JEWISH SCRIPTURES AND THE BIBLE

18.1 Jewish Scriptures (Hebraic Bible)

The Old Testament – or the Hebrew Bible – is a collection of works of differing lengths, written over a period of more than nine-hundred years. They were written in several languages and, like the Hadith literature, were based on materials collected from oral traditions. The contents of the Hebrew Bible is the same as Protestant Old Testament, but in a different order. The Catholic Old Testament includes extra books ejected from what became the Protestant version.

Seeking Moderation : Giving the Wahhabis too much credit.

In his rush to exculpate the Islamic extremists who would impose sharia as the exclusive form of law in every Muslim society, David F. Forte writes in his NRO piece, “Religion Is Not the Enemy,” that “as offensive to human rights and dignity as the stoning of a woman for an act of sexual immorality is, it is not the same as flying a plane into a building to kill thousands of innocent civilians.”

OBEDIENCE TO THE PROPHET (PBUH) III

Obedience to the Prophet (s) and Universal Freedom (III)

by Dr. Mansoor Alam 

 In this part of our article on the Prophet’s Sunnah we will concentrate on how the Prophet (P) liberated human beings from all kinds of oppressions and opened the door of true freedom for humanity. But first, let us briefly summarize the main points of the first two parts of this article.

In the first part, we discussed some of the basic issues relating to our Prophet’s Sunnah. Contrary to popular belief, we saw that our scholars are divided on the Sunnah. As a consequence, Sunni and Shi’ia scholars (and even Sunni scholars among themselves) disagree on the definition or interpretation of our Prophet’s Sunnah. It is a myth to say that all Muslim scholars agree on a common definition or interpretation of Sunnah. Concrete examples were given to illustrate this point.

OBEDIENCE TO THE PROPHET (PBUH) II

By: Dr. Mansoor Alam

In order to provide a measure of continuity, first we provide a brief summary of the important points from the previous article.

• The Quran is the final word of God.
• It has been preserved exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet (PBUH).
• The Prophet (PBUH) left only the Quran in written form since he forbade writing of hadith during his life time (Sahih Al-Muslim).
• The Quran was written by very honorable scribes (80:16).
• There were many companions who had memorized the entire Quran word by word.
• Unlike the authenticity of hadith, there is no dispute among scholars (Sunni or Shi’ia) about the authenticity of the Quranic verses.
• There are six Sunni books of hadith which are normally referred to as “sa’hha sitta” (six true books). Shi’ias have their own four important books of hadith. These were compiled and written based on (a chain of) oral narration mostly in the third century Hijrah or later.
• Scholars agree that the chain of narrators transmitted the meaning of hadith and not the exact words of the Prophet (PBUH).
• It is generally agreed that the chain of narrators, no matter how reliable, were humans and subject to human errors. Consequently, their narrations are subject to errors. The Quran is the only Book beyond error.
• As a consequence, ahadith are classified into several categories starting from “correct” on one side to “coined” on the other. (Verses of the Quran do not have such classification.)
• Shi’ia scholars do not accept Sunni books of hadith. Even among the Sunnis, there are some ahadith which are accepted as ‘correct’ by one group of scholars (Ahlul-Hadith, for example) but not by other groups (like Ahlul Fiqh and others).
• The authenticity of hadith is not equal to the authenticity of the verses of the Quran.
• “The sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) and the sayings we find in the books of ahadith are not necessarily one and the same.” (Maulana Maududi, Rasayel-o-Massayel, Volume I, 1951 edition, page 270).

Brothers and Sisters! Let me repeat once again, before we move on, that every Muslim is required to believe in the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). But what is the sunnah? What is obedience to the sunnah? And what is the goal of obeying the sunnah? This article addresses these questions.

OBEDIENCE TO THE PROPHET (PBUH) I

By: Dr. Mansoor Alam

“O Prophet – behold, We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and as one who summons [all human beings] to God by His leave, and as a light-giving beacon.” (33: 45-46)

“Now [as for thee, O Muhammad,] We have not sent thee otherwise than to humankind at large, to be a herald of glad tidings and a warner; but most people do not understand [this].” (34:28)

“Say: [O Muhammad]: “O humankind! Verily, I am a Messenger of God to all of you, [sent by Him] unto whom the dominion over the heavens and the earth belongs.” (7:158)

“And [thus O Prophet,] We sent thee as [an evidence of Our] grace towards all the worlds.” (21: 107)

The above Quranic verses clearly establish that Islam does not discriminate against human beings on the basis of color, race, blood relationships, language, or nationalities. Islam is for everyone. This means that Allah wants us to build a society based on the Quranic principle of universal brotherhood. While no one can question the value of this high goal, the problem is working to achieve it.

Lailat’ul-Qadar: The Night of Manifestation of a New World

by Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque

The Traditional View of “Shab Qadr”

According to this view, “Lailat-ul-Qadar” or “Shab Qadr” belongs to the transcendental world. It is the most virtuous and the most reverend night of the year. Its complete detail has not even occurred in Hadith. However, according to this view, it is the Hadith through which it has been identified that it falls in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadan: 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, the five nights. The mind of great many religious scholars goes to the 27th night. It unfolds the open expediency of Sharia, that all the five nights and when it becomes a habit: all the ten nights be lived busy in striving for the Divine prayer, the invocation and the revamping of one’s self. Surely there would have been shower of special lightning and sparkling and a few of the pious men (Ahl-i-Dil) would have had the visibility of something through their material eyes. The real, the genuine, phenomenon is that maximum preparations be made for the awakening of the soul and the purification of the self – and no opportunity for supplication and benediction be lost. This is the traditional view of “Lailat-ul-Qadar” or “Shab Qadr.”The Quran’s Point of View

The Quran has simply said that “Lailat-ul-Qadr” is that night in which the revelation of the Quran was initiated. And the Quran’s revelation was started in the month of Ramadan. Since through the Quran’s revelation the world got new values, so the night in which its revelation burgeoned was surely the Laila-tul-Qadr, the night of VALUES, THE NIGHT OF MANIFESTATION OF A NEW WORLD. The Quran does say nothing more than that and does never support the Traditional View.

Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque

PAKISTAN

Zikr

by Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque

If we look into the Quran we will find that the word “Zikr” occurs 268 times in the Quran and has 63 derivatives used in the Book, the Quran. This word “Zikr” has many connotations in Islam. Its almost opposite is “Nissiyane” (forgetting). This verb occurs 45 times in the Quran; and 28 of its derivatives have also been mentioned in the sacred Book.

The root of Zikr is Za-Kaf-Ra. Some of its meanings are:

Az-Zikro Wattazk’aro: It means

· To preserve something, to keep alive in mind; this word is used opposite to NASYUN, which means to forget (6:68)

At tazkerato: It means

• To remind something which is needed (76:29)
• The Quran has also been called As-Zikro (16:14) because it contains the history and Causes or Laws for the rise and fall of nations
• Zikrun also means to remain steadfast in the battlefield and thus ensures the supremacy of Divine Laws (51:45). The Divine Laws are also called Zikrullah (39:23). It has also been used in the context of dignity, honour, respect, fame and saying something good (43:44)
• Verses (2:152) says Faz Kurunee Azkur Kum -‘You keep in view My Laws and I shall protect your rights and grace you with dignity and honour’
• In short Zikr means

1. To remain steadfast in the battle field
2. Ponder over the secrets of nature
3. Take lesson from the previous history of nations
4. Keep in view the Divine Laws and take decisions accordingly
5. Propagate or give publicity to the Divine Laws
6. These are the steps which install peace of mind (13:28) and not the rotation of beads or retreating to the caves or hujras

Keep these meanings in view, study the Quran and grasp the places where this word has been used. You will understand the real perspective and get the action verbs commanding you to do the things practically.

Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque

PAKISTAN