Woman and Paradise in Islam

Woman and Paradise in Islam

Articles - Women in Islam

Wednesday, 01 Sha'ban 1428

The secular feminist revolution rose upon the world from the West with an essentially godless agenda to liberate women from the “shackles” of the ages by totally transforming her status, role and function in society. In so doing it has turned the previous religious and sacred order upside-down in such a way that the sun now appears to be rising from the west.

Secularism led to materialism which in turn denied woman any reality beyond her material reality. Consequently the young beautiful woman became the goddess of the age. But she was a goddess who was shamelessly exploited in advertising to sell everything. She became a thing enjoyed, exploited, abused, degraded and discarded when her physical beauty and sex appeal began to wane. Then a host of schoolgirls would rush in to replace her. Even the national calypsonian gave his view on the subject quite some time ago when he sang of

the prostitute, “… and if you catch them broken (i.e., in financial difficulty), you can get them all for nothing.”

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prophesied the deception that would enslave women. He said, “women would be dressed and yet be naked”, thus anticipating an age of increasing feminine nudity that would be integrally linked to the feminist revolution. Carnival bandleaders in Trinidad are now complaining that they cannot use enough cloth to make creative designs since women increasingly demand the skimpiest of costumes. 

The ‘naked’ woman’s body was used to usher a sexual revolution that would culminate, according to the Prophet, with “the majority of children being born out of wedlock” and “people having sexual intercourse in public like donkeys.” When we see sex publicly simulated in Trinidad carnival we know that the feminist revolution will soon climax with woman being transformed into a donkey. Despite this colossal failure, the modern godless world has insisted on opening a ‘gender’ battlefield in quest of ‘equality’ while waging war on Islam. The latest target is the innocent Hijab that is maliciously attacked because it obstructs the way for the Muslim woman to be absorbed into the godless melting pot.

Islam has never sought to put an equal sign between the sexes. ‘Woman’ can neither be studied nor understood in a context independent of ‘man’. The two are inseparable. The Prophet declared that women were “… the twin-halves of men.” The Qur’an confirmed this inter-dependence when it declared “They are your garments, and you are their garments.” 

And in a passage with sublime literary beauty the Qur’an (al-Lail, 92:1-4) first directed attention to the ‘night’ and that which it shrouds and conceals with such mystery and splendor, and then turned to the ‘day’ with its bright light which exposes everything and leaves nothing concealed, and then proceeded to explain that the ‘male’ and the ‘female’ are functionally analogous to the ‘day’ and the ‘night’. In the same way that ‘day’ and ‘night’ are functionally different yet interdependent, so too are the ‘male’ and ‘female’.

When this philosophy of gender was applied to Muslim society the ‘night’ never attempted to become ‘day’. Rather ‘night’ and ‘day’ eternally longed for each other. And so we were never subjected to the abominable phenomenon (that European civilization is now exporting to the rest of the world) of the ‘day’ mating with ‘day’ and vice-versa. 

Women in such a society not only fulfilled all their sacred functional duties as wives and as mothers, and thus contributed in a significant way to preservation of the health, strength and stability of the family, but, in addition, they preserved both their femininity as well as their fertility. And so the Muslim woman remained truly and enchantingly a woman! An age that produced the celibate priest had obstinately insisted that one had to turn away from woman in order to turn to God. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) responded by declaring “Three things have been made dear to me in this world of yours – perfume, women and prayer.” And so Islam rejected both celibacy and the ‘object’ while recognizing woman, like prayer, to be a medium through which a man might journey to paradise.

Source

What Will Women Get In Paradise

JESUS (‘alaihi al-Salaam) WILL RETURN - JERUSALEM IN THE QUR’AN

JESUS (‘alaihi al-Salaam) WILL RETURN

The Qur’an emphatically declared that Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) did not die (i.e., he was neither killed, nor was he crucified). It further declared that he was raised unto Allah, the Most High. And since the Qur’an declared that every soul (including Jesus) must taste death (Maut), it follows that Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) must return and experience death like every other human being.  

But the Qur’an also delivered an ominous warning when it spoke about the death of Jesus. The warning was that Jews and Christians would all have to believe in Jesus (i.e., as the Qur’an has established Jesus’ status and position as the Messiah and as a Prophet of Allah) before ‘Jesus’ dies. This verse therefore clearly established the Divine plan that Jesus would one day return and that this event would occur prior to his death:

“And there is none from the People of the Book (i.e., not a single Jew who rejects Jesus as the Messiah and Prophet of Allah, and not a single Christian who insists that Jesus must be worshipped as God and as son of God) but must believe in him (Jesus) before his death (i.e., before the death of Jesus). And on the Day of Judgment he (Jesus) will be a witness against them.”

(Qur’an, al-Nisa, 4:159)  

Hence on that day every Jew will have to accept Jesus as the Messiah and believe in him, and every Christian will have to abandon belief in Jesus as the ‘son of God’ and the third person in a divine trinity.  

Prophet Muhammad (‘alaihi al-Salaam) has declared as emphatically as it is possible for anyone to declare, that Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) will return:

“Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger said: ‘By Him in Whose Hand is my soul (I swear that) the son of Mary will shortly descend amongst you as a just ruler. He will break the cross and kill the pigs and abolish Jizyah (a punitive tax imposed upon Jews and Christians resident in the territory of Islam). Then there will be abundance of money and nobody will accept charitable gifts.’ ”  

(Sahih, Bukhari)

Indeed the return of Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) is one of the ten major Signs of the Last Day mentioned by the Prophet (‘alaihi al-Salaam):

 

“Narrated Hudhayfah ibn Usayd Ghifari:

Allah’s Apostle (‘alaihi al-Salaam) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion) He said: What do you discuss about? (The Companions) said: We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (‘alaihi al-Salaam), Gog and Magog, and landslides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly.

(Sahih, Muslim)

Thus the ten Signs are as follows: (Please note that these Signs are not necessary listed in chronological order of their happening)

•      the release of Dajjal – the False Messiah,

•      the release of Gog and Magog,

•      the return of Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) – the True Messiah,

•      the appearance of dukhan (smoke),

•      the emergence of d’abbatul ard (a creature of the Land, i.e., Holy Land),

•      the sun would rise from the West,

•      a landslide or movement of the earth in the East,

•      another one in the West,

•      a third one in Arabia,

•      a fire comes out of Yemen and drives people to their place of assembly.

The Qur’an affirmed the return of Jesus as the ‘Sign of all Signs’ of the Last Day:

“And surely he (i.e., Jesus) is the Sign of the Hour”.

(Qur’an, al-Zukhraf, 43:61)

Jesus himself gave a list of signs to look for at the time when he is to return:

Ø  men would arise calling themselves Messiah, but they would be false,

Ø  there would be wars and rumors of wars,

Ø  there would be an outbreak of unprecedented global famine,

Ø  plagues would sweep the world,

Ø  there would be a great increase in lawlessness and inhumanity to man,

Ø  earthquakes would increase in intensity and frequency.

We now have the explanation for the two conflicting portraits of the Messiah in the scriptures – the first a meek and humble Messiah who would suffer immensely, and the other a mighty conqueror. When Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) returns he would fulfill the second portrait of him. 

But Prophet Muhammad (‘alaihi al-Salaam) went on to reveal that prior to the return of  Jesus (‘alaihi al-Salaam) Allah Most High would rele ase a False Messiah (al-Masih alDajjal) into the world in the Last Age.

Source: Jerusalem in the Qur'an by Imran N. Hosein

to be continued....

Jews, Christians, and ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an'

Jews, Christians, and ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’

Finally, while the subject of ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’ is important to Muslims, we were particularly interested in reaching out to Jews and Christians with the Holy Qur’an. As time passes, and the Last Hour draws nearer, it is becoming more and more difficult for Christian and Jewish scholarship to respond to the Qur’an and Ahadith as they deal with the subject of this book, as well as with Gog and Magog, the (False) Messiah, and the Return of Jesus (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). The evidence that confirms the truth of the Qur’an continues to increase. 

Muslims have a duty to present this subject to Jews and Christians, and we have done so in this book.

 This book made a distinction between two different Jews. There are those Israelite-Jews who traced their ancestry to Father Abraham (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). They are a Semitic people whose racial affinity to the Arabs is quite clear. On the other hand, there are blue-eyed blond-haired Europeans who converted to Judaism once upon a time and who share no such descent from Abraham (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). The opinion of this writer, and Allah Knows best, is that the original Gog and Magog are definitely located somewhere within the ranks of such European Jews. Gog and Magog overturned Christian European civilization and transformed it into the present godless civilization. Gog and Magog established the Zionist movement and the State of Israel.

There can be no question of the fact that this book would be psychologically shocking to Western, Christian, Jewish and even to some Muslim readers. But let us make it plain and clear that we have not written this book to offend such a reading audience. The ‘internal reality’ of the world today, as understood through the Qur’an, is quite different from the ‘external appearances’ on the basis of which such people form judgments. There is a world of difference in the perception of those who see with two eyes, the external and internal, and those who see with only one eye (because they are internally blind). Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) warned that the age of Dajjal, the False Messiah, would be an age in which ‘appearance’ and ‘reality’ would be completely different from each other. None can see ‘internally’ and penetrate ‘reality’ in the Last Age save those who faithfully follow Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

   We feel confident that there would be some Jews at least who, upon reading in this book the Qur’anic explanation of the events which are unfolding in the Holy Land, would, Insha Allah, be convinced of the Truth in the Qur’an and would consequently accept Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) as a true Prophet of the God of Abraham.

Source: Jerusalem in the Qur'an by Imran N. Hosein

to be continued....

Jerusalem - Key to Understanding the World Today

Jerusalem - Key to Understanding the World Today

It should now be clear that this subject is particularly important for all those Muslims who must comment on, or respond to, the rapidly evolving awesome drama in Jerusalem. As long ago as 1974 the late Dr. Kaleem Siddiqui, founder-President  of the Muslim Institute for Research and Planning in London, urged this writer to produce precisely this book that would demonstrate that Jerusalem is the key to the understanding of the historical process as it manifests itself today. The Qur’anic view that emerges from this book clearly establishes that it is not possible for anyone to truly understand the modern world unless one can also penetrate the reality of Jerusalem today!

The modern West wants an Islam to be adopted that will, among other things, accommodate the Jewish State of Israel and pave the way for Muslims to embrace it and make peace with it... This book has provided the Islamic response to that strategic goal of the West, a response that is based firmly on the Qur’an and the Ahadith of Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). This book has revealed that there will never be peace at any time in the future between the true followers of Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and the Jewish State of Israel, and that the true followers of the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) will eventually triumph over the oppressor Israel and liberate the Holy Land of Israel’s oppression. 

The most important of all subjects dealt with in the Qur’an that must be taught in Islamic educational institutions today is the subject of ‘Jerusalem in the Qur’an’. It is with this subject more than any other that Muslims can successfully respond to the present attack of the godless world which forces upon them such modification of the faith as would accommodate Israel. Professor Dr. Isma‘il Raji Faruqi, the distinguished Palestinian scholar of Islam who was assasinated because he was a thorn in Israel’s side, warned Muslims of this danger:

“The problem of Israel confronting the Muslim World today has neither precedent nor parallel in Islamic history. The Muslim World has tended to regard it as another instance of modern colonialism, or at best, a repetition of the Crusades.  The difference is not that Israel is neither one of these, but that it is both and more, much more. Unfortunately, there is no Islamic literature on the subject.  The need for this analysis of the problem is, therefore, as great as the present moment which calls upon the Arab World in particular and the Muslim World in general to accept Israel as an integral member of a world-of-Muslim-nations in Asia-Africa.”

(‘Islam and the Problem of Israel’, Islamic Council of Europe, London, 1980. ISBN 0 907163 025).

   Dr. Faruqi was of the view that Israel constituted a danger to Muslims far greater than the danger posed by the Euro-Christian Crusades of the medieval age, or by the Euro-Colonialism of the modern secular age. Hence he rejected the call for the acceptance of Israel as an integral member of ‘a world of Muslim nations in Asia Africa’.

   This book has made a humble attempt to complement Dr. Faruqi’s work by providing Muslim teachers, in particular, with the Qur’anic guidance as it pertains to Jerusalem and its destiny.

Source: Jerusalem in the Qur'an by Imran N. Hosein

to be continued....