Munkar Ma'roof (Evil and Good)

Munkar Ma'roof (Evil and Good)
By Maulana I. Suleman
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.
Respected guests, elders, brothers and sisters:
Today, I would like to present an analysis of what is going on in this
world today. From the corners of the world, people are either
complaining about materialism--that they do not have enough of it;
complaining about their children, complaining about the people in
power, complaining about thisor complaining about that. We are
becoming a community of complainers and we are sitting in peace
complaining about thisperson or that person. Every single one of us,
when we are in salah, we do not finish that prayer until we say:
Allahummah inni dhalamtu nafsi dhulman katheera. "OhAllah, the
complain is that about the MIS or MIB or Scotland yard orthe IRS. The
complain is, Oh Lord, I have wronged myself," but straight after
salaam something magic happens that we start talking about other
people. There are two different pictures coming along. On one hand, we
acknowledgein front of our Creator that me, I, myself am toblame, but
when we go outside of salah, westart talking about somebody else. This
is not the teaching of Islam.
What is the game of the day today? The game of the day today is to
change people's minds--how they thinkand how they behave. These
advertising campaigns are no joke.The people who work for these
advertising companies have a Ph.D. in psychology. Psychology is the
art where you learn how to control a person's mind and you see this
coming into play whenwe look at the advertisements. Why does a child,
when they pass McDonald's or Burger King with their father say, "Dad,
I want McDonald's or Burger King. I want a haram burger." Why
everytime do we see a new gadget coming out and Christmas or birthdays
or Father's Day or whatever is coming up and the child sees
advertisements being played and all of a sudden the child comes up and
says,"Dad I want that!" Where do they get this idea from? The
essenceof the ages that many people just fail to understand is what
exactly is going on in this day and age.
Allama Tabrani narrates a hadith in hismu'jam. The Prophet (sallallahu
alaiyhi wa sallam) said to his companions who wereassembled in a
gathering like you people are assembled over here: "What will be your
situation, whatwill be the framework of your mind when a good thing,
when ma'roof will become munkar (evil)?" Evil will become good.
Roguishness will become righteousness.Falsehood will becomerighthood.
Lies will become good. The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) told
us about this age that was going to come. Munkar, deviation,
evil,falsehood, vanity, will become good. Just to give you one
example, in 1999 in the UK, there was a decision made in the House of
Lords that there was a couple, well they calledthemselves a couple of
gay orientation and these two males lived together for 20 years in a
council owned house. One of them died. According to British law and
council tenancy law, your family has the right to occupy that council
property after the person whose name it is in has passed away. So this
person, who called the deceased hispartner, took this case to court
claiming, "The council cannot evict me from my house. Why? Because he
was my family." To cut the long story short, this case went to the
Houseof Lords, the biggest judition. Eventually thecase was decided
that yes, this person is fromhis family and yes, this person has the
right to stay in this council house. For us, the decision is
unimportant, but look at what is happening in this world today.
Ma'roof (good) has become munkar (evil) and munkar has become ma'roof,
evil has become good. A gay person has been established as a family
member. This is what the Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam)
saidover 1400 years ago:"What will your situation be when ma'roof will
become munkar and munkar becomes ma'roof?" This is the exact scenario
we find ourselves in today. Thecompanions of the Prophet (sallallahu
alaiyhi wa sallam) asked: "Will this actually take place in the
world?" The Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, "More than
this will take place. Not only will good become bad and bad will
become good, more than this will happen." The companions of the
Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) asked, "What will this be?" The
Prophet (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) said, "You will order people to
do wrong and you will stop them from doing good." My dear respected
brothers andsisters, if we look at the world today, is thisnot the
case? People are accepting Haqq (truth) as Baatil (falsehood) and
Baatil as Haqq, roguishness for righthood, vanity for truth. This is
the scenario of the world today, but the fact of the matter remains
that see the concepts of life change as periods go.
In the 20th century, wehave entertained manydiscoveries. There is a
book named Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st century.
It talks about what role science will play in our lives,
wherescientist are going towards. In it are opinions of 150 great
authorities on science in this day and age published by the Oxford
University Press. In this book, it states that between 1990 and 2000,
no other period has entertained extra scientific knowledge that what
we have been discovering for 500 years according to western theory and
Muslims were well intoit before all this.
All these discoveries took place in the last 10 years because of 3
main discoveries.
The first is the Quantum Theory. This theory is based on mankind being
able to split the atom. Once he split the atom, he now had knowledge
and power over matter. What is matter? Matteris anything you can
touch. This bench is matter. This tape recorder is matter. Because of
this discovery, we have TV, digital TV, DVD technology, where you can,
at a press of a button of a remote, select any angle. All this was a
direct result of the Quantum Theory.
The second revolution in the 20th century was the biomolecular
revolution or the DNA. Anyone who has been arrested will know that in
certain cases the police takes a DNA swab. A swab of saliva from the
inside of yourmouth and they use that and keep it on record to
identify a person and as a result of this DNA revolution, mankind was
able to have control over the human being. Now he can claim that 'I
have the intelligence to create a bionic man. I have the intelligence
to give that father any kind of son he wants. I have the intelligence
to give that woman any kind of baby she wants whether she wants a
clever one, an intelligent one, a blue-eyed one, a green-eyed one, or
a dumb one. Because mankind has masteredthe biomolecular revolution
and this is what it says in the book, Visions, that now scientists are
at an astounding position.
The third revolution of the 20th century is the computer revolution
and the computer revolution is that revolution with which mankind
believes he isable to play God. This isone idea of the computer
revolution.
Those who have a bank account, will most probably have a service tip
card (ATM). There will be a pin number on it which nobody has in the
world. It must need some brains for somebody to come up with this idea
that no one has the same pin number, but now its moving on. Barclays'
Bank is introducing another system which is already prevalent in
London. Allah, in your eye, has made a part called the iris. In that
part, Allah has created seventy different features from one eye and
the other eye has seventy different features. Next time yougo to
Barclays' Bank, you will not need your card, you will not need a pin
number. It will recognize you from thefeatures of your eyes. Allah
says in the Qur'an: "And in yourself, do you not see there are signs?"
Mankind is now discovering this. This is Allah's unlimited power,
which we wereunaware of and today it is coming in front of our eyes.
So these three revolutions, the Quantum Revolution, the Biomolecular
Revolution, and the Computer Revolution, mankind has mastered. Now he
is saying, "Now, I can play God. I'm going to be Allah. I'm going to
decide who is going to have what kind of child."
Islam is not against any progress. Muslims were conquering astronomy
in the sky at a time when it was innovation to look at the skies in
different religions. The scientists say that there will not be any
more major discoveries after these three main discoveries.
The hadith that I statedearly on, you tell me, when mankind thinks
that he is becoming God, is that not batil and munkar? Do we not find
an example in the Qur'an when Namrood said the same thing: I am God.
Is there not an example of Pharaoh, who claimed to be Allah, God?
Mankind is losing his goal in life as a result, many Muslims, educated
or uneducated. The sole purpose and function and role of a human being
in his life has been totally forgotten. We are failing to understand
our function in life. As one poet says: "I have many different
passions in life." One ofthe signs of Qiyaamah is that people will
havedifferent hobbies (to stray them away from the remembrance of
Allah), as Allama Tabrani narrated. I willgive you a real life example
of it, which is that when you walk in to any shop where they sell
magazines and you look at the topshelf to the bottom shelf, whatever
topic you want--hunting, computing, pornography or this or that, you
will find it there. We have this in our minds that people actually buy
this? If people didn't buy themthey would not produce them. So, one of
the signs of the Day of Judgement is that people will have different
passions. People will become busy in sports and computing and in
theirother hobbies that nobody will be aware of where this will lead
and the poet says: "I have different passions. All my different
passions and interests and hobbies became one from that moment when I
realized my central passion in life and that was Allah and those
people who I envied." because they have these new Mercedes with the
computerizeddashboards and posh mobile phones and these big houses
with a press of a button the gates open and like BillGates' house when
he leaves his house in Seattle, he can control the temperature of his
house miles away--people envy this type of person in the modern day
and age. This poets says, "that those people who I envied because they
have this (money) this time they are becoming jealous of me. Why?
Because I have found Allah in my life. I became a liberated slave of
mankind from that moment when I recognized Allah."
The new discoveries are having an affect on the human beings, so much
so that the knowledge in this day and age is taking mankind in the
direction of forgetting Allah. I have explained to you the progress in
this day.
Now, in a nutshell, I would like to point outthe consequences of the
discoveries that have taken place. I would like to take only one area
of this, which are the wars. If you look at the history of the 20th
century from 1900-1915 there was awar called the British Colonial War.
From 1914 to 1919 there was the first World War where one
millionpeople died. From 1921, for some years there was a war against
England and Ireland. From 1939 to about 1945 the secondWorld War took
place where fifty million people lost their lives. From 1956 to 1962
we had the colonial fighters in Africa, Angola, Tunisia, and Algeria
and today we have Chechnya, we have Bosnia, we have Afghanistan and
Russia and a whole host of other countries.Eighty percent of the time,
in the 20th century, mankind has been fighting with each other. What
is theprogress here, I ask you? We claim, on the one hand, that this
is the century of progress, but four-fifths of the time, mankind has
been fighting with each other. What kind of progress is that? We
cannot even learn to live with each other, soin this day and age there
is no doubt that we have progress, but where has the progress taken
us? Have we actually learned to live as human beings on the face of
this earth? The human being is no longer worthy of beingcalled a
human. Why? Because he does not recognize his Lord anymore.
It is necessary upon you to make sure that you look after soul. Why?
Because you are a human being by the mere fact that you have a soul
inside you and not by the fact thatyou have a body.
As a poet says:
The world would like to change you
There are pressures all around
You must decide just who you are
Then firmly hold your ground
So be yourself and don't allow the world to take control
Preserving your identity (as a Muslim) is life's most precious goal.
Wa akhirudda'wana anil humdulillahi rabbil alameen.

Surat an-Nisa, 77 (Hypocrites are opposed to intellectual struggle)

Do you not see those who were told: 'Hold back from fighting but
establish salat and pay alms? Then when fighting is prescribed
forthem, a group of them fear people as Allah should be feared, or
even more than that. They say, 'OUR LORD , WHY HAVE YOU PRESCRIBED
FIGHTING FOR US? IF ONLY YOU WOULD GIVE US JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME!'
Say, 'The enjoyment of the world is very brief. The Hereafter is
better for those who have fear of Allah. You will not be wronged by so
much as the smallest speck.' (Surat an-Nisa', 77)

Do you not see the main point that distinguishes the hypocrites? They
are opposed to Islamic Union and jihad (the intellectual struggle).
They do not want the deen of Allah to spread and rule the world. They
pray and fast and everything. They even ask for more. For instance, if
an animal is to be sacrificed they request further detail. But talk of
Islamic Union offends them, and that isthe problem they have.

Complexity of RNA Molecules Refutes Evolutionist Claims

Probabilistic calculationsmake it clear that complex molecules such as
proteins and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) could not ever have been
formed by chance independently of each other . Yet evolutionists have
to face the even greater problem that all these complex moleculeshave
to coexist simultaneously in order for life to exist at all .
Evolutionary theory is utterly confounded by this requirement. This is
a point on which some leading evolutionists have been forced to
confession. For instance, Stanley Miller's and Francis Crick's close
associate from the University of San Diego California, reputable
evolutionist Dr. Leslie Orgel says :
It is extremely improbable that proteins and nucleic acids, both of
which are structurally complex, arose spontaneously in the same place
at the same time. Yet it also seems impossible to have one without the
other. And so, at first glance, one might have to conclude that life
could never, in fact, haveoriginated by chemical means . 1
The same fact is also admitted by other scientists:
John Horgan, "In the Beginning", Scientific American, vol. 264,
February 1991, p. 119
DNA cannot do its work, including forming more DNA, without the help
of catalytic proteins, or enzymes. In short, proteins cannot form
without DNA, but neithercan DNA form without proteins . 2
Douglas R. Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid,
New York, Vintage Books, 1980, p. 548
How did the Genetic Code, along with the mechanisms for its
translation (ribosomes and RNAmolecules), originate ? For the moment,
we will have tocontent ourselves with a sense of wonder and awe,
rather than with ananswer. 3

Ideal character of Muslim women

In the Qur'an, Allah informs us how belief benefits a woman:
Do not marry women who associate [others with Allah] until they
believe. A slave girl who is one of the believers is better for you
than a woman who associates [others with Allah], even though she may
attract you. And do not marry men who associate [others with Allah]
until they believe. A slave whois one of the believers is better for
you than a man who associates [others with Allah], even though he may
attract you. Such people call you to the Fire, whereas Allah calls
you, with His permission, to the Garden and forgiveness. He makes His
Signs clear to people so that, hopefully, they will pay heed. (Surat
al-Baqara: 221)
Allah reveals that belief, fear and respect of Allah,and Islamic
morality are the foremost causes of the believers' strength
ofcharacter and virtue. Belief makes all of a person's qualities
meaningful. In addition, the Qur'an's morality helps women, and
everyone else, to acquirea most strong, solid, and virtuous character.
As Allah revealed in the verse, "No indeed! We have given them that by
which they are remembered [i.e. their honor, eminence and dignity]"
(Surat al-Mu'minun: 71), this morality gives people their dignity and
honor. Therefore, women who live by this morality will be respected
and enjoy their deserved honor and dignity.
As we mentioned earlier,Allah has not determinedseparate characters
for men and women and therefore calls on all people to abide by one
Muslim character. Therefore, Muslims fear and respect Allah, seek His
good pleasure, and seek only to win the Hereafter, in the full
knowledge that this worldly life is temporary and that he or she will
die one day.
Muslim Women Submit to God:
Muslim women believe in Allah with a true heart, submit completelyto
Him, are aware that there is no other deity, that He is the Lord of
every being and thing, and that He is All-Powerful. Therefore, she
fears and respects only Him and seeks to win only His good pleasure.
She worships only Him, accepts only Him as her closest friend,and
seeks only His help. She also knows that onlyHe can direct good and
bad toward her, and so lives in the full knowledge that she is
dependent on Him. She knows that He keeps heralive, provides and
caresfor her, and protects andguards her. For these reasons, she has
no expectations of other people.
She believes in Allah without the slightest doubt in her heart for her
whole life, never losing heart or belief regardless of the
circumstances. She knows how to be grateful and content with her
closeness to Him both when her life is good and when she is undergoing
difficulties. She is in a state of constant submission, certain of our
Lord's love, compassion, forgiveness, and providence.
When she encounters a problem, she knows thatAllah has provided a
solution in the Qur'an, and that what matters most is her continued
sincere love, submission,and trust in Allah. She is certain of Allah's
promise that He creates everything according to His justice and with
wisdom and goodness.
Even if her problems seem to go on forever, she never surrenders to
hopelessness or worries when His help will come.Content with what He
has sent her way, she maintains her patience and submission, knowing
that somethinggood will come out of it. She remembers what theQur'an
says about those who abandon their belief in such times. In addition,
she recites "My Lord is with me and will guide me" (Surat
ash-Shu'ara': 62), just as the Prophets did when faced with hardship.
Throughout her life, her profound faith enables her to see Allah's
compassion, closeness, love, help, and friendship at all times.
This superior character becomes even more distinctive when compared
with that of unbelieving women. Some unbelieving women do not show the
appropriate degree of submission in their encounters, because they
ignore the fact that Allah creates everything and inserts much wisdom
and goodness hidden therein. One of the best-known characteristics of
such women is their impatience, lack of determination, panic, and
throwing tantrums when experiencing various hardships.
For this reason, and to save themselves the hassle, men often try to
keep women away from potentially troublesome situations. Movies and
novels are full of such stories. Since they do notplace their trust in
Allah and do not submit to Him, they cannot find the patience and
resolution to endure hard times. In fact, their strength is in direct
proportion to the size of the gain they can expect from working
through these difficulties.
Believing women derive their strength from theirbelief and their
determination to win Allah's good pleasure. Therefore, their
resistance can be quite powerful. The Qur'an reveals this truth in the
following verse: "Allah's guidance, that is true guidance. We are
commanded to submit asMuslims to the Lord of allthe worlds" (Surat
al-An'am: 71). Allah givesgood news to those whosubmit to Him:
Those who submit themselves completely toAllah and do good have
grasped the Firmest Handhold. The end resultof all affairs is with
Allah.(Surah Luqman: 22)
Not so! All who submit themselves completely toAllah and are
good-doers will find their reward with their Lord. They will feel no
fear and will know no sorrow. (Surat al-Baqara:112)
Muslim Women Have Great Ideals:
One of the unbelievers' most misguided character traits is the
restrictions that they placed on people's ideals, thoughts, and
lifestyle. In the case of women, society tells them that they have
certain duties and responsibilities that theyare expected to fulfill
to the best of their ability. Usually, they are not encouraged to
acquire different ideals or develop their personalities. Only when
women become aware of this reality do they begin to perceive the need
to seek greater ideals, widen their horizon, and develop their
personalities.
rimarily, women are expected to provide for and cater to their
families' needs and raisetheir children. Otherwise, they focus
onthemselves, according tothe conditioning they received when young.
They concentrate on their physical appearance, hair style, make-up,
clothing and fashion in general; keeping their homes clean; and
talking with their friends. While there is nothing wrong with such
activities, it is wrong to limit their livesjust to these tasks
without even knowing why this is so.
Allah created men and women for a purpose and revealed their
responsibilities in the Qur'an. Most importantly, each woman is
responsible to our Lord, for He created her, gave her life, protected
and watched over her, and provided for her. Men and womenare required
to lead the moral life prescribed by Allah, worship and serve Him, and
to win His goodpleasure. They are required to tell people who are far
from the happy and contented life of following the Qur'an's values
about Islam's values and to make a genuine effort tohelp them draw
closer toAllah's pleasure, mercy, and Paradise. They must strive to
save people from negative frames of mind, and from suffering under the
influence of the chaos and disorder, all of which are presented by
Satan and thus are devoid of true love, respect, and friendship.
All believers are obliged to help and guide those who are weak and
distressed to His path:
What reason could you have for not fighting in the Way of Allah-for
those men, women, and children who are oppressed and say: "Our Lord,
take us out of this city whose inhabitants are wrongdoers! Give us a
protector from You! Give us a helper from You!?" (Surat an-Nisa': 75)
Allah further reminds Muslims that they are obliged to assist orphans,
people who are stranded, and other needy people:
Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him. Be good to your
parents and relatives, orphans and the very poor, neighborswho are
related to you and neighbors who are not related to you, and
companions, travelers, and your servants. Allah does not love anyone
vain or boastful. (Surat an-Nisa': 36)
A Muslim woman is aware of all these responsibilities and so does not
focus only on herself. Rather, she does her best to solve the problems
around the world, such as helping people who are suffering, fighting
infectious diseases, working with children displaced or orphaned by
war and conflict, and taking care of the elderly and other women as if
they were her own problems.
She gives her full attention to every matter in her daily life,
because she knows that the truly important thingis to win Allah's good
pleasure, live the Qur'an's morality, and spread this morality in
order to bring true contentment and happiness to all others. For this
reason, she acts in the knowledge that what she encounters each day is
not so important when put intothe overall context of what she was
created to do.
Muslim Women Are Dignified:
... And the soul and whatproportioned and inspired it with depravity
or heedfulness; he who purifies it has succeeded, he who covers it up
has failed. (Surat ash-Shams: 7-10)
The above verses warn people about the selfish ego that, when not
brought under control, will lead them to limitless evil. A person's
fear and respect of Allah,as well as his or her belief in the
Hereafter, gives each person the strength and reason to resist these
temptations.
Without this awareness, people will follow their desires and not worry
about their meeting with Allah in the Hereafter, where they will be
held accountable for their deeds. If his ego demands anger, jealousy,
or ill-treatmentof someone else, he will indulge it. If her selfish
ego encourages her to vent her anger or jealous frustration with
insinuations, mockery, slander, lies, conspiracies, or hypocritical
behavior, she will oblige it withoutgiving it a second thought. Such
people will commit all of these sins without reservation,because they
believe that they will never haveto account for their deeds.
Allah, however, reveals that all of these activitiesare unconstrained
evils called for by the selfish ego. When people act onthese impulses,
things just get worse. People who cannot control theiremotions, even
when they know that what they are doing is wrong,show that they are
both weak and ignore their conscience. In other words, they seem to
grow smaller. It is debasing to be unable toact maturely or respond
rationally when their selfish egos suggest otherwise. As Allah
reveals, the dignifying and rightful response to such evil suggestions
is to ignore them and act conscientiously. This character trait needs
to be worked on, for eventually it will earn other people's respect
and love and raise the person's ranks in His eyes, as well as in the
eyes of other people.
Muslim women have enough dignity and character to reject such debasing
behavior for small gains. Allah informs us of the conspiring nature of
unbelieving women: "Hesaw the shirt torn at the back and said: 'The
source of this is women'sdeviousness. Without a doubt your guile is
very great'" (Surah Yusuf: 28).Unbelieving women often try to resolve
situations by conspiring, intriguing, or lying instead of seeking
rational solutions. Indulging Satan's suggestions, they fall back on
hypocrisy, cowardice, or devious methods. Believing women, on the
other hand, resolve their problems by honesty, openness, and
sincerity, for their awareness of Allah totally removes them from such
inappropriate behavior.
Unbelieving women alsoare characterized by envy. Allah mentions
envious people and warns others about theirevil: "Say: 'I seek refuge
with the Lord of Daybreak, from the evil of what He has created and
from the evil of the darkness when it gathers, and from the evil of
women who blowon knots and from the evil of an envier when he envies'"
(Surat al-Falaq: 1-5). Some unbelieving women are prone to such
behavior, which causes distrust, tantrums, broken relationships, and
endless arguments, all ofwhich result in an unfulfilled and unhappy
life. In addition, they cause great suffering and damage to themselves
and to those around them. Believing women, however, will disregard
this aspect of human ego, knowing that it leads to great losses in
this life as well as in the next.
Mockery is another character defect of unbelieving women. In the
following verse Allahwarns them against suchbehavior: "O you who
believe! People should not ridicule others who may be better than
themselves; nor should any women ridicule other women who may be
better than themselves. And do not find fault with one another or
insult each other with derogatory nicknames" (Surat al-Hujurat: 11).
Those women who are shaped by the unbelief that rules their societies
do not hesitate to ridicule people for their shortcomings or to
mockothers, because they do not think of the Hereafter. They do not
consider this behavior aswrong, but rather as a kind of humor. Often
thismockery is not even verbal, but is expressed by making faces,
rolling one's eyes, imitating their mannerisms, or whispering about
them. Believing women shun such activities, because they know that
Allah requires them to live according to the Qur'an'smorality.
In another verse, Allah reminds people not to speculate or gossip
about others: "O you who believe! Avoid most suspicion. Indeed, some
suspicion is a crime. Do not spy and do not backbite one another.
Would any of you like to eat his brother's dead flesh? No, you would
hate it. And have fear of Allah. Allah is Ever-Returning, Most
Merciful" (Surat al-Hujurat: 12).
Believing women live dignified lives. Instead of mocking others, they
try to help. They compliment people who are successful, instead
ofsuccumbing to envy and gossip. And, when in the company of
unbelieving people who might somehow offend them, they do not
compromise their integrity or dignity.