I had been thinking since many days to share a jewel from my area :) well, not specifically my area but broadly speaking I hail from the same district. So here I am with a picture post of Bhong Mosque. Memory of Bhong Mosque visit is still fresh at my mind when I was quite young. Even though at that times I had not that much intellect (hey i was kid at that time :P ) to appreciate the demeanor of this great architectural piece but I certainly enjoyed the glitz of colored glass and countless small mirror pieces which produced an amazing effect. [click to continue...]
From the category archives:
Religion
The Art of Being Thankful
I love rain. Since as far as I can remember, I always have. The best are the thunderstorms, when the whole sky goes black and then it lights up for a split second as lightening rolls and I wait in anticipation for the roaring thunder; waiting for the sound to catch up with its visual. Around 3-4 years back, I remember it had just started to rain and I exclaimed joyfully, “I wish it would rain every single day!” My eldest sister looked at me for a moment, and then asked me “What about all the poor people who don’t have homes and have to stay out in the rain at night when it gets freezing cold?” She waited for that to sink in and then continued “And what about those whose crops are getting destroyed with these endless torrents? Their entire lives depend on the income they receive for their farm-work. If it rains all the time, they’re all completely done for.” [click to continue...]
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Swiss Ban on Building Minarets in Mosques
The Swiss Government has recently banned the building of Minarets in Mosques. The ban comes as a result of a recently held referendum in Switzerland. According to New York Times story:
The Swiss on Sunday overwhelmingly imposed a national ban on the construction of minarets, the prayer towers of mosques, in a referendum drawn up by the far right and opposed by the government. The referendum, which passed with a clear majority of 57.5 percent of the voters and in 22 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, was a victory for the right. The vote against was 42.5 percent. Because the ban gained a majority of votes and passed in a majority of the cantons, it will be added to the Constitution.
The Swiss Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the rightist Swiss People’s Party, or S.V.P., and a small religious party had proposed inserting a single sentence banning the construction of minarets, leading to the referendum.
The ban has come as a surprise to the 400,000 Muslims living in Switzerland and billions of Muslims living around the world. I was particularly surprised at the campaign banner that showed minarets popping out of the Swiss flag and colored in black. The number of minarets shown on the Swiss flag in the campaign banner is far greater then the actual number of minarets in Switzerland. According to same New York Times story:
Of 150 mosques or prayer rooms in Switzerland, only 4 have minarets, and only 2 more minarets are planned. None conduct the call to prayer. There are about 400,000 Muslims in a population of some 7.5 million people. Close to 90 percent of Muslims in Switzerland are from Kosovo and Turkey, and most do not adhere to the codes of dress and conduct associated with conservative Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, said Manon Schick, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International in Switzerland.
Minaret Ban Campaign Poster
While in fact the ban has a more symbolic effect and gives a clear message to the Muslims through out the world that Switzerland is no more accepting Muslims culture and heritage. It is also worth mentioning here that the Minarets have no Islamic value attached to them as they have no place in Islamic Shariah, which was made the sole target in the campaign by rightist Swiss Peoples Party. Therefore, i will not be wrong to conclude it as a move to isolate Muslims and to [click to continue...]
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Maulana Tariq Jamil - Intezar
Every once in a while you read a story that touches your heart and soul. I was reading an article by Javed Chaudhry ‘titled Intezar’ where he writes about Maulana Tariq Jameel - so thought would share with the audience the whole article;
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Every fourth person on Planet Earth is Muslim
Islam that originated in Arabian peninsula about 1400 years ago is now thriving and has reached every continent. This was revealed in a recent report by THE PEW FORUM on Religion and Public Life. This report is very comprehensive stating size and distribution of World’s Muslim Population as of 2009. The demographic study of more than world’s 200 countries reveals that there are around 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion. This said report also classifies Muslim population in to Sunni and Shiites as well with respect to various geographic regions.
The report also measures Muslim population according to each country and region. Europe for example has 38 million Muslims, constituting about 5% of its population. European Muslims make up slightly more than 2% of the world’s Muslim population. Whereas there are 4.6 million Muslims in American region out of which more than half or about 2.5 million are Muslims.
(Image used under Internet’s fair usage policy. Image Source: Boston.com)
Here are some factual excerpts from the report:
While Muslims are found on all five inhabited continents, more than 60% of the global Muslim population is in Asia and about 20% is in the Middle East and North Africa.
More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. These minority Muslim populations are often quite large. India, for example, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. China has more Muslims than Syria, while Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined.
Following is an interactive map showing Muslim population across the world:
(Map courtesy The Pew Forum: Roll over a country bubble to see its estimated 2009 Muslim population, the percentage of its population that is Muslim and the percentage of the world Muslim population it represents)
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Drop the Prefix, I’m Just Muslim
By Yasmin Mogahed
What kind of Muslim are you? The question seems odd, but for those who seek to divide and conquer Islam, the answer has become increasingly important. Even more disturbing are the labels we assign ourselves.
In our families few of us can say we’ve never disagreed with our siblings. But when a family member makes a mistake—even a big one—or has a view we don’t agree with, even fewer of us decide to divorce that family and change our name. Today, the same is not true of our Muslim family. Today, we’re no longer just ‘Muslim.’ We’re ‘progressives,’ ‘Islamists,’ ‘traditionalists,’ ‘salafis,’ ‘indigenous,’ and ‘immigrant.’ And each group has become so alienated from the other, that we’ve almost forgotten that we share a common creed.
While real differences do exist within our ummah, something very serious has gone wrong. Within the fold of Islam, differences are not only tolerated—they’re encouraged as a mercy from God. But as soon as we label and marginalize any who disagree with us, our downfall begins. Once we accept and internalize these labels as our main source of identity, the result is disastrous. As a result, we create our own camps, attend only our own gatherings and conferences; soon enough, we’re talking only to those who agree with us. Dialogue within the ummah disappears, our differences become only more polarized and our views become more extreme. Before long, we stop caring about what happens to the ‘other’ group of Muslims around the world, as we amputate limbs from the unified body our prophet taught us we were. [click to continue...]
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Food Recommended by Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H)
Got this forward from one of my friends. Thought i would share with everyone, the list of food that Prophet Mohammad has recommended and was personally fond of;
Barley: Good in fever, while use in a soup form.
Dates: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that a house without dates has no food. It should also be eaten at the time of childbirth.
Figs: It is a fruit from paradise and a cure for piles.
Grapes: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was very fond of grapes - it purifies the blood, provides vigour and health, strengthens the kidneys and clears the bowels.
Honey: Considered the best remedy for diarrhoea when mixed in hot water. It is the food of foods, drink of drinks and drug of drugs. It is used for creating appetite, strengthening the stomach, eliminating phlegm; as a meat preservative, hair conditioner, eye soother and mouthwash. It is extremely beneficial in the morning in warm water.
Melon: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said: ‘None of your women who are pregnant and eat of water melon will fail to produce off spring that is good in countenance and good in character.’
Milk: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that milk wipes away heat from the heart just as the finger wipes away sweat from the brow. It strengthens the back, improved the brain, renews vision and drives away forgetfulness.
Mushroom: The Prophet (SAW) said that mushroom is a good cure for the eyes; it also serves as a form of birth control and arrests paralysis.
Olive Oil: Excellent treatment for skin and hair, delays old age, and treats inflammation of the stomach.
Pomegranate: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)said it cleanses you of Satan and evil aspirations for 40 days.
Vinegar: A food Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)used to eat with olive oil. [That's now a fashion in elite Italian Restaurants]
Water: The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said the best drink in this world is water, when you are thirsty drink it by sips and not gulps, gulping produces sickness of the liver.
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Hamid Saeed Kazmi Attacked in Islamabad
If you look closely, there is a serious effort to destabalize Pakistan. Targetted killings with each target carefully chosen and executed, who can carry on with such immaculate plans , i wonder who? Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying Pakistan’s religious affairs minister , wounding him and killing his driver.
The attack on Hamid Saeed Kazmi took place close to his office in Islamabad. Kazmi has been critical of the Taliban and other militants blamed for scores of attacks in Pakistan over the last 2 1/2 years.
According to Geo News correspondent, two miscreants riding a motorbike fired gunshots at the minister and managed to escape the scene. The federal minister received gunshot in his knee. However, according to hospital sources, the minister is being operated upon at the Emergency; he is out of danger.
It should be mentioned that Aabpara Police Station is situated nearby; however, no high police personnel approached on the scene.
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Is it right to eat while Azaan during Sehri for Fast?
Due to lack of knowledge people have been indulged in very wrong practices. Some people have adopted a very wrong practice in Fasting and I, myself, have seen and heard this thing from many people. That is “During Sahri one can keep eating till Azaan is going on” This is totally a wrong practice and whoever does this his/her Fast will be nullified.
We need to understand the ending time of Sahri. When Azaan is being called it means that the time of Fajr has been started and as time of Fajr has been started it means that day(i.e Dawn) has been started. So, Now anyone who eats during Azaan it means that he is eating during the Dawn whereas we have to stop eating before the start of Dawn.
Now look what Quran says about it.
… and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), …} [Al-Quran, 2: 187].
Now where does it say that one can keep on eating till Azaan is going on. Question is if time of Fajr starts at 4.45am and in my local mosque Azaan is being called at 5.00am then can I keep on eating till 5.00am? Absolutely not! If anyone does so his/her Fast will be nullified because now he is eating after the ending time of Sahri.
Some people while proving their false statement give reference of this Hadith:
Abu Hurayrah(Radhi’Allah An’ho) narrated : “If the Azaan is called and one of you has a receptacle in his hand, he should not leave it until satisfying his needs”.
People have drawn a wrong conclusion from this Hadith and they think that we can keep eating till Azaan is going on. Al-Bayhaqi said this narration is according to the majority of Muslim scholars, linked in its meaning with the fact that the Rasool’Allah (SAW) knew that Azaan is called before the Fajr. [click to continue...]
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