IN ISLAM, DEATH IS NOT PERCEIVED AS AN END OF LIFE

Conveying rewards beyond the grave

by alahazrat.net

Allah – in the name of – the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
At the outset please know, that in Islam, death is not perceived as an end of life. It is just the end of the worldly existence as we witness it, and the beginning of a new existence, in which the soul experiences a new world called “Barzakh.”

The soul may experience this new life with or without its original body, according to its own rank allotted to it by Allah the Almighty, the Supreme. There are too many proofs from the Holy Qur’an and Hadeeth (Holy Prophet’s Traditions) regarding the above, and warrant an extensive article on the same. But that is not the question here.

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WELCOME 1435: ISLAMIC NEW YEAR - A TIME OF CONTEMPLATION AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

WELCOME 1435: ISLAMIC NEW YEAR - A TIME OF CONTEMPLATION AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

by Syarif Hidayat

         The "Hijra" (Arabic: هِجْرَة‎ hijrah), also Hijrat or Hegira, is the migration or journey of Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his followers from Mecca to Medina between June 21 and July 2 in 622 CE. In June 622 CE, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad PBUH secretly escaped out of Mecca with Abu Bakr. Muhammad PBUH and his followers immigrated to the city of Yathrib, 320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Mecca, in several steps.  

        Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat un-Nabi, literally "the City of the Prophet", but un-Nabi was soon dropped, so its name in English is Medina, meaning "the city". The Muslim year during which the Hijra occurred was designated the first year of the Islamic calendar by Umar in 638 or 17 AH (anno hegirae = "in the year of the hijra"). In the following chronology the city will be referred to as Medina, and the region surrounding it as Yathrib.

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WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MARRIAGE?: THE SPIRIT OF MARRIAGE IN ISLAM

The spirit of marriage in Islam

by Irshaad Hussain
Source: IslamiCity.com

The Prophet  was once asked, “What is more important than prayer?” He replied, “The spirit of prayer” – the spirit that animates the prayer. He was asked what is more important than fasting – he replied, the spirit of fasting. For each question concerning an Islamic practice the answer was the same – because the spirit brings the action to life and unfolds its potentials.

Without this animating spirit, the prayer is only movement, and the fasting only hunger. But when spirit enters, when a pure and concentrated intention enters, the action is transformed – the prayer gains the potential to become a miraj (an elevating spiritual journey), and the one fasting approaches towards the potential to witness laylatul qadr (the night of destiny – a night when blessings from the spiritual world descend to this world).

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The story of Ashura and Karbala

by Abdurrahmaan Umar
Source: www.eislam.co.za

Although the month of Muharram is a sacred month as a whole, the 10th of Muharram is the most sacred among all its days. The day is named ‘Aashurah’. It is one of the most important and blessed days of Allah Ta’ala in the Islamic calendar. This day has been accepted as having deep significance. Evidence of its significance has been clearly found in authentic traditions.

There are many Prophetic events of great historical importance and also events that happened after the Beloved and Final Messenger of Allah(peace be upon him) had left this world, such as the Battle of Karbala, that have taken place on this day.

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The significance of Ashura

by Translated by Ustadh Amin Buxton
Source: abdulkarimyahya.com

The tenth day of the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar marks a significant day in the Muslim calendar.

The tenth of Muharram is the day on which, Allah saved Prophet Moses/Musa (pbuh) from the tyrannical Pharaoh, that prototype of despotic authority. There are many pharaoh-like authorities who have appeared through history and there were those incorrigible standard-bearers of justice who opposed them. In the post-Prophetic period, one such person was Imam Husayn who, took on the corruption of despotic Yazid and laid down his life on tenth Muharram in 61 AH (680 CE); an event that serves as a milestone in the history of the faithful; the martyrdom of the beloved grandson of the Prophet Muhammad at Karbala in Iraq.

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More on Ashura and Muharram

by Mufti Taqi Usmani
Source: albalagh.net

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, “The number of the months according to Allah is twelve (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified.”

These four months, according to the authentic traditions, are Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, declared: “One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab.”

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Islamic new year a time of contemplation and spiritual renewal

by: Sheikh Haisam Farache
Source: MuslimVillage.com


Milestones are markers fundamental to the human psyche.  As we near the end of the calendar year, outside of the controversies surrounding the months of Ramadan and Zul Hijah, have we given any thought to the other months of the Hijri (Islamic) calendar?  In fact, could we even say that we know the Islamic months and could we recall them in order?

It is especially imperative for Muslims living outside of Muslim majority nations to maintain a connection to Allah through the specific Prophetic acts of worship encouraged during each particular month and to understand the significance of the Islamic months as they relate to the life of a Muslim.

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