062.009 O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew!
062.010 And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah: and celebrate the Praises of Allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper.
062.011 But when they see some bargain or some amusement, they disperse headlong to it, and leave thee standing. Say: "The (blessing) from the Presence of Allah is better than any amusement or bargain! and Allah is the Best to provide (for all needs)."
Aslam ali qum
Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong).
Al-Qur'an, 2.185 (Al-Baqara)
Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'All the deeds of Adam's sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I shall give the reward for it.' Fasting is a shield (from the fire and from committing sins). If one of you is fasting, he should avoid obscenity and quarreling, and if somebody should fight or quarrel with him, he should say, 'I am fasting.' By Him in Whose Hands my soul is' The unpleasant smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. There are two pleasures for the fasting person, one at the time of breaking his fast, and the other at the time when he will meet his Lord; then he will be pleased because of his fasting."
Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying regarding Ramadan, "Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan) out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.”
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
The Prophet said, "Look for the Night of Qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan
We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power
And what will explain to thee what the night of power is?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission, on every errand
Peace!...This until the rise of morn!
Al-Qur'an, 97.1-5 (Al-Qadr)
Narrated Aisha:
With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers.
Narrated Aisha:
With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers.
The Prophet said, "Allah will gather the believers
on the Day of Resurrection in the same way (as
they are gathered in this life), and they will say,
'Let us ask someone to intercede for us with our
Lord that He may relieve us from this place of
ours.' Then they will go to Adam and say, 'O
Adam! Don't you see the people (people's
condition)? Allah created you with His Own Hands
and ordered His angels to prostrate before you,
and taught you the names of all the things.
Please intercede for us with our Lord so that He
may relieve us from this place of ours.' Adam will
say, 'I am not fit for this undertaking' and
mention to them the mistakes he had committed,
and add, 'But you'd better go to Noah as he was
the first Apostle sent by Allah to the people of
the Earth.' They will go to Noah who will reply, 'I
am not fit for this undertaking,' and mention the
mistake which he made, and add, 'But you'd
better go to Abraham, Khalil Ar-Rahman.'
They will go to Abraham who will reply, 'I am not
fit for this undertaking,' and mention to them the
mistakes he made, and add, 'But you'd better go
to Moses, a slave whom Allah gave the Torah
and to whom He spoke directly.' They will go to
Moses who will reply, 'I am not fit for this
undertaking,' and mention to them the mistakes
he made, and add, 'You'd better go to Jesus,
Allah's slave and His Apostle and His Word (Be:
And it was) and a soul created by Him.' They will
go to Jesus who will say, 'I am not fit for this
undertaking, but you'd better go to Muhammad
whose sins of the past and the future had been
forgiven (by Allah).' So they will come to me and I
will ask the permission of my Lord, and I will be
permitted (to present myself) before Him. When I
see my Lord, I will fall down in (prostration)
before Him and He will leave me (in prostration)
as long as He wishes, and then it will be said to
me, 'O Muhammad! Raise your head and speak,
for you will be listened to; and ask, for you will
be granted (your request); and intercede, for
your intercession will be accepted.' I will then
raise my head and praise my Lord with certain
praises which He has taught me, and then I will
intercede. Allah will allow me to intercede (for a
certain kind of people) and will fix a limit whom I
will admit into Paradise.
I will come back again, and when I see my Lord
(again), I will fall down in prostration before Him,
and He will leave me (in prostration) as long as
He wishes, and then He will say, 'O Muhammad!
Raise your head and speak, for you will be
listened to; and ask, for you will be granted (your
request); and intercede, for your intercession will
be accepted.' I will then praise my Lord with
certain praises which He has taught me, and
then I will intercede. Allah will allow me to
intercede (for a certain kind of people) and will fix
a limit to whom I will admit into Paradise, I will
return again, and when I see my Lord, I will fall
down (in prostration) and He will leave me (in
prostration) as long as He wishes, and then He
will say, 'O Muhammad! Raise your head and
speak, for you will be listened to, and ask, for
you will be granted (your request); and
intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.'
I will then praise my Lord with certain praises
which He has taught me, and then I will
intercede. Allah will allow me to intercede (for a
certain kind of people) and will fix a limit to whom
I will admit into Paradise. I will come back and
say, 'O my Lord! None remains in Hell (Fire) but
those whom Qur'an has imprisoned therein and
for whom eternity in Hell (Fire) has become
inevitable.' "
The Prophet added, "There will come out of Hell
(Fire) everyone who says: 'La ilaha illal-lah,' and
has in his heart good equal to the weight of a
barley grain. Then there will come out of Hell
(Fire) everyone who says: ' La ilaha illal-lah,' and
has in his heart good equal to the weight of a
wheat grain. Then there will come out of Hell
(Fire) everyone who says: 'La ilaha illal-lah,' and
has in his heart good equal to the weight of an
atom (or a smallest ant)."
(Bkahri v9 no507)
ISalmic Channel
Islam Channel is the first free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite channel available in Europe and North Africa on Eurobird 1 and Astra 2A, 2B on frequency 11,661 GHz X horizontal and in UK also on the Sky platform (Channel 836)
Da’wah is a duty
Most Muslims know that Islam is a universal religion, meant for all mankind.
Allah (swt) is the Lord of the entire Universe, and Muslims have been entrusted
with the duty of conveying His message to all mankind. Alas, most Muslims
today have become callous towards this duty! While accepting Islam as the best
way of life for ourselves, most of us are unwilling to share this knowledge with
those to whom the message has not yet been conveyed.
The Arabic word Da’wah means a call or an invitation. In Islamic context, it
means to strive for the propagation of Islam.
The Glorious Qur’an says:
“Ah! Who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they
have from Allah? But Allah is not unmindful of what ye do!”
[Al-Qur’an 2:140]
Logical replies can convince the majority
The twenty most common questions about Islam can be answered with reason
and logic. A majority of non-Muslims can be convinced with these answers. If a
Muslim memorizes or simply remembers these answers, Inshallah he will be
successful, if not in convincing non-Muslims about the complete truth of Islam,
then at least in removing misconceptions about Islam and neutralizing the
negative thinking about Islam and Muslims that the non-Muslims have. A very
few non-Muslims may have counter arguments to these replies, for which
further information may be required.
Misconceptions due to media
The common misconceptions about Islam arise in the minds of a majority of
non-Muslims, because they are constantly being bombarded with
misinformation about Islam. International media is mainly controlled by the
western world, whether it is international satellite channels, radio stations, news
papers, magazines or books. Recently the Internet has become a powerful
medium of information. Though it is not controlled by anybody, one finds a large
amount of virulent propaganda about Islam on the Internet. Of course, Muslims
too are utilizing this tool to portray the right image of Islam and Muslims, but
they are far behind as compared to the propaganda against Islam. I hope the
efforts by the Muslims will increase and continue to be pursued.
Misconceptions change with time
The most common questions about Islam are different in different periods and
eras. This set of twenty most common questions is based on present times.
Decades earlier, the set of questions was different and decades later too, the
set of questions may change depending upon how Islam is projected by the
media.
Misconceptions are the same throughout the world
I have interacted with people in different parts of the world and have found these
twenty most common questions about Islam to be the same everywhere. There
may be a couple of additional questions depending upon the locale, the
surrounding or culture. For instance in America, the additional common
question is - “Why does Islam prohibit taking and giving of interest?”
I have included among these twenty most common questions, certain questions
more common among the Indian non-Muslims. For instance, “why do Muslims
have non-vegetarian food?” The reason for including such questions is that
people of Indian origin are spread throughout the world and constitute about
20% i.e. 1/5th of the world population. Thus, their questions become common
questions asked by non-Muslims throughout the world.
Misconceptions of non-Muslims who have studied Islam
There are many non-Muslims who have studied Islam. Most of them have only
read books on Islam written by biased critics of Islam. These non-Muslims have
an additional set of twenty common misconceptions about Islam. For instance,
they claim to have found contradictions in the Qur’an, they contend that the
Qur’an is unscientific, etc. There is another set of additional replies clearing
these twenty misconceptions among non-Muslims who have studied Islam from
distorted sources. I have also given the replies to twenty additional less
common questions among the non-Muslims in my public talks and book on
“Answers to Common Questions about Islam by Non-Muslims who have some
knowledge about Islam”.
Why is a man allowed to have more than one wife in Islam? i.e. why is
polygamy allowed in Islam?
Answer:
1. Definition of Polygamy
Polygamy means a system of marriage whereby one person has more than one
spouse. Polygamy can be of two types. One is polygyny where a man marries
more than one woman, and the other is polyandry, where a woman marries
more than one man. In Islam, limited polygyny is permitted; whereas polyandry
is completely prohibited.
Now coming to the original question, why is a man allowed to have more than
one wife?
2. The Qur’an is the only religious scripture in the world that says,
“marry only one”.
The Qur’an is the only religious book, on the face of this earth, that contains the
phrase ‘marry only one’. There is no other religious book that instructs men to
have only one wife. In none of the other religious scriptures, whether it be the
Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Geeta, the Talmud or the Bible does
one find a restriction on the number of wives. According to these scriptures one
can marry as many as one wishes. It was only later, that the Hindu priests and
the Christian Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Many Hindu religious personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple
wives. King Dashrat, the father of Rama, had more than one wife. Krishna had
several wives.
In earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished,
since the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives. It was only a few
centuries ago that the Church restricted the number of wives to one.
Polygyny is permitted in Judaism. According to Talmudic law, Abraham had
three wives, and Solomon had hundreds of wives. The practice of polygyny
continued till Rabbi Gershom ben Yehudah (960 C.E to 1030 C.E) issued an
edict against it. The Jewish Sephardic communities living in Muslim countries
continued the practice till as late as 1950, until an Act of the Chief Rabbinate of
Israel extended the ban on marrying more than one wife.
(*Interesting Note:- As per the 1975 census of India Hindus are more
polygynous than Muslims. The report of the ‘Committee of The Status of
Woman in Islam’, published in 1975 mentions on page numbers 66 and 67 that
the percentage of polygamous marriages between the years 1951 and 1961
was 5.06% among the Hindus and only 4.31% among the Muslims. According
to Indian law only Muslim men are permitted to have more than one wife. It is
illegal for any non-Muslim in India to have more than one wife. Despite it being
illegal, Hindus have more multiple wives as compared to Muslims. Earlier, there
was no restriction even on Hindu men with respect to the number of wives
allowed. It was only in 1954, when the Hindu Marriage Act was passed that it
became illegal for a Hindu to have more than one wife. At present it is the Indian
Law that restricts a Hindu man from having more than one wife and not the
Hindu scriptures.)
Let us now analyse why Islam allows a man to have more than one wife.
3. Qur’an permits limited polygyny
As I mentioned earlier, Qur’an is the only religious book on the face of the earth
that says ‘marry only one’. The context of this phrase is the following verse from
Surah Nisa of the Glorious Qur’an:
“Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that
ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.”
[Al-Qur’an 4:3]
Before the Qur’an was revealed, there was no upper limit for polygyny and
many men had scores of wives, some even hundreds. Islam put an upper limit
of four wives. Islam gives a man permission to marry two, three or four women,
only on the condition that he deals justly with them.
In the same chapter i.e. Surah Nisa verse 129 says:
“Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women....”
[Al-Qur’an 4:129]
Therefore polygyny is not a rule but an exception. Many people are under the
misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to have more than one wife.
Broadly, Islam has five categories of Do’s and Don’ts:
(i) ‘Fard’ i.e. compulsory or obligatory
(ii) ‘Mustahab’ i.e. recommended or encouraged
(iii) ‘Mubah’ i.e. permissible or allowed
(iv) ‘Makruh’ i.e. not recommended or discouraged
(v) ‘Haraam’ i.e. prohibited or forbidden
Polygyny falls in the middle category of things that are permissible. It cannot be
said that a Muslim who has two, three or four wives is a better Muslim as
compared to a Muslim who has only one wife.
4. Average life span of females is more than that of males
By nature males and females are born in approximately the same ratio. A
female child has more immunity than a male child. A female child can fight the
germs and diseases better than the male child. For this reason, during the
pediatric age itself there are more deaths among males as compared to the
females.
During wars, there are more men killed as compared to women. More men die
due to accidents and diseases than women. The average life span of females
is more than that of males, and at any given time one finds more widows in the
world than widowers.
5. India has more male population than female due to female
foeticide and infanticide
India is one of the few countries, along with the other neighbouring countries, in
which the female population is less than the male population. The reason lies in
the high rate of female infanticide in India, and the fact that more than one
million female foetuses are aborted every year in this country, after they are
identified as females. If this evil practice is stopped, then India too will have
more females as compared to males.
6. World female population is more than male population
In the USA, women outnumber men by 7.8 million. New York alone has one
million more females as compared to the number of males, and of the male
population of New York one-third are gays i.e sodomites. The U.S.A as a whole
has more than twenty-five million gays. This means that these people do not
wish to marry women. Great Britain has four million more females as compared
to males. Germany has five million more females as compared to males. Russia
has nine million more females than males. God alone knows how many million
more females there are in the whole world as compared to males.
7. Restricting each and every man to have only one wife is not
practical
Even if every man got married to one woman, there would still be more than
thirty million females in U.S.A who would not be able to get husbands
(considering that America has twenty five million gays). There would be more
than four million females in Great Britain, 5 million females in Germany and nine
million females in Russia alone who would not be able to find a husband.
Suppose my sister happens to be one of the unmarried women living in USA, or
suppose your sister happens to be one of the unmarried women in USA. The
only two options remaining for her are that she either marries a man who
already has a wife or becomes 'public property'. There is no other option. All
those who are modest will opt for the first.
Most women would nto like to share their husband with other women. But in
Islam when the situation deems it really neccessary Muslim women in due faith
could bear a small personal loss to prevent a greater loss of letting other Muslim
sisters becoming 'public properties'.
8. Marring a married man preferable to becoming 'public property'
In Western society, it is common for a man to have mistresses and/or multiple
extra-marital affairs, in which case, the woman leads a disgraceful, unprotected
life. The same society, however, cannot accept a man having more than one
wife, in which women retain their honourable, dignified position in society and
lead a protected life.
Thus the only two options before a woman who cannot find a husband is to
marry a married man or to become 'public property'. Islam prefers giving
women the honourable position by permitting the first option and disallowing the
second.
There are several other reasons, why Islam has permitted limited polygyny, but
it is mainly to protect the modesty of women.
2. POLYANDRY
Question:
If a man is allowed to have more than one wife, then why does Islam prohibit a
woman from having more than one husband?
Answer:
A lot of people, including some Muslims, question the logic of allowing Muslim
men to have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women.
Let me first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice
and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different
capabilities and different responsibilities. Men and women are different,
physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are different.
Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.
Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with whom
Muslim men can not marry. It is further mentioned in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4
verse 24 “Also (prohibited are) women already married”
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