The Ghurabah - Islam, the Land and Mankind

Lexically, the Arabic word `Tazkiyah' means purification and development—of anything—to the level of perfection. As a Quranic term, it expresses a way of ridding ourselves of flawed tendencies and leanings as well as providing one with the means to attain piety and to help our souls develop to become as perfect as humanly possible. In other words, the ultimate goal of Tazkiyah is for man to purify himself and prepare for his return back to his ‘original home’ and “final abode,” Paradise. Allah tells us in the Quraan: "By the soul and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; truly he succeeds who purifies it and he fails who corrupts it!" [91:7-10]

These verses present a straightforward outline of Islam's notion of Tazkiyah. Allah has so created the soul that it has both inclinations—good and evil—and man has been endowed with the power to distinguish between the two. Therefore, the path of success for man, in this life and the one to come, involves choosing the side of good and striving to make it prevail—not just in the world and his surroundings, but first and as a pre-requisite for societal and environmental reform, within himself.
In this sense, the need for Tazkiyah is part of our innate nature—it is hardwired into our consciousness. Hence, man has always known and attempted to fulfill this innate need by seeking out all ways of contemplation, meditation, and worship. Yet, only the ways provided to him by the Creator, through the various revelations, have worked for him, and these revealed ways of self-reflection and change are the only ways of self-purification that can work for him. Moreover, they have worked only so long as man managed to keep these ways themselves pure and clean—something man has not always had success at doing.

Muslims are not exempt from this failure to keep the means purified. Like others, we have suffered at times from maintaining authentic and unadulterated ways of Tazkiyah. This is true for both Muslims of the past and Muslims today. Many of us have allowed ourselves to modify or deviate from the authentic modes of Tazkiyah delivered to us through revelation—in the Quraan and Sunnah. Part of the reason for this is definitely the increasing strain of outside influences, but this is not its main cause.

The primary source of our inconstancy is a basic and widespread lack of proper understanding of the Quraan and the Sunnah.
This is unfortunate because Allah says: "We have sent you a Messenger, from yourselves (Muhammad), reciting to you Our verses and purifying you (through tazkiyah) and teaching you the Book (Quraan) and wisdom (Sunnah) and teaching you that which you knew not." [2:151], and the Prophet (saws) himself said: "I have left you upon a clear proof." [Ahmad]

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To understand this maxim, it is necessary to know that the word “hardship” used in it is not the same as “difficulty.” Unlike hardship, difficulty is not necessarily bad; success in life does not come without difficulty and hard work. Moral responsibility (takleef), which is the basis of Islamic religious obligation, literally means in Arabic “imposition of a heavy burden” due to the fact that acts of worship and other religious duties require some degree of difficulty.

Hardship, as referred to in this maxim, excludes beneficial difficulty like that required for training, study, work, and worship. Islam places high value on purposeful exertion but requires the alleviation of detrimental difficulty. The preceding maxim, “harm must be removed,” emphasizes elimination; harm must be eliminated, not necessarily replaced with something else. The focus of this maxim is different; hardship must not just be eliminated; it must be replaced with something better.

“Hardship must be alleviated” requires the creation alternatives, because alternatives are the means by which alleviation takes place. In many cases, it may not be desirable to eliminate completely a type of behavior that is causing hardship; it may be better to modify that behavior or create alternatives, so that it or something better than it may be done in a manner that is easier and more rewarding.

The Qur’an states: “It is not God’s will to cause you distress; rather, it is God’s will to make you pure.” [5:6]. It says elsewhere: “God wills to make things easy for you, for human beings were created weak.” [4:28].

The Etiquettes of Eating

It may appear a little ironic to be discussing the subject of FOOD in a month, which is characterized by the command to abstain from it! Nevertheless, it is true to say that in this month the subject of food tends to receive special attention from us, for after a whole day of keeping our desires and hunger pangs at bay, the chance to eat ones till in the evening is much appreciated. An appropriate time therefore to highlight some of the Islamic etiquettes of eating we think.

For every act that a Muslim does, there is a chance for him to earn some reward for it from Allaah. From praying to performing ghusl, in everything Allaah has placed His Blessings and these blessings are multiplied in the month of Ramadaan.

These rewards and blessings can be attained only by those keen to imbibe the Guidance and Example (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) into every mode of their lives, seeking thereby none but the Face of Allaah. For such people, their whole lives become ‘Ibadaah. Even the act of eating and drinking upon which all living things depend can become acts of ‘Ibadaah. Thus, by acquainting ourselves with the Sunnah of eating and drinking we too can turn this mundane exercise into an act of worship and a source of blessing, Insha’Allaah!!

The Etiquettes of Eating

1] How to Begin [There is a common misconception that to wash ones hands before eating is from Sunnah. This is based on the hadeeth which alleges that the Prophet (saws) said: "The blessing of the food is in washing the hands before it and after it." [Ahmed, Aboo Dawood and others] It should be known however that this hadeeth is daef (week) according to Aboo Dawood. Infect some scholar went as far As to say that this practice was disliked since it was a practice of the Jews and only if there was a reason to wash them was it not disliked. The point is that washing the hands before the meal contains no added reward since it is not from the Sunnah, although there is no harm in doing as if one needs to]
When a Muslim begins to eat, he should begin with the name of Allaah. As the Prophet Muhammad (saws) said: ‘When one of you eats, he should mention Allah’s name (i.e. say ‘Bismillah); if he forgets to mention Allah’s name at the beginning, he should say (when he remembers): I begin in the name of Allah at the beginning and at the end of it ( Bismillah awwalahu wa Akhirahoo).” [Saheeh - Narrated by Aaisha and collected by Aboo Dawood. Authenticated by at-Tirmidhee and al-Albanee inhis Saheeh. Sunan Aboo Dawood. Note that the Sunnah is to say ‘Bismillah’ only and not ‘Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem’]

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Hardship must be Alleviated !!!

The Etiquettes of Eating

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