The Islamic Bulletin Newsletter Issue No. 12

Page 1 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Issue 12 Vol. XXII, No. 27 in this issue Letters to the Editor.......................... 2 Islamic World News.......................... 3 Do You Knock on Wood?................. 6 Islamic Dietary Laws........................... 8 Women in Islam................................. 9 Why I Embraced Islam........................ 10 Kid’s Corner. .................................... 12 The Miracles of the Qur’an. .............. 12 Stories of the Sahabas........................ 15 Qur’an and Science. .......................... 16 Technology Review............................ 19 The Islamic Bulletin Published by the Islamic Community of Northern California A Non-Profit Corporation P.O. Box 410186 San Francisco, CA 94141-0186 E-Mail: info@islamicbulletin.org Website: http://www.islamicbulletin.org Ramadan Is Here!!! The month of Ramadan has once again begun. It is a time for Muslims to earn countless rewards and a time to seek forgiveness for past sins. Muslims wait all year long for the arrival of Ramadan. Although Ramadan brings the hardships of fasting, it also brings the pleasure of knowing that the fast itself is for the sole purpose of pleasing Allah. This fast requires total abstention from food, drink, and sex from dawn to sunset during every day of the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. The body may not partake of anything in any way or contact another of the opposite sex without breaking the fast. Exempted from this duty are children and persons suffering from sickness or undergoing the tremendously heavy burden of desert travel. In such cases, the exempted person is not to forego the fast but to postpone it to another, healthier or more restful time before recurrence of the following Ramadan. Fasting is an old religious custom. It was practiced by lay persons and clergy in ancient religions, as well as by Jews and Christians. Though its purposes differed from religion to religion, there were general agreements that fasting was a self-preparation for communion with divinity. Long before Islam, the month of Ramadan was regarded by the Arabs as a holy month. Its occasion imposed upon them the prohibition of war and hunting, and brought about an uninterrupted peace during which travel and movement of goods across the desert were safe from attack. The Arabs reckoned Ramadan as the month of spiritual stocktaking. Throughout its duration, they were especially keen to please, to settle old debts and disputes, to do good to their neighbors. The more morally sensitive among them underwent a retreat to a temple, or into their homes, to avoid disturbing their concentration and meditation. Before his commission as the Prophet, Muhammad (SAW) was in the habit of retreating during Ramadan to Hira’, a cave outside Makkah, where he would spend several days in meditation. His wife used to send him daily provisions with a servant, knowing that her husband was devoting himself exclusively to worship. Islam continued the tradition of dedicating the month of Ramadan to religious pursuits. Besides the fast, the Islamic tradition regarded moral and religious action during Ramadan as especially meritorious, and urged Muslims to increase their service to God during the month. It was during Ramadan that Muhammad received his first revelation. Islam assigned two purposes to fasting: self-discipline and commiseration with the hungry of the earth. We have seen that Islam repudiates self-mortification and asceticism. Islam does not believe that righteousness requires humankind to deny itself. God wishes people to be free, healthy, fulfilled, and happy. As philosophers might put it, going to the dentist is certainly a painful experience. One does not undergo pain for its own sake unless one assumes that suffering is the end of human life. One endures pain willingly, however, if one believes it will lead to health and well- being which are the opposite of suffering. Accordingly, there is no denying that fasting is a hardship, so to what purpose did Islam impose it? To understand the purpose is to understand Ramadan. Self-discipline through fasting is a novel religious idea. Hunger and sexual desire are pivotal instincts of life. Their satisfaction is a capital requirement of any social order. But they are precisely two of the most sensitive areas of human life. [cont’d on Page 2]

Page 2 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Page 3 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Prohibition of food and sex constitutes a threat to life, the former to individual life and the latter to group life. Deliberate abstinence from food and sex stirs up the consciousness of imminent death to both the individual and the group, and provides ample opportunity to mobilize consciousness and launch it into combat, in defense of life. Islam has prescribed total abstinence from food and sex from dawn to sunset precisely for that reason. The threat to individual and group life must be resisted, and the Muslim must be taught and trained in the art of resistance. Patience, forbearance, perseverance, steadfastness in suffering and privation--these are the qualities Islam seeks to cultivate through fasting. Conversely, the areas of food and sex are regarded as two of humanity’s weakest spots in regard to morality and righteousness. The Muslim sees them as avenues for vice and immortality to find their way into the world. To learn how to block those avenues of immoral use, fortify the individual against temptation, and make one’s moral house impregnable is the purpose of Islamic fasting. Hence, Islam looks upon fasting as the best exercise in the art of self-mastery. To make the exercise more effective, Islam prescribes that the fast be broken promptly at sunset, even before the performance of the sunset salat. Thus Islam regards every day in Ramadan as a fresh exercise or trial which, if carried successfully to sunset, may be ended with celebration, food, and joy, so that the abstinence and indulgence each day and night is thought to be more forceful and effective. The second purpose of fasting is commiseration with the hungry and deprived of the earth. Privation is without doubt humanity’s constant and greatest affliction. There is no teacher more eloquent or effective than experience. For one to undertake the fast of Ramadan is to be reminded of and to sympathize with the deprived everywhere. To sharpen the lesson, Islam recommends to those who can afford it the voluntary act of feeding a neighbor, especially a poor one, every day of Ramadan, in further emphasis that Ramadan is the month of charity, of altruism, of neighborly love and kindness. It also prescribes, as personal atonement, the feeding of sixty persons for every day of Ramadan on which the fast is broken deliberately in defiance of God, and the feeding of two people (in addition to making up the fast on other days) if the fast is broken for legitimate reasons. Finally, the zakat al Fitr (charity of fast ending) must be given. Its amount is prescribed to be the equivalent of two meals on behalf of each member of the household. This measure is designed to bring the joys of the feast to the poor and hungry as well. This philosophy of fasting illustrates Islam’s humanism and affirmation of this world. Fasting, the art of world- denial par excellence, practiced by the ascetics of all religions, is here transformed into an instrument of world affirmation. Rather than being a tool of self- denial for ascetics, fasting in Islam has become a tool of self-mastery for the better conduct of human life. The pursuit of this life and of this world is thereby ennobled and brought closer to righteousness through charity and obedience to God. Ramadan Mubarak!! Happy Ramadan!! - from all of us at the Islamic Bulletin and the Islamic Center. Letters To The Editor Dear Editor, Assalamu Alaikum I received the Bulletin you sent me recently and I read it thoroughly. I really feel inspired by many of the articles contained in it. I was especially touched by the Hadith referring to repentance. This really brought joy to my heart. Also of interest to me was the article on Maryam Jameelah and the struggle that she endured by her family. However, the story affecting me so intensely was the one about the brother who was a drug dealer and died the day after accepting Islam. I was affected so strongly by this story that it actually brought tears to my eyes. It really made me reflect upon my own life in pursuit of worldly things. This is one of the things that I reflect upon, and thank Allah for in the coming blessed month of Ramadan. My parents are unaware that I am in prison because I am too embarrassed to tell them. So when I received your newsletter, it was such a comfort to hear from an outside group that really cares. I have cut all ties with anyone involved in any type of negativity. I am starting clean now so that I can change any wrong things that might lead me away from the path of Allah. Each day I am asked by inmates to explain Islam to them. It appears that people of all nationalities are running to this Deen. It is like the Quran says, Truth has come and falsehood shall perish. Every chance I get I practice my Arabic recitation of the Holy Quran. I hope of being blessed with some degree of excellence of reciting the Quran that Bilal must have had, Inshallah. The other brothers here also send you their salaams and thank you for the Islamic Bulletins that you sent them. May Allah continue to bless you in your efforts to help others. I shall keep you in my prayers. Assalamu Alaikum Brother Zaid San Quentin Dear Readers: The Editors of the Islamic Bulletin have decided not to publish the remaining four questions that Tony Poldrugovac asked in the previous issue due to the fact that when his first question was answered, he came back with 15 other ones. We find Tony’s questions to be argumentative in nature and therefore, we have decided not to respond to any more questions. However, we have sent Tony’s original questions to Ahmed Deedat, the famous Islamic scholar, who undoubtedly, answer him better than we were able to. See ‘Response by Ahmed Deedat’. Need to contact us? Web Address: www.islamicbulletin.org E-Mail: info@islamicbulletin.org Editor, Islamic Bulletin P.O. Box 410186 San Francisco, CA 94141-0186, USA Peace Be Unto You - JOHN 20:19 This is in response to your letter which was received via The Editor of The Islamic Bulletin. At this hostile stage of human existence, when at times clouds of stormy war can be felt hovering above; your endeavor to comprehend the relationship between our two faiths is truly commendable. However your questions reflect a strong sense of firmness as if you have arrived at the absolute truth that the Bible is the undisputed authority. The scientific method of inquiry emphatically insists that persons should investigate matters of belief personally and that none should adopt any opinion without due consideration and rational proof. Religion demands the same: “Say! ‘Produce your proof if ye are truthful.’” (Holy Quran 2:111) “...The first of all commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” (Jesus - MARK 12:29) Let’s discuss the reliability of the Bible in the court of conscience. Prof. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in his book, Islam and Christianity wrote: “The criterion on the basis of which the sanctity of any revealed Book is critically evaluated comprises three elements: (1) Genuineness (2) Authenticity (3) Integrity 1. Genuineness: The first requirement for assessing the correctness of a Book involves an analytical probing of the fact that the present complexion and condition of the Book is the same in which it was delivered by the founder of the religion himself. This primary investigation automatically leads to a secondary investigation, which may be more conveniently formulated in the form of an interrogation: Had the founder, of a religion himself given any Book to his followers in his life-time or not. If it is positively established that a revealed Book was given by the founder to his companions and followers, then the second question acquires greater urgency. Our main concern focuses on the fact whether the book, which is followed by the followers, is the same or not. If the answer is in the affirmative, the book is considered genuine; and if either of the questions is answered in the negative, then the Book is nothing but a clumsy piece of spurious propaganda. 2. Authenticity: If it is historically proved that the Book was given by the founder, and it has come down to the present generation of his followers in its original form, then the Book requires another critical examination to establish its bona-fides. The critical inquiry may be framed in the form of another question: Has any change or modification occurred in the Book or has it survived the vagaries of change and remained unmutilated. If it is proved that the Book has gone through a process of change and alteration, and various conflicts, errors and contradictions have been introjected into its contents, then it is absolutely unauthentic and unreliable and no amount of reconditioning can restore its original texture. But if it has resisted change and, remained uninterpolated and inviolate, it will be considered an authentic Book. 3. Integrity: The third angle of approaching a revealed Book is to decide whether any external material was included in it, or any internal material excluded from it during the process of its compilation. If the presence of these inclusions or exclusions is established, the Book will lose its integrity and at best can be described only as a tampered piece of revelation. But if it has remained intact and has survived the fluctuations of taste and temperament, its integrity shall be above board. It will qualify as integral form of exposition inspite of the prejudice-oriented criticism of its adversaries. Thus, in the light of the three-fold criterion, we can safely conclude that with the sole exception of Qur’an, the Holy Qur’an Book of Islam, none of the religious books possesses the characteristics of genuineness, authenticity and integrity.” With regard to the validity of the Bible keeping the above hints in mind, I request you to study my book: ‘Is the Bible God’s Word?’, a copy of which has been enclosed for your study. Listed hereunder are a few issues that require clarification: Yes, Islam teaches that ‘God is all powerful’ and ‘majestic’ from whose Oceanic Being the systemof existence springs. Even soHewould not do anything ungodly - as theCreatorHewouldnever assume the formof the created. Note well!, the Holy Qur’an, the Universe even Jesus (PBUH) came into existence by the divine will of God! Only a sick or untrained mind or both would accept the theory of the incarnation of God: “How then canman be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a women? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight? How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” (JOB 25:4-6) Islamadvocates theconceptof theevolutionof religionandreligious thought. It should be noted that Muslims accept the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to be the last of the Divine Messengers and the Holy Qur’an as God’sfinal revelation. Sincedivinely institutedmessengers appearedbefore bearingadivinesetof instructions, thus theHolyQur’an invitesour attention to those fundamental truths. These basic truths can only be determined using theHolyQur’anas theblueprint. For example theHolyQur’anstates: “Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of God.” (Holy Quran 4:171) If a Christian were to refute or doubt the above Qur’anic concept, then they are requested to consult their scripture for conformation, here one is bound to find remnants of a divine message:”Nevertheless I must walk today and tomorrow, and the day following: For it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” (Jesus - LUKE 13:33) Inspite of this request for one to turn to the Bible for conformation, the book as a whole still remains a corrupted and unreliable source: “How can you say, ‘We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us’? But, behold, the false pen of scribes has made it into a lie.” (JEREMIAH 8:8-10) Christians consider the alleged crucifixion and the subsequent doctrine of atonement significant. Yet this concept is contrary to Biblical teachings: “The soul that sinneth, shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (EZEKIEL 18:20) Similarly sight JEREMIAH 3:30, DEUTERONOMY 24:16, 2 CHRONICLES 25:4 and 2 KINGS 14:6. Surely, Jesus (PBUH) being a beloved servant of God would not be humiliated: “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; for he that sin hanged is accursed of God. That thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for and inheritance.” (DEUTERONOMY 21:22) The latter Biblical verse highlights the Jewish belief which Jesus considered significant and eternal: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I amnot come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one little shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the lest in the Kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.” (MATTHEW 5:17-19) For your edification, the doctrine of atonement would be of no value for a certain type of sin: “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgivenuntomen: but theblasphemy against the HolyGhost shall not be forgivenuntomen. Andwhosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” (MATTHEW 12:31-32) If the doctrine of atonement is genuine then Jesus would not have uttered the words quoted above, because belief in atonement is said to bring about absolute remission of sins. Allow a fresh air of reason to enter your mind. Please! Consider the advice of Jesus to a rich young ruler pertaining to salvation. MATTHEW 19:21 Wishing you well and everything of the best. Yours in Humanity, AHMED DEEDAT Durban, South Africa Response by Ahmed Deedat

Page 4 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Page 5 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 BY ALL MEANS NECCESARY... ...ISLAM IN AMERICA IS ON THE RISE There is no One Kind of Muslim By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY Jan. 27, 1994 On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, 1,000 Friday worshipers crowd into a gleaming new $14 million mosque. In Bladenboro, N.C., butchers slaughter goats according to the rules of the Koran - Islam’s most holy book. And in Fort Monmouth, N.J., an Army captain trains as the military’s first Muslim chaplain. A new sound is being heard in the USA, a land where church bells have always pealed loudest. It is the cry of the muezzin, the Muslim call to prayer, beckoning members of what experts say is the nation’s fastest-growing religion. And as the number of Muslims swells, so too does their political and cultural influence. “This is a new phenomenon,” says Sayyid Syeed of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon, Va. “The Muslim population has grown through immigration, birth and conversion” in the past two decades. No one knows exactly how many of the world’s nearly 1 billion Muslims live here. The best estimate is at least 5 million- meaning Muslims could outnumber the USA’s 6 million Jews by early in the next century and make Islam the nation’s second- largest religion. Despite Islam’s growth, Muslims complain they are misunderstood and stereotyped. Though fewer than 20,000 belong to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, again under attack recently for racist and anti-Semitic statements, the public identifies most black Muslims with his group. So Muslim immigrants find themselves branded for the acts of extremists. Many cite a WASHINGTON TIMES headline after the World Trade Center bombing in New York: “Muslim Arrested.” “If there’s an IRA bombing, they don’t say ‘Catholic’. Or ‘Greek Orthodox’ are raping Bosnians,” says Mustafa Malik of the American Muslim Council, a Washington interest group. “Most Americans don’t have a very positive attitude toward Muslims,” says Sulayman Nyang, a Howard University African studies professor. “Most see Muslims, through Middle East issues, as fundamentalists, terrorists, anti-Westerners. ... It is guilt by association,” Nyang says. Yet, contrary to their depiction in the media, Arabs make up just 12% of U.S. Muslims, says the American Muslim Council. Muslims aren’t monolithic, says Yvonne Haddad, a University of Massachusetts Islamic historian. “They come from different countries, with different languages, different ethnic identities, different races. Africans, Asians, Europeans. Also converts. There is no one kind of Muslim.” But most Muslims are conservative on social issues, opposing abortion, premarital sex, homosexuality and divorce. They support school prayer. Many avoid alcohol, dating or dancing. Muslim women are urged to dress modestly, so head scarfs and floor- length dresses have become more common sights on U.S. streets. Despite their conservatism, Muslims who practice Islam’s five pillars - accepting no god but Allah and Mohammed (PBUH) as his prophet, prayer five times a day, fasting, charity and making a pilgrimage to Mecca - make up just 10% of those in the USA, says Haddad. And some Muslim leaders worry about the effects of creeping secularization, even though there are about 1,100 mosques across the nation, most built in the last dozen years. “Drug addiction is non- existent in our community, our children aren’t in gangs, we don’t have problems with alcoholism, with domestic abuse,” says Aslam Abdullah, editor of THE MINARET, the USA’s only Muslim-oriented English-language periodical. “Our moral values can contribute to society.” Yet the ground rules have to be accepted - America is not going to be an Islamic state and Muslims do not want to impose Islam on anybody,” says Ihsan Bagby of the Islamic Resource Institute, a Los Angeles think tank. “Most Muslims have a strong love for the things American value - freedom of speech, respect for individualism and hard work.” There are two distinct Muslim communities in the USA: - Converts: Black converts make up 42% of Muslims and account for most conversions of U.S. - born residents, the Muslim Council says. One in 5 African slaves may have been Muslim before being forced to convert to Christianity, experts say. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that Black Nationalism, through the Nation of Islam, sparked an Islamic revival. The Nation’s message of black superiority and racial separation, along with strict discipline and economic self- reliance, appealed to some black men beaten down by crime and poverty. Today, though, most black Muslims follow the teachings of Warith Deen Muhammad, who rejected the Nation’s racial theories and urged a return to mainstream Islam. Still, says Howard University’s Nyang, a Gambian immigrant, many blacks see Islam “as a cultural weapon in the struggle against racism” and a return to ancestral faith. - Immigrants: The first Muslim may have arrived with Christopher Columbus. Today, more than half the USA’s Muslims are immigrants. Most came after 1964, when immigration policies changed to allow more student and professional emigres from Muslim countries. Now, 1 in 4 U.S. Muslims is from India or Pakistan. Others come from the Middle East, Africa, Iran, Turkey, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. Haddad says most immigrants assimilate quickly, settling in suburbs or small towns where they often replace native- born professionals who have moved to larger cities. Many towns rely on foreign-trained Muslim doctors for health care, and other immigrants work as engineers, scientists and business people. Farooq Kathwari, a Muslim, heads the Ethan Allen furniture company. Another Muslim, Fazlur Khan, was an architect of Chicago’s Sears Tower. “Muslims are quietly contributing,” says Syeed, “but that is very difficult to publicize.” Because of their diversity - immigrant and black Muslims have little contact - Muslims have yet to muster much political clout. Although some black converts and immigrants have begun to organize, most newcomers, like other immigrants, don’t get involved in politics. “It will take some time,” says Haddad, noting Muslim political contributions are often rejected by politicians wary of offending other constituents. Eventually though, “Muslims will go beyond the Jewish community” in influence. Says Mahmoud Dakhil of Los Angeles’s new Omar Mosque: “We want to educate Muslims about America and educate America about Islam. It’s a two-way street.” Tide of Conversion to ‘A Universal Religion’ By Bruce Frankel, USA TODAY, Jan. 27, 1994 NEW YORK - As Shawn Waldron quietly makes his Shahadah, the 1,400-year-old Islamic declaration of faith, the wiry 13-year-old is scarcely aware that he represents a significant cultural shift. Yet in joining 250 former Christians kneeling in prayer at the Abdul- Muhsin Khalifa mosque in Brooklyn, the son of a former Baptist preacher joins a tide of conversion reshaping black America’s religious landscape. “There is a struggle out there for the bodies and souls of black Americans, especially black males in our cities,” says William Pannel, professor at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. There is some real concern out there” among black churches. African- Americans are the largest and fastest- growing segment of the USA’s estimated 5 million Muslims - 42%. A new survey by the Islamic Research Institute found that 85% of the 11,000 Americans who convert to Islam each year are black. Most converts are young men in their early 20s, seeking spiritual remedies to moral and religious confusion, racial inequality, and the violent uncertainties of inner-city life. Black converts say Islam provides clear direction, discipline, conservative family values and intellectual encouragement. “It’s not just a religion. It’s a way of life,” says recent convert Abdur- Rashid Taveras, 22. While the racial theories of the Nation of Islam have received most of the media attention in recent years, most black Muslims reject those ideas in favor of orthodox Islam, which they say is color blind.” It’s a universal religion,” says Shaheed Abdul- Malik, 23, who converted in his teens. “It sees no color and no race.” Boosting its appeal the past year was the film MALCOLM X, which reminded the African-American community of that leader’s conversion. But the origins of Islam are deeply embedded in black America; reaching back to the founding of the Moorish Science Temple in Newark, N.J., in 1913.Slaves may have brought the faith with them to America. Thousands of American blacks were drawn to the Nation of Islam in the 1950s and ‘60s by the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. For 40 years, he spread a version of Islam that championed Black Nationalism, racial chauvinism, quasi- militaristic discipline and economic self- sufficiency. Since Elijah Muhammad’s 1975 death, his son - Warith Dean Mohammed - has led black American Muslims away from racial separatism and into mainstream, moderate Sunni Islam. An estimated 250,000 African-Americans are followers. By contrast, the Nation of Islam, active in converting black prisoners and led by Louis Farrakhan, has about 20,000 followers, experts say. In most African- American Muslim congregations, older leaders, now in their 40s, came out of the Nation of Islam - where they were attracted by its social activism. New converts focus more on Islam’s theological solutions, such as the treatment of Christian concepts like the divinity of Jesus. African-American men, on the other hand, find affirmation of their masculinity - one that insists fulfilling obligations to protect and provide for wives and children. Female converts, such as Hadiyyah Phipps Muhammad, 39, a hospital nurses’ aide, say the security that comes to women who submit to the patriarchal religion is a fair exchange for real sisterhood and a chance to bond with reliable men. “In Islam, men don’t come to Jumha on Friday and then go out on the street and act the fool,” she says. “It’s not to say the home is your place, but it is your base.” says Sayyida Muhammad, 37, a public address announcer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, “We are the most protected women in America.” In neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, the effect of Islam is palpable. Where Muslims own stores, shopkeepers don’t hide behind bulletproof barriers, as they do barely a block away. And after Muslim-led anti-drug campaigns, street dealing is less overt. Taveras says he might not have turned to Islam if he lived in the suburb. “But here,” he says, “Islam offers hope, solutions and a way out.” Many Black Men Leaving the Church for the Mosque (The Tennessean, Volume 89, No. 234) Suleiman Azia gave up Christianity to become a Muslim for lots of reasons. Growing up a black Baptist in Nashville, Tennessee, he said he never saw a biblical character in church literature that wasn’t white. Also, the various denominations seemed to give a confusing picture about just who Jesus is--Is he God, or the son of God? Perhaps most of all, church was attended mostly by women. Where were the men? “It seems there’s something lacking in the message if it’s not attracting men,” said Azia, 37, a Nashville native and businessman who left the church by age 18. “In Islam, I found a stronger ideal of brotherhood and moral discipline--and of manhood. Muhammad was a man just like us, and still he led a life that was pleasing to God,” said Aziz, owner of Vision Books International in Nashville. Aziz’s story could be multiplied by the thousands in America, and that’s what worries African-American church leasers. Though black churches remain a thriving institution, the conversion of black males to the religion of Islam poses a worrisome threat as the century winds down, according to a new national report. “It is already clear that in Islam the historic black church denominations will be faced with a far more serious and more powerful competitor for the souls of black folk than the white churches ever were,” said church historians Wric Lincoln of Duke University and Lawrence Mamiya of Vassar College, writing in the new Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 1993. Church life among African-Americans is by no means eroding, according to scholars Lincoln and Mamiya: 78% of the black population claims church membership, and attendance among blacks is slightly higher than whites. Islam in America

Page 6 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Page 7 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 But nearly 90% of converts to Islam in the United States are African-American men, a statistic that doesn’t surprise Amiri al-Hadid, a local sociologist who is himself a Muslim convert. “The church teaches you to be passive, but that’s not how you survive in America.’ said al-Hadid, 48, a former Baptist who teaches at Tennessee State University and helped organize a new mosque in Nashville. “Islam teaches self-defense. It teaches knowledge and discipline, and the African-American male needs discipline. But there isn’t an ambience of guilt. In church, there is sadness, a sense of guilt, the need to repent, an emotional environment. But men are just not going to cry in public. Islam appeals to your reasoning. It encourages a rational relation with God, not emotions.” Nevertheless, al-Hadid, who was known as Andrew Jackson before changing his name this year, said Islam and Christianity should be driven into competition for the black community, but should collaborate to promote common values. Some local Christian ministers find the issue of male conversion to Islam too sensitive to talk about, but others confirm the trend. “The reason we’re losing a lot of our kids to Islam is they don’t perceive Christianity as active enough,” said the Rev. Avery Blakeney, pastor of Messiah Baptist Church. Blakeney has lately recruited inner-city, Africa-American teen- age boys to plant trees and beautify the yard around J.C. Napier Homes--the king od activism youngsters need to learn Christian values of self-esteem and altruism and to give them reason to embrace church rather than the mosque, he said.” Army’s First Muslim Chaplain Sees a Historic Role (Special to The NY Times) Buffalo, N.Y., December 24, 1993 He was born a Baptist, but as a young man he embraced Islam and took the name Abdul- Rasheed Muhammad. Now, he has also taken the rank of Army captain, becoming the first Muslim chaplain in the armed forces and a symbol of growing religious diversity. Since his swearing-in on Dec. 3 at a ceremony at the Pentagon attended by family, friends and reporters, Captain Muhammad has been back home in Buffalo, finishing his work as a prison chaplain and preparing to report for duty on Jan. 10 at the Army Chaplains School in Fort Mommouth, N.J. Sitting in the office of the mosque where he is an assistant imam, he said his appointment was a step toward acceptance of Islam as one of the nation’s major religions. “Muslims can now feel themselves becoming a little more mainstream,” he said. Captain Muhammad is the first of the 3,150 active-duty chaplains in the armed forces who is neither Christian nor Jewish. A spokesman for the Defense Department, Lieut. Col. Doug Hart, said there were 2,500 people in the armed forces who identified themselves as Muslim, with 1,330 in the Army. Recruits are not required to report their religions, Colonel Hart said, and the total could be higher. A group called the Muslim Military Members estimates the total is closer to 10,000. The research director of the American Muslim Council in Washington, Mustafa Malik, said there were more than five million Muslims nationwide, most of them immigrants. An estimated 42 percent of the Muslims are black Americans. They make up a majority of Americans converting to Islam and a majority of Muslims in the armed forces, Mr. Malik said, though neither he nor the Defense Department had precise figures. Captain Muhammad, 41, was born Myron Maxwell, the 10th of 11 children in a family living in the Commodore Perry housing project here. Though his family was Baptist, he was never baptized, he said, because his parents wanted to leave the choice to him. He did attend church as a youngster, but he remembers that it put him to sleep. By his teen-age years, he said, he was wondering why the worshipers were black, “but the symbols were not African- American.” “I wasn’t comfortable with it,” he added. “It didn’t sit right with my nature.” He began listening to recordings of speeches by Malcolm X and, in 1973, as an anthropology major at the State University at Brockport, he took a course in comparative religion. He found that “Islam was the right way for me personally.” In 1974 he joined the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, a Black Muslim group that espoused racial separatism and Black Nationalism. He said he did not fully subscribe to the philosophy, but was attracted by the emphasis on personal responsibility and self-help. “In the projects where I grew up,” Captain Muhammad said, “the women were exploited. In the Nation of Islam the men were always polite. They were always clean cut. I felt the Nation of Islam had more to offer than the church.” After 1975 the Black Muslim movement changed course. Mr. Muhammad went with the large segment that abandoned Black Nationalism and adopted a more traditional practice of Islam under the leadership of Imam W. Deen Mohammed. “We’ve come from the extreme of being anti- government to having a representative in the military,” said Fajri Ansari, imam of Masjid Nu’Man, the mosque where Captain Muhammad is an assistant imam. Captain Muhammad has been an imam, an official qualified to advise other Muslims and to lead them in religious rites, since 1978. He also holds master’s degrees in social work and guidance counseling and has worked since March 1992 as a chaplain at two prisons in Albion. He sees his new position as historic but not revolutionary. “My goal is not to change the Army,” said Captain Muhammad, who was in the Army as a sergeant. “It is to educate the Army.” There are potential conflicts between Islamic practice and military routine. Muslims are expected to pray five times a day and meet for congregational prayer at midday on Fridays. In the month of Ramadan they observe a daytime fast, and Islamic women are supposed to wear a scarf that covers the head but leaves the face exposed. Captain Muhammad has already made one concession. Before his swearing-in and before anyone told him to, he shaved off his beard to comply with Army regulations. Though beards are not a religious requirement they are symbols of piety among Muslim men, he said, adding, “It was a struggle for me to cut it off.” Gunnery Sgt. Archie Barnes of the Marines, executive director of the Muslim Military Members group, said in general the military had been extremely flexible. Some commanders have tried to limit physical exertion for Muslims during Ramadan, he said. Nevertheless, Sergeant Barnes said, Islamic chaplains are needed because enlisted personnel are often uncomfortable asking superiors to meet their religious needs. “If you understand anything about the military structure,” he said, “it doesn’t come across well.” Mr. Alamoudi, from the American Muslim Council, called Imam Muhammad “a pioneer” and hoped that “others will follow in his footsteps.” Fasting for Health Care The benefits of fasting transcend guiding the faster from idle talk and indecent acts. It is sentinel against disease; provide the faster follows the strict dietary rule: eat during fast-breaking and avoiding over-eating. Allah (SWT) states: “Eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not wasters.” (Al-Quran 7:31) A great deal of ailments originate from stomach indigestion. This is why the Messenger of Allah (SAW) says: “The son of Adam will never fill a container with something worse and evil than his stomach. It will suffice him some morsels (food) that will keep him on his feet, otherwise, he should divide his stomach into three parts: one third for his food, the other for his drink and the other third for his breath.” (Ibn Hibban) This hadith indicates that the stomach is the origin of harmful bacteria. Even in the age of sophisticated machines, you can hardly find a machine so fragile but yet so remarkably durable and efficient like the stomach. This is the machine that receives food particles, processes and refines them, and distributes the products to different parts of the body. This is a lifelong operation. For the non-faster, the stomach will have no chance for rest. When the stomach is empty, as a result of fasting, it gets well- desired rest, to renew and rejuvenate its energy. With the fasting, the stomach is forced to go through a discharge whereby harmful residues are eliminated through perspiration as the body searches for food during fast. During fast, the system of secretion is organized, and this in turn benefits the blood pressure, inhibiting hardening of the arteries. The heart and kidney functions are enhanced as the work load tapers off. The fast helps to correct the problem of obesity and diabetes. Doctors over the years have used fasting as a prescription for certain ailments. There was a discussion between Ali Bin Husain binWaquid (raa) and a Christian physician to the Khalifah, Haroon Ar- Rasheed, about Islam’s outlook on the science of medicine and health care. The physician said to Ibn Waquid: “There is not in your Book, Al-Quran, anything about medicine. For if Al-Quran is a book of science, what about this science? Aren’t there two kinds of sciences: the science of the body and the science of the soul?’ Ibn Waquid responded: ‘Allah, the Most High has combined both sciences in half of a verse, when He states: “...Eat and drink but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not the wasters.” (Al-Quran 7:31) The physician said: ‘Why, then, has nothing been mentioned about medicine from the mouth of your Messenger?’ Ibn Waquid replied: ‘Our Messenger (SAW), has combined the sciences about medicine in a few words when he says: “The stomach is the house for disease and prevention is the essence of medicine.”’ The Christian physician then said: ‘Then your book, Al-Quran, and your Prophet Muhammad left nothing about medicine for Jalienas (a famous physician of the ancients).’” (Arkanul Arbaah) An American physician published a report on fasting and its benefits saying: “It is mandatory on every person who is sick to restrain from food certain days in a year whether he be wealthy or poor because if bacteria can find food in abundance in the body, it will grow and multiply. But with fasting it becomes weak.” He then praised Islam. It should be considered as the wisest religion, for as it mandated fasting it has mandated health care. He continued: “Indeed, Muhammad, who brought this religion, was the best physician who succeeded in his teachings, for he called for prevention before ailment, that is apparent in fasting and the nightly prayer (Taraweh) that Muslims observe after fast-breaking every day of Ramadan, for these physical acts contain high benefits in digesting food.” coconut cooKies (Yields 28) Ingredients: - 1 1/8 cup sugar - 2 eggs - 1 teaspoon cardamon powder - a pinch of nutmeg powder - 2 3/4 cups dried coconut flakes Preparation: Beat the eggs lightly. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the coconut flakes, nutmeg powder, cardamon powder, and mix them all well. Take a small portion from the mixture and form it into a ball shape. Now flatten this ball shape and place on a buttered baking tray. Continue the same with the remaining mixture. Remember to leave space between the cookies. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake them for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool and ENJOY!! Islamic Dietary Laws

Page 8 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Page 9 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 12 Woman, in Islam, was created by God to be man’s partner. The Creator built into both man and woman a mutual correspondence so that each wouldfind contentment in the other. TheQur’an callsman andwoman a “garment” for eachother, signifying their reciprocal closeness toeachother (what is physically andcontinuously closer tooneself thanone’s clothing?), their mutual interdependence. As far as religious duties are concerned, Islammade the sexes absolutelyequal. It has exemptedwomen fromthese dutieswhen theyaremenstruating, pregnant, or recovering fromchildbirth. Unlike most other societies of the time, Islam, from its beginning, recognized women as autonomous legal personalities with civil rights. As a complete legal person the adult Muslim woman is granted title to keep her name forever. She has the right to acquire, keep, and sell property as she pleases in perfect freedom. Her consent must be obtained for any transaction involving her, be it the lease of her property, the cultivation of her field, or, above all, her marriage. She cannot be coerced into anything. Unless she is a minor, and hence dependent upon her parents or guardians, or unless she has appointed another person to be her attorney-at-law or representative, she must exercise her rights in person in order to make a transaction legally valid. Woman, in Islam, is not considered the source of evil. In Islamic belief she did not tempt Adam; nor did the devil or death, whether physical or moral, come into the world through her. The Qur’an tells that God had prohibited Adam and Eve from touching a certain tree and that they disobeyed and had to be expelled from Paradise. It does not say that the act of disobedience was sexual; nor did it have anything to do with the “tree of knowledge. “Furthermore, the Qur’an adds that the disobedient act was repented and that God forgave its perpetrators. Evidently, the guilt was purely that of disobedience. The Qur’an even explains the act as the result of human forgetfulness (Qur’an 20:115) which Islamregards as punishable because of the tremendous importance it lays on moral responsibility. Hence, there is no “fall” in Islam, and no resultant “original sin” in any form. Woman, therefore, is innocent. She is a positive good, a consoler, a source of happiness and fulfillment to man, as man is to her. Male-female relations have to be ordered and governed if the ethical demand of responsibility is to bemet. To this end, Islamprovided awhole system of laws governing those relations, for it believes that man-woman affairs cannot be left to thewhimsyof themoment nor to thearrangements of others. Marriage itself, as an institution, is regarded by Islamas a solemn compliance with the ethical requisite of responsibility. In condemning sexual acts outside of marriage as punishable crimes, Islam does so not because sex is evil in itself but because it has beenengaged in irresponsibly. Islam considers that in male-female relations there is a physical side and an emotional side, as well as a spiritual side. Further, it maintains that adultery is a fulfillment of the physical side, and that it is often entered into at the cost of the long-run emotional side, and always at the cost of the spiritual. For in adultery one partner is always using the other, or allowing himself or herself to be used, as an object. Where one partner has proper regard for the other, surely he or she should be willing to transform the relationship into marriage. Marriage in Islam is not a sacrament but rather a civil contract by which the partners freely proclaim their plan to regard each other henceforth as ends, and not as means. The Rhetoric and Excellence of the Qur’an The languageof theQur’an is unsurpassed in its accuracy ofmeaning and expression. Each letter and word has its place while the language is free from fault. These unique features are foundmanifested in the use of one single letter or a preposition, as is demonstrated in the following verse: “Say (unto the disbelievers): Travel in the land...” (Qur’an al- An’am 6:11) Here, the reader may wonder why Allah has used the preposition Fi’ (‘in’) instead of ‘Ala (‘on’) as correct Arabic usage dictates. However, this structure may be justified if we assumed that the proposition Fi’ (‘in’) entailed adverbiality, and considered the word Al-ard (‘earth’) to be an adverb of the word ‘walk,’ and the meaning permitted it. But in the Qur’an there is no allowance for likelihood. Each expression is measured to fit strictly the meaning it conveys leaving no shadow of doubt as to its interpretation. Each letter or word has one definitemeaning and purpose which unfolds itself readily to the inquisitive mind. With the advance of science into the nature and function of our universe, we have come to learn that the earth is not limited to its terrestrial and aquatic components. It also comprises a gaseous envelope which cleaves to it and gives it life, and without which life on earth would have been impossible. People living on earth make use of the properties of this gaseous extension or atmosphere for their benefit and progress in exactly the same way as they make use of the rocky crust and the liquid surfaces, or land and sea. Thus, when we travel in an aeroplane at about thirty thousand feet above the surface of the earth we are still moving within the boundaries of the earth. We pass beyond this boundary when we cross the limit of the atmosphere and plunge into space. This scientific fact was a mystery to man when the Qur’an was first revealed. Only Allah possessed this knowledge. Nowwe know that we are living and moving amidst two layers of matter: the solid matter of the earth and the gaseous matter which is air. No one today is ignorant of the fact that the three states of matter are solids, liquids, and gases, but this primary knowledgewas not available toman fourteen centuries ago, and neither Muhammad nor anyone else could have known this. A further example of the accuracy of usage and clarity ofmeaning, where no redundancy or synonymity exists, can be seen in the following verses: “... And persevere whatever may befall you. Lo! That is of the steadfast heart of things.” (Qur’an Luqman 31:17) “And verily whoso is patient and forgiveth - lo! That, verily is (of) the steadfast heart of things.” (Qur’an al-Shura 42:43) In the second verse the preposition “of” (LAMIN) may pass unnoticed or be taken as an emphatic synonym. But this is not so, because every letter or word in the language of the Qur’an is selected with the utmost care to convey one intrinsic meaning and definite purpose. There is no such thing as synonymity in the Qur’an. Each letter and word has its own fixed meaning which no other word can express as accurately, irrespective of their seeming similarity. If we consider thoughtfully the meticulous selectivity of the words in the above verses and their underlying meaning, we soon come to realize that there are two kinds of patience. In the first kind there is no direct adversary or person responsible for hardship or misfortune; for example a brick falling from a building under construction onto the head of an unsuspecting pedestrian, or the collapse of a newly- built house over peacefully sleeping tenants. In all incidents and mishaps of this nature no individual bears the responsibility for the victim’s misfortune. It is therefore easy for the unfortunate man to restrain his anger and accept his misfortune as an act of Allah. This kind of patience does not require a great deal of energy and can be easily achieved. But patience which is “verily of the steadfast heart of things” is that which involves an antagonist against whom a victim has the freedom to retaliate and avenge himself, but prefers to suppress his anger and vengeful tendencies and forgive him. This kind of patience is deemed by Allah to be worthier than the first, because in this kind the aggrieved is dominated by his instinctive Miracles of the Qur’an anger and feelings of injustice, and has to exercise a great deal of self-restraint. He is restrained by his fear of Allah, and refrains from responding to evil with evil. In the above verses, Allah defines the merits of the two types of patience and their corresponding heavenly rewards. He also describes the human responses of retaliation that ought to be observed in each case by the faithful. Thus, in the first case they are commanded to accept what befalls themwith humility and resignation to His will. In the second they are commanded to be forgiving and to maintain their faith in Allah’s justice. The preposition ‘of’ has obviously been used to accentuate the distinction between the kind of patience in which forgiveness is not a necessity, and that in which forgiveness represents a test of endurance of injustice and of the believer’s trust in Allah’s providence and will. This shows how a single letter or preposition can bear such dept of meaning and discriminating power in the language of the Qur’an. Addressing the Inner Self The miraculous features of the language of the Qur’an are not limited to the accuracy of its words and letters or to their suitability of meaning. They are also exhibited in its unequaled ability to reach the deeply-hidden desires and tendencies of human nature, thus illustrating the all- encompassing and perfect knowledge of its true Maker. Allah, throughout the Qur’an, always addresses human attributes and tendencies, accurately answering any uncertainty that His injunctions may arouse in the minds of His worshippers. But this accuracy may, sometimes, require some modification in the use of one word in order to convey a new, broader andmore apt meaning. This unsurpassed dexterity of language is a dominant feature of the language of theQur’an, as can be observed in the following verse in which Abraham says, “Lo! They are (all) an enemy unto me, save the Lord of the worlds, Who created me, and He does guide me.” (Qur’an al-Shu’ra 26:77-78) Here a question could be raised as towhy Abraham said “Who created me,” and not ‘He is the OneWho createdme,” which would emphasize the notion of creation. The answer is that creation does not require confirmation or assurance, for no one except Allah has the power to create a human being, and, therefore, no confirmation of this power is necessary or needed. But as far as guidance is concerned, there many people who pretend to posses this power or talent. Some have constructed disciplines along the lines of religion, while others have distorted them. Both have declared that their purpose was to guide mankind. Thus anyone could set out his own views and pretend that they are the worthiest disciplines of guidance for humanity to follow. It was therefore necessary to stress that guidance is in the hands of Allah and is bestowed upon mankind according to His will and design. The situation required that the pronoun HUWA (‘He’) be introduced in the phrase FA HUWA YAHDINI (‘and He does guide me’), in order to stress this fact and remind worshippers that guidance is a blessing that only Allah can bestow. The verse goes on to confirm this precept,”And Who feeds me and waters me, and when I sicken, then He heals me, and Who causes me to die and then gives me life (again).” (Qur’an al- Shu’ara 26:79-81) The pronoun huwa (‘He’) was introduced in the above verse because theactions neededconfirmation that Allahwas behind theseblessings. It is only byHis will that we are able to attain them. Both sustenance and cure from sickness are made possible by His will and providence. In contrast, the pronoun ‘He’ was omitted in the last sentence because no one could pretend to posses the power of giving life or taking it away. The exclusiveness of this attribute to Allah needed no justification or confirmation. Thus, Allah adds one word or omits another according to the needs of the situation, so that the precise and desired meaning be accurately and adequately expressed. If Allah had added the pronoun ‘He’ to the above verse, or omitted it altogether, it would have passed unnoticed, and the controversy that the Qur’an was man-made would have continued unabated. The accuracy of meaning and expression may sometimes require the restructuring of words; changing them from transitive to intransitive verbs and vice versa. The verb SAQA (‘to water’) for instance, is sometimes used in four forms. This multiple and varied usage can be observed in the following verse: “... Their Lord will slake their thirst with a pure drink.” (Qur’an al- Insan 76:21) In another passage, we notice that the verb SAQA (‘to water, to give a drink, or quench thirst’) is used to denote an entirely different meaning: If they (the idolaters) tread the right path, We shall give them to drink of water in abundance.” (Qur’an al-Jinn 72:16) Although the two words stem from the same root, the omission or addition of a letter gives the modified word an entirely new and different meaning. The addition or the omission is not used for the sake of expediency or to avoid repetition of the same word. Actually each word has a definite meaning that cannot be substituted by any other word. Thus, the expression in the second verse “We shall give them to drink” means that although Allah has provided water in abundance for man, he has to look for its source, whether it is a well, a spring or river. In contrast the expression ‘Their Lord will slake their thirst’ entails no effort on the part of man, for in Paradise water will automatically come to the lips of the thirsty whenever they wish. There is no toil or effort for the dwellers of Paradise. All their wishes are answered instantaneously in response to their thoughts. This differentiation in the use of words and their correspondent meanings is well demonstrated throughout the whole of the Qur’an, as can be remarked in the following verses: “...What! Even though their fathers had no knowledge whatsoever, and no guidance?” (Qur’an al- Ma’idah 5:104) “...What! Even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had no guidance?” (Qur’an al- Baqarah 2:170) Whereas to the casual reader the two words LA YA’LAMUN (no knowledge) and LA YA’QILUN (unintelligent) may seem to refer to the same thing, a thorough examination of their full context will reveal their entirely different and true meaning: And when it is said unto them: Follow that which Allah has revealed, they say: We follow that wherein we found our fathers. What! Even though their fathers were wholly unintelligent and had no guidance? The likeness of those who disbelieve (in relation to the messenger) is as the likeness of one who calls unto that which hears naught except a shout and cry. Deaf, dumb, blind, therefore they have no sense.” (Qur’an al-Baqarah 2:170-171) “When it is said unto them: Come unto that which Allah has revealed and unto the messenger, they say: Enough for us is that wherein we found our fathers. What! Even though their fathers had no knowledge whatsoever, and no guidance? O ye who believe! He who errs cannot injure you if you are rightly guided.” (Qur’an al- Ma’idah 5:104-105) Orientalists contend that the two words are synonymous in meaning; that knowledge and intellect areone and the same thing; and that an intelligent person is capable of gaining knowledge and comprehending it. This contention is far from accurate as far as the meaning of the two words, as expressed in the above passages, is concerned. In fact, each word has its distinctive and intrinsic meaning. When Allah used the word LA YA’QILUN (unintelligent’), He meant that the idolaters did not understand anything about this universe and its divine portents, because they did not use their minds properly, and that if they had used their intellect, without bias or prejudice, they would have ultimately seen the truth. Thus, in using the word LA YA’QILUN (‘unintelligent’) Allah deemed them to be lacking in both reason and wisdom in matters of worship, as well as failing to perceive the true meaning and indication of the various divine portents in the universe and how it operates. In contrast, by using the words LA YA’LAMUN (‘have no knowledge’), Allah deemed the idolaters to be lacking in both knowledge and intellect which means that in addition to their lack of reasoning and inability to perceive the true meaning of this universe and the power that governs it, they were ignorant of what others have learnt or acquired. For a man who lacks intellect does not reason or see the link between universal phenomena and their Creator and co-ordinator. But a man who has no knowledge does not use his mind, nor does he even try to acquire knowledge from others who have the insight to see Allah’s might through His portents and His universe. The acquisition of meaning could be accomplished from someone else’s recording of knowledge or the elucidation of the phenomena of the universe. This kind of learning happens all the time. For instance, when one reads a book written by a scientist or a scholar, he learns from what they have been able to record or discover, or from the product of their thinking. Thus he can learn about gravity or astronomy or any other field without actual research or experimentation. The word ‘unintelligent’, therefore, referred to those persons who were reluctant to exert any worthwhile and purposeful mental or contemplative effort over Allah’s portents and their meanings. They expressed this reluctance when they said, “Enough for us that wherein we found our fathers.”

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjQ1