Searching Real Peace and Prosperity

From time immemorial as an when the divine guidance was ignored by Humans and it was replaced by man made rules and paths men never got the real prosperity and happiness.There are many people who own a lot of wealth but they lack the peace and tranquility which many think they will get once they start living a high lifestyle.The holy Quran says about these people who ignore the divine guidance "But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down.....[Al Quran Chapter 20 Verse 124].We see that this narrowness is in the form of various hardships be it calamities,diseases,economic recessions or lack of satisfaction in life.

If we talk about individuals there are many who instead of pondering on why there life is hard or why they are not feeling satisfied try to escape from this situation by doing suicides,a figure of USA shows suicide rate during 1990-1994, a total of 154,444 persons committed suicide in the United States;or some go for other paths like taking drugs etc to search for that peace and satisfaction in life, whereas you will not find such trends of suicides or that feel of spiritual hollowness even in a poorest country like Bangladesh where there are people  who may not have meals even for some days.

The Holy Quran says "Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children, as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers, evil-doers), and (there is) Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers, good-doers), whereas the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment. 
[Al Quran 57:20]

To achieve that real peace and tranquility and calmness in life and to prosper in the hereafter there is no other way than to revert back to that guidance “Indeed, by the Remembrance of Allah do hearts find peace.” (Chapter 13, verse 28).As far as that divine path is concerned it is not something alien to the Jews or the Christians as the Quran says " "Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him, honour him, help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him,- it is they who will prosper."(Al-Quran Chapter 7 Verse 157).

Translation of Quran at www.tanzil.info

Q: Is Islam a Religion, Culture, or Ethnity?

Question Asked by Karmen 

Answered by consultant Shahul Hameed from http://www.onislam.net

Salam, Karmen.

Thank you for your question.

The first part of your question is: Is Islam a religion?

The answer is: Islam is not a religion in the usual sense. Religion is defined as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."  

Islam is much more than a religion as defined above. Islam is a way of life based on the guidance of God given in the books of God and the example of the prophets of God. Islam literally means "Submission" (to the One True God).

It was the religion of all the Prophets of God including the first man and Prophet Adam, the Patriarch Abraham, Moses, Jesus and last Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon them all).

Usually religion is understood to mean a private relationship between man and God. Islam is entirely different from this kind of religion, because it is comprehensive in the sense that it involves all the aspects of life as lived by humans.

It is those who have misunderstood the nature of Islam who accuse it of being more radical than spiritual. Some who wish to apply the strategy of "divide-and-rule" to Muslim lands would like to split up the world Muslim community into sects following different "brands" of Islam.

They would speak of political Islam, fundamentalist Islam, leftist Islam, rightist Islam and so on. But such divisions have little to do with the reality of Islam. To Muslims of the world, there is only one Islam; and it is the Islam of the Quran, which Muslims believe is the word of God, and Sunnah (the Example) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It is the Islam believed in and followed by all the great Companions of the Prophet and his Successors and by generation after generation of Muslims the world over.

It is true that Islam covers all aspects of life, such as politics, economics and culture, as it is a divinely revealed religion that gives norms and principles that are meant to govern human life in its varied aspects.

It is for this reason the misunderstanding of Islam being political or economical arises. But the teachings of religion are applicable not only to the private sphere of human life.

For instance, religious values, such as truthfulness, altruism and equality and fraternity of all humans apply to all spheres of human activities. And can we bypass the question of equal justice to all humans in the socio-political area of human life?

In fact, Islam does not recognize any kind of separation between religion and life. It does not share the history of the separation between church and state, for everything should be dedicated to God alone.

A Muslim is required to submit himself completely and without reservation to the will of God in all his affairs.

God Almighty in the noble Quran orders Muslims to declare:

(Say, ‘My prayers and sacrifice, my life and death, are all for God, Lord of all the Worlds;) (Al-Anam 6:162)

Of course, there are religions that do not worry about the practical application of justice to the affairs of men, and promote a spirituality that is alienated from the daily lives of people.

They leave the political and economic realms entirely to the visions of human rulers or politicians who sometimes follow Machiavellian strategies.

Islam teaches that Muslims should always strive to see that justice is done at all costs. For Muslims, justice is a very high value. And it is for this reason that Muslims in different parts of the world are seen to be fighting for justice; and this is often misunderstood as extremism.

The second question is whether Islam is a culture.

From a sociological point of view, "culture" may be defined as the complex of the beliefs, morals, practices, objects and life style common to the members of a group or society.

In this sense, Islam has common cultural elements. For instance, Muslims all over the world pray five times a day as a congregation in a mosque. They do not consume alcohol or drugs; and for a whole month they fast during day time, etc.

Since Islam covers political and economic aspects of human life also, it cannot simply be called a culture. So, the answer to the question is that Islam is not just a culture; though it possesses and promotes a distinctive culture characteristics of its own.

Your next question is: Is Islam a nationality?

Nationality is usually a legal relationship between an individual and a state. The term normally signifies a geographical boundary.

Islam is transnational and its adherents are spread over different countries in different continents; they are nationals of several countries.

It is particularly noteworthy that Islam does not encourage people to be divided on the basis of the country of birth or domicile.

It is strongly opposed to the idea of nationalism, which is a vehemently passionate affinity for one's country that makes a person hate the nationals of other countries.

Yet, Islam encourages patriotism, which is genuine love for one's country. Nationalism tends to divide humans; but Islam unites humans; it preaches One God, and one humanity.

The next question is: Is Islam an ethnicity?

In the Quran, God Almighty says what means:

(People, We created you all from a single man and a single woman, and made you into races and tribes so that you should recognize one another. In God’s eyes, the most honored of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware.) (Al-Hujrat 49:13)

The above verse makes it extremely clear that Islam would bring the entire human race under the principle of One God as it does not give any tribe, race, or nation precedence over another.

In short, people’s  ethnic identity is not all a criterion for their worth according to Islam. It should be underscored that the concept of the oneness of humanity based on the Oneness of God is central to Islam.

I hope this answers your question. Please, keep in touch.

Salam.

Original Article at  

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-about-islam/faith-and-worship/islamic-creed/448923-whats-islam.html

Recession--- some reasons and Solution

We see that capitalims and communism tried to give the world two alternate ways to Economy but both failed utterly.Islamic Economical system gives a complete model of code not just for policy makers but for individuals as well.

We see the major reason for recession is

Interest based banking

High spending (that too on credit)

Greed (buy 2 get 1 concept…or more more)

Majority of people poor and rich getting richer & richer.

Major resources in the hands of few etc

 What Islam gives as alternate is

Banking on the basis of profit and loss sharing

Spending in the right way (neither become miser nor a spendthrift)

Concept of Zakath (2.5% yearly for money to flow from rich to poor)

It also encourages to give in the form of charity,soft loans etc so that underprivileged are not left alone.

Controlling Prices (like discouraging hoarding of  food etc)

Read the Holy Quran & Hadith Books like Bukhari and muslim etc to know more such rules.

Note:

For most of its 2,000 year history, Christianity not only frowned on capitalism, but banned it outright.

Exodus 22: 24-25, "If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him." This prohibition is repeated 22 times in the Old Testament. Proverbs 28:8 says, "He who increases his wealth by interest and overcharge amasses it for someone else who will bestow it on the poor." Psalm 15 says, "Yahweh, who can find a home in your tent, who can dwell on your holy mountain? Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly, who speaks the truth from the heart, ... who asks no interest on loans, who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. No one who so acts can ever be shaken." 

How to acquire the knowledge of God?

 We have already referred to countless manifestations of God around us and in our own selves, which bear witness to the fact that there is one and only one creator and Governor of this universe and it is He Who controls and directs it. These witnesses reflect the divine attributes of the creator: His great wisdom, His all-embracing knowledge, His omnipotence, His mercy, His all-sustaining power, His force major-in short, His attributes can be traced everywhere in His work. But man’s intellect and his capacity to attain knowledge have erred in observing and understanding them. These are all manifest and clear and our eyes are open to read what is writ large on the creation. But here men have erred. some have declared that there are two gods others began to profess belief in trinity, and still others succumbed to polytheism. Some began nature-worship and others divided into multifarious deities: gods of rain, air, fair, death, etc. As such, although the manifestations of God were quite clear, human reason has faltered on various counts and failed to see the reality in its true perspective. It met deception after deception and resulted in nothing but confusion of thought. We hardly need dilate here on these errors of human judgment.


Similarly, with regard to life after death men have put forward many erroneous notions; for instance, that man is reduced to dust after death and will not rise to life again; or that man is subject to a process of continuous regeneration in this very world and is punished or rewarded in the oncoming cycles of life.


Even greater difficulty arises when we come to the question of the code of life. To formulate a complete and balanced code of life that should conform to God’s pleasure merely with the help of human reason, is an extremely difficult task. If a man is equipped with the highest faculties of reason and intellect and he possesses matchless wisdom and experience of many years of deliberation, even then the chances of his formulating right views on life and existence are not very promising. And even if, after a lifelong deliberation, he succeeds in that he will still lack in the confidence that he has really discovered the truth and adopted the right path.


Although the fullest and fairest test of man’s wisdom, reason, and knowledge might have been to leave him to his own resources without any external guidance so that he those who, through their own sagacious siftings and strivings, might have reached truth and righteousness would have won success and salvation, while those not reaching them would have failed. God, how- ever, spared His human creatures such a hard test. Through His grace and benevolence He raised for mankind men from among themselves to whom He imparted the true knowledge of His attributes, revealed to them His Law and the Right Code of Living, gave them the knowledge of the meaning and purpose of life and of the life after death and thus showed them the way by pursuing which man can achieve success and eternal bliss. These chosen man are the Messengers of God-His prophets. 


God has communicated knowledge and wisdom to them by means of wahy (revelation), and the book containing the Divine communications is called the Book of God, or the word of God. Now the test of man’s Wisdom and intellect lies in this: does he recognize God's Messenger after thoroughly observing his pure and pious life and carefully studying his noble and flawless teachings? The man who possesses right wisdom and sound common sense would verify truth and accept the instructions given by the Messenger of truth. If he denies the Messenger of God and his teachings, his denial would signify that he was devoid of the capacity to find out truth and righteousness. On account of this denial he would fail in his test. Such a man will never be able to discover the truth about God and His Law and the life after death.


To Read the Complete Book Please go to this Link .....
http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/M_tui/

Was Islam Spread by The Sword?

Q. How can Islam be called the religion of peace when it was spread by the sword?

Ans: It is a common complaint among many non-Muslims that Islam would not be having millions of adherents all over the world, if it had not been spread by the use of force. The following points will make it clear, that far from being spread by the sword, it was the inherent force of reason and logic that was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam.

1. Islam means peace Islam comes from the root word ‘salaam’, which means peace. It also means submitting one’s will to Allah (SWT). Thus Islam is a religion of peace, which is acquired by submitting one’s will to the will of the Supreme Creator, Allah (SWT).

2. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace Each and every human being in this world is not in favour of maintaining peace and harmony. There are many, who would disrupt it for their own vested interests. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace. It is precisely for this reason that we have the police who use force against the criminal and anti-social elements to maintain peace in the country. Islam promotes peace. At the same time, Islam exhorts it followers to fight where there is oppression. The fight against oppression may, at times, require the use of force. In Islam force can only be used to promote peace and justice.

3. Historian De Lacy O’Leary’s opinion De Lacy O’Leary in the book “Islam at the crossroad” (Page 8) gives the best reply to the misconception that Islam was spread by the sword: “History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myth that historians have ever repeated.”

4. Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years The Muslims ruled Spain for about 800 years. The Muslims never used the sword to force the people to convert. Later the Christian Crusaders came to Spain and wiped out the Muslims. There was not a single Muslim who could openly give the Azan, that is the call for prayers.

5. 14 million Arabs are Coptic Christians Muslims were the lords of Arabia for 1400 years. For a few years the British ruled, and for a few years the French ruled. Overall, the Muslims ruled Arabia for 1400 years. Yet today, there are 14 million Arabs who are Coptic Christians, i.e. Christians since generations. If the Muslims had used the sword there would not have been a single Arab who would have remained a Christian.

6. More than 80% non-Muslims in India The Moghuls ruled India for about a thousand years. If they wanted, they had the power of converting each and every non-Muslim of India to Islam. Today more than 80% of the population of India are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim Indians are bearing witness today that Islam was not spread by the sword.

7. Indonesia and Malaysia Indonesia is a country that has the maximum number of Muslims in the world. The majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. May one ask, “Which Muslim army went to Indonesia and Malaysia?”

8. East Coast of Africa Similarly, Islam has spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. One may again ask, if Islam was spread by the sword, “Which Muslim army went to the East Coast of Africa.”

9. Reason for Spread of Islam Even when Muslims won battles they never forced the non-Muslims to accept Islam. The behaviour, brotherhood, honesty and justice of the Muslims and the universality and practical approach of Islam were the reasons for non-Muslims to accept Islam. Islam spread a great extent by the Muslim traders and businessmen who spread in different parts of the world and whose behaviour impressed the non-Muslims.

10. Thomas Carlyle The famous historian, Thomas Carlyle, in his book “Heroes and Hero worship”, refers to this misconception about the spread of Islam: “The sword indeed, but where will you get your sword? Every new opinion, at its starting is precisely in a minority of one, in one man’s head alone. There it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it; there is one man against all men. That he takes a sword and tries to propagate with that, will do little for him. You must get your sword! On the whole, a thing will propagate itself as it can.’

11. No compulsion in religion With which sword was Islam spread? Even if Muslims had the sword they could not use it to spread Islam because the Qur’an says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error” [Al-Qur’an: 2:256]

12. Sword of the Intellect It is the sword of intellect. It is the sword that conquers the hearts and minds of the people. The Qur’an says: “Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.” [Al-Qur’an:16:125]

13. Increase in the world religions from 1934 - 1984. An article in Readers digest ‘Almanac’, year book 1986, gave the statistics of the increase of percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century from 1934 to 1984. This article also appeared in ‘The Plain Truth’ magazine. At the top was Islam, which increased by 235%, and Christianity had increased only by 47%. Which war took place in this century, which converted millions of people to Islam?

14. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and Europe Today the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. The fastest growing religion in Europe is Islam. Which sword is forcing people in the West to accept Islam in such large numbers?

For More such Q and Ans Go To http://www.islamawareness.net/FAQ/faq.html

Prophesies of Muhammad (PBUH) in Hindu Scriptures:

1. 'A Malechha (belonging to a foreign country and speaking a foreign language) spiritual teacher will appear with his companions. His name will be Mohammed. Raja (Bhoj) after giving this Maha Dev Arab (of angelic dispostion) a bath in the Panchgavya and the Ganges water (i.e. purging him of all sins) offered him the presents of his sincere
devotion and showing him all reverence said, 'I make obeisance to thee. O ye! The pride of mankind, the dweller in Arabia, Ye have collected a great force to kill the Devil and you yourself have been protected from the malechha opponents.' (Puranas - Bhavishya Puran - Prati Sarg Part III: 3.3.5-8. Compiled by Mahrishi Vyasa, the writer of Gita and Maha Bharat and Puranas)

2. 'Ahmad acquired Shariah (religious law) from his Lord. This Shariah is full of wisdom. I receive light from him just as from the sun.' (Sama Veda, 2:6,8)

Hindu Scriptural evidence against making and worshipping idols!!!

Bhagavat Gita 7-24: "The ignorant believe that un-manifest Para Brahma (One God) incarnates or takes manifestations, because they do not completely understand My highest, immutable, incomparable, and transcendental existence."

Bhagavat Gita 7:19-21: "All those who do idol worship, All those who worship demigods are materialistic people."

Yajur Veda 3:32: "...Of that God you cannot make any images."

Yajur Veda 32:3: "God is formless and bodiless"

Yajur Veda 40:8: "All those who worship the uncreated things, they are in darkness, and you'll enter more into darkness if you worship the created things."

Rig Veda, Vol.8,1:1: "All Praise are to Him alone"

Rig Veda, Vol.6,45:16: "There is only One God, worship Him."