Date: June 22, 2016
One of the most commented verses in Quran is the “Verse of Light” (24th Surah - An-Nur). The Surah unveils how Allah is the light of heaven and earth. Allah says the so called light in him is a niche and within which is a candle. The candle is placed in a glass which twinkles like a star in the sky. Olive tree’s oil from the blessed land of Quds is used for fuel to light the candle. This is very bright itself even without fire. With this, Allah guides to his light whomsoever he wills. There are a number of commentaries on this verse and the most famous comment is that this verse is a parable of faith. Here the candle refers to the light of Iman. The ultimate message of this Surah is that light of Iman and how to attain it. Verse 2 incorporates the topic of chastity and modesty and it talks about the punishment of fornication. Verse 27 is all about the modesty of seeking permission while entering to someone’s house. Verse 30 and 31 are the command of Allah for the believing men and women to lower their gazes and guard their chastity. Verse 58 speaks about the need to ask permission to enter parent’s room at special times by a person under the age of maturity. In short, all the verses talks about modesty. If a person preserves their modesty and stays away from anything that diminishes this, they preserve the light of Allah which He places in the hearts of the believers. Allah combines between light, modesty which means that if anyone preserves modesty, there will be blessed light, and if the modesty lacks, the light becomes dimmer.
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.
Read MoreParenting is the most admirable and challenging task that a family need to work out a lifetime. We are living in the very post modern culture of 21st century that follows a different and dazzled way. The biggest challenge that a parent has to understand is that we are living in a world very different from the one in which we grew up. Every now and then, our children are living in a globalized, materialized and a superpower world of technology. The major global changes that we face are information exchange and threatening technology empowerment. We live in the information overloaded age and our daily walks on the information super highway and we definitely need to thank the technology for having the complete picture on every walks of the life. But what we need is to have the knowledge on what information to believe in reality and what to believe as just propaganda. Secondly we can say that technology is a challenging scenario. Technology can make life easy. But it can distract and increase false sense of satisfaction to us. Facebook and such social networking sites share billions of posts a day. But do you think, all the shares are informative or justifiable? Never can it be. The aftereffects of the thoughtless words are serious and severe. While posting such things on virtual platforms, always keep in that technology cannot replace wisdom. Natural wisdom never can be replaced by artificial intelligence and vice versa. Use your intellect to understand the event and color the scene to see the whole world.
Read MoreSafar is the second month of the Islamic calendar. The definition is empty and the reasoning is all the Muslims would rush towards the battlefield (at the time of the Prophet (SAW), leaving their houses deserted after Muharram. Moreover, superstitions were widespread during the days of ignorance (pre-Islam). These superstitions were made irrelevant by the following Quran verse: "No misfortune befalls except by Allah’s command..." Surah Tagabun, Verse 11. Folks in those days believed bad omens and evils occurred in Safar, but all those beliefs were incorrect. As stated in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2222: There is no bad omen in the month of Safar and no ghouls (evil spirits). Superstition is for folks who lack faith and trust in Allah (SWA). Assalamwalakum.
Read More"When a person dies, his works end, except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that is benefited from, and a righteous child who prays for him."
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)
"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