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Islam FAQ (Part 1/15): Welcome & Index

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Asim Mughal

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Apr 17, 2004, 7:24:06 AM4/17/04

Archive-name: islam-faq/part1
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
prohibited without explicit written permission of the author.
Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 1
__________________________________

This message is automatically posted to 'Islam'
every month and when updated. This lists answers to most
commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes
are requested and should be directed to: mug...@caltech.edu

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

Part 1 - Welcome & Index
Part 2 - Info on Islamic News Groups
Part 3 - Introduction to Islam
Part 4 - God & Worship
Part 5 - Islam, Quran & Muhammad (PBUH)
Part 6 - Marriage Laws in Islam
Part 7 - Women In Islam
Part 8 - Life after Death, Moral System & Human rights in Islam
Part 9 - Islam: Prophethood, Jesus & Trinity
Part 10 - Islam: Farrakhism & Malcom X
Part 11 - Islamic Internet Guide: Islamic Resources on Internet
Part 12 - Other Islamic Resource Guides on Internet
Part 13 - Islamic Literature: Books & Video
Part 14 - Islamic Calendar & Prayer Time Table for 1994
Part 15 - Misc: List of Halal Foods

________________________________________________________

PART 1: Welcome & Index

Contents

--Articles--
1. Welcome ...................................................................
2. 1-800-662-ISLAM ...........................................................
3. Islam on Phone ............................................................
4. Archive Info ..............................................................
5. Credits ...................................................................
6. History of FAQ ............................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Welcome ...................................................................

This series of FAQ provides basic introductory information on Islam.
This information has been collected in response to the questions asked
on the USENET forum, Islam.

It is hoped, by providing this basic information, a lot of common
misconceptions are answered. In addition, those who wish to read beyond
the basic introduction, information is provided on how to find Islamic
literature on internet and in bookstores.

In this part of the series, the information specific to this FAQ is
provided. This includes the credits to the sources & the information on
where this FAQ is archived.

2. 1-800-662-ISLAM ...........................................................

Non-Muslims interested to learn about Islam can now dial toll-free

1-800-662-ISLAM

The phone number has been set up by the Islamic Circle of North America
(ICNA) exclusively for non-Muslims. The number became operational on
August 30, 1994.

Note: The last letter 'M' in the telephone number is optional.

3. Islam on Phone ...........................................................

(312) 777-0767

Ask for a list of questions and codes. Provided by III&E.

4. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part1
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

5. Credits ...................................................................

The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for
the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ.

-- SOURCES --

The basic introduction and literature presented in the FAQ is from
brochures on Islam distributed by Institute of Islamic Information &
Education (III&E). These brochures were typed in electronic form by
Ms.M.Ahmed.

What is III&E?

III&E is an acronym for the Institute of Islamic Information & Education
which was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1985. The III&E is
registered in the State of Illinois and recognized by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) as a not-for-profit religious organization.

More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O.
Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Fax: (312) 777-7199; or
contact Sr. Margaret Ahmed.

-- FORMAT --

The format of the FAQ series has been done by utilizing resources of
Islamic Information & News Network (IINN). A custom program, Nebula,
written by editors of IINN for generating newsletters has been used.

What is IINN?

Islamic Information & News Network is a forum dedicated to educate the
network community on issues relating to Islam and Muslims in an academic
& non-political environment. Weekly digest is available on internet by
subscribing to MUS...@ASUACAD.BITnet (A Bitnet listserv list) and on
USENET: bit.listserv.muslims.

-- Multi-part FAQ V3.1 --

Contributions by: Margaret Ahmed, Zafar Hasan, Altaf Bhimji, Sharaaz
Khan & Masood Cajee.

-- Original FAQ --

The following people contributed towards the original one part FAQ.

Ishaq Zahid, Suhail Farooqi, Masud Khan, Salman Shaikh, Basalat Ali
Raja, Iraj Mughal, Kent Landfield, Ahmad Hashem & Asadullah K.
Japanwala, ,Daniel Faigin, Abdullah Haydar, Ahmed Abd-Allah, Nabil
Rehman.

-- Permissions --

Permission to post this multi-part FAQ has been obtained by the
following:

o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E)
o Islamic Information & News Network (Mus...@PSUVM.bitnet)
o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)

6. History of FAQ ............................................................

The following is history of this FAQ in ascending order:

V 3.3 Released Mar 27, 1995 Cosmetic changes in header/footer.
V 3.2 Released Feb 01, 1995 Changed to 'Islam FAQ'
V 3.1 Released Jan 10, 1995 Split into 15 parts, internet guides & III&E
articles added.
V 3.0 Released Aug 14-28,1994, FAQ Split into 10 parts, III&E articles
included
V 2.9 Released July 04,1994, updated #2 #5 #9 #12
V 2.8 Released May 01, 1994, New item # 20
V 2.7 Released Apr 04, 1994, New Item # 3, update #8, #9.
V 2.6 Released Feb 26, 1994, New items # 11, # 17, # 18. Updated: #4,#7,#8
V 2.5 Released Jan 31, 1994, New item # 15. Item # 5 updated.
V 2.4 Released Jan 25, 1994, New item # 14
V 2.3 Released Jan 20, 1994, SRI mods updated.
V 2.2 Released Jan 19, 1994, Item 4 expanded, Trimmed Item 5
V 2.1 Released Jan 07, 1994, Minor touchup
V 2.0 Released Jan 05, 1994, Items 8-14 added
V 1.5 Released Jan 02, 1994. Item 1 expanded
V 1.0 Released Dec 25, 1993. 7 Items.

HISTORY & CREDITS FOR MERGED 'alt-newsgroup' FAQ:

HISTORY:

V 1.0 April 25, 1994 Total Items # 13
V 1.2 June 08, 1994 Items #3, #13,#14 are new. #15 Edited
V 1.3 June 26, 1994 New Item #15
V 1.4 Sept 05, 1994 New Item # 16, #1,#13,# 15 updated

CREDITS: Ahmed Helmy, Muhammad Ridha, Hussain Helmy, Salahuddin Ahmad,
Abdulrahman Al-Ali, Blake Ross, Pat St Jean, I Hussain

# End of Islam FAQ Part 1 #

Asim Mughal

unread,

Apr 17, 2004, 7:24:07 AM4/17/04

Archive-name: islam-faq/part2

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
prohibited without explicit written permission of the author.
Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 2
__________________________________

This message is automatically posted to Islamic News Groups

every month and when updated. This lists answers to most
commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes
are requested and should be directed to: mug...@caltech.edu

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 2: Info on Islamic News Groups

This part lists the detailed info on Islamic News Groups
on USENET.

PART A: Info on bit.listserv.muslims
- Will be added in the next revision -

PART B: Info on alt.religion.islam
- Will be added in the next revision -

PART C: Info on soc.religion.islam

Contents

--Articles--
1. Guidelines for Posting ....................................................
2. Email Addresses for S.R.I. ................................................
3. List of Moderators & History ..............................................
4. Moderator Selection Procedure .............................................
5. Guidelines & Rules for Moderators .........................................
6. Direct Submissions, Resubmissions & Format ................................
7. Acknowledgment Process ....................................................
8. Grievance Process .........................................................
9. E-mail Submissions ........................................................
10. Proper USENET format ......................................................
11. Test Messages .............................................................
12. Anonymous Submissions .....................................................
--Announcements--
13. Archive Info ..............................................................
14. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Guidelines for Posting ....................................................

This forum is for discussions on Islam as a religion. The submissions to
this forum must:

1. Discuss Islam: directly related.

Includes theology, comparative studies with other religions,
announcements of Islamic conferences & sources of information for
muslims, Ramadan,Eid etc.

2. Academic language must be used.

No verbal abuse, personal attacks, flames, profanity or insults.

Rejected items will be returned back to the sender with a note from the
reviewing moderator.

2. Email Addresses for S.R.I. ................................................

Although one may post to Soc.Religion.Islam Forum using News Software,
it is possible to send submissions as an email message. Please use any
of the following email addresses:

1. s...@gnu.ai.mit.edu
2. religio...@ncar.ucar.edu
3. soc.religio...@newsbase.cs.yale.edu
4. soc-relig...@cs.utexas.edu

3. List of Moderators & History ..............................................

ACTIVE MODERATORS:

myso...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Nauman Mysorewala

csul...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Cynthia Sulaiman

HISTORY:

1989 : Soc.Religion.Islam established.

FOUNDER:
gwy...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Basalat Ali Raja

Moderators voted in Fall 1989:
------------------------------
b...@cco.caltech.edu Behnam Sadeghi Fall '89 - 11.15.91
na...@eecs.nwu.edu Naim Abdullah Fall '89 - 11.15.91
sh...@wpi.WPI.EDU Shari Deiana VanderSpeck
Fall '89 - 11.15.91

Moderators Selected in 1991:
---------------------------
mug...@iago.caltech.edu Asim Mughal 11.15.91 -
csul...@copper.Denver.Colorado.EDU Cynthia Sulaiman 11.15.91 - 4.02.92
ha...@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu Hanan Lutfiyya 11.15.91 - 11.19.92
az...@duke.cs.duke.edu Salman Azhar 11.15.91 - 9.15.93
jodar%girtab....@usc.edu Nick Jodar 11.15.91 - 2.12.92

Moderators Selected in 1992:
---------------------------
gwy...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Basalat Ali Raja 4.02.92 - 2.20.94
maj...@math.utexas.edu Zartaj Majeed 4.02.92 - 6.05.92

sad...@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca Sadeka Hedaraly 12.04.92 - 2.14.93
zee...@occs.cs.oberlin.edu Zeeshan Hasan 12.04.92 - 9.08.93

Moderators Selected in 1993:
---------------------------
di...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu Dina Wooten 5.04.93 - 6.08.93
ah...@cs.umb.edu Ahmad Hashem 5.04.93 - 2.05.94

ir...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Iraj Mughal 12.25.93 -
csul...@student.umass.edu Cynthia Sulaiman 12.25.93 - 1.20.94

Moderators Selected in 1994:
---------------------------
myso...@ucunix.san.uc.edu Nauman Mysorewala 3.01.94 - Current
cyn...@gnu.ai.mit.edu Cynthia Sulaiman 3.01.94 - Current

Coordinator Selected on MAY 22, 1992:
------------------------------------
mug...@alumni.caltech.edu Asim Mughal

4. Moderator Selection Procedure .............................................

The current moderators post an announcement for new moderators on S.R.I.
All interested applicants are sent a copy of guidelines and a list of
questions. References from others are appreciated. Each new moderator
has unanimous vote of current moderators. The new moderators must:

1. Have some understanding of Islam (not necessarily a Muslim).
2. Agree with guidelines of Soc.Religion.Islam.
3. Be able to recognize flames/insults.
4. Have experience with USENET, preferrably a reader of SRI and have
taken
some participation in discussions.
5. Be willing to volunteer at least 2-4 hrs of time for S.R.I. per week.
6. Secure unanimous vote from all current moderators.

As an additional step, the incoming moderators will be requested to sign
an affidavit, declaring their intent to abide by the guidelines of
Soc.Religion.Islam, Guidelines & Rules for the SRI moderators &
acceptance to a unanimous no-confidence motion.

5. Guidelines & Rules for Moderators .........................................

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The following guidelines are the lastest ones available.

At the time of selection,the current moderators pledged to uphold &
consider the following guidelines binding on them. Appended is also the
'affidavit-b' which the current moderators signed.

Any changes in the guidelines will be done at the request of the
moderators.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

By: Asim Mughal
Dated: 1/11/94

SRI MODERATOR RULES:

This does not cover all the established rules for moderators of SRI but
gives a clear picture of need for such rules. These rules have developed
over time & voted by the moderators.

A. CONFIDENTIALITY: 1. Internal discussion among the moderators must not
be revealed to a third party. All votings will be confidential as well.

B. BEHAVIOR: Professional language & behavior is expected when
addressing the readers & moderator colleagues.

C. SUBMISSIONS:

i. To: religion-Islam-request:
Any articles sent to religion-is...@ncar.ucar.edu reaches all
moderators. Such articles will be reviewed by the coordinator only, to
avoid duplications.
ii. Directly Sent to a Moderator:
It will not be regarded as an official submission to SRI.

D. COORDINATOR:

One of the moderators will be fully dedicated for for this positions.
The responsibilities include:
i. Take care of duplications
ii. Review cases of 'lost articles'
iii. Handle grievances from readers
iv. Write, update & maintain FAQ.
v. Represent SRI moderator panel
vi. Log activities of SRI, moderators, violations etc
vii. Communicate with third parties, e.g USENET, NCAR
viii. Call for votes on the issues at request of moderators.
ix. Conduct survey/poll of readers
x. Conduct interviews for new moderators.

E. SUBMISSIONS:

i. Review of submissions be held within 48 hrs (weekdays) and 72 hrs for
holidays or weekends.
ii. Acknowledgment must be made at the time of receipt and at the time
of posting of an article.
iii. Not sure: If not sure on making a decision, get a vote/opinion from
other colleagues.
iv. Common Questions: can be resolved consulting 'reference guide.'
v. Rejection Notices: All rejection notices will be Bcc' or CC'd to the
rest of the moderators, along with a rational of rejection.
vi. Approval Notices: All approved articles when posted will be sent to
the author with a cc the coordinator.

F. GUIDELINES:
i. Submitted articles must be:
- Directly or indirectly related to Islam
- No flames/personal attacks or insults
ii. Assumptions:
- Proper USENET format (79 column in width,less quoted text)
- Not a 'test message' or a blank message

G.PROBLEMS:
i. Lost Articles: or 'Second Attempts' will be forwarded to the
coordinator.
ii. Administrative: queries on SRI, asking for status on the article
submitted will be forwarded to the coordinator.
iii. Rejections: If a reader differs with a moderator. The moderator
must give it a second review. If the differences persist,forward
the case to the coordinator to a peer review.

H.VOTING:
i. Issues:For status of an article and for SRI related issues, a
majority voting decides the outcome.
ii. Change of Status: of a moderator. For a no-confidence vote, or for
new moderators, unanimous vote is a must.
iii.Voting will be initiated by the coordinator. All votes will be send
to him within 48 hrs (72 hrs weekends/holidays) or 'Abstain' will
be recorded. Votes will be tallied and results will be announced
by the coordinator.
iv. Binding: All majority voting decisions are binding on the
moderators strictly.

I.NEW MODERATORS:
i. Initiate: Coordinator may initiate the selection procedure by making
a solicitation on SRI or as a result of a request for a reader.
ii. Criteria: Some knowledge of Islam, fairness, honest, willing to work
with a team, spare time, working knowledge of USENET,willing to work
in accordance to the parameters of the forum.
iii.Questionnaire:A questionnaire is sent to all the applicants with some
basic questions based upon above criteria
iv. Affidavit: An affidavit is obtained to ensure in writing the
intentions to abide by the guidelines and agree to be accept a
unanimous vote against him/her.
v. Final voting: is conducted among the moderators. Unanimous voting is
required in favor of the applicant.
vi.There will be probationary period of upto 3 months, during which a
majority voting can remove the new moderator.

J:EMERGENCIES:
i. If coordinator can not be on-line for more than 48 hrs due to an
emergency situation. One of the predesignated moderator,will temporarily
assume the role of the coordinator. If predesignated moderator is also
not available, any other moderator may take up the role of a
coordinator.

K:LEAVE RULES:
i. After a leave of 3 months, a moderator must be reconfirmed for the
position.
ii. One may take upto three weeks (cumulative) of leave every six
months.
iii. Other moderators must be notified in advance.

* AFFIDAVIT *

AFFIDAVIT which all moderators of SRI agree to sign.

___ Affidavit -B _________________________________________________________

I agree that I will abide by the guidelines of the SRI newsgroup
while I am a moderator for the newsgroup. These guidelines can be
voted upon further by the moderators and after they have passed
these will also be obeyed by all current moderators.

Repeated violations of the guidelines may result is removal from the
moderator position if voted so uanimously by the moderators of SRI.

If a no-confidence vote is passed against me, at any time, it shall
be final, acceptable & binding for me. I agree to step down from the
position of moderator SRI if requested after such a no-confidence
vote.

I hereby, give up the right to contest such a decision in front of
any third party, in public or private.

Signed,

Dated:
===========================================================

6. Direct Submissions, Resubmissions & Format ................................

Please be reminded, in order to make this group efficient and to fairly
distribute the load on the moderators your cooperation is needed. We
would like to request the following.

1. Please do NOT send direct submissions to the moderators' accounts.
[Routing software distributes more or less equal number of articles to
each of the moderator.Sending direct upsets this balance unfairly]

2. Please do not re-submit articles again and again. Just ONCE is
sufficient. [This leads to duplication and waste of time & energy]

3. Please keep your column length less than 80.

4. Please 'Spell-check' your articles. [Moderators are for reviewing the
contents of the submission, NOT to format it or spell check it]

5. Please Keep them within the guidelines 1) Relevance to Islam 2)
Academic/prof. language

7. Acknowledgment Process ....................................................

It has always been our best effort to make this newsgroup run smoothly &
efficiently. In spite of it, there have been cases where readers feel
their articles were lost or never posted.

Effective *immediately* we have decided to send acknowledgment to each &
every message we receive in our mailboxes.

We ask for your cooperation in implementing the logistics.

Once your message is received by the moderator of SRI, you will be sent
a copy of your message back with the statement.

"Your posting for Soc.Religion.Islam appended below has been received in
the mailbox of moderator ____ ______"

o This will let you know 1. Your posting has been received. 2. Which
moderator is reviewing it.

o If you don't get an acknowledgment back within 48 hrs. Please send it
again with a header "Second Attempt." Acknowledgment of "Second Attempt"
will be circulated to co-moderators as well.

o In an unfortunate case of "Third Attempt." It should be sent directly
to the email address of Coordinator SRI*

o Your article will be posted on Soc.Religion.Islam from anywhere
between 1 hrs to 48 hrs.

o If you don't see your posting on Soc.Religion.Islam within 72 hrs of
receiving a return receipt - send a copy of your article with time
stamped headers to the Coordinator SRI.

WE REQUEST YOU TO COOPERATE BY:

o Not posting to Soc.Religion.Islam's email address unless you have
absolutely no way of posting thru USENET.

o Not posting your same article again & again. Just ONCE is enough.

o Not inquiring every day about your articles or your friends'.

Lets try to make this new system a success.

P.S. The present guidelines do not require the moderators of SRI to send
acknowledgments or handle the cases of lost articles.

8. Grievance Process .........................................................

This is an effort to establish a procedure for handling grievances. The
purpose is to make sure due attention is paid to concerns, objections &
criticism from the readers while at the same time it prevents unncessary
hassling of moderator(s). The final decision rests on majority voting
among the moderators.

SUMMARY

o If your article is rejected, you may ask the same moderator for a
review.

o If still unsatisfied, request a peer review.

o The moderator in question must decide whether to hold a peer review.

o Majority voting among moderators decides the outcome.

9. E-mail Submissions ........................................................

Please post your articles to USENET group soc.religion.islam.

The address : religion-is...@ncar.ucar.edu is only to be used in
extreme case. Any email sent to this address goes to ALL moderators.
This may lead to:

1. No moderator posting the article (thinking others may be doing so)

2. All moderators posting the article.

The usual case is (2) which causes duplication and waste of time
translating into one less article from other readers posted on S.R.I.
Hence, we discourge sending articles to this address.

10. Proper USENET format ......................................................

C O L U M N W I D T H:

The submissions must be trimmed to 79 characters in width. Without it,
the posting software does NOT post the article.

<------------- This makes 79 characters in width ----------------------------->
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

Additional time it takes to format postings translates into unfair
advantage against other readers, whose article face delays.

Q U O T E D T E X T:

The current NetNews software will not post an article if the quoted text
is more than the response. Please trim the quoted text from your
submissions for Soc.Religion.Islam.

Again, please submit your articles in proper USENET format. Thanks.

11. Test Messages .............................................................

o "Test Message" will be acknowledged but not posted.

This will ensure the sender knows his/her article made it to the
moderators. It is assumed their article or submission will follow.

o Repeated Test Messages: Will be acknowledged only once.

- Please don't abuse the system -

12. Anonymous Submissions .....................................................

o Submission from anonymous servers and personal requests from readers
to remain anonymous are acceptable.

o The guidelines apply to anonymous submissions, with regards, to
submission & contents.

o Anonymous postings may not be acknowledged.

Announcements ................................................................

13. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part2
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

14. Credits ...................................................................

The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for
the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ.

-- SOURCES --

The information on soc.religion.islam forum (in Part 2) has been
compiled from USENET archives and administrative logs of
Soc.Religion.Islam moderator panel.

What is III&E?

More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O.
Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Fax: (312) 777-7199; or

Tel: (312) 777-7443.

-- FORMAT --

What is IINN?

-- Permissions --

Permission to post this multi-part FAQ has been obtained by the
following:

o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E)
o Islamic Information & News Network (Mus...@PSUVM.bitnet)

o Moderator(s) of Soc.Religion.Islam (Br.Nauman Mysorewala)

o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)

o Moderator(s) of Soc.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)

# End of Islam FAQ Part 2 #

Asim Mughal

unread,

Apr 17, 2004, 7:24:08 AM4/17/04

Archive-name: islam-faq/part3

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
prohibited without explicit written permission of the author.
Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 3
__________________________________

This message is automatically posted to 'soc.religion.islam'

every month and when updated. This lists answers to most
commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes
are requested and should be directed to: mug...@caltech.edu

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 3: Introduction to Islam

III&E Brochure Series; No. 1 (published by The Institute of
Islamic Information and Education (III&E) and reproduced with
permission)

Contents

--Articles--
1. Islam & Muslims ................................................ from III&E
2. Muslims & Arabs ................................................ from III&E
3. Allah The One & The Only God ................................... from III&E
4. Muhammad (PBUH) ................................................ from III&E
5. Source of Islam ................................................ from III&E
6. Some Islamic Principles ........................................ from III&E
7. Practices of Islam ............................................. from III&E
8. Other Related Aspects .......................................... from III&E
9. Non-Muslims .................................................... from III&E
--Announcements--
10. Archive Info ..............................................................
11. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Islam & Muslims ................................................ from III&E

The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam
which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace.
One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more
than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the
Creator, within one's self, with other people and with the environment.
Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in
peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person
anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to
God, the Lord of the Universe.

2. Muslims & Arabs ................................................ from III&E

The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are not to be
confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians,
Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans,
Chinese, or other nationalities.

An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person
who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language
of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the
world try to learn Arabic so that they may be able to read the Qur'an
and understand its meaning. They pray in the language of the Qur'an,
namely Arabic. Supplications to God could be in any language.

While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are about 200
million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims.
Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim
population of the world.

3. Allah The One & The Only God ................................... from III&E

Allah is the name of the One and Only God. Allah has ninety-nine
beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent,
The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of the Universe,
The First, The Last, and others.

He is the Creator of all human beings. He is the God for the Christians,
the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists, and
others. Muslims worship God whose name is Allah. They put their trust in
Him and they seek His help and His guidance.

4. Muhammad (PBUH) ................................................ from III&E

Muhammad was chosen by God to deliver His Message of Peace, namely
Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in Makkah, Arabia. He was
entrusted with the Message of Islam when he was at the age of forty
years. The revelation that he received is called the Qur'an, while the
message is called Islam.

Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the final
Messenger of God. His message was and is still to the Christians, the
Jews and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those religious people to
inform them about the true mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and
Abraham.

Muhammad is considered to be the summation and the culmination of all
the prophets and messengers that came before him. He purified the
previous messages from adulteration and completed the Message of God for
all humanity. He was entrusted with the power of explaining,
interpreting and living the teaching of the Qur'an.

5. Source of Islam ................................................ from III&E

The legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is
the exact word of God; its authenticity, originality and totality are
intact. The Hadith is the report of the sayings, deeds and approvals of
the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah.
The Seerah is the writings of followers of Muhammad about the life of
the Prophet. Hence, it is the life history of the Prophet Muhammad which
provides examples of daily living for Muslims.

6. Some Islamic Principles ........................................ from III&E

A. Oneness of God:

He is One and the Only One. He is not two in one or three in one. This
means that Islam rejects the idea of trinity or such a unity of God
which implies more than one God in one.

B. Oneness of mankind:

People are created equal in front of the Law of God. There is no
superiority for one race over another. God made us of different colors,
nationalities, languages and beliefs so as to test who is going to be
better than others. No one can claim that he is better than others. It
is only God Who knows who is better. It depends on piety and
righteousness.

C. Oneness of Messengers and the Message:

Muslims believe that God sent different messengers throughout the
history of mankind. All came with the same message and the same
teachings. It was the people who misunderstood and misinterpreted them.

Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob, Moses, David,
Jesus, and Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity and Judaism are indeed
the Prophets of Islam.

D. Angels and the Day of Judgment:

Muslims believe that there are unseen creatures such as angels created
by God in the universe for special missions.

Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment when all people of the
world throughout the history of mankind till the last day of life on
earth, are to be brought for accounting, reward and punishment.

E. Innocence of Man at Birth:

Muslim believe that people are born free of sin. It is only after they
reach the age of puberty and it is only after they commit sins that they
are to be charged for their mistakes. No one is responsible for or can
take the responsibility for the sins of others. However, the door of
forgiveness through true repentance is always open.

F. State and Religion:

Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life. It
encompasses all aspects of life. As such, the teachings of Islam do not
separate religion from politics. As a matter of fact, state and religion
are under the obedience of Allah through the teachings of Islam. Hence,
economic and social transactions, as well as educational and political
systems are also part of the teachings of Islam.

7. Practices of Islam ............................................. from III&E

God instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe in. In Islam
there are five pillars, namely:

A. Creed (Shahada):

The verbal commitment and pledge that there is only One God and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is considered to be the Creed of
Islam.

B. Prayers (Salat):

The performance of the five daily prayers is required of Muslims.

C. Fasting (Saum):

Fasting is total abstinence from food, liquids and intimate intercourse
(between married couples) from dawn to sunset during the entire month of
Ramadan.

D. Purifying Tax (Zakat):

This is an annual payment of a certain percentage of a Muslim's property
which is distributed among the poor or other rightful beneficiaries.

E. Pilgrimage (Hajj):

The performance of pilgrimage to Makkah is required once in a life time
if means are available. Hajj is in part in memory of the trials and
tribulations of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar and his eldest son
Prophet Ishmael.

8. Other Related Aspects .......................................... from III&E

A. Calendar:

Islamic practices are based on the lunar calendar. However, Muslims also
use the Gregorian calendar in their daily religious lives. Hence, the
Islamic calendar includes both the common era and the migration (Higra)
year of the Prophet of Islam from Makkah to Madinah in the year of 623
C.E.

B. Celebrations (Eid):

Muslims have two celebrations (Eid); namely, Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of
=46ast-Breaking. The Eid of Sacrifice is in remembrance of the sacrifice
to be by Prophet Abraham of his son. The Eid of Fast-Breaking comes at
the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan.

C. Diets:

Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for the health. It
restricts certain items such as pork and its by-products, alcohol and
any narcotic or addictive drugs.

D. Place of Worship:

The place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid. There are three holy
places of worship for the Muslims in the world. These are: Mosque of
Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in Madinah, and Masjid
Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether in a Mosque, a house,
an office, or outside. The whole world is a place of worship. It is
preferable that Muslims pray in a congregation, however, he/she may pray
individually anywhere.

E. Holidays:

The holy day of the Muslims is Friday. It is considered to be sacred and
the Day of Judgment will take place on Friday. Muslims join together
shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday congregational prayer in a
Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives a sermon (Khutba) and leads the
congregational prayer.

F. Distribution of Muslims in North America:

There are approximately five million Muslims in North America and are
distributed in its major cities such as New York, Detroit, Boston,
Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Cedar Rapids
(Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor,
Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.

G. Contributions in North America:

Muslims are not established in North America. Sears Tower and the John
Hancock buildings in Chicago were designed by a Muslim chief architect,
originally from Bangladesh. Muslims have established academic
institutions, community centers and organizations, schools and places of
worship. They live in peace and harmony among themselves and among other
groups of people in the society. The rate of crime among Muslims is very
minimal. Muslims in North America are highly educated and they have
added to the success of American scientific and technological fields.

The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were pioneers in
medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation, arts, poetry,
mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc. They contributed to the
Renaissance of Europe and world civilization.

9. Non-Muslims .................................................... from III&E

Muslims are required to respect all those who are faithful and God
conscious people, namely those who received messages. Christians and
Jews are called People of the Book. Muslims are asked to call upon the
People of the Book for common terms, namely, to worship One God, and to
work together for the solutions of the many problems in the society.

Christians and Jews lived peacefully with Muslims throughout centuries
in the Middle East and other Asian and African countries. The second
Caliph Umar, did not pray in the church in Jerusalem so as not to give
the Muslims an excuse to take it over. Christians entrusted the Muslims,
and as such the key of the Church in Jerusalem is still in the hands of
the Muslims.

Jews fled from Spain during the Inquisition, and they were welcomed by
the Muslims. They settled in the heart of the Islamic Caliphate. They
enjoyed positions of power and authority.

Throughout the Muslim world, churches, synagogues and missionary schools
were built within the Muslim neighborhoods. These places were protected
by Muslims even during the contemporary crises in the Middle East.

Announcements ................................................................

10. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part3
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

11. Credits ...................................................................

-- SOURCES --

What is III&E?

-- FORMAT --

What is IINN?

-- Permissions --

# End of Islam FAQ Part 3 #

Asim Mughal

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Apr 17, 2004, 7:24:08 AM4/17/04

Archive-name: islam-faq/part4

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
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Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 4
__________________________________

This message is automatically posted to 'soc.religion.islam'
every month and when updated. This lists answers to most
commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes
are requested and should be directed to: mug...@caltech.edu

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 4: God & Worship

Contents

--Articles--
1. CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM ........................................ from III&E
2. God's Attributes ............................................... from III&E
3. The Oneness of God ............................................. from III&E
4. The Believer's Attitude ........................................ from III&E
5. CONCEPT OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM .................................... from III&E
--Announcements--
6. Archive Info ..............................................................
7. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM ........................................ from III&E

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are
used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not
the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God.
Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This
shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made
plural, gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that
Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and
a sister language of Arabic.

The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam
associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and
Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is
comparable to Him. The Prophet Muhammad was asked by his contemporaries
about Allah; the answer came directly from God Himself in the form of a
short chapter of the Quran, which is considered the essence of the unity
or the motto of monotheism. This is chapter 112 which reads:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Say (O Muhammad)
He is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, who has not begotten, nor
has been begotten, and equal to Him is not anyone."

Some non-Muslims allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who
demands to be obeyed fully. He is not loving and kind. Nothing can be
farther from truth than this allegation. It is enough to know that, with
the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran begins with
the verse: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." In one
of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) we are told that "God is more
loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child."

But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have their share
of punishment and the virtuous, His bounties and favors. Actually God's
attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His attribute of Justice.
People suffering throughout their lives for His sake and people
oppressing and exploiting other people all their lives should not
receive similar treatment from their Lord. Expecting similar treatment
for them will amount to negating the very belief in the accountability
of man in the Hereafter and thereby negating all the incentives for a
moral and virtuous life in this world. The following Quranic verses are
very clear and straightforward in this respect:

"Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence of
their Lord. Shall We then treat the people of Faith like the people of
Sin? What is the matter with you? How judge you?" (68:34-36)

Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as
favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or
race. He created the human-beings as equals. They may distinguish
themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.

The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God
wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter
against mankind, or that God is incarnate in any human being are
considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.

The unique usage of Allah as a personal name of God is a reflection of
Islam's emphasis on the purity of the belief in God which is the essence
of the message of all God's messengers. Because of this, Islam considers
associating any deity or personality with God as a deadly sin which God
will never forgive, despite the fact He may forgive all other sins.

The Creator must be of a different nature from the things created
because if he is of the same nature as they are, he will be temporal and
will therefore need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him. If the
maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he
cannot be caused, and if nothing outside him causes him to continue to
exist, which means that he must be self-sufficient. And if the does not
depend on anything for the continuance of his own existence, then this
existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and
everlasting: 'He is the =46irst and the Last.'

He is Self-Sufficient or Self-Subsistent or, to use a Quranic term,
Al-Qayyum. The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing
things into being, He also preserves them and takes them out of
existence and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.

"God is the Creator of everything. He is the guardian over everything.
Unto Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth." (39:62, 63) "No
creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God.
He knows its lodging place and it repository." (11:6)

2. God's Attributes ............................................... from III&E

If the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting, then His attributes must also
be eternal and everlasting. He should not lose any of His attributes nor
acquire new ones. If this is so, then His attributes are absolute. Can
there be more than one Creator with such absolute attributes? Can there
be for example, two absolutely powerful Creators? A moment's thought
shows that this is not feasible.

The Quran summarizes this argument in the following verses: "God has not
taken to Himself any son, nor is there any god with Him: For then each
god would have taken of that which he created and some of them would
have risen up over others." (23:91) And Why, were there gods in earth
and heaven other than God, they (heaven and earth) would surely go to
ruin." (21:22)

3. The Oneness of God ............................................. from III&E

The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all alleged gods.

To the worshippers of man-made objects, it asks: "Do you worship what
you have carved yourself?" (37:95) "Or have you taken unto you others
beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have no power either for
good or for harm to themselves?" (13:16)

To the worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abraham:
"When night outspread over him he say a star and said, 'This is my
Lord.' But when it set he said, 'I love not the setters.' When he saw
the moon rising, he said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said,
'If my Lord does not guide me I shall surely be of the people gone
astray.' When he say the sun rising, he said, 'This is my Lord; this is
greater.' But when it set he said, 'O my people, surely I quit that
which you associate, I have turned my face to Him Who originated the
heavens and the earth; a man of pure faith, I am not of the idolaters.'"
(6:76-79)

4. The Believer's Attitude ........................................ from III&E

In order to be a Muslim, i.e., to surrender oneself to God, it is
necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense of His being
the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief - later on
called "Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah is not enough." Many of the idolaters knew
and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this. but that was
not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyyah one must add
tawhid al'uluhiyyah, i.e., one acknowledges the fact that is God alone
Who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any
other thing or being.

Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should
constantly have faith in Him, and should allow nothing to induce him to
deny truth.

When faith enters a person's heart, it causes certain mental states
which result in certain actions. Taken together these mental states and
actions are the proof for the true faith. The Prophet said, "Faith is
that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds."

Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards
God, which could be said to be the essence of 'ibada' (worship).

The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called
'kafir,' which means 'one who denies a truth' and also 'one who is
ungrateful.'

A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed
upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether
mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors,
he is always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the
Hereafter. He, therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and
serves Him with great humility. One cannot be in such a mental state
without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is
thus the life force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.

The Quran tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the
attributes of God very frequently. We find most of these attributes
mentioned together in the following verses of the Quran:

"He is God; there is no god but He, He is the Knower of the unseen and
the visible; He is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. He is God,
there is no God but He. He is the King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, the
Guardian of Faith, the All-Preserver, the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller,
the All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate! He is God
the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Him belong the Names Most
Beautiful. All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him; He is
the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." (59:22-24)

"There is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him
not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the
earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He
knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they comprehend
not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills. His throne
comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him
not; He is the All-High, the All-Glorious." (2:255)

"People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion, and say
not as to God but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only
the Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a
Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers, and say not,
'Three.' Refrain; better is it for you. God is only one God. Glory be to
Him - (He is) above having a son." (4:171)

5. CONCEPT OF WORSHIP IN ISLAM .................................... from III&E

The concept of worship in Islam is misunderstood by many people
including some Muslims. Worship is commonly taken to mean performing
ritualistic acts such as prayers, fasting, charity, etc. This limited
understanding of worship is only one part of the meaning of worship in
Islam. That is why the traditional definition of worship in Islam is a
comprehensive definition that includes almost everything in any
individual's activities. The definition goes something like this:
"Worship is an all inclusive term for all that God loves of external and
internal sayings and actions of a person." In other words, worship is
everything one says or does for the pleasure of Allah. This, of course,
includes rituals as well as beliefs, social activities, and personal
contributions to the welfare of one's fellow human-beings.

Islam looks at the individual as a whole. He is required to submit
himself completely to Allah, as the Quran instructed the Prophet
Muhammad to do: "Say (O Muhammad) my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and
my death belong to Allah; He has no partner and I am ordered to be among
those who submit, i.e.; Muslims." (6:162, 163) The natural result of
this submission is that all one's activities should conform to the
instructions of the one to whom the person is submitting. Islam, being a
way of life, requires that its followers model their life according to
its teachings in every aspect, religious or other wise. This might sound
strange to some people who think of religion as a personal relation
between the individual and God, having no impact on one's activities
outside rituals.

As a matter of fact Islam does not think much of mere rituals when they
are performed mechanically and have no influence on one's inner life.
The Quran addresses the believers and their neighbors from among the
People of the Book who were arguing with them about the change of the
direction of Qibla in the following verse:

"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East or the
West, but righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the
Angels and the Book and the Prophets, and gives his beloved money to
this relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming of
captives and who observes prayer and pays the poor-due; and those who
fulfill their promises when they have made one, and the patient in
poverty and affliction and the steadfast in time of war; it is those who
have proved truthful and it is those who are the God-fearing." (2:177)

The deeds in the above verse are the deeds of righteousness and they are
only a part of worship. The Prophet told us about faith, which is the
basis of worship, that it "is made up of sixty and some branches; the
highest of which is the belief in the Oneness of Allah, i.e., there is
no God but Allah and the lowest in the scale of worship is removing
obstacles and dirt from people's way."

Decent work is considered in Islam a type of worship. The Prophet said:
"Whoever finds himself at the nightfall tired of his work, God will
forgive his sins." Seeking knowledge is one of the highest types of
worship. The Prophet told his companions that "seeking knowledge is a
(religious) duty on every Muslim." In another saying he said: "Seeking
knowledge for one hour is better than praying for seventy years." Social
courtesy and cooperation are part of worship when done for the sake of
Allah as the Prophet told us: "Receiving your friend with a smile is a
type of charity, helping a person to load his animal is a charity and
putting some water in your neighbor's bucket is a charity."

It is worth noting that even performing one's duties is considered a
sort of worship. The Prophet told us that whatever one spends for his
family is a type of charity; he will be rewarded for it if he acquires
it through legal means. Kindness to members of one's family is an act of
worship as when one puts a piece of food in his spouse's mouth. Not only
this but even the acts we enjoy doing very much, when they are performed
according to the instructions of the Prophet, are considered as acts of
worship. The Prophet told his companions that they will be rewarded even
for having sexual intercourse with their wives. The companions were
astonished and asked: "How are we going to be rewarded for doing
something we enjoy very much?" The Prophet asked them: "Suppose you
satisfy your desires illegally; don't you think that you will be
punished for that?" They replied, "Yes." "So," he said, "by satisfying
it legally with your wives you are rewarded for it." This means they are
acts of worship.

Thus Islam does not consider sex a dirty thing that one should avoid. It
is dirty and sinful only when it is satisfied outside marital life.

It is clear, from the previous discussion that the concept of worship in
Islam is a comprehensive concept that includes all the positive
activities of the individual. This of course is in agreement with the
all inclusive nature of Islam as a way of life. It regulates human life
on all levels: individual, social, economic, political and spiritual.
That is why Islam provides guidance to the smallest details of one's
life on all these levels. Thus following these details is following
Islamic instructions in that specific area. It is a very encouraging
element when one realizes that all his activities are considered by God
as acts of worship. This should lead the individual to seek Allah's
pleasure in his actions and always try to do them in the best possible
manner whether he is watched by his superiors or he is alone. There is
always the permanent supervisor, who knows everything, namely, Allah.

Discussing the non-ritual worship in Islam first does not mean
undervaluing the importance of the ritual ones. Actually ritual worship,
if performed in true spirit, elevates man morally and spiritually and
enables him to carry on his activities in all walks of life according to
the Guidance of God. Among ritual worships, Salah (ritual prayer)
occupies the key position for two reasons. Firstly, it is the
distinctive mark of a believer. Secondly, it prevents an individual from
all sorts of abominations and vices by providing him chances of direct
communion with his Creator five times a day, wherein he renews his
covenant with God and seeks His guidance again and again: "You alone we
worship and to You alone we turn for help. Guide us to the straight
path." (1:5,6) Actually Salah is the first practical manifestation of
Faith and also the foremost of the basis conditions for the success of
the believers:

"Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers."
(23:1-2)

The same fact has been emphasized by the Prophet (PBUH) in a different
way. He says:

"Those who offer their Salah with great care and punctuality, will find
it a light, a proof of their Faith and cause of their salvation on the
Day of Judgment."

After Salah, Zakah (poor-due) is an important pillar of Islam. In the
Quran, Salah and Zakah mostly have been mentioned together many times.
Like Salah, Zakah is a manifestation of faith that affirms that God is
the sole owner of everything in the universe, and what men hold is a
trust in their hand over which God made them trustees to discharge it as
He has laid down:

"Believe in Allah and His messenger and spend of that over which He made
you trustees." (57:7)

In this respect Zakah is an act of devotion which, like prayer, brings
the believer nearer to his Lord.

Apart from this, Zakah is a means of redistribution of wealth in a way
that reduces differences between classes and groups. It makes a fair
contribution to social stability. By purging the soul of the rich from
selfishness and the soul of the poor from envy and resentment against
society, it stops up the channels leading to class hatred and makes it
possible for the springs of brotherhood and solidarity to gush forth.
Such stability is not merely based on the personal feelings of the rich;
it stands on a firmly established right which, if the rich denied it,
would be exacted by force, if necessary.

Siyam (fasting during the day time of the month of Ramadan) is another
pillar of Islam. The main function of fasting is to make the Muslim pure
from "within" as other aspects of Shariah make him pure from "without."
By such purity he responds to what is true and good and shuns what is
false and evil. This is what we can perceive in the Quranic verse: "O
you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for
those before you, that you may gain piety." (2:183) In an authentic
tradition, the Prophet reported Allah as saying: "He suspends eating,
drinking, and gratification of his sexual passion for My sake." Thus his
reward is going to be according to God's great bounty.

Fasting, then, awakens the conscience of the individual and gives it
scope for exercise in a joint experience for all society at the same
time, thus adding further strength to each individual. Moreover, fasting
offers a compulsory rest to the over-worked human machine for the
duration of one full month. Similarly fasting reminds an individual of
those who are deprived of life's necessities throughout the year or
throughout life. It makes him realize the suffering of others, the less
fortunate brothers in Islam, and thus promotes in him a sense of
sympathy and kindness to them.

Lastly, we come to Al-Hajj (pilgrimage to the House of God in Makkah).
This very important pillar of Islam manifests a unique unity, dispelling
all kinds of differences. Muslims from all corners of the world wearing
the same dress, respond to the call of Hajj in one voice and language;
LABBAIK ALLAHUMMA LABBAIK (Here I am at your service O Lord!). In Hajj
there is an exercise of strict self-discipline and control where not
only sacred things are revered, but even the life of plants and birds is
made inviolable so that everything lives in safety: "And he that
venerates the sacred things of God, it shall be better for him with his
Lord." (22:30) "And he that venerates the waymarks of God, it surely is
from devotion of the heart." (22:32)

Pilgrimage gives an opportunity to all Muslims from all groups, classes,
organizations, and governments from all over the Muslim world to meet
annually in a great congress. The time and venue of this congress has
been set by their One God. Invitation to attend is open to every Muslim.
No one has the power to bar anyone. Every Muslim who attends is
guaranteed full safety and freedom as long as he himself does not
violate its safety.

Thus, worship in Islam, whether ritual or non-ritual, trains the
individual in such a way that he loves his Creator most and thereby
gains an unyielding will and spirit to wipe out all evil and oppression
from the human society and make the word of God dominant in the world.

Announcements ................................................................

6. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

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Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

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-- E-MAIL --

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Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part4
quit

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Path: Computing Information/
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Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

7. Credits ...................................................................

-- SOURCES --

What is III&E?

-- FORMAT --

What is IINN?

-- Permissions --

o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)

# End of Islam FAQ Part 4 #

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Frequently Asked Questions: Part 5
__________________________________

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 5: Islam, Quran & Muhammad (PBUH)

Contents

--Articles--
1. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ISLAM ...................................... from III&E
2. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE QUR'AN ................................. from III&E
3. QUR'AN ON QUR'AN ............................................... from III&E
4. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) ............................ from III&E
5. THE SWORD OF ISLAM ............................................. from III&E
6. Has the sword gone Blunt? No, far from it. ..................... from III&E
7. CHOOSING ISLAM: ONE MAN'S TALE ................................. from III&E
8. Who can I ask questions on Islam? .........................................
9. Indroductory Publications ...................................... from III&E

--Announcements--
10. Archive Info ..............................................................

11. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT ISLAM ...................................... from III&E

The Islam that was revealed to Muhammad (PBUH), is the continuation and
culmination of all the preceding revealed religions and hence it is for
all times and all peoples. This status of Islam is sustained by glaring
facts. Firstly, there is no other revealed book extant in the same form
and content as it was revealed. Secondly, no other revealed religion has
any convincing claim to provide guidance in all walks of human life for
all times. But Islam addresses humanity at large and offers basic
guidance regarding all human problems. Moreover, it has withstood the
test of fourteen hundred years and has all the potentialities of
establishing an ideal society as it did under the leadership of the last
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

It was a miracle that Prophet Muhammad could bring even his toughest
enemies to the fold of Islam without adequate material resources.
Worshippers of idols, blind followers of the ways of forefathers,
promoters of tribal feuds, abusers of human dignity and blood, became
the most disciplined nation under the guidance of Islam and its Prophet.
Islam opened before them vistas of spiritual heights and human dignity
by declaring righteousness as the sole criterion of merit and honor.
Islam shaped their social, cultural, moral and commercial life with
basic laws and principles which are in conformity with human nature and
hence applicable in all times as human nature does not change.

It is so unfortunate that the Christian West, instead of sincerely
trying to understand the phenomenal success of Islam during its earlier
time, considered it as a rival religion. During the centuries of the
Crusades this trend gained much force and impetus and a huge amount of
literature was produced to tarnish the image of Islam. But Islam has
begun to unfold its genuineness to the modern scholars whose bold and
objective observations on Islam belie all the charges leveled against it
by the so-called unbiased orientalists.

Here we furnish some observations on Islam by great and acknowledged
non-Muslim scholars of modern time. Truth needs no advocates to plead on
its behalf, but the prolonged malicious propaganda against Islam has
created great confusion even in the minds of free and objective
thinkers.

We hope that the following observations would contribute to initiating
an objective evaluation of Islam:

"It (Islam) replaced monkishness by manliness. It gives hope to the
slave, brotherhood to mankind, and recognition of the fundamental facts
of human nature." --Canon Taylor, Paper read before the Church Congress
at Walverhamton, Oct. 7, 1887; Quoted by Arnoud in THE PREACHING OF
ISLAM, pp. 71-72.

"Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful ideals of Islam, because
as I read in the Qur'an I find those dynamic principles of life, not
mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to the
whole world." --Lectures on "The Ideals of Islam;" see SPEECHES AND
WRITINGS OF SAROJINI NAIDU, Madras, 1918, p. 167.

"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims
sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword
upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that
historians have ever repeated." --De Lacy O'Leary, ISLAM AT THE
CROSSROADS, London, 1923, p. 8.

"But Islam has a still further service to render to the cause of
humanity. It stands after all nearer to the real East than Europe does,
and it possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding
and cooperation. No other society has such a record of success uniting
in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavours so many and
so various races of mankind . . . Islam has still the power to reconcile
apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the
opposition of the great societies of East and West is to be replaced by
cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition. In
its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem with which
Europe is faced in its relation with East. If they unite, the hope of a
peaceful issue is immeasurably enhanced. But if Europe, by rejecting the
cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its rivals, the issue
can only be disastrous for both." --H.A.R. Gibb, WHITHER ISLAM, London,
1932, p. 379.

"I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because
of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me
to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence
which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the
wonderful man and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must
be called the Saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were
to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in
solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace
and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it
would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be
acceptable to the Europe of today." --G.B. Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol.
1, No. 81936.

"The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the
outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there
is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic
virtue." --A.J. Toynbee, CIVILIZATION ON TRIAL, New York, 1948, p. 205.

"The rise of Islam is perhaps the most amazing event in human history.
Springing from a land and a people like previously negligible, Islam
spread within a century over half the earth, shattering great empires,
overthrowing long established religions, remoulding the souls of races,
and building up a whole new world - world of Islam.

"The closer we examine this development the more extraordinary does it
appear. The other great religions won their way slowly, by painful
struggle and finally triumphed with the aid of powerful monarchs
converted to the new faith. Christianity had its Constantine, Buddhism
its Asoka, and Zoroastrianism its Cyrus, each lending to his chosen cult
the mighty force of secular authority. Not so Islam. Arising in a desert
land sparsely inhabited by a nomad race previously undistinguished in
human annals, Islam sallied forth on its great adventure with the
slenderest human backing and against the heaviest material odds. Yet
Islam triumphed with seemingly miraculous ease, and a couple of
generations saw the Fiery Crescent borne victorious from the Pyrenees to
the Himalayas and from the desert of Central Asia to the deserts of
Central Africa." --A.M.L. Stoddard, quoted in ISLAM - THE RELIGION OF
ALL PROPHETS, Begum Bawani Waqf, Karachi, Pakistan, p. 56.

"Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest
sense of this term considered etymologically and historically. The
definition of rationalism as a system that bases religious beliefs on
principles furnished by the reason applies to it exactly . . . It cannot
be denied that many doctrines and systems of theology and also many
superstitions, from the worship of saints to the use of rosaries and
amulets, have become grafted on the main trunk of Muslim creed. But in
spite of the rich developments, in every sense of the term, of the
teachings of the Prophet, the Quran has invariable kept its place as the
fundamental starting point, and the dogma of unity of God has always
been proclaimed therein with a grandeur, a majesty, an invariable purity
and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard to find surpassed
outside the pale of Islam. This fidelity to the fundamental dogma of the
religion, the elemental simplicity of the formula in which it is
enunciated, the proof that it gains from the fervid conviction of the
missionaries who propagate it, are so many causes to explain the success
of Muhammadan missionary efforts. A creed so precise, so stripped of all
theological complexities and consequently so accessible to the ordinary
understanding might be expected to possess and does indeed possess a
marvelous power of winning its way into the consciences of men."
--Edward Montet, "La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries
Musulmans," Paris, 1890; Quoted by T.W. Arnold in THE PREACHING OF
ISLAM, London, 1913, pp. 413-414.

"I am not a Muslim in the usual sense, though I hope I am a "Muslim" as
"one surrendered to God," but I believe that embedded in the Quran and
other expressions of the Islamic vision are vast stores of divine truth
from which I and other occidentals have still much to learn, and 'Islam
is certainly a strong contender for the supplying of the basic framework
of the one religion of the future.'" --W. Montgomery Watt, ISLAM AND
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, London, 1983, p. ix.

2. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE QUR'AN ................................. from III&E

Humanity has received the Divine guidance through two channels: firstly
the word of Allah, secondly the Prophets who were chosen by Allah to
communicate His will to human beings. These two things have always been
going together and attempts to know the will of Allah by neglecting
either of these two have always been misleading. The Hindus neglected
their prophets and paid all attention to their books that proved only
word puzzles which they ultimately lost. Similarly, the Christians, in
total disregard to the Book of Allah, attached all importance to Christ
and thus not only elevated him to Divinity, but also lost the very
essence of TAWHEED (monotheism) contained in the Bible.

As a matter of fact the main scriptures revealed before the Qur'an,
i.e., the Old Testament and the Gospel, came into book-form long after
the days of the Prophets and that too in translation. This was because
the followers of Moses and Jesus made no considerable effort to preserve
these Revelations during the life of their Prophets. Rather they were
written long after their death. Thus what we now have in the form of the
Bible (The Old as well as the New Testament) is translations of
individuals' accounts of the original revelations which contain
additions and deletions made by the followers of the said Prophets. On
the contrary, the last revealed Book, the Qur'an, is extant in its
original form. Allah Himself guaranteed its preservation and that is why
the whole of the Qur'an was written during the lifetime of the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) himself though on separate pieces of palm leaves,
parchments, bones, etc... Moreover, there were tens of thousands of
companions of the Prophet who memorized the whole Qur'an and the Prophet
himself used to recite to the Angel Gabriel once a year and twice in the
year he died. The first Caliph Abu Bakr entrusted the collection of the
whole Qur'an in one volume to the Prophet's scribe, Zaid Ibn Thabit.
This volume was with Abu Bakr till his death. Then it was with the
second Caliph Umar and after him it came to Hafsa, the Prophet's wife.
It was from this original copy that the third Caliph Uthman prepared
several other copies and sent them to different Muslim territories.

The Qur'an was so meticulously preserved because it was to be the Book
of guidance for humanity for all times to come. That is why it does not
address the Arabs alone in whose language it was revealed. It speaks to
man as a human being:

"O Man! What has seduced you from your Lord."

The practicability of the Qur'anic teachings is established by the
examples of Muhammad (PBUH) and the good Muslims throughout the ages.
The distinctive approach of the Qur'an is that its instructions are
aimed at the general welfare of man and are based on the possibilities
within his reach. In all its dimensions the Qur'anic wisdom is
conclusive. It neither condemns nor tortures the flesh nor does it
neglect the soul. It does not humanize God nor does it deify man.
Everything is carefully placed where it belongs in the total scheme of
creation.

Actually the scholars who allege that Muhammad (PBUH) was the author of
the Qur'an claim something which is humanly impossible. Could any person
of the sixth century C.E. utter such scientific truths as the Qur'an
contains? Could he describe the evolution of the embryo inside the
uterus so accurately as we find it in modern science?

Secondly, is it logical to believe that Muhammad (PBUH), who up to the
age of forty was marked only for his honesty and integrity, began all of
a sudden the authorship of a book matchless in literary merit and the
equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators of
highest calibre could not produce? And lastly, is it justified to say
that Muhammad (PBUH) who was known as AL-AMEEN (The Trustworthy) in his
society and who is still admired by the non-Muslim scholars for his
honesty and integrity, came forth with a false claim and on that
falsehood could train thousands of men of character, integrity and
honesty, who were able to establish the best human society on the
surface of the earth?

Surely, any sincere and unbiased searcher of truth will come to believe
that the Qur'an is the revealed Book of Allah.

Without necessarily agreeing with all that they said, we furnish here
some opinions of important non-Muslim scholars about the Qur'an. Readers
can easily see how the modern world is coming closer to reality
regarding the Qur'an. We appeal to all open-minded scholars to study the
Qur'an in the light of the aforementioned points. We are sure that any
such attempt will convince the reader that the Qur'an could never be
written by any human being.

"However often we turn to it [the Qur'an] at first disgusting us each
time afresh, it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our
reverence... Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is
stern, grand, terrible - ever and anon truly sublime -- Thus this book
will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence."
--Goethe, quoted in T.P. Hughes' DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p. 526.

"The Koran admittedly occupies an important position among the great
religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the epoch-making
works belonging to this class of literature, it yields to hardly any in
the wonderful effect which it has produced on large masses of men. It
has created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type of
character. It first transformed a number of heterogeneous desert tribes
of the Arabian peninsula into a nation of heroes, and then proceeded to
create the vast politico-religious organizations of the Muhammadan world
which are one of the great forces with which Europe and the East have to
reckon today." --G. Margoliouth, Introduction to J.M. Rodwell's, THE
KORAN, New York: Everyman's Library, 1977, p. vii.

"A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible
emotions even in the distant reader - distant as to time, and still more
so as a mental development - a work which not only conquers the
repugnance which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse
feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a
wonderful production of the human mind indeed and a problem of the
highest interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of
mankind." --Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes' DICTIONARY OF ISLAM,
pp. 526-527.

"The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see
Muhammad as the author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from
being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary
merits, in the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce
truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly
have developed at that time, and all this without once making the
slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject?" --Maurice
Bucaille, THE BIBLE, THE QUR'AN AND SCIENCE, 1978, p. 125.

"Here, therefore, its merits as a literary production should perhaps not
be measured by some preconceived maxims of subjective and aesthetic
taste, but by the effects which it produced in Muhammad's contemporaries
and fellow countrymen. If it spoke so powerfully and convincingly to the
hearts of his hearers as to weld hitherto centrifugal and antagonistic
elements into one compact and well-organized body, animated by ideas far
beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind, then its
eloquence was perfect, simply because it created a civilized nation out
of savage tribes, and shot a fresh woof into the old warp of history."
--Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes' DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p. 528.

"In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of my
predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as
echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have
been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which -
apart from the message itself - constitute the Koran's undeniable claim
to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind... This
very characteristic feature - 'that inimitable symphony,' as the
believing Pickthall described his Holy Book, 'the very sounds of which
move men to tears and ecstasy' - has been almost totally ignored by
previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they have
wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidly
decorated original." --Arthur J. Arberry, THE KORAN INTERPRETED, London:
Oxford University Press, 1964, p. x.

"A totally objective examination of it [the Qur'an] in the light of
modern knowledge, leads us to recognize the agreement between the two,
as has been already noted on repeated occasions. It makes us deem it
quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's time to have been the author
of such statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such
considerations are part of what gives the Qur'anic Revelation its unique
place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to
provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning."
--Maurice Bucaille, THE QUR'AN AND MODERN SCIENCE, 1981, p. 18.

3. QUR'AN ON QUR'AN ............................................... from III&E

"Hence, indeed, We made this Qur'an easy to bear in mind: who, then is
willing to take it to heart?" --Chapter 54: Verses 17, 22, 32, 40
(self-repeating)

"Will they then not meditate on the Qur'an, or are there locks on their
hearts?" --Chapter 47: Verse 24

"Surely this Qur'an guides to that which is most upright and gives good
news to the believers who do good works that they shall have a great
reward." --Chapter 17: Verse 9

"Surely We have revealed the reminder (Qur'an) and We will most
certainly guard it (from corruption)." --Chapter 15: Verse 9

"Praise be to Allah Who has revealed the Book (Qur'an) to His slave
(Muhammad) and has not placed therein any crookedness." --Chapter 18:
Verse 1

"Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than
Allah they would have found therein much discrepancy." Chapter 4: Verse
82

"And certainly We have explained in this Qur'an every kind of example;
and man is most of all given to contention. And nothing prevents men
from believing when the guidance comes to them, and asking forgiveness
of their Lord, except that what happened to the ancients should overtake
them, or that the chastisement should come face to face with them."
--Chapter 18: Verses 54-55

"And We reveal (stage by stage) of the Qur'an that which is a healing
and a mercy for believers, and to the unjust it causes nothing but loss
after loss." --Chapter 17: Verse 82

"And if you are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave
(Muhammad) then produce a surah (chapter) of the like thereof, and call
your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful." --Chapter 2: Verse 23

"And this Qur'an is not such as could be forged by those besides Allah,
but it is a verification (of revelations) that went before it and a
fuller explanation of the Book - there is no doubt - from the Lord of
the Worlds." --Chapter 10: Verse 37

"So when you recite the Qur'an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the
outcast." --Chapter 16: Verse 98.

4. WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) ............................ from III&E

During the centuries of the crusades, all sorts of slanders were
invented against Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). But with the birth of the
modern age, marked with religious tolerance and freedom of thought,
there has been a great change in the approach of Western authors in
their delineation of his life and character. The views of some
non-Muslim scholars regarding Prophet Muhammad, given at the end,
justify this opinion.

But the West has still to go a step forward to discover the greatest
reality about Muhammad and that is his being the true and the last
Prophet of God for the whole humanity. In spite of all its objectivity
and enlightenment there has been no sincere and objective attempt by the
West to understand the Prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh). It is so strange
that very glowing tributes are paid to him for his integrity and
achievement but his claim of being the Prophet of God has been rejected
explicitly or implicitly. It is here that a searching of the heart is
required, and a review of the so-called objectivity is needed. The
following glaring facts from the life of Muhammad (pbuh) have been
furnished to facilitate an unbiased, logical and objective decision
regarding his Prophethood.

Up to the age of forty, Muhammad was not known as a statesman, a
preacher or an orator. He was never seen discussing the principles of
metaphysics, ethics, law, politics, economics or sociology. No doubt he
possessed an excellent character, charming manners and was highly
cultured. Yet there was nothing so deeply striking and so radically
extraordinary in him that would make men expect something great and
revolutionary from him in the future. But when he came out of the Cave
(HIRA) with a new message, he was completely transformed. Is it possible
for such a person of the above qualities to turn all of a sudden into
'an impostor' and claim to be the Prophet of Allah and invite all the
rage of his people? One might ask: for what reason did he suffer all
those hardships? His people offered to accept him as their King and he
would leave the preaching of his religion. But he chose to refuse their
tempting offers and go on preaching his religion single-handedly in face
of all kinds of insults, social boycott and even physical assault by his
own people. Was it not only God's support and his firm will to
disseminate the message of Allah and his deep-rooted belief that
ultimately Islam would emerge as the only way of life for humanity, that
he stood like a mountain in the face of all opposition and conspiracies
to eliminate him? Furthermore, had he come with a design of rivalry with
the Christians and the Jews, why should he have made belief in Jesus
Christ and Moses and other Prophets of God (peace be upon them), a basic
requirement of faith without which no one could be a Muslim?

Is it not an incontrovertible proof of his Prophethood that in spite of
being unlettered and having led a very normal and quiet life for forty
years, when he began preaching his message, all of Arabia stood in awe
and wonder and was bewitched by his wonderful eloquence and oratory? It
was so matchless that the whole legion of Arab poets, preachers and
orators of the highest calibre failed to bring forth its equivalent. And
above all, how could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature
contained in the Qur'an that no other human being could possible have
developed at that time?

Last but not least, why did he lead a hard life even after gaining power
and authority? Just ponder over the words he uttered while dying: "We
the community of the Prophets are not inherited. Whatever we leave is
for charity."

As a matter of fact, Muhammad (pbuh) is the last link of the chain of
Prophets sent in different lands and times since the very beginning of
the human life on this planet. Read the following writings of the
Western authors:

"If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are
the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great
man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms,
laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than
material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man
moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but
millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than
that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the
beliefs and souls. . . his forbearance in victory, his ambition, which
was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an
empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his
death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture
but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma.
This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God;
the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the
one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea
with words.

"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas,
restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of
twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is
Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be
measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
--Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277.

"It is not the propagation but the permanency of his religion that
deserves our wonder, the same pure and perfect impression which he
engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved, after the revolutions of
twelve centuries by the Indian, the African and the Turkish proselytes
of the Koran. . . The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation
of reducing the object of their faith an devotion to a level with the
senses and imagination of man. 'I believe in One God and Mahomet the
Apostle of God,' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The
intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible
idol; the honours of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of
human virtue, and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of
his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion." --Edward Gibbon
and Simon Ocklay, HISTORY OF THE SARACEN EMPIRE, London, 1870, p. 54.

"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's
pretensions, Caesar without the legions of Caesar: without a standing
army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if
ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the right divine, it
was Mohammed, for he had all the power without its instruments and
without its supports." --Bosworth Smith, MOHAMMAD AND MOHAMMADANISM,
London, 1874, p. 92.

"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the
great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to
feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great
messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say
many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I
re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher." --Annie Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF
MUHAMMAD, Madras, 1932, p. 4.

"His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral
character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader,
and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his
fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more
problems than it solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of history
is so poorly appreciated in the West as Muhammad." --W. Montgomery Watt,
MOHAMMAD AT MECCA, Oxford, 1953, p. 52.

"Muhammad, the inspired man who founded Islam, was born about A.D. 570
into an Arabian tribe that worshipped idols. Orphaned at birth, he was
always particularly solicitous of the poor and needy, the widow and the
orphan, the slave and the downtrodden. At twenty, he was already a
successful businessman, and soon became director of camel caravans for a
wealthy widow. When he reached twenty-five, his employer, recognizing
his merit, proposed marriage. Even though she was fifteen years older,
he married her, and as long as she lived, remained a devoted husband.

"Like almost every major prophet before him, Muhammad fought shy of
serving as the transmitter of God's word, sensing his own inadequacy.
But the angel commanded 'Read.' So far as we know, Muhammad was unable
to read or write, but he began to dictate those inspired words which
would soon revolutionize a large segment of the earth: 'There is one
God.'

"In all things Muhammad was profoundly practical. When his beloved son
Ibrahim died, an eclipse occurred, and rumours of God's personal
condolence quickly arose. Whereupon Muhammad is said to have announced,
'An eclipse is a phenomenon of nature. It is foolish to attribute such
things to the death or birth of a human being.

"At Muhammad's own death an attempt was made to deify him, but the man
who was to become his administrative successor killed the hysteria with
one of the noblest speeches in religious history: 'If there are any
among you who worshipped Muhammad, he is dead. But if it is God you
worshipped, He lives forever." --James A. Michener, "Islam: The
Misunderstood Religion," in READER'S DIGEST (American edition), May
1955, pp. 68-70.

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential
persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but
he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the
religious and secular level." --Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York: Hart Publishing
Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33.

5. THE SWORD OF ISLAM ............................................. from III&E

The first few who embraced the "new" religion in Makkah in the Arabian
Peninsula at the hands of the Prophet, were his wife Khadijah, his
servant Zaid and his eleven-year-old cousin Ali. Among the ones who
later joined this faith were the honest merchant, Abu Bakr; the iron man
of Arabia, Umar the Great; the shy businessman, Uthman; the Prophet's
brave uncle Hamza and a slave of a pagan, Bilal. They simply couldn't
resist the MAGIC SWORD of a humble and lonely Prophet! The negligible
minority of the believers in this new Faith was soon exiled from Makkah
and they arrived in the city called Yathrab which later became known as
MADINAH. The Muslim emigrants to Madinah brought their SWORD with them.
The SWORD continued to "pull" people towards it until the whole of
Arabia joined the Faith. Compared to the population of the rest of the
world at that time, the Arabs constituted a tiny minority. A fraction of
this minority decided to take the SWORD beyond the boundaries of the
Arabian desert to the mighty empires of Rome and Persia, the shores of
the Mediterranean, the coast of Malabar and the far away East Indies
Islands. People after people continued surrendering to this SWORD and
joining the Faith.

So sharp was the edge of the SWORD! It simply conquered the hearts;
bodies yielded automatically. It is the SWORD OF TRUTH, whose mere shine
eliminates falsehood just like light wipes away darkness.

6. Has the sword gone Blunt? No, far from it. ..................... from III&E

It continues to pierce the hearts of countless men and women even today
- in spite of the relentless efforts by persons with vested interests
who like darkness to prevail, so that they may rob people of their good
things.

Read below the impressions of some who were recently conquered by the
same SWORD. They are from different countries, speak different languages
and have different backgrounds. Their present addresses are also given.
Perhaps you may like to ask them how it feels to be struck by the SWORD
OF TRUTH.

1. LEOPOLD WEISS (now Mohammad Asad): Austrian statesman, journalist,
former foreign correspondent for the Frankfuerter Zeitung; author of
ISLAM AT THE CROSSROADS and ROAD TO MECCA and translator of the Qur'an.
He embraced Islam in 1926. (1)

"Islam appears to me like a perfect work of Architecture. All its parts
are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other. Nothing
is superfluous and nothing lacking, with the result of an absolute
balance and solid composure."

2. AHMED HOLT: British Civil Contractor, traveler in search of the
Divine truth, spent much of his time in research and comparative study
of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He embraced Islam in 1975. (2)

"The SWORD OF ISLAM is not the sword of steel. I know this by
experience, because the sword of Islam struck deep into my own heart. It
didn't bring death, but it brought a new life; it brought an awareness
and it brought an awakening as to who am I and what am I and for what am
I here?"

3. BOGDAN DOPANSKI (now Bogdan Ataullah Kopanski): Originally Polish,
now American; Ph.D. in history and politics, had a very interesting
journey to Islam and faced severe hardships; was imprisoned twice by the
Polish communist regime (1968, 1981-82). He embraced Islam in 1974. (3)

"When I was 12 years old I rejected illogical and contradictory faith of
the Church. Two years later in 1962 - I was fascinated by victorious
struggle of the Algerian Muslim mujahideen against French colonialism.
It was the first ARROW of Islam.... The high school and earliest days of
my education in the University, I was a typical example of 'rebel
generation' of Reds.... My way to the truth of Al-Qur'an was slow and
unpaved.... In 1974 I visited Turkey, I wrote my M.A. dissertation about
Sultan and Caliph Suleiman Kanuni's policy towards the Polish Kingdom.
There, I was hit by the most beautiful voice of mankind, the ADHAN, the
call to prayer. My hair stood up. An unknown powerful force led me to
old masjid in Istanbul. There, old smiling Turkish, bearded men taught
me WUZU, ablution. I confessed to tears SHAHADAH and I prayed my first
SALAH Maghrib.... I swept out the rubbish ideologies.... The first time
in my life, my mind was relaxed and I felt pleasure of Allah's love in
my heart. I was a Muslim...."

4. VENGATACHALAM ADIYAR (now Abdullah Adiyar): Indian, noted Tamil
writer and journalist; worked as a news editor in Dr. M. Karunanidhi's
daily MURASOLI for 17 years; assisted 3 former Chief Ministers of Tamil
Nadu. Received Kalaimamani Award (Big Gem of Arts) from Tamil Nadu
Government in 1982. He embraced Islam in 1987. (4)

"In Islam I found suitable replies to nagging queries arising in my mind
with regard to the theory of creation, status of woman, creation of the
universe, etc. The life history of the Holy Prophet attracted me very
much and made it easy for me to compare with other world leaders and
their philosophies."

5. HERBERT HOBOHM (now Aman Hobohm): German diplomat, missionary and
social worker. An intellectual who has been serving the German
diplomatic missions in various parts of the world. Presently working as
Cultural Attache in German Embassy in Riyadh. He embraced Islam in 1941.
(5)

"I have lived under different systems of life and have had the
opportunity of studying various ideologies, but have come to the
conclusion that none is perfect as Islam. None of the systems has got a
complete code of a noble life. Only Islam has it; and that is why good
men embrace it. Islam is not theoretical; it is practical. It means
complete submission to the will of God."

6. CAT STEVENS (now Yousuf Islam): British; formerly a Christian and a
world famous pop singer. He embraced Islam in 1973. (6)

"It will be wrong to judge Islam in the light of the behavior of some
bad Muslims who are always shown on the media. It is like judging a car
as a bad one if the driver of the car is drunk and he bangs it into the
wall. Islam guides all human beings in the daily life - in its
spiritual, mental and physical dimensions. But we must find the sources
of these instructions, the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet. Then
we can see the ideal of Islam."

7. MS. MARGARET MARCUS (now Maryam Jamilah): American, formerly a
Jewess, essayist and an author of many books. She embraced Islam in
1962. (7)

"The authority of Islamic Morals and Laws proceeds from Almighty God.
Pleasure and happiness in Islam are but the natural byproducts of
emotional satisfaction in one's duties conscientiously performed for the
pleasure of God to achieve salvation. In Islam duties are always
stressed above rights. Only in Islam was my quest for absolute values
satisfied. Only in Islam did I at last find all that was true, good,
beautiful and which gives meaning and direction to human life and
death."

8. WILFRIED HOFMAN (now Murad Hofman): Ph.D. in law (Harvard); German
social scientist and diplomat; presently German Ambassador in Algeria.
He embraced Islam in 1980. (8)

"For some time now, striving for more and more precision and brevity, I
have tried to put on paper, in a systematic way, all philosophical
truths, which in my view, can be ascertained beyond reasonable doubt. In
the course of this effort it dawned on me that the typical attitude of
an agnostic is not an intelligent one; that man simply cannot escape a
decision to believe; that the createdness of what exists around us is
obvious; that Islam undoubtedly finds itself in the greatest harmony
with overall reality. Thus I realize, not without shock, that step by
step, in spite of myself and almost unconsciously, in feeling and
thinking I have grown into a Muslim. Only one last step remained to be
taken: to formalize my conversion. As of today I am a Muslim. I have
arrived."

9. CASSIUS CLAY (now Muhammad Ali): American; three times World
Heavyweight Champion, formerly a Christian. He embraced Islam in 1965.
(9)

"I have had many nice moments in my life. But the feelings I had while
standing on Mount Arafat on the day of HAJJ (Muslims' pilgrimage), was
the most unique. I felt exalted by the indescribable spiritual
atmosphere there as over a million and a half pilgrims invoked God to
forgive them of their sins and bestow on them His choicest blessings. It
was an exhilarating experience to see people belonging to different
colors, races and nationalities, kings, heads of states and ordinary men
from very poor countries all clad in two simple white sheets praying to
God without any sense of either pride or inferiority. It was a practical
manifestation of the concept of equality in Islam."

(Speaking to the daily "Al-Madinah," Jeddah, 15 July, 1989.)

These were the impressions of a few persons who had themselves been
struck by the SWORD OF TRUTH, that is, the Message of Islam.

AS FOR THE PROPAGANDA THAT IT WAS THE SWORD OF STEEL, THAT IS, FORCE,
WHICH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE UNIVERSAL EXPANSION OF ISLAM, WE GIVE
BELOW QUOTATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SOME OF THE PROMINENT NON-MUSLIM
SCHOLARS AND LEADERS REFUTING THIS BASELESS ACCUSATION.

1. M.K. GANDHI: "....I became more than ever convinced that it was not
the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of
life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the
prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to
his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his
absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These, and not the sword
carried everything before them and surmounted every trouble." YOUNG
INDIA, 1924. (10)

2. EDWARD GIBBON: "The greatest success of Mohammad's life was effected
by sheer moral force without the stroke of a sword." HISTORY OF THE
SARACEN EMPIRE, London, 1870.

3. A.S. TRITTON: "The picture of the Muslim soldier advancing with a
sword in one hand and the Qur'an in the other is quite false." ISLAM,
London, 1951, page 21. (12)

4. DE LACY O'LEARY: "History makes it clear, however, that the legend of
fanatical Muslims, sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the
point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically
absurd myths that historians have ever repeated." ISLAM AT CROSSROADS,
London, 1923, page 8.

5. K.S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO: "My problem to write this monograph is easier
because we are not generally fed now on that (distorted) kind of history
and much time need not be spent on pointing out our misrepresentations
of Islam. The theory of Islam and sword, for instance, is not heard now
in any quarter worth the name. The principle of Islam, there is no
compulsion in religion, is well known." MOHAMMED THE PROPHET OF ISLAM,
Riyadh, 1989, page 4.

6. JAMES A MICHENER: "No other religion in history spread so rapidly as
Islam... The West has widely believed that this surge of religion was
made possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts that idea, and
the Qur'an is explicit in support of the freedom conscience." ISLAM -
THE MISUNDERSTOOD RELIGION, READERS' DIGEST (American Edition) May 1955.

7. LAWRENCE E. BROWNE: "Incidentally these well-established facts
dispose of the idea so widely fostered in Christian writings that the
Muslims, wherever they went, forced people to accept Islam at the point
of the sword." THE PROSPECTS OF ISLAM, London 1944.

IF YOU TOO POSSESS A SOFT, TENDER HEART AND AN OPEN MIND, DO WRITE TO US
FOR SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE WAY OF LIFE CALLED "ISLAM." DO NOT
BELIEVE IN HEARSAY AND LEARN FROM THE DIRECT SOURCES. WE ARE READY TO
HELP.

7. CHOOSING ISLAM: ONE MAN'S TALE ................................. from III&E

I became a Muslim when it seemed I had already accepted Islam in my
bones, as if beyond choice, and I only had to make a leap to embrace it
formally. Outwardly I was content; inwardly I was coasting. My
three-year-old theatre company was disbanded after a hilariously chaotic
production for a Tim Leary Benefit at the Family Dog in San Francisco,
circa '68 -- naturally the orange juice everyone had passed around was
spiked, so that chorus members were doing the final scene in the first
ten minutes -- and for six months I had been methodically typing out
poetry manuscripts in my attic in Berkeley preparatory to a big
publishing peak.

I considered myself a Zen Buddhist. But I was other things as well. My
normal routine was to get up, sit zazen, smoke a joint, do half an hour
of yoga, then read the "Mathnawi" of Rumi, the long mystical poem of
that great Persian Sufi of the thirteenth century.

Then I met the man who was to be my guide to our teacher in Morocco,
Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib, may Allah be pleased with him. At first
the meeting was simply remarkable, and my guide simply a remarkable man.
But soon our encounter was to become extraordinary, leading to a
revolution in my life from which I have never recovered and never hope
to.

The man looked like an eccentric Englishman. He too had only recently
come out of the English version of the Hippie Wave. He was older,
refined in his manners, spectacularly witty and intellectual, but of
that kind prevalent then who had hobnobbed with the Beatles and knew the
Tantric Art collection of Brian Jones firsthand. He had been on all the
classic drug quests -- peyote in the Yucatan, mescaline with Laura
Huxley -- but with the kif quest in Morocco he had stumbled on Islam and
then the Sufis, and the game was up. A profound change had taken place
in his life that went far beyond the psychedelic experience.

=46or the three days following our meeting, two other Americans and I
listened in awe as this magnificent storyteller unfolded the picture of
Islam, of the perfection of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, of
the Sufis of Morocco, and of the 100-year-old plus Shaykh, sitting under
a great fig tree in a garden with his disciples singing praises of
Allah. It was everything I'd always dreamed of. It was poetry come
alive. It was the visionary experience made part of daily life, with the
Prophet a perfectly balanced master of wisdom and simplicity, an
historically accessible Buddha, with a mixture of the earthiness of
Moses, the otherworldliness of Jesus, and a light all his own.

The prophetic knowledge our guide talked about was a kind of spiritual
existentialism. It was a matter of how you enter a room, which foot you
entered with, that you sipped water but gulped milk, that you said,
"Bismillah" (In the Name of Allah) before eating or drinking, and
"Al-hamdulillah" (Praise be to Allah) afterwards, and so on. But rather
than seeing this as a burden of hundreds of "how-to's," it was more like
what the LSD experience taught us, that there is a "right" way to do
things that has, if you will, a cosmic resonance. It is a constant
awareness of courtesy to the Creator and His creation that itself
ensures and almost visionary intensity.

It is hard to put forward any kind of explanation of Islam, to try to
suggest the beauty of its totality, through the medium of words. The
light of Islam, since it is transformational and alchemical in nature,
almost always comes via a human messenger who is a transmitter of the
picture by his very being.

Face to face with our guide, what struck us most was his impeccable,
noble behavior. He seemed to be living what he was saying. Finally the
moment came, as a surprise, when he confronted me with my life. "Well,"
he said one morning after three full days of rapturous agreement that
what he was bringing to us was the best thing we'd ever heard, "What do
you think? Do you want to become a Muslim?"

I hedged. "It's the most beautiful thing I've heard about so far. After
all my Zen Buddhism, all my yoga, Tibetan Buddhism and Hindu gurus, this
is certainly it! But I think I would like to travel a little, see the
world, go to Afghanistan (then unoccupied), maybe meet my Shaykh in a
mountain village far off somewhere."

"That's not good enough. You have to decide now. Yes or no. If it's yes,
then we start on a great adventure. If it's no, then no blame, I've done
my duty. I'll just say goodbye and go on my way. But you have to decide
now. I'll go downstairs and read a magazine and wait. Take your time."

When he had left the room I saw there was no choice. My whole being had
already acquiesced. All my years up to that moment simply rolled away. I
was face-to-face with worship of Allah, wholly and purely, with the Path
before me well-trodden, heavily signposted, with a guide to a Master
plunk in front of me. Or I could reject all of this for a totally
self-invented and uncertain future.

It was the day of my birthday, just to make it that much more dramatic.
I chose Islam.

-- Abd al-Hayy Moore

Mr. Abd al-Hayy Moore has two books of poetry published by City Lights
under the name Daniel Moore. He's traveled extensively, living in
England, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria and Spain. Mr. Moore is a talented
writer and poet, and has turned his talents in writing for Islam. He is
a contributor to "The Minaret" and other publications. His more recent
publications are "The Chronicles of Akhira," "Halley's Comet" and
Holograms. His writings and publications may be obtained from Zilzal
Press, 126 North Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103, U.S.A.

Published with the permission of:
1) Whole Earth Review
27 Gate Five Road
Sausilito, CA 94965

2) Abd al-Hayy Moore
The III&E is grateful for his kind permission.

Reprinted from Whole Earth Review No. 49, Winter 1985

8. Who can I ask questions on Islam? .........................................

A- The Institute of Islamic Information and Education
P.O. Box 41129
Chicago, IL 60641-0129 U.S.A.
Fax: (312) 777-7199
Tel: (312) 777-7443

B- The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)

Non-Muslims interested to learn about Islam can now dial toll-free

1-800-662-ISLAM

The phone number has been set up by the Islamic Circle of North America
(ICNA) exclusively for non-Muslims. The number became operational on
August 30, 1994.

Note: The last letter 'M' in the telephone number is optional.

C- Islam on Phone

Islam-on-the-Phone (312) 777-0767

Ask for a list of questions and codes. Provided by III&E.

WRITE TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

1. (deceased)

2. Ahmad Holt, 23 Welland Garden Perivale, Middlesex UB6 8SZ, U.K.

3. Bogdan Ataullah Kopanski, 3013 Harrel Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75051.

4. Abdullah Adiyar, 1 Ashok Avenue, Rangarajapuram, Kodambakkam,
Madras,India.

5. Aman Hobohm, Cultural Attache, P.O. Box 8974, Riyadh 11492, Saudi
Arabia.

6. Yousuf Islam, Chairman, Muslim Aid, 3 Furlong Road, London, N7, U.K.

7. Maryam Jamilah, c/o Mohammad Yusuf Khan, Sant Nagar, Lahore,
Pakistan.

8. Murad Hofman, Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany, BP
664, Alger-gare, Algeria.

9. Muhammad Ali, c/o Masjid Al-Faatir, 1200 East 49th Street, Chicago,
IL 60615.

NOTE: 10. Twentieth century champion of non-violence who lead the Indian
movement of freedom from British colonization.

9. Indroductory Publications ...................................... from III&E

RECOMMENDED:

1. III&E Brochure Series may be obtained from the address given below.

2. WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ISLAM AND MUSLIMS by Suzanne Haneef,
Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

3. ISLAM IN FOCUS by H. Abdulati, American Trust Publications,
Indianapolis, IN.

4. THE BIBLE, THE QUR'AN AND SCIENCE by Maurice Bucaille, American Trust
Publications, Indianapolis, IN.

5. QUR'AN, AN INTRODUCTION by A.R. Doi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

6. HADITH, AN INTRODUCTION by A.R. Doi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

7. MUHAMMAD, HIS LIFE BASED ON THE EARLIEST SOURCES by Martin Lings,
Inner Traditions International, Rochester, VT.

8. LIFE OF MUHAMMAD by A.H. Siddiqi, Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL.

9. HISTORY OF ISLAM by Masud-ul-Hasan, Islamic Publications, Lahore,
Pakist= an.

10. THE CULTURAL ATLAS OF ISLAM by I.R. al-Faruqi and Lois L. al-Faruqi,
Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, NY.

Announcements ................................................................

10. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part5
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

11. Credits ...................................................................

-- SOURCES --

What is III&E?

-- FORMAT --

What is IINN?

-- Permissions --

# End of Islam FAQ Part 5 #

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attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 6
__________________________________

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 7: Marriage Laws In Islam

Contents

--Articles--
1. Marriage ........................................................ from IINN
2. Whom to Marry ................................................... from IINN
3. Mahr ............................................................ from IINN
4. Intimacy ........................................................ from IINN
5. Walima .......................................................... from IINN
6. Duties & Rights After Marriage .................................. from IINN
7. Advices to Husbands ............................................. from IINN
8. Advices to Wives ................................................ from IINN
--Announcements--
9. Archive Info ..............................................................
10. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Marriage ........................................................ from IINN

Spouses:

Allah, most Gracious says about spouses in Quran:

Among His signs is [the fact] that He has created spouses for you among
yourselves so that you may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has
planted love and mercy between you; In that are signs for people who
reflect. Qur'an [30 : 21]

He has planted affection and mercy between you. Qur'an [30: 12] and
says:

They are a garment for you and you are a garment to them. Qur'an [2 :
187]

Consider this in conjunction with the following verse:

The best garment is the garment of God-consciousness Qur'an [7 : 26]

It requires that a husband and wife should be as garments for each
other. Just as garments are for protection, comfort, show and
concealment for human beings, Allah expects husbands and wives to be for
one another.

And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another;
they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship
and they pay the poor-due, and they obey Allah and His messenger; as for
those, Allah will have mercy on them; Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise. Allah
hath promised to believers - men and women - gardens underwhich rivers
flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting
bliss; but the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah: This is the
supreme felicity.

Qur'an [9 : 71 - 72]

2. Whom to Marry ................................................... from IINN

Allah also gives us freedom and urges us to:

...Marry the women of your choice... Qur'an [4 : 3] Similarly, for the
women:

"A girl came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and informed him that
her father had married her to her cousin against her wishes, whereupon
the Prophet allowed her to exercise her choice. She then said, 'I am
reconciled to what my father did but I wanted to make it known to women
that fathers have no say in this matter'". - Hadith narrated by Ibn
Majah

Narrated Abdullah: "We were with the Prophet, peace be upon him, while
we were young and had no wealth whatever. So Allah's Apostle, peace be
upon him, said, `O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should
marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty, and
whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his
sexual power.'"

Narrated Abu Huraira: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `A woman is
married for four things, i.e., her wealth, her family status, her
beauty, and her religion. So you should marry the religious woman
[otherwise] you will be a loser.'"

3. Mahr ............................................................ from IINN

Mahr is the gift that is given by the husband to his wife at wedding. It
can be anything in any amount, as agreed by the bride and bride-groom.

Allah says about Mahr in the Chapter `Woman' in Quran:

And give the women (on marriage) their Mahr as a free gift. Qur'an [4 :
4]

If you had given the latter a cantar (of gold i.e. a great amount) for
dower (Mahr) take not the least bit of it back ... Qur'an [4 : 20]

Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to a man,
`Marry, even with (a Mahr equal to) an iron ring.'"

4. Intimacy ........................................................ from IINN

Intimacy is seen as an act of procreation. An eye for the what is about
to come is kept open in this respect as well. The following prayer
reminds us of God, results of our actions and reminds us of our
commitment to train our offspring.

Narrated Ibn Abbas: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `If anyone of
you, when having a sexual intercourse with his wife says:

In the name of Allah! O Allah! Protect me from Satan and protect what
you bestow upon us (i.e. an offspring) from Satan. and if it is destined
that they should have a child, then Satan will never be able to harm
him.'"

5. Walima .......................................................... from IINN

Walima is the wedding reception given to friends and family after the
consummation of marriage. It is given by the husband on this auspicious
occassion, showing his happiness and sharing it with the friends and
family.

Abdur Rahman bin Auf said, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to me,
`Give a wedding banquet, even with one sheep.'"

Narrated Abu Musa: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `Set the
captives free, accept the invitation (including to a wedding banquet),
and pay a visit to the patients.'"

By this saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him, it is also enjoined
upon us to join in the happiness of our brothers.

6. Duties & Rights After Marriage .................................. from IINN

Duties and Rights of Husband and Wife after marriage:

Allah informs us about the just rights of each other on us:

But, in accordance with justice, the wife's rights (with regard to their
husbands) are equal to the (husband's) rights with regard to them,
although men are a degree above them; and Allah is Almighty, Wise.
Qur'an [2 : 228]

The statement that men are a degree above women means that authority
within the household has been give to the husband in preference to the
wife because a heavier burden has been placed on his shoulders by
another verse of the Quran which says:

Men shall take full care of women, because Allah has given the one more
strength than the other, and because they support them from their means.
Qur'an [4 : 34]

7. Advices to Husbands ............................................. from IINN

Jabir Narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave these
instructions in his sermon during Farewell Pilgrimage: "Fear God
regarding women; for you have taken them [in marriage] with the trust of
God." [Mishkat]

Narrated Aisha, God's messenger said: "Among the believers who show most
perfect faith are those who have the best disposition, and are kindest
to their families." [Tirmidhi]

Narrated Abu Huraira, God's messenger said: "The believers who show the
most perfect faith are those who have the best disposition and the best
of you are those who are best to their wives." [Tirmidhi]

Aisha has related that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, would enter
the house with a pleasing disposition and a smile on his lips.
[Uswa-i-Hasana]

Narrated Al-Aswad: "I asked Aisha, `What did the Prophet, peace be upon
him, do at home?' She said, `He used to work for his family and when he
heard the call for the prayer, he would go out.'" [Bukhari]

Narrated Abu Huraira: "Allah's Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `The
woman is like a rib; if you try to straighten her, she will break. So if
you want to get benefit from her, do so while she still has some bent.'"
[Bukhari]

Narrated Abu Huraira: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `Whoever
believes in Allah and the Last Day should not hurt (trouble) his
neighbor. And I advise you to take care of women, for they are created
from a rib and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part; if
you try to straighten it, it will break, and if you leave it, it will
reamin crooked, so I urge you to take care of women. [Bukhari]

Narrated Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As: "Allah's Apostle, peace be upon
him, said, `O Abdullah! Have I not been informed that you fast all the
day and stand in prayer all night?' I said, `Yes, O Allah's Apostle!' He
said, `Do not do that! Observe the fast sometimes and also leave them at
other times; stand up for the prayer at night and also sleep at night.
Your body has a right over you and your wife has a right over you.'"
[Bukhari]

Narrated Ibn Umar: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `All of you
are guardians and are responsible for your wards. The ruler is a
guardian and the man is a guardian of his family; the lady is a guardian
who is responsible for her husband's house and his offspring; and so all
of you are guardians and are responsible for your wards.'"

Men should forbear any shortcomings of women in view of the following
verse of Quran:

Live with them in kindness; even if you dislike them, perhaps you
dislike something in which God has place much good. Qur'an [4 : 19]

8. Advices to Wives ................................................ from IINN

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "When a woman observes the five
times of prayer, fasts during Ramadan, preserves her chastity and obeys
her husband, she may enter by any of the gates of paradise she wishes
(in other words nothing will prevent her from entering paradise)."
[Mishkat]

Um Salma reported God's messenger as saying, "Any woman who dies when
her husband is pleased with her will enter Paradise." [Tirmidhi]

Abu Huraira told that when God's messenger was asked which woman was
best, he replied, "The one who fills [her husband] with joy when he sees
her, obeys him when he directs and does not oppose him by displeasing
him regarding her person or property." [Mishkat]

Providing for wife and family:

Quran teaches us to be reasonable and fair to our wives and family.

House women wherever you reside, accoding to your circumstances, and do
not harass them in order to make life difficult for them. Qur'an [65 :
6]

The statement of Allah in the chapter `Woman':

`Men are protectors and maintainers of women.' Qur'an [4 : 34]

Bukhari quotes the following verse under the heading: .. the superiority
of providing for one's family:

(O Mohammed!) They ask you what they ought to spend. Say: That which is
beyond your needs. Thus Allah make clear to you His Signs in order that
you may give thought (to it) in this worldly life and the Hereafter.
Qur'an [2 : 219-220]

Narrated Abu Masud Al-Ansari: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
`When a Muslim spends something on his family intending to receive
Allah's reward, it is regarded as Sadqa (spending in the name of God)
for him.'"

We should always remember that Allah is the one who gives us, we are
mere trustees of the funds.

Narrated Abu Huraira: "Allah's Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `Allah
said, O the son of Adam! Spend, and I shall spend on you.'"

Narrated Abu Huraira: "Allah's Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `The
best alms is that which you give when you are rich, and you should
support your dependants first.'" [Bukhari]

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger, peace be upon him, as saying: "Of
the dinar (unit of currency) that you spend as a contribution in God's
path, or to set free a slave, or as charity given to a needy, or to
support your family, the one yielding the greatest reward is that which
you spent on your family. [Muslim]

Announcements ................................................................

9. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part6
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

10. Credits ...................................................................

-- SOURCES --

What is III&E?

-- FORMAT --

What is IINN?

-- Permissions --

# End of Islam FAQ Part 6 #

Asim Mughal

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Apr 17, 2004, 7:24:10 AM4/17/04

Archive-name: islam-faq/part7

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
prohibited without explicit written permission of the author.
Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 7
__________________________________

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

________________________________________________________

PART 7: Women In Islam

Contents

--Articles--
1. Hijab (Veil) and Muslim Women ...................... from Ms.Naheed Mustafa
2. Women In Islam .................................................. from IINN
3. Women's Liberation through Islam ............................... from III&E
4. Human Rights - Equality ........................................ from III&E
5. Civil Rights - Freedom of Choice & ............................. from III&E
6. Social Rights .................................................. from III&E
7. Political Rights ............................................... from III&E
8. Economic Rightrs ............................................... from III&E
9. Rights of a Wife ............................................... from III&E
10. Duties of a Wife ............................................... from III&E
11. Conclusion - Rights of Women ................................... from III&E
12. Who Practices Polygamy? ........................................ from III&E

--Announcements--
13. Archive Info ..............................................................

14. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Hijab (Veil) and Muslim Women ...................... from Ms.Naheed Mustafa

"My body is my own business" by Naheed in The Globe

>Dated: 25 Sep 1993 16:35:02 -0500

MULTICULTURAL VOICES: A Canadian-born Muslim woman has taken to wearing
the traditional hijab scarf. It tends to make people see her as either a
terrorist or a symbol of oppressed womanhood, but she finds the
experience LIBERATING.

I OFTEN wonder whether people see me as a radical, fundamentalist Muslim
terrorist packing an AK-47 assault rifle inside my jean jacket. Or may
be they see me as the poster girl for oppressed womanhood everywhere.
I'm not sure which it is.

I get the whole gamut of strange looks, stares, and covert glances. You
see, I wear the hijab, a scarf that covers my head, neck, and throat. I
do this because I am a Muslim woman who believes her body is her own
private concern.

Young Muslim women are reclaiming the hijab, reinterpreting it in light
of its original purpose -- to give back to women ultimate control of
their own bodies.

The Qur'an teaches us that men and women are equal, that individuals
should not be judged according to gender, beauty, wealth, or privilege.
The only thing that makes one person better than another is her or his
character.

Nonetheless, people have a difficult time relating to me. After all, I'm
young, Canadian born and raised, university-educated -- why would I do
this to myself, they ask.

Strangers speak to me in loud, slow English and often appear to be
playing charades. They politely inquire how I like living in Canada and
whether or not the cold bothers me. If I'm in the right mood, it can be
very amusing.

But, why would I, a woman with all the advantages of a North American
upbringing, suddenly, at 21, want to cover myself so that with the hijab
and the other clothes I choose to wear, only my face and hands show?

Because it gives me freedom.

-o-o-o-

WOMEN are taught from early childhood that their worth is proportional
to their attractiveness. We feel compelled to pursue abstract notions of
beauty, half realizing that such a pursuit is futile.

When women reject this form of oppression, they face ridicule and
contempt. Whether it's women who refuse to wear makeup or to shave their
legs, or to expose their bodies, society, both men and women, have
trouble dealing with them.

In the Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced
silence or radical, unconscionable militancy. Actually, it's neither. It
is simply a woman's assertion that judgment of her physical person is to
play no role whatsoever in social interaction.

Wearing the hijab has given me freedom from constant attention to my
physical self. Because my appearance is not subjected to public
scrutiny, my beauty, or perhaps lack of it, has been removed from the
realm of what can legitimately be discussed.

No one knows whether my hair looks as if I just stepped out of a salon,
whether or not I can pinch an inch, or even if I have unsightly stretch
marks. And because no one knows, no one cares.

Feeling that one has to meet the impossible male standards of beauty is
tiring and often humiliating. I should know, I spent my entire teen-age
years trying to do it. It was a borderline bulimic and spent a lot of
money I didn't have on potions and lotions in hopes of becoming the next
Cindy Crawford.

The definition of beauty is ever-changing; waifish is good, waifish is
bad, athletic is good -- sorry, athletic is bad. Narrow hips? Great.
Narrow hips? Too bad.

Women are not going to achieve equality with the right to bear their
breasts in public, as some people would like to have you believe. That
would only make us party to our own objectification. True equality will
be had only when women don't need to display themselves to get attention
and won't need to defend their decision to keep their bodies to
themselves.

Naheed Mustafa graduated from the University of Toronto last year with
an honours degree in political and history. She is currently studying
journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University

NOTE:

This article appeared in IINN (Islamic Information & News Network)
publications. The Permission of Reprinting granted by "Islamic
Information & News Network" (Muslims @ Asuacad.Bitnet).

2. Women In Islam .................................................. from IINN

Source: Islamic Center of Southern California

Typed in by: Ms.Iraj Ali

SEPARATING FACTS FROM FICTION

o Islam gave woman the right to reject a marriage proposal free from
pressure and by mutual agreement to specify in the marriage contract
that she has the right to divorce. If she deems the marriage to have
failed beyond repair.

o Islam does not require woman to change her name at marriage.

o Islam protects the family and condemns the betrayal of marital
fidelity. It recognize only one type of family, husband and wife united
by authentic marriage contract.

o "Heaven is at the feet of mothers" is a basic Islamic teachings.

This article appeared in IINN (Islamic Information & News Network)
publications. The Permission of Reprinting granted by "Islamic
Information & News Network" (Muslims @ Asuacad.Bitnet).

3. Women's Liberation through Islam ............................... from III&E

Today people think that women are liberated in the West and that the
women's liberation movement began in the 20th century. Actually, the
women's liberation movement was not begun by women but was revealed by
God to a man in the seventh century by the name of Muhammad (peace be
upon him), who is known as the last Prophet of Islam. The Qur'an and the
Traditions of the Prophet (Hadith or Sunnah) are the sources from which
every Muslim woman derives her rights and duties.

4. Human Rights - Equality ........................................ from III&E

Islam, fourteen centuries ago, made women equally accountable to God in
glorifying and worshipping Him - setting no limits on her moral
progress. Also, Islam established a woman's equality in her humanity
with men.

In the Qur'an, in the first verse of the chapter entitled "Women," God
says, "O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you
from a single soul and from it its mate and from them both have spread
abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward
Allah in Whom you claim (your rights) of one another, and towards the
wombs (that bore you). Lo! Allah has been a Watcher over you." (4:1)

Since men and women both came from the same essence, they are equal in
their humanity. Women cannot be by nature evil (as some religious
believe) or then men would be evil also. Similarly, neither gender can
be superior because it would be a contradiction of equality.

5. Civil Rights - Freedom of Choice & ............................. from III&E

In Islam, a woman has the basic freedom of choice and expression based
on recognition of her individual personality. First, she is free to
choose her religion. The Qur'an states: "There is no compulsion in
religion. Right has been made distinct from error." (2:256)

Women are encouraged in Islam to contribute their opinions and ideas.
There are many traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) which indicate women
would pose questions directly to him and offer their opinions concerning
religion, economics and social matters.

A Muslim woman chooses her husband and keeps her name after marriage. A
Muslim woman's testimony is valid in legal disputes. In fact, in areas
in which women are more familiar, their evidence is conclusive.

6. Social Rights .................................................. from III&E

The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Seeking knowledge is a mandate for every
Muslim (male and female)." This includes knowledge of the Qur'an and the
Hadith as well as other knowledge. Men and women both have the capacity
for learning and understanding. Since it is also their obligation to
promote good behavior and condemn bad behavior in all spheres of life,
Muslim women must acquire the appropriate education to perform this duty
in accordance with their own natural talents and interests.

While maintenance of a home, providing support to her husband, and
bearing, raising and teaching of children are among the first and very
highly regarded roles for a woman, if she has the skills to work outside
the home for the good of the community, she may do so as long as her
family obligations are met.

Islam recognizes and fosters the natural differences between men and
women despite their equality. Some types of work are more suitable for
men and other types for women. This in no way diminishes either's effort
nor its benefit. God will reward both sexes equally for the value of
their work, though it may not necessarily be the same activity.

Concerning motherhood, the Prophet (pbuh) said: "Heaven lies under the
feet of mothers." This implies that the success of a society can be
traced to the mothers that raised it. The first and greatest influence
on a person comes from the sense of security, affection, and training
received from the mother. Therefore, a woman having children must be
educated and conscientious in order to be a skillful parent.

7. Political Rights ............................................... from III&E

A right given to Muslim women by God 1400 years ago is the right to
vote. On any public matter, a woman may voice her opinion and
participate in politics. One example, narrated in the Qur'an (60:12), is
that Muhammad (pbuh) is told that when the believing women come to him
and swear their allegiance to Islam, he must accept their oath. This
established the right of women to select their leader and publicly
declare so. Finally, Islam does not forbid a woman from holding
important positions in government. Abdur-Rahman Ibn Auf consulted many
women before he recommended Uthman Ibn Affan to be the Caliph.

8. Economic Rights ................................................ from III&E

The Qur'an states: "By the creation of the male and female; Verily, (the
ends) ye strive for are diverse." (92:3-4)

In these verses, God declares that He created men and women to be
different, with unique roles, functions and skills. As in society, where
there is a division of labor, so too in a family; each member has
different responsibilities. Generally, Islam upholds that women are
entrusted with the nurturing role, and men, with the guardian role.
Therefore, women are given the right of financial support.

The Qur'an states: "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has
made some of them to excel others and because they spend of their wealth
(for the support of women)." (4:34)

This guardianship and greater financial responsibility is given to men,
requires that they provide women with not only monetary support but also
physical protection and kind and respectful treatment.

The Muslim woman has the privilege to earn money, the right to own
property, to enter into legal contracts and to manage all of her assets
in any way she pleases. She can run her own business and no one has any
claim on her earnings including her husband. The Qur'an states:

"And in no wise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed His
gifts more freely on some of you than on others; to men is allotted what
they earn, and to women, what they earn; but ask Allah of His bounty,
for Allah hath full knowledge of all things." (4:32)

A woman inherits from her relatives. The Qur'an states: "For men there
is a share in what parents and relatives leave, and for women there is a
share of what parents and relatives leave, whether it be little or much
- an ordained share." (4:7)

9. Rights of a Wife ............................................... from III&E

The Qur'an states: "And among His signs is that He created for you mates
from among yourselves that you may live in tranquillity with them, and
He has put love and mercy between you; Verily, in that are signs for
people who reflect." (30:21)

Marriage is therefore not just a physical or emotional necessity, but in
fact, a sign from God! It is a relationship of mutual rights and
obligations based on divine guidance. God created men and women with
complimentary natures, and in the Qur'an, He laid out a system of laws
to support harmonious interaction between the sexes.

"...They are your garments and you are their garments." (2:187)

Clothing provides physical protection and covers the beauty and faults
of the body. Likewise, a spouse is viewed this way. Each protects the
other and hides the faults and compliments the characteristics of the
spouse.

To foster the love and security that comes with marriage, Muslim wives
have various rights. The first of the wife's rights is to receive mahr,
a gift from the husband which is part of the marriage contract and
required for the legality of the marriage.

The second right of a wife is maintenance. Despite any wealth she may
have, her husband is obligated to provide her with food, shelter and
clothing. He is not forced, however, to spend beyond his capability and
his wife is not entitled to make unreasonable demands. The Qur'an
states: "Let the man of means spend according to his means, and the man
whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah
has given him. Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has
given him." (65:7)

God tells us men are guardians over women and are afforded the
leadership in the family. His responsibility for obeying God extends to
guiding his family to obey God at all times.

A wife's rights also extend beyond material needs. She has the right to
kind treatment. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "The most perfect believers are
the best in conduct. And the best of you are those who are best to their
wives." God tells us He created mates and put love, mercy, and
tranquillity between them.

Both men and women have a need for companionship and sexual needs, and
marriage is designed to fulfill those needs. For one spouse to deny this
satisfaction to the other, temptation exists to seek it elsewhere.

10. Duties of a Wife ............................................... from III&E

With rights come responsibilities. Therefore, wives have certain
obligations to their husbands. The Qur'an states: "The good women in the
absence of their husbands guard their rights as Allah has enjoined upon
them to be guarded." (4:34)

A wife is to keep her husband's secrets and protect their marital
privacy. Issues of intimacy or faults of his that would dishonor him,
are not to be shared by the wife, just as he is expected to guard her
honor.

A wife must also guard her husband's property. She must safeguard his
home and possessions, to the best of her ability, from theft or damage.
She should manage the household affairs wisely so as to prevent loss or
waste. She should not allow anyone to enter the house whom her husband
dislikes nor incur any expenses of which her husband disapproves.

A Muslim woman must cooperate and coordinate with her husband. There
cannot, however, be cooperation with a man who is disobedient to God.
She should not fulfill his requests if he wants her to do something
unlawful. A husband also should not take advantage of his wife, but be
considerate of her needs and happiness.

11. Conclusion - Rights of Women ................................... from III&E

The Qur'an states: "And it becomes not a believing man or a believing
women, when Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) have decided on an affair
(for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair;
and whoso is rebellious to Allah and His Messenger, he verily goes
astray in error manifest." (33:36)

The Muslim woman was given a role, duties and rights 1400 years ago that
most women do not enjoy today, even in the West. These are from God and
are designed to keep balance in society; what may seem unjust or missing
in one place is compensated for or explained in another place. Islam is

a complete way of life.

-- Mary Ali and Anjum Ali

12. Who Practices Polygamy? ........................................ from III&E

Polygamy has been practiced by mankind for thousands of years. Many of
the ancient Israelites were polygamous, some having hundreds of wives.
King Solomon (peace be upon him) is said to have had seven hundred wives
and three hundred concubines. David (Dawood) had ninety-nine and Jacob
(Yacub, peace be upon them both) had four. Advice given by some Jewish
wise men state that no man should marry more than four wives. No early
society put any restrictions on the number of wives or put any
conditions about how they were to be treated. Jesus was not known to
have spoken against polygamy. As recently as the seventeenth century,
polygamy was practiced and accepted by the Christian Church. The Mormons
(Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has allowed and practiced
polygamy in the United States.

Monogamy was introduced into Christianity at the time of Paul when many
revisions took place in Christianity. This was done in order for the
church to conform to the Greco-Roman culture where men were monogamous
but owned many slaves who were free for them to use: in other words,
unrestricted polygamy.

Early Christians invented ideas that women were "full of sin" and man
was better off to "never marry." Since this would be the end of mankind
these same people compromised and said "marry only one."

In the American society many times when relations are strained, the
husband simply deserts his wife. The he cohabits with a prostitute or
other immoral woman without marriage. Actually there are three kinds of
polygamy practiced in Western societies: (1) serial polygamy, that is,
marriage, divorce, marriage, divorce, and so on any number of times; (2)
a man married to one woman but having and supporting one or more
mistresses; (3) an unmarried man having a number of mistresses. Islam
condones but discourages the first and forbids the other two.

Wars cause the number of women to greatly exceed the number of men. In a
monogamous society these women, left without husbands or support, resort
to prostitution, illicit relationships with married men resulting in
illegitimate children with no responsibility on the part of the father,
or lonely spinsterhood or widowhood.

Some Western men take the position that monogamy protects the rights of
women. But are these men really concerned about the rights of women? The
society has so many practices which exploit and suppress women, leading
to women's liberation movements from the suffragettes of the early
twentieth century to the feminists of today.

The truth of the matter is that monogamy protects men, allowing them to
"play around" without responsibility. Easy birth control and easy legal
abortion has opened the door of illicit sex to woman and she has been
lured into the so-called sexual revolution. But she is still the one who
suffers the trauma of abortion and the side effects of the birth control
methods. Taking aside the plagues of venereal disease, herpes and AIDS,
the male continues to enjoy himself free of worry. Men are the ones
protected by monogamy while women continue to be victims of men's
desires. Polygamy is very much opposed by the male dominated society
because it would force men to face up to responsibility and fidelity. It
would force them to take responsibility for their polygamous
inclinations and would protect and provide for women and children.

Among all the polygamous societies in history there were none which
limited the number of wives. All of the relationships were unrestricted.
In Islam, the regulations concerning polygamy limit the number of wives
a man can have while making him responsible for all of the women
involved.

"Marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that
you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one or one
that your right hands possess. That will be more suitable, to prevent
you from doing injustice." (Qur'an 4:3)

This verse from the Qur'an allows a man to marry more than one woman but
only if he can deal justly with them. Another verse says that a person
is unable to deal justly between wives, thus giving permission but
discouraging.

"You will never be able to deal justly between wives however much you
desire (to do so). But (if you have more than one wife) do not turn
altogether away (from one), leaving her in suspense..." (Qur'an 4:129)

While the provision for polygamy makes the social system flexible enough
to deal with all kinds of conditions, it is not necessarily recommended
or preferred by Islam. Taking the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) is instructive. He was married to one woman, Khadijah, for
twenty-five years. It was only after her death when he had reached the
age of fifty that he entered into other marriages to promote
friendships, create alliances or to be an example of some lesson to the
community; also to show the Muslims how to treat their spouses under
different conditions of life.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was given inspiration from Allah about
how to deal with multiple marriages and the difficulties encountered
therein. It is not an easy matter for a man to handle two wives, two
families, and two households and still be just between the two. No man
of reasonable intelligence would enter into this situation without a
great deal of thought and very compelling reasons (other than sexual).

Some people have said that the first wife must agree to the second
marriage. Others have said that the couple can put it into the marriage
contract that the man will not marry a second wife. First of all,
neither the Qur'an nor Hadith state that the first wife need be
consulted at all concerning a second marriage let alone gain her
approval. Consideration and compassion on the part of the man for his
first wife should prompt him to discuss the matter with her but he is
not required to do so or to gain her approval. Secondly, the Qur'an has
explicitly given permission for a man to marry "two or three or four."
No one has the authority to make a contract forbidding something that
has been granted by Allah.

The bottom line in the marriage relationship is good morality and
happiness, creating a just and cohesive society where the needs of men
and women are well taken care of. The present Western society, which
permits free sex between consenting adults, has given rise to an
abundance of irresponsible sexual relationships, an abundance of
"fatherless" children, many unmarried teenage mothers; all becoming a
burden on the country's welfare system. In part, such an undesirable
welfare burden has given rise to bloated budget deficits which even an
economically powerful country like the United States cannot accommodate.
Bloated budget deficits have become a political football which is
affecting the political system of the United States.

In short, we find that artificially created monogamy has become a factor
in ruining the family structure, and the social, economic and political
systems of the country.

It must be a prophet, and indeed it was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) who directed Muslims to get married or observe patience until one
gets married. 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported Allah's messenger as saying,
"Young man, those of you who can support a wife should marry, for it
keeps you from looking at strange women and preserves you from
immorality; but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting,
for it is a means of suppressing sexual desire." (Bukhari and Muslim)

Islam wants people to be married and to develop a good family structure.
Also Islam realizes the requirements of the society and the individual
in special circumstances where polygamy can be the solution to problems.
Therefore, Islam has allowed polygamy, limiting the number of wives to
four, but does not require or even recommend polygamy.

In the Muslim societies of our times, polygamy is not frequently
practiced despite legal permission in many countries. It appears that
the American male is very polygamous, getting away with not taking
responsibility for the families he should be responsible for.

--Mary Ali

(NOTE: In this article polygamy has been used to mean polygyny meaning
having two or more wives. Islam forbids polyandry meaning having two or
more husbands.)

Announcements ................................................................

13. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part7
quit

-- GOPHER --

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Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
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islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

14. Credits ...................................................................

The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for
the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ.

-- SOURCES --

The information on soc.religion.islam forum (in Part 2) has been
compiled from USENET archives and administrative logs of
Soc.Religion.Islam moderator panel.

What is III&E?

More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O.

Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Tel: (312) 777-7443 Fax:
(312) 777-7199.

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following:

o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E)
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# End of Islam FAQ Part 7 #

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