Poem: 'Beautiful Tomorrow'

 

In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

  

Beautiful is the mind which comprehends 

The essence of a beautiful environment

Our heart and soul is deeply attached 

To the essence of Beauty, 

For, we were created Beautiful.

Light became light,

When Beauty was made apparent

In the heart of mankind.

One and all are from the world of creation,

The world which a Creator created 

Out of His own majestic and intrinsic Beauty.

Prayer: Your Path to Allah

 

“O you who believe! When you rise up for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows, and lightly rub your heads and (wash) your feet up to the ankles.” [Surah Al-Maida, HQ, 5: 7] 

As Allah (twt) has commanded us in this Quranic verse, we must first do the prescribed ablutions and that too, in a complete way. Likewise, in a Hadith, our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) told us: “The prayer of one who does not have his ablution is not accepted.” This Hadith has been reported by Ibn Majah. – How it is important, before making the prayer, that is, to make the ablutions! 

Prayer is vital [very important] in a believer’s life. It is one of the pillars of his faith. Prayer is that meeting with Allah (twt) which connects you – that is, the believer with his Creator. So open your heart and invite Allah (twt) into your life. When Allah (twt) enters the scene, miracles happen. Keep praying, Allah (twt) indeed listens to your prayer. It’s just a matter of right timing. Never lose hope. Just when you think it’s over, Allah (twt) sends a miracle. When you are feeling down, Allah (twt) doesn’t forget your prayers. He [i.e. Allah] will answer when the time is right and never think another thing when you are praying to Allah (twt). Concentrate in your prayer. Make as if [Recall] that Allah is present before you. Don’t let Satan [Ibliss] come in your mind, don’t let him come between you and Allah. Allah is Great [Allahu Akbar]. His love also is great. 

Poem: 'At the Door of My Lord'

 

What can I say about my feelings?

I yearn to become close to my Lord

Every prick and stone in my way

To be removed so that I can fly towards my Lord

 

I wish to be there where the world revolves around my Saviour

I am no longer alone and lonely as long as my Lord is by my side 

In a world much mysterious I yearn for the secret of the famous sound,

I want to have those wings of love which would surely guide me to the Omnipresent God

 

Taking into stride all my chances, I failed on the way

How can You forgive me for my sins, O Bountiful One?

The heart You know in all its deepest compartments,

How can I regain Your Love, O My Sweet Lord?

'Deeni Ta'lim': Learn & Teach

 

Iman, Islam & Spiritual Education 

Both the words, Islam and Iman, are used synonymously. Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran: “Verily, (the true) Deen with Allah is Islam”. (Al-Imran, 3: 20) 

“Whoever searches for a Deen other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him (i.e. His adoption of any other religion will never be acceptable to Almighty Allah). And, in the Aakhirah he (the one who chooses another religion) will be ruined”. (Al-Imran, 3: 86) 

“Whoever among you turns away from his Deen (Islam) and then dies being a Kafir, his good deeds will be ruined in this world and the Aakhirah. Such people are the inmates of the Fire; therein will they remain forever”. (Al-Baqara, 2: 218)

 

The ruin of one’s Islam in this world is the nullification of one’s Nikah. By reneging from Islam, the renegade’s (Murtad’s) wife falls out of his Nikah. He is also deprived of inheritance. He will not inherit in the estate of any Muslim. After death there is no Janaza Salat for him. The ruin of one’s deeds in relation to the Aakhirah is the everlasting residence in hell.  

Solidarity with Palestine

  

Through a series of 'divide and rule' policies in the last four decades, the United States of America played a dubious role as a meddling superpower in the destabilization of countries in the Muslim world. The continuing US support for Israel's inhuman treatment of the Palestinian peoples as well as the ongoing US-Israeli political manipulations to destroy the Palestinian nation through 'a thousand cuts', are a searing reminder of the larger religious and political threats facing the wider Muslim community in our times. 

In his Friday Sermon of 02 July 2021~20 Dhul-Qaddah 1442 AH Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius takes a close and hard look at  contemporary world politics, to identify and call out the hatred that is shaping American double-standards at work in its threatening policies vis-a-vis Muslim peoples in different lands- in contrasts to its policies vis-a-vis Israel's "security". Urging international solidarity and support for the dignity of the oppressed in Palestine, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) underscores the need for everyone to wake up and understand the larger political designs at work, and resist the Evils of injustice, oppression and violence through the power of Prayer and fervent invocations to the Lord Almighty for Divine Justice.     

Read the Friday Sermon Below:

Return of the Taliban

 

The fall of the US-propelled government in Afghanistan along with the swift and dramatic capture of power by the Taliban in Kabul, is nothing short of a geopolitical earthquake in international affairs in our times. For one, it marks a defining moment in the unravelling history of American excesses abroad in the name of “war on terror” and attempts to impose their perception of democracy on other nations and peoples.  Likewise, for the region and the world, the larger question is this: can the Taliban- now, the de facto government in Kabul- live down its dreadful legacy, turn a new page in political pragmatism, and usher in a period of peace, security and development for the people of Afghanistan? 

A Legacy of Excesses on All Sides

Afghanistan’s modern destiny is marred by much internal political strife and blood-letting, especially in the last four decades. Illegal interventions and invasions by foreign powers- [the Soviet Union (1979-1989), and the United States (2001-2021) followed by counter-mobilization by militant groups armed and aided by interested foreign governments, and the consequent internecine warfare destabilized the land for long years. The emergence of Taliban in the Afghan refugee camps of Pakistan, and its militant extremism- blurring the line between political resistance and support for indiscriminate and unrestrained violence in the name of ideology/religion against hostile foreign powers as well as defenceless civilians cannot be divorced from this complex political and regional backdrop- including the lucrative profits from mass cultivation of, and trade in, opium and other narcotic substances across borders with colluding elements in Pakistan. 

Domestically, when the Taliban was in power in the land during 1996-2001, its policies were starkly marked by denial of educational opportunities to girl children; curtailment of women’s rights; cruel and degrading treatment of minorities; institutionalization of vengeance in the form of medieval punishments on opponents and enemies of the regime- all in service of a narrow-minded, extremist and simplistic understanding of the Islamic Shari’ah, bringing disrepute to the very Faith they claimed to serve- with hardly any country in the world recognizing the Mullah Muhammad Omar regime in Kabul in those years.

Poem: 'If All the Seas Were Ink'

 

If all the seas and all the trees

Were ink and writing pen

And writing was the only business

Of all the women and men

If all the time they thought and wrote

And doubled the seas and trees

The words of Allah would never end

They may write as long as they please.