Have You Made Your New Year’s Resolution?

 

Nadia has given up making New Year’s resolutions. She says that she makes the same ones year in and year out and never keeps them for longer than a week or two. 

“The whole process is an exercise in futility and a guilty, depressing one at that,” she laments.

Research data from countless sources says that Nadia’s experience is not uncommon.

In fact, it is the rare adult who actually fulfills the conditions of a resolution for a significant amount of time.

Maybe the commitment to lose weight is blown by a box of chocolates after three days.

Or the promise to stop wasting time on the computer is forgotten when the latest funny YouTube video is sent to your inbox by a well-meaning friend.

Indeed, for Muslims, the concept of New Year’s resolutions may be foreign, but the start of something new, the chance to embark on a path with a clean slate, will always be attractive. 

And because many like to take advantage of a new year, it seems like the time is right.

Then, there is the hope that this will be the year when all our plans for a better life and our promises to do the work required for said better life propel us forward.

We all have the desire to make changes and kick-start a productive, happy life.

Yet, like Nadia, many of us are disappointed—but not for long.

Breaking bad (yet familiar) habits is not an easy thing for us to do, despite our surge of motivation telling us that it is.

The way to succeed is to take things slow, to be realistic, and to embrace change with a calm, cool mindset.

There is no need to fight yourself or be depressed about it because lasting change usually comes from a positive place.

Here is a five-step guide to keeping your resolve this time:

Renew Your Intentions

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has said:

“Actions are but by intentions (niyyat), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated.”

This hadith is regarded as one of the greatest, and indeed, Imam An-Nawawi named it number one in his book of 40 Hadiths.

Undoubtedly, it can be useful in all facets of your life.

When it comes to making your resolutions (to change a bad habit or adopt a good one) come to fruition, it makes sense to connect with the “why” behind them. 

• Why do you want to lose weight?
• Why do you want to stop smoking?
• Why do you want to memorize the Qur’an?

If you can make your intention and purpose strong, you will have the solid potential to make them worthy.

Acknowledge How You Are to Blame

When Nadia cries about how making her resolutions is hopeless and how her life will never change for the better, she does herself a disservice. 

It is easy to blame other people or circumstances for our shortcomings (e.g., the husband will not like it if I cook healthy food or I do not have enough time to pursue this or that dream).

But only when we own up to our own choices — only when we acknowledge the part we play in our own lives — can positive change happen.

We have to take responsibility for the things we do or do not do in order to stick to our resolutions.

Maybe we cook high-calorie foods for our husbands, but who puts them down our throats to eat?

When you start to ask yourself how you can be accountable for your own actions, you start to prepare a working plan that can turn your well-intentioned dreams into realities.

You ask yourself, “What is in this for me?”

And based on the benefit (even a subconscious one), you will perpetrate a practice, form an addiction, or avoid a perceived detriment.

Nadia started to realize that cooking unhealthy foods for her husband meant that she would get to enjoy some of her late mother’s favorites and, in the process, pay homage to her memory.

Nadia felt closer to her mother while being in the kitchen. She was missing her, yes, and was sad about losing her.

But, was there another way to honor the memory and remember the good times?

Did she have to deal with her sadness by way of food? 

When Nadia began to realize this, she decided to take up knitting instead.

It was her mother who had taught her the craft, and Nadia is now making a blanket for her baby—the practice is soothing, and she even paces herself, saying “subhan Allah, al-hamdu Llillah, and Allahu Akbar” and makes a du’aa’ (supplication) for her mother.

Now, would not that please her mother more than having her daughter eat her way to death?

Make Realism Part of Your Reality

Ibn Mas’ud reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

“Those who make things hard for themselves will be destroyed.” He said it three times. (Riyad As-Saliheen  144).

Just as moderation is the essence of Islam, so too can it make for a successful routine of personal growth and development.

When we are realistic about our goals, the benefit is twofold. 

First, we increase our likelihood of achieving them.

Second, we are not hindered by the impossibility of high targets that make us want to give up almost immediately.

Now, some will say, “You have to dream big.”

I do not disagree, but when it comes to turning those dreams into realities, you have to act on them in a realistic way — otherwise, they will remain impossible to reach.

If Nadia were to resolve to diet and say, “I will only eat salads forever, and I am going to spend three hours after dawn everyday doing exercise,” it would almost be like she is setting herself up for failure.

Tempering our goals with doable, sustainable actions that work within the context of a strategic plan is the best way to go.

Pray as if everything depends on Allah, and work as if everything depends on you.

In the Qur’an, Almighty Allah says,

 “Work (righteousness): Soon will Allah observe your work, and His Messenger, and the Believers: Soon will you be brought back to the knower of what is hidden and what is open: then will He show you the truth of all that you did.” (At-Tawbah 9:105)

And says:

“Truly, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” (Ar-Ra`d 13:11)

We must do the work required of us.

The one that we have established through our good intentions, our commitment to seeing our role in the establishment of our habits, and the realistic strategic plan we have laid out for ourselves.

We, like Nadia, need to ask ourselves:

Is the resolution not working, or am I not working on the resolution?

***

This article is from our archives.

About Heba Alshareef

Heba Alshareef is a teacher and author of Release Your Inner Queen of Sheba! She has been mentoring women around the world to discover their unique talents, act on their aspirations to achieve great things, and find authentic happiness. She lives with her husband and five children near Toronto, Canada. Visit her online at: www.iamsheba.com

-aboutislam.net

Are Women Allowed to Work in Islam?

 

Work in Islam

Islam enjoins work and being active, for Almighty Allah says, “And say (unto them): Act! Allah will behold your actions, and (so will) His Messenger and the believers.” (At-Tawbah 9:105)

Allah the Lawgiver has also promised rewards for those who work and He made working hard one of the reasons for His forgiving sins.

Women’s Work in Islam

Islam never forbids women to work inside or outside home. To illustrate, the wives of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) used to work at home.

For example, they used to dye their own clothing and tan hides in addition to their other housework activities, such as preparing food, cleaning their houses and serving and taking care of Prophet Muhammad.

Another example of women’s work is that the Prophet’s wife Aishah used to prepare the herbal medicine prescribed by his physicians. She also used to give it herself to Allah’s Messenger and nurse him, in addition to her housework.

Furthermore, the wives of the Prophet’s Companions used to do their housework and the like. For instance, Fatimah (daughter of the Prophet) used to run the quern (hand mill for grain) herself till her hands became swollen, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not disapprove of that.

Another example is that Asma bint Abi Bakr, wife of Az-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam, used to work hard inside and outside her home. She used to feed the camel and the horse and look after her husband and children.

Asma also used to go on foot to fetch the fodder from her husband’s land three kilometers from Madinah, and the Prophet once saw her on her way and he did not show any disapproval.

That is to say, women’s going out to work is not forbidden in Islam, for some women used to go out to work in the Prophet’s lifetime and he did not disapprove of them.

Among those women was Umm Attiyah, who used to perform circumcision for females, wash and enshroud the deceased females of Madinah, and nurse and treat the injured Muslim warriors in battlefields, in addition to preparing food for the other warriors.

Another example of such working women was Rufaydah Al-Aslamiyyah, the first female doctor in Islam, for whom the Prophet specified a tent in his mosque in Madinah in order to treat and nurse the injured Muslim warriors of the Battle of Al-Khandaq (the Trench).

Ar-Rabaiyyi` bint Mu`awwidh and Umm Sulaim used to set out with the Prophet in his various battles to provide water for the Muslim warriors, hand weapons to them, prepare food for them, treat the injured, and carry the martyrs to the burial places.

Furthermore, Ash-Shifa bint Abdullah used to go out to teach the Muslim women to read and write and to practice medicine during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger.

Umm Mihjan used to clean the Prophet’s Mosque, and when the Prophet noticed her absence and his Companions told him she had died and had been buried (as they did not want to disturb the Prophet’s sleep when she died), the Prophet went to her grave and offered the Prayer for the dead over her.

One more example was that Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab appointed a woman named Ash-Shifa to occupy a position called al-hisbah or market inspector who saw that scales were just and accurate and that transactions were carried out according to the rulings of Islam.

All these examples and many others show that Islam never forbids a woman to go out to work, whether she is married or not. Yet, Islam has set some regulations to protect working women, guarantee their safety, and prevent any possible evil consequences.

Regulations of Women’s Work

Among these regulations is that:

• A woman should wear hijab and cover herself with loose clothing. She should never go out in skin-tight or see-through clothing. In other words, she should avoid wearing anything that may sexually attract men, nor should she go out wearing make-up or perfume or uncovering any of her awrah (parts that must be covered).
• A woman should not be a source of temptation while going out to work, nor should she mingle with men lawful for her to marry. She should also avoid the gatherings of men, as when entering or leaving the work place or getting in the bus to or from work, and should not walk with a swinging erotic gait.
• Moreover, a woman should be engaged in a kind of work that suits her physiological nature, and should get the permission of her legal guardian or husband to work outside the home.
• In addition, a woman should make sure that her work would not result in any violation of the rights of her husband or children if she is married.
• These regulations have many illustrations in the Quran and the Sunnah, yet there is no room to mention them here.

It is worth mentioning that distribution of the roles and duties between the two spouses is an integral part in this concern, so that neither of them would be comfortable and satisfied at the expense of the other who would be suffering.

In this way, family life can proceed smoothly, and the woman is able to play her fundamental role as an active and effective member of the Muslim society without neglecting her role in establishing a good family, which is a pillar of the Muslim community.

Almighty Allah knows best.

About Dr. `Abdul-Fattah Idrees

Professor of Comparative Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) at Al-Azhar University

- aboutislam.net

Muslim Women Between Work and Home: A New Perspective

 

In Islam, the house is an institution. It is a family development centre that,  in tandem with other social institutions, facilitates and supervises the rise of Islamic societies and, by extension, Islamic culture and civilization.

The importance of the house institution-cum-centre is unparalleled. Together with the mosque institution, it occupies the pinnacle of the hierarchy of social establishments.

Consequently, women, as wives, have been appointed as its managers or directors (guardians). They have been honored greatly thereby.

The Prophet said on this: “Everyone of you is a guardian and everyone of you is responsible (for his wards). A ruler is a guardian and is responsible (for his subjects); a man is a guardian of his family and is responsible (for them); a wife is a guardian of her husband’s house and she is responsible (for it), a slave is a guardian of his master’s property and is responsible (for that). Beware! All of you are guardians and are responsible (for your wards)” (Sahih al-Bukhari).

However, due to the global assaults of the materialistic worldview and its resultant lifestyles, the Muslim consciousness has been affected.

Instead of seeing the development and administration of the most important institution—i.e., the house—as not only a pivotal enterprise but also a privilege, Muslims suddenly started seeing it as a sign of backwardness and women’s imprisonment.

Instead of perceiving it as a mark of honor, they started perceiving it as a mark of degradation. That resulted in conceiving, planning, building, and maintaining houses as centers of materialistic tendencies and corresponding hedonistic behavioral patterns, in lieu of vibrant centers of family and generally social development.

In such houses and under novel circumstances, Muslim women, without warning, found themselves underutilized and, so, underperforming. Staying home as just “housewives” became an undesired anomaly. It became meaningless in a way, which was understandable.

If everything changed, from thinking to performing, whereby essentially all things were looked at through the prism of materialism (money-making), it was natural that Muslim women demanded changes with regard to their lives as well.

Muslim women now became more useful outside the house than inside it. Inside, they were confined, but outside, emancipated. Inside, furthermore, they were inhibited, but outside, unleashed.

In reality, though, Muslim women were the last link in a chain to be affected, after the family institution itself and the general idea of social development had been affected (distorted).

As per a more scathing assessment, Muslim women had to abandon houses because Muslim men were failing in their own duties outside them.

Rather than supporting and complementing each other, Muslim men and Muslim women began to encroach on each other’s roles and even compete with each other.

Moreover, instead of talking about equity as well as synchronization between the two different groups and realms, the Muslim mind was forced to waste itself on such nonsensical issues as equality between two inherently different things (men and women) and the status of Muslim women within the frameworks that, from the very beginning, had been wrongly conceptualized.

And so, Muslim women were taken from the warmth and intimacy of the sanctuary of the house institution to the outside world, with no or very little protection.

With all honesty, women were neither built nor meant for such unfortunate adventures. What Muslim women now achieve outside the home institution pales in comparison with what they used to achieve inside it.

By the same token, what they achieve outside is nothing when compared with what they lose by abandoning the family establishment and the prospect of family development as part of a holistic civilizational advancement.

This is one of the fundamental reasons why Muslim societies suffer today, because they dispose of the essentials without which no healthy model of growth is possible.

In consequence, warm and welcoming homes were converted into cold and aloof houses as mere architectural displays; family-cum-social development centres were turned into museum-like hubs of fake prosperity. Dynamic and busy homes became empty and lifeless structural shells.

In other words, multidimensional homes simply became one-dimensional shelters, and the assignments of nurturing individuals and shaping generations were delegated to either incompetent or insincere protagonists.

If Muslim women underperform, yet fail, as administrators, lawyers, economists, journalists, teachers, businesswomen, etc., that will on no account be the “end of the world.”

The consequences will be minimal and the impacts generated thus, before long, smoothed over.

But if Muslim women fail as wives, mothers, mentors and neighbors, as segments of the multilayered post of home managers or home directors, that will spell catastrophic repercussions, such as divorces, broken families, poorly raised and educated children, “cold homes,” and general despondency. Undoubtedly, such failures can be neither smoothed over nor counterbalanced.

If Muslim women fail, Muslim societies fail. The future is in women’s hands.

What the majority of Muslim men do, such as handling machines, running businesses, routine office work, and manual labor, in the long run is not as consequential as what women do in relation to the house. They build people, yet future generations, as the foremost components of which all sectors of society are constructed.

While women’s tasks are unreplaceable, most men’s ones are. The capabilities and inputs of men, by and large, can be purchased, obtained from a third party, replicated, and even substituted with cost-effective foreign labor.

It cannot be said enough that Muslims ought to desist from making observations and judgments from purely materialistic standpoints. There are other, more important things at stake.

It is indisputable that the development of civilizations involves far more than just the growth of economies (material progress). Developing minds and purifying souls as part of the process of cultivating individuals is more critical. It is more rewarding in both worlds.

Bearing in mind all of the above, it is essential to ensure Muslim women receive appropriate education. It is normally stressed that education is Muslim women’s right, which is absolutely correct; however, their twin right is also an education that is in harmony with their Islamic identity and their existential mission.

For example, education for Muslim women should be such that they will be trained to be exemplary custodians (managers or directors) of the delicately demanding house institution above all else. The rest are subordinate positions relative to the former.

Educating Muslim women to be mere professionals ahead of everything else in fields that lie beyond their prescribed domains denotes a form of misguidance and betrayal for them. In the name of learning and enlightenment, they are led astray; in the name of empowerment, they are incapacitated; and in the name of enrichment, they are “robbed.”

This by no means implies that Muslim women have no role to play outside the purview of the house institution.

On the contrary, they have outstanding roles to play that are part of the comprehensive roles of the house or are fully independent from them.

Nevertheless, the truth remains that the house institution is the top priority. Other opportunities are subordinate to it.

If the functionality of the top priority is not affected in any way, Muslim women are welcome to perform the needed and appropriate external functions, just as the women of the Prophet’s era and the women of the subsequent eras of the truly golden age of Islamic civilization have done.

But if the functionality of the house and the orb of its activities are affected, Muslim women should then hasten to either reduce or terminate their outer involvements.

Doing so, however, is not a choice but an obligation, for which Muslim women will have to answer to their Creator on the Day of Judgment:

“(and) a wife is a guardian of her husband’s house, and she is responsible (for it)” – rewarded for good performances and answerable for inadequate ones.

About Dr. Spahic Omer

Dr. Spahic Omer, an award-winning author, is an Associate Professor at the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He studied in Bosnia, Egypt and Malaysia. In the year 2000, he obtained his PhD from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in the field of Islamic history and civilization. His research interests cover Islamic history, culture and civilization, as well as the history and theory of Islamic built environment. He can be reached at: spahico@yahoo.com.

- aboutislam.net

Trust in Allah Doesn’t Just Happen! Here is How to Develop It

 

Allowing important areas of our lives to go unexamined and uncontrolled is the source of a vast amount of pain and loss. One such, if not the most significant, loss is our strong relation with Allah.

Establishing close connection with Allah requires work. Sometimes we feel that His rules are difficult to obey. We think, “Let me do what I want to do. Obedience is hard for me”.

In all honesty and to an extent, we all have felt the same way. Allah’s call to obey goes against the grain of our natural inclinations; we are all born wanting to be free, liberated without restrictions.

However, Allah pulls us in another direction by His love. He calls us to obey Him out of his concern for our best. Sometimes that means we must make hard choices.

Allah’s words aren’t given to hurt us; they are for our good. As the designer, He knows how his design works best. We cannot see the future; we cannot know where our choices lead us, but He does, and He uses his word to guide us.

As a child, my strongest motivation to be good was to please my parents. If we have no inner motivation to please Allah, we need to work on our love relationship with Him. We need to focus on His greatness and His love for us.

Even what seems insignificant to us matters to Allah. He calls us to make up our minds to obey him, even in the small things, those things that appear to be no big deal. Our obedience in the small things reveals how much we truly love Him.

We must keep our faith on the increase through daily good works using all of our body. Kindness with our tongue, charity with our wealth, and service with our limbs will help us remain connected to Allah. Link all of our actions to attaining His pleasure.

How to develop trust in Allah

Strengthening our trust in Allah is like learning any other skill. The more we commit to it, the stronger it gets. We cannot expect to strengthen our ties with Allah and increase our faith if we only worship when we feel like it.

Start with Qur’an

We need for starters to infuse our life with the Qur’an such that we become a living, walking, talking embodiment of the Qur’an.

Repent to Allah Regularly

We must submit ourselves fully to Him as the Lord of all in our lives.

I personally found to cultivate my heart, I commit to repenting as many times a day as I could, every day.

Pick a time where you can sit, be in a state of peace and be truly be present with Allah. Thankfully – we serve a God who is able to forgive sins, all sins. Before or after Fajr, or `Isha’ prayer are often times of quiet, appropriate for this repenting.

At first it may feel dry on our tongue, we must persist however until it comes alive in our heart.

Seek His Help

Even if we do have people to turn to, nobody can replace the warmth and openness we will ultimately feel with Allah. At times, sadness and difficulty bring us closer to Him than happiness and prosperity.

In those moments of sadness and confusion, we should reach out to Allah and release all our worries and sadness to Him.

Part of the reason that we feel emptiness in our prayers is because we feel that by praying and fasting and supplicating, we are doing something to benefit Allah, and that He should feel obliged to reimburse us for our efforts. We then desire certain outcomes that our limited insight feels is best for us and that if those do not occur, then Allah has not answered them, so we become despondent.

Be Patient

We live in a time of instant gratification; we need to remind ourselves that attaining lasting faith is a tremendous gift which cannot be attained simply because we want it right now.

Strengthening our trust in Allah does not just happen. It is a journey of enormous spiritual growth. When the wounds are still sore, that is when our heart fully connects and surrenders to Allah.

Remember He knows us better than we would ever know ourselves.

About Deana Nassar

Deana Nassar is a published writer. As a mother of four, in her home she’s the sole expert on all things related to marriage, children’s psychology, motherhood and creative survival. She loves charity work, reading and writing poetry, and is mostly known for writing articles discussing family and social issues, faith, freedom, and purpose that comes through God. She can be reached at deana_nassar4@hotmail.com

- aboutislam.net

Is Saying ‘Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azim’ Bidah?

 

Saying “Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azim after reciting the Quran

“Saying “Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azim” after reciting the Quran or when listening to it is not a blameworthy bidah due to the following reasons:

• There is no evidence to forbid it.
• It is a kind of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) which  we should say it.
• Some scholars have spoken of the virtue of uttering this expression and considered it one of the ethics of recitation. They even maintain that saying it in prayer does not break it.
• The Quran has reference to these words:

{Say: Allah has spoken the truth (Sadaqa Allahu), therefore follow the religion of Ibrahim, the upright one; and he was not one of the polytheists.} (Aal Imran 3:95)

{And when the believers saw the allies, they said: This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth (wa sadaqa Allahu wa rasulluh); and it only increased them in faith and submission.} (Al-Ahzab 33: 22) 

Testifying to the truth of all what Allah says

Imam Al-Qurtubi prefaced his Tafsir by quoting Al-Hakim At-Tirmidhi as saying that among the ethics of reciting the Quran is for one to say, upon finishing the recitation, “True are the words of Almighty Allah” or a similar expression of the same meanings, testifying to the truth of all what Allah says (in the Quran), and bearing witness that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has conveyed this message to mankind. An example of this is to say, “Almighty Allah has spoken the truth and His honorable Messenger has conveyed it.” And then to confirm it by saying, “You have spoken the truth, O our Lord; You sent it (i.e., the message) to Your Messengers, and we testify that this is true. O Allah, make us of those who testify to the truth, and then the reciter is supposed to make duaa with whatever he (or she) wishes.

We read in Fiqh Al-Madhahib Al-Arbaah: 

“If one says in prayer words like ‘Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azim’ when the reciter finishes his reading, this does not break the prayer if one intends to just glorify Allah, the Almighty, or make mention of Him. The Shafi`is maintain that prayer is not invalidated at all by saying these words.”

Having said this, I wonder how some people dare consider ‘Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azim’ after reciting the Quran as bid ah. We should be very careful when giving any Islamic rulings, as Allah says in the Quran: {And, for what your tongues describe, do not utter the lie, (saying) this is lawful and this is unlawful, in order to forge a lie against Allah; surely those who forge the lie against Allah shall not prosper.} (An-Nahl 16:116)

Almighty Allah knows best.

- aboutislam.net

THE MIRACLES OF JESUS

 

Jesus in the Quran holds one of the highest statures amongst the Prophets.  Unlike other Prophets who performed miracles, Jesus himself was a miracle, as he was born of a virgin mother, and God describes him and his mother Mary as such:

"…and We made her (Mary) and her son (Jesus) a sign for the worlds." (Quran 21:91)

Nonetheless, in the Quran, Jesus is described as having many miracles not bestowed upon other prophets.  God says:

"And We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear miracles" (Quran 2:87)

The following is a brief description of the miracles performed by Jesus mentioned in the Quran.

1.A Table Laden with Food

In the fifth chapter of the Quran, "The Table Laden with Food" – named after this miracle of Jesus, God narrates how the disciples of Jesus requested him to ask God to send down a table laden with food, and for it to be a special day of commemoration for them in the future.

"When the disciples said: O Jesus, son of Mary!  Is your Lord able to send down for us a table spread with food from heaven?  He said: Observe your duty to God, if ye are true believers.  They said: We desire to eat of it and our hearts be at rest, and that We may know that you have spoken truth to us, and that We may be witnesses thereof.  Jesus, son of Mary, said: 'O God, our Lord, send down for us a Table laden with food out of heaven, that shall be for us a recurring festival, the first and last of us, and a miracle from You.  And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best of providers!" (Quran 5:112-114)

Since the occasion was to be "for us a recurring festival," it is likely the Last Supper,[1]  also called the Lord's Supper, Breaking of Bread, Eucharist, or Communion.  The Eucharist has always been at the center of Christian worship.  EncyclopediaBritannicasays:

"Eucharist is a Christian sacrament commemorating the action of Jesus at his Last Supper with his disciples … The letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles make it clear that early Christianity believed that this institution included a mandate to continue the celebration… The Eucharist has formed a central rite of Christian worship."[2]

2.      While Still in the Cradle

One of the miracles mentioned in the Quran, although not mentioned in the Bible, is that fact that Jesus, while still in the cradle, spoke out to protect his mother Mary from any accusations people may have placed on her due to having a child without a father.  When she was approached about this strange incident after her childbirth, Mary merely pointed to Jesus, and he miraculously spoke, just as God had promised her upon annunciation.

"He shall speak to people while still in the cradle, and in manhood, and he shall be from the righteous." (Quran 3:46)

Jesus said to the people:

"I am indeed a slave of God.  He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be.  And He has enjoined upon me prayers, and to pay the alms, as long as I live and (He has made me) kind to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed.  And may Peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and on the Day I shall be raised to life." (Quran 19:30-33)

3.      And It Becomes a Bird

God mentions a miracle given to none other in the Quran but Jesus.  This miracle was one which none can argue its greatness.  God mentions in the Quran that Jesus says:

"I create for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with God’s permission." (Quran 3:49)

This miracle is not found in the New Testament, but it is found in the non-canonical ‘Infancy Gospel of Thomas,’  "When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream… he then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows… but Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: "Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!"  And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily." (Infancy Gospel of Thomas:2)

4.      Healing the Blind and the Leper

Similar to the New Testament[3], The Quran also mentions Jesus to a have healed the blind and lepers.

"I also heal the blind and the leper." (Quran 3:49)

The Jews during the time of Jesus were quite advanced in the science of medicine and were quite proud of their achievements.  For this reason, miracles of this nature were given by God to Jesus, ones which the Jews could well understand that no force in nature could perform its like.

5.      The Resurrection of the Dead

"…and I bring to life the dead, by the permission of God." (Quran 3:49)

This, like the creation of a bird, was a miracle of incomparable nature, one which should have caused the Jews to believe in the prophethood of Jesus without doubt.  In the New Testament, we read three cases where Jesus brought the dead back to life by God’s permission - the daughter of Jairus (Matt 9:18, 23; Mark 5:22, 35; Luke 8:40, 49), the widow's son at Nain (Luke 7:11), and Lazarus (John 11:43).

6.      The Provisions of Today and Tomorrow

Jesus was given the miracle of knowing what people had just eaten, as well as what they had in store for the coming days.  God says.

"I inform you too of what things you eat, and what you store up in your houses.  Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." (Quran 3:49)

A Demonstration of Truth

Similar to other prophets, Jesus performed miracles to convince skeptics of his truthfulness, not to demonstrate his divinity.  The Quran says:

"Surely in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." (Quran 3:49)

These miracles were performed only by the Will of God, had he not willed them to occur, they could never come to be.  God explicitly states this in the Quran, saying that they were:

"…by the permission of God" (Quran 3:49; 5:10)

AlthoughMuslims can not confirm it, the Bible, through certain narrations, states that Jesus at times failed to perform miracles.  Once when Jesus tried to heal a blind man, he was not healed after the first attempt, and Jesus had to try a second time (Mark 8: 22-26).  In another instance, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them."(Mark 6:5)

The fact remains that indeed it was not through his own will that Jesus or any other prophet performed miracles.  Rather, they were performed only by Will of God Almighty - a fact also explicitly stated in the Bible:

"A man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst." (Acts 2:22) - islamreligion.com

FOOTNOTES:

[1]Matt. 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; I Cor. 11:23–25

[2]"Eucharist."  Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9033174)

[3]Healing the blind (Matt 8:2, Mark 1:40, Luke 5:12, Luke 17:11), and the leper (Matt 9:27, Matt 8:22; 20:30, Mark 10:46, Luke 18:35, and John 9:1)

Gender Interactions…Are We Too Strict?

 

Editor’s note: The following text is not strictly verbatim transcript of the video. Some editorial modification were made to make the text publishable as an article.

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There is no doubt that this is one of the most difficult issues to navigate in the modern workforce. Those who are not yet in the workforce, don’t presume that you know how you will act when you get to that arena.

It is very easy to be hardcore in university but when you get to corporate world; when you get to the job situation; when you understand the dynamics then things will change a little bit.

The fact of the matter is that we are surrounded by areas that are difficult for us such as this one and this has resulted in a counter reaction to the dominant narrative.

Stricter Within Islamic Settings?

In my humble opinion, many of us tend to react within our Islamic settings, even stricter than what Allah and His Messenger have intended for us. For them, any type of interaction with opposite gender Muslims becomes totally haram and totally problematic.

Interestingly, we don’t have a problem in` interacting with the opposite gender in our classrooms or in our settings, I mean, look at your underground tube, how close are you to the other gender.  I took your tube the other day and my God! It is crazy! You are literally packed like sardines and you don’t choose the gender you are standing next to. Isn’t it right?

So, the point is how can we reach a healthy compromise?

This is an ongoing debate for which I don’t have solutions,  but what I do know is we do see extremes. On the one hand, in many masajids the segregation become strict to an extent that Sahabah and early generations would not even conceive.

We become even stricter than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions themselves. And this is demonstrated in a million and one ways, I mean to have a physical barrier every time, which I am against because that barrier is an imaginary one…as soon as you walk out, it doesn’t exist. So why create a false bubble?

Communication failure

Frankly, and let me again be very blunt here, one of our biggest problems when it comes to these inter-gender relationships is that because we are segregated so viciously within the circle of Islam, we don’t learn how to actively and respectfully dialogue with a Muslim from the opposite gender, while we do not have this problem with the non-Muslims.

When a non-Muslim person of the opposite gender comes and says, ‘Hello’, ‘How are you doing’, ‘Good afternoon’, ‘Good morning’, you all know what to say, how to say it, and how to be proper and respectful without being flirtatious. Isn’t that correct? Right!

Yet, in the Islamic conventions, if a veiled sister says salam, we immediately wonder whether she is proposing and seeking marriage… etc. It is really a problem that you cannot interact with the other in this case without sexualization.

Root of the Problem

Why that happens? Because we are the ones who have created that. Do you really think that the Prophet’s Companions, male and female, behaved like that? If you read the Prophet’s Seerah, it is very clear that they had a different attitude: they used to greet one another in a respectful manner and they knew their boundaries.

We fail to teach our youngsters this and that is, in my opinion, one of the biggest problematic legacies of ultra-conservative Islam; we become stricter than the Shari`ah wants. Once you become stricter than the Shari`ah requires then there will be consequences.

We do not know how to treat each other; our brothers do not know how to treat our sisters with respect that they deserve. They completely ignore them as if they don’t exist. If a non-Muslim colleague of yours or a lady with whom you take a class passes, you will find no problem to say ‘Good afternoon’ or ‘Good morning’. If it is the cashier or the bus driver, you will say, ‘Hello!’.

By Allah, does not your Muslim sister deserve more respect from you? Is not she worth to say As-salamu `alaykum to her so that she knows you are there; if she faces any harassment she knows that there is a brother in the vicinity.

But, unfortunately, we have been taught to completely ignore as if she doesn’t exist and it’s a two-way street as well. If you read the Prophet’s Seerah, you do not find this fanaticism; the two genders were not living in such absolute fears from each other. Now this is in the Seerahin Madinah, imagine what’s going to happen when we bring about a false segregation in England, where there is no segregation in the first place.

A call for indulgence?

Does that mean I call for brothers and sisters have a party together? No, of course I’m not saying that.

Actually, that is the problem: when people like myself start speaking in these topics, the traditionalists start getting a little bit worried about where you are heading with this talk. That is called in the floodgate argument; if I open the door an inch I open it all the ways. But this logic is very shallow. I am not saying we cross the line. What is the line? Obviously, flirtation and haram relationship is the line.

So, if we don’t teach our young men and women to respect one another regardless of the gender, how could we expect to have a positive society? We go to such an extreme that to mention her name becomes a taboo; she is just anonymous sister. Compare this with the hadith in Al-Bukhari when Zaynab knocks on the Prophet’s door, and `A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) tells that Zaynab is knocking. She does not say it is a sister! And then the Prophet asks, “Which zaynab?”, that is, I know a number of Zaynabs, so which one of them is outside?

When it comes to gender interaction, you know it is almost impossible for us to lower the gaze one hundred percent in a professional environment. So, what does Allah say? He says, {fear Allah as much as you can} (At-Taghabun 64: 16) What does that show us? Honestly, we have an issue about becoming stricter than Islam wants us to be and that will lead to a backlash; your reaction is going to have a counter reaction. The way forward is to promote a healthy, applicable understanding of Islam.

So, look in the direction but don’t stare at her body; don’t stare at her as an object of beauty. Act in a dignified manner –and everybody here knows how to act in a dignified manner when it comes to interacting with a non-Muslim lady.

If she wears clothing that is very difficult for you to concentrate, don’t look at that portion of her body. True, it is difficult to control your gaze at that level but that is also will show her that you treats here  like a human being.

I know a sister who converted 35 years ago because the way a young Muslim gentleman treated her. She was very beautiful, dressing provocatively, and this young man would always deal with her in a manner of dignity without being vulgar or flirtatious. She was curious why this man did not behave just like other men who would stare and comment.

When she asked him about that, he answered that he was Muslim; he was taught not to stare and not to have vicious looks. She was so impressed; she started learning Islam and she converted to Islam and became a very active lady. - aboutislam.net

The Christmas Season For New Muslims

 

When it’s Christmas time, most new converts to Islam find it hard not to attend the feast and celebrate with their families like before. This challenge is certainly not easy.

Also they’re put in situations where families, relatives and friends start to ask many questions that new Muslims find hard, or get confused about how to answer them.

In this folder, Discovering Islam team compiled some interesting articles related to Christmas, Jesus, his mother, and his family.

• Christmas & Converts
• Jesus & His Family
• Q&As

- aboutislam.net