Imam an-Nasa’i

Ahmad ibn Shu'aib an-Nasa'i (r.a) – [215 - 303 A.H.]
Imam an-Nasa'i was bornin the town of Nasa' in the Persian province of
Khorasan. After gaining hadith from the teachers his own city, Imam
an-Nasa'i travelled through Khorasan, Iraq, the Hijaz Syria and Egypt
gaining ahadith. Egypt was where Imam an-Nasa'i settled and
established his center for teaching and studies here.
Imam an-Nasa'i was said to have exhausted many of his days and nights
in prayers, repeatedly performed Hajj and also joined the Muslim army
toparticipate in battle. He was very particular of theSunnah of the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), had a hatred for deviation and avoided
the circles of kings and nobles.
Imam Nasa'i's status
Ibn Khallikan writes 'He was the Imam of hadith of his age.'
Daraqutni says 'He was more distinguished than all the muhaddithun of his time.'
He is well known for Sunan an-Nasa'i which is a collection of 5751
sound ahadith. In it he also describes the flaws of a hadith, exposes
any disagreements on the title, names and kunyat of narrators and
clarifies the variations between different versions of a hadith.
His teachers are many, the first being MuhaddithQutaibah ibn Sa'id al
Balkhi. Some others are Ishaq ibn Rahawaih, Muhammad ibn Nasr,
Muhammad ibn Bishr andthe famous Abu Dawud .
His students came from all over the Muslim world,and some of the more
famous of them are Ali ibn Jafar at-Tahawi, Abul Qasim at-Tabrani,
Muhammad ibn Mu'awiyah al Andalusi, Abu Jafar at-Tahani and also his
own son.
Imam an-Nasa'i travelled to Damascus, Syria in 302 A.H. where he
noticed people displaying some hostility towards Hazrat Ali (R.A). He
therefore wrote a book to honor the character of Hazrat Ali (R.A) and
started lecturing from it in a Masjid . He had only read a few lines
when he was accused of being a Shi'i and was beaten badly by a crowd,
such he received severe injuries to his body. In this state he
requested some admirers to take him to Makkah , and it was after
reaching Makkah Imam an-Nasa'i passed away.
Source: Scholars of Hadith by Syed Bashir Ali
May Allah Ta'ala fill Imam an-Nasa'i's Qabar with Noor, Ameen.

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Allah's Promise

To those who will come into His Presence as believers, Allah gives the
promise of Paradise, wherein they will remain forever. As there is no
doubt that this promise will be fulfilled, those whobelieve with
certainty will never doubt its truth. Moreover, if they have
surrendered their souls to Him as believers, they know that their sins
will be forgiven and that they will be accepted into Paradise. The
following verse makes this clear:
Gardens of Eden which theAll-Merciful has promised to His servants in
the Unseen. His promise is always kept. (Surah Maryam, 61)
The fact that Allah has promised Paradise to believers brings them an
indescribable joy and enthusiasm. They know that Allah wills Paradise
for His faithful servants, and that He has made them its heirs. Here
is another verse that mentions this promise:
Is someone to whom We have promised good and who then obtains it like
someone to whom We have given enjoyment in the life of the world and
then, on the Day of Rising, is one of those brought to punishment?
(Surat al-Qasas, 61)
If Allah has promised Paradise to any individuals, they will attain
eternal blessings with Allah's permission. And when believers enter
Paradise, they will certainly express their thanks to Allah in this
way:
They will say: "Praise be toAllah Who has fulfilled His promise to us
and made us the inheritors of this land, letting us settle in Paradise
wherever we want. How excellent is thewage of those who work."(Surat
az-Zumar, 74)
Believers who have been given the good news several times during their
earthly lives, and to whomAllah has promised Paradise, will receive at
the end of their lives that for which they hoped. Finally, that
long-awaited moment will come. The place that they have contemplated
throughout their lives, prayed to attain, and striven to be worthy of
is Paradise -"the best place to be," and"the most beauteous of
allgoals." This perfect place was prepared for believers, and its
doors areopened to them.
The following verse gives a unique view about their entrance into Paradise:
Gardens of Eden that they will enter, and all of their parents, wives,
and children who have acted honorably. Angels will enter in to welcome
them from every gate: "Peace be upon you because of your
steadfastness! How wonderful is the Ultimate Abode!" (Surat ar-Ra'd,
23-24)
They will be welcomed into Paradise "with greetings and [words of]
peace" (Surat al-Furqan, 75), and enter there "in peace, in complete
security!" (Surat al-Hijr, 46). There is only one thing left to do: to
discover the beauties of this eternal land prepared for believers and
endowedwith every kind of blessing.

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Beautiful Muslim Women in History

What comes to your mind when I say, "A beautiful Muslim woman"? Many
of us may think of a woman in hijab (headscarf)or modest attire.
Hijab is indeed beautiful, but by thinking Islamic beauty is only
because of hijab, we are perpetuating the idea that beauty exclusively
applies to an image.
While our religion teaches us to take care of our bodies and to
maintain a pleasant physical appearance, it alsoemphasizes the need
for every individual to developan inward beauty: a beautythat comes
with knowing Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) and obeyingHim,
and that transcends the mere image of a person. This inward beauty
can actually become so radiant that it manifests in a person's
external appearance. It is for this reason that some of the righteous
people of the past would comment on the physical beauty of those who
prayed during the night or performed other righteous deeds.
OurProphet ﷺ (peace be upon him) mentioned again and again the beauty
of he or she who embodiesgood character. He ﷺ also emphasized to
those seeking marriage to look for the one who is beautiful as a
result of theircharacter andreligion. In this way, Islam defines
beauty as something more profound than just the physical.
Our history is filled with beautiful women, women who were devout in
their service to God and who lived lives of purpose and meaning.
Their beauty is so much more than physical appearance; we see in them
the beauty of character, morals, deeds, speech and lifestyle.
While there are multitudes of incredible women to select from in our
tradition,I have specifically chosen not as well known women who will
shatter our narrow perceptions of beauty and break the stereotypes of
how a "righteous Muslim woman"should or should not be. Here is a brief
glimpse into their lives.
A West African Beauty: Princess Nana Asma'u
We begin with the story of Nana Asma'u, the daughterof Uthman don
Fodio, who was not only a renowned scholar of her time, but a poet, a
political and social activist, and a creative intellectual. She is
considered to be one of thegreatest women of 19th century Islamic
communities. She was bornin 1793 in modern-day Nigeria. A princess
with an impressive lineage,she was named after a hero in Islamic
heritage—Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was a strong woman in her
support of Islam. Shewas raised in a supportive Islamic household,
having not only memorized the Qur'an, but extensively learned the
Islamic sciencesand four languages as well.
Asma'u believed in women having a role in society andshe led the women
of her time by example throughout her life. One of her greatest
achievements was compiling the extensive collection of writings of her
father after he passed away when she was 27. The degree of respect the
scholarly community had for Asma'u is seen here because they chose her
to complete sucha monumental task. Not onlydid this job require
someone trustworthy, but also someone who was familiar with his
writings and was well-versed in the Islamic sciences.
When she was a mother of two and pregnant with herthird child, Asma'u
completed the translation of the Qur'an in her native tongue and also
translated her father's work into the various dialects of the
community. This shows herconcern for her communityand her desire to
bring the knowledge of theQur'an and Islam to her people.
Asma'u saw a dire need for the teachings of Islam to reach the women
in her community and beyond the Sokoto region. She sawthat women were
absent from the circles of knowledge and stayed in their homes as they
tendedto their familial duties. Asma'u came up with a brilliant idea
to not only teach these women but to teach them in the comfort of
their homes. It was then that she gathered knowledgeable women in her
community and trainedthem as teachers. This group, known as jajis,
traveled to neighboring communities to bring Islamic knowledge to
secluded women. This movement was called the Yan-taru movement,
whichmeans "those who congregate together" and"sisterhood". Asma'u
taught the jajis to use lesson plans, poetry, and creative mnemonic
devices in their teachings.
Nana Asma'u, by the grace and guidance of Allah (swt), revolutionized
the way her community learned Islam. She brought the knowledge of the
religion to the people in aneasy to remember fashion and wrote in
their language. Her legacy is a legacy of scholarship and activism,
and her name is still used today in West Africa.
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Our attitude towards rumours and news on the Internet

How should we deal with the rumours that appear on the Internet? What
is the Muslim's attitude towards the news that weread here and there,
and what is written in chat rooms, especially since some of it is good
news for the Muslims, but the source is unknown.
Praise be to Allaah.
We live nowadays at a time when many rumours that bring hope are
appearing in the guise of news. These appears on Internet web sites
and chat rooms, so that they may be spread to the people as glad
tidings and so that good-hearted people may accept them as
indisputable facts coming from trustworthy sources. Even if any of
them could be proven, there are still many rumours that can be classed
as no more than fabrications. The one who thinks about this will
understand that many of the global media, including the Arab media,
exaggerate in their coverage of some events and they analyze them in a
subjective manner that shows a complete bias and evident absence of
objectivity, trying to take revenge by adding to the news and
exaggerating, and telling weird news stories. So there is no such
thing as credibility in these media, especially when emotions and
wishes play a part. This is apart from the fact that media objectivity
has become a victim of this current war, and western circles have
rejected the lessons [of objectivity, etc.]that they used to teach
others. But this does not mean that we should dispute the facts or
deny what is taking place in reality, or that we should face this bias
with exaggeration and hopes.
Here we should pause andremind ourselves, and the good-hearted people
who hear this news and tell it to others with good intentions – and
those who fabricate these rumours and take upon themselves the job of
propagating them – of a few facts.
1 – We must be certain about the news we accept,and we should not
accept it simply because it happens to coincide with our hopes and
wishes. We have our own methodology of verifying matters, and we
should beconsistent with regard to what we like and dislike. Itis not
right for us to doubtnews accompanied by pictures from the
battlefield, or to shed doubts on it, when the bottom line is one's
senses. At a time when you see news going around through mobiles from
some internet web sites, there are some people who may accept such
news but it should benoted that there are people who will never
believe it. So they should beware of exposing themselves to being
calledliars. An old proverb says, "Whoever pursues weird news will be
disbelieved."....

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