Family Values and Parent-Child Relationship in Islam

It seems that terrorism is the only projection of Islam that the media
likesto display; non-Muslims are rarely introduced to any meaningful
aspects of Islam. And yet, one of the growing attractions to Islam is
the family values that are upheld byMuslims.
The foremost and fundamental institution of human society is the
family unit. A family is established by the coming together of a man
and a woman and their contact brings into existence a new generation.
It then produces ties of kinship and community, which gradually
develop into a large society. The family is the institution through
which a generation prepares the succeeding generation for the service
of human civilization and for the discharge of its social obligations
with devotion, sincerity and enthusiasm.
Islam has emphasized theimportance of the family unit, and has laid
down its governing rules and regulations in great detail in Noble
Qur'an and in the Sunnah. This highlights the importance of the family
with regards to the well-being of the individual, society and Muslim
Ummah.
One of the most striking features of Muslim society is the importance
attached to the family. The family forms the basic building block of
Muslim society. The family unit is regarded asthe cornerstone of a
healthy and balanced Muslim society. Despite the many pressures it
faces, the family institution remains strong in any Muslim society.
Muslim families around the globe have adopted many of the traditions
inherent in the culture ofthe country they live in. But still, there
are many Islamic traditions that unite Muslim families regardless of
ethnic or cultural background.
Islam devotes much attention to those relating to the family
andstrives to establish this important social unit on the healthiest
and strongest foundations. According to Islam, the correct form of
relationship between a man and woman is marriage, that is, the onein
which full social responsibilities are undertaken by them and which
results in the emergence of a family. Irresponsible behaviour are not
condoned by Islam as innocent past times or ordinary transgressions.
Rather, they are acts that strike at the very roots of human society.
Muslims strive to maintain close family andcommunity ties. These bonds
are strengthened during life-changing events, when Muslims turn to
each other for support and sometimes celebration. Muslim community
usually observes important personal and family milestones together.
They may gather to welcome a new member of the community (through
birth or conversion), congratulatea young person upon reaching
adulthood or mourn the loss of a community member who has passed away.
Islam places the roles of the man, women and children into the proper
perspective that will best serve the family and society. The woman is
not subjugated or inferior to the man, rather each has a proper place
in the creation that Allah (SWT) intended. TheFamily Values in Islam
areordained and highly esteemed; while the rest of the world is
falling apart around us we will always have our Muslim family.
In the traditions of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) good
treatment of relatives has been emphasized and counted among the
highest virtues. Maintaining the bonds of kinship (silatur-rahim)
indeed enjoys extraordinary importance in Islam. Conversely, severing
the ties (qata-ur-rahim), is very high on the list of enormities. At
two places in Noble Qur'an (3:25, 47:22-23), Allah (SWT) hascursed the
one severing family ties.
We aspire to have Muslimfamilies - as Almighty Allah (SWT) intended
them to be - as entities ofcompassion, mercy, care and love, and
capable of issuing forth righteous generations, who can actas role
models to societies in general, proving that Islam places humanity on
the right path and offers a life of contentment.
By listing wide array of well-written articles (Muslim Family Stories)
appeals to all ages of Muslim Families, we hopeto assists Muslims
around the globe in forming and maintaining a healthy family values
based on Islamic beliefs and principles, by building strong family
structures, promoting healthy marriages, helping reduce divorces,
eradicating domestic violence.

Interesting Stories

No one person can ever experience all that life has to offer. It is
only through sharing - experiences, feelings, insights - that we can
hope to grow beyond our own meager lifetime.As saying goes, "Learn
from the mistakes of others, you can't live longenough to make them
all yourselves!" So, are you ready to learn and grow together?
Here on this page we have listed a great collection of most
interesting stories or popular stories collected from various sources
on different Islamic themes. Take a moment to browse around; we
hopeyou find something very interesting and worth while.
This page is devoted to interesting stories or amusing stories about
various Islamic themes such as, Akhlaq (Good Conduct), Story of Trust
inAllah (SWT), Jihad in Islam, Wonderful Stories of Islam, Islam and
Leadership, Ethical Stories, Spiritual Stories for Children, Stories
for Character Building and Character Development.
These interesting stories or amusing stories are told from a defined
pointof view, so there is feeling as well as specific and often
sensory details provided to get the reader involved in the elements
and sequence of the story. These interesting stories or amusing
stories are capable of arousing excitement and holding the attention
or curiosity of readers.
These interesting stories or amusing stories are for people of various
faiths who seek to understand religion of Islam and Muslims better.
Interesting facts about the religion of Islam: Islam, a religion of
peace and mercy, does not permit terrorism. Islam and other various
Islamic terms and concepts are grossly misunderstood in the West.
Muslims can hardly find anyone to blame but themselves because (a)
they have failed to live by the Islamic tenets in our times, and (b)
they have failed to promote understanding of Islam inthe West through
outreach projects. The terrorists are tarnishing the image of Islam by
attaching their heinous crimes to the religion of Islam. Killing and
terrorizing Innocent people and the destruction of property are
strictly prohibited by Islam.
Do you know? The word Jihad appears 44 times inNoble Qur'an. Nowhere
has it been used in the sense of war. For war, Noble Qur'an has words
like Qatal and Harb. Derived from the Arabic word Juhd, Jihad
literally means to strive, to struggle. Moreover, Noble Qur'an teaches
Muslims and non-Muslimsto live peaceful lives together. Because of
this word like, compassion, love and mercy are mentioned more than 355
times in Noble Qur'an.
The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle;
pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without
character; business without morality; sciencewithout humanity; and
worship without sacrifice.

Mistakes made when cutting the hair or shaving the head

What are the mistakes that some people make when shaving their heads
or cutting their hair?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Among the mistakes thatare made when cutting the hair or shaving the
head are the following:
-1-
Some people shave part of the head completely with a razor, and leave
the rest. I have seen that with my own eyes. I saw a man doing saa'i
between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and he had shaved half of his head
completely and left the rest of his hair. I grabbed him and said
tohim, "Why did you do that?" He said, "I did it because I want to do
'Umrah twice, so I shaved half for the first 'Umrah and left half for
this 'Umrah." This is ignorance and misguidance that none of the
scholars ever suggested.
-2-
Some people, when theywant to exit ihraam of 'Umrah, cut a few hairs
on their head, on one side only. This is contraryto the apparent
meaning of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"…(some) having your heads shaved, and (some) having your headhair cut short…"
[al-Fath 48:27]
The shortening of the hair should have an obvious effect on the head.
It is known that cutting one or two or three hairs does not have any
effect and it is not apparent that the pilgrim who has done 'Umrah has
in fact shortened his hair. So heis going against the apparent meaning
of the verse.
The remedy for these two mistakes is for the one who wants to shave
his head to shave all of it, and to shorten the hair all over the head
if he wants to cut it, and not to cut just one or two hairs.
-3-
There are some people who, when they have finished saa'i, if they
cannot find anyone to shave their heads or cut their hair, they go
back to their houses and exit ihraam, and put on regular clothes, then
they shave their heads or cut their hair after that. This is a serious
mistake, because a person cannot exit ihraam without shaving his head
or cutting his hair, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, when during the Farewell Pilgrimage he commanded those
of his companions who had not brought a hadiy (sacrificial animal) to
make it 'Umrah, and he said, "Let him cut his hair then exit ihraam."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari,1691; Muslim, 1229. This indicates that one
cannot exit ihraam until after cutting the hair.
Based on this, if a pilgrim finishes saa'i andcannot find someone to
cut his hair, he should remain in ihraam until he shaves his head or
cuts his hair; it is not permissible for him to exit ihraam before
that. If we assume that a person did that out of ignorance and exited
ihraam before shaving or cutting his hair, thinking that it was
permissible to do so, there is no blame on himbecause of his
ignorance, but when he finds out about that he should take off his
regular clothes and put on his ihraam garments, because it is not
permissible to continue exiting ihraam when he knows that it is not
permissible. Then when he has shaved his head or cut his hair, he may
exit ihraam."
From Daleel al-Akhta' allati yaqa' fiha al-Haaj wa'l-Mu'tamir
(Mistakes made by pilgrims performing Hajj and 'Umrah)

Virtues of the Day of Sacrifice

Are there any special features of the tenth dayof Dhu'l-Hijjah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to
Madeenah, he found that they had two days on which they usedto play.
He said, "Allaah has given you two days better than these, the day of
al-Fitr and the dayof al-Adha." Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1134; classed
as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2021.
Allaah has given this ummah two days for playing and leisure, two days
for remembering Allaah and thanking Him,and asking Him for
forgiveness.
In this world the believers have three festivals or Eids:
One Eid which is repeated each week, and two Eids which come once a year.
The Eid which is repeated every week is Friday (Jumu'ah).
The Eids which are not repeated, which come only once each year, are:
1 – Eid al-Fitr, the breaking of the Ramadaan fast. This comes upon
the completion of the monthof Ramadaan, which is the third pillar of
Islam. When the Muslims have finished fasting the month that is
enjoined upon them, Allaah has prescribed that they should follow the
completion of their fast with a festival on which they gather to thank
Allaah, remember Him and glorify Him for His guidance. On that Eid it
is prescribed for them topray and give charity.
2 – The second Eid is Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice), which is
the tenth day of the month of Dhu'l-Hijjah. This is the greater and
better ofthe two feasts, which comes after the completion of the Hajj,
for when the Muslims complete their Hajj they are forgiven.
Rather Hajj is completed on the Day of 'Arafah [the 9th of
Dhu'l-Hijjah] with the standing in 'Arafah, which is the major pillar
of Hajj, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Hajj is 'Arafah." Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (889) and classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa' al-Ghaleel (1064).
The day of 'Arafah is the day of ransom from the Fire, when Allaah
ransoms from Hellfire those who stood at 'Arafah and Muslims whodid
not stand at 'Arafah. Hence the day that follows it is a festival for
all Muslims in all regions,those who attended Hajjand those who did
not.
It is prescribed for all of them to draw closer to Allaah by means of
the ritual of shedding the sacrificial blood.
The virtues of this day may be summed up as follows:
1- It is the best of days before Allaah.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Zaad al-Ma'aad
(1/54): The best of days before Allaah is the Day of Sacrifice, which
is the greatest day of Hajj as it says in Sunan Abi Dawood (1765),
where itis narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "The greatest of days before Allaah is the Day of
Sacrifice." Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
2- It is the greatest dayof Hajj.
It was narrated that Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood between
the Jamaraat on the Day of Sacrifice during his Hajj and said, "This
is the greatest day of Hajj." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1742.
That is because the greatest actions of Hajj take place on this day,
when the pilgrims do the following:
(i) Stoning Jamrat al-'Aqabah
(ii) Offering the sacrifice
(iii) Shaving the head or cutting the hair
(iv) Tawaaf (circumambulation of the Ka'bah)
(v) Saa'i (running between al-Safa and al-Marwah)
3- It is the Eid day of the Muslims
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The
dayof 'Arafah, the day of Sacrifice, and the days ofal-Tashreeq are
our festival, us Muslims, and they are days of eating and drinking."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 773; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
And Allaah knows best.