try these for solat guidance


https://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/product/...r-described-hb/

https://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/product/...alah-prayer-pb/

Aqeedah books:

https://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/product/...ook-monotheism/

https://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/product/...heed-explained/

https://www.dakwahbookstore.com.my/product/...y-on-servitude/

Penggunaan Ilmu Kalam Dalam Masalah Akidah Adalah Punca Kerosakan Dan Perpecahan Umat Islam

Sebelum kemasukan falsafah dan ilmu kalam ke dalam dunia Islam, umat Islam bersatu di atas akidah yang benar dan tauhid yang murni. Tetapi setelah zaman penterjemahan kitab-kitab falsafah Yunani yang giat dijalankan pada masa pemerintahan Khalifah al-Makmun dalam kerajaan Abbasiyah, dan kemasukan ilmu kalam ke dalam Islam menjadi faktor-faktor awal perpecahan umat Islam.

Dalam usaha penterjemahan kitab-kitab falsafah Yunani ini, peranan kaum kafir dapat disaksikan dengan jelas bagaimana mereka memainkan peranan penting dalam menterjemah kitab-kitab ini. Antara tokoh penterjemahan dalam kalangan kafir Ahli Zhimmah ialah Yuhanna bin al-Batriq, Ibnu Na'imah Abdul Masih, Tsabit bin Qurrah al-Harrani, Habib bin Bahriz, Zaruba bin Majuh al-Na'imi, Hunain bin Ishaq dan anaknya Ishaq bin Hunain, dan ramai lagi.
[Lihat: Evolusi Gerakan Penyelewengan Dalam Islam, hlm. 37-38. Terbitan: Karya PiS]

Imam al-Suyuthi menyebutkan bahwa al-Makmun meminta buku-buku Yunani kepada raja-raja Nasrani, lalu mereka menyiapkan buku-buku tersebut dan mengirimkannya kepada al-Makmun sambil mengatakan: "Siapkanlah, karena tidaklah ilmu ini masuk pada suatu bangsa kecuali akan menimbulkan kehancuran dan perselisihan para ulamanya."
[Imam al-Suyuthi, Shaun al-Manthiq, Juz 1, hal. 42,43]

Apa yang dikatakan oleh orang-orang Nasrani itu ternyata benar apabila umat Islam menggunakan falsafah dan ilmu kalam dalam mengisbatkan akidah, khususnya dalam berinteraksi dengan nas-nas al-Asma' wa al-Sifat, maka ianya menimbulkan kehancuran dan perselisihan para ulama.

Tauhid al-Asma' wa al-Sifat menjadi syiar Islam dan Ahli Sunnah wal Jamaah Manhaj as-Salaf. Tauhid al-Asma' wa al-Sifat juga menjadi pembeda antara kafir dan mukmin. Disebabkan kesalahan dalam al-Asma' wa al-Sifat menyebabkan kaum Nasrani menjadikan Nabi Isa As sebagai tuhan. Disebabkan kesalahan dalam al-Asma' wa al-Sifat juga menyebabkan golongan musyrik menyembah berhala. Ini kerana mereka jahil akan sifat-sifat Tuhan, dan tersalah di dalam masalah al-Asma' wa al-Sifat menyebabkan mereka menyembah tuhan yang salah.

Adapun di dalam Islam, tauhid al-Asma' wa al-Sifat menjadi pembeda antara ahli sunnah dan ahli bid'ah. Perpecahan di dalam tauhid al-Asma' wa al-Sifat ini antara yang menjadi faktor utama lahirnya banyak firqah-firqah yang sesat lagi menyimpang seperti Jahmiyyah, Qadariyah, Jabariyah, Muktazilah, Musyabbihah, Mujassimah, Mu'athilah dan selainnya. Ini terjadi disebabkan kerana mereka berinteraksi dengan nas-nas al-Asma' wa al-Sifat Allah Swt menggunakan akal falsafah dan ilmu kalam.

Justeru, inilah antara sebab mengapa para imam-imam Salaf terutama Imam Empat Mazhab begitu membenci ilmu kalam dan ahlinya, dan melarang umat dari mendekatinya.

Imam Abu Hanifah tatkala ditanya, "Apa pendapat engkau tentang kalam yang diada-adakan terkait 'aradh dan jism?" [ini selalu diperkatakan oleh ahli kalam termasuklah Asya'irah]. Dia menjawab, "Perkataan-perkataan ahli filsafat, engkau harus mengacu pada atsar dan tuntunan generasi salaf, dan jauhilah setiap yang diada-adakan, kerana itu bid'ah." Ini disampaikan oleh al-Muzhaffar bin Sam'ani dalam bahasan tentang al-Intishar. (Shaun al-Manthiq, hlm. 32)
[Ruj: Akidah Islam Menurut Imam Empat Madzhab, hlm. 369, Prof. Dr. Abul Yazid Abu Zaid al-'Ajami. Terbitan: Pustaka al-Kautsar]

Imam Malik bin Anas, dalam riwayat yang disampaikan al-Harawi melalui Abdurrahman bin Mahdi, dia mengatakan, "Aku menemui Malik saat bersamanya ada seorang yang bertanya kepadanya. Dia mengatakan, 'Tampak engkau termasuk sahabat Amr bin Ubaid, Allah mengutuk Amr, kerana dia mengadakan bid'ah-bid'ah terkait kalam ini. Seandainya kalam itu ilmu, nescaya generasi sahabat dan tabi'in pun membicarakannya, sebagaimana mereka membicarakan tentang hukum dan syariat." (Shaun al-Manthiq, hlm. 33).
[Ibid, hlm. 369]

Imam Asy-Syafie berkata:

"Hukumanku ke atas ahli kalam adalah (mereka) dipukul dengan pelepah tamar dan dibawa naik ke atas unta, serta dibawa keliling serata
lah lalu diumumkan: "Inilah balasan bagi orang yang meninggalkan al-Quran dan as-Sunnah lalu menceburi ilmu kalam."
[Diriwayatkan oleh al-Khatib al-Baghdadi dalam Sharaf Ashab al-Hadis: 168 (ms. 78), al-Harawi dalam Dhamm al-Kalam: 1142 (4/294-295), al-Muqri' dalam Dhamm al-Kalam (ms. 99), ibn Abd al-Barr dalam Jami' Bayan al-'Ilm wa Fadlih: 1794 (2/941), al-Bayhaqi dalam Manaqib al-Shafi'i (1/462), dan ibn Hajar dalam Tawali al-Ta'sis (ms. 111)]

"Seseorang bertemu Allah dengan segala dosa kecuali syirik adalah lebih baik berbanding bertemu Allah dengan sekelumit ilmu kalam."
[Diriwayatkan oleh ibn Abi Hatim dalam Adab al-Shafi'i (ms. 137), Ibn Battah dalam al-Ibanah: 662 (2/534-535) dan dalam (kitab yang sama) bahagian al-Qadar: 1881 (2/262), al-Bayhaqi dalam Manaqib al-Shafi'i (1/452) dan dalam kitab al-Qadar: 478, Abu Nu'aym dalam Hilyat al-Awliya (9/111), al-Muqri' dalam Dhamm al-Kalam (ms. 78) dan ibn Asakir dalam Tarikh Dimashq (51/310)]

Berkata Imam al-Aimmah (imamnya para imam) Ibnu Khuzaimah (pembesar mazhab Syafie) setelah ditanya tentang soal memperihalkan nama-nama dan sifat-sifat Allah:

"Ia satu bid'ah yang mereka ada-adakan. Para imam kaum muslimin dalam kalangan sahabat, tabiin, dan para imam agama ini yang merupakan tokoh-tokoh mazhab umpama Malik bin Anas, Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, asy-Syafie, Abu Hanifah, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad bin al-Hasan, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq al-Hanzali, Yahya bin Yahya, Abdullah bin al-Mubarak dan Muhammad bin Yahya tidak pernah bercakap tentang perkara tersebut, bahkan mereka melarang daripada mendalaminya dan menunjuki anak-anak murid mereka jalan al-Quran dan as-Sunnah. Oleh itu janganlah engkau mendalaminya, atau membelek buku-buku mereka (ahli kalam) sama sekali. Aku memohon kepada Allah agar melindungi kita daripada fitnah ujian yang menyesatkan, baik yang zahir mahupun yang batin."
[Diriwayatkan oleh al-Harawi dalam Dhamm al-Kalam: 1263 (4/387-388), dan al-Muqri' dalam Dhamm al-Kalam (ms. 99-101)]

Adapun Imam Ahli Sunnah, Ahmad bin Hanbal; al-Harawi menyampaikan dalam kitabnya Dhamm al-Kalam, dari Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal, dia berkata, "Ayahku menulis surat kepada Abdullah bin Yahya bin Khaqan dengan mengatakan, 'Aku bukan ahli kalam, dan menurutku kalam sama sekali tidak diperlukan dalam hal ini kecuali yang terdapat dalam Kitab Allah atau dalam hadis Rasulullah Saw. Adapun yang selain itu maka kalam dalam hal ini tidak terpuji'." (Shaun al-Manthiq, hlm. 67, Siyar A'lam An-Nubala', 11/286).
[Ruj: Akidah Islam Menurut Imam Empat Madzhab, hlm. 369-370, Prof. Dr. Abul Yazid Abu Zaid al-'Ajami. Terbitan: Pustaka al-Kautsar]

Jika tidak kerana ilmu kalam, mereka tidak akan menolak Istiwa' Allah di atas 'Arasy. Jika tidak kerana ilmu kalam, mereka tidak akan menolak sifat-sifat Allah Swt seperti Wajah, Tangan, Mata, al-Nuzul, dan sifat-sifat Allah Swt yang lain. Kerana sifat-sifat ini menyanggahi kaedah-kaedah ilmu kalam.

Mungkin ilmu kalam atau mantiq ini berguna jika diletakkan pada tempatnya seperti dalam ilmu fizik (tabiat-tabiat semulajadi atau tabi'iyyat) atau ilmu-ilmu keduniaan yang lainnya. Mungkin juga dalam bidang usul fiqh, ilmu kalam atau mantiq membantu dalam meletakkan kaedah-kaedah. Adapun penggunaan ilmu kalam di dalam akidah khususnya tauhid al-Asma' wa al-Sifat, maka ilmu kalam adalah punca kerosakan yang besar kepada akidah dan perpecahan umat.

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Yahya bin Shalih, daripada Fulaih, daripada Hilal bin 'Ali, daripada 'Atha' bin Asar,
daripada Abu Hurairah r.a.,
Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,

"Barangsiapa yang beriman kepada Allah,
menegakkan solat,
berpuasa bulan Ramadhan,

maka sudah pasti
Allah akan memasukkannya ke dalam syurga,
baik dia berjihad di jalan Allah
atau dia hanya tinggal di tempat di mana dia dilahirkan."

Mereka bertanya,
"Wahai Rasulullah,
apakah tidak sebaiknya kami sampaikan berita gembira ini kepada orang-orang?"

Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,
"Sesungguhnya di syurga itu
ada seratus (100) derajat (kedudukan)
yang Allah sediakannya
untuk para mujahid di jalan Allah

di mana jarak antara dua (2) derajat
seperti jarak antara langit dan bumi.

Untuk itu bila kalian minta kepada Allah
maka mintalah Syurga Firdaus

kerana itu adalah syurga paling utama
dan yang paling tinggi.

Aku pernah diperlihatkan bahawa
di atas Firdaus itu
adalah singgahsananya
Allah yang Maha Pemurah
di mana darinya
mengalir sungai-sungai syurga."

(Hadith Bukhari no. 2581)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

This post has been edited by boca120879: Oct 10 2019, 11:13 AM

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Abdurrahman bin Mahdi, daripada Hammad bin Salamah, daripada Tsabit, daripada Abdurrahman bin Abu Laila, daripada Shuhaib,
Nabi s.a.w. bersabda,

"Jika penghuni syurga telah memasuki syurga,
maka mereka akan diseru,

“Wahai penduduk syurga,
sesungguhnya kalian masih memiliki janji di sisi Allah
yang belum kalian lihat.”

Mereka bertanya,
“Janji apakah itu?
Bukankah timbangan kami telah diberatkan,
dan kami telah diberikan kitab-kitab kami dengan tangan kanan kami?
Dan kami juga dimasukkan ke dalam syurga
dan diselamatkan dari neraka?”

Kemudian hijab pun disingkap
hingga Allah menampakkan wajah-Nya bagi mereka.

Maka tiada sesuatu pun yang telah diberikan Allah
kepada mereka
yang lebih mereka cintai
daripada melihat wajah-Nya."

(Hadith Ahmad no. 18173)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

up

This post has been edited by seiferalmercy: Oct 21 2019, 06:06 PM

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Al Walid bin Syuja', daripada Sufyan bin 'Uyainah, daripada 'Ashim, daripada Syaqiq,
daripada Jarir,
Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,

"Barangsiapa memberi contoh kebaikan
dan contoh itu diamalkan,
dia mendapat pahala orang yang mencontohinya,
tanpa dikurangi sedikit pun pahala orang yang mencontohi.

Sebaliknya barangsiapa memberi contoh keburukan
dan contoh itu diamalkan,
dia mendapat dosa orang yang mencontohinya,
tanpa dikurangi sedikit pun dosa orang yang mencontohi."

(Hadith Darimi no. 511)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Muhammad bin Abbad al-Makki, daripada Sufyan, daripada Suhail, daripada Atha' bin Yazid, daripada Tamim ad-Dari,
Nabi s.a.w. bersabda,

"Agama itu adalah nasihat."

Kami bertanya,
"Nasihat untuk siapa?"

Nabi s.a.w. menjawab,
"Untuk Allah,
kitab-Nya,
Rasul-Nya,
dan para pemimpin kaum muslimin,
serta kaum awam (rakyat) mereka."

(Hadith Muslim no. 82)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

This post has been edited by boca120879: Oct 16 2019, 09:46 AM

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Yahya bin Yahya, daripada Malik, daripada Zaid bin Aslam,
daripada Abdurrahman bin Abi Sa'id, daripada Abu Sa'id al-Khudri,
Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,

"Apabila salah seorang daripada kalian solat,

maka janganlah dia membiarkan
seseorang lalu di hadapannya,
dan hendaklah dia menghalanginya semampunya.

Jika orang itu menolak,
maka hendaklah dia memeranginya,
kerana orang itu adalah syaitan."

(Hadith Muslim no. 782)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Abu Ar Rabi' Al 'Ataki, daripada Hammad (Ibnu Zaid), daripada Tsabit Al Bunani,
daripada Anas bin Malik,

"Pada suatu hari seorang lelaki datang kepada Rasulullah s.a.w.
seraya bertanya,
“Ya Rasulullah,
bilakah kiamat itu akan datang?”

Mendengar pertanyaan lelaki itu,
Rasulullah s.a.w. bertanya balik,
“Apa yang telah kamu siapkan
untuk menghadapi kiamat?”

Lelaki itu menjawab,
“Kecintaan kepada Allah
dan Rasul-Nya.”

Kemudian Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,
“Sesungguhnya kamu akan bersama
orang yang kamu cintai.”

Anas bin Malik berkata,
“Tidak ada yang lebih menyenangkan hati kami
setelah masuk Islam

selain sabda Rasulullah s.a.w. yang berbunyi,
“Sesungguhnya kamu akan bersama
orang yang kamu cintai.”

Anas bin Malik berkata,
“Kerana saya mencintai Allah,
Rasulullah,
Abu Bakar,
dan Umar,
maka saya berharap kelak
akan bersama mereka
meskipun saya tidak dapat beramal
seperti mereka.”

(Hadith Muslim no. 4777)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Sufyan bin Uyainah, daripada Furat Al Qazzaz, daripada Abu Ath Thufail,
daripada Hudzaifah bin Asid Al Ghifari,

“Rasulullah s.a.w. menghampiri kami
saat kami tengah membicarakan sesuatu,

Rasulullah s.a.w. bertanya,
"Apa yang kalian bicarakan?"

Kami menjawab,
“Kami membicarakan tentang kiamat.”

Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda,
"Kiamat tidaklah terjadi
hingga kalian melihat
sepuluh (10) tanda-tanda sebelumnya."

“Rasulullah s.a.w. menyebut

1) dukhan (asap),

2) Dajjal,

3) Dabbah (binatang)

4) terbitnya matahari dari Barat,

5) turunnya Isa bin Maryam,

6) Yakjuj dan Makjuj,

7) tiga (3) gempa bumi besar,
gempa bumi besar di Timur,

8) gempa bumi besar di Barat

9) gempa bumi besar di Jazirah Arab

10) dan yang terakhir adalah api muncul dari Yaman
yang mendorong manusia
menuju ke tempat perkumpulan mereka."

(Hadith Muslim no. 5162)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)

This post has been edited by boca120879: Oct 18 2019, 10:39 AM

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Daripada Abdurrazzaq, daripada Ma'mar, daripada Ayyub, daripada Nafi',
daripada 'Ayyasy bin Abu Rab'iah,
Nabi s.a.w. bersabda,

"Di antara tanda-tanda kiamat adalah

akan keluar angin
yang mencabut roh
setiap Mukmin."

(Hadith Ahmad no. 14916)

Nota penting:
Untuk pemahaman yg lebih baik,
sila rujuk nasihat pakar
(ulama, ustaz atau yg setaraf dengannya)


This post has been edited by boca120879: Oct 21 2019, 09:17 AM

wslm wa rohmatullah....


this person works in, he can explain Islam to people who want to know Islam. he is working in PERKIM MASJID NEGERI SHAH ALAM, can pass this number. ur friends


ABDUL GHANI 014 523 9829

Islam adalah agama dalil. Dalil adalah Al Quran dan Sunnah.

Bukan mimpi.

Article by Imran Khan appeared in Arab News; a leading English daily in Saudi Arabia.
An eye opener which communicates real feelings of many a true Muslims in these trying times.

*WHY The West Craves Materialism & The East Sticks To Religion*
By Imran Khan

My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining independence, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis.

I read Shakespeare, which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal - the national poet of Pakistan. The class on Islamic studies was not taken seriously, and when I left school I was considered among the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore Western clothes.

Despite periodically shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad' in school functions, I considered my own culture backward and religion outdated. Among our group if any one talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah.

Because of the power of the Western media, our heroes were Western movie stars or pop stars. When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up, things didn't get any easier. At Oxford, not just Islam, but all religions were considered anachronism.

Science had replaced religion and if something couldn't be logically proved it did not exist. All supernatural stuff was confined to the movies. Philosophers like Darwin, who with his half-baked theory of evolution had supposedly disproved the creation of men and hence religion, were read and revered.

Moreover, European history reflected its awful experience with religion. The horrors committed by the Christian clergy during the Inquisition era had left a powerful impact on the Western mind.

To understand why the West is so keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and see the torture apparatus used during the Spanish Inquisition. Also the persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy had convinced the Europeans that all religions are regressive.

However, the biggest factor that drove people like me away from religion was the selective Islam practiced by most of its preachers. In short, there was a huge difference between what they practiced and what they preached. Also, rather than explaining the philosophy behind the religion, there was an overemphasis on rituals.

I feel that humans are different to animals. While, the latter can be drilled, humans need to be intellectually convinced. That is why the Qur'an constantly appeals to reason. The worst, of course, was the exploitation of Islam for political gains by various individuals or groups.

Hence, it was a miracle I did not become an atheist. The only reason why I did not was the powerful religious influence my mother wielded on me since my childhood. It was not so much out of conviction but love for her that I stayed a Muslim.

However, my Islam was selective. I accepted only parts of the religion that suited me. Prayers were restricted to Eid days and occasionally on Fridays, when my father insisted on taking me to the mosque with him.

All in all I was smoothly moving to becoming a Pukka Brown Sahib. After all I had the right credentials in terms of school, university and, above all, acceptability in the English aristocracy, something that our brown sahibs would give their lives for. So what led me to do a 'lota' on the Brown Sahib culture and instead become a 'desi'?

Well it did not just happen overnight.

Firstly, the inferiority complex that my generation had inherited gradually went as I developed into a world-class athlete. Secondly, I was in the unique position of living between two cultures. I began to see the advantages and the disadvantages of both societies.

In Western societies, institutions were strong while they were collapsing in our country. However, there was an area where we were and still are superior, and that is our family life. I began to realize that this was the Western society's biggest loss. In trying to free itself from the oppression of the clergy, they had removed both God and religion from their lives.

While science, no matter how much it progresses, can answer a lot of questions - two questions it will never be able to answer: One, what is the purpose of our existence and two, what happens to us when we die?

It is this vacuum that I felt created the materialistic and the hedonistic culture. If this is the only life then one must make hay while the sun shines - and in order to do so one needs money. Such a culture is bound to cause psychological problems in a human being, as there was going to be an imbalance between the body and the soul.

Consequently, in the US, which has shown the greatest materialistic progress while giving its citizens numerous rights, almost 60 percent of the population consult psychiatrists. Yet, amazingly in modern psychology, there is no study of the human soul. Sweden and Switzerland, who provide the most welfare to their citizens, also have the highest suicide rates. Hence, man is not necessarily content with material well being and needs something more.

Since all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively grown since the 70s. Its direct impact has been on family life. In the UK, the divorce rate is 60 percent, while it is estimated that there are over 35 percent single mothers. The crime rate is rising in almost all Western societies, but the most disturbing fact is the alarming increase in racism. While science always tries to prove the inequality of man (recent survey showing the American Black to be genetically less intelligent than whites) it is only religion that preaches the equality of man.

Between 1991 and 1997, it was estimated that total immigration into Europe was around 520,000, and there were racially motivated attacks all over, especially in Britain, France and Germany. In Pakistan during the Afghan war, we had over four million refugees, and despite the people being so much poorer, there was no racial tension.
There was a sequence of events in the 80s that moved me toward God as the Qur'an says: 'There are signs for people of understanding. 'One of them was cricket. As I was a student of the game, the more I understood the game, the more I began to realize that what I considered to be chance was, in fact, the will of Allah. A pattern which became clearer with time. But it was not until Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' that my understanding of Islam began to develop.

People like me who were living in the Western world bore the brunt of anti-Islam prejudice that followed the Muslim reaction to the book. We were left with two choices: fight or flight. Since I felt strongly that the attacks on Islam were unfair, I decided to fight. It was then I realized that I was not equipped to do so as my knowledge of Islam was inadequate. Hence I started my research and for me a period of my greatest enlightenment. I read scholars like Ali Shariati, Muhammad Asad, Iqbal, Gai Eaton, plus of course, a study of Qur'an.

I will try to explain as concisely as is possible, what 'discovering the truth' meant for me. When the believers are addressed in the Qur'an, it always says, 'Those who believe and do good deeds.' In other words, a Muslim has dual function, one toward God and the other toward fellow human beings.

The greatest impact of believing in God for me, meant that I lost all fear of human beings. The Qur'an liberates man from man when it says that life and death and respect and humiliation are God's jurisdiction, so we do not have to bow before other human beings.

Moreover, since this is a transitory world where we prepare for the eternal one, I broke out of the self-imposed prisons, such as growing old (such a curse in the Western world, as a result of which, plastic surgeons are having a field day), materialism, ego, what people say and so on. It is important to note that one does not eliminate earthly desires. But instead of being controlled by them, one controls them.

By following the second part of believing in Islam, I have become a better human being. Rather than being self-centered and living for the self, I feel that because the Almighty gave so much to me, in turn I must use that blessing to help the less privileged. This I did by following the fundamentals of Islam rather than becoming a Kalashnikov-wielding fanatic.

I have become a tolerant and a giving human being who feels compassion for the underprivileged. Instead of attributing success to myself, I know it is because of God's will, hence I learned humility instead of arrogance.

Also, instead of the snobbish Brown Sahib attitude toward our masses, I believe in egalitarianism and strongly feel against the injustice done to the weak in our society. According to the Qur'an, 'Oppression is worse than killing.' In fact only now do I understand the true meaning of Islam, if you submit to the will of Allah, you have inner peace.

Through my faith, I have discovered strength within me that I never knew existed and that has released my potential in life. I feel that in Pakistan we have selective Islam. Just believing in God and going through the rituals is not enough. One also has to be a good human being. I feel there are certain Western countries with far more Islamic traits than us in Pakistan, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the finest individuals I know live there.

What I dislike about them is their double standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens but consider citizens of other countries as being somehow inferior to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World, advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the West and selling drugs that are banned in the West.

One of the problems facing Pakistan is the polarization of two reactionary groups. On the one side is the Westernized group that looks upon Islam through Western eyes and has inadequate knowledge about the subject. It reacts strongly to anyone trying to impose Islam in society and wants only a selective part of the religion. On the other extreme is the group that reacts to this Westernized elite and in trying to become a defender of the faith, takes up such intolerant and self-righteous attitudes that are repugnant to the spirit of Islam.

What needs to be done is to somehow start a dialogue between the two extreme. In order for this to happen, the group on whom the greatest proportion of our educational resources are spent in this country must study Islam properly.

Whether they become practicing Muslims or believe in God is entirely a personal choice. As the Qur'an tells us there is 'no compulsion in religion.' However, they must arm themselves with knowledge as a weapon to fight extremism. Just by turning up their noses at extremism the problem is not going to be solved.

The Qur'an calls Muslims 'the middle nation', not of extremes. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was told to simply give the message and not worry whether people converted or not, therefore, there is no question in Islam of forcing your opinions on anyone else.

Moreover, we are told to respect other religions, their places of worship and their prophets. It should be noted that no Muslim missionaries or armies ever went to Malaysia or Indonesia. The people converted to Islam due to the high principles and impeccable character of the Muslim traders. At the moment, the worst advertisements for Islam are the countries with their selective Islam, especially where religion is used to deprive people of their rights. In fact, a society that obeys fundamentals of Islam has to be a liberal one.

If Pakistan's Westernized class starts to study Islam, not only will it be able to help society fight sectarianism and extremism, but it will also make them realize what a progressive religion Islam is. They will also be able to help the Western world by articulating Islamic concepts. Recently, Prince Charles accepted that the Western world can learn from Islam. But how can this happen if the group that is in the best position to project Islam gets its attitudes from the West and considers Islam backward? Islam is a universal religion and that is why our Prophet (peace be upon him) was called a Mercy for all mankind.

_Humbly written by:_

Imran Khan
Prime Minister of Pakistan

good read .. thanks