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Showing posts from April, 2021

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 21 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Making hurtful jokes is not permitted   Often times friends joke with each other and make fun of each other. But sometimes it happens that a friend is joking with another friend in jest and does not intend to hurt his feelings, but some people are more sensitive than others. They cannot tolerate having been made fun of and get irritated and unhappy as a result. Other friends then tease them even more and make even more fun of them and enjoy their getting irritated. In such situations, even though the other friends do not intend to hurt his feelings, and are saying these things as a joke, but because he does not like it and it hurts his feelings, such joking is not permitted. It is not permitted in Shariah to say anything to anyone which hurts his feelings, even if it is said as a joke.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۲۱ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 9

  “And be steadfast in Salah (prayer)…” (2:43)    Lexically, the word  ‘Iqamah’  means “making a thing straight or keeping it firmly in its place”. So, the word also signifies "establishing a thing or making it perpetual." Thus, the conjunction of the two words,  Salah  and  Iqamah , in the Holy Qur'an signifies, not merely offering the prayer, but performing the five ordained prayers steadfastly in the prescribed form at the prescribed hours and fulfilling all the necessary conditions. 

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 20 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Every important goal requires effort   In a Hadith the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  said;   لا طاعة لمخلوق فی معصیة الخالق   “There is no disobeying the Creator in obeying the creation”.   It means that we are neither meant to, nor permitted to, be so mindful of other people’s feelings that we start disobeying Allah Ta’ala. We are not allowed to obey any human being to the extent that it starts breaching Allah Ta’ala’s commandments.   Remember, no goal that is worthwhile can be achieved without working hard for it.   If you want to achieve any significant objective in this life, you have to make some effort it, make some sacrifices for it. Therefore, if you truly believe that committing Gheebat is a major sin, and you truly believe that you will ruin your Aakhirah by continuing to commit Gheebat, then you will have to use your determination and willpower to stop committing it. When you begin to use your determination, then Allah Ta’ala will also help you and then it will become easier from you t

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۲۰ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 8

  “…and fulfill the covenant with Me, and I shall fulfill your covenant…” (2:40) This verse tells us that it is obligatory to fulfil the agreement one has entered into, and it is forbidden to break one's promise. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said; “Those who break their promises would, before being finally punished in the other world, be humiliated before the whole human race when it assembles together on the Day of Judgment, for a flag would be placed as a stigma beside everyone who has committed this sin, and the bigger the crime, the higher would the flag be.”

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 19 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  RUINING ONE’S OWN   AAKHIRAH   FOR OTHERS’   DUNYA   In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  said that if a person ruins his  Aakhirah  (the Hereafter) for the sake of providing some benefit of  Dunya  (material world) to someone, then Allah Ta’ala imposes that person on his head in this world, that you ruined your  Aakhirah  to make his  Dunya  better, now he will ruin your  Dunya  too. It is a common observation that if a person engages in accumulating wealth through  Haraam  (unlawful) means to provide material comfort to his wife and children, then those same children cause him all sorts of grief in this world. This is because he displeased Allah Ta’ala to make his wife and children happy, then Allah Ta’ala imposes those same children on him in this world. Therefore, do not harm your  Aakhirah  to avoid hurting other people’s feelings.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۹ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 7

  “Then Adam learned certain words (to pray with) from his Lord; so, Allah accepted his repentance…” (2:37)   The Arabic word for repentance is ‘ Taubah’  which means ‘a return’. In Shariah’s terminology,  Taubah  signifies a combination of three things;   (a) For the past, acknowledging one’s sin as a sin, being ashamed of it and feeling remorseful.    (b) In the present, giving up the sin altogether.    (c) for the future, making up one’s mind firmly never to indulge in it again.    If any one of these three elements is missing, the  Taubah  is not genuine. 

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 18 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  (Before reading the next paragraph it is important to understand the difference between different types of Fard [compulsory] commandments. There are two types of   Fard   commandments, the first one is   Fard-e-Ain   which means those commandments for which there is individual accountability, and the second is   Fard-e-Kifayah   for which there is collective or group accountability, meaning that if some people in that community carry it out then everyone’s responsibility has been fulfilled, e.g. praying   Janazah   Salah.)   Khidmat-e-Khalq  (serving humanity) is not  Fard-e-Ain  in the same way that praying  Salah  is  Fard-e-Ain , for example, it is not compulsory to do service to humanity exactly at a particular time every day. Also, there is no conflict between  Salah  and  Khidmat-e-Khalq . If you take a 10 minutes break, pray  Salah , and then start seeing patients again, what harm would it do to them? It is an excuse made by our  Nafs  (inner-self) that because I am doing  Khi

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۸ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 6

  “…and they have faith in the Hereafter” (2:4)   The other essential quality of the ‘God-fearing’ mentioned in these verses is that they believe in the  ‘Aakhirah’  (the Hereafter).  In Shariah terminology, ‘the  Aakhirah’  refers to the eternal life which will begin after every human being has died and then they will be raised again. Along with the two doctrines of the Oneness of God ( Tauheed ) and of Prophethood ( Risalat ), this is the third doctrine which is common to all the prophets and upon which all the Shariahs are agreed.    The belief in the  Aakhirah  is a life-changing belief. If a person believes that this life is be all and end all, its joys the only joys, its pains the only pains, then what is to stop him from pursuing his pleasures even at the expense of causing harm to others? Even those people who generally follow the laws of the land, what is to stop them from transgressing in their private space, in their personal relationships, where there are no laws and no one

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 17 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  It is  Fard  (Compulsory) to pray  Salah  on time   For example, a doctor’s wife told me that “my husband is a very good person but he does not pray Salah during clinic timings. I say to him that when the Salah time comes during clinic hours, just pray it then. But he replies that ‘I am serving people and this is part of  Huqooq al-Ibad  (rights of people). How can I start praying when patients are sitting in clinic?’ Therefore, when he comes home at night after finishing the clinic, then he prays  Asr, Maghrib  and  Isha  all at the same time. He says, ‘I am serving humanity, and if you  Qada  (delay beyond prescribed times)  Salah  because you are serving human beings, then there is no harm in it.’”

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۷ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 5

  “…and spend out of what We have provided them”  (2:3)   The meaning of this verse is inclusive of  all the forms of spending in the way of Allah, whether it be the  Fard  (obligatory) Zakat or the  Wajib  (necessary) alms-giving or just voluntary and  Nafl  (supererogatory) acts of charity.    The phrase: “ Spend out of what We have provided them ” inspires us to spend in the way of Allah by drawing our attention to the fact that anything and everything we possess is a gift from Allah Ta’ala and His trust ( Amanah ) in our hands, and that even if we spend all our possessions in the way of Allah, it would be proper and just and no favour to Him. But Allah in His mercy asks us to spend in His way ‘out of’ what He has provided us - that is, only a part and not the whole.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۶ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 16 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 PARTICIPATING IN  GHEEBAT  TO AVOID HURTING FEELINGS   Thus, Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah bless him) has outlined a principle that one should not contravene the laws of Shariah, as in continuing to participate in  Gheebat , just so he does not hurt anyone’s feelings by asking them not to do it. We are people of extremes. On the one hand, we have become so neglectful of rights of people that we freely engage in abusing people’s rights whether they be financial rights, physical rights, or right to honour, without thinking twice about it. On the other hand, we are so mindful of other people’s rights that we are prepared to engage in a major sin like  Gheebat  so that we do not hurt the feelings of the person who is committing it. It does not even occur to us that at that very moment we are engaged in violating the rights of the person whose  Gheebat  is being performed.

SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 4

  “…are steadfast in Salah (prayer)…”(2:3)   The verb employed by the Holy Qur'an here is ‘ Yuqimuna’  (they establish). So, the verb implies not merely saying one's prayers, but performing the prayers correctly in all-possible ways and observing all the prescribed conditions, whether obligatory ( Fard ) or necessary ( Wajib ) or commendable ( Mustahabb ). The concept includes regularity and perpetuity in the performance of  Salah,  as well as concentrating fully towards Allah Ta’ala with humility from the inside. 

Usmani Discourses Volume. 2

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  Alhamdulillah the second volume of the collection of translations of Mufti Taqi Usmani sahib's (DB) talks is now ready. Because of the Covid situation around the world I decide to just publish it as an e-book at this time. However, there is no restriction on anyone who wants to publish it in print and may want to distribute it. My first and foremost thanks and gratitude to Mufti Taqi Usmani sahib himself. As you know I am not a religious scholar. I had started translating his talks for my children, family, and friends who are unable to read Urdu. When I had first told him, I was shocked when he had written back, "publish it as a book when you have translated enough material." I didn't think (and still don't think) it was my place for my name to be associated with such an eminent and one of the foremost scholar of our times but I told myself that if he is telling me to do it, there must be some Khair (good) in it, so I took it on as a lifelong project. May the re

SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 3

  The word  Ghaib  (Unseen) ,  denotes things which are not known to man in an evident manner, or which cannot be perceived through the five senses. The Holy Qur'an uses this word to indicate all the things which we cannot know through the five senses or through reason, but which have been reported to us by the Holy Prophet  ﷺ . These include the essence and the attributes of Allah, matters pertaining to destiny, heaven and hell and what they contain, the Day of Judgment and the things which happen on that Day, divine books, and all the prophets who have preceded the Holy Prophet  ﷺ . (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 15 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  As was said a little while earlier, just like doing   Gheebat   is   Haraam , listening to   Gheebat   is also   Haraam . So, what should a person do if someone starts committing Gheebat in a gathering? Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) says that if a person has the power to stop people from committing   Gheebat , then he should do so. There are two ways of doing it. The first is to say plainly that “look, the way you are talking about this person will lead to   Gheebat , so lets leave this topic.” If he is unable to say it like that, then he should try to change the topic and start another discussion so that people stop committing   Gheebat . However, if he is unable to do both of these, then he should leave that gathering and not participate in such discussions any more.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۵ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 2

  “who believe in the Unseen,”   “The Arabic word ‘ Iman’  signifies accepting with complete certitude the statement made by someone out of one's total confidence and trust in him. Endorsing someone's statement with regard to observable facts is, therefore, not ‘ Iman’ . For example, if one man describes a piece of cloth as black, and another man endorses the statement, it may be called  Tasdiq  (confirmation) but not  Iman , for such an endorsement is based on personal observation, and does, in no way, involve any confidence or trust in the man who has made the statement. In the terminology of the Shariah,  Iman  signifies accepting with complete certitude the statement made by a prophet only out of one’s total confidence and trust in him and without the need for personal observation. (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 14 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 LISTENING TO  GHEEBAT  IS ALSO  HARAAM  (UNLAWFUL)   Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) said;   “If a person commits  Gheebat  or some useless conversation in front of a  Salik  (a disciple on the path of purification of inner-self) and he does not have the power to stop him from doing so, then he should leave that sitting, and he should not care about hurting the other person’s feelings, because not harming one’s own  Deen  is far more important than hurting someone’s feelings. If he is not able to leave that sitting openly then he should make some excuse to get up, or change the topic away from  Gheebat .”

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۴ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH AL-BAQARAH (The Cow) - 1

  “Alif. Lam. Mim . This Book has no doubt in it - a guidance for the God-fearing, who believe in the Unseen, and are steadfast in Salah (prayer), and spend out of what We have provided them; and who believe in what has been revealed to you and what has been revealed before you; and they have faith in the Hereafter. It is these who are guided by their Lord; and it is just these who are successful.” (2:1-5)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 13 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN FLAWS   What need is there to discuss other people? We should just worry about our own flaws. If a person truly worries about what sins he is engaged in, and that he will be held to account before Allah Ta’ala for these sins unless he succeeds in giving them up before he dies, then he will have no time to find flaws in others. If a person gets seriously sick, then he does not have any interest in finding out if other people are also afflicted with some illness or not. Once a person develops an insight into the need to finding out his own flaws and correcting them, then he does not dare to do other people’s Gheebat. May Allah Ta’ala grant us the motivation to look for the flaws on our own Nafs (inner-self) and become aware of them. Aameen

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۳ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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  “Praise belongs to Allah…” (1:2)   - The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  has  said; “when, on receiving some kind of a blessing from Allah, His   servant says    الحمداللّٰہ (Praise belongs to Allah), it is like giving something better in return for what he has taken.”   - According to another hadith, if a man, on receiving all possible blessings of the world, says;  الحمداللّٰ ہ    (Alhamdulillah), his act is superior to all those blessings.    - According to another authentic hadith, saying this phrase fills half the scale on the side of good deeds in the Balance.

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 12 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 DO NOT TALK ABOUT OTHERS   That is why Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala) used to say that it is much safer that a person doesn’t talk about other people behind their back, neither saying anything good, nor bad. Even if such a discussion starts with a person’s praises, but often it leads to someone saying something like “yes he is a good person but he also has this weakness”. That is why it is better that a person doesn’t talk about another person at all behind their back.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۲ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 9

  No one has ever become a doctor, an engineer, a cook or a tailor merely by reading a book. Similarly, studying the Holy Qur'an and the Ahadith on one's own cannot by itself be sufficient for the moral-spiritual education and training of a human being; such a study must be carried on under the guidance of a specialist or a genuine scholar before it can be useful. Allah Ta’ala has sent many Prophets without Holy Books, but has not sent a single Holy book without a Prophet. This tells us that two things are needed for a person to truly embrace the ‘straight path’, Allah’s books AND Allah’s people. Those who try to find the straight path by following just one of these, either trying to follow His book to the complete exclusion of a religious/spiritual guide, or those who follow some religious scholar so blindly that they don’t even care whether his teaching is in line with what the Holy Qur’an tells us, commit a grave error. (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 11 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 DOING  GHEEBAT  (BACKBITING) OF A SINNER   People think that it is okay to do  Gheebat  of a person who is engaged in some sinful activities. That is not completely correct. In fact, just like it is not permissible to do  Gheebat  of a pious person, it is not permissible to do  Gheebat  of a sinner. The only exception is that if a person commits a sin openly and proudly, to the extent that if someone mentioned it behind his back and he heard about it, it would not hurt his feelings, then it is okay to mention that he commits that act. However, if he commits another sin which he wants to hide from people and he does not like that act to be associated with him, and it would hurt his feelings if he heard that someone has told other people about it, then it is a sin to tell people about it. It would constitute  Gheebat  even if it is the truth and saying it would be  Haraam  (unlawful). It is  Haraam  to listen to  Gheebat  just like it is  Haraam  to speak Gheebat.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۱ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 8

 HUMAN BEINGS LEARN FROM HUMAN BEINGS   There is another very important point to consider here which is that in describing the ‘straight path’ Allah Ta’ala could simply have said, “adopt the path of Allah Ta’ala and His Messenger, or, adopt the path of the Holy Qur’an”, but Allah Ta’ala has not done that. Allah Ta’ala has ordered us to follow the path of those people upon whom He has bestowed His grace who have been further identified in other verses as Prophets,  Siddiqin  (always truthful),  Shuhada  (martyrs, those who bear witness), and  Salihin  (the pious ones).   Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Shafi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has written in Ma’ariful Qur’an that the reason for not ordering people to follow the Qur’an alone is that a book alone is not sufficient for training a human being in any manner of expertise. Similarly, the reason people have not been ordered to follow the Prophets alone is that no Prophet stays in this mortal world for ever. That is why in the list of people thr

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 10 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 SITUATIONS IN WHICH  GHEEBAT  IS ALLOWED   However, it is permissible to do  Gheebat  in situations where the primary purpose is to save a person from coming to some sort of harm. For example, a person comes to you and asks that someone wants to marry his daughter, and asks you if you know what kind of person that man is. If you know something about that person which is important in relation to this marriage proposal, then if you tell that person about it with the intention that he and his daughter will be saved from coming to harm, then this is not included in  Gheebat . Or, for example, if you know that someone is a fraudster and scams people into handing over their money to him, and you tell someone that beware of doing any financial transaction with this person as he is not very trustworthy, then this is also not included in  Gheebat  if the intention is to save the other person from harm.    So, if a person needs to warn another person so that he doesn’t come to harm at someone e

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱۰ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 7

  “…Not of those who have incurred your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.” (1:7)    Those ‘who have incurred Allah's wrath’ are the people, who despite being quite familiar with the commandments of Allah wilfully go against them out in pursuit of their desires. ‘ Those who go astray’ are the people who, out of ignorance or lack of thought, go beyond the limits appointed by Allah, and indulge in excess and exaggeration in religious matters.  (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 9 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 Therefore, before starting to do someone’s  Gheebat  just think for a moment, if I was in this person’s place, if same things were being said about me in a gathering, or if someone was saying the same things about me that I intend to say about this person, how would have I felt? Would I have liked it, or not? If I would not have liked the same things being said about me, then this is  Gheebat  and we must refrain from it.   People say that we can’t stop ourselves from committing  Gheebat . I reply that  Gheebat  is an intentional act, a person chooses to say such things, it is not involuntary. And when committing  Gheebat  is under our control, then refraining from it is also under our control, therefore, we must stay away from it.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۹ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 6

 The Prophets are those special people whom Allah Ta’ala has chosen to convey His message.    The ‘ Siddiqin’  (always truthful) are those people who have achieved perfection, both in their external and inner (spiritual) self, and have thus attained the highest rank among followers of a Prophet.   The ‘ Shuhada ’ (martyrs) are those who sacrifice even their lives for the sake of their faith (or, who bear witness to the truth, as the word carries both meanings).    The ‘ Salihin’  (righteous) are those who follow the Shariah completely, not only in the matter of obligations ( Faraid/Wajibat ) but also with regard to commendable ( mustahabb )actions. In everyday language they are called the pious or the virtuous or the good. (Ma’ariful Qur’an)

1. SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 5

  “Take us on the straight path, the path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace…” (1:6-7)   What does ‘straight path’ mean in this context? In Shariah, straight path signifies the path of moderation in all matters, the path in which a person avoids both extremes, either of excess or deficiency, in Deen.    Then the next question is, who are the people upon whom Allah Ta’ala has bestowed His grace? This question has been answered in another verse of the Holy Qur’an;   “Those who obey Allah and the Messenger are with those whom Allah has blessed, namely, the Prophets, the Siddiqin, the Shuhada and the righteous. And excellent are they as companions.” (4:69)

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 8 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  It means that “like for your brother what you like for yourself, and dislike for your brother what you dislike for yourself.” We have created double standards that what we like for ourselves is different from what we like for other people. This is what is creating all the conflicts and disharmony in our society. Whenever you are about to deal with another person always think, how would I have felt if another person had treated me the same way I am about to treat him. If we make a habit of putting ourselves in other people’s shoes before we deal with them, and then treating them the way we would have liked others to treat us or our family members, then we would never mistreat another human being and never violate other people’s rights.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۸ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 7 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 LIKE FOR OTHERS WHAT YOU LIKE FOR YOURSELF   (Many people commit  Gheebat  only because they enjoy it. They get a perverse pleasure in putting other people down and this makes them feel superior to others.) But they are only focusing on their own fun and pleasure. They do not reflect on how would I feel if someone else did the same to me that I am doing to others. In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet  ﷺ   has told us a remedy that can only come from a Messenger of Allah. If we follow this advice it would lead to peace and harmony in our society and abolition of all conflicts. That remedy is    احب لا خیک ما تحب لنفسک واکرہ لغیرک ما یکرہ لنفسک

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۷ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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1. SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening) - 4

  Therefore, not worshipping anyone else besides Allah means that we should not love anyone as much as we love Allah, we should not fear anyone as much as we fear Allah, we should not bear expectations from anyone like we do from Allah, we should not place our trust in anyone like we do in Allah, we should prioritize worshipping Allah Ta’ala over all other vocations, and we should not debase ourselves with complete submission in front of anyone else the way we debase ourselves in front of Allah Ta’ala like performing   ruku   (bowing) or   Sajdah   (prostration).

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 6 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN  GHEEBAT  (BACKBITING) AND  BOHTAAN  (SLANDER)   Once a  Sahabi  (companion) asked the Holy Prophet  ﷺ , “O Prophet of Allah! If I am doing  Gheebat  about someone but what I am saying is true, is it still a sin?” The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  replied, “If what you are saying bad about a person is true and you are telling the truth, then it is  Gheebat . But if what you are saying about him is not true and you are telling a lie, then you are also committing the sin of  Bohtaan  in addition to  Gheebat .”

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۶ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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“You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help.” (1:5)

Ibadah  (acts of worship) do not consist of Salah and fasting only. In his book Arbai’in, Imam Ghazali (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has listed ten types of  Ibadah ; 1. Salah, 2. Zakat, 3. fasting, 4. Hajj, 5. recitation of the Noble Qur’an, 6. doing Allah’s  Zikr  (remembrance) all the time, 7. making an effort to earn a Halal income, 8. discharging the rights of one’s neighbours and companions, 9. ‘bidding the fair and forbidding the unfair’ (encouraging people to do good deeds and discouraging them from doing bad deeds), and 10. Following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  ﷺ . 

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 5 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 WHAT CONSTITUTES  GHEEBAT ?   Saying things about a person in his absence that if he hears them will hurt his feelings constitutes  Gheebat .  Gheebat  is a major sin. Now we should reflect on whether we commit  Gheebat  or not when we engage in talking the whole day. Some people say, “I can say this to his face”, probably believing that it is only  Gheebat  if one says things behind a person’s back that they cannot say to their face. It doesn’t matter whether a person can say whatever they said to the other person’s face or not. If what they said is hurtful to the other person it becomes  Gheebat  and they have eaten the meat of their deceased brother. May Allah Ta’ala keep us all safe from it. Aameen

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۵ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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  The Holy Prophet  ﷺ   said : "Allah has said, 'The  salah  (i.e., the Surah al-Fatihah) is equally divided between Me and My servant. And My servant shall be given what he prays for." The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  continued: "When the servant says:    الحمد الّٰلہ رب العٰلمین Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,   Allah says: "My servant has paid his homage to Me." When he says:    الرحمٰن الرحیم  The All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful, Allah says: "My servant has praised Me." When the servant says:   مالکِ یوم الدین The Master of the Day of Judgment,   Allah says, "My servant has proclaimed My greatness." When the servant says:    ایّاکَ نَعبد وَ ایّاکَ نَستَعِین You alone we worship, and to You alone we pray for help,   Allah says, "This verse is common to Me and My servant. He shall be given what he has prayed for." When the servant says:    اِھدنَا الصّرِاطَ المستَقیِم … Guide us in the straight path..., Allah says: &

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 4 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Allah Ta’ala says that I will forgive violation of rights due towards Me, but if you harm a person’s life, or harm his property, or attack his honour, or if you violate any of his rights, then I will not forgive you till he forgives you, or you have fulfilled all his rights due towards you. The matter of violating other people’s rights is so grave, but in our daily lives we hardly pay any heed to it.   Gheebat   is also included in rights of people.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۴ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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1. SURAH- al-FATIHAH (The Opening)

  With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.    “Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. the All-Merciful, the Very Merciful. the Master of the Day of Requital (Judgment). You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help. Take us on the straight path. the path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.” (1:1-7)

Bismillah... 2

  The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  began everything he was doing with the name of Allah Ta’ala. Initially he used to use the words  باِسمِکَ الّلھمَّ   ( Bismik a  Allahumma ). But when the verse  Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim  was revealed, he started using those words. Since then it became his Sunnah (practice) every activity with this verse.   The Holy Qur'an again and again instructs us to begin what we do with the name of Allah. The Holy Prophet  ﷺ  has said that no important work receives the blessings of Allah, unless it is begun with His name.    According to yet another  Hadith  (Tradition), closing the door of one's house, putting out the lamp, covering a vessel, should all be done with the recitation of  Bismillah.  The Holy Qur'an and the  Ahadith  (Traditions) repeatedly instruct us to recite this verse while taking food, drinking water, performing the  wudu  (ablution), getting on a carriage, or getting down from it.

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 3 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

 THE SEVERITY OF THE SIN OF  GHEEBAT  (BACKBITING)   Gheebat  is a sin just like stealing, committing robbery, or eating pork. In fact,  Gheebat  is a more serious crime than all of these because eating pork pertain to rights of Allah Ta’ala ( حقوق اللّٰہ ). It is a sin relating to a person’s own self, it does not affect rights of other people ( حقوق العباد ). Whenever a person becomes mindful and remorseful of the rights of Allah Ta’ala he has violated, and performs  Taubah  (repentance), his sin of eating pork will be forgiven. However,  Gheebat  belongs to the category of rights of people, and the principle for violation of rights of people is that until and unless the victim forgives the perpetrator, regardless of how many times a person performs  Taubah  or how many  Nafl  (supererogatory) prayers he performs, the sin of violating rights of people is not forgiven.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۳ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 2 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  In this verse  Gheebat  (backbiting) has been equated to eating the meat of one’s deceased brother. Firstly, eating the meat of a human being, then eating the meat of one’s brother, and that too deceased brother, any human being who has even a morsel of humanity left in him cannot even imagine to commit such an act, let alone actually commit it. And yet the Noble Qur’an says that committing  Gheebat  is the same as eating the meat of one’s deceased brother. This highlights the severity of the sin of  Gheebat , it is a major sin ( گناہِ کبیرہ ), it is not a minor sin.

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۲ (از حضرت مولانا مفتی محمد تقی عثمانی دامت برکاتہم)

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Bismillah al-Rahman al- Rahim

  بسم الّٰلہ الرحمٰن الرحیم   (I begin) with the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.    Bismillah  is a   verse of the Holy Qur'an There is consensus of all the Muslims that  Bismillah al-Rahman al- Rahim  is a verse of the Holy Qur'an, being a part of the Surah al-Naml (The Ant); and that this  verse is written at the head of every Surah except the Surah al-Taubah.    The merits of  Bismillah It was a custom in the Age of Ignorance ( Jahiliyyah ) before the advent of Islam that people began everything they did with the names of their idols or gods. It was to eradicate this practice that the first verse of the Holy Qur'an which the Archangel Jibra’il (Gabriel) (peace be upon him) brought down to the Holy Prophet  ﷺ  commanded him to begin the Qur'an with the name of Allah  اِقرَا بِاِسِم رَبّک  :  “Read with the name of your Lord”.

GHEEBAT (BACKBITING) AND ITS TREATMENT: 1 (a talk by Mufti Taqi Usmani DB)

  Gheebat (backbiting) is such a ubiquitous affliction of human beings’ inner-self that these days hardly anyone is completely safe from it. Almost everyone is involved in it in one degree or another. This is such a severe illness that the words Noble Qur’an has used for this illness have not been used for any other illness. The Noble Qur’an says; “…and do not backbite one another. Does one of you like that he eats the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it…” (49:12)

غیبت اور اس کا علاج: ۱

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DOs AND DON'Ts IN THE NOBLE QUR'AN

  Post # 126 brings the Islam and the West series to an end. The next series will be as titled above. If there is one major regret in my life it is that even though I started learning the Tafseer (interpretation, exegesis) of the Nobel Qur'an many times but never persevered with it previously. Why I say 'Tafseer' is because some people think they can just read an English or Urdu translation of the Qur'an and understand the meaning behind it. What they do not appreciate is that the Noble Qur'an was not revealed as one published book in one go. It was revealed a few verses at a time over a period of 23 years, mostly in relation to what was happening at the time, though the principles it established are for all eternity. Without knowing that context it is not possible to fully understand the meaning and message of the verses. For an average person who is busy in his day-to-day job it is demanding to set some time aside everyday to read a Tafseer. Because of that I had

ISLAM AND THE WEST - 126

  ISRAAF  (SPENDTHRIFTINESS, HABIT OF SPENDING EXTRAVAGANTLY)   (Just like  Bukhl , there are three degrees of  Israaf .    The first is that the person has a desire to spend unnecessarily but curbs that desire and spends only where it is necessary to spend money.    The second degree is spending extravagantly but not on activities which are sinful in themselves or where it is wasteful to spend.    The third degree is that a person spends money on sinful activities, or spending so much money on unnecessary activities or items that his own dependents get into financial difficulties and become destitute, or spends so much that he then needs to resort to acquiring money through  Haraam  means.)

ISLAM AND THE WEST - 125

 (The third and most severe degree of  Bukhl  is when a person has such love for money that he does not even spend it where it is obligatory under Shariah to do so, for example, paying Zakat, or providing even bare minimum sustenance to his dependents. This level of  Bukhl  is  Haraam  (unlawful) in Shariah.)    (The only other thing to remember in this regard is that our financial obligations under Shariah are not fully discharged by paying Zakat and financially looking after our nuclear family only. We do have broader societal obligations. There is a lot of detail to it, but just to give an example, if we come to know that some stranger is dying of hunger and at that moment I am the only person available to help him, then it is  Fard  (compulsory) upon me to help him.)

THE WAY OF PURIFYING ONE’S INNER-SELF: 16 (a talk by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB)

 What it means is that in the Hadith it has been negated that if you hear that a person’s anger has subsided completely, do not accept it, because a person’s internal attributes do not change completely. However, through  Riyazat  (sustained effort) and  Suhbat  (companionship) this anger can be brought under control. Then a person doesn’t get angry all the time. He may get angry but only in situations where Shariah permits him to get angry, and even in that anger he does not cross limits set by Shariah.    The purpose of quoting this Hadith here is to contradict those people who claim on the basis of this Hadith that a person’s inherent internal attributes cannot change. Some people feel hopeless upon hearing this that if my internal attribute can’t change, then what is the point of going through  Tazkiyah  (purification of inner-self). Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) has clarified that this Hadith means that a person’s inherent attributes do not subside completely, but the

THE WAY OF PURIFYING ONE’S INNER-SELF: 15 (a talk by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB)

 WHAT IS MEANT BY PURIFICATION OF INTERNAL ATTRIBUTES   Hazrat Thanvi (may Allah Ta’ala bless him) said;   “It has been narrated in a Hadith that if you hear that a mountain has moved from its place then accept it, but if you hear about a person that his internal attributes have changed then do not accept it. This tells us that with Riyazat (sustained effort) a person’s internal attributes do not subside totally, they just become attenuated.” 

ISLAM AND THE WEST - 124

 The second degree of  Bukhl  is that while a person does spend money where it is absolutely obligatory and essential under Shariah to do so, for example, paying Zakat or providing bare minimum sustenance to his dependents, but does not spend it where it is not obligatory but would still be desirable under Shariah to do so, for example, providing his dependents a comfortable level of sustenance in keeping with his financial means.

جگہ میں کچھ نہیں رکھا: ۲

  یہ واقعہ سنانے کا مقصد یہ ہے کہ کسی جگہ میں کچھ نہیں رکھا، جو کچھ رکھا ہے وہ اللہ تعالی اور رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کے دین کی محبت اور ان کے حکم کی اتباع میں رکھا ہے۔ یہ ضرور ہے کہ بزرگوں سے سنا کہ اگر کسی مسلمان کو یہ گمان ہو کہ کسی ایسے ملک میں رہائش اختیار کرنے سے جہاں غیر مسلموں کی اکثریت ہو اس کا یا اس کی اگلی نسلوں کا ایمان سلامت نہ رہے گا، اس کے لئے اپنے اختیار سےایسی جگہ جا کر رہائش اختیار کرنا شرعا جائز نہیں۔ لیکن اس کے ساتھ ساتھ معارف القرآن میں ا سکی بہت تفصیل بیان کی گئی ہے کہ کن کن صورتوں میں اور کن نیّتوں کے ساتھ غیر مسلم اکثریت والے ممالک میں جا کر رہنا جائز ہے۔ اصل بات یہ ہے کہ یہ صرف الّٰلہ تعالیٰ کو معلوم ہے کہ کس کے حق میں کہاں رہنا اچھا ہے۔ انسان جہاں بھی رہتا ہو، اسے ہر حالت میں الّٰلہ تعالیٰ کی طرف رجوع رکھنا چاہئے، الّٰلہ تعالیٰ سے خیر کی دعا مانگتے رہنا چاہئے ، صحیح فیصلے کرنے کی توفیق مانگنا چاہیےاور الّٰلہ تعالیٰ کی رضا میں راضی رہنا چاہئے۔ جاری ہے۔۔۔

جگہ میں کچھ نہیں رکھا: ۱

پچھلے ہفتے کی پوسٹ کے بعد بہت سے ایسے کمنٹس آئے جنہوں نے مجھے بہت سوچنے پہ بھی مجبور کیا اور دوبارہ اس موضوع پہ لکھنے پہ بھی۔ لیکن کچھ لکھنے سے پہلے ایک بزرگ کا سچا واقعہ سناتا ہوں۔ یہ واقعہ کئی سال پہلے پڑھا تھا اس لئے الفاظ شاید مجھے صحیح یاد نہ ہوں لیکن مفہوم انشااللہ صحیح ہو گا۔ یہ پچھلی صدی کا واقعہ ہے کہ ایک بزرگ ایک دفعہ رسول اللہ صلی الل علیہ وسلم کے روضہ مبارک پہ سلام عرض کرنے کے لئے حاضر ہوئے۔ انہوں نے روضہ مبارک کے قریب کھڑے ہو کے دل ہی دل میں عرض کیا کہ یا رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم! اب چند دن میں میں واپس گھر چلا جاؤں گا اور آپ سے پھر دوری ہو جا ئے گی۔ ان کو آواز آئی کہ “کہدو، جو میری سنت پہ عمل کرتا ہے وہ مجھ سے دور ہوکے بھی مجھ سے قریب ہے، اور جو میری سنت پہ عمل نہیں کرتا وہ مجھ سے قریب ہو کے بھی مجھ سے دور ہے۔” چونکہ حکم ہوا تھا کہ “کہدو” اس لئے ان بزرگ نے یہ واقعہ بہت دفعہ سنایا لیکن کبھی یہ نہیں بتایا کہ یہ واقعہ ان کے ساتھ ہوا تھا بلکہ یہی کہا کہ ایک صاحب روضہ مبارک پہ حاضر ہوئے تو ان کے ساتھ یہ واقعہ پیش آیا۔ ان کے انتقال کے بعد ان کے بہت قریبی اعزہ نے یہ راز کھول