2006, IV - The Muslim Sunrise

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