Cultural India : Indian Religions

India is a land of diversities. This diversity is also visible in the
spheres of religion. The major religions of India are Hinduism
(majority religion), Islam (largest minority religion), Sikhism,
Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the
Bahá'í Faith. India is a land where people of different religions and
cultures live in harmony. This harmony is seen in the celebration of
festivals. The message of love and brotherhood is expressed by all the
religions and cultures of India.
Whether it's the gathering of the faithful,bowing in prayer in the
courtyard of a mosque, or the gathering of lamps that light up houses
at Diwali, the good cheer of Christmas or the brotherhood of Baisakhi,
the religions ofIndia are celebrations of shared emotion that bring
people together. People from the different religions and cultures of
India, unite in a common chord of brotherhood and amity in this
fascinating and diverse land.
Buddhism
At present Buddhism is one of the major world religions. The
philosophy of Buddhism is based on the teachings of Lord Buddha,
Siddhartha Gautama (563 and 483 BC), a royal prince of Kapilvastu,
India. After originating in India, Buddhism spread throughout the
Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Southeast Asia, as well asthe East
Asian countries of China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
Christians
Christianity is one of the prominent religions in India. At present
there are about 25 million Christians in India. It is interesting to
note that the Christian population in India is more than theentire
population of Australia and New Zealand or total population of a
number of countries in Europe.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Hinduism is world's
thirdlargest religion after Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is the
dominant religion in India, where Hindus form about 84 per cent of the
total population. Hinduism is also known as "Sanatan Dharma" or the
everlasting religion.
Islam
One of the prominent religions of India, Islam forms about 12 per cent
of India's population. Though India's contact with Islam had begun
much earlier, the real push came in the 8th century when the province
of Sindh was conquered. Though the Muslims form only 12 percent of the
total population of India but the influence of Islam onIndian society
is much stronger.
Jainism
Jains form less than one percent of the Indian population. For
centuries, Jains are famous as community of traders and merchants. The
states of Gujarat andRajasthan have the highest concentration ofJain
population in India. The Jain religion is traced to Vardhamana
Mahavira (The Great Hero 599-527 B.C.).
Sikhism
Sikhs form about 2 per cent of Indian population. In comparison to
other religions, Sikhism is a younger religion. The word 'Sikh' means
a disciple and thus Sikhismis essentially the path of discipleship.
The true Sikh remains unattachedto worldly things.
Zoroastrian
Though the total number of Zoroastrians in Indian population is very
less yet they continue to be one of the important religious
communities of India. According to the 2001 census, there were around
70,000 members of the Zoroastrian faith in India. Most of the Parsis
(Zoroastrians) live in Maharashtra (mainly in Mumbai) and the rest in
Gujarat.
Guru Nanak Dev
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji is credited with starting the Sikh religion. He
wasthe first Guru of the Sikhs and is worshipped next to God. His sole
aim in life was to unify the Hindus and Muslims and form a universal
religionof brotherhood and compassion. He believed that true salvation
could be achieved only by devotion of thought andexcellence of
conduct.
Lord Mahavira
Lord Mahavira is often credited with the adventof Jainism in India.
However, Jainism existedeven before Lord Mahavira was born. He
issupposed to be the twenty-fourth (last) Tirthankara according tothe
Jain philosophy. A Tirthankara is an enlightened soul who is born as a
human being and attains perfection through intense meditation.
Adi Shankaracharya
One of the greatest philosophers of India, Adi Shankaracharya founded
the Advaita Vedanta, which is one ofthe sub-schools of Vedanta. Adi
Shankaracharya whole-heartedly believed in theconcept of the Vedas
butat the same time advocated against the rituals and religious
practices that were over exaggerated.


--

- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

Hakim ibn Hazm - Biographies of the Companions (Sahabah)

History has recorded that he is the only person who was born inside
the Kabah itself.
Together with a group of friends, his mother had gone inside this
ancient House of God to inspect it. On that particular day it was open
because of a festive occasion. She was pregnant and labor pains
suddenly gripped her. She was unable to leave the Kabah. A leather mat
was brought to her and she gave birth on it. The child was named
Hakim. His father was Hazm who was the son of Khuwaylid. Hakim was
therefore the nephew of the Lady Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid,
may Allah be pleasedwith her.
Hakim grew up in a wealthy and noble family which enjoyed a high
status in Makkan society. Hewas also an intelligent and well-mannered
person who was well respected by his people. He was held in such
esteem that he was given the responsibility of the rifadah which
involved giving assistance to the needy and those who had lost their
property during the season of pilgrimage. He took this responsibility
seriously and would even help needy pilgrims from his own resources.
Hakim was a very close friend of the Prophet, peace be on him, before
the latter's call to prophethood. Even though he was five years older
than the Prophet, he used to spend muchtime talking to him and
enjoyinghours of pleasant companionship. Muhammad in his turn felt
great affection for Hakim.
Their relationship was further strengthened when the Prophet married
his aunt, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid.
What is truly amazing is that in spite of the close friendship between
Hakim and the Prophet,Hakim did not become a Muslim until the conquest
of Makkah, more than twenty years after the start of the Prophet's
mission. One would have thought that someone like Hakim whom God had
blessed with a sound intellect and who was so well-disposed to the
Prophet, would have been among the first to believe in himand follow
the guidance he brought. But that was not to be.
Just as we are astonished at the late acceptance of Islam on the part
of Hakim, he himself later inlife was also amazed. In fact, as soon as
he accepted Islam and tasted the sweetness of iman (faith), he began
to feel deep regret for every moment of his life as a mushrik and a
denier of God's religion and of His Prophet.
His son once saw him weeping after his acceptance of Islam andasked:
"Why are you weeping, my father'?" "Many things cause me to weep, my
dear son. The most grievous is the length of time it took for me to
become a Muslim. Acceptance of Islam would have given me so many
opportunities to do good which I missed even if I were to have spent
the earth in gold. My life was spared at the battle of Badr and also
at the battle of Uhud. After Uhud. I said to myself. I would not help
any Quraysh against Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be
upon him, and I would not leaveMakkah. Then, whenever I felt like
accepting Islam I would lookat other men among the Quraysh, men of
power and maturity who remained firmly attached to the ideas and
practices of Jahiliyyah and I would fall in line with them and their
neighbors... Oh, how I wishI had not done so. Nothing has destroyed us
except the blind following of our forefathers and elders. Why should I
not weep, my son?"
The Prophet himself was puzzled. A man of sagacity and understanding
like Hakim ibn Hazm, how could Islam remain"hidden" from him?. For a
long time, the Prophet had dearly hoped that he and a group of persons
like him would take the initiative and become Muslims. On the night
before the liberation of Makkah, he, may God bless him and grant him
peace, said to his companions:
"There are four persons in Makkah whom I consider to be above having
any dealing with shirk and I would dearly like them to accept Islam."
"Who arethey, O Messenger of God?" asked the companions. "Attab ibn
Usayd, Jubayr ibn Mutim, Hakim ibn Hazm and Suhayl ibn Amr," replied
the Prophet. By the grace of God, they all became Muslims.
When the Prophet, peace be on him, entered Makkah to liberate the city
from polytheism and theways of ignorance and immorality, he ordered
his herald to proclaim: "Whoever declares that there is no god
butAllah alone, that He has no partner and that Muhammad is His
servant and His Messenger, he is safe...
Whoever sits at the Kabah and lays down his weapons, he is safe.
Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan, he is safe.
Whoever enters the house of Hakim ibn Hazm, he is safe..." The house
of Abu Sufyan was in the higher part of Makkah and that of Hakim was
in the lower part of the city. By proclaiming these houses as places
of sanctuary, the Prophet wisely accorded recognition to both Abu
Sufyan and Hakim, weakening any thought they might have of resisting
and making it easier for them to be more favorably disposed to him and
his mission.
Hakim embraced Islam wholeheartedly. He vowed to himself that he would
atone for whatever he had done during his Jahili days and that
whateveramounts he had spent in opposing the Prophet, he would spend
the same amounts in the cause of Islam.
He owned the Dar an-Nadwah, an important and historic building in
Makkah, where the Quraysh held their conferences during the days of
Jahiliyyah. In this building the Quraysh leadersand chieftains would
gather to plot against the Prophet.
Hakim decided to get rid of it and cut himself off from its past
associations which were now sopainful to him. He sold the building for
one hundred thousand dirhams. A Quraysh youth exclaimed to him: "You
have sold something of great historical value and pride to the
Quraysh, uncle."
"Come now, my son," replied Hakim. "All vain pride and glory has now
gone and all that remains of value is taqwa - consciousness of God. I
have only sold the building in order toacquire a house in Paradise. I
swear to you that I have given the proceeds from it to be spentin the
path of God Almighty."
Hakim ibn Hazm performed the Hajj after becoming a Muslim. Hetook with
him one hundred fine camels and sacrificed them all inorder to achieve
nearness to God. In the following Hajj, he stood on Arafat. With him
were one hundred slaves. To each he gave a pendant of silver on which
was engraved: "Free for the sake of God Almighty from Hakim ibn Hazm."
On a third Hajj,he took with him a thousand sheep - yes a thousand
sheep and sacrificed them all at Mina to feed the poor Muslims in
order to attain nearness to God.
While Hakim was generous in hisspending for the sake of God, he also
still liked to have much. After the battle of Hunayn, he asked the
Prophet for some of the booty which the Prophet gave. He then asked
for more and the Prophet gave him more. Hakim was still a newcomer to
Islam and the Prophet was moregenerous to newcomers so as toreconcile
their hearts to Islam. Hakim ended up with a large share of the booty.
But the Prophet peace be upon him, toldhim:
"O Hakim! This wealth is indeed sweet and attractive. Whoever takes it
and is satisfied will be blessed by it and whoever takes out of greed
will not be blessed. He would be like someone who eats and is not
satisfied. The upper hand is better than the lower hand (it is better
to give than to receive)."
The kind words of advice had a deep and immediate effect on Hakim. He
was mortified and said to the Prophet: "O Messenger of God! By Him who
has sent you with the truth, I shall not ask anyone after you for
anything."
During the caliphate of Abu Bakr,Hakim was called several times to
collect his stipend from the Bayt al-mal but he refused to take any
money. He did the sameduring the caliphate of Umar ibnal-Khattab
whereupon Umar addressed the Muslims: "I testifyto you, O Muslims,
that I have called Hakim to collect his stipend but he refuses."
Hakim remained faithful to his word. He did not take anything from
anyone until he passed away. From the Prophet, he had learnt the great
truth that contentment is riches beyond compare.

--

- - - - -

And Allah Knows the Best!

- - - - -

Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

True stories » I got involved by myself in this mess, but how can I get out now?

Hello!
I read your stories and I got the courage to ask for your advice,
because Idon't know any more what to do.
So that's my story. I am 27 year old, married for two years, I have
normal relationship with my husband, sometimes we understand each
other, sometimes we fight, we make compromises, but he is not my
biggest love and that's the problem, he is not very interested in me –
where I am and what I do.
I've met the other before I got married – we were just friends in a
same company, we were travelling, together I thought I was so much in
love with him, but he was just friendly kind without a sense of carnal
interest from his side.
One day I stopped to stand for a relation, who seemed impossible I got
married, but in spite of this we keep on being good friends and
meeting sometimes. I caneven say that our friendship became stronger
during the past two years.
Recently I felt inconsolably, in love withthis man. I will play that
game I said to myself this time. I arranged to spendtwo days just the
two of us, far from anybody who knows us and with some women finesse
we found ourselves in the bed.
In the very sublime moment it comes out thathe has problem with
erection – there's not at all such. Anyhow we've both done our best to
getpleasure, but I am confused. I suspect that his problem is not new.
In fact I haven't heard of any intimate friend of hisbut he is 45 year
old and his last relationship I know about had finishedyears ago, and
the lady got married to somebodyelse.
I do like this man, but thesex is also very importantto me. What am I
supposed to do? I need your advice!

True stories » I, the Liar

Hello to everyone here!!!
After some frequent visitson this website and after reading some
stories, I decided to finally share mine as well. It's about cheating,
but on my part.
I am 34 years old, married and have a beautiful girl.
My story began when I had decided to go abroad, because I wanted to
make some money and also because Iwas curious to why everyone wants to
travel around the world. So, I left for Italy with my sister and we
were relying on a friend of ours to help us find a job there.
We arranged to meet the above-mentioned friend named T. And at first,
I didn't pay too much attention when I saw him. Although, his height
made him impossible not to notice. So, after a few times meeting him I
realized how kind, smiling and easy going he was.
He had some problems with his wife, who he had left in Canada and kept
begging to come to Italy. Gradually, we reached a point in which I
began to like this man and started wanting him a 100 %.
I wasn't expecting anything besides sex. I was confused, in a foreign
country with a foreign language, with some people that I didn't
understand and with him; kind, caring and in love with me.
However, he quickly started dreaming about how we were going to create
our own life, how I was going to get a divorce, how much he loved me.
I wasn't feelingthe same way. I wanted to go back to Canada andback to
what I had left there; he was also acting weird after living without a
woman for so long.
And so, I couldn't handle this anymore, I kept thinking about my child
and I left for Canada. Then my pain started. I immediately felt the
lack of attention, affection, the spark in my sex life and we began
maintaining an endless phone relationship by writing secret text
messages in the middle of the night. "My love, amore, sweetheart."
The distance was making us want each other even more. This is when I
made all the mistakes than I did and I told him a bunch of lies. I was
telling him how I hated my husband and that I wanted a divorce. It
wasn't easy to live like this at all.
I was lying to the both of us. I changed, became frustrated and my
husband reacting to this didn't take long. There were constant
scandals that were making my child suffer when she heard them.
Everything was a complete mess.
T. was pushing me to leave and go to him and Icouldn't leave my child
and my husband. There was also something else that was more important
than everything.
I was not in love with T., even though I used to sayit back to him all
the timewhen he told me that he loved me. I didn't want a future with
a man that I didn't have strong feelings for. THIS KEPT GOING ON FOR 3
YEARS.
During this period we spent very little time physically together,
because this was only possible when he came back to Canada and I could
come up with an excuse. I did know that I had to put a stop to this
living hell that I had created myself.
Every night, I was full with regrets. I kept thinking how I did't
deserve neither one of them. I couldn't find the words to express my
desire to break it off withT. So, I left it to him to figure it out.
I didn't get a divorce. I continue living with this huge burden on my
shoulders which remained unshared. I made an attempt to meetwith T.
and to tell him how I felt, but it was another mistake, becausehe saw
it as a willingness to continue our relationship and to try to have a
life together one day.
I gave up and I stopped contacting him and so did he. I hope that he
hasfound his true love. Regardless, I still feel awful about it.
I messed up T.'s life with my lies and I ruined my family's balance
and trust. Nothing is the sameanymore.
So there it is, I shared my lie with you and I hope that someone might
understand how I feel, even though I am not a very good writer. I
don't know if I'll get a reply from any of you, but at least my story
can serve as an example.