Can Islam be modernized? Should it be?

[MuslimInshallah]

Greetings Eshai,


Mmm. You have many different kinds of arguments. At first they were pretty harsh and dark. They literally evoked horror in me. Now they sound a little nicer and more plausible. But at the end of the day, I feel, there are some problems with the fundamental assumptions underlying your thought.


(smile) I was in Karachi, Pakistan a little earlier this year. And at some point, someone told me: you deserve something nice. But I couldn't agree.


Because do I deserve nice clothes, nice food, nice housing, good educational and employment opportunities... more than a little street boy I saw selling ice-cream? He was a sweet little child, only about six years old, working late at night, going from car to car at a fast-food stop-off, taking orders for ice-cream. He'd get a little money for each customer he brought in.


I grew up with nice clothes, nice food, nice housing and good educational opportunities. This child obviously was not getting the anywhere near the same things as I received as a child. Did I deserve anything more than he?


As a Muslim, I don't believe that I deserve anything. Everything I have is in trust, even my body. What I have, what I earn, what I make... anything... it's not mine. It all belongs to God. I'm just holding it for some small time. But what I do with it, is part of the test I'm living. Will I grasp what I have tightly? Or will I share (wisely, of course)? Will I arrogantly believe that I am the source of my good position? Or will I humbly accept that everything I have is by my Lord's Bounty and Kindness? Will I close my eyes to the injustices of this world, or will I look for more just solutions?


Is an educational system designed to give everyone an equal opportunity? Or it is perhaps designed to teach people their place in society? Are peoples really free to choose their systems of governance, and their political leaders? Or do wealthy corporations perhaps influence or impose systems (through money or by influencing militarily strong countries, for instance) that the people do not support? Are poorer countries poor because “their” people are somehow less than “ours”? Or are there perhaps international structural reasons why these countries are poor?


Giving a little “aid” money is not a solution, I agree. Not only is this “aid” usually tied-in somehow to supporting a corporation dear to the “donor” country, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what the “donor” country is likely gaining in benefit from the recipient country, through unjust structural practices.

Teach a person to fish? Sure. But maybe the wealthy and powerful should stop polluting his rivers and seas. Stop sending huge ships to plunder his coastal waters. Stop funding tyrants to take his fishing gear away. Stop sending troops to impose a foreign law and order... that benefits mostly foreigners (and a few well-paid local lackeys).

Because the truth is, wealthy countries often get an awful lot of their wealth from those poorer countries, either directly or indirectly.


(sigh) This is a long topic. My thought is the fruit of many years of reading and talking with people and seeing for myself the realities on the ground. I don't know where you get your examples from, but they seem a bit two-dimensional to me.


If you really care, Eshai (and perhaps you do, I don't know), rather than settling for clichés and reasons to feel comfortable with your easy life (and trust me, it is easy compared to a large majority of people on this planet), I would suggest you try looking for the beautiful in people. Try seeing their sadnesses. Their dreams. Their triumphs, however small. Try looking through their eyes for a bit.


Yes, people can be lazy. They may rip off a social security system. But look a little closer. That drunk who drinks his social security money and drowns himself in mindless TV, why is he doing that? Does he look like he's enjoying himself? Is he happy? Why not? What's his story? Is he a war vet who can't bear himself? Was he molested as a child? Did he grow up in a neglectful home with no love? Did his wife and kids die in a tragedy? There are so many possibilities... but there are real people out there with real stories. Can we help them all? No, of course not. And yes, they do need to take steps to help themselves. But the first step we can take, I believe (and we are only responsible for what we do), is to care enough to know and love these real people. To see each person as the unique and precious creation of our Creator.


From the personal to the international level, I believe, we have to be honest with ourselves. And humble before God. And loving towards our fellow humans.


Because this life is not about who can amass the prettiest piles of baubles before they die (And we will all die). It's about finding out who we really are. It's about surrendering freely to God. It's about seeking closeness to Him. It's about becoming more than we started out as. (smile) Not having more. Being more.


And realizing that, even with all the growth possible, that we are the most infinitesimal specks that have been Blessed with the chance to perhaps bathe in God's Endless Ocean of Love.


(smile) Perhaps this is gibberish to you, Eshai. And I feel I must ask you if you are interested in a relationship with God and all that it implies? Are you ready to fall into His Care and learn His Will? Are you ready to be a Muslim (in the deep and original sense of the word, of one who struggles to surrender his imperfect Self to God…and thereby find greater harmony and peace)?


Because unless you are truly willing to make the effort to surrender to His Will, I think perhaps that my words are unlikely to hold much sense for you.


May Allah, the Generous One who Creates and Sustains, Open your heart to His Call.

 

[Eshai]

If you really care, Eshai (and perhaps you do, I don't know), rather than settling for clichés and reasons to feel comfortable with your easy life (and trust me, it is easy compared to a large majority of people on this planet), I would suggest you try looking for the beautiful in people. Try seeing their sadnesses. Their dreams. Their triumphs, however small. Try looking through their eyes for a bit.

I understand what you are saying here. What is more important to God: That we feel sorry for people who are less fortunate? Or, That we help those who are less fortunate? I am sure there are many people who say that they care, and say that they are thankful, and this is the cliche which they embrace to make themselves feel better. Because despite all of their words, I would wager that most of them do nothing.

What makes you think I have not seen their sadness? Because I responded with a seemingly "harsh" stance? You warned me of assumptions underlying my thoughts. Consider please.

But maybe the wealthy and powerful should stop polluting his rivers and seas. Stop sending huge ships to plunder his coastal waters. Stop funding tyrants to take his fishing gear away. Stop sending troops to impose a foreign law and order... that benefits mostly foreigners (and a few well-paid local lackeys).

What would make them stop? A change of heart? A miracle? Both are unlikely. These kinds of people will always exist, and there is only one thing that will keep them at bay. The only thing that will make such people stop are other people who summon up within themselves the power to stand up and make them stop.

If people who say they care truly cared, they would be leading the fight.

Let us indeed truly be honest with ourselves. How much do we really care? Here we are, on the Internet, all of us leading more fortunate lives than those we idly discuss... and we talk about feeling for them, and helping them. Are we not all of us liars, to some degree, as probably none of us here are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the less fortunate? How many of us, the fortunate, are actually willing to put in the work needed to help the less fortunate, and to help stop those criminals who plunder the world in name of greed? How many of us are willing to pay the price to achieve the goals we talk about while bearing mournful facades?

Even if none of you respond here with your answers, it is more important that you are honest with yourselves, as user MuslimInshaAllah has suggested.

It is not a matter of being lazy. It is a matter of having no heart to seize what is right while expecting someone else to give it to you.

And I feel I must ask you if you are interested in a relationship with God and all that it implies?

Are you?

 

[Ali Mujahidin]

Just a short answer, Eshai, to your long questions.

No.

No, Islam says nothing, as far as I know, about allowing people who are not qualified to do the job, to do the job. A man who cannot read the mandatory verses cannot lead a prayer. A man who does not have a deep knowledge of Islamic law cannot give a fatwa.

Just curious. Where did you get your assumptions about Islam?

 

[Grace Seeker]

Personally, I do not believe in "rights."

Well, Islam teaches that there are....
According to Al-Ghazali, laws derived from the moral philosophy of Sharia should protect the following basic human rights:

• Life
• Religion
• Property
• Intellect
• Family

Any Islamic law whose application fails to protect these basic rights cannot be considered the Sharia, even if it is based upon the literal application of some verses of the Quran or the Prophetic traditions.

لكننا نعنى بالمصلحة المحافظة على مقصود الشرع ومقصود الشرع من الخلق خمسة وهو أن يحفظ عليهم دينهم وأنفسهم
وعقلهم ونسلهم ومالهم فكل ما يتضمن حفظ هذه الأصول الخمسة فهو مصلحة وكل ما يفوت هذه الأصول الخمسة فهو مفسدة -

Welfare which we mean here is the protection of the objectives of the Sharia. Namely, the objectives of the Sharia are five in creation: the protection of religion, life, intellect, family relations, and property. Everything that advances the protection of these five fundamentals is considered benefit, and everything which fails to protect these five fundamentals is considered corruption.

(source: Al-Mustasfa min Ilm al-Usul 287)

 

[Eshai]

Where did you get your assumptions about Islam?

I made the assumption that Islam should make logical sense. To me, it makes logical sense that in order to do certain things, one should be qualified. Therefore, I assumed that if Islam makes logical sense, it would support the same. We may all be equal in terms of humanity in the eyes of God, but we all have our roles and our place, do we not?

When we look upon some roles with pity and feel sorry for the people in those roles, is it not us who has made the judgement that those roles are lesser? If all roles truly have value and are equal, we wouldn't feel sorrow because there would be nothing to feel sorrow for. We feel compassion only because, for some reason, we have made the judgement that those who are suffering should not suffer. But I believe that suffering is something we must all go through, and sometimes suffering is necessary to learn. Yes, sometimes it is senseless and perpetuated by the sinister, and that kind of suffering helps no one. I agree that such senseless suffering should not be endured.

Well, Islam teaches that there are....
According to Al-Ghazali, laws derived from the moral philosophy of Sharia should protect the following basic human rights...

And how are these rights protected from those who would violate them? Are these rights not protected and enforced by the strong who have the power to do so, and who choose to do so? Does not the might of the enforcers sustain the rights which they desire?

 

[Grace Seeker]

And how are these rights protected from those who would violate them? Are these rights not protected and enforced by the strong who have the power to do so, and who choose to do so? Does not the might of the enforcers sustain the rights which they desire?

Protection of rights is also an important subject, but it is a different subject than my post. One will most certainly not protect something that is not valued. You had made the comment that you did not believe in "rights". I was pointing out that such views were antithetical to Islam. Not only does Islam hold to a belief that people have certain rights, but these rights are basic to our humanity, not something that we have simply because we have taken them by force. It might be that force is required to preserve access to them, but one has the rights not because we fight for them, we have them because God grants them to us as a part of his creation. Another might take them from you for a season, but eventually every person must stand before the Creator and Judge of the world; at such a time the taking of another's basic rights from them will weigh very heavily against those who have behaved this way.

 

[Eshai]

I consider a "right" to be something that you deserve because you meet x criteria. In this case, you have certain rights because you are human, and God granted certain rights to all humans. Actually, I am in agreement with user MuslimInshallah, who said:

As a Muslim, I don't believe that I deserve anything.

Not all humans have rights.

The only humans who do have rights are the ones strong enough to take them and enforce them. So, it begs the question: for the humans who have rights, are those rights truly "rights" in the sense of the word? Are these "rights" things which have been given which those people deserving of, or are they things which are taken?

Can a "right" be something that is taken, not given? For me, I believe the answer is no. This is why I say I do not believe in "rights."

 

[Grace Seeker]

I consider a "right" to be something that you deserve because you meet x criteria. In this case, you have certain rights because you are human, and God granted certain rights to all humans. Actually, I am in agreement with user MuslimInshallah, who said:



Not all humans have rights.

The only humans who do have rights are the ones strong enough to take them and enforce them. So, it begs the question: for the humans who have rights, are those rights truly "rights" in the sense of the word? Are these "rights" things which have been given which those people deserving of, or are they things which are taken?

Can a "right" be something that is taken, not given? For me, I believe the answer is no. This is why I say I do not believe in "rights."

Well, thank you for sharing your opinion on the matter. I can see how what you said earlier is true:

I am not a Muslim and I do not understand Islam.

It is good that, as you also said, you are seeking to learn. May you listen well to your teachers in this area.

 

[ardianto]

There are many things in modern age that did not exist or did not happen in the early period of Islam. It makes Muslims in modern days often there in situation that different than Muslims in the early period. In example. Muslims in the past did traveling on camels or horses. When the salah time came they could stop and performed salah, facing the Qibla. But in modern days Muslims often do traveling in bus, train, plane and can't stop when salah time comes and not easy to always face Qibla.

How to make Muslims in modern days can perform salah in this situation?. Ulema have done "Ijtihad" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijtihad) for this matter.

Ijtihad is something that Ulema must do to make Muslims always able to follow Islam in every age. But unfortunately there are few Muslims who regard Ijtihad as modernization and call the Ulema who do Ijtihad as modernists.

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum,


(smile) When I say that I deserve nothing, I am saying that I believe that God Owes me nothing. I owe everything to God.


But God also Tells me that people have rights. For example, they have a right to kind treatment, to their property, to a share of any wealth I have over a certain basic amount I and my children require for survival. They have a right to be treated justly. To be cared for. (smile) There are many rights, I haven't made an exhaustive list.


My family has rights. My neighbours have rights. The poor have rights. The oppressed have rights. Everybody has rights. God-given rights.


(smile) We are all, in a sense, God's agents. We exist to seek closeness to God through voluntary surrender to His Will. But we also exist to potentially help others seek closeness to God. Not just by preaching. But mostly by existing. Each human being is an opportunity to work on our own relationship with God.


The Qur'an is a Guidebook. It Tells us how we can have a relationship with God. It Tells each person how to do this. It's emphasis, I find, is what on what the I reading the text can do. And these Teachings are Timeless and Perfect (smile. To connect this to the original topic of this thread).


God Owes me nothing. But He encourages me to ask. (smile) And I do. And if He Blesses me with something, whatever it is, whether I like it or not, then I should be grateful. It is a Kindness He Does for me. It is, even if I don't understand why, good for me in some way.


I owe everything to God. So if He Tells me that others have rights on me, then it is only natural that I do what God Tells me to do. Do I also have rights from others? Yes. Because I am a human being existing in relationships with other human beings.


I am very imperfect. And my understandings are no doubt flawed. But it seems to me that my focus in this life should be on what I can do that Pleases God. (smile) And from my understanding of the Qur'an and ahadith, and the promptings of my God-given inner compass of right and wrong, it seems to me that one of the major forms of pleasing God is through honouring the rights of others.


Thank you all for helping me to think more and more about God, and helping me to perhaps learn how to please Him better. (smile) Because while the Teachings are Timeless and Perfect, we imperfect humans, in each new situation we face (which are influenced by time and place), must always struggle to best understand (to the best of our imperfect abilities) what God is Gently Offering to Teach us, and try our flawed best to apply it to our actual daily lives. And, I believe, you are all helping me to do this. (smile) Thank you.


May God, the Only One who truly Knows, have Mercy on us all.

 

[Karl]

"Rights" is a hard one. Basically all "rights" and "negative rights" are put in place by the application of fear of punishment. Under God all things have equal rights i.e. when there is a terrible earthquake everything gets equally killed. No one magically drifts up out of harms way or is protected with a force field.

 

[Ali Mujahidin]

Not all humans have rights.

The only humans who do have rights are the ones strong enough to take them and enforce them. So, it begs the question: for the humans who have rights, are those rights truly "rights" in the sense of the word? Are these "rights" things which have been given which those people deserving of, or are they things which are taken?

Can a "right" be something that is taken, not given? For me, I believe the answer is no. This is why I say I do not believe in "rights."

Wait, Eshai, you are confusing this old man. So which is it? Do you believe that a right is something you take or something that you give? Yes, in the end you said you do not believe that a right is something that is taken, which is why you do not believe in rights. So if you believe that a right is not something that is taken, it would mean that you believe that a right is something which is given. In which case, why wouldn't you believe in rights?

Look at it this way.

Children are given rights. They have a right to, say, education. This right is obviously given because children, obviously, do not have the might to take this right to education. So do you not believe that children have a right to education even though it is a right which is given? Do you not believe that we, adults, who have the might, have a responsibility to make sure that children, who do not have the might, are given the right to education?

Please enlighten me.

 

[Snow]

I consider a "right" to be something that you deserve because you meet x criteria. In this case, you have certain rights because you are human, and God granted certain rights to all humans. Actually, I am in agreement with user MuslimInshallah, who said:



Not all humans have rights.

The only humans who do have rights are the ones strong enough to take them and enforce them. So, it begs the question: for the humans who have rights, are those rights truly "rights" in the sense of the word? Are these "rights" things which have been given which those people deserving of, or are they things which are taken?

Can a "right" be something that is taken, not given? For me, I believe the answer is no. This is why I say I do not believe in "rights."

Amazing point of view. Sounds like Ayn Rand 2.0
Just to mention an exaggerated example.
Look at Stephen Hawking, I could have my way with him through force but I accept that even though he does not apply to your definition of rights, as he could not enforce his will against me, he is without rights? He can contribute in other ways than being defined by how able he is to "enforce".
You almost make it sound like oppressing is a value.

 

[drkashifj]

I have been banned and abused a lot of times for writing about jihad.present day "muslims" even fear the word of jihad while kufar are free in their fora to abuse islam and Islamic personalities.
than some muslims of large Islamic fora claim that we are trying to convert non muslims to islam so we can not talk about jihad.
the question rises that why did prophet (sallalah u alih e wasallum) did not give up jihad when he was doing tableegh or preaching?
prophet (sallalah u alih e wasallum) and than sahaba raziallah unhum fought dozens of battles or ghazwas /saryas when islam was in its early era.

so how we agree to this dominant view of todays muslims (mostly those settled in west or secular muslim countries) that if we hide info about jihad and portray mujahideen of islam in negative light and side with secular muslim governments like Pakistan /bangaldesh and Egypt etc (who are siding with kufar agenda) than we will serve islam better somehow?

my view is that if a nonmuslim has truth in his or her heart he will embrace islam in its entire form...even if you convert a non muslim to islam and he does not believe in jihad etc than will he be a complete muslim?

point to ponder!

 

[OmAbdullah]

Re: Can Isalm be modernized? Should it be?

Pretty sure when Islam came, it Modernized civilization. We aren't where we were many centuries ago, but our system can never fail us, it's just the people who apply it in their own way that can.

Basically, the corrupt Leaders who want their own benefit in things hurt the progression of the Muslim Ummah. There was a time where there was money being heavily funded in Universities and places of education and people from all around the world used to come to the Muslims for answers, but that all changed once leaders and people turned away from the Creator and decided to gain their own power, their own way of doing things, money going into wars and military, thats when the Great empire fell. I don't see it as an coincidence that there's so much problem happening in the world today, especially in the Muslim lands.

I am sure things will change once people decide to change themselves, as the Quran tells us to.

Assalaam-o-alaikum, May Allah bless you for this Truth.


I, really, found your answer to be the excellent answer and a pure Truth!!!


Who can be more true than Allah? Surely, NO ONE.

Allah is Assdaqul Qaa'ileen. The Most True of all. Allah said in the Holy Quraan:
فبأي حديث بعده يؤمنون
"Then what will they believe in after this modern statement"


According to this statement of Allah The Greatest, Quraan along with the Sunnah gives us the most modern way of life. It shall remain modern until the last day of this world.


The Prophet Muhammad salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam changed the name "Yathrab" to "Madinah" when he established it into an Islamic state. Madinah and Madaniyyah are related words and the latter means civilization.
So the Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wasallam made the very first Islamic State a civilized state. Today the world in terrible darkness, It is now really a slaughter- house of human beings, not because of the application of the Holly Quraan, But it is so due to throwing of the Quraan at the back of the Ummah. Can any body tell with certainty that Quraan and Sunnah are applied anywhere in the world?

Today when Allah Almighty has blessed mankind with the modern sources of transportation, HIS Book And His Prophet's Sunnah do not prevent us from building strong roads, rail roads, nor from aeroplanes. Allah had already created cement, iron etc. for the same purpose, so be thankful to Allah and worship and obey HIM.

But Allah didn't allow mankind to use HIS created elements to make killer bombs and then use them proudly to kill thousands of men, women and children!!! Tell me where in the Holy Quraan and/or Sunnah one can find permission for such killer weapons?

 

[OmAbdullah]

There are many things in modern age that did not exist or did not happen in the early period of Islam. It makes Muslims in modern days often there in situation that different than Muslims in the early period. In example. Muslims in the past did traveling on camels or horses. When the salah time came they could stop and performed salah, facing the Qibla. But in modern days Muslims often do traveling in bus, train, plane and can't stop when salah time comes and not easy to always face Qibla.

How to make Muslims in modern days can perform salah in this situation?. Ulema have done "Ijtihad" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijtihad) for this matter.

Ijtihad is something that Ulema must do to make Muslims always able to follow Islam in every age. But unfortunately there are few Muslims who regard Ijtihad as modernization and call the Ulema who do Ijtihad as modernists.

Assalaamu-alaikum.

I read once that the Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wasallam was riding a camel and was making salaah on its back. Allah said in chapter The Cow (Al Baqarah), that wherever you turn your face you will find the Face of Allah. This is no problem to make salaah in a car, bus train or an airplane. If it is in one's hand, he can stop near a masjid and pray therein. If it is not possible like in a train, or airplane then salaah can be made in sitting position in the vehicle.


We don't need ijtihaad in these clear and easy things. I cannot explain ijtihaad here because it is very late at night. Insha Allah I will write about this interesting topic at some other time.

 

[Ali Mujahidin]

Assalaamu-alaikum.

I read once that the Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wasallam was riding a camel and was making salaah on its back. Allah said in chapter The Cow (Al Baqarah), that wherever you turn your face you will find the Face of Allah. This is no problem to make salaah in a car, bus train or an airplane. If it is in one's hand, he can stop near a masjid and pray therein. If it is not possible like in a train, or airplane then salaah can be made in sitting position in the vehicle.


We don't need ijtihaad in these clear and easy things. I cannot explain ijtihaad here because it is very late at night. Insha Allah I will write about this interesting topic at some other time.

Very true.

What you said reminded me of an incident many years ago. I told some Muslim friends that I do dakwah via the internet. Immediately they told me that I cannot do dakwah like that. They said that dakwah must be done face-to-face. In my heart, I felt that what they said was not totally true. So I did some research which I confirmed with some Muslim scholars. During his time, the Holy Prophet did dakwah face-to-face and also did dakwah by long distance viz not face-to-face when he sent letters to people far away inviting them to Islam.

So, I believe if we think rationally, we can see that there are many thing which we do today which are already being done long ago. Even though the form is different, the essence is still the same.

WalLahu aklam.

 

[syed_z]

I have been banned and abused a lot of times for writing about jihad.present day "muslims" even fear the word of jihad while kufar are free in their fora to abuse islam and Islamic personalities.
than some muslims of large Islamic fora claim that we are trying to convert non muslims to islam so we can not talk about jihad.
the question rises that why did prophet (sallalah u alih e wasallum) did not give up jihad when he was doing tableegh or preaching?
prophet (sallalah u alih e wasallum) and than sahaba raziallah unhum fought dozens of battles or ghazwas /saryas when islam was in its early era.

so how we agree to this dominant view of todays muslims (mostly those settled in west or secular muslim countries) that if we hide info about jihad and portray mujahideen of islam in negative light and side with secular muslim governments like Pakistan /bangaldesh and Egypt etc (who are siding with kufar agenda) than we will serve islam better somehow?

my view is that if a nonmuslim has truth in his or her heart he will embrace islam in its entire form...even if you convert a non muslim to islam and he does not believe in jihad etc than will he be a complete muslim?

point to ponder!

Asalaam O Alaikum Drkashif,


No Muslim can disagree over Verses of Jihad i.e. Battles which Rasul Allah (saw) fought and the Ghazwas and later battles during rule of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. By rejecting or hiding these Verses Muslim would be committing Kufr Or Disbelief. But there is a difference between the Jihad of ISIS and real Mujahideen. The Jihad of ISIS which you've referred to in other threads as well is a deviant form against which Prophet Muhammad (Saw) warned us.

We have to keep in mind that, we should keep 1st what Allah (swt) and his Prophet (saw) kept 1st and keep last what Allah (swt) and His Prophet (saw) kept last. We should not keep 1st what they kept last.

The Prophet (saw) himself while doing Dawah in Makkah, never picked up the sword, which tells us that initial stage is to always do Dawah and spread the message of Islam through kindness and beautiful character. If you are persecuted then, you leave and do Hijrah (emigration in the way of Allah to protect oneself from persecution) and if your safe in a new land then continue preaching there and leave them who persecuted you. But if those persecutors come after you and still chose not to leave you, and kill you, then you pickup a sword and defend yourself till either they say La Ilaha ilAllah or they drop their sword and decide to make peace.

If during your Dawah, in the initial stages of Dawah, you talk about Jihad, then it doesn't make any sense because obviously when dong Dawah you need to talk about Real Jihad or Greater Jihad as the Prophet (saw) said himself and gave preference to before the Jihad of Sword, i.e. The Greater Jihad is to Struggle against one's own self. So we cannot give preference to something over the preference of Muhammad (Saw).

(Al Hujurat 49:02) O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not.

That is why I believe there is a saying of Hazrat Isa (a.s) that Kingdom of Heaven 1st needs to be formed inside your heart before it can be formed on earth. If the hope of The Mercy of Allah (swt) and the Fear of Separation from Him (swt) has not entered One's heart then Iman (Belief) hasn't entered and therefore it is futile for such hearts devoid of True Iman to pickup a sword and establish a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

The Khawarij were the 1st one's to raise their voice over the Voice of the Prophet (Saw).....

Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree, said,"'Ali ibn Abi Taalib sent some gold ore wrapped in dyed leather from Yemen to Allaah's Messenger, and he divided it up between four people: Zaid al-Khail, al-Aqra' ibn Haabis, 'Uyainah ibn Hisn and 'Alqamah ibn 'Ulaathah. A person among the companions remarked that they had a better claim to the wealth than these people.34When this remark reached the Prophet (a), he said, "Will you not trust me whom the One above the heavens has trusted? Information comes to me from the heavens morning and evening." Then a man with sunken eyes, high cheekbones, a protruding forehead, thick beard and a shaven head stood up and said,"Muhammad! Fear Allaah". The Prophet(pbuh) turned to him and replied, "Woe be to you. Am I not the person who fears Allaah the most?" The man then walked away and Khaalid ibn al-Waleed jumped up and said "O Messenger of Allaah, shall I not cut off his head?" But the Prophet(pbuh) said, "Perhaps he observes prayer." Khaalid then said, "Perhaps one who observes prayers says with his tongue what is not in his heart." The Prophet(pbuh) replied, "I was not commanded to pierce the hearts of people or slit open their bellies." Then he glanced at the man who was walking away and said. "There will arise a people from among the progeny of this man who will recite the Qur'aan, but it will not go beyond their throats; they will pass through the religion as an arrow passes through its target." ( Reported by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim )

Allah (Swt) says in the Following Verse of Surah Al Kahf Verses 18:103 - 104:

Say, [O Muhammad], "Shall We inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds?
[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work."

Imam Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir of these Verses mentions that Ali (r.a) pointed these Verses to refer to Khawarij, and Ali (r.a) also defeated them in the Battle of Nahrwan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nahrawan

ISIS and their likeminded Muslims are modern day Khawarij and believe that their deeds are great in the sight of Allah (swt) and what they do is give three choices to all Non Muslims in the world:

1. Say La Ilaha IlAllah and live under our rule
2. Pay Jizyah
3 or The Sword.

This is unacceptable way to do Dawah, rather this is against Dawah. How can you tell some people living in a land of their own for centuries to either accept Islam or be killed even though they haven't fought against you, not even a word they've said against you, and this is in reference to the Yazidis of Iraq whose women are being taken prisoners by ISIS fighters and men are being slaughtered.

That is why it important to read the Story of Dhul Qarnayn (a.s) and learn guidance from this story in the Quran, who left the people living in their own traditional way of life and did not force the Law of Allah (swt) down their throat:

(Al Kahf 18:90) “. . until when he (eventually) came to the rising sun; he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering (for protection from sunshine, weather, environment) other than (the natural) covering.

(18:91) “Thus (did he meet them and thus did he wisely and compassionately leave them undisturbed in their natural way of life); and We (i.e. Allah Most High) did encompass with Our knowledge his grasp of the situation (and his response to it).


Dhul Qarnayn (a.s) whom Allah (swt) Himself has praised did not do what ISIS is doing in Iraq and Syria against Christians and Yazidis living peacefully with Muslims for centuries.

May be ISIS and likeminded Muslims should ponder over these Verses of Dhul Qarnayn.

 

[ardianto]

Assalaamu-alaikum.

I read once that the Prophet salla Allaho alaihi wasallam was riding a camel and was making salaah on its back.

Wa'alaikumsalam.

That is the daleel for Ulema to issue fatwa that allow Muslims perform salah in running vehicle. Ulema used qiyas in this matter because Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam rode camel, not car that haven't exist in that time.

 

[OmAbdullah]

Re: Can Isalm be modernized? Should it be?

Maths, like many things, is a tool or methodology used to solve problems. Any methodology or skill needs to be explained / taught and learned. If I was your maths teacher and used confusing and contradictory language in teaching you maths it is likely that you would not understand and I would be described as a bad teacher. The Qur’an is a message, it is supposed to be the teacher telling us what we should do / how we should do it (if you like telling us how to solve the problem). The Qur’an isn’t supposed to be the problem it is supposed to be the solution. If you can’t understand the solution because it is so ambiguous it needs explaining it is not a good solution and consequenty the person delivering that solution could be described as bad teacher.

From your statements it is very clear that you didn't read the Holy Quraan. If a non-Muslim read (in the past) the Holy Quraan only for the purpose of criticism, he was so much impressed that he became Muslim. This is due to the unique Truth 0f the Holy Quraan. I advise you very sincerely to read it with a clear heart. This will be good for you. If you don't then death is surely coming to all of us including you. the Regret at the time of death shall be very painful and everlasting. Then there will be no chance to come to life again and make up the loss. then you will surely remember this sincere advice and will regret saying, "alas! Would that I had accepted the advice and had read the Quraan with clear heart without any enmity!"


Once again, please read it yourself and then decide with fairness and justice.