In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious Brothers and sisters, We see from time to time some debates that are surfacing on this forum concerning the existence of our Creator. We see that some brothers and sisters try to prove His existence, while other confused souls maintain that there is none. Since the atheistic sickness is new to us, after mostly coming into contact with such philosophies only recently as immigrants, it is not always obvious how to deal with. This article is not about the “belief†of atheism itself, but about the position of Islam on arguing with atheistic criminals (yep! It’s a crime) regarding the existence of our Creator. By doing so, I hope to clarify the issue and in the process spare you a valuable time you’d otherwise have wasted trying to convince these deniers. Central to the understanding of the position of Islam concerning the existence of Allah, is an event that took place before our creation as human beings while we were in the spiritual state as spirits (and not yet physically assigned to a body). Here is how Allah (swt) narrated that event to us: “When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their seed, and made them testify against themselves, (saying): ‘Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?’- They said: ‘Yea! We do testify!’ (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: ‘Of this we were unaware’: Or lest ye should say: ‘Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?’†(7:172-173) To sum up, on that day, Allah had gathered all the spirits of mankind and made them witness His Supremacy and Lordship, and made them testify against themselves by posing the question “Am I not your Lord?†and we have all in our pre-earthly life conceded that indeed Allah is the Lord of the Worlds. Allah continued to press on, so it was clear to everyone and none would be able to say on the Day of Rising “Of this we were unaware.†Or other excuses of blaming societal factors and family upbringing, which they couldn’t control and conditioned them. This has another important meaning and clearly indicates that it is within man’s nature to intrinsically recognise his Lord, and that is why children are born upon the state of tawxiid (fitrah). Allah is the Most Just and would not burden man with the recognition of His Lordship without placing him in an advantageous position by creating him in a way which makes us inherently “instinctive creatures of worship.†As the verse “I have only created jinns and men, that they may worship Me.†(51:56) states very clearly. And when Allah gathers them on the Day of Rising, His existence will not be questioned and He will speak to them saying: “‘O ye assembly of Jinns and men! came there not unto you apostles from amongst you, setting forth unto you My signs, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?’ They will say: ‘We bear witness against ourselves.’ It was the life of this world that deceived them. So against themselves will they bear witness that they rejected Faith.†(6:130) Therefore we don’t need to prove, neither to ourselves nor to anyone else, that Allah exists, because we’re inclined to know that within ourselves. That is why even the Messengers are not sent to prove Allah’s existence, but only to call the people “to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the Religion Right and Straight.†(98:5). Furthermore, Allah says “Not a Messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me (alone)†(21:25). The tone of the Messengers and the style of their message and mission are unmistakeable as we have seen in the Qur’aan, just consider it when Allah says: “We only send the Messengers to give Glad Tidings and to give warnings: But the unbelievers dispute with vain argument, in order therewith to weaken the truth, and they treat My Signs as a jest, as also the fact that they are warned! And who doth more wrong than one who is reminded of the Signs of his Lord, but turns away from them, forgetting the (deeds) which his hands have sent forth? Verily We have set veils over their hearts lest they should understand this, and over their ears, deafness, if thou callest them to guidance, even then will they never accept guidance.†(18:56-57) “Their Messengers said: ‘Is there a doubt about Allah, The Creator of the heavens and the earth? It is He Who invites you, in order that He may forgive you your sins and give you respite for a term appointed!’ They said: ‘Ah! ye are no more than human, like ourselves! Ye wish to turn us away from the (gods) our fathers used to worship: then bring us some clear authority.’ Their Messengers said to them: ‘True, we are human like yourselves, but Allah doth grant His grace to such of his servants as He pleases. It is not for us to bring you an authority except as Allah permits. And on Allah let all men of faith put their trust.’†(14:10-11) Yes, it is true that Allah (sw) sent many signs with His “Messengers to their (respective) peoples, and they came to them with Clear Signs:†(30:47), but ask yourselves this; were these signs to prove Allah’s existence or to prove the authenticity of His Messengers’ claims, that they were truly sent by the Lord? In fact their signs is are Allah’s signs, but His signs are everywhere and we are encouraged to reflect on them, so to increase our recognition through His miraculous creations. There are numerous examples of such encouragements in the Glorious Qur’aan where Allah challenges us to reflect on His signs around us (which we always seem to forget or ignore), such as: “It is Allah Who made cattle for you, that ye may use some for riding and some for food; And there are (other) advantages in them for you (besides); that ye may through them attain to any need (there may be) in your hearts; and on them and on ships ye are carried. And He shows you (always) His Signs: then which of the Signs of Allah will ye deny?†(40:79-81) “It is Allah Who sends the Winds, and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments, until thou seest rain-drops issue from the midst thereof: then when He has made them reach such of his servants as He wills behold, they do rejoice!-†(30:48) There was also the story of Moses (cs) when he was sent to pharaoh, who, let along denying Allah’s existence, proclaimed for himself to be the lord saying "I am your Lord, Most High"! (79:24). Moses (cs) went to him and said “O Pharaoh! I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds†(7:104) "And that I guide thee to thy Lord, so thou shouldst fear Him" (79:19), but he was made of "A sorcerer, or one possessed!" (51:39). Pharaoh denied the existence of such a “Lord of the worlds†and tried to use wealth, sorcery and the scientific technology of his time (much like today’s deniers) to fool his people and make mockery of Moses (cs). His sarcasm (consciously boasting with what seemed to him a materialistic superiority, much like today’s ‘scientism’ or ‘scientific materialism’) went as far as saying to his chiefs; “O Chiefs! no god do I know for you but myself: therefore, O Haman! light me a (kiln to bake bricks) out of clay, and build me a lofty palace, that I may mount up to the god of Moses: but as far as I am concerned, I think (Moses) is a liar!†(28:38). However Moses (cs) didn’t bother with trying to prove Allah’s existence, instead he looked him in the eyes and addressed him as follows (and this is how we should address deniers): “Thou knowest well that these things have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-opening evidence: and I consider thee indeed, O Pharaoh, to be one doomed to destruction!†(17:102). So trying to prove the existence of the Creator is not part of the prophetic message, and definitely not their tradition, therefore as our teachers, it is important that we follow the teachings of their mission. They came and taught us how to worship and invite others to the Way of Allah, and their way was not to indulge in vague arguments to prove Allah’s existence, for trust me, if there was any benefits for doing so, Allah would have inspired them to do so. Therefore the shocking conclusion that I’m presenting here is that, however well we mean, there is no benefits and rewards for us to involve ourselves with their, what Allah called “vain argumentsâ€! Most definitely we have to invite them to the Way of Allah, but it should be in the legislative spirit of the Way of Allah. We know that there are many great academic scientists and well-known professors, with superior knowledge and understanding of all the branches of sciences compared to the amateurs on this forum, who embraced Islam. Not because someone could prove to them the existence of Allah scientifically (if material evidence proves material case, only spiritual evidence proves spiritual case), but because they recognised first and foremost Allah’s Lordship within themselves. And ofcourse they knew the fictive side of scientism and its limitations far better than our deniers on this forum. So guys, there will be no love-loss between us if you packed in and moved your circus somewhere else, but personally, I honestly prefer you stayed here! The deniers on SOL don’t matter anyway, as fresh refugees whom not long ago were barefooted just like us and by accidentally were exposed to Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, to mention only a two of filth-filled foremost influential contemporary philosophers on either side of the channel, and as a consequence of their lack of spiritual intelligence and with no one to protect them, fell victim to these bad wolves like a wounded prey. Their mistake, and still many more face that problem, is the misunderstanding about the extent to which human intellect is capable to “knowâ€. Often we see people labelling themselves as “freethinkers†and yet are absolutely clueless about where what they are saying actually comes from. Especially on a forum like this where everyone can express their thoughts freely, I think there is a need for in depth understanding of the Islamic position and perspective of freedom of thought. The prerequisites, the limits, the responsibilities and the consequences of freedom of thought are a must to understand for every Muslim. I hope someone could present to us in an article the freedom of thought and Islam, so we may benefit. If not, I may try, but will probably be not as good. I ask forgiveness for the undoubtedly many mistakes I’ve made, and I’ll appreciate whenever pointed to me. Shams-ud-Din WCWW

^^^Well well, here is someone very excited! I’m sorry to say that my excitement wore off a bit since I read the newspaper this morning about the annular eclipse. Not the usual excitement when it is just “us†Muslims who normally watch the skies in a breath taking fashion, without the astronomical hype of non-Muslim world hijacking our event, just because the moon happened to be crossing our viewing line of the sun. Anyway, it automatically meant that the moon was sighted and Ramadan was on. Ramadaan kariim to all!

Brother Castro, Assalaamu calaykum and ramadaan kariim. quoted fron Castro Is this your standard? If not, then whose standard am I failing? Don't speak in tongues brother, let it all out so we can have a beneficial discussion. No, not my standards, lets stick with the standard of the Qur'aan and Sunnah and we'll be fine. quoted from Castro So you have abstained from dealing with and have denounced every "disobedient transgressor who have rejected Allah and His signs"? Brother, you must be having a hard time living, and enjoying, life among kufars and hypocrites in the land of kufars and hypocrites. Unless, of course, what you say on here is not what you really believe or practice. According to my understanding, dealing with is not the same as silently approving or openly siding with them. So there is no apparent contradiction here as you've suggested. What exactly is "tolerance" btw? Do you distinguish between persons and their beliefs, internal and external and the permissible/non-permissible? take your time! WCWW

You can address me directly without resorting to verses taken out of context. Come on. I know you can do it. Brother Castro, these verses are not out of context, but your attitude as a believer in the true Lord of the worlds are below standard and somewhat out of context. Your words are not fitting for a believer, so please be careful, because it is allowed for a Muslim to be silently indiferent, let along siding with, a disobedient transgressor who have rejected Allah and His signs. Before you start attacking us left and right, like a cornered cat, just remember who your real brothers are and who your real enemies are. As believers, we are your real brothers. WCWW

Dear sister, The only source, acceptable to US education authorities and at the same time popular with teachers, that I can think of at present is this SITE. I also know some other usefull sites and books, but I can't remember their titles now. I'll let you know if I can come up with other materials. Keep us in touch!

Dear brothers and sisters, It seems that we have weight problem here! Unfortunately the only weight problem I have is the weight of my sins on the scales, for which I need to exercise more with taqwa and supplications. Which weight would btw be easier to get rid off, the body-mass weight or the sinful-scales weight? I thought I knew, but the more I think about it, the less obvious my answers would be becoming. Even when I take the blessed month of Ramadan (where the gates of Jannah are opened and the gates of Jahannamah are closed, and the devils are chained) separate from the rest of the year, I can only conclude that there are no clearcut answers. But we should remember that it is Allah who, in His Mercy, makes good deeds seem easy to some, and in His Justice, make them seem heavy burdens to carry out for some. I would advice our brother Liibaan who is trying to stop smoking, to seek Allah's aid. Whenever you feel the urge for nicotines brother, just pray two rakcaats as long as you wish or read the Qur'aan and some axaadiiths. As for the traawiix prayers, I don't think that I'll be able to perform them all, but I wouldn't miss the uneven nights of the last ten for the world!!! WCWW

Brother Muhammad, thanks for the link. It is very intresting to note that, not only the resent wave of interest in Islamic gardens, but even in the victorian and the georgian erra, there was always a demand for Islamic gardens among the upper class and aristocracy. It was made seem like a big news when recently Prince Charles did an Islamic style makeover with his garden, but it was nothing new. We prefare them to seek/find the inner peace and tranquility of Islam as a FAITH, instead of as a GARDEN though!

Well, the problem is that my imaan keeps increasing and decreasing. When it decreases, I get shubahaat about digital images of faces. When it increases, I become afraid. Brother Muhammad Amriki, you are not the only one here, I too struggle with these issues! But as long as we are aware of the correct Islamic position, then there is always hope. On Imaam Shaafici, his jurisprudence (fiqh) and general school of thought have different societal projections, depending on whether the traditionally preconceived alliance with the great scholar has an in depht meaning, either in understanding, practice or both. From what I know about the trditional Somali society, there are numerous implications of a) what is practiced, b) what is proclaimed by word of mouth and c) the Shaafici school of thought. And as such, we cannot simply state that there is an uniformed Somali ideology which is related to the jurisprudic teachings of Imaam Shaafici. Therefore it is much more complicated picture which overlaps many different aspects of life, and to explain it correctly, one needs to present a detailed studies of the size of a book. However, I may try to write something about that topic on this forum insha'Allah. Sister Rahima, I never intended to cause any offence, I was only speaking in the hypothetical sense, and in case I offended you, I hereby offer my unreserved apologies! WCWW

Sister Rahima , if you are refusing to be part of a polygamous marriage for reasons the simple reason of jealousy, then we accept your objections, and there is no harm done, because a healthy doses of jealousy is not a bad thing as long as it doesn’t blind you to the extent that personal emotions become a priority over the Divine commandments. Just like you said, you have your rights granted by Allah and you can always ask for a divorce, so I don’t oppose you directly on that matter. However, if the problem is not jealousy as you’ve suggested above and totally something else, which I assume to be related with your principled mentality, then I absolutely oppose your view. You are capable woman and I think you can guess why you are not allowed to hold such a view (I hope you don’t hold that view). There are few things that we need to remember here: 1) Allah gave women the right to have a husband 2) Allah gave women the right to have children 3) and yes, Allah gave women the right to demand divorce If Allah had created or allowed a situation to exist in where the ratio of men and women in world population was 1:1, then polygamous marriages wouldn’t have necessary. But the fact of the matter is that due to wars (in the last century, I don’t think there was a single year where there wasn’t an armed conflict going on somewhere in world), difference in the average age expectancy between the sexes and the lesser natural likelihood ratio of the creation of XY chromosomes in a given time period, we have everywhere you go in the world one or a combination of these factors causing population imbalances. For example it is said that there are between 8 and 10 million more females than males in the USA! Therefore Islam is an open-minded religion which recognises these social problems, and allows men to marry more than one wife instead of facing the dangerous epidemics of secret and illegal extramarital affairs with the subsequent right-less women and children, immoral same-sex relationships and other no less dangerous psychological side-effects associated with the depression of going trough life in a singledom fashion despite all the biological clocks. Therefore, in Islam, we accept that the right of women to have husband and children overrides the right of women to demand monogamous marriages. If you agree with me there, we can even go further and say that if there were three other women with no prospects of finding a husband within a foreseeable future, and you refused for your husband to marry the other three women with you, then, for the good of the society he should divorce you and marry the other three. It shouldn’t actually be the case if you were less selfish and egocentric, and accepted Allah commandments and showed patience and faith. Why faith? Because it was our Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: “none of you truly believed if don’t love for your brother/sister what you love for yourself†(if I remember it correctly). However you don’t need to worry much, because if an event took place and it happened other way around, just as it happened when the Muhaajiruun arrived in Madinah and they created a disequilibrium in the population ration in favour the males, it became the Sunnah for those Ansaar who were married to more than one wife, to divorce one or more wives for them. This is because in Islam, the collective interest outweighs the personal emotions involved in such cases. Opposition on the basis of mere principled mentality is a dangerous one, and can be overcome with strong faith in Allah and understanding. I went to Catholic primary and secondary schools in Holland and suffered from mentality stoppages caused by false doctrines which conditioned me and confused me, but I got rid of it over time. My advice would be give not your feelings free reign to control and bias your thinking pattern, and make sure you always know what and why you are doing what you’re doing. Brother Muhammad Howell - Niinka Cadaan, First of all jazaakal-Laahu khayran for your efforts, but two things I wish to share with you: 1) when you add “Niinka Cadaan†behind your name, I presume that you mean to say “nin(ka) cad†which means (white guy) or “nin(ka) cadaanka ahâ€/ “ninkii cadaa†(the white guy). Thus either way, your spelling is wrong or your spelling and grammar both are wrong, so please double-check. 2) Please reconsider your stances on the use of unnecessary pictures, so you may not become as one of “us†negligent muslims who have compromised such important and serious issues, like the use of lifeless images (without duruuriyaat) which are so strongly condemned in Islam. It serves no real purpose to have your picture on the forum, if the point is to be recognised as non-Somali “nin cadaan ahâ€, then by all means just show us a picture of your hands. Set an example so that others may feel ashamed (if such thing still exist) and follow your lead. 3) about Shaafici and what you call Somali ideology, it’s not that simple!!! Again jazaakal-Laahu khayran.

Assalaamu calaykum ps. before clicking on the link, remember to say Bismillah. which leads me to wonder, can Jinns surf the Net? either on their own or through a human? Brother Muhammad, if we accept the battle of good and evil, we have a contineous struggle between the Awliyaau'l-Laah and Awliyaa'ush-shaydaan. The net is no different from any other battle ground where the armies of Ibliis, both humans and jinns, carry out their evil intentions. We seek refuge from them in Allaah. P.S. we propably have them here too! :eek:

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious, Assalaamu Calaykum. Brother Muhammad Howell - Niinka Cadaan, welcome in the forum. Sister Kashafa, did you see it too? I thought that I was the only who could see through his cards. WCWW

Dear Brother Muhammad, Indeed that mosque is very beautiful and other well known architectural master pieces of the Islamic world, including the blue mosque, the Alhambra palace, the great Ummayad mosque, the Tajmahal, etc, all of which represent a truly beautiful artwork. This is a beauty of divine aspiration which started with the buildings of mosques, because the love and hope of mercy from the One with the Most Beautiful names and attributes necessitates an artistic expression which elevates the relationship between the prayer, the prayer-space and the One prayed to. Later on, the artistic architecture was expanded to include public places and royal palaces, but there is no doubt about the spiritual origination of Islamic architecture as a transcending expression. The same is true for the calligraphic texts, even though Arabic writing predates the Islamic civilization, calligraphy only came into existence when the written text became sacred, which also necessitated a new relationship between the servant and his Lord, whose very words were, to spiritualise, beatify and magnify in a transcending expression. From that point of view we have a complex interconnectedness of projected beauty in the Islamic world and the sacred nature of its structure. Otherwise, using philosophical context of architectural beauty, why would the most beautiful places in the world be corresponding with the most sacred places of Islam. This kind of beauty demands knowledge and understanding in order to fully appreciate, and therefore, unfortunately not everyone experiences it the same way. It would be no surprise to know that the Kacbah for example, was most beautiful in the eyes of our Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and less and less beautiful the more and more you’re removed from his understanding and appreciation. Micheal Wolf’s book “One Thousand Years of a Pilgrimage to Mecca†demonstrates this fact beautifully. In that book the author collected many accounts of travellers who visited Makkah for one reason or another, among them Shiicaa, Suufii, Hypocrites, slaves, royals, reverts and renegades. In their accounts it becomes clear that not everyone experiences the sight of the Kacbah the same way, which only becomes clear if you read these accounts keeping in mind their different back grounds. Nevertheless, we know about children who live in “miyyiâ€, and upon seeing pictures of the Kacbah with people doing dawwaaf around it, started crying and wetting the ground beneath their feet with tears. I have my own personal explanations for it, but I rather refrain from sharing it with others now. P.S. I’m glad you liked the article, I didn’t think anyone would even take the time to read it completely.

In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious, Islam and spiritual significance of architecture Islamic architecture is more that art, buildings or any structure that can be touched with the hands, seen with the eyes and felt with the heart. This architecture is also more than the social, historical, religious and economic prints of a civilisation, which eventually gives rise to the image and collective identity of a society. Islamic architecture goes beyond beauty and love, unimaginable to any existing civilisation, a beauty which is even beyond this world. The reason I’m writing about this topic is to draw the attention of the Muslims (specially the youth) to a wide range of criminally neglected aspects of Islam. This will, I believe provide a better understanding of the central message of Islam, and especially counter all the negativity associated with the failings of Muslims worldwide, as evident politically, militarily and economically. Of which, the profound effect of this in the hearts and minds of the Muslims has been instead of understanding Islam as a universal Truth valid in all aspects of human activities at all times, that they think it is about power and as a consequence Islam, in their minds, has become constrained and limited to its materialistic status in this world, losing all spiritual function, meaning and emotion beyond matter. I have also written this article with special eye for the simple minded so called Muslim “modernists†who, due to their inferiority complex, measure Islamic civilisation in its degree of blindly imitating modern western nihilism, agnostic and atheistic existentialism, materialism and their psychologisation of the spiritual world. For the record, the measure of Islamic civilisation, is Islam itself; “since Islam is the pillar and raison d`ètre of the civilisation that flourishes on its land, the degree of decay of that civilisation is to be measured primarily by the degree to which religion itself has weakened.†(Al-Badawi, Mustafa, 2002, Man & The Universe: An Islamic Perspective). To demonstrate my point (the meaning of Islam beyond material) and at the same time make it interesting for everyone to read, I choose architecture, but I could have equally chosen economics, the soul or any other aspect of Islam where spiritual and material collide. The relationship between man and material Before we can study what makes an architecture Islamic, even though the Islamic world is vast and spread over different continents, we accept the assumption that all Muslims share one principal unifying concept; the tawxiid which recognises the sovereignty of the Lord of the worlds over everything, and the willingly submitting of all acts in servitude and in humility in accordance with that universal Truth. From that principle, the Muslim is put, by Allah, in a position of trust (amaanah) to carry out the mission on whom he/she is trusted with (i.e. testifying in all your actions, glorifications and obedience as belonging to Allah alone). With trust comes freedom of care over what you are trusted with, but also responsibility and accountability comes with it too. Allah (swt) said in His glorious Qur’aan: “We indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: But man undertook it:- he was indeed unjust and foolish;- (with the result) that Allah has to punish him the Hypocrites, men and women, and the Unbelievers, men and women, and Allah turns in Mercy to the Believers, men and women: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.†(33:72-73). The mountains, the earth, the heavens and other creatures (within) declined the faculty of choice over the will of Allah, which, being Perfect and All-Wise, means that they enjoy far greater success and happiness than when left to decide for themselves with their imperfect knowledge. That is why Allah branded man as “unjust and foolish†because “…it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.†(2:216). Therefore, your body, children and spouse are trusted with you, just as flora, fauna and the whole environment in general is trusted with you. Also, your money, property and goods are a trust as much as your opportunities, skills and knowledge to enable you to make use of these resources that are trusted with you. Allah (swt), in warning us, said: “O ye that believe! Betray not the trust of Allah and the Messenger, nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you. And know ye that your possessions and your progeny are but a trial: and that it is Allah with whom lies your highest reward.†(8:27-28). This means that nothing is ever really yours, but everything is temporarily trusted with you for the purpose of trial, unless you are too blind to see. “Seest thou not that Allah has made subject to you (man) all that is on the earth…†(22:65). Typically, like all other things temporarily entrusted to you, it will eventually return to its rightful owner, as the following verses make clear. “It is We who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon; to Us will they all be returned.†(19:40). “…to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth…†(3:180). “To Him belongs all that is in the heaven and on earth…†(22:64). (please note that the “We†and “Us†in the above verses refer to the royal plural, which is a plural of Majesty and not of numbers). In case anyone is interested to know what is the purpose for being tried with something, temporally entrusted with them, then know the promise of Allah (swt) that “Those who faithfully observe their trusts and their covenants;…These will be the heirs,…who will inherit Paradise:†(23:8-11). Allah (swt) in His Mercy, provided for us the manual and the ingredients, through revelations, made clear by His Messengers and Books, to help us succeed in our mission. It is because of His Devine Guidance which places us, Muslims, in a special position of trust and an extra responsibilities as He (swt) said: “Thus have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced. That ye might be witness over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves;†(2:143). Where again Allah, in turn, is witness over His Messenger which completes this vertical metaphysical relationship. Again just for the record, the opposite is the case with the unbelievers and that is because; “The unbelievers spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the path of Allah…†(8:36). What makes an architecture Islamic? In order to understand Islamic architecture it is necessary to overlook certain architectural features and elements subject to physical context. Because the dimension of geography, climate, material, etc. and all other surrounding physical environment, which may include human made factors such as cultural identity, are per se not Islamic, even though created or greatly influenced by the Islamic civilisation, we need to develop a higher and a deeper understanding of space, design and meaning. As the actions of Muslims are (or suppose to be any way) the manifestation of an abstract concept (Islam), their architecture should reflect the same denominator from which all other actions have originated. Therefore we focus first on the concept rather than the manifestation, which, as mentioned are subject to natural and human factors. (I hope we don’t make the same mistake as the hyena made, when he thought, upon seeing “dhiil†that milk was a black object made of leather and tree) “The concept of Unity in multiplicity is the determining factor in integrating Islamic societies. Historically the revelation of Islam as expressed by the prophet Mohammed and the Koran brought together the most diverse cultures and peoples from Spain across to India and beyond. The architecture of the Islamic world throughout history adapted and responded to different cultures and existing traditions of buildings without weakening the spiritual essence which was its source of inspiration.†(Garry, Martin. Building in the Middle East Today - in Search of a Direction). Unfortunately we cannot expect from Mr Garry (as a non-Muslim) to teach us what these “spiritual essence†and “source of inspiration†exactly are, and there are not enough Muslim architects who have seriously attempted to study this field in great depth. However, I believe that architectural semantics is one of the few fields we can rely on the explanations given by Muslim philosophers, of whom we normally should be alert of their credo-religious speculations. As a non-architect and non-philosopher, I have no choice but to accept their perspective as long I don’t come across a better explanation. Professor Seyyed Hussein Nasr explains in his “Young Muslim’s Guide to the Modern World†that “One might say that the Islamic perspective is based on the dimension of beauty in life and relates beauty and goodness to the very nature of Allah as asserted in the well known hadith, ‘Allah is beautiful and He loves Beauty’.†He goes on to say; “Islam, of course, borrowed many techniques from various civilisations such as the Persian and Byzentine in such fields as architecture….. But it transformed all the material that it borrowed from various civilisations in the light of the Quranic revelation and created very distinct artistic forms which can be seen in the lands stretching from East to West.†In Professor Mohammed Arkoun’s words; “God, the angels the cosmos and eschatological expectations are simultaneously both sources and objects of spiritual contemplation, the initiators and ultimate references of the systems of values and beliefs transmitted and reproduced with devotion in each spiritual tradition. All individuals born and trained in such a tradition spontaneously share the inherited ‘values’ and psychological mechanisms of spritualisation, sacralisation, transcendentalisation of the profane, and the modest realities of their own environments. It is crucial to make a clear distinction between spirituality, sacredness and transcendence as substantive values used in theology and classical metaphysics, and spritualisation/sacralisation and transcendentalisation as the products of the agents of social, cultural and historical activities.†(Arkoun, Mohammed, 1995, Spirituality and Architecture – in Architecture Beyond Architecture). These explanations do indicate the importance of the spiritual dimension of architecture, but they are too philosophical and don’t directly answer the practical relationship between the inner spiritual and outer material manifestations. Even if we accept that “in much of Islamic architecture, space is ‘cut out’ from the material forms around it and is defined by the inner surfaces of these forms†at face value (see S. Akkach/S. Hossein Nasr in the Image of the cosmos, order and symbolism in traditional Islamic architecture), we still need to conceptualise in an understandable shape, language and image, the nature of that relationship. If we go back to the common denominator of all facade manifests following human acts, which we said as (supposed to be) having originated from the universal abstract of Islam, then spiritually, what is true for the Islamic character as manifested in the Muslim individual, must also be true for the Islamic architecture as manifested in an object or a building (the fact that it is not the case anymore, not only on a micro-level, such as the Muslim and the house, but on a macro-level as well, such as the Ummah and its governance, is a separate issue which needs our urgent attention). This means that the focus of the Islamic architecture is on the interior space as supposed to the exterior, which is similar to the Muslim character who’s beauty is inside the heart and not his/her appearance. In fact, the correlate is especially true with the pious Muslim women who often form the true heart of the house, in terms of the peace, care and the interior decoration, within her separate and unique taste for style (i.e. the choice of calligraphic patterns, geometric and floral patterns, and the use of natural and artificial fragrances, light, etc.). It is a style well known to non-Muslim western architects, of which they unsurprisingly perhaps, refer to as the “architecture of the veilâ€, because its innermost sanctum (family and private life) is protected and kept secret. Ernst Grube commented “that it is an architecture that must be experienced by being entered and seen from within†which he calls the “hidden architecture†(see Architecture of the Islamic World, 1978, Thames and Hudson). Furthermore seyyed hossein Nasr states that “the whole beauty of the Muslim city is turned inward and not outward. The traditional Muslim houses, whether of the rich or the poor, are not that different from the outside. Therefore, excessive inequality in the public eye is prevented. The beauty of the house is to be found mostly within its walls. It is within the house that the joy and serenity which accompanies the worship of Allah and the enjoyment of His Bounties, especially the felicity connected with family life, are reflected.†What makes architecture beautiful? The understanding of the Western world in particular and the non-Muslim world in general, have been, although admittedly slow, abandoning their centuries old naïve idea that “beauty†was the property of physical object as a primitive attribute of perception, in favour of one which is closer to the Islamic perspective. The prevailing consensus in architectural theory since last century is that “beauty†is an “aesthetic feeling which could be aroused by a perception†(Hesselgren, 1969, The Language of architecture). In other words, beauty in Islamic architecture becomes the measure of the emotions connected with a perception by the use of spiritual meanings. If therefore perception forms the link between emotion and meaning, between material and spiritual, then with knowledge and the skill of the trained mind/eye, we can theoretically by perception of an object alone, call all its associated emotions and meanings. Consequently we can taste the spiritual emotions and the functional meanings of ancient Islamic buildings, which is almost exactly the equivalent of what the original craftsmen and builders felt, in terms of function, meaning and emotion while building these objects, even though thousands of years have separated us (that should be credited to the timeless universal concept of Islam). The best example is the Kacbah, which is built with the greatest love (for Allah), greatest care, greatest emotion, greatest function and the greatest meaning than any other building is ever built on earth. It was built with a heavenly inspiration for the sake of Allah (swt) and not from/for an earthly material desire. Allah informs us when He says; “And remember Abraham and Ismael raised the foundations of the House (with the prayer): ‘our Lord! Accept (this service) from us…†(2:127) and He (swt) “made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety…†(2:125). In addition, it was concurred, renovated and purified with great inspiration, care, love, function and meaning by our beloved Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) together with his companions. When the true Muslim builds while remembering his Lord, it becomes an act of worship, even if he/she is to house his family in that building, and if he/she builds a mosque for His (swt)’s sake, Allah will build him/her a house in Paradise. Thus no act of a true humble servant will ever be futile with Allah, therefore no remnant of a worship which pleases/d the Most Merciful can be equal with anything else meant to satisfy the lower bestial nature of the “selfâ€. With that widely accepted architectural criterion of beauty, the Kacbah, with its beautifully simple geometric cubic shape, which over the history has moved so many billions of souls in sights, in thoughts and in dreams, to spiritual heights that nothing can ever be compared with, is the most beautiful architectural masterpiece ever built in the history of mankind. This empty block-shaped space has unified and still unifies the Muslims, comparable to the way north-pool unifies all the magnetic needles. The Kacbah is a symbol of the unity of Allah and not an object of worship itself (and that it hasn’t become as such, and that the spiritual dimension always prevailed over the material is evidence and a miracle at the same time), it also represents a link between this world and the next, and unifies the earth with the heavens. My point My first point is, if one strips away all the spiritual, functional and emotional dimensions from the Kacbah, and are left with only a very simplistic material object, much like what we did and are doing with Islam, be it due to ignorance for not intellectually being able to recognise or experience such dimensions, or be it due to these superficial modernists who suffer from spiritual bankruptcy, we shall be left with empty and meaningless rituals. Then our hearts will only be capable of seeing material status, and to enhance it, we mutilate, innovate and imitate blindly, following our desires. Islam is a structure like architecture, where the content cannot be divorced from the skeletal framework, and the spiritual significance of its inner dimensions always remain the vital ingredient in order to achieve proportional balance of function, meaning and emotion to guarantee success and happiness in this life and hereafter. Before anyone interprets that what I’m saying in materialistic sense, and accuses me of opposing to copy our capitalist master’s cold and concrete skyscraper building style, with a function and meaning alien to Islamic values of modesty and servitude, and as they lack any form of spiritual dimension, only represent soulless space which has become a symbol of exploitation and oppression. No, in fact what I’m saying is that Muslims should adopt skills and engineering techniques to face the challenges of population densities in urban areas in a manner which is true to the Islamic spirit and weltanschauung , however naturally, culturally or in whatever “zeitgeist†is manifested upon. We don’t need to compete for the tallest building in the world as some Muslims are doing, clearly wasting valuable resources of material, manpower and money, for no purposive way as the confession of Twxiid demands of us. It may be a self-fulfilling prophesy to catalyse the signs of The Hour, as our Prophet described to us, and that is what I oppose. My second point is that we Muslims have become blinded by our pursuit of material wealth, forgetting the real purpose of life in the process. In reality I wouldn’t have cared if the problem was limited to the few extremely wealthy who are a minority in the Muslim world. But the problem is that the “have-nots†are strangely enough more blinded by the worldly glitter than we otherwise would expect to, and that is one of the symptoms associated with ignorance, religious weakening and spiritual bankruptcy of the Muslims. The best example I can think of is the story of Qaaruun as mentioned in the Qr’aan. Allah (awt) says: “So he went forth among his people in the (pride of his worldly) glitter. Said those whose aim is the life of this world: ‘Oh! That we had the like of Qaaruun has got! For he is truly a lord of mighty good fortune!’ But those who had been granted (true) knowledge said: ‘Alas for you! The reward of Allah (in the hereafter) is best for those who believe and work righteousness: but this none shall attain, save those who steadfastly persevere (in good).’ “Then We caused the earth to swallow up him and his house; and he had not (the least little) party to help him against Allah, nor Could he defend himself. And those who had envied his position the day before began to say on the morrow: ‘Ah! It is indeed Allah who enlarges the provision or restricts it, to any of his servants He pleases! Had it not been that Allah was generous to us, He could have caused the earth to swallow us up! Ah! Those who reject Allah will assuredly never prosper.’†See (28:79-82). The above story has so many incredible moral lessons and if we think about it, we may learn great deal about ourselves and the situation of the world today. I’m looking to forward to your comments, negative or positive, and any corrections made to my mistakes. Your brother in Islam, Shams-ud-Din

Brother Nur, May Allah reward you for the great articles. It is a pitty that we anxiously study roadmaps to travel from one city to another, but actually never bother to study the most important Road-Map for the greatest of all journeys, which is from this life to the next. My question is, since Allah said: "...hal yastawal-ladiina yaclamuuna wal-ladiina laa yaclamuuna..." (are those who know equal with those who do not know?) How can we best use the accounts of the past voyages by many a great travellers, who explored the road ahead before us through hardships, sufferings, trials and tribulations, and successfully reached their destiny, while weaponed with the same patience and the rest of the tools you've mentioned above? WCWB

Dear sister in Islam, Assalaamu calaykum. Allah will not ask on the Day of Judgement why your brother missed school on some fridays, but why your brother didn't go to the friday khutbah and prayers. Given that fact, any intelligent person cabable of prioritising would know what to do.

Brothers and sisters, Dhaaghoot: The exclusion, transgressing or exceeding the limits of obeying, worshipping or following other than Allah swt Types of dhaaghoot (as defind by sh M. S. at-Tamimi): 1) Iblis, accursed is he by Allah 2) one who approves to be worshipped 3) one who calls people to worship him 4) one who claims the knowledge of the unseen 5) one who rules by laws other than those sent down by Allah 6) and many more minor ones If the Saudi king distances himself from one form of dhaaghoot, then we Muslims should all welcome that and encourage him to do even more, and ask Allah to guide him to His path. WCWW

Who were behind the Paris bombings? The evidence is that the 1995 Islamist attacks on the French metro were in fact carried out by the Algerian secret service Naima Bouteldja Thursday September 8, 2005 Guardian Ever since the 1995 bombing of the Paris metro by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) made France the first western European country to suffer so-called radical Islamist terrorism, its politicians and "terror experts" have consistently warned Britain to the dangers of welcoming Islamist political dissidents and radical preachers to her shores. In the aftermath of the July London attacks, commentators were quick to argue that France's "zero tolerance" policy and campaign of "integration" in the name of republican values - embodied in the 2004 ban on the display of all religious symbols in schools - has spared the country from terror attacks, while Britain's failure to follow Spain and Germany in adopting the French model has proved a spectacular own-goal. However, as Tony Blair made clear in unveiling his government's proposed legislation on August 5, "the rules of the game have changed". Suddenly, the French recipe for dealing with Islamist terror has become feted by British politicians and media alike. But how would we regard the virtue of the French model if, a decade after bombs ripped through the metro, enough evidence had been gathered to demonstrate that the attacks allegedly carried out by Islamist militants were not fuelled by fundamentalism, but instead were dreamt up and overseen by the Algerian secret service as part of a domestic political struggle that spilled over into Algeria's former colonial master? The most comprehensive studies - including Lounis Aggoun and Jean-Baptiste Rivoire's Françalgérie: Crimes and Lies of the State - argue that this is exactly what happened. In 1991 Algeria's main Islamic party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), won a first-round victory in the country's inaugural multiparty general elections, which threatened to strip away the power of the generals who had controlled the state from the shadows. Exploiting Europe's fear of an Islamic government, the Algerian army intervened to halt the second round of voting, forcing the president to step down and a temporary commission to rule the country. But the legitimacy of this new arrangement could only be assured if the Islamic opposition could be discredited and crushed. The DRS - the Algerian secret service - systematically infiltrated insurrectionary Islamist groups such as the GIA and from 1992 onwards launched its own fake guerrilla groups, including death squads disguised as Islamists. In 1994, the DRS managed to place Jamel Zitouni, one of the Islamists it controlled, at the head of the GIA. "It became impossible to distinguish the genuine Islamists from those controlled by the regime," says Salima Mellah, of the NGO Algeria Watch. "Each time the generals came under pressure from the international community, the terror intensified". By January 1995, however, Algeria's dirty war began to falter. The Italian government hosted a meeting in Rome of Algerian political parties, including the FIS. The participants agreed a common platform, calling for an inquiry into the violence in Algeria, the end of the army's involvement in political affairs and the return of constitutional rule. This left the generals in an untenable position. In their desperation, and with the help of the DRS, they hatched a plot to prevent French politicians from ever again withdrawing support for the military junta. As Aggoun and Rivoire recount, French-based Algerian spies initially given the task of infiltrating Islamist networks were transformed into agent provocateurs. In spring 1995, Ali Touchent, an Algerian agent, began to gather and incite a network of disaffected young men from north African backgrounds to commit terrorist attacks in France. The DRS's infiltrators, led by Zitouni, also pushed the GIA to eliminate some of the FIS's leaders living in Europe. On July 11 1995 Abdelbaki Sahraoui, a FIS leader in France, was assassinated. The GIA claimed responsibility. Two weeks later the metro was hit by bombs, killing eight. After a further attack, Zitouni called on President Jacques Chirac to "convert to Islam to be saved". The resulting public hysteria against Islam and Islamism saw the French government abandon its support for the Rome accord. So what happened to the perpetrators? The masterminds of the main attack were never caught. Despite being publicly identified by the Algerian authorities as the European ringleader of the GIA and by French investigators as the key organiser, Touchent evaded capture, returned to Algeria and settled in a secure police quarter of Algiers. France's inability to bring to justice those genuinely responsible for the 1995 attacks was evidently more than an accident. According to Mohamed Samraoui, a former colonel in the Algerian secret service: "French intelligence knew that Ali Touchent was a DRS operative charged with infiltrating pro-Islamist cells in foreign countries." It has never been officially denied that in return for supplying the French authorities with valuable information, Touchent was granted protection. This is not the only explanation for French collaboration with the Algerian government. Algeria is one of the main suppliers of gas and oil to France, and an important client. François Gèze of La Decouverte, a French publisher which exposed the involvement of the Algerian secret services in the dirty war, argues that at the heart of this economic relationship is a web of political cor ruption. "French exporters generally pay a 10 to 15% commission on their goods. Part of this revenue is then 'repaid' by the Algerians as finance for the electoral campaigns of French political parties." What the true story of France's 1995 brush with "Islamic terror" reveals is that the attacks, while probably executed by a small number of Muslim extremists, were conceived and manipulated by vested interests. British policymakers would do well to understand the specific context and complex colonial legacy of French-Algerian relations before they go looking for direct comparisons. The 1995 case is also a warning against blaming "Islamists" for terror, while turning a blind eye to repressive actions of governments in the Arab world when they suit western governments' agenda. · Naima Bouteldja is a French journalist and researcher for the Transnational Institute naima.bouteldja@gmail.com Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

10 causes that remove punishment for a sin: Shaykh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The punishment for a sin committed by a believer is removed in ten ways: 1) He repents to Allah (taubah), so Allah accepts his repentance, for the one who repents from sin is like the one who has no sin. 2) He seeks forgiveness from Allah (istighfar), so Allah forgives him. 3) He does good deeds that erase his sin for good deeds erase bad ones. 4) His believing brethren pray for him or seek forgiveness for his sins during his life or death. 5) Or they [ask Allah] to bestow on him as gift from the reward for their deeds, with which Allah benefits him. 6) His Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, intercedes for him. 7) Allah tests him with trials in this world which expiate his sin. 8) Allah tests him in al-Barzakh (the intermediate life in the grave, between the death and the Day of Judgment) which expiates his sin. 9) Allah tests him in the various stages of the Day of Judgment which expiates his sins. 10) Or the Most Merciful of those who have mercy has mercy on him. Whoever, then, is missed by these ten cannot blame anyone but himself.

Repentence by Imam Shaafici Al-Muzni who is Aboo lbraaheem Isma`eel ibn Yahya said: "I entered upon ash-Shaafi'ee during his illness which resulted in his death, so I said to him: 'What is your condition?' He replied: "I am journeying from this world, and departing from my brothers, drinking from the cup of death, and upon Allaah - Exalted is His remembrance - arriving. And no! By Allaah, I do not know if my soul is travelling towards Paradise or the Fire!" Then he started to weep, and he said: 'In You, the Creator, I raise my longing, And even if I am, O possessor of kindness and generosity, an evildoer, a criminal, When my heart became constricted and my paths became narrow, I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an escape, My sins seemed very great to me but when I compared them to Your forgiveness, I found Your forgiveness to be greater, You are and still remain the only One who can forgive sins, You grant and forgive out of Your benevolence and generosity, Perhaps the One who is the source of all goodness will forgive and overlook my mistakes, And will hide the sins and burden that I accumulated, My sins seemed very great to me, so I turned (to You) in humility, Were it not for my contentment in you, I wouldn't, O my Lord, have seen any comfort at all, So if You forgive me, You would have forgiven a sinner, A rebellious, oppressive tyrant still sinning, So my crime is very great, past and present, But Your forgiveness that embraces Your servant is greater and higher, So whomsoever holds fast to Allaah is truly saved from mankind, And whomsoever's hopes are in Him, will be far removed from any regrets.' In translating these lines of poetry I have exercised a certain degree of freedom in order to preserve the emotive content as well as making it readable in the English language. [Translator Note]

State of repentence by Imam ibn-ul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah The state of repentance, tawbah, is at the beginning, the middle and the end of all states of submission to the will of Allah. The servant who seeks the pleasure of Allah never abandons tawbah. He remains in the state of tawbah until his death. Whatever his state of belief, the servant makes tawbah his constant companion. Thus, tawbah is at the beginning and at the end of his servitude to his Creator. His need for tawbah at the end, just as at the beginning, overrides, and supersedes all other needs. Allah says: "And turn to Allah altogether (make tawbah), O you who believe so that you may succeed," (24:31) The verse above is contained within a Madinan Surah (revealed after the migration to Madinah), in which Allah addresses the people of emaan, who are the best of His creation. He calls upon them to make tawbah "turn in repentance" to Him after they had already believed, gone through hardships, trials of faith, executed patience, migrated and performed jihad. Allah then made success conditional on perfecting such tawbah, as the effect is often conditional on the cause. No one can hope for success, except: those who make tawbah. Allah says: "And those who do not make tawbah are indeed the dhaalimoon (wrongdoers)." (49:11) Allah divides His servants into two categories only: the repentant and the wrongdoers. There is no third category. Allah calls those who do not make tawbah, "dhaalimoon" (wrongdoers and transgressors) and no one is more of a wrongdoer and a transgressor than a person who does not repent for his evil actions. This state is a result of a person's ignorance of his Lord and the rights due to Him, as well as, his own defects and the evil of his deeds. The Prophet, sallallahu alayeh wa sallam, is reported to have said: "O people, make tawbah to Allah. By Allah, I make tawbah to Him more than seventy times each day." (Bukhari) His companions used to count for him in each congregation his saying one hundred times: "My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance, for You are At-Tawwab (the One who accept repentance), Al-Ghafoor (The Oft Forgiving)." The Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, is also reported to have said: "No one will be rescued (on the Day of Judgment) by his deeds. They (his companions) asked even you Messenger of Allah? He said, even me, unless Allah would grant me His mercy and Grace." May Allah's blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, the most knowledgeable among His creation of Him, His Rights, His Greatness and what servitude He deserves. He is the most knowledgeable of servitude and its requirements and the most committed in servitude to Allah. The Starter (Fatihah) of Tawbah Tawbah is the return of the servant to Allah. It is also his turning away from the path of those with whom Allah is angry and those who are astray. This returning cannot be done except by Allah's guidance to the Straight Path. The servant will not attain guidance except through Allah's help and the servant's submithrough tawheed. Suratul-Fatihah explains this concept in the most complete and eloquent manner. Whoever appreciates Surat-ul-Fatihah and gives it is right estimate, through knowledge, contemplation upon its facts and by living its directives, will realise that one cannot recite it, with the true recitation of a servant, unless one makes sincere tawbah. The perfect guidance to the Straight Path cannot be attained with the indifference to sins or the persistence on sins. Indifference to sins negates the knowledge of guidance. Persistent sinning negates the intention and the will of the servant. Thus, tawbah will not be valid except after one recognises the sins, admits to them and seeks to rid oneself of their evil consequences. Seeking Refuge from Sin The first aspect of tawbah, then, is to see how one was taken away from seeking the pleasure of Allah, by committing sins. Next, one has to recognize that Allah didn't safeguard him from sin. One should also ponder how happy one was while sinning and being persistent on the sin, while knowing with surety that Allah ever watches over whatever is done in the heavens or on the earth. If the servant had sought refuge in Allah, he would not have gone away from the guidance of obedience, "And whoever holds firmly to Allah, then he is indeed guided to a Right Path." (3:101) If one's holding onto Allah is firm, one would never be forsaken by Allah, "And hold firmly to Allah, He is your Mawlaa (Protector) and what an excellent Mawlaa and what an excellent Naseer (Helper)." (22:78) In other words, whenever we hold firm to Him, He will become our Protector and He will support us against our nafs (inclinations) and the Shaytan. These two enemies, the nafs and Satan, are the ones that do not leave the servant for even a moment. Their enmity is more harmful to the servant than the enemies from without. Attaining victory over such enemies is more difficult, and the servant's need for such a victory is far more important. The degree of help rendered to defeat these enemies is dependent upon the degree of our dependence and holding onto Allah. If we do not hold firmly to Allah, we will go away from Allah's protection. This is indeed the true loss. Allah could have aided us in staying away from sins, however, because we deserted Him, we were allowed to listen to any obey our nafs. If He wished to protect us, the sin would not have found a way to get to us. When the servant becomes heedless of the consequences of sin, he finds pleasure when he satisfies unlawful desires. This pleasure in disobedience is evidence of his ignorance of the Greatness of the One of disobeys, and his ignorance of the evil consequences of sins and evil actions. His pleasure with sin has concealed all of this from his sight. In fact, his pleasure with sin is more harmful to him than perpetrating the sin itself. The believer can never have any pleasure from sin. He cannot have complete satisfaction with it. On the contrary, he would not even pursue it, except with grief in his heart. But the intoxication of the desires obscures one from feeling this remorse. When the heart becomes empty from such grief and one is happy with sin, then one should question his faith and weep for the death of his heart. If one were alive, he would be sad for the perpetration of any sin, big or small. The evil effects of sin, more times than not, go unnoticed in us and in our brothers and sisters in Islam. Diligences in constant self-evaluation is necessary in leading us away from sin and its destructive ends. One can do this by focusing on the following. 1. The fear of dying before making tawbah. 2. Remorse about the good that was missed because of the disobedience of Allah. 3. Working seriously on regaining what has been missed. If one becomes completely heedless then one becomes persistent, which means constant disobedience with the intention to perform the sin again and again. This by itself is another sin that could be far greater than the first. Part of the punishment for sin is that it leads to a greater sin, then another, and so on until it completely and certainly destroys the person if he does not repent. Persistence on sin is another sin. Not attempting to rectify the sin means persistence on it and satisfaction with it. This is the sign of ruin. Worse than all of that, is the commission of sin in public when we are sure that Allah watches and sees everything from above His Throne. If we believe that Allah watches us, yet we proceed to commit sins publicly, this is a great contradiction. But if we don't believe that He watches us, then we are completely out of the realm of Islam. There are two considerations for a sinner: lack of embarrassment from Allah knowing that Allah's sight watches over all, and lack of fear to go out of the deen. Therefore, one of the conditions of the acceptance of tawbah is that a person should firmly believe that Allah was watching and that He will always watch over him. He sees everything during the perpetration of sins. The reality of tawbah is to return to Allah is not sound or complete without the knowledge of the Lord's names and attributes and their manifestations within Himself and in the world. The repenting servant should know that he was running away from his Lord, captured in the grip of his enemy. He didn't fall into the claws of his enemy except as a result of his ignorance of his Lord and his daring to go against Him. He should know how and when he became ignorant, and how and when he was captured. He should believe that tawbah requires great determination and complete awareness to rescue himself from the enemy and be able to return and run back, to his Lord Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. He should realise that returning to his Lord is actually turning away from the road of destruction, where his enemy had taken him. He should know the number of steps taken away from his Lord and the efforts and obstacles that he must strongly work on to get back to the Straight Path.

Jazaakal-Laahu khayran Brother, everytime I read that event I have difficulties in breathing while tears flow from my eyes in abundency, I can't help but feel ashamed of myself and the way I am. May Allah grant us courage and inspiration from the above event.

Brother Ngonge, I've read the verses you've adviced me to read, so I'ld like to thank you and to show my gratitute by advicing you in turn to read the verses between 67-74 of suuratul-Baqarah. May Allah grant us their wisdom. WCWW

Dear brother Ngonge, If one needs to calm down, then it is propably you, but since you've stepped down from your initial criticism on the content of the article (i.e. your opposition to emmigrating from the lands of disbelievers to the lands of muslims), to one which is limited to the style and sentiments of the piece, then we must not waste our time here for two reasons; 1) I'm not a literary critic and 2) came into this discussion to defend the content of the article. You're just being silly here if you believe that one can only deny aayaats/verses only if quoted in exact phrases (or in its original arabic phrase for that matter), and that it is NOT a denial or a crime against you if you do deny in translation, interpretation or meaning (or whatever way the orator, narator, author, etc. puts it as long the meaning is correct and you're made aware of). If that was your position, then I kindly request you to recosider that understanding. Neither did I ever referred to Modesty's statements as exact phrases nor did she, but it was you who decided to dismiss, because a) you was not aware of any verses in the Qur'aan with the same meaning, b) you was aware but inconvenient to your arguments or c) a lttle bit of both or d) you think it's a good thing to doubt the meaning of the Qur'aan (only Allah knows your intentions). To elaborate more on this issue so we can all understand, imagine the following: mr A says to mr B; "there's a day of judgement" mr B says; "I doubt that", on which mr A replies; "you're doubting the verses from the Qur'aan" So what do you think mr Ngonge? did he or did he not? One advise though, if you are ever in a position to relate anything you say here on SOL to verses from the Qur'aan or axaadiiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the please, please, please reffer them to us instead of using your own words, for indeed "fa'inna axsanal kalaamu kitaabul-Laah" (the best speach is that of the book of Allah) and His Messenger doesn't speak from his own desire, but is "waxyun yuuxaa" (devine inspiration), of which both will be of greater benefit to us when you inform us of than expressed in your own words. We don't ever want to risk denying Allah and His Messenger (be it even unknowingly) whatever the justification we convince ourselves may be! WCWW P.S. Jazaakal-Laah for your advice to read the verses, I will insha'Allah.

Brother Viking, It seems the unthinkable is happening and you and I actually agree on something You've correctly observed the manifestation of the general malaise which is the natural consequence of our decaying features over the last few centuries, in terms of the total indiffirence, to living true to our "testification" of unconditional acceptence and to observe all our obligatory duties as FULL muslims. This includes in all fields, such as knowledge (both reason and revelation) to apply in its subjective branches of justice, politics, social, worship, etc. but also, the moral and ethical servtitude towards Allah, when considered in both private and public sphere in establishing Allah's will (as representatives) on earth. Viking brother, we need to go back to Allah and answer His call more decisively then we've done so far, otherwise, we all know that there would be a day when we're all called to answers, but it would be too late then, and neither Shaydaan nor disbelievers will constitute for us as an excuse in that Day, for we're held responsible. That's why the angels reply to those muslims who complain (that they were weak and oppressed in the lands of disbelievers) when their lives are taken; "was Allah's earth not spacious enough for you to migrate?" and they are thrown in the Hellfire! WCWW

Brother Ngonge, You said that your "bad habits" thread deals with my challenge, but may I ask; how? Does it proof that the single most important and academically accepted theories of environmental influences on individual's behaviour to be totally false? or, do you proof in there that the author contradicts in his conclusion, with regards the teachings of the Noble Qur'aan and the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? Call me ****** , but it doesn't deal with the challenge, therefore, the challenge still stands!