Syed Ahmer

Even those people who are very conscientious in trying to fulfil the rights of Allah, should ponder over who has determined the rights of people. It is Allah Ta'ala who has determined that these are the rights of one's wife, one's employee, or one's children. So, in reality, the rights of people are actually rights of Allah too, but Allah Ta'ala has such love towards His creations that He has said that He will look away from neglect of His own rights, but will not forgive violations of rights of His subjects. On a lighter note, a friend asked me when will I start writing about men's rights in Islam. I told him that Muslim men have already usurped too many rights off women, way more than have been granted to them by Islam. It is time for them to first learn about what rights Islam has given to women, and then try to fulfil those rights with at least as much diligence and care with which they try to fulfil Allah's rights, even if it means letting go of some of

There are several reasons why it is extremely important to highlight rights of people.  The first and foremost is the general negligent attitude Muslims today have towards rights of other people. A number of you may have observed this that as soon as a Muslim turns towards religion, they start praying Salah regularly, fasting regularly, and change their appearance in accordance with Sunnah. These are all very admirable changes and need to be  encouraged. However, how many times do we hear the same person say that they have become more conscientious about their job, have stopped lying to and deceiving others in their business, have stopped backbiting about people, and have become more mindful of the rights and welfare of their employees, because they want to become better Muslims? It is almost as if we believe at a practical level that Islam is only limited to Ibadah (acts of worship), and has nothing to do with how we deal with and treat human beings (Ma'az Allah). Allah Ta'la,

Probably because I have written a few posts about rights of women recently, my middle daughter recently asked me, "Daddy, are you a feminist?"  I tried to explain to her that what I had written had nothing to do with feminism, or any other 'ism' for that matter. What it was about are the rights of human beings.  I explained that Islamic commandments are broadly divided into two separate categories, rights of God (Huqooq Allah) and rights of people (Huqooq al-Ibad). Rights of God include all acts of worship like praying Salah, fasting, performing Hajj, doing Qurbani (animal sacrifice), etc.  On the other hand, rights of people have been elaborated beautifully in this one Hadith (saying of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him), "A real Muslim is one whose hands (actions) and tongue (words) other Muslims are safe from." While elaborating on this Hadith Mufti Taqi Usmani DB said that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) has used the word 'Muslim' in this a

The reason these wise elders legally transferred the ownership of their property to their wives in their life was that, as mentioned previously, according to Islamic Inheritance laws a person loses their full control over their property when they become terminally ill or die. Even if they have made a will that their house should go to their spouse after their death, if that house is worth more than one third of their total estate, such a will would not be legally valid under Shariah.  The risk of doing the above will always be that if the wife dies before the husband, then the property will become part of her inheritance and will need to be distributed among all her inheritors as per shares pre-determined by Shariah. But as I mentioned in the previous post, these people lived their lives to the standard of Taqwa so they went well beyond what was strictly legally required of them to ensure that their wives would not come to any undue hardships if they passed away before their wives.  Ma

The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) said that, " "The best person among you is the one who treats his family members the best, and I treat my family members the best amongst you." While none of us can ever reach the exalted heights of his behaviour and conduct, lets see some examples from his followers how they treated their families. Similarly, Mufti Shafi RE had told his family during his life that the house they lived in, and all the possessions in it, were legally his wife's property. He kept all the items that were his property, in his own bedroom, and that was why he was extremely careful that if a family member brought an item from another part of the house to his bedroom, he insisted that it be taken out of his bedroom as soon as it had been used, so that it would not be considered part of his inheritance by mistake.  Continued...

Before we go to the practical examples, it is important to understand another concept. There are two standards one of which Muslims can choose to live their lives by, in accordance with the Shariah. The first is the standard of Fatwa (religious edict), and the other one is the standard of Taqwa (fear of Allah).  Those of you who have applied for jobs, may remember that often there are two sets of required qualifications and experience that are listed, Essential, and Desirable. 'Essential' basically means that if you don't have them, don't bother applying. You won't get through. 'Desirable' means that if you have these qualifications, then you a higher than baseline chance of getting the job. The standard of Fatwa relates to Essential requirements. This is the bare minimum every Muslim needs to do to get through on the Day of Judgment. The standard of Taqwa is more like going an extra mile. If we do try to live to that standard, we stand a higher chance of pa

Before beginning a discussion on how to secure women's financial rights, it is important to understand a few core principles of Shariah about Ma'amlat (financial transactions), and in particular around inheritance. - Islam gave women the right to own property and financial assets independently, 1500 years ago. It is shocking that in some Muslim majority countries and cultures today, women do not have the same  - In Islam the transparency of ownership is absolutely paramount. There is no concept of family ownership, or spousal ownership, the core principle being that ownership of each item and each asset is individual. To give an example, a house can be owned by both spouses jointly, but it should be absolutely clear what proportion of the house's value belongs to husband, and what to wife, e.g. 50/50. Similarly, if there is a family business, it should be specified right at the beginning what proportion of the business is owned by which individual family member. The reason

(This article include  - "C was a home maker all her life while her husband D was the sole income earner of the family. They had 3 adult children. The family house was in D's name. When D suddenly passed away, the family house was sold and all of D's assets were distributed among C and their 3 children, according to Shariah's inheritance laws. C had no house to live in, and no income. She was forced to live in one of her children's houses turn by turn, and became dependent on them for her ongoing expenses." The scenario above is a hypothetical one but how many similar scenarios like this have we seen in our culture, among our own extended families, and our acquaintances' families? Probably at least a few. I feel very sad when a woman loses not only her husband, which on the life events scale is rated as one of the most severe forms of trauma, but also her home, and her financial independence.  The reason this happens is at least partly because many Muslims

    I wasn’t planning to write about this as I generally try to stay away from politics but reading the sentence above, as a father of three daughters, those words went straight through my heart piercing it, and I knew I just had to.   It is almost a part of the job description of a psychiatrist to be able to look into people’s minds, to be able to see the world through THEIR eyes. When I pictured the sentence above, I didn’t see a public representative of a country with enough power to potentially destroy planet earth a few times. I saw a small, insecure girl, who has managed to achieve an amazing lot despite all odds, standing scared in front of a bully and an abuser, and saying, “Please do not hurt me. Think of your own daughter(s). I am someone’s daughter too.” And this image broke my heart and I knew I had to add my very weak voice to all the voices being raised against such behaviour.    We all see the world through our own eyes, through the lens of our own life experiences, our

On the night before I was due to get engaged I was having dinner with two colleagues while we were all on call. They were both a little bit older and were already married. They started telling me stories of their marriages. I still remember when one of them said, "When we live with someone 4 hours a day, 6 hours a day, 8 hours a day, (like at work) we can pretend to be a nicer person than we really are. We take care about how we behave and what we say in front of people, presenting our best face. But when we are at home with someone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, we cannot pretend anymore. We are just the way we are." he further said that before he got married, if someone had told him that he will be behaving in these ways after marriage, he would have laughed and said, "you are crazy. that is not me. I am not that kind of a person. But, to my surprise, I do and I can't even stop myself behaving like that. I don't care anymore" Definitely no

The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) said; "The best person among you is the one who treats his family members the best, and I treat my family members the best amongst you."

There are very clear instructions in  Ahadith  (sayings of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ ) about bringing physical and psychological comfort and peace of mind to sick people. The true purpose of the command to visit sick people is to provide them support and reassurance. In a Hadith the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  said;   “When a person visits a sick Muslim to provide support (do Iyadat), 70,000 of Allah’s angels pray for him.” SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS – PART 11 - BY MUFTI MUHAMMAD TAQI USMANI DB

My kids once asked me which kind of books or movies I like. I said, the ones in which there are no heroes or villains. They asked in surprise, why? I replied, because in real life there are no heroes or villains, only human beings, who can be sometimes heroes, and sometimes villains, depending on the situation. Today I mourn the sad demise of the political career of a long-term acquaintance, an almost-friend. I met him both in my personal capacity and in one of my previous work roles, many many times. He was always courteous to the core. I remember that when my mother's visa application was rejected even though she had already visited NZ once and gone back within the timeframe, I contacted his office and the visa situation was very quickly resolved.  I remember that when we got our citizenship, even though we now lived in an area for which he wasn't the MP, and yet somehow he find out about it and wrote to us that even though he wasn't our MP, we were always welcome to cont

To summarize, there are certain lifesaving measures which are Fard (compulsory) in Shariah like drinking water for a person who is dying of thirst. There are some measures which are neither Fard (compulsory) nor Wajib (necessary) but are a Sunnah (practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ) like routine treatments. And the third category is those treatments which have a remote chance of success and which are also likely to cause harm, which may be physical or financial. Seeking such treatment is neither Fard or Wajib, nor a Sunnah, rather it is preferable not to pursue such treatments. If a person wishes to seek such treatments, it is not a sin, but if they wish not to pursue them, it is not a sin either. SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS – PART 10 - BY MUFTI MUHAMMAD TAQI USMANI DB

SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS – PART 9 - BY MUFTI MUHAMMAD TAQI USMANI DB   There are certain remedies which are  Fard  (compulsory) and  Wajib  (necessary), though in reality they are not treatments. For example, if a person is dying of thirst, it is  Fard  (compulsory) for him to drink water. If he does not drink it then and dies as a result, it would be considered a suicide under Shariah. If at that time he has no Halal liquid to drink and the only liquid available is alcohol, drinking which may save his life, then it is  Fard  (compulsory) upon him to drink that alcohol at that time to save his life. If he doesn’t drink alcohol in those circumstances, he would be committing a sin. In this situation, the outcome is nearly certain that if this person drinks water he would save his life. That is why drinking water or even alcohol in these circumstances is  Fard   under Shariah. 

“…and be good to parents and to kinsmen and orphans and the needy and the close neighbour and the distant neighbour and the companion at your side and the wayfarer and to those owned by you…” (4:36)

Some time ago a couple asked me for some advice about their 3 years old son's behaviour. In psychiatry, the dictum is that problem in children are often indicative of problems in their environment, and the younger the child, the more strongly this principle holds true. I, therefore, asked them in detail about their interaction with the child.  I found out that they both did full-time, quite high-powered, very demanding jobs. Before going to work, they left their only son at the daycare so early that he was still sleeping. They picked him up late and by that time they were all so exhausted that as soon as they got home they put him to bed. On weekends they would still have lingering work so one or the other of them would still be working. After listening to the whole story, I asked them, "Tell me one thing. If you wanted to make a copy of your photo, whose photo would you put on the copying surface?" They looked at me as if I was stupid and said, "Of course, our photo

However, there is a third kind (of financial transaction) in which there is commodity on both sides, and apparently the transaction has been effected with mutual consent, but the consent of one party has been obtained by compulsion and not by his free will. Therefore, this third kind is also included in the second one. For example, a person or company buys articles of daily use from all over the market, builds up a stock, raises prices on the higher side and starts selling. Since this is not available elsewhere in the market, the customer has no choice but to buy it from him at whatever price he may be selling it. In this situation, though the customer himself walks into the store and, obviously, buys it with his consent, but this 'consent' is an outcome of compulsion and therefore, it is null and void. Or, take the example of a person who discovers that he is not going to get his valid job done without offering a bribe, and he becomes ready to offer a bribe, then, this willing

In summary, this lack of transparency of ownership is a major curse afflicting our society these days. We should first understand it clearly ourselves, and then also convey it to our friends, family and acquaintances that first we should all establish clearly who owns what and how much, both in our personal possessions and wealth, as well as businesses, and then conduct our financial transactions in a pleasant manner. But the accounting should remain transparent and there should be no ambiguity in transactions. May Allah Ta’ala give us all motivation to act on these principles through his blessings. Aameen و آخر دعوانا ان الحمد الّٰلہ رب العٰلمین

Secondly, the transaction must be effected with the mutual consent of the parties. Therefore, if there is trade, where the object of sale does exist, but the mutual consent of the parties is not there, even then the sale is invalid and impermissible. Thus, these two forms are included under "eating up each other's property by false means". Muslim jurists call the first form,  albai' al-batil' , while the second form is given the name,  'al-bai' al-fasid' . 

The third point is that we have learnt through the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  that treatment should be provided with moderation, considering a person’s physical health status, their age, and their circumstances. Treatment with moderation means that treatments that are provided as a matter of routine are  Sunnah , but using extreme treatments is neither  Wajib , nor a  Sunnah , rather it is permissible but with some distaste. These treatments include those which have a high likelihood or near certainty of causing severe distress or harm to the patient, or those treatments in which the probability of cure or improvement is very low. For example, there is a 10 % probability that the patient may benefit from treatment, and a 90 % probability that there will be no benefit and it will cause distress or harm to the patient. In  Shariah not only are such treatments not considered necessary, rather  Shariah’s  preference is towards avoiding such treatments.  SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT

These conflicts and disagreements arise amongst people who are not ill-intentioned, who do not want to usurp other people’s property knowingly. However, because of their ignorance, they acted in a manner which ended up in these conflicts. But the people who are criminal-minded and dishonest, and who knowingly want to grab other people’s property unjustly, they are a different story altogether.

A wise elder once said that the greatest job in the world is to become a servant to everyone around you. It is also the easiest job in the world to get. You don’t have to have any qualifications, you do not need to fight an election, you do not have to go through any job interviews. All you need to have is the willingness and motivation to help everyone in need around you and relive their distress, to the best of your ability and capacity. We human beings often underestimate  how much human contact affects us, both positively and negatively. I was reminded of the above by a very strange but also very moving experience. I kept thinking whether it would be appropriate to share it, but then thought it may help some people down the line. I saw a patient some time ago who was so mentally unwell that he had not sat down for several days. Our colleagues were afraid to approach him because of his unpredictability and potential of suddenly lashing out. So, he was just left standing, staring out

FOLLOWING SHARIAH PREVENTS DISPUTES   Because a lot of people these days have no knowledge of these commandments of Shariah they do as they please, and later on in life it leads to conflicts between family members, discord in society, and litigation between people. If people took care to follow Shariah closely, a lot of this litigation would never have been needed in the first place.

It is a Sunnah (practice of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ ) to receive treatment, and the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  suggested to his companions to receive treatment. However, if a patient does not wish to receive treatment for some illness, we cannot say that he is neglecting a religious obligation and it is impermissible for him not to receive treatment.    The authority to make the decision rests with the patient, for example, if I am sick I have the right to decide if I want to seek treatment or not. And if I decide not to seek treatment, no one can force me to do so. However, if the patient then goes to a doctor to receive treatment, then it is the duty of the doctor to treat him and not to decline treatment. So, the second important principle is that receiving treatment is not  Fard  (Compulsory) or  Wajib  (Necessary), it is a Sunnah. SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS – PART 7 - BY MUFTI MUHAMMAD TAQI USMANI DB

A friend recently asked me about doing Qurbani (slaughter of an animal on Eid al-Azha) on a farm. I asked him if he had checked whether doing so is legal in NZ as to my knowledge farmers are not allowed to sell animals or meat directly to individual consumers. Hazrat Thanvi (RE) used to say that when we live in any country, regardless of whether Muslims are in a majority or minority in that country, we enter into a social contract with the government of that country. This could be in the form of citizenship, naturalisation or visa, against which we commit to obeying all the laws of that country, the only exception being those laws which force us to break a law of Shariah e.g. forcing us to drink alcohol or not pray Salah. Other than such exceptions, breaking the laws of a country one lives in, is a sin just like breaking a law of Shariah. That is why it is important to make sure that we do not break laws of the country we live in, all the more so in the process of performing an Ibadah

- The words "unless it be a trade with your mutual consent "in verse 29 lay down two conditions for the validity of a transaction through which the property of another person may lawfully be acquired. Firstly, it must be a transaction of trade which requires exchange of properties. Therefore, the transactions of gambling, speculation and usury or the transactions of sale where the commodity does not exist are forbidden and are not valid in Shari'ah, because these transactions cannot be termed as trade, even though they are effected in the name of trade. Trade is the name of the exchange of one commodity with the other. Having commodity on one side, and having no commodity against it, is not trade.

FAMILIAL DISPUTES AND THEIR SOLUTION – PART 4: 17 THE CORRECT WAY OF TRANSFERRING OWNERSHIP In Shariah, it is not enough for someone to say later that they had put their wife’s name on the title deeds of the house. According to Shariah, the proper way of transferring ownership to someone, for example wife, is that after putting her name on the ownership documents, she should also be given possession of the house and told that from now on she is the owner of that house and can dispose of it as she pleases. Without giving possession, ownership is not really transferred.

Some people think that seeking treatment when one is sick is Fard (Compulsory) or Wajib (necessary) in Shariah. That is not correct. Getting treatment for an illness is permissible (Mubah), and in one way a Sunnah (practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ). However, if a person does not want to seek treatment and is satisfied with his decision, then forcing him to take treatment and pressing him that if he did not receive treatment he would be committing a sin, is not right according to Shariah. Though it can be recommended to him that he should consider getting treatment and that it is a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, and that the Holy Prophet himself sought treatment and told his Companions about different treatments for different ailments. SHARIAH GUIDELINES ON TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS – PART 6 - BY MUFTI MUHAMMAD TAQI USMANI DB

The love of status (Hubbe-e-Jah, حبِّ جاہ) means that a person wants to conquer people's hearts, and wishes that "he gets to subjugate people's hearts, people keep praising him all the time, people should rush to fulfil his needs, and should be willing to lay down their lives for him." Abstract from Arbaeen by Imam Ghazali (may Allah Ta'ala bless him)

حبِّ جاہ کے معنی یہ ہیں کہ انسان لوگوں کے قلوب پر قبضہ کرنا چاہے اور اس کی خواہش کرے کہ "ان کے دل میرے مطیع بن جائیں، میری تعریف کیا کریں، میری حاجت کے پورا کرنے میں لپکیں اور جان تک سے دریغ نہ کریں۔" اقتباسات از اربعین، تالیف: امام غزالیؒ

- The Holy Prophet ﷺ said:  "The cleanest earning is the earning of the traders, on condition that, when they talk, they do not lie; and when they are asked to hold something in trust, they commit no breach of trust; and when they buy something from someone, they do not start finding faults in it; and when they sell their own stuff, they do not praise it (unrealistically); and when they have a debt to pay, they do not evade payment; and when they have a debt to recover from someone, they do not harass him.”

That is why it is very important to understand that the rule of Shariah is that if a son is working in his father’s business, and it was not clarified whether he was working as father’s business partner, or his employee, then even if the son keeps working like that his entire life, it will still be assumed that he was just helping his father out and he has no share in the business. That is why it is very important to clarify whether he is joining the business as a partner or as an employee, right at the beginning.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION - 2 In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said; “When you hear about a place that plague is spreading there, do not go to that place. And if plague has spread somewhere and you are there, do not leave that place.” Once Hazrat Omar Farooq (May Allah be pleased with him) left Medinah Munawwarah to visit Syria. On the way he heard that plague had spread in Syria. The question then arose whether it would be beneficial to travel to a plague affected area. Initially he had doubt that they had started the journey for a religious reason and whether it would be right to not go there because of fear of an illness. On the other hand, the consideration was that the plague epidemic was so severe that thousands of people had been martyred because of it. Therefore, going there knowing this seemed to be deliberately putting one’s life in danger. Hazrat Omar RAA consulted other companions and decided not to go there. Hazrat Abu Ubaidah ibn Jarrah (May Allah be pleased with him),

THE IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION - 1 The first thing is that a person should never pray for sickness and must always pray for wellbeing (A’fiat). The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, “Ask Allah for A’fiat (safety).” Therefore, a person should not pray for illness, nor should they undertake any action knowingly which may result in illness. In fact, a person should take every precaution against becoming unwell. It is included in the duty of healthcare professionals that, just like they treat people after becoming unwell, similarly they should educate people about taking preventive measures against illnesses. This is also part of Deen (religion).

- The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  said:    "The truthful trader shall be under the shade of the Throne (Arsh) on the Day of Doom."

JOINT PROPERTY Or, for example, the family decides to build a house. The father puts in some funds, one son puts in some funds, the other son puts in some funds, and they take a loan for the rest. But right at the beginning they did not clarify whether the sons wanted to become joint owners of the house, whether they were giving the amount as a loan to their father, or whether they were just helping their father out. The house gets built but no one knows legally what proportion of it is owned by who. If one of them then dies, a huge conflict arises over who owns this house. One person claims he invested this much amount in the house, the other one says that he paid for the land. Then they go to a mufti to sort out inheritance issues. This sometimes leads to injustice with one party.

WHAT INTENTION (NIYYAH) SHOULD DOCTORS CARRY? - 2 However, if the same person joins this profession with the intention that he would be able to relieve people’s distress and bring comfort to people, though at the same time earning his living through this profession, then every moment he spends in the practice of this profession becomes a great Ibadah (act of worship). Sheikh Sa’adi (may Allah bless him) has said in his Bosta’an; طریقت بجز خدمتِ خلق نیست بہ تسبیح و سجادہ و دلق نیست It means that if a person just keeps reciting a Tasbeeh, keeps praying Salah on the prayer mat, and keeps wearing an old robe, it doesn’t make him a Sufi. Rather, the more a person is serving humanity, the greater a Sufi and the closer to Allah Ta’alah he would be.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ says, "Two wolves let loose on a herd of goats won't harm it as much as love of wealth and status harms a person's Deen (religion)." Abstract from Arbaeen by Imam Ghazali (may Allah Ta'ala bless him)

رسولِ مقبول ﷺ فرماتے ہیں کہ، "بکریوں کے گلٰے میں دو بھیڑئیے آ پڑیں تو وہ اتنا نقصان نہ کریں گے جتنا مال و جاہ کی محبّت دین دار مسلمان کے دین کا نقصان کرتی ہے۔" اقتباسات از اربعین، تالیف: امام غزالیؒ

- The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  said:    "The truthful and trustworthy trader shall be with the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs.”

The second of the 3 attributes I wish I had learnt more of from my father was his exceptional honesty and integrity.  My father retired as a brigadier from Pakistan Army. Those who have read Dr Ayesha Siddiqa's book " Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy", or have just close family ties to the army, would know that when a number of officer, though by no means most, retire from such a senior rank, they, and sometimes their next generation too, are more or less financially set for life. When my father retired, he had a 3rd floor flat, a  lump sum amount, and a 800 cc car to his name. He was also allotted some land in rural Sindh which he never claimed.  His pension used to be PKR 14,000 per month which in those days would have translated to about USD 240. Because three of his children, including me, were still in medical school and were to remain financially dependent on him for several more years, and my youngest sister was still to start studying compute

FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS SHOULD ALWAYS BE TRANSPARENT Therefore, Shariah has commanded us that ownership of each individual about each individual possession or property should be absolutely clear and separate. When we tell our acquaintances that you should keep your accounts and ownership separate right from the beginning, they say in reply that this accounting between loved ones smacks of unfriendliness. But what happens in reality is that after a few years, the same people who were making vows of never-ending love and affection, draw swords at each other over money. So, the source of a lot of conflict and discord is not keeping ownership separate right from the beginning.

WHAT INTENTION ( NIYYAH ) SHOULD DOCTORS CARRY?   Allah Ta’alah has created many professions but medical profession is one of the most exalted and blessed as it is a great means of helping people. What is even more important is with what intention does a person adopt this profession. A person may go into medical profession with the intention  that he will make lots of money, and may have no other intention, for example, about helping people or relieving their distress. As long as he stays within the boundaries of Shariah, this is not a sin, but he won’t get any  thawab  (eternal reward) for it either. Just like a vegetable seller sells vegetables to earn his living, similarly this person is selling his medical expertise to make money.

It is said that in West London (where we lived for most of our time in UK) you can be green with pink spots, and nobody will look at you twice. The greatest learning experience for me when living in London was the amazing cultural diversity. I just wish to share one incident which crystallised it for me. The MRCPsych part 2 results used to be put on the College's website at about 4-5 am in those days. I tried to remain awake on the night our results were supposed to be announced, but gave up at about 3 am and fell asleep. At about 5 am the phone rang and one of my friends announced with excitement that both he and I had passed. I was so charged up that I couldn't go back to sleep even though the next day was a working day. I started ringing those family, friends, and teachers who I just couldn't wait t o share the good news with,  till the working days started. It was many months later I suddenly reflected one day on the huge variety of people I had rang in those early hour

حق تعالیٰ فرماتا ہے: "دارِ آخرت کی بھلائیاں انہیں کے لئے مخصوص ہیں جو زمین پر رہ کر بڑھنا چڑھنا اور فتنہ و فساد کرنا نہیں چاہتے۔" اقتباسات از اربعین، تالیف: امام غزالیؒ

Allah Ta’ala says, “The blessings of Aakhirah (Hereafter) are reserved for those who do not aspire to become grand and spread conflict and discord while living on this earth.” Abstract from Arbaeen by Imam Ghazali (may Allah Ta'ala bless him)

- When asked as to which mode of earning was the purest and the most lawful, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:  "Man's work with his own hands, and all honest sale transactions (not false and fraudulent).”

Anyway, he was so careful about clarity of ownership, that it was absolutely clear what was owned by him, what was owned by the wife, by the children, by acquaintances, that no conflict ever arose.

GLAD TIDINGS FOR DOCTORS The first thing I want to mention is a Hadith (Prophetic tradition, saying of the Holy Prophet ﷺ) in which he has conveyed glad tidings for people who are affiliated with the profession of medicine and remain busy treating people: “Whoever removes one of the anxieties faced by a Muslim, Allah Ta’ala will remove one of his anxieties on the Doomsday (Qiyamah)” (Sahih Muslim:2699) It is important to remember that the word ‘Muslim’ has been used in the prophetic tradition (Hadith) because most of the people he addressed in his talks were Muslims. Reading a number of other Ahadith (plural of Hadith) it becomes clear that the merits and rewards promised by Allah Ta’ala for being sympathetic to and relieving distress of other people is not limited to helping Muslims only. Rather, bringing comfort to and relieving distress of non-Muslims also carries huge merits and rewards, therefore, the glad tiding is generally promised for those who help others in any manner irresp

(Treatment of long-term, sometimes, incurable illnesses and use of life support treatments gives rise to a lot of complex issues for which doctors sometimes need guidance from Shariah. Indus Hospital Karachi, Pakistan, conducted a seminar on 31 May 2018 to get Shariah guidance on those issues in which Hazrat Maulana Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB gave a detailed talk outlining the relevant principles of Shariah relati ng to treatment of chronic illnesses and end of life care, and also answered questions about the same at the end. Considering the importance of this topic Pakistan Islamic Medical Association invited Mufti Taqi Usmani Sahib DB to give a further talk on this topic in their Annual Conference held on 21 October 2018. Maulana Muhammad Wasi sahib, a graduate of Darul Uloom Karachi transcribed both these talks after merging them together and also added references.)

Some of the widows weren’t in paid jobs and didn’t drive. For them the issues were much more longer-term. Who will drop kids to and pick them up from school till they became old enough? How would they survive financially without any income coming in now? A number of people were on work visas. If they were unable to resume their jobs because of the effects of the gunshot wounds, would they still be allowed to stay in NZ? Would the surviving families of the deceased husbands on work visas be allowed to live in NZ? They had a million questions for their own and their children’s future, in addition to the grieving process for their loved ones.

AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT Any terrorist attack, on any group of people, may it be because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or colour, is absolutely abominable and deplorable. The ChCh attack was no different in that regard. However, there were some factors which made its psychological impact a lot more severe and complex, and made it an existential threat for the survivors and families of the deceased, in  addition to the sudden violent death of a loved one which would have been extremely trauma for anyone anyway. It was the early volunteers who first realized the uniqueness and gravity of these problems. They, for example, found out that in some cases the accounts were only in the husband’s names and the bank cards were on their person when they were killed. So when the bodies of the deceased husbands were withheld for legal reasons for a period of time, suddenly their surviving families were left destitute as they didn’t have access to any money, even for groceries. This led to a comm

There are the first responders. In one of the planning meetings we had, I asked this question, “how many Policemen or ambulance staff in NZ would have come across one hundred victims of gunshots, half of them dead, in a single room?” The answer is obviously zero. Something like this had never happened before in NZ. The firs hand account I heard from some of the first responder ambulance staff was too gra phic to quote here but I made me realize how they must have been traumatised by this experience. You can’t ‘unsee’ some things you have seen. Then there were the staff at hospital who would have received those injured and treated them, and who would have received the bodies of the deceased and processed. This kind of trauma has a ripple effect. The concentric circles go farther and farther with time. When planning psychological help for victims, all these victims should be kept in mind and the psychological effects on them should never be underestimated. The estimate in ChCh was that t

THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF MASS TRAUMA After a terrorist attack such as Christchurch, there are some obvious victims like the deceased and the injured. However, another way of looking at the above numbers is that there were about 50 (some victims were related) families who lost a loved one in an extremely traumatic manner, and there were about 50 families whose loved ones received gunshot injuries. On the Life Events Scale loss of a spouse is rated as causing the highest level of distress, and in ChCh there were over 30 women who were widowed as result of the attacks, many children who lost their fathers, and in some cases husbands who lost their wives. Their pain and suffering is difficult to imagine for us who haven’t had a traumatic experience like that. There were all the neighbours who sheltered the people running away from the mosques and who witnessed/heard the gunfire in such close proximity to their homes. There were all the bystanders who received vicarious trauma. There were volu