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Women’s Mosque? Women’s Empowerment?

The Women’s Mosque of America has started operations in Los Angeles. It is not a mosque per se, but the name of a non-profit organization. It began with holding female only Jumuah prayers, in an old synagogue with Stars of David etched on the stained glass windows. The decision to use this venue was made to “promote peace.”

Creating a separate space for Muslim women is a noble idea. Unfortunately the organizers chose the one event for this project for which it has no basis in the Shariah. Muslim women are not required to offer Jumuah. Read more

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Attending a Janāzah

by Shaykh Mawlānā Muhammad Saleem Dhorat hafizahullāh

The journey to the Hereafter is one which almost every person fears, yet we fail to show any concern for our dear and near ones from the time of their demise to after burial. Our condition at such a critical time is worthy of much lament and shame. Rather than our benefitting the deceased in anyway, we return from the funeral with no benefit to ourselves or to the family; in fact we return with increase in the hurt and grief of the family and maybe sin too. This is because we are neglectful and forget the severity of the stages which our beloved ones are soon to reach. Read more

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The Importance of Du’ã

Du’ã is asking Allah for help or for the fulfilment of a particular need. It expresses a slave’s helplessness and dependence on Allah, the All-Powerful and Merciful. It is the channel through which one gets directly in touch with one’s Creator.

The purpose of man’s creation is worship and according to a Hadeeth, ‘Du’ã is the essence of worship’. (Tirmizi) And according to another Hadeeth, ‘Du’ã is the worship’. (Tirmizi)
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Two Levels of Al-A‘māl As-Sālihah (Good Deeds)

Every human that comes into this world is ordered to fulfil two responsibilities – Īmān and Al-A‘māl As-Sālihah (good deeds). The success and failure of both worlds depend on completing these two tasks.

If a person on an individual level adorns his life with Īmān and Al-A‘māl As-Sālihah, then he will achieve individual success in his individual kingdom. Allāh ta‘ālā states:

Whoever, male or female, has acted righteously, while being a believer, We shall certainly make him live a good life, and shall give such people their reward for the best of what they used to do. (16:97) Read more

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The Path to Purification

The Sharī‘ah is divided into two parts: external and internal. The department of Sharī‘ah relating to external deeds like salāh and zakāh is called ‘fiqh’, while the one dealing with internal feelings and states of the heart is called ‘tasawwuf’. Both are commands in the Qur’ān. Thus, while commanding salāh and zakāh, the Qur’ān also commands gratefulness and love of Allāh ta‘ālā, and condemns the evil of pride and vanity.

Similarly, in the books of hadīth, along with the chapters on ‘ibādāt, trade and commerce, and marriage and divorce, are to be found the chapters on riyā (showing off), takabbur, hasad, sabr, shukr etc. These commands are as much a mandatory requirement as the ones dealing with external deeds. Read more

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