1a

1a.
at the appointed time, which was the coming of the Prophet Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). A covenant had been taken
from the Prophets who came before him that if he was sent when anyof
them were still alive, they would abandon whatever they had and follow
him. God, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And (remember) when Allah took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying:
'Take whateverI gave you from the Book and Hikmah (understanding of
the Laws of Allah, etc.), and afterwards there will come to you a
Messenger (Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him))
confirming what is with you; you must, then, believein him and help
him.' Allah said: 'Do you agree (to it) and will you take up My
Covenant (which I conclude with you)?' They said: 'We agree.' He said:
'Then bear witness; and I am with you among the witnesses (for this).
'
Then whoever turns away after this, they are the Fasiqoon (rebellious:
those who turn awayfrom Allah's Obedience)."
[Aal 'Imraan 3:81-82].
The law of the Qur'aan differs from all the laws that came before it
in that it is suitable for all kinds of people at all times until the
end of this world.
But if you were talking about theTorah as it exists now, then we have
no choice but to tell you of what we really believe – even if that may
upset you – but we hope that you have strong reason and sound thinking
that will help you to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and
that this may motivate you to investigate further until you reach the
truth.
This truth is that the Torah as it exists today is not that which God
sent down to Moses (peace be upon him). Rather it has been distorted
in all ways, adding, subtracting and changing the meaning. This is not
the place to expand upon this topic; we are just referring to it in
the hope that this might motivate you to enquire further.
The Torah as it exists today contains material that one must be
certain is not the words of God; rather it is distortions introduced
by those who attributed it falsely to God, may He be exalted.
For example:
-1-
It contains the ascription of shortcomings to the Lord, may He be
glorified and exalted, and likens Him to created beings. For example,
they say that God wrestled with Jacob for an entire night, then Jacob
overpowered Him! And they say that God regretted having created
mankind when He saw their disobedience, and He wept until His eyes
became swollen, then the angels came to visit Him and comfort Him.
Exalted be God far above what the wrongdoers say.
-2-
It contains insults and slander against the Prophets. For example,
they say that the Prophet of God Aaron made a calf and worshipped it
along with the Children of Israel. And they say that Lot drank wine
until he became drunk, then he committed incest with his two
daughters, one after the other! And they say that Solomon (peace be
upon him) apostatised at the end of his life and worshipped idols, and
built temples for them.
-3-
It includes exaggerations, impossible things and contradictions.
Among the books that have beenwritten on this topic are "What is the
Origin of Man?" and "The Bible, the Qur'aan and Science" by the French
scientist and medical doctor Maurice Bucaille, in which he proved the
existenceof scientific errors in the Torah and Gospel, and at the same
time he proved that there are no contradictions in the Qur'aan even
with modern science and scientific facts.
He says in the introduction to his second book (p. 29):
"It was in a totally objective spirit, and without any preconceived
ideas that I first examined the Qur'anic Revelation. I was looking for
the degree of compatibility between the Qur'anic text and the data of
modern science. I knew from translations that the Qur'an oftenmade
allusion to all sorts of natural phenomena, but I had only a summary
knowledge of it. It was only when I examined the text very closely in
Arabic that I kept a list of them at the end of which I had to
acknowledge the evidence in front of me: the Qur'an did not contain a
single statement that was assailable from a modern scientific point
ofview.
I repeated the same test for the Old Testament and the Gospels, always
preserving the same objective outlook. In the former Idid not even
have to go beyond the first book, Genesis, to find statements totally
out of keeping with the cast-iron facts of modern science."
Based on that, we have two reasons why the Torah as it exists now
differs from the Qur'aan:
1. Differences in the laws of the Prophets
2. Distortion that crept into the Torah and the tampering that
happened to it with the passage of time.
We ask God to show us the truth as truth and enable us to follow it,
and to show us falsehood as false and enable us to avoid it.
And Allah knows best.

1. The reason for the differences between the rulings of the Torah and of the Qur’aan

1.
A central belief of both Islam and Judaism is the belief in one God
and the prohibition of the worship of idols.
The main difference between these two purely monotheistic religions is
the book of each religion, the Koran and the Torah.How do the
teachings of the Koran differ from the teachings of the Torah.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
We welcome you to our website and we ask Allah to help us to present
useful information to you, and that this will be beneficial to you in
both spiritualand worldly terms.
Secondly:
If you are speaking about the Judaism that was prescribed by God and
the Torah that God revealed, then Islam and Judaism are agreed – as
you said – on theworship of God alone, with no partner or associate,
and on the prohibition of worshipping anything or anyone else, no
matter what it is. Similarly, they are agreed on matters of belief
inthe Prophets and Messengers, theLast Day, the Reckoning,
Paradise,Hell… and so on.
But when it comes to rulings such as what is permissible and what is
prohibited, and the details of acts of worship, this is where Islam
differs from Judaism and the Qur'an differs from the Torah. God, may
He be exalted, says in the Holy Qur'an (interpretation of the
meaning): "To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear
way"[al-Maa'idah 5:48]. So each nation has its own laws concerning
what is permitted and what is forbidden, as it has its own acts of
worship by whichit worships Allah.
Our Prophet (blessings and peaceof Allah be upon him) gave the
likeness of the agreement of all the Prophets on the basic matter of
religion, which is affirmation of the Oneness of God (Tawheed),
beliefs and worship of God alone, with no partner or associate, and
the differences between their laws, when he said: "The Prophets are
half-brothers; their mothers differ but their religion is one."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim.
Half-brothers refers to brothers from the same father, with different mothers.
So the basis of the religion of theProphets is one, namely affirmation
of the Oneness of God (Tawheed), and worshippingGod with no partner or
associate,but the details of laws and rulings is what is different.
And this is what is in accordance with wisdom.
Adam (peace be upon him) had a law that was suited to him and his
children, and was suited to the time in which he lived. In his law –
for example – a brother could marry his sister, because it was not
possible to perpetuate the family and produce offspringat that time in
any other way.
Then as time passed, the laws changed to suit the new nations and new
times. Hence in the lawsof the Jews it is forbidden for a brother to
marry his sister, even though that was permitted in thelaw of Adam.
For Jacob (peace be upon him), allkinds of food were permissible and
he was the one who forbadesome things to himself, and those
prohibitions became entrenched and became a law forhim and his
children. Concerning that God, may He be exalted, saysin the Holy
Qur'aan (interpretation of the meaning): "All food was lawful to the
Children of Israel, except what Israel made unlawful for himself
before the Taurat (Torah) was revealed" [Aal 'Imraan 3:93].
Then came the law of Jesus (peace be upon him), which was more lenient
than the law of Moses. God permitted to the Christians (the followers
of the Messiah, peace be upon him) some things that had been forbidden
in the law of Moses. Concerning this God, may He be exalted, tells us
that Jesus (peace be upon him) said (interpretationof the meaning):
"and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you" [Aal
'Imraan 3:50].
Then came the law of the Qur'aan, the law of Muhammad (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) which also differed from previous laws in
some rulings, as had happened before that in the case of Judaism and
Christianity.
Because the law of the Qur'aan isthe final law that will abide until
the Day of Resurrection, it is the most complete of laws, the best and
the most lenient, and in it is flexibility that is suited to all times
and places until the Hour begins.
This is the reason for the differences between the rulings of the
Torah and the rulings of the Qur'aan, as the Torah was specifically
for the Children of Israel alone, and its rulings were not meant to be
permanent and ongoing until the Day of Resurrection. Although most of
the rulings of the Torah remained in effect after that in
Christianity, and only differed in making permissible some things that
had been forbidden, the rulings of the Torah, and the Gospel after it,
were limited in terms of time and all of that cameto an end at the
appointed time,...

The Distorted Image of Muslim Women

Since the height of the feminist movement in the late 70's there has
been a magnifying glass placed over the status of Muslim women.
Unfortunately, themagnifying glass that has been used is an unusual
one. Unusual in the sense that it is very selective about which items
it will magnify; other items it will distort to such a degree that
they will no longer look familiar. I remember once reading in an "in
depth" article about the lives of Muslim women. This
article"explained" that at any time a man can divorce hiswife by
simply stating "I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you". This
article can lead anyone ignorant of the Islamic ruling regarding
divorce to believe that in less than five seconds the woman is left
with no husband and is left to care for herself (and possibly
children) by any means necessary. The question that immediatelypopped
up in my mind was, "Did the author innocently write that out of
sincere ignorance or was it another of the many attempts to degradethe
religion of Islam and its followers (muslims)?" Itmay be my own
paranoia, but I tend to believe it wasthe latter of the two.
The truth of the matter is that Islam has the most humane and most
just system of divorce that exists. Firstly, many options are taken
and tried before coming to the decision of the divorce. If the man and
woman decide that they can no longer live together successfully as a
husband and wife, the husband (in most cases, not always) pronounces
the divorce by saying "I divorce you". At this point the waiting
period begins. The waitingperiod lasts for three menstrual cycles to
assure the woman is not pregnant. This period allows the couple time
to think about what they are doing and if this is what they really
want to do. There are no lawyers involved to antagonise an already
delicate situation.
In the case that it is realised, that the woman is pregnant, the
waiting period lasts the entire timeshe is pregnant. During thewaiting
period (whether the woman is pregnant or not) the man is obligated to
provide food, clothing and shelter to the woman as he did before the
divorce pronouncement. If the couple carries the divorce through to
the birth of the child and the woman suckles the baby, the man is
obligated to feed and clothe both his ex-wife for the time the woman
suckles (the maximum being two years). After this weaning, the child
will be provided for by the father until he/she is no longer in needof
support.
It is quite ironic that in such an "advanced society"as America, there
are divorce cases in which women are being forced to pay alimony to
their ex-husbands. Can this and many other things we know about the
American system of divorce compareto the Islamic system of divorce?
I have also read stories wherein it is stated that women are forced to
marry men without their consent. This in no way resembles the marriage
system in Islam. In Islaam the woman marries the man of her choice.
She may even marry someone that her mother and/or father objects to.
The pointis that it is the woman who makes the final decision as to
whom she will marry. Once the man and the woman decide that they are
interested in one another for marriage, a dowry is decided upon.
Adowry is not a brides price but, it is a gift from the groom to the
bride. They agree upon a gift that is affordable by the groom. In the
time of the Prophet (sas), often things such as livestock and money
were given. This is a wise decision in the event that a woman becomes
divorced or widowed, she has some financial securityto fall back on
even if it is for a limited amount of time. Once the man and woman are
married, the man is required to clothe, feed, shelter and educate her
(or allow her to be educated) in the same manner as he does himself.
The last distorted image that I will cover is that of the Muslim
women's dress.The western influenced media portrays our dress to be
outdated and oppressive. Needless to say however, I differ with these
adjectives. Our dress code does not hinder us from doing anything
productive in our lives. Muslim women maintain avariety of jobs, non
of which are devalued nor hampered due to their dress code. And as for
the timing of muslims women's dress during these contemporary times,it
seems most appropriate due to decreasing morals in the world today.
For those who say that Islamic dress is outdated, they speak from
great ignorance. The decreasing morality and trials of this time makes
Hijaab even more in need. More than ever before sex crimes are
rampant. Although this society tells women they can wear what they
want to wear, anytime a rape occurs the woman is the one put on trial
an one of the first questions is,"What were you wearing?"

Hazrat Hafsah (R.A)

Hafsah was the daughter of 'Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) who was
born in Mecca five years before the Nubuwwat. She was first married to
Hadhrat Khunais bin Huzaifah (Radhiyallaho anho), who was one of the
very early Muslims. He first emigratedto Abyssinia and then to Madinah
. He participated in Badr, and was fatally wounded in Badr (or in
Uhud) and died of the wound in the year l or 2 A. H. Hadhrat Hafsah
(Radhiyallaho anha) had also emigrated to Madinahwith her husband.
When her husband died, Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) went to
Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho anho) and said:
"I want to give Hafsah in marriage to you." Hadhrat Abu Bakr
(Radhiyallaho anho) kept quiet and said nothing. Meanwhile Ruqayyah
(Radhiyallaho anha) the daughter of the Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho
Alaihe Wasallam) and the wife of Hadhrat Usman (Radhiyallaho anho)
died.
Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anha) went to Hadhrat Usman (Radhiyallaho
anho) and offered Hadhrat Hafsah (Radhiyallaho anha's) handto him. He
declined by saying, "I have no mind to marry for the present." Hadhrat
Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) complained of this to the Prophet Mohammad
(Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam).
The Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) said: "I tell you of
a husband for Hafsah better than Usman and of a wife for Usman better
than Hafsah."
He then took Hadhrat Hafsah (Radhiyallaho anha) as (next wife, and
gave his own daughter Hadhrat Umme Kulsum (Radhiyallaho anha) in
marriage to Hadhrat Usman (Radhiyallaho anho). Hadhrat Abu Bakr
(Radhiyallaho anho) later said to Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho):
"When you offered Hafsah's hand to me, I keptquiet as the Prophet
Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) had expressed to me his
intention of marrying her. I could neither accept youroffer nor
disclose the Prophet Mohammad's (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) secret to
you. I, therefore, kept quiet. If theProphet Mohammad (Sallallaho
Alaihe Wasallam) had changed his mind, I would have gladly married
her."
Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) says: "Abu Bakr's silence over the
offer was in fact more shocking to me than 'Usman's rejection."
Hadhrat Hafsah (Radhiyallaho anha) was a very pious woman, and very
much devoted to Salaat. She would often fast during the day and spend
the night in prayers.Once the Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihe
Wasallam) , for some reason, was displeased with Hafsah and even
pronounced the first divorce to her. �Hadhrat Umar (Radhlyallaho anho)
was naturally very much shocked over this. Jibraeel Alayhis came to
the Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) and said: �Allah
wants you to take Hafsah back, as she is fasting often and spending
her nights in Salaat, and also Allah wants it for Hadhrat Umar's
(Radhiyallaho anho) sake.�
The Prophet Mohammad (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) therefore took her
back. Hadhrat Hafsah (Radhiyallaho anha) died in Jamadil oola, 45 AH,
at the age of 63.