Organ of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam of Lahore popularly known as The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. The only organisation which believes in the finality of prophethood. Preaching Islam as in the Holy Quran and as taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) - rational, peaceful, scientific, inclusive.
ِ ی م م الرَّح
ن
ِ
سب ا ہللِ الرَّْحم ٰ
ْ م ِ
The Light
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Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam
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The only Islamic organisation upholding the finality of prophethood.
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Editors
Amir Aziz
Abd ul Muqtadir Gordon
Gowsia Saleem &
Prof. Shahab Shabbir
Dr Robbert Bipat, MD, PhD
Kaleem Ahmed
Shahid Aziz & Mustaq Ali
Zainib Ahmad
Content
The Call of the Messiah 2
A Most Excellent Goal for Muslims 2
By Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali
Jamal Al-Banna’s Approach to the Quran
By H. Zakariya 6
Muslims built the Wailing Wall for the Jews
By F.M. Loewenberg 10
Jewish Magic 12
By Shahid Aziz M.Sc
Broadcasts (UK time)
1. Skype Urdu lecture: Sunday 09:00
2. Live on www.virtualmosque.co.uk
‣ Friday Sermon 13:00
‣ First Sunday of month lecture 15:00.
3. Radio Virtual Mosque on Mixlr.com
www.virtualmosque.co.uk
Websites
1. International HQ
2. Research and History
3. The Woking Mosque and Mission
4. The Berlin Mosque and Mission
5. Quran search
6. Blog
Our Recent English Broadcasts
‣ . Power of prayer
‣ Sympathy of the sick
Interesting external links
‣ Maajid Nawaz of LBC tells an inspirational
story.
‣ Muslims asked to give their daughters
rights that Islam gave them 1500 years ago.
‣ Muslims are the Enemy.
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We welcome all scholarly contributions to
The Light.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
October 2017 The
Light 2
The Call of the
Messiah
by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi
Truth underlying the Principals of Islam
The Holy Quran teaches us that the person
of God is free from every fault and defect and
that He wishes that human beings should, by
following His injunctions, also become free
from every defect and be purified of every impurity.
Thus, He says: “And whoever is blind in
this (world) he will be
blind in the Hereafter,
and further away from
the path..” (17:72)
For, the truth is that
the eyes to see God are granted in this world,
and anyone who leaves this world without getting
the eyes to see God, shall not see God in the
next life. In this verse Almighty God has given us
clearly to understand to what height of spiritual
advancement He wants man to reach, and the
stage of perfection a man can attain by following
His commandments. How Almighty God can
be seen in this very world, is then stated in the
Holy Qur'an. Thus, it says: “whoever hopes to
meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and
join no one in the service of his Lord (shirk).”
(18:110)
The first portion of this verse requires a
man to do صالح .عمل i.e., virtuous deed free from
impurity and every contamination, by which
are meant deeds which are neither done that
they may be seen by others nor do they generate
vanity in the heart of a man that he is the
doer of such great and excellent deeds, nor are
they incomplete or defective, nor do they savour
of aught but sincere personal love entertained
towards God and are saturated with true
faithfulness and perseverance. The second portion
of the verse requires a man to abstain from
shirk. Such as setting up with God such false deities
as the sun, the moon, the stars of heaven,
the physical forces of nature, the elements or
anything else that is upon earth or the heavens.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
It includes setting too high a value upon the
physical means and placing so much reliance on
them as to consider them actually effective
without any reservation like God himself. Or,
giving an over-ridding importance to one's own
resources and efforts, for this too is a sort of
shirk. On the other hand, when a man has done
everything that lies in his power and exercised
his abilities to his best, he should still be conscious
of his utter weakness and ignorance, and
ascribe everything to the mighty power and
deep knowledge of God and not to his own
power or learning. Our soul should constantly
be in a state of perfect submission and prostration
at the Divine threshold, and thus draw His
favours and blessings. Unless we make our condition
like the
Our soul should constantly be in a state of perfect
submission and prostration at the Divine
threshold
helpless cripple
who lying in a
desert parched
with thirst, suddenly
sees a spring of sweet and clear water and
halting and limping takes himself to it, and applies
his burning lips to cool water, not parting
them until he is satiated - I say, unless we fully
realize our own utter weakness and inability
and the mighty power and beneficent grace of
God which we constantly draw upon, we are not
free from shirk and do not deserve to be called
Unitarians.
(Lecture Lahore, pages 7–8)
A Most Excellent
Goal for Muslims
A Friday Sermon by
Hazrat Maulana Muhammad
Ali
Delivered on June 4,
1920
Translated by Dr Muhammad Ahmad
President AAII, Ohio
“Surely Allah has bought from the believers
their persons and their property — theirs (in
return) is the Garden. They fight in Allah’s way,
so they slay and are slain. It is a promise which
is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel
and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his
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promise than Allah? Rejoice therefore in your
bargain which you have made. And that is the
mighty achievement.” (9:111)
The Contract between Allah and the
Believers
This promise is like a contract for buying
and selling property and therefore binding
upon Allah the Most Exalted. It is recognized by
the Torah, the Gospel and the Holy Quran. Who
is more truthful than Allah the Most Exalted in
keeping His promise? Those who make this
promise with Allah should rejoice, for this deal
means a great success for them. One wonders
how many Muslims sacrifice their property and
person and achieve this great success! How
many truly understand and believe in it? Selling
something means you no longer have any control
over it and someone else is the owner. Allah
the Most Exalted calls giving up ownership of
one’s life and property a mighty achievement.
People think that saving and not giving means
success but the universal message of Islam does
not measure success by our possessions. Nor
does it say that reciting the prayer, fasting during
the month of Ramadhan, performing the Pilgrimage
or paying the poor rate is the most excellent
accomplishment. Islam demands much
more from Muslims. Selling or sacrifice of one’s
property and life seems to be a very lofty goal.
When we sell something and somebody else
buys it, we no longer have any entitlement to it.
How many of us meet this standard of belief
that all we have belongs to Allah? Selling one’s
life means, using our time, faculties and
strength to measure up to this standard. People
the universal message of Islam does
not measure success by our possessions.
generally understand the meaning of spending
of one’s wealth in Allah’s way. Islam by asking
the believers to sacrifice both their person and
property has gone a step further and set up a
very excellent goal for Muslims. A nation cannot
make progress unless it has a great purpose in
front of it.
Higher Goal
The nations who set small goals cannot
I Shall Love All Mankind.
reach the highest level of progress. Only those
nations who have a higher goal in front of them
rise above the rest. If there is a mountain in
front of a man and he is determined to scale it
at his disposal, he will certainly be able to accomplish
this to some degree. An individual
who is looking for the easy way out does not attempt
to climb the mountain. To sell ones’ property
and person in God’s way is truly an excellent
goal that Islam has put before Muslims. In
fact, if we reflect we realise that our life and
property do not belong to us.
God is the real owner so we are not doing
Him a favour by returning it to Him for Allah the
Most Exalted states: “Surely Allah has bought
from the believers their persons and their property”.
(9:111)
The meaning of this statement is the believer
no longer has authority over them. He no
longer has the right to command his faculties to
do this or not to do that. He must accept Allah’s
authority over all and to use them in accordance
with His will and commandment. This is the
greater goal Islam places before Muslims. If a
goal is lofty but cannot be put into practice it
cannot be of benefit to man. There are many excellent
teachings that are not practical and only
appear to be attractive. Their objective despite
being great is impracticable. The companions of
the Holy Prophet by sacrificing their lives and
properties in Allah’s way have demonstrated
that the teachings of Islam and their objective
are within the limits of practicability. They
showed us how one can sell his person and
property.
Loftier the Goal, Greater the Purpose
I want to illustrate the importance of a goal
or purpose with another example. The Christian
doctrine tells us that God cannot be merciful
without being just or the justice of God demands
punishment unless one believes in the
atonement of Jesus Christ. If God cannot be merciful
without requiring something in exchange,
how can unconditional feelings of mercy become
a part of human character? The objective
of the believer in this doctrine is therefore
greatly diminished. On the other hand, the very
first sentence of the Holy Quran is: “In the name
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of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful”.
It tells us of the Beneficence of God, His giving
without asking anything in exchange. The
purpose of describing God’s attributes is for humans
to benefit from them and to produce in
their character, Allah’s attributes, as the Holy
Prophet’s (s) Hadith states.
Create Allah’s morals within you
What would be the source of mercy of a nation
that describes its God as being incapable of
mercy without exchange? If this is the standard
of achievement, no matter how hard someone
may try their character would fail to improve.
Because of attributing inability to be merciful
without exchange to God, unconditional mercy
fails to evolve in the national
conscience of those
who profess this doctrine.
Mercy does not mean
treating your strong foe
mercifully for one who
has the power is also capable
of enforcing it. The time to be merciful is
when the opponent is weak and vanquished and
has lost the strength to acquire anything. Now
take the example of the European nations. You
will find one principal in common. Although
they have reached the highest standard of the
teachings of Christianity, their shared goal is to
give to someone who has power and crush the
one who is without it. What could be a more
glaring example of failure of the teachings of
Christianity? After a war 1 lasting five years the
victors are not willing to show even a shred of
mercy towards the vanquished. This may seem
to be a victory but in fact is a great moral defeat.
Trust of Allah
By telling the Muslims they have given up
their persons and properties for His sake, Allah
the Most Exalted is pointing out that these
things do not belong to them. In fact, they belong
to Allah and have been given to us as a
Trust. We are only its trustees. It would be rather
strange that we continue to benefit from
them but when He who is the owner of this
Trust, demands their return we are unwilling to
return them to Him. Can a trustee refuse to return
what has been given to him for safekeeping?
Is it his right to spend out of it on his personal
needs but when directed by the Owner to
give some in charity his heart feels straitened
and he is reluctant to give? Remember that God
is the real owner. If you believe in the word of
God and want to be counted amongst the believers,
ponder upon this. Your condition is that of
a very dishonest person.
Self Reformation
How can you spread the
teachings of the Promised
Messiah when you fail to act
upon them (e.g. obeying the
Central Anjuman - editor)?
Muslims today want success without facing
any hardship. They are, however, not willing to
give back to Allah what He has placed under
their guardianship to achieve this goal. People
want to enter paradise
without spending a
penny in Allah’s way.
They complain about
the dealings of others
but fail to reform their
own. I accept that you
should make a full effort
to demand your rights. The civilized world today
is unwilling to give anything unless they are
confronted by show of power. To generate such
strength self reformation is essential. Why is the
attention of the nation not drawn towards this
in our conventions and counsels? True character
cannot be generated in this way. We are
happy to listen when others are ill spoken off
but when attention is drawn towards our own
reformation we deem it as rubbish. Muslims
should be exemplars for the rest of the world.
Their morals should have the colouring of the
Divine. That is why Allah the Most Exalted says:
“Surely Allah has bought from the believers
their persons and their property”. (9:111)
What right do they have to discard Allah’s
commandments and use their faculties and
strengths as they desire! In one way, however,
this usage can be justified as spending in Allah’s
way. It is narrated in the Hadith: “The person
who for the sake of Allah puts a mouthful to feed
his wife, it becomes charity on his part”.
We preach the Islam taught by the Holy
Quran and the Holy Prophet (s).
1
This is a reference to the World War I.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
October 2017 The
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All that is spent in Allah’s way or with the
intent to spend in accordance with His will is for
Him. Spend for your next of kin but the intent
should be obedience
to the command of Allah
the Most Exalted.
Such expenditure for
the betterment of humanity
becomes for
Allah. If somebody spends to eat what is lawful
or to buy clothes for personal adornment as
part of God’s commandment, it also becomes
spending in Allah’s way. Spending for one’s children
to fulfil their rights also falls under this
category.
Intent, Passion and Deeds
Intentional spending is not merely hypothetical.
It is manifested through a person’s
deeds. The intensity of passion with which one
spends when a family member is in distress
should be like spending when the religion needs
it. Unless such sentiment is generated in the
heart it is to be assumed the desired spiritual
change to which Allah’s word calls has not yet
come. In short, a believer should understand
that his wealth is not his but belongs to Allah. It
has been given to him to spend in His way when
needed. For example, a person cannot be called
wise if he is ill and needs to see a physician but
fails to spend for this purpose. Our religion is in
great peril. If we do not find it in our hearts to
spend for its cause, we will regret like the patient
who destroys his well-being by not spending
to find a cure for his illness. Similarly, the
person who does not fulfil the trust of Allah in
time of need will regret.
Role of the Ahmadiyya Movement
For a person who considers Islam to be true
and has the farsightedness to take the pledge of
the Ahmadiyya Movement to keep religion
above the world, it is not hard to understand. He
must firmly accept the principle that all we have
is for Allah the Most Exalted and we are only its
custodians. The one in real need should be given
priority. Allah the Most Exalted made a man
stand up for this purpose and through revelation
drew his attention towards recognition of
the real malady affecting the Muslims. It should
The time to be merciful is when the
opponent is weak and vanquished
and has lost the strength to acquire
anything.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
be ample proof to recognize the Divine origin of
his mission that he is commanded to only take
the pledge of keeping religion above the world
from his followers.
In fact, it is the only
remedy to cure this
illness. Allah the
Most Exalted wants
for this organization
to set an example. Why do you want to act
on the contrary? Keep your responsibilities in
focus. The principle of keeping the religion
above the world firmly re-establishes you on
this Quranic principle: “Surely Allah has bought
from the believers their persons and their property”.
(9:111)
How can you spread the teachings of the
Promised Messiah when you fail to act upon
them? It is like the blind leading the blind. I am
therefore exhorting members of our small organization
to make a firm commitment in their
hearts that in time of need they will readily sacrifice
their life and property in Allah’s way. You
have already struck a bargain with God that
when needed we will be happier using our
wealth and faculties for the cause of religion.
This feeling of joy is more than the pleasure we
get out of spending for our own needs. No doubt
this commitment appears very difficult. Trade
and traffic are a source of great attraction and
become an impediment in sincerely spending
one’s person and property in God’s way.
Prayers for Advancement of Religious
Knowledge
I offer you a remedy for this. You ought to
generate this strength within you through
prayer. Supplicate with humility before God to
give you the strength to stay firm in your commitment.
We read in the Holy Quran: “And your
Lord says: Pray to Me, I will answer you”.
(40:60) Whosoever attempts to get closer to
Him, He comes to his succour and gives him
strength.
Our prayers for worldly benefits may not
gain acceptance but Allah the Most Exalted does
not let go to waste prayers for advancing religious
knowledge and striving for this purpose.
The Holy Quran states: “And those who strive
October 2017 The
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hard for Us, We shall certainly guide them in
Our ways. And Allah is surely with the doers of
good”. (29:69)
was the youngest brother of Hassan al-Banna
(1906–1949), the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
This is a promise of certainty. Remain sincere
in your purpose! Allah the Most Exalted
will give you strength. The precondition is to be
passionate and humble in your prayers. If you
thus supplicate before Allah, you will get the
strength that allows you to make all these sacrifices.
This kind of passion arises in the heart
when finding oneself in distress, the soul cries
out for help from God. I am asking you to be passionate
in your prayers. The last ten days of
Ramadhan are upon us. Strengthen these prayers
with your deeds so that your example serves
to guide others. Make it binding upon you to get
up in the early part of the night. Cry before Allah
the Most Exalted to deliver Islam from its state
of abasement that its enemies want for it and
make it successful. Also pray for your own reformation.
Ask Him with humility to generate love
for Islam, God and His messenger in our hearts
and the hearts of our friends. This love and passion
for service of Islam should be above all. We
should have such spirit of sacrifice for Islam
that we are pleased to sacrifice all for it. Beseech
Him to remain united in love and harmony
and be subservient to all His commands.
Also admit that you have been remiss in your responsibility.
(Return to contents)
Jamal Al-Bana’s Approach to
Studying the Qur’anic Text
and Its Effects on Islamic
Legal Rulings: A Critical
Analytical Study (Part 1)
by Dr Habeebullah Zakariyah
International Islamic University Malaysia
Note: This article is reproduced with the
kind permission of the author from the International
Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences,
Volume 2, Issue 6, July 2017
(www.ijahss.com), with minimal editing. We
are serialising it here in two parts. Gamal al-
Banna or Jamal al-Banna (1920–2013) was
an Egyptian author and trade unionist and
I Shall Love All Mankind.
The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement concurs
in general with the principles outlined in the article,
but does not necessarily draw the same
conclusions in detail as Gamal al-Banna.
ABSTRACT: There are many different approaches
employed by scholars in studying the
Noble Qur’an (both in the ancient time and this
era) between extremism and moderation, and
between lenience and coarseness. This research
paper aims to crystallize the points of view of
Jamal al-Bana and his proposed approaches to
studying the Noble Qur’an as a divine text in addition
to unveiling his stance towards strenuous
efforts and continual contributions made by
scholars who are interested in studying the
Qur’an and its Sciences. The study also inquires
whether the approach proposed by Jamal al-
Bana for studying the Qur’an can be considered
in the present time. It also inquires whether it
has certain implications on the deduction of
Shariah rulings. This paper will follow both analytical
and critical approaches in studying the
significance of al-Bana’s approach, especially its
discussion in the light of the scientific principles
approved by scholars. The study concludes with
some findings and fruitful suggestions that can
enrich the library in general and the Islamic legacy.
I. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF JAMAL AL-
BANA AND HIS INTELLECTUAL ORIGIN
The birth of Jamal al-Bana is traced to December
1920, in a region called Mahmoudiyyah,
the Buhairah Governorate of Egypt. Al-Bana belonged
to a renowned family with some outstanding
contributions towards the service of
Islam and its noble teachings. His father was a
prominent scholar who authored the biggest
encyclopaedia of 24 volumes on the hadiths
from the book titled, Musnad Imam Ahmad Bin
Hanbal As- Shaibani. His elder sibling is Imam
Hassan Bana, the founder of Islamic Brotherhood.
Jamal is regarded one of the most prolific Islamic
thinkers for he authored more than 100
books.
October 2017 The
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Jamal al-Bana completed his primary and
secondary education. However, due to a quarrel
between him and an English teacher, he decided
to leave the school’s systematic study and began
to read books to educate himself in some scientific
fields until he became a famous personality
to whom reference was made.
Since al-Bana was nurtured in a well civilized
and educated Muslim family, the impact of
this environment became apparent in his great
love for reading to the extent that it became his
hobby. He loved reading very much. However,
this is not surprising because his father’s library
contained a huge amount of Islamic culture
sources in addition to literature books and educational
journals.
Jamal is regarded one of the most prolific Islamic
thinkers for he authored more than 100
books. His first book titled, Three obstacles in
the way to glory was written in 1945. In 1946,
he authored another book titled, A new Democracy.
It should be noted that al-Bana’s writings
are not confined to the Islamic thought, but they
cover some other aspects like Qur’anic studies,
Jurisprudence issues, Political and Economic issues
and so forth.
Jamal al-Bana died on Wednesday January
30, 2013 at the age of 93 at Agricultural Hospital
in Dokki after suffering from sickness.
II. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF
JAMAL AL-BANA’S APPROACH TO
STUDYING THE QUR’AN
Before discussing the methodological principles
adopted by Jamal al-Bana in studying the
Qur’an or the Qur’anic discourse, it is worth to
prepare a prelude that will explain his method
as it is. This seems to be an important matter to
be aware of for a better understanding of his approach
to understanding the Qur’anic discourse.
According to al-Bana, the overall view of
the Qur’anic discourse is regarded as a fundamental
pillar. So, any imbalance that arises during
employing this view is considered heinous
crime against the Qur’an. Giving the exegesis of
one verse after the other without a reliance on
the governing values and the themes under discussion
prevents the understanding of the
I Shall Love All Mankind.
meaning and the intention of the Qur’an. He
said: “Interpretation of the Qur’an one verse after
the other implies cutting off its connections,
preventing it from reaching its whole meaning
as well as the effectiveness of its guidance that
results from the cohesion between one verse
and another. Moreover, it inculcates in minds an
attitude which lessens the effectiveness of the
Qur’anic discourse.
With this understanding, we can debrief his
approach employed for understanding the
Qur’anic discourse which has its impacts on his
deduction of Shariah rulings. Hence, the following
are the most important part of this approach:
III. FIRST: MAKING INTELLECT “AQL”
THE BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE
QUR’ANIC DISCOURSE
No one with knowledge of Shariah and its
intents will doubt as to the outstanding roles
played by the intellect “Aql” in Islam. Indeed, Islam
honours intellect by making it the determinant
of onus.
Despite the status enjoyed by intellect, al-
Bana goes further to see the necessity of prioritizing
intellect on the Qur’anic text since the latter
is only a confirmation of the former. However,
giving the Qur’an priority over the intellect
is regarded an act contrary to the Qur’an itself.
This is because the Qur’an prioritizes the intellect.
“To implement the Qur’an, it is necessary to
make use of reason for its understanding because
the style of Qur’an can suggest more than
one meaning.”
Al-Banna confirms once again that: “whatever
is related to Shariah is supposed to be in
agreement with the intellect first, then the revelation
is only its confirmation and complement.
This makes rationality an Islamic reference
with regard to Shariah”
In his opinion, intellect is an important tool
which can eliminate the application of the
Qur’anic text when it sees no point in that application.
He said: “The use of intellect can end up
suspending the application of the Qur’anic text
or stopping it if the reasons that led to it have
ended, or as they say, “negation of ruling due to
October 2017 The
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the absence of its reason” or the rise of ruling
due to the rise of its reason or lack of ruling due
to lack of its reason. Nothing like this is clearer
in indication that human reason is given priority
over the Qur’anic text and that its implementation
is necessary while dealing with the
Qur’an. This is what the Prophet (S.A.W.) did and
even Omar in his well-known analogical deductions
and what the companions tacitly approved
of in his deeds.
IV. SECOND: REFERRING TO THE
QUR’AN DIRECTLY
It is obvious that interpretation of the
Qur’an is given by scholars using different
styles. It can be the interpretation of the Qur’an
by the Qur’an, interpretation of the Qur’an by
the hadeeth, interpretation of the Qur’an by sayings
of companions, and interpretation of the
Qur’an by sayings of predecessors. All these
kinds of Qur’anic interpretation are the ones
considered by the pioneers
of Qur’anic exegesis who advocate
the conveyance of the
Qur’anic meaning with the
help of texts. On the other hand, scholars have
made permissible the interpretation of Qur’an
with the help of praiseworthy views.
However, Jamal al-Bana emphasizes in
many occasions that the interpretation which
serves the spirit of the Qur’an, and capable
enough to achieve the exact meaning it portrays
is the interpretation of the Qur’an by the Qur’an
without resorting to any other texts. He said:
“The only Qur’anic interpretation that is reliable
and free of defects is the act of interpreting
the Qur’an by the Qur’an. Whatever is explained
briefly in one passage will be explained in detail
in another. And whatever appears obscure
somewhere will be made evident elsewhere.”
He opines that the helping factor which plays a
huge role in explaining the meanings of the
Qur’an is to consider the context. He said: “Context
is the greatest interpreter of the Qur’an. At
this juncture, it is justifiable to say that it is very
wrong to interpret a verse without knowing
what is before and what is after. It must be interpreted
with the context put in consideration….
All this is in the Qur’an itself, so there is
no need for an external interpreter.”
. . . a better understanding of the Qur’an
entails a lack of reliance on the ancient interpretations.
. .
I Shall Love All Mankind.
In this regard, a fierce attack is launched
against the Qur’anic exegetes and jurists, for
they — according to his view — have conveyed
the Qur’anic texts in a way contrary to what it
intends.
At this point, al-Bana contends that “the interpretation
given by exegetes and rulings deduced
by jurists narrow down the broadness of
the Qur’an, make difficult what has been simplified,
make rigid what is flexible, and reject what
is made permissible by its miraculous wording.
This happened because the tyrannical spirit of
the ancient era, the ignorance that permeated
its atmosphere as well as widespread oppression
at that time did not allow freedom, equality
and exposure that the Qur’an advocates. Today,
we are bringing back to Islam its strength and
effectiveness by returning to the Qur’an directly
without being restricted by the interpretation
of the interpreters, or the jurisprudence of jurists.”
While scholars are
subjected to a harsh
campaign, it has been
somewhat tempered when the discrepancy between
the Qur’anic texts and their jurisprudence
is remitted to a jurisprudence influenced
by the environment of jurist and his society. He
stated as thus, “Jurisprudence of scholars has to
be influenced by their era and the general climate,
with no immunity from human shortcomings.
This is an act of taming the Qur’an to cohere
with their jurisprudence despite the incompatibility
of the latter with the spirit of the
former and its text. This prevents the embarrassment
of relying on narrations and warding
off pretexts.”
In this regard, it becomes obvious that a better
understanding of the Qur’an entails a lack of
reliance on the ancient interpretations. This is
because these interpretations have prevented
the understanding of the exact meanings intended
by the Qur’an by imposing themselves
as intermediary between the Qur’an and the
reader…such as the interpretation of Tabari, Ibn
Katheer, Razi and Qurtubi and even Dhilal written
by Sayyid Qutub.”
V. THIRD: LACK OF CONSIDERATION
October 2017 The
Light 9
FOR ABROGATION “Al-NASKH” IN THE
QUR’AN
Jamal al-Bana contends in many of his
works that the issue of abrogation on which
many books were written by ancient scholars of
Qur’anic exegetes has driven them away from
the true spirit of the Qur’an and its intended
meanings.
Did Muslims build Judaism's
Holiest Site?
by F.M. Loewenberg
Middle East Quarterly Fall 2017
http://www.meforum.org/6898/is-the-western-wall-judaism-holiest-site
According to him, “the case of abrogation as
misguiding.” He goes on and states: “There is
nothing worse in indication than what jurists
refer to as abrogation with which they call for
the obstruction and solidification of hundreds
of verses.”
Al-Bana specified a chapter that is not less
than 70 pages for the issue of abrogation in his
book titled, al-Aslaan al-Adheemaan in which he
gives a lengthy discussion. He concludes claiming
that abrogation is never a Qur’anic method
to which one can be submissive or to which one
can make reference. He refutes the claim for the
existence of abrogation in the Qur’an by pointing
out that the focus of scholars on two verses
in the Qur’an whose apparent meaning indicates
the presence of abrogation does not support
their claim at all. The first is the verse 106
of chapter 2, while the second is the verse 101
of chapter 16. The verse in the Qur’anic discourse
is not in the sense of “text”, but as “miracle”,
“presumption” or “indication”.
FOURTH: LACK OF ATTENTION TO THE
OCCASIONS OF REVELATION
Al-Bana stresses that the understanding of
the Qur’anic discourse should not be related to
what the scholars of interpretation call “occasions
of revelation (Asbaab al-Nuzuul)”. He
points out that “most of the narrations about occasions
of revelation are either distorted or fabricated,
or narrated with the meaning that could
be derived for another purpose. However, exegetes
grabbed these hadeeths because they offer
solution to their problems even though they
say: “consideration is given to a general meaning
of words and not to the specific reason”.
To be continued in the next issue — Editor.
(Return to contents)
I Shall Love All Mankind.
An artist's reconstruction shows where today's Western
Wall (the area between the two dark vertical lines) lies
in relation to the temple complex.
F. M. Loewenberg is professor emeritus at
Bar-Ilan University's School of Social Work.
Since his retirement, his research interests have
focused on the history of the Temple Mount and
the Western Wall.
(Note: This research had been substantially
edited to show that Muslims supported the Jews
on many occasions. The full article can be found
at the above link. The title of the original article
is: Is the Western Wall Judaism’s Holiest Site? -
Editor)
. . . Once the Roman Empire adopted Christianity
as its official state religion in the fourth
century, the situation of Jerusalem's Jewish
community became precarious. During most of
the next three hundred years, Jews were not
permitted to live or visit Jerusalem, but there
were periods when this anti-Jewish policy was
relaxed, and Jews were permitted to live in or
visit the city. Yet there are no records of Jews
praying at the Western Wall during those years.
After the Persian and Arab conquests of the city
in the seventh century, Jews were again allowed
to reside in Jerusalem. They chose to live on
Mount Zion where they had a number of synagogues.
They even had a synagogue on the Temple
Mount but no prayer services were conducted
at the Western Wall. . . .
October 2017 The
Light 10
. . . Early in the fourteenth century, Jews
were barred from entering the Temple Mount
by the Mamluks, who ruled Jerusalem from
1250 to 1516. . . .
Suleiman the Magnificent ordered improvements, including
clearing an area around the western side of the
retaining wall that contained the Temple Mount, which
he assigned to the Jews as a place for them to pray.
Suleiman the Magnificent ordered improvements,
including clearing an area around the
western side of the retaining wall that contained
the Temple Mount, which he assigned to
the Jews as a place for them to pray. Before that,
today's Western Wall held no religious significance.
In 1517, the Ottoman Empire captured the
city of Jerusalem, bringing to an end almost
three hundred years of Mamluk rule. Sultan Suleiman
I the Magnificent, whose reign from
1520 until his death in 1566 was the longest
reign of any Ottoman ruler, was among the most
prominent monarchs of his day. He conquered
many Christian strongholds in Europe and was
stopped only in 1529 when he failed to conquer
Vienna. He subsequently turned his attention
toward consolidating his gains in the Middle
East. In 1536, he ordered the restoration of Jerusalem's
city walls, which had been in ruin
since the thirteenth century. Later, he undertook
an extensive renovation of the Dome of the
Rock.
Suleiman adopted a positive attitude toward
the Jews of his realm. He persuaded many
who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal
a generation earlier to settle in Jerusalem. Some
believe that he encouraged Jewish immigration
in order to limit the influence of the local Arabic-speaking
population. Whatever his motives,
Jerusalem's Jews benefited from his benevolence
toward them.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Fourteen years after he had ordered the rebuilding
of the city walls, Suleiman instructed
his court architect to prepare the area that came
to be known as the Western Wall as a place for
Jewish worship. Such a move became possible
because on January 14, 1546, a severe earthquake
hit the region. Hundreds of people were
killed. The flow of the Jordan River was stopped
for two days by a landslide. A tsunami battered
the Mediterranean coast from Acre to Gaza. The
area hardest hit by this earthquake in Jerusalem
was the Temple Mount and the quarters surrounding
it, including many of the houses that
had been built along the western wall. These
were the houses that had prevented access to
most of the western wall. Now that the approach
was blocked by ruins rather than by
houses occupied by many people, Suleiman felt
ready to instruct his engineers to clear the ruins
and to prepare a Jewish prayer site at the western
wall. . . .
Once the Western Wall had been properly
prepared as a prayer site, Suleiman issued a firman
(decree) that established the right of Jews
to pray there for all times. There are those who
claim that this royal decree was issued to compensate
the Jews for relinquishing their legal
rights to pray on the Temple Mount, but there is
no record that Jews ever relinquished those
rights voluntarily. This firman was still in effect
in the nineteenth century. In 1840, Ibrahim Pasha
of Egypt (who was also the governor of Jerusalem)
allowed the Jews "to pay visits to [the
Western Wall] as of old" but forbade them to
pave the area in front of it and cautioned them
against "raising their voices and displaying
their books there." Subsequent governors reissued
this firman in 1841, 1889, 1893 and
1909. The nineteenth-century geographer Joseph
Schwartz noted the importance of this decree
even in his days, three hundred years later:
“No one is molested . . . by the Mahomedans, as
we have a very old firman from the Sultan of
Constantinople that the approach [to the Western
Wall] shall not be denied to us, though the
Porte [the Ottoman government] obtains for
this privilege an especial tax, which is, however,
quite insignificant.”
Although Sultan Suleiman designated the
Western Wall as a central locus of Jewish prayer,
for more than four hundred years, this site was
October 2017 The
Light 11
quite unlike the Western Wall that we know today.
From the time of its inception in the sixteenth
century until 1967, the site was only a
narrow alley—on one side were the houses of
the thickly settled Arab neighbourhood known
as the Mughrabi Quarter and, on the other, the
retaining, western wall of the Temple Mount.
The prayer area was only 4 meters wide and 28
meters long, occupying less than six percent of
the western wall's total length of 488 meters.
This small area could barely accommodate a
few hundred people. (End)
Jewish Magic
By Shahid Aziz M.Sc.
Since the time that Constantine embraced
Christianity, Christians have persecuted the
Jewish people. As the article about the Wailing
Wall, printed in this issue of The Light shows,
Sulaiman, the Magnificent, helped the Jews escape
Christian persecution in Portugal and
Spain and settled them in Jerusalem. Martin Luther
is regarded as a great reformer of Catholicism
but his statements about the Jews are full
of hatred and are extremely poisonous. One reason
for this persecution is obvious – the Jews
had beaten, humiliated and eventually put on
the Cross, the person Christians believe to be
the son of God.
But, there may have been another reason
for such persecution. One difference between
Islam and Judaism, and Christianity is that
whereas Islam and Judaism stress following the
Law, Christians believe that this is not necessary.
Jewish law commands the Jews to wash
their hands before eating. It requires ‘clean’
food is eaten and, generally stresses personal
hygiene. In ancient times, the germ theory and
sterilisation was unknown. As late as 1960s,
even the staff who prepared and served food did
not wash their hands before touching food. So,
when the Christians fell victims to water-borne
cholera and other
diseases caused
by poor hygiene
and were dying
like flies, the Jews
did not suffer.
Jews themselves
did not understand
the reason and that it was washing
that kept them alive. Christians assumed that if
they were dying and Jews were not, the Jews
must have poisoned their wells or used a magic
spell to kill them. Jews, unaware that it was the
result of following religious law which sterilised
them, were unable to explain.
In the Middle Ages, the European poor used
every part of a slaughtered animal. This included
blood which went, and still does go, to
make blood sausage. Jews made sure that all the
blood was drained from a carcase before eating
the meat. Christians could not believe that the
Jews were throwing away nourishing food or
feeding it to animals. This led them to assume
that the Jews conducted gruesome blood rituals,
which made Christians fall ill and die..
Many countries brought in laws to prevent
Jews from being farmers or craftsmen or soldiers.
This forced them into finance instead. As
many outbreaks are associated with animals
and farming, this meant that Jews were less
prone to epidemics. Even now when some illness
is found on a farm, movement of animals
and humans to that farm is stopped. This led to
greater suspicion of them. (end)
The Light thanks its readers for
their comments and articles.
They have allowed us to improve
our services to you.
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I Shall Love All Mankind.
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