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Your Questions Answered
Queries
(Answered under the supervision of Shehzad Saleem)
‘Magical’ Words
Question: My sister has come across a group within the Christian community who are spreading some kind of words. They say that they will relieve all our problems. They are in some other language which they call God’s language. What should be one’s response to this? The group has also expanded itself across the country in many cities teaching Muslims those prayers, but they don’t tell you to stop practicing Islam. Please advice.
Answer: The referred ‘words’ which are claimed to be God’s language have no foundation in our religious sources or any acknowledged discipline of the world. One should not listen to such fancies regardless of whether those who teach these charms be Muslims, Christians or adherent of any religion. The fact that they don’t teach any particular creed or don’t require others to stop practicing their religious practices does not make them true in their claim. It is highly recommended that you don’t give air to these things and indulge in them. We should try to clear others’ concept in this matter and spread the true teachings of Islam. Our religious sources don’t provide any thing magical to turn to in order to avoid a particular problem. We need to use our intellect to try to solve the problems we face and constantly pray to Almighty for His help in all matters.
(Tariq Hashmi)
History in the Qur’an
Question:Why is it that the history related in the Qur’an and other scriptures is not spoken of in common history, although the Qur’an tells the history of perished nations so that human beings can take lessons from them?
Answer:Human civilization and various disciplines developed gradually. In previous times, the record of history was not available in the present form. With the passage of time, writing developed and so did the art of recording history. Divine scriptures themselves are a source of history.
Events of macro history were transferred form generation to generation. Moreover, modern research in archeology has confirmed the history told in the scriptures. These events regarding the perished nations, at the time of the revelation of the Qur’an were fully known to people, that is why the opponents of the Prophet (sws) did not object to these. They never said that the Qur’an was wrong in its reports. The Qur’an clearly asserts that these were commonly known events.
(Tariq Hashmi)
Conversion to Hinduism
Question: I am a Pakistani, and I have a question to ask about Islam. As you may know, in Tamil Nadu (India), some Hindus of the lower caste want to convert to Islam, but their government is not allowing them to do so. I think this is persecutionand depriving people from their right to choose their own faith. Now my question is, if in Pakistan any Muslim wishes to convert to Hinduism, should we allow him to do so? If not, why? Please explain in detail as this question has been a little mind boggling for me.
Answer: Every person is accountable to God individually. He will have to justify his each and every action before Him. As regards faith, no one is accountable to anybody in this world, nor does one have any criteria after the termination of wahi to judge the sincerity and truth of one’s statement.
If a person wants to accept Hinduism, he has full right to do so, but it is advisable that he do so on the basis of reason and intellect. It is upon us to try to remove his misconceptions or if we smell some wrong temptations or undue pressure. No doubt, we should leave no stone unturned to undo those wrongs but we have no right to force him to abandon what he has willfully accepted. It is between him and God for if is able to present in the Hereafter a reasonable excuse before Him for his deeds, he may be pardoned.
It would be pertinent to mention here that there is no punishment for apostasy in the Islamic penal code. It has arisen in our juristic literature because of misunderstanding a hadith.1
If the government restricts such conversion by law, then you are right that it is persecution, which indeed is a great crime.
(Siddiq Bukhary)
The Status of bowing down before Spiritual Guides
Question: I know one spiritual teacher who does not seem to have knowledge of the Shari‘ah, and only follows the Sufi Tariqah. He asks his followers to prostrate in front of him, which is truly a polytheistic act: shirk. Upon my intimation that prostrating before anyone other than Allah is shirk, he responded angrily: ‘Did Allah not ask angels to prostrate themselves before the Prophet Adam?’ I only want to know what reply can be given to such kind of ignorant people and their innocent followers?
Answer: Prostration was never a symbol of worship at the time of creation. This element was added to it with the passage of time. Thenceforth, it became peculiar to God and prohibited for other creatures.
Moreover, Allah had ordered the angels to bow down before Adam, not for his respect, but for the test and trial of creatures which were present at that time. In this test, Satan failed, whereas others passed. God may adopt any way for the trial of His creatures. It may be general in nature or can be peculiar to time or personalities. Such peculiarity will limit the matter to certain periods of history or to certain persons, and hence cannot be argued for as a precedent. The story of Adam and Satan is of the same nature.
(Siddiq Bukhary)
Queries of a Hindu
Question: I am an Indian and a follower of Hinduism and am keen on learning about Islam and other religions of the world. I have read some books about Islam sent to me by a kind friend of mine from Pakistan. I have the same respect for Islam as I have for my own religion or any other religion existing on the globe. I just want to clarify myself and I hope you’ll help me out in this regard. First when there is only one God Most Merciful and Most High (ALLAH) why are there so many religions in existence? Second, Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity. Do you believe that all the people who are followers of other religions are doing sinning and they will have to face hardship on the Day of Judgment? Thirdly, I have been taught since childhood: ‘Majhab nahin sikata, aapas mein bair rakhna’ (No religion in the world teaches hatred amongst each other). Why is it not possible to live together? Why are there so many differences amongst us? Why is there so much hatred in this world of God (ALLAH)? Fourth and last, ALLAH is said to have many names. I have a book which mentions 99 names of ALLAH. Is it possible that even RAM & KRISHNA are the names of ALAH? I hope that I am not asking anything wrong from you.
Answer: I feel happy to receive your letter. Blessed are those who seek the truth and enlighten themselves with sound knowledge. The tone and style of your letter is amiable and amicable as well. Such style shows not only seriousness, but also promotes fruitful dialogue which develops better understanding.
As far as your queries are concerned, I will try to state my point of view without any reservations. In case you feel some ambiguity please let me know. You are welcome any time.
1. No doubt, God is one, the most Merciful and the most High and no doubt logic demands that every one should believe in one God whereas, on the contrary, we see people believing in several gods. We believe that the religion which God chose for mankind was always one and the same. Every Prophet and Messenger of God presented the very religion with slight differences. Different religions sprang out from the very fact that God Himself bestowed upon man discretionary powers in order to test and try him. Giving mankind the freedom of action and liberty to choose anything and anyway they like was actually part of God’s scheme. If He forced man to accept Him as the one God, then, there was no way that man could be tested. Man availed this freedom and his intellect created so many differences which resulted in many religions. Hence, it is we, who are responsible for the plurality of religions not God Almighty. It is the message of Islam that God has created life and death for test and trial and he wants to judge whosoever acts according to His will and who adopts the other way.
2. We believe that sincere followers of religions other than Islam are not committing a sin, nevertheless, they are mistaken. However, if they are following their religion knowing the fact that that very religion is not the representative of the truth, then surely they are committing a great sin and they will have to face punishment in the Hereafter. Salvation depends upon the following of truth and paying heed to the call of innate guidance which has been bestowed upon each and every man. Man has not been sent in this world totally blind and ignorant. Some codes have already been fed in his ‘hard disk’ and basically he will be asked on the basis of that ‘feeding’.
Arguments and reason will also count towards salvation. If a person persisted with his quest for the truth, and even if he was not able to find it, his journey for the truth and ‘light’ will be treated as fruitful. The one main condition is that he must be sincere and his efforts must not be lacking in any manner. And God knows best. A sensitive and sincere seeker must keep a question mark in his mind about his and other religions and must try to know and find the truth. Whenever and wherever he finds it he should follow it provided if further research proved his findings wrong and he found the truth in another form he would follow it without the least hesitation and prejudice. Islam approves and encourages this attitude.
3. No doubt religions do not teach hatred but it is natural that a follower of truth would have animosity towards falsehood. Don’t you agree? Man develops a great favor towards his point of view and sometimes intensity of his liking transforms into hatred which is a negative thing whereas favor towards on religion is nothing but positive and natural. It is not religion but man himself who is responsible for this imbalance. Religion always teaches a balanced attitude and behavior. However you would appreciate that, to some extent, prejudice is also a positive thing. It helps to grow and progress towards a destined direction provided it does not erect a wall between right and wrong. We should keep our eyes and ears open and should help our reasoning faculty to work and then hope that seeds of hatred will not germinate.
4. You have the right to say that there is a possibility that Ram and Krishna might be the name of Allah but I dare say, to me, this is not the case. The various names of Allah are the attributes ascribed to Him, whereas, Ram and Krishna are proper nouns. They denote personalities, and being the believer of oneness of God it is difficult to acknowledge your statement. Beliefs or religions do not stand over possibilities but over sound foundations. And the sound footing of Islam is that Allah is one. His personality is not imaginable. He is beyond our imagination. He can be perceived through His attributes but cannot be felt or seen.
(Siddiq Bukhary)
Origin of the Word ‘Mosque’
Question:I was flipping through this book the other day called ‘The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam’ and it is filled with fun facts. One of them concerns the term ‘Mosque’. This book pointed out that the term ‘mosque’ is derived from the Spanish word for ‘mosquito’. It was termed as such because during the Crusades, King Ferdinand said they were going to go and swat the Muslims ‘like mosquitoes’. Please let me know.
Answer: From my research, I have found that there are four possible origins for the word ‘mosque’ in the English language. The first possibility is that it derives from the French word ‘mosquee’ that existed during the period in French linguistic history known as ‘Middle French’. The second possibility is that it is a derivative of the Arabic word ‘masjid’. The third possibility is that it derives from the Old Italian word ‘moschea’ and the final possibility is that it comes from the Old Spanish word ‘mezquita’. These various words were used to describe the Muslim place of worship in the various languages mentioned.
My research found no indication that mosque was derived from the word ‘mosquito’. Regarding the appearance of the term mosque in the English language, scholars suggest it was around 1711 AD. This is far after King Ferdinand and the Crusades. It might be that the term ‘mezquita,’ used to describe a masjid in old Spanish, came from the word ‘mosquito’ and then subsequently the term ‘mezquita’ was used to form the term mosque. However, this would not mean that the term mosque was developed as a result of the story you related.
With the above in mind, I believe it is important to keep a sensible perspective when approaching the origin of words. Words are dynamic and over time often change their meanings from what they originally may have been intended for. It is likely that there are many words in all languages that result from the ignorance or hatred that may have once existed between peoples, races, tribes or religions. We should consider contemporary usage of words and the intention of their current meanings as most important.
Two examples of this might help give a better perspective. The term ‘picnic’ in the English language came under fire some years back when certain scholars suggested that it was actually a shortened version of ‘pick a nigger’. Some decades ago, in the US, there was a racist and vulgar practice known as lynching, where a mob of white people would torture and mutilate a black person (then derogatively called a ‘nigger’), often under the false pretext that this person was guilty of a crime. This lynching often involved an entire event where people brought food and family to a park and watched the lynching. Subsequent to the lynching they would take pictures next to the mutilated body! Some scholars contend that the concept of a picnic, and the actual term, resulted from this practice of ‘picking a nigger’ to lynch and having a small feast at the event. Now despite the possibility of a treacherous background to this word, its usage in common times connotes nothing of the sort.
Similarly, the Arabic term ‘ajami has commonly been used, throughout Islamic history, to refer to non-Arabs or those who did not speak Arabic. The meaning of this word is actually in reference to those animals, like goats and cows, that make one syllable sounds. Hence, the term contains cultural superiority and a arrogant insult towards non-Arabic speakers. However, now this term has become synonymous with non-Arabic speaking peoples, forsaking its original background.
(Adnan Zulfiqar)
A ‘Justification’ of Jihad against Innocent Civilians
Question: The philosophy of the ‘extremist’ Muslims seems to be to oppress others regardless of whether they oppressed you or not, just because they belong to the nation of the oppressor. Something seems to be wrong with the theory that all Americans pay taxes so they are funding the violence in Palestine and Afghanistan, so the American civilian is responsible. But I cannot pinpoint what is wrong with this theory. Maybe you can shed some light with some hadith or Qur’anic verse. Abu Bakr (rta) as khalifa did order his men not to kill civilians when they go to war. Civilians are after all tax payers, and indirectly responsible for what their government is doing. So why is it wrong to wage war against them?
Answer: Most Islamic jurists generally agree that the underlying cause for slaying an enemy is their direct engagement in combat against Muslims. Certain contemporary individuals have suggested that tax-paying citizens are ‘indirectly’ waging war against Muslims. However, there is no provision within the history of Islamic jurisprudence or Shari‘ah for ‘indirect’ engagement in combat. For instance, most jurists are in agreement that old people and disabled individuals cannot be slain. However, these individuals still contributed taxes to their governing authority even centuries ago. In fact, because modern times have led to the clear distinction between commoner and soldier, something not present in the past, it is far easier to distinguish which individuals are directly engaged in combat.
Furthermore, if we examine this issue under the guise of common sense, we find that individuals advocating the position under discussion are in fact undermining their own argument. These individuals often claim that Muslims can attack their enemies’ innocent civilians because our innocent civilians are being attacked. They rationalize this by suggesting that because innocent civilians pay taxes they are legitimate targets. However, if one agrees with this argument, then how can we complain that Muslim innocent civilians are being killed? After all, don’t our innocent civilians also pay taxes like those of our ‘enemies’? Are we to presume that any individual that paid Zakah to the Islamic state in Madinah was considered a legitimate target for Islam’s enemies?
Finally, it should be understood that taxes are usually a requirement of living under any governing structure. Every person under that structure’s authority must pay taxes. Since there are few places left in the world without governing structures, if all tax-payers are legitimate targets, are we left to believe that there are no innocent civilians left in the world? In my opinion, this is an illogical suggestion. Individuals pay taxes for their welfare, which includes many things besides the right to be protected by their state. To engage in the slaying of innocent civilians is to make a mockery of Islam’s most fundamental teachings regarding the sanctity of life.
(Adnan Zulfiqar)
Spiritual Aspect vs Moral Aspect
Question: Please inform me of the true implication of the term ‘spiritual aspect’ of a human being? How does it differ from the ‘moral aspect’?
Answer: Faith and religion guide man’s spiritual being. It has to do with his relationship with God, and the resultant attitude adopted by him in his dealings with fellow human beings. To be grateful to the Lord Almighty for His Providence and His Mercy, to observe the blessings that surround us, and thanking and acknowledging the Creator behind them contributes to the spirituality of a person. The direct implication of such a submissive attitude will help maintain a human being’s contact with his Lord through His prescribed forms of worship.
Seek the bounty of God, and worship Him. Give thanks to Him, for to Him you shall return. (29:17)
The best of all kinds of worship being the prayer.
The spiritual aspect of a human being, therefore, directly refers to his relationship with Allah, the resultant self-purification and dealings with others. For a Muslim, this will imply the greater Jihad, the one against the nafs. This is a constant, on-going battle against Satan, in order to protect oneself from the evil that lurks around us, and remain conscious of God Almighty at all times and under all circumstances.
The moral aspect is innate in man. His ability to decipher between good and bad, right and wrong, evil and pious, is God-given: man’s conscience. Morality is a universal concept by nature. However, in the secular world today, it has been distorted into a very relative concept. ‘Nurture’ is falsely being proclaimed as the winning end in the ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’ debate. With every society defining its own morals, what may be considered a highly moral thing to do in one society, may be proclaimed something morally corrupt in another.
In Islam, man’s moral aspect refers to his obedience to Allah, his selflessness, kindness, consideration, chastity, piety, charity, etc. Thus, for a Muslim whose life is governed by belief in Allah, and the beliefs and laws enacted by Him, both these concepts of the spiritual being and the moral being, will inevitably overlap. One would promote the other.
For example, the offering of prayers – a spiritual act – will reprimand man on any immoral act he may have committed. It should follow then that he ought to repent for his mistakes, correct himself and continue to answer the call of his conscience – the moral aspect.
(Saadia Malik)
Affluence and Calamity: Trials from the Almighty
Question: Whenever a person goes through pain, trouble, calamity, etc., it is an expiation of his sin and also, Allah loves that person, and wishes good for the person. My worry is regarding a person who performs obligatory as well as the optional prayers, tries to live a pure life, repents sincerely and is very content with his state of affairs. Would not the absence of calamities and pain, imply that Allah doesn’t love the person, or that the person is not close to Allah? Shouldn’t I rather want to go through calamities of any nature and practice perseverance knowing that infliction of pain is a sign of Allah’s love for me. Is that a wrong conclusion?
Answer: This worldly life is a trial. All does not seem fair, and is, in fact, not fair. One calamity after another may be inflicted on the best of believers, or no pain may find them; the hardest of laborers may struggle to consume the basic necessities of life, while the dishonest person may be given all the amenities of life; the most deserving of students may not score well in their exams, with the cheaters gaining recognition.
Struggling to consume even the basics for survival, being cheated upon as well as facing pain and torture are all, surely, trials from the Almighty. But so is the balanced life of a devout believer, on whom Allah’s bestowed providence is most evident. That is not a sign of Allah not being close to His servant. Surely, Allah listens to the prayers of all, He is witness to every person’s worship, and Knows, Hears and Sees all the good and evil that goes around. He tests His men through the affliction of pain as well as through the blessings of affluence.
Both are two different forms of trials, but trials, nevertheless. When pain is inflicted upon a person, a reaction of tolerance, perseverance and submission to the Almighty under the crudest of circumstances, will earn him Allah’s pleasure; complaining and haughtiness won’t. Similarly, when peace is bestowed upon a person, gratefulness, thankfulness and acknowledgement of the Provider and the Sustainer behind it all, will earn him Allah’s pleasure; arrogance, self-praise, self-obsession wont.
Trials, thus, take different forms. Those who respond and react in the true spirit of a believer are loved by Allah. There is no reason for a believer to pray for infliction. A believer’s prayer in the Qur’an is thus:
Our Lord! Give us good in this world, and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire! (2:201)
(Saadia Malik)