Is there gender equality in Islam?

                                                                                                                                    
All Praises is due to Allah. We ask him to bless our noble prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and we thank Allah for sending us a flawless scripture of truth. 


One major question always arises to Muslims on the subject of gender equality in Islam and with a lot of thought and study of the subject I feel qualified to answer this question. I will start with a summary of the rites of women today and then discuss the rites of women in Pre-Islamic Arabia in another article inshallah. 


First of all I want to point out here is that men and woman are not the same, anybody who has studied biology even for the first year knows that there is a big difference between men and women. Islam does not preach this idea of gender equality we preach something much bigger and better than that and that's equity (fairness) whats right for a man and whats right for a woman. 


The rites of men and the rites of women are different because their different, they have been created differently by Allah. And who is to know and understand what an individual persons needs are then the one who created them in the first place and it is Allah, who sent down instructions so that everyone gets their proper rites, not equal rites but equity rites. I will give you an example of this. Men and women are not the same when it comes to business or work, quite simply because women don't have the physical capability to go out there and do some of the things men can do, on the other hand there are many things women can do that men can't do having babies is one of them! Also women are able to tolerate a lot more pain specially through labor and childbirth no man could ever be able to do that. 


Also men and women are different in their emotional makeup their thinking and the way they approach ideas, doesn't mean to say ones wrong and ones right but there is a difference and Allah has explained everything to us through Islam.




When we consider the shahada men and women must both accept that there is no God but Allah and  we are going to do what he wants us to do on his terms and Muhammad is the messenger (peace be upon him). Then after that comes salah 5 daily preys a day however women on their monthly cycle don't have to pray and further more she does not have to make them up why? Because Allah knows what he created and does not want her doing that then, she can pray in her heart.


When it comes to hajj the pilgrimage both men and women are required to do it, however women don't perform hajj when there on their monthly cycle. The zakat is however the same between the two sexes. 

Signs of the Day of Judgement

What are the signs and what do they mean?


We are told by our beloved prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that before man wakes up in the resurrection there will be signs leading up to the resurrection when we see these signs The Day of Judgment will shortly follow. I have listed only a handful of these signs. We have minor signs followed by major signs. May Allah make us aware of these signs, may Allah guide us. Much of the Judeo-Christian teaching regarding these signs are based on frequent reinterpretations of vague Scripture. Whereas the signs enumerated by Islamic sources are quite clear and concrete, with little, if any, room for interpretation. In addition, the vastness of the material available within the Islamic tradition points to the finality of Allah's Message. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Last Messenger sent to humanity, said that Allah has never sent a messenger who did not warn his people about al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the AntiChrist). And it only follows that Allah would give the Last Messenger the most information relating to this subject, as his followers will be the ones experiencing these signs.

Minor signs 


1. The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)


2.  Books/writing will be widespread and (religious) knowledge will be low (Ahmad)


3. Adultery and fornication will be prevalent (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people, which their ancestors had not known.) (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Al-Haythami)

3. When fornication becomes widespread among your leaders (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this will happen when the people stop forbidding evil) (Ibn Majah)

4. Women will outnumber men......eventually every 50 women for 1 man (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)

5. Killing, killing, killing (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)

6. The nations of the earth will gather against the Muslims like hungry people going to sit down to a table full of food. This will occur when the Muslims are large in number, but "like the foam of the sea".

7. Children will be foul (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)

8. When a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly while shunning his father (at-Tirmidhi)

9. People will claim to follow the Qur'an but will reject hadith & sunnah (Abu Dawood)

10. Time will pass rapidly (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)

11. A man will pass by a grave and wish that he was in their place (Bukhari)

12. The conquest of Constantinople by the Muslims (Ahmad)

13. When the bedouins (Arabs) begin to compete with each other  in the construction of taller buildings (Bukhari)

14. When men lie with men and women lie with women (Al-Haythami)

15. Men will begin to look like women and women will begin to look like men


16. The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.

Major signs 



Although they appear here in no particular order, it is important to point out that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that these last, major signs will follow each other like pearls falling off of a necklace...




1. Masih ad-Dajjal (The AntiChrist) The Antichrist (al-masih al-dajjal, the false christ) will appear, with all his tools of deception, and be an immense trial. He will be followed by 70,000 Jews from Isfahan (present-day Iran).

2. The appearance of Masih al-Isa (Jesus Christ), the son of Mary (peace be upon him)

3. Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)

4. The destruction of the Kabah and the recovery of its treasure

5.  The wind will take the souls of the believers

6. The rising of the sun from the west

7. Three blasts of the trumpet (fear & terror, death, resurrection)

8. Three major landslides (one in the East, one in the West, and one on the Arabian peninsula)

9. Emergence of the Beast

10. The fire will drive the people to their final gathering place

"Are they waiting for anything except the Hour, to come to them suddenly? But its Signs have already come!" (Al-Qur’an, Surah Muhammad) 

Why is riba (interest) haram?

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Riba is forbidden in Islamic Sharia as it was forbidden in other monotheist religions. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning) about the Jews: {And their taking of Ribâ (usury) though they were forbidden from taking it and their devouring of men's substance wrongfully (bribery, etc.)  [4: 161].
The reason behind forbidding it is clear. It is consuming the belongings of people without legal right. It also gives the rich people monopoly of all the money and does not help the poor.Also, giving loans with interests results in hatred and enmity between people and it causes severing of relations between them. Islam calls for unity while Riba causes disunity in the single Muslim Ummah. Islam also urges rich people to be compassionate towards poor ones while Riba results in the opposite.

A Muslim duty is to surrender to the Divine Instructions, to adhere to them, to do what is Halal and to avoid what is Haram, since Islam is based on total submission to Allah, The Exalted, whether one knows or not the wisdom or reason behind the Divine Teachings.
Allah says: {It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allâh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allâh and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error.} [33:36]
However, scholars of Islam mentioned many causes and bad consequences due to dealing in Riba (usury and interest). Among them are: (1)- taking the other's property without making effort, (2) exploiting the needy's difficult situation, (3) killing the spirit of co-operation and showing mercy among Muslims, (4) building financial relations on greediness, (5) establishing rancor between the poor and the rich, and (6) dividing society into exploiters and exploited segments.
Here, we say that Allah, the Exalted, has urged Muslims to give beautiful loans and promised those who give such a loan that He will increase their reward. Such a Divine legislation is made for the sake of establishing co-operation and mercy among Muslims.
In addition to that, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Allah has cursed Riba, the one who receives it, the one who gives it, the one who write down its document and the two witnesses… All are equal in sin."
Allah knows best.

Islamic programmes

Here are a list of Islamic programmes for you to enjoy and will be updated every week inshallah 


                         Dr Zakir Naik explains why smoking is haram                              

                       Sheikh Yusuf Estes explains why smoking is haram 
               

                   Jewish Rabbi Abrahamson admits Islam is the true faith

If God exists then why is there suffering?

This is the most common question a Muslim is asked if God (Allah) is all powerful he must be able to prevent evil so why does evil exist? why is there suffering? Lets go into in depth information about this inshallah. 


First of all I would like to say all praises are due to Allah alone may he bless us and his noble messenger. As in regards to this most common question that face many Muslim, Christians and Jews. Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, director of Islamic society of Orange county and president of  the Islamic society of North America states 


Indeed Allah is powerful (Al Aziz) and he is able to do all things the Quran mentions this hundreds of times. It is also mentioned in the Quran that Allah is the creator and he is the best creator glory be to the best creator (Al Mu'minun:14).



But then the question comes why do pain and sufferings exist in the world. We find sickness, old age and death. We see things that are ugly, people who are insane and foolish. There are storms, earthquakes, floods, draught and famine. We also see people commit sins, show disloyalty, unfaithfulness, greed and insincerity. We see people commit rapes, murders; they fight and make wars. We know all these and many more problems. There are evils caused by human beings and there are natural disasters. There are suffering for individuals and there are those that involve a large number of people. 

But we also know that this is not the whole story. Besides all these negative things, we also see beauty, health, prosperity, life, birth, wisdom, intelligence, growth and progress. We also see goodness among people, faith, sincerity, charity, love and the spirit of sacrifice. We also see a lot of virtue and piety. It is wrong to see one side of the coin and not to see the other side. Any philosophy that concentrates on one aspect of the creation and denies or ignores the other side is partially true and partial truths are no truth at all. 

It is also the fact that the element of good is more in the creation than the element of evil. We all see that there are more people who are healthy than those who are sick. There are more that eat well than those who starve. 

There are more that lead decent life than those who commit crimes. Goodness is the rule and evil is the exception. Virtue is the norm and sin is the aberration. Generally trees bear fruits, the flowers bloom, the winds move smoothly. 

But then the question is why does Allah allow these exceptions to the rules? 

Let us ask this question to understand Allah’s ways in His creation. The Qur’an tells us that good, evil and whatever happens in this world happens by Allah’s Will (mashi’at Allah). Only Allah knows fully His Will. We finite beings cannot grasp fully His infinite Will and Wisdom. He runs His universe the way He deems fit. The Qur’an tells us that Allah is Wise and everything that Allah does is right, just, good and fair. We must submit and surrender to His Will. The Qur’an has not given us all the details about Allah’s Will, but it has enlightened us with the guidance that is useful and sufficient for us. There are several points that we should keep in our mind to understand this issue: 

1. First of all, Allah did not make this world a permanent world. This is a temporary world and everything here has a time limit. When it’s time comes it will die, come to an end and finish. Neither the good things of this world are forever, nor the bad things eternal. We are here for a short time and we are being tested. Those who will pass this test will find an eternal world that is perfect and permanent. Those who will fail this test shall see the evil consequences of their sins and corruption. 

2. Allah has placed a physical law and a moral law in this universe. Allah allows suffering to occur when one or more of these laws are broken. The physical law is based on cause and effect. Sickness comes if one does not take care of one’s health or is exposed to infections. A car accident occurs when one is not alert, or drives in a careless manner, or if the cars are not checked, roads and freeways are not made and kept in right shape, or the traffic laws are not right or not properly enforced. Study of causes and effects is very important to facilitate safeguards. Even here we should keep in mind that Allah often saves us and He does not let us suffer from every negligence. How many times it happens that we are not careful and still we reach safely to our destinations. The way people drive in some cities, it is a miracle that more accidents do not happen and more people do not suffer. Allah says: 

“(Allah) Most Gracious! It is He Who has taught the Qur’an. He has created man: He has taught him speech (and Intelligence). The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed; and the herbs and the trees both (alike) bow in adoration. And the Firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the Balance (of Justice), in order that you may not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance. It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures." (Ar-Rahman:1-10) 

The way we exceed the measures set by Allah and violate His laws of cause and effect is incredible. It is really the mercy of Allah that we are saved. Strictly speaking, the question should not be why does Allah allow suffering, but how much Allah protects us and saves us all the time in spite of our violations and negligence. The Qur’an says: 

“If Allah were to punish people according to what they deserve, He would not leave on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term: when their Term expires, verily Allah has in His sight all His servants." (Fatir:45) 

But sometimes Allah does punish people because of their violations of His laws whether they are physical or moral. The Qur’an tells us that many nations and communities were destroyed because of their sinful lifestyles: 

“If they treat thy (mission) as false, so did the Peoples before them (with their Prophets), the People of Noah, and Ad and Thamud. Those of Abraham and Lut; and the Companions of the Madyan people; and Moses was rejected (in the same way). But I granted respite to the Unbelievers, and (only) after that did I punish them: but how (terrible) was My rejection (of them)! How many populations have We destroyed, which were given to wrong-doing! They tumbled down on their roofs. And how many wells are lying idle and neglected, and castles lofty and well-built?" (Al-Hajj: 42-45) 

3. Suffering can also be a test and trial for some people. Allah allows some people to suffer in order to test their patience and steadfastness. Even Allah’s Prophets and Messengers were made to suffer. Prophet Ayyub is mentioned in the Qur’an as a Prophet who was very patient. Good people sometimes suffer but their sufferings heal others and bring goodness to their communities. People learn lessons from their good examples. Martyrs die for their faith, soldiers give their lives for their nations and this brings liberation and freedom for their people. 

4. Allah sometimes allows some people to suffer to test others, how they react to them.When you see a person who is sick, poor and needy, then you are tested by Allah. Allah is there with that suffering person to test your charity and your faith. In a very moving Hadith Qudsi (Divine Hadith) the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 

“Allah will say on the Day of Judgment, ‘O son of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit Me.’ He will say, ‘O my Lord, how could I visit You, when you are the Lord of the Worlds.’ Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant so-and-so was sick and you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me there?’ Allah will say, ‘O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not.’ He shall say, ‘O my Lord, how could I feed you and you are the Lord of the Worlds?’ And Allah will say, ‘Did you not know that My servant so-and-so was in need of food and you did not feed him? Did you not know that if you had fed him, you would have found that to have been for Me?’ ‘O son of Adam, I asked you for water and you did not give Me to drink.’ The man shall say, ‘O my Lord, how could I give You water, when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ Allah will say, ‘My servant so-and-so asked you for water and you did not give him to drink water. Did you not know that if you had given him to drink, you would have found that to have been for Me.’ (Muslim, Hadith no. 4661) 

So to summarize, we can say that sufferings occur to teach us that we must adhere to Allah’s natural and moral laws. It is sometimes to punish those who violate Allah’s natural or moral laws. It is to test our faith in Allah and to test our commitment to human values and charity. Whenever we encounter suffering we should ask ourselves, “Have we broken any law of Allah?” Let us study the cause of the problem and use the corrective methods. “Could it be a punishment?” Let us repent and ask forgiveness and reform our ways. “Could it be a test and trial for us?” Let us work hard to pass this test. 

Believers face the sufferings with prayers, repentance and good deeds. The non-believers face the sufferings with doubts and confusions. They blame Allah or make arguments against Him. 

May Allah keep us on the right path, Amen! 

Allah Almighty knows best.

Free Islamic university online. Get a Bachelor of arts in Islamic studies for free

This website is really cool its something Muslims have been dreaming about I myself have never seen an Islamic university online that is free and with dedicated study can land you a bachelor of arts in Islamic studies. So lets take a look at what its all about shall we.

• 2000: Founded IOU from UAE.
• 2007: Resumed from Qatar, 22 free diploma short courses, 1,500 students registered. 
• 2008: Over 4,500 students registered. 
• 2009: 15,000 students registered from over 160 countries. 
• 2010: 30,000 students from 177 countries 
• March 2010: First tuition free Bachelor of Arts in Islamic studies. 

So as you can see this online university is the real deal from the figures above. The founder of this beautiful school is non other then Dr Bilal Philips who is one of the best Muslim scholars of all time. Lets take a look at his own statement 


Making authentic Islamic knowledge readily available to the world through the medium of the internet solely for God's pleasure is a noble goal and a dignified mission worthy of sacrificing one's energies and means for.
-Dr Bilal Philips. 


There really is no charge for this degree and I argue anyone looking to become a Muslim scholar to check out this website and sign up with them before its too late.

CONTACT 
Islamic online university 
Office of administrations 
P.O. Box 3955
Doha, Qatar 


Admissions: Registrar@islamiconlineuniversity.com


Sponsorships: Asst.Dean@islamiconlineuniversity.com


General Enquiry: Registrar@islamiconlineuniversity.com 


Website to the Islamic university 
http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com/

I would like to thank Dr. Bilal for doing this may Allah reward him for all his hard efforts and I urge all the Muslims to make dua for him secondly I would like to thank a Muslim sister called Ruksana Butt who is one of the administrators may Allah bless her also and all those who are involved in this project. Please see video bellow

Why is pork haram (forbidden) in Islam?

There is no deity worthy of worship accept Allah all praises to him and we ask Allah to send blessing to our noble prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)


As regards to this subject there are many factors why Pork is forbidden in Islam lets look to what the holy Quran says about it. 


Forbidden to you (for food) are dead meat, blood the flesh of swine (pig) and that on which hath been invoked the name other then Allah (Quran:5:3) also it is mentioned in 2:173, 6:145 and 16:115. Lets now see what the Bible has to say about eating pork.


And the pig though it has split hoofs completely divided, does not chew the cud it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses they are unclean for you (Leviticus 11:7-8)


 Also in Deuteronomy 14:8 and Isaiah 65:4.


 In Matthew 5:17 and Jesus says. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law of the prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them


. Since the New Testament was being composed during the time of the Roman emperor Constantine, some of 50 to 80 years after the departure of Jesus (peace be upon him) it is possible that pork was deliberately added to the Christian menu to pacify the Roman pagans who ate pork this way it becomes easier to deceive and convert the pagans in to Christianity.


Some people are aware of this prohibition from Allah but they say they can eat pork because  s.t Paul said that all food is clean in his letter to the Romans 14:20. However their are some Christians today that don't eat pork and follow the laws of Moses and Jesus peace be upon then both 


More facts that you need to know on an non theological point of view pigs are really filthy animals people who eat them will often say they are clean but they still need to proof to me they are clean as you can see from the photo bellow of a pig eating his own waste. People will often say that cows eat there own waste too which is a misconception since cows are cud chewers they don't have the right enzymes in their stomach so they have to throw up and eat their sick which is not the same as eating ones waste. On the pig website called thepigsite.com we hear young farmers in shock to see their pigs eat the waste of cows, chickens and of all other animals waste on the farm and they seek other farmers help and in response the farmers say its not due to their lack of vitamins but in fact that's their behaviour. Also you will find that pigs have no sweat glands making their meat really unclean and impure for us to consume.

Lets now look at the medical facts the Quran tells us in 5:60 That Allah had become angry with people who are worshipping idols and turns them into pigs. The closes thing to a flesh of a human is the flesh of a pig we are very similar to each other not just on the inside but some pigs and human beings have the same personality too. According to the BBC news scientists are now able to do full organ transplants Such as the heart and kidneys (please see photo of pigs heart bellow) and they are able to put it inside a human being and it will work fine just like a human organ and before that surgeons have been giving pig heart valves to humans for many years. 

We have always been told by people how clean pigs are and I remember being told by an Irish lady that she used to work on her families farm and that pigs were clean however about 6 months after she said that we had a swine flu epidemic. The swine (pig) flu also called swine influenza has caused the deaths of thousands of people just in the USA alone (they are the biggest pork consumers) according to flucount.org just in California alone there have been 3161 official cases and 470 official deaths. Every state on the graph has thousands of cases and thousands of confirmed deaths.This is not the first time we had swine flu according to wikipedia there was an epidemic in 1918 where it is estimated between 50 million and a 100 million people lost their lives and we had it again in 1976, 1988, 1998 in the U.S and in 2007 in the Philippines. People forget so quickly about other flu's we had and have killed millions and it could happen again if All Mighty Allah says in the Quran and Bible pork is haram then believe me its Haram with a capital H.

Trichinosis disease is a parasitic disease is caused by eating raw or under cooked pork infective with the larvae (eggs) of a species of a round worm commonly called trichina worm. 

Enteral Phase

A large burden of adult worms in the intestines promote symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, dyspepsia and diarrea from 2-7 days after infection While small worms generally are asymptomatic

Parenteral phase

The severity of symptoms caused by larval migration from the intestines depends on the amount of larvae produced. As the larvae migrate though tissue and vessels the bodies inflammatory response results in edema, muscle pains, fever and weakness. 

DANGERS!

The most dangerous case is worms entering the central nervous system. They cannot survive there but they may cause enough damage to produce serious neurological deficits such as ataxia or respiratory paralysis and even DEATH! The central nervous system is compromised by trichinosis in 10-24% of reported cases of are rare stroke. Trichinosis can be fatal depending on the severity of the infection death can occur 4-6 weeks after infection 

Conclusions

I guess after reading this you can sum up that eating pork can't be good for the body but then a question always arises. If Allah says its haram to eat pork why did he create pigs? The answer to that is simple. All you have to do is look at them to know they have a purpose in this world as does everything else that we see every living creature has some kind of job to do. If we did not have maggots we would be up to our necks in dead corpses. A pig however has its own job to do as well its a living organic waste disposer that will eat anything and everything. Look at the photos bellow and see that in some countries in Asia they use pigs to clear out bins and clean the streets by eating all the rubbish 

Feel free to comment and remember 

PEACE 

The family tree of Muhammad (The descents)

Here is the family tree of the holy prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as well as the family tree of all the prophets mentioned in the Holy Quran and Bible 

Introduction to Islam

Islam a name given by Allah to this religion (Quran 5:3) is an Arabic word which literally means submission, obedience and peace. Islam is derived from the Arabic root SALEMA that means peace, purity, submission and obedience. So Islam would mean the path of those who are obedient to Allah and who establish peace with him and his creatures and are fully submitting to his will. Islam followers are called Muslims. Islam is not a new religion in fact it is in essence the same message and guidance which Allah (God) revealed to All prophets that came before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) 


Allah says in the Holy Quran: Say we believe in Allah and that which has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, The tribes and in that which was given to Moses, Jesus and other prophets from their lord. We make no distinction between any of them and to him we submit (in Islam)