Date: May 20, 2020
We are in the blessed month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, extra prayers, and charity. Our Creator, Allah SWT, requires us to fulfill our obligation to (1) Him, the Lord of the universe, and (2) his creation, with humans being the most important of those creations. We can accomplish this by (1) worshipping Allah and (2) giving charity (both obligatory and voluntary). Both Zakah and Zakat al-Fitr are obligatory upon every Muslim who fulfills the requirements. Zakah means growth, increase and purification. It is a means of cleansing halal income and wealth. It is given once every year, at any time during the year and is required for every person who meets the Nisab. Giving Zakah is a form of worship and a good deed, for which the reward is greatly increased during this blessed month. For this reason, many Muslims prefer to give their required Zakah during Ramadan in order to maximize their rewards. Zakat al-Fitr (or fitrana) is a form of Zakah given during Ramadan to needy, poor, and destitute Muslims in order to give them the means to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. It must be in the hands of the recipient before Eid prayers in order to fulfill its purpose. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of their needs must pay zakat al-Fitr. The Alim Foundation Inc., NMS/NH: May 18, 2020
"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
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The word Zakat means purification and growth. Quran promotes feeding hungry people and helping the poor. Since, the month of Ramadan is termed as the very month of forgiveness, blessings, helping others, prayers and thanks giving. Zakat is an activity connected with prayer and compassion towards the poor people. Allah says that provide Zakat with prayers and it will make you and the receiver blessed. Conditions for Zakat Giving If you are possessing property in excess of a minimum exemption limit, you must give Zakat to the needy. Another term is that if your wealth equal to or in surplus of Nisab in the beginning and at the end of the lunar year, you must give Zakat. At the same time, at the end of the lunar year if the wealth is less than the Nisab, it is not necessary to give Zakat. It says that Zakat is due on all the gold and silver ornaments, jewellery. All bank deposits and provident fund will fall under the Zakat giving. It is also said that if one has agriculture land irrigated by rain water or by natural water channels or if the land is wet due to a nearby water channel, the yield of the land must be provided as Zakat. Zakat is obligatory on goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes and camels which graze on wild grass, plant leaves and on some feed, now and then given by the owner, and on the above animals meant for sale. Do Not Give Zakat to these People * To a person who owns minimum 7 1/2 tolas of gold or 52 1/2 tolas of silver or equivalent wealth in cash, kind or in trade goods. * To one’s mother, father, paternal and maternal grand-parents, great grand-parents, etc. * To one’s offspring-sons, daughters, grand-children, great grand-children, etc. * to spouse * To other relatives such as brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. * To Sayyeds(descendants of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). * To domestic or other servants as wages. * Zakat cannot be given for repairing or maintenance of mosque. * Do not pay Zakat to meet the funeral expenses.
Read MoreIn the great epic books, it’s noted that Aisha Ra was the most beloved to the Prophet SAW. She is known as the woman who exonerated by Allah SWT in the Qur’an. History and Prophetic words claims that it was upon her lap that prophet Muhammad SAW he breathed his last. Now you might have understood that who this elegant and great woman is. She is the lovable and respectful wife of Prophet Muhammad. She loved her husband, Prophet Muhammad. She was the most eloquent and compassionate wives of Prophet. She was a complete example for innocence, eloquence, wise, knowledge and much more. We can definitely say that she is the complete instance of what a Muslim woman should be like. Aisha Ra is the number four in the most prolific narrators of Hadith. There is no book of Fiqh, which does not have the opinions of Aisha Ra. Every Islamic book has mentioned the name of Aisha Ra. Aisha Ra was the daughter of Muhammad’s close friend Abu Bakr. She was born after four years of prophet hood of Muhammad. Muhammad called her Humaira, means one who has reddish skin. She was engaged to Prophet at the age of six. Many sources say that she stayed with her parents at home until the age of nine when the marriage was declared with Muhammad. Her role to the spread of Prophet’s message was astonishing, and she helped the Muslims for 44 years after the death of Prophet. Histories say that after the migration of Prophet, she lost her father and mother. Years passed and she was living under the rein of Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Muawiya Ibn Abi Sufian Ra. Many of her lovable people and companions of Prophet were assassinated in the war. Then she went to do the holy Haj. From there she returned by hearing these assassination and war news. Aftermath, many conflicts had took place and our mother Aisha Ra also participated in the great battle of the camel for peace. She was a great woman who struggled for peace and truth and the follower of Prophetic messages. In her last days in the earth, she was very calm and not even accepted a word of praise from the visitors. At the time of her last breath, she said: “I am OK if I fear Allah SWT. Aisha Ra was buried in Al Baqi at night time as that was her will.
Read MoreAsalam-o-alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu. Uthman bin Affan (R) reported: عَنْ عُثْمَانَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ صحيح البخاري كتاب فضائل القرآن باب خيركم من تعلم القرآن و عَلَّمَهُ The Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, said: “The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.” Sahih al-Bukhari 5029 https://www.alim.org/hadith/sahih-bukhari/6/ Alhamdulillah! The journey of the Alim Foundation Inc. started in early 1991 on a CD-ROM followed by its transition to the Alim.org online platform in mid-2010. Since then, the Alim Foundation has been consistently delivering authentic Islamic knowledge resources – Quran (Arabic, Translations, Tafasir), Ahadith, Islamic History, Islamic News and Articles – to the global community through its web and mobile resources. During our analysis of the incoming traffic and user demographics of our audience worldwide, we realized we could use this time to upgrade our web platform to meet the next level of usability and accessibility demands. To achieve these performance metrics, we have renovated the design, layout, and technology of this valuable resource for your benefit. We have also ported the website to a better infrastructure, while retaining all the existing Islamic Knowledge resources we have been known to provide. We have done the platform migration to make Alim.org faster and more user-friendly. In accordance to the request of many users, our new layout offers a smoother design and clean UI . All the sections in the old site – Arabic Quran, Mushaf, Quran Translations, Quran Tafasir, Ahadiths, History and News and Views – are implemented in our new and improved site. There are navigation menu items that lead to all the sections and you should be able to access your desired content within a few hours. Here are the URLs for a few regularly visited sections: Quran home page for all sections including Arabic Quran, Mushaf, Translations, and Tafsir: https://www.alim.org/quran/ Quran with translation: https://www.alim.org/quran Mushaf: https://www.alim.org/quran Asad Translation: https://www.alim.org/quran Tafsir Ibn Kathir: https://www.alim.org/quran Hadith home page: https://www.alim.org/hadith/ Sahih Bukhari: https://www.alim.org/hadith/sahih-bukhari/1/ Sahih Muslim: https://www.alim.org/hadith/sahih-muslim/1/ Islamic History home page: https://www.alim.org/history/ Khalifa Abu Bakr (RA): https://www.alim.org/history/khalifa-abu-bakr/before-and-after-conversion-to-islam Please continue to use the new alim.org(https://www.alim.org/) and as you become familiar with the new navigation. We will quickly make it easy to locate and access your desired sections, insha Allah. Please feel free to let the alim.org team know regarding any issues that you may encounter. We truly value your feedback and suggestions. The Alim Foundation is at your service to facilitate this excellent resource for you as quickly as practically possible. Additionally, the Alim team requests that you please share Alim with your family, friends, and relatives. As always, your user and financial support makes this blessed endeavor possible, inshaAllah. Stay tuned for bright things in the coming future! May Allah SWT Guide us all to attaining and spreading His Knowledge, ameen. Walaikum Asalam. The Alim Foundation, Inc.
Read More