Date: July 23, 2022
The 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.
"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
Marriage is a religious duty and a moral safeguard in the society. Marriage is the most legal way to indulge in intimacy between a man and woman. Delaying marriage without a legitimate reason is a sin in Islam. We should not get engaged for many months and the marriage should be solemnized quickly in order to allow the newlyweds to start their new life in the most pure manner. Keeping the engaged couples without a Nikkah is a great sin and it is similar to widowing. Get your Nikkah as soon as possible and complete your studies. To delay marriage in Islam is prohibited.
Read MoreAlhamdulillah, every time I read the Prophet&8217;s (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) sermon on Ramadan I find something new and moving in it. It never fails to inspire me, remind me how blessed Ramadan really is for us and take me back to why we fast and what we should be doing during this special month: Baihaqi reported on the authority of Salman Al-Farsi (Radhi Allah ‘Anh) that Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasalaam) delivered a sermon on the last day of the month of Sha&8217;ban. In it he (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasalaam) said: _O People! The month of Allah (Ramadan) has come with its mercies, blessings and forgivenesses. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. The days of this month are the best among the days and the nights are the best among the nights and the hours during Ramadan are the best among the hours. This is a month in which you have been invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honoured you in it. In every breath you take is a reward of Allah, your sleep is worship, your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered._ _Therefore, you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast, and to recite the Holy Qur&8217;an. Indeed!, miserable is the one who is deprived of Allah&8217;s forgiveness in this great month. While fasting remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from sounds that should not be heard._ _Be kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they will also be treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer as these are the best times, during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah Answers if they supplicate, Responds if they call, Grants if He is asked, and Accepts if they entreat. O people! you have made your conscience the slave of your desires._ _Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honour and Majesty that, people who perform salat and sajda (prostration) will be guarded from Hell-fire on the Day of Judgement._ _O people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar (meal at sunset) for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will forgive him his sins. A companion asked: “but not all of us have the means to do so” The Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasalaam) replied: Keep yourself away from Hell-fire though it may consist of half a date or even some water if you have nothing else._ _O people!, anyone who during this month cultivates good manners, will walk over the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn&8217;t hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from His Wrath on the Day of Judgement. Anyone who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep away from His Mercy._ _Whomever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from Hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whomever repeatedly invokes Allah&8217;s blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others will be tending to lightness. Whomever recites during this month an ayat (verse) of the Holy Qur&8217;an, will get the reward of reciting the whole Qur&8217;an in other months._ _O people!, the gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. While the gates of Hell are closed, pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained, invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you._
Read MoreOur parents, elders, and teachers have greatly emphasized from our early childhood to start all our activities by saying Bismillah Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem. What does this phrase really mean? Most, if not all of us have been explained its meaning also as, “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate”. When we say “Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem”, we are asking Allah’s help which may be different for different people. We want Allah to cure us when we are sick, to enlighten us when we are confused, to feed us when we are hungry, to energize us when we are tired and so on. Allah, the Exalted has different names representing His different attributes like: Al-Hadi, the one who guides; Al-Razzak, the one who provides; As-Salam, the one who delivers peace; and so on. The scholars of Islam have described ninety-nine attributes (names) of Allah, SWT and all of us don’t know all His attributes. Allah, SWT, has honored us with His two beautiful attributes from among the ninety-nine, which HE loves and wants us to remember at every step of our lives. These are AR-RAHMAN and AR-RAHEEM, which when expressed as “Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem” embraces all the attributes of Allah (SWT). By saying these words, we are committing and expressing our love for Him (SWT). Simultaneously, we are acknowledging that if we love Allah (SWT) truly, and ask His help in resolving our issues’ then, the resolution will be real. A true Muslim who says these words, with sincere belief in Him, has no reason to be depressed. As genuine believers, we believe in the knowledge, power, and wisdom of Allah, SWT. He is always present for our help. He is unique in everything he does and each of His attributes are unique. Even the word, ALLAH is unique. Allah is pronounced uniquely which says you are dealing with someone like nobody else. It is said that the word “Allah” is originated from “Al- ilah,” which means the one and the only, to be worshiped. Now, back to the phrase, “Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem”. The word, “Bismillah”- when you call on that phrase, the believer is to be filled with gratitude as in how many ways Allah has helped us. We go to Allah for all our needs and worries. Then on to, “Ar-Rahman” which means love, care and mercy of Allah (SWT), which is extreme as well as immediate. But, this is temporary like thirst and hunger which needs immediate action to quench the thirst and reduce the hunger. And the second one, “Ar-Raheem”, which is again love, care and mercy of Allah (SWT) but with high degree of His Compassion, that is permanent. So not to worry at all, Allah (SWT) will take care of you immediately and will take care of you on a permanent basis. All we need to do is firmly believe in Him, SWT, the one and only one worthy of worship; submit ourselves to Him as His obedient servants, take all guidance from Him as practiced by our beloved Prophet Mohammad, SAW and complete all actions of our lives starting with “Bismillahi Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem;” and ending with thanking Him, SWT. This is the desired life of a Muslim.
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