Date: April 15, 2016
A human being’s caliber and knowledge lies in his bio and gene. Some of us excel in mathematics, some in social studies etc. by profession we will be doctors, engineers, scientists, politicians etc. by hobby, we will be coin collectors, riders, cookers etc. profession, wishes, character and everything may be different. But ultimately, each Muslim has a clear singular goal. It is nothing but, aspiring to the character of Prophet Muhammed. If you are physically clean for the day, you should read Quran on that day. If it is possible, a Muslim should read Quran every day. And there is a belief that Muslim should read Quran during the holy month of Ramadan. But you should read it before, during and after the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is meant for intense character training and its lessons are applicable for the year round. In the holy month of Ramadan and there after we should attempt to focus on the wisdom of Quran and the idealistic ways of Prophet Muhammed. In addition, we should engage with two greatest miracles of life through prayer, those are reflection and action. We should always be in remembrance of Allah and we should learn Quran and its teachings before, during and after Ramadan.
"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
The Quran is a guidance for humanity. It is the eternal and literal word of Allah. It is a divine book of wisdom, commands, and laws with instructions for nearly every aspect of life. It was revealed about 1500 years ago, on the heart of prophet Muhammad (SAW) over a period of 23 years through angel Jibril. It is divided into 30 sections (juz), 114 chapters (surahs) and over 6000 verses (ayahs). There are numerous benefits to reading Quran. Just a few are listed below: 1. To understand the purpose of life. Why are we here? Why did Allah create us? _"We have not created jinns and mankind except to worship Me."_(Quran, 51:56) 2. To receive guidance on how to please Allah with our lives. The only way to know what Allah wants of us is to read His word. _"This is The Book in which there is no doubt. It is a guide for those who are God conscious."_(Quran, 2:2) 3. To attain Jannah and avoid Allah's wrath. Allah teaches us how to live and conduct ourselves in the Quran. _"Shall We then treat the People of Faith like the People of Sin?"_(Quran, 68:35) 4. To increase in Iman. _"The true believers are those whose hearts tremble with fear, when the name of Allah is mentioned, and And when His verses are recited to them, it increases their faith and they put their trust in their Rabb."_(Quran, 8:2) 5. To receive intercession on the day of judgement. Muhammad (SAW) said, "Recite the Quran for it will come as an intercessor for its people on the day of judgement." (Muslim) 6. To cleanse the heart. _"Oh mankind! There has come to you an instruction from your Rabb, a cure for whatever (disease) is in your hearts, a guidance and a blessing for the true believers."_ (Quran, 10:57) 7. To learn what happens after death. _"The righteous will surely be in bliss while the wicked will indeed go to hell."_(Quran, 82:13-14) 8. To be rewarded. "Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah will have a reward. And that reward will be multiplied by ten." (Tirmizi) Muhammad (SAW) also said, "One who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly and precisely will be in the company of noble angels. As for the one who recites it with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, he will have twice that reward." 9. To be the best of the best. Muhammad (SAW) said, "The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it to others." (Sahih al-Bukhari) The Alim Foundation: NPS / NH; September 29, 2020
Read MoreAssalamualaykum, I recently read a long healthy discussion on the topic of Infallibility of Prophet (saw) on the website Alim.org. This is a humble effort to clarify. Let us overcome our emotion, be objective, factual and deductive inshaALLAH. We all love the prophet and that is must; it is an academic discussion only. One brother pointer out ..”Sura al-Najm testifies about the Holy prophet&8217;s infallibility so does surah 33 verse 33”. This understanding and its scope can be very subjective. The scope of infallibility needs discussion. However, we cannot discard an authentic hadith, because prophet (saw) forgot something (assuming that violates his infallibility). Allah is the ONLY one perfect and everything else has some form of deficiency (i.e -death). Prophets are the best and specially chosen people but they get hungry, get tried, get emotional, get stressed and can have normal human limitations, except in issues related to heavenly message. The fact that Allaah has commanded us to follow the Messengers and take them as our example. The prophet (saw) must be loved, respected, and obeyed. It does not require any discussion for Muslims. He is the final authority in Islam. وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُّبِينًا It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Apostle to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Apostle, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path, (33:36)(/quran/compare/surah/33/36/ "33:36") Therefore, the message of messenger in the FINAL form MUST be perfect. الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلاَمَ دِينًا This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (5:03)(/quran/compare/surah/5/3/ "5:3") Note that the message might have gone through various stages (i.e abrogation, rectification) before the final stage. This is a part of completion process as Allah (swt) willed. مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِّنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللّهَ عَلَىَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِير None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things? (2:106)(/quran/compare/surah/2/106/ "2:106") We need to understand the role of prophet regarding the message. Can a prophet make mistake, forget, do poor ijtihad or commit sin? And, how that relates to authenticity or perfection of the message? Note the message of Islam is perfect as we saw. The Prophets are the best of mankind, and the most noble of creation before Allaah. Allaah chose them to convey the call of Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah to mankind, and Allaah has made them the intermediaries between Him and His creation in conveying His Laws. They were commanded to convey the message from Allaah, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):&8221; أولئك الذين آتيناهم الكتاب والحكم والنبوة فإن يكفر بها هؤلاء فقد وكلنا بها قوما ليسوا بها بكافرين They are those whom We gave the Book, Al Hukm (understanding of the religious laws), and Prophethood. But if these disbelieve therein (the Book, Al Hukm and Prophethood), then, indeed We have entrusted it to a people (such as the Companions of Prophet Muhammad) who are not disbelievers therein” (al-An’aam 6:89)(/quran/compare/surah/6/89/ "6:89") The Prophets’ task was to convey the message from Allaah even though they were human, hence the issue of infallibility may be examined from two angles: Infallibility in conveying the message and Infallibility from human error. Infallibility in conveying the message So with regard to conveying the religion of his Lord, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not make any mistakes at all (let alone sin), whether major or minor, rather he was infallible and under the constant protection of Allaah. He did not make mistakes: وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَى .مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَى. وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى .إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى. عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى By the star when it goes down (or vanishes).Your companion (Muhammad) has neither gone astray nor has erred. Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only a Revelation revealed. He has been taught (this Qur’aan) by one mighty in power Jibreel (Gabriel) (al-Najm 53:1-5)(/quran/compare/surah/53/1/ "53:1") He did not make up lies: وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ . لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ . .ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ ..فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَاجِزِينَ And if he (Muhammad) had forged a false saying concerning Us (Allaah), We surely would have seized him by his right hand (or with power and might), And then We certainly would have cut off his life artery (aorta), And none of you could have withheld Us from (punishing) him (al-Haaqqah 69:44-47)(/quran/compare/surah/69/44/ "69:44") He did not hide information: وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ بِضَنِين� And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And he (Muhammad) withholds not a knowledge of the Unseen”al-Takweer 81:24(/quran/compare/surah/81/24/ "81:24") He did not forget: سَنُقْرِؤُكَ فَلَا تَنسَى We shall make you to recite (the Qur’aan), so you (O Muhammad) shall not forget (it)” (al-A’la 87:6)(/quran/compare/surah/87/6/ "87:6") He has the best, purposeful negligence and mistake cannot be done by him: وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. (68:4)(/quran/compare/surah/68/4/ "68:4") Infallibility from human error: With regard to the Prophets as people, they may make mistakes or pass less than best judgment. They are corrected by Allah for the integrity of the final message. This may be discussed as follows: Prophet is a human: قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ Say: �I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your Allah is one Allah. (18:110)(/quran/compare/surah/18/110/ "18:110") With regard to major sins, as it requires no discussion, the Prophets do not commit major sins at all, and they are guided right and protected from such major sins. They may make mistakes, because a mistake may be made unintentionally. They are Matters that have nothing to do with conveying the message and the revelation. The following (see details later) stories of minor mistake or POOR ijtihad of the prophets are well known (they were rectified by Allah to ensure the integrity of the message and we are informed of these by Allah): …..When the two angels came to Dawood, he listened to the first and did not listen to what the second had to say… and the story of Yoonus when the big fish swallowed him; the story of Adam and the story of the Messenger with Zayd ibn Haarithah, they say that he concealed something which he should have declared openly; and with his Sahaabah (regarding grafting), he told them, “You know better about your worldly affairs,” ….. The evidence that they might make mistakes or forget and that they were not left to persist therein is the verses in which Allaah says of Adam (interpretation of the meaning): وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَى آدَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا We had already, beforehand, taken the covenant of Adam, but he forgot: and We found on his part no firm resolve. (20:115)(/quran/compare/surah/20/115/ "20:115") وَعَصَى آدَمُ رَبَّهُ فَغَوَى. ثُمَّ اجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ وَهَدَى Dawood made a mistake by hastening to pass judgment before hearing the case of the second disputant: دَاوُودُ أَنَّمَا فَتَنَّاهُ فَاسْتَغْفَرَ رَبَّهُ وَخَرَّ رَاكِعًا وَأَنَابَ. فَغَفَرْنَا لَهُ ذَلِكَ وَإِنَّ لَهُ عِندَنَا لَزُلْفَى وَحُسْنَ مَآبٍ And he Dawood sought forgiveness of his Lord, and he fell down prostrate and turned (to Allaah) in repentance. So We forgave him that, and verily, for him is a near access to Us, and a good place of (final) return (Paradise)” Saad 38:23-24(/quran/compare/surah/38/23/ "38:23") Prophet Muhammad (saw) made unintentional mistakes with regard to some worldly matters. This happened with regard to various spheres of life such as medicine, agriculture, etc. Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (6127) that Raafi’ ibn Khadeej said: The Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah and found them pollinating the palm trees. He said: “What are you doing?” They said: “We always do this.” He said: “Perhaps if you do not do it, that will be better.” So they did not do it, and the harvest failed. They told him about that and he said: “I am only human. If I tell you to do something with regard to your religion, then do it, but if I tell you to do something based on my own opinion, then I am only human.” (link)(/hadith/sunan-ibn-majah/16/2471/ "Hadith of Pollination") Hence it is known that the Prophets are infallible and protected from error with regard to the Revelation, so we should beware of those who cast aspersions upon the Messenger’s conveying of the Message and his laws, and say that it is his own personal opinion. And our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was rebuked by his Lord for several things that are mentioned in the Qur’aan, such as the following (interpretation of the meaning):َ يا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ تَبْتَغِي مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَاجِكَ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ O Prophet! Why do you forbid (for yourself) that which Allaah has allowed to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allaah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful al-Tahreem 66:1(/quran/compare/surah/66/1/ "66:1") This refers to the well-known story with some of his wives. Allah also rebuked His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning the prisoners of war at Badr: Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (4588) that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: When the prisoners were taken captive, the Messenger of Allaah (S) (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them): “What do you think about these prisoners?” Abu Bakr said: “O Prophet of Allaah, they are our cousins and kinsmen. I think that we should accept a ransom from them which will give us some support against the kuffaar, and perhaps Allaah will guide them to Islam.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “What do you think, O Ibn al-Khattaab?” He said: “I say, no, by Allaah, O Messenger of Allaah. I do not agree with Abu Bakr. I think that you should hand them over to us so that we may strike their necks (execute them). Hand over ‘Aqeel to ‘Ali so that he may strike his neck, and hand over So and so – a relative of ‘Umar – to me, for these are the leaders and veterans of kufr.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) liked what Abu Bakr said and he did not like what I ‘Umar said. The next day I came and found the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Abu Bakr weeping. I said: “O Messenger of Allaah, tell me, what has made you and your companion weep? If there is a reason to weep, I will weep with you, and there is no reason, I will pretend to weep in sympathy with you because you are weeping.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I am weeping because I was shown the torture to which they were subjected. It was brought as close to me as this tree” – a tree which was near the Prophet of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – then Allaah revealed the words (interpretation of the meaning): مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُ أَسْرَى حَتَّى يُثْخِنَ فِي الأَرْضِ تُرِيدُونَ عَرَضَ الدُّنْيَا وَاللّهُ يُرِيدُ الآخِرَةَ وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ …لَّوْلاَ كِتَابٌ مِّنَ اللّهِ سَبَقَ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِيمَا أَخَذْتُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيم “It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war (and free them with ransom) until he had made a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land. You desire the good of this world (i.e. the money of ransom for freeing the captives), but Allaah desires (for you) the Hereafter. And Allaah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. Were it not a previous ordainment from Allaah, a severe torment would have touched you for what you took. So enjoy what you have gotten of booty in war, lawful and good” al-Anfaal 8:67-69(/quran/compare/surah/8/67/ "8:67") We see that for any mistake, Allah corrected him; that in turn ensures the integrity of the final message. Hence it is known that the Prophets are infallible and protected from error with regard to the Revelation, so we should beware of those who cast aspersions upon the Messenger’s conveying of the Message and his laws, and say that it is his own personal opinion. After all correction/ rectification provided by Allah, THE FINAL MESSAGE IS CORRECT and Prophet remained perfect in a sense after the correction from Allah. الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلاَمَ دِينًا This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. (5:3)(/quran/compare/surah/5/3/ "5:3") ALLAH KNOWS BEST.
Read MoreSearch for any word, phrase, person, Hadith narrator, subject, or idea and acquire Islamic knowledge easily from the classical and most fundamental sources of Islamic knowledge. Coming soon: 1. Collaborative Editing, Comments, and Discussions on the Meaning of Al-Qur’an a. Comments feature with Alim online and facility of religious collaboration. b. Rating of authors and their works and online reputation building c. Ratings of comments and "most popular" type of rankings 2. Full Arabic Script Quran Recitation-Abdul Basit, English Recitation of Quran Translation, Surah Themes Arabic Recitation of Duas. 3. Questions & Answers: Q&A page called "Ask Alim.org" or something similar that allows questions to be posted and answered by anyone; people can rate questions and answers; similar to StackOverflow.com in ease of use and capabilities. 4. Enhanced Arabic Playhouse online. 5. Video Islam: A Closer Look Video How to Perform Hajj (90 min.) 3-D Animated Walk-through of Haram in Mecca.
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