Jamiatul Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians), Johannesburg

Jamiatul Ulama

Online Newsletter

Vol.: 2 No.: 33

8 Shab'ân 1428 / 22 August 2007

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Weekly Comment

Who is it up to about what happens in Iraq?
Saddam Hussain was an American ally. He worked with the advise, consultation and even instruction of the US. When the US decided that the relationship was to be no more they set him up and then attacked him and his country with specific intent and long term plans for Iraq and the region. They continued unabated until Iraq was destroyed and continue to impose their will and presence in Iraq.

Nur Al-Maliki was installed as President of Iraq, by the US and its allies, in a most dodgy, way to implement the insidious designs of the US.

Things however, do not seem to all that rosy between Maliki and Bush. Bush's recent comments are interesting. He said:
“The fundamental question is, will the government respond to the demands of the people…and if the government doesn’t respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government. That’s up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians.”
Strange, isn't it? Why wasn't it up to the Iraqi people up until now?


The UN, AU Eritrea, Darfur & Somalia
Britain recently tabled a resolution at the UN Security Council to extend the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia’s mandate by six months. 1700 Ugandan troops are currently stationed in Somalia, while it is said that 1500 troops from Burundi will join the AU force. South Africa’s ambassador to the UN, Dumisano Kumalo, expressed his disappointment at the resolution, arguing that he would like to see the UN deployed in Somalia. While the UN is extending the mandate of the AU force, the US department of State, warned Eritrea that it will be placed on a list of “state sponsors of terrorism” due to its supposed support for armed groups in Somalia. This is once again an indication of the blatant double standards the US applies in the Horn of Africa, where Ethiopian military forces are still engaged in ongoing military operations in Somalia. Somali leaders have repeatedly said that a resolution to the conflict will only come when Ethiopia withdraws. One can also ask what the AU forces are doing to limit the damage Ethiopia is doing to Somalia, or, has the AU force become part of the problem?

Too Poor to Get a Visa
On the 8th of September this year the 'Israeli' soccer team will travel to the UK to play against England. Astonishingly, they will enter without any visas.

Individuals, organisations, the English FA, the English Football Players Association, and even the University of Chester all put themselves behind a project to the Palestinian National Youth Soccer Team to travel to the UK and play games their, including a game against Blackburn Rovers.

The UK Foreign Office supported and even considered jointly funding the project.

Now, the entire Palestinian team and it's management have been denied visas for entry into the UK. The official reason, as provided by the Entry Clearance Officer at the Jerusalem Consulate is that they are too poor to be trusted to return home.

Tour organiser, Rod Cox, said:"If even I think this looks like a racially-motivated decision that helps to maintain Israeli Control over Palestinian Muslims, then I am fairly certain that this is the message that will seep through to Britain’s 2 million Muslims".
Nancy Dell’Olio of Truce International, an International Charity supporting the tour, says, "The tour is a perfect example of disparate cultural groups working together to use the energy and camaraderie of football to positively introduce different cultures to each other. … This decision of the British Government will be seen in Gaza, where most of the team originate, as siding with the enemy. To refuse a national team admission solely on the grounds that they are too poor and deprived to be trusted to visit the UK will not do Britain any good abroad".
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C O N T E N T S

Summarised Jumuah Bayaan
Question and Answer
Update
Message from the Ameer

I N F O R M A T I O N

Min. Mahr

R 102.09

Mahr Faatimi

R 5,104.56
Zakaat Nisaab R 2,041.82

Words of Wisdom

Hadith of the Week

Virtues of Sha'bân

Hazrat Ayesha (radhiyallahu anhaa) says: "I have not seen Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) observing more fast in any other month as in Sha’baan."

(Bukhari)

Quotation for the Week

Chasing Shadows

O people who take pleasure in a life that will vanish, falling in love with a faded shadow is sheer stupidity!

(Ibn Al Qayyim Jawziyyah)

Point of Reflection

Neglecting 'Small' Issues

An ant may well destroy a whole dam.

(Chinese Saying)

Q and A

Question:
Do children born out of wedlock have a share in their father’s estate?
Answer:
According to the Shari’ah, children born out of wedlock will not be attributed to their father at all. Instead, their lineage will only be linked to their mother. Thus the Shari’ah has not established a share for them
from the estate of their father. However, the father is
permitted to make a bequest
for them, up to one third of his estate. Human ethics and
morals would demand that he makes such a bequest in their favour, since seeing he is the biological father, and the
mother may not be able to
single-handedly support them adequately. He can also donate whatever he wishes to them during his lifetime.

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U P D A T E

Radio Islam - AGM
The 12th Annual General Meeting of Radio Islam will take place on Sunday the 26th August 2007, at Masjidus Salaheen, extension 13, Lenasia (9:30AM).

Radio Islam will also be conducting the Jum`ah, Ladies Lecture Programme and an outside broadcasting session in Ermelo on Friday the 24th August 2007, insha'Allah. For more information contact Radio Islam at 011 854 7022.

Darul Ulum Zakariyyah
Sha`ban brings with it the various programmes including the Annual Graduation Jalsahs of various Darul Ulums.

This week, one of the forerunners in the filed of higher Islamic Education, Darul Ulum Zakariyyah will be holding it's annual Jalsah. The Jalsah will take place on Saturday, the 25th August at the Darul Ulum Campus adjoining Zakariyyah Park, after `Asr Salah.

Senior Ulama will speak and various advises will be given. The graduation programme will take place with a dars on the final hadeeth of Bukhari. The prinicipal Ml. Shabeer Ahmad Saloojee (db) will also address the gathering as will senior asaatidhah including Mufti Rada ul-Haqq (db).

For more information the Darul Ulum can be contacted at 011 859 1081.

Summarised Jumu’ah Bayaan:

TAUBAH (Repentance from Sin)
O ye who believe! turn to Allah with sincere repentance: It is very close that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow; on the Day that Allah will not permit the Prophet and those who believe with him to be humiliated. (66:8)
(6.54, 7.153, 8.38, 9.104, 11.3, 4.110)
Anas Ibn Malik (ra) narrates that Allah's Apostle said, "Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than anyone of you is pleased with finding his camel which he had lost in the desert." (Bukhari 8:321)
Abu Hurairah (ra) says that he heard Allah's Apostle saying, "By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day." (Bukhari 8:319)


• When reading the most Glorious Qur'an, we note the major difference between Nabee Adam Alayhis Salaam and Iblis in that, upon making a mistake, Nabee Adam (Alayhis Salaam) asked for Almighty Allah's forgiveness, but Iblis asked Allah for respite during which he could continue doing evil and take most of mankind with him. In this story, Almighty Allah demonstrates the haughtiness and pride to which we can all succumb; yet, the inability to repent is a trait of fundamental evil, or one without faith. The characteristic of righteousness is being able to ask for forgiveness.

• Tawbah elevates us, it does not lower us. It disciplines and trains the soul because the soul must endure a certain kind of humiliation - and injury- because the soul has developed a logic, or illogic, that it does not want to be exposed. But shaythaan deceives us and tells us that we do not have to apologize because we are better or because we are more knowledgeable.

• There are certain essentials and requirements of a thorough repentance [Tawbah] without whose materialization an authentic Tawbah is not attained. The most essential one is regret and remorse for one's past sins and faults. Another is resolving not to commit the sin ever again. These two, in fact, constitute the essential reality of Tawbah and comprise its essential constituents.

• When any intelligent person becomes aware of these facts, he/she would certainly abstain from sin and distance himself from sin; and if, Allah forbid, he/she commits any sin, he/she would be filled with remorse. The result that this remorse produces is something great and its effects are very beneficial. The determination to quit disobedience and sin is a consequence of this remorse.

• Almighty Allah's Graceful succour becomes his or her lot, and, in accordance with the explicit meaning of verse 222 of Surah Al-Baqarah: ".....Verily Allah loves the repentant."

• Woe to us! After having spent years in disobedience and after prolonged disloyalty to such an Exalted Creator, Who has provided all the means of our comfort and ease - having violated His sanctities and taken shamelessness to its extreme - now that we are remorseful, Almighty Rabbul Ala'meen still regbards us as His loved ones. What plentitude of Bounty and Mercy!

• Almighty Allah's Mercy is greater than everything and encompasses all things, and Almighty Allah's Justice is not bound by conditions. If we cannot make amends for the return of His rights, He will overlook our failures. If we cannot satisfy the rights of others, He will compensate for it.

• The Path of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala is easy and simple. All that it requires is some attentiveness. Postponement, delay, neglect and allowing the sins to pile up day by day is what makes the matter difficult. But resolute action and decision to set aright the affairs of the soul makes the path shorter and the task easier.

• Openly and secretly, mournfully and pleadingly, in solitude, with lamentation, tears and wails of woe, we should implore the forgiveness of His Sacred Essence to cover our sins and wipe out their consequences.

• We must always meditate upon the consequences of sin, the severity of Almighty Allah's Might, the precision of the Balance of Deeds, and the intensity of the chastisement of Barzakh and Resurrection. It is hoped that after this knowledge and reflection the soul will loath sins and detest them with a complete and total hatred.

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Message from the Ameer of the Jamiatul Ulama


The Desperate Situation We Find Ourselves In

Make no mistake. A people that exist within a society filled with social evils will be affected by the same evils if they do not take drastic action to protect themselves from these evils.

Muslims in South Africa, exist as a minority. They live within a majority-society permeated with the phenomenon of fast-declining, to the extent of (in some instances) almost non-existent, moral values.

Recently, a Muslim brother involved in Muslim burials confided to Ulama regarding the desperate situation we find ourselves in, as has become evident in the course of his work. He stated that non-Muslim doctors who examined the bodies of dead persons, for purposes of confirming deaths and conducting post-mortems, said that, whereas in the past a Muslim body could be identified from certain signs, this was not the case anymore.

Muslims act on the important position attributed to hygiene and the shaving of pubic and other hair. It seemed that many Muslim no longer engaged in this practice. Muslims were hardly ever found with tattoos. This too was not the case any more.

The brother also mentioned the disturbing trend of increases in the number of suicides within the Muslim community. During the months of June and half of July, there were already 7 suicides in the Muslim Community within the Johannesburg area alone. The suicides were focussed more within the youth with one case being that of a twelve year old girl.

Ml. Ighsan Hendricks, the Amir of the MJC, during his trip to Laudium two weeks ago, spoke about the serious drug problem that they are faced with. He spoke about 'TIK' and explained that within certain sectors of the community over 85% of the community were addicted to TIK. He further elaborated by saying that not just youth but those under the age of 14 and even mothers and grandmothers were involved in the abuse of drugs.

Muslims need to open their eyes to what they are surrounded by and what they themselves are guilty of feeding, directly or indirectly. Muslims need to stop imagining that they are immune to drug-abuse and its consequences and quickly stem the tide that will bring about the destruction of the ummah. Parents must take responsibility for the every move of their children.

The solution lies in practising upon the injunctions of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam).

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