What does Jihad mean?

The word Jihad representsa concept which is much misunderstood in the
West. The concept is explained nicely by the Christian scholar Ira 6.
Zepp, Jr. in his book entitled A Muslim Primer on pages 133-135. We
adapt from his answer thefollowing:
The essential meaning of Jihad is the spiritual, psychological, and
physical effort we exert tobe close to God and thus achieve a just and
harmonious society. Jihad literally means "striving" or "struggle" and
is shorthand for Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (struggle for God's cause). In
a sense, every Muslim is a Mujahid,one who strives for God and
justice.
Al-Ghazali captured the essence of Jihad when he said: "The real Jihad
is the warfare against (one's own) passions. Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi
calls Jihad "the execution of effort against evil in the self and
every manifestation of evil in society." In a way, Jihad is the
Muslim's purest sacrifice: a struggle to livea perfect life and
completely submit to God.
Another form of Jihad is the striving to translate the Word of God
into action. If one has experienced God and received guidance from the
Qur'an, one struggles to apply that guidance in daily life. So the
larger, more prevalent meaning of Jihad is the spiritual struggle of
the soul. In this case, Jihad is always present for the believer
whether there is an external enemy or not. We should never reduce
Jihad to violence.
A third level of Jihad is popularly known as "holy war." The classic
passage is found in the Qur'an:
Fight in the way of Allah those who fight against you, but transgress
not the limits. Truly Allah likesnot the transgressors (Qur'an 2:190).
It is crucial to note here that what is condoned is defensive warfare;
Islam cannot justify aggressive war. Muhammad and the Tradition are
also against killing non-combatants, torturing of prisoners, the
destruction of crops, animals and homes. Adapted from Ira 6. Zepp,
Jr., A Muslim Primer (1992,Wakefield Editions, US) pp.133-135.
Robert Ellwood of the University of Southern California has the
following to say about the Muslim concept of Jihad:
Out of the community ideal of Islam comes the concept of jihad, or
holy war, which is designed to defend Islam and allow itssocial
practice, though notto force individual conversions, which is
forbidden. Since Islam in principle is a community as well as a
religion, presumably only an absolute pacifist would beable to reject
the theory of jihad out of hand, since other communities also fight to
defend or expand their ways of life. (Many Peoples, Many Faiths by
Robert S. Ellwood, 4th edition, Simon & Schuster,US, 1982, p.346)

* Do we have to say bismillah when reading surah at tawbah from the middle? Also why is there no bismillah in thebegining of surah tawbah?

* Ruling on the Basmalah atthe beginning of Soorat at-Tawbah
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Part of the etiquette of reciting Qur'aan is for the reciter to always
say Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem (In the name ofAllah, the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful) at the beginning of every soorah, except
Soorat at-Tawbah.
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: He should always
recite Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem at the beginning of every soorah
except Soorat Baraa'ah (at-Tawbah), because the majority of scholars
said that it is a verse wherever it is written in the Mushaf, andit
was written at the beginning of all the soorahs except Soorat
at-Tawbah. If he recites it at the beginning of every soorah (other
than at-Tawbah), then there is certainty that he had recited the
entire Qur'aan or soorah, and if he fails to recite the Basmalah,
hehas omitted part of the Qur'aan according to the majority.
End quote from at-Tibyaan fi Adaab Hamalat al-Qur'aan, 100.
But if he recites from partway through a soorah, he does not have to
recite the Basmalah and it is sufficient for him to seek refuge with
Allah (by saying A'oodhu Billaahi min ash-Shaytaan ir-rijeem (I seek
refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytaan), but if he does say the
Basmalah there is nothing wrong with that. For more information please
see the answer to question no. 21722
Secondly:
The reason why the Basmalah does not appear at the beginning of Soorat
at-Tawbah is that the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did
not write it at the beginning of this soorah in the Mushaf, following
the example of the caliph 'Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him).
At-Tirmidhi narratedin as-Sunan that Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: "I said to 'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan: 'What made you put
al-Anfaal which is oneof the Mathaani, next to Baraa'ah [al-Tawbah],
which is one of the Mi'een? Why did you not put the line Bismillaah
ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem in between them when you put it at the beginning
of the rest of al-Sab' al-Tiwaal [the long seven soorahs]?" 'Uthmaan
said:"The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to receive revelation of soorahs with many aayahs. When they
were revealed, he would call hisscribes and tell them, 'Put these
aayahs in the soorah where such-and-such is mentioned.' Al-Anfaal was
one of the first soorahs to be revealed in Madeenah, and Baraa'ah
(al-Tawbah) was one of the last parts of the Qur'aan to be revealed.
Its stories were similar to the stories mentioned in al-Anfaal, soit
was thought that it waspart of it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was taken [i.e., died] without
explaining whether it was indeed part of it, so they were put next to
one another, and the line Bismillaahi ir'Rahmaan ir'Raheem was not
written between them, and it [al-Tawbah] was put among the Sab'
al-Tiwaal [seven long soorahs]."
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 4/225
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) said: … The correct
opinion is that there is no Basmalah between it (Soorat at-Tawbah) and
al-Anfaal, because the Basmalah is a verse of theBook of Allah, may He
be glorified and exalted, and if the Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) did not say to put the Basmalah between the two
soorahs, they did not put it between them. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) is the one who decided and said: Put the
Basmalah, and he did not tell them to put the Basmalah between
Sooratal-Anfaal and Soorat at-Tawbah, so they did not write it. But it
remainsto be said: if he did not give instructions to this effect, why
is there a separation between it andSoorat al-Anfaal? Why didthey not
make it one soorah? We say: Yes, they did not make it one soorah
because they wereuncertain as to whether itwas the same soorah as
al-Anfaal or they were two separate soorahs, so they said: Let us make
a separation between the two soorahs and not write the Basmalah. This
is the correct opinion concerning the absence ofthe Basmalah between
Soorat al-Anfaal and Soorat at-Tawbah.
End quote from Liqa' al-Baab al-Maftooh, no. 18
And Allah knows best.

Wanted: a policy on antibiotics

It needed a scare like NDM-1 for the country to wake up to a policy to
regulate antibiotics. But after announcing with much fanfare that a
policy would be in place, the government withdrew thedecision. We have
arrived at a crossroads and there is no solution to the crisis yet.
Organisations comprising medical practitioners across the country will
come together in Chennai on August 24 to discuss the possibility of
evolving a road map that will help the government prepare and
implement an antibiotic policy. Physicians, surgeons, gynaecologists,
oncologists and representatives from the World Health Organisationand
Medical Council of India will deliberate on the need to evolve an
antibiotics policy.
The approach to treating diseases changed after Alexander Fleming's
accidental discovery of penicillin. It was this discovery that saved
hundreds of wounded soldiers during World War II. What began in the
1940s turned into a flurry of activity, leading to manufacture of a
large number of antibiotics. But soon, everything changed. Today the
number of antibiotics manufactured across the world has
fallendrastically and adding to the woes is the fact that its
unchecked use has resulted in bacteria developing resistance to
several antibiotics.
Across the world, every country has been battling the antibiotic
resistance war. Antibiotic resistance would mean that 2.5 million
deaths would occur due to infections. Simply put, resistance would
mean no more drugs and back to the pre-Fleming days. While other
nations have formulated a policy, India has done nothing, says Abdul
Gafur, Indian coordinator of World Alliance Against Resistance, who
will also coordinate the roadmap meeting in the city.
What will happen if antibiotics fail? Usually, a doctor would
prescribe alternatives to an antibiotic if the patient is found
resistant to one set of antibiotics. But rampantmisuse of antibiotics
has resulted in patients developing resistance to several antibiotics,
Dr. Gafur says. The problem is compounded in countries where animals
have been fed antibiotics and eating the cultivated meat has passed on
resistant strains of the bacteria to humans.
Some large hospitals in the country follow a routine of culturing
bacteria taken from patient samples. When a patient exhibits
resistance to a set of antibiotics, she/he is isolated and an
infection control protocol to prevent the next patient from acquiring
resistance is followed. Thisprotocol should be made mandatory for all
hospitalsseeking accreditation fromthe National Accreditation Board
for Hospitals, Dr. Gafur says.
While doctors and smaller hospitals and clinics should follow simple
prevention steps such as washing hands between examining patients,
wearing gloves and apron while treating a patient with resistant
bacteria, larger hospitals should have a vibrant infection control
cell, and a policy for rational use of antibiotics. "What we are doing
now is crisis management. India needs a practical antibiotics policy
which can initially be liberal and later be made stringent," Dr. Gafur
says. All countries are sailing in the same boat. But while some
developedcountries have started evolving a policy, India is merely
observing the situation. A country that has been promoting medical
tourism should pay attention to the crisis,

The dwelling-places of the jinn

The jinn live on this earth where we do. They are mostly to be found in ruins and unclean places like bathrooms, dunghills, garbage dumps and graveyards. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us to take precautions when entering such places, by reciting the adhkaar (prayers) prescribed by Islam. One of these was reported by Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: "When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered the toilet, he would say, 'Allaahumma innee a'oodhu bika min al-khubuthi wa'l-khabaa'ith (O Allaah, I seek refuge with You from the evil ones, male and female).'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 142; and Muslim, 375).
Al-Khattaabi explained that khubuth is the plural of khabeeth (evil or dirty -masculine form), and khabaa'ith is the plural of khabeethah (evil or dirty -feminine form), and that what is meant is male andfemale shayaateen./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en