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Challenge Your Blindness

Date: March 17, 2015

Did you ever think of what is the meaning of blindness? The meaning varies for people, for their thoughts and approach. To some, it will be merely a sickness or defect by birth. To some others, it sounds something unsound or a state of ignorance or passiveness. Often it is a frightening thought or state. Here the thing is something different. Author states that blindness has become a way of life, to be open, a disguising to lead the life. Author recollects his experience from Manipal hospital, near Bangalore, that he was bedridden due to a massive stroke which lead him to a total blindness. His illness transformed him to a blind man physically, but not mentally. Gradually he started to recover his blindness using auditory senses and the mind to be able to overcome the deficiency. And this challenging situation taught him to keep his blindness as an asset. Instead of crying about the vision loss, he found himself taking up the challenges of gaining ground and bridging the gap between being sighted and facing blindness. He read newspaper e copy by software called JAWS (Job Access With Speech). Watched movies by listening the conversation and amazingly he got extra power for his other senses. Author is giving a positive message to the blind people that to keep the defect as a challenge and live life with full of joy and activities.

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The Beautiful Concept of Zakat

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The word Zakat means purification and growth. Quran promotes feeding hungry people and helping the poor. Since, the month of Ramadan is termed as the very month of forgiveness, blessings, helping others, prayers and thanks giving. Zakat is an activity connected with prayer and compassion towards the poor people. Allah says that provide Zakat with prayers and it will make you and the receiver blessed. Conditions for Zakat Giving If you are possessing property in excess of a minimum exemption limit, you must give Zakat to the needy. Another term is that if your wealth equal to or in surplus of Nisab in the beginning and at the end of the lunar year, you must give Zakat. At the same time, at the end of the lunar year if the wealth is less than the Nisab, it is not necessary to give Zakat. It says that Zakat is due on all the gold and silver ornaments, jewellery. All bank deposits and provident fund will fall under the Zakat giving. It is also said that if one has agriculture land irrigated by rain water or by natural water channels or if the land is wet due to a nearby water channel, the yield of the land must be provided as Zakat. Zakat is obligatory on goats, sheep, cows, buffaloes and camels which graze on wild grass, plant leaves and on some feed, now and then given by the owner, and on the above animals meant for sale. Do Not Give Zakat to these People * To a person who owns minimum 7 1/2 tolas of gold or 52 1/2 tolas of silver or equivalent wealth in cash, kind or in trade goods. * To one’s mother, father, paternal and maternal grand-parents, great grand-parents, etc. * To one’s offspring-sons, daughters, grand-children, great grand-children, etc. * to spouse * To other relatives such as brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. * To Sayyeds(descendants of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). * To domestic or other servants as wages. * Zakat cannot be given for repairing or maintenance of mosque. * Do not pay Zakat to meet the funeral expenses.

To the Rude Hijabi at Heathrow

Here is an incident story that a couple experienced rude behavior from a girl in hijab. Once the author’s mom was traveling to Pakistan. Her husband dropped her at the airport and they were in the counter for some check-in processes. There was a girl in hijab at the counter that was very rude to him. They had a difficult situation there that the girl played a very rude behavior and somehow they managed to unpack, repack and sort all the things in the baggage. The girl in hijab had a barking tone until she checked-in for the journey. The moral of this incident is that, we all are human beings and we shouldn’t be so rude to others. When you work in a job, you should serve your customers or clients with great hospitality. Your mental pressures or personal hatreds should not present at the job place. Be calm and helpful to others so that Allah would reward you for these good deeds.

Welcoming Muharram, the Month of Allah

The Islamic calendar consists of twelve months, the first of which is the month of Muharram. The name “Muharram” is derived from the word “haram,” which means forbidden or impermissible, as it is considered unlawful to engage in any war or fighting during this month. This was the case even before the advent of Islam for the people of Makkah and surrounding tribes. Muharram can also be defined as “sacred,” and it is a blessed month which has been mentioned by God Almighty, Allah, in the Qur’an as one of the four sacred months of the Islamic lunar calendar. Allah says: “Verily, the number of months with Allah is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred, (i.e. the 1st, the 7th, the 11th and the 12th months of the Islamic calendar). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein.” (9:36) In this verse, Allah mentions the four most sacred months of the year, the 1st, which is Muharram, Rajab, the 7th, and Dhul Qadah and Dhul Hijjah, which are the 11th and 12th, respectively. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, confirmed this in a hadith narrated by Abu Bakrah, in which he said, “… The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred: three consecutive months, Dhul Qadah, Dhul Hijjah and Muharram, and Rajab of Mudar which comes between Jumada and Shabaan.” (Bukhari) Not only is Muharram sacred, but also referred to as the month of Allah, as mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, when he said, “The best fast after Ramadan is in the month of Allah, Muharram.” (Muslim) From this hadith, it is understood that the month of Muharram has a unique status with Allah, given the honor of being associated with His glorious name. Another lesson that can be extracted from this saying of the Prophet is that fasting during the month of Muharram is recommended. This fast is even compared to that of Ramadan, one of the pillars of Islam, to emphasize its importance. There is one particular day during the month of Muharram in which it is highly encouraged to fast, and that is the day of Ashura. The day of Ashura coincides with the 10th of Muharram. Several authentic reports in the books of ahadith note that fasting on the day of Ashura was a popular practice even before Islam was established. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to Madinah and saw the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. He asked, “What is this day you are fasting?” They responded, “This is a good day; this is the day when Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy and Musa (Moses) fasted on this day.” The Prophet said, “We are closer to Musa than you.” So he fasted on this day and told the people to fast. (Bukhari and Muslim) In fact, before the fast of Ramadan was made obligatory for the Muslims, the Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered his followers to fast on the day of Ashura. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said that fasting on the day of Ashura became voluntary only after fasting the month of Ramadan was made compulsory. (Muslim) Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Fast the Day of Ashura and be different from the Jews by fasting a day before it or a day after it.” (Ahmad) This is the reason why Muslims often fast the 9th and 10th of Muharram or the 10th and 11th of Muharram. There are immense rewards associated with fasting in general. Allah says in a hadith qudsi: “Every action of the son of Adam is his, except for fasting. It is Mine, and it is I who reward it.” (Bukhari and Muslim) Of course, it is Allah who will assess a believer’s worship and ultimately reward or punish mankind for his deeds. However, fasting is an action which is private, unlike prayer, charity, and even the pilgrimage. No one can “see” another person fasting; and thus, only Allah knows whether or not that individual is upholding his fast. Given that the month of Muharram is the month of Allah, it can be presumed that the reward will be great, in accordance with the status of this sacred month. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did expound on some of the recompense for fasting the day of Ashura. He is recorded as saying, “I seek from Allah that fasting on the day of Arafa may atone for the sins of the preceding and the coming years, and I seek from Allah that fasting on the day of Ashura may atone for the sins of the preceding year.” (Muslim) In another hadith in Sahih Muslim, when he was asked about the reward for fasting the day of Ashura, he clearly stated that it was an expiation for the sins of the previous year. Many other narrations speak about the virtues of the day of Ashura and the month of Muharram in general. No doubt the month of Muharram is blessed and the believers should take advantage of this time to increase in their ibaadah, by virtue of fasting, remembering Allah much, praying, and giving in charity. The Prophet said, “The best fasting after Ramadan is the month of Allah, Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night.” (Muslim) At the very least, one should strive to fast on the day of Ashura, which was a practice of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions. While the Muslim community does not hold a celebration for the coming of the “New Year,” Muslims are encouraged to embrace the first month of the Islamic calendar by performing good deeds and as a result, set the stage for a fruitful year, insha’Allah.

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