King Salman - Muslim World League

Transcription

Letter From the Editor
King Salman: The Personality of the Year
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born on
31 December 1935 . Along with that he is also
the head of the House of Saud. King Salman bin
Abdulaziz initially served as one of the longest
deputy governor and then governor of Riyadh for
a staggering 48 years from 1963 to 2011. King
Salman was then appointed as the minister of defence in 2011. King Salman bin Abdulaziz was
then named as the Crown Prince in 2012 after
the death of his brother Naef bin Abdul Aziz Al
Saud. King Salman was crowned as the King of
Saudi Arabia on the 23rd of January 2015 which
was following the death of his half-brother the
late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. His life is
replete with achievements and he has made immense contributions to the Kingdom’s progress
and enhancing its global reputation.
King Salman is known to be a conservative
man and is known to hold traditionalist views in
regard to the reforms of his Kingdom, be them
political or social. In the time that King Salman
has come into power he has personally seen to the
fact that reforms need to be made and he himself
took on the initiative by heading these development projects and reforms himself. These initiatives and his personal interest in the development
and betterment of his people and his Kingdom is
what have caused King Salman to gain popularity amongst Saudis of all ages.
Hence it comes as no surprise that in its eighth
year of operation, the International Prize for the
Serving of the Holy Qur’an has come together
and unanimously selected the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques, His Highness King Salman
as the Personality of the Year for Serving the
Holy Qur’an. This international prize is awarded
annually by the International Commission for the
Memorization of the Holy Qur’an. This International commission is an affiliation of the Muslim World League or the MWL and this prize is
awarded to winners in 10 branches of life.
An honourary ceremony for all of the winners
took1 place in Jeddah under with the complete
approval and support of King Salman bin Abdul
Aziz. The branches of this particular prize also
include the prize for the personality of the year
for serving the Holy Qur’an, the best college
for the Holy Qur’an, the best model institute for
memorizing the Holy Qur’an, the best society
for memorizing the Holy Qur’an, the best teacher of the Holy Qur’an, best research in teaching
of the Holy Qur’an, The best Qur’anic TV program, best magazine which focuses on the Holy
Qur’an, best Qur’anic website and also a prize
for the senior sheikhs for the beautiful recitation
of the Holy Qur’an
He is a recipient of several honourary degrees
and academic awards, including an honorary
doctorate from the Islamic University of Madinah, the Prince Salman academic award, and the
Kant Medal by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
King Salman has gained the respect and trust
of his fellow countrymen in the short time that he
has been King and by what we have seen we are
extremely hopeful that King Salman will take the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to newer heights.
l Dhul-Qaadah1436/September 2015 l
1
No.11
Media & External Offices and Centres
and
Chief Editor
Dr. Hassan Al-Ahdal
10
8
l
55
Dr. Abdur Rahman Sudais
Meets with Muslim
Leaders in the UK
Dhul-Qa›adah 1436/September 2015
Director General
King Salman: Personality of
the Year for Serving the
Qur’an
l
Journal
The Muslim World League
Secretary-General
Dr. Abdullah A. Mohsin Al-Turki
CON
Director
Culture & Media Dept.
Abdullah Ali Al-Nemary
Editor
Mohammad Zakir Hossain
The Muslim World League Journal
P.O. Box: 537
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Tel/ Fax: 00966 (012) 5600923
E-mail:
[email protected]
2www.themwl.org
Vol.43
Layout and Graphic Designer
Khaled Awad Al-Muazzin
Letter from the Editor
King Salman: The Personality of the Year........................................1
Guidance from the Glorious Qur’an and Sunnah...........................4
MWL to hold 16th conference on Muslim Youth and New Media
MWL Journal Desk Report...................................................................6
Scholars Lambast Al-Aqsa Desecration...........................................7
Churches Committee Denounces Israeli Attacks on Al-Aqsa
MWL Journal Desk Report...................................................................8
Curtain of Ka’aba door presented to UN.......................................17
Islamic Response to the Charlie Hebdo’s Caricatures of the Noble
Prophet - II
Dr. Obaidullah Fahad........................................................................18
Philippine President Asks Parliament to Pass Muslim Autonomy Bill..22
TENTS
The Srebrenica Genocide
Remembered
24
22
Facsimile Copy of the Oldest
Complete Qur’an Manuscript
32
39
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Journal. While we reserve the right
to edit, summarise or reject any contribution, no article, report or letter
will be returned to the sender.
Indian Muslims Oppose Yoga
Aftab Hussain Kola............................................................................30
Islam is the Originator of Human Rights: An Analytical Study
Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan...........................................................42
Islamic Feminism: Few Critical Reflections
Dr. Zeenath Kausar.............................................................................52
Funding Sources for Islamic Microfinance Institutions
Muhammad Zubair Mughal................................................................55
Moses and Jesus and all the Prophets Preached Islam
Ahmad Wahaj Al-Siddiqui..................................................................58
Rabita Roundup
Mohammad Zakir Hossain.....................................................................62
Views expressed in The Muslim
World League Journal do not necessarily represent those of the Muslim
World League. Articles published
may, however, be reproduced with
acknowledgement.
3
Guidance from
Q u r’ a n and S u n n a h
The Quran
Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever
has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by
entering the state of ihram], there is [to be for him]
no sexual relations and no disobedience and no
disputing during Hajj. And whatever good you do
- Allah knows it. And take provisions, but indeed,
the best provision is fear of Allah . And fear Me, O
you of understanding. (Qur’an, 2:198)
There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty
from your Lord [during Hajj]. But when you depart from ‘Arafat, remember Allah at al- Mash’ar
al-Haram. And remember Him, as He has guided
you, for indeed, you were before that among those
astray. (Qur’an, 2:199)
Then depart from the place from where [all] the
people depart and ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed,
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Qur’an, 2:200)
And when you have completed your rites, remember Allah like your [previous] remembrance of your
fathers or with [much] greater remembrance. And
among the people is he who says, “Our Lord, give
us in this world,” and he will have in the Hereafter
no share. (Qur’an, 2:201)
But among them is he who says, “Our Lord, give
us in this world [that which is] good and in the
Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from
the punishment of the Fire.”
Hadith
Narrated Abu Huraira : The prophet (peace be upon him) was asked,
“Which is the best deed?” He said,
“Belief in Allah and his apostle.”
He was then asked, “Which is the
nest (in goodness)?” He said, “Jihad in Allah’s Cause.” He was then
asked, “Which is the next?” He
said, “Hajj Mabrur.”
Narrated Sayyida Ayesha, the
mother of the faithful believers I
said, “O Allah’s Apostle! We consider Jihad as the best deed.” The
prophet said, “ The best Jihad (for
women) is Hass-Mabrour.”
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be
pleased with him) narrated that he
heard Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) say,
“Whoever performs Hajj and does
not commit any obscenity or transgression shall return [free from
sins] as he was on the day his
mother gave birth to him.” (AlBukhari)
4
Narrated Abdullah Bin Abbas: The
prophet with his companions started from Medina after combing and
oiling his hair and putting on two
sheets of Ihram (upper body cover
and waist cover). He did not forbid
anyone to wear any kind of sheets
except the ones coloured with saffron because the y may leave the
scent on the skin.
And so in the early morning, the
prophet mounted his mount while
in Dhul-hulaifa and set out till the
reached Baida, where he and his
companions recited Tabiya, and
then they did the ceremony of
Taqlid (which means to put the coloured garlands around the necks
of the camels for sacrifice). And
all that happened on the 25th of
Dhul-Qa’da. And when he reached
Mecca on the 4th of Dhul-Hijja
he performed the tawaf round the
Ka’ba and performed the tawaf
between Safa and Marwa. And as
he had a badana and had garlanded
it, he did not his ihram. He proceeded towards the highest places
of Makkah near Al-Hujun and he
was assuming the Ihram for Hajj
and did not go near the Ka’ba after
he performed tawaf (round it) till
he returned from Arafat. Then he
ordered his companions to perform
the Tawaf round the Ka’ba and then
the tawaf of Safa and Marwa, and
to cut short the hair of their heads
and to finish their ihram. And that
was only for those people who had
not garlanded Budn. Those who
had their wives with them were
permitted to contact them and have
(have sexual intercourse), and
similarly perfume and (ordinary)
clothes were permissible for them.
King Salman:
Personality of the Year for Serving the Qur’an
MWL Journal Desk Report
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin
Abdul Aziz has been awarded a top international prize
for his contribution to the propagation of the Qur’an.
He was named the “Islamic Personality of the
Year” by the Holy Qur’an International Memorization
Organization, an affiliate of the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL). This is the eighth year the organization has held
the awards. It gave prizes in 10 categories. Societies promoting
Qur’an memorization; teachers; senior sheikhs; television programs, websites and magazines were among
those honoured.
Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki, the Secretary-General of the MWL, said King Salman was
given the award for setting up memorization schools
for boys and girls under the Islamic Affairs Ministry,
and allocating SR1.5 million every year for winners of
local and international contests.
He said that King Salman also gave SR6 million
for a distance learning project of the Holy Qur’an
Memorization Society in Jeddah (Khairokom). The project aims to establish an online platform to
teach the Qur’an.
“Among other things, King Salman is the honorary
president of the Holy Qur’an Memorization Society in
Riyadh. He established a special endowment for the
society to secure a constant income for it, and regularly supports and sponsors the annual ceremonies of
Qur’an societies across the Kingdom,” he said.
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MWL to hold 16th conference on
Muslim Youth and New Media
The Muslim World League (MWL) will organize its
16th conference on Muslim Youth and New Media,
which will be held on 16-17 September 2015.
MWL General Secretary Abdullah Al-Turki said
the conference looks into five topics. “The conference
will discuss new media, its definition and pros and
cons of new media on the Muslim World, the effects
of new media on youth and their social, intellectual,
ethical and familial lives. Experts will talk about the
challenges new media presents to the Muslim World
including extremism and cyber terrorism, obscenities
and censorship, the Islamic identity and secularism,”
said Al-Turki.
He also added the conference will also discuss
guidance in new media and the presence of educational and Islamic organizations in the field. 6
“Finally, the conference will also look into the purpose of new media in the Muslim World and Muslim
youth’s creativity in content creation. “The MWL is very much aware of the strong influence of new media, an the conference aims to inspire
officials and investors to invest in combating the negative effects of new media and promote the positive
ones and what they can add to the Muslim World,”
said Al-Turki.
He added the 16th conference would be held under
the aegis of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Salman. “The first conference held was under the patronage of King Abdulaziz. The MWL held its second
conference 77 years later. Since then, the MWL held
annual conferences coinciding with the Hajj season,”
said Al-Turki.
He added the first conference was held to unite the
issues of the Muslim world and present in one open
platform where dialogue and discussion takes place.
“The league consists of the most supreme Islamic scholars in the Muslim world with the purpose of
maintaining and conveying the peaceful message of
Islam. The conferences discusses topical issues throughout the years and this year new media and the youth
are the two most powerful factors in the current Muslim world,” said Al-Turki.
Scholars Lambast Al-Aqsa Desecration
Saudi Arabia’s Senior Scholars
Commission lambasted the Israeli
occupation forces for desecrating
the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied
Jerusalem on Sunday.
“Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque
have special significance in the
hearts of all Muslims around the
world,” and its desecration by the
brutish Israeli forces should be
condemned in the strongest possible terms, the board said in a
statement. Severely criticizing the
closure of the mosque gates and
assault on Muslim worshipers, the
board said the incident is in “flagrant violation of the most basic
human rights advocated by the international community.” Further,
the board said the international
community ought to look at terrorism in its right perspective and not
adopt double standards in defining
the menace. “What is being carried out by the occupation forces in
Palestine — confiscating the rights
of the Palestinian people, repeated
violation of the sanctity of Islamic
holy sites and practicing apartheid
— should be construed as statesponsored terrorism,” it said. Meanwhile,
a
Palestinian
wanted on suspicion of planning
an attack fell to his death from a
rooftop as he fled from police in
the occupied West Bank, Israeli
police said, an account disputed by
a witness. Israeli forces have killed
three Palestinians in the West Bank
in the past week in raids that they
say foil attacks. A police spokeswoman said the man, identified by
Qalandiya residents as 19-year-old
Mohammed Abu Latifa, ignored
paramilitary police officers’ orders
to halt and climbed onto a rooftop
where police shot him in the lower
body to stop him. “Nonetheless,
the wanted man continued fleeing, and when he tried to move to
another roof, he tripped and fell,
and was fatally injured as a result,”
she said. However, Shahdi Awad,
who lives in a neighbouring building and who said he saw the incident, told Reuters Abu Latifa was
shot dead and had not fallen off
the roof. “He was shot repeatedly
on the rooftop, and that’s where he
stayed until the soldiers came and
took down the body,” he said.
Palestinians who saw Abu Latifa said he had gunshot wounds in
his legs but no clear sign of damage elsewhere. Palestinian doctors
said his family’s had refused permission for an autopsy. The police
spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said,
“He (Awad) can say whatever he
wants. Our account is what happened.” She said that Abu Latifa,
and a second man arrested without
incident in Qalandiya, were “suspected of planning a terrorist attack
within Israel”.
Qalandiya residents said Abu
Latifa was a member of the Fatah
political party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but that they
had no knowledge of him having
any affiliation with armed factions within the party. Abu Latifa
was buried in Qalandia later in the
evening. -- IINA
7
Churches committee denounces
Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Supreme Presidential Commission for the Affairs
of Churches in Palestine denounced the storming and
desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish settlers and
Israeli occupation forces.
The Commission held Israel’s government, the
occupying power, responsible for the violations, and
demanded that there be no recurrence of such heinous
attacks on the sanctity of the place.
The Commission strongly condemned the Israeli
racist measures to impose tight restrictions on the entry of Palestinians under the age of fifty into Al-Aqsa
Mosque, while at the same time, allowing groups of
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settlers to break into the Mosque, organize provocative tours in its courtyards and to assault the guards
and the worshipers in it.
The Commission called on the Arab states and the
international community as well as the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Al-Quds Committee to act urgently to protect Jerusalem and its Islamic
and Christian holy sites, and to put an end to these blatant violations of the international law. It also warned
against the serious dangers threatening Jerusalem
through its Judaization and isolation from the West
Bank, changing its demography.
The Commission further called for international
prosecution of the Israeli occupation authorities for
the heinous crimes that targeted the temporal and spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
I sraeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank
A Palestinian wanted on suspicion of planning a militant attack fell to his death from a rooftop as he fled
from police in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police
said, an account disputed by a witness.
Israeli forces have killed three Palestinians in the
West Bank in the past week in raids that they say foil
attacks. A police spokeswoman said the man, identified by Qalandiya residents as 19-year-old Mohammed Abu Latifa, ignored paramilitary police officers’
orders to halt and climbed onto a rooftop where police
shot him in the lower body to stop him. “Nonetheless,
the wanted man continued fleeing, and when he tried
to move to another roof, he tripped and fell, and was
fatally injured as a result,” she said.
However, Shahdi Awad, who lives in a neighbouring building and who said he saw the incident, told
Reuters Abu Latifa was shot dead and had not fallen
off the roof. “He was shot repeatedly on the rooftop,
and that’s where he stayed until the soldiers came and
took down the body,” he said. Palestinians who saw
Abu Latifa said he had gunshot wounds in his legs but
no clear sign of damage elsewhere. Palestinian doctors said his family’s had refused permission for an
autopsy.
The police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said, “He
(Awad) can say whatever he wants. Our account is
what happened.” She said that Abu Latifa, and a second man arrested without incident in Qalandiya, were “suspected
of planning a terrorist attack within Israel.” Qalandiya
residents said Abu Latifa was a member of the Fatah
political party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but that they had no knowledge of him having any
affiliation with armed factions within the party.
Turkey slams Israeli violations on Al-Aqsa
Mosque
Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the violation of the Israeli police and settlers on the sanctity
of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“The actions of Israeli police are unacceptable as
they caused a state of anger in the minds of all Muslims and increased the state of tension in the region,”
the ministry said in a statement, calling on Israel to put
an end to such illegal actions against Al-Aqsa Mosque
as soon as possible.
Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani
explained that the Israeli Minister of Agriculture participated in the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque with about
120 settlers, and that the incursion was carried out in
batches, under the protection of the Israeli police.
The guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque had stood on Sunday against an attempt of Israeli settlers to break into
the Mosque on the anniversary of the so-called “destruction of the Temple”, triggering clashes in which
dozens of Al-Aqsa guards and Palestinian worshipers
sustained injuries with rubber bullets, and cases of
suffocation due to teargas.
Australian Labour Party signals recognition of
Palestine
The Australian Labour Party (ALP), currently in opposition, agreed Sunday on a resolution to consider
recognizing a Palestinian statehood if peace talks remain deadlocked.
The resolution, put forward at the ALP’s three-day
national conference held in Melbourne, stipulated that
“If ... there is no progress in the next round of the peace
process, a future Labour government will discuss joining like-minded nations who have already recognized
Palestine and announcing the conditions and timelines
for the Australian recognition of a Palestinian state,
with the objective of contributing to peace and security in the Middle East”.
Federal ALP frontbencher Tony Burke called on
“both Israel and the Palestinians, including the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Hamas movement, to
recognize the right of each other to exist”.
Burke said in his speech to the conference that the
ALP has categorically acknowledged that it is unacceptable to delay the peace negotiations, which lasted
more than two decades, for forever.
He stressed that ALP recognizes that any resolution will be based on 1967 borders with agreed land
swaps, a timeframe to end Israeli occupation, demilitarization of Palestinian territory, agreement on a solution to Palestinian refugee issues, and resolution of the
issue of Jerusalem’s final status.
The ALP conference also recognizes that settlement
building by Israel in the Occupied Territories that may
undermine a two-state solution is a roadblock to peace,
calling on Israel to cease all such settlement expansion
to support renewed negotiations toward peace.
9
Dr. Abdur Rahman Sudais Meets with
Muslim Leaders in the UK
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Advisor to the Director General
Islamic Cultural Centre, London
His Eminence Dr. Sheikh Abdur Rahman al-Sudais, Head of the Presidency of the
Two Holy Mosques, came to the United Kingdom in the first week of June 2015 and he
led Friday Jumuah prayers and delivered Friday Khutba at the Regents’ Park Central
London Mosque on Friday, the 5th of June and 12th of June 2015. His Eminence
also met with the representatives of the Muslim communities in London at the Islamic
Cultural Centre and Regents Park Central London Mosque.
10
Meeting with Muslim leaders
and Ulama of the Muslim communities
While welcoming Dr. Sheikh
Abdur Rahman al-Sudais Head
of the Presidency of the Two
Holy Mosques, Dr. Ahmad AlDubayan, Director General of the
Islamic Cultural Centre, London,
said, “Islamic Cultural Centre was
so happy to receive His Eminence
Sheikh Abdur Rahman Al-Sudais
the Head of the Presidency of the
Two Holy Mosques. I am also too
happy to have all our brothers, representatives of the Muslim communities and organisations who
come today to listen to Sheikh
Abdur Rahman. Of course, communications among us Muslims
is very very important.”
Dr. Al-Dubayan also mentioned, “I think one of the most
important is now to see Sheikh
Abdur Rahman to talk about
the situations in the Two Holy
Mosques and get some of the information about projects there
and also bringing Muslim together spreading the brotherly feeling
from one another. I would like to
thank Sheikh Abdur Rahman for
this chance and thank to all the
brothers who were attending with
us.”
Summary of Sheikh Abdur
Rahman’s Speech
Dr. Sheikh Abdur Rahman addressed the Muslim leaders and
Ulama at the Islamic Cultural
Centre and it was translated
into English by Dr. Ahmed alDubayan. First of all, Sheikh
al-Sudais welcomed everybody
saying, he is so happy with this
meeting and he is happy to see all
the brothers who has gathered for
the meeting from everywhere. He
said, “Especially this meeting is
very important nowadays particularly because Muslim communities and Muslims everywhere; our
faith is facing lot of challenges,
one of them is sectarianism and
another one is extremism and we
think going back to the Book of
Allah the Almighty and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon
him) is always the security exit
from all this Fitna everywhere in
the world.”
Tawheed- the Main core of Islamic Faith
Dr. Sheikh Al-Sudais said, “I
draw the attention of my brothers to give more care and special
care for the Tawheed. Tawheed is
the main core of the Islamic faith
and every Muslim should actually give more attention and relate
more and more to Tawheed, about
the main faith of Islam.
Four Schools of Thought
While mentioning about different
Majahib, Schools of Thought, Dr.
Sheikh al-Sudais said, “Alhamdu
lillah, we try our best from the
Haramain to respect every Muslim to keep good relations and
we also respect all scholars and
we respect also all Mazhabs and
the four Imams of every four Mazhabs and they were doing their
best, of course, to explain religion
for people. We know the differences, the small slight differences
among the four Mazhabs is something very small and we should
not give it that much important
and we should ignore it and act together as one Ummah. The Companions of the Prophet (peace be
upon him) themselves they had
different opinions about many
things happenings during their
time but above all they had clean
hearts, good hearts with each other and working together.”
You are Ambassadors of Islam
here
Dr. Sheikh al-Sudais urged Muslims here to remember, “You are
ambassadors and representatives
of our faith, Islam. The way you
deal with others, the good manners you have always taken, if we
want or if we don’t want, as example of our faith, example of our
Islam. So the good manners or the
good behaviours should be our
style; our habits or our duty with
everybody, with Muslims and
non-Muslims alike. We should
be, in the United Kingdom, the
best example of all people of our
faith.”
Referring to the issues and
problems within the Muslim
communities in this country,
Dr. Sheikh al-Sudais advised, “I
would like to see that all the problems that you have; I hope, the
Muslim community can sit together with the spirit of dialogue,
with the good intentions sit together to solve this problem. This
sometimes happened in charity in
some Muslim organisations. The
Islamic Cultural Centre may give
big help in this in solving problems; bringing all parties together,
Insha Allah, with the spirit of Islam and with the spirit of Qur’an
and Sunnah and to solve all these
and to bring Muslims to be united
and to be good members of the
society.”
Expansion of the Two Holy Cities and Mosques
11
The Imam of the Masjid al-Haram
in Makkah, Sheikh al-Sudais said,
“Dear brothers, there are something important I am coming here
to give you actually to extend you
the greetings of Saudi Arabia, the
greetings from the land of Haramain, Makkah and Madinah, and
the greetings from the holy sites
and when we talk about holy sites
we are talking about Makkah;
we are talking about Qibla, the
Ka’aba, where actually the hearts
of all Muslims everywhere in the
world are going and directing to
when they pray; where all our
hearts are attached to all the time
and one of the graces which Allah
the Almighty has granted to Saudi
Arabia and granted the opportunity to take care of Mosques, and of
the Two Holy cities and the Two
Holy sites and the expansion that
is happening now in the Madinah
and in Makkah never happened
before in history. I would like to
invite everybody, whenever you
have a chance, Insha Allah, to see
the expansion and the big leading
projects happening especially in
Makkah and Madinah.”
The Head of the Presidency
of the Haramain also mentioned,
“Alhamdo Lillah two weeks ago
King Salman himself came to
visit Makkah and Madinah and to
see the projects and the progress
of its expansion. This expansion,
as I said to you, never happen all
the history of the Haramain. Makkah Haram Sharif and Masjid alNabawi in Madinah are built and
expanded; are monitored and refurbished for all Muslims. Why;
because we and the government
of Saudi Arabia has put a target
that there would be a chance for
every Muslim to come. When
12
Muslims come in big numbers, in
millions; there will be a capacity
for all of them. If the Haramain,
the Two Holy Mosques remain in
the old building; it would be too
difficult for everybody, for the
next generation to be accommodated in Makkah and Madinah.”
While giving details of the third
expansion, the Head of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques
said, “Now the third expansion
from the days of King Abdullah
(May Allah shower him with His
mercy) is proceeding to the end.
The capacity of the new expansion, the Third expansion, is 1.3
million square metres with the old
capacity of the Haram 1.7 million
square metres. Alhamdu lillah,
the result will be 3 million square
metres in the Haram in Makkah.
That will be 3 million the capacity of the millions of prayers and
people coming.”
Giving details of the expansion of Masaa and Mataf, Sheikh
al-Sudais said, “Now in Masaa,
the old capacity of 50,000 people
in one hour; now the capacity of
80,000 per hour. The Mataf also
in the third phase of the project of
the Mataf, Insha Allah, will start
in this Ramadhan. Now the capacity of the Mataf is 45,000 per
hour; it will be, after the completion of the project, 105 000 per
hour.”
Khutba Translation in seven
languages On the spot on the
air directly
The Imam of the Masjid al-Haram
in Makkah, Dr. Sheikh al-Sudais
also mentioned, “Alhamdu lillah,
teaching in the Haramain are going and the Imams are doing their
best in educating people about
Hajj, about prayers. We have now
a new project which is the translation of the Khutba (Friday Sermons), from the Haram directly
on air and it is now the Khutba
is translated in seven languages,
We are going, Insha Allah, to
increase the languages. Translations are happening on the spot
on air directly. We want, Insha
Allah, the government of Saudi
Arabia want the Haramain to be
the model of welfare and safety,
of peace for everybody Insha Allah of the Muslims of everybody
in the world.”
False news and rumours about
Haramain
Head of the Presidency of the
Two Holy Mosques mentioned,
“These projects are unfortunately
sometimes targeted by some people who loves so much to create
some confusion and fake news
about the Saudi government,
about Makkah and Madinah. For
example, they say Saudi Arabia
is destroying the holy sites; some
people say: Saudi Arabia is decreasing the number of Hajjis and
pilgrims. Saudi Arabia cannot do
this at all. Sometimes this is a
procedure just to for the project
but Islamically, Muslim should
not be prevented from coming to
Makkah and Madinah.”
Every single project of the Haramain based on the Fatwa of
scholars
Talking about every single project
of the Haramain, Dr. Sheikh alSudais mentioned, “For your information, dear brothers, I would
like to tell you that every single
project, every step we do in the
project of the Haramain is based
on the Fatwa of scholars. We
don’t do it like a project; we
have to tell Mufti and scholars about what we are doing and they have to give us
a Fatwa about. And we come
back to the Supreme Council
of Scholars of Saudi Arabia;
we come back to the Council
of Fiqh; the Council of Fiqh
of the Rabita al-Alam al-Islami (Muslim World League) in
Makkah; they have to check
our project. They have to give
a Fatwa before we start anything.”
“Insha Allah, within three
years, maximum, everything
will come back normal in the
Haramain You will see Insha
Allah, I am sure you will be
happy with all this expansion and you will thank Allah the Almighty first and
you will thank those brothers and
the King who is behind all these
projects,”mentioned Dr. Sheikh
al-Sudais. .
Mataf floors will be increased
to six
The Imam of the Masjid alHaram in Makkah Dr. Sheikh alSudais also informed about the
development of Mataf and the
air-conditioning of the Haram. He
said, “One of the projects coming, Insha Allah; we are going to
increase the floors of Mataf. The
Mataf will be in different floors.
It would be like five to six floors.
Another of the projects is to have
the whole Haram air-conditioned,
Insha Allah. And Insha Allah,
there will be electronically umbrella outside, even in the courtyards.”
Some fake news, bad rumours
about Haramain
“Unfortunately, some people, the
enemy of the Haramain and some
of those who would like to confuse Muslim communities and
Muslims around the world always
repeat some bad news, some bad
rumours some fake news about the
Haramain. One of them is: they
destroy the Holy sites. We don’t
destroy this. The Haram must
expand; otherwise, the next generation will never find a chance
for Hajj or for Umrah. And you
yourself will not be happy when
you will see how people will be
on each other; killing themselves
in Hajj, without the expansion of
the Haramain,” mentioned Dr.
Sheikh al-Sudais.
He also mentioned, “One of
the fake things really I wonder
how Muslims could believe such
things when some people in the
media repeated Saudi Arabia is
going to remove the grave of
the Prophet (peace be upon him)
about some months ago.. This is
unbelievable and this is Islamically not allowed because Prophets themselves buried where they
passed away. We know actually
the purpose of all these rumours
and fake news is just to make
Muslims confused and to make
separations among Muslim themselves using the media, using the
TV channels and using the social
media also.”
Development in Haramain for
everybody’s security and safety
The Head of the Presidency of
the Two Holy Mosques said, “I
have to repeat again what I have
just said to you that is: always
everything is done in the Haramain could not be done without
a Fatwa first. Those who envy us
13
or envy Saudi Arabia they are attacking the Haramain. Of course,
they will never be happy when we
are successful everywhere. I want
Muslims to be sure and to be really very comfortable to put in their
hearts that is the main target the
main objective for all of us is to
work what we are doing in Haramain is, from King Salman and
before, for security and safety for
everybody there. Those who actually spread this rumour or this
news are the one who really create danger for the Haramain and
you have seen recently the news
of what is happening in the Middle East and confusing Muslims
killing, supporting some Muslims
against other and this is really the
real threat for the Haramain and
not the projects we are doing.”
The Imam of the Masjid alHaram in Makkah Dr. Sheikh alSudais urged UK Muslims to remember the Haramain is targeted
by those who hate Islam. He said,
“I belief Muslim communities in
the UK is very very important. It
is one of the leading communities
in the West; so I have to mention
this to you and I take advantage
of to make clear to all of you.
Unfortunately, some Muslims
believe whatever is said in the
media; whatever is written in the
internet; please make sure, don’t
forget Allah the Almighty ask us
to make sure whenever we hear
something we have to use our
minds; we have to follow what
Allah the Almighty said. We have
to make sure about the source of
the news and not just to believe in
anything. Always remember that
the Haramain is targeted by those
who hate Islam, or hate the Companions of the Prophet (peace be
14
upon him) and those who would
like to have Muslims kill each
other and fight each other.”
“Allah the Almighty decide
the safety and security of the Two
Holy Mosques and these challenges Insha Allah soon will be
removed and Insha Allah everybody will be even happy,” said
Dr. Sheikh al-Sudais.
The Imam of the Masjid alHaram in Makkah Dr. Sheikh alSudais also mentioned that he is
ready to help in training and help
in supporting Muslim communities for the benefit of the societies.
Concluding his speech, Dr.
Sheikh Abdur Rahman al-Sudais
thanked everybody for giving
him the chance, “this chance to
speak to you and I also really get
benefit from the comments you
have made. May Allah accept our
efforts, help us to be good models
and good followers of our faith
and our Prophet (peace be upon
him,” he made supplication.
After the speech, there was
Questions & Answers when
brother Sir Iqbal Sacranie suggested having a statement for the
media and to all Masajid actually
talking about this meeting about
this special press release for the
media and he said he is going to
write it.
Sheikh Abdur Rahman Al-Sudais Delivers Friday Sermons
Earlier, Sheikh Abdur Rahman
Al-Sudais, Head of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques
& the Imam of the Masjid AlHaram Makkah was received by
Dr Ahmad Al Dubayan, Director
General of The Islamic Cultural
Centre & The London Central
Mosque Trust on Friday 5th June
2015. Sheikh Al-Sudais delivered
Khutba (Friday sermons) first on
5th of June and then on 12th of
June 2015.
Friday Sermons on 5th of June
2015 against Violence and Radicalisation
Sheikh Abdur Rahman Al-Sudais
led two Friday Jumuah prayers
and delivered Sermons (Khutba)
on 5th of June and 12th of June
2015 respectively. While delivering his sermons to the congregation on 5th of June 2015, the
Imam of the Masjid al-Haram
stressed the urgent need to address important current issues
for the Muslim Community in
the UK. These included the need
to keep good relations with each
other no matter what race, creed
or culture. He also said as a community we should be supporting,
cooperating and holding hands
together to face challenges of the
present time.
His Eminence confirmed the
fact that Muslim’s should not follow any form of violence, radicalisation or takfir (declaring someone a non-Muslim or an apostate)
because of which Islam is today
misunderstood everywhere and
also misinterpreted.
Sheikh Al-Sudais quoted verses
from the Qur’an:
“And We have not sent you, [Muhammad], except as a mercy to
the worlds.” Al-Qur’an, 21:10
and “Invite to the way of your
Lord with wisdom and good advice.” Al-Qur’an, 16:125
In his speech Sheikh Al-Sudais explained how ‘blood’ in Islam
is protected, which means killing
anybody Muslim or Non-Muslim
is one of the biggest sins in the
sight of Islam.
He asked Muslims to leave
judgement regarding people’s
faith for Allah (God) & their actions for this life in the hands of
the law and authorities.
The Imam of the Masjid alHaram Makkah urged Muslim
Communities in the UK & everywhere to follow regulations and
law of the societies in which they
live. He asked everybody to be
a messenger of peace anywhere
they go or wherever they are.
Sheikh Al-Sudais also said that
one should lead by example, good
behaviour and commitment to being righteous in your dealings is
the best way to show the real image of Islam through the Qur’an
and the Sayings of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) and the
best way to defending your faith
against those who misunderstand
or those who try to deface Islam.
It is also the best way to bring up
your children on the right Islamic
path.
Khutba of Sheikh Al-Sudais on
12th June 2015 On the blessing
month of Ramadhan
In his sermons on Friday, 12th of
June 2015 at the London Central
Mosque, The Imam of the Masjid
al-Haram Makkah Sheikh Abdur
Rahman Al-Sudais said, Allah the
Almighty has blessed humanity
with many special occasions one
of which is the Holy month of Ramadhan. We should reflect on the
following points in this time to
help Muslims reflect and to overcome trials and tribulations they
are going through.
The most important point is
that Ramadhan is the month of
fasting and this is not only for
this Ummah but for previous nations before us. The Imam of the
Masjid al-Haram Makkah quoted
verse from the Holy Qur’an: “O
you who have believed, decreed
upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that
you may become righteous.” AlQur’an, 2: 183.
Sheikh Al-Sudais said, Ramadhan brings the spiritual opportunity that enables individuals
and community at large to attain
taqwa: i.e. be mindful of the consequences of our actions
The Noble Prophet (peace be
upon him) reminded his companions whenever Ramadhan came
that the gates of paradise are open
and the gates of hellfire are closed
and the temptations are brought
to a minimal, he said and added,
Ramadhan is a time to highlight
the spiritual dimension so that
it is the opening for us to make
ourselves better and to live better lives, we must welcome and
embrace this month as a time for
seeking forgiveness for our sins
major and small and worshipping
Allah the Almighty sincerely.
Speaking about Tawbah in
his sermons to the congregation,
Head of the Presidency of the
Two Holy Mosques explained,
Tawbah through forgiveness can
only be if it fulfils the following
conditions
1 – Giving up the sin immediately.
2 – Regretting what has happened in the past.
3 – Resolving not to go back to
it.
4 – Making amends to those
whom you have wronged, or
asking for their forgiveness.
Including returning whatever
you may have disowned of a
person
Sheikh Al-Sudais mentioned
the Hadith (Tradition of the
Prophet peace be upon him):
Do you know who the bankrupt person is? It is not the one
who has got no money but a person who will lose all his good
deeds on the day of judgement
because of the infringements of
other people’s rights in this world
committing him to hellfire.
The Imam of the Grand Mosque
of Makkah also mentioned, Ramadan can only be sanctioned
by sighting the moon and the
Muslim community should show
unity in embracing Ramadhan
as it is meant to be to consolidate Muslim unity as a result he
commends to heed the advice of
scholars of known integrity and to
follow the guidance of Masjid AlHaram, Makkah and thanked the
Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) for
its role in uniting and serving the
community irrespective of their
background.
He reminds them that Ramadhan is meant to strengthen unity
and also to discard all elements of
disunity and misunderstanding
Sheikh Al-Sudais also said,
Ramadhan is meant to serve as a
shield that protects humanity and
mankind from all sorts of evil,
small and big.
He also reminds, Ramadhan
is the month of the Qur’an so we
need to follow the legacy of the
Prophet (peace be upon him) and
treat the Qur’an the same way as
he did.
Reciting: Pondering and reflecting as was the case of the
15
Prophet (peace be upon him) with
Angel Gabriel
Reflecting: More you reflect
you act on it and stay closer to
God
Generosity: Ramadhan is the
month of generosity, the Prophet
(peace be upon him) used to be as
generous as:
“Allah’s Messenger, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was the most
generous of people in charity, but
he was generous to the utmost in
the month of Ramadhan. Jibreel
(Gabriel) would meet him every
year during the month of Ramadhan until it ended, and Allah’s
Messenger, sallallaahu alayhi wa
sallam, would review the Qur’an
with him; and when Jibreel met
him, Allah’s Messenger, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was more
generous in giving charity than a
16
blowing wind”. (Al-Bukhaari and
Muslim)
Taraweeh, praying and committing time to worship Allah
Dua is one of the most important
acts of worship as it reflects our
true servitude to the Creator . All
as a means of seeking forgiveness.
Sheikh Al-Sudais also said, It
is imperative upon us to spread
and demonstrate the peaceful
message of Islam, moderation, respect, toleration, fairness, justice
and equality so that others can
look at Islam and admire its true
teachings.
He said, we should also reflect
on our families and children on
all aspects of life.
We should carry our responsibility of bringing up our children
as God fearing as this is a responsil Dhul-Qaadah1436/September 2015 l
bility that Allah has putted on us.
The Imam of the Masjid alHaram Makkah also reminds,
Muslims should be aware of the
Challenges facing this Ummah
and work towards keeping the
Ummah united as a result we
should not allow anyone to divide
the unity of this.
The Challenges of the Ummah:
We should not allow anyone to
divide the unity of this Ummah.
He said, we should strive to
contribute to peace and stability
within the moderate teaching of
Islam
Imam of the Masjid al-Haram
Makkah also reminded, Islam has
never promoted evil terrorism or
extremism. Evil has no nationality or colour so it is not characteristics of Islam.
Curtain of Ka’aba Door
Presented to UN
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
and Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to
the UN Abdullah Al- Muallami unveiled a beautifully framed old kiswa (covering) of the door
of the Holy Ka’aba at the Indonesian Hall, one
of the newly refurbished halls of the world body.
The kiswa curtain was presented to the UN in the
early 1980s and that piece has now been replaced
with a new one. Ban Ki-moon thanked Saudi
Arabia for the precious gift.
Al-Muallimi said King Abdulaziz, founder of
Saudi Arabia, set up a factory for the Kiswa of
the Kaaba. Ever since then his sons and successive kings have been taking its care with sincerity
and diligence. King Fahd presented the original
curtain of the Ka’aba door as a gift to the UN in
1983. Al-Muallimi also presented the UN chief
with a commemorative shield containing a model
of the Ka’aba door curtain. --AN
17
Islamic Response to the Charlie Hebdo’s
Caricatures of the Noble Prophet - II
Dr. Obaidullah Fahad
Department of Islamic Studies
Aligarh Muslim University
Loving the French Republic
On 18 Jumada al-Akhir 1436/7 April 2015, the leaders of the
religious minority in France used the occasion of Le Bourget
annual convention to condemn recent attacks perpetuated in
the name of Islam and also reject “barbaric” acts of militant
groups.
“As Muslim citizens, we denounce terrorism, we denounce
(any act of) barbarity”, Amar Lasfar, the President of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF), was quoted by
Agence France Press.
“We are loyal with respect to our country that in France.
We love God, we love our Prophet, but we also love the French
Republic”, insisted Lasfer.
Held from Friday, April 3 to Sunday April 5, the weekend
18
gathering of the country’s Islamic Organization offered French
Muslims a platform to discuss several topics of interest, including recent decision taken by the Interior ministry against
radicalization.
“Muslims are often accused of not sufficiently denounced
violence and terrorism, as if they were directly responsible,
and that’s wrong”, echoed the president of the French Council
of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) Dalil Boubaker.
Three months after the attacks against Charlie Hebdo,
Muslims have repeatedly rejected violence falsely committed
in the name of their religion.
“Islam is not immigration. Islam is Islam a national which
is entitled to the same extent as other communities in France
to the recognition and reputation of the French population,”
he said.
Boubaker denounced a form of guilt that would require the
faithful to repeatedly denounce the attacks, “as if the violence
and abject terror had something to do” with Islam.
French Muslims called for criminalizing insulting religions
amid increasing anger around the Muslim world over Charlie
Hebdo’s decision to publish new cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him).
The National Observatory Against Islamophobia said over
one hundred incidents have been reported to the police since
Charlie Hebdo attacks of January 7 to 9. About 147 anti-Muslim attacks have been carried out during January after Paris attacks, besides 26 anti-mosque attacks, according to the French
Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM).
Moreover, a Muslim father was stabled to death in his own
home in southern France this week by a neighbour who claimed
to be avenging Charlie Hebdo. Last February, an 8-year old
Muslim school boy was interrogated by French police after refusing to take part in a minute’s silence in honour of victims.
Le Bourget has become a fixture in the French calendar, a
chance for Muslims to meet, hear speeches from intellectuals
and scholars.
Thousands of Muslims came in droves to the annual gala,
going through a miscellany of books and items on display, attending lectures and vying in contests for the memorization of
the Qur’an.
Thousands of Muslims from across Europe attended the annual activities, with young women in their unmistakable hijabs
and enthusiastic young men making up to bulk of attendees.
France is home to some six to seven million Muslims, the
largest Muslim minority in Europe.(26)
Changing Attitudes
Books on Islam are selling out in France, after the deadly extremist attacks in the capital raised uncomfortable questions
about Europe’s fastest- growing religion.
A special magazine supplement focused on the Qur’an has
flown off the shelves, and shops are selling more books on
Islam than ever, after the Paris attacks in January that left 12
dead. “The French are asking more and more questions, and
they feel less satisfied than ever by the answers they’re getting
from the media,” said Fabrice Gerschel, director Philosophie
magazine, which published the supplement.
Sales of books on Islam were three times higher in the first
quarter of 2015 than this time last year, according to the French
National Union of Bookshops.
Mathilde Mahieux, of La Procure chain of bookshops that
specializes in religion, said people want a better understand of
the religion that the brutal Islamic State (IS) group claims to
represent, so that they can make up their own minds.
The jihadist attacks against the Charlie Hebdo satirical
magazine and a Jewish super-market have left many non-Muslims looking for answers.
“A very Catholic lady came to buy a copy of the Qur’an,
because she wanted to understand for herself whether or not
(Islam) is a violent religion”, said Yvon Gilabert, who runs a
bookshop in Nantes, western France. Others want to see the
past extremist interpretations of Islam.
“I think we have to know how to see the past fundamentalism, in order to see what religions have offer”, said Patrice Besnard, a ‘regular at a Paris bookshop specializing in religions.
French academics too are becoming more curious, with a
chair in the study of the Qur’an inaugurated on April 02 at the
prestigious College de France in Paris.
Jean Rony, who teaches law at the nearby Sorbonne University, began studying the Muslim holy book for himself this
year. “Given the situation, I have added sessions on monotheistic religions to my general culture class for students preparing for magistrate exams,” he said.
Mansour Mansour, who runs the Al-Bouraq publishing
house specializing on Islam and the Middle East, said his sales
had shot up by 30%. “The same happened after the September
11 attacks in 2001”, he told AFP. Now the spike is likely to
last longer “because Islam will continue to pose a geo-political
problem”, Mansour sighed. Part of the interest in France appears to stem from the fact that many of the extremists committing horrific abuses in Islam’s name in Syria and Iraq are of
Western origin.
Engaged by the jihadists’ interpretation of the Qur’an,
Mansour said his company has withdrawn several books that
offered “too literal” an interpretation of Islam from his catalogue.
He, however, warned about people diving into reading the
Qur’an “unaccompanied” and jumping to conclusions on its
highly poetic text. Instead he recommends the uninitiated start
by reading a biography of the Prophet Muhammad.
Claude Brenti, of the Catholic publisher Beatitudes, said he
has noticed a change in attitudes among scholars. “In certain
Muslim circles there was a refusal to critically analyze the text,
but now I see some thinkers are changing,” he said.
With IS’s brutality creating shockwaves since its emergence in 2013, publishers like Mansour were already selling
more books on Islam even before the Paris attacks.
Twice as many books publishing in France last year were
dedicated to Islam than to Christianity, according to the publishing weekly, Hebdo Livres.
And at France’s largest book fair in March 2015 the biggest seller for Le Cerf imprint, which is run by the Catholic
Dominican order, was A Christian Reads The Koran, a reprint
of a book first published with much less fanfare in 1984.
It was far from the only hot title dealing with Islam at the
fair, with US publisher Columbia University Press snapping up
the rights to The Silent Koran, the Talking Koran by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, as well as the paperback launch of rapper Abd al Malik’s bestseller May Allah Bless France.
Even the publisher of the year’s big non-fiction hit, The
French Suicide, whose controversial author Eric Zemmour has
been accused of Islamophobia and stirring up anti-immigrant
19
feeling, made a strong play at the fair of its new translation of
the Qur’an as well as a Plea for Fraternity by the Muslim philosopher Abdennour Bidar. (27)
A National Islam
At Le Bourget, Farnce, one of Farnce’s top Muslim leaders
called for the number of mosques to double over the next years
to remedy a shortage of places of worship for the country’s
millions of faithful.
Speaking at a weekend gathering of French Islamic Organizations, were participants asked for respect in the face of
rise in anti-Muslim attacks, Dalil Baoubakeur said the 2,200
mosques in the country did not adequately represent Europe’s
largest Muslim community.
“We need double (that number) within two years”, the head
of the French Muslim Council and rector of the Paris mosque
said in the town of Le Bourget near the capital.
“There are a lot of prayer rooms, of unfinished mosques,
and there are lot of mosques that are not being built”, he added
at the Muslim gathering, billed as the largest in the Western
world.
This annual convention of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF), which groups together more than
250 Muslim associations, comes just months after the gunmen
killed 12 people in and near Paris.
Since then, there has been a marked rise in Islamophobia
in France, with 167 acts against mosques or threats recorded
in January alone compared to just 14 in the same month last
year.
France has long had a difficult relationship with its Muslim
minority – currently estimated at between four and five million – that dates back to bloody struggles in its North African
colonies and the legacy of immigrants trapped in some of the
country’s poorest districts.
Long decades of insurgency against French rule in Algeria
in the mid-twentieth century, followed by a spate of Algerian
extremist attacks in France in the 1990s created difficulties for
communal relations – which reawakened with the rise of global jihadism after 9/11.
Apart from physical acts, anti- Muslim sentiment in the
country varies from mayors refusing to have mosques built to
resistance to halal meals being served in prisons or schools.
Participants at the gathering – which while organized by
the UOIF, a group close to Muslim Brotherhood, denounced
violence committed in the name of Islam.
“We are loyal to our country, France. We love God, we love
our Prophet, but we also love the French Republic”, said Amar
Lasfar, UOIF head. Boubakeur agreed, adding nevertheless
that Muslims must also be respected in France.
“Islam is no longer an Islam stemming from immigration,
it is a national Islam that has the right to the recognition and
consideration of the French population, just like other communities in France” Boubakeur said. (28)
20
The Qur’anic Narratives
The Qur’anic narratives suggest the blasphemous activities
including the caricatures no more strange to Islam. The most
violent and disgracing reactions against the holy personality
and teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be
on him) had started from the very beginning. The Qurayshite
leaders demolished all the boundaries of civility and ethics.
The holy wives and family members of the Prophet were accused, taunted, insulted and disgraced. But Muhammad (peace
and blessings of God be on him) never let his mission be neglected even for a moment. God Himself solaced the Prophet
and declared the deadliest oppositions and the bitter hostilities
towards him a clear proof of his authenticity and truthfulness.
Read the following passages of the Qur’an:
Mocked were (many) apostles before you; but there scoffers were hemmed in by the thing that they moked. But never
came an apostle to them but they mocked him. Ah! Alas for
(My) servants! There comes not an apostle to them but they
mock him!
And never came there a Prophet to them but they mocked
him. In the Prophetic era, having confronted with the distressing situations the question had raised, and even today in the
wake of blasphemous caricatures the same still arises what
should be the response of Muslims in that context. The holy
Qur’an commanded the faithful to perform tasbih; to keep
sabr and taqwa; to do sajdah and to be in wait for the divine
punishment to be given shortly to the pagans and avoid any
directly confrontation with them. Read the following verses
in this context:
Therefore be patient with what they say, and celebrate
(constantly) the praises of your Lord, before the rising of the
sun, and before its setting; celebrate them for part of the hours
of the night, and at the sides of the day: that you may have
(spiritual) joy.
Therefore expound openly what you are commanded, and
turn away from those who join false gods with God. For sufficient are We unto you against those who scoff.
We do indeed know how your heart is distressed and what
they say. But celebrate the praises of your Lord, and be of those
who prostrate themselves in adoration.
If anything that is good befalls you, it grieves them; but if
some misfortune overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if you
are constant and do right, not the least harm will their cunning
do to you; for God compassed round about all that they do.
The Qur’anic commands for the faithful to perform tasbīh
and sijdah apply to a sincerely obedience of God and His apostle in all walks of life without a least interruption. Muslims of
all ages are required to obey the divine commandments constantly. And the Qur’anic directives for taqwa and sabr implies
a tolerant and large-hearted attitude to be observed towards the
enemies of Islam and that mercy, forgiveness and benevolence
must be adhered to by the follower of the noble Prophet even
in the most provocative situations.
The Prophetic Model
In the month of Shari’ah 10th prophetic year (May-June 619
A.D) the Prophet of Islam travelled on foot to Tāif, a town
approximately 60 miles far from Makkah along with Zayd bin
Haritha to call them to the message of Islam. The people of
Tāif abused him and pelted him with stones mostly on his legs.
The Prophet bled profusely but when he was too weak to walk
and sat down they raised him up by his shoulders and pelted
again. His feet and footwear were smeared with blood. The
Prophet after having offered prayers in a nearby garden called
to his God as follows:
“O God, I come to Thee alone, helpless and without resources. Thou art the most Merciful of all the merciful. Thou
art the Sustainer of the weak and helpless. Thou art my Lord.
To whom art Thou going to entrust me-to an unknown enemy
who is bitter with me or to an enemy who has dominance over
my affairs? But if Thine curse is not on me I do not care for
anything. Thy protection is a great shield for me. In place of
Thy curse or anger descending on me I seek the refulgence
of Thy face which dispels all darkness, and which sets right
all worldly affairs. I seek Thy will and pleasure. No force or
strength can come except from Thee.”
According to Bukhari, Jibreel , the Angel rushed to the
Prophet to console him with the words that the angel deputed
for the mountains was present to crush the people of Tāif to
death had the Prophet wished. The Prophet replied:
No, I hope, Allah will create from amongst their offsprings
a generation that would worship Allah alone and would associate none with Him.
In the battle of Uhud the Prophet of Islam was injured; his
teeth broken and face blood-socked. Sahl bin Sa’d is reported
to have said:
“...By God! I know who was washing the wounds of the
Messenger of God (on the day of Uhud), who was watering them, and which treatment was provided with. He then
elaborates: Fatima, daughter of the Prophet was washing the
wounds; and Ali was watering them from his shield. When Fatima experienced that watering was causing the bleeding more
she took a piece of mat, burnt it to ashes and pasted that to the
wounds, and consequently the blood was stopped. The foreteeth of the Prophet were broken on the same day; his face was
injured and his head pelted with stones.”
In this tragic situation someone said to curse the enemies
of Islam. He replied:
Verily God has sent me neither as a slanderer nor a curser;
He has deputed me a preacher and a mercy. O my God! Show
the straight path to my people since they are unaware of.
“We the millions of Muslims living in the East and the
West are the ambassador of that message of mercy and benevolence. Because of some of our unwisely acts and reactions and
because of the conspiracies of the enemies we are introduced
as a barbaric, bloody, illiterate and uncivilized people. We are
unavoidably obligated to clean our image. Certainly the blasphemy applies to the insulting caricatures made by the west,
but our negligence of Islamic obligations and our misrepresentation of the religion by our acts and behaviours are surely no
truly reflection of the teachings of the Prophet whom we claim
to love the most”, concludes Abul Ghaffar Aziz.(41)
References:
26-http://mirajnews.com/international/europe/french-muslimrights-dominate-le-bourget.
27-The Hindu, Sunday, April 05, 2015, pp.16.
28-http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/728136.
29-The Qur’an, 6:10.
30-The Qur’an, 15:11.
31-The Qur’an, 36:30.
32-The Qur’an, 43:7.
33-The Qur’an, 20:130.
34-The Qur’an, 15:94-95.
35-The Qur’an, 15: 97-98.
36-The Qur’an, 3:120.
37-Ibn Hisham, Abdul Malik, AL-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, edited
by Taha Abdul Rauf Sa’d, Beruit, Dar al-Jīl, 1411 A.H.,
Vol.2, p.268. The hadith is categorized by the muhaddithun
as a mursal one. Nāsiruddin Albāni has cited it by a week
chain of narrators. In the varying words the hadith is cited
in Kanz al-U’mmāl also under no 3613 and the narrators
therein are Ibn A’di and Ibn A’sākir. Imam Tabrāni also has
cited the hadith in his Majma’al-Zawāid Vol.6, No.35, and
Al-Haythami has criticized a narrator of it- Ibn Ishaque- as
mudallis.
38-Bukhari, Muhammad bin Ismail, Al- Jāmi’ al-Sahih, Kitab
Bada al-Khalq, Vol.1, No.458.
39-Bukhari, Muhammad bin Ismail, Al- Jāmi’ al-Sahih, Kitab
al-Maghazi, Bāb mā asāb an-nabiyya min-al-jirāh Yauma
Uhud, Hadith No.1240.
40-Bayhaqi, Shua’b al-Imān, No.1375. he has categorized the
hadith as mursal one.
41-Aziz, Abdul Ghaffar, op.cit., p. 47. The author admits that
the majority of non-Muslim countries are passing through
the progress and advancement after having professed virtues of Islamic society while the huge majority of them is
unaware of the Prophet of mercy and his mission. Certainly
a number of lobbies are engaged in misleading them and
having disgraced the image of Muslim community before
them. The majority however is above any bias against the
Muslim community. If the original mission of the Prophet
of Islam about the Islamic preaching and mercifulness is
carried out with affection, sincerity, sympathy and objectivity the entire humanity will certainly adopt the way to
deliverance as showed by the noble Prophet. I am highly
thankful to Professor (Maj.) N.A.Khan, head of department
of Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Islamic Studies, Visva-Bharati Shantiniketan, Kolkata who invited me to deliver Nizam
Endowment Lecture 2014 on March 26, 2015. Because of
the train being too late, I could not travel to the destination.
After being revised, enlarged and supplemented with the
notes and references, this undelivered lecture is published
for wider circulation.
21
Philippine President Asks Parliament to
Pass Muslim Autonomy Bill
Philippine President Benigno
Aquino III asked Congress to pass
a Muslim autonomy bill at the heart
of efforts to end a bloody rebellion
in the country’s south and another
that aims to lessen the stranglehold
on power of entrenched political
families.
In his final state of the nation
speech before he steps down in 11
months, Aquino summed his administration’s achievements in battling corruption and poverty — his
campaign battle cry in 2010 — and
thanked just about everyone who
backed him, from his late parents,
who are revered democracy champions, to his hairstylist. Among
22
other concerns he raised was the increasingly tense dispute with China over contested South China Sea
territories. He called on Filipinos
to unite as their country confronts
China, which he did not identify
by name. “Our adversary, is by
any measure, way ahead whether
in terms of influence, economy or
military force,” Aquino said in the
nationally televised address. “But
on the basis of reason and love
for country, we’re not lagging behind.”
One of Aquino’s expected major legacies, a peace deal with the
largest Muslim rebel group in the
country, stalled early this year
when some of the rebels from
the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) got entangled in a clash that killed 44
anti-terrorism police commandos
in southern Mamasapano town.
The brutal deaths sparked public
outrage and prompted lawmakers
to delay passage of a bill crafted
to establish a more powerful and
potentially larger autonomous region for minority Muslims in the
south of the predominantly Roman
Catholic nation. The Moro rebels
dropped their separatist bid in exchange for broader autonomy. But
the delay has set off concerns that
some impatient rebels may resume
armed hostilities in the south,
where smaller but violent armed
groups like the Al-Qaeda-linked
Abu Sayyaf, continue to carry out
kidnappings for ransom, bomb attacks and other acts of banditry.
In a surprise turnaround, Aquino told Congress he now backs
long-unsuccessful attempts to
craft a law that would restrict the
number of members of influential
families who can run for public office. Anti-dynasty bills, however,
have not had any luck in Congress,
which is dominated by millionaires
who have carried the family names
of dominant political clans to public office for generations.
Aquino belongs to an entrenched and wealthy landowning
clan which has held power at various levels in the northern province
of Tarlac. His late mother, Corazon
Aquino, was catapulted to the presidency after helping lead the 1986
“people power” revolt that ousted
dictator Ferdinand Marcos. “I was
opposed to depriving a person of
the right to run for office just because of his family name,” Aquino
said. “But I thought there’s also
something wrong with giving a corrupt family or individual a chance
to wallow in power for life.”
On Aquino’s watch, the econ-
omy grew an average of 6.3 percent, the best 5-year record in four
decades. But growth slowed to 6.1
percent last year, and could be further dampened by worries over the
changing of the guard in 2016. Critics also say few jobs were created.
The Philippines raised revenues to
record levels by fixing tax leakages
and cutting red tape, leading credit
rating agencies to raise its debt to
investment grade status.
Now Aquino wants to ensure
his policies endure. Aquino, barred
by law from a second term, is
likely to announce this week Interior Minister Manuel Roxas as his
party’s candidate for the May 2016
election, even if surveys show he
has little support. “The next election will be a referendum for the
‘Straight Path’,” Aquino said in
his speech. “You decide if the improvement we are now enjoying
will become permanent, or will be
considered just luck and a momentary recovery from a long history
of failure.”
He stopped short of endorsing
Roxas, the interior and local government secretary, as presidential
candidate, but said critics sought
to put him down because he was
competent.
“In their continued efforts to
discredit you, your critics have
proven that they are afraid of your
integrity, skill, preparedness for the
job,” Aquino said in a speech lasting more than two hours. The polls
will pit Roxas, who faced criticism
over government mishandling of
relief efforts after supertyphoon
Haiyan left nearly 7,000 dead or
missing in 2013, against Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is battling
graft charges. Roxas ran for vice
president in 2010 but lost to Binay,
who topped surveys for presidential candidates until recently.
A few hours before Aquino
spoke, left-wing activists, labourers, farmers and students carrying
his effigy and calling for his resignation clashed with riot police
amid a downpour as they tried to
breach a barricade of barbed wire
and shipping containers. Several
policemen and protesters were injured when authorities used water
cannon to push back the activists,
who hurled rocks and bottles at the
police, according to police and Red
Cross volunteers.
Calling Filipinos his “boss,”
Aquino said he was not perfect and
acknowledged that some government officials have failed him at
times. Aquino is expected to endorse a candidate for next year’s
presidential elections soon. He
suggested that the polls would
show whether Filipinos support his
reforms and urged them to choose
a candidate who would continue
them.
“Will everything that we have
invested, everything that we have
labourers for, vanish in just one
election?” he asked. “In this perspective, the next elections would
serve as a referendum for the
‘straight path,’” a phrase he coined
for all his reforms.
--IINA
23
The Srebrenica
Genocide Remembered
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Advisor to the Director General
Islamic Cultural Centre, London
Srebrenica genocide was committed in Europe in front of the Dutch
soldiers under the banner of the United Nations Protection Forces.
The Srebrenica massacre refers to the July 1995 killing of more than
8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnia war.
24
Background of the Srebrenica
Genocide 1995 to be remembered
During the Balkans conflict of
1992-1995, the Bosnian town of
Srebrenica was declared a UN Safe
Area in 1993, under the watch of
the United Nations Protection
Force (UNPROFOR). In July 1995,
General Ratko Mladic and his Serbian paramilitary units overran and
captured the town, despite its designation as an area “free from any
armed attack or any other hostile
act.”
In the days following Srebrenica’s fall, more than 8,000 Bosnian
Muslim men and boys were systematically massacred and buried in mass graves. Thousands of
women, children and elderly people were forcibly deported and
a large number of women were
raped. It was the greatest atrocity
on European soil since the Second
World War.
The International Court of Justice (ICC) and the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that the
mass execution of Bosniak men
and boys in Srebrenica constituted
genocide.
Judge Fouad Riad, who reviewed the indictment, described
the “unimaginable savagery” that
the victims endured at the hands
of Mladic’s forces. He said these
were: “truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human
history.”
Srebrenica Genocide DayA black spot on Human Conscience
I wrote on 24 July 2010, under
the title “Srebrenica Genocide Day
– A Black Spot on Human Conscience”: “The world simply looked
away on 11 July, 1995, when the
Bosnian Serb forces and Serb paramilitary unit known as “the Scorpions” executed between 7,000 and
8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and
boys in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, even though the UN had
declared it a “safe area”. This was
the largest mass murder in Europe
since World War II which will remain as a black spot in the human
conscience for eternity. Those war
criminals that commanded and executed the Genocide in Bosnia are
still at large. The excuses are simply not credible.
Why the cry “never again”
raised by so many in the years after 1945 has increasingly become
hollow with the passing decades?
Why Genocide? Where does evil
begin? Why the most wanted remains at large? Why the evil doers
are not brought to justice? All these
questions were raised by the Grand
Mufti of Bosnia, Dr. Mustafa Ceric on the 15th anniversary of the
genocide of Muslims in BosniaSrebrenica. “What happened in
Srebrenica requires justice as well
as memorialisation,” said Holly
Cartner, Europe and Central Asia
Director at Human Rights Watch.
“Ratko Mladic’s liberty is an affront to both.”
Of course, I would like to mention that I wrote a book on Bosnia
Herzegovina. In 1993, Makkahbased Muslim World League
(MWL) published a book entitled
“Genocide of Muslims in BosniaHerzegovina” by Dr. Mozammel
Haque, documenting the events
unfolded during 1992-1993. (BOSNIACA: A Bibliography of the
University of Michigan Holdings,
Supplement II, Ann Arbor, 2001).
In 2015: Remembering Srebrenica Genocide
2015 is the 20th anniversary of
the Srebrenica genocide. The UK
Memorial Week runs from Sunday
5th – 12th July 2015. The Theme
this year is ‘Living the Lessons’ –
allowing survivors to tell their stories. Reflecting on these massacres,
journalist and analyst Nijaz Hlinjak gave a speech at East London
Mosque on 5 July 2015.
On this Remembering Srebrenica, I interviewed Lord Sheikh, Conservative Peer and Lord Ahmed,
Independent Peer of the House of
Lords of the British Parliament.
In this section, besides the interviews, I will bring to the notice of
the readers, the BBC Programme
on Srebrenica: The Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited, which
was telecast on 6th of July 2015. I
will Insha Allah, mention the other
activities, such as press releases
of the Bosnian Community, press
release from Lord Ahmed, Press
release of the Muslim Council of
Britain (MCB) and press release of
the Muslim Association of Britain
(MAB).
i) First the interviews:
I have conducted two interviews
on this remembering Srebrenica
programme, Lord Sheikh and Lord
Ahmed.
a) Lord Sheikh’s comment on
the Srebrenica Massacre
I had the opportunity to meet
with Lord Sheikh, the Barons of
Cornhill at his office on Monday,
the 27th of July 2015 and enquired
about his comments on the Srebrenica massacre.
Lord Sheikh told me, “The Srebrenica Massacre is a black mark
against the entire humanity.8,000
Muslims were killed; they were
under the protection of the United
Nations who were attended at that
time by the Dutch soldiers. Firstly,
Dutch soldiers who were there pro-
25
tecting these people observe to go
into that place and massacre and
also you blame the Serbs. Serbs
should have known these people
are innocent and are being under
the protection of the United Nations
that they should not have gone into
the area to massacre people.
“I think this should be a lesson
for the entire adult world that to
kill somebody for no reason except
they belong to different religion
is totally wrong. We also need to
learn a lesson something like this
should never be allowed to happen.
And this should be commemorating in the sense that we should say
that something like that was entirely and totally wrong,” Lord Sheikh
observed.
Lord Sheikh also said, “There
are still bodies being looked for;
because what the Serbs did was to
kill the people and scatter the bodies. Heinous War crimes. We really
need to bring justice to perpetrators
of such a horrible act. It is not only
the Generals who gave the orders
but the Serbs as well as those who
perpetrated this awful unnecessary
killing of unarmed and who had
been lost their lives.”
b) Lord Ahmed’s Comments on
Srebrenica Massacre
Lord Ahmed while commenting
on the Srebrenica Genocide told
me over phone, “It is with the sad
memory of Srebrenica Genocide
and the killings of the innocent civilian people which were seen in
the cities even the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo.
Sarajevo was bombed and shelled
when the international community
was stood by as a hopeless powerless spectator including the United
Nations.”
He said, “The particular sadness of the Srebrenica Massacre
26
was: 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica
was slaughtered. The slaughter of
those Muslims was committed under the supervision of the Dutch
soldiers under the command of the
United Nations. And we must not
forget to bring all those responsible
to justice.”
Lord Ahmed mentioned, “We
must remember that those responsible for the holocaust 75 years ago
are still brought to justice today.”
And he demanded, “These people
who are responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide must be brought
to justice and the United Nations
needs to take action.”
ii) The Deadly Warning: Srebrenica revisited A BBC Programme
Journalist Myriam Francois-Cerrah travelled to Bosnia along with
20 students of the different colleges and universities of the United Kingdom to mark the 20th anniversary of the worst atrocity in
Europe since World War-II. BBC
presented this programme titled
The Deadly Warning: Srebrenica
Revisited, on 6th of July 2015 with
thanks to Sense Documentation
Centre, Srebrenica. The travel was
organised and funded by Dr. Waqar
Azmi from the Remembering Srebrenica.
iii) Press Releases
a) Press Release from the Bosnian Community
In a press release today sent out by
the Islamic Community of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, the president
of the legislative body Mr. Hasan
Čengić has stated: “We have just
received a copy of the press release
of his lordship, Baron Ahmed Nazir, regarding the Srebrenica Genocide commemoration. To say that
we were touched by your sincere
devotion to our cause does not sufficiently express our feelings. You
have once more reminded the public that our suffering is not forgotten and that we have friends around
the world.”
He added saying, “This year
we have issued a Declaration condemning the various acts of genocide during the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina and we hope
that his lordship will support it and
help us cancel out the results of
the genocide in Bosnia and Herze-
occurred 20 years ago in Europe
does not ensure it will not happen
again”.
“The World must never forget
what took place in Bosnia and that
is why we should remember this
day every year,” He said.
govina.”
b) Press Release from Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham
Followings are the press release
issued by Lord Nazir Ahmed of
Rotherham on the 20th anniversary
of Srebrenica massacre.
“It has been 20 years since the
tragedy of the Srebrenica Massacre, where over 8,000 Muslim
men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops and thousands of
women and girls were raped and
assaulted. It is known as “the worst
massacre in Europe since the Second World War”.
“As the Bosnian War was coming to an end, 20,000 refugees fled
to Srebrenica hoping to escape the
Serb forces. They thought they
were safe in an area protected by
the UN Dutch forces however; the
area had been overthrown by paramilitary troops led by Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian Serb commander.
“Lord Ahmed said “the trial of
Ratko Mladic which took place in
2011 at the international criminal
tribunal was a good start towards
justice. Although the trial did not
compensate for the families of the
victims, it created a path for a bet-
ter future, and the man responsible
for the atrocity was rightly brought
to trial. But more people need to be
brought to justice for this despicable and heinous crime”.
“Lord Ahmed said “the United
Nations must share some blame as
the General-Secretary of the UN
at the time, Kofi Annan said: “The
tragedy of the Srebrenica will forever haunt the history of the United Nations”. As they were present
during the period, it was their responsibility to help prevent the
Massacre.
On Monday July 6th 2015, the
Westminster Abbey Service, paid
tribute to those who lost their lives
20 years ago in the 1995 Massacre.
Around 2,000 people attended the
event to pay their respect. There
are many Memorial events held in
the UK from London Borough of
Walthamstow to Bradford.
“Lord Ahmed said “I am deeply
concerned with the loss of lives
and my sympathies are with those
who lost their loved ones. Every
year we gather to mark this day
and make it our job to see that this
kind of atrocity is prevented in the
future. Just because this tragedy
c) Press Release from Muslim
Council of Britain (MCB)
Remembering Srebrenica Genocide – 20 years on Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the Umbrella
Organisation of the British Muslim
communities issued a press release
“Remembering Srebrenica Genocide – 20 years on” on 10th July
2015. Followings are the press release:
“On 11th July 2015, we remember. Twenty years ago on this day,
more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim
men and boys were brutally massacred in Srebrenica, despite being
in an UN-protected safe area.
“When under attack, Muslim
Bosnians had fled to the Dutch
peacekeeping base in Potocari
for protection. The Bosnian Serb
forces arrived, led by Serbian war
criminal, Radko Mladik, who deliberately separated men and women, and boys as young as 13, and
callously murdered all the male
Bosnians, dumping their bodies in
mass graves. The attack was chilling even more so, as not only were
they killed, but their bodies were
scattered in an attempt for the victims to never be identified. This
was a plan to annihilate a whole
racial and religious group.
“Every year on 11 July, the remains of those who have been identified over the past year are buried
at the Memorial Centre in Potocari.
More than 1,000 victims are yet to
be found.
“As the anniversary falls a day
after Friday prayers, the Muslim
27
Council of Britain urges Imams
across the country to remind their
congregations to reflect on the magnitude of the massacre that took
place and pray for all the victims,
their families and loved ones.
“Dr Shuja Shafi, Secretary
General of the MCB said, “Hate
is a toxic brand. When we allow
hate to prevail, in any capacity, it
leads only to destruction. We must
work together to eradicate animosity wherever it may occur, we must
build bridges, get to know one
another, and learn to respect differences.
“This genocide has been
dubbed as ‘the worst atrocity since World War II’. We will
forever remember the victims
of the Srebrenica genocide, and
our thoughts and prayers remain
with those who have lost their
fathers, brothers, husbands, sons,
and those of whom are yet still to
find their loved ones”.
d) Press Release from Muslim
Association of Britain (MAB)
Dr. Omar El-Hamdoon President Of the Muslim Association
of Britain
Followings are the statement
issued by Dr. Omar El-Hamdoon,
President of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB):
“This month and year is also
the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre: the worst massacre and atrocity in European
soil since Second World War. That
time, the victims were Muslims
and the perpetrators were Christian. 8372 Bosnian men and boys
were systemically butchered at the
hands of the Serbs. This massacre
which the International Criminal
Tribunal in The Hague labelled
as a Genocide and a crime against
humanity.
28
“We know that Christianity is
innocent of who murdered the men
and boys in cold blood; as much as
Islam is innocent of the barbaric attack of 7/7 or indeed the recent Tunisian massacre. In fact, I attended,
along with thousands of others a
memorial in Westminster abbey –
yesterday – to pay respect to those
who suffered and continue to suffer
because of this horrid genocide.
“However, the killers who orchestrated 7/7 and the Serbian
process of de-humanising Bosnian
Muslims, so both murderers and
collaborators found it easier to hunt
and kill their quarry.” De-humanising any section of society can only
lead to fear and hatred, which can
then lead to massacres and terror.
“The Muslim Association of
Britain works hard to promote positive messages in society, which
allows us to be more and more
tolerant to one another. Because
we believe that positivity and tol-
butchers of Srebrenica have one
thing in common. They wanted to
divide us. They wanted to bulldoze
the civil architecture of our societies by spreading hate, anger and
suspicion. And till today, there are
those who still want to divide us.
Some are terrorists, others extremists; and some are politicians and
journalists! You don’t have to be a
terrorist to propagate a hate message. Hate messages come in all
shapes and sizes.
“Dr Waqar Azim OBE says:
“They [Army of Republika Srpska] achieved this [ethnic cleansing] through a carefully planned
erance is the only way to counter
terrorism,” he said. Follow: @
Omer_Elhamdoon
iv) Remembering The Srebrenica
Massacre Events in 2015
There were hundreds of memorial
events held across the United Kingdom during Srebrenica Memorial
Week. During the Srebrenica Memorial Week, there was memorial
days, school assemblies, lectures
and conferences, a UK-wide Srebrenica Memorial Football tournament involving 8,372 young
people, inter-faith dialogue, community and social projects happen-
ing across the UK.
Remembering Srebrenica was
part-funded by the Department for
Communities & Local Government and supported by the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office. In 2015,
Remembering Srebrenica is calling
on UK communities to:
- REMEMBER the victims and
survivors of the Srebrenica genocide;
- LEARN the lessons from Sre-
cide, on Tuesday, 7th of July 2015.
The Grand Mufti of Bosnia, Husein
Kavazovic, delivered the keynote
speech on Sunday at a reception
and Iftar (breaking of fast) event at
the London Muslim Centre, held in
collaboration with Remembering
Srebrenica.
Members of the Bosnian community in Britain along with leaders of different faith and community organisations gathered to
brenica, particularly that we must
always be vigilant against hatred
and intolerance in our communities; and
- PLEDGE to take action now
to build better and safer communities for all.
Please support REMEMBERING SREBRENICA this special
year. You can do this by:
commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide
in which more than 8,000 Bosnian
Muslim men and boys were systematically massacred in less than
one week at Srebrenica, then a UN
protected area (safe haven).
The evening was full of reflections, talks and videos plus
a special exhibition by Bosnian
photographer Jasmin Agovic, and
Qur’anic recitation by guest Imam
Abdul-Aziz Drkic from Bosnia.
Imam Dr Sejad Mekic, an expert on Islamic Law, Ethics and the
Balkan cultural history as well as a
lecturer in Islamic Studies in Lon-
v) Srebrenica Week at the East
London Mosque
Bosnia’s Grand Mufti opened
Srebrenica Week at the East London Mosque, marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica Geno-
don and Cambridge, said: “Without remembering we cannot hope
to learn. Srebrenica, like the Holocaust, the Rwanda, Kosova, Kashmir and Burma, is a moral responsibility without compromise.”
Journalist, political and social
analyst Niaz Hlivnjak quoting
German Jewish academic Walter Benjamin lamented that “not
even the dead will be safe from
the enemy, if he is victorious”. His
friend, economist and poet Jasmin Jusufovic, lost his father,
uncle and tens of other members
of his family in the Srebrenica
genocide. Having survived the
genocide he has been searching
for the remains of his father for
18 years, and only two years ago
he finally got his moment of closure by burying the remains of
his father.
Despite his experiences, Jusufovic said: “Still I don’t hate.
I do not know how to hate. I was
a learning child when I felt on
my own being what it meant to
be hated, I’ve seen a shouting
human faces disfigured with
hate.”
The evening closed with the
Grand Mufti thanked the organisers and called for optimism and
dialogue: “We appreciate the efforts of many like the East London
Mosque and The Cordoba Foundation for supporting Bosnia over the
years. This period of the year is especially difficult for us because of
the vivid memories of the atrocity
of 1995. However, we must learn
to live with one another; we must
be optimistic, have hope in a better future for tomorrow.”
A team of young Muslims who
all previously visited Bosnia presented a cheque to the Grand Mufti
to help families affected by the
conflict in Srebrenica.
29
Indian Muslims
Oppose Yoga
Aftab Husain Kola
Islam is doctrinally opposed to worship of anything
other than God. And when the government of India
announced that on International Yoga Day on June
21, 2015 all schools will have a yoga drill majority of
Muslims voiced concerns against the move. June 21
declared as the International Day of Yoga by the UN
General Assembly in December, 2014 upon India’s
request was celebrated in several parts of the world.
Though outside India fewer people participated but
the government of India claimed huge success.
In India, Muslims believe, that anti-Islam agenda
is being foisted upon Muslims and other non-Hindus through various ‘dramas’ by the BJP government. Just as beef ban controversy has petered off a
new agenda to foist Hinduism on everyone through
yoga, has made Muslims insecure. But when opposition to yoga seemed to mar the celebrations the
government toned down stating not to include ‘surya
namaskar’ (sun worship) and ‘om’ chanting in the set
of ‘asanas’ to be performed during the official celebrations to mark the International Yoga Day. Though
surya namaskar was not included in the Yoga Day
celebrations but throughout the country surya namaskar is included on a routine basis in schools which
conduct yoga sessions. Thus, majority of mainline
Muslim groups had expressed reservations against
yoga because it goes against the tenets of Islam.
Government of India is aggressively marketing
yoga through its newly created ministry called Ministry of Ayush (Ayush is acronym of the medical systems that are being practiced in India such
as Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy).
Not only Muslims even a section of non-Muslims
and political leaders have denounced the move to
make yoga part of school. The yoga, they believe,
30
is a Hindu philosophical system and marketing it
is a big tamasha. A government Cabinet circular
better explains the theatrics behind the ballyhoo of
yoga: “The cabinet secretary has mentioned that if
officials turn up without practice and their performance is not up to the mark, we run the risk of the
record claim in the Guinness Book of World Records
being affected.” If this is not political theatre concocted for pomp, circumstance and self-promotion,
then what it is, a journalist of a leading English daily
asked.
Yoga classes in many states in India are embedded
with religious, mystical, and spiritual trappings. According to “Yoga in the Hindu Scriptures” by H. Kumar Kaul, yogic principles were first described in the
Vedas, the Sanskrit scriptures that form the backbone
of Hinduism and even the word “namaste,” which is
often used to open and close a yoga session, is Hindu
greetings. Muslim scholars find yoga against the
fundamental tenets of Islam – to pray to the sun, and
to form a namaste pose for instance.
Yoga in schools
States like Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Rajasthan
have made surya namaskar obligatory in schools.
While in MP this peculiar form of yoga has been prescribed only for government schools, in Rajasthan
private schools have also been asked to observe it.
Accordingly, millions of children in Rajasthan, and
a large number of institutions in MP, are officially
instructed to observe sun salutation at the beginning
of school activity every day. And going further, yoga
would now be taught as a compulsory subject not
only from class VI to X in central government run
schools throughout the country but also as a training
module in teacher education programmes.
Dr. James G. Garrick, an orthopedic surgeon and
director of the Centre for Sports Medicine at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, said that his clinic saw
39 patients with yoga injuries in 2002, up from 11
in 2001. Most of the injuries patients suffered were
to the knee, followed by lower back and shoulder.
The injuries resulted from people trying to stretch
their bodies into difficult poses that are beyond their
physical limitations. Experts are of the opinion that
inverted asanas including padahastasana should be
avoided in glaucoma, inflammatory diseases in the
head region and severe hypertension. According to
the American Yoga Association, “Yoga exercises
are not recommended for children under 16 because
their bodies’ nervous and glandular systems are still
growing, and the effect of Yoga exercises on these
systems may interfere with natural growth.” Most
students of secondary and senior secondary students
fall in that age range. An alternative medicine site
warns that meditation instruction in tender age can
cause physiological or psychological harm such as
mania, psychosis, hallucination, depression and suicidal tendency, nervous breakdown, sudden surge of
heart rates, chronic pain, and split personality.
This is forcing a student to follow an aspect of a
certain religion which against the Indian Constitution
as India is a secular country. It is nothing but an attempt to foist vedic philosophy on Muslims and other non-Hindu groups.
Who will explain the fact that the governments of
MP and Rajasthan have not conducted any medical
check-up of the students for giving them clearance
for yogic exercises, nor have they followed age-specific advice of experts. There was a joke around that
next the moon, air, fire, ozone layer, water and what
not will be worshipped. It is nothing but an attempt
to foist vedic philosophy on Muslims and other nonHindu groups.
Concerned about all these developments, Indian
Muslims’ apex body, the highly respected All India
Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has come
forward to douse the fire. Maulana Rehmani, the
working general secretary of the Board, minced to no
words to state, “Chapter 6 of the Gita says yoga is
a religious activity, and a part of “Brahmin Dharma
and Vedic culture. As a secular country India does
not allow the promotion of religious activities by the
government. All this yoga, surya namaskar and Vedic
culture are part of Brahmin dharma and are totally
against Islamic beliefs.” He has urged the imams to
discuss the subject during Friday sermons, and prepare the Muslim community for a movement to oppose such vedic culture. The inclusion of Bhagwad
Gita in school curriculum in some states has also
shocked the community. The Board (AIMPLB) has
also indicate its willingness to move the country’s
highest court, i.e., the Supreme Court against inclusion of Bhagwad Gita and the compulsory practise of
Surya Namaskar and yoga in schools.
The yoga advocaters cite that the fact that majority of Muslim-majority countries backed the International Day yoga resolution but the fact remains that
these countries have not done the homework well as
they depend on inputs from the West countries for
such issues. But Muslim influential countries like
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia did not include their name in the co-sponsor list.
The media projects a wrong picture of Muslims practising yoga. There may be few bit an overwhelming
majority of Muslims think yoga is against Islam. And
the media, as always, highlights the very marginal
minority. In Malaysia the National Fatwa Council
has banned the practice of yoga. In the West too there
have been many opposition for the yoga but most
of media stifled the news. Many Christian groups in
The West are opposing yoga linking it with Hindu
meditative and occult practices. There are many who take yoga as sensual as poses
and the revealing dresses women wear in groups is
not acceptable. Yoga buffs say the practice gives them inner
peace and good health. But there is a divergent view
as well. Yoga can damage your body. A senior science writer William Broad once wrote in New York
Times that students and even “celebrated teachers”
were injuring themselves “in droves” by over-ambitious and under-taught yoga moves in the United
States.
He also quoted at length the views of local yoga
veteran Glenn Black, who seriously hurt his back after years of practice. According to Black, “the vast
majority of people should give up yoga altogether”
because it’s too likely to cause them serious damage.
But the Muslims in India are more concerned for
the fact that the yoga poses, reading of Hindu religious scripts while performing yoga and the concept
in itself are un-Islamic and it will oppose it tooth
and nail. They believe that the government should
focus more on development and maintaining peace
than promoting yoga.
31
Facsimile Copy of
The Oldest Complete Qur’an Manuscript
Al-MUSHAF AL-SHARIF
Attributed to Uthman bin Affan
Professor A. R. Momin
Edited by Dr Tayyar Altikulac
Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture
Istanbul, Turkey
The scriptures of world religions were generally handed
down from generation to generation through oral transmission. The history of the memorization and oral transmission of sacred texts testifies to the astonishing powers and range of man’s mnemonic ability. In our age,
which is dominated by the written and printed word and
increasingly by digitization, it is difficult to believe that,
in some parts of the world, long religious texts are still
memorised and transmitted from generation to generation. In Tibet and in the Tibetan Buddhist diaspora in
India, for example, the Lamas are trained from childhood to memorise long Buddhist texts through repeated
chanting.
Memory, however, cannot be relied upon over long
stretches of time. This is borne out by the history of re-
32
ligious scriptures. In some cases, the original texts have
been lost without a trace. In many cases, the scriptures
of world religions have been subjected to interpolation, tampering and distortion. Apart from the Dead Sea
Scrolls, which date between 150 BC and 70 AD, a papyrus of the Old Testament dating from the second century
AD and a few fragments of the Bible in the Cairo Geniza which date from the fifth century AD, the oldest surviving Hebrew texts of the Old Testament date from the
10th century AD. The Aleppo Codex (c. 920 AD) and
Leningrad Codex (c. 1008 AD) are the oldest complete
manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Furthermore, most of
the existing manuscripts of the Old Testament are not in
Hebrew, the language spoken by the Jewish people in
antiquity, but translations into Greek. There are about
5,650 Greek manuscript of the New Testament, many of
which are distinctly different. The oldest manuscripts of
the New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, which belong to the 4th century AD, are Greek
translations of the original Aramaic texts, which are lost.
Codex Sinaiticus was lying at St Catherine’s Monastery
in Egypt for hundreds of years before it was discovered
in 1844. Fragments of the text are preserved in Britain,
Germany and Russia.
The Vedas, sacred texts of Hinduism, are believed to
have been revealed around 1000 BC. They were memorised by Hindu priests and orally transmitted for nearly
2000 years. In fact, for a long time, committing the Vedas to writing was considered a sinful act. The oldest
surviving manuscript of the Rgveda dates from the 11th
century AD. The later texts, including the Ramayana,
Mahabharata and Upanishads, were likewise memorised
and passed on orally from generation to generation. The
oldest extant manuscript of the Ramayana dates from
the 11th century AD and that of the Mahabharata from
the 16th century AD. Fragments of the earliest Buddhist
texts, written on birch bark in the Gandhari language
and in the Kharoshti script, now in the British Library,
date from the late first century AD, nearly six centuries
after Buddha’s death. The Avesta, the sacred text of the
Zoroastrians, is believed to have been revealed around
1000 BC. It was memorised and transmitted orally for
nearly 15 centuries and was committed to writing in the
mid-Sasanian period (5th-6th century AD). The oldest
extant manuscript of the Avesta date from the 13th century AD.
A comparative study of religious scriptures indicates
the existence of countless textual variations, inconsistencies and interpolations. The Old Testament texts themselves attest to the fact of tampering and manipulation
in the Jewish scriptures (Isaiah 5:24; Jeremiah 36:23).
Between 700 and 70 BC, the Temple of Solomon was
destroyed several times. The Torah, which used to be
kept in the Temple, was often burned by kings and emperors like Nebuchadnezzar and Titus. However, it is
believed that each time the Torah was burned, the Hebrew prophets reproduced and revived it from memory. Scholars of the Old Testament point out that these
texts have been altered by countless editors and scribes.
Similarly, the New Testament texts are not free from
variations and errors. The Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest
manuscript of the Christian texts, has two books (Shepherd of Hermas, written in Rome in the 2nd century,
and the Epistle of Barnabas) which are missing from
the Authorised Version of the Bible. Furthermore, cer-
tain crucial verses relating to the Resurrection are not
to be found in the Codex Sinaiticus. Some years ago,
German scholars collected the Greek manuscripts of the
gospels from all over the world and found, after a careful study, that there were 200,000 variants in the texts.
1 The Ramayana, one of Hinduism’s most important
texts, has several variants and recensions. 2 Similarly,
the Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrianism, and the
Dhammapada, Buddhism’s sacred text, have noticeable
variations and recensions.
Writing, or the commitment of the word to space,
enlarges the potentiality of language beyond measure.
More than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness. 3 The culture of literacy
entails an emphasis on the accuracy of transmission
and a sense of history. Writing has played a crucial role
in the preservation, transmission and dissemination of
knowledge, including sacred knowledge.
Preservation of the text of the Qur’an
The Qur’an, which is believed by Muslims to be the
last testament in a long series of divine revelations, is a
compact text of about 600 pages. It is divided into 114
chapters, known as Surahs. The Qur’an was revealed to
the Prophet, who was unlettered, incrementally over a
period of 23 years. Since the Qur’an was destined to be
the last and final message of God, its preservation in its
original form and language was of utmost importance.
The Prophet adopted, under divine instruction, two
methods for the preservation of the text of the Qur’an:
memorization and writing. As soon as the verses of the
Qur’an were revealed, the Prophet would memorise
them and recite them in his prayers and in the course
of his conversations. He also encouraged his companions to invoke and memorise the verses of the Qur’an
as often as possible. During his lifetime, scores of his
companions, including some women, had memorised
the entire text of the Qur’an. These included Abu Bakr,
Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi
Talib, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abu
ad-Darda, Abu Zayd, Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, Ubbay ibn
Ka’ab, Zayd ibn Thabit, Hudhayfa, Ubada ibn as-Samit,
Abdullah ibn Umar, Amr ibn al-‘As and Muadh ibn Jabal. The ladies who had memorized the whole text of
the Qur’an included Aisha and Hafsa, the wives of the
Prophet, and Umm Warqa.
The tradition of memorising the entire text of the
Qur’an has been a distinctive and uninterrupted feature
of Muslim societies around the world since the inception
of Islam. Today there are tens of thousands of Muslims in
33
the world, including teen-age boys and girls, who have
memorised the entire text of the Qur’an. There are some
500,000 huffaz (plural of hafiz, one who has memorised
the entire text of the Qur’an), including women, in Turkey. There are thousands of huffaz in India, Indonesia,
Egypt, Mauritania and other parts of the Islamic world.
Some years ago, the entire adult population of a village
near Cairo (some 15,000 people) accomplished the remarkable feat of memorising the Qur’an.
It is significant to note that the first verses of the
Qur’an which were revealed to the Prophet at the beginning of his prophetic mission mentioned writing.
Recite, in the name of thy Lord Who created
He created man out of a leech-like clot.
Recite, and thy Lord is Most Bountiful,
Who taught (man) through the pen.
He taught man what he knew not. (Qur’an 96: 1-5)
The word Kitab (book) is mentioned in 230 places in
the Qur’an, which suggests that the Qur’an was meant
to be committed to writing. The Qur’an also mentions
a number of words associated with the technology and
culture of writing, such as parchment (52:3), scroll
(21:104), papyrus (6:7, 6:91), pen (68:1, 96:4), tablet
(7:150), tomes (62:5) and scriptures (3:184). The second chapter of the Qur’an, which was revealed to the
Prophet after his migration to Madinah, lays down that
every transaction on credit should be committed to writing in the presence of at least two witnesses (Qur’an
2:282). Though the Prophet knew neither reading nor
writing, he was well aware of the importance of writing. He declared that it was the duty of a father towards
his son to teach him writing. He appointed Abdullah ibn
Sai’d ibn al-‘As, who was a good calligrapher, to teach
writing to those of his companions who spent most of
their time in the Prophet’s mosque. The Prophet is reported to have said, “Should any Muslim possess property fit for testamentary will, it would not be proper for
him to pass even three nights without having a written
will with him”.
In the Battle of Badr about 70 prisoners of war were
captured by Muslims. Abu Bakr suggested that they
should be set free on payment of ransom. The Prophet
agreed with the suggestion and a ransom of a hundred
camels or four thousand dirhams was fixed as ransom.
Some of the prisoners were too poor to pay the ransom,
but they knew reading and writing. The Prophet suggested that a literate prisoner could secure his release by
teaching ten Muslim children to write. It was from one
34
of these prisoners that young Zayd ibn Thabit, who later
served as the Prophet’s secretary, learnt writing.
It is estimated that 65 Companions of the Prophet
served as his scribes. 4 About 40 of them were selected
to write down the verses of the Qur’an as and when they
were revealed. These included Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Zayd ibn Thabit, Aban bin Sa’id, Abu Umama, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Abu Hudhayfa, Ubbay ibn
Ka’ab, Thabit ibn Qays, Abdullah ibn Umar, Amr ibn
al-‘As, Muadh ibn Jabal and Muawiya. After dictating
the revealed verses, the Prophet used to ask the scribe
to read out what he had written. The chapters and verses
of the Qur’an were arranged according to his instructions, which were divinely mandated. During the time
of the Prophet, the verses of the Qur’an were written on
stone tablets, ribs of palm branches, camel ribs, shoulder blades, pieces of wooden board and parchment.
During the Prophet’s lifetime, the written fragments
of the Qur’an existed in a scattered state. They were
not compiled or bound together in one volume. During
the caliphate of Abu Bakr, seventy Companions of the
Prophet, who had memorized the Qur’an, were killed in
the battle of Yamama in the twelfth year of the Hijrah
(633 AD.) This unfortunate event caused great anxiety
and apprehension among the Prophet’s senior Companions, particularly Umar, who suggested to Abu Bakr to
have the scattered fragments of the Qur’an collected in
one volume. After some hesitation, Abu Bakr agreed to
the suggestion and commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit, who
had served as the Prophet’s secretary, to carry out this
task. Zayd transferred on parchment, which was made
from calf hide or goat skin, the verses of the Qur’an from
stone slabs, palm branches and shoulder blades. Despite
the fact that he himself was a hafiz, Zayd cross-checked
each verse on the testimony of at least two Companions
who had memorized the Qur’an. This shows the extreme
care and meticulousness with which he went about his
assignment. The work of compilation and arrangement
was completed in a year. The completed manuscript of
the Qur’an was kept in the custody of Abu Bakr, who
passed it on to Umar before he breathed his last. After
Caliph Umar’s assassination the manuscript came in
possession of his daughter and the Prophet’s wife Hafsa,
who had also memorised the Qur’an. Aisha, Hafsa and
Umm Salma had their personal copies of the Qur’an.
During the caliphate of Uthman, the frontiers of the
Islamic state extended up to Azerbaijan and Armenia in
Central Asia. Hudhaifa ibn al-Yaman, a companion of
the Prophet who had taken part in the battles of Armenia and Azerbaijan and had thereafter travelled far and
wide in the course of his other military campaigns, was
astounded and distressed to find that many Muslims
in the farther regions of the Islamic state pronounced
certain words of the Qur’an differently from those of
mainland Arabia. On his return to Madinah in 25 Hijra,
he approached Caliph Uthman, informed him about the
disturbing situation he had witnessed and requested him
to commission the preparation of an orthographically
and phonetically standardized copy of the Qur’an.
Realising the gravity of the problem, Caliph Uthman requested Hafsa to hand over the manuscript of the
Qur’an which was prepared at the instance of Abu Bakr,
so that it could be used as a model for the preparation of
a fresh codex. He then appointed a four-member committee, which included the veteran Zayd ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Sa’id ibn al-‘As and Abdur-Rahman
ibn al-Harith, to oversee and execute the preparation of
a standardized text of the Qur’an according to the diction of the Quraysh, to which the Prophet belonged. The
committee adopted a meticulous methodology for the
purpose. It began its work by collecting fragments of the
Qur’an, under oath, which were written by the Companions during the Prophet’s lifetime. The scribes took care
to eliminate ambiguities in pronunciation and spellings
in the verses, and standardized the spellings. The master copy prepared by the committee was compared and
collated with Aisha’s personal copy of the Qur’an. The
committee found no discrepancies and inconsistencies
between the copy that was prepared at the instance of
Caliph Abu Bakr, which was used as a model for the
preparation of a fresh codex, and the personal copy of
Aisha. The whole project was personally supervised by
Caliph Uthman, and the final copy was read out before
a gathering of the Companions and in Caliph Uthman’s
presence for approval and endorsement. The committee
thereafter prepared five or seven copies of the standardized text in the Hijazi scirpt, and the original copy
was returned to Hafsa. These copies were dispatched to
the main cities of the Islamic state, including Makkah,
Madinah, Kufa, Basra, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, along
with an accredited “reciter” (qari) who would recite the
verses of the Qur’an according to the standard Arabic
diction. One copy was kept in the Prophet’s mosque in
Madinah and another was kept by Caliph Uthman as his
personal copy.
The copies of the Qur’an which were prepared at
the instance of Caliph Uthman had no dots or vowel
signs or signs that separated surahs. Each surah was
differentiated by the insertion of the invocation Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahimat the beginning. 5 There were a
few variations in spelling of a minor nature, totaling 40
characters, in the copies. All these variations, except in
one verse, involved single letters (). 6 These variations
were not in the nature of scribal errors, but were deliberately retained at the suggestion of Zayd ibn Thabit, who
considered them equally authentic. Such variations, as
well as those between the Caliph Uthman Mushaf and
other early Qur’an manuscripts, were meticulously examined by earlier generations of scholars. For instance,
there were some variations between the Caliph Uthman
Mushaf and the personal Qur’an copy of Imam Malik
(d. 179 AH), which belonged to his grandfather Malik
ibn Abi Amir al-Asbahi (d. 74 AH), who had personally written it during the caliphate of Uthman. This copy
was decorated with silver, and the separation between
surahs was indicated in black ink along with an ornamental band. Furthermore, the verses were separated by
a dot. 7 Imam Malik showed this copy to his students,
who compared it with Caliph Uthman’s personal copy
as well as with the copies in Madinah, Basra and Kufa
and discovered that all the copies were almost identical,
except spelling variations involving between four and
eight characters.
Muslim scholars are in agreement that the copies
of the Qur’an which were prepared during Uthman’s
caliphate had no dots or diacritical marks. Abu al-Aswad al-Duali (d. 69 AH/688 AD), who lived during the
caliphate of Umar, is believed to have inserted diacritical marks in the text of the Qur’an. During the reign of
Muawiyah (d. 60 AH), he prepared a dotted copy of the
Qur’an in 50 AH. However, a study of Arabic palaeography shows that some Arabic inscriptions before the
rise of Islam, such as the Raqush tombstone, the oldest dated pre-Islamic inscription (c. 267 AD), and in the
early years of the Islamic era, contain dots over some
letters. In a bilingual document on papyrus, dated 22
AH (during the caliphate of Umar), there are dots on
some characters.8 Two dams built by Muawiya near
Madinah and Taif have inscriptions in which some letters bear dots. 9 In the first century itself, ayah separators were introduced in the form of dotted columns or
horizontal dots.
Historians, chroniclers and travellers have testified
to the existence of the Qur’an copies that were prepared
during Caliph Uthman’s time up to the middle of the
8th century Hijrah. Amra bint Qays al-Adwiyyah reports that she had seen one of these copies in Madinah. Aby Ubayd Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 223 AH), an
eminent scholar of the third century Hijrah, had seen
one of these copies. Al-Kindi (d. 236 AH/850 AD) men-
35
tions that three of the copies of the Qur’an prepared at
the instance of Caliph Uthman were destroyed in fire
and war, but one of them was still kept at Malabja in
his time. The celebrated traveller Ibn Jubayr (d. 614
AH/1217 AD) mentions that he had seen a manuscript
of the Qur’an from the time of Caliph Uthman at the
Grand Mosque of Damascus in 580 AH. Ibn Kathir (d.
774 AH/1372 AD) mentions that he had seen a copy
of Caliph Uthman’s Qur’an in Damascus, which was
brought there from Palestine in 518 AH. Ibn Battuta
(d.779 AH/1377 AD) reports that he had seen copies of
the Uthman Qur’an in Basra, Granada and Marakesh.
Maqrizi (d. 845 AH/1442 AD) mentions three copies of
Caliph Uthman’s Qur’an, two of them at the Amr ibn al‘As mosque in Cairo and the third at the Fadiliyyah Madrasa in the city. The Madinah copy remained in the city
till the 10th century Hijra. One of the copies reached
Egypt in the 4th century Hijra, where it was kept at the
Grand Mosque of Fustat. It remained there till the 8th
century Hijra.
Ancient Qur’an Manuscripts
The study of the text of the Qur’an in Europe began in
the 19th century in the context of a deeply-entrenched
prejudice and hostility against Islam. European Orientalists, such as Noeldeke, Goltziher and Arthur Jeffery, have argued that the text of the Qur’an was not
committed to writing in the lifetime of the Prophet or
of the Companions, that the writing of the Qur’an began around the second or third century of the Hijra and
that the arrangement of the chapters and verses of the
Qur’an was not determined by the Prophet. A French
Orientalist, Regis Blachere, who translated the Qur’an
into French, had the audacity to change the arrangement
of the chapters.
This argument not only reflects the characteristic
prejudice of Orientalist scholarship but also flies in the
face of evidence. Hundreds of thousands of complete or
partial manuscripts of the Qur’an as well as fragments
exist in libraries, museums and private collections in
Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Britain, Austria, Russia, Germany, Kuwait, Bahrain, Paris, St. Petersburg and
India. It is estimated that there are over 250,000 extant
manuscripts or fragments of the Qur’an, many of which
date from the first century Hijra. 10 This is corroborated
by a statement of Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH/1064 AD) to the
effect that by the time of caliph Umar’s death (24 AH),
nearly 100,000 copies of the Qur’an were in circulation
in Makkah, Madinah, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other cities.
36
A folio of the Qur’an from San’a, written in the 1st
century AH
Nearly 210,000 folios of ancient Qur’an manuscripts are
preserved at Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi (Museum of
Turkish and Islamic Art) in Istanbul. A large and hidden cache of very old Qur’an manuscripts – estimated
to be more than 40,000 – was discovered at the Great
Mosque of San’a in Yemen in 1965, when the ceiling of
the mosque collapsed due to heavy rains. In the course
of repair and restoration, workers stumbled upon a large
vault filled with parchment fragments. They were initially stored in the basement of the National Museum
in San’a until 1980, when the Yemeni Department of
Antiquities, Museums and Manuscripts launched a
project, funded by Germany, to preserve, catalogue and
microfilm the fragments. The fragments were shifted to
the newly constructed House of Manuscripts (Dar alMakhtutat) and over the next few years some 15,000
parchment fragments from nearly 1,000 incomplete
manuscripts of the Qur’an were microfilmed. Many
of these fragments belong to the first, second and third
centuries of the Islamic era. In 1985 some of these fragments were displayed at an exhibition at the Kuwait National Museum. A catalogue of the exhibits was brought
out by Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, San’a. UNESCO
brought out a CD containing photographs of fragments
of more than 40 manuscripts of the Qur’an dating from
the first century of Hijra, as part of its Memory of the
World project. A folio from the San’a collection, which
dates to the middle of the first century Hijra, was auctioned by Christie’s in 2008 for a record £ 2,484,500, 20
times its estimated price.
In the San’a collection, there are 275 folios (86 per
cent of the text) of a very old manuscript of the Qur’an
(covering 86 per cent of the text), which is believed to
have been written by Caliph Ali. There are dots and
vowel signs on some letters. A facsimile edition of this
manuscript, edited by Dr Tayyar Altikulac, was published by the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art
and Culture, Istanbul in 2011. It was probably written in
the second half of the first century AH. 11
This folio, from a Qur’an manuscript written in
Madinah in the middle of the 1st century Hijra and was
discovered in San’a,, was auctioned by Christie’s for a
record £2,484,500, 20 times its estimated price.
A folio of the Qur’an from the San’a collection dating from the 1st century Hijrah
A folio of a Qur’an manuscript from San’a, dating to
the 2nd century Hijra
Some of the extant manuscripts of the Qur’an dating
to the first and early second century Hijra are listed in
the following.
• A very old Qur’an manuscript, ascribed to Caliph
Uthman, is preserved at the Museum of Turkish and
Islamic Art in Istanbul. It is written on gazelle skin
and has 439 folios. Sixteen folios are missing. It is
written in the last folio that this manuscript was copied by Caliph Uthman himself in 30 AH. Salahuddin
Al-Munajjid, an eminent scholar of Arabic paleography who had seen this copy, wrote that this was
the oldest of all the early Qur’an manuscripts he had
seen, and dated it approximately to the end of the
first century AH. A facsimile edition of the manuscript, edited by Dr Tayyar Altikulac, was published
by the Centre for Islamic Studies (ISAM), Istanbul
in 2008.
A folio from the Qur’an manuscript at the Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul
• A very old manuscript of the Qur’an, ascribed to
Caliph Uthman, is preserved at Mashhad al-Husayn
mosque in Cairo. It has 1087 folios, has a size of
57cmx68cm and weighs 80 kilograms. The extant
folios contain 99 per cent of the text of the Qur’an.
A facsimile edition of the manuscript, edited by Dr
Tayyar Altikulac, was published by the Research
Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, Istanbul
in 2009.
A folio from the Qur’an manuscript at Mashhad alHusayn Mosque, Cairo
• An old manuscript of the Qur’an, believed to have
been written by Caliph Ali, is preserved at Raza Library, Rampur, India. It is written on vellum and has
343 folios.
A folio from the Qur’an manuscript attributed to Caliph Ali, preserved at Raza Library, Rampur, India
• There is an old manuscript of the Qur’an at the British Library, which was probably written in the second half of the first century or the first half of the
second century Hijra. It has 121 folios. A facsimile
copy of some of the folios was published by the British Library in 2001.
A folio from an old Qur’an written in the 8th century, preserved at the British Library
• An old and incomplete manuscript of the Qur’an,
dating from the first century Hijra, is preserved at
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It has 56 folios. A
facsimile copy of the folios was published by F. Deroche and S. N. Noseda.
• The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
has some ancient manuscripts of the Qur’an, which
date from the second century Hijra. 12
• The Institute of Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg in
the Russian Federation has an old and incomplete
manuscript of the Qur’an, which dates from the second half of the 8th century CE. It has 81 large folios.
A folio from the St. Petersburg copy of the Qur’an
• The Nasser David Khalili Collection in London has
the largest private collection of Islamic art objects
and old Qur’an manuscripts in the world. One of the
old manuscripts of the Qur’an in the Khalili collection dates from the first century Hijra.
Folio from an old Qur’an manuscript dating from
the 1st century of the Hijra (Nasser David Khalili
Collection)
• Bayt al-Qur’an in Bahrain has a very large collection
of Qur’an manuscripts, some of which date from the
first and second century of Hijra.
An early Qur’an manuscript, dating from the first
century of the Hijra, preserved at Bayt al-Quran,
Bahrain
• The Tashkent copy, which is ascribed to Caliph Uthman
A page from the Tashkent Qur’an
• The Topkapi Mushaf, which is ascribed to Caliph
Uthman
Some European Orientalists, such as William Muir
and Arthur Jeffrey, have admitted that the text of the
Qur’an has remained free from tampering and corruption over the past fourteen centuries. Thus Arthur Jeffrey
says: “Practically all the early codices and fragments (of
the Qur’an) that have so far been carefully examined,
show the same type of text, such variants as occur being
almost always explainable as scribal errors.” 13
In the early decades of the 20th century, the Institute
fur Koranforschung at the University of Munich in Germany had collected thousands of complete and incomplete manuscripts of the Qur’an from many countries,
and after several years of research had reported that there
were no variants in the copies. It is generally believed
that the building in which the Institute was located was
destroyed in the American bombing of Germany during the Second World War. 14 However, the information
that surfaced after 2008 tells a different story. The story
begins with Gotthelf Bergstrasser (1886-1933), a German scholar of Semitic languages and a protégé of the
37
well-known German Orientalist Theodor Noeldeke (d.
1930). Bergstrasser had a special interest in the history
of the text of the Qur’an and had collected photographs
and microfilms of a large number of old manuscripts
of the Qur’an in the course of his travels in the Middle
East, North Africa and Europe. He died in a mishap in
the Bavarian Alps in 1933.
Bergstrasser’s unfinished work was taken over
by his pupil and another German Arabist, Otto Pretzl
(1893-1941), who worked largely in German military
intelligence. Pretzl travelled to Morocco in 1934 and
took photographs of some ancient Qur’an manuscripts
at the Royal Library there. Professor Muhammad Hamidullah writes that in 1933, when he was pursuing his
doctoral research at the Sorbonne, Pretzl came to Paris
in order to collect microfilms of old Qur’an manuscripts
in the city’s libraries. He told Professor Hamidullah that
his institute in Munich had collected photographs and
microfilms of some 42,000 old Qur’an manuscripts and
that the process of collation was underway. 15 Pretzl
died in a plane crash in 1941. The photographs and microfilms collected by Bergstrasser and Pretzl -- some 450
rolls of film -- came in possession of Anton Spitaler, another German Arabist. Spitaler served in the command
offices in Germany and later as an Arabist in Austria.
After World War II he returned to academia in Munich
and began moving boxes that contained the old Qur’an
archive collected by Bergstrasser and Pretzl into a room
at Bavaria’s Academy of Sciences. He did not follow up
the work of his predecessors nor did he scrutinized the
archive. Instead, for reasons that are shrouded in mystery, he spread the false information that the archive had
been destroyed during the British RAF bombing of the
Bavarian Academy of Science, where the archives had
been placed, on April 24, 1944.
In 1990, Ms. Angelika Neuwirth, a German Arabist
and a pupil of Spitaler, met him in Berlin. Spitaler told
Ms. Neuwirth in the course of conversation that he still
had the Qur’an archive in his possession and offered
to it to her. Ms. Neuwirth later sent two of her students
to Munich to collect the archive and bring it to Berlin.
Spitaler died in 2003. 16 Ms. Neuwirth, a professor of
Arabic studies at Berlin’s Free University, is now working on the archive. A project called Corpus Coranicum
was launched at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of
Science and Humanities in 2007 to study and research
the archive.
It is mystifying why Spitaler told a lie about the
Qur’an archive and kept it hidden for nearly half a century. My guess is that he found, contrary to his own
38
expectations, that there was nothing in the old manuscripts of the Qur’an in the archive that could suggest
that there were major variations in the text of the Qur’an
and that the text was subjected to tampering. Instead, he
found that the various manuscripts of the Qur’an were
identical. My guess is based on three interrelated clues.
First, Spitaler was well aware of the preliminary report
presented by Pretzl to the effect that there were no variations in the copies of the Qur’an in the archive. Second, Ms. Neuwirth reports that Spitaler had an old copy
of the Qur’an which he used until his death. Evidently,
if he had lost all interest in Qur’an manuscripts and in
the archive, he would not have used an old copy of the
Qur’an all his life. Third, Spitaler, a devout Catholic,
feared that if he published the results of his study of
the Qur’an archive, which would show the text of the
Qur’an to be free from tampering and corruption, it
would be contested by European Orientalists and would
also incur the displeasure of the Catholic Church, which
would undermine his scholarly reputation.
Tashkent Mushaf
There are at least four very old manuscripts of the
Qur’an which are ascribed to Caliph Uthman. These are
(i) Tashkent Mushaf (ii) Topkapi Mushaf (iii) Qur’an
manuscript at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art,
Istanbul (iv) Qur’an manuscript at the Mashhad alHusayn Mosque in Cairo.
The Tashkent Mushaf was originally located at Damascus. After Tamerlane overran and devastated the
city in the last decade of the 14th century, he took this
copy to Samarqand as a war trophy. It remained there
until Samarqand came under the occupation of Czarist
Russia in 1868. It was shifted to the imperial library
in St. Petersburg on October 24, 1869. Following the
downfall of the Cazarist regime, a Muslim general, Ali
Akbar Topchibashi, sent an armed convoy to the imperial palace to fetch the copy. 17 The copy was then sent
to Samarqand, where it was kept at the Ak Medresse
near the Khwaja Ahrar mosque. Following the communist takeover of Central Asia in 1917, the Islamic Council of Tashkent submitted a petition to Lenin to restitute
the copy to the Muslim community, which was granted.
The copy was handed over to the Islamic Council of
Tashkent in 1924. It was shifted to the Museum of Antiquities in Tashkent in 1926, where it is kept securely
in a glass-fronted vault.
A folio from Tashkent Mushaf
A Russian Orientalist, A. Shebunim, wrote a paper on the
Tashkent copy in 1891 and thus brought it to the attention of the academic world. A Muslim scholar of Tatari
descent, Abdullah ibn Ilyas ibn Ahmad Shah Borghani
Qarimi migrated to St. Petersburg in 1883 with the intention of settling there. In 1889 he visited the royal
library and chanced upon some very old Arabic manuscripts, including an ancient copy of the Qur’an attributed to Caliph Uthman. This copy was written on vellum and had 706 folios. In 1905 he took a photograph of
Surah Yasin and got it printed on specially-made paper
which looked like parchment. Another Russian Orientalist, S. Pissareff, studied the manuscript, wrote in ink
over verses that were illegible, and brought out a facsimile edition of the copy in 1905. 18 Fifty copies were
printed, some of which are extant. Only about a third of
the original manuscript – approximately 353 folios -has survived the vicissitudes of time. It is estimated that
the original copy must have had 950 folios. Nearly 420
folios have been lost. Some folios were torn and stolen
during the last century. Some folios were auctioned by
Christie’s in 1992 and 1993 and by Sotheby’s in 2008.
Each folio in the existing copy measures 53x68cm.
There are on average 12 lines on each page.
There are two conflicting opinions about the authenticity of the Tashkent Mushaf. Professor Muhammad
Hamidullah, who published a facsimile edition of the
copy in 1980, is of the opinion that this copy is one of
the five copies commissioned by Caliph Uthman. Salahuddin Al-Munajjid, who has written an authoritative
book on the history of the Arabic script, on the other
hand, opines that the Tashkent copy is not one of copies prepared at the instance of Caliph Uthman, but it is
likely that it was copied from one of the codices prepared during his caliphate. 19 Dr Tayyar Altikulac, an
eminent expert on early Qur’an manuscripts and former
President of Religious Affairs, Turkey, concurs with the
opinion of Al-Munajjid and offers the following arguments in support of his view.
First, there are some mistakes of omission in the
manuscript. For example, in Surat Al Imran (3:37), the
words “innal-Allah” have been left out. In the same Surah (3: 51), the word “hadha” has been left out. Furthermore, in verse 78 of the same Surah, the words “wama
hua min indil-Allah” have been left out. Second, there
are spelling errors and discrepancies in the copy as well
as lack of uniformity in the spellings, which suggest that
this copy was neither scrutinized after being copied nor
checked and verified by a competent recite (qari), which
was the traditional practice. Third, though the copy does
not contain vowel signs, the verse endings are marked
by small panels of diagonal lines. Furthermore, every
tenth verse is marked with a square medallion illuminated in blue, green and red colours with a stellar design. These signs were not used in the early manuscripts
of the Qur’an prepared at Caliph Uthman’s instance. Dr
Altikulac therefore concludes that the Tashkent Mushaf is neither the copy that Caliph Uthman was reading
when he was assassinated nor one of the copies that
were commissioned by him. However, it might have
been copied from the Uthman Mushaf sent to Kufa or
from a copy of the latter. 20
Topkapi Mushaf
The Topkapi manuscript, which is generally attributed
to Caliph Uthman, is preserved at the Sacred Relics
Section at the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul and
is kept for public viewing during the month of Ramadan. I had seen it during my visit to Istanbul in 1998. A
folio in the beginning of the manuscript, written in Ottoman Turkish on June 12, 1811, states that this manuscript was copied by Caliph Uthman himself, that it was
originally kept in a library in Cairo, and that Mehmet
Ali Pasha, governor of Egypt, sent it to Sultan Mahmud
II as a gift in 1811, with a request that it should be kept
at the Topkapi Palace.
A folio from the Topkapi Mushaf
The Topkapi Mushaf, written on antelope skin, consists
of 408 folios with the dimensions of 41x46cm. The
thickness of each folio is 11cm. Each folio on average
has 18 lines. Only two folios (with 23 verses) are missing. A few folios which were lost or damaged due to the
vicissitudes of time were rewritten or added later. Some
pages are difficult to read while some are completely
illegible. The manuscript was sent to the Suleymaniye
Library in 1984 for maintenance and repair and was returned to the Topkapi Museum in 1987 after restoration.
It is possible that the two missing folios were lost in
the course of restoration work at the Suleymaniye Library. The Topkapi Mushaf does not have the names or
headings of Surahs in the beginning of the chapters, except in the case of Surat al-Fatiha and Surat al-Baqarah,
which were written at a later date. Similarly, the number
of verses in the chapters and the place of revelation are
not mentioned.
Facsimile Copy
A facsimile edition of the Topkapi Mushaf, edited with
a detailed introduction by Dr Tayyar Alktikulac, former
President of Religious Affairs, Turkey, was published
39
by the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and
Culture, Istanbul (IRCICA) in 2007. It carries a foreword by Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former Director General of IRCICA (1980 -2004) and at present
Director General of the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference.
The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and
Culture was established in Istanbul by the Organisation
of the Islamic Conference in 1980 for the purpose of
documenting and disseminating information about the
grandeur of Islamic civilization and about Muslim cultures in historical and contemporary perspectives. Over
the past three decades, IRCICA has published some
of the oldest Qur’an manuscripts, such as the Topkapi
Mushaf, the Qur’an manuscript at Mashhad al-Husayn
Mosque in Cairo, and the Qur’an manuscript attributed
to Caliph Ali (the San’a copy). Among the highly important publication of the centre are the Bibliography of
Translations of the Holy Qur’an: Printed Translations
1515-1980, published in 1986, the World Bibliography
of Translations of the Holy Qur’an, published in 2000,
and World Bibliography of Translations of the Holy
Qur’an in Manuscript Form, published in 2009.
The project for the publication of a facsimile edition of the Topkapi Mushaf was launched by IRCICA
in 1991 and took more than 15 years to complete. The
complete text of the Topkapi Mushaf was photographed
with a digital camera and then transcribed on the computer. The text was carefully and meticulously read and
compared with some of the earliest Qur’an manuscripts
as well as the copy of the Qur’an printed at the Mushaf
Printing House in Madinah by Dr Altikulac. Sultan Bin
Mohammad Al Qassimi, Emir of Sharjah, gave a generous grant for the printing of the volume.
There is a general agreement among scholars who
have made a deep study of the history of the text of the
Qur’an that the early Qur’an manuscripts, including the
copies that were prepared during the caliphate of Uthman, did not have dots or diacritical marks or illumination signs or signs that separated the chapters (Surahs)
and verses (ayats). Some of the earliest fragments of the
Qur’an discovered at San’a, for example, do not have
any of these signs. Abul Aswad al-Duali used dots in
order to indicate the differential pronunciation of similar-looking characters. A careful and painstaking study
of the Topkapi Mushaf has led Dr Altikulac to conclude
that this copy is neither Caliph Uthman’s personal copy
nor one of the copies which were commissioned by him
and sent to various cities. Dr Altikulac’s conclusion is
based on the following considerations.
40
•The Topkapi Mushaf has dots and vowel signs on some
ayats. At some places, slanted lines are used to indicate dots, and at other places red ink has been used to
indicate the dots. It is note-worthy that Abul Asawad
al-Duali instructed his scribes to put the vowel signs
in ink of a different colour. Al-Duali also used signs
in the form of horizontal or slanted lines to distinguish
similar-looking letters. This feature is also found in the
Topkapi Mushaf. 21
•There are signs at the end of every five ayats (takhmis) and an even bigger sign at the end of every
ten ayats (ta’shir). At the end of every 100 ayats, the
word mia (hundred) is written in a horizontal rectangle, and the word miatayn (two hundred) is written in
a rectangular shape. These signs are mostly in black
ink but some are in various colours. Some of these
signs appear to have been inserted in the text at a later
date but in most places the dots and vowel signs were
inserted in the text at the time of writing. These signs
did not exist during Caliph Uthman’s time but came to
be used at a later date.
•There are spelling errors in the text. Furthermore, there
is no uniformity of spelling in the text. This suggests
that the copy was neither scrutinized after being copied nor checked and confirmed by a competent reciter
(qari).
•The text is written in a developed Kufi script, and does
not conform to the writing style of the early Qur’an
manuscripts.
•The early Qur’an manuscripts were devoid of elements
of illumination. In the later period, geometric and floral motifs were inserted within the palmettes, which
separated the chapters and the rosettes between the
verses. In the Topkapi Mushaf, one can see small ornamental circles that are meant to separate the verses
as well as bands that separate the chapters. The motifs
are in various colours. Professor Ihsanoglu says that
the ornamental style of the Topkapi Mushaf shows that
it belongs to the Umayyad period (41-132 AH). 22 Dr Altikulac notes that the orthography of the Topkapi Mushaf, especially the characteristics of the vowel
marks, suggests that it was influenced by the style of the
imams of recitation (qurra) of Madinah. It is note-worthy that most of the famous imams of recitation lived
between the second half of the first century and the first
half of the second century of Hijra. Therefore, it is likely
that the Topkapi Mushaf was copied from the Madinah
copy of the Uthman Mushaf between the second half of
the first century and the first half of the second century
of Hijrah. Dr Altikulac quotes Professor Muhittin Serin,
faculty member at the University of Marmara and an
expert on Islamic calligraphy, as saying: “Regarding the
organization of the lines and the shapes and characteristics of the letters, the Mushaf was probably copied at
the turn of the second century Hijra. However, folios
1-6 and 11, which were copied later, also bear the characteristics of the mid-second century.” 23
The publication of the facsimile edition of the Topkapi Mushaf with a comprehensive and critical introduction by a competent scholar of Arabic paleography
and calligraphy is immensely significant for Qur’anic
studies and Arabic paleography and for the Muslim
community. First and foremost, it testifies to the authenticity of the text of the Qur’an and demonstrates
beyond a shadow of doubt that the text of the Qur’an
has remained unaltered and free from any kind of tampering from the time of its revelation to the present.
The text of the Topkapi Mushaf is identical with that of
early Qur’an manuscripts as well the text of the Qur’an
copies in circulation today. It is significant to note
that the Topkapi Mushaf does not contain the invocation Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim at the beginning of
Surat al-Tawba, which is followed in exactly the same
manner in the existing copies of the Qur’an. The arrangement of Surahs and ayats in the Topkapi Mushaf
is the same as in the existing copies, which confirms
the belief of Muslims that the chapters and verses of the
Qur’an were arranged during the Prophet’s lifetime and
under his instruction. There are only minor differences
of spelling, which can be attributed to scribal errors. It
may be added that the 23 ayats in the two missing folios
in the Topkapi Mushaf are to be found in some of the
early Qur’an manuscripts, notably those at the Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul, the San’a copy ascribed to Caliph Ali and the Mashhad al-Husayn copy
in Cairo. The publication of the Topkapi Mushaf provides an effective refutation of the claims of Orientalists that the Qur’an came to be written only in the third
century of Hijra, that the chapters and verses of the
Qur’an were arranged long after the Prophet, and that
the text of the Qur’an cannot be said to be free from interpolations and tampering. The Topkapi Mushaf is an
extremely valuable source for mapping the evolution
of the Arabic script and for a comparative study of the
early manuscripts of the Qur’an from the perspective
of paleography and orthography. The academic community and Muslims should be grateful to IRCICA,
OIC, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Dr Tayyar Altikulac and Dr Halit Eren, present Director General of
IRCICA, for this wonderful gift.
References:
1. Muhammad Hamidullah: Introduction to Islam. Hyderabad: Habib and Company, 1980, p. 2.
2. V. Raghavan: The Ramayana Tradition in Asia. New
Delhi, 1980; Paula Richman: Many Ramayanas:
The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
3. Walter J. Ong: Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the World. London and New York: Routledge,
pp. 7-8. 4.
4. Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami: The History of the
Qur’anic Text from Revelation to Compilation.
Licester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003, p. 68; Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami: Kuttab al-Nabi. Riyad,
1981, 3rd ed.
5. Al-Azami, op. cit., pp. 95, 103.
6.Al-Azami, op. cit. p. 99.
7. Al-Azami, op. cit. p. 100
8. Muhammad Hamidullah: Six Originaux des Lettres
Diplomatiques du Prophete de L’Islam. Paris, 1986,
p. 44-45.
9. Al-Azami, op. cit. pp. 137-38
10. Al-Azami, op. cit. p. 151.
11. Al-Mushaf al-Sharif attributed to Ali bin Abi Talib,
edited by Dr Tayyar Altikulac. IRCICA, 2011.
12. Nadia Abbot: The Rise of the North Arabic Script
and its Koranic Development. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1939.
13. Quoted in Azami, op. cit., p. 206.
14. Muhammad Hamidullah: Muhammad Rasullullah.
Hyderabad: Habib and Company, 1974, p. 121;
Muhammad Hamidullah: The Emergence of Islam.
Delhi: Adam Publishers, 2007, p. 27.
15. Muhammad Hamidullah: Khutbat-e-Bahawalpur.
Bahawalpur: Islamiya University, 1401 AH, pp. 1516.
16. A. Higgins: ‘The Lost Archive’ Wall Street Journal,
January 12, 2008.
17.The Qur’an of Caliph Uthman, edited with a brief
introduction by Muhammad Hamidullah. Philadelphia: Hyderabad House, 1980.
18. Al-Mushaf al-Sharif attributed to Caliph Uthman.
Edited by Dr Tayyar Altikulac. Istanbul: Research
Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, 2007,
pp. 66-67.
p. 80.
pp. 67, 70.
21. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu: Preface: Al-Mushaf alSharif attributed to Caliph Uthman. p. 9.
22. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, op. cit. pp. 10-11.
p. 81.
41
Islam is the Originator of Human Rights:
An Analytical Study
Md. Mahmudul Hassan
‫ ‏‬ssistant Professor of Arabic
A
‫‏‬Centre for University Requirement Courses (CENURC),
‫‏‬International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC),
The article aims at studying the human rights which
are inherent in human beings. It attempts to prove
that Islam declared a complete and applicable human rights policy before the declaration of United
Nations. Islam gives full rights of human beings
as a man and as a woman. It proclaimed generally
the right of safety of life, the right of education, the
right of conjugal life, the right of privacy, the right of
42
working to earn, the right of inheritance, the right of
freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right
of getting justice, the right of politics, the right of social security etc. Islam especially grants for a woman
the right of wearing veil (hijab), the right of getting
dowry (mahr), the right of getting provision from
husband for all their needs, the right to conceive,
the right to get facilities at the time of widowhood
etc. These essential points of human
rights will be presented briefly in this
paper according to the Holy Qur’an
and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) along
with the discussion of UN declaration of human rights. The study will
further discuss some essential points
of human rights in the light of Islamic
law, which have not been mentioned
in UN declaration of human rights in
1948 A.D.
Introduction
Human rights are universal legal
guarantees protecting individuals
and groups against actions and omissions that interfere with fundamental
freedoms, entitlements and human
dignity. And all kinds of social, political, civil, cultural and economic affairs are of equal validity and importance irrespective of race, colour, sex,
and language. It is very vociferously
claimed that the world got the concept
of basic human rights from the Magna
Carta of Britain (1215); though this
conception has widely been discussed
in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948)(James R. Lewis and
Carl Skutsch, 2007). If we study the
30 articles of Universal Declaration of
Human Rights adopting by the United
Nations in 1948, we find the themes
of this declaration are not innovation,
but these rights are present in Islamic
law which is founded after the prophet
hood of Muhammad (peace be upon
him) in 610 (A.D). Because Islam is
not only a religion seen as a part of life
or a special kind of activity like art,
thought, commerce, social discourse,
or politics. And after perusing the basic rules of Islam about human beings,
we can come to a conclusion that the
law of Islam is more suitable for human kind than UN declaration, and
it will be proved that some essential
rules of Islam concerning this are absent in that declaration. Here, another
observation that Islamic law of human
rights is unchangeable because Allah
creates humankind and He properly
knows which rights are appropriate
for them and which are not, and this
law is followed compulsorily. On the
other hand, the rights granted by any
king or by any legislative assembly
that can also be withdrawn in the same
manner when they wish and they can
openly violate them when they like
(Abul A’la Maududi, 1995). In the following, it will be attempted to explore
briefly the instructions of Islam concerning human rights comparatively
with the 30 articles of UN declaration
and some essential rights of human
beings will be focused which are not
present in Universal Declaration of
Human Right (1948). This paper is
classified into two parts; one includes
the rights generally for men and
women both, and another contains the
rights especially for women.
2. The General rights for men and
women both
2.1. The right of safety of life
Safety of life is an inherent right of
human beings. The third article of UN
declaration is concerning with life,
liberty and security (James R. Lewis
and Carl Skutsch, 2007). But this is
not a new proclamation. After perusing the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) we observe that Islam
is an emphatic as any other system
in safeguarding these rights. In preIslamic times, women were buried
alive (Ludwig W. Adamec, 2009),
but Islam forbids this kind of inhumanity and threatens the person who
does this misdeed. Allah says: “When
the female (infant), buried alive, is
questioned. For what crime she was
killed” (81:8-9). Thus Islam elevates
them to the status of being as worthy
of human dignity as men. Both men
and women were henceforth to be
regarded as equal in humanity. Allah
says: “Allah created you from a single
soul, and from the same soul created
his mate”(4:1). Suicide is forbidden in
Islam as Allah says: “… and do not
kill yourselves...” (4: 29). But men
and women must maintain proper nutritional care to satisfy the minimum
requirements essential for decent
health. They are not allowed to deprive themselves of permissible food,
drink, clothing, marriage and proper
care under any pretexts, if that causes
them harm. Killing a man or a woman
is also strictly prohibited in Islam, Allah says: “Whosoever kills a human
being without (any reason like) man
slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is
as though he had killed all mankind
...” (5:32). If anyone murders a human
being, it is regarded that he kills the
entire human kind. These instructions
have been repeated in another place of
the Holy Qur’an saying: “Do not kill
a soul which Allah has made sacred
except through the due process of law
...” (6: 151). Allah also says: “And
whoever saves a life it is as though he
had saved the lives of all mankind”
(5: 32). The Prophet (peace be upon
him) says: “The greatest sins are to
associate something with Allah and to
kill human beings”. The Prophet also
says about the non-Muslim citizens
of the Muslim State “One who kills
a man under covenant (i.e. a dhimmi) will not even smell the fragrance
of Paradise” (Muhammad Muhsin
Khan, 1996). In all these verses of
the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of
the Prophet include all distinctions of
nation, country, race, sex or religion.
The injunction applies to all human
beings. There may be several types
of saving men from death like a man
may be ill or wounded, irrespective of
his nationality, race or colour. When it
is known that people are in need of the
help of others, then Islam enjoins to
arrange them treatment for disease or
wound. If they are dying of starvation,
they should be fed. If they are drowning or their life is at risk, and then
instructs the followers to save them.
Like this, Islam gives their security
43
in cases of retirement, in the time of
unemployment, sickness, invalidity or
old age etc.
2.2. The right to be free from slavery
Human beings are born free, and slavery is opposite of their inherent. In
forth article of UN declaration this
point has been mentioned (James R.
Lewis and Carl Skutsch, 2007), but Islam prohibited this kind of inhumanity in its advent .Islam gives mankind
the right of freedom from slavery and
all forms of servitude. It forbids to
make a man or a woman as a slave
or to sell him or her into slavery. The
Prophet (peace be upon him) says:
“There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a
plaintiff on the Day of Judgment. Of
these three, one is he who enslaves a
free man, then sells him and eats this
money” (Muhammad Muhsin Khan,
1996). The words of this speech of
the Prophet (peace be upon him) are
general; they are not qualified or made
applicable to a particular nation, race,
country or followers of a particular religion. But it includes all human kind
like women.
2.3. The right of education
Education is a process of instilling
something into human beings (Syed
Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, 1980).
It refers to the process of learning and
acquiring information. It makes an
ethical groomed person with all the
qualities and it helps person to get the
proper right path in this world. It is a
basic right of human kind. It should
be free, and compulsory in elementary
and fundamental stages. The twentysixth article of UN declaration deals
with this right (James R. Lewis and
Carl Skutsch, 2007). But this is not a
new declaration in this world, because
Islam enjoined in its first afflatus as
Allah says: “Read! In the name of
your Lord Who has created (all that
exists)” (96: 1). It always encour-
44
ages Muslims to read, think, study
and learn from the signs of Allah in
nature. Allah says: “Are the wise and
the ignorant equal? Truly, none will
take heed but men of understanding’
(39:9). He also says: “Allah will raise
to high rank those that have faith and
knowledge among you; He is cognizant of all your actions’ (58:11).
This enjoining includes all types of
educations; Faith, Ethical, Physical,
Intellectual, Psychological, Social
and Sexual Education etc. (Abdullah
Nasih ‘Ulwan, 2004). The Prophet
moreover encouraged education for
both males and females and even ordered that slave girls should be educated (Mamoun Abuarqub, 2009). He
made it clear that seeking knowledge
was a matter of religious duty binding
upon every Muslim man and woman
(Al-Faruqi, L., 1985). He would give
time especially to teach them (Muhammad Muhsin Khan, 1996).
2.4. The right of participation in
cultural life
Participation in the cultural life to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement is another right of human beings. They have the right to the
protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production. The
twenty seven article of UN declaration
deals with this right (James R. Lewis
and Carl Skutsch, 2007). Islam admits
the right during its advent and Islamic
culture has an objective manner. Islam
teaches that the earth was created for
all human beings, regardless of their
race, their creed or their sex. The gift
of creation is there for all human beings, so that they can enjoy honour
and care for it (Mahmoud Zakzouk,
2004). If we look back the history of
Islam, we will be able to observe the
golden age of cultural life in Islam.
2.5. The right of conjugal life and
dissolution of it.
Human beings have the full right of
conjugal life. It is consisted of matl Dhul-Qaadah1436/September 2015 l
rimonial alliance. This right includes
the right to marry, equality of spouses
in marriage, consent to marriage and
the protection of the family. The sixteenth article of UN declaration deals
with this right (James R. Lewis and
Carl Skutsch, 2007). But this right is
not an innovation declaration in this
world, because Islam declared the
right of conjugal life many years ago
before UN declaration. Islam regards
marriage as a meritorious institution
and attaches great importance to its
well-being. Its major aim is to perpetuate human life. Allah says: ‘…
they (your wives) are apparel to you,
as you” (2:187). The prophet (peace
be upon him) encourages on marriage
saying: Marriage is one of my norm
(sunnah), whoever turns away from
my sunnah, is not of my team. Islam
allows a set of rights for spouseshusband and wife such the right to
show themselves for marriage and the
right to choose a spouse, and the right
to refuse. Islam does not allow forcing men and women to marry against
their wishes. According to Islamic
law a widow (or divorcee) is not to be
married before her consent is sought
and no virgin girl is to marry without
first consulting her. This freedom to
choose her partner is guaranteed by
Islamic law. They have the right to
revoke a marriage to which they did
not agree in the first place. If we look
at the life time of The Prophet (peace
be upon him), we find some cases
that men could revoke a marriage and
women also refuse a marriage like,
Khansa’s father forced her to marry a
man she did not like; soon afterwards
she complained to the Prophet. The
Prophet respected her will to marry
a man of her choice, so, he revoked
the marriage and freed Khansa from
her marital obligation. Conjugal life
continues through the constant experience of mutual love and affection
between the spouses. This reality has
been narrated in several verses of the
Holy Qur’an as Allah says: “ And
among His Signs is this, that He for
you wives from among yourselves,
that you may find repose in them, and
He has put between you affection and
mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs
for a people who reflect”(30: 21). Dissolution of conjugal life is also permissible in Islam, if it becomes difficult to continue (Mohammad Sohaib
Omar, 1994). Islam admits the rights
of divorced men and women and it
gives them the right to remarry after
divorce (Khurshid Ahmad: 1974).
2.6. The right to get sexual satisfaction
Sexual satisfaction is an inherent right
of human beings. UN declaration is
mute about this right . Islam not only
admits this right but also includes it as
one kind of worship (Abdullah Nasih
‘Ulwan, 2004). Al-Marghinani states
from the outset that “for us marriage
is ownership by way of owning sexual
pleasure in a person and this right is
established by marriage” (Judith E.
Tucker, 2008). The Prophet (peace
be upon him) says concerning this:
‘When a husband and his wife look at
each other lovingly, Allah will look at
them with His merciful eye. He also
says: “When they engage in coitus
they will be surrounded by prayerful
angels”. Once a companion having
heard the Prophet praising coitus with
one’s wife as a charitable act for which
a Divine reward was to be awaited, retorted: “O you, the Messenger of God.
Would a person satisfy his lust and
anticipate Divine reward for it?” The
Prophet said, “Would he be punished
if he (or she) does so with the wrong
partner? In the same way, fulfillment
of sexual satisfaction in the legitimate
way shall be rewarded” (Abdul-Rauf,
1977). The Prophet instructs the followers concerning intercourse saying:
‘It is a rude manner of a man to proceed to have intercourse with his wife
without first playing with her’. ‘When
one of you copulates with his wife, let
him not rush away from her, having
attained his own climax, until she is
satisfied’. ‘Wash your clothes, brush
your teeth, and trim your hair. Keep
always clean and tidy. If a woman
feels that she is not sexually satisfied
or her husband is impotent she has the
right to seek divorce (Haifaa A. Jawad
, 1998).
2.7. The Right of privacy
Privacy is usually defined as the right
of any people to control his or her
own personal information. It is a fundamental human right mentioned in
the twelfth article of UN declaration,(
James R. Lewis and Carl Skutsch,
2007), but Islam not only declared
this right of every individual but also
strongly forced to strictly follow the
rules of privacy. Allah enjoins: “Do
not spy on one another” (49:12). He
also says: “Do not enter any houses
except your own homes unless you are
sure of their occupants’ consent” (24:
27). The Prophet instructs his followers that a man should not enter even
his own house suddenly or secretly.
He should somehow inform to the
dwellers of the house about his entering to the house, so that he may not
see his mother, sister or daughter in
a condition in which they would not
like to be seen, nor would he himself like to see them in that condition
(Abul A’la Maududi , 1995). Peering
into the houses of other people has
also been strictly prohibited in Islam.
The Prophet has even prohibited people from reading the letters of others
so much so that if a man is reading his
letter and another man casts sidelong
glances at it and tries to read it, his
conduct becomes blameworthy. This
is the sanctity of privacy that Islam
grants to individuals.
Privacy also includes the right of
protection of all the secrets and none
of them must disclose any of their
spouses deficiencies or shortcomings,
keeping all what they see and hear
from each other as a secret that should
not ever be disclosed. The intimate rel Dhul-Qaadah1436/September 2015 l
lationship between a husband and wife
in Islam is cherished and protected
(Soumy Ana, Fertilility: Conception
and Contraception). Marital relationships are sacred relationships according to Islam, as we read in the instructions of Allah’s Messenger: “One of
the worst positions in the sight of Allah on the Day of Requital is that of
a man who will have an intimate
relationship with his wife, and then
spread the secrets of his spouse to the
public”. UN declaration and CEDAW
are mute concerning this right.
2.8. The right of nationality, freedom of movement, residence and
asylum
Human kind is born free, and the right
of nationality, freedom of movement,
residence and asylum are their inherent rights .The thirteen, fourteen and
fifteen articles of UN declaration are
concerning these rights (James R.
Lewis and Carl Skutsch, 2007). This
is not an innovation of UN declaration, because these are allowed in Islam. Islam does not encourage any restriction to freedom of movement and
taking residence, whether in a state or
beyond its borders (Mohammad Zafrullah Khan, 1999). Islam strongly
supports the right of seeking and enjoying asylum against persecution. All
types of persecution are prohibited in
Islam. And Islam allows migration. A
lot of verses of the Holy Qur’an support this migration as Allah says: “And
as for those who from their homes for
the sake of Allah after they had been
wronged, We will certainly give them
goodly residence in this world, but indeed the reward of the Hereafter will
be greater; if they but knew! “(16: 41).
Islam emphasizes on asylum against
persecution especially when people
are forced to leave their homes, their
property, occupation, relations and
associations etc. Islam admits the
need of asylum and encourages to
the provision for asylum irrespective
of gender, colour and religion. Al-
45
lah instructs the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) saying:” And if
anyone of the Mushrikun (polytheists,
idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the
Oneness of Allah) seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that
he may hear the Word of Allah (the
Qur’an), and then escort him to where
he can be secure, that is because they
are men who know not” (9:6).
2.9. The right of equality and dignity in society
Human beings are created equal in
their basic humanity, and all have the
shared lineage and dignity of Allah’s
creation. Discrimination due to race,
sex, colour, lineage, class, region or
language is vehemently prohibited in
Islam. This right is addressed in the
first and second articles of UN declaration (James R. Lewis and Carl
Skutsch,2007), but Islam admits this
equality at the time of its advent. Islam stresses the equality of mankind
as deriving from the unity of its common creator (Mohammad Zafrullah
Khan, 1999). There are many verses
of the Holy Qur’an address this right
as Allah says: “O mankind! Verily We
have created you from a single (pair)
of a male and a female, and made you
into nations and tribes that you may
know each other ...”(49: 13) . Allah
also says: “O mankind, be dutiful to
your Lord, who created you from a
single person (Adam), and from him
(Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa’
(Eve)], and them both He created
many men and women; and fear Allah
through Whom you demand (your mutual rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship) … ( 4:1)
.These verses draw attention to the
ties of kinship binding men together
in one species. Thus all human beings are akin regarding their spiritual
origin. Islam stresses on this spirit of
brotherhood and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) emphasized
in numerous hadiths on equality, dignity and brotherhood in a society as
46
He says: The prophet (peace be upon
him) says: “All people are equal, as
equal as the teeth of a comb. There is
no claim of merit of an Arab over a
non-Arab or of a white over a black
person or of a male over a female
(Abdul-Rauf, M., 1977). He also enjoins his followers saying: Be not envious of another, nor bear ill- will nor
cut off relations with another; behave
towards one another as brethren, O
servants of Allah”. Islam not only admits the equality of men and women
in social activities but also stresses
them to play their role in social activities like family functions – marriage,
cherishing child, helping needy and
unable persons, inviting people to
good deeds; forbidding them to commit an evil. From the beginning, Islam
considers women as half of the society. So, they should be offered all opportunities which could enable them
to develop their natural abilities, so
that they might participate effectively
in the development of society (Khurshid Ahmad, 1974). If we study the
life of prophet (peace be upon him),
we get their momentous activities in
society besides men flock (Ludwig W.
Adamec: 2009).
2.10. The right of independent
property
Human beings have the right to have
their own independent property and
to associate with others. None should
be arbitrary deprived of his property.
The seventeenth article of UN declaration includes this right (James R.
Lewis and Carl Skutsch, 2007). If we
study the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) we will get this
right more clear and applicable than
UN declaration. Islam mandates respect for property right of all persons
regardless of religion, colour, gender,
race and minority etc. It requires that
the individual secures for himself and
his dependants the satisfaction of the
basic needs i.e. adequate foodstuffs,
clothing and housing. Islam then encourages the individual to secure the
luxuries of life as much as he can (Taqiuddin an – Nabhani, 2000). Islamic
law provides remedies for the individuals wrongly deprived of property by official action. Over-all, the land
rights code in Islam is more ancient,
holistic, authentic, moral, ethical and
legal than UN declaration.
2.11. The right of freedom of association with others
Freedom of peaceful assembly and
association with others is another
right of human kind. None should be
compelled to join an association. The
twenty first article of UN declaration
includes this right (James R. Lewis
and Carl Skutsch, 2007). Islam grants
this right of person to co-operate others and not to co-operate them. Islam
does not detach the individual from
being human, nor the human being
from being a particular individual
(Taqiuddin an – Nabhani, 2000). Allah prescribes concerning this: “Cooperate with one another for virtue
and heedfulness and do not co-operate with one another for the purpose
of vice and aggression” (5: 2). This
means that a person who undertakes a
noble and righteous work, irrespective
of the fact whether they are living at
the North Pole or the South Pole, has
the right to expect support and active
co-operation from the Muslims (Salim al- Bahnasawy, 2004). On the contrary, the person who commits deeds
of vice and aggression, even if he or
she is the closest relation of anyone ,
does not have the right to win him or
her support and help in the name of
race, country, language or nationality,
nor should they have the expectation
that Muslims will Co-operate with
them or support them. Islam enjoins
Muslims to be united by the powerful
bond of brotherhood and sisterhood
(Sayed Hossein Nasr, 2002). Allah
has warned against divisiveness in the
Holy Qur’an as he says: “And hold
fast, all of you together, to the cable of
Allah and do not separate” (3: 103).
2.12. The right of freedom of
thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression
Freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression are significant rights of human beings. The
eighteenth and nineteenth articles of
UN declaration are concerned with
these rights (James R. Lewis and Carl
Skutsch, 2007). These rights include
the freedom of changing one’s religion and manifesting it in teaching,
practice, worship and observance,
and the freedom of seeking, receiving
and imparting information and ideas
through any media. These rights are
not invention of United Nation. Islam
declared a clear statement of these
rights. Allah says: “There should be
no compulsion in the matter of faith”
(2: 256). Though Muslims are enjoined to invite people to embrace
Islam but they are not asked to enforce this faith on them. No force will
be applied in order to compel them
to accept Islam. Whoever accepts it
she does so by her own choice. Muslims will welcome such a convert to
Islam with open arms and admit her
to their community with equal rights
and privileges. But if somebody does
not accept Islam, Muslims will have
to recognize and respect her decision;
and no moral, social or political pressure will be put on her to change her
mind (Dr. Magda Amer, 2005). Islam
gives people the right of worshipping. Generally worship means to
follow the rituals of prayer, fasting,
sacrifice etc. But true worship lies in
practicing the good and avoiding the
evil according to the divine guidance.
This is not confined in ritual prayers
in house, temple, church, synagogue
or mosque. Religions tend to guide
anyone to the path of good. Muslim
are required to submit completely
to Allah, as the Qur’an instructed the
prophet Muhammad to do: Say (O
Muhammad) my prayer, my sacrifice,
my life and my death belong to Allah;
He has no partner and I am ordered
to be among those who submit, i.e.;
Muslims. Islam gives human beings
the right of expression. Their sound
opinions are taken into consideration.
Rights of expression and information
should be protected by all authorities;
legislative, executive and judiciary,
internal and universal. This right is
for the sake of propagating virtue and
righteousness.
2.13. The right of justice
Justice is an inherent right of human
beings. This right is discussed in the
sixth article to eleven article of UN
declaration where narrated that the
right of all persons recognition and
equality before the law and protection of the law without discrimination
(James R. Lewis and Carl Skutsch,
2007). If we study the rules of Islam
we can prove that this right is not inventory of UN declaration, because
Islam inculcates it very clearly and
firmly. Allah assures this right in a lot
of verses of the Holy Qur’an. Allah
says : “ Truly Allah commands you to
give back trusts to those to whom they
are due, and when you judge between
people, judge with justice” (4: 58).
He also instructs his servants saying:
“And act justly. Truly Allah loves those
who are just” (49: 9). Allah again
says: “And let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice.
Be just; that is nearer to piety” (5: 8)
.Thus Allah enjoins Muslims to be just
not only with ordinary human beings
but even with their enemies. This instruction includes all kinds of human
being regardless of gender, nation, sex
and country etc. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the first
and the principal Judge at Medina and
He was the supreme model of justice.
He strictly ordered his followers to
adjudicate justly between the people
– Muslims and non-Muslims. He says
generally: “The judges are of three
kinds, two of whom will go to hell
and one to paradise. A man who judges against (what is) right knowingly is
the one to go to hell, and a judge who
knows not and so violates the rights of
people is the one who (too) will go to
hell. And a judge who gives judgment
according to (what is) right will go to
paradise”. If we look back the history
of Islamic state especially the system
of judgment at the time of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and
the period of the orthodox caliphs
(al-khulafa’ al-rashedun) , it will be
cleared that the system of judgment
in Islam more authentic and impartial
than UN declaration about judgment.
2.14. Prohibition of torturing, cruelty and inhuman treatment and
punishment
Human kind is freeborn from any
torturing, cruelty and inhuman treatment. In the fifth article of UN declaration we get this right (James R.
Lewis and Carl Skutsch, 2007). If we
study the rules of Islam, we can find
out that this right is not invention of
UN declaration and we can prove the
right was declared more than fourteen
century years ago by Islam. We know
Islam does not recognize any basis of
discrimination; all persons are entitled to fair and equal treatment. Islam
prohibits all cruelty and torture. The
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) says “No one should be subjected to chastisement by fire”. He
admonished against biting any person
on face. Islam prescribes some specific punishment for certain offences
e.g. fornication for safeguarding of
moral values.
2.15. The right of politics
Politics is the art and the science of
managing and governing the social,
economic and political affairs of a
country or area which includes controlling of the nation’s internal and
external relationships. The twenty
first article of UN declaration focus-
47
es on this right (James R. Lewis and
Carl Skutsch, 2007). Islam declares
this right more than ago. Islam encourages men and women to be active politically and to be involved in
decision-making (Asef Bayat, 2010).
Muslim cannot separate Islam from
politics or politics from Islam. This
includes the right of election as well
as the nomination to political offices
(Muhammad M. Al-Hudaibi , 1997).
Muslim scholars and jurisprudents all
over the ages and all Islamic countries
unanimously agreed that the rulers
are not more than human beings who
can be obedient or disobedient to Allah, right or wrong, and that none of
them is infallible. Both in the Qur’an
and in Islamic history we find examples of person – men and women,
who participated in serious discussion and argued even with the Prophet
(peace be upon him) himself. During
the Caliphate of Omar Ibn al-Khattab, a woman argued with him in the
mosque, proved her point, and caused
him to declare in the presence of people: “A woman is right and Omar is
wrong”. In Islam, voting is a new
evolution similar to a process called
Bai’ah or pledging allegiance to the
leader. Like men, women participated
and were included in the (Bai’ah) allegiance to the Prophet. Abdur-Rhman
Ibn Auf, one of the people selected by
Omer bin Khatab to nominate his successor, consulted many women before
he recommended Othman ibn Affan
to be the third caliph. Therefore women can vote without violating Islamic
guidelines of modesty and virtue.
2.16. The Right of Inheritance
Inheritance means acquiring property, including land, upon the death
of another person. It is one of the
most detailed fields of Islamic law,
providing for the compulsory division of an individual’s property
upon death. The inheritance rules are
derived from religious sources verses
in the Qur’an and the Traditions of the
48
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). According to Islamic rules, by
means of a divine formula, specific
fractional shares of a person’s estate
upon death are distributed to certain
defined relatives -‘sharers’ - sons,
daughters, a father, a mother or a
spouse and, in the absence of children,
sisters and brothers, according to compulsory rules. Allah says: “Allah commands you as regards your children’s(
inherritance): to the male, a portion
equal to that…….. (4:11).
2.17. The right of work
Everyone has the right of work irrespective of sex, religion, race and
colour etc. It includes the right free
choice of employment, getting salary, enjoying rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working
hours and periodic holidays with pay.
The twenty third and twenty fourth
articles of UN declaration focus this
right (James R. Lewis and Carl Skutsch, 2007). But fourteen centuries
ago Islam declared this right. Islam
respects all kinds of work for earning
one’s livelihood (Hammudha Abdalati, 1975). Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) says: It is far better one
even to take his rope, cut wood, pile it
up and sell it in order to eat and give
charity than to beg others whether they
give him or not”. According to Islam,
the status of honest working people
cannot be lowered on account of the
kind of work who are doing for a living. The prophet also says: “If any of
you undertakes to do any work, Allah
loves to see him do it well and with
efficiency”. The worker is entitled to
a fair wage for his services. Failure by
the employer to pay the just wage or
attempts to cut it down and waver on
it is a punishable act, according to the
Law of Allah. The life time of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and
the activities of his companions prove
that Islam dislikes the idle people. It
was narrated that Umar bin al-Khattab
(R) passed by some people, who were
known as readers of the Qur’an. He
saw them sitting and bending their
heads, and asked who they were. He
was told: “They are those who depend upon Allah.” Umar replied:
“No, they are the eaters who eat the
people’s properties. Do you want me
to describe those who really depend
upon Allah?” He was answered in the
affirmative, and then he said: “He is
the person who throws the seeds in the
earth and then depends on his Lord
the Almighty, The Exalted (Taqiuddin
an – Nabhani, 2000). There are a lot
of Qur’anic verses and the Traditions
of Prophet Mohammad (peace be
upon him) encourage striving to seek
provision, and working to earn property. The worker should not be asked
to undertake effort except that which
is within his ordinary capacity. The
work would have thus been defined by
stating its type, duration, wage and the
effort spent in it. The wage received
by the worker, in return for his execution of the work, is the property he accrued as a result of the effort he spent
( Taqiuddin an – Nabhani, 2000).
2.18. The right of social security
Social security is a fundamental human need. Sudden sickness, death,
disability, disease, unemployment,
fire, flood, storm, drowning, accidents
related to transportation, and the financial loss caused by them are the
reasons, which create this need. The
twenty second and twenty fifth articles of UN declaration focus on this
right, (James R. Lewis and Carl Skutsch, (2007), but Islam declared this
right of social security during its advent. It declared that all unable people
will get the right of living elements –
eating, dinging, clothing, habitations
and medical etc from Islamic country. In addition to this, every person
is held responsible for the welfare of
the other. Social service for alleviating suffering and helping the needy is
an integral part of the Islamic teaching
(Juan E. Campo, 2006). A woman is
responsible for the upbringing of the
next generations. Hence, she needs
to be well protected in every aspects
of her life so that she can discharge
her responsibility without interruptions. In Islam the divorced and unmarried woman and the widow must
be looked after by her male family
members in the event she cannot provide for herself. According to some
scholars, every poor or handicapped
relative, especially if she is a woman,
must be cared for by relatives who
have the means to do so. During the
time of caliph ‘Umar ibn aI-Khattab
the Muslims ruled from Tripoli (Libya) to Balkh (Afghanistan), from Armenia to Sindh (Pakistan) and over
the Countries lying in between such
as Syria, Iraq and Iran etc. And this
reign is considered to be the brightest period in the history of the Islamic
system of social security. The social
security system became so strong,
that the people wanted to pay zakah
but there was no one to receive it. Expenses of nursing and breeding of the
newborn were paid from the treasury,
and parents were given allowance for
the newborn child. Zakah is the first
institution of social security in Islam.
Poor relatives have a prior claim upon
one’s zakat and other social contributions. The law of inheritance also reveals the nature of economic obligations within the family structure. This
responsibility extends to a number of
relations. One’s parents and grandparents and paternal and maternal relations have a claim upon one’s wealth
and resources. Someone once said to
the Prophet, “I have property and my
father is in need of it”. The Prophet
(peace be upon him) replied, “You
and your property belong to your father”. Islam emphasizes the rights of
aunts, uncles and other relatives. Orphans in the family are to be absorbed
and treated like one’s own children.
Older members are to be looked after
and treated with honour, kindness and
respect, and in the same way these
responsibilities extend to one’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Orphans are not thrown into orphanages.
The poor and unemployed are not
made to survive on public assistance.
Thus, Islam established a system of
psycho-social security (Khurshed Ahmad, 1974).
3. The especial rights of women
3.1. The right of wearing hijab
Hijab is an Arabic word means veil
(Ludwig W. Adamec, 2009) . It indicates an attire, which may vary in
style, usually includes covering the
hair, neck, and body, except the face
and hands. These days, hijab is also
the name used for the headscarf that
women wear over their heads and tie
or pin at the neck, with their faces
showing (Katherine Bullock, 2002).
Islam gives women the right of “veil”
(hijab). Islam instructs that the woman
should beautify herself with the veil
of honour, dignity, chastity, purity and
integrity. She should not display her
charms or expose her physical attractions before strangers. This evil can
save a woman’s soul from weakness,
her mind from indulgence, her eyes
from lustful looks, and her personality
from demoralization. Hijab is divine
obligation on every pubescent Muslim
young woman (Sheikh ‘Abd al-Khaliq
ash-Sharif, 2006) as Allah enjoins the
prophet regarding this:
“O Prophet! Tell your wives and
your daughters and the women of the
believers to draw their cloaks (veils)
all over their bodies (i.e. screen themselves completely except the eyes or
one eye to see the way). That will be
better, that they should be known (as
free respectable women) so as not to
be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft
Forgiving, Most Merciful” (33:59).
3.2. The right to exempt from specific worship
Menstruation (hayd) is blood coming
regularly from the uterus of a woman.
It is regarded as a natural event that
nevertheless produces a state of impurity for the woman. It is also called period, monthly bleeding, menses, catamenia, etc. And Puerperium(Nifas) is
the six to eight week period between
delivery of a baby and the return of
the uterus to its normal size. This period is also sometimes known as the
postpartum period .These two times
women’s bodies do not feel well , but
they are weak and they are not fit to
work as before or after these periods
, so Islam grants the right of women
to exempt from salah (prayer) and
sawoom (fasting) at these periods (
Gordon E. Newby, 2002).
3.3. The right to exempt from intercourse
At the time of Menstruation and puerperium women have the right to
exempt from intercourse, because
these times they are physically unfit
for intercourse. Allah says”They ask
you concerning menstruation. Say:
that is an Adha (a harmful thing for
a husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses), therefore keep away
from women during menses and go
not unto them till they have purified
(from menses and have taken a bath).
And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah
has ordained for you (go in unto them
in any manner as long as it is in their
vagina)”(2: 222). The declaration of
UN and CEDRAW are silent about
this specific right of women.
3.4. The right to get mahr
Mahr is an Arabic word means a
marriage gift, which is presented to
a woman by her husband and is included in the nuptial contract. It forms
a necessary part of the marriage contract, and the marriage is not valid
without it. The amount of Mahr is varied on their social and family status.
It is a special right of women which
is declared by Islam as Allah enjoins:
‘Give women their faridah as a free
49
gift (4:4). It is a gift of money, possessions or property made by the husband to the wife, which becomes her
exclusive property. There was in fact
no fixed upper limit for mahr. Allah
required the provision to depend upon
the circumstances of the husband:
‘…the wealthy according to his
means, and the straitened in circumstances according to his means. The
gift of a reasonable amount is necessary from those who wish to act in the
right way.’ (2:236).
There is concern in Islamic law
that the mahr should not be either too
high or too low (Gordon E. Newby,
2002). It should be given according to
the financial status of the husband
and according to the time and place.
However, it should be reasonable and
not too expensive. The Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) never demanded huge amounts of dower when
giving his daughters in marriage. He
is also reported to have said, “The best
woman is the one whose mahr is the
easiest to pay.” The declaration of UN
and CEDRAW are silent about this
specific right of women what raises
them a respectable place.
3.5. The right of financial support
A husband is required to provide,
within his means and limits, all essential and basic requirements of his
wife, children and entire household
(Abdullah Nasih ‘Ulwan, 2004). Islam Allah, the Exalted, says in the
Glorious Qur’an: “Let the man of
means spend according to his means
and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to
what Allah has given him. Allah puts
no burden on any person beyond what
He has given him. After a difficulty,
Allah will soon grant relief. (65:7).
To encourage generosity towards the
wives, Islam has named this financial
support as charity which is rewarded
greatly by Allah. The Prophet (peace
be upon him) said to Sa’ad ibn Abi
Waqas: “No amount you spend on
50
your family seeking reward from Allah but that He will reward you even if
it is a bite of food that you put in your
wife’s mouth”. A woman has the right
of fair and kind treatment and a husband must extend just treatment to
his wife and household. A husband
must demonstrate care, kindness and
solve any problem within his means,
while for bearing the deficiencies and
shortcomings of his wife seeking the
Pleasure of Allah in both worlds. A
husband should consult with his wife
concerning their life and future needs
and plans. He is required to secure and
provide for his wife and household all
means of peaceful environment at
home and outside. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) says:
“Those believers who have the most
complete faith who possess the best of
character and the best among you are
those who are the best to their wives.
3.6. The right of conception and
abortion
A woman has the right to conceive
and to ensure appropriate service in
connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free service where necessary,
as well as adequate nutrition during
pregnancy and lactation. She has the
right to cherish children, their guardianship, trusteeship and adoption of
them. If the wife conceives, she will
have the rewards of a worshipper who
is constantly engaged in prayers, fasting and in the struggle in the way of
Allah. When she delivers a child, only
Allah knows the magnitude of the rewards stored for the parents in paradise. Islam also admits her right to
control birth at the time of emergency.
The declaration UN regarding human
rights did not focus on this essential
right of women specifically.
A number of Qur’anic verses emphasize the notion that Allah does
not wish to burden believers, with
the implication that the well-being
of children overrides concerns for a
large family. As a result, early Muslim doctors recorded the tradition of
herbal prescriptions to prevent pregnancy in Islamic books of medicine,
which were used for centuries in Europe. The prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him), himself, did not forbid
the practice of al’azl (withdrawal or
coitus interruptus). By analogy, the
use of other barrier methods, such as
the condom and diaphragm, is permitted. Some religious leaders argue that
sterilization (tubal ligation and vasectomy) does permanent harm to a person and is, therefore, unacceptable to
Islam. Others argue that to the extent
sterilization is reversible, it is permitted. The Qur’an does not explicitly
address abortion, but there is general
agreement in Islam that abortion is
only permitted for the most serious
reasons, such as saving a woman’s
life. And even then, it is only allowed
before “life is breathed” into the fetus,
within 120 days after conception. Abu
Daud has reported on the authority of
Abu Said that a man said: “O Messenger of Allah I have a slave girl and I
practice ‘azl with her. I do not want
her to get pregnant but I desire what
men desire. The Jews say that ‘azl
is the minor live burial of children”.
He said: “The Jews have lied. If Allah wanted to create a child you could
not stop Him”. The permissibility of
temporary birth control through ‘azl
or any other method of birth control
does not mean the permissibility of
abortion. So when the soul has been
breathed into the foetus, its abortion
is haram whether the abortion was
brought about by taking a medicine,
violent movements or medical operation (Soumy Ana, Fertilility: Conception and Contraception).
Miscellaneous rights
Islam declared a lot of rights which
cover all sides of human beings till
doomsday. Due to limitation all rights
have not been included in this study
like the rights of Almighty Allah , the
rights of the Prophet Muhammad , the
rights of other Prophets and Messengers, the rights of parents , the rights
of children , the rights of relatives ,
the rights of a ruler , the rights of the
people towards the government , the
rights of neighbours , the rights of
friends, the rights of guests , the rights
of animals and the rights of other
creatures etc. UN declaration or other
declarations regarding human rights
did not include the above mentioned
miscellaneous rights specifically, but
Islam strongly discussed these rights
and enjoins its followers to follow the
policy of these rights.
5. Conclusion
‫‏‬In epilogue of the study we can identify the following significant points:
Islam is the religion of mankind
from the beginning of life and history
to the end.
Islam declared a complete, applicable and unchangeable guideline for
human beings.
Islam necessitates the policy of
human rights for all followers from
East to West, North to South.
UN declaration of human rights or
others declarations regarding human
rights are not authentic and complete,
and the articles concerning these rights
are picked thought of Islamic law.
The policy of human rights granted by any legislative assembly can be
withdrawn in the same manner when
they wish and they can openly violate
them when they like.
There are ample essential points
which are not discussed specifically
in UN declaration.
Finally, Islam is the complete
guideline of human beings, and it is
the originator of human rights.
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Woman in the Shade of Islam, translated by Muhammad Said Dabas,
(Riyadh,2000) p- 49.
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210-213.
Abdul-Rauf,
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Islam, (Tehran, Islamic Propagation
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Distribution, 2005), pp- 11 -12.
Gordon E. Newby, A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, (England, One
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Haifaa A. Jawad, The Rights of
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Islam
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The Human Rights Encyclopedia,(
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Judith E. Tucker, “Women, Family and Gender in Islamic Law”, (New
York Cambridge University Press.
2008) p- 41.
Katherine Bullock, Rethinking
Muslim Women and the Veil, (London, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2002), xli.
Khurshid Ahmad, Family in Islam,
(U.K., the Islamic foundation, 1974)
pp-15- 17, 23.
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Dictionary of Islam (USA, Scarecrow
Press, Inc, America, 2009) pp- 124,
329.
Mamoun Abuarqub, Islamic Perspective on Education, (United Kingdom. Islamic Relief Worldwide, 2009)
p-7.
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Muhammad M. Al-Hudaibi “The
Principles of Politics in Islam”,
(Egypt, Islamic Inc, Publishing&
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Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Zakzouk ,On
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(Egypt, Dar an- Nashr liljami’t 2004)
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51
Islamic Feminism:
Few Critical Reflections
Islamic Feminism is described as the feminist
discourse within Islamic framework. Margot
Badran writes: ‘It is a feminist discourse and
practice articulated within Islamic paradigm.
Islamic Feminism derives its mandate and understanding from the Qur’an for the justice
and rights of men and women for the totality
of their existence.’ ( Margot Badran, ‘Islamic
Feminism: What’s in a Name?’ in her book,
52
Dr. Zeenath Kausar
(Former teaching staff IIUM)
Feminism in Islam: Secular and Religious Convergences, Oxford, One World, 2009, p.242.)
Islamic Feminism is generally traced back to
1980s and it gained its momentum in 1990s and
within a very short span of time, it spread and
became popular both in the East and in the West.
(Margot Badran, Re/placing Islamic Feminism,
November 12, 2010, in Gender, State & Society.
http://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri).
However, right from the beginning, the terms Islamic Feminism
and Islamic feminist remain controversial and debatable terms.
Some Muslim scholars argue that
they are inspired by the teachings
of the Qur’an to talk and argue for
the rights of women. Hence, they
do not prefer to be called as Islamic
or Muslim feminists and that they
do not agree with the imperializing
tendency of feminism. (Asma Barlas, ENGAGING ISLAMIC FEMINISM:
PROVINCIALIZING
FEMINISM as a Master Narrative
in Anitta Kynsilehto (ed.), Islamic
Feminism: Current Perspectives,
Tampere Peace Research Institute,
University of Tampere, Finland,
2008, p.16). At the same time, there
are scholars who have raised certain
valid questions on the inadequacy
of the term, Islamic Feminism and
argue that Feminism overlooks the
cultural traditions of non-Western
civilizations across the world. (Fatima Seedat, ISLAM, FEMINISM,
AND ISLAMIC FEMINISM: Between Inadequacy and Inevitability, in Journal of Feminist Studies in
Religion, Indiana University Press,
Vol. 29, No. 2, 2013, pp. 25-45.
Besides these scholars, we also
argue that there are several contentions and arguments of Islamic feminism which do not go in line with
some basic Islamic teachings on
women and on some other issues.
For instance, Islamic feminists argue that Islam remained neutral towards patriarchy. (Amina Wadud,
Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the
Sacred Text from Woman’s Perspective, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1999, pp. 8-9). Whereas, a
serious study of Islam and the term
patriarchy would show that Islam
and patriarchy are opposite to each
other. Patriarchy implies not just
male headship in family and in society, but it implies male domination over women; male despotism
where women remain subordinate
to men. (Robert Filmer (Author),
Johann P. Sommerville (Editor) Patriarcha and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press, 1991)
Islam, par excellence, rejects all
kinds of domination of man over
man, whether it is male domination or female domination. Islam
implies willing submission to Allah SWT which entails peace and
justice. (Syed Muhammad Naquib
al-Attas, Islam and Secularism,
1978). Even the term Qawwamoon
occurred in the Qur’an, in verse
(4:34), does not make men authoritarian and dominating over women.
The term only conveys that men
are made in-charge or protectors of
women in family because legally
the financial responsibility is given
to them.
Furthermore, as it is obvious
that men are generally physically
stronger than women, they are
in a better position to defend and
protect them. Since women play
an important role of mothers, conceiving and giving birth to children
and such other duties, Islam has
not made it obligatory on women
to take the financial responsibility in the family. However, Islam
has not forbidden women to work
outside and enjoy their own economic resources. Women are allowed to pursue any suitable profession which should not create
problem for them in performing
their responsibilities in the family.
This kind of functional arrangement in family in Islam is based
on complementary roles of men
and women, helping and supporting each other with mutual understanding, and this is not patriarchy.
However it cannot be denied that
there are many cases where men
in Muslim families try to dominate
over women and act as patriarchs
and women and children are badly
subordinated to men in the name of
Islam. Such families may be even
described as mini-patriarchies or
mini- absolute monarchies, totally
different from a vision of Islamic
family which may be described as
mini-civilization. But, it is important to differentiate between Islam
and certain biased cultural practices prevalent in Muslim societies,
and for this reason, Islam cannot
be characterized as patriarchal.
(Zeenath Kausar, Muslim Women
at the Crossroads, Kuala Lumpur,
Thinker’s Library, 2008).
According to the Islamic feminists, Islam allows women to
lead the mixed congregational
prayers in the mosque. (Pluralism
Project at Harward University:
Research Report, The WomanLed Prayer that Catalyzed Controversy.
http://www.pluralism.
org/reports/view/111). Whereas, a
careful study of Islam shows that
the Prophet Mohammad (peace be
upon him) allowed a woman companion, Umm Waraqa to lead the
congregational prayer in her house
for her family members, men and
woman. Hence, from this it cannot
be derived that women can lead
congregational prayers in the public place at mosque. It can no doubt
be understood from this tradition
53
that women can lead mixed congregational prayer at her residence
for their own family members. In
this connection, it is also pointed
out by some Islamic scholars that
the format of Imamah, leading congregational prayer includes some
physical movements of bending
down on the knees, and prostrating before Allah etc. Hence, they
argue that it would not be proper
for Muslim women to perform all
these in front of men, because this
may distract the attention of some
men. It is therefore better to take
all precautions to keep the sanctity
and purity of the prayers in tact.
(Jamal Badawi, Gender Equity in
Islam: Basic Principles, The Islamic Information Foundation, Halifax, Canada, 1999, p.14).
We believe that if women do
not perform Imamah of mixed
congregational prayers for these
reasons, it would not lower down
their position before men nor it is
a discrimination against them. This
is only an acceptance of physical
differentiation between men and
women. Acceptance of physical
differentiation between men and
women do not invade and crush
equality between men and women.
It only conveys that equality and
identity are two different concepts
which should not be mixed together. Men and women are equal
in general, but not identical with
each other. For this reason, there
can be some functional differences
between men and women in family
and in society which cannot be interpreted as acceptance of inequality or patriarchy.
Islamic feminists support the
campaign for the so called human
54
rights of LGBTQI – lesbians, gay,
bisexuals, transgender, queer and
intergender. (Amina Wadud, LGBTQI Muslims and International
Movements for Empowerment, in
Feminism and Relogion.com., September 20, 2014 ( 6 ). http://feminismandreligion.com/2014/09/20/
lgbtqi-muslims-and-internationalmovements-for-empowerment-byamina-wadud/).Whereas, it is very
clearly stated in the Qur’an that
these kinds of sexual practices are
the signs of jahiliyya, ignorance
and that they should not be accepted, rather severely condemned.
(al- Qur’an 27:54-55.). The case
of the community of the Prophet,
Lut, (peace be upon him) is a clear
example as to how they involved in
such deviant sexual practice, how
they insisted on it and how they
were punished with a rain of stones
on them.
Here in this small write-up, we
have discussed only three points to
show some of the problems in the
contentions and arguments of Islamic Feminism. There are many
other points that can be identified
and discussed in this connection
in some other articles. However,
it is quite obvious from the above
discussion that there is hardly any
Islam in this so-called Islamic feminism. Nevertheless, an important
point should be mentioned here that
Islamic feminists have raised few
pertinent questions on women’s issues. For instance, they raised their
objections on the superior and inferior images that are often portrayed
by some Muslim scholars on the
basis of their biased interpretations
of some verses from the Qur’an
and the unauthentic Prophetic tra-
ditions. Islamic feminists have
also presented their strong arguments before those biased Muslim
scholars who do not allow women
any sort of participation in sociopolitical areas of life on the basis of
their prejudices against women, ignoring several example of the participation of women companions
(May Allah be pleased with them)
in society.
However, it is important to remember here that there are some
other Islamic scholars who do not
agree with the biased writings of
Muslim scholars on women’s issues and fully support the participation of women in family and in
society based on the Qur’an, Sunnah and the early Muslim history.
It is also a fact that there is an
urgent need to launch an Islamic
movement for women’s rights and
their development. But it does not
mean that Muslim women intellectuals should incorporate feminist
arguments and contentions to bring
a reform in Muslim societies on
women’s issues, although apparently, some of the feminist contentions look similar to Islamic position on women. The ideological
and epistemological differences
between Islam and feminism would
be always reflected in their respective contentions and arguments.
Islamic sources are more than sufficient to combat the negative influence of biased interpretations of
Islamic texts and the biased cultural norms in the Muslim societies.
Muslim women intellectuals need
not have to make a hotchpotch of
Islamic feminism to aggravate the
conceptual and practical problems
of Muslim women.
Funding Sources for Islamic
Microfinance Institutions
Muhammad Zubair Mughal
There are more than 300 Islamic Microfinance instructions working in 32 countries of the world but funding
has always been a critical issue in Islamic microfinance
industry. Although Islamic microfinance with innovative
product line and system has huge demand and acceptance across the world but the lack of funding can weaken
its potential of growth in future and may hit the future expansion which can affect the financial inclusion strategy
as Islamic Microfinance is an effective tool of financial
inclusion for Muslim segment of the society who avoid
conventional Microfinance due to religious reason as interest is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Unfortunately western donors are reluctant to provide funding to the Islamic microfinance industry which
is diminishing its potential of growth, without adequate
funding sources, Islamic Microfinance industry is facing
lot of problems to serve the communities with better financial and non-financial services, so there is immense
need of addressing such critical issues by introducing and
developing the alternative source of funding for Islamic
microfinance institutions to flourish this sector with full
potential. Most of Islamic Microfinance Institutions are
based on NGO’s or Charity Models but these are not
enough to serve the 44% of the world poverty which is
consist with Muslim world, we also need to introduce
Commercial Islamic Microfinance MFI’s/Banks with
handsome funding sources, some thematic guidelines
and sources/models of funding for Islamic Microfinance
institutions are given as under:
Funding Sources for Islamic Microfinance Institutions Sukuk – Social Sukuk:
Sukuk refers to be the financing certificate similar to the
bond but prohibiting to the interest/non Shari’ah elements in its structure and mechanism. Generally Sukuk
is utilized in the corporate sector for raising the funds
for long term financing projects usually utilized for mega
projects. The global volume of Islamic financial industry
is about US $ 2 trillion in 2014 where Sukuk keeps 16%
share and tends to be flourishing in foreseeable future
55
providing Shari’ah compliant source of funding/ financing in Islamic Finance industry, it is expected the outstanding volume to reach $115 billion by year-end 2014.
As per the trends and norms in financial sector, Sukuk
is considered and is utilized in corporate world only for
mega projects but never experienced in Islamic microfinance industry to provide the funding source to Islamic
Microfinance where it can be utilized effectively. Utilizing the Sukuk, Islamic microfinance industry can fulfill
its needs of financing through Shari’ah compliant source
of funding conforming the Shari’ah adherence in its both
asset and liability sides. A new term “Social Sukuk” can
be devised for such sukuk which is issued for social development and poverty alleviation projects.
Crowd Funding Platform:
Crowd funding is the interlinked advanced online system,
which can be utilized to generate funding opportunities
for Islamic microfinance institutions and to overcome
funding deficiencies, its run through an advanced system
for transmission of funds to the beneficiary by linking
the Microfinance institution and number of donors sitting in different parts of the world. Fortunately, there are
number of donors and their majority is willing to socially
lend/donate the funds for the charitable purposes, micro
financing and especially to Islamic Microfinance institutions but the main hurdle is the transmission of funds but
it can be addressed through better IT integration for connecting donors/ funds providers and IMFIs around the
globe through different trustworthy payment gateways.
Crowd funding platform will not only help to provide the
funds for IMFIs rather it could be helpful in increasing
outreach of Islamic Microfinance and allied services.
Crowd fund platform concept is emerging rapidly
and now many IMFI’s are utilizing this concept to secure the fund for Islamic Microfinance. AlHuda Centre
of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) has also established a crowd funding system which is available to
integrate with any Islamic Microfinance institution.
An Islamic Microfinance Crowd Funding Architecture is as Under:
Venture Capital and Equity Financing:
Venture capital is a pool of funds which is generated by
developed financial institutions through their surplus
funds for best investment solution and profit motives.
Venture Capital is usually utilized to start up, so Islamic
Microfinance Institutions can also be developed through
venture capital in Shari’ah Compliant manners. The venture capital can adequately be utilized in Islamic Microfinance to provide the source of funding to IMFIs where
IMFIs can offer range of IMF products and services with
56
institutional growth and sustainability in return, profit
can be shared with capital providers. Equity financing
is a technique of financing in which company issues
shares of its stock and receives money in return or invest
in any business venture as equity share holder. Venture
capital is one of the more popular forms of equity financing. The equity fund can be categorized into three major
categories i.e Microfinance development funds, Quasicommercial microfinance investment funds, Commercial
microfinance investment funds.
In Islamic Point of view, Islamic Microfinance institutions can raise their funds through Equity Financing or Venture capital by utilizing Mudaraba or Musharaka mechanism. We can also observe that a plenty of
Shari’ah compliant equity fund is also available in Islamic financial industry which is an motivational factor
to introduce a equity fund for the development of Islamic
Microfinance industry which facing a saviour problem
of funding.
Donor Grants, Soft Loans & Govt. Subsidies:
Donor Grants, Soft loans and Govt. Subsidies play a vital
role for the development of Microfinance sector, but unfortunately, it is observed that International donor agencies are bit reluctant for Islamic Microfinance, therefore,
Islamic Microfinance institutions are limited and facing
expansion problems but in recent past we have seen that
multilateral donor agencies are taking interest for the promotion of Islamic Microfinance as tool of financial inclusion and social development like Islamic Development
Bank, GIZ, USAID, UKAID, IFAD and other agencies.
Recently, the Govt. of Pakistan provides Qarz-e-Hassan
(Soft Loans) to Islamic Microfinance institutions and we
can also see such strategies in Yemen, Sudan, Indonesia
and some other countries. So, this type of funding can
play a pivotal role for fulfillment of funding limitation of
Islamic Microfinance institutions/Banks.
Institutionalized Zakat System:
Zakat can play an important role to supplement Islamic
Microfinance institutions that are working as non-forprofit, No doubt, Zakat cannot be utilized purely for Microfinance activities but it can supplement the other component of IMFIs i.e. Micro Takaful, Health, Education
and Capacity Building programs which, ultimately, for
poverty alleviation and economic empowerment financially neglected segment of society. But it can be done if
Zakat system would be centrally institutionalized by submitting in a pool/ account from where it can be utilized
for strengthened the Islamic Microfinance institutions.
Charity Funds or Penalty in Islamic Banking and Fi-
nancial Institutions:
The charity amount as collected by Islamic Banks and
Financial institutions all over the world consists of huge
amount which is utilized in different charitable purposes
but never utilized in Islamic Microfinance to address the
funding need of IMFIs. Further, rectifying the misunderstanding, it is explicitly stated that there is no concept of
penalty in Islam in financial arrangements/ commitments
but as per the need in Islamic financial sector it is mandatory to fix a certain penalty to discourage the malpractices of delay in payments or willful defaults by the clients. This act keeps the financial sector at safe side from
willful defaults or delay in repayment. So the collected
amount of charity can be utilized in IMFIs as a source of
funding or Qarz-e-Hassan (soft loan) for IMF services to
alleviate poverty and to generate the economic activity
which is not practiced yet and deems to be the quite appropriate approach/ model to address the funding issue of
Islamic Microfinance Industry. Similarly, Institutional Penalty Fund means any penalty imposed on Islamic Financial institution for violation of Shari’ah compliances in the Islamic financial
products and arrangements. As per the Shari’ah Audit,
if it is proved by the Shari’ah auditor then the whole for
partially income or amount, generated from such Islamic
Banking product/s or operations, subjects to penalty and
transferred, for charitable purposes and which may be
utilized by Islamic Microfinance Institutions for supplementing their Microfinance operations and services.
Less Commercial Approach in Islamic Banking Institutions:
The size of Islamic finance industry will be approximately US $ 2 trillion in 2014 where share of Islamic
Banking is about 78% and the global volume of Islamic
Microfinance Industry is about US $ 1 billion but unfortunately its share is less than 1% in Islamic finance
industry, which is a big question mark as well in Islamic
finance that why Islamic Microfinance have less than 1%
share in it. As the matter is concerned, it is stated that
the Islamic microfinance can grow if Islamic banks and
financial institutions have less commercial approach and
design effective course of actions for the development of
Islamic Microfinance industry by introducing different
Shari’ah compliant financing modes to provide funds to
the Islamic Microfinance Institutions or directly to poor
as Islamic Microfinance product for the poverty alleviation and social development.
Mudaraba & Musharaka Model:
It is an arrangement where Islamic Microfinance institution can take funds on Mudaraba basis from Islamic
Banks or Financial Institution. The Islamic Bank/ Financial Institution is the financier/ investor “Rabul Mal” and
IMFI acts as investment manager “Mudarib” and IMFI
does micro financing as per the Shari’ah principles and
shares the profit with the investor (Islamic Bank/ Financial institution) as per the agreed ratio but in case of loss
the loss is suffered by investor until the ignorance of Fund
Manager (IMFI) is proved. While in Musharaka model
both the parties (IMFI and Islamic Bank/ Islamic Financial Institution) provide funds for Islamic Micro Financing and share the profit, if generated, as per the agreed ratios but in case of loss the loss is also suffered by both the
parties as per their ratio of investment/ contribution. The
Mudaraba model is quite compatible for funding to the
Islamic Microfinance institutions keeping both sides (asset and liability) Shari’ah compliant of IMFI. Currently it
is being practiced by some Islamic Financial institutions
with no harmful consequences.
The proposed structure of Mudaraba model is given
below:
Mudaraba Model for Islamic Microfinance Institution
Musharaka Model for Islamic Microfinance Institution
Revitalizing Concept of Waqf:
The term Waqf literally means “confinement and prohibition” or causing a thing to stop or stand still. The legal meaning of Waqf according to Imam Abu Hanifa, is
the detention of specific things in the ownership of waqf
and the devoting of its profit or products “in charity of
poor’s or other good objects” (Wikipedia). The Concept
of Waqf can also be utilized for the development of Islamic microfinance institutions where a particular property/asset or wealth or/and income can be endowment for
socioeconomic development programs i.e. poverty alleviation through different Shari’ah compliant modes of Islamic microfinance, health or education programs for the
poor’s etc. It is not mandatory in Waqf that the benefit/
income generated from the Waqf property shall be used
for the charitable purposes only rather it gives an option
to deal with Islamic microfinance effectively through
different other trade based, partnership based and rental
based Islamic microfinance products to generate income
for institutional sustainability and Social development.
(Muhammad Zubair Mughal as a Chief Executive Officer of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics
(CIBE) has been working consistently for last ten (10)
years for poverty alleviation through Islamic Microfinance concept; he can be reached at zubair.mughal@
alhudacibe.com )
57
Moses and Jesus and all the
Prophets Preached Islam
Ahmad Wahhaj Al-Siddiqui
‫إن الدين عند اهلل اإلسالم‬
Truly, the Religion with Allah Is Islam
(Qur’an-3/19)
Moses came with Torah and Jesus with New
Testament. First, we shall see about Torah. Its
scrolls were given to Moses; The Jewish scholars have acknowledged that Torah’s original
text in Hebrew is irretrievably lost. Rabbis acknowledge that a number of Israelite Kings had
attempted to uproot Torah and change its teachings. Thus during reign of Achaz (578-562)
BCE many Torah’s scrolls were destroyed, In Tony Bushby’s the Bible Fraud it is said:
We find a staggering 14,800 differences from
today’s Bible. It reported: In 1415 the Church
of Rome took an extraordinary steps to destroy
all knowledge of two second century Jewish
books that it said contained the true name of Je-
58
sus Christ.
It reported: Solomon Roman 1554 also burnt
many thousands of Hebrew scroll and in 1559
every Hebrew book in the city of Prague was
confiscated. The mass destruction of Jewish
books including hundreds of copies of the Old
Testament were destroyed. Thus many hand
written documents were irretrievably lost.
Now we shall see the New Testament. It consists of four Gospels. Mathew, Mark, Luke and
John. The first three Gospels are known as synoptic Gospels. The synoptic Gospels presented
Jesus as a man who preached Islamic monotheism.
Jesus said: Here O Israel, the Lord our
God is the only Lord, love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark
12-29,30, Luke 22-37,38) l Dhul-Qaadah1436/September 2015 l
And in the morning rising up a great while before
day he went up, and departed into solitary place and there
prayed. (Mark 1-35)
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and
prayed (Luke 5-16)
The aforesaid verses of the Gospels and many others
prove that Jesus was unitarian and preached monotheism
of Islam.
It seems the Christian infer godhood for Jesus from
few of his sayings wherein he called his Creator as his
father. But in those days, the term father was used to
show a very high regard by saying the word father as we
still say Christian fathers. Similarly, the word son was to
show the utter most obedience. It is an undeniable fact
that Jesus did not restrict the use of words father and son
for himself but he included the common people. Jesus
said: Tell them that I am now ascending to my Father and
your Father my God and your God. (John 20-17)
Love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors
only so can you be the children of your Father. (Mathew
5- 44,45)
How blest are the peace makers, God shall call them
his sons. (Mathew 5- 9) Jesus called himself as son of
the man on sixty places in the New Testament i.e. he was
a man born with manhood to call him God the son is
against their own written synoptic Gospels. Nowhere the
dogma of Trinity is found in the act of Apostles or in the
synoptic Gospels.
A later insertion is made in Mathew 28-19 baptize men everywhere in the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. This is not found in the older
prints: It is a deliberate distortion in Mathew. The belief
of Triune god is inserted to prove Trinity. Encyclopedic
World Dictionary writes: A common view is applied to
first three Gospels, Mathew Mark and Luke from their
similarity in contents, order and statement. The aforesaid
insertion damaged Mathew’s Gospel being synoptic. Jesus said: But you must not be called ‘rabbi’ for you
have one Rabbi, and you are all brothers. Do not call any
man on earth ‘father’ for you have one Father and He is
in the heaven. Nor must you be called teacher, you have
one Teacher, the Messiah. (Mathew 23-8 to 10)
The above text proves that the disciples of Jesus called him rabbi meaning him a teacher. Jesus said:
Your Father is one who is in the heaven repudiates the
dogma of Triune God. Had there been any idea of Triune
God to Jesus, he would not have failed to preach it. Your
Father is one Who is in the heaven proves Jesus was
preaching monotheism, the very basic belief of Islam.
How it can be that a prophet sent by God shall not men-
tion Triune God, which forms the very basic belief of the
present day of Christian religion. Nobody could dream of
saying the prophet failed in preaching the truth. All the
scholars called them the synoptic Gospels. This proves
that the previously mentioned insertion in Mathew (in
1970 print) is deliberate distortion.
Trinity as defined by Athanasian Creed: Trinity is one
person of the father, another of the Son and another of the
Holy Ghost. But Godhead of the father, of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost is all one. The father is God, the Son
is God and the Holy Ghost is God, yet there are not three
gods but one God.
It is self-contradictory, the dogma of Trinity was invented more than 300 hundred years after Jesus, not only
the Synoptic Gospels but also the fourth Gospel does not
contain any reference to Trinity.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia bearing the Nihil obstat Imprimatur indicating official approval Vol. 14 page
299 acknowledging this fact states: “The formation of
One God in three persons was not solidly established into
Christian life and its profession of faith prior to the end of
fourth century. But it is precisely this formation that has
first claim to the title to the Trinitarian dogma among the
Apostolic fathers, there had been nothing even remotely
approaching such a mentality or perspective.”
Jesus said: Do not call any man on earth ‘father’ for
you have one Father and He is in the heaven as referred
to above repudiates the dogma of Triune god. Had there
been any idea of Triune god, Jesus had never failed to
mention it. The foremost mission with which a prophet
is sent to preach the faith fearlessly. There was no reason
as to why Jesus would fail or forget to preach the godhood of the Holy Ghost or of himself. The very silence of
the synoptic Gospels in mentioning of this dogma is the
proof of its concoction.
Peter a famous disciple of Jesus said: “Men of Israel
listen to me, I speak of Jesus of Nazareth, a man singled out by God and made known to you, through miracles, portents and signs which, God worked among you
through him as you well know. (Acts2/22)
Peter in his above address told everybody that Jesus
was a man and the miracles were not his acts but they
were shown by God through him. That is what the Holy
Qur’an asserted. (Al-Imran/49).
Another place Peter quoted: The God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has given the
highest honour to His servant Jesus. (Acts/3,13) These texts evidently clear that the disciples of Jesus
had faith on him as a man, a prophet and a servant of God
and the dogma of Triune god is not found even in the Act
59
of Apostles.
As for the synoptic Gospels, Mathew, Mark and Luke
are well known among the Christian scholars as synoptic
Gospels. The famous scholars have severely criticized Gospel
of John’s veracity. It was probably written in between 95
to 105 CE.
John’s Gospel was first to deify Jesus, He said: The
Word dwelt with God and what God was the Word was.
(John-1/1) So the word became flesh, he came to dwell
among us, we saw the glory, such glory, which befits father’s only son, full of grace and truth (John 1/14) It
is preceded that Jesus told himself a man and not God
the son. John son of Zebedee, as some doubt, did not
write this gospel. According to R.H. Charles, Alfred
Loisy, Robert Eisler and other scholars he was beheaded
by Agrippa 1 in the year 44 C.E whereas the Gospel of
John was written more than half a century after his death.
The Gospel therefore, cannot be attributed to him. If we
look into the Gospel we find, the writer was Jew scribe
and in the words of H.A. Guy “The style of writing and
the thoughts in the Book suggest a Hellenistic Jew as the
author, not a Palestinian, one acquainted with the Jewish
philosophy. (The Study of the Gospels p/54)
The fourth Gospel is so opposed and different from
the synoptic Gospels that one has to say either the synoptic Gospels are untrue or the fourth Gospel is totally
a faked affair. This view is supported by Professor H.A.
Guy in his book “The Study of the Gospels (p.54) He
says: It is doubtful too, if an eye witness of Jesus ministry would so seriously deviate from the accepted view as
given in the synoptic which was considered to be based
on the authority of Peter who was behind Mark’s Gospel.”
DR. C.J. Cadoux in his book ‘The Life of Jesus’
writes: The speeches in the fourth Gospel (even apart of
the messianic claim) are so different from those in the
synoptic, and so like the comments of the fourth Evangelist himself, that both cannot be equally reliable as
records of what Jesus said.. Literally veracity in ancient
times did not forbid as it does now, the assignment of
fictitious speeches to historical characters.
The Great Biblical Scholar Who opposed Trinity Gospel of Barnabas
Barabas an eminent disciple of Jesus wrote it. It was accepted as canonical Gospel in the Churches of Alexandria until 325 A.D. It preached monotheism of Islam and
that Jesus was only a prophet of God and his servant.
It contains glad tidings of the advent of Muhammad. In
60
325 A.D. the Nicene Council that all original Gospels in
Hebrew should be destroyed. An edict was issued that
any one found in possession of these Gospels shall be put
to death. However, it survived. A microfilm copy of the
Gospel of Barnabas, which was in the Library of Congress Washington, was obtained, printed and circulated
by the Qur’anic council of Pakistan Karachi. We have
come to know that how Jesus teaching of monotheism of
Islam was destroyed to upheld the self styled dogma of
Trinity by church fathers to coordinate Christianity with
Greek paganism.
Iranaeus (130-200 C.E.)
He was a pure Christian who wrote in support of pure
monotheism. He Opposed Paul for instilling into Christianity the doctrine of the pagan Roman religion and
Platonic philosophy. He had quoted extensively from the
Gospel of Barnabas. This proved that the Gospel of Barnabas was in currency during first and second centuries of
the Christian Era. However, Greek paganism over run Jesus monotheism making him one of the triune god.
Paul of Samasata a bishop of Antioch believed that
Christ was not a God but a man and a prophet. He differed only in degree from prophets who came before him
and that God could not have become man substantially
i.e. he opposed deification of Christ.
Arius was the famous disciple of Lucian and was
Libyan by birth. He preached unity and simplicity of
Eternal God. He believed that Christ was not of the same
substance as God. He was human being as any other man.
He had a very large following among the Christians. The
teachings of Arius became so popular among the masses
that it shook the very foundation of the Pauline Church.
Arius stood against the Pauline Church and their teachings of Triune God.
Emperor Constantine’s rule extended to great part of
Europe. For administrative reason the Emperor wanted to
unite Christians within one Church. But a serious conflict
between Arius and Bishop of Alexander developed and
it endangered peace. He called a conference, but it did
not bring any result. The Emperor wanted the support
of Church, He through his weight behind Athanasius the
deputy of Bishop Alexander and banished Arius. Thus
the belief of the Trinity became the official religion of
the Empire. Fear full massacre of the Christians who resisted the self conceived dogma of Trinity followed. 270
versions of the Bible were burnt. Princess Constantina
was most unhappy on the term of events. The Emperor
was ultimately persuaded to accept the faith preached by
Arius. He was called back. The day Arius was scheduled
to visit the Cathedral of Constantinople he was killed.
The Emperor came to know it, he banished Athanasius and two other bishops and accepted the faith of
Unitarian Arius. Thus the dogma of Islamic monotheism
with which Jesus had come prevailed.
Various famous scholars were unitarian and denied
Triune god. They disclosed that how the monotheism
preached by Moses and Jesus was denied and Torah and
Gospels were distorted to accept Trinity. Moses and Jesus and Other Prophets Preached Islam ?
Allah made Abraham the father of the Prophets, He
chose Islam.
“The faith of your father Abraham, he hath named
you Muslim before.” (Al-Quran-22/78) That is to say being the father of the prophets Islam remained the religion
for all the prophets in his progeny.
The second most important fact is that Moses never
said that he came with Judaism, neither in Torah there is
no such statement that this Book hath been sent down for
Jews. On the contrary the Qur’an says: “Abraham was
not a Jew nor Christian but he was an upright Muslim
and he was not of the polytheists”.(Al-Quran-3/67) That
is to say Torah or the Gospels were not for the Jews or
Christians, but these were heavenly Books sent for the
followers of the prophets, Who were they?
The Qur’an says: “And when Abraham and Ishmael
were raising the foundations of the House (Ka’aba) they
said: “Our Lord accept from us this (service) Verily Thou
art the Hearer and Knower. Our Lord make us twain submissive unto Thee, and of our progeny a nation Muslim
adherent to Thee”. (Al-Baqrah/127,128)
Therefore, from the progeny of Abraham are. Moses
and Jesus and others the people followed them are all
Muslims. The Progeny of Ishmael is well known as Islamic nation. “And Abraham enjoined upon his sons, and so did
Jacob O my sons! Allah hath chosen for you (the true)
religion, so die not except while you are Muslims.” (AlBaqarah/132)
“O were ye witness when death approached Jacob
when he said unto his sons: What will ye worship after
me. They said: We shall worship thy God, the God of thy
fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, the One and only
God and to Him we are Muslims. (Al-Baqarah/133) It is evident that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are Muslims and their progeny promised to worship, One and
only God (Allah), the Unitarian dogma of Islam professing themselves as Muslims.
“ And when I inspired the disciples (of Jesus) saying:
Believe in Me, and My messenger, they said, “We believe
and bear witness that We are Muslims.” (Al-Qur’an-5111) In another verse of the Qur’an: “Say we believe in Allah and in what is revealed to us and what is revealed
to Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac and Jacob, and AlAsbaat (Jacob’s sons) and what is given to Moses and
Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord, we make no
distinction in any of them and we are Muslims.” (AlQuran-3/84)
Pharaoh gathered 12 thousand magicians to stand before Moses. The magicians threw their sticks and ropes
and by their spell they made the people look that 12 thousand snakes coming to attack Moses. Allah ordered him
to throw his staff. It changing into a big serpent devoured
all those serpents in a lightning speed. The magicians bewildered and said had Moses been a Magician, he would
have broken their spell, the serpents would have reverted
back to ropes and sticks, which they had brought on three
hundred camels, but when all those sticks and ropes disappeared leaving no trace of them, they fell down prostrate saying:. “We believe in the Lord of the worlds, the
Lord of Moses and Aaron” (Al-Araaf/123) When Pharaoh told them: “Surely I will cut off your
hands and your feet from opposite sides and crucify you.
(Al-Araaf/124). “They said thou take vengeance on us
because we believed in the signs in our Lord, when they
came to us. Our Lord vouchsafe to us patience and cause
us to die as Muslims.” (Al-Araaf/126). This incident
proves that Moses preached Islam. The Prophet Solomon sent a letter to Queen Bilquis
of the Kingdom of Sheba telling her: “Exalt not yourselves against me, and come to me as Muslims. (AlQur’an 27/31)
However the Queen Bilquis came obeying Solomon
and she said: O’Lord indeed I have wronged myself, I
do now submit in Islam with Solomon, to the Lord of the
worlds. (Al-Quran-27/44.) The aforesaid details prove that Torah and Gospels
had teachings to worship Unitarian God, the basic belief of Islam, but these heavenly Books were distorted.
“The Jews say: Ezra is the son of God and the Christians say Jesus is the son of God that is their saying with
their mouths, they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved”. (Al-Quran-9/30). To seek associate with God is
Roman paganism, the Jews and Christians denied Torah
and Gospel and the teachings of their prophets, who had
taught them the monotheism of Islam. It is crystal clear from the aforesaid facts that Moses
and Jesus and other prophets preached Islam.
61
Rabita Roundup
Mohammad Zakir Hossain
MWL Secretary General receives
Director of Islamic University in Jakarta
The Secretary General of Muslim
World League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah
bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki received
here at the MWL headquarters the
Director of Islamic University in Jakarta Professor Waidi Rosada Ahmed
and his accompanying delegation.
During the meeting, they discussed aspects of cooperation between the two sides for the interest of
Islam and Muslims.
School’s Director General in Mauritania
The Secretary General of Muslim World
League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul
Mohsin Al-Turki received here in Makkah the Director General of Ibn Amer
Islamic schools in Mauritania Ahmed
Mohammed Al-Amin Al-Sheikh.
During the meeting, they discussed
aspects of cooperation between the two
sides in the field of education.
62
President of Islamic University in India
The Secretary General of Muslim
World League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah
bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki received
here in Makkah al-Mukarramah the
President of Islamic University in India Dr Taqiyyu-Eddin Al-Nadawi.
ways of cooperation between the two
sides for the good of Islam and Muslims, particularly in the field of education.
President of Islamic Affairs in Ethiopia
The Secretary General of Muslim World
League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul
Mohsin Al-Turki received here at Makkah al-Mukarramah the President of
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in
Ethiopia Mohammed Amin Jamal.
ways of cooperation between the two
sides for the good of Islam and Muslims,
particularly in the areas of religious dissemination and education.
63
Governor of South State of Somalia
The Secretary General of the Muslim World
League (MWL) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul mohsin
Al-Turki, received here at MWL headquarters,
Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adam, the governor of
south State of Somalia and the special advisor
to Somali President.
During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments on the Islamic and African
arena.
For his part, Sharif Adam praised the Islamic
and humanitarian works being provided by the
Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques to Muslims in Somalia and the world.
MWL Secretary General Receives
France Alsace Muslims League Head
Secretary General of the Muslim World League
(MWL) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Al-Turki received here at MWL headquarters, chairman of Alsace Muslims League in France, Dr.
Mahfouz Zawi and the director of the Institutes
and projects for call to Allah Almighty in France
Ahmed Marceau.
During the meeting, they discussed aspects
of cooperation between the League and the Muslims of Alsace in France for the good of Islam
and Muslims, particularly in the areas of call to
Allah Almighty, awareness and education.
64
l Dhul-Qaadah1436/September
l Shaban1436/June 2015 l
2015 l

King Salman - Muslim World League

Transcription

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