Muhammad (P)– A Mercy to The Worlds

The Religion of Muhammad (P) Prior to Islam

Written By Abidali Mohamedali based on a Lecture by Sheikh Mansour Leghaei

Islam in its current form and shape is a direct result of Allah sending brother of His messenger, I am the great veracious. None would say
His message down to the Holy Prophet (P) when the Prophet was 40 this after me save an accusing liar (as he was the very fist to accept
years of age. What religion was the Prophet following prior to him Islam). I worshipped God for seven years before people (in another
getting the message? Was he practicing Judaism, Christianity or the place mentioned as 9 years-Sunan Nasa’i)”.
religion of Prophet Ibrahim, was he an idolater or did he follow any
It is clear from this Hadith that Imam Ali (AS) along with the Holy
religion at all. There are various opinions that have been propounded
Prophet (P) had been worshipping God prior to the advent of Islam as
upon by Muslim scholars on this issue and this study shall attempt to
he was only 10 years of age when Islam was introduced to the
shed some light using opinions and historical findings that have
Prophet. If this was the status of the student of the Prophet, what au-
arisen form this question to reach the most appropriate and correct
dacity would any Muslim scholar have to lower the status the Prophet
conclusion.
(P) by accusing him of touching the idols for blessing! Even when
Accusations Against the Prophet (P) younger, the Holy Prophet (P) would not answer questions from Ba-
hira the monk, when Bahira took the names of the idols! (Ref. Al-Fajr
Accusations of Idolatry
4(2)). It is therefore inconceivable that the Prophet would even con-
In order to study this question, it is imperative that the very personal- sider such an action or his attendance of pagan functions! Simple de-
ity of the Prophet be studied prior to Islam for that is the only way to ductive logic proves that this and such accusations are utterly baseless
discern his most-likely faith. It is unfortunate that a great injustice has and false.
been done by certain Muslim scholars in their ‘Sahih’ who have low-
Did Muhammad (P) eat CONTENTS
ered the status of the Prophet prior to his message to just an ordinary
Haraam Meat?!
individual and often even lower than an ordinary person and have
attributed crimes and mistakes to him. It has been narrated in 'al- Another serious accusa- The Religion of Muhammad (P) before
Sahih Menal-Seera' [vol.1, p.158] that the Prophet was touching idols tion levelled against the Islam ……………………………………..1
to obtain blessing! (Istilamul Aslam) It has also been claimed that he Prophet is mentioned in
has participated in some ceremonies of the idol worshippers! the so-called most au- Editorial………………………....……….2
thentic books of Hadith,
These are the very false accusations that have given non-Muslims and
Sahih Bukhari, is that of Feature Article (A wake up call)……. 4
the enemies of Islam the ammunition to insult and degrade this great-
the Prophet consuming
est of personalities. It is imperative that these misconceptions be clari-
Haraam meat, but to add Feature Article (Muhammad (P) the
fied to obtain a truer picture.
insult to injury, he ac- house of patience)……………………...6
Despite the cuses the Prophet (P) of
above false nar- being lower than ordi- Viewpoint ……………………………….7
rations, Imam nary non-Muslim mono-
Ali (AS), as even theists! During Jahilya the Tafsir of Qur'an (Surah Fath)…..…….8
narrated by the pagans had a custom of
Sunni scholars, is slaughtering/sacrificing The Imam of our time…………….….. 9
considered to be animals in the name of
the student of their gods and referring Our Ulamaa …………………………...10
the Holy to this Bukhari narrates
Prophet. In both that Abdullah Ibn Omar
Sunan ibn Maja (the son of the second
and in the Mus- caliph) said: DISCLAIMER AND CAUTION
nad of Ahmed “Muhammad (P) met The articles published in this paper are
ibn Hanbal it has Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nufayl not the views of Al-Fajr or any particu-
been quoted at the mount of Baldah. lar Islamic centre but of the Author.
from Imam Ali He opened a tablecloth Please handle with care as it contains
(AS) that “I am for Zaid in which there names of Allah and His Prophet
the slave of Al-
(Continued on page 2)
lah and the
1
Editorial...
!‫ﺳﻼم ﻋﻠﻴﻜﻢ‬
The Holy Prophet (P) almost single
handedly turned the course of hu-
manity. His character, personality,
knowledge, leadership, fortitude etc.
have inspired hundreds of Muslims
and especially non-Muslims to have
hope in the greater good and ac-
knowledge the existence of a perfect
creator. Although many from outside
and unfortunately, within the ranks
of the Muslims have lain doubt on
this great man, but as the articles in
this months’ issue of Al-Fajr attest,
the truth will out. A critical study on
his life testify to the universality of
the message of Islam.
The secondary theme of this issue is
that of patience in difficulty. The
Prophet (P) suffered immense hard-
ships, the sort that pales our hardship
and yet many have the audacity to
take to the streets and wreak havoc
on innocent lives, or complain inces-
santly to people around them or to
the world to the extent of loosing
faith in the message and in Allah. We
are those who, despite having the
guidance, completely disregard the
advice of the Qur’an and the H.
Prophet (P) to our own detriment.
It is the very few brilliant people
within us that defy the norm and
elevate themselves to unprecedented
levels of piety and knowledge. These
people are not victims of tunnel vi-
sion in the acquisition of knowledge
such that they are proficient in both
the secular sciences and the Islamic
ones. These people serve to be the
living examples of what our Prophet
(P) and Imams (AS) have strived to
teach. May the Almighty grant us the
‫ ﺗﻮﻓﻴﻖ‬to emulate and appreciate these
beacons in this ever darkening exis-
tence.
Finally, I would like to appreciate the
efforts of all those ho have contrib-
uted to this issue and pray that Allah
grants us with patience to continue.
Wassalaam
Abidali Mohamedali - Editor
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 2
was meat. Zaid refrained from eating the meat chosen him! In addition, the pagans would
saying: I will not eat from your meat which is have accused the Prophet of being one of
slaughtered in the name of idols! I only eat the them.
meat which is slaughtered in the name of Al-
lah.” According to this hadith, the status of Zaid • Even the uncle and the grandfather of the
is higher than that of the H. Prophet (P) and Prophet were refraining from the Haraam
therefore is ‘educating’ this Prophet to be!! An- meat.
other similar hadith narrated by Hisham Bin
• It seems the story aims-indirectly- at justify-
Sa’d: “Muhammad (P) was eating with Abu-
ing the idolatry of the 2nd Caliph prior to
Sofyan when Zaid Ibn Amr passed by. They
Islam. It is a known fact that the 2nd Caliph
invited him to the table but he refused saying: O
was an idolater up to 6 years after the advent
my nephew! I will not eat a meat which is
of Islam. By fabricating such hadith, the au-
slaughtered in the name of idols. Since then
thors have attempted to bring down the
Muhammad (P) was never seen eating any meat
status of the Prophet (P) to the level of the
which was slaughtered in the name of
idols!” [Musnad Ahmad] It seems that Zaid has Caliphs or to justify the low status of the ca-
educated the Prophet about halaal meat! These liphs.
abhorrent accusations have been reported in the The Religion of Muhammad prior to Islam.
so called Sahih books of hadith leaving Sunni
scholars in conundrum. On the one hand, one in There have been several suggestions about what
would possibly have been the prophets’ relig-
his right mind cannot fathom to accuse the
Prophet of such an act but on the other hand it ion.
has been reported in the Sahih, hadith as au- 1. He has been practicing a divine religion.
thentic as the Qur’an itself according to them!
The justifications that have been produced to • It was the religion of Prophet Noah.
explain these hadith by the Sunni scholars are as
• It was the religion of Prophet Moses &
laughable as the hadith them selves!
Jesus as the religion of Jesus was a con-
A deeper analysis of this hadith reveals some firmation of the teachings of the Torah.
interesting facts that perhaps could shed some
light on their origin and their fallacy. • It was the religion of Prophet Abraham.
• Zaid ibn Amr Ibn Nufayl as acknowledged • It was the religion of Islam.
by all scholars was considered to be one of 2. He has not been practicing any divine relig-
the Hunafaa (Monotheist) before Islam such ion!
as Abu Dharr. But it turns out he was the
cousin and father in law of the second Ca- 3. We don’t know!
liph. It is clear that those who wanted to pro- The second theory is the most abhorrent and
mote the virtues of the family of the caliph most unacceptable as it suggests that the
have fabricated such accusations. Prophet was just a normal pagan or idolater
• This speculation is further fuelled by the fact while the last is also in the same category as
that both these narrations have been narrated there is ample evidence against it. Each one of
the first category have to be analyzed sepa-
by people connected to the second caliph as
Abdullah ibn Omar was the son of Omar and rately.
Hisham was the grandson of Zaid. It is inter- 1- Did Muhammad (P) practice the religion of
esting that no one else has reported this Noah?
hadith.
This suggestion may seem farfetched as there
• It is not possible that ordinary humans were was a significant time lapse between the H.
more pious than a divinely selected Prophet. Prophet (P) and Noah but there is an ayah in the
If the Prophet were not the most pious and Qur’an upon which this theory is based which
most perfect person, Allah would not have states: “ (42:13) ‫ﺷﺮع ﻟﮑﻢ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺎ وﺻﯽ ﺑﻪ ﻧﻮﺣﺎ‬Allah
has ordained the same religion he has ordained
for Nuh…”
The appalling accusa-
There are several problems with this theory. To
tions levelled against the begin with, what would the Prophet (P) have
used as his source as Prophet Nuh did not have
Holy Prophet (P) have any book? There has been no claim that Prophet
Nuh had a scripture but even if he did have a
served to lay the founda- scripture that would have survived till the time
of the H.Prophet, it would have been referred
tions of misconceptions to, but no such evidence is present. If he had
followed it based on his inspiration of the teach-
and ignorance of this ex- ings of Noah, then he was not following Noah
quisite creation of Allah but rather the words of Allah. The major objec-
tion with this theory is that the religion of Noah
would have been too basic for the Prophet as it
had been millennia since then. This Ayah is referring to the Book of Leviticus 20:10 • The scripture of Ibrahim (Suhuf Ibrahim)
misunderstood or misinterpreted based on “both the adulterer and the adulteress shall did not exist at the time of the Prophet
the remainder of the Ayah and in fact is a be put to death.” Because the ruling was for and to date there has not been any claim
proof against this very claim. the Jews on a Jewish adulterer and the that it did. How would the Prophet have
Prophet was asked to use the Taurat, he based his life on a non-existent teaching
2- Did Muhammad (P) practice the relig-
obliged and ruled accordingly. An analogy or book? There could be two possible
ion of Moses and Jesus?
would be that of an Arab judge being asked alternatives if this were true:
This clam is based on the fact that Prophet to judge an Australian case, he would surely
Jesus, chronologically, was the closest to the have to use the Australian laws for this pur- • That he was taught the scripture from
Prophet and therefore although did not fol- pose. A similar story is mentioned about other teachers who had received the mes-
low the misguided and false beliefs such as Jesus in John 8:2-7 where it says “The scribes sage from their ancestors. This cannot be
the trinity still would have more likely be- and the Pharisees brought a woman who acceptable as the Qur’an says that the
lieved in that religion. This claim has sup- had been caught in adultery, and placing her Prophet was “Ummi” meaning unlettered
port as it was perhaps the most updated in the midst they said to him, "Rabbi, this (NOT illiterate) and therefore his ONLY
religion, even more updated that that of woman has been caught in the act of adul- teacher was Allah.
Prophet Ibrahim. The second evidence for tery. Now in the law Moses commanded us
to stone such. What do you say about her?" • The only other option is that the Prophet
the validity of this claim is that the Holy
was inspired about the religion of Ibra-
Prophet (P) used the ruling of the Torah for This they said to test him that they might
have some charge to bring against him. Je- him. If he were inspired, he received it
the rule of stoning of the adulterer as nar-
sus bent down and wrote with his finger on from God and therefore was not follow-
rated by both Ibn Hisham and Tabari. As
ing the teaching of Ibrahim but rather of
this was after the advent of Islam, it is plau- the ground. And as they continued to ask
Allah.
sible that the Prophet followed that religion him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him
as the Qur’an also propounds in verse 44 of who is without sin among you be the first to • The ayaat that have been used to support
Surah Maidah where Allah says: “Surely We throw a stone at her." This shows that this this argument have been misinterpreted.
revealed the Taurat in which was guidance law was in fact one of Moses and Jesus but In the first ayah quoted the stress is on
and light; with it the prophets who submit- in no shape or form proves that the Prophet the word ‘haneefan’ (monotheist) telling
ted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) (P) practiced Judaism. Finally, the ayah
the Prophet to follow Ibrahim because of
for those who were Jews” quoted for support of this theory is exactly
his character of being a monotheist. Simi-
what the prophet did, he judged “for those
. ‫ اﻧﺎ اﻧﺰﻟﻨﺎ اﻟﺘﻮراة ﻓﻴﻬﺎ هﺪﯼ و ﻧﻮر ﻳﺤﮑﻢ ﺑﻬﺎ اﻟﻨﺒﻴﻴﻮن اﻟﺬﻳﻦ‬who are Jews” larly the second ayah refers to the charac-
‫اﺳﻠﻤﻮا ﻟﻠﺬﻳﻦ هﺎدوا‬ teristic of monotheism. On the last point,
3- Did Muhammad (P) practice the religion although there are similarities between
This suggests that the Prophet was either a of Ibrahim?
Jew or a Christian before the advent of Is-
lam. The religion of Prophet Ibrahim was not
only the religion of the Prophet's ances-
Fortunately, this argument is unacceptable tors but also was the religion that was
due to a number of subtle fallacies. It is more widely followed by the handful of
agreed upon by all historians that the origi- monotheists in the region at the time.
nal Taurat was lost and perverted and the Besides these points, there exist some
Injeel did not even exist, let alone being per- other proofs in the Qur’an that support
verted. So if the Prophet (P) were to refer to this theory:
the Taurat or Injeel, would it have been the
perverted version of it as the original one no • (16:123) .‫ﺛﻢ اوﺣﻴﻨﺎ اﻟﻴﮏ ان اﺗﺒﻊ ﻣﻠﺔ اﺑﺮاهﻴﻢ ﺣﻨﻴﻔﺎ‬
longer exist at his time. Allah says “Then we reveled to you to
follow the religion of Ibrahim the
Secondly, the Prophet (P) was not known to Monotheist”
be part of the Jewish or Christian commu-
nity at any time of his life for if he were a • (2:130) .‫و ﻣﻦ ﻳﺮﻏﺐ ﻋﻦ ﻣﻠﺔ اﺑﺮاهﻴﻢ اﻻ ﻣﻦ ﺳﻔﻪ ﻧﻔﺴﻪ‬
practicing Jew surely his presence in the Allah says “Who turns away from the
Jewish community at the time would have religion of Ibrahim except one who be-
been acknowledged. fools himself”

Thirdly, the story of the Prophet (P) refer-
ring to the Taurat needs more explanation.
This incident happened in the second year
of Hijrah in Madina that had a large Jewish
community residing therein. As the Prophet
was claiming to know Moses, the Jews came
to him and asked him to execute the Law of
the Taurat on a lady who had been caught
adulterating. The Prophet (P) proceeded to
the temple and asked the rabbis as to the
ruling to which the consensus reached was
that the lady be put on mule with her face
painted dark and paraded in the streets for
embarrassment. The Prophet not being satis-
fied with this answer asked again at which
time a young rabbi came forward and said
• (2:125) .‫و اﺗﺨﺬوا ﻣﻦ ﻣﻘﺎم اﺑﺮاهﻴﻢ ﻣﺼﻠﯽ‬Just as
the staying at the station of Ibrahim
after tawaaf is a tradition of Ibrahim so
are my other Islamic traditions includ-
ing, Fridays as the holy-days, circumci-
sion and others.
Islam and the religion of Ibrahim, there
• The religion of Ibrahim was still the relig- exist significant differences.
ion of Monotheism as there was less per-
4- Muhammad (P) was a Muslim prior to
version in this religion than in the others.
Islam?
Just as stated above, this argument and hy-
The only acceptable theory using elimina-
pothesis, although having some pretty con-
tion and on its own merit is that the Prophet
vincing points falls short of being a complete was a Muslim, whether in the sense we
answer for several reasons and therefore
know of it today or in the sense of submis-
cannot be accepted.
sion to the will of Allah in a general sense.
(Continued on page 7)

Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 3

A Wake up Call
If we haven’t received enough wake up
calls in the past five years, ‘The Spying
Game: a revealing look at Australia’s secret
spy network’ cover story should really send
the alarm bells ringing. The cover story
broadcast on the Sunday highlights defi-
ciencies in both the media reporting on
Channel 9 and the Islamic community in the
way it addresses the rest of Australian soci-
ety. On the one hand, the media is feeding
off (ratings?) the bias in the Australian com-
munity stemming from the general igno-
rance of Islam and on the other hand, Mus-
lims (some more than others) are not repre-
sented in the community and are found to
be among the most internalised sub-culture
in Australia.
This leads us to wonder how is it that we
are to best represent Islam to the wider
Australian community. The cover story on
Channel 9 provides a platform for us to
reflect on practical proven ways by which
to bridge this divide, which are often more dice towards the Islamic state which he
Islamically intuitive than we think.
‘The Spying Game’, uses as a case study the
investigation into Sheikh Mansour’s
‘alleged’ terrorist links. If it weren’t for the
media clips used to cast an image of the
‘other, Orientalist, Islamic’ threat which
children get too much of nowadays, I
would recommend it for children for its
pure entertainment value and lack of any
critical substance. So poor is the quality of
the commercial television channels (and
dare I say the quality of audience) that we
have to resort to info-tainment news pro-
grams. But that jibe is all too commonly
heard within many sections of the broader
Australian community.
What matters more in our context is how
the media is cashing in on this apparent
‘Islamic’ threat by making stories with use- he thinks that the clerics such as Ayatollah
less analysis and a bunch of experts (some
“ We have many non- Ayatollah was a nice fellow and would not
Muslim neighbours
around us. How many of not involved with the intelligence services.
us go out of our way to probative value does it have asking a reli-
befriend these people, to tween the intelligence services and the
welcome them into our that would be relevant only if Dr. Leghaei
lives and tell them our ministration or the intelligence services?
perspectives on life? ” cleric here for disseminating Islam and not
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 4
by Sayd Zubayr Farouk
of them extremely biased) who say nothing
more than what everyday common folk like
us already know.
For one thing, I don’t understand how the
former US Ambassador to Israel Martin
Indyk becomes an authority on intelligence
matters and moreover the workings of the
Iranian government when his message is
clearly biased due to his political leanings.
Anyone in any professional field knows
that if you want an objective authority on
an area of knowledge, you ask an expert in
that area of knowledge, not a person who
has apparent conflicts of interest. I would
understand if a highly published Professor
with expertise on Islamic geo-politics from a
reputable institution were to give his in-
sights into the Iranian government’s agenda
Leghaei’s own statements that he is not an
as opposed to someone with clear bias and
expert on the political climate of Iran, nei-
no qualifications to speak on the matter
ther would we want him to be. Dr. Leghaei
other than being a US ambassador. I don’t
himself refuses earlier to answer these ques-
see what he has to add other than his preju-
tions because he is not an expert.
clearly demonstrates. In the only snippets of
his interview carefully edited for the Sun-
The former US ambassador goes on to state
day program cover story and perhaps re-
that because it is a clerical regime, the intel-
flecting the confused message that Channel
ligence services act in service of the clerical
9 wants to deliver, he goes on to state that
regime and hence you can connect the dots.
the Iranian government under Ayatollah
What dots? What is the case?
Khomeini has an agenda to propagate the
Islamic revolution in other countries. The clerics control the intelligence and as a
result the intelligence are also utilised to
MARTIN INDYK: I think it is unlikely that
spread the message? What relation does
a cleric would act completely independ-
that have with Dr. Leghaei’s case? But from
ently. It is not to suggest that a cleric in
then on his message is confused. He links
Australia is an operative of the intelligence
the identification of clerics such as Dr.
services. The whole nature of the effort to
Leghaei as terrorist threats to the whole
spread the revolution by clerical means, by
Iranian government’s mission to propagate
religious means, is a different kind of opera-
Islam (Is this new?). I may be missing the
tion, in which the clerics are sent out to
point, but what does propagating Islam
propagate the faith.
have to do with terrorism? What deductive
The program asks Sheikh Mansour whether or logical evidence is he giving in this cover
story?
Tashkiri would have anything to do with
When questioned by the ASIO, the Sheikh
the Intelligence services. Sheikh Mansour,
clearly replied “Please do not link the intel-
not knowing any better, answered that the
ligence with the clerics. The clerics are not
involved in the intelligence.”
be involved in intelligence services. The
program further states that Sheikh Man- Either way, what do the intelligence activi-
sour claimed that the Ayatollahs in Iran are ties of Iran have to do with terrorism?
Moreover, how do they support a claim that
Now correct me if I’m wrong, but what Iran has sponsored or is sponsoring terrorist
or intelligence cells in Australia? No evi-
gious cleric what the relationship is be- dence has come about that, that is the case
and none of the officials go on to substanti-
Ayatollahs, or even Tashkiri, a question ate the exact link between the clerics, and in
particular Sheikh Mansour and the intelli-
himself was known to be part of the ad- gence organisations who are supposed to
spread the Islamic revolution propaganda.
Besides the fact that we require a religious
Now at this point, as the audience, we are
supposed to ‘connect the dots and see the
politics because of the inherent conflicts of
interest it produces, it can seen from Dr. terrorist link’ between Iran, Islamic
revolution propaganda, Clerics, intelligence else, it relates back to the Prophet’s (P) ac- tributes that existed since the time of the
organisations and finally Sheikh Mansour in tions. Prophet and are still appreciated by the
Australia. Either the link is too vague or I world, even though they may not be empha-
Recent research conducted by Kevin Dunn
again I am missing something. sized by people. All of these things matters
from the University of New South Wales and
and if we can, as representatives of Islam,
Iran cannot support Iraqi terrorist insurgents published in Studia Islamika, an Indonesian
behave like the Prophet (P), nothing can get
or other Sunni insurgents who are blowing Journal of Islamic Studies documents that
in the way of us creating vibrant relation-
themselves up as it defies their purpose of more than one in three people knew nothing
ships with our non-Muslim neighbours.
influencing Iraqi politics through its Shi’ite about Islam in Australia. Even among the
These vibrant relationships will slowly erode
dominated majority. Any undergrad political people who did know anything about Islam,
feelings of fear and hostility towards Islam
science student will tell you the same. In fact many of their views were misconceptions.
and eventually erode the ‘newsworthiness’ of
it is counter intuitive for the Iranians to sup- What the study did show, however, was that
anti-Islamic stories. While lobby groups and
port any sort of terrorist activity in Iraq as the most determinative factor in educating
powerful media backers are often the easiest
that will mean the US and its allied forces and increasing ‘tolerance’ among Australians
solution to our problems, it is the Prophet’s
will have to remain there to ensure stability. was contact with Muslims, over and above
actions that seem to have a more lasting ef-
The only people who do benefit from the other forms of knowledge.
fect. Even at the time of the Prophet (P), the
insurgents while the country is unstable is
This is yet another empirical proof of the audience of the Prophet were not powerful
America, because they remain a persuasive
excellence of the Prophet’s way of represent- lobby groups. They were powerless in the
force in deciding Iraqi politics, its oil reve-
ing and relaying the message of Islam. We society in which they operated. Yet their
nues, its security and its commercial con-
don’t necessarily need to have the big guns spirit and the zeal that they showed towards
tracts.
i.e. media/wealth/lobby groups in dealing Islam and the patience by which they en-
Leaving the dynamics of the geo-politics in with the major representational issues that dured suffering eventually made them victo-
Iraq aside, it is unfortunate when poor inno- we are currently encountering. We interact rious in displaying the beauty of Islam’s mes-
cent viewers have to be exposed to such ram- with many non-Muslims everyday. We have sage. If we act accordingly with strangers
blings by unknown ‘experts’, who often re- many non-Muslim neighbours around us. and neighbours, our non-Muslim friends will
flect their own heavily biased views of the How many of us go out of our way to be- possibly be able to represent us more objec-
world in their friend these peo- tively than we could ourselves, whether it is
statements. ple, to welcome in the media or in politics. We see numerous
Edward Said in them into our examples of this occurring all the time and
his book Orien- lives and tell this has to be our greatest challenge to bridge
talism (at 21) them our per- this divide.
articulately spectives on life?
coined the Research has also The right of your neighbour
views of this shown that Aus-
section of the tralians are
(jar) is that you guard him
‘Western’ intelligentsia: “By virtue of the fact among the most tolerant people in the devel- when he is absent, honour
that the poet, scholar, and politician speaks oped world. Only one thing can bridge the
for, or writes about the Orient indicates the divide between Muslims and greater society: him when he is present, and
Orient is absent, and that the Orientalist is our active steps to get to know more non-
outside the orient… Poets make the Orient Muslims while strictly retaining our Islamic
aid him when he is wronged.
speak, and renders its mysteries plain to the identity. You do not pursue anything
West.”
Yet it is sad to see research that indicates that
of his that is shameful; if
On another note, the relatively unbiased up till now that many Muslim communities
Australian terrorist experts themselves did are ranked as the most internalised cultures you know of any evil from
not have anything to say, anything that we in Australia. This may perhaps be due to
didn’t already know. ASIO makes mistakes, cultural factors due to the high level of col- him, you conceal it. If you
they are understaffed and the terrorist threat lectivism that Asian and particularly Middle
know that he will accept
from Islamic extremism is not a new lasting Eastern cultures display. But that does not
form of terrorism in Australia or around the necessarily have to be a barrier to allowing your counsel, you counsel
world. people to enter our lives as friends. The ma-
jority of Australians are extremely friendly him in that which is between
This leads me to my next point. Surely, there
and once the barriers are broken, they con-
is a miscommunication between Muslims
sider you like any other Australian and re-
him and you. You do not for-
and the rest of the world that is allowing for
Terrorist Islamic images to be bandied
spect that you may have different views on a sake him in difficulty, you
number of issues. In fact, most Australian
around like confetti. Where do real Muslims
would be impressed by our level of kindness, release him from his stum-
fit into this picture of the Islamic terrorist
hospitality and generosity.
threat? How do we as representatives of Is- ble, you forgive his sin, and
lam change public opinion about true Islam? Breaking the barriers is an even easier task
Do we try to control the media? Do we try to when we consider the example of our you associate with him gen-
establish strong lobby groups, like some Prophet (P). The Prophet would go out of his erously. And there is no
other races/religions have? More often than way in every aspect of his life to help people
not, these are real influencing factors in around him, whether it was a small menial strength save in God
changing public opinion, but accessibility to task or a significant task. Whether it be open-
these avenues is a long term commitment to ing doors for others, or helping someone Imam Sajjad (AS) in RISALATUL HUQUUQ
change. But there is something more funda- with a pram up the stairs in the station, hu-
mental than that, and as with everything mility, chivalry and graciousness are all at- (Treatise on Rights)

Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 5

Muhammad, the "House of Patience"
Br. Ali won the first prize in the adult category in the essay competition held on the auspicious birth of the Holy Prophet (P)
Only weeks ago the controversy surrounding
the misrepresentation and slander of Muham-
mad ibn Abdullah, the Holy Prophet of Islam,
engulfed every corner of our world. Verbal
and physical insults were hurled freely at one
another by the opposing sides of an argument
that has left almost no one uninvolved.
Mohammad, peace be upon him (P) and the
message that he brought still have an out-
standing influence on our world, despite the
fact that he passed away fourteen hundred
years ago. It seems then very appropriate to
ask how Muhammad (P) himself would have
responded to this situation. This essay will
attempt to answer such a question by refer-
ring to the teachings of Muhammad (P) him-
self and applying them to the present context.
An integral part of the message that Muham-
mad (P) brought was the duty to enjoin what
is good and forbid what is evil.1 Muhammad
(P) taught his community that as long as they
performed this duty, they would live happily
and prosperously, but that if they ceased to
perform it, these blessings would be stripped
them. 2In fact, they will have declared a fight
against the Almighty Exalted Himself, 3 and
in that situation, they would find for them-
selves no helper, neither in the sky nor the
earth.4
The misrepresentation and slander of anyone, creed.
let alone a holy figure, is seen by Islam as one
of those evils that must be fought. In our con-
text, such acts have caused violence and
bloodshed, fanned the flames of anger and
hatred and incited people of different faiths
against one another. It has led to a number of
national and international crises and created
a fragile atmosphere filled with tension.
Therefore, one need only to use common
sense in order to agree that such actions are
evil and harmful to our world. The Prophet
(P) then, would not have stood silent- he
would have taken firm action in order to dif-
fuse the situation and minimise its evil conse-
quences. The question, is, however, what type
of action would the Prophet (P) have taken?
Another prominent feature of the Prophet's
(P) message was the importance he placed on
suppressing one's anger. He taught that
“anger spoils faith as vinegar spoils honey” 5 what is better, then lo, he whom between
and that “the wisest men are those who treat you and he there was enmity, would become
“ We must always be
aware of our own faults,
so that we do not ever
overlook our own short-
comings and evils”
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 6
people with kindness” and “the strongest men
are the ones who best suppress their anger”.6
He told us that his Lord commanded him to
treat people with patience just as he com-
manded him to announce His message.7 He is
also commanded to preach that message only
with wisdom and the most beautiful advice,
and to only dispute his opposers using the
best manners and arguments.8
Muhammad (P) did tell us to enjoin what is
good and forbid what is evil, but he added
that while doing this, we must show forbear-
ance in whatever afflicts us,9 and he described
himself as “a centre of forbearance, a mine of
knowledge and a house of patience”.10 He also
taught us that while we perform such a duty,
we must always be aware of our own faults,
so that we do not ever overlook our own
shortcomings and evils.11
The Holy Prophet's response, then, would
have been pure from any anger and violence.
Rather, it would have been punctuated by
kindness, forbearance and patience, and
would have contained wise words that ad-
vised the world to refrain from the evil it was
committing, and would have warned of its
consequences and dangers. There would
have been no angry riots, no spiteful words
and no generalisations about any faith or
The Holy Prophet (P) of Islam faced numer-
ous enemies during his lifetime, and he
would treat the enemies of today as he
treated those enemies. When a non-Muslim
tribe betrayed its peace treaty with the Mus-
lims and conspired with their enemies, the
Prophet spared them the consequences of
their actions,12 when he conquered Mecca,
he pardoned even his most determined ene-
mies 13 and even when he had power over
the mutilator of his dear uncle's body, he did
not punish him. 14 This is because the
Prophet (P) of Islam was entrusted with a
secret that would render the enemy helpless
and harmless, and make him a captive of the
Prophet's goodness.15 This secret was given
to Muhammad (P) by his All-Merciful Lord:
“Good and evil are not alike, repel evil with
as though he were an intimate friend”16
References:
1-The Holy Qur'an, 3:104
2-”Biharul Anwar”, Majlisi, vol.100, p.92
3-Ibid.
4-”Mishkatul Anwar fi Ghuraril Akhbar”,
Tabarsi, Section 1, Chapter 13
by Ali Al-Samail
5- “Al Kafi”, Al-Kulayni, vol. 2, p.302
6-” Mishkatul Anwar fi Ghuraril Akhbar”,
Tabarsi, Section 4, Chapter 11
7-”Mishkatul Anwar fi Ghuraril Akhbar”,
Tabarsi, Section 3, Chapter 22
8-The Holy Qur'an, 16:125
9-”Lantern of the Path”, Section 2 (narrated by
Imam Sadiq a.s.)
10-”Lantern of the Path”, Section 17 (narrated
by Imam Sadiq (AS))
11-The Holy Qur'an, 2:44
12-”The Message”, Ayatollah Ja'far Subhani,
Chapter 31
13-”The Message”, Ayatollah Ja'far Subhani,
Chapter 48
14-Ibid.
15-Tuhaful Uqul, Al-Harrani, p.145 (Alaalami
Publishers, 2002) Imam Ali a.s is quoted as
saying: "Be good to whomever you wish, he
will become your captive"
WHISPERED PRAYER OF THE ABSTAINERS
In the Name of God, the All-merciful, the All-
compassionate
(1) My God, Thou hast settled us in an abode
which has dug for us pits of deception, and
Thou hast fastened us by the hands of death
in the snares of that abode's treachery! In
Thee we seek asylum from the tricks of its
guile, and to Thee we hold fast, lest we be
deluded by the glitter of its ornaments! It
destroys its pursuers and ruins its settlers, it
is stuffed with blights and loaded with ca-
lamities.
(2) My God, induce us to renounce it and
keep us safe from it by Thy giving success
and Thy preservation from sin. Strip from us
the robes of opposing Thee, attend to our
affairs through Thy good sufficiency, am-
plify our increase from the boundless plenty
of Thy mercy, be liberal in our gifts from the
overflow of Thy grants, plant in our hearts
the trees of Thy love, complete for us the
lights of Thy knowledge, give us to taste the
sweetness of Thy pardon and the pleasure of
Thy forgiveness, gladden our eyes on the
day of meeting Thee with the vision of Thee,
dislodge the love of this world from our spir-
its, just as Thou hast done for the righteous,
Thy selected friends, and for the pious, those
whom Thou hast singled out! O Most Merci-
ful of the merciful, O Most Generous of the
most generous!
Sahifa Sajjadiyya (Imam Sajjad (AS))
 Continued from page 3

There are several reasons for this: He ordained for Noah, and that which Ma’soomin were supported by the Holy
We have revealed to you (O Muham- Ghost.
• In Surah Ale-Imran, verse 19, Allah says mad), and that which We ordained for
“Surely the (only) religion with Allah is Abraham, Moses, and Jesus saying you • “Allah chose Abraham a slave before He
Islam.” This verse is self evident but essen- should establish religion and make no accepted him as a Prophet. Then He chose
tially would also mean that all the Proph- divisions in it.” (42:13) Reading the en- him a Prophet before He accepted him a
ets also followed Islam in its own version, tire verse as used by the proponents of Messenger. Then He chose him a Messen-
but its basic teaching is submission to the the first theory clearly negates that theory ger before He accepted him a Khalil. Then
will of Allah. The Prophet was therefore and suggest that all religions are but one He chose him a Khalil before he accepted
not the ‘follower’ of any other Prophet. religion, Islam, although differentiated in him an Imam.” [al-Kaafi 1:175] This
degrees of perfection. clearly shows that Ibrahim went through
• The teaching of the Prophets is one real- these stages of perfection just in the same
ity in degrees (Maqooloon Bit-Tashkeek). • Imam Ali (a.s): “From the time of his way as the Holy Prophet (P) did.
It is known that there is only one religion weaning, Allah had put a mighty angel
with Allah, from Adam to Khatam, but with him…” (Nahjul-Balagha, Ser. 192). If • If God could choose Jesus a Prophet
has been perfected in degrees through all Allah is mighty enough to inspire words whilst an infant, He is also able to choose
the prophets ending up with the H. in the mouth of an infant Jesus, surely He Muhammad (P) a Prophet from the time
Prophet where it reached its perfection. It has the power and might to protect his of his weaning.
is because of this there are similarities final most perfect creation! The word Only one logical conclusion can therefore be
between Islam and the previous religions. ‘Nabi’ means that he is a Prophet but is reached which is that, Muhammad (P) was a
not declaring his message until he is com- Prophet before being appointed a Messen-
• Following the religion of Ibrahim means
manded to and hence becomes a ger and did practice the religion of Islam
following monotheism in general, not all
‘rasul’ (messenger). from childhood by revelation or inspiration.
statutes of his religion. “He (Allah) has
ordained for you the same religion which • Many narrations indicate that the

The Honour of being kind to your mother by Batoul Khalife

In Islam, the honour, respect, and esteem
attached to motherhood is unparalleled. The
Qur’an places the importance of kindness to
parents as second only to worshipping God
Almighty:
In the Qur’an (Surat Al-Isra’ Verse 23-24)
states: "Your Lord has decreed that you
worship none but Him, And that you be
kind to parents. Whether one or both of
them attain old age in your life, Say not to ships they endure in caring for their chil-
them a word of contempt, nor repel them,
But address them in terms of honor. And out pared to fathers. Allah has reflected the im-
of kindness, Lower to them the wing of hu- portance of mothers' efforts in the Holy
mility, and say: 'My Lord! bestow on them Qur'an and commands man to be kind and
Your Mercy as they Cherished me in child-
hood' .
The Qur’an in several other places puts spe-
cial emphasis on the mother's great role in
giving birth and nursing:
As stated in the Qur’an (Surat Luqman
Verse 14)"And We have enjoined on man to
be good to his parents: In travail upon tra-
vail did his mother bear him and in two
years was his weaning. Show gratitude to
Me and to your parents”.
The very special place of mothers in Islam
has been eloquently described by Prophet
Muhammad (P):
A man came to the Prophet of God and said,
'O dear Prophet who should I be kind to?'
The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother.' The
man then asked 'who next?' The Prophet
then replied: 'Your mother.' The man asked
again: 'Who after that?' The Prophet again
replied: 'Your mother.' The man
asked again: 'who next?' The Prophet this
time replied: "your father.'
One of the most important obliga-
tions Allah has commanded man to obey is
respect for parents.
This respect and kindness should especially
be directed to mothers who have experi-
enced greater difficulties in raising their
children. Thus mothers, because of the hard-
dren, enjoy a higher position of respect com-
appreciative towards them. As mentioned in
the Holy Qur’an (Surat Al-Ahqaf, Verse 15):
"We have enjoined on man kindness to his
parents: In pain did his mother bear him
and in pain did she give him birth. The car-
rying of the (child) to his weaning is (a pe-
riod of) thirty month, At length, when he
reaches the age of full strength and attains
forty years, he says, "0 my Lord! Grant me
that I may be grateful for Thy favour which
Thou hast bestowed upon me, and upon
both my parents, and that I may work
righteousness. Such as Thou mayest ap-
prove; and be gracious to me in my issue.
Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I
bow (to Thee) in Islam."
Allah reminds us of the mother's hardships
twice during pregnancy and the weakness
that she has in this period and also who-
giving birth and feeding her baby. This is to
remind man of the great right that his
mother has over him. This is because man
tends to forget people's good deeds and
becomes ungrateful. It is for the sake of
these whole hearted efforts on the part of
mother that Allah considers kindness to
mothers more important than kindness to
fathers and other relations.
Our beloved Prophet (SAW) also says in this
regard:
"Do good deeds to your mother, then to your
father, then to your sister and then to your
brother and to other relations respectively."
And he is also quoted as saying:
"Doing good deeds to mother has twice the
value of good deeds towards father."
The fact that the Prophet of Islam insists on
kindness to mothers three times, and then
fathers, shows the great importance he
places on the role of mothers he considers
for the posi-
tion of
mother-
hood. He
has said
many times
that
"Paradise
lies under
the feet of
mothers"
which
means that if one gains the satisfaction of
one's mother, respects her to the point of not
conflicting with Allah's orders and pleases
her heart and soul, Al-mighty Allah gives
them the promise of Paradise.

Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 7

Surah Fath (48)- Verses 1-18 Presented by Sh. Mansour Leghaei written by Abidali Mohamedali
Sura al-Fath is the 48th Surah of the Holy
Qur’an and the literal meaning of the word
‘Fath’ is ‘the Manifest victory’. Imam Sadiq
(AS) says that “If you want to safeguard
yourself, your family and your possessions
from being spoilt by the recitation of Surah
al-Fath”. A recitation of this short surah
with ones family as a habit will protect ones
Imaan.
Six years after the migration of the Prophet
to Madina, he had a real dream that he was
entering Masjidul Haraam in Makkah. So,
with 1400 of his companions, that same year,
he left Madina to go to Makkah for Haj
with no intention of war despite numer-
ous wars for the previous 6 years. They
proceeded on this journey with no
weapons apart from the normal imple-
ments carried by passengers on such a
journey. The Prophet camped around 20
km before the city of Makkah, at Hudai-
biyyah. The Prophet (P) asked Umar Bin
Khattab to proceed to the city of Mak-
kah and announce that they were pro-
ceeding to Makkah with peaceful inten-
tions. Umar, refused this request with
the excuse that he had enemies in Mak-
kah and his announcement would be
inappropriate. The Holy Prophet then
sent Osman bin Affan to Makkah. After
some time without news from Osman, a
rumour was spread that Osman had
been killed. The Prophet took a cove-
nant from his companions (Bay’atur
Ridhwaan) that they would stand be-
hind him if he were to call for a battle.
Eventually Osman did return dispelling
the fears. Fearing the Muslims, the pa-
gan leaders of Makkah sent a delegation
to Hudaibiyyah to stop them from com-
ing any further, despite the fact that the
month of Dhul Hijja was considered
sacred by the pagans but yet were threaten-
ing action if their demands were not met. As
a result of this, a peace treaty was signed
between the H. Prophet (P) and Suhayl Ibn
Amr, the delegate of the Quraysh. The treaty
seems a little humiliating for the Muslims
and for this reason, some hypocrites and
naïve Muslims even began doubting the
authenticity of the message of the Prophet!
One of these seemingly derogatory condi-
tions was that it was agreed upon that if a
Muslim defected to the party of the kuffar,
they would have no obligation to return him
but conversely, if a kaafir sought refuge in
Medina and became a Muslim, he had to be
returned to Makkah. In addition to such
conditions, the Prophet, after the treaty had
been signed, instructed his companions to
shave their heads, slaughter the animals
they had brought for slaughter and proceed
back to Medina. Those of the companions
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 8
who were weak in their faith questioned
and nagged the Prophet continuously on the
way back on these seemingly unfair instruc-
tions and also questioning the dream of the
Prophet of entering Makkah. It was then,
when this Surah was revealed to the Prophet
at which point he was rejoicing in happi-
ness.
Allah revealed:
“Surely We have given to you a clear vic-
tory. ”
This peace treaty according to the Qur’an is
a manifest victory. Surely time did prove
that this was indeed a victory for the Mus-
lims. There are numerous events that hap-
pen in our lives which lead us to question,
why is it happening to me? As is always the mises made by the Prophet, he washed
case, time proves the wisdom behind the
circumstance with the clear conclusion that was after wealth and position! The favour
it was actually a good thing. Conversely, we Allah granted the Prophet was that of ena-
make many choices that we believe are good bling him to conquer Makkah with ease.
for us, but eventually realize that perhaps
they were not the best of choices. This peace
treaty, in the eyes of the people at that time
was utter humiliation but time proved that
in fact it was a victory. It was two years later Allah's are the hosts of the heavens and the
that the true effect of this treaty was felt and
its purpose as a turning point in the spread
of Islam was realized as the Muslims con-
quered Makkah without bloodshed! It was
also the treaty that created peace with the
Kuffar of Quraysh to allow the Muslims to
fortify their position with the other fractions
including the Jews and others.
“That Allah may forgive your community
their past faults and those to follow and
complete His favor to you and keep you on a
right way,”
Several questions arise from these ayaat. The
first being that, there does not seem to be a
logical connection between the manifest
victory and the forgiveness referred to in
this ayah. If the Prophet is m’asoom, where
does the question of forgiveness come in?
Some Muslim scholars have suggested that
the sins of the past are the sins commit-
ted by the Prophet before he received
the revelation. There are several reasons
why this interpretation is unacceptable
besides the proof presented in the cover
story of this issue, the verse also refers
to the sins of the future, is this not giv-
ing a green light for future sinning?
There have been many suggestions for
the interpretation of this verse one sug-
gestion being that the sins of the past are
those of Adam, and the sins of the fu-
ture are those committed by the Muslim
Ummah which will be eventually for-
given by Allah either through shafa’a or
out of His mercy.
The best acceptable suggestion is that
the word ‘sin’ or ‘dhamb’ does not mean
the ‘sin’ as we know it. This ‘sin’ is the
same as the one referred to by the
Qur’an with regards to Musa where by
there was no sin between him and God,
but against the people of pharaoh.
Therefore the sin referred to here is the
sin against the kuffar of Quraysh NOT
against God as the Prophet did some-
thing that in their eyes should not have
been done. The peace treaty was the
proof that the sin in the eyes of the peo-
ple (that of going to war) was no longer
valid and even in the future this treaty will
act as proof against those who claim that
Islam is a religion of war. With the compro-
away (Yaghfirallakum) the rumour that he
Allah continues:
“He it is Who sent down tranquillity into
the hearts of the believers that they might
have more of faith added to their faith-- and
earth, and Allah is Knowing, Wise--”
Under the circumstances of doubt and un-
certainty amongst the people with weak
faith, Allah provided the true believers with
peace and confidence in the Prophet. The
(Continued on page 9)

major difference between the believers and
disbelievers or those with weak faith is that
at the times of difficulty, Allah casts in the
heart of the believer tranquillity and peace.
The reason for the tests is so that we in-
crease faith as the Prophet says, “Faith in
God has ten degrees, and a mo’min will
proceed through these, step by step.” It is
therefore a simple self test to see whether
you Imaan has increased from a few years
or months back compared to today. If it has
deceased then one must re-evaluate and
rectify it before it is too late. Allah then con-
tinues:
“That He may cause the believing men and of the purposes of the difficulties of a
the believing women to enter gardens be- Mo’min (‫ )ﺑﻼ أﻟﻤﻌﻤﻴﻦ‬is to cleanse one form sin. timistic of Me, I will be good to you and if
neath which rivers flow to abide therein and Having cleansed oneself upon entering the you think negative of Me, such shall be My
remove from them their evil; and that is a next life is the supreme success. A curious
grand achievement with Allah”
The Concept of The Reappearance
Beyond doubt, the Almighty God has put
humans into the society, which causes inter-
action and communication between the
members and people of that civilization.
However, every human being has this na-
ture and desire, that of greed - that insatia-
ble want which means the more he has abil-
ity to gain and profit out of this life the more
he wishes to have, even if he possesses the
earth still he wants to have sun and when he
possesses the sun he will wish to have the
galaxy and so on. Therefore, these charac-
ters and human factors although have their
good eventually at some point lead towards
contentions, dissensions, and disagreements
among humans. As a consequence, in order
to achieve true beauty and contentment,
there has to be a list of laws and decrees that
is 100% pure, incorrupt, and trustable and
therefore divine which puts them on the
right path towards the truth. Therefore, the
result of our thinking says those conditions
are not achievable apart from having a dele-
gate device who is nexus and contact point
to the source of accomplishment, thorough-
ness, faith, and confidence. He or she has to
Allah refers to all his creation as ‘‫ﻋﺒﺪ‬
including angels ( -‫ﻋﺒﺪؤاﻟﻤﻜﺮﻣﻮن‬Honourable
servants) and prophets. The whole of crea-
tion is subjugated by Allah and not one
being or creation is its own master. There-
fore, anything other than God is ‘abd as
Allah says that ‘A slave (‫ )ﻋﺒﺪ‬is one who
possesses nothing”. Therefore, no-one can
harm you or profit you unless God wills it
be so. We are such minute creatures in this
universe that we can never understand the
wisdom behind the works of the Almighty.
This message is so poignant and powerful
that no fear except the fear of the Almighty
can ever enter into the heart of the believer,
be it the fear of other people or the fear of
other creatures and creation of Allah. Allah
continues:
Allah in the above two verses is giving us
the reasons for what we face in this dunya,
the first being to take us to an eternal para- then there would be a special category for
dise and the second to remove sin. In this
world, one progressively becomes aged and chance to enter paradise would be far easier
weak as they were when they started. The
eternity of heaven is such that one will
NEVER become weak. It will be perpetual
bliss and harmony with no fear or anticipa- back saying that he was !(‫ )ﺑﻜﺴﻤﻜﺎ راذﻳﺎ‬Allah in
tion of an ‘end’. Imam Ali (AS) says that one Hadith-al-Qudsi says “I am with the
thing which gives weight to the universality
be the person who has the rights in hand to
establish our daily guide, expediencies, or
convenient paths and show us the way of
felicity to our Lord in every aspect, not just
in relation to the religious needs and neces-
sities.
Concerning this, in the story of the life of
mankind, there have been 124,000 messen-
gers who came for this purpose only, whose
intention was to elevate us towards the
highest level of accomplishment and bless-
edness. In the Holy Qur’an, chapter 11 : 86,
Allah says: “What remains with Allah is
better for you if you are believers, and I am
not a keeper over you”. The interpretation of
this ayah is about the knowledge which has
been delivered from the Almighty God to us
through all the Messengers, and that re-
sponsibility after the time of the last
Prophet, Prophet Muhammad (P), was
given to Imam Ali (AS) and after him to
eleven infallibles who had the same obliga-
tion and aims. Until now that, there is no
such a way to gain from the endless uncor-
rupted guiding light but understanding the
true meaning and conception of reappear-
of this particular message is that although
the treaty in question was between believing
men and disbelieving men, Allah includes
women too in this ayah.
Many people, when faced with difficulties
and turmoil complain to Allah and accuse
and insult Allah for their difficulties and in
some cases stop obeying God as if God will
be deprived of the prayers of one. These are
the ‘evil thoughts’ referred to in this ayah
and are considered to be one of the greater
sins in the sight of Allah. If only they under-
stood what great reward awaits them be-
hind this curtain of dunya they would pray
to be in more difficulty. Abu Baseer once
came to Imam Sadiq (AS) and Imam healed
him of his blindness. Imam told him that if
he keeps his sight he will be judged with all
the ones who have sight on the day of
Judgement, but if he wished to remain blind
him on the day of judgement such that the
than for the ordinary people. Abu Baseer,
immediately asked Imam to return him to
the way he was despite having his sight
thought of my servant to me. If you are op-
response”.
by A. Afshar
ance of the final and the remnant of argu-
ments and ultimatums: the 12th Imam ,
Imam Mahdi (A.T.F.S) (and in second
level,” WELLAYETE FAGHIH “ which
means guardianship under the supervision
of Imam) .
Moreover, the word of reappearance is not
some belief made by our historical myths or
feigned and false sentiment. We have nu-
merous authentic narrations and narrators
that are the best authoritative examples of
proofs and witnesses for his birth (The
proofs narrated by his ancestors, the thir-
teen ma’sumeen before him, and his com-
panions who have had and hold the respon-
sibility to convey the directions, instructions
and prescripts from him to us).
In the Glorious Qur’an, chapter 28:5 the
Merciful God says: “And we desired to be-
stow a favor upon those who were deemed
weak in the land, and to make them the
Imams, and to make them the heirs.” Ac-
cordingly, referring to this ayah, Allah has
placed a protector and shield for every sin-
gle downtrodden and oppressed one at any-
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 9
 Continued from page 9
time. In addition, because the interpretation of this ayah is in relation to
the story of the revolution from the Jewish nation by the leadership of
Prophet Moses, therefore this leader has to be an apostle sent by the
Almighty. This verse applies to humanity today a much as it did at the
time of Prophet Moses and many have concluded that the person ful-
filling this role is non other than IMAM MAHDI (A.T.F.S). Moreover
this is not only narrated in the Holy Quran, which is an Islamic per-
spective or comment, even in non-Islamic standpoints and outlooks we
can find many of considerable beliefs and faiths describing the concep-
tion of his reappearance, such as:
1. The kingdom and world state will end to the son of the lord of cre-
ated beings “keshen” (keshen in Indian is the name of Prophet Muham-
mad (P)). He is the one who will dominate, ruling upon the east and
west mountains. He will mount on clouds and angels will serve him
and fairy, hobgoblin and human, his slaves, from Sudan to beneath of
the north pole and he will own all the land in the world. The religions
of the almighty god will become one, united, and that will resurge. He
is with the name of “QAIM” (this is one of the names of IMAM MA-
HDI (A.T.F.S) which means Rising, Standing, Existing or well-
grounded) and a theist. [SHAKMOONI book, from Hindus]
2- “And at that time shall Michael (Qaim) stand up, the great prince
who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of
trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same
time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that
shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to
reproaches and everlasting abhorrence.” [Bible, Book of Daniel’s (P),
Chapter 12, verse 1, 2]
3-“ In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple (Imam Ma-
hdi) will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised
above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. He will judge between
the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat
their swords into plowshare sand their spears into pruning hooks. Na-
tion will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war
anymore..” [Old Testament, Book of Isaiah’s, chapter 2:2,4].
Moreover, so many other narrations and beliefs can be mentioned that
limits do not allow us to provide and consider them. As a result, we
can realize that the conception of the reappearance means the true jus-
tice and the meaning of justice, is the belief towards the reappearance
of the commander of faithful, savior of human beings and the present
leader, Imam Mahdi (A.T.F.S).
May the Almighty Allah choose us to be one of his companions.
ENSHAALLAH.
Al– Fajr ‫ اﻟﻒﺠﺮ‬4(3) ‫׀‬Pg 10
Ayatullah Hasanzaadeh-Aamuli
He is renowned for his excel-
lence in Astronomy, Mathemat-
ics, and many Islamic fields
such as Mysticism and Philoso-
phy. He has written numerous
books to his credit.
Ayatollah Hasan-Zade Aamuli
was born in Eera (a district in
Larijaan, Aamul, Iran) in 1929.
His formal name is Hasan son
of Abdullah Al-Tabari Aamuli,
however he is known by the
title "Hasan-zade". When he
was six years of age he studied
at traditional Iranian School (maktab Khane) and learnt how
to write and read and at a very young age learnt the Qur’an.
He completed the normal intermediate level of study in Amul
and eventually he was able and did teach some intermediate
level classes. In 1950, at the age of twenty-two, Shaykh Hasan-
zade Aamuli traveled to Tehran to learn under Ayatollah
Mirza Abul Hasan Sha`rani, Hajj Mirza Mahdi Ilaahi Qom-
she'i, Hajj Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Aamuli, and others.
His specialty in further education was an analysis on some of
the prominent works of people like Ibn Sina, Kwaja Toosi, and
Mullah Sadra and linking these works to secular scientific
advancements and theories especially in mathematics and
astronomy. He authored introductory books on Qiraa'a and
Tajweed which culminated in his first scholarly work which
was the editing and placing of Arabic vowels within the text,
and annotating the book titled "Nisaab al-Sibyaan".
He has authored several books in the field of mathematics and
astronomy commenting on the works of Toosi and Ibn Sina.
His works include algebra, geometry, and research on astro-
nomical calendar (which he worked on for nine years to de-
rive the calculations for this calendar taking into consideration
astronomical observations and mathematical constants). His
repertoire extends to research in medicine from the Islamic
and secular perspective. In addition to his secular achieve-
ments, he is also known as an expert in Ilmul Rijaal (study of
the narrators of hadith), irfaan, fiqh, Kamaal and is considered
to be one of the more prominent and eminent scholars of our
time. In 1963, he migrated to Qom, to study under `Allama
Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, Sayyid Muhammad
Hasan Tabataba’i (the brother of Muhammad Tabataba'i), and
Agha Sayyid Mahdi Qaazi Tabataba'i. In Qum he taught be-
liefs and continued his mathematical studies (He studied and
commented on books such as the Ogar Manalaous and Ogar
Thawothusues and masaakin) and in his career has authored
over 109 books. He is currently teaching at the advanced lev-
els of hawza such as Dars Khaarij in Saari. Most people who
have met his
speak of his
character as
very humble
and down to
earth and hav-
ing a good
sense of hu-
mour. May
Allah lengthen
his life in the
service of Is-
lam and may
we learn to appreciate and utilise these brilliant people.