Sunday, February 6, 2011

Celebrating the Mauludun Nabiyy

The subject of celebrating the Maulud has been a subject of debate among scholars for a very long time and no consensus has been reached till today. Maulud is a term used to describe the date of birth of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), which falls on the 12th day of the month of Rabi'ul Auwal i.e the 3rd Month of the Islamic Calendar. In the Gregorian Calendar, the date varies according to the sighting of the moon.
Maulud is recent to Islam, starting after the death of the Prophet (SAW), his companions, and their companions. There is no evidence anywhere that the Prophet (SAW) celebrated his birthday or commanded that it be celebrated. No one claims that!
Proponents of the celebration argue that the day (and night) is revived with history of the Prophet, Qur'anic recitations, Salawat on the Prophet, and all good things, all of which no one can say are haraam. They also argue that the sunnah fasting of Monday is observed because the Prophet (SAW) was born on Monday citing the following hadith as a proof:
Abu Qatadah reported that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) was asked about fasting on Mondays and he said, "That is the day on which I was born and the day when I was sent - or when revelation descended on me." (Muslim, Al-Nasaa'i, Abu Dawood).

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Why Wait For Valentines Day

In trying to trace the origin of Valentines Day, I have stumbled on so many different stories, which makes it extremely difficult to figure out its real origin. But the bottom line is that it is certainly a pagan tradition. Linking with it to St. Valentine is also another debate. While some people try to link it to him (probably to make it acceptable in Christianity) others reject any connection. Whatever the case is, we are NOT allowed to imitate the kuffar in any way. Thereby making the celebration of Valentines Day impermissible in Islam.

Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) says in the Qur'an that, "And if any among you takes them (as Awliyaa' [friends and helpers]), then surely, he is one of them." (Q5:51)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Do You Pray?

This may come as a shock and most people will answer with "duh! of course I do!" But do you really pray? Looking critically at how Muslims really live their lives and observe their Ibadah, you will agree with me that most things are observed merely as rituals - because they are required! Why and How to actual do things are out of the question. When you ask a person why he or she performs a particular Ibadah, most people will simply answer, "because this is how I saw it done." 
Salaah (Islamic Prayer) is the foremost and most important aspect of a Muslim's life - it distinguishes between the Muslim and the Kafir and will be the first act to be checked on the day in which you have no chance to make corrections.