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Weekly Comment |
Early Political Season: Fair
Play
The recent emergence of
businessman Tokyo Sexwale as a
possible candidate for
nomination for the ANC
presidency, at the party’s
December conference, marks an
early political season for South
Africa. The succession battle in
the ANC (and effectively for the
national leadership) will heat
up in the months to come as
other aspirants declare their
candidature.
The media will be an arena in
which mud-slinging,
name-calling, accusations, and
posturing is bound to take
place. The question is whether
we as ordinary citizens will be
able to see the real character,
and abilities of candidates?
Intrigue, suspense and scheming
should not characterise this
political season so as to befog
the masses from the real issues
of nation-building.
It is important that the
leadership is held accountable
and abides by rules of ‘fair
play.’ The political battles
should not extend into realms
which cause respectable leaders
to behave without honour,
dignity and decorum.
It’s Business as Usual for
Zionists
"We reject the premise of the
report," said Israeli foreign
ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
"East Jerusalem is not occupied
land, it is part of Israel. All
people there were offered full
Israeli citizenship."
That was the response to the
recently leaked report of the
International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) which condemns
Israel for the ‘far-reaching
humanitarian consequences for
Palestinians living under
occupation in East Jerusalem.’
What are the facts about ‘full
Israeli citizenship’ for the
people of occupied Jerusalem?
• ...The international
community, led by the UN, has
continuously denounced this act
of unilateral annexation,
arguing it is a violation of the
fundamental principle in
international law prohibiting
the forcible acquisition of
territory.
• ...The international community
has consistently considered East
Jerusalem to be an occupied
territory, thus akin to the West
Bank and Gaza.
• ...For almost four decades
successive governments have
implemented policies designed to
transform the city's population
structure and ensure the numeric
superiority of Jews.
(www.zmag.org)
Turkey, Again!
Turkey is once again the talk of
Europe - not for EU membership
but a tussle between Secularism
and Democracy.
The crisis surfaced when the PM
Recep Tayyib Erdogan nominated
his Foreign Minister, Abdullah
Gul as Turkey’s next President.
The problem is that Gul’s wife
wears the Islamic headscarf - a
highly divisive issue in Turkey.
This Islamic behavior is
considered a threat to the
secular principles of the
republic.
Massive rallies by secularists
Turks in Turkey demonstrated an
enormous show of opposition to
the pro-Islamic ruling party.
Chanting “no to Shariah” and “no
to Coups”, the demonstrators
said their lifestyles were under
treat. The Triple Crown (an AK
President, Prime Minister and
Parliamentary Speaker) is more
than what they can bear.
The present President, Sezer, a
staunch secularist, had acted as
a brake on the government by
vetoing numerous bills and
blocking the appointment of
hundreds of officials. Despite
the hype that the Turkey’
secularist values can
potentially be undermined, no
one can identify a single law
promoted by the AK that
challenged the secular tenets of
the constitution.
The AK government called early
general elections and passed a
constitutional amendment to let
the people, instead of
parliament, elect the president.
The amendment must be endorsed
by the current president, Ahmet
Necdet Sezer.
Will the Democrats or
Secularists emerge victorious?
The present impasse has served
up the proverbial twin edged
sword for the powers that are.
Who will they support?
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C O N
T E N T S |
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Summarised
Jumuah Bayaan |
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Question and
Answer |
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Update |
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Message from the Ameer |
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I N F
O R M A T I O N |
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Min. Mahr |
R 107.14 |
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Mahr Faatimi |
R 5,356.76 |
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Zakaat Nisaab |
R 2,142.71 |
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Words of Wisdom |
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Hadith of the Week |
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Motherly
Blessing |
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Mu'awiyah ibn Jahimah
reported, Jahimah came to
the Prophet Sallallâhu
‘alayhi wasallam and said:
"O Messenger of Allah! I
intend that I should enlist
in the fighting force and I
have come to consult thee.
He said "Hast thou a
mother?" He said, "Yes." He
said: "Then stick to her,
for paradise is beneath her
two feet. (Nasa'i).
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Quotation for the Week |
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Nature of
Bravery |
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Bravery is that you exercise
patience for a little while.
(Ali Radhi-Allâhu anhu)
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Point of Reflection |
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Ask for
Pardon, Forgive |
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If you offend, ask for
pardon; if offended,
forgive. (African Proverb)
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Q and A |
Question:
Is it sunnat/mustahab to
read 40 Salaah in Masjid-e-Nabawi?
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Answer:
Yes it is sunnat to read 40
Salaat in Masjid-e-Nabawi.
Nabi Sallallâhu ‘alayhi
wasallam is reported to have
said, “Whom-so-ever reads 40
salawaat consecutively in my
masjid will
be exempted from hell-fire
and its punishments and
never will
he be counted from amongst
the hypocrites.” (Jam-ul-Fawâid)
And Allah Ta'aala knows best
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Summarised Jumu’ah
Bayaan:
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Our Children and
Our Responsibility |
The Holy Qur’ân states:
“Oh You who
believe, Protect
yourselves and your
families from the fire
of Hell.”
“O Allâh! Grant
that our spouses and
offspring be the
coolness of our eyes and
cause us to be a model
for the righteous.”
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The Holy Prophet
Sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa
salaam said:
"Every one of you
(people) is a shepherd.
And every one is
responsible for whatever
falls under his
responsibility.
A man is a shepherd to
his own family, and he
is responsible for
them." Bukhari and
Muslim.
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The Muslim community
is presently observing
in their children the
manifestations of the
evil effects of the
libertine lifestyle of
the west. The present
generation of youngsters
have fallen victim to
the onslaught of evil
western ways. The stark
truth of drugs,
alcoholism and immoral
sexual contact in
schools are sufficient
to cause concern for
Muslims. In many
schools, Muslim boys and
girls take drugs on a
wide scale, consume
alcohol on school
property and indulge in
promiscuity.
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Hayaa (shame and
modesty), the
divinely-given
protection has departed
from the school-going
learners.
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By and large, our
children are devoid of
Islaamic moral training;
their lifestyle and that
of their friends are un-islaamic;
their environment is un-Islaamic;
their tuition is un-Islaamic;
their teachers are un-Islaamic;
their friends are un-Islaamic;
everything surrounding
them and everything with
what they associate is
un-Islaamic.
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By the time our
children graduate from
school, they are
deviated from Islaam in
their beliefs, actions,
character and
inclinations. These are
real problems which we
as parents have to face
up to. These are real
evils which are gripping
our children.
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Hereunder follow some
suggestions to rectify
the situation:
1. Parent’s
responsibility: Parents
must realise that Allah
has bestowed them with
children as an amaanat
(sacred trust). If we
ruin this amaanat here
on earth, so will it
ruin and destroy us in
the Hereafter.
Rasulullâh Sallallâhu
‘alayhi wa salaam has
said: ‘Everyone of you
is a shepherd and
everyone of you will be
questioned in regard to
his/her flock.’
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The parent’s
responsibility is to
nurture the child in his
infancy and carefully
appropriate his
education and training;
teach him the Holy
Qur’aan and the basic
beliefs of Islaam; make
him aware of necessary
laws regulations
concerning the Creator
and the creation;
prevent him from those
things which lead to
destruction; instill in
him the greatness of
Allah and that his duty
towards the Creator is
above all and
everything.
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Today, parents are
concerned only about the
well-being of their
children’s secular
education and
materialistic future and
are totally neglectful
of their spiritual and
moral progress. In these
circumstances, they
cannot be regarded
friends of their
children.
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2. Madaaris: There is a
need to attend maadaaris,
and if these do not
exist in our area, we
should strive to
establish them. It is
noticed that from the
schools to the homes and
madrasah there is a huge
spiritual gap.
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3. Western institutions:
The greatest cause of
the moral depravity is
the evil environment of
these institutions. Our
children spend most of
their precious time in
these institutions where
they pick up much
immorality and incorrect
beliefs which contradict
Islaam.
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4. The environment:
There is no doubt that
the environment and
society in which a
person lives has a great
effect on his character,
habits and dealings. The
environment of the
country we live in is
un-Islaamic, therefore,
the effects of such
society on our children
are obvious. Hence, it
is necessary that we
encourage our children
to keep away from bad
company and arrange
recreational facilities
etc. for them where they
can go and spend their
time in an Islaamic
environment.
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REMEMBER! Our children
will be leaders of
tomorrow. If their
condition is improved
then the Ummah will be
improved and if they
deteriorate then they
will be the forerunners
of great destruction
which will inevitably
harm the Muslims
greatly. |
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U P D A T E |
Youth Convention:
Report
An estimated 2500-3000
youth, from all over South
Africa, converged on the
Masjidus Salaam Complex in
Laudium on the 13th May 2007
to attend the fourth Annual
Youth Convention jointly
hosted by the Jamiatul
‘Ulama and the Muslim
Students Association (MSA).
A Sister’s Conventions was
held in Lenasia at the
Lenasia Muslim School on the
same day as the Brother’s
Convention.
This year’s convention
focused on living up to the
ideals of Islam as proud
Muslims in a western
environment charged with
Islamobhobia, various
complex technological
challenges and as a minority
amongst 98% non-Muslims
having an inherent modern
outlook in life.
Maulana Abbas Hlatwayo, an
activist from Soweto, said
that many of the ancient
customs of the indigenous
population of this country
like burying the dead early,
eating together, observing
seclusion after the death of
a husband (iddat) and the
practice of circumcision all
bear testimony to the fact
that the locals need to be
reverted to Islam as a
matter of priority as it is
more in keeping with their
traditions.
Maulana Bham, whilst
explaining the theme ‘Hang
in There,” explained that
the western culture was
outwardly glamorous and
inwardly destructive, but
Allah legislated that Islam
was the religion to be
followed until the last day
of this world. “If
practicing Islam was too
difficult in these times,
Allah would not have
prescribed following Islam
at all. Look at the Sahabah.
Their lives and possessions
were at stake for simply
saying the word Allah. In
South Africa , it is not
difficult to practice
Islam,” he said.
Abdur Rahman Laily, a MSA
representative, explained
that the war on terror not
only affected Muslims, but
the vast majority of the
poor and downtrodden of the
world. “Often we respond to
terrorism by violent means,
but it is high time we
learnt how to achieve our
ends through non-violent
avenues,” he emphasized.
Irshaad Vawda from the MSA
also addressed the
gathering.
Another speaker, Maulana
Yaseen Mukaddam who spent 7
years in the USA stressed
that Muslims should not
adopt the misleading
terminology of the west and
fall victim to our own case.
A light-hearted break was
presented in the form of
comedy by Riyadh Moosa.
Maulana Suliman Moola, then
had the crowd hanging to
each of his words when he
explained that the
father-son relationship
should not only be social,
commercial or casual, it
should be spiritual as well.
In the afternoon breakaway
sessions, after enjoying
delicious biryani, various
interactive discussion
grouped converged I for the
various breakaway sessions.
Among the guests at these
sessions were Hashim Amla,
our own South African
cricketer, Abu Bakr Sepella,
various Ulama, University
students and even some
school students.
The Convention concluded
with a lively question &
answer session.
A regional youth Convention
is to be held in Middleburg
on the 24th June 2007 –
Insha Allah. For further
information, please call 011
373 8000. |
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Muslim Sisters Conference
The Muslim Sisters
Conference held on Sunday,
13 May 2007 was a joint
effort of the Islamic
Careline,
Lenasia
Muslim School
and the Muslim Students
Association. Topics
discussed in breakaway
groups were: Relationships:
A source of Delight or
Demise, Muslim Women and
Careers, Racism: Changing
Colours and Weapons of Mass
Deception. The discussions
were followed by
presentations by guest
speakers. The objectives of
the conference included:
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Community participation, as
well as that of the youth,
on current issues facing
Muslims today
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Building partnerships
between organizations and
community members
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Identifying concrete ways
forward that can be
implemented.
There were approximately 450
participants present which
included both youth and
women. In spite of
challenges faced, the
programme was well organized
and catered for. A great
deal of valuable interaction
was generated during the
breakaway sessions and
feedback from participants
indicated that future
programmes of this nature
should be conducted. A
formal evaluation on the
programme is in the process
of being completed.
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SAHUC:
Online Haj Applications
As
mentioned in previous issues
of the Online Newsletter,
the South African Hajj and
Umrah Council has revised
its system of accepting
applications from
prospective haajis for this
year’s hajj. Only online
applications processed via
the SAHUC website will be
considered.
It is important to
note that the closing date
for registering is the 31
May 2007. Any person who is
even remotely considering
going for hajj this year
must ensure that he
registers.
The address for the
SAHUC website is:
www.sahuc.org.za. |
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Message from the Ameer of
the Jamiatul Ulama |
Divorce
The Muslim community has
seen a sharp rise in the
divorce rate. More Muslim
couples are considering
divorce, more young couples
have separated through
divorce and more and more
people grapple with the
consequences of having
issued divorce without
considering the costs.
Bayaans by Ulama have not
made a major impact on
reducing the escalating
situation. Short courses on
marriage and divorce in
various towns have had less
than a majorly significant
impact and the plethora of
books or booklets on
marriage and divorce sit
collecting dust on the
shelves in Muslim homes.
Whatever the situation
maybe, something needs to be
done.
Is the solution buried deep
in the mass of issues that
evolve out of the evils of
the current situation of
moral degeneration and
decay? Have the television,
movies and even novels and
magazines succeeded in instilling
in us a way of life
completely contrary to the
teachings of our Dîn? Are
they the basis of spreading
the evils associated with an
immoral lifestyle?
We need to return to the
basics and find our
solutions in the Qur`an and
Sunnah.
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