It's a global disease!
These videos are pretty short and wouldn't take much time to load each one, so do sit back & enjoy. Let us take a good look at ourselves & our surroundings..lets appreciate the littlest things in life ;)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Hypocrisy that I can't stand!
Although there are some minor spelling mistake (note: Anti-Semitism not anti-semetism), I believe the important message within this poster should be spread around ;)
Credit to the blogowner for creating this amazing poster.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The atheist Professor. I like it everytime I read it :)
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
First before you start reading this make sure you will read it all to the end!
This article somewhat reminds me of witty debates by Dr. Zakir Naik & late Sheikh Ahmad Deedat, may Allah reward them for their tremendous effort, amin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The atheist professor said "LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with God."
The atheist professor of Philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
- "You're a Muslim, aren't you, son?"
- "Yes, sir."
-"So you believe in God?"
- "Absolutely."
-"Is God good?"
-"Sure! God's good."
-"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
-"Yes."
The professor grins knowingly and considers for a moment.
-"Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"
-"Yes sir, I would."
-"So you're good...!"
-"I always do my best to be a good human , Sir."
-" You would help a sick and maimed person if you could ...in fact most of us would if we could... God doesn't."
[No answer.]
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Muslim who died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. How is this God good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
[No answer]
-The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?"
He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student
time to relax. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones.
-"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
-"Er... Yes."
-"Is Satan good?"
-"No."
-"Where does Satan come from?"
-The student falters. "From... God..."
-"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?"
-The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking, student audience.
-"I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen."
-He turns back to the Muslim. "Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
-"Yes, sir."
-"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
-"Yes."
-"Who created evil?"
[No answer]
-"Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All the terrible things - do they exist in this world?"
-The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
-"Who created them?"
[No answer]
-The professor suddenly shouts at his student.
-"WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!"
The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Muslim's face.
In a still small voice: "God created all evil, didn't He, son?"
[No answer]
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerised.
"Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?"
The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world.
"All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn't it, young man?"
[No answer]
-"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" [Pause].
-"Don't you?" The professor leans into the student's face again and whispers,
-"Is God good?"
[No answer]
-"Do you believe in God, son?"
-The student's voice betrays him and cracks.
-"Yes, professor. I do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. You have never seen God, Have you? "
-"No, sir. I've never seen Him."
-"Then tell us if you've ever heard you God?"
-"No, sir. I have not."
-"Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt your God...in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
[No answer]
-"Answer me, please."
-"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
-"You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
-"No, sir."
-"Yet you still believe in him?"
-"...yes..."
-"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling.
-"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?"
[The student doesn't answer]
-"Sit down, please."
The Muslim sits...Defeated.
-Another Muslim raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, another Muslim in the vanguard!
Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
The Muslim looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?"
-"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
-"Is there such a thing as cold?"
-"Yes, son, there's cold too."
-"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor's grin freezes. The room suddenly goes very cold.
The second Muslim continues.
-"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 - - You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
-"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
-"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
-"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
-"Yes..."
-"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you...give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester...
-"Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?"
-"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
-The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!""
-"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
-"Explain... oh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.
-"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains.
-"That for example there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understand them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it."
The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbour who has been reading it.
-"Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
-"Of course there is, now look..."
-"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?"
The Muslim student pauses.
-"Isn't evil the absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.
The student continues. "If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work God is accomplishing? Islam which means Submission to the will of God , tells us it is to see if each one of us will, choose good over evil."
The professor bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable."
"I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going," the student replies.
-"Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"
-"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
-"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.
-"Professor. Since no-one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?"
-"I will overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical debate."
-"So you don't accept God's moral code to do ... what is righteous?"
-"I believe in what is - that's science!"
-"Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin.
-"Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed..."
-"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters. The class is in uproar.
The student remains standing until the commotion has subsided.
-"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent. The student looks around the room.
-"Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen air, Oxygen, molecules, atoms, the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out in laughter. The Muslim points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor.
-"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain... felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain?"
No one appears to have done so. The Muslim student shakes his head sadly.
-"It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain."
peace :)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Women's Issue
(This article is a combination of Brother Omar Baloch’s talk on Women’s Issue and some addition of my own opinion and suggestion and a few infos from Famous Women in Islam: Women in Battlefield, with regard to this issue. I am not a Muslim scholar as I myself am a learning Muslimah. Anything that is good is from Allah and bad is from my own fault by Allah’s decree.)
Women’s Issue
by Sheikh Omar Baloch
Sheikh Omar Baloch is Resident Scholar at Furqaan Institute of Quranic Foundation (FIQE), Chicago. His expertise on the Message of the Qur’an makes him a well-respected speaker at lectures and events across the country. His knowledge of world religions allows him to engage in dialogue across many faiths and is often a speaker at many dawah events. His aggressive Khutba schedule takes him around the US, where he not only focuses on reviving the spirit of Dawah through the Qur’an, but also raises funds for the purpose of delivering a copy of the translation of the Qur’an to everyone in America. His fluency in Arabic, English and Urdu makes his khutbas, lectures and speeches unique and well attended.
Born and raised in Chicago, Sheikh Omar has a Shahada from Jamia thul Azhar (Al-Azhar University) in Egypt. He got his Shahada in 1994 with an emphasis on the Arabic Language and Minhaj ad Dawah. He also obtain his Master in Psychology at George Washington University.
Born and raised in Chicago, Sheikh Omar has a Shahada from Jamia thul Azhar (Al-Azhar University) in Egypt. He got his Shahada in 1994 with an emphasis on the Arabic Language and Minhaj ad Dawah. He also obtain his Master in Psychology at George Washington University.
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Yesterday a talk was held at IIS Setiawangsa; about an issue that's very interesting, so much so as were jokingly mentioned by Sheikh Omar Baloch, almost 50% of the FAQs often asked by non-Muslims were about Muslim women do’s and don’ts. And the other half was about terrorist issue. :p
Initially Sheikh talked about the rise of feminism in the west. What triggers feminism, how many waves of feminism and the fact that there are numerous groups within feminism that were fighting for different causes.
Feminism started due to the inferiority that a certain group of women felt towards men, as these women strongly believed that women are equal and similar to men, and they hated men for looking at women as an object/ as a lesser being (quotes and key issues from most of the famous outspoken feminists clearly show how they detest men). These so-called feminists are only fighting for their personal interests; so, many of them are from the upper class and only some are from the middle class family. At this point, I realised how ironic and unfortunate these women were! Probably because there are no specific laws in their religion/beliefs (as Syaria' law is, in Islam), the fact that these women are fighting for their rights seemed to be recurring because in reality, feminism is not clearly defined.
Feminism starts around 1960’s during the time where women can be ‘sold’ by their husband (in the west). They decided to put an end to their misery and fight for their rights. However, today, the modern feminism began to realise that women are equal to men, but not the same. For Muslim women, we are aware of this, alhamdulillah. Women and men have different anatomical structures, different way of interact with each other and different way of showing our strength and sympathy.
This is where the beauty of our Islamic Deen (way of life in accordance to Islam) comes in. The beauty that Allah knows women and men have different perspective in looking at a certain issue, but both are equally intelligent. Unfortunately for these western feminists who clearly unaware of this, sees Muslim women as being oppressed just because of hijab and other petty misunderstood issues that we Muslim women have no/minute problem with. May Allah make them realise that a women cannot be judged by what she wears on her head but what is IN her head. And hijab is an obligation by Allah our Creator, the Guardian of Faith, the Giver of Honour, not forced by Muslim men!
Also, Sheikh talked about a very interesting issue where he relates the rise of feminism and their strong influence in the media (movies, tv series, etc.). It is very logical since feminism can be seen (for those who are aware of it) in almost all American movies and tv series (Spiderman, Batman, The Simpsons, Bill Cosby, etc.) where the leading men are shown to be silly and oblivious; often comes from a dysfunctional family background or an orphan and the leading women are more intelligent, organized and more capable. These media indirectly desensitize men.
It seems very clear now how these media affect our globalised modern day world. In reality, men are often seen as clowns, reckless, and they often view women as an object. We even see some of our Muslimah sisters, who unfortunately are the victims of corrupted Muslim family, accepted these feminist movements due to improper understanding of the Shariah law and the Deen. In reality, many times where Muslim women are in marital crisis, they do not have a proper channel to go.
In Surah An-Nisaa’
34. Men (ar-rijaal) are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband's absence what Allah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband's property, etc.). As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is Ever Most High, Most Great.
Ar-rijaal does not mean men in general. It cannot be translated and clearly defined in English, as the word in Arabic is very specific. As I quote from Sheikh Omar, Ar-rijaal can be closely defined as men who are righteous (who uphold his iman and amal) and are trustworthy.
When there is a dispute between a Muslim man and his wife, in order to settle the issue, he must reproach and discuss the matter with his spouse first. If this doesn’t alleviate then he should separate their beds, and lastly is to ‘hit’ her lightly. Hitting is permissible only by using the miswak (wooden toothbrush) or something lighter, but we see that NOWADAYS Muslim men tend to favour the last step, and hit his spouse recklessly (using heavier and more dangerous objects) until she is brutally bruised!
Also, sadly the role of the masjid seems to restrict interaction between the Imam and Muslimah, and this is so serious that it seemed to be typical in our modern day Islam. The small back door of the masjid is the main entrance for women; we are separated from the Imam and it is difficult to interact with the Imam. How do we then seek advice from the Imam when we can’t even make contact with them?
It might seem awkward today if women were to pray Fajr in the mosque (for we will be neglected as it seemed highly unusual), but during the time of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. this is nothing out of the ordinary. Women left their houses day and night, and they went to the mosque even in the depth of darkness.
Women do not have any trouble in discussing with our beloved Prophet; any problem that they are facing they can directly seek His Messenger’s aid. They do not shy away and they felt comfortable to ask any question on any subject. Women at the time of Prophet were respected and protected. Mashallah, how the Prophet treated gender issue was soft, NOT patriarchal!
There is a balance between following the Islam guidelines and creativity in handling women.
Sheikh mentioned that he even met once a Muslim sister who seriously thought men are like clowns (because of the way men act; goofing around- in her school/ in tv / movies) until she went to masjid and met with the Imam and the brothers in the masjid. At least for me, I can understand a little how she felt. It wasn’t until I met with my habib that I’ve encounter a few decent men (I’m not generalizing or trying to degrade men or anything), but it is the reality.
We see even in the university/college, majority of the students in most field studies are female. The level of maturity and determination seems to be lacking among men. Why do these things happen? There are many aspects to look at, but the most important part is probabably the role of the masjid, and the Imam plays a vital role in improvising/ purifying the minds of our brothers especially during the Friday (Jumu’ah) prayers.
In Surah Jumu’ah (Friday)
1. Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah, the King (of everything), the Holy, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
2. He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad ) from among themselves, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them (from the filth of disbelief and polytheism), and teaching them the Book (this Qur'an, Islamic laws and Islamic jurisprudence) and Al-Hikmah (As-Sunnah: legal ways, orders, acts of worship, etc. of Prophet Muhammad ). And verily, they had been before in mainfest error;
3. And He has sent him (Prophet Muhammad ) also to others among them (Muslims) who have not yet joined them (but they will come). And He (Allah) is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
4. That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is the Owner of Mighty Grace.
5. The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practise its legal laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey who carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them). How bad is the example (or the likeness) of people who deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah. And Allah guides not the people who are Zalimun (polytheists, wrong-doers, disbelievers, etc.).
In shaping and purifying the hearts and the minds of our Muslim brothers, it is quite obvious the Friday sermon (khutbah) should be on the topic of lessons from the Quraan and it’s relation to today’s life. Imagine if all the Imam in the masjid gave powerful and insightful khutbah, a great number of men will appreciate and grasp the knowledge every time they went to the masjid! Isn’t this what Friday prayer is all about?
However, nowadays when Friday prayers are concerned; most brothers tend to fall asleep during the khutbah. Evidently, the khutbah is uninteresting, bland and does not relate to the issues concerning the Ummah.
At the end of the day, they won’t even remember about the khutbah given, and will continue with their daily activities, neglecting their responsibility to improvise their iman and their amal. “The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practise its legal laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey who carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them).” ( Surah An-Nisaa’ : 5)
At the end of the day, without development of the Deen in our lives, we will lose out on both social and economical growth. We see Islam as just a religion, something spiritual when in fact Islam encompasses everything; spiritual, mental and physical belief and act in accordance to Quraan and Sunnah.
That's why in the Quraan, Allah always describes the believers as "those who believe and do righteous deeds." Belief alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by Islamic action and behaviour.
Also, Sheikh emphasised on the importance of Muslim women in today’s world. Islam today are seen as a fossiled and rigid religion; compared to the time of the Prophet. Muslim women and men must strive their best to enrich their knowledge and share the right information among sisters and brothers to clear the misunderstanding between cultural and teaching of Islam. In today's world, we need scholars who understand social and psychological needs, who are able to relate and discuss the issue of today's problem with the Sharia' law. We need Imam who can be good advisors, tolerant, with dynamic personality; who are willing to consult and give usrah to Muslim women. Muslim women's right must be honoured and respected like the time of the Prophet. For Muslim women can change and influence great minds of tomorrow. As they say the hands that rocks the cradle is the hands that rule the world. Are we up for the challenge? :)
Initially Sheikh talked about the rise of feminism in the west. What triggers feminism, how many waves of feminism and the fact that there are numerous groups within feminism that were fighting for different causes.
Feminism started due to the inferiority that a certain group of women felt towards men, as these women strongly believed that women are equal and similar to men, and they hated men for looking at women as an object/ as a lesser being (quotes and key issues from most of the famous outspoken feminists clearly show how they detest men). These so-called feminists are only fighting for their personal interests; so, many of them are from the upper class and only some are from the middle class family. At this point, I realised how ironic and unfortunate these women were! Probably because there are no specific laws in their religion/beliefs (as Syaria' law is, in Islam), the fact that these women are fighting for their rights seemed to be recurring because in reality, feminism is not clearly defined.
Feminism starts around 1960’s during the time where women can be ‘sold’ by their husband (in the west). They decided to put an end to their misery and fight for their rights. However, today, the modern feminism began to realise that women are equal to men, but not the same. For Muslim women, we are aware of this, alhamdulillah. Women and men have different anatomical structures, different way of interact with each other and different way of showing our strength and sympathy.
This is where the beauty of our Islamic Deen (way of life in accordance to Islam) comes in. The beauty that Allah knows women and men have different perspective in looking at a certain issue, but both are equally intelligent. Unfortunately for these western feminists who clearly unaware of this, sees Muslim women as being oppressed just because of hijab and other petty misunderstood issues that we Muslim women have no/minute problem with. May Allah make them realise that a women cannot be judged by what she wears on her head but what is IN her head. And hijab is an obligation by Allah our Creator, the Guardian of Faith, the Giver of Honour, not forced by Muslim men!
Also, Sheikh talked about a very interesting issue where he relates the rise of feminism and their strong influence in the media (movies, tv series, etc.). It is very logical since feminism can be seen (for those who are aware of it) in almost all American movies and tv series (Spiderman, Batman, The Simpsons, Bill Cosby, etc.) where the leading men are shown to be silly and oblivious; often comes from a dysfunctional family background or an orphan and the leading women are more intelligent, organized and more capable. These media indirectly desensitize men.
It seems very clear now how these media affect our globalised modern day world. In reality, men are often seen as clowns, reckless, and they often view women as an object. We even see some of our Muslimah sisters, who unfortunately are the victims of corrupted Muslim family, accepted these feminist movements due to improper understanding of the Shariah law and the Deen. In reality, many times where Muslim women are in marital crisis, they do not have a proper channel to go.
In Surah An-Nisaa’
34. Men (ar-rijaal) are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband's absence what Allah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband's property, etc.). As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is Ever Most High, Most Great.
Ar-rijaal does not mean men in general. It cannot be translated and clearly defined in English, as the word in Arabic is very specific. As I quote from Sheikh Omar, Ar-rijaal can be closely defined as men who are righteous (who uphold his iman and amal) and are trustworthy.
When there is a dispute between a Muslim man and his wife, in order to settle the issue, he must reproach and discuss the matter with his spouse first. If this doesn’t alleviate then he should separate their beds, and lastly is to ‘hit’ her lightly. Hitting is permissible only by using the miswak (wooden toothbrush) or something lighter, but we see that NOWADAYS Muslim men tend to favour the last step, and hit his spouse recklessly (using heavier and more dangerous objects) until she is brutally bruised!
Also, sadly the role of the masjid seems to restrict interaction between the Imam and Muslimah, and this is so serious that it seemed to be typical in our modern day Islam. The small back door of the masjid is the main entrance for women; we are separated from the Imam and it is difficult to interact with the Imam. How do we then seek advice from the Imam when we can’t even make contact with them?
It might seem awkward today if women were to pray Fajr in the mosque (for we will be neglected as it seemed highly unusual), but during the time of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. this is nothing out of the ordinary. Women left their houses day and night, and they went to the mosque even in the depth of darkness.
Women do not have any trouble in discussing with our beloved Prophet; any problem that they are facing they can directly seek His Messenger’s aid. They do not shy away and they felt comfortable to ask any question on any subject. Women at the time of Prophet were respected and protected. Mashallah, how the Prophet treated gender issue was soft, NOT patriarchal!
There is a balance between following the Islam guidelines and creativity in handling women.
Sheikh mentioned that he even met once a Muslim sister who seriously thought men are like clowns (because of the way men act; goofing around- in her school/ in tv / movies) until she went to masjid and met with the Imam and the brothers in the masjid. At least for me, I can understand a little how she felt. It wasn’t until I met with my habib that I’ve encounter a few decent men (I’m not generalizing or trying to degrade men or anything), but it is the reality.
We see even in the university/college, majority of the students in most field studies are female. The level of maturity and determination seems to be lacking among men. Why do these things happen? There are many aspects to look at, but the most important part is probabably the role of the masjid, and the Imam plays a vital role in improvising/ purifying the minds of our brothers especially during the Friday (Jumu’ah) prayers.
In Surah Jumu’ah (Friday)
1. Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah, the King (of everything), the Holy, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
2. He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad ) from among themselves, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them (from the filth of disbelief and polytheism), and teaching them the Book (this Qur'an, Islamic laws and Islamic jurisprudence) and Al-Hikmah (As-Sunnah: legal ways, orders, acts of worship, etc. of Prophet Muhammad ). And verily, they had been before in mainfest error;
3. And He has sent him (Prophet Muhammad ) also to others among them (Muslims) who have not yet joined them (but they will come). And He (Allah) is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
4. That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is the Owner of Mighty Grace.
5. The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practise its legal laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey who carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them). How bad is the example (or the likeness) of people who deny the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah. And Allah guides not the people who are Zalimun (polytheists, wrong-doers, disbelievers, etc.).
In shaping and purifying the hearts and the minds of our Muslim brothers, it is quite obvious the Friday sermon (khutbah) should be on the topic of lessons from the Quraan and it’s relation to today’s life. Imagine if all the Imam in the masjid gave powerful and insightful khutbah, a great number of men will appreciate and grasp the knowledge every time they went to the masjid! Isn’t this what Friday prayer is all about?
However, nowadays when Friday prayers are concerned; most brothers tend to fall asleep during the khutbah. Evidently, the khutbah is uninteresting, bland and does not relate to the issues concerning the Ummah.
At the end of the day, they won’t even remember about the khutbah given, and will continue with their daily activities, neglecting their responsibility to improvise their iman and their amal. “The likeness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the) Taurat (Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practise its legal laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeness of a donkey who carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them).” ( Surah An-Nisaa’ : 5)
At the end of the day, without development of the Deen in our lives, we will lose out on both social and economical growth. We see Islam as just a religion, something spiritual when in fact Islam encompasses everything; spiritual, mental and physical belief and act in accordance to Quraan and Sunnah.
That's why in the Quraan, Allah always describes the believers as "those who believe and do righteous deeds." Belief alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by Islamic action and behaviour.
Also, Sheikh emphasised on the importance of Muslim women in today’s world. Islam today are seen as a fossiled and rigid religion; compared to the time of the Prophet. Muslim women and men must strive their best to enrich their knowledge and share the right information among sisters and brothers to clear the misunderstanding between cultural and teaching of Islam. In today's world, we need scholars who understand social and psychological needs, who are able to relate and discuss the issue of today's problem with the Sharia' law. We need Imam who can be good advisors, tolerant, with dynamic personality; who are willing to consult and give usrah to Muslim women. Muslim women's right must be honoured and respected like the time of the Prophet. For Muslim women can change and influence great minds of tomorrow. As they say the hands that rocks the cradle is the hands that rule the world. Are we up for the challenge? :)
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