Fathwa, - Ruling on Washing Eggs

Question
Why are chicken eggs notwashed before they are cooked ?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
, is His Slave and Messenger.
There is nothing wrong with washing chicken eggs before cooking them
for hygienic reasons so as to avoid anything that may be unclean, yet
it is not obligatory. The dischargethat covers chicken eggs is clean
according to the majority of scholars, especially from chickens that
were fed on pure fodder; since it is from a pure and eatable animal.
The Maaliki scholar Ibn Farhoon said: " Eggs should be washed
beforebreaking, but if they are not washed there is no harm. " In
fact, eggs should be washed because of the possibilitythat they might
be from hens whose fodder is impure. Jurists label such animals as
"Jallaalah"; i.e.any animal fed on impurities. Held
Allaah Knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Fathwa, - Scholars’ opinion on one who cannot wash his ears due to illness

Question
I have a problem: during ablution. I cannot wipe my ears with water
because it causes me constant pain and also I have a severe allergy to
water entering my ears, even if is a small amount. Is there a solution
for my condition ?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
, is His Slave and Messenger.
The majority of Muslim scholars, including Imaams Maalik and Abu
Haneefah , Ash-Shaafi'i and Ahmad ruled that wiping over the
earsduring ablution is a Sunnah and not obligatory.
Hence, there is no blame upon the questioner to give up wiping over
her ears if it is proven to bring harm to her. Allaah The Exalted Says
(what means): { and has not placed upon you in religion any
difficulty. } [Quran 22:78]
The adopted opinion of the Hanbali school of Fiqh in this regard is
that wiping over the ears during ablution is obligatory since the
Prophet , said: " The ears are part of the head. " [Ahmad, Abu
Daawood and At-Tirmithi]
Accordingly, if wiping over your ears would bring harm to you, then
you should perform dry ablution; you should wash all the other
organsof ablution with water and then apply dry ablution to your ears.
Allaah Knows best.

Fathwa, - Does drinking camels' milk invalidate Wudhoo’?

Question
Does drinking milk invalidate Wudhoo' (ablution)? It is narrated that
'Abdullaah ibn 'Umar, May Allaah Be Pleased with them, heard the
Messenger of Allaah , saying: "Perform Wudhoo' for eating camel meat
and do notperform Wudhoo' for eating sheep meat; perform Wudhoo' for
drinking camel milk and do not perform Wudhoo' for drinking sheep
milk; Pray in the dwellings of sheep anddo not pray in the resting
places of camels." [Ibn Maajah] What is the degree of authenticity of
this Hadeeth?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
, is His Slave and Messenger.
The view that drinking camel milk invalidates Wudhoo' is one of the
two narrations of Ahmad in this respect. Nevertheless, the second
narration is adopted since it accords with the opinion of the majority
of scholars.
As for the Hadeeth mentioned in the question, it is ranked as Dha'eef
(weak) by Al-Albaani in his classification of Sunan At-Tirmithi.
Allaah Knows best.

Coelacanth is not a transitional form, it is a perfect deep-water fish

The features that should be particularly stressed:
- It has a fossil dating back to 450 million years.
- By looking at the fossil, they claimed that it had lungs that
were being formed and primitive feet.
- They said it is a transitional being whichwas about to pass from
water to land.
- An alive Coelacanth was found. It was the same as its fossil
dating back to 450 million years.
- The examination made on the alive Coelacanth revealed that what
they called as the primitive lung was in fact an oil sac.
- The examination again revealed that what they called as the
primitive feet were actually fins.
- They said it was about to pass to land. However, Coelacanth is a
deep-water fish that cannot survive in shallow waters. It can survive
only below 150 metres.
- If Coelacanth were notcaught, it would be represented as the most
well-known water-to-land form, just as Tiktaalik of today. Darwinists
would show its pictures and it would be included in the textbooks.
If they were also extinct, Darwinists would also show the following
living beings as transitional forms:
Platypus
- Platypus is a mosaic living being.
- Despite being a mammal it reproduces by laying eggs. It has hair,
posseses glandula mammaria and nurses itschicks.
- It has a beak similar to bird beak and has curtained feet just
like waterfowls.
- It has poison like reptiles and again like reptiles they leave
their eggs in a section in theirbodies.
- This living being has fossils dating back from the dinosaur
period (208-146 million years) and it has not changed in any way.
- Tiktaalik is also a mosaic living being like platypus and all its
features reveal that it is a perfect living being.
Handfish
- The pectoral fins of this living being which look like hands is
quite developed.
- Hand fish use its pectoral fins to walk on the ocean floor.
- Just like Coelacanth it is a bottom-dwelling fishliving in the
depths of the ocean.
- If this fish were extinct and its fossils were found,
evolutionists would not hesitate to claim that it was a transitional
form from water-to-land and they would claim that their developed fins
were feet about to develop.
- However being a fish living in our day, the possible claims
regarding this perfect living being become void.
Flying Fish
- Fish beloning to a total of 50 species use their developed fins
like wings and thus cover short distances by flying.
- With a height of 1,5 metres, flying fish can flyabout 2,5 metres.
- These living beings live in our day and are created perfectly.
- If these living species were extinct and only their fossils were
found, evolutionists might haveseen them as a transitional form
between bird and fish. However, these living beings that are perfect
in every way, have been living for millions of years. - - ▓███▓
Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Pikaia is a perfect cambrian living thing. Claiming that it is a transitional form fossil isa deception.

Pikaia
Pikaia, because of several of its features, was included in the phylum
Chordata, which also includes vertebrates. The first known Cambrian
representative of this phylum, it had a pair of short tentacles on the
front. The trunk consisted of solid blocks of muscle, curved in an
Sshape. The tail expandedin the form of a fin. Pikaia swam just above
the sea bed. It propelled itself by using the muscles to undulate its
body.
The Vertebrates That Evolutionists Never Expected!
Vertebrates are defined as organisms with a spinal column and
spinalcord, a skeleton consisting of bone or cartilage, a brain
protected inside a skull, a closed circulatory system and a heart
consisting of two, three or four chambers. They are divided into five
classes: fish, amphibians,reptiles, birds and mammals. Widely
distributed across the world, their bodies contain a wide variety
ofhighly developed and complex structures.
As the evolutionist paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould admits, Darwinist
textbooks particularly stressed the fact that no evidence of
vertebrates in the Cambrian had ever been found, seeking to portray
this as evidence that Cambrian rocks confirmed the truth of Darwin's
theory of evolution. In their scenarios regarding vertebrate
evolution, evolutionists suggested that Pikaia, a Cambrian chordate,
was the ancestor of all vertebrates.
Yet as they were soon to see, these claims were unjustified.
Excavations performed in Cambrian rock beds inChina produced results
that completely overturned evolutionist scenarios regarding
vertebrates. The chordate now known as Haikouella, unearthed by the
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology's Jun-Yuan Chen and his
team, possessed a brain, heart and circulatory system, gills, a
notochord, a well developed musculature and—in all likelihood—apair of
eyes.
The science journalist Fred Heeren describes how the discovery of
Haikouella produced results that were the exact opposite of
evolutionist expectations regarding Pikaia:
Biologist had been expecting to see something that would like a
primitive ancestor to the middle Cambrian animal called Pikaia,
formerly promoted as the world's earliest chordate. Rather than
finding evidence that Pikaia had a less-complex ancestor, Chen instead
found a chordate that already displayed many vertebrate
characteristics 15 millionyears earlier. (Fred Heeren, "A little fish
challenges a giant of science," The Boston Globe, 30 May 2000, p. E1.)
Thus it was that evolutionists had to abandon Pikaia, which for
decades they had depicted in textbooks
Pikaia
as the ancestor of vertebrates. The fact thatthe first known
chordatehad a highly developed anatomy and—moreover, that it had lived
15 million years before Pikaia—totally overturned the claimed
progression of the theory of evolution. The elimination of this
fictitious ancestor thus dealt a severe blow to the scenario of
vertebrate evolution.
Yet the real blow came with the discovery that vertebrates had also
lived in the Cambrian! These findings were the remains of a fossilized
fish, dating back 530 million years, found at Haikou, near Kunming,
the regional capital of the Chinese province of Yunnan. These remains
literally stunned evolutionist scientists.
Research by Chinese, British, French and Japanese scientists showed
that this was indeed a vertebrate. All the details of the animal's
head and backbone could be seen in the remains. Such key features as a
lobate extension to the head, eyes and possible nasal sacs provided
detailed information regarding the creature. Many of the vertebrate
features were right before scientists' eyes, and, what is more, in a
fossil dating back 530 million years old.
This fish was given the name of Haikouichthys. Scientists are agreed
that it is a true fish because of its gills and the zigzag arrangement
of the muscles known as myotomes—features unique to fish.
Besides, Haikouichthys isnot the only fossil fish that belongs to
Cambrian. Another fossil,known as Myllokunmingia, was unearthed in
Chengjiang. Philippe Janvier of the National Museum of Natural History
in Paris says that this, too, is definitely a vertebrate and
describesits significance:
It's important because up to now the vertebrates were absent from the
big bang of life, as we call it—that is,the great early
Cambrianexplosion, where all the major animal groups appeared suddenly
in the fossil record. ... It is practically certain that these are
vertebrates . (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/504776.stm)
The theory of evolution maintains that organisms emerged gradually,
and that their complex structures are expected to appear only toward
the end of the fictitious evolutionary process. Given that pointof
view, the chordate Haikouella and the Cambrian fish Haikouichthys and
Myllokunmingia represent major problems, because these animals have
reduced by15 million years the timenecessary for the chordate
evolution scenario and reduced the time necessary for the evolution of
fish by afull 50 million.
Thus, the sudden appearance of these animals has reduced to nothing
the time that these organisms supposedly need to evolve.
Naturally, these discoveries caused great astonishment among
evolutionist circles, who needed to explain the sudden appearance of
vertebrates in the Cambrian Period. This only added another problem to
the Cambrian, which was in any case full of question marks. A great
many evolutionists have finallyhad to abandon their previous scenarios
regarding the evolution of vertebrates and to admit that on this
subject, they have no answers at all.
John Maynard Smith has described this variety:
But in the Burgess Shale,information about soft parts is beautifully
preserved. These fossils have been known for over fifty years, but
recently they have been re-examined. It is now clear that there
existed in the Cambrian a very wide array of forms, some of which may
differ in their basic bodyplan from anything alivetoday. It also seems
likely that, with a few minor exceptions, all thebody plans that exist
today were already present in the Cambrian. (JohnMaynard Smith, The
Evolution, Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 19.)
Eldredge:
Indeed, the sudden appearance of a varied, well-preserved array of
fossils, which geologists have used to mark the beginnings of the
Cambrian Period does pose a fascinating intellectual challenge. (Duane
T. Gish, Evolution:The Fossils Still Say No!, Institude of Creation
Research, California, 1985, p. 66)
Bob Holmes described the fact of the Cambrian in the 18 October, 1997,
edition of New Scientist magazine:
Glass skyscrapers, Gothic cathedrals, yurts, Georgian terraces, Shinto
shrines, wattle and daub, Victorian railway stations, Bauhaus, igloos,
mock-Tudor. Imagine that all the architectural styles that human
ingenuity could ever devise appeared during one 35-year period,
sometime in the middle of the 15th century. Imagine how today's
historians would be trampling over each other in their eagerness to
learn what made that window of profound creativity possible.
That'sroughly how palaeontologists feel about the Cambrian explosion.
In just 35 million years, the blinking of an eye for evolution, animal
lifeerupted in an explosion of inventiveness that far outshines
anything the planet has seen before or since .(Holmes, "When we were
worms," New Scientist.)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg15621045.100 - - ▓███▓
Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Dabbat al-Ardh (Dabba) refers to the computer and internet technology in the end times

Dabbat al-Ardh is one of the portents that will emerge in the End
Times.Apart from many hadith, Dabbat al-Ardh is also referred to in
the Qur'an.Surat an-Naml in its verse 82 refers to the emergence of
dabba as asign for the End Times:
When the Word comes to pass against them, Wewill raise a creature
untothem out of the earth that will tell them that mankind had no real
faith in Our messages. (Surat an-Naml, 82)
The following features of dabba have been suggested on the basis of
interpretation of this verse:
1. Dabba is the product of the earth.
2. Dabba is a thing or a creature that "speaks" and gives a particular
message, which is addressed to all of mankind.
The hadith explains that Dabbat al-Ardh is able to cover long
distances in asingle step, speak to people and can enter everywhere.
That dabba is the product of the earth indicates that it will have a
structure made up of minerals extracted from the ground such as metal,
iron, copper, zinc, cobaltor chrome. These elements make up the basic
structure of computers in our day. That it can speak to people and
cover long distances in a single steprefers to the Internet web.
Thanks to the Internet technology today, it is extremely fastand easy
to reach and convey information, to talk and communicate topeople.
Similarly, it will also be extremely fast and easy to communicate the
Qur'an to people. In the End Times, the Internet will be an important
tool for the domination of the moral values of the Qur'an over the
world. During the period of the Prophet Jesus' (peace be upon him)
descent and Hazrat Mahdi's (pbuh) appearance, the Internetis a special
opportunity granted to these two blessed people to make them easily
communicate the morality of Islam and ensure the domination of the
morality of the Qur'an over the world. Inour day, the communication of
the morality of the religion and expounding the invalidity of the
irreligious materialist ideologies can become possible by the Internet
technologies. By means of the Internet, every point of the world can
be reached by Muslims and, by Allah's leave, the morality of Islam
spreadsvery quickly.
Besides, the fact that " dabba " is used in Arabic as " nakhira ",
that is, as an indefinite word, indicates that it is a being, which
was unknown by that period.The great Islamic Qur'an interpreter
Elmalili Hamdi Yazir refers to thispoint as follows:
"In this verse since 'dabba' is used as a nakhira (indefinite name),
it makes us think that it should be a dabbawhich is different from the
dabbas we already know…"
Apart from the Islamic interpreters such as Elmalili Hamdi Yazir, some
dictionary authors also stated that "dabba",as its meaning of the
word, could also mean a ll sorts of technical equipment that can move.
Indeed, computer is also a technical equipment that conveys movements
and images of movements and ensures the transfer of information by
frequencies. However, more importantly, this dabba, a portent of the
End Times, which is the product of the earth, " speaks to people " .
There is almost no country, no nation and no community which is not
acquainted with the Internet today. Moreover, the Internet, which is
the product of advanced technology, addresses to every community in
its own language.

Ecology and Islamic values - III

"Tawheed" and 'Adl, "Unity" and 'Justice"
Allah's Tawheed or Unity is central to the Quranic message, and with
that unity comes perfect justice. The idea that everything in this
world, indeed everything in all of the many worlds that surround us in
space and time, and perhaps other dimensions as well, stems from
asingle source, is a powerful message of unity. Since all of us, and
everything around us, are creations of the one Creator – Allaah, we
must respect the hidden unity that links the many to The One, and
recognize that whatever we do to that which is outside of ourselves,
we are ultimately doing to ourselves. If we abuse other people, we
abuseourselves—though the full effectsof that abuse may not be
apparent until the last day. Likewise, if we abuse nature, we also
abuse ourselves, and the consequences of that abuse will in the end be
fully felt, and perfect justice dispensed by Allaah when we return to
Him. Those who reject this knowledge rationalize their behavior by
saying, "Well, I'm not going to curb my wasteful lifestyle now,
because this catastrophe you're predicting probably won't happen
during my lifetime." Theydo not believe that they will suffer the full
consequences of their own actions. But the Quran stands as a clear
warning that this is not the case, amplifying the inner voice of
conscience Allaah built into our deepest nature: "Then each will see
what he had done in the past; and theywill turn to Allaah, their true
Lord, and all the lies they had fabricated will be of no avail to
them." [Quran, 10:30]
Zuhd, "Renunciation, asceticism"
Zuhd is an especially hard word to translate into English because the
closest cognate, asceticism, carries traces of Christian attempts to
"mortify the flesh." Mortification implies self-torture aimed at
making us feel revulsionfor our physical, earthbound existence. Islam,
however, has nosuch tradition of self-torture. Instead, Zuhd describes
a balanced, judicious approach to abstaining from excesses of
ease,comfort and pleasure-seeking, in order to detach the soul from
potential addictions and instead turn towards Allaah. The wise
detachment of Zuhd is meant to be practiced not just by a few
self-flagellating monks in hair shirts, but by each and every Muslim.
That is why Ramadhaan is a universal requirement, not anoption:
Fasting is a perfect lessonin moderation and self-control, as well as
compassion for the less-fortunate. This moderate, universal Zuhd
could, Allaah willing, help us create a genuinely sustainable world,
by healing the current order at both the spiritual and physical
levels. (These two levels, of course, are intimately connected.) Zuhd
teaches us that giving up our excesses is a blessing, not a
curse—especially if we do it voluntarily, rather than waiting for
Allaah-given natural limits to do it for us. In practicing Zuhd, we
are following a very important Sunnah. Though the leader of a
powerful, rapidly-expanding community, the Prophet Muhammad , lived
and died in a small, hardly-furnished house, leaving behind virtually
no material possessions. He was moderate in his consumption of food
and drink, careful not to waste a drop of water when performing
ablutions, fasted frequently, and prayed devoutly late into the night.
Let us pray that humanity soon discovers the wisdom of hisexample.
Fardh, "Obligation"
Islam prescribes certain specific obligations: prayer, fasting,
bearing witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allaah and
that Muhammad is themessenger of Allaah, paying almsgiving, and
performing pilgrimage are the best known. fardh has been viewed by
some scholars as involving general as well as specific obligations,
that is, obligations from Allaah that may not be specific enough to be
enforceable by the community: being charitable, just, and merciful,
remembering Allaah, putting ones family, community, and planet ahead
of oneself, and so on could be viewed as obligations in the general
sense. In the more common, specifically legal sense of fardgh, there
are obligations incumbent on everyone (fardh al-'ayn) and others that
can be fulfilled for thewhole community by some of its members (fardh
al-kifaayah). Because these obligations are from Allaah, they demand
to be taken seriously. Thus the Islamic world-view emphasizes the
notion of obligation, in contrast to the Western preoccupation with
individualism and rights at the expense of obligations and
responsibilities. The notion of obligation is obviously essential to
any serious attempt to save our environment. If we are governed by the
principle of individual "rights" we will not want to infringe on
anyone's"right" to consume more and more material goods—and to cutdown
forests, dig mines, exterminate animals, spew pollutants, and ravage
ecosystems in pursuit of those goods. An ethic built on obligations
before rights, like theIslamic ethic, seems better suitedto a world in
which is more than six billion people pursuing their"right" to
unlimited material consumption will spell doom for the planet as a
whole. In particular, the obligation of the fortunate to care for the
less fortunate must be universally acknowledged if we are to limit
planetary consumption in a humane, rational manner. Clearly the
Islamic ethic of obligation is well suited to saving the world by
correcting the unbalanced Western, and especially American, ethic of
"rights" whosebottom line is the right of the wealthy and powerful to
unlimited consumption of the planet's resources. - - ▓███▓
Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Ecology and Islamic values -II

Living with and loving Allaah's Creation
Let us think about some of the ways that Islam's spiritual orientation
and its concrete rulesfor social and economic life, offer potential
solutions to concrete problems that face us.
Islam asks us to submit to Allaah,to bend toward our creator as a reed
bends in the wind. Put in another way, this suggests we should live
with divinely-ordainednature, not opposed to it. We should not strive
to create radically artificial environments, but instead adapt
ourselves moreflexibly to the natural environments we have. Allaah has
made this easy for us in manyways: We have been given a lunarcalendar
to keep us in touch withthe natural lunar rhythms, and a daily
time-keeping system based on the sun, whose position is thekey to the
timing of the five daily.By orienting our time-frame around these
divinely provided systems, we automatically move in harmony with the
solar and lunar rhythms that are, accordingto the Quran, among the
most powerful signs of Allaah.
At a more mundane level, we have to ask ourselves questions like: Does
living in harmony with nature mean that we should give up air
conditioning? Certainly if we attain gratitude and inner peace by the
grace of Allaah, we will be less desperate to make every last detail
of our physical existence as comfortable and luxurious as possible.
Since air conditioning will always be a luxury that only a tiny
percentageof the world's population will ever be able to afford,
perhaps we should at least be frugal (and grateful) in our use of it,
and try to use our wealth to feed our hungry fellow human beings.
Likewise, we should build modestly with local, natural materials, and
eat modestly with locally-grown, natural foods. We should use
mechanical transport with moderation, relying as much as possible on
such healthy, pollution-free, non-fossil-fuel burning means as walking
and bicycling, and as little as possible on private auto-mobiles.
Social and Political Activism
None of these individual actions, however, will save the planet if it
continues to be dominated by ruthless exploiters. We need to become
Islamic-environmental activists, organizing and agitating for both
Islamic and environmental causes and showing how the two are closely
linked. By demonstrating concernfor our planet, and a commitment to
finding solutions, we will be spreading a positive image of Islam to
all. Together, the rising army of eco-warriors and the awakening
Muslim Ummah will carry the green banners of Islam and
environmentalism to every cornerof the planet, creating the basis for
the sustainable, balanced, harmonious society of the future.
Quranic Concepts: The Deepest, Purest Source of Environmental Wisdom
Meezaan "Balance"
Literally "the scale of balance." The word Meezaan expresses the
harmony of Allaah's creation. It expresses the perfect equilibriumand
absolute justice of creation, which humans, as successors are obliged
to help maintain. Allaah Says (what means): "The sun and moon revolve
to a reckoning/and the grasses and trees bow in adoration/He raised
the sky and set the balance/so that none maytransgress against the
balance." [Quran, 55:5-8] Humans must helpmaintain the cosmic balance
by acting justly toward nature as well as toward each other. The built
environment and the natural environment should be inperfect harmony,
as suggested bythe fact that Meezaan also means, "ground design" in
architecture. Traditional Islamic architecture, especially masjid
architecture, harmonizes building, landscape and sky in many marvelous
ways. The most famous and influential 20th century architect, Frank
Lloyd Wright, drew heavily on traditional Islamic architecture ashe
revolutionized Western architecture. Wright refused to build the usual
rectangular boxesthat squat like alien presences onthe landscape.
Instead, he used graceful Islamic-derived forms to harmonize and
balance indoors with outdoors, building with landscape, and humanity
with the rest of creation.
Ayah, "Sign"
The word ayah means, "sign" as well as "Quranic verse." The first way
the early Muslims recognizedthat the Quran is the word of Allaah was
due to the miraculousbeauty of its verses. Likewise the Quran invites
us to look at the beautiful world around us as a sign pointing to its
Creator. We are meant to "read" these signs and gain ever-deeper
knowledge and appreciation both of creationitself, and especially of
the Creator Who set such signs before us. The Quranic revelation began
with the command "iqra'","read!" This commanded Allaah's last
messenger, Muhammad , to begin reading/reciting the words of Allaah.
It also commanded the people to whomthe message was sent to
becomeliterate—and within a few generations Arabic, with the Quran as
its central influence, hadbecome the world's leading written medium of
expression. Finally, at the most general level,"iqra'!" commanded all
humans to "read" the book of Allaah's creation to decipher its truth
andbeauty, which always points beyond itself toward its Creator. If we
look at the world around usas an ever-shifting panorama of signs of
Allaah, rather than as a meaningless heap of dumb brute matter, we
will contemplate it with awe and act as cautious andrespectful
stewards rather than hyperactive, transgressive exploiters.
Haraam, "Forbidden, Off-Limits"
The concept of Haraam, whose legal meaning is "forbidden," suggests
the necessity of setting limits that must not be transgressed.
Traditionally the"Haraam" was the intimate part of the house which was
off-limitsto strangers and casual visitors. Westerners, colonialists,
wishing to transgress whatever limits they found in the lands they
invaded, projected their own fantasies upon the private areas of the
Muslim home, turning this innocent word into the salacious English
word "Haraam." But the original word Haraam, with its implication that
limits sometimes need to be drawn, is the word Western culture really
needs to borrow from Islam. Among the places where limits need to be
drawn, and spaces setaside, are the earth's remaining natural areas.
Nature parks, game preserves, wilderness areas, and so on are
absolutely essential to the future of our planet. Yet when a secular
government says, "Don't transgress in this area because the law says
so", many people, driven by greed or desperation, will not listen.
Under an Islamic system, when an area is declared Haraam, and Quranic
precepts invoked to protect it, Muslims will be much more likely to
sacrifice their immediate self-interest and respect the linesthat must
not be crossed. This is just one example of how sacred law, which
touches our hearts and carries Allaah's imprimatur, is more effective
than secular law, which requires ever-greater armies of
ever-more-corrupt police, soldiers, bureaucrats and prisons to try to
enforce it. In theabsence of Allaah's guidance, man imagines himself
self-sufficient and is driven to violate limits. Allaah Says (what
means): "No! (But) indeed, man transgresses, because he sees himself
self-sufficient. Indeed, to your Lord is the return." [Quran, 96:6-8].
When humans understand that they are not self-sufficient, but utterly
helpless and dependent on a marvelously beautiful and unimaginably
complex natural world—a natural world which, like us, is utterly
dependent on Allaah for the tiniest nanosecond or smallest subatomic
particle of its existence—they will be overtaken by awe and accept the
limits that sustain the balance (meezaan) of Allaah's creation. - -
▓███▓ Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Ecology and Islamic values - I

I could understand "do not drink the water." Or even "no
swimming—polluted water." But"do not touch the water"!? Something
about that sign, and the reality it pointed to seemed deeply,
irrevocably wrong. The fact that it was the nearest campground to
Disneyland somehow made the whole situation even creepier.
The memory of that toxic waste dump campground remained with me for
years. I gradually realized that the place was not just the perfect
anti-campground, but also an image of anti-paradise: a place where the
flowing water is too filthy to be used to purify ourselves before
prayer, and where the natural plants and creatures are poisoned and
dying. The Quran tells us that the Paradise promised to believers, isa
garden with rivers flowing beneath. It is filled with fruits and
flowers and growing things, offering nectar better than the finest
earthly wine, and beauties and pleasures beyond earthly imagination.
While we can never create such a perfect paradise on earth, Muslim
architects, land-useplanners and artists have sometimes used this
image as a model for their efforts to preserve and celebrate the
natural beauty of creation. Why not? The Quran tells us that all of
nature is a sign of Allaah, reflecting some of His mercy and
magnificence.
Indeed, all of nature, in the Islamic view, is in a state of
continuous worship. Trees and grasses, fish and animals, are all
bending in a sweet, invisible breeze that wafts their worship back
toward their creator. Human beings can learn from thisprocess and seek
harmony with itby joining creation in worship of the Lord of all
worlds and creation. Or else, they can obstinately rebel, imagining
themselves cut off and self-sufficient, and persist in transgressing
the bounds that Allaah has set for them until the inevitable payment
comes due.
In contrast to the prevailing view of nature in the West as a
savage,fallen chaos that must be tamed by conquest, Islam insists that
nature is respected and invites humans to learn from it and join it in
harmonious coexistence.
The polluted-campground experience awakened me to the fact that
something is very wrong with the way of life that produced such a
place, and that Islam holds the keys to understanding the root causes
and solutions of our current environmental dilemma. It convinced me
that we Muslims should be putting Islamic environmental activism at
the very top of our social and personal agenda. Our planet is in a
state of environmental crisis, and as Muslims we are the custodians of
Allaah's last revelation, a revelation that gives humanity the
knowledge and inspiration it needs to live in peace and harmony—in
this life and the next.
The Quranic solution to the problem of environment is, in a word,
holistic and comprehensive. Living a truly Islamic life requires
avoiding the evils of extravagance and the insanity of materialism,
and that we attain harmony with our surroundings and have compassion
for other creatures.
It all begins, however, with the right orientation towards life:
complete submission to Allaah, The One Creator of all, and that this
submission should be marked by pious awe, loving gratitude, inner
peace, the struggle to do good, and the constant awareness that Allaah
isgreater than any aspect of His creation. The Quranic orientation
provides the key to restoring the lost balance between humans, nature,
and The One who created both (i.e .Allaah)
Materialists and atheists say that nothing is sacred, which implies
that there are no limits to what humans can do to gratify their
material desires. Materialist culture, as my wise humanities professor
once said, has two distinguishing characteristics: A tremendous drive
to achieve more and more control over the natural world, and an
equally energetic drive to re-make and perfect human society.
Humans as trustees and keepers of the Earth
Islam teaches that we are the successors and trustees of Allaah on
this beautiful earth, not prisoners in a flawed world that needs to be
radically re-made. As successors, our task is to preserve and
appreciate the beauty and goodness we find, in grateful submission to
its Creator. All of our planet's scientists are needed for a more
obvious and simple task: Taking care of the planet Allaah has given
us, and taking care of our fellow human beings. This meansfinding ways
to live, and live well,while expending far less physical energy, and
making far less obtrusive changes to our physicalenvironment, than is
customary today. It means finding ways to redistribute the planet's
wealth more equitably, in the environment of zero economic growth or
even negative growth that will surely be upon us in justa few short
years, when oil production peaks and starts to decline.
"Allaah loves not the wasters"
So, too, is the Islamic injunction:" Waste not!" Both Quran and Sunnah
make it absolutely clear that avoiding waste and prodigality is a
matter of the highest importance. For example,Allaah Says (what means)
: "Do not be extravagant, for Allaah does not love the wasteful "
[Quran, 6:141]. And He Says (what means): " But waste not by excess,
for Allaah loves not the wasters" [Quran, 7:31]. And (whatmeans):
"Squander not in the manner of a spendthrift. For wasters are the
brothers of the Satan, and the Satan is to his Lordungrateful "
[Quran, 17:26-27]. Here we see that the root of wasting is
ingratitude: those who respond to the marvelous beauty and bounty of
Allaah with gratitude and amazement are happy with a little, while the
ungrateful one is never satisfied no matter how much he has, so he
abandons himself to an ever-increasing cycle of consumption and waste.
If humanity is to survive, it will have to move from the spiritual
state of ingratitude to gratitude and give up its wasteful ways, as
the Quran urges.
Conserving food and water
Along with this Quranic teaching, the Sunnah (prophetic tradition)
provides us with the best example of living in a state of gratitude
and avoiding waste. The Prophet Muhammad was famous for his attention
to conserving and avoiding waste. He was careful not to waste a crumb
of food, licking the last morsel from the utensils so that nothing
would go to waste. He urged believers to avoid using more water than
necessary whenperforming an act of worship likeablution. If we must be
careful not to waste a drop of water in our ablutions, how much more
necessary must it be to avoid waste in less-important activities.
Unfortunately the dominant way of life among well-off people
everywhere, especially in the West, is marked by unbelievable waste
and extravagance. We eat more than what is good for us, buy things we
do not really need,throw away things that either still work or could
be repaired, buy over-sized large vehicles and drive short distances
instead of walking or bicycling, build larger houses than we need and
heat and cool them far beyond minimal comfort standards, waste huge
amounts of water maintaining herbicide-sprinkled lawns and golf
courses, and so on. In perhaps the single most absurd display of
extravagance inall history, we are, at the USA, currently burning up
fossil fuels at a rate that will ensure that oureconomy, our
environment, or both will completely collapse in the near future.
(See: peakoil.comfor details.) This lunatic way of life, whose
seductive pleasures and comfortsdisguise its utter madness, its
complete lack of sustainability, was not developed by Muslims.
To be true to our religion, we must change our ways, and makean effort
to conserve, educate, and build alternative institutions to mitigate
and help cope with the coming economic and environmental meltdown,
preserve and strengthen of our Islamic communities and institutions,
and think about howthey can be of service in the struggle to help
humanity exercise responsible stewardship over our corner of creation.
- - ▓███▓ Translator:-> http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ -
-

Dought & Clear, - Resurrection after death.

After death, until Yaum Al-Qiyama, are the human beings reborn in any
other form?.
Praise be to Allaah.
When the son of Adam dies, his body disintegrates and vanishes apart
from the tailbone, which is a bone at the base of the spine. When the
Resurrection begins, Allaah will cause the bodies to grow by means of
rain from the earth which will make these bones grow until each
person's body is restored to the way it was before he died.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: "The Messenger of Allaah(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said, 'What is between the two Trumpet-blasts will be forty.'
Somebody asked, 'Forty days?' But I could not answer. Then he asked,
'Forty months?' But I could not answer. Then he asked, 'Forty years?'
But I could not answer." Abu Hurayrah added, "Then (after this period)
Allah will send water from thesky and then the dead bodies will grow
like vegetation grows. There is nothing of the human body that does
not decay except one bone; that is the little bone at the end of the
coccyx from which the human body will be recreated on the Day of
Resurrection."
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4651; Muslim, 2955).
Al-Nawawi said:
"The Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'What is
between the two Trumpet-blasts will be forty.' Somebody asked, 'Forty
days?' But I could not answer…" What is meant is that he refused to
specify whether it would be forty days, or years, or months. Rather
what he was sure of wasthat it would be just forty. It is explained in
another report narrated by someone other than Muslim, which says that
it will be forty years.
The phrase "the little bone at the end of the coccyx" refers to the
small bone at the base ofthe spine, which is the end of the coccyx.
This is the first part of a person that is created, and it is what
will be left of him so that he will be created anew from it.
Sharh Muslim, 18/92
When a person comes forth from his grave and is gathered and brought
to account, his body will remain the same as it was before he died.
Then when the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of Hell
enter Hell, Allaah will change their forms.
Description of the people of Hell:
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "The distance between the shoulders of
the kaafir [in Hell] will be that of three days' swift travelling."
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6186; Muslim, 2852).
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The molar of the kaafir –
or the eyetooth of the kaafir – will be like Uhud, and his skin will
be as thick as three days' travelling." (Narrated by Muslim, 2851).
Description of the people of Paradise:
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "The first group to enter Paradise will look like the moon
when it is full; then those who follow them will look like the
brightest star in the sky. They will not urinate or defecate, spit or
blow their noses. Their combs will be of gold, their sweat will be
musk, their incense burners will be of aloes-wood. Their wives will be
al-hoor al-'iyn and they will all look alike, like their father Adam,
sixty cubits tall." (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3149; Muslim, 2834)
It was narrated from Mu'aadh ibn Jabal that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The people of Paradise will
enter Paradise hairless and beardless, with kohl-rimmed eyes, all
thirty or thirty-three years old." (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2545).And
Allaah knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Dought & Clear, - Those who never hear anything about Islam.

What happens to those who have no access to Islam? How are they judged?
Jazak-Allah
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahmaanal-Barraak answered thisquestion as follows:
"Those who never hear the call of Islam, or they hear about it in an
incorrect form, will be tested on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever
obeys will enter Paradiseand whoever disobeys will enter Hell, because
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): '… And We never punish
until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning)' [al-Isra 17:15]."
And Allaah knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Dought & Clear, - He cannot walk to the mosque because it is very cold; can he drive there even though he has not got his full driver’s license and that may cause him problemswith the law?.

I am a student, living in Canada and temperaturehere is very cold now,
near 0C. There is a mosque here which is about 8 minutes
walkingdistance from my home. I have a car and I have a"learner
licence" and I need to wait for about 6 months to get a full licence.
The law here is that, If I want to drive with "learner licence", then
someone who has a"full licence" should sit beside me in the car.
I want to pray Fazr in mosque and go there by driving because it is
verydifficult to walk in these cold days. Also, the roadsare empty in
Fazr time.
My question is, if I drive to mosque alone, then I am breaking the
law. Should I go to mosque or pray Fazr in home?
Praise be to Allah.
If the matter is as you describe, and you cannot find anyone to take
you to the mosque even in return for payment that you can afford, then
this is an excuse that permits you not to attend the prayer in
congregation, and there is no blame on you, in sha Allah.
But if you know that youhave the skills in driving and are able to do
that, and you are certain that no harm will result to you or anyone
else from your driving on your own to the mosque, and the delay in
obtaining your licence is only because of general administrative rules
that require you to wait for the period mentioned, with no exceptions
for anybody – if the situation is as we have described, then we do not
think that there is anything wrong, in sha Allah, with you driving the
car by yourself for this short distance so that you can attend the
prayer in congregation.
But we still do not think that you have to do that.
And Allah knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Islamic Stories, - Good news for the poor people

Once, Abu Dardaa (RA) was sitting in company with his students when
his wife came and said to him, "You are sitting here with your
students and we haven't got a pinch of flour left with us in the
house." Abu Dardaa (RA) said to her,"Good lady, before us there is a
valley hard to travel (The Day of Judgement) and only such people can
traverseit successfully who travellight." Hearing this, his wife went
away, satisfied with the reply, and did not complain any more about
her needs. Abu Dardaa (RA) once said, "We have food and the rich also
have food; we wear clothes and the rich also wear clothes. The rich
people possess wealth, which exceeds their requirements, and they just
see it without using it. We can also look at wealth (possessed by
others) without using it. We are equal in this respect, but the rich
will be required to render anaccount, on the Day of Resurrection, for
holdingextra wealth in their possession. We are free from Reckoning,
for, we have nothing in our possession." - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -

Islamic Stories, - Look at a man who willenter paradise

One day the Prophet peace be upon him looked at a man and said:
Whoever likes to look at a man who will enter Paradise, let him look
at this man. Abdullah Ibn Abbas, whowas present and heard this
comment, followed the man who was favoured with this promise. He asked
his permission to be his guest which the man accepted. After observing
him for three consecutive nights, without seeing anythingextraordinary
about him, Abdullah Ibn Abbas said: I don't see anythingabout you
which qualifies you to enter Paradise more than the rest of us. Can
you remember one special thing you do of which I may not be aware.
After thinking for sometime the man said: Nothing is outstanding in my
life except one thing, may be, that I go to bed with a pure and sound
heart towards my friends (meaning to forgive others of their bad
qualities and to think good of everybody). Then Ibn Abbas exclaimed:
This is exactlywhat qualifies you to enter paradise. Source: from the
book"Luminaries of Islam" by Arafat K.El-Ashi
It is not easy to forgive others of their faults but let us try hard
to bring this quality in ourselves. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -