Dought & clear, - Is faith in the heart sufficient for a person to be a Muslim?.

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Is faith in the heart sufficient for a person to be a Muslim, without praying, fasting or paying zakaah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Faith in the heart is not sufficient without prayer etc. Rather it is obligatory to believe in one’s heart that Allah is One, with no partner or associate, and that He is one’s Lord and Creator, and to devote worship to Him alone, may He be glorified and exalted. And it is obligatory to believe in the Messenger Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and that he is truly the Messenger of Allah to all of the two races (mankind and the jinn). All of this is essential, for it is the foundation of the faith. It is also obligatory for the accountable individual to believe in everything that Allah and His Messenger have told us about Paradise and Hell, the Siraat (bridge over Hell), the Balance and other things referred to in the Holy Qur’aan and saheeh Sunnah. In addition to that, it is essential to utter the declaration of faith (shahaadah), testifying that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and it is essential to pray and to do all the other things enjoined in Islam. If the individual prays, then he has done what he is obliged to do, but if he does not pray then he has committed an act of kufr (disbelief), because not praying is kufr.
With regard to zakaah, fasting, Hajj and all the other obligatory matters, if he believes that they are obligatory but he is too lazy to do them, then he is not a kaafir because of that; rather he is disobedient or sinning, and his faith is weak and lacking, because faith may increase and decrease. Faith increases when one does acts of worship and righteous deeds, and it decreases when one commits acts of disobedience and sin, according to Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa‘ah.
With regard to prayer in particular, not praying is kufr according to many scholars, even if one does not deny that it is obligatory. This is the more correct of the two scholarly opinions. This is in contrast to other acts of worship such as zakaah, fasting, Hajj and so on. If he does not do them, that is not major kufr according to the correct opinion, but it detracts from and weakens faith, and it is a serious major sin. Not giving zakaah is a serious major sin; not fasting is a serious major sin; not performing Hajj when one is able to do so is a serious major sin – but it is not major kufr if one believes that zakaah is a duty, fasting is a duty, Hajj is a duty for the one who is able to do it. So long as one does not deny that these duties are obligatory, but he is negligent concerning them, then he is not a kaafir according to the correct opinion.
With regard to prayer, if he does not do it, then according to the more correct scholarly opinion he is a kaafir in the sense of major kufr –Allah forbid – even if he does not deny that it is obligatory, as stated above. That is because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Between a man and shirk and kufr there stands his giving up prayer.” Narrated by Muslim in hisSaheeh. And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The covenant that differentiates between us and them is prayer; whoever does not pray is a kaafir.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad and the authors of the fourSunanswith a saheeh isnaad. This applies equally to both men and women. We ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.

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Dought & clear, - The “miracles of nature” that are widely spoken of nowadays.

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Recently on websites and in chat rooms it has become common to see topics and posts that contain pictures and audio or video clips that show miracles, such as a fountain coming out of the sand in the desert, or the name of Allah on the skin of a goat, or clouds forming the name of Allah, or a girl who was transformed into an animal. Most of these things are not true and are fabricated but these things are very widespread.
What is the ruling on such things?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The signs of Allah in this universe are many; every atom in it testifies to His greatness and majesty, and affirms His Oneness.
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“HaMeem. (These letters are one of the miracles of the Quran and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings).
The revelation of the Book (this Quran) is from Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
Verily, in the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers.
And in your creation, and what He scattered (through the earth) of moving (living) creatures are signs for people who have Faith with certainty.
And in the alternation of night and day, and the provision (rain) that Allah sends down from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the turning about of the winds (i.e. sometimes towards the east or north, and sometimes towards the south or west etc., sometimes bringing glad tidings of rain etc., and sometimes bringing the torment), are signs for a people who understand.
These are the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.) of Allah, which We recite to you (O Muhammad SAW) with truth. Then in which speech after Allah and His Ayat will they believe?”
[al-Jaathiyah 45:1-6].
This is a call to ponder and think about dozens of verses in the Holy Qur’an that encourage us to look at the visible signs and to think about them so as to increase in faith and certainty about the Creator and believe in His Oneness, may He be glorified.
What these signs have in common is that they are visible to all people. The earth, the sky, the sun, the moon, the animals, rain, one’s own self and so on are all signs that may be seen and known by all humans. Each and every individual can understand their greatness and realise that they point to the Lord and Creator. Even though the scientist may know things that ordinary people do not know about these things, they are visible to all and each person may learn from them according to his own level of understanding.
But with regard to what has become widespread nowadays of talking about “miracles of nature”, including those mentioned by the questioner, as far as Allah’s power is concerned, Allah, may He be exalted, has power over all things, such as causing His name to appear on the skin of a goat or on an egg, or transforming some people into animals.
In fact we believe that such transformations will happen, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told us. At-Tirmidhi (2212) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Among this ummah, people will be swallowed up in the earth, transformed into monkeys and pigs, and pelted with stones.” A man among the Muslims said, “O Messenger of Allaah, when will that be?” He said: “When singing-girls and musical instruments become widespread and wine is drunk.”
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh at-Tirmidhi.
This is as far as the might and power of Allah, may He be exalted, are concerned. But as for whether these “miracles” happened or not, most of what is in circulation nowadays of such things cannot be verified or proven. Most of what people are passing around to one another of these things is no more than chit-chat in their gatherings and images on discussion boards and in chat rooms, the source or author of which is not known. Does the Muslim need such stories to prove the soundness of his religion and belief?!
Is there a shortage of evidence based on common sense and certainty, so that one has to resort to these rumours?!
The correct attitude towards these reports is to refrain from judgement. So we do not believe them, because of the possibility that they may be false, and we do not disbelieve them, because of the possibility that they may be true, so long as we have no clear evidence to prove whether they are true or false. If such evidence comes along then we may be certain in that case.
The wise Muslim – who is aware of the guidelines on verifying news and drawing conclusions from it – should not hasten to believe in them, let alone spread them and call people to glorify Allah in amazement.
But what has happened is the opposite of that; many people believed in these “stories” and they started spreading them and talking about them in their gatherings, and passing them around on their mobile phones and in e-mails, then suddenly a few days later they are surprised when it turns out that it was a fabrication spread by some of those who are zealous for Islam – in ignorance and naivety – or by some hateful heretics – in mockery and scorn. This has caused confusion for many people. And Allah is the One Whose help we seek.
What we object to is hastening to believe these things and regarding them as miracles and challenges, telling everybody about them, and making such stories a phenomenon without end. Every day there is a new story; the matter has reached such a level of foolishness that no one of sound mind could believe in these things. We see that in the story of the lion’s roar in which some people – by a huge stretch of the imagination – hear the name of Allah. Much worse than that is what is happening in one country where people have started to touch a tree on the trunk of which the name of Allah appeared, seeking barakah (blessing) and healing from it. Then upon investigation it turns out that it had been carved by someone who wanted to mislead the people.
The Muslims should refrain from propagating such rumours that may cause people to go astray.
We ask Allah to help us understand our religion.
And Allah knows best.

PUBLISHERNajimudeen M

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For children, - Kindness in Islam

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Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.
Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body way.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
Moral:There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy. Real Treasures, Allah has bestowed upon us, the gift of sight, sound and smell. The gift of family and friends. The gift of life, knowledge and wisdom and most importantly the gift of religion Islam!
Life laughs at you when you are unhappy, Life smiles at you when you are happy, but life salutes you when you make others happy.

PUBLISHERNajimudeen M

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