Religion: A Way of Life or A Compartment?

Islam has been termed by Allah as the Deen, meaning that its not just a religion, it is a way of life. In effect, it means that you can literally “live Islam” if you embrace it completely. Humans today, especially Muslims, suffer from a disease I call compartmentalization of religion.

For a lot of Muslims, Islam has become a “mode” which they can switch to whenever they like and switch out of whenever it does not suit them. Does this comply with the definition of Islam being a Deen? If you, as a Muslim, believe that Islam is a way of life, then you have to accept it completely. It is important to mention the very meanings of Islam. Islam means to submit/surrender your will to Allah and attain peace from doing so. This means that your first priority is following the commands of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) rather than following your own whims and desires.

Please reassess your concept of Islam, ask yourself if you have compartmentalized Islam? If yes, what is it that you cannot accept fully, what is that stops you from embracing it completely? As most of the Muslims are born so because of their parents being Muslim, they don’t really care much about Islam. It is something which they have inherited, not something we have made an effort to learn. The Qur’an points out unbelievers who used to follow “the religion of their forefathers”. Most of the Muslims do the same today.

As a Muslim, we should be different from unbelievers. Ask yourself, what is it that makes you different? Please note that I am not insinuating that any Muslim is an unbeliever, rather I am stressing the point that Muslims should be different. We should be different because we do not let our desires to overshadow our religious duties. We should depend only on Allah. This does not mean that if someone helps us, we should not thank them. One of the most prominent indicators of a good Muslim is that he/she is very humble.

We have to strive for everything in this life, Islam is no exception. This is the model created by Allah, the Almighty. We have to put in effort and work hard to achieve true success. As Muslims we have the dual duty of keeping ourselves on the Straight Path, and giving the message of Islam to others.

May Allah Enable Us to Embrace Islam Completely.

Religion and Culture

I come from Pakistan, a country where religion and culture have been amalgamated to the extent that many of the Muslims do not know what constitutes religion and what is it that forms a part of the culture. It is extremely important to distinguish between the two and set priorities. Why? Simply because Allah will judge us based upon our religion not our culture. Our cultural norms and values should remain within the limits and constraints set by religion. Sadly, it is not the case anymore. I am sure that people from other Muslim countries have encountered this as well.

If you do anything which is against cultural norms, people will scold you, ridicule and mock you. People who are susceptible to opinions of other people get caught in such a scenario. They think that following cultural norms and values, even those which are not recommended by religion is fine. The root of this thinking lies in the weakness of the concept of Tau’heed. Most of the people think that if they will not follow customs and norms which are dictated by the culture, they will lose respect and dignity in the society. It is so strange that such people do forbidden things to please other people. It does not occur to them that it is more important to please Allah, as He is the Master of the Day of Judgement. He is the one who will hold us accountable for what we do in our lives. Think about it, do you want to please Allah or people. This is a matter of prioritizing things in your life.

As the distinction between religion and culture is not clear to most of the people, this confusion is passed on to the subsequent generations. For example, people spend huge sums of money on marriages. They do this to establish respect and dignity in the society. They think that by doing so, their status will be elevated in the society. Subhan’Allah. Allah had made clear 1400 years back that the true measure of ones status is their taqwa (piety). It has nothing to do with what people think about that person. In fact, all of us know that every Prophet (peace be on all of them) was opposed vehemently by their people and many of them were murdered. Who has the most respect and dignity among the whole of mankind. It is undoubtedly all the great Prophets who carried out the mission ordained by Allah.

Islam is a way of life. A way of life that was revealed to the last and final messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him). A Deen which is complete. True respect and dignity and in fact everything that is good is from Allah and everything that is bad is the doing of our own souls. As Allah says in the Qur’an

Whatever benefit comes to you (O man!), it is from Allah, and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself, and We have sent you (O Prophet!), to mankind as a messenger; and Allah is sufficient as a witness. (Al-Nisa, 4:79)

Also,

O ye who believe! Whoso of you becometh a renegade from his religion, (know that in his stead) Allah will bring a people whom He loveth and who love Him, humble toward believers, stern toward disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah, and fearing not the blame of any blamer. Such is the grace of Allah which He giveth unto whom He will. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. (Al-Maeda, 5:54)

May Allah Guide Us All to the Straight Path.

Travel, A Muslim Perspective

As most of you know already that I come from Pakistan. I came to United States in the year 2006 as a student. I have been thinking about my experience here in the United States. As I was raised in Pakistan, it is natural for me to have a natural liking and association with my homeland. During my first visit, I felt quite sad leaving my country, but I knew that I was going for a good purpose.

There are so many things that we do in our lives which remind us of the Hereafter if we ponder. For example, when we take exams, if we have no preparation, we obviously would perform bad and then feel guilty about it. Everyone has encountered similar situations in life. I think this is a reminder from Allah about the Ultimate Exam on the Day of Judgement.

If you think deeply, we are essentially travelers in this world. As we get attached to and love our homeland because we have been raised there, in the exact same manner, we love to live in this world. When we leave our respective homelands, we feel sad and down because we are very attached to it. In a similar fashion, as we live through our lives, the association with the Duniya (world) becomes stronger. We tend to get more involved in the Duniya, even after knowing that we are all just mere travelers and all of us would have to leave this world one day.

The point I want to highlight is that we should ask ourselves this question. Given that death is a fact, do we want to be happy or sad when we leave this world? All of us, who have left their homeland know the feeling I am talking about. Amplify that feeling, make it more intense in the context of leaving this Duniya. Would not you wish to leave this world happily?

If you do, then strive for the Deen, the religion of Islam, do what Allah has ordered to do and abstain from what He has forbidden. There are great benefits in leaving your homeland for a good purpose. It makes you think about your life as a whole.

May Allah Guide Us All to the Right Path

How to pray like the Prophet?

Salah (prayer) is a Fard (obligatory) act and one should strive to make it perfect. The scale for perfection is ofcourse the Salah of Rasulullah (peace be upon him). Being a Sunni who practices the Hanafi madhab I would like to refer to you some sources which talk about Salah in detail with authentic narrations from the Qur’an and Hadeeth.

It is important to first understand why one should follow an imam among the four imams. Moreover, it is also imperative to understand why one should follow only ONE imam. This along with how to perform Wudu (ablution) and Salah properly are described at the link given below.

Sifatus Salat: The Method of Salat in the Light of Authentic Ahadith

May Allah guide us all to the Right Path

Fear and Hope: The Right Balance

Both fear and hope play a fundamental role in our lives. None of us can deny the reality of death. Everyone one us will perish, Subhan’Allah (Glory be to Allah). Sometimes when we are involved in a serious accident, or a close call, a severe disease etc., death stares us in our faces. That is the closest we get to fearing death. Otherwise we remain totally unaware of it as if we would live in this world forever. The fear of death and the awareness that all of us would be held accountable for our deeds on the Day of Judgement ought to guide us to the Straight Path. Fearing death in the right sense is actually fearing God, because God has decreed death for all of us.

On the other hand, a lot of us fear other people more than God. There are plenty of things that we do in our lives just to please people. Either we boast off or because of fear of people talking about us we do things in a certain way. This is wrong kind of fear. We should ask ourselves, whom do we fear more? God or people?

Hope drives all of us in both normal and difficult situations. It helps us to move on and stay determined. However, hoping without action is not only wrong but foolish. It is absurd to do no preparation for an exam and then hope to get good marks. Why don’t we apply the same principle when it comes to our lives? It would definitely be extremely foolish to not prepare for the Day of Judgement and hope for Paradise.

Granted, that God is the most merciful and the most forgiving, but remember that He is also the most Just. So strive hard to seek the truth and continually seek forgiveness. Most of all, evaluate yourself. Check whether you have the right balance of fear and hope.

Allah says in the Chapter 2 of Qur’an

“ And thus We have made you a medium (just) nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Messenger may be a bearer of witness to you; and We did not make that which you would have to be the qiblah but that We might distinguish him who follows the Messenger from him who turns back upon his heels, and this was surely hard except for those whom Allah has guided aright; and Allah was not going to make your faith to be fruitless; most surely Allah is Affectionate, Merciful to the people.”

Do justice to yourselves.

Notice that Chapter 2 has 286 verses and Allah is talking about “medium” in exactly the 286/2 = 143rd verse. Subhan’Allah (Glory Be to Allah)

May Allah guide us all to the Straight Path.

Tauheed, the belief in Oneness of God and its benefits

Everyone of us encounters obstacles and difficulties in life. Whenever we are faced with a big problem we ask God to help us. We ask God because we feel that we are incapable of getting out of the problem on our own. Turning to God for help is very good but turning to God only when faced with a difficulty is not good at all. Islam teaches muslims to perfect their concept of God and the faith in God which is termed as “Tau’heed”, the oneness of God.

Muslims believe that Allah (God) is the ONLY one who should be worshipped. Mot non-muslims think that the word Allah is only used by Muslims.  I want to clarify that Allah is an arabic word and Christian Arabs use Allah to pronounce God.

Perfecting Tauheed is one of the most important things a Muslim should strive to accomplish. Perfecting Tauheed involves solidifying the concept of God and understanding that only He is the one who benefits us, helps us and gives sustenance to us. All other things are only means of facilitating His decree.

This does not mean that if somebody helps you then there is no need to thank them. Instead, it is a very good act to thank someone for their help but at the same time it is important to thank Allah. This is because the person who helped you was in fact a facilitator of Allah’s decree.

Most of the Muslims believe in Allah but they do not put their complete trust in Allah. One cannot achieve contentment and happiness unless one puts his complete trust in Allah. For example, when we get ill and go to the doctor we think that the doctor will do something which would cure us. Granted, that the doctor has the expertise and the knowledge to try to cure us, but cure is ultimately from Allah. Perfection of Tauheed demands that we should always think that Allah alone is enough for us.

Two beautiful verses (ayahs) from the third chapter of the Qur’an attest to this fact.

“Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector.  So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace, no evil touched them and they followed the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.”(3:173-174)

This belief rids us of all the problems and difficulties we face, because we only depend on Allah for help. Its a huge relief to ask Allah for help. This is one of the fundamental reasons that I think Muslims can get rid of all of their problems if they strive to perfect their Tau’heed.

May Allah guide us all to the Right Path.

Sahaba: The Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

The people who lived in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and followed his guidance are definitely the best of humankind. We can learn important lessons from each one of them. We as humans are good at observing something and then following it. Some of the things that may stop us from doing so are arrogance, procrastination, hypocrisy etc. We need to do two things to constantly remain on the Right Path.

We need to pray five times a day and try our utmost to follow the commands of Allah. Not only that, we have to introspect so as to compare our actions with our thoughts and feelings. This is necessary to avoid the evils of hypocrisy. The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are the best examples for us. By reading about their lives and adopting parts of it in our lives we can truly see and feel a positive change.

Many Muslims do not know much about the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). When I was taught Islamic studies as a young kid, our books narrated true stories about very few of the companions. Later on, when I read about other companion it brought a big change in me. Indeed it sparked true faith inside me which enabled me to distinguish between the right and wrong. I think that one of the most important things that is achieved by practicing Islam is the sense as well as intuition of distinguishing between the Right and the Wrong.

I highly recommend you guys both Muslims and Non-Muslims to read a few stories about the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). You can start by clicking here . I was moved by this one.

May Allah Guide Us All to the Right Path

Celebrating Birthday of Muhammad (PBUH): Right or Wrong?

I was born and raised in Pakistan. I remember every year when the 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal would come, there would be people singing the praises of the Prophet (peace be upon him), sitting in gatherings, selling badges with names of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Being a child I got very excited about the celebration as I had no understanding at the time.

Now I realize, how much time and money is wasted on the activities when the same can go towards much more needed and noble causes, such as helping the orphans, the needy and the poor. Some of you might say, “Well what is wrong with that?”. I pose only one question. Do you love the Prophet (peace be upon him) more than his companions did? I am sure that you are not arrogant enough to say yes which brings the point home. If the companions who loved the Prophet (peace be upon him) so much, never celebrated the day of his birth, how can we do so or for that matter they must have thought that the Prophet (peace be upon him) would not like it.

Most of the people in Pakistan do not want to think this way. The concept of Islam in their minds is the one inculcated by their parents and probably a few interactions with an Imam along with whatever hearsay from friends and people whom they trust.

I ask you, is this really the way to lead life? Every human is given a brain which has the capability to ponder and think. Does being Muslims mean that we do not have to think about our own religion Islam and we can let people around us bring innovations into it?

Believe me it does not take a lot of effort to learn Islam correctly because it is indeed very simple. This is the beauty of Islam, you don’t have to think very hard. That does not mean that you do not have to make an effort. Unless we learn and verify what the truth is, how can we preach it to others.

Remember Islam itself is simple, but people have made their concept of Islam complicated by mixing culture with it. Please sift out your culture from your understanding of Islam. Our religion is not a compartment we can get into whenever we feel like, its a complete way of life, adopt it in its entirety, which requires you to know the fundamentals well.

If you want a detailed scholarly answer to why we should not celebrate the birthday of the Prophet (peace be upon him), click here .

May Allah guide us all to the Right Path.

Halal Food USA: We Are What We Eat

I came to the United States as a student few years back. Being a Muslim, I had to research about halal food availability. Remember, eating Halal is just another way of purifying yourself because what you eat is You! It is similar to lots of other religious acts whose sole purpose is to purify. Charity (Zakah) purifies your wealth, Prayer (Salah) purifies yourbody and soul. Pilgrimage (Hajj) wipes off all the sins that you have committed, of course if done with the right intention.

Internet was a great help regarding this matter, as some mosques have lists of Halal foods that one could buy at local stores such as Wal-mart. However, these lists are by no means comprehensive.

Most of the Muslims think of Halal only in terms of food and forget about it when it comes to cosmetics and other body care products especially tooth paste. I found out that most of the tooth pastes for instance, have glycerin among other ingredients. That is almost sure to be from animal (not slaughtered in the proper way) sources and thus not suitable for usage by Muslims.

After a bit of research, I found a tooth paste from Toms of Maine, which is totally natural and has no ingredients whatsoever from animal sources. All of this sounds too difficult to dig deep into and find out. The good news is that now it has been made very easy with websites such as Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America .

This website is a great source of information regarding Halal products in a lot of categories. Moreover, they have a Halal digest which includes updates on what new companies have been certified by the council. I was surprised and pleased to see the Halal sign on a cheese product in my local Wal-mart supercenter. Please remember that while this website lists a lot of products and provides very good information, it is by no means the “complete Halal Food Repository”. The aim of these guys is to spread awareness among the people and to certify products as Halal.

This website is a great learning source for all kinds of ingredients. It gives authentic information as to what is not a Halal ingredient and why? Most of the people think that products other than meat have nothing wrong with them. Through my own experience I have found out Potato chips products, sauces, milk, juices etc. that have a tiny ingredient which is enough to exclude it from the Halal category.

I recommend all the American Muslims to take advantage of this website and know about what they are eating.

Islam and the General Model of Life

Most of the people think about life as something with so many perils and hurdles in it, each one of its own kind. Granted, that there are good times but almost all of us know that mostly we have to put in effort, make a struggle and live on.

In such a situation, it helps to think about life in a more general manner. I was thinking about how we humans do almost anything, what is the real model behind it? Most of the things we do have a source of motivation to start with. As we keep doing that thing, our motivation diminishes. Eventually, we reach a point where either we would quit doing that thing or we need to refresh the motivation somehow.

We can either refresh whatever sources of motivation we currently have or find a new one. The sooner we do that, the more likely we would continue doing that thing with the same diligence and exuberance that we used to.

This fits so well with the model of life promulgated by the Qur’an. When one is always wary of the accountability of his/her deeds in the hereafter, that serves as a source of motivation to continue doing good deeds. Renewing the source of motivation is similar to praying five times a day with the intention and spirit that you are standing in front of your Lord, Who has no partners.

The way I look at it, all the religious acts are basically either short-term or long-term means of refreshing the motivation. Consider the repetition of prayers within a day, the annual arrival of the month of Ramadan, the annual obligation of paying charity (if you are eligible and fit the criteria), and the ever more frequent (or should be frequent) reminders of the Hereafter and the Day of Judgement.

What are all of these? In addition to others benefits that they have, they serve as the sources of motivation for Muslims all over the world. Moreover, most of us, Muslims and non-Muslims, follow the same model of motivation bundled with whatever we want to do.