Your Way To Islam

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.. Stand up saying"Allahu Akbar" in order to begin a new Rak'ah,
exactly as the first Rak'ah. After finishing the second "Rak'ah" you
sit down and recite Part One and Part Two of "At-Tashahhud". Finally
you turn the face to the right hand side and say: "As-Salamu 'alaykum
wa rahmatul-lah" which means Peace be upon you and The Mercy of Allah!
Then you do the same to the left side. Thus a two- Rak'ah prayer is
completed,such as the Fajr Prayer. As for 4 Rak'ah prayers such as the
Dhuhr, only the first part of At-Tashahhud is recited after completing
the second Rak'ah. Then you stand up to perform two more Rak'ahs in
the same way, but without reciting any verses from The Qur'an after
Al-Fatihah.The 'Asr and t 'Isha' prayersare performed exactly as the
Dhuhr. In the Maghrib Prayer, the final Tashahhudand "As-Salam…" come
after the third Rak'ah. WHY WE PRAY The Muslim observes his Prayers
to show devotion and obedience to Allah, becausePrayer is one of the
greatest forms of worship that Allah likes His servantsto offer. To
thank Him for creating us in the best formof creation. Because He has
guided us to the Deen (Complete way of Life, Religion) of Islam.
Prayer isa chance for a Muslim to express to his Lord whatever he
feels and needs through Divine Words of Allah i.e. the Qur'an. To
remember his Lord and not forget His commands amid life's
pre-occupations. To ask Allah, The Exalted, to give him aid and
continuous guidance in the darkness oflife. To strengthen love andfear
of Allah in the Muslim'sheart so that he might remain sticking to the
Right Path of Islam, and its laws and manners. Gaining good rewards
from Allah and having our sins forgiven. To rejoice when he finds
himself on the LastDay pleased with the great reward allotted to him
in the Gardens of Bliss. Prayer is a unique training and developmental
program which, if well and devotedly performed, can achieve for
Muslims many valuable physical, ethical and spiritual gains such as
cleanliness, health, order, punctuality, brotherhood, equality, social
consolidation,… etc. CHAPTER 17 ZAKAT (Poor Due, Alms) WHAT IS ZAKAT
The term "Zakat" originally means: growth, and purity.In Islamic Law,
it means paying every lunar year a certain percentage of your savings
to certain charitable usage defined byThe Qur'an. If you have, for
that period, an amount of money equal to the value of 85 grams of pure
gold (now 1985, is about $1000)or more, you must pay 2.5%. Zakat is
paid for the poor and the needy Muslims, for the wayfarers, for
propagating Islam or fighting for Islam, for helping new Muslims or
encouraging non-Muslims to embrace Islam, for thosewho are burdened
with debts and are unable to pay them. If you have articles of trade,
you calculate their Zakat in the same way. You can ask some Muslim
scholar or refer to any good referencebook to know more about Zakat.
WHY WE PAY ZAKAT To show devotion to Allah Who commanded us to do so
and informed us that Heloves the charitable. CHAPTER 18 SAWM, or
SIYAM (Fasting) ABOUT THE FAST In Ramadan, (the 9th month of the lunar
Islamic year) Muslims fast in obedience to Allah's command and in
gratitude for Allah's Grace for revealing His Glorious Book, The
Qur'an, in Ramadan. Sawm (Fasting) is to abstain from eating, drinking
and intimate intercourse from dawn to sunset. If sick or on a journey,
a Muslim is permitted to break his fast.If he breaks the fast, he
hasto make it up by fasting a number of days equal to the days in
which he broke fasting in Ramadan. After the end of Ramadan comes"Eid
al-Fitr" (the Holy day of Breaking the Fast) whichis the 1st day of
Shawwal, the month following Ramadan. On the Eid mor ning, all Muslims
congregate, in open grounds or in mosques, to perform " Eid Prayer" to
express their happiness and gratitude to Allah for enabling them to
completethis duty of Fasting. Concerning this important duty, Allah
says: "O you who believe. Fasting is prescribed to you as it was
prescribed to those before you, that you may (observe) piety and
self-restraint" [The Qur'an 2:183] Also, He says: "Ramadan is the
month in which was sent down The Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also
clear (signs) for guidance and judgement (between right and wrong).
So, every one of you who is present (at his home, village, or town)
during that month should fast it, but if any one is ill, or on a
journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by other days".
[The Qur'an 2:185]. WHY WE FAST We fast in obedience to Allah's
command, and because Allah loves those who fast. To show our gratitude
to Allah's Grace of sending down His Guidance, The Qur'an, to guide us
and the whole humanity.

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HADEES - ~

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Beloved Prophet SalAllahu Alyehe Wasallam said, "No one witnesses that
there is none worthy of Worship but Allah and that I am Allah's
Messenger - truthfully, from his heart - except that Allah makes the
Fire of Hell forbidden totouch him." [Reported by Muslim, Ahmad, and
al-Bayhaqi]
"Ash Hadu Alla ilaaha ilAllahu Wahdahu Laa Shareekalahu Wa Ash
HaduAnna Muhammadan Abduhu Wa Rasuluhu"
اَشْهَدُ اَنْ لَّآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللہُ وَحْدَهٗ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهٗ وَ
اَشْهَدُ اَنَّ مُحَمَّدً اعَبْدُهٗ وَرَسُوْلُهٗؕ
[I bear witness that none isworthy of Worship but Allah, the One
alone, without any partner and I bear witness that Muhammad (SalAllahu
Alyehe Wasallam) is His servant and Messenger]

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The Angels

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Angels are unseen beings of a luminous and spiritual substance that
act as intermediaries between God and the visible world. Belief in
their existence enters into the definition of faith itself: "The
Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord, and the
believers: Each one believes in God, His angels, His Books, and His
Messengers" (Quran II:285; cf. II:177, IV:136).
The word for angel, malak, whoseroot meaning is "messenger", occurs
more than eighty times in the Quran and repeatedly in the Hadith. The
Islamic concepts of creation, revelation, prophecy, theevents that
occur in the world, worship, the spiritual life, death, resurrection,
and the central position of man in the cosmos cannot be understood
without reference to the angels.
In philosophical and Sufi texts, angelology is often an essential
component of both cosmology and spiritual psychology, since the angels
enter into the definition of both the macrocosmand the microcosm.
Angels in Qur'an & Hadith
The angels belong to the "world of the unseen" ('alam al-ghayb). When
the unbelievers asked why an angel had not been sent down with the
Prophet Muhammad, Godreplied, "Had We made him an angel, yet assuredly
We would have made him a man" (VI, 9).
Even if the angels were to be seen by the outward eye, they would
appear in forms suitable for the visible world (al-shahadah).
Moreover, if God had sent down an angel, then"the matter would be
judged, and no respite would be given [to mankind]" (VI, 8)
For, "upon the day when they seethe angels -- no good tidings that day
for the sinners ... On the day when the heavens and the cloudsare
split asunder and the angels are sent down in a grand descent,the
dominion that day will belongtruly to the All-Merciful; it will be
aharsh day for the unbelievers" (XXV, 25-26)
The Quran often refers to the angels' eschatological function not only
at the resurrection, but also at death and in heaven and hell: "The
angel of death, who hasbeen charged with you, will gather you; then to
your Lord you will be returned" (XXXII, 11).
"If you could only see when the evildoers are in the agonies of death
and the angels are stretching out their hands: 'Give up your souls!' "
(VI, 93)."Believers, guard yourselves and your families against a Fire
whose fuel is men and stones, and over which are harsh,
terribleangels" (LXVI, 6).
"Gardens of Eden which they shallenter ... and the angels shall enter
unto them from every gate" (XIII, 23).
Several of these angels are mentioned by name. Ridwan
("Good-pleasure", IX, 21; LVII, 20) is taken to be the proper name of
the angel given charge of paradise, whereas Malik ("Master",XLIII, 77)
rules over hell. Nakir and Munkar, the two angels who question the
dead in their graves, are mentioned in many hadiths; traditions also
speak of Ruman, who subjects the dead to various trials.
The sacred history of the Prophet's mission provides many examples of
explicit angelic activity in key events. As an infant, the Prophet was
visited by"two men clothed in white, carrying a gold basin full of
snow."
In the Prophet's own words, these angelic beings "split open my breast
and brought forth my heart. This also they split open, taking from it
a black clot which they cast away. Then they washed my breast with the
snow."
God revealed the Quran to the Prophet by means of the angel Gabriel,
who also acted as his guide on the Night of Ascension (Laylat
al-mi'raj). Many witnesses reported the participation of angels in
battles fought by the nascent community.
Concerning the battle of Badr, the Quran itself says: "When thy Lord
revealed to the angels, 'I am withyou, so confirm the believers. I
shall cast terror into the unbelievers' hearts, so strike off their
heads and smite their every finger'" (VIII, 12).
In this world, before death the angels record the deeds of men:"There
are over you watchers, noble writers, who know whatever you do"
(LXXXII, 10-12)."Over every soul there is a watcher" (LXXXVI, 4). The
Prophet added, "They mind your works: when a work is good, they praise
God, and when one is evil, they ask Him to forgive you."
The Prophet also reported that angels take turns watching over men and
assemble together at theafternoon and dawn prayers."Those who spent
the night among you then ascend, and their Lord asks them -- though He
is best informed about you -- how they left His servants. They reply,
'We left them while they were praying, and we came to them while they
were praying.' "
In the same way, when people gather together to remember (dhikr) God,
"the angels surround them, mercy covers them, peace descends on them,
and God remembers them among those who are with Him."

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Stop trying to control others, and change yourself instead

"Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of apeople until they
change what is in themselves." (Quran 13:11)
Brothers and sisters, each of us must accept that we can only change
ourselves. That is the key to changingour situations in life. We can't
control anyone else's feelings or actions. We cannot make anyone love
us, treat us better, respect us even when we deserve it, accept us
even when we are right, befriend us even when we are sweet, orbelieve
in us even when we're true.
Dua' is not a magic spell that allows you to controlother human beings.
Neither will Allah coerce anyone to love us or acceptus. Of course He
can – He has power over all things –but it is not His way. Allah
created us with free will, the ability to choose our own paths in
life, and He does not take that away bycontrolling our emotions
orcompelling us down predetermined roads. Yes, everything is written,
but that does not mean it's forced, only that the outcome is known to
Allah in advance.
I am thinking specifically ofpeople who imagine that there is some
special dua' (prayer) they can say to make someone love them, or stop
abusing them and treat them kindly instead. There is not, to my
knowledge, and Allah knows best. And the same principle extends to all
human interactions: dua' isnot a charm or potion that you can use to
control others.
This is true even in very important matters such as guiding people to
the truthand bringing them to the worship of Allah. We can certainly
pray for Allah to guide someone, but we must understand that Allah's
guidance consists of showing clear signs, no more. It's up to the
individual to make the choice to believe or not. Allah does not force
the outcome.
"And if there was any Quran by which the mountains would be removed or
the earth would be broken apart orthe dead would be made to speak, [it
would be this Quran], but to Allah belongs the affair entirely. Then
have thosewho believed not accepted that had Allah willed, He would
have guided the people, all of them?" (Quran 13:31)
In other words Allah could certainly force everyone into submission if
He willed, or He could manifest miraculous and powerful signs – such
as the earth splitting or the dead speaking – that would compel all
human beings to submit in fear and awe, as He said:
"If We willed We could send down a sign from heaven to them, and then
their necks would be lowered to it in subjection." (Quran 26:4).
For that matter, Allah couldhave created us all in subjugation from
the start. He chose not to.
If Allah chose to leave such critical issues within the realm of our
free will – vital issues such as acknowledging the truth ofAllah's
power, worshiping Him or serving false gods, following the Prophets or
rejecting them (and some even killed their Prophets!)– if He chose to
leave theseall-important issues within the realm of our agency, and
under the dominion of our discretion, do you thinkHe is going to
violate the principle of free will in order to force your boyfriend or
girlfriend to love you and come back to you?
I'm sorry, but this is what itseems to come down to forsome people.
They actuallyspeak of committing suicide if the boyfriend/girlfriend
does not return (ignoring the fact that this relationship
isIslamically unlawful in the first place), then they want a dua' that
will force the object of their desire to fall in love, as if dua' is
some kind of magic powder froma fairy tale.
Nor is dua' going to force your husband to stop abusing you and become
kind and loving. Nor will it change occupiers into happy campers so
that they quit their occupation, or turn tyrants into hippies who will
wear flowers in their hair and open the political prisons. I'm not
belittling these oppressive situations – they have haunted me for most
of mylife, and I consider myself ahuman rights activist. And I'm not
saying that dua' is not effective against oppression – actually the
Prophet (pbuh) has told us that the dua' of the oppressed is one of
those categories of dua' that is guaranteed a response.
Narrated Abu Ma'bad, that the Prophet said, "… and be afraid of the
curse of an oppressed person because there is no screen between his
invocation and Allah." Sahih Bukhari: Volume 2, Book 24, Number 573.
But the response is not going to be forcing someone else to change
heart, or become loving, kind or peaceful. That is an artificial
expectation and it doesn't work that way.
What, then? Is it all hopeless? No, far from it! The hope does not lie
in changing someone else, it lies in changing yourself. That's the
whole point. Your free will and power do not extend over others, but
they do encompass yourself....