Living Islam (mission, prophet, marriage, faith, muslims)

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Between Husband and Family in Islam

Establishing Love and Mercy

Islam teaches that the relations between husband and wife should be based on mutual love and mercy. Then only will there be peace in domestic life; and so it is the duty of both the spouses to see that they are a source of comfort and tranquility to each other.

They should strive their utmost to make their home an abode of peace and happiness. For this reason, loving and merciful relationship is crucial to a good marriage and good family life.



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Islam Between Surrender and Free Will

Q: Islam gives the concept of surrender to God and to be at peace with His Will, even at times of extreme loss.

The spirit of Islam, as one reads the Qur'an, seems to be God-consciousness, to be aware of His Presence, to remember Him at all times, to be obedient to Him and to fear His displeasure and most importantly, to love Him the most. All other loves and kinds of obedience should be under it, His Obedience, Love and Remembrance should be dominant over everything else.

After knowing these facts, one particular incident in the Qur'an has kept me confused. It is about Prophet Yaqub (Jacob, peace be upon him) who loves his son, Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him) so much that, when they get separated, the grief consumes him to an extent that, he loses his eye-sight in crying for his son. ...

A: Surrender and Free Will

You are, of course, quite right that at the very heart of Islam we have the concept of surrender to God.
The word "Islam" comes from an Arabic lexical root word which means both surrender and peace. A "Muslim" is one who submits to the will of Allah. In doing so he finds both peace and fulfillment in this world and looks to eternal bliss in the Hereafter.
This submission, though, does not destroy man's own free will, nor does it take anything away from his faculties as a man. Submission is a continuous, positive choice. Each moment of each day we are called as Muslims to surrender our heart and will to Allah.

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Continuity of the Message

Islam is not a new religion because "submission to the will of God", i.e. Islam, has always been the only acceptable religion in the sight of God. For this reason, Islam is the true "natural religion", and it is the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God's prophets and messengers.

Muslims believe that all of God's prophets, which include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same message of Pure Monotheism.

For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but he was the Final Prophet of Islam. By revealing His final message to Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind, God finally fulfilled the covenant that He made with Abraham, who was one of the earliest and greatest prophets.

Suffice it to say that the way of Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham, because both the Bible and the Qur'an portray Abraham as a towering example of someone who submitted himself completely to God and worshipped Him without intermediaries. Once this is realized, it should be clear that Islam has the most continuous and universal message of any religion, because all prophets and messengers were "Muslims", i.e. those who submitted to God's will, and they preached "Islam", i.e. submission to the will of Almighty God.

http://discover.islamway.com/articles.php?article_id=2

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What Really Happened Up There?
Gabriel and Muhammad

The moment had to come. It was in the month of Ramadan, in the year 610 CE when Muhammad was 40 years old, spending the month in the mountain of Hira' (outside Makkah), as had been his habit for several years.

Suddenly, Muhammad has a most fascinating experience, ...

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Is Heaven a Muslims-Only Zone?

Is it considered necessary in Islam for a man like myself to convert to Islam in order to go to Heaven, even though I ascribe worship to only One God now as Christian?

Is it acceptable to still be a Christian in the eyes of Allah, and go to Heaven?

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The Prophet in Ramadan
Letting the Spirit ReignSupreme

The Prophet demonstrated to his people how this world is less important than the next, and how the body is less important than the soul. In fasting, the Prophet taught them step by step how to ignore the physical demands so that the spirit reigns supreme.

Abandoning food, drink, and sex was only a prelude to the next stage of greater significance: of conquering avidity and cupidity, lust and licentiousness; of liberating one's mind from flights of passion and fits of temper. Indeed the Prophet said:

"The strong person is not the one who can wrestle someone else down. The strong person is the one who can control himself when he is angry." (Bukhari)

Also about the effect of fasting on one's behavior, the Prophet said, "Fasting is a shield, so the one who fasts should avoid obscene speech and ignorant behaviour. If someone abuses him or starts to fight with him, he should reply by saying: 'I am fasting. I am fasting'." (Bukhari)

The core of fasting according to the Prophet was one's willingness not merely to give up self-indulgence, but to feel the need of one's brother as one's own. And no one was more kind-hearted and generous than the Messenger of God; and his generosity reached its peak in Ramadan. (Bukhari)

The Prophet stressed on the importance of treating people nicely when he said:

"Make things easy for people and do not make them difficult, and cheer people up and do not drive them away." (Bukhari)

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Islam and the Restoration of Meaning - Part 1
Understanding Context
By Imam Zaid Shakir

In this paper, I will use some of the most pertinent insights from research in the field of cultural anthropology to show how Islam can counter the nihilistic forces currently at work in our society by restoring meaning to human life.

I will also use that research to show how Islam can only retain its universality when it is culturally integrative and synthesizing, not hegemonic. ...

The 5 Variables of Generating Context

The cultural anthropologist, Edward T. Hall, whose work we have previously referenced, mentions five variables that are critical in generating context. We will focus on four of them here in constructing our argument.

These variables, activity, situation, social status, and past experience, are foundational to our argument. If we understand these variables and the role they play in creating context, we can begin to understand the role Islam can play in restoring meaning in contemporary, increasingly LC societies. ...


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