Date: February 12, 2015
Alexander, a French pilgrim who embraced Islam and adopted his Muslim name, Hamza is recently blessed by King Abdullah to do Haj as his guest. The King was in great happiness and proud of Hamza’s sacrifice to Islam religion that he drove 7,000 km in his car with his wife to perform Umrah in Makkah. He is s now in Makkah as the guest of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for Haj. He was in search for the truth and found that Islam is the religion of peace and truth and the man is now happy to embrace the world’s great religion. As there are millions of devotees across world who wish to perform Umrah/Haj in Makkah, Hamza was in the last queue to have an Umrah visa. But his devotion and sacrifice to Allah helped him to be in the golden list of King’s guests. And now he is in the divine route to pray at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. It was the entire Almighty’s compassion that we have been selected as one of 1,000 guest pilgrims of King Abdullah to perform Haj this year. I could not believe my ears.”- Says Hamza. Hamza intends to study Islamic law to gain more knowledge about the religion and spread its message among others.
"The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him."
Sunan Ibn Mājah
"Every day two angels come down from Heaven and one of them says, 'O Allah! Compensate every person who spends in Your Cause,' and the other (angel) says, 'O Allah! Destroy every miser.'"
Sahih Bukhari
Mecca: The Holiest City in the World in Islam Mecca is the holy city in the World. This title has been given to Mecca because, Prophet Muhammad was born here. The Kabba, the holy site in Islam, is located in Mecca. Islam perform the ritual prayer to Kaaba called the Qiblah here in Mecca. Each Muslim can collect the holiest water in the world, Zamzam from Mecca. Every year, Islam devotees make pilgrimage trips to Mecca to perform Hajj and Umrah. The holy city, Mecca is located 45 miles east of the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The place has 909 feet of elevation and is located in a valley surrounded by mountains. Here the temperature can reach upto 120 degree Fahrenhei. In fact, Allah has described Mecaa in many names in the holy Quran such as Mecca, Bakkah, Al-Balad, Al-Qaryah, and Ummul-Qura. The largest and holiest mosque in the world named Masjid Al-Haram is situated in Mecca. This holy devotion place has a capacity of allowing up to 1.2 million people to pray at any one time. Masjid An-Nabawi called as the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina where the reward for prayers is equivalent to 1,000 times prayer from any other mosque in the world. What is Kaaba? Kaaba is a large stone structure that lies in the center of Masjid Al-Haram. Kaaba is 60 feet high and constitutes a single room. Kaaba is covered with a black curtain called Kiswah. Kaaba has a door which is located at the south-east wall. It is noted that Kaaba was built by Prophet Abraham and Prophet Ismail. The holy Quran provides evidence that prophet Abraham and Prophet Ismail were the founders of Kaaba. Kaaba has been given several names such as Bayt Al-Ateeq(ancient house), Bayt Al-Haram( honorable house) and Baytullah( house of Allah- This is just a figure of sppech and does not mean). The black stone, which is brought from the paradise is placed in Kaaba. Now this black stone is framed with silver as it had been broken into a number of pieces when it was rebuilt by the Quraysh. Islamic devotees try to kiss the black stone because the Prophet Muhammad used to do so. Zamzam Spring Zamzam spring holds a historical miracle and has got extreme religious relevance due to its origin. Zamzam has a wonderful historical significance that miraculously, had issued forth from a barren and desolate wadi, where the Prophet Ibrahim sent his wife Hajar and infant son Ismail. She searched for a drop of water desperately. She ran seven times across mountains and she could not find some water. Thus, by seeing this, Allah sent Gabriel to give Hajar some water. Gabriel scratched the ground to appear the spring. By finding the spring, she became happy and gave water to Ismail who was dying with thirst. Hajar has got in a great fear that, what will do if this spring disappears all on a sudden. Thus, she enclosed the spring with sand and stones. The name ZamZam got this name from Hajar that she chanted Zome Zome repeatedly while enclosing the spring with sand to prevent the water from flowing. Zamzam means “stop flowing”. Now Zamzam is protected in a well and every Muslim collect the water during their pilgrimage. Apart from these, Hira cave which is been known for prophet Muhammad’s first revelation place, is located at Mount Al-Nur,a place nearby Mecca.
Read MoreThe Initiative on Islam and Medicine (II&M)(https://www.medicineandislam.org/overview/), located in Brookfield, Wisconsin, conducts research on Islam and Biomedicine. Their research programs are focused on the theological, social, and biomedical aspects of religion and medicine and are meant to benefit the health of American Muslims and also in the development of an academic, multidisciplinary field of Islamic Bioethics. They support and provide scholarships to healthcare providers and religious leaders and act as a platform for impactful research and tailored education. Additionally, II&M provides educational opportunities, workshops, consultations, courses and certifications, medical student internships, and hosts events that facilitate the participation of medical and social scientists, Islamic studies experts, and Islamic scholars. After extensive pilot testing and methodical curation, as claimed by II&M, they have announced the launch of a self-paced, multi-modal course named “An Introduction to the Field of Islamic Bioethics”(https://www.medicineandislam.org/bioethics-course/). This course is said to benefit Muslim clinicians, healthcare practitioners, medical students and trainees, chaplains, religious leaders, bioethicists, and patients and is based on II&M’s principles of data-driven, theologically appropriate, and research-tested intellectual resources to engage with contemporary healthcare. The course will introduce learners to: * Critical concepts in Islamic theology and law that undergird normative ethical frameworks * Scholarly discussions regarding the methods, content, and scope of Islamic bioethics and * Extant normative rulings and discursive products of applied Islamic bioethics relate to end-of-life care, organ donation, and reproductive health. This course is based on adult learning theory and is a 10-module course that runs in 4-months cohorts. It involves: * Specially curated lectures and readings that allow for active learning as participants engage with the source material of Islamic bioethics, * Summative lectures that hit on the key points from the material with added experiential commentary and explanation from a practicing clinician, clinical ethicist, health policy consultant, and scholar * Short quick-hitting reflection questions and quizzes that allow for the learning to be concretized Additionally, the course yields 16.5 CME and MOC credits for physicians. At the completion of the course, participants will be able to: * Describe the sources of Islamic morality * Identify the producers, consumers, and the discursive material of Islamic bioethics * Describe the contentions around what constitutes the "Islamic" in Islamic bioethics * Apply critical analysis skills to decipher gaps in the Islamic bioethics discourse * Delineate the major Islamic juridical views on end-of-life healthcare, organ donation, and reproductive health Register now(https://www.medicineandislam.org/bioethics-course/) for the course at II&M’s website and avail of the introductory 50% discount.
Read MoreThe Arabic word Hijra means migration. It marks the beginning of the new year in the Islamic calendar and refers to the migration of Muhammad (SAW) and his companions, from Mecca to Madina. The Hijra was a great historical event marking a significant change in Islamic history. The early Muslims gained a position of strength and authority following the Hijra. The Hijri calendar was adopted during the Khilafah (successorship) of Umar Ibn-Khathab (RA). Umar (RA) rejected many other suggestions to start the Islamic calendar, including the birth and death of the Muhammad (SAW). He stated, "The Hijra has separated truth from falsehood, therefore, let it become the Epoch of the Era" (Fath Al-Bari, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani). Muhammad (SAW) publicly preached Islam in Mecca for more than a decade when the opposition was at its peak. The believers were harassed, abused and even cruelly tortured. Afraid for their safety, Muhammad (SAW) sent a group of Muslims to Abyssinia (now known as Ethiopia) where the Christian ruler extended protection to the Sahabahs. Shortly after that, Muhammad (SAW) sent seventy others to Yathrib (later re-named Madina) with the hope of establishing a new beginning for Islam. When Muhammad (SAW) set off for Yathrib with his closest friend, Abu-Bakr as-Siddique (RA), the leaders of Mecca decided to have him killed. They put a bounty on his head and sent people in pursuit. Muhammad (SAW) and Abu Bakr (RA) hid in a cave where Allah protected them from their assassins. Allah says,�"_It does not matter if you believers do not support him, for Allah did in fact support him when the disbelievers drove him out of Mecca, and he was only one of two. While they both were in the cave, he reassured his companion,�'Do not worry; Allah is certainly with us'. So, Allah sent down His serenity upon the Prophet, supported him with forces you believers did not see, and made the word of the disbelievers lowest, while the Word of Allah is supreme. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise."_ (Quran, 9:40) The early Muslims made great sacrifices to move to Madina (Hijra) to begin the first ever Islamic community. Allah says,_"As for those who emigrated in the cause of Allah after being persecuted, We will surely bless them with a good home in this world. But the reward of the Hereafter is far better, if only they knew."_ (Quran, 16:41) Muhammad (SAW) and his followers were joyously welcomed by the people of Madina (the Ansar or "helpers"). Muhammad (SAW) established a concept of brotherhood among the Muslims and unity with the non-Muslim communities, including the Jewish tribes. The Hijra from Mecca to Madina marked the Muslims' transition from one stage to another on several different levels. They went from a position of weakness to one of strength. In Mecca, they were humiliated and abused at the hands of Quraysh, in Medina they were the ones with power. They went from spreading Islam individually in Mecca, to converting whole nations at a time in Medina. From implementing Islam individually in Mecca, to implementing a full, comprehensive, political, and economic system that governed a nation in every aspect of life. From being a small group of believers in Mecca to, becoming the heart of an Islamic nation encompassing Muslims in multiple countries. The Alim Foundation: NPS / NH; September 29, 2020
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