The Truth About Islam: The Wealthy, Zakaah And Extravagance

Non-Muslim's Behavior Discussing Issues Related To Islam

In most of my posts in Websites other than this blog, I faced many attacks by non-Muslims criticizing Islam. Most of these attacks did not include questions. Many used harsh words or changed the subject trying to win their arguments. They also tend to use special or rare incidents to generalize them on all the Muslims.

In the other hand, there are many non-Muslims trying to understand Islam in the correct way: asking the Muslims.

The non-Muslim who is really wanting to know about Islam asks; s/he does not attack. Attacking is the weapon of the one who does not have strong evidences or the one who does not want to know about true Islam.

Avoid Temptations

The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, said:
"Temptations will be presented to men's hearts as reed mat is woven stick by stick and any heart which is impregnated by them will have a black mark put into it, but any heart which rejects them will have a white mark put in it. The result is that there will become two types of hearts: one white like a white stone which will not be harmed by any turmoil or temptation, so long as the heavens and the earth endure; and the other black and dust-colored like a vessel which is upset, not recognizing what is good or rejecting what is abominable, but being impregnated with passion."

Source: al-islam

People of The Scripture

"Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him). (64) O People of the Scripture! Why will ye argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him? Have ye then no sense? (65) Lo! ye are those who argue about that whereof ye have some knowledge: Why then argue ye concerning that whereof ye have no knowledge? Allah knoweth. Ye know not. (66) Abraham was not a Jew, nor yet a Christian; but he was an upright man who had surrendered (to Allah), and he was not of the idolaters. (67) Lo! those of mankind who have the best claim to Abraham are those who followed him, and this Prophet and those who believe (with him); and Allah is the Protecting Guardian of the believers. (68) A party of the People of the Scripture long to make you go astray; and they make none to go astray except themselves, but they perceive not. (69) O People of the Scripture! Why disbelieve ye in the revelations of Allah, when ye (yourselves) bear witness (to their truth)? (70) O People of the Scripture! Why confound ye truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth? (71) And a party of the People of the Scripture say: Believe in that which hath been revealed unto those who believe at the opening of the day, and disbelieve at the end thereof, in order that they may return; (72) And believe not save in one who followeth your religion - Say (O Muhammad): Lo! the guidance is Allah's Guidance - that anyone is given the like of that which was given unto you or that they may argue with you in the presence of their Lord. Say (O Muhammad): Lo! the bounty is in Allah's hand. He bestoweth it on whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. (73) He selecteth for His mercy whom He will. Allah is of Infinite Bounty. (74) Among the People of the Scripture there is he who, if thou trust him with a weight of treasure, will return it to thee. And among them there is he who, if thou trust him with a piece of gold, will not return it to thee unless thou keep standing over him. That is because they say: We have no duty to the Gentiles. They speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly. (75) Nay, but (the chosen of Allah is) he who fulfilleth his pledge and wardeth off (evil); for lo! Allah loveth those who ward off (evil). (76) Lo! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's covenant and their oaths, they have no portion in the Hereafter. Allah will neither speak to them nor look upon them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He make them grow. Theirs will be a painful doom. (77) And lo! there is a party of them who distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture. And they say: It is from Allah, when it is not from Allah; and they speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly. (78) It is not (possible) for any human being unto whom Allah had given the Scripture and wisdom and the prophethood that he should afterwards have said unto mankind: Be slaves of me instead of Allah; but (what he said was): Be ye faithful servants of the Lord by virtue of your constant teaching of the Scripture and of your constant study thereof. (79) And he commanded you not that ye should take the angels and the prophets for lords. Would he command you to disbelieve after ye had surrendered (to Allah)? (80) When Allah made (His) covenant with the prophets, (He said): Behold that which I have given you of the Scripture and knowledge. And afterward there will come unto you a messenger, confirming that which ye possess. Ye shall believe in him and ye shall help him. He said: Do ye agree, and will ye take up My burden (which I lay upon you) in this (matter)? They answered: We agree. He said: Then bear ye witness. I will be a witness with you. (81) Then whosoever after this shall turn away: they will be miscreants. (82) Seek they other than the religion of Allah, when unto Him submitteth whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and unto Him they will be returned. (83) Say (O Muhammad): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. (84) And whoso seeketh as religion other than the Surrender (to Allah) it will not be accepted from him, and he will be a loser in the Hereafter. (85)"

Al Imran 3:64-85

Misconception: Islam Spreaded By Sword

The Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, sent messengers to the kings of many nations to invite them to convert to Islam which calls to worshiping God alone. Many people followed the religion of their kings and they were oppressed and killed if they follow another religion. To allow the people to see the truth, such heads of evil must have been removed. And the people were given the freedom to follow any religion they believed it true (Arabic Source: IslamOnline) because God says in the Holy Quran:

There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower. The Cow 2:256

The Veil

Some people, especially in the West, would tend to ridicule the whole argument of modesty for protection. Their argument is that the best protection is the spread of education, civilised behaviour, and self restraint. We would say: fine but not enough. If ‘civilization’ is enough protection, then why is it that women in North America dare not walk alone in a dark street - or even across an empty parking lot? If Education is the solution, then why is it that a respected university like Queen’s has a ‘walk home service’ mainly for female students on campus? If self restraint is the answer, then why are cases of sexual harassment in the workplace reported on the news media every day?

A sample of those accused of sexual harassment, in the last few years, includes: Navy officers, Managers, University professors, Senators, Supreme Court Justices, and the President of the United States! I could not believe my eyes when I read the following statistics, written in a pamphlet issued by the Dean of Women’s office at Queen’s University:

In Canada, a woman is sexually assaulted every 6 minutes”, 1 in 3 women in Canada will be sexually assaulted at some time in their lives”, 1 in 4 women are at the risk of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime”, 1 in 8 women will be sexually assaulted while attending college or university, and A study found 60% of Canadian university-aged males said they would commit sexual assault if they were certain they wouldn’t get caught.”

Something is fundamentally wrong in the society we live in. A radical change in the society’s life style and culture is absolutely necessary. A culture of modesty is badly needed, modesty in dress, in speech, and in manners of both men and women. Otherwise, the grim statistics will grow even worse day after day and, unfortunately, women alone will be paying the price. Actually, we all suffer but as K. Gibran has said, “...for the person who receives the blows is not like the one who counts them.” [84] Therefore, a society like France which expels young women from schools because of their modest dress is, in the end, simply harming itself.

It is one of the great ironies of our world today that the very same headscarf revered as a sign of ‘holiness’ when worn for the purpose of showing the authority of man by Catholic Nuns, is reviled as a sign of ‘oppression’ when worn for the purpose of protection by Muslim women.

Source: Women Rights Before & After Islam

Allah Is The God

“…It’s interesting to observe that, in rejecting the Athenian’s erroneous concept of God, Paul did not reject the word they used for God, Theos, which was the common Greek word for God.

Some Christians unthinkingly say 'Allah is not God.' This is the ultimate blasphemy to Muslims, and furthermore, it is difficult to understand. Allah is the primary Arabic word for God. It means 'The God.' There are some minor exceptions. For example, the Bible in some Muslim lands uses a word for God other than Allah (Farsi and Urdu are examples). But for more than five hundred years before Muhammad, the vast majority of Jews and Christians in Arabia called God by the name Allah. How, then, can we say that Allah is an invalid name for God? If it is, to whom have these Jews and Christians been praying?

And what about the 10 to 12 million Arab Christians today? They have been calling God ‘Allah’ in their Bibles, hymns, poems, writings, and worship for over nineteen centuries. What an insult to them when we tell them not to use this word ‘Allah’! Instead of bridging the distance between Muslims and Christians, we widen the gulf of separation between them and us when we promote such a doctrine. Those who still insist that it is blasphemy to refer to God as Allah should also consider that Muhammad’s father was named Abd Allah, ‘God’s servant,’ many years before his son was born or Islam was founded!”

--excerpted from BUILDING BRIDGES by Fouad Accad (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress), p. 22).

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Wealthy, Zakaah And Extravagance

Peace of God and His mercy to you.

One of the greatest orders from Allah is zakaah:

Zakaah in Arabic means growth, blessing and purification.

Islam is the religion of justice. Islam assures the welfare of the individual and the group. The wealthy must pay zakaah to the poor annually. From Islam Q&A:

Question:
If someone is extremely wealthy how much of their wealth should they keep for themselves? Are they allowed to buy a big house or should they give more money to the poor?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

What is obligatory on the wealth of the rich is zakaah; whatever is left after paying zakaah, even if it is a lot, is halaal (permissible) for them and it is permissible for them to buy a big house, but they should avoid extravagance because it is haraam in Islam even if the extravagant person is rich, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“… and waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not those who waste by extravagance.” [al-An’aam 6:141]

It is mustahabb for them to give charity to the poor apart from zakaah, and the best charity is that which comes from richness. According to Islam, they are also obliged to honour their guests and help those who are in desperate need, and to give to poor people who ask for help – even if they have already paid their zakaah.
And Allaah knows best.

Charity is highly rewarded. Drawing a smile on others' face, helping people in need, offering water for free on the road, giving extra food to hungry people, ... etc. each of these is related to justice and peace.