Sunday, October 24, 2010

How to cleanse our heart?

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the Creator, the Sustainer.

The Prophet has said: “When a believer sins, a black dot appears in his heart, and then when he repents, his heart is cleansed (of the black spot). And when he sins more, the spot enlarges, till it covers the entire heart. Hence, this is the stain that Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an: ‘By no means! But on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) that they do!’ (Qur’an, 83:14)’” (Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal)

Someone once told me that it is better to stop sinning than do a good deed. I believe it to be true. If we are not performing alot of good deeds, we may still enter Jannah. All is required that we perform the duties (Faraidh), and avoid Major Sins.

Only chance to get guidance from Allah is to have a clean heart, and Major Sins blackens the heart very fast. So, if we can avoid Major sins, we have a very good chance of turning it around. Otherwise the blackness will keep us "bored" from the guidance.

Following is a pretty good list of Major Sins, which we can stop doing. It may not be in the order of severity, but we should work on all of them.

Some of the major sins or kaba’ir are as follows:

1. Associating partners with Allah (Shirk)

2. Committing murder (25:68)

3. Performing Sorcery (2:102)

4. Not performing the Prayers (19:59)

5. Withholding the Zakah (3:180)

6. Breaking the fast of Ramadan or not fasting in that month without a valid excuse.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing the prayers, paying the Zakah, making the pilgrimage to the house (Hajj), and fasting the month of Ramadan.” (Sahih al-Jami # 2837)

7. Not performing the pilgrimage when one has the ability to do so.

8. Disobeying one’s parents (17:23)

9. Severing ties of kinship. (47:22)

10. Committing adultery or fornication (17:30)

11. Committing sodomy

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah will not look at a person (with pleasure) who commits sodomy with a man or a woman.” (Sahih al-Jami # 7678)

12. Taking or paying interest (2:275)

13. Devouring the wealth of orphans (4:10)

14. Forging statements concerning Allah or forging Hadith (39:60)

15. Fleeing from the battle (8:16)

16. Wrongdoing, deception or oppression on the part of the ruler (42:42)

17. Being arrogant, boastful and vain (16:23)

18. Giving false testimony (25:72)

19. Drinking alcoholic beverages (5:90)

20. Gambling (5:90)

21. Slandering innocent women (24:23)

22. Misappropriating something from the booty (3:161)

23. Stealing (5:38)

24. Committing highway robbery (5:33)

25. Making false oath

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If someone is ordered to take an oath and he takes a false oath in order to take possession of property of a Muslim, then he will incur Allah's wrath when he meets Him.” (Sahih al-Jami # 6083)

26. Committing oppression

27. Levying illegal taxes

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do you know who the bankrupt is? The bankrupt form my nation is the one who appears on the Day of Resurrection having performed the prayers, fasted and paid the Zakah, but had also abused that person, slandered that person, wrongfully taken the wealth of that person and spilled the blood of that person. These people will take from his good deeds. If his good deeds are thereby exhausted, he will be given their sins and then he will be thrown into the hell-fire.” (Sahih al-Jami #87)

28. Consuming forbidden wealth or taking it by any means (2:188)

29. Committing suicide (4:29)

30. Being a perpetual liar (3:61)

31. Ruling by laws other than the laws of Islam (5:44)

32. Engaging in bribery (2:188)

33. Women appearing like men and vice-versa.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah's curse is upon women who appear like men and upon men who appear like women.” (Sahih al-Jami # 4976)

34. Being a “dayyouth.”

Dayyouth is the one who approves the indecency of his womenfolk and who is void of jealousy or a pimp who facilitates indecency between two people. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah has forbidden the Paradise to three people: the alcoholic, the runaway slave, and the one who is complacent in the face of the evil deeds that his family is performing.” (Sahih al-Jami # 3047)

35. Marrying for the purpose of making a woman allowable for another.

36. Not keeping clean from the remains of urine.

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a grave and said, “These two are being punished and they are not punished for something hard. But it is a great sin. One of them did not keep himself clean form his urine and the other went around spreading tales.” (Sahih al-Jami # 2436)

37. Acting for show (107:4-6)

38. Acquiring knowledge only for worldly gain or concealing knowledge (2:160)

39. Breaching trusts (8:27)

40. Reminding people of one's kindness (2:27)

41. Denying predestination (54:49)

“If Allah were to punish the inhabitants of the heavens and earths, then He would punish and He would not be doing injustice to them. If He were to have mercy on them, His mercy would be greater than their actions. If a person had amount of gold equivalent to Mount Uhud or similar to Mount Uhud and spent it in the Path of Allah, (that spending) would not be accepted form him by Allah until he believes in the preordainment of good and evil. And until he knows that what afflicted him was not going to miss him and what missed him was not going to afflict him. If you were to die with any belief other than that, you would enter the Hellfire.” (Kitab al-Sunnah by Ibn Abu Asi # 245. Albani says that its chain is Sahih)

42. Eavesdropping on other’s private conversation. (49:12)

43. Spreading harmful tales (54:10)

44. Cursing others.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Abusing a Muslim is evil and fighting him is disbelief.” (Sahih al-Jami # 3598)

45. Not fulfilling one’s promises.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever has a four characteristic is a complete hypocrite. Whoever posses any of these characteristics has the characteristics of hypocrisy until he gives it up; whenever he makes a promise, he breaks it up…” (Al-Bukhari)

46. Believing in what soothsayers & astrologers say.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever goes to fortuneteller and asks him about something will not have his prayer accepted for forty nights.” (Sahih al-Jami # 5816)

47. A wife being rebellious to her husband (4:34)

48. Striking one's self, wailing, tearing one's clothing, pulling one's hair & similar deeds as a form of mourning.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “One who strikes his cheeks or tears his clothing and shouts in the manner of pre-Islamic culture is not one of us.” (Sahih al-Jami # 5713)

49. Being overbearing or taking advantage of the weak, slaves, wives or animals

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah will torture those who torture people in this world.” (Reported by Muslim)

50. Harming neighbors.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person whose neighbor is not safe from his mischief will not enter paradise.” (sahih al-Jami # 7002)

51. Harming and abusing Muslims (33:58)

52. Harming the slaves of Allah.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that Allah said, “Whoever shows enmity to a slave of Mine (Allah's) I shall be at war with him.” (Sahih al-Jami # 1778)

53. Men wearing silk & gold.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Gold and silk have been permitted for the females of my nation and forbidden for its males.” (Sahih al-Jami # 209)

The Prophet (saw) also said, “Men who wears silk in this world will have no portion [of heavens] in the hereafter.” (Muslim)

54. Sacrificing animals for other than Allah.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The one who sacrifices for other than Allah is cursed by Allah.” (Sahih al-Jami # 4988)

55. Claiming that somebody is one’s father while the claimant knows it is not true.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “One who claims that someone is his father and knows that it is not true will be forbidden of paradise.” (Sahih al-Jami # 5865)

56. Arguing or quarreling for show & not seeking the truth.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever argues in support of something that is wrong and he knows it Allah will be angry with him until he stops.” (Sahih al-Jami # 6073)

57. Not measuring weights properly (83:1-3)

58. Thinking that one is safe from Allah’s planning (7:99)

59. Eating carrion, blood or pork meat (6:145)

60. Continually not performing the Friday prayers and congregational prayers without any valid excuse

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If people don't stop abandoning the Friday Prayers Allah may seal their hearts and they will become headless.” (Reported by Muslim)

61. Harming others by manipulation one’s bequests (4: 12)

62. Being deceitful or deceptive (35:43)

63. Spying on the Muslims & pointing out their secrets (68:11)

64. Abusing or reviling anyone of the Companions of the Prophet (saw)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do not revile my companions for, by the One in whose hands is my soul, if you were to spend in charity a mountain of gold similar to mount Uhud it would not be equal to a handful or a half a handful (or what they have done).” (Sahih al-Jami # 7187)

JazakAllah Khairin

AbuArman
A Struggling Muslim



Referances

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543812#ixzz13H4WdKja

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

How to become practicing Muslim?

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the Creator, the Sustainer.


" By Al-'Asr (the time).Verily! Man is in loss, Except those who believe (in Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'rûf)which Allâh has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar)which Allâh has forbidden), and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allâh's Cause during preaching His religion of Islâmic Monotheism or Jihâd, etc.)." (Quran 103)

"At-Tabarani recorded from `Abdullah bin Hisn Abi Madinah that he said, "Whenever two men from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to meet, they would not part until one of them had recited Surat Al-`Asr in its entirety to the other, and one of them had given the greetings of peace to the other.'' Ash-Shafi`i said, "If the people were to ponder on this Surah, it would be sufficient for them.''" (Tafsir ibn Kathir)


Above Surah is the best scale to measure ourselves if we are on the right path. Allah makes the most perfect logical argument, I have ever seen made. Allah created humans, and he understands that only using our language is not enough to convey the message, but logic has to be used to convince a human. So, Allah has used negation to begin his most important messages, and this Surah is one of them.

Humans are logical beings, and Quran is a guidance for Humans, so Allah uses language that we can understand. Instead of listing all the rules, he starts by negating every action as being useless. So, this short surah can cover everything a Human will do. If he were to list all the good we can do, it would have span a big book, because everything Allah has created is halal for us, except a very small number. Yet, we stick to that small number of haram, and call Islam as a narrow religion. "Why can't I shave my beard?" "Why can't I listen to music?" "Why can't I go out without covering my hairs and neck?"

Allah is saying that goal for creating humans is to come back to Jannah, and most of them are heading towards Hell fire, except some who change direction. Then, he lists four things "Believing in Allah", "Follow Allah's command", "Advice others regarding Islam", and "Advice others regarding restraint".

There is a logical "And" between all four, which means all 4 have to be in a human for him/her to qualify to enter Jannah, not one, two or three. That is it. This is the blue print to Jannah. Not 27th Ramadan, not Witr after Isha, not tasbeeh, not Reading Quran in Arabic, etc. Those are extra credit, and we shouldn't go for extra credit before completing the homework. By negating everything else, he Allah is presenting the four heavist things that will be enough to take us to Jannah.

So, how do we go about doing these 4 things? I have thought alot about this, and struggled since 2006.

Here is what works for me. Whenever I find something in my life in violation of order of Allah or his Rasool (PBUH), I make a plan on how to eliminate it. It is almost impossible to stop cold turkey, because you will go back or end in a state where haram and halal is mixed, which is the worst.

For example, I found out that listening to Musical instrument was haram. Now, I loved music like other Pakistanis. Junoon was my favourite band, and Amitabh's songs were my life. I tried stop listening to it altogether, but then I will felt restless. While I am driving, I needed something to occupy myself. I added one CD of 30th para with other Music, and I would switch between the haram and halal. It certainly kept the peace between the two fighting sides within me for a while.
Slowly, I added another CD of Islamic songs wihtout musical instruments, but still listen to other music to keep feeding the Nafs, so it doesn't rebel. Basically, I was weining my Nafs off from the addiction of haram Music. I certainly felt that one step I took, "help" came running 10 steps.

At that stage, I decided to remove the CDs from my car, but I still listen to Music in other forms. Musical instruments are certainly food for the soul, but they are haram food. I beleive that a person can never come close to Allah, if they always have musical tunes playing in the sub concious. As my mind start loosing grip from Musical instruments, I start seeing things clearly. Suddenly, an ayah of Quran or hadith would affect my heart, whereas before it sound really boring.

In essence, I trained myself to stop, and the restlessness went away.

See, I found it boring to pray Salat, but found it really entertaining to listen to Amitabh's and Junoon Music. I used to not mind chatting my sister in laws and other ladies in the family dinners. I used to call everyone with a beard "Maulana", which usually means "a person who takes religion too seriously, and need to lighten up". I tried my best to not look like Muslim, so people won't think about me differently...

Once I decided to practice Islam, it became really tough because my family was neck deep in unIslamic traditions. First reaction from my family was very severe. This is a story for another day.

At personal level, I found myself rebelling aginst my will. On several occassions, I
broke my oath and reverted to sin. It was very easy to just drop the restrains, and join the party, but the remembrance of death and grave kept me going.

Most difficult thing to fight is the peer pressure from your loved ones. They will mock you, or comment such as "No one is perfect" "Prophet was perfect, and we can't be like him" or "We don't have to go too deep" "we are already Muslim why do we need to do more". If one is able to fight that pressure, and stand the wind of resistence, they will be successful.

Another thing to remember is that the process of improving ones life never stops. If someone thinks that they have all the major sins undercontrolled, and praying 5 times salat, they have fallen in to the trap of Satan. If Umar (RA) can drag his face in the mud worrying if he has done enough before he passed away, who are we.

One thing that no one talks about is that, to start practicing Islam, the changes have to be made, and you will have to fight your nafs, who knows you inside out, because your nafs can play tricks where you slowly slip back into sin without knowing about it. Either your nafs can be in control, or you are. You can never share the control with your nafs. You have to starve it, you have to trick it, you have to win. So, what am I talking about?

Hadith - Sahih Muslim 6757, Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, similar narration 6759 by 'Aisha, r.a.
Allah's Apostle said: There is none amongst you with whom is not an attache from amongst the jinn (devil). They (the Companions) said: Allah's Apostle with you too? Thereupon he said: Yes, but Allah helps me against him and so I am safe from his hand and he does not command me but for good.

So, the best way to take control of your actions is to target the biggest sin in you life, and take a couple at a time, and work on them. Divide and conquer is the key. Every six months, you should be able to look back and say, "Yes, I got this sin under control" which doesn't means that you will not accidently do it, it just means that intentionally you will not allow yourself.

In conclusion, never think that you are clear, even if you are the Imam of the Masjid, because Satan is an intelligent being, and he also goes for the bigger price. Always have one sin in the target, and keep at it. Although new year doesn't mean anything from the earth's orbit perspective, but use the new year if you like, and setup some goals, and beat that nafs, before it takes all of us to Hell fire.

JazakAllah Khairin
A struggling Muslim
AbuArman (Adnan Jumani)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Can we handle the truth?

In the Name of Allah,

All praise is due to Allah, the creator the sustainer.

I received an email from a very active brother, who is very sincere in his intentions, but he mentioned that he was using Jadoo TV, and he advised me to get it as well. I politely replied to him that Jadoo TV is haram as it provides a way for people to steal programming from channels that don't allow distribution. Surprisingly, he defended the use of this illegal service.

He claimed to follow the truth, but when I explained the reason why it is Haram for Muslims to use stolen services, he could not handle it. If we claim to teach truth, we should be able to handle the truth, even if it is unpleasant. Reminds me of the famous line from a movie "You can't handle the truth!"

Then, I mentioned this to another young brother, and he was surprised to hear that. Then, he mentioned to another brother in the Masjid, and he got a strong response to this, in defense of Jadoo TV. So, he called me and asked me if I researched and have proof of what I say. Only Allah knows if it is true, but following is what I told him.

Jadoo TV does not provide channels, but provide a box that amplifies a video stream from internet to the TV. It is completely legal. Then, they provide a user forum http://myjadoo.jadootv.com which allows anyone to upload a live stream, which is also legal, because there are many channels that stream for free on the internet.

Now, most of the channels that are being hosted there are ilelgally streamed. For example, Geo TV, Fox News, Sky News are a few to name. These channels (Muslim and Non-Muslim) do not allow to stream their programming over the internet let alone distribute to homes. People who are buying these boxes are not buying for the legal channels, but for those premium channels that are available through satelite with a cost.

I called them at 619-523-6688 and asked them how can they allow illegal streaming. Their answer was very clever. They said that we don't control the forum, so if users post ilelgal content, it is up to them. They also have the following on their legal disclaimer page. https://myjadoo.jadootv.com/dmca.php

They know that the reason people are joining in is to watch premium channels for free, but they hide behind a disclaimer. Also, they make it impossible to report it by refusing to accept reports unless you own that channel. I am not able to confirm this, but Geo TV is already taking legal actions against them.

Improtant thing to note is that they may or may not be protected by their lawyers, but we are commiting haram act, rergardless, if we watch these channels knowingly that we are not paying the monthly subscription.

Let us prove this calim now that to use this service is haram from three different Sharia point of views.

1) It is illegal to stream, distribute, and watch these channels in this fashion, according to law of the land, and Islam prohibit us from breaking the law of the land.

Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “It is necessary upon a Muslim to listen to and obey the ruler, as long as one is not ordered to carry out a sin. If he is commanded to commit a sin, then there is no adherence and obedience.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 2796 & Sunan Tirmidhi)


2) These programming are property of those channels, and if we watch them without their permission, we are utilizing their property without their consent. Think of breaking into your neighbours car, and take it for a spin. Distrusting someone's property is prohibited in Islam.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time, he is doing it, and when a drinker of an alcoholic liquor drinks it, then he is not a believer at the time of drinking it, and when a thief steals, then he is not a believer at the time of stealing, and when a robber robs, and the people look at him, then he is not a believer at the time of doing robbery. (Bukhari Volume 3, Book 43, Number 655)


3) By people switching to this service versus purchasing the subscription from DishNetwork, they are hurting them financially. As you know, hurting another human (except for three allowable reasons) in Sharia is prohibited.

، أيها الناس إن دماءكم وأموالكم عليكم حرام إلى أن تلقوا ربكم كحرمة يومكم هذا ، وكحرمة شهركم هذا ، وإنكم ستلقون ربكم فيسألكم عن أعمالكم وقد بلغت ، فمن كان عنده أمانة فليؤدها إلى من ائتمنه عليها ، وإن كل ربا موضوع ولكن لكم رءوس أموالكم لا تظلمون ولا تظلمون

“O People! just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every one as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that he will indeed reckon your deeds." (Last Sermon Prophet (PBUH) Mutwatir hadith)

When Prophet (PBUH) was leaving this earth, he had a final chance to teach us the most important thing we needed to know. There were thousands of Muslims standing listening to his words. He knew that whatever he said in that occassion will echo in the world till the last day. So, the above is his opening statement. He chose to give us the ultimate order from Allah, which is not to pray salat, or fast, or zikr of Allah, or fight the kuffar.

He ordered us to respect the life and property of every Human (muslim or kuffar) as we respect Kaba. He ordered us to hurt no Human (Muslim or Kafir) (physically or ecomomically.
He used the arabic word "An'Nas" which means mankind, not "Muslimeen" or "Mu'mineen". So, don't be decieved by Satan in thinking he was talking about only Muslims.

After we have established that it is haram to use this service, it is always our choice to use haram, and give haram to our kids and spouses, but defending it to be halal is whole another level of sin.

Personally, I have done this also by watching cricket match on the internet, and I ask Allah's forgiveness for that, and I am trying to avoid this. Someone close to me does this on a daily basis from youtube, and last night I explained this to them as well.

We all make mistakes, no one should ask anyone to be perfect, but we should accept the truth when it is presented to us, and not defend the falsehood, because that doubles down on our sins.

I ask you brothers and sisters. What would you do if you see someone disrespecting Kaba. Would you stop him or her? Would you look the other way? Would you give him a chance to change his or her mind? No, ofcourse not.

So, why is that when we see someone stealing someones property or hurting someone, physically, verbally, or ecomomically, we are not stopping them with our hands, or our tongues, or atleast accept that it is a sin?

There are people among us, Muslims, who are killing innocents humans, and fellow Muslims, and we read it in the nespaper, and move on to our daily routine. Of course there are Non-Muslims who are killing Muslims as well, but they don't have Islam or the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as we do. If we return tit for tat, who would establish Islam, who would follow this order from Prophet (PBUH)?

Then, there are among us, who hurt people by deceiving humans into buying faulty products. They will not explain in their stores, the defects in the products. They should know better.

Then, there are among us who buy illegal cable boxes to avoid paying monthly subscriptions. And, on top of that they will consider it halal. It is stealing to stream content of channels that don't allow streaming. Jadoo TV is facilitating streaming of Geo TV, Fox News, CNN, etc which are the property of someone, and we are not suppose to use them without their permissions. It hurts them financially. It creates a society of thieves in our homes.

Then, there are among us who would follow the people from airport and rob them on gun point. This is so common in Pakistan, that I don't even need to explain it.

Then, there are among us who use their connections to get jobs for their relatives, and hurt more qualified candidates. May Allah destroy this trend.

Then, there are among us who use their political influence to get goverment lands or contracts, and hurt the process where others rights are opressed.

Then, there are among us who cut people off on the road. Is this the character of the one we follow? Do we only follow him in long beard and traditional clothing?

Then, there are among us who park their car blocking the path without any regards for other traffic. In the Taraweeh? let alone somewhere else. Always think twice, if our action will hurt someone.

Wallah! The list is too long. The list is too long. The list is too long.

In the Name of my Lord, these may be small for us, but they accumulate over time, and Allah has promised to account for everything as small as atom weight.

Let us promise ourselves to stop taking life or property of another Human, and stop hurting other innocent humans (Muslims or NonMuslims). Ameen!

JazakAllah Khairin
A struggling Muslim
AbuArman