The Tabuk Expedition

THE TABUK EXPEDITION:
The Arabs had never thought of fighting or attacking the Romans. They
probably considered themselves tobe not strong enough forthat task.
The Romans, however, remembered the Mu'tah expedition and were still a
threat. The Messenger (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah decided
to lead a Muslim army into Roman territory before the Roman armies
crossed the Arab borders and threatened the heart of Islam.
The Tabuk expedition took place in Rajab, 9 A.H.The
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah led the expedition in
intense heat, when thedates were ripe and the shade of the trees was
pleasant. It was a long journey through arid deserts towards a vast
enemy army. He had made the position clear to the Muslims in advanceso
that they could make preparations for the journey. It was a difficult
time because the Muslimswere experiencing a severe drought.
The hypocrites made various excuses not to accompany the
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah. They said they
feared the enemy or the intense heat. They were reluctant to perform
jihad and had doubts about the truth. Allah Almighty said of them:
'Those who were left behind rejoiced in tarrying behind the
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah and were averse to
struggling with their possessions and their selves in the way of
Allah.They said, "Go not Forth in the heat." Say. "The Fire of
Jahannam is hotter did they but understand!" '(9: 81)
THE COMPANIONS' RESPONSE TO JIHAD:
In preparing for the expedition, the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi
wassallam) of Allah had encouraged thewealthy to spend in the way of
Allah. Some provided mounts for those who had neither provision nor
mount, expecting a reward from Allah.
Uthman ibn Affan spent one thousand dinars on the 'Army of Distress'
and the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah prayed for
him.
THE ARMY TRAVELS TO TABUK:
The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah set out for Tabuk
with 30,000 men from Madinah . It was the largest Muslim army ever to
set forth on an expedition.
When they reached al-Hijr, the land of Thamud, he told the Companions
that it was a country of those who were being punished for their sins.
'If you enter the houses of those who did wrong, enter tearfully,
fearing that what befell them might also befall you.' He added that
they must notdrink any of al-Hijr's water nor use it for ablutions.
Because the soldiers had no water they complained to the
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah. He prayed to Allah
and a dark cloud broughtrain so that everyone could quench their
thirst and store sufficient water for their needs.
THE MESSENGER(SALLALLAHU ALAIYHI WASSALLAM) OF ALLAH RETURNS TO MADINAH:
When the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah reached
Tabuk, the Arab amirs on the herders called on him and made treaties
of peace. They also paid to him the jizyah tax. The
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah guaranteed their
borders, the security of their territories and theircaravans and ships
travelling by land and sea. Letters to this effect were delivered to
all parties.
Then came the news that the Romans had withdrawn from the border
towns. They had decided not to encroach on Muslim land. The Prophet
could see no reason to pursue them into their own territory as his
goal had already been achieved.
He stayed at Tabuk for about two weeks and then travelled back to Madinah.
THE TRIAL OF KA'B IBN MALIK:
Among those who had stayed behind at the timeof this expedition were
Ka'b ibn Malik, Murarah ibn ar-Rabi' and Hilal ibn Umayyah. They were
among the first Muslims and had been thoroughlytested in Islam.
Murarah ibn ar-Rabi' and Hilal ibn Umayyah had been present at Badr
and it was not their nature to not take part in the battle. The
situation was only part of the Divine wisdom, so they would really
examine themselves and be a lesson for all Muslims in the future. Such
failings are usually because of procrastination, weak will and
over-reliance on means.
The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah forbade anyone to
speak to them. All the Muslims obeyed him and people avoided them.
They had to endure that trial for fifty days. Ka'b ibn Malik would
attend prayers with the Muslims and visit the markets but everyone
ignored him. But his suffering only increased his faith in Islam.
The wives of these three were also affected by themeasures and no one
was allowed to go near them either.
A further test came when the influential King of Ghassan heard what
was happening in Madinah. He invited Ka'b ibn Malik to his court in
order to honour him and lure him from Islam. But when the King's
messenger delivered the invitation to Ka'b he threw it into the fire.
Allah's examination was over and none of the three had failed the
test. A revelation came from Allah to illustrate how their example
would hold for all time. They had not deserted their faith but had
found refuge and safety with Allah. The Qur'an says:
Allah has turned towards the Prophet and the Muhajirun and the Ansar
who followed him in the hour of difficulty, after the hearts of a
party of them almost swerved aside; then He turned towards them;
surely He is Gentle to them, and he turned to the three who remained
behind, until, when the earth became straitened for them, for all its
breadth, and their souls became straitened for them, and they thought
that there was no shelter from Allah except in Him, then He turned
towards them, that they might also turn;surely Allah turns, and is
Compassionate. (9: 117-18)
TABUK: THE LAST EXPEDITION
The expedition to Tabuk, in Rajab 9 A.H., was the last in the
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah's campaign. In all,
the Muslims had fought in twenty-seven battles and taken part in sixty
forays and expeditions. No conqueror had ever achieved such success
with so little loss of life. Throughout the campaign a total of only
one thousand and eighteen from both sides had been killed. Only Allah
knows the number of those whose lives were spared in gaining security
for the Arabian peninsula. Eventually it was so safe that a woman
pilgrim could travel all the way from Hirah to Makkah without fearing
anyone except Allah.
THE FIRST HAJJ:
The hajj was made obligatory in 9 A.H. The Messenger(sallallahu
alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah sent Abu Bakr as amir for the hajj in that
year. Three hundred menfrom Madinah went to Makkah with him. The
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah sent for Ali ibn Abi
Talib and said to him, 'Go out and announce to the people on the Day
of Sacrifice that "no kafir will enter Paradise and after this year no
idol-worshipper will perform hail nor do tawaf if he is in a state
ofnudity.'
Source: Al Islaah Publications

The Year of Delegations

DELEGATIONS:
After Makkah had been conquered and the Prophet had returned
victorious from Tabuk, Arab delegations began to pour into the heart
land of Islam. They learned about Islam, saw the character of the
Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah, and the life-style
ofhis Companions. Tents were erected for them in the courtyard of the
mosque ; they heard the Qur'an recited; watched the Muslims praying
and asked the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah to
explain the faith to them. He impressed them with his eloquence and
wisdom, and he constantly quoted verses from the Qur'an. They believed
what they heard and were well satisfied. They returned to their homes
full of zeal, calling on their people to accept Islam and decrying
paganism and its negative effects.
Dimam ibn Tha'labah came to Madinah representing the Banu Sa'd ibn
Bakr. He was a Muslim when he returnedto his people and he was
determined to invite them to Islam.
The first thing he said to them was, 'Al-Lat and al-Uzza are evil!'
They answered in alarm, 'Stop, Dimam! Beware of leprosy. Beware of
elephantiasis! Beware of madness!'
He said, 'Confoundedly you ! By Allah, they can neither hurt nor heal.
Allah has sent a Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) and given a
Book to him through which He seeks to deliver you from your sorry
state. I testify that there is no god but Allah without and associate
and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi
wassallam). I havebrought you what He hascommanded you to do and what
He has forbidden you.
Before that night was over there was not a manor a woman in his tribe
who had not become a Muslim. Adi the son of Hatim, whose generosity
was well-known, came toMadinah. He became a Muslim after witnessing
the character and humility of the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi
wassallam) of Allah.
'By Allah!' he said, this has nothing to do with the way all the kings behave.
The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah sent Mu'adh ibn
Jabal and Abu Musa to Yemen to invite the people to Islam and he
advised them, 'Make things easy and not difficult. Cheer them up and
do not make them afraid.'
THE OBLIGATION OF ZAKAT:
In the ninth year of the hijrah, Allah made zakat obligatory upon the Muslims.

Rabiul Awwal

The month of Rabi'-Ul-Awwal is considered to be amongst the most
special and significant months, because mankind was blessed with the
birth of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw). Regarding this special
event Allah (swt) has stated in the Holy Quran "We have sent him
(Muhammad saw) as a source of mercy for the A'alimeen (humans, jinns
and all else that exists)," (Surah 21.Al- Anbiya: Verse 107).
Muhammad (saw), the master of the prophets was born in the holy city
of Mecca on Monday morning, the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th of
Rabi'-Ul-Awwal. Ibn Sa'd reports that Muhammad's(saw) mother, Aamina,
stated regarding the birth of her son "When He (saw) was born, there
was a light that issued out of my pudendum andlit the palaces of
Syria." (Mukhtasar Seerat-ul-Rasool)
As is mentioned above Allah (swt) has stated in the Glorious Qur'an:
"We have sent him (Muhammad saw) as a source of mercy for the
A'alimeen." Not only was Rasulullah (saw) a source of numerous
blessings after receiving the task of prophethood, but from his birth
up to his death and until the day of judgment billions of people have
and will continue to benefit from his blessings. A clear example of
this is when Halimah, the daughter of Abu Dhu'ayb who was accompanied
by her husband Harith and a new born son of their own, decided to
undertake a journey from a small village situated south east of Mecca
to the actual city of Meccah Mukarramah. This was in order to acquire
a nursling. She narrates: "It was a year ofdrought, and we had nothing
left. I set forth on a gray she camel of mine, and we had an old she
camel with us which could not even yield one drop of milk. We were
kept awake all night by our son who was crying due to hunger, for I
didn't have enough in mybreast to feed him; and that she camel of mine
was so weak and emaciated I often keep the others (Tribe of Bani Sa'd
Ibn Bakr) waiting."
Once everyone began looking for nurslings, Rasulullah's (saw)
motherAamina offered her son first to one and then to another until
finally she had tried them all and they had all refused. "That" said
Halimah, "wasbecause we hoped for some compensation fromthe child's
father." "An orphan" we said, "what will his mother and grandfather be
able to do for us?" Not that they would have wanted direct payment for
their service, since it was considered dishonorable for a woman to
take a fee for suckling a child. The recompense they hoped for, though
less direct was of a far wider scope. For example, creation
connections andlinks with people from the city.
On the other side, thoughthe foster-parents were not expected to be
rich, they must not be too poverty-stricken, and it was evident that
Halimahand her husband were poorer then any other of their companions.
Whenever the choice lay between her and another, the other was
preferred and chosen; and it was not long before everyone of the Bani
Sa'd women except Halimah had been entrusted with a baby. Only the
poorest nurse was without a nursling; and only the poorest nursling
was without a nurse.
"When we decided to leave Mecca," said Halimah, "I told my husband: 'I
hate to returnin the company of my friends without having taken a baby
to suckle. I shall go to that orphan and take him.' 'As you wish' he
said. 'it may be, that God will bless us through him.' So I went back
and took him, for no reason except that I could find no baby but him.
I carried him back towhere our mounts were stationed, and no sooner
did I put him in my bosom, my breasts overflowed with milk. He drank
his fill, and with him his foster-brother drank likewise, his fill.
Then they both slept; andmy husband went to that old she camel of
ours, and amazingly her udders were full. He milked her and drank of
her milk and I drank withhim until we could drink no more and our
hunger was satisfied.
We spent the best of nights, and in the morning my husband said to me:
'by God, Halimah, it is a blessed creature that you have taken.' 'That
is indeed myhope,' I said. Then we set out, and I rode my camel and
carried him with me on her back. She outraced the whole troop, nor
could any of their camels keep pace with her. 'Wow!' They said to me,
'Wait for us! Isn't that the same camel you came on?' 'Yes by God,' I
said, 'She is the very same.' 'Some amazing thing has happened to
her,' they said.
We reached our tents in the Bani Sa'd, and I knowof no place on God's
Earth more barren than that. But after we brought him to live with us,
my flock would come home to me and would be full of milk. We
milkedthem and drank and when others had no milk;our neighbors would
say to their shepherds. 'Go graze your flocks where he has grazed
his', meaning my shepherd. But still their flocks came home hungry,
yielding no milk, while mine camewell fed, with plenty of milk; and we
ceased not to enjoy this increase andthis bounty from God until the
baby's two yearspassed."
During the pre-Islamic days of Arabia, everyone including the Romans
and Persians were in the midst of ignorance and darkness. They were
amongst the most uncivilized people the world had seen. Not only were
they indulged in evils and vices such as adultery, fornication,
incest, rape, stealing and murder they went to the extent of burying
their baby daughters alive! Allah (swt) has stated in the Holy Quran
"And when the news of the birth of a female child is brought to any of
them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief! He
hides himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he
has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the
Earth? Certainly their decisions are evil." (Surah 16. An-Nahl: verse
58-59)
Nevertheless the Holy Prophet (saw) was sent to this world with the
light of monotheism, eradicating all ignorant and uncivilized customs,
rituals, practices and beliefs. Allah (swt) has stated in the glorious
Quran "Indeed Allah conferred a great favor on the believers when
hesent among them a Messenger (Muhammad saw) from among themselves,
reciting unto them His verses, (The Quran) and purifying them, (from
sins by their following him) and instructing them (in) the Book
(Quran) and Al-Hikmah, (the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet saw)
before that they had been in manifest error," (Surah 3.Al-Imran: Verse
164).

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

Put the Glass Down

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in
it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students , 'How much do
you think this glass weighs?'
'50 gms!'…. '100 gms!'……'125 gms' …… the students answered.
'I really don't know unless I weigh it,' said the professor, 'but, my
question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few
minutes?'
'Nothing' the students said.
'Ok! What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the
professor asked.
'Your arm would begin toache', said one of the students.
'You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?'
'Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and
paralysis and have to go to hospital for sure!' ventured another
student; and all the students laughed.
'Very good. But during allthis, did the weight of the glass change?'
asked the professor.
'No'
'Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?' The students
were puzzled.
'Put the glass down!' saidone of the students.
'Exactly!' said the professor. 'Life's problems are something like
this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head andthey seem okay. Think
of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer
and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to doanything'.
'It's important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life,
but EVEN MORE IMPORTANTis to have trust in Allah (swt) and to 'put
them down' at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way,
you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can
handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!'
So, as it becomes time foryou to leave office today, Remember friend
to 'PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY' and have tranquility by putting trust in
Almighty Allah (swt).
Holy Quran: "He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the
believers that they might have more faith added totheir faith". (48:4)
Tranquility is sign of strong faith while worries and stress is sign
of weak faith.
Tell to your mind every day before you go to sleep: "YAA AYYATUHAN
NAFSUL MUTMAINNAH, IRJI'II ILAA RABBIKI RADHIYATAN MARDHIYYAH,
FADKHULII FII IBAADII WADKHULII JANNATII". (Al-Fajr 89:27-30)
"O soul that is at rest satisfied. Return to your Lord well-pleased
(with Him), well-pleasing (Him).So, enter among My servants, and enter
into my Paradise".

A Unique take on Forgiveness

One rainy afternoon I was driving along one of the main streets of
town, taking those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet
and slick.
Suddenly, my daughter, spoke up from her relaxed position in her seat.
"Dad, I'm thinking of something."
This announcement usually meant she had been pondering some fact for a
while, and was now ready to expound all that her six-year-old mind had
discovered. I was eager to hear. What are you thinking?" I asked.
"The rain," she began, "islike sin, and the windshield wipers are like
Allah wiping our sins away."
After the chill bumps raced up my arms I was able to respond. "That's
really good," Then my curiosity broke in. How far would this little
girl take this revelation? So I asked…
"Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?"
She didn't hesitate one moment with her answer: "We keep on sinning,
and Allah just keeps on forgiving us."
I will always remember this whenever I turn my wipers on.

How the Qur’an was Compiled

QUESTION:
I wanted to know was the entire Qur'an compiled before the Prophet's
death or after by the khalifas. What I mean by compiled is the
ordering of the surahs. Before the Prophet's death ( Allah bless him &
give him peace), did the sahabas know that the#1 surah is fatiha and
#2 is suratul baqara and so forth? Or was this order established by
the khalifas like during Uthman (Allah be pleasedwith him) time?
ANSWER:
Assalamu alaykum
In the name of Allah the inspirer of truth
The order of the verses ineach chapter of the Qur'an was divinely
inspired, even though they were revealed portion by portion as theneed
arose over a 23 year period.
The Messenger of Allah (upon him be peace) would instruct the scribes
to place each verse in its proper place as they were revealed.
It is related by Imam Ahmad and the authors of the Sunans on the
authority of Uthman radhiyallahu anhu, "When a chapter was revealed of
the Qur'an that had a number of verses, the Messenger of Allah would
call one of the scribes and say, "Place these verses in thechapter
which states such and such…" Hence, from this and other narrations it
is understood that not only was the arrangement of the verses divinely
inspired, so were the chapters according to many scholars. (Fath
al-Bari, Bab ta'lif al-Qur'an).
Although there is agreement concerning the arrangement of the verses
being divinely inspired, there is a difference of opinion concerning
the order of the chapters. The stronger opinion seems to be that the
arrangement of many chapters was also divinely inspired, although some
chapters were placed through the ijtihad [inference] of the
Companions. For instance, it is reported that the Companions placed
Surat al-Tawba after Surat al-Anfal, through their own deliberation,
as they did not have any informationconcerning this from the Messenger
(upon him be peace).
A good English work on the sciences of the Qur'anis, Approach to the
Qur'anic Sciences by Shaykh Mufti Taqi Uthmani . An abridged version
of it is found in the beginning of the Ma`arif al-Qur'an [a Qur'anic
tafsir in Urdu, which is available in English translation as well].
Well worth reading.
Wassalam
Mufti Abdur Rahman Ibn Yusuf Mangera

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

If a man or a woman wants to offer the sacrifice, they should refrain from cutting their hair and nails

Is it permissible for one who is going to offer a sacrifice, whether a
manor a woman, to cut his orher hair and nails? What are the things
that become forbidden once the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah is sighted?.
Praise be to Allaah.
When the new moon of Dhu'l-Hijjah appears, it becomes haraam for the
one who wants to offer a sacrifice to remove anything from his hair,
nails or skin, because of the report narrated by Muslim (1977) from
UmmSalamah (may Allaah be pleased with her), that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When you see the new moon
of Dhu'l-Hijjah, if one of you wants to offer a sacrifice, let him
refrain from (cutting) his hair and nails." According to another
version: "When the ten days (of Dhu'l-Hijjah) begin, if one of you
wants to offer a sacrifice, let him not touch his hair or skin with
anything."
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The scholars differed
concerning the one whowants to offer a sacrificewhen the ten days of
Dhu'l-Hijjah begin. Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib, Rabee'ah, Ahmad, Ishaaq,
Dawood and some of the companions of al-Shaafa'i said that it is
haraam for him to cut anything from his hair and nails until he has
offered the sacrifice at the time of sacrifice. Al-Shaafa'i and his
companions said that it is makrooh but not haraam… end quote from
Sharh Muslim.
This ruling is general in meaning and applies to everyone who wants to
offer a sacrifice, man or woman.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: What is
permissible for a womanwho wants to offer a sacrifice on behalf of
herself and her household, or on behalf of her parents, to do with
regard to her hair once the ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah begin?
He replied: It is permissible for her to undo her hair (if it is
braided etc) and wash it,but she should not combit. If some of her
hair falls out when it is beingundone or washed, that does not matter.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (18/47).
The one who wants to offer a sacrifice is not forbidden to do anything
else, such as wear regular clothes, wear perfume. And Allah knows
best.

Condition of saying Bismillaah in order for meat to be halaal

What is the ruling on saying Bismillaah over the sacrifice, especially
ifthe slaughterman does not pray?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Meat slaughtered by onewho does not pray is nothalaal, whether he says
the name of Allaah over it or not. See question no. 70278 .
With regard to saying Bismillah when slaughtering meat, the fuqaha'
differed concerning that and there are three points ofview:
1 – That it is mustahabb only, which is the view of al-Shaafa'i.
2 – That it is a condition of the meat being halaal,but if a person
forgets it by mistake it is still permissible. This is the view of the
Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis.
3 – That it is essential and cannot be waived under any circumstances,
whether it is omitted by mistake or deliberately or out of ignorance.
This is the view of the Zaahiris and was narrated from Maalik and
Ahmad, and it was the view of some of the salaf; it was also the view
favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said:It is the correct view.
He also said: They quoted as evidence the general meaning of the verse
in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Eat not (O believers) of that (meat) on which Allaah's Name has not
been pronounced (at thetime of the slaughtering of the animal)"
[al-An'aam 6:121]
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"If the blood flows and the name of Allaah is mentioned, then eat."
Soin order for the meat to be halaal, it is essential that the name of
Allaah be mentioned. It is well known that if the condition is not
met, the thing is invalid, so if the name of Allaah is not mentioned,
the meat is not halaal, as with any other condition. Hence ifa person
prays but he forgot to do wudoo', he has to repeat the
prayer.Similarly if he prays not realizing that he had broken his
wudoo' because he thought that breaking wind does not invalidate
wudoo', or that eating camel meat does not invalidate wudoo', for
example, then he must repeat it, because the thing is not valid
without the conditions being met. Soif he slaughtered it but the blood
did not flow, by mistake or out of ignorance, then it is not halaal,
and the same applies if he does not mention the name of Allaah,
because it is mentioned in the same hadeeth. End quote fromal-Sharh
al-Mumti' (6/358).
See also: al-'Inaayah Sharh al-Hidaayah (9/489); al-Fawaakih
al-Dawaani (1/382); and al-Majmoo' (8/387).
Based on this, he should not slaughter sacrifices or anything else
unless he is one of those who pray regularly, and it is essential that
he mentions the name of Allaah when slaughtering and says Bismillaah
(in the name of Allaah).
It is also mustahabb to say takbeer, so he should say: Bismillaah, wa
Allaahu akbar (In the name of Allaah and Allaah is Most Great).
Al-Bukhaari (5558) and Muslim (1966) narrated that Anas (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) sacrificed two horned black and white rams. I
saw him placing his foot on their sides, and he said the name of
Allaah and he said takbeer, then he slaughtered them with his own
hand.

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

Swiss team visits Arafat grave ahead of probe

06/11/2012
A Swiss laboratory team has made a brief visit to the West Bank city
of Ramallah to prepare for the exhumation of the late President Yasser
Arafat, a Palestinian official has said .
The team, along with French investigators, is expected to participate
in an operation starting on November 26 and expected to take "several
weeks or a month" to exhume Arafat's remains as part of a probe into
the circumstances of his death in 2004 .
Ahead of the exhumation, experts from the Institute of Radiation
Physics at Switzerland'sUniversity of Lausanne made a brief visit to
Ramallah, visiting the grave and meeting with Palestinian health
minister Hani Abdeen and justice minister Ali Mhanna .
" A delegation from the Swiss laboratory visited Yasser Arafat's grave
to examine the site," Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian
investigative committee on Arafat's death, said .
Tirawi told AFP news agency he met the team "to discuss next steps ".
Tirawi stressed that opening the grave to test Arafat's remains would
only take place once in thepresence of both the Swiss experts and
French investigators, who are running separate probes .
Delicate procedure
Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher, whose film What Killed Arafat? triggered
the international investigations, spoke with the Swiss and witnessed
their meetings at the Muqataa alongside engineers at the grave of
Yasser Arafat .
" It's a delicate procedure, given the amount of marble, concrete and
steel involved, and the forensic examiners want to ensure the late
Palestinian leader's body will be approached with great care," said
Swisher, reporting from Ramallah .
Arafat died in a French military hospital near Paris on November 11,
2004 and French experts wereunable to say what had killed him, with
many Palestinians convinced he was poisoned by Israel .
French prosecutors opened a murder inquiry in August after Al Jazeera
broadcast the investigation in which Swiss experts said they had found
elevated levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's personal effects .
Polonium is a highly toxic substance rarely found outside military and
scientific circles .
It was used to kill former Russianspy turned Kremlin critic Alexander
Litvinenko, who died in2006 in London shortly after drinking tea laced
with the poison .
Swiss experts involved in the investigation said traces of radioactive
poison would be lost forever if Arafat's remains were not analyzed
soon.

Scores killed in Syria violence

06/11/2012
Scores of Syrian soldiers have been killed by a suicide car bomb in
the central province of Hama and at least 20 rebel fighters were
killed in an air strike in the northwest province of Idlib, activists
have said .
Monday's clashes came as the main Syrian opposition, the Syrian
National Council (SNC), in makeover talks in Qatar, agreed to expand
its structure to accommodate 13 other groups, a spokesman said .
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing
in the village ofZiyara in Hama province was carried out by Jabhat
al-Nusra, anarmed group that has claimed several attacks on regime
targets .
The bombing killed more than 50 people, according to the Observatory,
a claim which cannot be independently verified .
In Damascus, a car bomb exploded in the western district of Mezzeh.
The part of the neighborhood where the bombing struck, Mezzeh 86 is
mainly inhabited by Alawites, belonging to the same sect as President
Bashar al-Assad .
State-run news agency SANA said 11 people were wounded in the blast.
Television footage showed bloodied people in the street andgaping
holes in residential buildings as firefighters worked to put out the
blaze .
Residents said senior security andmilitary officers of Assad's
regimelive in the area targeted late on Monday .
The Observatory also said at least 20 rebel fighters were killed when
Syrian air force jets bombarded the town of Haram inthe northern
province of Idlib, while fighting raged on between rebels and
government soldiers in Damascus and Aleppo .
The latest developments came as the rebels sought to keep momentum
after seizing a major oilfield and shooting down a fighter jet in the
eastern provinceof Deir Ezzor the day before .
Aleppo clashes
In Aleppo, fighting broke out at aroundabout at the northwest entrance
to the city in the Zahraa district and on the airport road to the
southeast, the Observatoryand residents said .
One resident of a district near Zahraa said Monday's fighting in the
area was the heaviest in recent days .
" It's been almost one week that we are living in terror at night. We
hear everything - gun battles, tank shelling, explosions ... The
clashes before dawn today were the worst all week," Samir, a
37-year-old pharmacist, told the AFP news agency .
Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, meanwhile, said on Monday
that its main warehouse in Aleppo had burned down amidrecent fighting,
with the loss of crucial supplies including medicine, food and winter
relief items like blankets .
The rebels have scored significantgains in recent weeks and now hold
swathes of territory in the country's north, but have struggled to
gain ground in and around Damascus and in the commercial hub Aleppo
amid heavy bombardment from government air power .
Strikes from regime warplanes and helicopter gunships have reached a
new level of intensity in recent days as government forces try to
reverse rebel gains on the ground .
The escalating conflict has added urgency to a meeting of the Syrian
National Council in Qatar, where the United States is reportedly
pressing for a new umbrella organization to unite the country's
fractured opposition .
Doha meeting
Syria's main opposition bloc agreed on Monday to broaden its structure
to accommodate 13 other groups, a spokesman said .
The decision by the Syrian National Council (SNC) came on the second
day of a four-day meeting of opposition groups in the Qatari capital,
Doha, aimed at forging a more united front against Assad's regime .
Participants "have agreed a restructuring plan and to reduce the
number of [current] members of the general secretariat to accommodate
200 new members representing 13 political groups and independents,"
said SNC spokesman Ahmad Kamel .
Kamel said the existing membership would be reduced from 313 to 220 to
pave the way for the additional 200 members. The general secretariat
will convene in its revamped form on Tuesday, he added .
The meeting is also expected to discuss an initiative by leading
dissident Riad Seif, which appeared to enjoy US support buthas
encountered reservations from some SNC members, to unite all Syrian
groups opposed to Assad .
" We will form a political leadership that will in turn form a
government of technocrats," Seif said on Sunday, insisting his
proposal was "not to replace the SNC which should be an important
component ."
The initiative will top the agenda of a broader meeting on Thursday
called by host Qatar andthe Arab League .
According to the reports, which emerged after US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said the SNC was not a representative body, long-time
dissident Seif is touted as the potential head of a new
government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative .
Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad dismissed the
conference, accusing the opposition of following a foreign agenda .
"When the opposition parties follow the desires of Israel, the United
States and the Western countries, who stand against the interest of
the Syrian people, this then achieves the main goals of such
conferences which do nothing but help escalate the situation in
Syria," he said.
PHOTO CAPTION
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA,
showsSyrians standing at the scene after a blast occurred according to
footage and reports shown onState-run Al-Ikhbariya television in the
Mazzeh al-Jabal district of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria,
Monday, Nov. 5, 2012.

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

Hadrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti (R.A) - Sufism Biographies

Khawaja Moinuddin wasborn in Sajiz village on Monday the 14 of Rajab
A.H. 537 and had his early education and upbringing in Khorasan. His
father died when he was 15. He had two brothers. On the divisionof the
property left by his father, he got a garden and a water-mill and made
a living by theincome derived from it. On contact with Ibrahim Kanduzi
(the ecstatic) majzub. Who one day came to his garden, he lost
interest in wordy possessions, sold the garden and other belongings
and distributed the proceedsamong the poor. He thenset out in search
of God. He first went to Bokhara and then to Samarkand where he learnt
the Quran by heart and acquired worldly knowledge. He them proceeded
to Iraq adding to his knowledgein the company o scholars and religious
persons like Shaikh Najmuldin Kubra, ShaikhAbdul Qadir Jilani, Shaikh
Ziauddin and Shaikh Shahabuddin Suharwardi. In Harvan village he
become disciple of Hardrat Shaikh Usman Harvani.
From Ghazna, Khawaja Moinuddin reached Lahore and stayed near the
Mazzars of Shailkh Hussain Zanjani and Shaikh Ali Usman Hajveri.He
remained in Lahore for some months and leftfor Delhi where he stayed
near the tomb of Shaikh Rashid Makki which had a mosque adjacent to
it. Delhi and Ajmer were then under the sovereignty of Raja Prithvi
Rai(also known as Rai Pithora), whose agents created hinderances in
the way of Khwaja Moinuddin and his companions, but he overcame all
these obstacles. Under Khawaja Sahib's influence, Hindus embraced
Islam in large numbers, including some of Rai Pithora's countries and
nobles; Apprised of this, Rai Pithora ordered Khawaja's arrest. Or,
hearing of it, Khwaja Moinuddin said: I have handed Pithora to
Muslims; soon after, Sultan Shahabuddin Ghori defeated Rai Pithora at
Tarawari in A.H. 588. Rai Pithora was captured near the bank of
Sarasvati river and put to death. After the victory, Islam spread all
over India. Under influence of Moinuddin and his spiritual
descendants, as many as 9 million Hindus were converted to Islam.
Today the descendants of these converts count more then 36. Khwaja's
life style was that of extreme simplicity, his hermit-like dress was
double stitched and was usually patched with rages. In his early
asceticdays, he would fast for 7 days on end, and break the fast with
a piece of bread. Khawaja Moinuddin slept little. Usually he offered
his morning prayers with the ablution performed for the previous
eveningprayer. He had the Quranin the morning and at night.
The Chistia silsila originated form the town of Chisht situated in
Afghanistan. Some 66 miles East of Herat, Chisht is now a small
village on the banks of river Hari Rood known, as Khawaja Chisht.
Chishita order flourishedin the sub-continent, while its other
branches did not survive for long in other Islamic countries. Shaikh
Abu Ishaque Shami (d. 329 A.H.) pioneered silsila Chishtia.
In the Indo-Pakistan sub-continet, it was Kahwaja Moinuddin Sijziwho
laid foundations of the Chishti silsila and worked out its
principlesat Ajmer which was thenthe seat of Chauhan Rajput politics
power. Khawaja Sahib was the embodiment of Islamic virtues and had
gained fame for this remarkablespiritual achievements. He also
performed numerous Karamat (miracles).
Prof. Khaleeq Ahmad Nizami writes: 'Ajmer was not merely the seat of
Chouhan power; it was religious centre alsowhere thousands of pilgrims
assembled from far and near, Shaikh Moinuddin's determination to work
out the principles of Islamic tassawuf at a place of such political
and religious significance shows greatself confidence. The Kahawaja
worked in themidst of a Hindu population which looked ask once at
everyforeigner. Khawaja Moinuddin's stay in Ajmer must have been a
serious trial for the promotion of Islam. On his success or failure in
Ajmer depended the future of the Islamic sufic movement in Hindustan."
The ruler and the high cast Hindus disliked Khawaja Sahib nevertheless
the common peoples flockedto him. Khawaja Moinuddin's life was that of
simplicity, piety and devotion to the cause of Islam. He alwayslaid
stress to assist the helpless and to feed the hungry.
He had an extraordinary capacity of overlooking faults and for
remissions.He held his disciples and Khalifas most dear. Food was
cooked in abundance in his public kitchen and the poor, travelers,
strangers, students, guest, beggars,had their fill. For his kitchen he
did not take asingle pie from anyone. When all was spent, he lifted
the corner of his prayer carpet for the deceased and burial , when all
had left the graveyard he sat by himself by the grave.
At the mention of the Day of Resurrection he fell to weeping and
sometimes cried cloud. Kahwaja Sahib followed religious injunctions
andwas very particular about observing religious ceremonies. He
recited the Duaa frequently and advised his disciples to do the same.
When he expatiated on the sayings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) he was
overcome with tears. He was transported when he referred to the life
of the Prophet (S.A.W). He has said somewhere in his writings: the
presence of the Holy Prophet. There would beno place for a person;
where will he go "he said". Having said this Khawaja Sahib cried
aloud.
All though his life, Khawaja Sahib was transported by love of Allah;
he was equally carried away by his love of the holy Prophet (S.A.W).
SAMAA or music is permissible in Chishti traditions. Khawaja had a
taste for it. It is recorded in Dalil-ul-Arifin that once,
whenresiding in Hazrat Abu Yousuf Chishti's monastery, hearing the
following verses in the musical assembly he remained in a state of
trance for two days.
"The lover is carried wayby the longing for the beloved
And is transported by the memory of his love.
Tomorrow when the people would fell lost onthe Day of Resurrection.
Thy name will resound in the breast and ears."
Khawaja Sahib maintains that music leads to insight into Creator. It
is a blessing inthree ways, i.e. illumination, states and signs; and
these pertain to the soul heart and thebody.
TEACHINGS
Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din Chishti's teachings are extremely illuminating ,'
They may be summarized as follow:-
1. To Trust in God and noto desire any thing from anyone else:
2. One who is God's friend must be found to have the following
attributes:, Company of the righteous generosity, kindness
andcourtesy.
3. Three thing are the ornament of the soul: Befriending the enemy,
hiding one's own poverty and sorrows andsufferings from others,
complete trust in God;
4. The steadfast disciple is one who says the morning prayer and is
intoxicated by its enjoyment and memory till the next morning;
5. To be subject to some calamity or disease is a token of sound faith;
6. Love the poor, and avoid lying the backbiting;
7. God loves him who loves poverty and sickness.
8. One who repudiates prayer and the law of God is an infidel;
9. Alms giving is more praise-worthy than a thousand voluntary prayers;
10. Abusing a believer is like adultery with one's own mother or
sister, the prayer of such a person is not heard.
11. One who helps the needy is the friend of God. If a person engaged
in prayer or a religious duty is approaching by a needy person, he
should stop his prayer or religious duty, and attend to him and help
him according to his means;
12. The highest piety is to remember death;
13. Three persons shall never in-hale the fragrance of paradise; the
dervish who tells lies, a miser and a fraudlent merchant;
14. In addition to the prescribed acts of worship (prayer and fast),
the following five acts of devotion are incumbent upon the sufic.
Serving one's parents, reciting the Qu'ran respecting and be-friending
the ulema, paying a visit to Khana Ka'ba, devotion to the spiritual
guide;
15. Apart from other sinful acts, the neophyte must abstain from these
sins: laughing in a graveyard, eating and drinking there, for it is a
place of warning, oppression, and not to tremble on taking God's name;
16. The proof of the Arif's love is this that apart from repeating
God's name he should beattached to nothing else;
17. For the Ahl-e-Tariqat on the way to Saluk the following ten things
are imperative: Observance of paryer and fast, fear of God,
Steadfastness in Shari'at, abstinence in food, less sleeping, les
talking, less intercourse with people, search for truth, desire for a
perfect spiritual guide, respect, resignation, love an avoidance of
excess;
18. Likewise the following are necessary for Ahl-e-Haqeeqat: To be
perfect in ma'rfat to abstain from doing harmand giving pain to
others, holding such converse with people as may do them good here and
the world to come, to be courteous, to cultivate privacy, love and
hold others dear and think one self to be less than others,
submissions to the will of God, patience and resignance in adversity,
humility, sympathy and pity, contentment and reliance on God, frequent
recital of Darud;
19. To recite Darud frequently;
20. Praise God and perform routine duties before the spiritual guide
and abstain from relating his experience to anyone else;
21. Reading the writings of the auliya is beneficial.
It is related in Sair-ul-Aqtab that on the night Hardrat Kahawaja
Moin-ud-Din passed away, he shut the doors of his closet after evening
prayer and directed his friends not to come there. His special
intimates lingered near the closet and they heard all along the
thumping of feet heard when the lovers of God are in a state of
ecstasy. Late in the nightthe sound stopped. Afterthe morning prayer
his special disciples knockedat the door the called out but received
no reply from within. They broke open the door thefound that Hadrat
Khawaja had passed away. On his forehead was written in characters of
light "Haza Habib Ma'fi hubb Allah. (God's beloved emerges in His
love).
He died on Monday, the sixteh of Rajab 633 A.H. The greatest miracle
of Hazrat Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din Chishti Ajmeri is that due to the
efforts ofthe line established by him as many as nine million persons
embraced Islam. His second miracles was thatwhatever sinner and
dissolute he looked at forthwith repented of his sins for ever. Dargah
of Chishti still Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din vibrates with spiritual power.

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

Some types of haraam transactions

What are the types of haraam transactions? Please quote the evidence for that.
Praise be to Allaah.
There are many types of haraam transactions, and it is not possible to
list them all in this brief answer. On our website, in the section on
haraamtransactions you will find many of these transactions.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned a
useful principle concerning thismatter, which will help one to
understand the issue and by referring toit the issue will become
clear.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo' al-Fataawa (29/22):
The second principle concerning contracts, both halaal and haraam: the
basic principle in thisregard is that Allah has forbidden us in His
Book to eat up one another's property unjustly (cf. 2:188); He
condemned the rabbis and monks who ate up the people's wealth
unjustly; He condemned the Jews for consuming usury (riba) when they
had been forbidden to do so, and for eating up the people's wealth
unjustly.This includes everything that is eaten up or consumed
unjustly in transactions and donations, and whatever is taken without
consent.
Eating up or consuming wealth unjustly in transactions is of two
types, which Allah mentioned in His Book. They are usury (riba) and
gambling.
The prohibition on usury, which is the opposite of charity, is
mentioned at the end of Soorat al-Baqarah, Soorat Aal 'Imraan and
ar-Room. The Jews are condemned for it in Soorat an-Nisa', and the
prohibition on gamblingis mentioned in Soorat al-Maa'idah.
Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
explained in detail that which Allah had mentioned in general terms in
His Book. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
forbade ambiguoustransactions, as was narrated by Muslim and others
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Ambiguous
transactions are those of which the outcome is unknown, which leads to
the same negative outcomes as gambling, namely enmity and resentment,
in addition to consuming wealth unlawfully, which is a type of
oppression or wrongdoing. Ambiguoustransactions involve wrongdoing,
enmity andresentment.
As for usury, the prohibition on it in the Qur'an is more
emphatic.Hence Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due
toyou) from Riba (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really)
believers.
And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger"
[al-Baqarah 2:278-279].
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) included it
among the major sins, aswas narrated in as-Saheehayn from Abu Hurayrah
(may Allah be pleased with him). Allah stated that some good things
that had been permitted to the Jews became forbidden to them because
of their wrongdoing, their preventing people from following the path
of Allah, and their consuming people's wealth unlawfully. And He, may
He be glorified and exalted, said that Hewill destroy riba (usury) as
He gives increase for charity (cf. 2:276). Both matters are tried,
tested and true in people's experience. End quote.
So the basic principle is that any transaction thatincludes either of
these two forbidden matters – usury (riba) or gambling – or that is a
trick to get around the prohibition on these two things, comes under
the heading of haraam transactions.
Examples of transactions that are haraam becauseof usury (riba)
include: 'Eenah transaction [which means to sell something for a price
to be paid at a later date, then to buy it back for a lower price to
be paid immediately]; selling debts; combining a sale contract with a
loan; andthe like.
Examples of transactions that are haraam becauseof gambling include:
sales of unknown items; and sales of things that one cannot deliver.

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

Ruling on the wudoo’ ofone who washes his arms from the wrists to the elbows, and does not wash the hands

In my community and in the Muslim world, many Muslims make the mistake
of only washing from the wrist to the elbows in elbows instead of
washing the hands also in wuduu. Although I try to tell people,
sometimes we are led by different people in prayer(we do not have an
imam). So if I do not know if this person does wuduu correctly or not,
should I pray behind him anyway? Does it depend on how much doubt I
have? Someitmes I may already know the brother who is going to lead us
and I have a big feeling he does wuduu in hte worng way yet should I
ask him as he is about lead prayer.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The parts of the body that must be washed in wudoo' are mentioned in
the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of
the meaning): "O you who believe! When you intend to offer As-Salat
(the prayer), wash your faces and your hands (forearms) up to the
elbows, rub (by passing wet hands over) your heads, and (wash) your
feet up to ankles" [al-Maa'idah 5:6].
Allah, may He be exalted,has made it obligatory to wash the arms up to
the elbows after washing the face, and this cannot be done except by
washing the arms from the fingers upto the elbows. The one who limits
it to washing them from the wrists to the elbows has not performed
this obligation.
With regard to washing their hands at the beginning of wudoo', this is
Sunnah, and cannot suffice for the obligatory action, according to the
majority of scholars, contrary to the Hanafi view.
The majority of scholars are of the opinion that itis obligatory to
wash theparts of the body in wudoo' in the correct order as mentioned
in the verse: washing the face, then washing the arms, then wiping
over the head, then washing the feet.
Based on that, it is not valid to regard washing the hands at the
beginning of wudoo' as being sufficient and not washing them again
with the rest of the of the arm, because that leads to failure to
follow the proper sequence, washing of the face in the middle of
washing the arms. What is required is to wash the entire arm, after
washing the face.
To sum up: if a person does wudoo' and washes his hands, then rinses
his mouth and nose, and washes his face, then he washes his arms from
the wrists to the elbows, his wudoo' is not valid according to most of
the scholars.
Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah preserve him) was asked: What is the
rulingon one who washes his arms from the wrist to the elbow, without
washing his hands, thinking that his washing of his hands at the
beginning of wudoo' is sufficient? Does he have to repeat wudoo'?
He replied: It is not permissible when doing wudoo' to wash the
forearm only, without the hand. Rather when he has finished washing
his face, he should start to wash the arms, and he should wash each of
them from the fingertipsup to the elbow, even if he washed his hands
before his face, because washing them the first time is Sunnah, and
washing them after the face is obligatory. If a person only washes his
arms from the wrist to the elbow, then he has not completed wudoo' as
required, and he has to repeat his wudoo' after completing it, or
hehas to wash what he omitted if only a short time has passed (since
he completed it), so he should wash the hands and what comes after
that.
End quote from al-Lu'lu' al-Makeen min Fataawa Shaykh Ibn Jibreen, p. 77
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Here we
should point out something that many people neglect, as they wash the
arm from the wrist to the elbow, thinking that they had finished
washing the hands before washing the face, but this is not correct. It
is essential to wash the arm from the fingertips to the elbows.
End quote from al-Liqa' ash-Shahri, 3/330
And Allah knows best.

The Sick and Ailing in Islam - Visiting the Sick

The Prophet (S) has said:
When you visit a sick person, comfort him, though this does not alter
his destiny, but it will calm him his worries and refresh his spirit.
Such ethereal support, according to al-Akili (1993) helps the human
spirit, builds up will of the patient, and empowers his
psycho-physiological process to defeat the illness. The religion Islam
has strongly recommended its followers to constantlyvisit the sick,
and the rewards attached to suchan act are limitless. The reason for
this behavior is not only related to the fact that the sick person
gets company and confidence, but the stronger relationship is to one's
energy system, and the interaction with the fields of energy of the
sick person and its rate of vibration.
An emotional mental trauma can create interruptions in the flow of
energy within an ailing person and may surface as physical pain,
illness, or disease. When someone is ill, he suffers a big hole in his
energy and chances are that the force fields have slowed down and are
not spinning quite so fast (Lindgren et. al., 1997 & Weston, 2000).
This hole can be filled up with higher sources of energy,i.e. the
healthier people who come to visit the sick person, and various other
elements, or meditation and prayer. For instance, we have seen that
the Prophet (S) always advised the sick to stand up and pray to the
Almighty.
Grad (1965) of McGill University in Montreal observed in his
experiments that if depressed psychiatric patients held the flasks
ofwater (which was later poured on barley seeds), the growth of the
seeds was retarded. The opposite was the case if spiritually and
emotionally balanced healers held the flasks of water. Weston (1998)
writes that a depressed person or any person with an evil thought or
lustful intention releases detrimental info-energy that is powerful
enough to cause a disturbance in someone else's energy system. These
experiments have concluded that the energy surrounding a sick person
is blocked, the force fields being unstable with low vibrations. The
information within the energy is also agonizing.
Because the sick person's energy will have low-charged, weak, and
unstable fields of energy,he may naturally draw and attract stronger
and much free flowing energy from the higher energy source, the
healthier friend or relative. There is also a possibility that a sick
person's energy flow is inthe opposite and wrong direction. This
visitor's energy will go on to balance and reduce blockages that exist
in the energy centers of the sick person.
If more healthy people and friends visit the sick person, the weak
energy can completely be transformed and the sick person may feel
vibrant and active and the energy will begin spinning clockwise
indicating the start of healing. This is why we have Muslims visiting
the sick always in a group, and in his presence, there is recitation
of Qur'an, or invocations. These types of practices are deeply rooted
and contain powerful ingredients to heal a sick person at the energy
level.
It is recorded in history that when the American Indians needed to
replenish their energy, they would go into the woods; arms extended,
and absorb as much energy from the trees as possible . Apparently,
Deepak Chopra (1998) in Healing the Heart recommends daily walking
around the woods in the morning, and that the trees at that particular
time have fresh and unadulterated energy to release and allow free
flowing energy communication with the person. Weston (1998) also
recommends putting one's arms around a tree to draw energy.
Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird (1989), in their book The Secret
Life of Plants, quote an experiment in which a few unhealthy plants
were kept in the middle, surrounded by a large group of healthy
plants. Because the healthy plants emitted stable, strong and highly
charged energy that almost instantly interacted with the sick plant's
weak energy, the sick plants got stronger and healthier day by
day.This change can be strongly attributed to theenergy interactions,
the higher vibratory source feeding the lower source - the blocked and
low-charge energy replaced with pure and steady source of energy.
Results of a study, which were published in the year 2000 in the
journalHorttechology, says that people in roomswith houseplants and a
view of trees could tolerate more physical pain than those in
surroundings without any plants or trees. The Washington State
University conducted this study. Clearly, there was arelationship
between theenergy in plants and trees and the energy within an ailing
person.
Tompkins and Bird (1989)quote yet another experiment by Marcel Vogel,
in which the experimenter paid some attention to a particular leaf,
and none to other leaf, the control. He found out that the leaf
towhich there was no attention paid appeared flaccid, turning brown
and beginning to decay. The leaf on which there was focused attention
was radiantly vital and green, just as if it had been freshly plucked
from the garden.
There was indeed some kind of power that was keeping the leaf in a
healthy state, and that power was the energy interaction between the
person and the plant. Simply the person attending to it observed
significant growth in a leaf. Vogel continued his experiments in
different situations and found similar results. In some experiments,
the leaves that were attended to by human attention appeared to even
heal their wounds caused by being ripped off from thetree.
Islam has also been kind enough to advise the healthy people and
relatives to refrain from staying for a long time with a sick person.
Not only would this act make the sick person lethargic, there could be
a reversal effect, in that the sick person's energy may absorb too
much free flowing and balanced energy from the healthy person thus
lowering his healthy and vibratory nature. This may further cause
short-term illness or lethargy because of the excessive amounts of
highly charged energy being drained from the healthy person.
Praying for the Sick
We have already noted the benefits of prayer, even if the ailing
person is in another continent. Itis customary for Muslims to ask
their brethren to remember them in their prayers, and Muslims pray in
congregation for each other all the time. Inparticular, when someone
is sick, then Muslims gather together and pray for that sick andailing
person. According to Weston (1998), a group of people, saying prayers
has the followingeffect on the group, its surroundings, and the
persons the prayer may be offered to:
When you pray with other family members, you form a sacred group
energy field. The energy released bathes everyonein that room. It
flows intothe carpet, the walls, and furniture, leaving a residue of
it present at alltimes. This sacred group energy field is filled with
information, the information from the intent and content of your vocal
prayers together.
Group power, according to Weston (1998) can achieve same healing
results as that of one world-class healer. Scientists accept this
typeof prayer, with intention (as the person's name is being
mentioned), as proven acts that provide healing to the recipient.
Several specific studies have already been quoted in the earlier
sections, but one large meta-study is quoted below.
Recently, studies were identified by an electronic search of the
MEDLINE, PsychLIT, EMBASE, CISCOM, and Cochrane Library Databases from
their inception to the end of 1999 and by contact withresearchers in
the field. Studies with the following features were included; random
assignment, placebo or other adequate control, publication in
peer-reviewed journals, clinical (rather than experimental)
investigations, and use ofhuman participants. Two investigators
independently extracted data on study design, sample size, type of
intervention, type of control, direction of effect (supporting or
refuting the hypothesis), and nature of the outcomes.
A total of 23 trials involving 2774 patients met the inclusion
criteria and were analyzed. Heterogeneity of the studies precluded a
formal meta-analysis. Of the trials, five examined prayer as the
distant healing intervention, 11 assessed non- contact therapeutic
touch, and seven examined other forms of distant healing. Of the 23
studies, 13 (57%) yielded statisticallysignificant treatment effects,
nine showed no effect over control interventions, and one showed a
negative effect.
The study concluded that the methodological limitations of several
studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the
efficacy of distant healing. However, given that approximately 57% of
trials showed a positive treatment effect,the evidence thus far merits
further study. This study appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine
2000.

--


- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

- - - - - - -

: - ^ -: |- The Islamic Ruling on Brain Death and Life Support -| : - ^ -:

as-Salamu alaykum:
This is a very brief summary regarding the Islamic Regulations
regarding Brain Death and Life Support. I put it together in a rush,
so my apologies for any misspellings and awkwardness.
The source Dr. Bakr Abu Zaid's (1) Fiqh an-Nawazil(2) (Vol. 1, pp.
215-236, Article No. 4, printed by Maktabah ar-Rushd, Riyad, 1407).
I hope you will find it useful to your question.
May Allah show us mercy and forgiveness at the time of our dying. Ameen.
******************
Dr. Bakr Abu Zaid describes his article as aninvestigation into "the
status of the ill while under life support and the indications of
death between [the viewpoint of] medicine and fiqh." (p. 215)
He proceeds then to divide his article into fivesections:
1. A discussion of life support (pp. 217-218)
2. The medical definition of death and its indications (pp. 219-221)
3. The fiqh definition of death and its indications (pp. 222-225)
4. The various states of the ill under life support (pp. 229-230)
5. The fiqh resolution of this issue (pp. 231-236)
In the first section on "a discussion of life support," Dr. Bakr Abu
Zaid provides a list of Arabic medical terms used for life support and
proceeds to summarize what is meant by "life support."
In the second section on"the medical definition of death and its
indications," Dr. Bakr AbuZaid discusses four issues:
(1) the history background of the concept of brain death;
(2) the basic anatomy of the brain;
(3) the concept of brain death; and
(4) the indications of brain death. In his discussion he brings out
two important points which have bearing on the fiqh ruling: (a) the
difference of opinion in the medical field regarding if
death occurs with the death of the brain stem; (b) the
inconclusiveness of the indications used by doctors to determine brain
death.
In the third section on"the fiqh definition of death and its
indications," Dr. Bakr AbuZaid shows that the scholars are in
agreement that death is defined as the separationof the soul from the
body. Moreover, this definition was extracted by them from the
lengthyhadith reported by al-Bara' ibn Azib and collected by Ahmad and
others regarding the nature of the death of the believer and the
unbeliever, the questioning in the grave,and the subsequent pleasure
or torment faced by the deceased in his grave. He also quotes
al-Ghazzali (Ihya' 'Ulum ad-Din, Vol. 4, p. 493) who further clarifies
that death occurs only with the total separation of the soul from the
body. (This will have bearing on the fiqh ruling). He summarizes with
the following
two points:
(1) the reality of death according to the sharia isthe separation of
the soulfrom the body;
(2) the reality of the separation of the soul from the body is such
that the soul remains in no part of the body, and hence no part of the
body contains any life.
With regards to the indications of death according to fiqh, he begins
with the hadith which states that when the soul leaves the body the
eyes follow. (Muslim).He also lists eight indications of death which
he gathered from a number of classical fiqhworks. He then quotes
an-Nawawi (Rawdatat-Talibin, Vol. 2, p. 97) who adds this important
note regarding the indicationsof death, namely, that when there is any
doubt regarding death, it is to be
assumed that the person is still alive until death is proven conclusively.
In the fourth section on"the various states of the ill under life
support," Dr.Bakr lists three possibilities for a person in intensive
care under life support.
(1) The individual begins to breath on his own andhis heart returns
beating normally, and here life support is removed as the person is no
longer indanger.
(2) The heart no longer beats nor is there any breathing even under
lifesupport. Here life supportis remove is without doubt dead.
(3) The person is brain dead however his heart still beats and there
is breathing while he is under life support. Here doctors normally
conclude death (due to brain death) and remove the person from life
support.
In the fifth and final section regarding, "the fiqh resolution of this
issue," Dr. Bakr concludeswith the following.
(a) As for cases 1 and 2 (see above), this is not any issue for
investigation as both life (case 1) and death (case 2) are certain.
The only issue that needs to be investigated is case 3, namely there
is brain death but their is a heart beat and breathing under life
support.
(b) This third case raises three fiqh questions:
1. What is the ruling for removing someone from life support?
2. What is the ruling regarding organ removal(like a heart) for a
transplant into another person?
3. Do the sharia regulations regarding death (like inheritance) take effect?
He summarizes that the answer is pretexted uponthe question if brain
death is a conclusive signof death according to thesharia definition
of death(i.e., does brain death indicate that the soul has completely
left the body?)
He answers:
(1) Brain death as being a definition for death is an issue of
difference in the medical field.
(2) The indications to show brain death are notalways conclusive.
Thus the sharia principle is that "certainty is not removed by doubt,"
negates this being used as a conclusive sign for death.
Moreover, it has been seen in repeated cases where people have still
lived after the removal oflife support.
He also adds that among the five aims of the sharia is the
preservationof life and as a result the sharia rulings seek to
continue and rescue life and that the general principle is that life
is assumed until conclusive proven otherwise.
Thus brain death cannot be seen according to the sharia to be
equivalent tothe separation of the soulfrom the body.
However, he goes on to add the following important point that this
does not mean that braindeath is not an indicationof death; just like
the heart stopping is an indication of death, but not necessarily
death itself.
For this reason, the scholars, like an-Nawawi quoted previously, said
that the sharia refrains from ruling a judgment of death, if there is
any doubt, even though the indications of death might be present.
Based on this, he answersthe three fiqh questions (see above):
As for the removal of life support in this situation where their is an
indication of death (brain death), but an indication of life (heart
beating and breathing with the aid of life support); either the doctor
will feel that with the removal of life support, the patient
mostlikely die, most likely
live or both possibilities being equal.
If the doctor who has no ulterior motive feels that the with the
removal of life support the patient will most likely die; then it IS
PERMISSIBLE to remove life support as in this case the removal of life
support does not mean preventing treatment from an individual who
there is hope in his cure. Indeed, LIFE SUPPORT SHOULD be removed as
it only prolongs his pain as his soul is being removed.
Even with this, as the same time death is NOT tobe ruled by the mere
lifting of life support until it is certain that the soul has departed
the body. And hence the sharia regulations like inheritance do not
take effect. And similarly organ removal is not permissible (if we are
to say that it is permissible even with death being certain).
This division of sharia rulings, where some takeeffect and others held
back until certainty occurs has many examples in the sharia.
However, if the doctor has no ulterior motives,is of the opinion that
the person will still live with the removal of life support or there
is a 50/50 chance for life. It becomes impermissible to life life
support, until itis felt death in all likelihood will occur or death
does occur or the patient is no longer in need of life support.
-------------------
(1) Dr. Bakr Abu Zaid is the former Deputy Minister of Justice in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and at present a member of the Council of
Leading Scholars and President ofthe Muslim World League's Body of
Scholarswhich investigate contemporary fiqh issues.
(2) Fiqh an-Nawazil refersto Sharia Rulings (Fiqh) of New Issues
(an-Nawazil, pl. of an-Nazilah or something sent down)