A book of moderation
Podcast
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad compares the Holy Quran with other holy scriptures and shows that whereas the Torah and the New Testament each teach extremes the Holy Quran teaches moderation.
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[Video] A Dedication to Mrs Khadija Ashraf
On Sunday 4th March 2012 at the monthly gathering in the UK Irfaan Ahmad gave a dedication to Mrs Khadija Ashraf, the late mother of Sumaira Ahmad.
Irfaan recites Chapter 17 verses 23 and 24 of The Holy Quran.
The Quran and the NYPD
When Afghan workers at the Bagram Air Base saw our troops put copies of the Holy Quran and other Islamic religious works into a pile of burning trash in a dumpster, they didn’t hesitate. They yelled for them to stop. They ran and “reached into the fire,” according to a Times report, and pulled the burning books out.
When General John Allen, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, heard what had happened, he didn’t hesitate either. He apologized, completely and unreservedly, to President Karzai, his government, “and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan.” He said that it had been a mistake. (“I assure you … I promise you … this was NOT intentional in any way.”) He said that there would be an investigation and that it wouldn’t happen again. He added, “I would like to thank the local Afghan people who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action.” That is, the ones who stuck their hands in the fire. Continue reading…
[Video] Hijra
The Muslim year starts from the day when the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s) migrated from Makkah to Medina. Each religion begins its calendar with a momentous event, usually the birth of some personality. However, Muslims do not start their calendar, from someone’s date of birth, but an event with which Islam started to make progress in the world.
Podcast: Sat Nav to Heaven
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you can download the mp3 by Continue reading…
‘Ask the VM’ Why are Muslims taught they are the superior people?
Saleem recently emailed us asking;
Why are Muslims taught they they are the superior people?
Well Saleem this misconception arises because of the incorrect translation of a verse of the Holy Quran by Muslim commentators. They translate “umati wusta” as the superior nation or people. The expression actually means people who follow a middle course or those who are not extremists. This is to distinguish Islam from Judaism and Christianity. Judaism for its harshness e.g. stoning to death of an adulterer, killing all inhabitants of a town on conquering it including women, children and the elderly. And Christianity for its undue leniency e.g. there is no need for the law, turn the other cheek.
Islam taught that law is needed but appropriately for the prevailing circumstances. For example, during a famine Hazrat Umar (R) abolished any punishment for theft or stealing. The reason he gave was that a government which cannot satisfy the basic needs of its citizens (providing food) has no right to punish them.
The Holy Prophet said that a person does not have superiority over another because of who he is but because of what he is. So what makes a man superior are his actions and his morals and not the religion to which he belongs.
Fasting has to be Sincere
It was shown from the Holy Quran that fasting takes man closer to Allah such that man will find it as close to himself as his life-vein. But fasting has to be sincere.
This speech discusses this in more detail.
Remember Allah
Islam requires both faith and action. Therefore, people are required to say their ritual prayers as a matter of faith.
So, when standing in prayers they remember Allah but this verse tells Muslims to remember him after they finish praying. How then can we remember Allah after we have finished praying?
That is by putting into practice what Allah tells us. If a person is a businessperson and finds that they can make a profit by telling a lie they should remember Allah who has commanded us to speak the truth. This applies to all our daily actions and practices. In fact, our daily worship is closely related to the lesson in this verse of the Holy Quran. We begin our day by praying, we break our work or business during the day by praying, we break the time when we are relaxing to pray and the last thing at night we is to pray. In the intervening period we remember that although we are not praying we still remember Him by doing as He says.
Importance of time keeping
The Holy Quran tells Muslims that times of the five daily prayers are fixed and that Muslim must pray at the fixed time.
The guidance in the Holy Quran is meant to allow us to practice what it teaches.
Praying at the correct time is meant to develop in us respect for time because once lost, it does not return. Yet, though we pray at the correct times Muslims are not punctual when it comes to doing other things. If obeying this command does not train us to do everything in our lives at the appointed time then we have missed an important lesson this verse teaches us.
English translation of The Holy Quran
Lahori-Ahmadis always extol the greatness of the literary work done by Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali.
Our detractors say : “you have to say that because he was your Amir.” And they criticise Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali’s English translation even without having read it basing their comments on prejudice.
“Islam, as embodied in this translation of the Qur’an, is nothing short of a noble, highly ethical, and peaceful religion.”
The link below gives the views of some non-Muslims and some non-Ahmadi Muslims regarding Hazrat Maulana’s English translation of the Holy Quran.
Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabaidi, himself a translator of the Holy Quran into English, told Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali that this work is so great that if the Maulana claimed to be the mujaddid of the 14th Century of Hijra he would accept his claim. Upon this Hazrat Maulana Muhammad replied : “Thank you, but then you must think how great is the person whom I accepted as the Mujaddid of the 14th Century of Hijra.
You can read the reviews of Maulana Muhammad Ali’s translation of the Holy Quran into english here
‘Ask The VM’: How do Muslims resolve problems?
Anil sent in an interesting question asking
If there is a problem how do Muslims decide what to do?
First of all Muslims look in the Holy Quran. There may be a specific instruction or prohibition such as fast or perform Haj or do not drink or do not back bite etc. Failing that there may be general principles laid down in the Quran which a Muslim can use to find what to do such as the instruction in the Holy Quran which says that it is only lawful for Muslims to eat those things which are good for them. Smoking is not good for us so although the Holy Quran does not have a specific instruction prohibiting smoking this instruction can be used to show that smoking is prohibited by Islam.
If there is nothing in the Holy Quran then a Muslim turns to the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). This is called the Sunnah, or the example. There are many things which are laid down in the Holy Quran in principle and the Holy Prophet showed by his practice how this is to be put into practice. For example the Holy Quran tells us to pray and the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) shows us how to pray.
If there is nothing in the practice of the Holy Prophet then we look at his sayings called the hadith. For example, the hadith tells us that if we are selling something we must point out the bad points of our product as well as good. In another example, Muslims asked the Holy Prophet how to pray in those places where the day or the night last for six months. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that there is nothing magical about the sun which makes us say the early morning prayer 1.5 hours before sunrise and mid-day prayer when the sun is directly overhead etc. This was just a convenient means of fixing the time which was visible to all. So when people see the sun directly overhead they know it is time for the mid-day prayer. He then added that if this is not possible then the community should gather together and decided on some other means of knowing when to gather for prayer.
If a Muslim does not find any guidance in any of the above sources then he uses ijtihad. This is using one’s own knowledge, understanding, commonsense etc to try and find a solution to a problem. Muslim scholars have been doing so down the centuries.
Another way is the ijma of the community. This is the consensus of the whole community. So Muslims gather together and discuss a problem and the different options open to them and then agree upon a solution or course of action.
Modern day government has borrowed these techniques from Muslims. Look at the way laws are made in your own country and you will find these Islamic principles being used to formulate laws.
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Hi, thanks for this info its really detailed!
Unconditional Obedience is due only to Allah
The Holy Quran tells us that to unquestioningly believe everything that the so called scholars and leaders, religious and others, is to equate them with the Divine Being.
Jews and Christians denied that they believe their religious leaders to be Divine. On this, The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) challenged these people and asked whether or not they unquestioningly accept whatever their religious leaders command. This he said was treating them like God.
Ask ‘The VM’: How is the Holy Quran different?
George from Ohio, America sent in a question last week asking
How is the Holy Quran different from other holy books?
A Muslim is required to believe that Allah sent His guidance to all nations. This guidance was in the form of revelation to prophets who appeared amongst the people inhabiting different parts of the globe. Their followers tried to learn and remember this guidance. None of the prophets made arrangements for the revelation they received to be written and preserved. Of course the fact that writing implements and the ability to read and write were not common made this task difficult.
Much of the Old Testament was committed to memory by Jewish rabbis. It is said that when it was decided to commit it to writing. 400 Rabbis wrote down what they had learnt. The text produced by each was compared and found to be the same. This took place several hundred years after the appearance of the Israelite prophets.
If we look at the titles of the books of the New Testament, we find that these books were not written by Jesus or at his time. These books were not even written by those who heard Jesus preach but those who came after. This is why their titles contain the words: “Gospel According to “. There was therefore considerable room for doubt about what Jesus may have said.
The Holy Quran is the only book which was compiled by the Prophet who received the revelation found in it. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made arrangements for scribes to be close to him at all times. As soon as he received a revelation he would call a scribe and dictate the words to him and instruct him as to where in the Holy Quran the revelation is to be added.
At the time of the Holy Prophet’s death these writings were brought together so that all the revelations received by the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) could be preserved in exactly the format in which it was complied by Him.
Praying during fighting
The high importance accorded to ritual worship and remembrance of Allah at all times is shown by this section of the Holy Quran.
Muslims are told that they can reduce the size of the ritual prayer when on a journey or fighting but they still must say the prayers.
They are also told that they must remember Allah at all times even when they are not engaged in ritual prayer.
This section of the Holy Quran also shows how brave and courageous the Holy Prophet Muhammed was. During fighting he would stand at the head of the soldiers lining up to pray making it obvious to the enemy who was the leader.
Did Jesus Die for Us?
A comment by one of our members, Mustaq Ali, during the Easter festivals earlier this year.
He briefly mentions the origins of the celebrations and points out that the Holy Quran clearly states that Jesus could not have died for us.
Also is this current wave of banning the hijab for safety issues or is it to try and destroy Islam?
Thanks….