2006, IV - The Muslim Sunrise

The Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityThe Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a religious organization,international in its scope, with branches in over 178 countries inAfrica, North America, South America, Asia, Australasia, and Europe.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in 1889 by HadhratMirza Ghulam Ahmad as (1835-1908) in Qadian, a small and remote villagein the Punjabi province of India. He claimed to be the expected reformer ofthe latter days, the Awaited One of the world community of religions (TheMahdi and Messiah). The Movement he started is an embodiment of thebenevolent message of Islam – peace, universal brotherhood, and submissionto the Will of God – in its pristine purity. Hadhrat Ahmad as proclaimedIslam as the religion of man: “The religion of the people of the right path”(98:6).The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was created under divineguidance with the objective to rejuvenate Islamic moral and spiritual values.It encourages interfaith dialogue, diligently defends Islam and tries to correctmisunderstandings about Islam in the West. It advocates peace, tolerance,love and understanding among followers of different faiths. It firmly believesin and acts upon the Qur’anic teaching: “There is no compulsion in religion”(2:257). It strongly rejects violence and terrorism in any form and for anyreason.After the passing of its founder, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hasbeen headed by his elected successors. The present Head of the Community,Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, was elected in 2003. His official title isKhalifatul Masih V or Fifth Successor of the Promised Messiah..Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908)EditorFalahud Din ShamsEditorial BoardImam Mubasher AhmadHasan HakeemDr. Shanaz ButtAmjad Mahmood Khan, Esq.Naveed MalikStaffHasan Hakeem, Design/LayoutFateh Shams, CirculationEditor's Notes:The Muslim Sunrise is published by the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity, USA, 15000 Good Hope Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905,Phone 301.879.0110, Fax 301.879.0115, under the auspices of Dr.Ahsanullah Zafar, Ameer and National President. The views andopinions expressed by individual contributers in this publication donot necessarily reflect the views of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,USA.The Muslim Sunrise welcomes letters to the editor, questions andsubmissions. Email: MuslimSunrise@Ahmadiyya.us.Library of Congress Call Number BP195.A5 M8Mailing Address: The Muslim Sunrise, 2 S 510 Route 53, GlenEllyn, IL 60137, Phone: (630) 790-4100, ext. 206, Fax: (630)793-4100.Muslims follow the name of God’s prophets with the prayer Alaehis salaamor ‘may peace be upon him,’ and for the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahoalaehi wasallam or ‘may peace and blessings of God be upon him.’Companions of prophets and righteous personalities who have passed awayare saluted by Radhi-Allaho anho or ‘may Allah be pleased with him.” Whilesuch salutations have been abbreviated in the text for readability (as, sa &ra respectively), we encourage all Muslims to offer these prayers as if setout in full.www.alislam.org2 MuslimSunrise

From the Holy Qur'anAnd they ask thee concerning the soul. Say, 'The soul isby the command of my Lord; and of the knowledgethereof you have been given but little.'And thou, O soul at peace! Return to thy Lord well pleased withhim and He will be pleased with thee. So enter thou among Mychosen servants. And enter thou My Garden. (89:28-31)And by the soul and its perfection – And He revealed to it what iswrong for it and what is right for it – He indeed truly prospers whopurifies it. And he who corrupts it is ruined. (91:8-11)4 MuslimSunrise

If we were to havefull understandingof the soul, wewould also haveconquered thestruggle to attainknowledge of thehereafter. Nomystery would beleft regarding thenext life, itsexistence, itsmajesty and theunion of somechosen souls withGod.EditorialThe subject of the soul haslong been of great interestand curiosity, resulting indiscussion and debateamong people of all faiths.The concept of the soul is vital to faith ina Living God. If God does not create thesoul, then the divinity of God comes underquestion. If the soul can start and live on itsown, then what is the function of God? If,in fact, the soul is self-existent, then itsindependence refutes the existence ofDivine attributes.Our logic, rationality and knowledge arevery limited when it comes to the matter ofthe soul. Relying merely on our power ofreasoning, we could hardly explain even thevery rudimentary questions concerning thesoul. Even in simpler forms of life, how doesthe soul enter inside an egg? There is noobvious opening in the shell of an egg.Furthermore, if the yet to be born babyinside the egg dies before coming out of theshell, how does the soul get out of the eggand where does it go? Our reasoning failsus on an even greater scale when we discussthe soul of a human being, the superior soul.In religious scriptures, including theHoly Qur’an, we have been provided withvery little information on the subject ofthe soul. The Holy Qur’an specificallymakes reference to this by stating that theknowledge of the soul is with God and wehave been given very little of it. Basicallyour knowledge is confined to the birth ofthe soul, the way we observe insectscoming into being from some matter. Wehave similarly been given knowledge thathuman souls are created from spermdrops,and so on. Knowledge of the soulrelates directly to life in the hereafter.If we were to have full understandingof the soul, we would also have conqueredthe struggle to attain knowledge of thehereafter. No mystery would be leftregarding the next life, its existence, itsmajesty and the union of some chosensouls with God. That information has beenkept from us because having itsknowledge would make the choicebetween good and evil in this world auseless concept. The rewards for thestruggle in our faith in God’s word areonly meaningful when we don’t havecomplete knowledge of the hereafter.The soul is a subject that requires God’shelp and assistance. Prophets of God weregiven certain information about the soulso that we would believe in its existence.We have been told in the Holy Qur’an,for instance, that our experience ofsleeping and dreaming should reflect someanswers to the mysteries of how the soulrealizes a temporary death during sleep,when it becomes cut off from itssurroundings. This gives us some ideaabout what the death of the soul couldeventually be like. Just as we have nocontrol over our faculties during sleep, thesoul, after death, would be completely andtotally in the control of God and the onlysouls that would survive would be the onesthat worked to have union with God.One aspect of the soul that is verymeaningful for us is that God Himself hasinspired in it a yearning for His existence.Every soul wants to search for the higherbeing, the Divine, its Creator, and that isthe basis of our religious beliefs. It is thisdesire that inspires us not only to look forGod but to recognize Him and thenstruggle for an eventual union with Him.In this issue, you will find variousaspects of the soul including its existenceand its concept according to Islam andsome other faiths. Hopefully, it willenhance the understanding of our readerson this subject. Our discussion and debateshould not be a mere academic exercisebut another avenue and means to gain abetter understanding of the existence ofGod and His works. We hope that thearticles in this issue will serve thatpurpose. WINTER 2006 5

The Promised MessiahThe Soul is the Creation of GodThe Holy Quran has setforth many conclusivereasons in support of theverity that souls are thecreation of God. We setout briefly a few of them by way ofillustration.First, it is obvious that all souls areat all times subordinate to and subjectto the command of God Almighty, andthere is no other cause for suchsubordination except that they are thecreation of God.Second, it is also obvious that allsouls are limited in their capacities andpowers, as is proved by the diversity ofthe spiritual conditions and capacitiesof sections of mankind. This limitationmust be imposed by a Limitor, whichproves that souls are created.Third, it needs no argument toestablish that all souls are, for thepurpose of their perfection and survival,dependent upon and in need of a Beingwho should be Perfect, All-Powerful,All-Knowing and an absoluteBenefactor. This proves that they arecreated.Fourth, a moment’s reflection wouldshow that our souls comprise briefly allthe wisdom and the creative skill that aredemonstrated in the heavenly and theearthly bodies, that is why the universeon account of its diverse elements isknown as the macrocosm and man iscalled a microcosm. Thus when theuniverse, on account of its wonderfulqualities, is accounted the work of a WiseCreator, how would that not be thecreation of God which on account of itspersonal wonders is a reflection of thewhole universe and comprises withinitself the wonderful qualities of all theunits of the universe and illustrates theconsummate wisdom of God Almighty?That which is a manifestation of all thewonders of Divine attributes cannot beoutside God’s creation. Indeed it bearsthe seal of creation more than anythingelse and is a greater proof of the existenceof the Creator. This is not only atheoretical proof of the soul beingMirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908)created but is a bright verity. Moreover, other things haveno consciousness of their being created but souls are bytheir very nature conscious of having been created. Eventhe soul of a savage cannot reconcile itself to being selfexistent.This is indicated by the verse which says thatGod enquired from the souls: Am I not your Lord? thatis to say, your Creator, and they responded: Indeed, yes(7: I73). This dialogue indicates the natural relationshipbetween the Creator and His creation, the proof of whichis inherent in the nature of souls.Fifth, as a child partakes somewhat of the featuresand character of his parents, in the same way souls,which have proceeded from the hand of God Almighty,partake somewhat of the character and qualities of theirCreator. Though in cases in which the darkness andheedlessness of being created prevails over some soulsthe Divine colour appears somewhat faded, yet itcannot be denied that every soul possesses that colourto some degree. In some cases that colour appearsunattractive on account of misuse, but that is not thefault of the colour, it is the fault of the use to which itis put. None of man’s faculties or powers is evil. It ismisuse that makes them appear evil. Every facultyemployed on its proper occasion is wholly good andbeneficent, and in truth all the faculties that arebestowed on man are a reflection of Divine powers.As a son exhibits some features of his father, in thesame way our souls reflect the features and qualitiesof Divinity which are easilyrecognized by those who possesscomprehension. As a son has naturallove for his father we, who are fromGod, have natural love for Him. Ifour souls had not a naturalrelationship with God those whoseek Him would have had no meansof reaching Him (Surma ChashmArya (Qadian, 1886); Nowpublished in Ruhani Khazain,Volume 2 (London, 1984), pp. 119-121).The Holy Quran states that Godenquired from souls: Am I not yourCreator? and they responded:Indeed, yes (7: 173). This means thatsouls naturally affirm the existenceof a Creator, though some peoplefalling in the darkness ofheedlessness and being influencedby wrong teachings become atheistsor Aryas and deny their Creatorcontrary to their nature. It is obviousthat everyone loves his parents, somuch so that some children sufferdeath in consequence of the deathof their mother. Then if souls are notGod’s creation who has investedthem with natural love for God, howis it that when a person achieves fullconsciousness his heart is drawn toGod and his bosom is flooded withthe love of God? There must besome relationship between God andsouls which makes them fall madlyin love with God. They become sodevoted to God that they are readyto sacrifice everything for His sake.It is truly a wonderful relationshipwhich is far above one’s relationshipwith father and mother. If souls areself-existent, as is alleged by theAryas, then how has this relationshipbeen established and who hasinvested souls with the faculty oflove for and devotion to God? Thisis worthy of reflection and is the keyto true comprehension (ChashmaMaarifat, pp. 158—159).6 MuslimSunrise

About the Soul...The Unity of God Almighty means that His Beingalone is the Reality, and that everything else hasproceeded from Him, subsists only through Him, andarrives at its perfection only by His grace ~(The Promised Messiah —Surmah Chashma Arya)The whole basis of salvation is the personal loveof God Almighty, which is the name of the lovegenerated by God Almighty in the very nature ofhuman soul. ~(The Promised Messiah —Chashma Masihi)It is part of human nature for the soul to yearn forthe One and the Only God Who has no partner andnot to be content without communion with Him. ~(The Promised Messiah —Chashma Masihi)The main difference in the soul of animals andhumans is that the human soul has been given acapacity and a sense of agitation to be near itsCreator. This is either missing in the animal soul oris extremely feeble and thus negligible. ~(Muhammad Zafrulla Khan —Letter to a Dear One)Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto theedaily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, OLord, do I lift up my soul. ~(Psalms 86:3,4)When the scorner is punished, the simple ismade wise: and when the wise is instructed, hereceiveth knowledge. ~(Proverbs 21:11)WINTER 2006 7

Islamophobia grips western nationsNews item: A congressman said thathe will not retract a letter warning thatunless immigration is tightened, "manymore Muslims will be elected" and usethe Quran to take the oath of office.Republican Rep. Virgil Goode triggeredangry responses with a letter toconstituents concerned about adecision by Rep.-elect Keith Ellison ofMinnesota, the first Muslim elected toCongress, to use the Quran when he issworn in.Summary of Friday Sermon, delivered by HadhratMirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community delivered December 22,2006.While visiting Germany , Ahmad deliveredhis Friday Sermon from Frankfurt. He based hissermon on the exceedingly malicious anti-Islamicwave that currently engulfs the Western world.Ahmad said among variousmotives for the anti-Islamicsentiments one is that peopleare against religion in thefirst place and deny theexistence of God and maintain that it isthe concept of God that has created all thehostility in the world.A recent book published in England,which has become a bestseller, tries tocontradict the very existence of God (TheGod Delusion by Richard Dawkins).Similarly in Germany many absurd andnonsensical things are said about God.Recently, the visiting Pope, whose statureclaims to be all about love andcompassion, gave a lecture in a Germanuniversity deriding the Islamic concept ofGod and the Holy Prophet (peace andblessings of Allah be on him). Thefreedom of speech that he employed to saywhat he did or which the media uses tomake crude remarks about Islam and theHoly Prophet (peace and blessings ofAllah be on him) has exceeded limits tothe extent that it even encompassesChristianity and Jesus (on whom bepeace). A recent opera production inGermany that derided religion has beenconsidered acceptable. The pity is thatsome Muslims have deemed it acceptableas well.However some priests and others whohave religious beliefs have backed theAhmadi objection over the opera in thatit is injurious to religious sentiments. Thefact is that they trifle with the feelings ofothers in the name of freedom of speechand conscience and then maintain that ifyou do not appreciate these “values” thenyou should go back to where you camefrom. They are most sensitive about theirown matters. They can say whatever theywish to whomsoever they wish. They maydress any which way they like or they maychoose not wear clothes but when aMuslim woman chooses to cover her head,they object. In fact all this is to turn theMuslim youth against Islam.In reality the world in general and theWest in particular is rapidly turning awayfrom religion for the reason that thereligion they subscribe to has nodynamism in it. After all, having takenidolatry to the extreme of making a humana god this stage was but inevitable.However, Muslims too, indulging inmaterialism and latent shirk are on a paththat takes one away from God.In the past it were people like these whodid not believe in prophets of God andwere steeped in sin who suffered theconsequences of their iniquity. The HolyQur’an relates the account of these ancientpeople and the iniquities that wereprevalent among them. These people, withthe exception of a few, did not desist fromevil despite the admonishment of theEllison was bornin Detroit andconverted to Islamin collegeprophets of God. Today all these evils arewidespread here, from immodesty tomoral depravity to commercial deception.We come across extreme dishonesty andthe height of idolatry. The Being thatcreated human for the very purpose ofworship of God would obviously send Hischastisement if His commandments arenot adhered to. Otherwise the earlierpeople could rightfully claim as to whythey were punished and the latter oneswere not. He is the Master, He punishessome in this world and some in theHereafter, however such people do notescape His chastisement. These dayspeople say that God is cruel. God is notcruel, rather it is people of this ilk whoundergo suffering due to their own doings.Death penalty is not legal these daysbecause it is maintained that it is contraryto human compassion. So a killer shouldnot be punished whereas the bereavedfamily of the victim may suffer. They optfor life imprisonment instead of the deathpenalty.Just as they have a right to determinethe punishment of a criminal, how couldthe Master of everything not have the rightto punish those who break His laws?Next Ahmad gave a brief outline of theopera that depicts a most erroneousillustration of Jesus (on whom be peace)and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessingsof Allah be on him). Ahmad said theseworldly people have no idea of God’ssense of honour for Himself and for theHoly Prophet (peace and blessings ofAllah be on him) – they blaspheme the8 MuslimSunrise

God Whose Rububiyyat and Rahmaniyyatgrants them all the worldly possessions.Ahmad said the staging of this operawas once cancelled, however somegovernment ministers and others areurging that its production should go aheadand are fully supporting it. Ahmad said ithas been noted that these ‘supporters’ ofthe opera are themselves steeped indepravity.Ahmad remarked that Moses (on whombe peace) is not shown at any point in theopera. We certainly do not say that heshould have been shown. However, somemaintain that this ‘omission’ could be toprevent any offence to the Jewish people.However, Ahmad said that in his opinionit was not simply this. Ahmad thinks thisis a much deeper conspiracy.Today, it is the task of the Ahmadi torespond to this and save people fromDivine chastisement. Our message to themshould be that the advent of prophets is tosave humanity from darkness and weshould invite them to the God of IslamWho despite their trespasses grants themby virtue of His Rahmaniyyat. That theymay seek forgiveness and discard thethought that God can be cruel. On thecontrary He sends His prophets for thebetterment of people and these prophetsweary themselves with sheer concern fortheir people. The prophets of God do notwant any reward from the people for theirreward is with Allah. It is also theobligation of an Ahmadi to tell people thatin this age Allah has sent a prophet inrepresentation of the last Prophet (peaceand blessings of Allah be on him).Ahmad said the Promised Messiah (onwhom be peace) has most lovinglyexplained his advent in that he has beensent to remove the ill will that has beencreated between man and his Maker, toabolish religious wars and to demonstratea model of humanity that has beensuppressed. By providing us with animmense treasure of knowledge andspiritual discernment, the PromisedMessiah (on whom be peace) has preparedus for the task of taking this message toothers. It is the task of each Ahmadi torise and present the true concept of Godso that the majority of people may returnto acknowledging God and the Seal of allthe prophets and God’s holy people, sothat instead of fighting and hostilitiespeople honour each other’s rights anddevelop spiritually.Ahmad urged the German Jama’at notto be despondent. He said Ahmadiyyatwill spread among the German people. Ifthe Ahmadis of today perform their taskin a good manner a revolution can bebrought about in that nation.Ahmad said literature is printed anddistributed in the style of an enterprise andthen dropped. Responses to most currentissues are available, what is needed is tocirculate them. Each Ahmadi man,woman, old and young needs to takerelevant Tabligh literature and ourresponses to the current issues to theGerman people. Maximise the use ofemail and the internet for these positivesteps. True introduction of Ahmadiyyatshould be provided to each governmentminister, each newspaper and eacheducated person.Ahmad read extract from the writingsof the Promised Messiah (on whom bepeace) urging propagation of Islam.Ahmad motivated the German Ahmadisto try harder than before to take themessage of Islam to their people so thatthey may recognise the One God.He said no doubt our resources arelimited but whatever we have the capacityfor should be employed properly. Anintroductory pamphlet should reach ineach town whether Ahmadis reside thereor not, in addition the electronic resourcesshould be utilised.Ahmad said a response is beingpublished to the Pope’s comments in theshape of a booklet. It should reach thePope and every educated person so thatthey are informed about the truth aboutGod and the Holy Prophet (peace andblessings of Allah be on him) whoheralded love, compassion and humilitymore than anyone else. Ahmad instructedthat it is the task of old and young to takethe Tabligh material personally toeveryone. However, to bring about resultsis with God.Citing verse 34 of Surah Ha Mim AlSajdah (41:34) Ahmad said, first andforemost we have to espouse the Quranicteaching in our daily lives otherwise noeffort will ever bear fruit. It is essentialto keep all one’s affairs wholesome withGod and to pay the dues of fellow humans,to honour the rights of close relatives, therights of the neighbours and the rights ofthe environment. It is important to helpwhoever is in need of help.If one’s own situation is such thatparents are unhappy with one or one’s wifeand children are discontented or womenwho indulge improperly in fashion orthose who do not control their temper andcreate discord – all these are not gooddeeds and people who give in to them arenot effective at Tabligh. Therefore it isvital to be exemplary.Remember that it is God’s promise withthe Promised Messiah (on whom bepeace) that ‘I shall grant you dominance’.Now this dominance/triumph will beworldwide, in Europe, Asia, Africa,America and InshaAllah Oceania. It isyour task to carry out Tablighdemonstrating total obedience and gooddeeds. The Promised Messiah (on whombe peace) said ‘This hope of mine is notimaginary, rather I have received this gladtiding through the holy revelation of God’.In conclusion Ahmad said this derisionof religion is there for us to take note ofour task. The final decision has beenmade, however, we need to focus and takethis message forward. This is the greatestservice to humanity. May Allah enable usall to do this.Alislam.org Team takes full responsibility forany errors or miscommunication in this Synopsisof the Friday Sermon.Ahmad said a response is being published to thePope’s comments in the shape of a booklet. It shouldreach the Pope and every educated person so thatthey are informed about the truth about God and theHoly Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)who heralded love, compassion and humility morethan anyone else.WINTER 2006 9

The Significance and Philosophy of PrayerSummary of Friday Sermon, delivered byHadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community deliveredSeptember 22, 2006.Ahmad said it is incumbent fora believer who has perfectbelief in Allah to seek fromAllah at every time of need,even when one is in need ofsomething as minor as a shoelace.Ahmad advised everyone to pray to Allahfor safeguard from evil and to be enabled todo good, for without His grace and mercyneither can one be protected from evil norcan one attain the Paradise in this world andthe Hereafter. How necessary does it thenbecome to remember Him at all times andto ever seek from Him.Citing verse 78 of Surah Al Furqan(25:78) Ahmad said the Promised Messiah(on whom be peace) has explained to us thatit is Allah’s law that His special grace isgranted to one who sincerely adopts Unityof God and prayer; Allah has no needs; ifwe do not take on good ways and do notspend time in His remembrance, He has nocare. This verse elucidates the otherQur’anic verse that unfolds the purpose forthe creation of man (51:57) and proves thatAllah is not hasty in destroying those whoare not negligent towards religion. ThePromised Messiah (on whom be peace)urged that this was a most importantcommandment. Allah listens to and acceptsthe prayer that is made with completesincerity, made to seek His pleasure and withreliance in Him.Citing verse 61 of Surah Al Mu’min(40:51) again Ahmad explained in the wordsof the Promised Messiah (on whom bepeace) that it is a matter of principle thatone who has not understood the essence andthe reality of prayer would be in the loss.God and His servants have the mutual powerof fusion/imbibing; at the time of prayer thisquality creates a singular ambience. Asincere servant of God, as if perishes in hisperfect devotion to his God and this is thestage when he attains remarkable Divinecloseness and his being totally submits itselfto his God.Ahmad said if one is aware of thequintessence of prayer then one must alsobe aware of its capacity of acceptance. Inthe mutual capacity of fusion/imbibingbetween God and His servant it is God WhoHadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim CommunityAhmad advised everyone to pray to Allah forsafeguard from evil and to be enabled to dogood, for without His grace and mercy neithercan one be protected from evil nor can oneattain the Paradise in this world and theHereafter. How necessary does it then becometo remember Him at all times and to ever seekfrom Him.precedes by means of manifestation of Hisattribute of Rahmaniyyat (Divine quality ofbeing Gracious) and endows man withinnumerable blessings at every step. WhenHis servant becomes devoted to his Godpurely for the sake of God and withcomplete sincerity, Allah gets closer still.When God gets so close to His servant thatthe stage of fusion/imbibing isaccomplished, it is then that prayers aregranted miraculous acceptance. Ahmadexplained that even in everyday life whenan ordinary person calls on God in distress,he does so in a state of great humility anddue to his troubles and therefore witnessesacceptance of prayer.Ahmad said it is by virtue of the Divinequality of Rahmaniyyat that God puts allearthly and heavenly means at the service10 MuslimSunrise

of man. Ahmad referred to a recentsermon of his on acceptance of prayers ofpious elders and said that these people hadcertainly attained the afore-mentionedstation. Ahmad said today we also have suchpeople in our Community. All that is neededis to go be attracted to Him with sincerityof heart.Citing verse 111 of Surah BaniIsrael (17:111) Ahmadexplained that Allah declaresthat we should call onto Himwith His different names withreference to and in accordance to our needsfor He has great regard for His names, whichare a reflection of His attributes. We havebeen taught all these Divine names to enableus to pray to Him and for the acceptance ofour prayers. We should therefore try and geta comprehension and a perception of thesenames and then call onto Him with referenceto the Divine attributes.Next Ahmad expounded someQur’anic verses to seek Divine beneficence.Explaining, Ahmad said no one shouldharbor pride over a high-powered job or aprosperous business, or noble lineage orindeed one’s highbrow propensity.Ahmad quoted verse 102 of Surah Yusufwhich is a prayer of gratefulness to Godfor good granted in this world and of hopefor death in a state of submission. Ahmadsaid this Qur’anic prayer is not simply toexpound an incident rather it ought to beput in practice by the believers so that theymay be counted among the righteous indeath.Ahmad expounded some of theillimitable blessings that God has put in placein the heavens and the earth for the benefitof creation, like day and night, seasons,vegetation etc. and said that those who reflectover these blessings and are thankful to Godalso reflect over the Hereafter and pray forforgiveness. Ahmad cited verse 192 of SurahAl Imran (3:192) in this instance and inexplanation quoted the Promised Messiah (onwhom be peace) that the verse speaks ofpeople who, unlike the worldly people, donot merely look upon the phenomenon ofnature in the material sense, rather theyponder over their far-reaching benefits andadvantages for mankind and over theirCreator and this strengthens them in theirfaith.Next Ahmad cited verses 84 to 86 of SurahAl Shu’ara which comprise prayers forwisdom and to be counted among therighteous, for a good reputation after one haspassed away and most significantly forelevated status in the Hereafter.Ahmad referred to verse 75 of Surah AlFurqan (25:75) and gave a detailed discourseon the significance of praying for one’schildren to be righteous and pious. Quotingfrom the writings of the Promised Messiah(on whom be peace) Ahmad said one shouldnot limit one’s wish to have children to thebiological desire. The purpose of man’screation is to worship God so if a person doesnot follow the path of guidance himself hiswish to have children would merely entailthat he would be leaving a successor to hisbad ways; he likened the wish to have a childso that he/she may grow up to be a successfulperson to shirk and said that the desire to havechildren should only be to attain good.Ahmad said these are the standards thatthe Promised Messiah (on whom be peace)wished to see in all Ahmadis as regardstheir children. In light of the Qur’anicteachings, he greatly stressed on moraltraining of children and for being prayerfulfor them.Ahmad said for each Ahmadi his/herchild is trust of the Community; as for thosewhose children are in the Waqf e Nauprogram (New Devotees to Islam), they arefathers of children who have offeredthemselves on the precept of Ishmael astherefore these father need to demonstratethe model of Ibrahim as .Ahmad said if we prayed while fulfillingthe requisites of prayers then our prayerswould attain acceptance. Ahmad prayedthat may we be enabled to raise ourstandards of prayers while understandingthe philosophy of prayer. WINTER 2006 11

The Holy Qur’an:Spirit & SoulSpirit(Ruh)and Soul (Nafs)By Imam Mubasher AhmadIn general speech, aperson’s Spirit (Ruh) andSoul (Nafs) are usuallyinterchangeable. At timesthe Qur’an also uses thesetwo terms indicating thesame thing; that is, the life forcewithin the human body. However, inseveral instances in the Quran, theseterms have different meanings.Therein Spirit denotes the spiritualfaculty of man to receive God’s word,and Soul indicates the Self, a livingperson, or the entire inner nature ofman – his heart, mind andconscience. The Quran also claimsthat God has Spirit, and He breathesHis Spirit in human beings. Thismeans that God gives life to humans,and also that a spiritual faculty isgranted to them enabling them toreceive the Divine communion byGod’s will.12 MuslimSunrise

Furthermore, in the Quran, the term Spiritis never used in the plural. There is nomention of “spirits” as some natural orsupernatural beings, but the words nafusâor anfasâ are used in the plural formindicating “souls,” “persons,” “people,” or“selves.” For example:“When various people (nafus) arebrought together (81:8).” “If you do goodworks, you will do good for your own souls(anfusaykum) (17:8).”The angels would say to the believers:“We are your friends in this life and inthe Hereafter. Therein you will have all thatyour souls (anfusokum) will desire” (41:32).According to the Qur’an, God’s creativeprocess takes place in two ways: First, a lifeform is brought into existence out ofnothingness. This is known as creation byHis command (amr). Second, a new form isgiven (khalq) to something already existing.In response to the question “What isSpirit?”, the Qur’an says:“And they ask you (the Prophet)concerning the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit hasbeen created by the command (amr) of myLord (Qul ir Ruho min amr e Rabbii); andthe knowledge thereof you have been givenbut a little” (17:85).Thus, the Spirit is brought into existenceout of nothingness. In contrast, a soul iscreated out of human body in the process ofembryonic development in the womb.“We created man from an extract of clay;then We placed him as drop of sperm in asafe depository; then We fashioned thesperm into a clot; then We fashioned the clotinto a shapeless lump; then We fashionedbones out of this lump; then We clothed thebones with flesh; then We developed it intoanother creation. So, blessed be Allah, theBest of creators” (23: 13-15).It is also interesting to note that theQur’an makes a unique claim that all soulswere created out of single soul:“He created you from a single soul(khalaqa kum min nafsin wahidah) thenfrom that He made its mate” (39:7). “O yepeople! Fear your Lord, Who created youfrom a single soul (nafsin wahidah); andcreated from the same its mate, and throughthem both He caused to spread a largenumber of men and women” (4:2). “AndHe it is Who has produced you from a singlesoul (nafsin wahidah)” (6:98).The uniqueness of all souls having thesame essence and having been producedfrom the single source remains ingrained inall of them throughout their lives. TheQuran, therefore, further proclaims:“Your creation and your resurrection areonly like (the creation and resurrection of)a single soul” (31:29).This means that all humans are subjectto the same laws of God. The causes ofprogress or degradation of individuals andnations always remain the same in theiressence.Although “the evil inciting” nature ofthe Soul is acknowledged in the Qur’an,there is no mention of any ill-provokingSpirit or “evil spirits.” The Spirit isalways good, pure and estimable. AsGod’s Spirit, it is sacred. The Spirit iseither the breath of God (15:30), (38:73);or the angel Gabriel (26:194), or the lifegivingWord of God, the Divinerevelation, or inspiration (4:172) (16:3)(58:23). In contrast, the Soul is presentedas neutral capable of becoming good orevil. Some souls do good deeds, andsome wrong themselves:“And among their progeny are (somepersons) who perform excellent deeds andothers who are clearly unjust to their souls(zalimul li nafsihii)” (37:114).The soul may desire evil (53:24). Weread in the Quran:“And I do not hold my own self to be freefrom weakness; for, the soul is surely proneto enjoin evil (nafs al amarah) save thatwhereon my Lord has mercy (12:55). Willyou then, every time a Messenger comes toyou with what your souls (anfoso-kum) hadnot desired, behaved arrogantly and treatsome as liars and slay others?” (2:88),(5:71).Similarly, the “jealousy” of souls ismentioned in the Qur’an (2:109). Souls areprone to avarice/covetousness (4:129),(59:10), (64:17). Souls have the capacity tobecome distressed (9:118). Souls can makea serious matter appear light in ones eyes(12:19). We read about one of the sons ofAdam as of his soul prompting him to slayhis brother (5:31).However, the Soul has the capacity toovercome all the evil temptations that it mayencounter and the Qur’an tell us that God,the Creator of Soul, holds it in high esteem.God brings Soul as a witness to the truth:“By the Soul, and its perfection — thatHE revealed to it the ways of evil and theways of righteousness — he indeed prosperswho purifies it, and he is ruined whocorrupts it” (91:8-11).Calling anything as witness, according tothe Qur’anic phraseology, is for the purposeof doing honor to it by God. In Sura Al-Qiyamah, Soul is again called by Allah aswitness:“And I do call to witness the selfaccusingsoul (Nafse lawwamah)!” (75:3).Human soul reproves the evil acts andtries not to succumb to temptations. WithThe uniqueness of all souls having the sameessence and having been produced from thesingle source remains ingrained in all ofthem throughout their lives. The Qur'an,therefore, further proclaims:“Your creation and your resurrection are only like (the creation andresurrection of) a single soul” (31:29).WINTER 2006 13

“O soul at rest thathas found comfortin God return toyour Lord, you wellpleased with Himand He wellpleased with you.Now join Mychosen servantsand enter into MyGarden”(89:28-31)“Every soul shall be paid in full” (2:281),(3:30); “As far those who say, Our Lord isAllah, and then remain steadfast, the angelsdescend upon them, saying: Fear not, norgrieve, and rejoice in the Garden that you werepromised. We are your friends in this life andthe Hereafter. Therein you will have that yoursouls desired” (41:31-32). “And no soulknows what joy of the eyes is kept hidden forthem, as a reward for their good works”(32:18).It is obvious that the term soul is frequentlyused (both in singular and plural forms) forliving person(s). The famous quote from theQuran:“Every soul shall taste of death” (3:185),(21:35), (29:57), clearly refers to everythingthat has life. Death of a person is mentionedat various places as death of a soul. Forexample, “And no soul dies but by the leaveof God, — a decree with a fixed term” (3:146).“And no soul knows what it will earntomorrow, and no soul knows in what land itshall die” (31:35). “We prescribed for theChildren of Israel that whosoever killed a soul(mun qatala nafsum)” (5:32). “You slay notthe soul God has forbidden” (6:152). “Mosessaid, My Lord, I killed a soul from among them(inni qatalto minhum nafsan)” (28:33).consistent striving, Soul reaches anelevated state of being firmly connected withGod. At this stage it is called the soul at rest –the contented souls (Nafse-Mutma’innah):“O soul at rest that has found comfort inGod return to your Lord, you well pleased withHim and He well pleased with you. Now joinMy chosen servants and enter into MyGarden” (89:28-31).Accountability of souls is one of the vastlydiscussed themes of the Qur’an. After assuringmankind that:“No soul is charged save to its capacity”(2:234), (6:153), (7:43). “And fear the daywhen no soul shall serve as a substitute foranother soul at all, nor shall intercession be14 MuslimSunriseaccepted for it; nor shall ransom be taken fromit; nor shall they be helped” (2:49).The believers are reminded to look aftertheir souls as they stand responsible for all theydid in this life (5:106) because:“God may recompense every soul for itsearnings” (14:51). “And let alone those whotake their religion for sport and a pastime, andwhom worldly life has beguiled. And admonishpeople thereby lest a soul be given up todestruction for what it has earned” (6:71). “Ifyou do good, it is your own souls you do goodto” (17:7), (17:15), (35:18), (39:41), (73:20).“Let every soul consider what it has forwardedfor the morrow” (59:18).Punishment and reward for the souls arefully covered in the Qur’an:But again, Soul (nafs) is something thatdeparts at the time of death:“And if you could only see, when thewrongdoers are in the agonies of death, andthe angels stretch forth their hands, saying,Yield up your souls (akhrijoo anfusakum)”(6:94). “Allah takes the souls of men at thetime of their death” (39:42).In the Qur’anic terminology, the term Soul(nafs) can also be translated as heart or mindor human conscience: “and whether youdisclose what is in your minds/hearts (fianfusakum)” (2:285); “They hide in theirminds/hearts what they disclose not to you”(3:155). “Allah knows best what is in theirhearts” (11:32). “Your Lord knows best whatis in your minds/hearts (fi nufuse kum)”(17:26). “And assuredly We have created manand We know what man’s mind (nafso ho)whispers in him” (50:17). “They denied them,though their souls acknowledged them”(27:14).The terms Spirit (Ruh) and Soul (Nafs) bothhave also been used in the Holy Quran withreference to God’s nature. The difference isthat God’s Spirit (Ruh) is always used as anoun, while God’s Soul (Nafs) is used as a

pronoun, as in Himself – (nafsihii). He has takenupon Himself (kataba la nafsihi) to show mercy(6:12). Similarly, Your Lord has taken uponHimself (kataba rubbo kum la nafsihi) to showmercy. (6:55). Only at one place in the Qur’an,Soul (Nafs) of God is referred to as noun, but itdoes not indicate God having a soul. It indicatesGod’s All-Knowing Self – His mind. In responseto God asking a question of the Prophet Jesus as ,Jesus as would say: You know what is in my mind(fi nafsi), and I know not what in Your mind/knowledge (fi nafsika) (5:117).The use of the word Spirit belonging to Godis evident in the following verses:“And remember when your Lord said to theangels, when I have fashioned him (man/basher) in perfection and have breathed intohim My Spirit, (wa nafakhto fihi min Ruhii) fallye down in submission to him” (15:29-30),(38:72-73). “And He began the creation of man(insaan) from clay; then He made his progenyfrom an extract of an insignificant fluid; thenHe endowed him with perfect faculties andbreathed into him of His Spirit. (wa nafakhafihi min Ruhihii)” (32:8-10). “And rememberher (Mary) who preserved her chastity; so Webreathed into her Our Spirit and We madeher and her son a Sign for peoples” (21:92).“And the example of Mary, the daughter ofImran, who guarded her private parts – soWe breathed into her Our Spirit – and shefulfilled in her person the words of her Lordand His Books and was one of the obedient”(66:13).At a few places in the Qur’an, the Spiritand the angels are mentioned together. Forexample:“The angels and the Spirit, ascend to Himin a day the measure of which is fifty thousandyears” (70:5). “On the day when the Spiritand the angels will stand in rows, they shallnot speak except whom the Gracious God willpermit and who will speak only what is right”(78:39). “The Night of Destiny is better thana thousand months. Therein descend angelsand the Spirit by the command of their Lord– with every matter” (97:4).God’s Spirit or/and angels also appears tosome in human form. For example:“We sent Our Spirit to her (Mary, themother of Jesus) and he appeared to her inthe form of a perfect man” (19:18).The angel Gabriel (Jibril) who brings downGod’s revelations to man is also called theSpirit in Qur’anic terminology, sometimeswith added adjectives such as the Faithful“Say It is brought down by the Holy Spirit from yourLord with truth, that He may strengthen those whobelieve and as guidance and glad tidings forMuslims” (16:103). “And verily this (Qur’an) is arevelation from the Lord of all the worlds. The Spirit,faithful to the trust, has descended with it on yourheart, that you may be of the Warners in plain andclear Arabic language” (26:193-196).Spirit and the Holy Spirit – Ruh-ul-Ameen and Ruh-ul-Qudus. We read in theQur’an:“Say It is brought down by the HolySpirit from your Lord with truth, that Hemay strengthen those who believe and asguidance and glad tidings for Muslims”(16:103). “And verily this (Qur’an) is arevelation from the Lord of all the worlds.The Spirit, faithful to the trust, hasdescended with it on your heart, that youmay be of the Warners in plain and clearArabic language” (26:193-196).In this verse the faithful Spirit (Ruh-ul-Ameen) is the angel Gabriel as it is evidentfrom reading another similar verse of theHoly Quran:“Say, Whosoever is an enemy toGabriel — for he it is who has caused it(the Qur’an) to descend on your heart bythe command of Allah, fulfilling that(revelation) which precedes it, and isguidance and glad tidings to thebelievers” (2:98).The Holy Spirit is given to all theMessengers of Allah and their followersto confirm their truth and to strengthenthem against bitter opposition andpersecution. The Qur’an says:“And verily We gave Moses the Bookand caused Messengers to follow in hisfootsteps after him; and to Jesus, son ofMary, We gave manifest Signs, andstrengthened him with the Spirit ofholiness (bi Ruh ul Qudus). Will you then,every time a Messenger comes to you withwhat you yourselves (anfusakum) desire not,behave arrogantly and treat some as liarsand slay them?” (2:88); “And We gaveJesus, son of Mary, clear proofs, andstrengthened him with the Holy Spirit (biRuh ul Qudus)” (2:254), (5:111).God strengthens the Messengers with theSpirit and also the believers who followthem. Referring to the believers, Allah says:“These are they in whose hearts He hasinscribed true faith and whom He hasstrengthened with the Spirit from Himself(ayyada hum bi Ruhim min ho)” (5:23).The Qur’an also uses the term Spirit(Ruh) for Divine revelations:“He (God) sends His Spirit (Ruha) by Hiscommand (amr) upon whosoever of Hisservants He pleases, that He may givewarning of the Day of Meeting” (40:16).And it is not for a man that Allah shouldspeak to him except by revelation, or frombehind a veil, or by sending a “messengerto reveal His command what HE pleases.Surely He is High, Wise. And thusWe haverevealed to you the Spirit by Our command(Ruh ammin amrina). You did not knowwhat the Book was, nor what the faith”(42:52-53).In the context of these verses, it isclear that the term Spirit means the Wordof God, which is the Qur’an, throughwhich a morally dead people receivednew spiritual life. WINTER 2006 15

What is the impact of the soul and thebody on each other?As the soul is affected by physical conduct, in the sameway sometimes the soul affects the body. For instance, when aperson experiences sorrow his eyes become wet, and a personwho feels happy, smiles. All our natural actions like eating,drinking, sleeping, waking, moving about, resting, bathing etc.,affect our spiritual condition. Our physical structure is relatedintimately to our total humanity. If a certain part of the brain isinjured memory is immediately lost. An injury to another part of the brain causes loss ofconsciousness. Poisonous air affects the body and through it the mind, and the whole inner system,to which the moral impulses are related, is impaired and the unfortunate victim passes out quicklylike a madman. Thus physical injuries disclose that there is a mysterious relationship between thesoul and the body which is beyond the ken of man. Reflection shows that the body is the motherof the soul. The soul does not descend from outside into the womb of a pregnant woman. It is alight that is inherent in the sperm which begins to shine forth with the development of the embryo.The Word of God Almighty conveys to us that the soul becomes manifest from the frameworkthat is prepared in the womb from the sperm, as is said in the Holy Quran: Then We develop itinto a new creation. So blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators (23:15).In old age a person arrives at a stage in which, after having acquired much knowledge he loses itall. (22:6) All this observation of ours is proof enough that the soul without the body amounts tonothing. This is reinforced by the thought that if the soul without the body had amounted toanything, it would have been without purpose for God Almighty to set up a relationship betweenit and a mortal body. Further it is worthy of note that God Almighty has created mall for limitlessprogress. Then if the soul is not able to achieve the progress possible in this brief life without thecompanionship of the body. How can we expect that it would be able, by itself, without thecompanionship of the body, achieve limitless progress in the hereafter.All this shows that according to Islamic principles, for the soul to act perfectly it is necessary forit to enjoy the companionship of a body at all times.16 MuslimSunrise

Defining the Soul: Perceptions in World Religions•The Jewish Soul•The Christian Soul•The Muslim Soul•The Hindu and the Buddhist SoulBy Aisha Husain AhmadThe Oxford EnglishDictionary defines thesoul as “the spiritualelement of a person,regarded as immortal.”The Merriam-Webster dictionarydefines it as “the spiritual principleembodied in human beings, allrational and spiritual beings, or theuniverse.” And the CambridgeInternational dictionary defines thesoul as “the spiritual part of a personwhich some people believe continuesto exist in some form after the bodyhas died.” In all three definitions, theuse of the word “spiritual” is thecommon thread. All three draw acorrelation between “soul” and“spirit”, and in fact, the line betweenthese two is so faint that they areoften used interchangeably. But whatexactly is the soul? Where did theconcept come from? In a societyobsessed with materialism, there ismuch to be said for the enduringpresence of this ethereal entity.Almost every religion contains somesort of ideology in reference to thesoul. By exploring these ideologies,one may begin to gain some insightinto this widely acknowledged yetrarely understood concept.The concept of the soul arose from thehuman need to feel some sort of connectionto the divine. In studying the ancientpolytheistic philosophies, such as Greek andthe Egyptian, it becomes clear that theafterlife played an extremely vital part inthese people’s earthly lives. The view thatone should be judged by one’s earthly deedsis not a new one. The ancients viewed thebody as a vessel for an intrinsic energy thatlived on even after death. Whatever deeds aperson did in his lifetime, whether good orevil, these deeds had an impact on whathappened to the person after death. As theancient philosophies died out and themonotheistic religions began to emerge, therelationship between humans and the divine,and thus the concept of the soul, becamemore pronounced.The Jewish SoulJudaism is the oldest of the three majormonotheistic religions prevalent today. Itdefines the soul as a reflection of God inhuman beings. Therefore, a spiritual realmexists beyond the individual that sustainsand energizes the soul. Jewish belief statesthat the body is from the earth, but that thesoul is from God. The Torah itself, however,does not make any distinction between thesetwo and does not even acknowledge themas different parts in a human being. Ahuman being is viewed as a unifiedbeing, described in Hebrew as nefesh.This word encompasses two ideas. Itrefers to human life in general and tohuman character in particular. Indescribing human life, there are a fewmore terms that are utilized. The wordruah means “spirit” and neshamahmeans “breath.” In the Torah there areno differentiations made among allthese terms. They all roughly define thesoul. In the Book of Job, it states, “Inwhose hand is the life [nefesh] of everyliving thing, and the breath [ruah] ofall mankind” (Job 12:10). Theunderlying and fundamental principleidea in Judaism in regards to the soulis that the soul comes from God. Thisview is underlined in one of the Jewishdaily prayers:WINTER 2006 17

“The soul You have given me is pure,my God. You created it, You formed it,You breathed it into me, and Youpreserve it within me. You will alsotake it from me, and You will restore itto me in time to come. So long as thissoul is within me I acknowledge You,Lord my God and God of my fathers,Master of all creation, Lord of all theSouls. Praised are You, Lord, whorestores the soul to the lifeless,exhausted body.” 1It is God’s power that breathes lifeinto the body so that it can exist in itsvisible manifestation. This divinebreath is what the ruah and theneshamah are, and the nefesh, or humanlife, is what results from this infusionof divinity.Though the Torah makes nodistinction between human life and thesoul, there eventually came about somepolarization regarding these concepts.A dualistic view of the world began toemerge as rabbinic sages became moreand more prevalent. Everything in theworld was divided into opposites: Godand humans, holy and unholy, and bodyand soul. These later teachings statedthat a human being’s body and soul fallsomewhere between an animal and anangel’s. An animal’s body and soul areboth material and earthly, whereas anangel’s body and soul are entirelyheavenly and ethereal. In humans, theduality comes about from the idea thatthe human body is earthly and thehuman soul is heavenly. Therefore, ahuman consists of both an animalisticand angelic nature. Whatever heactualizes ultimately affects his soul. Ahierarchy of sorts eventually evolvedfrom these perceptions. This hierarchyconsisted of three levels. The first dealtwith the life force, the nefesh. This wasthe force, the “animating spirit” thatwas common to all living things andwas involved in the nutritive andpreservative function of the body. Inother words, this involved basic lifeneeds such as food, water, sleep, etc.The second level was the ruah, thebreath of the divine. This “affectivespirit” gave humans the edge overanimals by providing a conscience ofsorts and leading humans towardsmorality and a deeper spiritualunderstanding of the divine. The finallevel, the attainment of the actual soul,would come about when one wouldperfect this spiritual understanding andreach neshamah, which would be theultimate communion of his soul withGod. This hierarchy is a ladder of sorts.According to the Jewish belief,everyone has the capability to traversethis ladder and elevate his soul to thehighest rung, thereby achieving spiritualcommunion with God.The Christian SoulThe concept of the soul inChristianity has much of its roots inJudaism. However, the New Testamentdoes introduce a new term in regards tothe soul. In the Judaic tradition, theHebrew terms for soul basically dealtwith the breath, which was a symbol oflife. The New Testament contains theword psuche, which has complexovertones associated with life. Whenthe psuche is dedicated wholly to God,one can achieve eternal salvation andlife. This idea differs from the Judaicthought in that the term psuche invokesthe concept of the “self.” 2 This idea canbecome too complex and abstract tofully comprehend without repetitivestudy. Though the words “soul” and“spirit” are used interchangeably, thereis a clear distinction in the Christiantradition. The psuche is associated withthe soul, while the Greek word pneumais associated with the spirit. Thepneuma is consistent with the Hebrewruah while the psuche is consistent withthe Hebrew neshamah. In Jewishtradition, ruah started out as the breathof life from God, or spirit inChristianity. In Christianity, this iswhere the word pneuma would be used.In contrast, psuche is what the soul is,not just the breath of life from thedivine, but a realization of the self thatwould allow one to put himself underthe care of Jesus and insure eternalsalvation and life. 2 It is not just acommunion of his soul with God, but itis the achievement of eternal life aswell.The eternalness of the Christian soulcomes from the power of Christ’sresurrection. Man has no moreentitlement to immortality than anyother life form. However, because ofChrist rising from the dead, anyone whosurrenders to him will be granted eternallife in the hereafter. In Judaic tradition,one need only understand the divine tosuch a point to achieve oneness withGod. In Christian thought, your soul canachieve eternal life only if you whollysurrender to Christ. It is stated inGenesis that God breathed his Spiritinto every human being and gave eachone life. Along with the life comes thesoul, but this soul can only be immortalthrough the acceptance of Christ.The Hindu andthe Buddhist SoulIn both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions,the idea of samsara or reincarnation playsa central role in the faith. 3 Samsara isdescribed as the unending cycle of birth,death, and rebirth by which all living thingspass through until they find a means ofliberation from this cycle. In the Hindureligion, the soul, or atman is viewed aschangeless. This soul maintains an ultimateidentity that transmigrates from oneincarnation to another according to pastdeeds. 4 However, the Buddha rejected thistheory, stating that humans were everchanging,therefore making the concept ofunchanging soul impossible. The Buddhataught the concept of the anatman, or nonself.His view of humans was that theypossessed a consciousness that was everchangingbut would leave the body at death,passing on to be reincarnated in the next lifeform. 3 This is the main difference betweenthe idea of the soul in Hinduism andBuddhism. After that, the concept of karmacomes into play. Karma means “deeds,” butalso involves the consequences of thosedeeds. Karma is the primary determiningfactor that decides the nature of a human’s(or any other living thing for that matter)rebirth after death. In both religions, it isthe goal in every life to do such deeds thatyou establish a good karma, ultimatelyprogressing on the path of enlightenmentand achieving a oneness with the divine. 3That is when a living entity is finally free ofthe cycle of reincarnation and is a part ofthe divine.The Muslim SoulThe Islamic concept of the soul fusesboth Judaic and Christian traditions.Because the knowledge of both theseearlier religions came from Allah, theirinherent ideologies about the soul areon the right path. However, both theseolder teachings are still ambiguous andvague about the soul. Like Christianity,Islam makes a distinction between thesoul and the spirit. The Arabic wordsruh and nafs mean spirit and soul,respectively. Again, as in the previousteachings, ruh (spirit) means “breath”18 MuslimSunrise

or “wind” and nafs (soul) is the self.Specifically, the ruh is Allah’s spirit and thenafs is the human soul that came about whenAllah breathed life into humans. 5 In ThePhilosophy of the Teachings of Islam,Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as beautifullyexplains the creation of the soul:“It is absolutely true that the soul is a finelight developed inside the body and whichis nurtured in the womb. To begin with it ishidden and imperceptible and later it is mademanifest. From the very beginning itsessence is present in the sperm…It is latentin the sperm as fire is latent in the flint. TheBook of God does not mean that the souldescends from heaven as a separate entityor falls upon the earth from the atmosphereand then by chance gets mixed with thesperm and enter the womb with it. There isno basis for such a notion. The law of naturerejects it…The truth is that the soul isdeveloped in the body and this also provesthat it is created and it is not self-existent.”Hadhrat Ahmad as also states that theactions of the body clearly affect the soul.One’s physical condition affects his spiritualcondition, and vice versa. As outlined in theHoly Qu’ran and explained by HadhratAhmad as , the soul has three stages.As previously explained, a person’sphysical condition affects his spirituality.This idea is fundamentally based in the HolyQu’ran regarding the first state of man,which deals with the natural and physicalaspect of humans. The first state is NafseAmmarah, which means the self that incitesto evil. Hadhrat Ahmad as relates:“This means that it is characteristic of thehuman self that it incites man to evil and isopposed to his attainment of perfection andto his moral state, and urges him towardsundesirable and evil ways. Thus thepropensity towards evil and intemperanceis a human state which predominates overthe mind of a person before he enters uponthe moral state.” 6This is the natural state of man before hebegins his journey towards spirituality. Heis guided only by his physical needs and isnot unlike animals in this sense.The Holy Qu’ran designates the secondstate of man as Nafse Lawwama.This is the reproving state, the state whereman ceases to behave like animals andbegins a journey towards morality. In thisstate, a person begins to reprove himself andis not blindly led by his natural desires. Helearns to suppress and regulate those desiresthat incite him towards evil. However, in thisstate, the soul is still immature. The reasonis that even though a person a reprovinghimself, he is still “not effective in practicingvirtue and occasionally it is dominated byAs water flowingdown from a height,on account of itsvolume and theabsence of anyobstruction, rusheswith great force, inthe same way thesoul at rest flowstowards God.natural emotions, when it stumbles andfalls.” 6Ahmad as describes this state beautifully,comparing it to the will of a child who doesnot wish to fall but does so out of weakness.Yet there exists the desire to seekcommunion with Allah and lead a moral andspiritual life.The third state is called NafseMutmainnah. In chapter 89, verses 28-31,the Holy Qu’ran says: “O soul at rest thathas found comfort in God return to thy Lord,thou well pleased with Him and He wellpleased with thee. Now join My chosenservants and enter into My garden.” HadhratAhmad as describes this state:“This is the stage when the soul of aperson being delivered from all weaknessesis filled with spiritual powers and establishesa relationship with God Almighty withoutWhose support it cannot exist. As waterflowing down from a height, on account ofits volume and the absence of anyobstruction, rushes with great force, in thesame way the soul at rest flows towards God.That is indicated by the divine direction tothe soul that has found transformation in thisvery life and is bestowed a paradise whilestill in this world. As this verse indicates inits direction to such a soul to return to itsLord, it is nourished by its Lord and its loveof God becomes its nurture, and it drinks atthis fountain of life and is thus deliveredfrom death.”In chapter 91, verses 10-11, the HolyQu’ran states, “He who purifies his soul ofearthly passions shall be saved and shall notsuffer ruin, but he who is overcome by hisearthly passions should despair of life.”Islam gives a clear and concise portrait ofwhat the soul is and also provides theguidance needed to transport the soul tothe highest moral and spiritual stage. Thesethree stages are inextricably intertwined.How a person conducts oneself physicallyaffects one morally and spiritually.Therefore, a person’s physical state caneither be a hindrance or a catalyst in thequest for divine communion. By controllingoneself physically, one smoothly progressesto the moral and spiritual states. On theother hand, reckless abandon of one’snatural desires can lead one away fromanything divine, and ultimately to selfdestruction.The synergy between body and soul is aphilosophically complex subject. Whileeach religion has its own specific ideaspertaining to the soul and its journey, theunderlying theory is the same: the soul isthe spiritual component of one’s physicalself that endeavors to connect with thedivine. Without it, human life has nomeaning and no definition. One must riseabove one’s natural desires in order tounleash the full powers and potential of thesoul. Once this is done, a person can enjoya full relationship with the Almighty andachieve paradise in this world and the next.Works Cited1. David S. Ariel, What do Jews Believe:The Spiritual Foundations of Judaism,(New York, NY: Schocken Books, Inc.,1995), p. 53-56.2. Mircea Eliade et al, The Encyclopediaof Religion, (New York, NY: Simon andSchuster Macmillan, 1995), p. 455-460.3. Kevin Trainor, Buddhism: TheIllustrated Guide, (New York, NY.:Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 58-614. A.L. Basham, The Origins andDevelopment of Classical Hinduism,(Boston: Beacon Press, 1989), p.51-52.5. Mircea Eliade et al, The Encyclopediaof Religion, (New York, NY: Simon andSchuster Macmillan, 1995), p. 460-461.6. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, ThePhilosophy of the Teachings of Islam,(London: Islam InternationalPublications Ltd., 1979), p.1-8.Aisha Husain Ahmad resides in CentralNew Jersey.WINTER 2006 19

Perspectives: Can We Contact The Dearly Departed?As a non-Muslim, I experienced “deja vu” many times, true dreams, acomforting presence and heard voices of people when no one was there.As a Muslim, however, I received greater clarity. I understood theunderlying purpose of the Creator so the dreams changed from blackand white to full color with the best reception. What my mind could notcomprehend was Allah’s knowledge of the unseen.By Allison-Ayesha KhanThese days we havethe convenience ofmobile phones,telephones, e-mail,snail-mail, and faxesto aid us in communicating with oneanother. How difficult it is then tobelieve that once one dies one is trulybeyond reach!The answer to the question “Can wecontact our dear, departed loved ones?” liesin Chapter 23, verses 100-101 of the HolyQur’an.“Until when death comes to one of them,he says entreatingly, ‘My Lord, send meback, that I may do righteous deeds in thelife that I have left behind.’ Never it is but aword that he utters. And behind them is abarrier until the day when they shall beraised again.”Allah reminds us that we areprocrastinators by nature. When theexamination time arrives, some people stillhope to go back to their rooms for a secondchance to study for the exam. But, alas, thetime has already passed to get ready for themost important exam.Allah does not present us with a list ofour shortcomings to remind us what vainpursuits we wasted our time and attentionon. The list would surely exceed the lengthof the Holy Qur’an itself. Allah does noteven reproach us. It is just presented to usas a fait accompli that some people willimmediately be filled with remorse, regretand vain desires when they are confrontedwith the reality of the next world and theirCreator, the perfect Judge. Allah isreminding us that after death, we cannot runand we cannot hide from our accounting.Consequently, reading this verse of the HolyQur’an should encourage each of us toaccumulate as many righteous deeds in thisworld as possible, which will allow us toescape this regret on the Day of Judgment.But what does all this have to do withour dear, departed loved ones? Allah tellsus that the door closes after death.Therefore, no one can enter or leave Hiskingdom without His permission. Theromantic poets called it “the veil.” It is hardto accept. I admit that I have had to strugglewith this question myself as I have only beena Muslim for eleven years. Why is it astruggle?When we are thinking emotionally, logicof course has very little to do with anything.Let us look at a few reasons why people wantto contact their dear departed loved ones.The first reason is the most obvious. Wemight miss a family member who died.Because our emotions for that person liveon after the death, it is difficult to believethat the relationship is completely severed.Logic tells us the loved one is gone, but theemotional side of the brain cannot accept it.Plain and simple, we want them back. Butthis “I want it” attitude is misplacedemotion. It may be surprising when we aretalking about yearning for a loved one whois gone, but it is the ego crying out forgratification. My friend’s niece said it best“If a person wants a treat and a person needsa treat, then a person should get a treat?”Sometimes we cannot move on after thedeath of a loved one, especially if the lovedone was young or there was a tragic ending.We might cry for Hamlet after he loses hisfather, or Ophelia and his mother becauseshe was unfaithful to his father’s memory.But such tragedies are dispelled like somuch magic if we say Inna lillahey wa innaelayhay rajeeoon. (“From God he came andto God he has returned.”) It is a completeacceptance that Allah, the Creator, is alphaand omega – our starting place and endingplace.This prayer, simply put, takes the stingout of death. Repeating this prayer helps usto accept what seems emotionallyunacceptable to us. It is destiny that someonewe loved came into this world and now theyhave returned to their source, the Creator.We neither have the right to change it nor toregret it. The ego may have difficulty withthis, since the psychic hotline is there readywith reassurance – for a price.The chapter of the Holy Qur’an that dealswith this question is Al Muminun, whichmeans The Believer. There is no accidentin the organization of the Holy Qur’an. Allahis telling us what qualities He expects fromthe believers. Without these qualities, wecannot attain the status of a true believer.For example, Allah says: “And He it is Whohas created for you ears and eyes, and hearts;but little thanks do you give.” Beingungrateful can lead us astray. We want thestraight path, we say, but we have in us atendency to be ungrateful, so we have tokeep it in check.When someone dies who is dear to us,no matter how reluctant we are, we have tomove on. Grateful people thank theirneighbor for a borrowed cup of sugar, sothe only option for grateful people is to thankAllah for sending us this loved one in thefirst place. To think that one can only loveone person in the whole world, filled withbillions of people, is sheer romanticism. Itdoes not serve one’s life in any practicalsense. It just makes a good story.When I searched the internet for psychics,with the assumption that people want tocontact a departed loved one, I was surprisedto get 71,800 hits. That does not include thephone book or all the people who decide toput a sign on their front lawn, claiming thatthey can reach the dead.The question is who is in charge? If Allahis in charge, we must pray to Him to hearnews of our loved ones. He is the one whohas the key to the door. But if we think wecan use a psychic to get around the fact thatthe veil separates us from our loved onesfor ever, we are associating partners with20 MuslimSunrise

Submission to the Lord of all the Worlds holdsuncountable blessings. In my process, I keepreminding myself that “My person does not belong tome; I now have to abide by all injunctions of AlmightyAllah.” But then, Allah provided rewards when I hadpreviously expected only sacrifices.Allah, instead of developing sabr (patience)and gratitude to our Creator for the time wehad with that loved one. Allah wants us toget closer to Him. True dreams, visions andrevelations only have one purpose – to giveus that contact with Him which our heartscrave.In my own experience I did not have anysuch clarity about the rules Allah lays down.Before my father died, I had a cold and Iwas not permitted to see him at the hospital.I was in my bedroom in Toronto and myfather was in Sarnia when I suddenly sawmy dead relatives coming down. Thatexperience made me take my father’s illnessmore seriously. We did not expect death, butwhen he did die, I knew that my Creator hadwarned me in advance. When I finally didget to go home to visit my father, I had asudden stomach ache in the evening that wasso severe I did not go to school the next day.My father died the next morning, so Ireceived the call from the hospital. I knewwhat it was when the phone started ringing.The sweetest feeling in the midst of the painof a death is the comfort of Allah.After my father’s death, I traveled toScotland to see his country. On the Isle ofMull, I dreamed that my father came to thegate of heaven and told me that he wouldmeet each one of the family members at thedoor of heaven when we died. He told meto tell everyone in the family. I did what Iwas told. My mother died six weeks after Ihad that dream. So, Allah comforts thosewho put their trust in Him.Our real reason d’etre (reason to be) is toworship Allah. I had a belief at one timethat I could contact the dead, like dialing aphone, but Allah made it abundantly clearwho was in charge. I had a dream that anangel told my father that he could come toour house and watch us, but he was notallowed to say anything to us. I saw himfloating there and I took comfort from thatdream. Allah is the Gracious, the Merciful.Each time I have an experience, I learn adifferent lesson. Since we know that Allah’sattributes are not limited to the ninety ninenames we learn in Islam, surely the lessonswe can learn are limitless, even in this world.As a non-Muslim, I experienced “dejavu” many times, true dreams, a comfortingpresence and heard voices of people whenno one was there. As a Muslim, however, Ireceived greater clarity. I understood theunderlying purpose of the Creator so thedreams changed from black and white to fullcolor with the best reception. What my mindcould not comprehend was Allah’sknowledge of the unseen.In August, 1993, I was driving down aroad in Thedford, Ontario (Canada), whenI saw my father and my aunt flying down atme. I had to pull over to the side of the roadbecause I was blinded by tears. They toldme that my mother would die onThanksgiving weekend. But they did not saywhat year. Two years later, my sister phonedme and said: “Mom doesn’t sound right.”It was Thanksgiving weekend. She hadchildren and she could not leave them, so Iwent home by bus from Toronto to London(Canada). I waited at a donut shop all nightuntil a friend could take me home. It wasthe loneliest night of my life because I didnot know if my mother would be alive ordead when I arrived. But I kept tellingmyself she had to be alive or there wouldnot be any point in the communication.I was the last one in my family to speakto my mother. I made her breakfast anddrove her to the hospital. She had had astroke. I do not know what other people wantfrom life, but it was all-important for me tobe with my mother, especially since shelived alone. When my mother was in acoma, my school wanted to know when Iwould be returning. I was growing so certainof my ability to talk to my Creator that Ifinally told my sister I was going to do myprayers and ask how long it would be. I didmy prayers in the hospital room and with avery light tone, I heard an angel say “A weekis but a spot of time.” It felt like forever, buta week later when my mother died, itsuddenly felt very short.Can we contact our dear departed lovedones? Yes, but only by the permission ofthe one who holds us in His hands. But weshould not be narrow minded. This alsomeans that the dead can contact us, but onlyby His permission. It makes sense to addthat the more righteous the person is themore likely Allah will accept the request.Submission to the Lord of all the Worldsholds uncountable blessings. In my process,I keep reminding myself that “My persondoes not belong to me; I now have to abideby all injunctions of Almighty Allah.” Butthen, Allah provided rewards when I hadpreviously expected only sacrifices.After my mother’s death, I became verybold. I decided to pray for a present for mysister Janet, in Calgary, that I could not giveher. I told her that I was praying forsomething on her birthday and she shouldjust let me know if she received it. After welost both parents the pain seemedunbearable. I wanted her to understandthat Ahmadiyyat was true because Icould get my prayer answered. She rangme on her birthday to let me know thatshe had received her present. She saidthat before dawn, at Fajr, she heard achorus of voices singing “HappyBirthday” to her. She recognized mymother, my father and our uncle andaunt singing, who had all passed away.I enjoyed that present maybe even morethan my sister because my faith andcertainty were rewarded.Allah can comfort us. The questionis whether we are able to challenge ourimaginations to the limit to achieve thatcloseness to Him. Allison-Ayesha Khan resides in PowerSprings, Georgia.WINTER 2006 21

Soul in the Likeness of AllahBy Bilal RanaThe outer world is the real make-believeThe literal truth is actually the universe inside you.Why do you obsess about guidesWhen the real Teacher is in you?That true sense-ability which picks up the scent of truthIs given to all for free!Shatter the chains binding you to this world!For if you have not done so in this life why would they cease to exist in the next?Do you actually think that evil ghouls will smash them for you?Can the dead rally the dead?Awaken now!For if you are fast sleep here why do think you will ever wake up?There is no salvation which does not know paradise on earthThe real afterlife begins now.Do you wish to know the soul?Inside the vast ocean, lies all its creation, billions of water dropletsAnd yet, inside each single drop is all the deep ocean, and all the oceans of the earth.Within a mere iota - a revolving universe, a thousand marvelsAnd the radiance of a hundred million stars!Dear friend, if you want to know the truth, I will tell it to you:The Call of the Eternally Besought that a believer hears is heard insideWhat I am speaking of goes back to the earliest of speciesA consciousness so timeless it cannot be eradicatedAs the leaf floats on the wind so soar we on the infinite space of the DivineThe fetal soul a drop of fluid becomes a universe embarking on a endless journey.The destination is in the experience, on the edge of the ever-unfolding scrollNever there yet never farFrom the Elusive One.Like a nut that becomes a great oak tree so expands the soulThough the nut is tiny, inside it is the mighty oak itself - its roots, its branches and its shade.In each sailing vessel burns a flame which no earthly water can put outIn it lies a candle lit by the Opener of Hearts.Whether a flicker or a flame in each and allThe luminous aura of Eternity can be found.You are a soul-mirror reflecting the Everlasting Refuge.You must polish it with your tears to clearly reflect some of His BrillianceA choir sings a melody but earthly ears hear it notStrings are harped by a hand no one can see and drums are beating an ecstatic tenor.For one and all, but are you listening?With every pious thought and deedThe secret inside you in a parallel world grows an otherworldly eye to behold truths, a new limb to employ to good useIf you only knew! Ah, If you only knew!Under the penitent one’s ruffled garb, beneath his hungry stomachLies a luxurious feast and a silken cloak.Many came and died searching for the door to the IrresistibleWhen ultimately the knob to turn was hidden in them -No one will turn that knob for you!The Poet, Dr. Bilal Rana resides in Lansing, MichiganPoetry Corner22 MuslimSunrise

Signs of Allah“Verily, in the creationof the heavens and theearth and in thealternation of the nightand day, and in the shipswhich sail in the seawith that which profitsmen, and in the waterthat Allah send downfrom the sky andquickens therewith theearth after its death andscatters therein all kindsof beasts, and in thechange of the winds, andthe clouds pressed intoservice between theheaven and the earth areindeed Signs for thepeople who understand”(2:165)Part IIBy Imam Mubasher AhmadSigns as Miracles and WondersThe Holy Qur’an is replete withreferences to Signs of Allah as miracles andwonders that appeared to lead men to God.God’s Prophets and Messengers performedthem. For example, the Qur’an declares:We sent Moses with our Signs to Pharaohand his chiefs, but they rejected them.Behold, then, what was the end of those whocreated disorder! (7:104); (10:76). And ofa truth We gave Moses nine manifest signs(17:102); (27:13, 14); (11:97); and We didsend Moses with Our Signs, saying, ‘Bringforth your people from every kind ofdarkness into light, and remind them of thedays of Allah.’ Surely, therein are Signs forevery patient and thankful person (14:6).Jesus as was also sent to the House of Israelwith miracles. Allah directed him to say tothe Israelites:‘I come to you with a Sign from yourLord, which is, that I will fashion out foryou a creation out of clay after the mannerof a bird, then I will breathe into it a newspirit and it will become a soaring being bythe command of Allah; and I will heal thenight-blind and the leprous, and I willquicken the dead, by the command of Allah;and I will announce to you what you willeat and what you will store up in yourhouses. Surely, therein is a Sign for you, ifyou be believers’ (3:50).Obviously, here Jesus as is speaking insymbolic language. He was given the Signto transform his humble and poor disciplesinto saints - soaring high in lofty regions ofspirituality. He cleansed them of many moralimpurities, healed them of spiritualblindness and revived them from dead toforge a living connection with GodAlmighty. The important point to note is thatall such Signs and wonders are performedby a Prophet ‘by the command of Allah.’Thus, in reality, it is the power andauthority of the Divine presence workingbehind the Signs.Signs in the CreationThe Holy Qur’an emphatically declaresthat cosmos is replete with the Signs thatlead to an awe-inspiring recognition of theGlorious God.“Verily, in the creation of the heavensand the earth and in the alternation of thenight and day, and in the ships which sailin the sea with that which profits men,and in the water that Allah send down fromthe sky and quickens therewith the earthafter its death and scatters therein allkinds of beasts, and in the change of thewinds, and the clouds pressed into servicebetween the heaven and the earth areindeed Signs for the people whounderstand” (2:165).The significance of these Signsbecomes evident to men of understanding“who remember Allah while standing,sitting, and lying on their sides, and ponderover the creation of the heavens and theearth. They come to the conclusion thattheir Lord has not created all this in vain”(3: 191, 192).“Verily, it is Allah Who causes the grainand the date-stone to sprout. He bringsforth the living from the dead, and He isthe bringer forth of the dead from theliving. That is Allah; wherefore, then, areyou turned back? He causes the break ofthe day; and He made the night for restand the sun and the moon for reckoningtime. That is the decree of the Mighty, theWise. And He it is Who has made the starsfor you that you may follow the rightdirection with their help amid the deepdarkness of the land and the sea. We haveexplained the Signs in detail for a peoplewho possess knowledge. And He it is Whohas produced you from a single soul andthere is for you a home and a lodging. WeWINTER 2006 23

have explained the Signs indetail for a people whounderstand” (6:96-99).Diverse aspects of naturalphenomenon are named ingreat detail as Signs to provethat God the Creator exists andis in full control over all Hiscreation. In this category,several Signs are mentioned inthe Qur’an inviting us to studythem seriously and drawconclusion that a Benevolent,Wise and All-PowerfulCreator is worthy of ourworship. The following aresome of the natural Signs:“Plains,mountainsandrivers(13:4),(21:32); diversetracts adjoining one another(13:5); winds as bearers ofglad tidings (13:47);lightening and rain (30:25);dead land revived with waterdescending down from theclouds (57:18) — And thedead earth is a Sign for them:We quicken it and bring forththere-from grain, gardens ofdate-palms and grapes, and We havecaused springs to gush forth therein (36:34,35); crops and fruits of all kind (6:100);trees and pastures (16:11); things growingout of the earth in varying colors (16:14);various kinds of vegetation (20:54, 55);gardens of vines, corn-fields, and datepalms,growing together from one root andothers not so growing, being watered withthe same water and yet some of themexcelling others in fruits (13:5); intoxicatingdrinks and wholesome fruits (16:68); allsorts of animals (42:30); domesticatedanimals — the cattle, horses, mules andasses (16:6-9); honeybees (16:69); birds(16:80); sea, fish and pearls (16:15);creation of the universe from a closed upmass (21:31); water as the source of allforms of life (21:31); creation of humansfrom dust (elements of the earth) andpassing through evolutionary stages(30:21); creation of the two opposite sexes(13:4); creating of spouses to find peace ofmind, and putting the emotions of love andtenderness in between them (30:22);procreation from an insignificant drop offluid (16:5); diversity of tongues and colorsamong human races (30:23); sleep anddeath (39:43).”24 MuslimSunrise“And how many a Sign is there in theheavens and the earth, which they passby, turning away from it.”(12:106)Commenting on the situation that thereare many who ignore the Signs of Allah asevidence of a Creator, the Holy Qur’andeclares:“And how many a Sign is there in theheavens and the earth, which they pass by,turning away from it (12:106).”Asking for SignsThe Holy Qur’an details the skepticalattitude of those who remain determined toreject the truth. They keep on asking formore signs:“And those who have no knowledge say,‘Why does not Allah speak to us, or a Signcome to us?’ Even thus, as they now speak,spoke those (who were) before them. Theirhearts are all alike. We have made clear theSigns for a people who firmly believe. Wehave sent you with the Truth, and as a bearerof glad tidings and a Warner. And you willnot be questioned about the inmates of Hell(2:119-120). Nay, they say, “These are butconfused dreams; nay, he has forged it; nay,he is but a poet. Let him them bring us aSign just as the former Prophets were sentwith Signs.’ (21:6).”The rejecters do nothesitate demanding forsome peculiar Signs,such as asking theProphet to dig a deepchannel into the earth orto clime up a ladderunto heaven (6:37) or tocause pieces of sky tofall down on them(26:188). Demandingnew Signs seems to bean old habit of thedisbelievers. Forexample, in the NewTestament we readJesus being asked toshow a Sign:“The Pharisees alsowith Sadducees came,and tempting desiredhim that he would showa sign from heaven. Heanswered and said untothem, When it isevening, ye say, It willbe fair weather: for thesky is red. And in themorning, It will be foulweather to day; for thesky is red and lowering.O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face ofthe sky; but ye can not discern the signs ofthe time? A wicked and adulterousgeneration seeketh after a sign; and thereshall no sign be given unto it, but the signof the prophet Jonas. And he left them, anddeparted (Math.16:1); (Mark 8:11); (Luke11:29). (John 2:18).”To accede to the demand of showingmore Signs would be a futile exercise. Godseldom shows Signs on demand. Asking fora fresh Signs implies that the Signs alreadyshown were not enough and did not establishthe Prophet’s truth. Therefore, God requiresthe disbelievers to reflect on the past Signsand draw lessons.“And they say, ‘Why does he not bringus a sign from his Lord?’ Has there not cometo them the clear evidence what is containedin the former Book? (20:134).”Rejection of God’s SignsDenial of fresh Signs remained a seriousflaw for generation after generation ofdisbelievers. The Holy Qur’an not onlyidentifies the reasons of disbelief, but also

makes clear the drastic moral and spiritualconsequences of such a denial of truth. TheFive Volume English Translation andCommentary published under the auspicesof Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad ra comments:“The opponents of God’s Prophets are inthe habit of rejecting their claims on thebasis of mere hearsay and make belief. Theresult of such a hasty rejection is that thehearts of rejecters become sealed and theybecome deprived of the power to understandthe arguments and Signs which God showsto establish the truth of HisMessengers…the hearts are sealed onlywhen disbelievers refuse to make use of theirGod-given power of reasoning andunderstanding.” (Vol. II, p.813.)The Holy Qur’an points out thata clear warning was given tomankind from the verybeginning that the rejecters ofGod’s Signs would be severelypunished:“Then Adam learnt from his Lord certainwords (of prayer). So He turned towards himwith mercy. Surely, He is oft-Returning (withcompassion, and is) Merciful. We said: Goforth, all of you, from here. And if therecomes to you guidance from Me, then whososhall follow My guidance, on them shallcome no fear, nor shall they grieve. But theywho will disbelieve and treat our Signs aslies, these shall be the inmates of Fire;therein shall they abide (2:38-40).”“Then Adam learnt from his Lord certain words (ofprayer). So He turned towards him with mercy. Surely,He is oft-Returning (with compassion, and is)Merciful. We said: Go forth, all of you, from here. Andif there comes to you guidance from Me, then whososhall follow My guidance, on them shall come no fear,nor shall they grieve. But they who will disbelieve andtreat our Signs as lies, these shall be the inmates ofFire; therein shall they abide.” (2:38-40)Unbelievers who cry lies to God’s Signsare referred to at numerous places in theHoly Qur’an:“Signs and Warners avail not a peoplewho will not believe (10:102). Surely, thosewho deviate (from the right path) withrespect to Our Signs are not hidden fromUs. Is he, then, who is cast into the Firebetter or he who is comes out safe on theday of Resurrection? (41:41). The HolyQur’an explains by telling us: And who ismore unjust than he who forges a lie againstAllah or gives the lie to His Signs? Surely,the unjust shall not prosper (6:21). Evil isthe case of the people who treat Our Signsas lies. And it was their own souls that theywronged (7:178); And those who reject OurSigns; We will draw them to destruction stepby step in a manner which they do not know(7:183). Those who took their religion fora pastime and sport, and whom the life ofthe world beguiled, this day, then, shall Weforget them as they forgot the meeting ofthis day of theirs, and as they used to denyOur Signs (7:52); Those who disputeconcerning the Signs of Allah without anyauthority having come to them; grievouslyhateful is this in the sight of Allah and inthe sight of those who believe. Thus doesAllah seal up the heart of every arrogant,haughty person (40:36). They rejected theSigns of their Lord so We destroyed themfor their sins. And We drowned the Peopleof the Pharaoh, for they were all wrongdoers(8:55). We cut off the last remnant ofthose who rejected Our Signs (7:73); theirworks are in vain (7:148); those whodisbelieve in the Signs of Allah, these it iswho are the losers (39:64); and they ruinnone but their own selves; only theyperceive not (6:27): (they) incurred thewrath of God (2:61); (they were given)“severe punishment”(3:12); a painfulpunishment(3:21),(34:39); smitten withwretchedness (3:112); the inmates of Hell(5:86), (17:99); (22:52),(22:73), (39:72)(57: 20) (18:107);. Those who reject OurSigns are deaf and dumb (6:40). Surely,humiliation before Allah and a severepunishment shall smite the offendersbecause of their plotting (6:125), (22:58).Those who dispute concerning the Signs ofAllah without any authority having cometo them? There is nothing in their breastsbut a feeling of greatness which they willnever attain. So, seek refuge in Allah. Surely,He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing(40:57). That is the reward of the enemiesof Allah, the Fire. For them there will be anabiding home therein as requital becausethey used to deny Our Signs (41:29). Thosewho oppose Allah and His Messengers willsurely be abased as those who before themwere abased; and We have already sentdown clear Signs. And the disbelievers havea painful punishment (58:6). Woe, on thatday, unto those who reject, who deny theDay of Judgment; and none denies it saveevery sinful transgressor, who, when OurSigns are recited unto him, says: “Fablesof the ancients!” Nay, but that which theyhave earned has rusted their hearts. Nay,they will surely be debarred from seeingtheir Lord on that day. Then, verily, theyWINTER 2006 25

will burn in Hell. Then it will be said tothem, “this is what you used to reject.”(83:11-18). Then evil was the end of thosewho did evil, because they rejected the Signsof Allah, and mocked at them (30:11).”Signs of Allah Will NeverCease to ComeThe Holy Qur’an narrates many earthly andheavenly Signs as indicators for recognizing theLatter Days when the Second Coming of theMessiah and the final triumph of Islam arepredicted to take place.Commenting on the verse ‘And nothingcould hinder Us from sending Signs, exceptthat the former people rejected them’(17:60), the editors of the Five VolumeEnglish Translation and Commentary write:“This verse beautifully states that heavenlySigns will never cease to appear. (It)proceeds to refute and demolish the onlypossible objection against the appearanceof the heavenly Signs. The objection is:When the people to whom the Signs werefirst shown did not profit by them, wherewas the warrant that their successors woulddo so? The arguments given to this objectionare: (a) If the rejection of heavenly Signshad been a reasonable ground, no Prophetafter the very first Prophet Adam wouldhave appeared. But this did not happen andfresh Prophets continued to appear in allages and fresh signs continued to be shownat their hands, which showed that therejection of the Signs never proved a barrierin the way of appearance of new Signs; (b)Prophets are sent in the world in order towarn wrong-doers of their aggressions andiniquities and of the impending divinepunishment in consequence of thoseiniquities. Any such punishment without aprevious warning and without showingSigns would be contrary to divine mercy.”(Vol. III, pp. 1444-1445).Those who believe in theSigns of AllahO children of Adam! If Messengers cometo you from among yourselves, rehearsingMy Signs unto you, then whoso shall fearGod and do good deeds, on them shall comeno fear nor shall they grieve (7:36). Someof the rewards bestowed upon those whoaccept the Signs of Allah are: Mercy andforgiveness (6:54); steadfastness,resignation in God’s will (7:127); fear ofGod, holding Him in reverence (23:59);True believers are only those whose heartstremble when the name of Allah ismentioned, and when His Signs are recitedto them they increase their faith, and whoput their trust in their Lord. Who observeprayer and spend out of that which We haveprovided for them. These it is who are truebelievers. They have grades of ranks withtheir Lord, as well as forgiveness and anhonorable provision (8:3-4). These are thepeople on whom Allah bestowed Hisblessings from among the Prophets, of theposterity of Adam, and of those whom Wecarried in the Ark with Noah, and of theposterity of Abraham and Israel; and theyare those whom We guided and chose. Whenthe Signs of Gracious God were recited untothem, they fell down, prostrating themselvesbefore God and weeping (19:59). And Wemade among them leaders, who guidedothers by Our command, while theythemselves were steadfast and had firm faithin Our Signs (32:25). O My servants, thereis no fear for you this day, nor shall yougrieve; (you) believed in Our Signs andsubmitted. Enter you the Garden, you andyour wives, honored and happy (43:69-71).Signs of the Latter DaysThe Holy Qur’an narrates many earthlyand heavenly Signs as indicators forrecognizing the Latter Days when theSecond Coming of the Messiah and the finaltriumph of Islam are predicted to take place.The Holy Qur’an reinforces the Signsdocumented in some previous Scriptures. Inthe New Testament, for example, some ofSigns were foretold by Jesus about thecoming of the Son of man:“Immediately after the tribulation ofthose days shall the sun shall bedarkened, and the moon shall not give herlight, and the stars shall fall from heaven,and the powers of the heavens shall beshaken: And then shall appear the signof the Son of man in heaven: and thenshall all the tribes of the earth mourn, andthey shall see the Son of man coming inthe clouds of heaven with power and greatglory. And he shall send his angels with agreat sound of a trumpet, and they shallgather together his elect from the fourwinds, from one end of the heaven to theother (Matt. 24:30, 31). And greatearthquakes shall be in divers places, andfamines, and pestilences; and fearfulsights and great signs shall there be fromheaven (Luke 21:11).”In the Holy Qur’an, similar andadditional Signs are given. For example,in Sura Al-Takwir, Chapter 81, thefollowing Signs are mentioned: Specialeclipses of the sun and the moon; religiousleaders (the stars) becoming corrupt andlosing their spiritual light; the mountainsblown away and passages made throughthem; replacement of camels by better andswifter means of transportation; animalsgathered together; primitive people settlesin organized colonies; flow of riversdiverted and linked through canals; largebattles-ships fighting in open seas; seawatersgetting ablaze with fire; oceansjoined together; mass immigrations of ruralpopulations towards urban areas;interaction and intercommunicationbecoming fast; vast and rapid circulationof printed material; amazing progress insciences and technology; global wars andwidespread natural catastrophes. Then,after a long moral decline, the reemergenceof Islam shall occur. The spiritual darknessshall be dispelled and a brilliant new dayshall dawn on Islam through the PromisedMessiah – appearing from the East.“And say: ‘All praise belongs to Allah;He will soon show you His signs, and youwill know them.’ And your Lord is nounaware of what you do (27:94); Soon Wewill show them Our Signs in all parts ofthe earth, and among their own peopleuntil it becomes manifest to them that it isthe truth. Is it not enough that your Lordis Witness over all things?” (41:54)* Note: Most of the Qur’anic quotationsare taken from the English translation byMaulwi Sher Ali, published by IslamInternational Publications Limited. TheSuras and Verse numbers are indicatedin parentheses. For example, (7:175)indicates Chapter 7 of the Qur’an andVerse number 175. The verse numberingincludes “In the Name of Allah, MostGracious, Ever Merciful” – the verse thatbegins nearly every Sura of the Qur’an –as the first verse.26 MuslimSunrise

Al Wassay and the Expanding UniverseThe Holy Qur’an invitesmankind to ponder on theuniverse that He has created.The Qur’an urges us to reflecton the Laws of Nature — withexamples drawn fromcosmology, physics, biologyand medicine — as signs forall men. For example theGlorious Qur’an says, “Do theynot then look at the camel,how it is created? And at theheaven, how it is raised high?Dr. Zia H. Shah and Dr. Lutfur RehmanHe is Allah, the creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are themost beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earthglorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Hashr 59:25).And the heaven We built with our own powers and indeed We goon expanding it. (Al Dhariyat 51:48).The similitude of those who spend their wealth in the way ofAllah is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows sevenears, in each ear a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies itfurther for whomsoever He pleases and Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing. (Al Baqarah 2:262)The Holy Qur’an invites mankind to ponder on theuniverse that He has created. The Qur’an urges usto reflect on the Laws of Nature — with examplesdrawn from cosmology, physics, biology andmedicine — as signs for all men. For example theGlorious Qur’an says, “Do they not then look at thecamel, how it is created? And at the heaven, how it is raised high?And at the mountains how they are rooted, and at the earth how it isoutspread?” (Al-Ghashiyah 88:18-21) In Sura Rahman He says,“The Gracious God. He taught the Qur’an. He created man, Andtaught him plain speech. The sun and the moon run their coursesaccording to a fixed reckoning. And the stem less plants and thetrees humbly submit to His Will. And the heaven He has raisedhigh and set up the measure. (Al Rahman 55:2-8)The earth on which we live is one of nine planets of a rathermediocre sun when we compare it with what else is out there. Allthe planets circle around the sun while at the same time continuallyspinning on their axes. Our sun around which these nine planetsare moving belongs to a galaxy made up of 100 billion other suns;the nearest of these suns is more than four light years away and themost distant 100,000 or more light years. A light year is the distancelight travels in a year at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. Thegalaxy to which the nine planets and our sun belongs is about100,000 light years in diameter and viewed from a remote point inspace would appear to be a spiral nebula, much like the pictures ofspiral nebulae to be seen at any planetarium.Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953) discovered in 1922–24 thatnot all nebulae in the sky are part of our galaxy called the MilkyWay Galaxy. He found that certain nebulae contain stars calledCepheid variables. By studying their relative distances, apparentmagnitude, and absolute magnitude, Hubble determined that theseCepheids are several hundred thousand light-years away and thusoutside the Milky Way system, and that the nebulae in which theyare located are actually galaxies distinct from the Milky Way.WINTER 2006 27

Hubble’s discovery forced astronomers to revise their ideas aboutthe universe or the cosmos.Soon after discovering the existence of these external galaxies,Hubble undertook the task of classifying them according to theirshapes and exploring their stellar contents and brightness patterns.In studying the galaxies, Hubble made his second remarkablediscovery—namely, that these galaxies are apparently receding fromthe Milky Way and that the further away they are, the faster theyare receding. The implications of this discovery were immense.The universe, long considered static, was expanding, and, even moreremarkably, as Hubble discovered in 1929, the universe wasexpanding in such a way that the ratio of the speed of the galaxiesto their distance is a constant now called Hubble’s constant.The nearest galaxy to our own galaxy is about 150 million lightyears away. The most distant is perhaps ten billion light years away.Modern astronomy can locate a billion or more galaxies, eachcontaining billions of flaming suns. Sir James Jeans has written,“The number of stars in the Universe is practically like the numberof grains of sand on all the seashores of the world.” The presentday thought among the experts in cosmology is that there are perhapsmore stars than sand particles on all the seashores of the world.When we combine this fact with the observationthat each star on the average is approximately abillion times the volume of the earth, we can beonly flabbergasted at the expanse of the cosmos.The scientists have been able to make thesediscoveries by using very sophisticated andadvanced equipments. In the recent past theycame up with a novel idea and implemented it inthe calendar year 2006. They created a very largevirtual telescope by combining differenttelescopes. This gives a telescope with a virtualdiameter of 5,000 miles. The astronomers usedthe Very Long Baseline Array, taking observationsfrom several telescopes stretching from Hawaiito the Virgin Islands. With the help of this virtualtelescope they have measured the distance to thenearest spiral arm (astronomical name: W3OH) and it turns out tobe about 36,000,000,000,000,000 miles.Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV, wrote in hisbook Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth:“At the time the Holy Qur’an was revealed, the humanunderstanding of the nature of the cosmos and the movement or thestillness of the heavenly bodies was extremely primitive andobscure. This is no longer the case, as our knowledge of the universehas considerably advanced and expanded by the present age.Some of the theories relating to the creation of the universe havebeen verified as facts, whereas some others are still being explored.The concept of the expanding universe belongs to the formercategory, and has been universally accepted by the scientificcommunity as ‘fact’. This discovery was first made by EdwinHubble in the 1920s. Yet some thirteen centuries before this, it wasclearly mentioned in the Qur’an in Sura Dhariyat:And the heaven We built with Our own powers (aydin) and indeedWe go on expanding it (musi’un).It should be remembered that the concept of the continuousexpansion of the universe is exclusive to the Qur’an. No other Divinescriptures even remotely hint at it.” 1Now we turn from the magnitude of the Cosmos to the minutesubatomic level which is the stage of Quantum Physics. All matteris composed of infinitesimal small particles. Matter is composedof millions and millions of small molecules. A molecule consists oftwo or more atoms, and an atom has one or more electrons revolvingaround a nucleus of one or more protons. These billions of stars,our sun, the earth and all material bodies as well as the atoms ofwhich they are composed, are all made of the similar smallerparticles. Science describes this basic element as energy. It is knownthat atoms are miniature solar systems with electrons spinning attremendous speeds around a nucleus of pro-tons. The detail andorganization are mind boggling even at this quantum level. Talkingat the Nobel Banquet on December 10, 1979, Doctor Abdus Salamquoted from the Holy Qur’an from Sura Mulk:Allah has created seven heavens in harmony. No incongruitycan you see in the creation of the Gracious God. Then look again.Do you see any flaw? Aye, look again, and yet again, your sightwill only return to you dazzled and fatigued, having seen noincongruity. (Al Mulk, 67:4-5).Having quoted the verse he said: “This in effect is the faith of allphysicists, the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, themore is the dazzlement of our gaze.” 2The scientists are now beginning to find that there is a unity inthe building blocks at the subatomic level despite the numeroustypes of subatomic particles that are now known when we look atlevel higher then the most basic. This concept is described in theAllah has created seven heavens inharmony. No incongruity can you seein the creation of the Gracious God.Then look again. Do you see any flaw?Aye, look again, and yet again, yoursight will only return to you dazzledand fatigued, having seen noincongruity. (Al Mulk, 67:4-5)string theory. According to the string theory, the subatomicparticles may behave as tiny one-dimensional “string like”entities rather than the more conventional approach in whichthey are modeled as zero-dimensional point particles. Thetheory envisions that a string undergoing a particular mode ofvibration corresponds to a particle with definite properties suchas mass and charge. This theory may have the potential toincorporate all four of nature’s forces—gravity,electromagnetism, strong force, and weak force—and all typesof matter in a single quantum mechanical framework,suggesting that it might be the long-sought unified field theory,where all mass and all forms of energy have their origin fromone source. There is an oneness in the physical world be it thestudy of the inanimate or the animal and the plant kingdomthat points to One Creator and one unifying principle. In thewords of the Glorious Qur’an:If there had been in the heavens and the earth other godsbesides Allah, then surely both would have gone to ruin.Glorified then be Allah, the Lord of the Throne, far above whatthey attribute to Him. (Al Anbiyya 21:23).Now visualize the Cosmos as far as one can conceive it. Itis of a magnitude that is overwhelming and of subatomicminuteness that is completely inconceivable. All the parts aremade of the same thing. They are all in unceasing activity andall activities are so ordered that they form a very well organizedcomplete universe.28 MuslimSunrise

The mass is convertible to energy anddifferent forms of energy areconvertible toeach other.For example,Dr. AbdusSalamproposed theelectroweaktheory, whichThe late Dr. Abdus Salamexplains theunity of the weak nuclear force andelectromagnetism. He was the corecipientwith Steven Weinberg andSheldon Lee Glashow of the 1979Nobel Prize for Physics for this work.The mass is convertible to energy and different forms of energyare convertible to each other. For example, Dr. Abdus Salamproposed the electroweak theory, which explains the unity of theweak nuclear force and electromagnetism. He was the co recipientwith Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Lee Glashow of the 1979 NobelPrize for Physics for this work.The conversion of mass to energy is described by the equationworked out by Einstein, namely E = mc 2 . This relationship orequation is now re-garded as the foundation of theoretical physicsand modern tech-nology, and thanks to the present media, thisequation has risen to the level of common knowledge. Here ‘E’ isthe energy and ‘m’ is the mass and ‘c’ is the speed of light. As aninference from this equation, even a small amount of mass has avery large energy, given the extremely high speed of light. Everygram of matter (of any kind) has stored within it the equivalent of25,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy.In other words, the Cosmos, or every material thing in it, is madeof energy. Enough energy is in the atoms of a cup of water to lighta large city for a year. With this paradigm, when we examine thetotal energy in the universe, the amount is mind boggling. Suchhuge amount of energy did not come from “nothingness” or“nowhere.” The source of cosmic energy is outside the confines ofthe physical Universe. Certainly there was no energy in the physicalUniverse prior to its cre-ation. There was emptiness or hollowness,or was there? How could there be anything without a source withouta creator? Allah is the creator of all this energy, and all thatproceeded from that energy. He is the Alpha and the Omega.According to the Holy Qur’an, “He is the Originator of the heavensand the earth. When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, ‘Be,’and it is.” (Al-Baqarah 2:118). He is the First Cause of all causes.The universe is not dead and did not come from nothingness.Therefore, there is an Intelligence there, and it is all pervading andoverwhelming. At least one purpose, possibly the major or theonly purpose of human life, is to achieve harmony with that Intelligence.Striving in the right direction for harmony and accord withthat Intelligence ought to be a source of peace for the human mindand soul. It is desirable to affect that accord. The human race,then, is not alone in the universe. For untold ages man has felt anawareness of that Intelligence. Belief in it is the one point whereall monotheistic re-ligions agree. It has been called by many names.Many call it Allah or God. He has numerous attributes. He isAllah, the creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the mostbeautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifiesHim, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Hashr 59:25) He is alsoAl Wassay, the one who expands the universe, Al Raheem or AlSameeh, who listens to the prayers, and Al Razak, who is Providentand provides provisions.As we reflect on the attribute of God, Al Wassay, and then directour attention towards the attribute Al Raheem and Al Razak, ourhorizons are expanded. In Sura Baqarah, we read:The similitude of those who spend their wealth in the way ofAllah is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows sevenears, in each ear a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies it furtherfor whomsoever He pleases and Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing.(Al Baqarah 2:262).In this analogy God has promised a multiple of 700 times whenHe returns a favor ans says that He may deliver much more if He sopleases. The testimony that we see in the physical world at anatomic level is that God yields an amazing multiple of speed oflight squared for yield of energy from mass, i.e., E= mc 2 . If suchcan be the return in the physical world, do we see any evidence ofsuch yield in the spiritual world? Yes, indeed we do! We see thatin the life history of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace andblessings of God be on him) and the Promised Messiah (peace beupon him). The Promised Messiah, giving testimony about hislife, says in a verse:“God’s blessings transformed a drop of water into a river. Suchwas the measure of His blessings on me!”God not only promises expansion in the financial means of onewho spends in His way, but also promises peace of mind and serenityin return. We read:Those who spend their wealth by night and day, secretly andopenly, have their reward with their Lord; on them shall come nofear, nor shall they grieve. (Al Baqarah 2:275.)We need to imprint the picture of expanding universe; the growingcorn field and the massive energy trapped in small amount of mass(E= mc 2 ) in our minds and reflect on them from time to time. Thiswill lead us to better understand of the attributes Al Wassay and AlRazak and will create generosity of spirit. This could result in alasting and profound effect on our souls, and we would acquire themindset of abundance rather than that of miserliness or greed. Maythe blessings of Allah be with all of us.(Endnotes)1Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth. Islam International Publications Limited, 1998, p.303.2Al Nahl, Special Issue on Dr. Abdus Salam, Bait-ul-Wahid, Fall 1997,p.80.WINTER 2006 29

TheMuslimSunriseQ&A1What is a Mujaddid?A Mujaddid is a person whorenews or renovates the religion.According to a Hadith (recorded saying) ofthe Holy Prophet, which has been recordedby Abu Da’ood, renovators will appearduring every century of Islam:“Verily, God shall raise for thiscommunity, at the beginning of everycentury, one who will renovate for it itsreligion.”A list of various “Renovators” who haveappeared during the past fourteen hundredyears is given below. These mujaddideenwere the most outstanding and saintlyscholars of their time and did much to reformthe religion of Islam, of their day.In this list, only one Mujaddid is givenfor each century. Many Muslims, however,recognize more than one Mujaddid for somecenturies. But for the Fourteenth Century ofIslam, which ended in the year 1980 A.D.,no one other than Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ofQadian has ever been recognized as aMujaddid.1 st Omar bin Abdul Aziz (717 – 720)2 nd Ahmad bin Hanbal (780 – 855)3 rd Abul Hasan Ashari (873 – 935)4 th Abu Bakr Baqlani (? – 1013)5 th Al Ghazali (1058 – 1111)6 th Abdul Qadir Jilanee (1077 – 1166)7 th Ibne Taymiyya (1263 – 1328)8 th Ibne Hajar Asqalani (1372 – 1449)9 th Jalal-ud-Deen Sayutee10 th Muhammad Tahir Gujratee11 th Ahmad Sirhindi (1564 – 1624)12 th Shah Wali Ullah (1702 – 1762)13 th Ahmad Brelwi (1786 – 1831)14 th Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835 – 1908)234Where is ProphetMuhammad sa buried?The blessed founder of Islampassed away in the year 632 AD, in the cityknown as Medina-tun Nabi (City of theProphet), Medina for short. Specifically, hebreathed his last in his wife Aisha’s rachamber, where a grave was dug for him,and where he was buried. This small homewas built adjacent to Masjid-e-Nabwi or theProphet’s Mosque, which has since beenexponentially expanded to encompass thechamber. Along with him, his first twosuccessors and possibly greatestcompanions, Abu Bakr ra and Umar ra areburied.How many religionsexist in the world today?There are about ten major religionsin the world today. In alphabetical order,these are: Buddhism, Christianity,Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism,Judaism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism.Although Sikhism is not considered a majorreligion or a revealed faith, it is included inthis list for the benefit of the reader. Of thesereligions, only three are missionaryreligions: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.Lastly, Christianity, Judaism, Islam andZoroastrianism are categorized as religionsof Prophecy, whereas the rest arecategorized as religions of Wisdom.What is Sikhism?The Sikh movement started inIndia as a small group of devoteddisciples who gathered aroundthe saintly person of Baba Nanak. Bornin 1469 AD to a Hindu family, BabaNanak was disillusioned with by theHindu caste system, the power of theBrahmin priests, and the custom of “sati”in which the widows were burned on thefuneral pyre of their husbands. There isconsiderable evidence in historicalrecords that Baba Nanak embraced Islam,used to perform the Islamic rituals andundertook the pilgrimage to Mecca.These records also point to the fact thatBaba Nanak did not found any newreligion. Over the years his disciples andsuccessors, however, did form a newidentity and a religion for themselves.Formal succession lasted 169 years, withthe final Guru (teacher) Gobind Singh(1666-1708) telling his community, onhis deathbed, no more human Gurus willappear and that their sacred scriptures,the Granth, would be their Guru.The most important belief of the Sikhreligion concerns the Unity of God. Thereligion also teaches man can becomeone with God only by walking on the pathof the Gurus. The sacred book, GuruGranth, can lead followers to find Godand salvation. Salvation results with alove-union with God.While Sikhs today claim that BabaNanak founded their faith, historicalrecords prove Baba Nanak was raised aHindu but later accepted Islam. Many ofthe “shabads” of the Granth are simplyGurmukhi translations of Qur’anicverses. The concept of God is presentedin the Granth is exactly the same as givenin the Qur’an. Lastly, both of BabaNanak’s most precious and famouspossessions – his cloak and pocket book– are saturated with Qur’anic inscriptionand the Qur’an itself. It is for this reasonthat many western scholars of religion donot regard Sikhism as an independentreligion, but an offshoot of Islam.Do you have aquestion aboutIslam?About religion?About God?Email us yourquestions today, to:MuslimSunrise@Ahmadiyya.us30 MuslimSunrise

News, Views and Reviews: Press PublicationsMuslim Sunrise contributorshave been actively engaged inresponding to the Americanpress on articles of religiousimportance. Some samples oftheir recent publishedresponses are below:•Commentary, Oshkosh Northwestern,September 24, 2006•Letter to the Editor,Atlanta Journal-Constitution,September 24, 2006•Commentary,The Broadside (George Mason University),September 25, 2006•Editorial, Kalamazoo Gazette,November 12, 2006Oshkosh Northwestern“Qur’an: Muslims invite othersto Islam through rational dialogue,not force”Saad AhmadSeptember 24, 2006Pope Benedict XVI in his recentlecture reflected upon the importance ofreason in understanding the faith. Hispoint being that domain of rationalityand reason extends beyond the limits ofempirical evidence. He also mentionedIslam as being fundamentally opposedto rational thought and that its spreadwas through force. In this short essay Iwould provide an Islamic perspective.A full version of this essay may be readat http://saadahmad.blogspot.com.Islam and rationalityThe Qur’an fully acknowledges therole of rationality in attainment of thetruth. There are about 750 verses in theQur’an that exhort the believers to studynature, to reflect and make best use ofreason and to make scientific enterprisean integral part of a community’s life.Islam’s invitation to mankind isprimarily on rational grounds and notthrough force. Verse 2:257 quoted bythe pope actually relies on Islam’sPope Benedict XVIrationality for its appeal and not onforce; and to his point of “later versessomehow changing the message,” theQur’an emphatically rejects suchnotions and declares that no verse ofQur’an abrogates another verse andthere are no inconsistencies (4:83).It is the duty of every Muslim toinvite others to Islam — but through thebest of manners (16:126). The Qur’aninvites other religions and philosophiesto a dialog and to bring forth theirproof: (e.g. 2:112, 4:175, 21:25, 27:65,28:76).Those who do not study Islam areastonished by its rapid progress. Peoplewere drawn towards it because of itsrationality and reasonable basis — notbecause of any fear. This is a realmiracle that has been recorded byhistory unlike the phantom miracles thatother religions put forth.Islamic concept of GodIn order to give credence to his faultypremise, the pope attributed this to theIslamic concept of God. Islam’s viewof God is much different thanChristianity. It is more evolved and notbound by trivial ideas like “one is threeand three is one.” Islam is a strictlymonotheistic religion where there isonly one God who is unique.Islam does not put forth an idea thatthe only way to know God is bybelieving in some mortal as a part ofthe godhead; or that god was dead forthree days; or that god is so powerlessthat he had to kill his only begotten sonto forgive the sins of mankind. Islamtotally rejects a god that would kill aninnocent in order to absolve others oftheir crimes and sins.The God of Islam is not limited byhuman imagination, but the ability torecognize Him has been imprinted onthe human psyche. He can berecognized through His attributes, butat that same time His attributes do nothave a limit. Some of His attributes canbe metaphorically compared to humanattributes, and some of His attributescan be seen in His creation in a limitedcapacity. So the being of God is hiddento those who are not willing to findHim, but those who strive would findGod everywhere.ConclusionIt is Christianity and especially theChurch that has traditionally opposedrationality and reason. The variousepisodes of Galileo and Newton arewell known. The “rational” tradition of“witch hunts” is an integral part of theCatholic history. Trinity, original sin,resurrection, and rapture all have beenchallenged by the secular scholars onrational grounds. Today’s catholicbeliefs are more like the pagan beliefsof that era and far removed from the trueand pure teachings of Jesus Christ.Islam, on the other hand, is wellfoundedin human psyche. It is a strictlymonotheistic religion with evolvedconcepts of God, revelation, afterlife,and prophethood. Islam’s strength is itsreasonableness, and it does not needforce for its progress.I hope that the pope takes time tounderstand Islam and actually read theQur’an before quoting it. Today theIslamic and Christian civilizations arefacing each other in the most unfriendlyconfrontation ever witnessed in thehistory. Inter-faith dialogues evolvethrough mutual understanding and notby maligning the other religion — evenif it is done in the guise of “I quote Iquote.”WINTER 2006 31

Saad Ahmad is an Oshkoshresident, e-mail:saad.ahmad@gmail.comAtlanta Journal-ConstitutionForce and religion havesituational linkThe pope recently quoted the Qur’an,Chapter 2, Verse 256, “there is nocompulsion in religion,” and he stated thatthis was the lowest point of power in Islam.What a beautiful teaching it is by itself. Andthe sweetest part of it is that it was revealedto the prophet Muhammad at the highestpoint of power. Why? Islam had gainedascendancy in Arabia, but God cautionedman to allow for free will. Consequently,the idea of Islam “spread by the sword” mustbe false. Who is attracted to any religion byforce? To the contrary, one Arab mercenarywas bent on killing Muhammad with asword, but when he heard his sister recitingthe Qur’an, he fell in love with it and becamea Muslim instead.Allison Knight-KhanPowder Springs, GAThe Broadside(George Mason University StudentNewspaper)“The Meaning of Jihad”Luqman Tahir MahmoodPresident of Ahmadiyya Muslim StudentAssociationSeptember 25, 2006In light of the Pope’s recent remarks, andin the hopes that it will inform those whodo not know the true meaning of what isJihad in Islam — be they Muslims or peopleof any other faith — I have decided to writethis paper in order to evaporate any notionthat the Jihad of early Islam has any relationto the Jihad that is being shouted at the headevery battle today where Muslims areinvolved. The issue about Jihad needsclearing up for Muslims especially becauseit seems that every skirmish is labeled Jihad.This labeling has greatly increasedmisunderstanding of Islam and has led insome cases to people distrusting this mostpeaceful religion.In Islam, there is no compulsion inmatters of faith. God clearly states in theHoly Qur’an that right is certainly distinctfrom wrong, and that people are given freewill. No one can be coerced or forced intodoing anything, especially when it comesto matters of faith. Faith is a matter of theheart, when people see Muslims praying andprostrating towards God in utter humility, itis solely due to their love of God and thetrue realization of His existence that theyhave attained through following Islam andthe Holy Founder of Islam (peace andblessings be upon him).What is Jihad then? The literal meaningis to strive. This can be striving in any sense,whether it is against the passions of oneself,against oppression or against others indefense.There are types of Jihad that have beengiven precedence by the Holy Prophet. Onreturning from an expedition to Tabuk, heis reported to have said that the Muslimsare returning from the lower Jihad to thegreater Jihad meaning that which was thestruggle to purify ones self. This makes itclear as to which Jihad the Holy Prophetconsidered to be the greater one. So dotoday’s Muslims who advocate Jihad againstone and all, even against other Muslims orpeople of other faiths who look at Islam witha crooked eye, know it better than theFounder of Islam himself?In the Holy Qur’an, it clearly states thatpermission to take up arms is given to thoseagainst whom war is made, because theyhave been wronged and Allah, indeed, haspower to help them (22:40). Who are thosepeople that have been wronged? Those whohave been driven out from their homesunjustly, only because they said, ‘Our Lordis Allah,’ and Allah will, surely, help himwho helps Him. Allah is, indeed, Powerful,Mighty (22:41).It becomes apparent that permission tofight is given to Muslims in self-defense.This type of Jihad is to defend againstoppression, because in the Holy Qur’an Godsays that if a people were not there to defendagainst the oppression of others, then therewould be a free reign to commit every sortof injustice in the world. This principle ofthe Holy Qur’an is founded even in Americatoday. When a person commits a crimeaccording to the laws of the government, thebest action to take is to try him and, ifconvicted, put him in prison for howeverlong the law states. That person is not givenfreedom to continue his crime, because thatfreedom may prompt others to do the same.When this is the law of worldlygovernments, then what room is left tocriticize Islam for its early defensivestruggles against its oppressive enemies?The Holy Founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, Hazrat Mirza GhulamAhmad, states this in regards to the wars thattook place in early Islam.Let it be perfectly clear that there is nocompulsion in religion according to Islam.Nowhere in the Holy Qur’an is it justifiedto kill innocent people just because theyprofess a belief different than yours, and, infact, it is stated in the Holy Qur’an that tokill one innocent person is like killing all ofmankind.The Muslims of today should realize thatthe greatest Jihad in Islam is that which leadsto peace, because Islam’s literal meaning ispeace. How can one claim to associatethemselves with the religion of peace ifpeople continuously try to create friction andtake up any opportunity to declare Jihad andraise slogans against another person orplace? To those who think that Islam everresorted to force to spread its message, thefounder of the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity writes: “The religion that caneasily establish its truth and superiority bysound intellectual arguments, heavenly signsor other reliable testimony, does not needthe sword to threaten men and force aconfession of its truth from them.”Islam never had any use for physical forcein spreading its message. In fact, it was inMuslim lands that people of other religionsescaped in refuge from persecution. Historybears witness to the fact that no sword fellupon the hearts of the Chinese that causedsome of their provinces to become totallyMuslim. There was no coercion used againstthe largest Muslim country in the world,Indonesia, to pledge itself to One God.All of these countries are giving lie to theaccusation that Islam was spread by forceand the truth is that there was no compulsionin the spread of Islam, except the heart ofthe Holy Prophet which compelled all heartsand flooded them with love and regard forhim. Why such love? As Hazrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad (peace be upon him)explains concerning the Holy Prophet: “Heis not God, but through him we have seenGod. His religion which has come to us is amirror of Divine Powers. Had it not beenfor Islam, it would have been difficult in thisage to appreciate what Prophethood is andwhether miracles are possible and whetherthey are part of the law of nature.”This is the Jihad that is demanded ofMuslims today — the Jihad of putting forththe true character of the Holy Prophet, notonly in word but in character. I hope thatthe misgivings and misunderstandingsconcerning Islam are put to rest, and thatthose who have questions about Islam willnot hesitate to address those questions to us.We are more than willing to answer eachand every question that anyone has aboutIslam or about anything that I have written.32 MuslimSunrise

Kalamazoo GazetteNovember 12, 2006“Reason, rationality, notviolence, draws people toIslam”Ayesha Mangla and Shazia SohailMedia frenzy over the provocative papalremarks about Islam had considerably dieddown until Diether Haenicke’s Oct. 18column, “Papal courage or clumsiness,”appeared. One does not know whether tochide the pope or Haenicke for their lackof knowledge of Islam, or to reprimandMuslims for proving them correctwith their inordinate reaction.Haenicke’s assertion “thatthe Muslim faith was originallyestablished through war andconquest” is absolutely false.This misconception is based onmedieval orientalists’ viewsthat require clarification.About the myth that Islamspread by sword, religiousscholar Karen Armstrong wrotein The Guardian on Sept. 18,“With disturbing regularity, thismedieval conviction surfacesevery time there is trouble inthe Middle East. Yet until the20th century, Islam was a farmore tolerant and peaceful faiththan Christianity. The Qur’anstrictly forbids any coercion inreligion and regards all rightlyguided religion as coming fromGod; and despite the westernbelief to the contrary, Muslims did notimpose their faith by the sword. . . . Butthe old myth of Islam as a chronicallyviolent faith persists, and surfaces at themost inappropriate moments.”In the same article she also notes, “Jesushad told his followers to love their enemies,not to exterminate them. It was when theChristians of Europe were fighting brutalholy wars against Muslims in the MiddleEast that Islam first became known in theWest as the religion of the sword . . . at atime when European social order wasdeeply hierarchical, despite the egalitarianmessage of the Gospel, Islam wascondemned for giving too much respect towomen and other menials.”There are no incidents from ProphetMuhammad’s life that condoned force forconversion. In fact, once when a followerbragged about killing a non-believerbecause he thought he was only pretendingto accept Islam to save his own life, ProphetMuhammad turned red in the face andexclaimed three times, “How could youhave possibly made that assessment to killhim? Did you open his heart to see if hereally accepted Islam? How could you killhim? How could you kill him? How couldyou kill him?”The pope and Haenicke fail todifferentiate between the true teachings ofIslam and some of its followers’ un-Islamicbehavior. One cannot blame Islam for thedeath penalty to an Afghan for apostasy orfor forbidding Christians to proselytize orposses a Bible in Arab countries, becausethese actions are firmly against Quranicteachings. How can a Bible be forbiddenfrom Arab lands when a Muslim’s faith isincomplete without belief in all therevealed books? To believe in all therevealed books is one of the five pillars ofIslam.Or how can a Catholic cathedral not beallowed in Saudi Arabia when the Qur’anadmonishes us to protect all houses ofworship? Non-Muslim scholar Dr. D.W.Leitz, in rebutting this false charge ofviolent jihad based his argument on theQur’an itself and said, “All thesearguments, advanced to prove that thepurpose of jihad was to spread Islam byforce, are contradicted by the Qur’an. TheQur’an says that the purpose of jihad is toprotect mosques, churches, synagogues andcloisters.” (22:41).Therefore, if some Arab nations orMuslim leaders are not following the trueIslamic teachings, one cannot blame Islamor Prophet Muhammad. Similarly, it wouldbe foolish to blame Jesus Christ for all thehorrifying atrocities committed by hisfollowers during the Crusades or theSpanish Inquisition.By ignoring Quranic teachings andverses like, “Invite to the path of thy Lordwith wisdom and comely admonishmentand dispute with them in the best ofmanners,” (16:126) and “There is nocompulsion in religion,” (2:257) Muslimsseem to have invited the punishmentpromised by the Qur’an, “Say, ‘He haspower to send punishment upon you fromabove you or from beneath your feet, or toconfound you by splitting you into sectsand make you taste the violence of oneanother.’” (6:66).By destroyingchurches and burningeffigies of the pope andissuing deathsentences, Muslimfanatics once againhave proved their ownidiocy. They haveevaded theirresponsibility ofrefuting the allegationsleveled against ProphetMohammad, who wonhearts and minds withnothing but supremecourtesy and highmorals. This wouldhave been the time tocorrect the pope thatthe verse, “There is nocompulsion inreligion” was notrevealed during theearly period of Islam’spowerlessness, as he suggested, but inMedina, a place where Muslims were notonly free from Meccan persecution, butalso when the prophet was chief of the cityand held power.This was also an opportunity to remindthe pope that while persecution in the nameof religion is the repetitive theme in thehistory of human aggression, with theCatholic church being no exception,freedom of conscience is the Qur’an’srepetitive theme. Prophet Muhammad wasasked again and again to proclaim, “Thisis the truth from your Lord; let him whowill, believe, and let him who will,disbelieve.” (18:30). And, “Remind them,for thou art an admonisher. Thou hast noauthority to compel them.” (88:22-3). TheQur’an clearly states, “If thy Lord hadenforced His will, surely all those on earthwould have believed, without exception.Will thou, then, force men to becomebelievers?” (10:100). So how couldWINTER 2006 33

Prophet Muhammad force anyone toaccept Islam irrationally and condonesomething that the Qur’an rejected?People are drawn toward the truth of Islambecause of its inherent beauty and reasonand rationality. In fact, not a single incidentcan be cited from the prophet’s life ofcondoning force for conversion.When the prophet married Khadija, sheoffered him all her slaves and assets.Prophet Muhammad freed all of them anddistributed her assets among the poor. Oneyoung slave named Zaid refused to leavethe prophet’s company, even when hisparents came to fetch him, because he wasso impressed with his conduct andcompassionate love for him. Zaid said, “Ilove the prophet more than my parents.”Hearing this, the prophet adopted him ashis son.Once, when a funeral procession wentby, the Prophet Muhammad stood up as amark of respect. He was told that it wasthe funeral of a Jewish man. The prophetreplied, “Was he not a human being?” Thisis how Prophet Muhammad establishedreligious tolerance and mutual respectamong various faiths and created anatmosphere of love and peace, unliketoday’s fanatics.Instead of having a violent reaction tothese false allegations, Muslims need tofirst regain pride in their true history, whichhas been summed up accurately byreligious scholar Thomas Arnold’sobservation that, “Islam has gained itsgreatest and most lasting missionarytriumphs in times and places in which itspolitical power has been weakest.” Theareas of largest Muslim population, i.e.Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh,never had a Muslim conqueror. Theincrease in their Muslim population wasbecause of peaceful conversion bytraveling mystics, roving missionaries, andthe imams of the village mosques.It is true that “if the balance betweenreason and faith is not solidly established,then our world will fall into the hands ofpolitical and religious fanatics.” There is nofaith that invokes reason more than Islam.There are about 750 verses of the Quran thaturge the believers to ponder over the natureof things and use reason and rationality toattain truth. Islam clearly asserts that thereis no contradiction between the word of Godand the work or act of God (nature andscience): “And He pressed into service foryou the night and the day and the sun andthe moon; and the stars too have beenpressed into service by His command.Surely, in that are Signs for a people whomake use of their reason.” (16:13).Members of the worldwide Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity have no qualms about acceptingthe pope’s “invitation to frank and sinceredialogue, with great mutual respect,” hisprofessed intention, since they have engaged insuch dialogue for more than 100 years and wonhearts and minds with love and soundintellectual arguments according to their motto,“Love for all, hatred for none.” It has enabledthem to deliver the message in 24:55, “And ifyou obey him (Prophet Mohammad, peace beupon him), you will be rightly guided. And theMessenger is only responsible for the plaindelivery of the Message.” His Holiness MirzaTahir Ahmad, the fourth successor of thefounder of Ahmadiyyat noted, “Swords can winterritories, but not hearts. Force can bendheads, but not minds.”The pope’s statement that the wise donot need force, power or weapons wasobserved by His Holiness Mirza GhulamAhmad, the founder of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, more than a 100 yearsago. He said, “The religion that can easilyestablish its truth and superiority by soundintellectual arguments, heavenly signs orother reliable testimony, does not need thesword to threaten men and force aconfession of its truth from them.”Members of the worldwide AhmadiyyaMuslim Community have no qualms aboutaccepting the pope’s “invitation to frankand sincere dialogue, with great mutualrespect,” his professed intention, since theyhave engaged in such dialogue for morethan 100 years and won hearts and mindswith love and sound intellectual argumentsaccording to their motto, “Love for all,hatred for none.” It has enabled them todeliver the message in 24:55, “And if youobey him (Prophet Mohammad, peace beupon him), you will be rightly guided. Andthe Messenger is only responsible for theplain delivery of the Message.” HisHoliness Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourthsuccessor of the founder of Ahmadiyyatnoted, “Swords can win territories, but nothearts. Force can bend heads, but notminds.”Anyone who believes in this myth thatIslam spread through force isrecommended to read Life of Muhammadby His Holiness Mirza Bashir-ud-dinMahmud Ahmad or Murder in the Nameof Allah and Revelation, Rationality,Knowledge and Truth by His HolinessMirza Tahir Ahmad. These books can beread or purchased at www.alislam.org/books/.Ayesha Mangla is a resident ofPortage and Shazia Sohail isresident of Hillsborough, Calif.34 MuslimSunrise

From the Archives:“Assalam-o-Alaikum”By Qazi Muhammad BarkatullahPeace and Allah’s mercyand His blessings be onyou. These are the wordsof greetings of oneMuslim to another. TheAmericans have different ways ofgreetings. As a rule, the greeting isaccording to time; for example,“good morning,” “good evening,”etc. Once the writer, while a student,stayed in a dormitory. One finemorning, while passing by, the writergreeted the student saying, “goodmorning.” But to the surprise of thewriter, the other student said/”whatis SO good about this morning?” Thewriter thus discovered that normallypeople hesitate to utter the word“good” and confine to saying“morning” and “evening,” etc. Thesewords, therefore, cannot stand forgreetings, because, morning,evening, are like other mornings andevenings.The Americans do say “Hello” sometimes.But in a cheerful mood they exclaim “Hi”.These are pathetic words in Urdu language.Having reached America, the writer could notunderstand why the Americans who apparentlyseem to be happy, utter “Hi”, as if they were insome kind of pain!Do the Christians, then have, a mode ofgreeting? They may say “Hello, Hi, morning,”etc, but these are, as such, devoid of anyspiritual significance.The Muslims, on the other hand, showerblessings of Almighty on one another, Onesays, Assalamo Alaikum – peace be on you,The other responds, Wa Alaikum us Salam –peace be on you too.The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be onhim, has exhorted that the Muslims shouldbegin their conversation with AssalamoAlaikum – peace be on you. There is no specifictime that these words should be uttered. Thesegreetings can be exchanged anytime, anyplace,whenever and wherever Muslims meet eachother.Say, someone is going out of home, he orshe will say, Assalamo Alaikum. Similarly,when one is returning home, one will say,Assalamo Alaikum. No matter how many timesa person leaves home and returns, he orshe utters these words and in return, hearsWa Alaikum us Salam, which invokespeace and blessings on him or her too. Itis equally a good practice to say AssalamoAlaikum while going to bed and sayingAssalamo Alaikum while seeing eachother in the morning. The idea is that oneshould get used to invoking blessings ofthe Almighty upon members of the familyalso.If someone goes to someone else’shome, she or he must first say AssalamoAlaikum and then seek permission toenter the house. If some one does not liketo express Assalamo Alaikum greetingson the threshold, he or she should not begiven permission to enter the house.Once, someone came to the door of theHoly Prophet and wanted to come in. TheHoly Prophet asked someone to tell thatperson the proper way to seek suchpermission. Then the person first saidAssalamo Alaikum and soughtpermission. When the Holy Prophet cameto someone’s door, he wouldn’t staystraight in the door, so that he shouldn’tbe peeping in but stand on the side. Then,he would say Assalamo Alaikum and theoccupants knew about his presence.The Holy Prophet has said that sayingmore and more Assslamo Alaikum willincrease the bonds of affection amongmankind. He has, therefore, asked hisfollowers to spread the greetings ofAssalamo Alaikum among themselves.Every Muslim, therefore greets the otherperson with the words AssalamoAlaikum, people should know each other.Rather, the greetings can be extended toeven those who are not known before.Once the Holy Prophet passed by a groupof people where there were both believersand non-believers and the Holy Prophetsaid, Assalamo Alaikum.It is also recorded that the Muslimbrothers and sisters should not stay onnon-speaking terms with one another, forsome more than three days. The HolyProphet has said that the better of the twowill be the one who is first to sayAssalamo Alaikum to the other.It is a matter of rule that the juniorshould be first to say Assalamo Alaikumto the senior. One who is riding shouldsay Assalamo Alaikum to the one who iswalking. One who is walking, should sayAssalamo Alaikum to the one who issitting. A small gathering should be firstto say Assalamo Alaikum to largegathering. If, one person, from agathering, says Assalamo Alaikum, it willWINTER 2006 35

It is obligatory onevery Muslim to sayAssslamo Alaikum toanother Muslim and itis equally obligatoryon every Muslim torespond to thegreetings. It is alsoaccorded that nearestto God are those whoare first to sayAssalamo Alaikum.be sufficient to be considered as grouprepresentation. As, such, one personsaying Wa Alaikum us Salam, will beconsidered to represent the whole group.Anyone who is coming to joins gatheringshould be the first to say AssalamoAlaikum. Anyone who wishes to catchattention should say Assalamo Alaikum.On the telephone, it is a good practice tostart the conversation with AssalamoAlaikum.Instead of saying Hello, Hello, on thephone, it is good to say Assalamo Alaikumto get the attention of the other party.The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , oncepassed by a group of youths, and was thefirst to say Assalamo Alaikum. Similarly,it is reported that while passing by ladies,he would say Assalamo Alaikum. Once theHoly Prophet was sitting among others,someone came and said AssalamoAlaikum. The Holy Prophet respondedand some one heard the Holy Prophetuttering the number ten. Then, anotherperson came to join the company and saidAssalamo Alaikum Wa Rahmat Ullah[…and His mercy]. The Holy Prophetresponded and then said “twenty.”Afterwards, another person came to jointhe company and said Assalamo AlaikumWa Rahmat Ullah Wa Barakata-hu […andHis blessings], The Holy Prophetresponded and said “thirty.” It is said thatthese numbers referred to the blessings theperson would receive, on the principle thata good deed gets a tenfold reward.Generally speaking, if someone saysAssalamo Alaikum (peace be on you), theresponse is: Wa Alaikum Assalam (peacebe on you too), if someone says AssalamoAlaikum Wa Rahmatullah (peace andAllah’s mercy be on you}, the response isWa Alaikum Assalam We Rahmatullah(peace and Allah’s mercy be on you too).Similarly, if some one says AssalamoAlaikurn Wa Rahmatullahe WaBarakatohu (peace end Allah’s mercy andHis blessings be on you), the response is,Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa RahmatullaheWa Barakatohu (peace and Allah’s mercyand His blessings be on you too).It is obligatory on every Muslim to sayAssslamo Alaikum to another Muslim andit is equally obligatory on every Muslimto respond to the greetings. It is alsoaccorded that nearest to God are thosewho are first to say Assalamo Alaikum.The companions of the Promised Messiahalways took the lead in saying AssalamoAlaikum whenever they met. It is reportedthat Hadhrat Maulwi Sher Ali, forinstance, would call Assalamo Alaikum toothers as soon as he reached withinhearing distance to them; thus he neverallowed to slip by any opportunity ofearning the promised blessings.The Companions of the Holy Prophetwere very keen to say Assalamo Alaikumand Wa Alaikum Assalam. In case theywere going together on a journey one ofthem got separated from others for a shortwhile, he would say Assalamo Alaikum onrejoining.The Muslims are a people who lovepeace. So if someone quartets and disputeswith them, they avoid the unpleasantnessby saying peace end leaving the scene. TheHoly Prophet once said, “Should I tell youone thing that you would start loving eachother? Make it your habit to say AssalamoAlaikum frequently among yourselves,”Once the Companions wanted to knowone good deed in Islam. It is recorded thatthe Holy Prophet told them to sayAssalamo Aiaikum frequently.It is said about the Promised Messiahthat he would affectionately look at aperson who said Assalamo Alaikum orresponded to this greeting. It is also knownthat The Promised Messiah wouldinvariably write Assalamo Alaikum whilewriting any letter. Once the PromisedMessiah asked some of his followerssitting together, to trace certain references.They got to work, and began sending himthe references on small slips of paper,beginning with Assalamo Alaikum, Oneof them forgot to write this greeting onone of his slips of paper. The PromisedMessiah reminded the person that heshould not have forgotten to writeAssalamo Alaikum, no matter hownumerous these slips became. ThePromised Messiah said that no matter howfrequently and how often you meet andaddress someone, you must say or writeAssalamo Alaikum.It is recorded that the PromisedMessiah fell sick and more than once hereceived the revelation ‘AssalamoAlaikum’ and he recovered soonafterwards. Tadhkirah [collection ofPromised Messiah’s revelations, dreams,etc.] records several revelations of thePromised Messiah which say ‘AssalamoAlaikum’, The Promised Messiah hasquoted verses by some poet which maybe rendered into English as: It is good thatI am humble. In that I say Salam toeveryone; If I were haughty and proud, Iwould have not reached Lord God.It is also refreshing to know thatHadhrat Khalifatul Masih III, while onEuropean tour, dispatched several timesa gift to the Community, and his gift wasAssalamo Alaikum.The Muslims, according to the HolyQur’an, also believe that Peace, Peacewill be the words heard in paradise. Islamis, therefore, the religion through whichone can find peace, not only in this world,but also in the Hereafter, The Muslims,therefore, should make it a habit tofrequently exchange the greetings ofAssalamo Alaikum.Peace and Allah’s mercy and Hisblessings be on you.Muslim Sunrise1974•Issue 1Dr. Qazi Barkatullah (1931-2006)obtained his B.A., B.Ed., and M.O.L(Master of Oriental Learning)degrees from the Punjab University,Lahore, Pakistan. He came to theUnited States and earned his M.S.and Ph. D. degrees from IndianaUniversity, Bloomington, and taughtfor 27 years in the EducationDepartment at Jackson University,TN. He wrote of several booksincluding Introduction to EducationalMeasurement and Evaluation(1971), Islam, the Religion ofMankind (1972), Jesus Son of Mary(1973), Education During MiddleAges Under the Muslims (1974), andThe Lady Mary (1975). He was amember of the editorial board of TheReview of Religions in 1984-1985.He passed away on October 4, 2006.36 MuslimSunrise

The Muslim Sunrise InterviewWhat is the soul, and whatdoes the Vedas teach about it?In English what we call “Soul” iscalled Atman and Brahman in Sanskrit.Soul means our True Nature or essentialnature which does not change. Whatchanges is not our true identity.Brahman and Atman are one and thesame changeless (Eternal) Realitywhich is our True Self. We also call itthe God-Principle, the Truth, theEternal Principle — and it is One andthe Only One! That alone is! The worldis an illusion; it is not real. Names andforms and their differences are thefigments of the mind. Though weperceive the world through the senseorgans, they are not there. For examplewesee blueness in the sky through oureyes which is not really there. The Truththat we call Brahman is eternal, is One,is free from birth and death, it has noqualities, and it is the very subject. Itis not an object! It is not the object ofmind; it is not the object of the intellect,it is not the object of sense organs. ThisTruth is beyond body, mind andintellect.SwamiSharananandaAcharyaof Chinmaya Mission, Chicago’s ‘BadriSwami Sharanananda hails from Jagannath Dham (Puri)in Orissa, India. Inspired by Pujya SwamiChinmayananda, he joined the two-year brahmachariVedanta course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai,and received brahmachari diksha in 1988. He served atdifferent CM centers in India, and has been the residentacharya of CM Chicago, Badri since March 1993. OnJuly 9, 1995, he was initiated into sannyasa by PujyaSwami Tejomayananda and given the monastic name‘Swami Sharanananda.’ Swamiji conducts discourseson Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, guidedmeditation and yoga classes for all age groups.How about the human soul?When a child is born, does thesoul enter its body fromoutside?Soul (Atman) is everywhere. It is allpervading. It does not come and goanywhere. The one which enters thebody and leaves is called the Jiva(transmigrating self or ego). It isdifferent from Atman. Atman is the LifePrinciple — it is the same in everyone.It is like one gas present in differentcars.But Jiva (ego/experiencing self) isdifferent in each individual. Jiva in eachone of us is that which experiences joyand sorrow, feeling being in trouble orhaving good time. Jiva experiencesproblems not because of theexperiences but because of ownership.It takes ownership of what does notbelong to it and what it has not created.Jiva takes ownership of the bodyalthough it has not created it! It says: Itis my body, my hands, my face, my hair,my name, my respect! Also it ownsexternal things. For example, there issome land, and it is not created by Jiva,but if it gets the land, ego becomeshappy thinking that it owns it. Ifsomeone takes away that land, then itWINTER 2006 37

is unhappy. If somebody gives a job,ego tries to own it and calls it “my job”.When the job is taken away, ego blamesthe giver of the job by telling others thathe took away “my job” — which is onlya false accusation.This Jiva in order to fulfill itsunfulfilled desires enters into the child’sbody when the body is in the form offetus. It enters into the body from theastral plane.Is the Jiva real?The Jiva is not really real. It is unrealas it has no real existence! The only realityis the Atman, the Life-Principle! Jiva isthe shadow of the Atman. When the suncomes up, a shadow of a tree is created.The shadow may look like a tree, butactually it does not exist on its own. TheJiva is like an image which is seen whenone stands in front of a mirror. Though itappears somebody is inside the mirror,actually it is only an illusion. The imagein the mirror looks like the person. It doesall actions but it is not real.If Jiva is not real, then how isit that it feels sorrow andhappiness?Actually our feelings and sensationsare not true, not real! One can feel inthe dreams also. One may become amillionaire in a dream and be veryhappy about it, but on waking up, oneis the same homeless person who hasnothing.At what time is this Jivaconnected with the body:before the birth, after thebirth, or during the body’sgrowth in the womb?It is told that (I don’t remember theexact time) during the third or the forthmonth of conception, Jiva enters thebody. Actually Jiva selects the body.Therefore, after three or four months ofpregnancy, the fetus should not beaborted.How does Jiva select abody?It is like we select a house! SupposeI want to enjoy certain kinds of things,I want to have waterfront, or want tosee the trees, then I would select theSo Hindus believe inreincarnation at thesame time they don’tconsider it as anabsolute one. When onerealizes one True Selfwhich is free from birthand death, theory of reincarnationbecomesnull and void. So theoryof reincarnation is onlyfor the Jiva not for theSoul (Atman).house that can give me what I want. Inthe same way Jiva has desires and itwants to fulfill those desires. So, it willselect the parents, it will select thebody, and it will select the surroundingswhere it can fulfill its remainingdesires. But all the desires cannot befulfilled during the stay in one body. Soit will stay in that body as long as thereis the possibility of fulfilling some ofthose desires. After that it will discardthe body and will go to another body.What happens to Jiva whenthe body is dead?Death means the separation of theSubtle body (including mind, intellect,memory and ego) from the gross body.Then it goes to astral plane, and staysthere till it sees a favorable conditionto enter into another form. Thistransmigration of Jiva is called reincarnation.Is transmigration of Jivareal? Is the theory of reincarnationan absoluteone?Transmigration is not real. It is realas long as we consider our self as thebody and the creation (birth and death)as real. So Hindus believe inreincarnation at the same time theydon’t consider it as an absolute one.When one realizes one True Self whichis free from birth and death, theory ofre-incarnation becomes null and void.So theory of reincarnation is only forthe Jiva not for the Soul (Atman).Can you please expoundupon this a bit more?It is just a theory to explain theinequality in nature. Suppose two childrenare born from the same parents, but oneis bright and the other is dull. One is verynoble, and the other is very bad. We knowa child who is only two and half years old,but he can play “tabla” as efficiently as amaster player. But parents did not teachhim. So, it shows that he must have knownhow to play it is the past life. So, webelieve that children do bring qualitiesfrom the past. Whatever good or bad wedo in this life is carried to the next life.There is no escape from the results of thebad actions nor is wastage of good actions.The favorable or difficult situations weface in this life entirely because of the pastactions done in the previous birth or inthis birth. If Jiva has done all good actionsin this life but still facing difficulties, thenthe cause for the difficulties are the actionsdone in the past births.But is there any final escapefor Jiva?Yes. Once Jiva realizes it’s True andEternal nature the cycle of birth and deathcomes to an end. One will discoverpermanent happiness and unconditionallove with in. One will see Divine everywhere. The division of caste, creed,religion, color, gender, nationality willdisappear. One will love others as oneloves oneself. This is the purpose ofhuman life and one will accomplish thismission.38 MuslimSunrise

This Jiva is, as you said, insome who are good and somewho are bad. Are those goodand bad rewarded andpunished in any way?The Jiva will not be punished bysomeone else, but punished by its ownactions. God is impartial. He does notreward the good nor punish the bad.But Jiva is rewarded by its goodactions and punished by the badactions. Suppose we put our finger inthe fire, God will not punish us, but wewill be punished by our own silly act.If we are suffering mentally that meanswe are maintaining ugly thoughts. If wehave not done anything wrong, andsomeone comes and troubles us, thenwe ask why we are being punished.Actually, we must have done somethingwrong in the past, that is why we arebeing troubled. Every action has equaland opposite reaction. The difficultiesor obstacles which come on their ownare really opportunities for Jiva togrow. Difficulties are purifyingprocesses. Gold shines more when itpasses through fire and is polished.When gold is put in the fire, it maylook as if the gold is being punished,but actually it is being cleansed off itsimpurities. Difficulty in life cleansesus, removes the angularities and makesus a whole, integrated and holy person.But the person who is devoted to Lordcan understand that! Every saint has apast and every sinner has a future!We know that the worldpopulation is increasingeach day. The number ofbirths is greater than thenumber of deaths. Arethere more Jivas in thewaiting than those thathave left the bodies of thedead and await return innew born babies? Are theretoo many Jivas alreadyexisting?In the nature there is no addition orsubtraction; everything is constant.The number of Jivas is always fixed.But all the jivas will not take birth atone time. Jiva is the potential lifeform.It is like the seeds. Suppose thereare 100 seeds lying on the earth. AllJivas are not only in thehuman beings; they arein the animals, insects,worms and bacteria also.So, there remains abalance. There is noincrease or decrease. Thetotal number Jivas arethe seeds will not germinate andbecome plants at the same time. Butthe maximum probability of the seedsto become trees is fixed. It will neverexceed 100. Jivas are not only in thehuman beings; they are in the animals,insects, worms and bacteria also. So,there remains a balance. There is noincrease or decrease. The total numberJivas are fixed. Another way tounderstand this is to think of an ocean.One day there may be two thousandwaves in it, the other day there maybe only one hundred. But actually howmany waves can rise in ocean is alwaysfixed and there cannot be more thanthat number. The maximum numberalways remains the same!What is the differencebetween Jivas of animalsand the human Jivas?In case of animals, Jivas always gohigher up in the evolutionary ladder;but in case of humans they can go upor come down. From man, one can goto animal state or can go up to the Godfixed. Another way tounderstand this is tothink of an ocean.One day there may betwo thousand wavesin it, the other daythere may be only onehundred. But actuallyhow many waves canrise in ocean isalways fixed andthere cannot be morethan that number.The maximumnumber alwaysremains the same!state; but from animal state one cannotgo further down.How about plants? Do theyhave Jivas?Yes, plants have Jivas, but they arealways progressive. They do not godown; they always evolve. From plantlife Jiva will go to animal state, thenhuman and at last merge with Brahman.So, the human Jivas can gointo the plant state?Yes. When one is utterly selfish andleads a life of inertia, he or she willbecome like a plant in next life.What happens whenanimals, including humanbeings, eat the otheranimals?Suppose a tiger kills a deer, the tigeris not committing any sin. The tiger hasto use the flesh of other animal toWINTER 2006 39

sustain its life and that of theoffspring. The tiger will never eatgrass even if its life is at stake.Animals kill other animals only tosatisfy their hunger. But humanbeings not only kill to eat butaggrandize to satisfy their greed.Mahatma Gandhi has told, “There isenough in this world to fulfill everybody’s need but there is not enougheven to satisfy one person’s greed.”In the nature deer are not afraid ofthe tiger and they stay in the sameforest. Once the tiger has eaten onedeer, they stay around knowing thatthe tiger is already satisfied and willnot eat more. But human beings mayeat two potatoes, but they will amasshundred pounds of potatoes for theirfuture use. In humans, there is suchgreed, but in animals no such greedis there. Unless humans follow thenature, they are worse than animals.Sins are only in case of humanbeings, not in animals. Eating meatis not sinful if it is needed for humansurvival; but eating even thevegetables out of greed is sinful.You said that Jivas canget connected withBrahman. What happenswhen that connection ismade?Then it becomes one withBrahman, and that means that itsjourney will come to an end. It isHome coming. All the wanderingswill come to an end. One will attainEternal Bliss. The game of life isover. There after one will love andserve every body not for fulfillmentbut out of fulfillment.Is it absorbed in Brahmanand disappears, or itsexistence is still therewithin Brahman?Once we realize that our truenature is Brahman, then though thebody is there for us to see it, but weare not the body anymore. Webecome one with Brahman. Therewill be no separate identity apartfrom Brahman. One might be seeinga tree, but actually it is ONE GOD.The Jiva connected with God seesGod in everything. After that thereis nothing left for Jiva to achieve.So there is no coming back to thecycle of creation.Is there a creativeprocess for Jivas, or theyjust exist by themselvessince eternity?There are two things: When youare talking of creation, at that timewe talk of karma, we talk of body,we talk of differences, and we talkof reincarnation. But when we aretalking from the stand point of theSupreme, then the creation is notthere In Hinduism, there are twotheories for creation: One is calledmodification, the other is calledmanifestation. Modification is likemaking yogurt from the milk. Milkis the cause, yogurt is the effect.Once the cause becomes the effect,then we cannot change the effectback to the cause. In modification,the nature of the effect is completelydifferent from the nature of thecause as it is evident in thedifference between milk and yogurt.But in case of manifestation, causewithout undergoing any changeappears as something completelydifferent. The example is that of arope appearing as a snake. In thedarkness of night we do not see therope as a rope, but we see it as asnake. But the snake is non-existing.Similarly, we see a ghost on a post,or blueness in the sky. This kind ofcreation is manifestation. When wetalk about this creation which ischanging all the time, which is madeof differences, in which there is lotof pain and suffering; but actuallyGod is appearing in many formswithout undergoing any change!That’s why we call the creation asthe manifestation of the Lord, theBrahman. Jiva is non other thanBrahman in its true nature.Now these Jivas, are theymanifested or are theymodifications?They are manifested, they are notmodifications.If all the Jivas aremanifestations of God,then what makes themdifferent from each other?Some are good and someare bad.The difference is only inappearance. In reality there is nodifference. We are the differentmanifestations of the same Lord.Appearance is only for the senseorgans and mind. Mind is like aprism. When a ray of light passesthrough a prism apparently sevendifferent colors are formed. Butthese colors merge back to theSunlight when the prism is removed.In the same way when the OneDivine light in us expresses itselfthrough the prism of mind,apparently different forms arecreated. But these differences areillusory. So Ignorance createsdivisions but understanding of ourtrue Self removes the differences.When we do not understand the oneAll-pervading Reality, we giveimportance to the creation of mindand sense organs which create theillusory divisions.Finally, if you have to givea message to the readersof the Muslim Sunriseabout Atman and Jiva,what would you like to sayin conclusion?The main thing is that all religionslead to the same destination. Religionsare eternal laws of life. By followingthose laws we can reach the supremeLord. Religions are propagated by greatsaints, by great prophets, greatmahatmas, and great seers. We are notreally the creators of religion. Religionis created by God. Divine principles andDivine Law are not created by anyhuman being. But there are so manyprophets or messengers they haverealized that Truth by following thereligious principles and they have shownus the path to Divinity. So we should giveimportance to the Divine. We should notget caught in differences in the paths butshould aim at the same Divinedestination. One should not get caughtup with how people look, and how theybehave. We should always concentrateon God, God is One! We should loveeverybody equally. We should not hateany one.40 MuslimSunrise

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○PerspectivesIhave spent about 40Christmas seasons inChicago. The city puts in alot of effort in decoratingthe trees and downtownstreets. The Marshall Fields store isanother tourist spot during theChristmas season.Christmas is beautiful. To tell youthe truth, even I have prayed someyears that we get a white Christmas.All my Christian friends wanted one.I think the red and greencombination of Christmas dresses looksmuch better with the white snowy background. I cansay this without knowing anything about fashion. Myfashion know-how is never going to improve because mywife won’t let me go shopping…even for my own pajamas.The old timers think that downtown usedto be prettier and much more fun in the olddays. They think everything was better inthe old days. Maybe it’s because of theireyesight that the lights just don’t appear theway they used to. Maybe it’s their memory.A lot of things happen with old age.Christmas is beautiful. To tell you thetruth, even I have prayed some years thatwe get a white Christmas. All my Christianfriends wanted one. I think the red and greencombination of Christmas dresses looksmuch better with the white snowybackground. I can say this without knowinganything about fashion. My fashion knowhowis never going to improve because mywife won’t let me go shopping…even formy own pajamas.I couldn’t bear the desperation on thefaces of my friends. After all, they were notasking for a miracle like snow in the Saharadesert. It snows in Chicago every yearwithout fail. All they were asking God forwas to move up the schedule a little. For thehappy faces of 3 million people in Chicago,I figured, so what if we non-Christians suffera little? After all, we get two days off andwe don’t even have to go to church.Yet my suffering would not be limited toshoveling snow earlier in the season. I alsofeel sorry for so many people who believein the story related to the Christmas season.Maybe they just want to believe it. Fantasyis always more fun and more beautiful thanreality.The movie industry makes billions on thatconcept.I mean, to believe that Jesus as was bornin December is essentially to ensure therewere shepherds grazing their sheep. Mindyou, in the winter the grass does not growon those hills. The shepherds like to stayinside – and so do the sheep. Then theTheheChristmasBluesBy Falahud Din ShamsWINTER 2006 41

three wise men show up. Shortly after,the star comes down on top of the barnwhere Jesus as is born. For a people whohave scientific, geographic andatmospheric knowledge, it is a testamentto their blind faith.How else could you tell a story likethat with a straight face? After thisscene, the story kind of disappears. Allyou hear is hallelujah, hallelujah, (peaceon earth, peace on earth) and theChristmas music starts. I wouldn’t wantto join the “peace marching” ofChristians at this point in time. Startingfrom the Crusades, the Spanishinquisition, Vietnam and now Iraq, the“peace march” is still on. Just themention of this long historical peacemarch is enough to ruin the Christmasspirit.My suffering continues with theconcept of Santa Claus. Being raised ina Muslim country, I knew nothing aboutSanta Claus. As a matter of fact, I don’tthink he exists anywhere in the SouthernHemisphere or the hot climate countries.I mean to wear what he does and slidedown chimneys in areas around theequator would be a serious undertaking.I looked up “Santa Claus” in theencyclopedia to satisfy my curiosity. Icouldn’t believe what I found out. Hisorigin is Saint Nicholas from Izmir,Turkey. The details of his travels and theNorth Pole house continued to be madeup as children kept on asking questionsabout who he was. You’ve got to lookup the details in the encyclopedia – Iapologize; this was before we had theInternet.You have to look it up on the Internet.I think you type in the word Santa Clausand you get options to learn about hishistory. Even the old timers know howto find information faster these days.The cold hard fact is that the 25 th ofDecember is when the sun worshippingpagans used to celebrate the coming ofthe sun. The sun starts its movementtowards the north during that week. Thecelebration is called Saturnalia. So atsome time, the Christians figured theywould join in on the dancing, music,food and fun and do it in the name ofJesus as . I found that out in theencyclopedia as well, but this was underthe word “Christmas”.Many Christians have Christmasblues also. The number of gifts theyhave to give to family members andfriends is enough to turn anyone blue,and this is after they have agreed to keepgifts to a $25 minimum. They can’tescape it.The Holy Qur’an has referred to it asthe chains around their necks and ankles.People strap themselves with this sortof custom and find no way out. Some ofmy friends even say that they hateChristmas for this reason alone.The Jehovah’s Witnesses hateChristmas too but they have differentreasons altogether. This is not a joke.Don’t ever say “Merry Christmas” to aJehovah’s Witness unless you want tolose him as a friend. We don’t need totake sides. Just be careful so we don’tget caught in the middle.While I was at the Chicago publiclibrary looking up these words, Idecided to look under the word “Jesus”also. That opened up a whole new set ofshockers for me. EncyclopediaBritannica said that there was noauthentic history about Jesus as . So Ilooked up other encyclopedias likeStandard, Americana and Collier’s. Theyhad the same opinion. Now I knew whythe Christians were sticking to theirstory. How can anyone challenge theirstory, the real stuff is missing. Logic, ofcourse, is something they don’t want tomix with their faith. It could take awaytheir Christmas holidays.I think their belief in Jesus as being theSon of God is due to the same reason.The story just kept on getting biggerwith time and before you know it,resemblance to reality disappeared.Making equals to God is sin. The firstcommandment should be sufficient toclarify that. “Thou shall have no othergods before Me.”To hate a sin is a virtue but we mustnot hate the sinner. This is truly a greatprinciple and we should understand it.It also fits in with our motto of ‘Lovefor all, hatred for none.’When your mother saw you as a childcoming home full of mud and filth, shedid not hate you. She hated the mud andthe filth but not you. She just wanted toclean you up. We should hate the sin ofa human being, but not the onescommitting the sin. We need to helpthem clean themselves of that sin.So let us not ruin Christmas by hatingthe Christians. We should share theirhappiness with them. We don’t have tocelebrate with them by drinking withthem and going to their churches. Givingthem a gift at their time of happiness andpraying for them is not something weshould be hesitant about. We shouldpray for their health, prosperity, wellbeing and especially for freedom fromtheir bondage of sin.We can give them the real thing byintroducing them to the real God. But,how are we going to deliver it if we can’teven get close to them. Christmas seasonwill be over in a few weeks but ourrelationships could last for the rest ofthe year.I have told all my Christian friends Iam open to receiving gifts at Christmas.I quote them the famous words of theSalvation Army bell ringers:It is better to give, than to receive.So let us not ruin Christmas by hating theChristians. We should share their happiness withthem. We don’t have to celebrate with them bydrinking with them and going to their churches.Giving them a gift at their time of happiness andpraying for them is not something we should behesitant about. We should pray for their health, prosperity, wellbeing and especially for freedom from their bondage of sin.42 MuslimSunrise

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-RaheemIn the name of God, Most Gracious, Ever MercifulWe wish you, your Family,and Loved Ones peace andblessings this Holiday Seasonand a prosperous New YearMuslim Sunrise StaffFalahud Din Shams, EditorWINTER 2006 43

Love For All. Hatred For None.Four quarterly issues of the Muslim Sunrise for just $15subscribe nowmuslimsunrise@ahmadiyya.usThe Muslim Sunrise is published by theAhmadiyya Muslim Community, USA2S 510 Rte. 53 Glen Ellyn, IL 60137NON PROFIT ORGU. S. POSTAGEPAIDCHAUNCEY, OHPERMIT NO. 1This magazine is not to be reproduced withoutpermission from the Muslim Sunrise Editorial Board