ِ ی م الرَّحم
ن
ِ
سب اہللِ الرَّْحم ٰ
ْ م ِ
The Light
International Organ of the Centre for the Worldwide
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam
2018
April
2016
July
The only Islamic organisation which is upholding the finality of prophethood.
Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at
www.virtualmosque.co.uk
Germany
Guyana
India
Sweden
Suriname
Editors
- Amir Aziz
- Abd ul Muqtadir Gordon
- Gowsia Saleem & - Prof. Shahab
Shabbir
- Kaleem Ahmed
- Robbert Bipat M.D, PhD
South Africa-Ebrahim Mohamed
UK
The USA
- Shahid Aziz & - Mustaq Ali
- Zainab Ahmad
Contents
The Call of the Messiah 2
An Eid Khutba by Ebrahim Mohamed 3
Islam - A Religion of Peace Arab News 8
Purpose of Existence by Araf Rehman 8
Education of Muslim Women by Phew
Research Centre 11
The Quranic Script Arab News 12
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
Our 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
Broadcasts from and about us
‣ Audio of the Holy Quran
‣ www.virtualmosque.co.uk
‣ mixlr.com Radio Virtual Mosque
‣ Eid ul Fitr khutba by Mr Nasir Ahmad
‣ Friday khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz
‣ Prejudice by Muslims (Urdu)
‣ Are non-Muslims entitled to Zakat?
Interesting external links
‣ Hafizah Helps prove Einstein was Right.
‣ Still Smiling After an Acid Attack - BBC.
‣ Protecting Women in Pakistan.
‣ In Pakistan, Girl box their Way out of Discrimination.
‣ London More Islamic Than Much of the Islamic
World!
External Links
The Light is not responsible for the content
of external sites. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be
an endorsement of that website, the views it expresses
or the site's owners (or their products/services).
Some links may have research, which disagrees
with our beliefs. It is for us to consider
such material and provide a rebuttal. Ignoring it
will not make it go away.
We welcome all scholarly contributions to
The Light.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
July 2018 The
Light 2
The Call of the
Messiah
by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi
(Editor’s note: Any quotations from the Quran
are translated from the author’s explanations
and are not literal translations of the verse
quoted. This extract is from the English translation
of a lecture he delivered in 1904 in Lahore,
now in Pakistan, taken from the Lahore Ahmadiyya
publication ‘Essence of Islam’.)
The Purity of Sexual Relations in Islam
Here I take occasion to express my views on
another point of equal importance. Whatever
the feeling of hatred
which the
Arya Samaj entertains
towards
Muslims and the
principles of Islam,
it should not make
a total departure
from the timehonoured
custom
of purdah, for such
a course would be
productive of immense evil and mischief,
though it may appear to be attractive at the present
moment. Every sensible person can easily
understand that the majority of men and
women in this age are walking only in obedience
to their passions and desires and are so
completely in their control that they do not care
at all for the retribution of their deeds. Most
young men cannot refrain from looking to lust
after young and beautiful women if they get a
chance to look at them at all. And so is also the
case for most women. If in this state, when the
hearts of both sexes are not free from corruption
and evil and are unable to resist the temptations
of flesh, a too free meeting of men and
women is allowed, the result would be that the
evil of adultery would poison the whole system
of society, as is the case in many parts of Europe.
But when these men actually grow pure in
heart. When they are freed from the control of
I Shall Love All Mankind.
bestial passions and sensual desires, when the
spirit of devil is utterly expelled from among
them, when the Divine majesty takes entire possession
of their hearts and the awe of God controls
their looks, in short when a pure transformation
is effected in their lives and they don the
garments of the fear of God, then, but not till
then, they may do what they like, for they would
be then as eunuchs made so by the Hand of God
and their eyes would be shut against lustful
looks and their hearts closed against evil ideas.
But remember, my beloved countrymen, may
God Himself inspire this idea into your hearts,
that this is the most dangerous time for doing
away with the custom of purdah, and if you do it
you would sow the seed of poison in your people
which would vitiate the whole society. This
is a time when the custom of purdah ought to
have been instituted even if it had never prevailed
before, for this is the kaljug (the iron age).
Evil rages in the
world and the
Evil rages in the world and
the transgression of Divine
commandments, corruption
and drunkenness are at
their highest.
transgression of
Divine commandments,
corruption
and drunkenness
are at their highest.
Atheism prevails
in the hearts
and the awe of Divine
majesty and
glory has utterly
vanished away from them. Many things are uttered
with the tongue with which the heart does
not tally. Lectures are delivered which may
claim great intellectual merits, but the hearts
are dead and devoid of spirituality. It is not appropriate
that at such a time the poor sheep
should be let loose in forests where wolves
abound.
My friends, the plague is still threatening us
and I have received information from on High
that many of its onslaughts are in store for us.
These are dangerous days and no one can say
who would become its morsel by the next year
and who remain alive, what house would be
devastated and what saved. Arise then and repent,
and please your Lord with good and virtuous
deeds. Mind that though errors in belief
would be punished in the life to come, and the
fact of being a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian
July 2018 The
Light 3
Reconcile yourselves with
your Lord, for He is the most
Merciful and if you ripen
truly and forsake the ways
of evil, He will forgive you
all your sins.
would be decided on the day of judgment, yet
the person who, exceeds all limits in his transgressions,
evils and injustice to others, will be
punished even here, and he cannot flee from the
wrath of heaven. Rise then and please your Master
and be at peace with Him before the terrible
day comes, the day of the raging of plague, of
which the prophets of God have prophesied.
Reconcile yourselves with your Lord, for He is
the most Merciful and if you repent truly and
forsake the ways of evil, He will forgive you all
your sins. A single moment's repentance with a
true and fearful heart cancels the evil deeds of
seventy years. Do not say that your repentance
is not accepted by God. No! you cannot be saved
by your own deeds, it is the grace of God that
takes you by the hand and not your own deeds.
O Merciful and Gracious God, show mercy to us
for we are Your servants and bow ourselves at
Your threshold.
Comment by the Editor - Zainab Ahmad:
As part of his mission for the revival of the original
spirit of Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
wrote about the need for utmost modesty in
gender relations. At that time the custom of purdah
was prevalent in the Indian subcontinent,
which meant that women were practically secluded
from society. They had a separate section
within the home and they would not mingle
with men, and rarely ventured out in society.
Hazrat Mirza Sahib brought moderation to this
restrictive practice, by encouraging women to
leave their homes for exercise and other needs.
He also urged men to lower their gaze as far as
possible, so as to avoid staring at the opposite
gender. He himself embodied this virtue and
kept his eyes downcast for modesty.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Hazrat Mirza Sahib did not differentiate between
men and women with regard to their
spirituality and his soul-stirring teaching address
both to raise their morality to the point
where they would not be swayed by lower passions.
As we reflect upon these words said over
a hundred years ago, we find them to be sadly
true in our times. Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s words
call each of us to reflect on the role of modesty
in our lives.
(Return to contents)
Only True Morality Can Bring
Happiness and Peace on
Earth
The Sermon Eid ul Fitr 2018
By Ebrahim Mohamed
“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for
you, as it was prescribed for those before you,
so that you may guard against evil.” (The Holy
Quran, 2:183)
All praise is due to Almighty Allah we praise
Him, and we thank Him for this blessed day of
Eid; a day of recurring joy that is celebrated at
the end of the month of fasting. The lesson we
derive from the noble acts of devotion for the
sake of Almighty Allah in the month of Ramadan
is that only once humankind has reached the
stage where they are in complete control of
their lower passions of lust, greed and anger
will lasting happiness abide on earth. The wisdom
of our Creator in prescribing an effective
remedy for the diseases of evil that plague our
beings and societies at large is therefore indeed
a great sign of His Mercy for humankind. The
remedy is simple, fasting and the objective la
‛alla-kum tattaqoon “so that you may guard
against evil.” The abstention from food, though,
is an effective, psychological discipline that
makes man realise if in obedience to Almighty
Allah he can stay away from what is otherwise
lawful, how much more important is it for him
to stay away from what is unlawful and evil in
the sight of Allah. Fasting is thus a means to an
end, and that is the conquering of the evil within
July 2018 The
Light 4
and without to quicken the growth of moral and
spiritual qualities latent
in all of us. This is
the difficult part not the
staying without food.
Anyone can stay without
food; even young
children do it these
days. The staying without
food part of the
Ramadan ends today
but not the ‘staying
away from evil.’ It is imperative
that we understand
what la‛alla-kum
tattaqoon, guarding
O you who believe, be upright
for Allah, bearers of
witness with justice; and
let not hatred of a people
incite you not to act equitably.
Be just; that is
nearer to the observance
of duty. And keep your
duty to Allah. Surely Allah
is Aware of what you do. -
The Holy Quran 5:8
I Shall Love All Mankind.
against evil, really
entails. It is continuous
hard work. We cannot
change our natures, but
we can mould and guide ourselves into becoming
beings of high morality. ‘Guarding against
evil’ means we constantly have to work on our
weaknesses and to do this effectively we must
first accept the fact that we have all been created
weak and not perfect. We are all made up
of basic raw qualities and traits that need to be
refined. As Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote,
you cannot change the nature of a person, but
you can teach him how to use his intrinsic nature
for the moral good of humanity at large and
not to harm anyone. Teach him how to conquer
his lust and turn it into the moral qualities of
love, compassion and empathy for humankind.
Teach him how to turn his anger into bravery
and rather become a defender of the weak and
righteous and not a murderer of innocent people.
Teach him how to turn his greed into insatiable
quests for doing good to all of humanity
instead of robbing and depriving them of their
rightful property and rights. (Hazrat Mirza Sahib
has written a masterpiece on this topic in
his paper submitted at an interfaith conference
in Lahore about a century ago, called The Philosophy
of the Teachings of Islam, or just The Teachings
of Islam. I recommend it highly if you are
interested in this branch of knowledge.) So, the
transformation of the self, which is the aim and
object of the fast, is hard work, but essential for
in the end it is the only hope we have of establishing
lasting peace and ever-recurring happiness
on earth. If you feel
this might be farfetched,
wishful thinking
then let us ponder
and reflect on the condition
the world is in at
present for a while. Imagine
a world where
dominant forces of
good over evil are triumphant;
a world of
controlled greed, controlled
anger, controlled
lusts, everywhere.
Imagine a world
where freedom to worship
Almighty God is a
respected human right
free of persecution.
Then imagine a world of tolerance; a world devoid
of backbiting; devoid of superstitions and
suspicions; devoid of envy and hatred. Imagine
a world free of anger and killings where human
life is respected and where the striving for its
preservation is zealously supported and applauded
by every living soul on this earth and
where even the slightest harm that might lead
to its destruction are condemned in the loudest
of voices with the contempt it deserves and duly
punished with fitting punishments so as never
to be repeated. Imagine a world free of lies, slander,
corruption, defamations, and deliberate
distortions of truth to malign others. Imagine a
world free of ignorance in all its ugly shapes and
forms that we come across daily, such as the bigotry,
biases, prejudices, dogmatism, extremism,
and fanaticism that creep up upon us all the
time.
Imagine a world where ‘free thinking’ and
‘free expressions of thought’ that uplift society,
not such that defame and abuse the dignity and
rights of others, prevail. Imagine a world where
the principles of justice throughout the world,
especially in morally depraved countries under
majority Muslim governance, are based on the
noble dictum of the Holy Quran:
“O you who believe, be upright for Allah,
July 2018 The
Light 5
bearers of witness with justice; and let not hatred
of a people incite you not to act equitably.
Be just; that is nearer to the observance of duty.
And keep your duty to Allah. Surely Allah is
Aware of what you do.” -The Quran, 5:8
Then imagine a world free of greedy, ruthless
profiteering by a handful of ‘fat-cat’ corporates
and spoilt oligarchies bloated with illgained
wealth and opulence to the misery of the
masses; perhaps then we might just be able to
imagine a world free of all sorts of human
abuses: human trafficking, homelessness, poverty,
hunger and uncontrolled diseases and
drug addiction. Like John Lennon, we can keep
on imagining, and like Martin Luther King we
can keep on dreaming of a world united in
brotherly love, peace, justice and ultimately ample
sustenance and happiness for all. But one
thing is for certain such a ‘heaven on earth’ will
not simply fall from the sky onto our laps as the
disciples of Jesus pleaded for. Nay, it has to be
earned. Therefore, the Greatest of Physicians of
the Universe, the Rabb-ul-‛Alameen our Lord,
the Nourisher and Sustainer of all the worlds,
has prescribed fasting as one of the means to
achieving that end la‛alla-kum tattaqoon — “so
that you may guard against evil.”
Muslims these days, like the Jews did after
Moses, tend to approach their faith more in a
ritualistic manner. Often more emphasis is put
on the external
aspects such as
the abstaining
from food and
drink and not
enough focus
is placed on
the intended
. . . the apparent disconnect between
the teachings of the Holy
Qur’an and the practice of Islam in
the Muslim World, which is what the
Holy Prophet prophetically refers to
. . .
moral development that feeds the spiritual
seeds of our souls.
With the advent of Islam and the revelation
of the Holy Quran, the means to obtain control
over our base desires and passions that ignite
evil have been made accessible to all of us. The
prayer five times a day, the fast, the giving in
charity, the pilgrimage are all devotions focused
on generating humane, moral qualities within
us. If it fails to do this, then there is a serious
I Shall Love All Mankind.
problem with the manner these acts of devotions
are performed. In fact, it would be a waste
of time and effort. This, unfortunately, is the
condition existent in most parts of the Muslim
world today. Anyone can be taught to perform
the prayer, to fast, to give zakaat and perform
pilgrimage but when it comes to sacrificing
over-blown egos to put into practice basic ordinances
of the Holy Quran on issues of justice
and exercising even basic human rights, Muslims,
in general, fail miserably.
During the time of the Prophet (s), the hypocrites
used to pray, they used to fast etc., but
they turned their backs on him (s) at the most
crucial time in his career. Today it would seem
that Muslims nations have turned their backs
on the Holy Quran. They recite it beautifully but
are not prepared to implement its teachings in
their daily lives. The ulema are devoid and incapable
of providing guidance. Instead they engage
in petty politics, fighting among themselves
for status and positions of power over the
vulnerable minds of weak followers unable to
think for themselves and happy to be led like
sheep to the house of mental, moral and spiritual
slaughter. It is such behaviour that made
the Nabi (saw) complain to Almighty Allah: “My
Lord, surely my people treat this Quran as a forsaken
thing” (25:30).
The truth of this plea of the Holy Prophet
(saw) has been proven
true by recent studies
done by a PhD Economist,
Professor Hossein
Askari. Askari made a
study on how close to
Quranic principles the
economic, political and
justice systems of 152 countries in the world
are. According to Professor Askari, what motivated
his study was the apparent disconnect between
the teachings of the Holy Quran and the
practice of Islam in the Muslim World, which is
what the Holy Prophet prophetically refers to in
verse quoted above. He says, and I quote: “(the)
Indices provide a simple approach for Muslims
to focus on the indisputable source of their religion—the
Holy Quran—as opposed to pronouncements
made by clerics, rulers, the media
July 2018 The
Light 6
and extremists, who all have their selfish agendas.”
He looked at four specific categories
within which the overall successful governance
of a country depends. These are the Economy,
Legal and Governance, Human and Political
Rights, and International Affairs.
So, I gather, he would have, for example,
looked at whether a country provides freedom
of religion within the framework of the Quranic
injunction “There is no compulsion in religion”
and whether the justice system is based on a
free and independent judiciary that upholds the
principle of the Holy Quran that says:
when they make a promise, and the patient in
distress and affliction and in the time of conflict.
These are they who are truthful, and these are
they who keep their duty.” (2:177)
This verse is self-explanatory. Together
with the other verses I have quoted on justice
and freedom of religion, these form but a few
that highlight the very high standard set by the
Holy Quran with regard to all forms of human
rights, justice, social welfare, etc. especially the
spirit of selflessness i.e. ‘doing it for the sake of
the muḥabba (love) of Allah’, free from insincere,
empty ritualism.
“Be upright for Allah, bearers of witness
with justice; and let not hatred of a people incite
you not to act equitably” - 5:8
“O you who believe, be maintainers of justice,
bearers of witness for Allah, even though it
be against your own selves or (your) parents or
near relatives — whether he be rich or poor, Allah
has a better right over them both. So follow
not (your) low desires, lest you deviate. And if
you distort or turn away from (truth), surely Allah
is ever aware of what you do.” - 4:135
And a political system that is all-inclusive
and consultative. And to address the social
needs to alleviate the burdens of the poor and
disadvantaged, there are numerous verses in
the Holy Quran to this effect. The following one
stands out as capturing the true spirit that is expected
to accompany these noble acts of benevolence.
“It is not righteousness that you turn your
faces towards the East and the West, but
righteous is the one who
believes in Allah, and the Last
Day, and the angels and the
Book and the prophets, and
gives away wealth out of love
for Him to the near of kin and
the orphans and the needy
and the wayfarer and to those
who ask and to set slaves free
and keeps up prayer and pays
the poor-rate; and the
performers of their promise
‘Be upright for Allah,
bearers of witness
with justice;
and let not hatred
of a people incite
you not to act equitably’
-5:8
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Now, one would naturally expect that with
such noble Quranic guidelines, Muslim governed
countries would be amongst the topranking
in the ‘Askari’ index scoresheet in the
categories ‘Economy, Legal and Governance,
Human and Political Rights, and International
Affairs.’ However, it is with dismay that the opposite
is true. Ranked at the top, based on an average
score of all four categories, is New Zealand
followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland,
followed by 39 other non-Muslim countries
with Malaysia the first Muslim country in
the rankings at 43 rd . The country with the highest
Muslim population in the world, Indonesia
is 74 th , and Saudi Arabia, the custodians of the
Holy cities at 88 with Iran at 134 and Pakistan a
low 137. I was particularly interested in the human
rights stats as for me the Holy Quran lays
much emphasis on human rights. First was Norway,
second Sweden, third New Zealand, followed
by several other non-Muslim countries.
Indonesia was 92, Saudi Arabia 110 and Pakistan
at an almost rock-bottom low of 142 out of
152 countries. What is shocking is the fact that
these are countries that claim
religious allegiance to the
Holy Quran, which is sheer
hypocrisy.
These results come as no
surprise, though, for it is a
known fact that in most of
these Muslim countries you
do not have the freedom to
even speak out against any injustices
whether committed
July 2018 The
Light 7
by the ruling authorities or the sacrosanct
ulema without the fear of being jailed. In Pakistan,
minority groups such as Ahmadis, for example,
are declared non-Muslim by human
agencies at the beck and call of bigots parading
as clerics and, can you believe it, jailed for
practising Islam. And let me remind you these
are no longer the much dreaded, dark, medieval
days of human history, this is the supposed enlightened
21 st century.
Islam is the natural religion of humanity, it
does not belong to Muslims alone. Thus, the
Holy Quran says:
“So set thy face for religion, being upright,
the nature made by Allah in which He has created
men.” – 30:30
It thus comes as no surprise that fairminded,
rational people, although not of the
Muslim community, would, perhaps unknowingly,
adopt such sound, practical principles to
be found only in the Holy Quran. It is time that
we stop looking for ‘Islam
in Practice’ in the East for
that is where the sun of Islam
has set and rather
turn our attention to the
West for that is where it
will rise according to an
interpretation of a prophecy
of our noble Prophet
Muhammad (s). All indications
are that Islam is
indeed on the rise in the
West and it is very encouraging
to see a host of
enlightened folk emerging from among academics,
religious scholars and ordinary folk,
male and female, prepared to challenge the old
order created by ulema still stuck in their narrow-minded,
backward ideologies and practices.
There is also an encouraging movement
towards the adoption of the Holy Quran as the
undisputed primary source and a slow but
steady, overdue departure from the prominence
given to the long-held practice of blind subservience
to flawed, outdated interpretations of
the clerical fraternity. The clarion call ‘Back to
the Quran’ of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to
O God, it is Your promise that
You shall make Islam triumph
in the world. It is Your promise
that after falling into the
greatest deviation and wrongdoing
people will again turn
to You. Fulfill this promise of
Yours today and let the truth
overcome falsehood and let
Islam triumph over unbelief.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
the Muslims 100 years ago is slowly coming to
fruition. In 1917 when his first English translation
came out, Maulana Muhammad Ali urged
that the Holy Quran must be taken to the West
by the wishes of the Mujaddid Hazrat Mirza Sahib.
It was the first properly bound and printed
single volume English translation by a Muslim
that reached the shores of Britain, Europe, Africa,
the USA, and Egypt. It was this English
translation that inspired the Nation of Islam in
America and caused the likes of his namesake
Muhammad Ali, the boxer, and many others
turning to Islam. Give a man a copy of the Holy
Quran and the Quran will do the work by itself,
were the words of Maulana Muhammad Ali.
How often do we not hear heart-warming tales
of people who found faith simply by reading the
Holy Quran? I would encourage everyone here
to engage in this work. Start by buying one
Quran and donating it to a friend, a stranger, an
institution, or whatever, you decide. And who
knows who might be touched by its inspirational
teachings. I would like to conclude with
the following prayer by Maulana Muhammad
Ali for the triumph of Islam
“O God, unbelief is dominant
over the world. Love of
worldly things and wealth
has taken hold of human
hearts. Human beings are being
led astray by possession
of physical power, material
resources and outward
adornments. But, O God, it is
Your promise that You shall
make Islam triumph in the
world. It is Your promise that
after falling into the greatest deviation and
wrongdoing people will again turn to You. Fulfill
this promise of Yours today and let the truth
overcome falsehood and let Islam triumph over
unbelief.
— “O God, the armies of unbelief and misguidance
are attacking with full force. Your
strength in the past too has been manifested
through weak human beings. Let it be manifest
today through this small Jama‘at. We are weak,
humble and sinners but we have a strong zeal to
see Islam prevail over unbelief. Forgive us our
July 2018 The
Light 8
faults, grant us protection, save us from stumbling,
and be our helper and make this weak
Jama‘at of Islam overcome the vast strength of
unbelief. O God! make the Quran and Muhammad
Rasul-ullah and Islam triumphant in the
world, and wipe off the forces of unbelief and
misguidance.” (Return to contents)
Islam
A Religion of Peace
From Arab News
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1283136/saudi-arabia
Makkah: Spreading moderation in the Muslim
world will be an enormous task that will
present Islamic scholars with numerous challenges,
Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed A-Talib,
Imam and Preacher of the Grand Holy Mosque
in Makkah, has said.
He was addressing the 12th batch of guests
of the Program of the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques for Umrah and Hajj.
Al-Talib stressed that the program seeks to
build bridges of communication among Islamic
scholars around the world to discuss thorny issues
and challenges facing Islamic nations and
to overcome obstacles to deploying the true Islamic
religion.
“A big task rests on our shoulders that is to
identify and defend the true status of Islam,
which is a religion of peace and teaches us love,
peace, brotherhood, equality, humanity, a way
of life, justice and tolerance,” he added.
and sense the fraternal tie. We should never allow
anyone to penetrate our rank to stoke division,
suspicion or disintegration.”
“Islam has been under fire for 1,439 years
ago. However, its power increases with new
people reverting to Islam every day,” Al-Talib
said. He noted that the largest Muslim country
today regarding population is Indonesia, which
did not witness for 1,400 years any battle on its
soil because people there reverted to Islam
through trade and commercial dealings or by
addressing the intellect.
He reassured the Islamic scholars that Islam
cannot be weakened and shall prevail.
Dr Abdul Hamid Al-Ameen, Head of the
Mercy Relief Society in Norway, emphasised the
significant role played by Saudi Arabia under
the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Salman in caring for Muslims and
serving Islam. (Return to contents)
Purpose of Existence
By Mr Araf Rehman, LL. B
Secretary
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam (T&T)
“Say: If your fathers and your sons and your
brethren and your wives and your kinsfolk and
the wealth you have acquired, and trade whose
dullness you fear, and dwellings you love, are
dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and
striving in His way, then wait till Allah brings His
command to pass. And Allah guides not the
transgressing people.” The Quran, 9:24
Al-Talib emphasised the importance of unifying
Muslim ranks to counter the impending
dangers to avoid disintegration and fragmentation,
and instead to embody the concept of Islamic
fraternity, which is based on love and
honour.
“Our Islamic fraternity which gathers Muslims
from the far west to the far east and makes
us one secure nation, impels us to cooperate
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Let me firstly express my appreciation for
another opportunity to address your jamaat in
your lecture series for Ramadan 2018. Permit
me also to pay special recognition to Brother
Faizool Hosein who is celebrating his 70th
birthday today. May Allah continue to guide and
protect you so that you can see many more
happy birthdays in the years to come.
I noticed that your theme for this year is titled
‘The Holy Quran - Our Source of Guidance’.
July 2018 The
Light 9
We know that the month of Ramadan is the
month in which the Holy Quran was revealed. If
we study the Holy Quran, we come to the inescapable
conclusion that God has laid down for
us a broad and sound philosophical position.
Everything is placed in a proper perspective so
that man might not be at a loss as to his origin,
his place in the Universe and his ultimate journey.
The verse that I recited at the beginning,
9:24, presents itself to us as a wake-up call. The
ominous admonition is that if we are getting
caught up in the pursuit of worldly gains and
neglecting our Creator and his Messenger, then
we will not be counted among the rightly
guided. It is therefore imperative that we are
always kept conscious of the purpose of our existence.
The Quran states in 31:20 that all things are
made subservient to man as he is the best of creation.
In today’s materialistic world great emphasis
or focus is placed on acquiring material
resources for happiness. Wealth is pursued not
for itself but for the things that wealth brings;
things such as gourmet food, first-class
privileges, cars, houses, entertainment and the
like.
When human beings spend the majority of
their time in acquiring and or enjoying wealth,
they become diverted from other responsibilities
such as their health or the welfare of their
family, their friends, their community and even
their spiritual development. Acquiring material
resources for happiness is not bad. But it is our
attitude towards wealth which determines
whether we are selfless and care for others or
selfish and care only about ourselves. God exhorts
us not to let abundance bring us loss, especially
loss of character and values; see
18:103-105; chapters 102, 103 and 104. Progress
and gain are usually associated with material
advancement.
The gospel of the New Testament preaches
blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the
earth, but its followers claim that the poor are
lazy. The economic doctrine that rules the world
I Shall Love All Mankind.
is if you don't work you don't get. It has happened
that persons who could no longer afford
their mortgage, even though they may have already
paid back the amount they borrowed,
were kicked out of their homes. The message of
the Quran is quite different, as it says in 51:19:
“And in their prosperity, there is a due share for
the pauper and the indigent”.
The human being by nature is a seeker of
betterment and benefit. Everyone desires to improve
himself or herself and to better one's lot.
We seek to be better educated, richer, healthier
etc. The Quran does not stifle human nature and
its development. It does not condemn human
enjoyment of life. But it does state that in acquiring
all these we should be careful that we
do not belittle, look down upon or scorn others.
What then is the path to achieving prosperity
and all that goes with it? Is it through the
acquisition of wealth alone? Or is it through
faith and good deeds as well? Our Islam teaches
us: Don’t step over others, step down to help
others. Think of your progress and not how to
bring about the downfall of others.
The Quran educates us that six things destroy
our moral and spiritual progress. When
we amass a fortune in knowledge, health,
wealth or other material or worldly possessions
we must have faith, behave appropriately and
exhort each other to truth and tolerance; see
103:1-3. Our faith must not include these six
types of behaviour: sakhar which means laughing
at others, joking, ridiculing and mocking;
lamaz which means finding fault with your own
people; nabaz which is calling one another by
nicknames, or by inappropriate names; zann
which is suspicion; jas-sas which means spying
and ightaab which is backbiting 49:11, 12. All of
these not only hurt others but more importantly
they destroy us by becoming a burning obsession
enveloping us. When we laugh at other
people or backbite others, we demonstrate the
kind of ideas and thoughts we have in our
minds. We laugh at others because we feel we
are better than they; see 18:34.
We cannot spend out everything that we acquire.
If we do, then later on when we need resources
for our ill health, retirement, home care
July 2018 The
Light 10
etc. we will either have nothing, we may have
too little, or we may become dependent on others
for hand-outs or fundraising. But when we
don’t spend our wealth, we may lose it to others
legally or illegally; and furthermore we lose the
opportunity to be kind to build our character as
well as that of others. We eventually lose the
trust and confidence of others, and they lose
trust and confidence in us. Society today encourages
entrepreneurs more than philanthropists.
Philanthropy is left to the individual. It is
an individual choice. Entrepreneurship is a social
need as everyone aspires to have greater
economic sufficiency
and independence.
But acquisitions
of prosperity
can become
a costume for the
emptiness of human
personality. Strangely enough, millions of
people are motivated to donate more time and
money to support those who seek political
power than to give charity.
Then when such persons and parties gain
political power, they impose greater economic
and financial hardship on the entire population.
The question can be asked: What effect the acquisition
of material possessions has on our
personality and character? Are they the idols
that have replaced Allah in the Kaaba of the human
heart? We can measure the largeness of
wealth but not the largeness of the heart. We
can assess and quantify personal economic
growth but not personal spiritual growth. What
the world needs, therefore, is a system of accounting
for spiritual development. And so the
Quran tells us: If you do good, you do good for
your souls, and if you do evil, it is for them; see
17:7. The stuff we buy and own offers only temporary
happiness. Does acquiring these make
us better persons? Or are we the same but just
feel happier? By what standard do we measure
or estimate happiness. Happiness in Islam is a
natural flow of my good fortune to others. It
makes me a new person created after the likeness
of Allah. Happiness changes our true identity,
for when Allah gives us more we raise not
only our standard of living but our standard of
giving.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Our new and true identity is now shaped by
our faith in Allah and living a life in which our
behaviour is developed by His attributes.
Money and wealth doesn't buy love or happiness.
Acquiring wealth may free us from the
anxieties of earning a livelihood. Yet we are not
free from the cares which life brings. The enmity
of others, their jealousy and malice, family
calamities, health problems and the complications
of social life are among the burdens we are
required to bear. We find them, at times, growing
painful and burdensome. Only those who
possess the necessary largeness of heart can escape
the resulting
Our Islam enjoins upon us the use of our wealth
and our possessions, our health, our knowledge
and our strength for the benefit of a group of persons
extending from our close relatives, to our near
neighbours and even unto our far neighbours 4:36
miseries. It is acquiring
largeness of
heart through our
generosity which
helps us to bear the
difficulties and challenges
with a cheerful spirit.
Our Islam enjoins upon us the use of our
wealth and our possessions, our health, our
knowledge and our strength for the benefit of a
group of persons extending from our close relatives,
to our near neighbours and even unto our
far neighbours; see 4:36. Our Islam teaches us
to treasure our Relationships, not our Possessions.
This is the wealth which enables us to act
in such a manner as would remove any amount
of difficulties from our way, and at the same
time win the heart of the deadliest foes to turn
them into our friends. Says the Quran: “Repel
evil with what is best, when Lo! He (or she) between
whom and you is enmity would be as if
he (or she) were a warm friend!” (41:34).
Let us all use this month as a turning point
in our lives, and strive, through the self-disciplinary
act of fasting, to equip ourselves with
proper moral and spiritual values and thus develop
our character. In this month of Ramadan,
let us not reduce this universal religious institution
of fasting into a mere ritual. Let us all
pledge to live in harmony with the wonderful
teachings of Islam. May Allah guide all of us
along the path of character development in this
blessed month, and may He help each one of us
to continue with our spiritual striving. Without
Allah’s Mercy, nothing is possible.
July 2018 The
Light 11
Education of Muslim Women
Limited by economic conditions, not
religion
By Conrad Hackett
Conrad Hackett is a senior demographer and associate
director of research at Pew Research Centre.
and Dalia Fahmy
Vegard Skirbekk. Hackett is a senior demographer
and associate director of research at Pew
Research Centre. McClendon is a former research
associate at the Centre.)
The analysis shows that a country’s wealth
– not its laws or culture – is the most important
factor in determining a woman’s educational
fate, with women in oil-rich Gulf countries, especially,
making some of the biggest educational
leaps in recent decades.
(From:
www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2018/06/12/education-of-muslimwomen-is-limited-by-economic-conditionsnot-religion/)
Muslim societies have sometimes faced criticism
for failing to adequately educate women.
Boko Haram’s kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria
and the Taliban’s attack on Pakistani education
activist Malala Yousafzai have contributed
to this perception, raising the question of
whether Islam itself hampers women’s education.
But a new analysis of Pew Research Centre
data on educational attainment and religion
suggests that economics, not religion, is the key
factor limiting the education of Muslim women.
It’s true that, historically, Muslim women
have received less schooling than females of
other major religions (except Hindus); they also
have lagged behind Muslim men in educational
attainment, according to previous analysis by
Pew Research Centre. More recently, however,
Muslim women have been catching up — not
only with Muslim men but also with other
women around the world.
As Muslim women move up the educational
ladder, the role of religion as a predictor of academic
attainment is diminishing, according to
the new study, which analyzes the Centre’s education
data and appears in the journal Population
and Development Review. The findings
challenge claims that there’s a culture clash between
Muslim and Western societies over gender
equality in education. (The study was authored
by David McClendon, Conrad Hackett,
Michaela Potanc okova , Marcin Stonawski and
I Shall Love All Mankind.
For example, young Muslim women (born
between 1976 and 1985) in Saudi Arabia, which
calls itself an Islamic state and enforces conservative
gender laws, have an average of 11.5
years of schooling, compared with 11.8 years
for the country’s young men and just two years
of education for older Muslim women (those
born between 1935 and 1955). These numbers
indicate that Saudi Arabia has increased access
to schooling for women and has come closer to
closing the education gender gap. (The study
measured only the education of Saudi citizens
and not trends among the large population of
noncitizen migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf countries.) By comparison, the average
duration of schooling for young U.S. men
and women – across religious groups – is
around 13 years.
By contrast, in Mali – also a predominantly
Muslim country, but one that is economically
poor – young Muslim women have an average of
only 1.4 years of schooling, compared with 2.7
years for the country’s young men. And older
Muslim women in Mali (those born between
1935 and 1955) average half a year of schooling.
These figures show that Mali has seen only
modest gains in the education of Muslim
women. The same pattern has unfolded in sub-
Saharan Africa overall, where young Muslim
women average 2.5 years of school, up from 0.8
years of school among the older generation.
To test the extent to which Islam itself influences
a woman’s educational attainment, the
researchers examined factors in Muslim communities
that might play a role, such as the degree
of gender discrimination in a country’s
family laws, the percentage of its population
July 2018 The
Light 12
that is Muslim and the share of Muslims who reported
religion is very important to them. The
study finds that none of these elements had a
significant impact on the results. (Return_to
content)
Arabia’s Madani Script: From
handwritten origins to the
digital age
From: www.arabnews.com
JEDDAH: Ancient Arabic scripts are distinguished
by their beauty and diversity, and the
Makki and Madani scripts were the most prominent
versions throughout history. The Madani
script, in which the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the
Prophet Muhammad’s correspondence with
kings and presidents were written, is particularly
notable.
There are many opinions concerning the origins
of Arabic calligraphy. Some scholars suggest
it goes back to Ismail, son of the Prophet
Ibrahim. Others say it came from the Nabataeans
in the 4th century BC.
Prophet Muhammad urged people in Madinah
to learn to write, and so Arabic calligraphy
spread there only after his migration. The number
of literate people in the Prophet’s era is said
to have amounted to about 42 men.
The Madinah area is rich in precious Islamic
inscriptions engraved on the rocks of its mountains
and valleys, and ancient caravan routes.
The history of these inscriptions dates back to
the Hijri first century, and they include Qur’anic
verses, supplications, letters, poetry and news.
King Abdul Aziz took an interest in preserving
Arabic calligraphy, and his interest has been
reinforced by the King Salman Centre for Restoration
and Conservation of Historical Materials,
part of King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre, which
preserves and cares for ancient documents and
manuscripts.
Prince Faisal bin Salman, governor of Madinah
region, launched an initiative to preserve
the Madani script during the inauguration of an
exhibition of Madinah manuscripts organized
by King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre in 2016.
Many international libraries have copies of
the Holy Qur’an written in the Madani script, including
the Paris National Library, the Leiden
University Library in the Netherlands, the University
Library of Birmingham in England, and
the Berlin Library.
Idham Mohammed Hanash, the dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Islamic Architecture at the
World Islamic Science and Education University
in Jordan, said the Madani script has become
the standard for the origin and originality of Arabic
calligraphy.
He pointed out that it is characterized by
aesthetic qualities and technical characteristics
and said its great historical importance and
technical excellence mean there is a need to restore
knowledge of the art of the script.
Prince Faisal praised the King Fahd Complex
for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an in Madinah
for issuing 10 million copies of the book,
achieving the highest production level for the
first time in five months.
The target production is 18 million copies
during the first operational year, which ends after
seven months.
This came during a meeting with Tawfiq Al-
Sudairy, the deputy minister of Islamic Affairs,
Da’wah and Guidance, who briefed Prince Faisal
on the achievements of the King Fahd Complex
in the presence of Mohammed Salem Al-Awfi,
secretary-general of the complex.
Prince Faisal said that these achievements
came in record time with national capacities to
serve Islam and Muslims. (Return_to content)
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK)
Founders of the first Islamic Mission in the UK - established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission.
Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ
Centre: 020 8903 2689 ∙ President: 01793 740670 ∙ Secretary: 07737 240777 ∙ Treasurer: 01932 348283
E-mail: info@aaiil.uk
Websites: www.aaiil.org/uk | www.ahmadiyya.org | www.virtualmosque.co.uk
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Donations: https://www.cafonline.org/charityprofile/aaiiluk
Change language