Archive for category Islam: The Universal Message of Peace

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video1This is a 2009 report. Lahore the commercial hub, dynamic political center and cultural capital is just 230 miles from the Taliban’s base, Peshawar. And now, it’s the new frontier in Muslims fighting back fanaticism spawned by Taliban. Lahore is in the vortex of Pakistan’s growing struggle against the Taliban militants. These fiends are not Muslims, because they lack the spirit of tolerance taught by the Last Messenger of Allah, Nabi-i-Karim صلى الله عليه وسلم‎ . Tolerance of Enemies by Our Beloved Prophet( صلى الله عليه وسلم‎ ):
When people of the village of Ta’if rejected him, stoned him, ejected him, and made his feet to bleed, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, “Allah has heard what your people say to you and how they reject you. He has ordered the angels of the mountains to obey whatever you tell them to do.” The angel of the mountains called him, greeted him and said, “Send me to do what you wish. If you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains of Mecca.” The Prophet said, “Rather, I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.” ( Bukhari and Muslim) In one of the Prophet’s battles called al-Ahzab or Al-Khandaq, Salman advised the Prophet to dig trenches around Madinah in defense of the city, a suggestion which the Prophet happily accepted. He accepted that so that there would be no blood-shedding among the enemies. In the battle of Uhud (which happened with the infidels of Mecca), prophet Muhammad’s head get injured a deep injury and his front teeth get smashed.When the blood started to seep from his head, he swabbed it saying, “If a drop of my blood falled on the earth, those infidels will be destroyed by Allah.” Umar told him, “O Messenger of Allah, Curse them!” The prophet replied, “I wasn’t sent (by Allah) to curse. I was sent as a mercy.” Then he said, “O Allah, Guide my people!” When prophet Muhammad conquered Mecca, its leaders came to him fearing that he would kill them as all conquerors do. But instead, he said,” Go! You are all free!” He said that merciful to his worst enemies, whom he could easily eradicate from the face of the earth when he conquered Mecca, and who had hated him, rejected his call, displayed insolent arrogance towards his religion, stood and fought against him, killed his beloved Companions, deformed the dead body of his dear martyred uncle, Hamzah, and even eaten his holy liver with incredible wild rancor. Tolerance to Non-Muslims: In the year (631 CE), Prophet Muhammad received a delegation of sixty Christians from Najran in Medinah. They were received in the Prophet’s mosque wearing their crosses. The companions of prophet Muhammad tried to prevent them from praying in the mosque, but the prophet allowed them to pray in the mosque, and they did so facing East. He said, “The one who kill a mu’aahid will not smell the smell of the Paradise although its smell can be smelled from a distance of forty years (i.e He will not enter the Paradise nor be close to it).” (Bukhari) In one of the Prophet’s battles called al-Ahzab or Al-Khandaq, Salman advised the Prophet to dig trenches around Madinah in defense of the city, a suggestion which the Prophet happily accepted. He accepted that so that there would be no blood-shedding among the enemies.When people of the village of Ta’if rejected him, stoned him, ejected him, and made his feet to bleed, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, “Allah has heard what your people say to you and how they reject you. He has ordered the angels of the mountains to obey whatever you tell them to do.” The angel of the mountains called him, greeted him and said, “Send me to do what you wish. If you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains of Mecca.” The Prophet said, “Rather, I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.” ( Bukhari and Muslim) In the battle of Uhud (which happened with the infidels of Mecca), prophet Muhammad’s head get injured a deep injury and his front teeth get smashed.When the blood started to seep from his head, he swabbed it saying, “If a drop of my blood falled on the earth, those infidels will be destroyed by Allah.” Umar told him, “O Messenger of Allah, Curse them!” The prophet replied, “I wasn’t sent (by Allah) to curse. I was sent as a mercy.” Then he said, “O Allah, Guide my people!” When prophet Muhammad conquered Mecca, its leaders came to him fearing that he would kill them as all conquerors do. But instead, he said,” Go! You are all free!” He said that merciful to his worst enemies, whom he could easily eradicate from the face of the earth when he conquered Mecca, and who had hated him, rejected his call, displayed insolent arrogance towards his religion, stood and fought against him, killed his beloved Companions, deformed the dead body of his dear martyred uncle, Hamzah, and even eaten his holy liver with incredible wild rancor.

Taliban Threats Aside, The Show Goes On in Lahore

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Uploaded by TheVJMovement on May 5, 2011

This is a 2009 report. Lahore, s commercial hub, dynamic political center and cultural capital is just 230 miles from the Taliban’s base, Peshawar. And now, it’s the new frontier in secular Pakistan’s growing struggle against the Taliban militants.
If you want to see more great reports made by VJ Movement journalists, please go to http://www.vjmovement.com or subscribe to our channel

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Dr.Zakir Naik, Islamic Scholar

Islam: What’s in a Name? (Part 1)

By Sohaib Saeed

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 00:00

A picture of the word Islam written in Arabic calligraphy.

It is a common practice of Muslim scholars writing on some field of knowledge to define its basic terms. When it comes to Arabic words, this involves looking at their root meanings as well as their usage.

This practice is certainly useful when seeking to understand Islam as a faith and way of life, as there are many things to learn from the very fact that it is so named.

In this part, we shall explore two significant features of the name Islam, making special reference to how the Quran speaks of Islam and being a Muslim. We shall note that the word reflects the concept of peace, and that it is a name used right from the start.

A Meaning of Peace

The root s-l-m, from which the word Islam derives, has the essential meaning of being free of any flaws or harmful things. Thus the derivatives of this root include“salamah” which indicates soundness and safety, and “salam” which means “peace”.

The verb-form “islam” thus conveys entering into a state of peace and security. In short, this is what we refer to as “submission”. The active participle of the verb, that is, the word for “submitter”, is “muslim”.

It may not be clear how important it is to look at the three-letter root of a word to understand its import, but this is something significant in the Arabic language.

At the same time, it may seem like an exaggeration to state, as Muslims often do, that “Islam means peace”.

Some critics point out that submission is not the same as peace, and some go further and suggest that submission is something undesirable.

In fact, the Quran uses a number of different terms to refer to this religion, and one of them is the word peace itself. In the second chapter of the Quran God says what means,

[ You who believe, enter wholeheartedly into peace (al-silm) to God…] (Al-Baqarah 2:208)

This verb form means the opposite of war (that is,peace) and is used here as an exact equivalent to saying “Islam”, according to commentators. This means that the religion of Islam is indeed called “peace”, just as it is called “submission” and numerous other secondary names.

Islam is not only “a religion of peace”: it is the religion of life, which means that it provides guidance for all situations that arise in our troubled world. Yet even aggression is to be met with high virtues in the pursuit of peace.

The goal is not to “make the world submit”, as some misunderstand, but to invite each soul to its own willful surrender to the Creator alone, not to any human force or worldly desire. This is the true source of inner and outer peace, and is the most liberating concept ever taught to humanity.

As well as attention to linguistic roots, we also must differentiate between the general meanings of a word, and its technical meaning in context.

In this case, the difference is between what we may describe as “small-i islam” which means to live a life submitted to God, and “capital-I Islam” which is the well-known religion, whose adherents declare that “There is none to be worshipped but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

This declaration is what entitles a person to be known as a (capital-M) Muslim, a member of the worldwide community of Islam.

Of course, the Arabic language does not have capital letters, so what we really intend is to distinguish between submission as a religious ideal in general, and its usage as a proper noun — or what philosophers call its “reified” meaning.

When we look at the numerous references to “Islam” in the Quran, some could be understood in both ways, but others clearly show that Allah has chosen this name for His religion and named those who follow it “Muslims” (submitters).

A Historical Name

God Almighty declares in the Quran that all of creation is submitted to Him and that He, being the only true Deity, is the One to Whom human submission is due.

The “best religion” is to “submit one’s face to God and do good”.

The same term appears frequently in the stories of the prophets, from which we shall mention a few examples.

The patriarch Abraham (peace and blessings be upon him) is declared as having been neither Jewish nor Christian, but in fact “upright in religion, a Muslim” (Aal `Imran 3:67).

When he was commanded to submit, he said immediately

[I have submitted myself to the Lord of the Worlds] (Al-Baqarah 2:131)

When he was called upon to sacrifice his first-born son Ishmael, they both submitted to this Divine command, until God announced that they had passed the test. When building the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, they prayed together that God would raise up from their descendants “a Muslim nation” (Al-Baqarah 2:128).

The prophets after Abraham are described as “those who submitted”, which of course does not deprive those before him of the same virtue.

Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) entrusted his children on his deathbed that they must follow the religion of their forefathers Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac (peace be upon them) and not die except as Muslims.

The Pharaoh who opposed Moses (on whom be peace) vainly declared at the moment of death that he believed in the God of Israel and was “one of the Muslims” (Yunus 10:90).

The disciples of Jesus (peace be upon him) were inspired to believe, so they did so and said “And bear witness that we are Muslims”. (Al-Ma’idah 5:111)

All of this goes to show that the “religion of submission” (deen al-Islam) is both grounded in nature and rooted in history. As for its usage in the context of the last chapter of prophethood, we find a number of relevant passages in the Quran:

[Truly the religion in the sight of God is Islam…] (Aal `Imran 3:19)

[Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him and he will be one of the losers in the Hereafter.] (Aal `Imran 3:85)

[…This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My favors upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your way of life…](Al-Ma’idah 5:3)

[He it is Who named you Muslims before and in this (Quran)…] (Al-Hajj 22:78)

[Who is better in speech than one who invites to God, works righteousness and says, “I am of the Muslims”?] (Fussilat 41:33)

Sohaib Saeed is a Scottish Muslim writer and translator. After attaining a Masters degree in philosophy at theUniversity of Edinburgh, he is presently majoring in Quranic Studies at the Faculty of Theology, Al-Azhar University. More of his reflections are posted at Religious Diablog.

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On November 20th and 21st 2012 terrorists rocked four Pakistani sensitive cities (Karachi, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Peshawar). In this militancy at least 30 individuals killed and over 60 individuals injured Suicidal blasts at the occasions of 20 November 2012 President, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has strongly and PML(N) Chief Nawaz Shrief have condemned the bomb blasts in Rawalpindi and other cities. They also expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the unfortunate incident. The Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities to immediately start relief operation and provide best medical treatment to the injured. He directed the concerned authorities to investigate the incident and submit a report in this regard. Bomb disposal squad is trying to defuse the hand grenades.

Sectarianism caused disharmony in the area. People emigrated, lost their livelihood and even their lives. According to Ahmar (2008) the sectarian conflict in Pakistan is unique in the sense that it has both internal and external dimensions.

Still remember those days’ people of Sunni and others sects used to arrange “Sabeels” and food stuffs (soft drinks) at the roads sides on the Day of “Ashura” in the routes of Muharram procession. Similar sort of arrangements used to be carried out by all sects at the occasions of Milad-un-Nabi on 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal (third month of the Islamic calendar) also known as the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. For more than a quarter of a century of Pakistan’s existence, both Shi‘as and Sunnis have lived in peace and harmony. There were small frictions between the two communities, yet the level of tolerance was maintained by the two sides. Things however began to take an ugly turn when violence and terrorism was inducted in the sectarian conflict in Pakistan resulting in the deaths and injuries of thousands of people.

Frequent clashes between the two sects left hundreds dead and thousands injured, including Iranian diplomats, senior state functionaries and important religious leaders on both sides. The recent sectarian strife has engulfed even those areas, which were previously unaffected, largely because of the interference of hostile agencies and emergence of organized terrorists group along sectarian lines. Besides target killing, this group now hit even ordinary members of each other sects, whenever and wherever they find it operationally convenient. The problem, therefore, is no more of an occasional nature or limited to isolated localities rather it has now become a national concern with serious implications for the state and society.

Anyhow, the ongoing blasts wave in the month of Moharram is prinking few questions in my mind are now that; what went wrong in our society, why we became hyper enemies of each other, why Muslims are killing each other, why Islamic countries are using Pakistan as their killing grounds, why Pakistani religious leaders are reluctant to condemn openly?, Why we have become intolerant to each other?, can we promote religious harmony in our society?.

The recent sectarian strife has engulfed even those areas which were previously unaffected, largely because of the interference of hostile agencies and emergence of organized terrorists group along sectarian lines. In this regard CIA, RAW, Mossad, MI-6 and intelligence agencies of certain Islamic countries’ hands seem to be involved in promoting violence due to their own vested interest in Pakistan. The blasts waves in Pakistan reveal that foreign sponsored elements have been activated with a view to spread sectarian violence in Pakistan at the occasion of “D Eight Conference”. Reportedly, foreign hostile intelligences have planned try to do more blasts in the ‘Mujalis”, procession and Mosques to fuel the ongoing blasts wave.

In short, there is a need to show solidarity to fight back the terrorism. The political and religious leaders should condemn the anti-Pakistan elements and their sponsored those are being played in the foreign hands and giving life losses to the peaceful and innocent citizens. Moreover it is high time that unity and brotherhood amongst various sects is the need of hour especially at this moment when Pakistan is facing multi-dimensional external as well as internal threats. The only way out of present adverse situation is; to be vigilante, tolerate, unite and respect others religions and faiths with a view to defeat terrorism in the country. Government of Pakistan should also take steps in creating religion and regional harmony through education, improving and elevation of poorer people of the country.

The writer can be approached through [email protected]

Dr. Manzer Durrani

In 1973 the war between Arabs and Israel was about to start. Meanwhile an American Senator visited Israel on a special mission. He was chief of the Senate Arms Committee. A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was arranged immediately.

Golda Meir welcomed him into her home, like any common housewife welcoming a family guest. She took him to the kitchen. While seating him at the kitchen dining table, she went over to prepare tea for the guest.

As the water was kept for boiling, she came over and sat on a chair near the dining table. She opened the discussion regarding planes, missiles, and guns. In the course of negotiations, she got the aroma of the brew.

She prepared two cups of tea, and offered one cup to the Senator, and another to an American guard who was standing at the gate. On returning, she came back, continued talking with the Senator. After a discussion they settled the arms deal. In the meantime, she stood up, collected all the cups, and turned to senator and said “I agree to this deal. You can send your secretary to my secretary for written deal”.

It may be remembered that Israel at that time was facing a serious economic crisis, but the huge arms deal was settled by Meir with the greatest of ease in the history of Israel. It was quite astonishing that earlier, the Israeli cabinet had rejected the same deal, because they thought it would be so costly, that the whole nation would have to make do with a single meal a day, for years to come.

Meir knew about their stand, and said, “Your doubt are well founded, but if we win this war, and defeat the Arabs, history will remember us as the victors, and in history, once a community is know as the victor, it forgets how many eggs they ate and how many times they had food. Whether there was jam, honey, butter on the table, and how many holes they had in their shoes. Or whether the sheaths of their swords were new or old! A conqueror is a conqueror.”

Based on Meir’s solid logic, the Israeli cabinet approved the deal. Later it was proved that the decision taken by Meir was right, and the whole world witnessed the Jews knocking on the doors of the Arabs with this artillery. A war took place, and the Arabs faced a shameful defeat at the hands of an old lady.

After a gap of one decade after the war, a reporter of the Washington Post interviewed Meir, asking “Was the logic you had in your mind for the arms was spur of the moment decision or you had had an advance strategy?”

Meir’s reply was very surprising.

She answered, “I got this logic from the Prophet (of the Muslims) Mohammed (peace be upon him). When I was a student, my favorite topic was comparative study of religions. Those days I studied the life of Mohammed (PBUH). One author stated that when Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) died, there was not enough money to buy oil for a lamp, his wife (Ayesha Siddiqua (RA)) mortgaged his battle shield to buy oil, yet there were nine swords hung on the wall of his house.

When I read this account, it occurred to me- how many people in the world would have known about the worst economic condition of Islamic state? But everyone recognizes them as conquerors of half the world. So I decided that I would buy arms at any cost; even if we would have to starve or to live in camps instead of buildings, but we would prove ourselves as the victor”.

Meir revealed this secret, but requested the interviewer to keep it “off the record”, and refrain from publishing it, because if she referred to Prophet Mohammed, the Jews would have revolted against her and the Muslim position would have strengthened.

Over the time, world situation changed. Golda Meir died. By this time the interviewer had given up the profession of journalism. Meanwhile another correspondent was busy interviewing 20 famous American journalists. In connection with this, he met the journalist who had interviewed Meir as a representative of the Washington Post.

In this interview, he recounted the story of Meir that drew on the life of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

He said he was not ashamed to tell the story. Further, he said, “After this incident I studied the history of Islam, and was astonished to know about the savoir-faire of Arabs. Because I learnt that Tariq bin Ziyad conquered Spain through Gibraltar, while more than half his army did not have complete suit of clothes. They subsisted for 72 hours at time on water and dried bread.

It was then that the interviewer agreed with Meir’s view that history counts victory; it does not count the eggs, jams and butter on the table.”

When the interview with Meir was published, the whole world learned of this entire story.

This astonishing incident is history’s wake-up call to the Muslims of the world. It teaches them a lesson; it reveals how 14 centuries ago, a shepherd, clad in a cloak and worn-out shoes became the leader of the world, and conquered four continents.

Could enormous castles, grand palaces, magnificent gardens, splendid clothes, adorned rest places of silk and sleepless, gold silver, boxes, gems and jewels, spread of savory dishes and the jingle of coins save them? The locust-swarm of Tartar forces did not reach the palace of Musta’sim Billah by trampling over Baghdad. What a terrible and astonishing scene it was in the history of Islam, when Musta’sim Billah was bound in chains, standing like a prisoner before Halaku Khan (grandson of Changiz Khan). And at mealtime, Halaku Khan ate in simple plates, but offered plates of gems and precious metals to Caliph Musta’sim Billah, mocking “Eat from these diamonds, gems, gold and precious metals you have collected!” There stood the Sovereign of Baghdad, helplessness, powerless, lonely, destitute, saying, “How can I eat gold?” Halaku Khan replied, “Then why you have collected all this silver and gold?”

The Muslim, whose religion calls on him to make arms and rear horses, had no reply. Halaku Khan glanced at the palace doors and windows, asking, “Why did you not make iron arrows by melting these iron nets? Why did you collect these diamonds instead of paying money to your soldiers, so they could fight bravely against my forces?”

“It was the will of Allah”, replied the grieved Caliph.

The arrogant Halaku shot back, “Whatever is now going to happen with you is also God’s wish”.

Then Halaku covered Musta’sim Billah in a cloak and crushed him under the hooves of horses, and proceeded to make a graveyard of Baghdad.

– Courtesy: Urdu Times, Mumbai and translated to English by ViaMedia.MumbaiNews

Dr. Manzer Durrani · Ref | Friday, September 28, 2012, 15:17 Beijing

The protests were made and demonstrations were staged by Muslims all over the world condemning the blasphemy movie made by US against their Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which shattered the feelings of billions of Muslims and damaged the simple meaning of freedom of thought and speak.

The word ‘Islam’ is derived from the Arabic word ‘Salema’ meaning peace and purity. A Muslim is the person who believes in the presence of Allah (God), loves His beloved Prophet ‘Muhammad (pbuh) and his teachings of Islam (peace).

One of the roots of Islam is to create a society based on justice to everyone in order to establish the peace and prosperity of society.

The British philosopher and the noble prize winner ‘Sir Thomas Carlyle’ wrote about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in his famous book ‘The Heroes’ as follows:

“It is a great shame for anyone to listen to the accusation that Islam is a lie and that Muhammad was a fabricator and a deceiver. We saw that he remained steadfast upon his principles, with firm determination; kind and generous, compassionate, pious, virtuous, with real manhood, hardworking and sincere. Besides all these qualities, he was lenient with others, tolerant, kind, cheerful, and praiseworthy and perhaps he would joke and tease his companions. He was just truthful, smart, pure, magnanimous, and present-minded; his face was radiant as if he had lights within him to illuminate the darkest of night; he was a great man by nature who was not educated in a school nor nurtured by a teacher as he was not in need of any of this.”

The blasphemous movie made and released by US is a clear intention and a planned part to hurt the innocent feelings of Muslims living in any part of the world.

The defenders of this blasphemous movie claim that it should be accepted in the name of the ‘freedom of thought and speak’ for every citizen.

But in fact, the freedom of thought and expression does not allow a person to hurt the feelings of someone living in the society.

It does not allow one to destroy and create a divide in the society and to deliberately invoke the feelings of extremism in the people; if it does then this kind of freedom should not be tolerated and laws must be made to keep people united and peaceful.

One of such examples is the ‘law of Holocaust’ in which millions of Jews were killed and in Europe, it is not lawful to speak-up against this Holocaust.

This law is reasonable and acceptable to everyone as to many people the Holocaust is a matter that hurts their feelings.

The Muslims also demand international laws to be made in order to control such blasphemous acts done by making movies, cartoons and speeches against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which hurt the feelings of the greatest religious population in the world.

The US government is fighting the so-called ‘War of Terrorism’ in order to win the hearts of the people and to kill the roots of the terrorism and extremism but at the same time, it should take steps in order to eliminate such puppets in their own society who insult the feelings of the people and provoke religious terrorism and extremism as one can deduce from the worldwide peaceful protest recently by Muslims that they will not tolerate blasphemy against their beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

‘Say what is true, although it may be bitter and displeasing to people.’ Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

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Archive for category Islam: The Universal Message of Peace

Taliban Threats Aside, The Show Goes On in Lahore

Taliban Threats Aside, The Show Goes On in Lahore

The Correct Way to Write “Inshallah”(Naozobillah) is Inshaa Allah & The Message of Peace for All Creation

Islam: What’s in a Name? (Part 1)

Pakistan’s Sectarian Violence can be End?

Golda Meir’s Lesson from The Life of Prophet of Islam, Mohammed (PBUH)

WESTERN OPINION & VIDEO 2: Why do Muslims regard images of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) as blasphemous?

Muslims Will Never Tolerate Blasphemy against Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)