed and miserliness, and makes man feel
that he/she is an integral part of the society.
Islam preaches that there is no complete happiness unless all are happy;
a well known Muslim poet says: “No clouds should ever rain on me or on my land/
Unless it rains all over the place.”
Islam has established a society based on cooperation, solidarity,
reciprocal connection, mercy, love, benevolence and altruism. A true Muslim’s conscience suffers and gets
tormented if people around him are under distress or hardship. A Muslim, who has been endowed, by God, with
health and strength to collect money, is supposed to give thanks to his Lord
for His gifts. The best way for a Muslim
to give thanks is to help brethrens in Islam who need help, to give the deprived
and poor from what God has given him.
Love and intimacy as such would be established and maintained between
the poor and the rich. In this way,
society would feel better; and the spirit of cooperation and harmony would
prevail among the members of the same community. Besides, the one who is poor and frugal might
become rich one day, and vice versa; he who gives today might be in need in the
future. Every right has one duty against
it, and vice versa.

If we
look at the modern advanced societies, we find them imposing different systems
of social security, collecting taxes, and trying all the time to protect these
systems by the force of law. Islam
legislated the system of zakat, which is fundamentally is a test, in
order to achieve solidarity for the sake of brotherhood, love, and goodwill. However, the rebellion of some people against
this system obliges the Islamic state to take zakat from them by force
so that the right of the society continues to be maintained before the right of
individuals, so that happiness can prevail.
Almighty God relates: “Help you one another in al-Birr and al-Taqwa
(virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and
transgression” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 2) and prophet Muhammad related: “He is not a
believer in me that who sleeps full at home while his neighbor beside him is
hungry and he knows about him.”

It is in
this way that Islam brought people up so that society could be a civilized
one. History has not witnessed a similar
example. Islam still has the aptitude to
form such society based on these values and high ideals if it has the
enlightened and conscious leadership and if people are enjoying an atmosphere
of freedom and dignity.

Question 87: Is
it permissible for a convert to give zakat to non-Muslim relatives for
reconciliation so that they may embrace Islam?

Answer
87: Yes, it is possible to give zakat to relatives for
reconciliation so that they may embrace Islam.
In fact they are entitled to get such zakat. Almighty God says: “As-sadaqat (here
it means zakat) are only for the poor, and to the needy (but do no beg)
and those employed to collect (the funds), and to attract the hearts of those
who have been inclined (towards Islam)” (Holy Qur’an: 9: 60). Though non-Muslims, these people must be
given from the money of zakat so that they may, hopefully, embrace
Islam. Many people have embraced Islam
out of their desire to get money, but later they became interested in the
religion and became good Muslims.

Question 88: Out
of the eight ways of spending zakat comes “and those who are in the path of
God.” Does this include sponsoring
Islamic promulgators and buying books for free distribution?

Answer
88: Zakat should go to those specified by almighty God in the
Qur’an. According to the majority of
scholars, the type mentioned above, in the path God, means jihad (holy war)
against the enemies of God. As to those
who have devoted their time for Islamic call and have nothing to earn their
living from, they are entitled to the zakat money. As to buying books and distributing them free,
if the books are useful to those who are going to receive them, especially in
the field of religion, and they were among those entitled to zakat
money, there is no objection to this.
Generally speaking, distributing books to the poor and to the needy, it
is one of the most useful deeds which bring the Muslim closer to God and it is
the most important kind of the ways to spread the Islamic call, but this should
not come from the zakat money.
The charitable people should assign an amount of money as alms for this
kind of activity.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 5:

Matters Relating to
Fasting

Question 89: Can
not the fasting of Ramadhan be regarded as a kind of starving, self-torment and
physical infliction when Muslims deprive themselves from food and drink for
many hours every day and for a duration of a month? Why do not they fast as others (Jews and
Christians) do?

Answer
89: Fasting in Islam–like every other ritual–invokes admiration of
this religion and of its educational method in life. Islam is not a religion based on the
satisfaction of emotions or benumbing of feelings. Also, it is not a religion
which follows the inclinations of people or pleads them to meet around it like
foam. It is a heavenly religion which came to build up the good man who
qualifies for becoming of God’s vicegerent on earth, multiply in number, and
establish both truth and justice. Great
tasks like these require strong will and patience on the burden of life and its
oddities. Nothing like fasting could
sharpen the will. When a man feels hungry,
out of his/her own will, at a time when nothing could prevent him/her from
food; when man chooses to abstain from food and drink until a specific time,
his/her will becomes subordinate to the mind and thought. As such a Muslim becomes able to abstain from
things on the occasion of abstaining and moves forward in the location of
action, and does and leave what he/she thinks right after thinking and
contemplation, away from emotions and quick excitement, and respond to ideas
and various obsessions. Fasting is also
a kind of education of the rich and the well-to-do to taste the meaning of need
and the sting of hunger which the poor always suffer from. When those feel as
the others do, cooperation, solidarity and mercy prevail among the individuals
of all society, but when fasting is merely superficial, as the followers of
some other religions do, this does not go with the comprehensiveness of Islam
and its distinction. This religion is characterized by its own rules and
distinction of thoughts from other creeds so that what is good is known to be
different from the bad. Scum always goes
in vain, and what avails the people stays in the land.

Question 90: Islam
is a religion of ease. What did God in
his Almighty enjoins such a difficult task as fasting on the Muslim, especially
those who live in hot areas?

Answer
90: There is no hardship in Islam and God does not charge man to do
more than he/she could. Any obligation
in Islam that is too difficult for man and may cause him too much difficulty
will not continue to be an obligation.
On the one hand, anyone who cannot fast may not do so provided that
he/she compensate for not fasting by feeding a needy person for each day he/she
did not fast. On the other hand, Islam
is a heavenly religion with a great heavenly message which intends to build a
nation, establish a civilization, and take care of society by defending its
rights, and achieving a great role on the international level. Such a religion should in the first place
prepare its followers to endure difficulties and hardships so that they could
be qualified to build nations and develop civilizations. May God bless the soul
of that who said: “If the souls are great the bodies will be tired because of
their will.”

Desiring
comfort and living in slackness, dullness and laziness are the qualities of one
who is impatient, the kind of people who are not expected to be good to
themselves or to others. Has ever a nation risen in history and was important
while it was sitting dull, neither struggling nor getting tired or
exhausted? Could such people know the
taste of real comfort, unless they were exhausted because of work? Could people feel the pleasure of recovery
without knowing the meaning of disease? Could people know the taste of freedom
without suffering the agony of suppression?

By
contemplating these great meanings, we realize that the obligation of fasting
is a heavenly educational one and the difficulty in it may be intentional and
deliberate, otherwise it would not achieve the desired aim in the formation of
the nation and its preparation for grand tasks.

Question 91: How
could a Muslim fast while living in a country where the sun does not set most
of the hours of the day, as in the Scandinavian countries for instance?

Answer
91: Fasting is a kind of worship.
It is a way of getting accustomed to patience and developing a serious
will; and a Muslim has to be as strong as possible in terms of religion, will
and body. The Muslims of such cold
countries as the Scandinavian, where the sun does not set most of the hours of
the day, should fast and be patient until the sun sets even though the day is
much longer than the night. If someone,
due to a certain defect or illness, feels unable to endure fasting for such a
long time, he/she can choose not to fast but must make up for that when he/she
becomes able to do so. Otherwise, if
there is no possibility that the Muslim would be able to fast, then he has to
compensate in terms of feeding a needy Muslim by providing him/her with average
food, which he often offers to his family, for lunch or dinner for everyday he
did not fast.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 6:

Matters Relating to
Pilgrimage

Question 92: How
does Islam command its followers to kiss a stone in Makka with the aim of
getting closer to God? Why should
Muslims circumambulate a stone building, or stand on a mount of stones and
rocks while, in the meantime, it ordains its followers to keep from statues and
idols which are made of stone. Is not
that self-contradictory?

Answer
92: The acts of pilgrimage, such as circumambulate the Holy Kabah,
kissing the stone, and standing on a mount of Arafaat are not considered in any
way to be a statue worship, which is strongly prohibited in Islam. The case of worshipping idols implies intention
and a heart attached to these solid stones with the belief that these statues
have power and can affect man’s life.
Such beliefs are regarded by Islam as a matter of mental setback, for
how could an inanimate object a living creature?

The
whole rituals of pilgrimage represent complete obedience to God, which God
Himself requested from man. Whether one
can realize the secrets behind these rituals or not, a Muslim should follow the
commands of God so long as He commands us to do so. God is All-Knowing and All-Wise, and He
commands His slaves to do only what is beneficial and good to them.

The
pilgrimage rituals imply great educational intentions, which have their effect
on the life of the Islamic nation. They
are the landmarks around which Muslims from all over the world meet, stand and
move in the same direction.
Circumambulating the Kaabah together in the same direction while all are
clad in white, and repeating the same call is a real submission to God
Will. All this reminds Muslims of their
emotional, intellectual and dogmatic unity and the unity of their orientation
towards great matters in life and the unity of their path and destiny.

It also
reminds them of equality in rights and duties; people are equal, no one is
unimportant or important, there is neither ruler nor ruled, neither a prince
nor a commoner, and no one is distinguished from others in dress,
circumambulating, standing or in any related ritual. Great must be the effect of pilgrimage on the
rich and the famous when they are considered to be equal to the poor and the needy. Their pride is bound to be lessened—something
which makes them feel the life of simplicity, deprivation and exhaustion;
consequently they would reconsider the nature of their social relationship with
the public.

Pilgrimage
also has educational effects, when languages, colors and localities of the
Islamic world meet and live together for a few days every year with the unity
of feelings, language, behavior and intentions.

Now,
could any rational person think that the pilgrimage rituals and acts are like
the rituals of humbleness before an idol made of stone which cannot cause any
harm or good to itself or to others?.

Question 93: What
is the idea behind circumambulating the Kaabah?
Do Muslim worship the this building?

Answer
93: Muslims worship God only and do not worship anything else besides
Him. Circumambulating the Holy Kaabah is
not a ritual of worshipping the stone building in itself. Rather, it is a symbol of total submission to
God’s commands; around which the Muslims’ words and intentions unite, and on
which their opinions unit. Despite all
the differences in their colours, languages, countries, all Muslims meet around
the Kaabah, which makes them feel their greatness, strength and unity, as mentioned
before. On the other hand, there is a
variety of worship thorough which the Muslims get closer to almighty God, the
physical reason behind which is not known for sure; rather they are the emblem
of yielding to That Great God Whom Muslims knew as enjoying strength,
greatness, mercy and perfection. Muslims
love God and believed in Him. One of the
effects of that love is the haste a Muslim shows to carry out His command
without knowing its effects. The obvious
aim is their trust in God, and the desire to obtain the reward both here and
hereafter

The matter
of worship whose desired effect in particular is not known to Muslims is a kind
of spiritual food them, so that their soul can be balanced and their nature be
settled, as man is made from body, mind and spirit. The body is physical and has its material and
concrete food, and the mind is the container of science and knowledge and has
its food in Islam, as God opened before him the horizons of the universe and
life and urged him to research and probe the depths of the universe and benefit
from it. Also, God praised the mind and
appreciated it so much in order to

مراقب عام المنتدى

give it
a confidence, testimony, and a value which helps him to achieve his tasks in
life. As for the spirit, it is that
transparent unknown being whose nature and essence has not been recognized
yet. As to the spirit, God made its food
from worships, and particular supplications, which provide for this basic
element in man its growth, balance and coordination with the body and mind so
that man could become complete, good and straight.

مراقب عام المنتدى

Chapter 7:

Family and Women
Affairs

Question 94: Why
did Islam limit the number of wives to four? And why does it confine man’s
sexual pleasure to marriage commitments, home and tasks?

Answer
94: Islam limited the number of wives to four as the maximum number
for a variety of reasons. On the one
hand nature and reality have proved the righteousness of this rule, especially
when we take into account the rising percentage of women compared to that of
men. On the other hand men are more
exposed than women to dangers and mortality like wars and perilous jobs. If man’s marriage is limited to one woman
only, a number of women will be deprived from the bliss of marriage which is an
instinctive demand in all human beings; which provides shelter, intimacy and
marital life for every member of the family.
When allowing man to marry more than one wife Islam does not make the
case obligatory, but rather something lawful.
As a matter of fact, Islam encourages marrying only one wife for those
men who do not have the ability to be fair amongst their wives. It proscribes its male followers to marry
more than one if they cannot fulfill marital duties equally well among the
wives. Almighty God says: “…then marry
(other women of your choice, two or three, or four; but if you fear that you
shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one...” (Holy Qur’an:
3: 3). However, the percentage of those
who marry more than one wife is limited, as most men limit themselves to one
wife. The percentage is lesser among
those who marry three or four women.

Islam
prohibits intercourse between man and woman outside wedlock as this cause harm
on to both the individual and on society.
It causes many diseases, it leads to loss of lineage and it brings about
the destruction of the family, which is the nucleus of any society.

It
remains to say in this context that it is difficult to find a man or a woman in
the western societies not having one or concubines. This is something that often happens at the
expense of the family and its structure.
It is strange how developed people would justify having concubines but
not wives!

Question
95: Why does Islam allow polygamy for men but not polyandry for
women? Where is justice here?

Answer
95: Only those who regard marriage as purely sexual relationship
propagate this point of view. They ask:
“Why cannot a woman have the same right as men, of marrying more than one
man? The answer can be as follows: if a
woman marries more than one man, the lineage will be lost, as the woman is
responsible for pregnancy. If land is
not good for planting more than one kind of plant at the same time, how could a
woman be good for planting more than one kind of semen at the same time? Science has proved that out of millions of
sperms, only one is able to fertilize the egg.
If the relationship of the woman is with one man within marriage, we
know for sure that this fertilization has come from her single husband, not
anybody else, even though the sperms are millions, but if the woman is married
to more than one man, how could we know whose sperm it was that fertilized the
egg of the woman; eventually, to whom should the child belong? And which of these husbands will be
responsible for this family? Is it then
justifiable that for the sake of equality with man in polygamy the lineage of
children will be lost?

Naturally
speaking, the majority of women reach the age of menopause early. The age of
menopause ranges between 40 and 50. As
to men, their potency continues until very late, on the one hand, and some
women do not desire their husbands, which causes them sexual frigidity, which
is much more common in women than in men.
Women have their menstruation and confinement periods, and some of them
have long menstruation periods. This
prevents men from having sexual intercourse with them.

Question 96: Why
is it not lawful for man to have sex with his wife when she is having her
menstrual period?

Answer
96: What is forbidden during the menstrual period is the vaginal sexual
intercourse only. All other forms of
sexual pleasure are lawful, as almighty God said:

“They ask
you concerning menstruation. Say: that is an adha (a harmful thing for a
husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her
menses), therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them till
they are purified (from menses and have taken a bath). And when they have purified themselves, then
go in unto them as God has ordained for you (go in unto them in any manner as
long as it is in their vagina). Truly God loves those who turn unto Him in
repentance and loves those who

مراقب عام المنتدى

purify
themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning, and washing thoroughly their private
parts, bodies, for their prayers) (Holy Qur’an: 1:222).

Almighty
God commands men to keep away from women during their menstrual period, that
is, not to have vaginal sexual intercourse in the vagina. intercourse in the vagina during menstruation
has been proved medically harmful. In
fact it comprises every kind of harm, as straight natures hate mixing with
impurities. Judaism prohibited
cohabiting with the woman during her menstruation, eating with her, and having
sexual intercourse with her. Islam is a
medial religion, it allows men and women to enjoy each others in any way except
sexual intercourse.

Question 97: Does
Islam encourage marriages arranged by the parents without prior consent from
the son or the daughter?

Answer
97: Islam does not encourage arranged marriages without the consent
of the son or the daughter, even though the guardian is the father, which is
clear in what Prophet Muhammad said:

“A widow is not married until she gives her
consent, and a virgin is not married until she gives her permission.’ They asked, “O, Messenger of God, how can she
give her permission?” He said, “By keeping silent.” And in other words “A widow has more right
than her guardian to give her consent, and a virgin is asked and her permission
is her silence.”[1]

Khansa’
Bint Huzam related that her father married her off when she was a widow. She, therefore, came to the prophet (pbuh) to
complain about it. The prophet annulled
her marriage.[2] It was also related that the a virgin maid
came to the messenger of God and told him that her father had married her off
by force, and the prophet gave her the choice to stay with her husband or to
leave him.”[3]

It was
related too that a girl came to the messenger of God and told him: “My father
married me off to his nephew for reputation;” whereupon the prophet gave her
the choice to stay with her husband or to leave him. She said: “I have accepted what my father had
done, but I wanted to tell the women that a father does not have the right to
do so.”[4] These traditions and many others

[1]
Cited in Al-Bukhalri and Muslim.

[2]
Cited in all canonical books of hadith.

[3]
Cited in Ahmad, Ibn Majah, and others.

[4]
Cited in Ibn Majah

مراقب عام المنتدى

confirm
that Islam does not allow a father or a guardian to marry his daughter or
sister off except when she gives her full consent. And in the likely case she is forced to marry
out of her consent, she can file a case to the court or to the authorities,
which have the right to nullify the marriage.

Question 98: Why
does not Islam allow a Muslim woman to marry a Jew or a Christian at the time
it allows the Muslim man to marry a Jewess or a Christian woman? Also why does not Islam allow Muslim men to
marry other women than Jews or Christians (People of the Scripture)?

Answer
98: Islam allows Muslim men to marry Jewish or Christian women. This is a clear indication of the extent to
which it tolerates and honours the followers of these two heavenly
religions. It deals with them in a
special way which does not apply to the followers of other religions, in terms
of eating from their food and marrying women from them. In all religions, the guardianship is in the
hand of the man. In this case if a Jew or a Christian man marries a Muslim
woman, he might deal arbitrarily with her and use his right to force her (and
their children if any) to abandon Islam.
But for this, Islam might have allowed equal treatment in marriage, like
equal treatment in food. Almighty God
says:

“Made
lawful to you this day are at-tayyibat [all kinds of halal
(lawful) food, which God had made lawful (meat of slaughtered eatable animals,
milk products, fats, vegetables and fruits). The food (slaughtered cattle,
eatable animals) of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful
to you and yours is lawful to them. (Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste
women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the
Scriptures (Jews and Christians) before your time when you have given their due
mahr (bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of
marriage), desiring chastity (i.e. taking them in legal wedlock) not committing
illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girl-friends. And whosoever disbelieves in Faith [i.e. in
the Oneness of God and in all the other Articles of Faith, i.e. His (God’s)
Angles, His Holy Books, His Messengers, the Day of Resurrection and al-Qadar
(Divine Preordainments)], then fruitless is his work; and in the hereafter he
will be among the losers” (Holy Qur’an: 3:5)

Islam
gives equal treatment to the chaste Christian or Jewish woman as one as the
Muslim women in terms of wage (dowry), prohibition of unlawful sexual
intercourse, or making them concubines: it allows them to keep their religion
while they are wives to Muslim men. As
to marriage of non-Muslim men to Muslim women, it is prohibited for particular
reasons:

1. Man
has the authority and guardianship on his wife, in which likely case he might
affect her behavior, conduct, thought and beliefs.

2. In terms of equal treatment, Christianity
and Judaism do not allow the marriage of Christian or Jewish woman to marry a
Muslim man.

3. In order to prevent the authority of
non-Muslims over Muslims, almighty God said: “And never will God grant to the
disbeliveers a way (to triumph) over the believers” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 141).

Question
99: Why can a Muslim divorce his wife any time likes, while a woman
is not allowed to do so except after long and inconvenient procedures?

Answer
99: Islam does not allow man to divorce his wife arbitrarily and
unjustly. If he does so that means he
has not maintained his responsibility efficiently. Islam legislated several measures which a man
should adhere to before he can take the decision to divorce his wife. These include:

1.
advising her,

2.
desertion her in bed,

3.
beating her harmlessly,

4.
arbitration, i.e. asking (any of her and/or his relations) for intervention,

5. first
divorce (revocable),

6.
second divorce (revocable),

7. third
(or final) divorce (irrevocable).

Almighty
God said: “As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct, admonish them
(first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if
it is useful)” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 34).
After all of these stages, the irrevocable divorce can take place, and
there are several stages that the husband has to follow, otherwise his divorce
will be arbitrary and unfair to his wife.
On the other hand, there are several things to do, like:

1. man
is usually less hasty or excited and has more self-control of nerves and
emotions than woman;

2. man
has authority and guardianship at home which commands him to spend on the wife
and family.

3. man
is the one who pays the marriage portion, whereas the woman takes it.

Question 100: Why
should a woman wait if her husband has been away from her for a very long time
until a judge can give a verdict of her divorce?

Answer
100: It is not a matter of waiting as much as there should be
confirmation and proof of the complete absence of news about the husband. Marriage is a real bondage and contract which
implies intimacy, mercy, stability and tranquility. Almighty God says:

“And
among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves,
that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and
mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect” (Holy Qur’an:
30: 21).

It is
known that whenever the contract has grand effects, it is more difficult for
the legislator to dissolve it and that depends on the contractors themselves. If the absence of the husband allowed the
dissolution of the contract accordingly, there must be patience and
confirmation, as mentioned before, in dissolving this contract, so that neither
of the contractors would be done any harm because of haste. This happens
depending on the cause of absence and its justifications. The judge should estimate such matters and
try to avoid harm to anyone as much as possible.

Question 101: Why
should there be a guardian and two righteous witnesses at the time of the
marriage contract in Islam? Is it not
possible for a woman to have her complete freedom in this respect, and not wait
for someone to humiliate her in choosing and allow her to marry? Since men have the right to marry whenever
they like, why, women are not granted the same status? And why her guardian’s consent is a
prerequisite in this instance?

Answer
101: Part of the answer has already been given in (Answer 97). Here is the rest of the answer. At the time of marriage, there should a
guardian (usually the father) and two righteous witnesses. Marriage is different from unlawful adultery,
and a woman is not allowed to marry without the consent of her guardian; the
guardian in turn is not allowed to marry her off without taking her
consent. The responsibility here is
mutual; it cannot be achieved except through the consent of the two sides, both
the guardian and the girl. This
signifies a respect for the woman and maintenance of her right. It takes care of her and does not cause her
any harm or humiliation. If she happens
to choose a suitable man and her guardian prevents her from marrying him, or in
the likely case she has no guardian, the judge can be in charge of marrying her
off in spite of the objection of her guardian.
In Islamic jurisprudence the judge is the guardian of anyone who does
not have a guardian, i.e. he can marry a woman off if she has no guardians.

If a
woman wants to marry a man and there is another one who is better than him, the
consent of the guardian and the witnesses will be superfluous, and her freedom
will not be limited. But if the husband
she has chosen is not an appropriate one (to the best of the guardian’s
knowledge), her guardian can interfere.
Preventing her from such a marriage is deemed to her interest. Not all kinds of freedom necessarily bring
benefit to man, and every kind of limitation is harmful to hime/her. Almighty God says: “…and it may be that you
dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad
for you. God knows but you do not know”
(Holy Qur’an: 2: 216).

Question 102: Is
it lawful for a woman to divorce her husband if he is infertile, ill or having
a chronic disease? And is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife if she is
barren or has a chronic disease?

Answer 102: As
mentioned above, divorce is in the hand of man not woman because of reasons,
most important of which is his right of guardianship. However, Islam has made it lawful for woman
to dissolve the marriage contract (In Islamic jurisprudence–mukhaala’a),
which happens when a woman asks the judicial authorities to dissolve the
marriage contract, either because of the infertility of her husband or because
of some harm caused by the husband to her, as is the case when the husband is
chronically ill. This matter will be
different if the woman knows about her husband’s situation before her marriage
to him.

Question 103: Why
is not lawful for girls in some Muslim countries to choose any man she wants to
marry?

Answer
103: Islam should not be judged through the practices of some of its
followers; people should be judged according to their implementation of
Islam. Islam does respect the will of
the girl, as mentioned above. However, the
consent of the girl’s guardian should be achieved when she would like to marry
and the marriage contract will not be valid without it.

A woman
is free to choose any man she wants to marry; she is also free to reject any
man she does not want to marry. This is alright as long as her choice is
right. As to the choice based on socialization
between man and woman or unlawful courtship, it is undoubtedly a failing
one. In this case, the guiding guardian,
who takes in his consideration the benefit of his daughter or ward, should
interfere. Prophet Muhammad said: “Any
woman married off by an angry guardian, her marriage is invalid.”

مراقب عام المنتدى

If the
guardian is fair, he should interfere, as his consent is beneficial not only
for the girl in this case, but also it goes beyond that to include his family
and clan. Islam stresses familial and social
relations. The fact that Islam is the
religion of equality is true and right, because it holds similar things as
equal, it draws distinctions between contradictions, antitheses and
differences. If it regards different
things as equal it would be unfair and unjust.
Man and woman are the same in terms of humanity, in reward and in
punishment, in rights and in responsibility, and in many duties. The same applies to the marital home, as
almighty God said: “And they (women) have rights (over their husbands as
regards living expenses) similar (to those of their husbands) over them (as
regards obedience and respect) to what is reasonable…” (Holy Qur’an: 2:
228). As man is responsible for work and
expenditure for his family, and is exposed to more struggling in life, he was
given an extra degree: “but men have a degree (of responsibility) over them”
(Holy Qur’an: 2: 228). Almighty God also
said: “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has made one
of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their
means” (Holy Qur’an: 4: 34).

Suspicion
comes from adopting corrupt criteria; difference in jobs leads to differences
in concepts. When a European woman wants
to work, earn her living, and spending money, as man does, undoubtedly she will
demand equality. Troubles emerge from
asking a woman to do what is not her duty.
For this, and besides other reasons, Islam does not regard man and woman
as equal in a variety of respects, including testimonies, inheritance, guardianship,
custody, confinement after divorce, and the areas of the private parts of the
body which should be covered, and the duty of expenditure, divorce, etc. It is a well know fact that organic and
functional build of woman is different from that of the man. The French scientist Alex Carrel stated:

The
difference between man and woman does not come from the particular shape of
their genitalia, or from the presence of womb in woman, or from the method of
education, as the difference is of a more important nature than this. The
differences come from formation of texture itself, and from the fertilization
of the body with specific chemical materials which the ovary exudes. Ignoring
those essential facts by feminists led them to believe that both sexes should
receive the same kind of education, and that both sexes should be given the
same authorities and similar responsibilities. In fact, woman differs
considerably from man, as every cell of her body carries the nature of her sex.[1]

[1] Alex Carrel, The Unknown World of Man,
p. 114

» Qu'est-ce que l'islam ?
» This is our Islam
» A- What is Islam?
» WHAT IS ISLAM?
» Women In Islam