muslim – Ali Hasni's Blog

Lowering the Gaze..

Lowering the Gaze >> What al-Quran says !!!

Firstly:

Lowering the gaze (ghadd al-basr) means restraining the gaze and not allowing it to wander or dwell upon anything.

Ibn Faaris said in Mu’jam Maqaayees al-Lughah (4/307):

Ghayn and daad indicate restraining, as in the phrase ghadd al-basr (lowering the gaze)…

Ibn al-Manzoor said in Lisaan al-‘Arab (7/196):

Lowering the gaze (ghadd al-basr) means restraining it. End quote.

Secondly:

In Islamic terminology it refers to a number of things:

* 1 – Refraining from looking at people’s ‘awrahs, which includes the beauty of a non-mahram woman.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (15/414):

Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, has enjoined us in His Book to lower the gaze, which is of two types: refraining from looking at ‘awrahs and refraining from looking at the site of desire.

The former refers to a man refraining from looking at the ‘awrah of another person.

The second refers to looking at uncovered parts of a non-mahram woman. This is more serious than the former, just as alcohol is more serious than dead meat and blood and pork, and the hadd punishment should be carried out on the one who drinks it, because these haraam things are not as desirable as alcohol may be. End quote.

* 2 – Refraining from looking into people’s houses and things that are behind closed doors

Ibn Taymiyah says in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (15/379):

Just as lowering the gaze includes not looking at the ‘awrahs of other people and other haraam things, it also includes refraining from looking into people’s houses. A man’s house conceals his body just as his garments conceal him. Allaah has mentioned lowering the gaze and guarding one’s private parts after the verse about asking for permission to enter, because the house covers a person just as the clothes on his body do. End quote.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Madaarij al-Saalikeen (1/117):

Haraam kinds of looking include looking at ‘awrahs, which is of two types: the ‘awrah behind a garment and the ‘awrah behind doors.

* 3 – Refraining from looking at what people have of wealth, wives, children, worldly goods and so on.

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Look not with your eyes ambitiously at what We have bestowed on certain classes of them (the disbelievers), nor grieve over them. And lower your wings for the believers (be courteous to the fellow‑believers)”

[al-Hijr 15:88]

Ibn Sa’di said in his Tafseer (434):

i.e., do not admire them in such a way that you will distracted with desire for the worldly pleasures enjoyed by those who live in luxury and by which the ignorant are deceived. You should be content with that which Allaah has given you of the seven oft-repeated verses and the Holy Qur’aan (cf. al-Hijr 15:87). End quote.

He also said (p. 516):

i.e., do not be impressed and do not look repeatedly admiring worldly pleasures and those who are enjoying them, such as delicious food and drink, fine clothing, beautiful houses and adorned women, for all of that is the adornment of this world in which those who are deceived rejoice. And those who do wrong enjoy it by ignoring the Hereafter. But it will all soon end and cease to be, and those who love it will die, then they will regret when regret will be to no avail, and they will realize the state they are in when the Resurrection begins. Allaah has made it a test and a trial, so that it may be known who will be deceived by it and who will be better in deeds. End quote.

Thirdly:

The scholars have mentioned many benefits of lowering the gaze, including the following:

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Jawaab al-Kaafi (125):

There are a number of benefits in lowering the gaze:

1 – It is obedience to the command of Allaah, which brings happiness to man in this world and in the next. There is nothing more beneficial to a person in this world and in the next than obeying the commands of his Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, and those who are happy in this world and the next can only attain that happiness by obeying His commands, and those who are doomed in this world and in the next are only doomed because they ignore His commands.

2 – It prevents the poisoned arrows (of the shaytaan), which may lead to his doom, from reaching his heart.

3 – It creates a heart that is devoted to and focused on Allaah. Letting the gaze wander distracts the heart and keeps it far from Allaah. There is nothing more harmful to a person than letting his gaze wander, as it creates alienation between a person and his Lord.

4 – It strengthens the heart and brings it peace, just as letting the gaze wander weakens it and makes it sad.

5 – It brings light to the heart, just as letting the gaze wander brings darkness to it. Hence Allaah mentioned the verse of light immediately after the command to lower the gaze, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts…”

[al-Noor 24:30]

Then straight after that He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as (if there were) a niche and within it a lamp”

[al-Noor 24:35]

i.e., the likeness of His light in the heart of His believing slave who obeys His commands and heeds His prohibitions. If the heart is enlightened blessings will come to it from all sides, but if it is darkened, calamity and evil will come to it from all places. Whatever exists of innovation, misguidance, following whims and desires, avoiding true guidance and turning away from the means of happiness and focusing on the means that lead to doom, that will be recognizable by means of the light that is in the heart. If that light is lost then one will left like a blind man stumbling in the darkness.

6 – It generates true insight which can distinguish between truth and falsehood, sincerity and lies. Allaah rewards His slave for his good deeds with something similar and if he gives up something for the sake of Allaah, He will compensate him with something better than it. So if he lowers his gaze and refrains from looking at things that Allaah has forbidden, Allaah will compensate him with enlightenment; he will compensate him for restraining his gaze for the sake of Allaah, and will open to him the doors of knowledge, faith and true insight which he only attained by means of the light in his heart. The opposite of that is the blindness which Allaah attributed to the homosexuals, which is the opposite of insight. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, by your life (O Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in their wild intoxication, they were wandering blindly”

[al-Hijr 15:72]

7 – It creates a heart that is steadfast, brave and strong. Allaah will give him both insight and power and strength, as it says in the report:

“The one who goes against his whims and desires, the shaytaan flees from his shadow.”

On the other hand, the one who follows his whims and desires will feel a sense of humiliation, indignity, worthlessness and insignificance, which is the punishment which Allaah has decreed for those who disobey Him as al-Hasan said:

“Even if they ride the finest of mounts, the effect of sin will never depart from them. Allaah insists that the one who disobeys Him will be humiliated.”

Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, has connected strength to obedience to Him, and humiliation to disobedience to Him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But honour, power and glory belong to Allaah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and to the believers”

[al-Munaafiqoon 63:8]

“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:139].

Faith is both words and deeds, inward and outward. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Whosoever desires honour, power and glory then to Allaah belong all honour, power and glory [and one can get honour, power and glory only by obeying and worshipping Allaah (Alone)]. To Him ascend (all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it (i.e. the goodly words are not accepted by Allaah unless and until they are followed by good deeds)”

[Faatir 35:10]

i.e., whoever desires power, let him seek it by means of obedience to Allaah and remembrance of Him, by speaking good words and doing good deeds. In Du’aa’ al-Qunoot it says: “he is not humiliated whom You have befriended, nor is he honoured who You take as an enemy”. Whoever obeys Allaah is His friend in as much as he obeys Him, and he will have support and honour from Him commensurate with his obedience towards Him. Whoever disobeys Him is His enemy in as much as he disobeys Him, and he will have humiliation from Him commensurate with his disobedience towards Him.

8 – It blocks the shaytaan from a means of entering his heart, for he may enter with looking, and penetrate the heart faster than the wind blowing through an empty space, and he may present to him the image that he looked at and make it attractive, like an idol to which his heart becomes devoted, then he encourages him and gives him hopes, and fans the flames of desire in his heart, adding the fuel of sin which could not have reached his heart without looking at that image. So his heart becomes inflamed and surrounded with fire on all sides, resulting in infatuation and frustration, and he is in the midst of it like a lamb in the oven. Hence the punishment for those whose desires were fuelled by haraam looking is that in al-Barzakh they are placed in an oven of fire.

9 – It distracts one from thinking of what is in one’s best interests, so his affairs become neglected and he follows his whims and desires and neglects to remember his Lord. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, and who follows his own lusts, and whose affair (deeds) has been lost”

[al-Kahf 18:28]

10 – Between the eyes and the heart there is a connection which means that the one is affected by the other, and if one of them becomes good, the other will also become good, and if one becomes corrupt the other will become corrupt. If the heart becomes corrupt the gaze will become corrupt, and if the gaze become corrupt the heart will become corrupt, and similarly if one is sound the other will also be sound.

And Allaah knows best.

courtesy: Islam Great Religion (WordPress Blog)

Racial Profiling >>matter of grave concern

Editor’s note: Nafees A. Syed, a senior at Harvard University majoring in government, is an editorial editor at The Harvard Crimson as well as a senior editor and columnist for the Harvard-MIT journal on Islam and society, Ascent. She is chairwoman of the Harvard Institute of Politics Policy Group on Racial Profiling.

(CNN) — It seems that now someone called “Barack Hussein Obama” can be pulled aside and patted down merely because of his name. But while our president has the benefit of Air Force One, millions of us with a “funny name” (Muslim and otherwise) do not. Like me.

I’ve consistently faced “random” selections for extra screening at the airport after I decided to wear the hijab, or Muslim head covering. I’ve been told to take my head scarf off or have my head probed while the passengers in front of me offered pitying smiles as they rushed to their flights.

One time, the woman in front of me had a hairdo that could pose more of a security threat than any head scarf could. Muslim women wear the hijab as a symbol of modesty, to be judged not by their appearance.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed that people would be judged for “the content of their character.” However, the Transportation Security Administration is judging me and other Muslims by the way we look.
The TSA uses the hijab to profile Muslim women, and passengers can now expect a full-body pat-down, an appallingly invasive “enhanced pat-down search that could include the chest and groin, or a planned “mind-scan” that would track people’s reaction to terrorist symbols. What’s next, palm reading?

At an airport with a full body scanner, I can have the image of my body displayed before a stranger — virtual nudity. Do they seriously have a blank check on our bodies? Of course I care about profiling partly because I’m affected. But does one have to face this issue to feel that it’s wrong? After all, it is difficult to imagine ourselves in other people’s shoes when we don’t have to.

It’s hard for me too. Especially over the past month, I’ve been shocked at the comments about my faith, and the sometimes-prejudiced support for racial profiling. Radio host Mike Gallagher said, “There should be a separate line to scrutinize anybody with the name Abdul or Ahmed or Mohammed.” Sorry Paula Abdul and Muhammad Ali, or anyone with the world’s most common name, Muhammad.

For people who aren’t affected by racial profiling at airports, imagine this: The TSA implements a new rule to counter drunken driving, which kills over 13,000 Americans every year. People who are not Muslim have to go through a Breathalyzer test before they can enter their vehicle. Muslims don’t drink alcohol and are, therefore, exempt. Ridiculous? I agree.

I know that what I am going through is just the tip of the iceberg of racial profiling in our country. Thirty-two million Americans report that they have been the victims of racial profiling. Racial profiling violates the U.S. Constitution, is ineffective and trickles down to the workplace, schools and elsewhere.

You also run into problems when you justify profiling nearly one in every four people in the world. There are Muslims of every possible race, making profiling practically futile. Fareed Zakaria said it best: “When you’re trying to find a needle in a haystack, adding hay does not help you.”

Putting ethical and pragmatic reasons aside, it’s hard to justify not caring. Even if racial profiling doesn’t affect us, it affects our friends, family members, co-workers, doctors, television personalities — the list goes on. There are some people who don’t know Muslims and are numb to realizing the effects of profiling. Therein lies the problem.

According to the Pew Research Center, people who know Muslims are less likely to have negative views of them. Co-existence is a dismal possibility unless people go to the source to find out about Islam, not skewed Web sites.

And Muslims, here’s something to think about: If your knowledge of Islam came from common stereotypes, wouldn’t you also be misinformed about the faith and its followers? The Quran says, “[God has] made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another (49:13).” So get to know your fellow Americans.

There are some Americans who think Muslims are terrorists and some Muslims who think that other Americans are willfully ignorant. Neither group deserves such a label. Psychologist Henri Tajfel, who was a Holocaust survivor, explained how we isolate ourselves into an “in-group” and facilitate discrimination of an “out-group.”
Religious profiling boxes Muslims into a category separate from Americans. We can’t accept that distinction. Let’s all think outside of the box.

It’s essential for U.S. security that airport screening be done. But we need to stop the inflation of procedures that make our society more afraid and less secure. The TSA needs to stop and evaluate methods that are more effective, less invasive, and don’t discriminate based on religion or race.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nafees A. Syed.

Wuzu Machines

I found this great stuff while reading the e-papers.
Innovation Found!

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters Life!) – A Malaysian company has invented a machine it says will help Muslims purify themselves before prayers without excessively wasting water.

The ornate, green-colored machine comes with automatic sensors and basins to curb water usage during wudu, an Arabic word used to describe the act of washing the face, arms and legs before prayers.

The wudu, or ablution, rite precedes the five daily prayers Muslims are obligated to perform. There are more than 1.7 billion Muslims in the world, with the majority in Africa and the Middle East where water supplies are scarce.

Inventors AACE Technologies is counting on rich countries in these two regions to snap up the machines that will be available in the next six months and cost $3,000-$4,000 a piece.

“Saving water is a motivation for people to adopt this system rather than the conventional methods, where there’s a lot of water wastage,” AACE Chairman Anthony Gomez told reporters while launching the product in the Malaysian capital.

The device, which also emits recorded Koranic verses and is 1.65 meters (5 ft 4.96 in) tall, only uses 1.3 liters (0.3 gallons) of water compared to the conventional methods, which usually involve leaving faucets running for the duration of the washing ritual, which can last for several minutes, Gomez said.

“During the Haj, two million people used 50 million liters water a day for wudu. If they introduce this machine they are saving 40 million liters per day,” he said, referring to the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Gulf city of Dubai has shown interest in acquiring the product for its airport, Gomez said, adding that the machine took two years to develop at the cost of $2.5 million.

AACE also wants to target mosques and offices with new models that can be wall mounted in a group of six.

Muslims heading for prayers in mainly Muslim Malaysia had mixed feelings about the high-tech, but pricey, invention.

“The idea is good and it is built in line with Islamic teachings. But water in this country is cheap, so it is still not worthwhile to have this machine,” an officeworker who gave his name as Aminuddin told Reuters.

But a tourist from neighboring Singapore, which has little water supplies, said the machine would help conserve natural resources.

“Nothing is impossible. Of course we are trying ways and means to new products, those that can save mankind, those that can save nature,” Azman Mohamed Noor

(Writing by Niluksi Koswanage, editing by Miral Fahmy)

France considering to Ban Hijab in Public Places!!

What does it take for a country to say it is democratic & secular? …
Well most of you are aware of what it really takes…

Democracy is where the Government is of the People, By The People and For the People
Lets not forget the most important part FOR THE PEOPLE>>

While we know the issue of veil being banned in schools and colleges in a so called secular and democratic country France is old. However now that it is considering banning veils for woman in Public Places and imposing fine for those who wear..

Published in Times of India on Jan09 in Times Global

Is it really keeping up to secularity seeing that wearing the traditional veil is part of Muslim religious practice. The wearing of this clothing item is a big part of the Muslim religion. Banning this is ridiculous and will upset the Muslim population around the globe. Saying that you cannot practice your religion is complete discrimination by France and is intolerant of the Muslim people of France and around the globe, who should be free to do what they like and what is a part of their religion.

Protecting oneself in Public Places is only necessary and they do not understand that,, saying… Muslim women can do what ever they want at their home, but not wear in public!

France has a very low Muslim population. A French poll released last year clearly states that less than 3% of the French population is comprised of Muslim people. This is an extremely low amount and will affect fewer than a million people, that’s what they say to consider the law being imposed!

Do any of us know that the Sikhs who are in the Army in UK have got it legalized to wear their turban… and yes they are not too much of population there,, why do we just accept what comes….

they say If Muslims don’t like French policy on the veil, they can move elsewhere. These people have chosen to live in France and if they do disagree with the policy, they can chose to move to a different country. France is the only country with this law…. Is it not a choice of the person to live in a country where he was living since his birth!

fascism is all over, the whole world is become a stage… in the name of democracy and secularism they are hidden dictators… and people who speak against them are not very much in the good looks,,, always attacked by media…. It’s a world where we are being ruled purely by dictators who just wish to have their good…

what these dictators excuse is that French people have Islamophobia; ban on veil softens this problem. do they not understand that Muslim veils cannot harm anyone physically and should not harm anyone emotionally. A piece of cloth on the head of a person can’t practically harm anyone physically. If any psychological disturbance or fear is aroused in anyone due to the action of wearing Hijab, then that fear is irrational and the subject who experiences it needs to be educated. The particular citizens in France who have the so-called “Islamophobia” should be given a course which explains to them in detail the irrationality of their belief or fear. Passing a law that tells Muslims not to wear Hijab for someone else’s baseless fear is targeting the stimulus for the disease, and not the disease itself.

why does the media not say or the world not see that the Intolerance of Muslim veils can be cited as racism. If French people don’t like it and can’t accept it, then that is racism.

France is depriving Muslims of their religious practice. Telling followers of Islam they can’t wear their traditional hijab is just racism from the French government. Muslims have a right to wear what they want, and in this case their traditional head dress. This is harmful to nobody and is simply racism…

People please wakeup,, all you need to is fight with a pen… I am not asking you to get out there on streets and tell the people stories and get more attention for those dictators.. All you need to do is write peaceful letters explaining what Hijab is and why it should not be banned for Muslim to people in the French Parliament who you think won’t be a deaf ear… write to them with respect and attract them with your language so that they get curious and get to know that they should not Ban it! ask your friends to write as well…

be assured that these dictators are just handful and will not be able to take over the complete parliament if we have made the members aware of the truth, and please do not be ignorant thinking that they should know this basic of Islam… there are many who do not know it and literally take this in the negative sense that we degrade women.

Take your stand, please don’t think there are one billion other people to do it.
Believe me, It will be heard….

It is the same country where Ayotollah Khomeni was in Exile… It is the same country where he was being interviewed 5 times a day for every day till he stayed there… All the people of France are not victims of these dictators… Present Islam the way it was presented during the Islamic Revolution of Iran in France… Make them aware.. that we belong to the same religion of the very person the respected and allowed him to stay there..

I firmly believe that more than a intellectual debate with these people, we need to do Islamic actions… and that will set an impression and create curiosity for them.

Please do the very little you can do!