The Light, Deember 2012

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Editors:

Shahid Aziz

Mustaq Ali

Contents: Page

Call of the Messiah 1

Khutba, Id-ul-Adha, byShahid Aziz 3Honour Killings, byZahid Aziz 7

Webcasts: Please note that the Friday khutba

and prayers, the dars, as well as all meetings

are broadcast over the Virtual Mosque

(www.virtualmosque.co.uk).

Call of the Messiah(Continued from the last issue)

Precautionary measure

It should also be remembered here that we had,

inour first notification, proposed a plan, by way

of precaution, for keeping off

plague. But it had never been

our intention to suggest that it

wasan absolute and sure rem-

edy, so trustworthy andinfalli-

ble that after it there re-

mained no neednor yearningfor prayer. We meant only to

say that there was strong

probability that it might yield

some good effect. We know it

for certain thatwith regard to

a disease there is, in the hands

of doctors and physicians, no

such medicine in respect of

which they can put forth and

proffer the claimthat it will,

fighting with full successagainstthe dictates of destiny,

work a cure and deliver unfailingly with the

certainty of a law, all kinds of temperament

from the clutches of disease. Our belief on the

other hand, is that up to this time physicians

have not been able to find out any such medi-

cine, nor can they, which may, at all events, pro-

duce a good effect upon all men of different

natures, ages and countries, and never fallshort and fail. It is, therefore, that in spite of

plan and device, the room for prayer and sup-

plication, at any rate, remains open and empty.

And plague, in the list of all deadly diseases,

obviously stands at the top; how, then, can a

man adduce his claim in respect of such a

deadly disease that a certain drug or device can

save all lives without any exception, from its

fatal blow?

Purpose of prayer

Again, when it is evident from the Law of Na-

ture that the science of medicine in itself is

merely speculative, and so are all its plans and

prescriptions, how unfortunate it is, then, that

one should repose all his confidence in these

uncertainties and seek not

through prayer the grace of the

Most High God, Who is the Su-

preme Source of all good and

guidance. What do we ask for and

crave through prayer? We implore

and entreat the Great Knower ofthe unseen, who knows the real

nature of the disease as well as its

treatment, to extend to us His

helping hand, and provide us with

such medicines as may be excel-

lently efficacious and effective; or

that He may not out of His kind-

liness and grace cause to dawn

upon us the day when we stand in

need of physicians and their

medicines. Is there any doubt oruncertainty about the fact that

December

2012

Webcasting on the worlds first real-time Islamic service at

www.virtualmosque.co.uk

Hazrat Amirs arrival was

front-page news.


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Above and below: foreign delegates arriving

Surniame Convention November 2012

Above: Cultural Centre built next to themosque

Below: President, Suriname Jamaat welcomesdelegates.

Above: opening of the Conference Centre

Above and below: opening the convention


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Addressing the conference were

The leader of the Jewish community

The leader of the Christian community

The Home Minister of Suriname

Hazrat Amir, Deputy US and a previous

Suriname ambassador to Indonesia

Below: foreign delegates (seated)

Audience: high military and civil officials Below: other members of the audience


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woven carpets and hand-made furniture de-

serves much more respect than a person who

furnishes his house with second-hand items, we

say. But even if a man does not possess riches

but has connections with those that do, thissomehow rubs off on him. Even the misdemean-

ours of such people are forgiven. A prince found

misbehaving in a hotel in Vegas has his actions

cleansed by the fact that he is of royal blood. We

make every effort to seek out people who may

have such connections. In modern vocabulary it

is called networking.

The first of the verses that I recited to you

goes so far as to say that some of our wives and

children are our enemies. This seems to be a

strange statement to make. But the point being

made is this, that anything and everything that

takes you away from Allah is your enemy. A per-

son may not do something wrong to gain some

advantage or protection for himself but may do

it for the sake of his family. He may not lie to

protect himself but provide a false alibi for his

child, because his wife and other children pres-

sure him into doing so. But even if there is no

pressure, our natural instincts and desire make

us do these things. Even the Prophet Noah cried

out and prayed to God to save his son from the

flood. This natural desire in all of us to protectour families makes us behave in this way. This is

why Allah says that our wives and children are

our enemies, because even if they do not pres-

sure us to do something wrong, our instinct to

do so makes us forget Allahs commands to be

honest and truthful.

Is this then like Jesus teaching to turn the

other cheek and, while it sounds fine on paper,

impossible to act upon? No, it is not, because the

Quran gives us an example. It says that Allah

asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, and both the

father and the child readily agreed. If one human

being can do it, then so can others. I have seen

and known people who, to my astonishment, put

love of Allah before their love for their children

and families. These people left wives who were

on their deathbed and they left their children

with no one but Allah to look after them and

went to serve the cause of Islam. They left their

near and dear ones in Allahs care. Those of our

missionaries and imams who went to Woking,

Berlin, Holland, Fiji, Trinidad and so on, all of

them did this. Their connection with theMessiah promised to the Muslim Ummah

infused such great love for Allah and His

Prophet Muhammad (s) in their hearts that

nothing else mattered.

You see, in summary, what these verses are

telling you is that duty comes before anythingelse. These verses are not just a story about a

man willing to sacrifice his own upon Allahs

command. They are more than that. Allah has

set forth a parable to show that if even you have

to sacrifice your most precious possession to do

the right thing you must do so. Hazrat Ibrahim

prayed for a son and in old age he is given a son.

We struggle to go to work to earn money to

bring up families. At the end of his life Hazrat

Ibrahim fulfils his ambition. He has a son. We,

too, fulfil our ambitions and desires, whatever

they may be, by using that money for our chil-

dren and our wives and ourselves. And then

Hazrat Ibrahim is told to sacrifice everything

that he had achieved by doing his duty. His

greatness lies in that, without flinching, without

question or reservation, he makes ready to do

his duty. And the son, too, willingly and happily

agrees with him. Here is where we part com-

pany with these noble people. Our child wants a

newly released iPad by Apple, and the Jamaat

makes an appeal for some noble cause. We only

have money for one of these. Will we followIbrahims and Ismails example and sacrifice our

own desires for duty? Unfortunately, many will

not. There have been people in this Jamaat who

did do so, and this is what makes this Jamaat

great the sacrifices of its elders. Dr Basharat

Ahmad comes to Lahore to buy his daughters

dowry. Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali makes

an appeal for funds for the Berlin Mosque. What

did this father do? He consulted his daughter,

who said: Father, tell me, how long does bridal

wear last? But a good deed lasts for ever; give

money to the Jamaat. These people were the

living embodiment of the pledge they took to

hold their duty above their personal interest,

which was exactly what Hazrat Ibrahim did.

We are also faced by the same dilemma to-

day. Our brothers and sisters from a long way

away, people that we do not know and have

never met or seen, they have called out to us for

help. The Jamaat in India has undertaken to

build a mosque and a school in New Delhi and in

Bihar. We are one brotherhood and from which-

ever corner of the world comes the call for help,we must help. Our jewellery and cars and


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houses will be left behind for our children to

fight over. Our good deeds will go with us to the

hereafter. Chaudhry Saeed said to me about the

Berlin mosque: I will protect this mosque with

my life, because my mothers jewels are buriedin it. Will our children stand here and tell an

audience the same story? I ask the parents

among you to follow Hazrat Ibrahim and make a

sacrifice for this project. You cannot sacrifice a

lamb in the UK: give the same amount to build

these schools in India. And I want the young-

sters present here to revive the example of

Hazrat Ismail, so that one day someone remem-

bers your sacrifice like the daughter who pre-

ferred that her father use the money to save the

Berlin mosque rather than buy her dowry.

May Allah grant us all the wisdom to follow

the guidance set out in our Holy Quran.

Islam Forbids So-CalledHonour Killings

Compiled by Zahid Aziz

Below, we quote Hadith reports from Sahih Buk-

hari and Sahih Muslim which show most clearly

that the Holy Prophet Muhammad strictly for-

bade Muslim men from meting out their own

punishment on women whom they considered

to have committed gross immoralities. He in-

structed that the due process of law should be

invoked to determine guilt and award punish-

ment. Those who take the law into their own

hands to declare women guilty and then punish

them would themselves be punished by the Holy

Prophet. These reports refer to the following

passage of the Holy Quran:

And those who accuse their wives and have

no witnesses except themselves, let one of them

testify four times, bearing Allah to witness, thathe speaks the truth. And the fifth (time) that the

curse of Allah be on him, if he is lying. And it

shall avert the punishment from her, if she tes-

tify four times, bearing Allah to witness, that he

is lying. And the fifth (time) that the wrath of

Allah be on her, if he speaks the truth. (24:69)

As can be seen, this passage places the man

and wife on terms of complete equality. The

sworn denial of the wife is exactly equal to the

sworn accusation of the husband. After the fifth

swearing, which is that of invoking Allahs curse

on ones own self in case of being the liar, the

woman is free of the accusation and no one can

punish her.

A man is reported to have asked the Holy

Prophet concerning the following predicament:

If a man were to find with his wife a man

and if he were to talk about it, you would lashhim; and if he killed [the man], you would kill

him, and if he were to keep quiet he would be

consumed by anger.

He means that according to Islam if he ac-

cused her in front of others, he would be pun-

ished for slander, and if he killed the man he

would be treated as a murderer. So what is he to

do? The report continues that the Holy Prophet

prayed to Allah for an answer, and Allah re-

vealed to him the verses quoted above. Then

both the man and his wife came to the Holy

Prophet and swore in the manner prescribed.

The woman was then free to go, even though the

report casts doubt on her truthfulness. (Sahih

Muslim, Book of Divorce, under Lian, Invoking A

Curse. See translation of Sahih Muslim by Abdul

Hamid Siddiqui, Book 9, Report Number 3564 of

the edition online at www.iium.edu.my/deed/

hadith/.)

According to a Hadith report in Bukhari, a

man called Hilal bin Umaiya accused his wife of

committing illegal sexual intercourse with

another man and brought the case before theHoly Prophet.

The Prophet said (to Hilal): Either you

bring forth a proof (i.e., four witnesses) or you

will receive the legal punishment (lashes) on

your back. Hilal said: O Allahs Messenger, if any-

one of us saw a man with his wife, would he go

to seek after witnesses? The Prophet kept on

repeating: Either you bring forth witnesses or

you will receive the legal punishment (lashes)

on your back.

The report says that it was then that theverses quoted above were revealed to be applied

for the case of those who accuse their wives

and have no witnesses except themselves.

(Sahih Bukhari, the book as above, Report Num-

ber 272.)

The above two reports show that the Holy

Prophet was prepared to punish the husband for

slander against his wife, and that if the husband

had killed the other man the Holy Prophet

would have punished him for murder. Contrast

this with the situation in many Muslim countries

today, such as Pakistan, where a husband can

get his wife arrested by merely reporting to the


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police that she had committed adultery.

When this procedure of swearing was in-

voked between husband and wife, the Holy

Prophet would then order a divorce between

them:A man accused his wife of illegal sexual in-

tercourse and denied his paternity to her

(conceived) child during the lifetime of Allahs

Messenger. He ordered them both to do the

cursing as Allah decreed and then gave his deci-

sion that the child would be for the mother, and

a divorce decree was issued for the cou-

ple. (Sahih Bukhari, the book as above, Report

Number 272.)

In such cases the man was not entitled to

claim back the mahr(marriage gift) from the

wife. (Sahih Muslim, the book as above, Report

Number 3557.)

In another report, a man called Sad bin

Ubada al-Ansari asked the Holy Prophet:

If a man finds his wife with another person,

should he kill him?

The Holy Prophet replied, No. According to

another version this man asked him:

If I were to find with my wife a man, should

I not touch him before bringing four witnesses?

The Holy Prophet replied that this was cor-

rect. The man replied:By no means! By Him Who has sent you

with the Truth, I would hasten with my sword to

him before that.

Upon this, the Holy Prophet said to people:

Listen to what he is saying. It is his sense of

honour, but I have a greater sense of honour

than he, and God has a greater sense of honour

than me. (Sahih Muslim, the book as above, Re-

ports 3569 and 3571.) By this, the Holy Prophet

means that a person cannot be more moral,

more concerned about morality and honour

than the Messenger of Allah and Allah Himself.

When Allah and His Messenger, who are the

greatest guardians of honour, decency and mo-

rality, do not teach the action the man wants to

take, how can it be moral for him to do so?

Note that here a Muslim openly says that due to

his high sense of honour he cannotact on the teach-

ing of the Quran and the Holy Prophet! We find,quite commonly, such an argument being put for-

ward today in Muslim societies by those who deny

women the many rights that Islam has given them.

Islam allows, in fact recommends, remarriage of

widows and divorced women, and gives a woman

the right to reject a marriage proposal. But these

rights are denied to them under the claim that it

would be against the standard of honour.

The following is an example in which the Holy

Prophet Muhammad dismissed a mans claim that

the child born to his wife was not his:

A desert Arab came to Allahs Messenger and

said: My wife has given birth to a dark-

complexioned child and I have disowned him.

Thereupon Allahs Messenger said: Have you any

camels? He said: Yes. He said: What is their colour?

He said: They are red. He said: Is there anyone

dusky among them? He said: Yes. Allahs Messenger

said: How has it come about? He said: It is perhaps

due to some inherited strain to which it has re-

verted. Upon this the Holy Prophet said: The (birth

of the) black child may be due to the strain to which

he (the child) might have reverted.And as added in another version: He (the Holy

Prophet) did not permit him to disown him. (Sahih

Muslim, the book as above, Reports 3576, 3575.)

This again shows that the Holy Prophet did not ac-

cept mere allegations made by husbands against

their wives, while having no evidence or witnesses.

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore (UK)

The first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission

Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ

Centre: 020 8903 2689 President: 020 8529 0898 Secretary: 01753 575313 E-mail: [email protected]

Websites: www.aaiil.org/uk | www.ahmadiyya.org | www.virtualmosque.co.uk

Donations: www.virtualmosque.co.uk/donations

The Light, Deember 2012

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