Sunday, January 25, 2015

Living Islam: Miracle on a Dawa Mission

It is refreshing to note the diverse nature of the work of faith and spiritual conviction, being performed by the brothers of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam in India on a voluntary, personal and collective basis, to establish Tawheed in this era and to bring about spiritual transformation in society through the sustained, internal engagement with, and propagation of, the Message of Allah in this era, through the advent of the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib(atba) of Mauritius

In the course of his Friday Sermon of January 23, 2014 the Khalifatullah (atba) shared with the world some of these remarkable efforts being made by his disciples in India. Inspired by the personal example of the Khalifatullah (atba) himself, the Amir Sahib of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, (Kerala-South) Mukarram Jamaluddin Sahib of Mathra goes on a Dawa Mission and is blessed with an astonishing experience of a miracle in favour of living Islam through the advent of the Khalifatullah (atba), and also with an extraordinary dream filled with the sweetness of faith; a Tarbiyat/Tabligh seminar in the northern region where a section of our brothers assembled to talk about the challenges of remaining true to one's own spiritual convictions and the obligations of Bai'at it entails; brothers in Tamil Nadu seek to spread the message of the advent of the Khalifatullah (atba) through publications in their Tamil language, etc.

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon: 

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, the Amir of our Jamaat in Kerala (South Zone) Jamaluddin Sahib has related to me how he was inspired by Dawa Missions around the world, and he decided after my return from London that he shall also go on a special journey to spread the message of Islam, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam and the advent of a Khalifatullah to all people he shall meet. He chose specific parts of Tamil Nadu, especially those places where Islam were first implanted in those parts of the state. (For a 360 veiw of the Ervadi Dargah in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, click here.) 

He says that unfortunately, nowadays these places have become dirty places (both physically and spiritually) and the worst of sins which people commit is when they go on Dargas to pray the saints (Pirs), or people whom the others take as saints. Therefore, along with his cousin who is a member of the Sunnat-e-Jamaat, they went to those places. The Amir Sahib went for his Dawa/tabligh, to bring these people back to Tawheed (the unity of God) whereas his cousin was one of those who are believers in those saints and practices.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Husband and Wife: Rights and Limits

Men are guardians over women by (right of) what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend from their wealth. (An-Nisa, 4: 35)

In the same verse Allah (swt) continues to say that righteous women should be devoutly obedient, guarding in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard, even if nobody is watching them.

Therefore, based on this Qur'anic verse, the husband’s responsibility to fulfill his duties towards his wives is as important as those of the wives (or wife, should he have only one) towards their husband. And the Qur'an makes us understand that a husband has a little more authority upon his wife/wives than the latter upon him.

This verse of the Qur'an also shows that both man and wife enjoy each, rights (which have been bestowed to them by Allah) and which they have the right to demand from each other. And Allah (swt) has also showed the relation and responsibility which must exist between husband and wife whereby each one knows his/her rights.
 
Allah says in the Holy Quran: They are an apparel (garment) for you and you are an apparel for them. (2: 188)

By revealing this verse, Allah (swt) wanted to make us understand that the rights of both the husband and wife are equal. You all know that garments are meant to cover our body, especially its defects. Moreover, garments are means to embellish ourselves, man and woman and to protect us from heat and cold.

By likening the husband and wife as garments, Islam wants to show that a good wife is one who protects the honour and dignity of her husband, and she does not go outside and relate to creatures the defects/weaknesses of her husband, and similarly a good husband is one who does not humiliate, blame or relate the defects/weaknesses of his wife with others. This is the beauty of Islam, whereas the garment mentioned means Purdah (covering). The beauty therein is the way in which the woman must neither uncover her beauty nor her clothing before other men. She is to reserve that right to her husband. As for the husband, he is to remain loyal to his life (he must not lead a bad life). It is then that there shall be peace, tranquillity and blessings in their household.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Parental Responsibilities

Nowadays parents are teaching their children a lot on only the material aspect of education. They make all necessary preparations in this field ever since the birth of their children. Here, in Mauritius, we see children being admitted to pre-primary schools at around 3 years old, and when they reach their 5 years old, they go to primary school, then secondary, and finally to university, be it locally or they are sent abroad (to pursue their studies). Parents are ready to make debts so that their offspring study to obtain a degree or diploma. They readily invest a lot of money to secure his (material) future. They are even ready to mortgage their houses, lands to make their children succeed in their advanced studies and become doctors, engineers or lawyers etc., and they do it all with much pride.

All these endeavours are very good, I am not condemning this, but you (parents) should not look at only the material aspect of your children’s education. When you do so, you let this world attract you more so that you may get acclamations in society as the parent/s of such doctor, lawyer etc; and, this despite being overloaded with debts which you contracted to make him/her reach this level of mundane success. And, this despite the fact that there is no guarantee that he/she is grateful to you for the sacrifices done to make him/her get his/her diploma; he may as well neglect you and cast you aside. Or, despite the efforts made, even if your child succeed in becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer etc., but at the end of the day he is null in Deen (religious) matters. All in all, it is a serious matter for you as parents if all this does not affect you the least.

The neglect of Deen

If your child turned out to be ungrateful and/or disconnected with religion after having obtained his degree as a doctor, or lawyer, and he does not pray Salat/Namaz, neglect the reading of the Holy Qur'an and is not at all attached to the religion of Islam, does this not bring a regret in your heart? Does this not affect you if he is Muslim only in name? Then, who is responsible for this state of affairs? This makes you go back in time to see whether you have given him some teachings of the religion of Islam (and how much of it). If ever you actually gave him some training in Deen (religious) matters, then bear in mind that this is not restricted to only a little practice of Namaz (obligatory prayers) – even then, even if prayer is not done in time – or a little reading of the Holy Quran – whenever he gets the time to do so! Despite a little practice of Namaz (Salat) and Qur'an reading, bear in mind that your child has not obtained all Islamic teachings!