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Surat Al-Fīl (The Elephant) - سورة الفيل

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

105:1

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Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

105:2

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Did He not make their plan into misguidance?

105:3

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And He sent against them birds in flocks,

105:4

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Striking them with stones of hard clay,

105:5

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And He made them like eaten straw.

Your Financial Transactions

Your Financial Transactions

Your Financial Transactions

Allah commands and encourages Muslims to earn their livelihoods. This is clear in a number of aspects including the following:

• The Prophet has forbidden us from begging as long as we are able to earn a livelihood and informs us that those who engage in begging despite their ability to scrape a living, lose their dignity in the sight of Allah and that of people: “A person who unnecessarily continues to beg will stand before Almighty Allah [on the Day of Judgement] without a shred of flesh on his face.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 1405; Saheeh Muslim: 1040)
  He also said, “If a person who is afflicted with poverty refers it to people, his poverty will not be brought to an end; but if he refers it to Allah, Allah will soon give him sufficiency.” (Sunan Ahmad: 3869; Sunan Abu Daawood: 1645)

Islam respects all types of occupations as long as they are lawful and do not involve any wrongdoing whatsoever.

• Islam respects all types of occupations in any field, trade, industry, services, investment or in any other field, as long as they are lawful and do not involve any wrongdoing whatsoever. Indeed, Islam informs us that prophets engaged in decent occupations prevalent in their societies. As the Prophet  said, “Allah did not send a prophet who did not tend sheep.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 2143) He mentioned once that Prophet Zachariah  was a carpenter. (Saheeh Muslim: 2379)
• A person who engages in an occupation with the intention of supporting himself and his family and helping the needy will be abundantly rewarded for his effort.

All Types of Transactions Are Generally Allowed in Islam

All types of transactions are, as a general rule, allowed in Islam. These include selling, buying, leasing and all kinds of transactions which people need in their everyday lives, with the exception of those things which are forbidden due to their innate impurity or the manner they are acquired.

Things That Are prohibited Due to Their Innate Impurity 

These are things which Allah has declared unlawful due to their innate impurity and therefore must not be sold, purchased, leased, manufactured or put into circulation. 

Examples of things which Islam has prohibited due to their innate impurity

• The flesh of dogs and pigs
• Dead animals or any part of them
• Alcoholic drinks
• Drugs and all other substances which are injurious to health
• materials that aim to spread immorality, such as pornographic tapes, magazines and websites
• Idols or anything that is worshipped besides or instead of Allah

Things That Are prohibited Due to the Manner They Are Acquired

These are things which are naturally lawful but have become unlawful due to the manner in which they are acquired, causing harm to the individual and society at large. Things which generally render transactions unlawful are: 
Usury (ribaa), deception, injustice and gambling
We will clarify these in the following pages.

Mercy in islam

Mercy in islam

Mercy

• he Prophet  said, “Those who are merciful will be given mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy on you.” (Sunan At-Tirmidhee: 1924; Sunan Abu Daawood: 4941)

His mercy embraced countless aspects, including the following:

Mercy towards children

• A Bedouin once came to the Prophet  and said, “Do you kiss your children? We do not kiss them.” The Prophet  said, “Can I put mercy in your heart after Allah has removed it?” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 5652; Saheeh Muslim: 2317)

On another occasion, a man saw the Prophet  kissing his grandson, Al-Hasan ibn ‛Ali, and said to him, “I have ten children, but I have never kissed any of them.” The Prophet  looked disapprovingly at him and said, “He who does not show mercy to others will not be shown mercy.” (Saheeh Muslim: 2318)

• Once he carried his granddaughter Zaynab while standing in prayer, and he put her down gently when he prostrated. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 494, Saheeh Muslim: 543)
• If he heard a baby crying while the mother was praying behind him, he would shorten the prayer so that the mother could attend to the baby’s needs. Abu Qataadah  narrated that the Prophet  said, “When I begin the prayer, I always intend to make it long; however, if I hear a baby crying, I shorten it, as I do not wish to cause his mother any distress.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 675; Saheeh Muslim: 470)

Mercy towards Women

The Prophet  urged his companions to look after girls and show kindness to them; he used to say, “Whoever is in charge of any of these girls and treats them well, they will be a shield for him against the Fire.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 5649; Saheeh Muslim: 2629)
He even stressed that women must be given their rights and be well cared for and commanded Muslims to make this issue their concern and to advise one another to do so: “Take good care of women.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 4890)
He was a shining example of kindness to family members. He once sat beside his camel and put his knee for Safiyyah ~, one of his wives, to put her foot on, in order to get onto it. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 2120)
Whenever his daughter Faatimah ~ came to visit him, he would get up to welcome her, take her by the hand, kiss her and make her sit where he was sitting. (Sunan Abu Daawood: 5217)

Mercy to the weak members of society

Allah’s messenger  likened a person who looks after a widow or a poor person to a warrior who fights for Allah’s cause, which is a highly meritorious deed in the sight of Allah.

• The Prophet  commanded people to sponsor orphans and look after them. “A person who takes care of an orphan and I will be like this in Paradise,” he once said, joining his forefinger and middle finger together by way of illustration. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 4998)
• He considered a person who looks after a widow or a poor person just like a warrior who fights for Allah’s cause, or like one who performs prayers all night without slackness and fasts continuously and never breaks his fast. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree: 5661; Saheeh Muslim: 2982)
• He regarded showing kindness to the weak members of society and giving them their rights a strong reason to gain Allah’s victory over the enemy as well as gaining more means of subsistence: “Seek help among your weak ones, for you are given provision and help only because of the weak amongst you.”(Sunan Abu Daawood: 2594)

Mercy towards animals

Once, seeing a mother bird flapping its wings in desperation after some of his companions had taken some of its chicks away, the Prophet  disapprovingly said to them, “Who has distressed this bird by taking her young? Give her chicks back to her at once.”

• The Prophet’s comprehensive sense of mercy extends even to animals and insects. He urged people to show kindness to animals and warned them against harming them or laying loads on them which are more than they can bear. He said, “Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things. Thus, if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.” (Saheeh Muslim: 1955)
• Once he noticed a mound of ants which had been burned up. “Who has set fire to this?” he asked. One of his companions replied, “We have.” “No one should punish with fire except the Lord of the fire,” he disapprovingly said. (Sunan Abu Daawood: 2675)

The Door to Eternal Paradise

(1) The Door to Eternal Paradise

God has said in the Quran:

 And give good news (O Muhammad) to those who believe and do good deeds, that they will have gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow....  (Quran, 2:25)

God has also said:

 Race one with another for forgiveness from your Lord and for Paradise, whose width is as the width of the heavens and the earth, which has been prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers.... (Quran, 57:21)

The Prophet Muhammad  told us that the lowest in rank among the dwellers of Paradise will have ten times the like of this world,¹ and he or she will have whatever he or she desires and ten times like it.²  Also, the Prophet Muhammad  said: {A space in Paradise equivalent to the size of a foot would be better than the world and what is in it.}³  He also said: {In Paradise there are things which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has thought of.}⁴  He also said: {The most miserable man in the world of those meant for Paradise will be dipped once in Paradise.  Then he will be asked, “Son of Adam, did you ever face any misery?  Did you ever experience any hardship?”  So he will say, “No, by God, O Lord!  I never faced any misery, and I never experienced any hardship.”}⁵

If you enter Paradise, you will live a very happy life without sickness, pain, sadness, or death; God will be pleased with you; and you will live there forever.  God has said in the Quran:

 But those who believe and do good deeds, We will admit them to gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow, lasting in them forever.... (Quran, 4:57) 

Awrah

Awrah

Awrah

The Arabic word awrah refers to the parts of the body which must be covered with clothing. Awrah is any part of the body, for both men and women, which may not be visible to the public. Awrah is interpreted differently depending upon the sex of the company one is in.

Men

Most Muslims accept that for men everything between the navel and the knee is awrah and therefore should be covered at all times.

Women

Rules for women are more complicated. There are a number of scenarios for women:

• In front of unrelated men (Muslim or non-Muslim), women must cover everything except the hands and face
• In front of close male relatives, awrah is the navel to the knee and the stomach and the back
• In front of other Muslim females, awrah is from the navel down to, and including, the knees
• Awrah in front of non-Muslim women is a point of debate:
  • Some scholars say that women should cover all but the hands and face. This is to prevent non-Muslim women (who may not understand the rules regarding hijab) from describing the appearance of the hijab wearer to other men
  • Other scholars say that if a non-Muslim woman can be trusted not to describe a woman's appearance to other men, then she may reveal as much as she would in front of another Muslim woman in her presence.

The Hanafi school of thought, which is followed by most Muslims in the world, agree that the feet are not part of the awrah and therefore may be revealed.

Amongst other schools of thought a common opinion is that everything apart from a woman's face and hands is awrah. Scholars holding this opinion use this hadith to justify it:

Narrated Aisha (the Prophet's wife): Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: 'O Asma, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.

Abu Dawud, Book 32, Number 4092

N.B.: This particular hadith is regarded as 'weak' (i.e. not reliably attributed) by some scholars, including the hadith's collector, Abu Dawud.

Husband and wife

There is no restriction on what a husband and wife may show to each other in private. The Qur'an encourages married couples to enjoy each other's bodies.

Individuals in private

Islam highly values modesty, so even when alone, men and women are recommended never to be completely naked and to cover from the navel to the knee. Exceptions do apply where necessary, for example taking a shower or going to the bathroom.

Hijab

Hijab

Introduction

A girl studying the Qur'an

Hijab is an Arabic word meaning barrier or partition.

In Islam, however, it has a broader meaning. It is the principle of modesty and includes behaviour as well as dress for both males and females.

The most visible form of hijab is the head covering that many Muslim women wear. Hijab however goes beyond the head scarf. In one popular school of Islamic thought, hijab refers to the complete covering of everything except the hands, face and feet in long, loose and non see-through garments. A woman who wears hijab is calledMuhaajaba.

Muslim women are required to observe the hijab in front of any man they could theoretically marry. This means that hijab is not obligatory in front of the father, brothers, grandfathers, uncles or young children.

Hijab does not need to be worn in front of other Muslim women, but there is debate about what can be revealed to non-Muslim women.

Modesty rules are open to a wide range of interpretations. Some Muslim women wear full-body garments that only expose their eyes. Some cover every part of the body except their face and hands. Some believe only their hair or their cleavage is compulsory to hide, and others do not observe any special dress rules.

In the English speaking world, use of the word hijab has become limited to mean the covering on the head of Muslim woman. However, this is more accurately called a khimaar. The khimaaris a convenient solution comprising usually one, but sometimes two pieces of cloth, enabling Muslim women to cover their hair, ears and neck while outside the home.

Hijab, in the sense of veiling, can also be achieved by hanging a curtain or placing a screen between women and men to allow them to speak to each other without changing dress. This was more common in the early days of Islam, for the wives of the Prophet Muhammad.