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Weekly Comment |
The
Changing Face of Warfare
Did you notice how the newly
devised weaponry is being used
on the body of the Ummah?
In Afghanistan, there was a
campaign of massive
carpet-bombing. Dumb bombs,
thermo-baric, heat-releasing and
oxygen-depriving and smothering
ordnances were used. These were
weapons of wholesale killing of
ordinary people, the elderly and
young alike, armed or not. They
are normally explained away as
“collateral damage” that had to
be incurred in order to drive
out the Taliban.
Ever
seen images of napalm-coated
bodies of victims? Earlier in
the 1980s Zionist Israel used
Napalm on the populations of
South Lebanon. Napalm, an
incendiary gel, asphyxiates and
causes hideous burns on the skin
as it can generate heat to
temperatures of 1200 degrees
Celsius. The pain that inflicts
is unimaginable.
More
recently, in the War on Gaza,
Zionist Israel used phosphorus
shells on densely-populated
Palestinian population of Gaza.
We are yet to see the
consequences of such war crimes
which are said to have been
rehearsed in the Negev where a
dummy city of Gaza was built to
the tune of $45 million. Yes,
this ‘benevolent’ army which
issues warnings to civilians to
vacate their besieged homes to
‘minimise’ loss of life during
raids, rehearsed the operation
which we now know was just a
murderous campaign on the
defenceless in Gaza.
As
if this is not enough, fresh
reports however tell us much
more. Drones (unmanned aerial
vehicles) have once again become
the weapons of choice for
Zionist Israel. Is it
coincidence that Israel seems to
always taken a cue from the US?
The US Air Force drones have in
the recent past killed civilians
inside Pakistan. (Feb 17: 30
killed in Kurram; March 25: 7
killed and March 26: 4 Killed in
North Waziristan,…). In 2008,
there were 36 recorded
cross-border US attacks on
Pakistan!
As for Zionist
Israel, they have been gloating
about attacking ‘anywhere,
anytime’ after it has started to
emerge how their drones attacked
a convoy of trucks and killed
over 50 people inside Sudan last
February. How does that compare
with Bush-speak of ‘War on
Terror’? Such arrogant disregard
for international norms
continues unabated and without
impunity.
Here is a
state behaving like a bully
while claiming to lack partners
with whom to forge a lasting
peace in the region. Where are
the international prosecutors of
crimes against humanity?
As all these plays out, they
don’t say that they have killed
people, fellow humans, rather,
they ‘take out targets.’ They
don’t say they have destroyed
infrastructure, rather, ‘they
just down-grade it.’ They have
all the double-speak which makes
one think whether our lives are
any valuable as theirs.
Talking about the value of life,
as Muslims, have we also taken
stock of what we are doing to
ourselves? Take the case of
Pakistan, how do the groups
operating there justify the
losses of innocent lives they
are orchestrating? How can
everybody else respect us, our
possessions and our lives if we
continue to allow this to
happen?
"…if any one
slew a person - unless it be for
murder or for spreading mischief
in the land - it would be as if
he slew the whole people: and if
any one saved a life, it would
be as if he saved the life of
the whole people..." (Holy
Qur’an 5:32)
For a
Muslim, genocide is not killing
a whole village. Killing one man
suffices for genocide and the
virtue of saving a life is
equated to saving the entire
humankind. Where do we stand in
this scheme of things? |
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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 146.56 |
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Mahr Faatimi |
R 7,328.01 |
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Zakaat Nisaab |
R 2,931.20 |
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Words of Wisdom |
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Hadith of the Week |
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Virtues of the Beloved |
Narrated Hadrat Abu
Huraira Radhi-Allahu 'ahnu:
"Allah's Messenger
Sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam
said, "If Allah loves a
person (The Glorified and
the Exalted). He calls
Hadrat Jibril Alayhim Salaam
saying: "Allah loves so and
so. O Jibril love him. So
Jibril Alayhim Salaam would
love him and then would make
an announcement in the
Heavens: "Allah loves so and
so therefore you should love
him also. So all the
dwellers of the Heavens
would love him and then he
is granted the pleasure of
the people on the earth."
(Bukhari)
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Quotation
of the Week |
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Slow Pace of Wisdom |
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The saddest aspect of life
right now is that science
gathers knowledge faster
than society gathers
wisdom."
(Isaac
Asimov)
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Point of Reflection |
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Lone-Ranger Foolhardy |
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In the desert of life the
wise person travels by
caravan, while the fool
prefers to travel alone.
(Arab Proverb)
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Q and A |
Question:
I was
wondering if a woman who
wears a niqab for purdah,
does she have to wear it
when she makes Salaah in a
place with women only?
I am interested in
knowing the following too: I
have read some material
where a woman’s hands and
face don’t have to be
covered yet others say your
hands, feet and face have to
be covered. Which is
correct?
I noticed
on TV that when they show
the people on Hajj or Umrah
they pass each other closely
and sometimes it looks as if
the men and women could
touch accidentally, does
this mean their Wudhu would
be broken?
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Answer:
The face, hands and
feet of a woman do not have
to be covered whilst
performing Salaat. (Hindiyyah,
Vol.1 p.58).
According to the Hanafi
Mazhab, touching between
male and female does not
break the Wudhu. If you
follow the Shafi'iy Mazhab,
we advise that you consult
the Ulama of your Mazhab on
the aspect of accidental
touching during Haj and
Umrah.
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U P D A T E |
Airport Musallah
The Jamiatul Ulama is pleased to
announce that work on the
Airport Musallah has commenced.
The Musallah shall be located in
the new central terminal at the
Oliver R Tambo International
Airport.
Muslim Marriages Bill Workshop
The Jamiatul Ulama has today
conducted a workshop on the
Muslim Marriages Bill. The
matter has re-gained currency in
discussion and debate with a
woman rights body applying for
action through the
constitutional court to put a
time-frame to the passing of
legislation of pertaining to the
recognition of Muslim marriages.
At the workshop, the merits
and demerits of the
legislation/regulation and their
impact on Shariah were looked
at.
Moulana Yusuf Patel,
who is secretary general of the
United Ulama Council of South
Africa (UUCSA) assured
participants that as an Ulama
body, UUCSA shall continue to
participate in the process of
the development of legislation
on Muslim marriages. He said
however that UUCSA reserved the
right to withdraw from the
process, once it is established
that in does not sufficiently
protect and serve the interests
of Muslim who opt to have their
Nikahs recognised under such
legislation.
Ijtima
The
annual ijtima will this year be
hosted in Roshnee. The ijtima
shall start on Friday 10 April
2009 and end on Sunday 12 April
2009 when a closing du’aa shall
be made.
We encourage all
Muslim men, young and old, to
attend the proceedings of the
ijtima which offers the
opportunity to listen to
spiritually uplifting messages
from local as well as scholars
from overseas.
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Summarised Jumu’ah
Bayaan: |
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Seizing the
Opportunity |
“O you who
believe! Spend of that
where with we have
provided you before a
day comes when there
will be no trading, nor
friendship, nor
intercession. The
disbelievers, they are
the wrong doers.”
(2:254)
• Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wasalam advised
us to seek and to seize
the unique opportunities
we have been bestowed
with by Allah. The
opportunities are a
blessing from Allah upon
us.
• Ibn Abbas
radhiyallahu anhu
narrates that Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi
wasalam said: ‘Seize the
opportunity of five
before another five
things (prevent you):
Your youth before old
age, your health before
sickness, your wealth
before poverty, your
leisure time before
being preoccupied, and
your life before death.’
(Al Hakim) This hadith
encourages us to hasten
to undertake our
responsibilities on
there opportune moments
before it is too late.
• Another hadith
exhorts grabbing hold of
valuable moments in the
following words as
reported by Abu Hurairah
radhiyallahu anhu that
the Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi
wasalam said, ‘Hasten to
perform good deeds
before seven
(circumstances overtake
you): Are you awaiting
poverty that makes you
forget things, or wealth
which leads
transgression, or an
impaired sickness, or a
wearing out old age, or
a ready made death, or
the impostor Dajjal – an
absent evil which is
awaiting, or the Hour of
Resurrection. Indeed the
Hour of Resurrection is
worse, bitter and
severe.’ (Tirmidhi)
• The period of
one’s youth is the most
suitable time to exert
oneself in the obedience
of Allah. The stage
thereafter is one
wherein a person is
overtaken by either
physical weakness,
mental absent mindedness
or being unusually
emotionally sentimental.
At this stage a person
is looked upon more as a
liability than as a
positive asset to
society.
•
Health is a great boon
from Allah. It should be
taken care of through
good nutrition, healthy
food and physical
exercise. An Arabic
proverb reads, ‘A sound
mind is in a sound
body.’
• The
greatest protection of
wealth is investing it
with Allah. This can be
done in the form of
charity, offering loans
without interest to the
needy, discharging of
obligatory Zakaah and
assisting Muslim
institutions or
organisations.
•
Leisure time is a rare
commodity in today’s
fast moving modern
world. An intelligent
smart person is he who
is able to utilize free
time effectively in a
manner that makes the
load of responsibilities
lighter during
pre-occupied moments.
• Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi
wasalam said, ‘Two
blessings are such that
many people are unaware
(deceived) of their
importance: Health and
Leisure time.’
•
A person is only given
one chance to live
his/her life. The seeds
of hard work and good
deeds planted in this
life will be reaped in
the everlasting life to
come. The second life is
either Jannah or
Jahannum.
• A
precursor to that
eternal life will be the
Day of Judgement. A day
upon which no ransom or
compensation will
salvage one from
retribution for
misdeeds. Then it will
be too late for any good
deed.
• The
starting point is a firm
will and determination
in the heart to seek
Allah’s forgiveness. And
the next step is to
search for occasions and
opportunities to draw
oneself closer to Allah.
The Qur’an calls upon us
in the following words,
‘And vie with one
another for forgiveness
from your Lord, and for
a Paradise as vast as
the heavens and the
earth, prepared for
those who adopt piety.’
(3:133)
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Message from the Ameer of
the Jamiatul Ulama |
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Where have we gone
wrong? |
There was a time not so
long ago, when our
forefathers who were fresh
immigrants to this beautiful
land commanded great
respect. It was a time when
their word was their honour.
The people engaging in
business with them would
afford them interest-free
credit without the need for
a guarantor or even the
signing of any paper. It was
a time when they were looked
upon as people of principle
and religion. It was a time
when their very presence
made even the oppressors
meet and greet them with
dignity and respect.
It was also a time when they
had little funds, but they
still fulfilled the needs of
their families with
commitment and dedication.
Notwithstanding their
limited resources they still
gave serious consideration
the education of their
children and the community.
In their table values
education occupied a
prominent place. Since they
viewed the educational needs
of their children to be of
paramount importance they
sent their children far and
wide to attend school, and
they even paid for religious
teachers to come and teach
their children. The maulanas
and haffejees, whose passage
to South Africa was paid for
by struggling individuals,
were accorded the highest
levels of respect. It was
also a time when the almost
penniless would scrape their
last penny so that they
could fulfill the rights of
their guests, who would
arrive unannounced, but
still be welcomed with open
arms. It was a time when
values of authority and
discipline were cherished.
It was a time when people
had limited knowledge but
their lives were filled with
values, morals and
principles.
Today, by
and large, the Muslim
community is not in the
financially desperate
situation that the people of
yore found themselves faced
with. Today, the Muslim
community has numerous
masaajid in every locality
and makaatibs exist side by
side with these masaajid.
Muslim schools have sprung
up at a tremendous rate and
one will find a plethora of
educational programmes
available for young and old.
The lone structures of the
‘Mia’s Farm’ madrassah and
later the ‘Newcastle Darul
Ulum’ have found themselves
surrounded by a profusion of
Darul Ulums. Ulama are many
and Huffaaz are almost too
many to count.
Today,
when any person engages in a
business transaction with a
Muslim, there is almost
always an element of extreme
caution coupled with
suspicion. Today, a brother
has to make an appointment
to meet his sibling, and to
arrive unannounced at
someone’s home is considered
to be in poor taste and
against correct decorum and
protocol.
Am I
looking at a black spot on a
clear white sheet or has the
sheet become so stained
that, even though it is
still a white sheet, the
dots and stains barely allow
much of the white to shine
through?
Where have we
gone astray?
May
Allah Subhanhu wa ta’aala
help and guide us. Aameen.
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