Ya Mustaph, Babs

Jazakhullah Khairan


Salaam Muctarr
sorry about ur friend

Dis Guy
Jazakhullah Khairan

I'll advise you to say ANY prayer you know or the first one that comes to you and take the person to hospital as fast as possible

this part is funny

mukina2:

Dis Guy
Jazakhullah Khairan
this part is funny

but useful

Jazakhullah Khairan

what does this mean?

hows the person doing?

Dis guy,

It's arabic, just like more power to your elbow .

Or May Allah enrich you more.

Dis Guy it LITERALLY means THANK YOU

Happy Hijrah to all

@Dominique, Dragnet and all: As Salaamualaykum, war Rahmatullahi Tahallah wa barakatuh. To lose concentration, whether as the Imam or mamoon (Follower), should not be a big concern to anyone. But just try your best to fight the tendencies. The shaitan/sayatin comes to disturb in the matters of ibadat (worship), always. Therefore there is a benefit for consistency, or constancy in remembrance of Allah, and supplications, inside and out of salah.

The congregation prayers is important, for those who can make it. I encourage everyone and myself to strive to be part of it, always. For in the a congregation prayer, if there is a single pious person in it, be it the Imam or the mamoon, the benefit will cover every one. Even if there is none, Allah will still reward, everyone. If it a singularly prayer, based on the intension, Allah is the Most Rewarding in Mercy!

There was a case whereby Allah's Messenger used the sahabahs; Abu Bakr, Umar Khattab and Ali Abi Talib the important of concentration, but that it is always impossible to be 100% all the time. Each one of these companions, entered Salah, as a nawaful seeking to gain the garment which was set as the reward of full concentration!

Abu Bakr entered salah first and came out of it beforethe end of the first rakah when he lost his concentration. Umar Khattah, entered his own salah,but came out just after the end of the first rakah. Ali abi Talib entered his own salah, but came out just before he finished his tashahuud. When he was asked what happened that made him come out. His reply was that he began to think about which one of the two garments, will be chose, based on the color!

So you see, if these noble companions could not be able to finish that salah, without some elements of distractions, then please do not worry yourself this issue. You are not a prophet, hence you are very limited in your ability comparatively.

The same supplication that you make when distracted in recitation of Qur'an, when not in salah, is the same you make in salah when distracted: Audu billahi minal shaytanir rajiim, yath fulAllah bi tharikah. You can find it in Fiqh of prayer.

May Allah guide us all.

Salaam and Happy Hijra to you guys
here's a very interesting read on Hijra


Hijra in Islam
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Hijra (migration), an important principle in Islam, has played a significant role in Islamic history. It might be described as an uninterrupted process, beginning in the very early days of Islam, and continuing right up to the present day. Hijra means, literally, to leave one’s homeland and settle in another place. In Islam, this self-exile is not just a matter of moving from one place to another. And it is not meant to serve any material interests; it is meant rather to be undertaken for the sake of Allah: in other words, for some higher purpose.

Hijra has always had, and still has a great role to play in the process of da'wah. Some examples from Islamic history will demonstrate this. The first incident took place during the life of the Prophet. As is well known, the Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina, a move which had a far-reaching effect upon Islamic history, for it gave Muslims the opportunity to establish an important centre there for Islam. There the work of da'wah entered upon a new and better phase, and where Mecca had been the arena for its early struggles, Medina now became a great field of victory for Islam. The second incident took place after the death of the Prophet. In his well-known sermon — “The Final Sermon” — which he preached near the Mount of Arafat, the Prophet addressed all the Companions present, saying: “I am the final Prophet. God has sent me to mankind till the Day of Judgement: therefore, convey my message on my behalf to all the nations of the world.” After the death of the Prophet, most of the Companions, the Sahabah, left their homeland and settled in adjacent countries. (Very few graves of the Companions are to be found in either Mecca or Medina, because they died and were buried in the lands to which they had emigrated.) There, and wherever else they went, they engaged in da'wah work, and that is why there are now more than one billion Muslims spread across the globe. They intensified their missionary activities to such an extent that they were able to transform entire societies. Eventually whole nations changed their faith, their culture and even their languages. Before the coming of Islam, the Egyptians spoke the Coptic language, but now their mother tongue is Arabic.

In Syria, Syriac was the lingua franca, but this has been replaced by Arabic which has become the first language. The same happened in the case of the Berber language in Libya. In Palestine, Hebrew was commonly spoken, but with the great changes which took place there, the entire populace of Palestine began to speak in Arabic (i.e. up until 1958). It was this Hijra of the Companions after the Prophet’s death which brought into existence this vast Islamic domain, now commonly referred to as the Arab world. This process of da‘wah, of which there are many outstanding examples, took place everywhere. This brings us to the third example, that of Spain. After the collapse of Muslim rule in Spain, there was much hostility towards and oppression of the Muslims. As a result, they had to flee to the adjacent lands of North Africa. It is this Hijra from Spain which led to the Islamization of North Africa. If North Africa is now an Islamic territory, the credit must go to those Muslims who migrated from Spain. The fourth example is that of the Indian subcontinent, to which, as is well known, there came many Muslims who had left their own countries -- Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. Once there, they engaged themselves, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, in da‘wah work. It is thanks to their great efforts that approximately half of the total world Muslim population lives on the subcontinent. There is a fifth example of Hijra, i.e. the exodus from most of the Muslim countries to the U.S.A., Australia and the European countries. It has been estimated that there are at present about 20 million Muslim migrants. A whole new phase in da‘wah work has been started by this universal migration. Access has been gained to Western countries by the large-scale settlement of Muslims there. Thousands and thousands of new mosques and Islamic centres are being built by these migrant Muslims. Every day there are meetings and conferences on Islamic subjects. There is widespread interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims, so that wittingly or unwittingly, Islam is being introduced into these non-Muslim host countries. The results of this Hijra are visible everywhere, and the local people -- both blacks and whites -- are embracing Islam day in and day out.

All that remains to be done is to accelerate this process by engaging in da‘wah work in a disciplined manner. In the early days of Islam, the Companions of the Prophet adopted a single and natural formula -- one man, two missions. On the one hand, they earned their livelihood, and the other hand, they undertook da‘wah work. This “one man, two missions” formula has to be acted upon with equal zeal by present-day Muslim migrants, so that history may repeat itself and Islam may once again be accorded a position of glory in the modern world. One further point must be made in this discussion. The Muslims of the early period had to face the difficulties and hardships created for them by their contemporaries, both at the individual and the national level. At that time, in addition to other kinds of adversity, religious persecution was rife. But present day Muslims are living in an age of religious freedom in which there is no hint of religious persecution. Moreover, there have been many favourable developments, like the revolution in technology, which has so speeded up communications that it is now possible to reach a much vaster audience than ever before. Now there is nothing to hinder them from doing da‘wah work: the facilities are there for the asking, the ambience is perfect and the opportunities are endless.

Salam,

Happy Higrah

mdsocks:

Dis guy,

It's arabic, just like more power to your elbow .

Or May Allah enrich you more.

Mustay:

Dis Guy it LITERALLY means THANK YOU

okay thanks guys

May Almighty Allah reward you efforts

Olabowale, thanks very much

This entry would be best suited for the destruction of the 'Christian Trinity concept.' The person of Malaika Jibril is defined in below, by the three so called Monotheistic religions: Whoever wants to take it to the Trinity Thread is welcome to do so:

Angels of God

Introduction
Angels are heavenly beings who have captured the imagination of the world. Without form and associated with pure light, they appear in various guises in all three scriptures. They can be benevolent or malevolent, guardians, soldiers and guides, but most of all they convey messages from God to mortals. Each Abrahamic religion treats angels somewhat differently. This dialog features events involving messenger angels that reveal the importance of these remarkable creatures as intermediaries between God and human beings.

An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai." — Genesis 16:7-8
The first appearance of an angel in Hebrew scripture is . . .

read further

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”
— Luke 1:19
Appearing to an elderly temple priest, Zechariah, the angel Gabriel announced that . . .


read further

We sent her Our spirit, which appeared to her just like a man. She said, “I take refuge from you with the Benevolent One, if you are conscientious.” He said, “I am only a messenger from your Lord, to give you a sinless son." — 19:17-19

In Islamic theology, belief in angels forms one of the Pillars of Faith. Angels are . . .

read further


Convergence: How We're Alike

The Scriptures offer little information about angels’ physical appearance. Most often angels are associated with bright, beautiful light.

The angel who announced the resurrection of Jesus radiated with light: “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow” (Matt 28:1). When the angel came to announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9). According to the Qur’an, God created angels from light and because angels were made of light, they could assume any form.

more
Sometimes angels took on human characteristics or even appeared disguised as people, most famously to Abraham where three men who were actually angels came to announce the birth of Isaac, but also to Joshua as a man brandishing a sword. In the Qur’an, which also tells the story of Abraham, the angels did not eat the food Abraham offered them, the explanation being that they had no stomachs.

In the Torah and Old Testament, angels took on the attributes of human beings. They stand, come up, stretch out a hand, and even smite the people. The Qur’an describes angels as having ears, feet, shoulders, hands, and wings. Angel Gabriel had up to 600 wings and other angels had enormous wingspans. In Ezekiel 1:4, only the cherubim and seraphim are described as winged creatures, part human, part beast, quite unlike the adorable infant cherubs seen in later art and other decorations. They have no relation to angels of God.
These mysterious creatures, seen and unseen, continue to capture our imagination.

Divergence: How We Differ

While there are nine categories or ranks of angels in early post-biblical Christian thought, there are only two types of angels mentioned in the Qur’an and four in Judaism. Portions of what would become in the 5th century CE the Christian angelic hierarchy may have its beginnings in Romans 8:38, which names Angels, Principalities, and Powers (KJV) in that order. Whether or not Paul had a hierarchy of angels in mind, these groupings were later seen as parts of three spheres of three angelic choirs, which include in ascending order of importance, Angels, Archangels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions, Thrones, Virtues, Cherubim, and Seraphim (the latter two terms borrowed directly from the Hebrew).
more

In Islam, angels are generally referred to as messengers (mala’ika), but at least one angel, Gabriel, is given the title Spirit (ruh). The ruh is explicitly a mediator of revelation, although God in Islam can use any angel to carry out the divine will; indeed, mala’ika also means “agents.”

Biblical Judaism, more like Islam than Christianity, is nonhierarchical in its view of angels. While Psalm 8:5 sets angels above humans, angels are generally not set over each other, but rather are set apart, by God, to carry out various tasks. According to the book of Job, even Satan is an angel, part of God’s angelic court. But in Islam, Satan’s equivalent, Iblis, is not an angel but rather a demonic jinn—angels in Islam being made of light, and jinn of smokeless fire.

Another View
The following passage is taken from the short story, "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," written in 1955 by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Though rich in meaning, the story is very simply about how a small town treats a visiting angel who defies expectations of what angels should look like and how angels should act. Would we recognize an angel today?

Dialog Judaism Christianity Islam

Angels of God in Judaism
An angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai." — Genesis 16:7-8

The first appearance of an angel in Hebrew scripture is to Hagar, an Egyptian servant in Abram`s household. Sarai was childless and had given Hagar to Abram as a surrogate. When Hagar conceived and flaunted her status, Sarai treated her so harshly that Hagar fled into the wilderness. God saw Hagar’s suffering and responded by sending an angel to convey God’s promise to her of myriad descendants. Seforno (b. Italy, c. 1470) explains the phrase, “The angel of the Lord found her” as meaning “the angel of the Lord evaluated her and found her prepared for a vision of the Divine.”

The Hebrew word for angel is malakh, meaning “one who is sent.” In the Hebrew Bible, the word is used to describe both divine and human messengers, thus leading to confusion over whether a specific messenger was human or divine. The commentators identify a number of seemingly human messengers as angels. For example, Rashi (1040–1105) sees the messengers Jacob sent to his estranged brother Esau as "actual angels."

In the Torah, angels serve as God’s messengers not just with announcements, as with Hagar, but also with prophecies. Many rabbinic commentators interpret the majority of God’s appearances in the Torah as meaning that God spoke through angels. Maimonides (1135–1204) posits that all prophecy was delivered through an angel except for that of Moses (Guide to the Perplexed).

Midrashic literature bespeaks a certain anxiety about the first appearance of an angel being to a non-Israelite woman. Rashi, however, cites a Midrash that suggests that for a servant in Abraham’s house, angels were a common sight: “You may know that she [Hagar] was used to seeing them, for Manoah saw an angel once and he said, ‘we shall surely die!’ while she saw angels four times and did not tremble.”

That same Midrash records an argument over whether there were four or five angels involved in Hagar’s story, hinging upon whether one counts the number of times the words “an angel” or “said” are used. The number of angels is important, Rashi writes, because each angel exists for one task alone. Once a mission is completed, the reason for the angel, and the angel itself, cease to exist.

Angels of God in Christianity

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” — Luke 1:19

Appearing to an elderly temple priest, Zechariah, the angel Gabriel announced that in answer to their prayers the priest’s wife, who was childless and well beyond childbearing years, would give birth to a son: John, later called the Baptist, who would prepare the people for Jesus’ ministry.

This was one of four messages of God that the Bible says Gabriel delivered over a span of 700 years—starting with explaining a perplexing vision to the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament and ending with foretelling the birth of the Savior to Mary. This visit, traditionally called the Annunciation, has captured the imagination of artists over the centuries. Typically, Gabriel is depicted kneeling before the young virgin as he greets her: “Hail Mary, full of grace” (KJV) or “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you” (NRSV). He then tells her she will bear a son to be named Jesus, a royal successor to King David. In contrast to the earlier visit to Zechariah, Gabriel does not reveal his identity to Mary, which has led some biblical interpreters to conclude that the angel may have been in the guise of a human stranger.

Delivering God’s messages was one of the most notable assignments of angels. The appearance of “the angel of the Lord” who was of higher rank than ordinary angels, usually heralded an important happening The messenger role of angels seemed to change with the ministry of Jesus, according to Maxwell J. Davidson, of the Baptist Theological College of Western Australia. He says angels are mentioned 54 times in the New Testament, but only 5 times as messengers. “Angels mediate direct revelation from God only at two moments: Jesus’ birth and his resurrection. In the interim, he [Jesus] is the pre-eminent disclosure of God.” After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven, early Christians received divine guidance mainly from the Holy Spirit, not from angels. Jesus predicted as much: “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything” (John 16:20).

Angels of God in Islam

We sent her Our spirit, which appeared to her just like a man. She said, “I take refuge from you with the Benevolent One, if you are conscientious.” He said, “I am only a messenger from your Lord, to give you a sinless son.” — 19:17-19

In Islamic theology, belief in angels forms one of the Pillars of Faith. Angels are creatures made out of light; but may take an earthly form by the permission of God. Their sole purpose is to glorify and obey God, fulfilling the various functions that God has given them.

In their capacity as messengers, angels bring four types of messages: a message filled with warning; a message of hope with glad tidings; a message of divine instruction; and a message of scriptural revelation that comes only to messengers (rusul) among the prophets.

Angels Gabriel (Jibrael) and Michael (Mikhail) are singled out in the Qur’an as the archangels that act as message-bearers on earth (2:97), with the former responsible for bringing scriptural revelation to messengers like David, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.

An example of angels giving good news is when Prophet Zacharias’s prayer for a good son is answered, then angels called out to him, saying: “God bids you rejoice in the birth of John, who shall confirm the Word of God” (3:39). Similarly, an angel in the form of a man informs Mary of a pure birth that will result in the gift of a righteous prophet son, Jesus, and an angel also appears in the form of a messenger to inform Abraham and his wife about the gift of a son, Isaac (11:69-71).

Angels are also referred to indirectly as messengers of divine inspiration to God’s elect. As a child, the mother of Moses is given divine inspiration to place her babe into the water in order to escape the murderous tyranny of Pharaoh (20:38). Later, as Moses searches for spiritual enlightenment in becoming a messenger of God, he learns from a wise sage named Al-Khidr who is divinely inspired (18:62-82).

According to the Qur’an there is one night, known as the Night of Destiny, every year during the holy month of Ramadan in which angels of inspiration cover the earth: “On that night angels descend in hosts, bearing divine inspiration by their Lord’s permission with each decree. [Indeed], that night is peace, till the break of dawn” (97:4-5).

Convergence: How We're Alike

The Scriptures offer little information about angels’ physical appearance. Most often angels are associated with bright, beautiful light.

The angel who announced the resurrection of Jesus radiated with light: “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow” (Matt 28:1). When the angel came to announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9). According to the Qur’an, God created angels from light and because angels were made of light, they could assume any form.

more

Sometimes angels took on human characteristics or even appeared disguised as people, most famously to Abraham where three men who were actually angels came to announce the birth of Isaac, but also to Joshua as a man brandishing a sword. In the Qur’an, which also tells the story of Abraham, the angels did not eat the food Abraham offered them, the explanation being that they had no stomachs.

In the Torah and Old Testament, angels took on the attributes of human beings. They stand, come up, stretch out a hand, and even smite the people. The Qur’an describes angels as having ears, feet, shoulders, hands, and wings. Angel Gabriel had up to 600 wings and other angels had enormous wingspans. In Ezekiel 1:4, only the cherubim and seraphim are described as winged creatures, part human, part beast, quite unlike the adorable infant cherubs seen in later art and other decorations. They have no relation to angels of God.

These mysterious creatures, seen and unseen, continue to capture our imagination.

Divergence: How We Differ

While there are nine categories or ranks of angels in early post-biblical Christian thought, there are only two types of angels mentioned in the Qur’an and four in Judaism. Portions of what would become in the 5th century CE the Christian angelic hierarchy may have its beginnings in Romans 8:38, which names Angels, Principalities, and Powers (KJV) in that order. Whether or not Paul had a hierarchy of angels in mind, these groupings were later seen as parts of three spheres of three angelic choirs, which include in ascending order of importance, Angels, Archangels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions, Thrones, Virtues, Cherubim, and Seraphim (the latter two terms borrowed directly from the Hebrew).

more

In Islam, angels are generally referred to as messengers (mala’ika), but at least one angel, Gabriel, is given the title Spirit (ruh). The ruh is explicitly a mediator of revelation, although God in Islam can use any angel to carry out the divine will; indeed, mala’ika also means “agents.”

Biblical Judaism, more like Islam than Christianity, is nonhierarchical in its view of angels. While Psalm 8:5 sets angels above humans, angels are generally not set over each other, but rather are set apart, by God, to carry out various tasks. According to the book of Job, even Satan is an angel, part of God’s angelic court. But in Islam, Satan’s equivalent, Iblis, is not an angel but rather a demonic jinn—angels in Islam being made of light, and jinn of smokeless fire.


Another View

The following passage is taken from the short story, "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," written in 1955 by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Though rich in meaning, the story is very simply about how a small town treats a visiting angel who defies expectations of what angels should look like and how angels should act. Would we recognize an angel today?

more

He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud. They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar. Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor's voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. And yet, they called in a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death to see him, and all she needed was one look to show them their mistake.

"He's an angel," she told them.

Subject: All True Christians must Read!

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/bible.asp#ch2

The Torah

by Dov Nelkin

The central religious text for Jews is the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh. This name is an acronym for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim.

The holiest of all scriptures in Judaism is the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses. In Hebrew, each book is called a chumash, which means “a fifth.” The Hebrew names of these books are taken from the first significant word in each one; for example, the first book is called Bereishit, which means “In the beginning” and is the first word of the Torah. The English names Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy refer to the topics discussed in each of these books.

Origins of the Torah

According to tradition, the Torah was dictated by God to Moses, who faithfully recorded every word. The rabbinic literature gives two opinions concerning this process: one, God gave the Torah to the Israelites “scroll by scroll” after each set of events; two, the entire Torah was spoken to Moses at one time, with the meaning of the future events remaining somehow obscured.

In the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes suggested that the Torah was not written entirely by Moses, but by others looking back on history and earlier texts. He calls attention to the repeated use of the phrase “until this day” (Gen 12:6) as referring to a time long after the events that are described in the text. This idea was not new. The Talmud proposes that some verses, especially those detailing Moses’ death, were written by someone other than Moses. Beginning in the 19th century, German scholars, especially Julius Wellhausen , proposed that the Torah went through a very late process of editing, and established the order in which the books were probably written. His ideas are accepted by the Conservative and Reform movements within Judaism. According to most scholars, the Torah reached its final form sometime in the fifth century BCE. This dating also fits with a Talmudic legend in which the prophet Ezra, upon his return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, "repaired" the forgotten Torah and put it into the form we have today.

The Prophets

Nevi’im is the second section of the Hebrew Bible. The name comes from navi, Hebrew for “one who is called” by God, a reference to the prophets. These texts were traditionally understood to be inspired to a lesser degree than the Torah, but to a greater degree than the third division. Whereas the Torah is seen as a direct communication from God, the Prophetic texts are viewed as communications through the prophets, reflecting their individual personalities. The time period covered in Nevi’im spans from the death of Moses through the conquest of Israel (ca.1240 BCE), the destruction of the first Temple (586 BCE), and the rebuilding of the second Temple (ca.515 BCE). The Tradition records that Malachi is “the close of prophecy,” with the book written around 500 BCE.

The Writings

Ketuvim or “Sacred writings” includes Psalms Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, among others. These texts make no claim to divine guidance, but are considered inspired nonetheless. Some of the books are relatively late, including Daniel which may have been written in the second century BCE. The Talmud records debates about whether or not to include certain texts, such as the book of Esther, within the canon, as well as whether or not certain canonized texts should be “put away.” This is the question, especially, of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

In the end, the heavy emphasis on public education within rabbinic literature overrode the impulse to hide away any sacred literature. Instead, the texts are read publicly as part of the annual liturgical cycle, and are studied in detail to this very day.


ONE is using the translation of the Hebrew Bible completed by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) in 1982.

The Bible

The Bible

The Bible is made up of the Old and New Testaments. The word "bible" is derived from biblia, which is Greek for books because the Bible is made up of a number of books. The events in the Bible cover a vast period of time—from prehistory to the dawn of Christianity in the first century CE.

The Old Testament

The Old Testament includes the same books as in the Hebrew Bible, but the 24 books are rearranged and divided into 39 books, splitting the books of Samuel, Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles into two each. The Christian church continued to group the first five books of the Torah as they appeared in the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses), but it attempted to impose a chronological order on the remainder of the Hebrew text with the exception of the books of prophecy and poetry. The Catholic Old Testament added seven other books plus portions of others, which the Protestants call the Apocrypha.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew except for a few passages in Aramaic. In the wake of the sweeping conquests made by Alexander the Great, Greek had become the prevailing language in the Mediterranean world and most people were no longer able to read scripture in its original language. In the middle of the third century BC, a group of 70 Hebrew scholars living in Alexandria, Egypt, translated the Five Books of Moses from Hebrew into Greek. This translation is known as the Septuagint. Over the next few centuries the remaining books of the Hebrew Bible were translated into Greek.

The New Testament

The New Testament was written in Greek. The first four books —Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John— are known as the gospels, meaning the "good news" of Jesus Christ. They describe the earliest events in the life of Jesus and his teachings, and were most likely recorded between 70 and 100 CE. Some suggest that Acts of Apostles was also written by the disciple Luke, who took part in Apostle Paul`s missionary journeys. Other writings include 22 letters, 13 of which are believed to have been written by Paul, eight by different Apostles, with Letter to the Hebrews written anonymously. The letters of Paul were written sometime around the middle of the first century CE. The book of Revelation stands alone and is part of the apocalyptic tradition.

The spread of Christianity inspired more translations of the Bible, including several Latin versions. The lack of scholarship and uniformity of these translations in the fourth century led Pope Damascus I to commission a young Latin scholar, Jerome, to prepare a new, more accurate translation that reflected the original writings. Using Hebrew manuscripts, the Greek Septuagint, and New Testament manuscripts in Greek, Jerome decided to spend his life working on the new translation. The result was called the Vulgate (405). It became the standard Bible of the Roman Church. It was not until 1382 that first complete English translation of the Bible appeared 150 copies in all, still written by hand. John Wyclif, an Oxford scholar, supervised the translation.

In 1535, less than 100 years after the Gutenberg printing press, Miles Coverdale published the first complete printed English Bible. In 1603, King James of England named 543 scholars to produce a Bible that would be accepted by both Protestants and Catholics. Published in 1611, the finished work was known as the King James Bible (KJV). It has enriched English with such phases as "man does not live by bread alone," "how the mighty have fallen," "seeing eye to eye" and hundreds more. In recent times the number of translations has proliferated.

The Apocrypha

The Apocrypha comes from the Greek, meaning, "set aside" or "hidden." It is a collection of historical writings, wisdom, and prophecy and other writings that were part of the Greek Septuagint. The Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church agree in regarding as authoritative certain books which they call deutercanonical and Protestants call apocryphal. The Apocrypha is composed of The First Book of Esdras; the Second Book of Esdras; Tobit; Judith; Additions to the Book of Esther; The Wisdom of Solomon; Ecclesiasticus (or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach); Baruch; The Letter of Jeremiah; The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men; Susanna; Bel and the Dragon; The Prayer of Manasseh; the First Book of the Maccabees; the Second Book of the Maccabees.

The expanded edition of the Apocrypha includes three additional books that are of interest of the Eastern Orthodox: The Third Book of the Maccabees; the Fourth Book of the Maccabees; and Psalm 151.



The Old Testament
ONE is using the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches of Christ.

The Qur’an
by Sohaib N. Sultan

The Qur’an, which literally means "recital", is the spiritual, moral, and communal guide to life for Muslims through the ages and across the oceans.

Muhammad, who was born in 570 CE in the ancient Arab land of Mecca , was a deeply contemplative and introspective human being who longed for an intimate relationship with God. In his search for spiritual illumination, Muhammad would spend hours every week away from friends and family, meditating in a remote cave known as hira on top of the mountain of light (jabal al-nur) outside Mecca. During one such night, when Muhammad was 40 years old, a strong invisible force suddenly came upon the spiritual seeker, squeezing him tightly and then releasing him with the command: “Read!” Muhammad, startled by the presence of the spirit began shaking and replied with honesty: “I do not know how to read!” The spirit took hold of Muhammad once again, squeezing him even tighter, repeating the same command, with Muhammad offering the same reply. Upon the third time, Muhammad cried back to the spirit, asking: “What shall I read?” The spirit replied, “Read, in the name of your Lord, who created: created man of clotted blood. Read, for your Lord is most generous, the one taught the use of the pen, taught man what he did not know” (96:1-5). These words, recited into the heart of Muhammad through Angel Gabriel by divine decree, became the first passage that was revealed to Muhammad of the Qur’an, converting the contemplative spiritual seeker into a prophet and messenger of God. Here too begins the story of the Qur’an as a book of revelation that continued to be revealed in stages for the rest of the Prophet’s 23 year life span. As Prophet Muhammad would receive revelation it would be preserved in his heart, and he would then recite it to his devout companions who would preserve it either by scribing or memorizing the passages.

According to Muslim belief, Angel Gabriel would go over the revealed passages with the Prophet every year during the holy month of Ramadan and instruct him in the ordering of passages from beginning to end. In this way, the Qur’an was portioned into 114 chapters (known as sura in Arabic) of varying lengths. The longest chapter in the Qur’an is made up of 286 verses (the Arabic for verse is ayah), and the shortest chapters are made up of 3 verses. Each chapter has a name that is central to the theme or a critical aspect of the chapter. Many of the chapters are named after prophets or sages, such as Joseph (Sura 12) or Mary (Sura 19).

Muhammad received the revelation of the Qur’an in two major periods: the Meccan period and the Medinan period. The first part refers to the first 13 years of his prophetic mission in which, much like Jesus, he preached the message of God and suffered great hardships from his people. The second part refers to the next ten years that the Prophet spent in another city known as Medina (Yathrib) in which, much like Moses, he formed a religious community based on divine laws. In the Meccan period, the emphasis of the Qur’anic message was on the belief in the Oneness of God, the hereafter, perfecting spiritual states, and doing righteous deeds. The same themes continue into the Medinan period of Qur’anic revelation, but more emphasis is placed on communal laws that shape the social, economic, and political spheres of life. Generally speaking, Medinan chapters are found in the first-third of the Qur’an even though they were revealed later, and Meccan chapters are found in the last-third of the Qur’an even though they were revealed earlier. So, chronologically the earlier chapters are found toward the middle and end of the book, while the later chapters are found at the beginning of the book.

Today, the same Qur’an that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad, is preserved in its original Arabic both in the form of a book (the number of which have vastly increased with the invention of the printing press) and in the memory of millions of Muslims who commit the scripture to memory. The rhyme and rhythm of the Qur’an is so beautiful and precise to the ear that its memorization continues to be an art that is mastered till this day by Muslims worldwide.


ONE is using the translation of the Qur’an by Thomas Cleary, published by Starlatch Press in 2004.

Nice aticle there Bro Olabs.


Will go through throughly later

May Almighty Allah reward your efforts

Ma salam

Essence of Tahdjud, night prayer
By Muhammad Embeay

As-Salaam Alaikum, Wa-Rahamatullah, Wa-Barakatuhoo

May Allah's peace, mercy and blessings be with you.

I seek refuge in Allah, against the accursed devil.

In the Name of Allah, the gracious, the merciful.

"Observe Salaat, prayer from the declining and paling of the sun till the darkness of the night and recite the Qur'an at dawn. Verily, the recitation of the Quran at dawn is specially acceptable to Allah.

"And during a part of the night, wake up for its recitation - a superogatory service for you. It may be that your Lord will raise you to an exalted station rank." Holy Qur'an 17.78,79.

THEIR sides keep away from their beds and they call on their Lord in fear and hope and spend out of what we have bestowed on them." Holy Qur'an 32.17.

In the name of Allah, the gracious, the merciful.

"O you who wrapped up in your mantle, stand up in prayer at night except a small portion thereof. Half of it or reduce from it a little or add to it a little and recite the Qur'an a good recital"

"Verily, we are about to charge you with a weighty word, verily, getting up at night for prayer is the most potent means of subduing the self and most effective in speech. You have, indeed, during the day, a long chain of engagements. So remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with full devotion.: Holy Qur'an 73: 1-8.

"Surely your Lord knows that you stand up praying for nearly a third thereof and also a party of those who are with you, " Holy Qur'ran 73.20.

"Remember the name of your Lord morning, evening, during the night, prostrate yourself before Him and extol His glory for a long part of the night" - Holy Qur'ran 76.25,26.

According to the text in the opening verse of Sura, Chapter 17:89, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, on whom be the peace and blessings of Allah, was constantly enjoined to pray at night for that would give him the necessary strength to discharge the grave responsibility of preaching the divine message. The message that was shortly going to devolve on him, the holy prophet. He was assured of divine pleasure and exaltation to a high rank.

In chapter 73:20, the holy prophet was told that he has faithfully carried out God's command. The command that was not specially directed to the followers of the holy prophet, but as they are always desirous of following his footsteps, they copied his example in this respect also.

In light of part of the text and in Islamic religious terminology, the Arabic word Tahadjud, night prayer, is derived from the word, Hadjada or Hudjud, meaning sleep or he slept in the night and he was also wakeful in the night that is for the purpose of Salaat prayer.

In 17:79,the Arabic word Na'afila means a special favour and signifies that prayers of any description are not a burden to weary, but to invigorate the body as a spiritual privilege and a special favour from God.

Tahadjud, as a superogatory prayer, is also the best suited for the believers' spiritual exaltation in the stillness of the night being all alone with one's creator, when one enjoys special divine communion with Allah.
[size=14pt]
To get up at night for salaat, prayer is a potent means of subduing oneself and to bring under effective control one's evil propensities and inclinations. It is the proved experience of all holy men of God that nothing conduces to one's spiritual development so much as salaat at night. [/size] The reason is that in the stillness of the night, nature is quiet with solitude and a peculiar sort of peace prevails. It is then that the devotee's heart becomes illuminated with a heavenly light, which can be imparted to others.

The time of Tahadjud, night salaat prayer[b] is eminently suited for one to develop strength of capacity character and to make one's speech sane, solid and sound. [/b]
Effective speech and infinite capacity for hard work, are two very necessary qualifications, for a reformer or guide, in order to succeed in one's mission. Allah Akbar

Prayer at night helps in the development of the two qualities, because once one acquires control over one's mind and tongue, one comes to exercise guidance over others.

Tahadjud proper, apart from Na'afila, the supererogatory or additional salaat rayer consists of eight full raka'ats divided into a service of two each at a time that is, with four salamas.

This is followed by the three raka'ats called witr. It then amounts to eleven raka'ats with five salamas or six sittings. That is if Tahadjud and witr are combined as Tahadjud proper.

But if witr is offered immediately after Ishai prayer, one is not bound to offer eight full raka'ats. In its stead, any two or more raka'ats is a allowed if there is no sufficient time. That is, one may stop after any two raka'ats.

The recitation from the Holy Qura'an during the Tahadjud prayer becomes generally long, at times to the extent that the holy prophet's feet would get swollen.

Prophet Muhammad, on whom be the peace and the blessings of Allah, used to pass half or even two-thirds of the night in prayer. _{(nna men, i be lazy boi o)} His practice was to go to sleep immediately after the Ishai prayer and then he generally woke up after mid-night and passed almost all his latter part of the night in Tahadjud exercise.

Sometimes, he took a short few minutes sleep, a nap, which would give him a little rest, just before the morning Fajir prayer. He kept this practice up to the end of his life.

He is reported to have declared that whoever keeps awake at night to offer prayer in the month of Ramadhan, with faith to seek only the divine pleasure, his faults are covered.

The companions of the holy prophet were very particular about Tahadjud prayer though they knew that it was not obligatory and some of them used to come to the mosque during the later part of this night to observe their Tahadjud prayer.

On a certain night when the holy prophet rose up to offer his Tahadjud prayer, some people who were in the mosque saw him and joined him in prayer, thus making it a congregation. On the following night the congregation increased and swelled to a large number.

The same thing happened on the third day. On the fourth night the holy prophet remained at home, because he feared lest the exercise becomes or be made obligatory on the followers from then on.

It is, therefore, preferable to observe the night prayer in one's home except for special reasons. Hence, Tahadjud continued to remain as an individual or collective family affair.

On the authority of an Islamic scholar, who comments that great spiritual heights can be scaled with Tahadjud, anyone who performs it will discover its importance. The companions of the holy prophet were very regular in observing noght prayer. Even though it is voluntary, the holy prophet used to walk around to see who observed it.

Once, the good qualities of Sayyidna Abdullah Ibn Umar were being mentioned. The holy prophet remarked thus: "He is very good, but he shouild also offer night prayer. He was a young man but he was slack in Tahadjud. The holy prophet, on who be the peace and the blessings of Allah, thus reminded him of hiss slackness in observing the night prayer.

The holy prophet supplicated and directed as follows:

"May Allah have mercy on the husband and the wife who awake each other up for prayer at night. If the husband wakes, let him offer Tahadjud and awaken his wife. If she does not get up, let him sprinkle some water on her face."

Similarly, if the wife awakes, let her do the same. By offering night prayer and awakening her husband by sprinkling some water on his face.

The holy prophet has also directed the wife to respect her husband, yet he has also permitted her to sprinkle some water, if necessary, to awaken him for Tahadjud. Obviously, the attached great importance to the night prayer is specially acceptable to Allah.

The Holy Qur'an tells us that getting up for prayers at night straightens devotee's affairs.

Accordingly, the holy prophet direct that all must perform night prayer even if it be one of two Raka'ats. He also extends that God Almighty accepts prayers in abundance during the later part of night. The Muslim's Tahadjud is very important and beneficial.

Ma Salaam.



culled from THE GUARDIAN

so muki, try to reduce ur e-talking at nite online and do the talking to ALLAH real-time during tha' time

Salaam Ya Mustap and Bro Olabowale

interesting articles

May Allah reward you both for sharing with us

Mustay sharrap

i do it sometimes do you?

lazy bones

I do but not as frequent as before.

Insha Allah, this new year shall give me NEW NEW ENERGY to do more

Salam,

May Allah continue to bless you (Bros Olabowale and Mustay) for those wonderful article. I will read through them later. Alhamdulillah for my accepting the truth on time after having wandered in darkness for years.




@Mustay

Insha Allah, this new year shall give me NEW NEW ENERGY to do more

And me too so that I will be able to use my time effectively here rather than responding to thrash in some threads.

Salaam

Mustay better o

Barka Jumaat to you all

Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 6
As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.

Masalaa,

Salam

Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 6
As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.

Masalaa,

I will post similar verse on that later

Maa Salam

salam to you all

babs do so fast ooo

am expecting it.

Salaam
this is an interesting piece on anger management .

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Anger is a very serious disease, and Islam warns Muslims against its evil consequences. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prescribed a remedy for the person in a state of anger, instructing him to sit down or lie down until he cools off. Also, he told us that performing wudu’ is a good way to put out the “fire” of one’s anger. May Allah forgive us all and protect us from Hellfire, Amen!

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

“Before giving you some du`a's I would like to give you some tips gleaned from Imam Ghazzali.

In order to control your anger, you must do two things:

First, you should ask yourself why, when, and how you are getting angry and control the circumstances that create such situations. By directing your thoughts in this way, you can often control your anger. So condition yourself to ask questions such as the following: Why am I getting angry? What is the big deal about reacting to something that happened in the past? Can I change it now? If the milk is already spilled, how is my anger going to help to bring it back? What benefit can I gain by reacting in anger? Is there anything far more beneficial I can do instead?

Furthermore, think of all the harmful effects of anger if it is not controlled. In fact, there is nothing more destructive than anger if it leads to violence or inflicting verbal or emotional abuse on people. So condition yourself to think of the destructive consequences of anger until you learn to associate anger with pain, ugliness and suffering. In this way, you will be better able to take control of your anger and make sure that it is not expressed in a harmful way.

Second, as soon you find yourself becoming angry, channel your energy in positive ways by immediately taking the following steps:

Say:

A`oodhu billahi mina ash-shaytaani ar-rajeem (I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed) three times, and walk immediately to the washroom and perform ablutions with cool water and pray two rak`ahs.

Alternately, you can repeat the above words, and go for a walk or take some deep breaths and do some minor exercises to release the tension and relax.

Finally, here are a few du`a’s you should recite and meditate upon consistently:

Allaahumma innee a`oodhu bika min hamazaati ash-shayaateen; wa a`oodhu bika rabbi an yahdhuroonee (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the whisperings of devils; and I seek refuge in You from their presence around me).

Astaghfiru Allah (I ask Allah for forgiveness) three times.

Rabbi qinee sharra nafsee; rabbi qinee sharra sam`ee; rabbi qinee sharra basaree; rabbi qinee sharaa lisaanee (My Lord, save me from the evils of my own self; my Lord, save me from the evils of my hearing; my Lord, save me from the evils of my seeing; my Lord, save me from the evils of my tongue.)

You can also simply make the following tasbeeh:

Subhaan Allah, al-hamdu lillah, laa ilaha illa Allah, wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa bi-llah (Sublime is Allah; praise be to Allah; there is no god but Allah; there is no power or strength except by the will of Allah).”

@Mukina

First, you should ask yourself why, when, and how you are getting angry and control the circumstances that create such situations. By directing your thoughts in this way, you can often control your anger. So condition yourself to ask questions such as the following: Why am I getting angry? What is the big deal about reacting to something that happened in the past? Can I change it now? If the milk is already spilled, how is my anger going to help to bring it back? What benefit can I gain by reacting in anger? Is there anything far more beneficial I can do instead?

Furthermore, think of all the harmful effects of anger if it is not controlled. In fact, there is nothing more destructive than anger if it leads to violence or inflicting verbal or emotional abuse on people. So condition yourself to think of the destructive consequences of anger until you learn to associate anger with pain, ugliness and suffering. In this way, you will be better able to take control of your anger and make sure that it is not expressed in a harmful way.

Thanks so much our intelligent sister. I have been learning and still learning lots from you. I will try to apply the above to my everyday dealing with people of different age, race, culture, religion, skin color etc.

May Allah increases your knowledge.

Lest I forget, please tell stranger26 and Luv2talk that their attention are needed in all Islamic threads

Maa Salam

Where is everybody?