September 22, 2011

Hajj

Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Allah Ta'ala accepts the dua of one who performs Hajj and Umrah and if he seeks forgiveness. Allah Ta'ala forgives him."
(Mishkaat).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

Hadhrat Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Making Tawaaf of Baitullah, to walk between Safa and Marwah and to pelt stones (at the Jimmar) have been ordained for establishing the remembrance of Allah Ta'ala."
(Abu Dawud).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

Hadhrat Aabis Bin Rabeeah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that once Hadhrat Umar (Allah be pleased with him) after kissing Hajr-e-Aswad (the Black Stone) said: "I know you are a stone. You can neither benefit me nor harm anyone. If I did not see Muhammad (peace be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you."
(Abu Dawud).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

Hadhrat Ibn Mas'ood (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad said: "Unite Hajj and Umrah (during Hajj period). Both (acts of Ibaadat) eliminate poverty and sins in a similar way in which the impurities of gold, silver and iron are eliminated. The reward of Hajj which was performed correctly is nothing other that Jannat."
(Mishkaat).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever sets out for Hajj, Umrah or Jihad but dies on the journey (before being able to render these obligations), Allah Ta'ala records for him the thawaab of the ghazi (one who returns victorious from the Jihaad field) and the thawaab of one who has performed the Hajj and Umrah."
(Mishkaat).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

Hadhrat Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad said: "The one who after Hajj visits me after my death (i.e. the Holy Raudah) is like one who has visited me while I was alive."
(Mishkaat).
(Hayaat-ul-Muslimeen. by Mohammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi).

FAITH (IMAN)

1. Islam is based on five things: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is His servant and messenger, the observance of the prayer, the payment of Zakat, the pilgrimage, and the fast during Ramadan.
(Bukhari, Muslim).
(Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad).

2. The Muslim is he from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe, and the Emigrant is he who abandons what Allah has prohibited.
(Bukhari).
(Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad).

3. None of you believes till I am dearer to him than his father, his child and all mankind.
(Bukhari, Muslim).
(Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad)

4. He who is not trustworthy has no Faith, and he who does not keep his Covenant has no religion.
(Baihaqi).
(Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad).

5. What is Faith? When your good deed pleases you and your evil deed grieves you, you are a believer. What is Sin? When a thing disturbs (the peace of) your heart, give it up.
(Ahmad).
(Sayings of Muhammad. by Prof. Ghazi Ahmad).

Birth of the Prophet muhammad sallal laho alaihi wasallam

It was in the midst of such conditions and environments that Muhammad was born in 569 after Christ. His father, 'Abdullah had died some weeks earlier, and it was his grandfather who took him in charge. According to the prevailing custom, the child was entrusted to a Bedouin foster-mother, with whom he passed several years in the desert. All biographers state that the infant prophet sucked only one breast of his foster-mother, leaving the other for the sustenance of his foster-brother. When the child was brought back home, his mother, Aminah, took him to his maternal uncles at Madinah to visit the tomb of 'Abdullah. During the return journey, he lost his mother who died a sudden death. At Mecca, another bereavement awaited him, in the death of his affectionate grandfather. Subjected to such privations, he was at the age of eight, consigned at last to the care of his uncle, Abu-Talib, a man who was generous of nature but always short of resources and hardly able to provide for his family.

Young Muhammad had therefore to start immediately to earn his livelihood; he served as a shepherd boy to some neighbors. At the age of ten he accompanied his uncle to Syria when he was leading a caravan there. No other travels of Abu-Talib are mentioned, but there are references to his having set up a shop in Mecca. (Ibn Qutaibah, Ma'arif). It is possible that Muhammad helped him in this enterprise also.

By the time he was twenty-five, Muhammad had become well known in the city for the integrity of his disposition and the honesty of his character. A rich widow, Khadijah, took him in her employ and consigned to him her goods to be taken for sale to Syria. Delighted with the unusual profits she obtained as also by the personal charms of her agent, she offered him her hand. According to divergent reports, she was either 28 or 40 years of age at that time, (medical reasons prefer the age of 28 since she gave birth to five more children). The union proved happy. Later, we see him sometimes in the fair of Hubashah (Yemen), and at least once in the country of the 'Abd al-Qais (Bahrain-Oman), as mentioned by Ibn Hanbal. There is every reason to believe that this refers to the great fair of Daba (Oman), where, according to Ibn al-Kalbi (cf. Ibn Habib, Muhabbar), the traders of China, of Hind and Sind (India, Pakistan), of Persia, of the East and the West assembled every year, traveling both by land and sea. There is also mention of a commercial partner of Muhammad at Mecca. This person, Sa'ib by name reports: "We relayed each other; if Muhammad led the caravan, he did not enter his house on his return to Mecca without clearing accounts with me; and if I led the caravan, he would on my return enquire about my welfare and speak nothing about his own capital entrusted to me."

Purport of Kalima

Now let me tell you the purport of the Kalima as also what actually does a man affirm by reciting it and what obligations devolve on him after this affirmation ?

The meaning of Kalima is that there is no god save Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. The word " Allah " found in the Kalima means God. Now, that being is called God Who is Master, Creator, Nourisher, and Sustainer, Who listens to our prayers and grants them, and Who is worthy of our worship. Now that you have said : La ilaha illallah, it would mean that, firstly, you have acknowledged that this world has not come into being without the creative power of God, nor is it a fact that it has many gods. Actually, it does have a God and that God is just one, and there is no other being except Him Who wields Divine power. Secondly the other point which you affirmed on reciting the Kalima is that this very God Who is your God, is also God of the whole world. Each and every thing owned by you and by the world belongs to Him. It is He Who is the Creator and the Nourisher. Life and death are under His command. Trouble and comfort are also from Him. Whatever one gets, is really given by Him. Whatever is taken away from anybody, is in reality due to His command. He alone should be feared. He alone should be entreated to fulfil our needs. Before Him alone we should bow our heads. He alone deserves to be worshipped. We are not slaves or servants of anybody save Him, nor is anyone our Master or Sovereign. Our real duty is to exclusively comply with His orders and obey His laws.

Allah's favour and our behaviour

Brethren ! Look at the favour of your Master. He takes from you things which belong to Him and yet says: " I have purchased this thing from you and I shall pay you for it". Allah-o-Akbar (be glory to Allah). What an unbounded munificence it is! The Qur'an says:

"Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth in return for the Paradise which will be theirs."( 9 : 3 )

This is the attitude of the Master towards you. And now look at your behaviour. You sell away a thing to others which was given to you by your Master and which He had also bought back from you against payment. And this selling is done for a paltry compensation. The buyers take work from you against the wishes of the Master and you serve them thinking that they are your sustainers. You sell them your brains, your hands ad feet, the energy of your body and all that which these rebels of God want to buy. Can there be a greater moral turpitude than this. To sell a thing already sold out is a legal and moral crime. Those guilty of such crimes are tried in this world's courts for cheating and fraud. Do you think that no suit will be filed against them in the court of God ?

Tu Zinda Hai Wallah - Owais Raza Qadri