In Surah Ahzaab (33), verse 59, Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاء الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا {59}
[Pickthal 33:59] O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.
Here the Prophet is being asked to tell the faithful women to observe hijab by casting an outer garments upon themselves.
We will discuss what is meant by 'jilbab';
And, we will ponder upon the meaning of 'being recognized' and 'not molested'.
JILBAAB
According to different Arabic Dictionaries, we gather three meanings for htis word.
1) a piece of cloth to cover your body (larger than a dupatta but smaller than a chader)
2) Maqn'a or khimar which a like a scarf worn by Arabs over their heads but it hands back
3)a long and loose tunic (kurta)
contd....
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
First Lecture of the Season
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيراً {41}
The above verse 41 of Surah Ahzab, 33rd chapter of the Holy Qur'an says:
"O you who have faith! Remember Allah with frequent remembrance."
In this world we have enough sources of distractions and temptations. One of the weapons of a believer to confront such things is the remembrance of Allah. Here the ayah says that remembrance should be abundant.
Who are these people to whom this verse is addressed to? The believers, people who have faith. Naturally, I assume that such people would be practicing Muslims already. So this means that despite that, the believers need to remember Allah a lot and all the time.
First let us try to understand what is meant by 'dhikr'. Does frequent dhikr mean to do tasbeeh repeatedly or take the 99 names of Allah again and again without understanding anything? Is this how we are supposed to remember him?
When we speak, we use words to convey what we are trying to say. Words represent meanings and they are nothing but sounds that are associated with some meaning. When a child makes some sound that seem like words but have no meaning , therefore we cannot call them words unless they have a meaning.
Now what is the point of repeating words (dhikr) when you don't mean them or actually know what it says.
Therefore, it is very important that we must try to understand the meaning of whatever dhikr we do. IF we know the translation and then read, for example, tasbeehat-e-arba'a, it will have effect on our souls. I don't mean to imply that should not read anything if we don't understand but what I am trying to say is do our best in trying to understand them.
Now the broader meaning of the ayah suggests that 'dhikr ' is actually what we have in our hearts. SO when we pray, we should have the concentration of mind and presence of heart by paying attention to the meanings of whatever we are reading, then we become more involved and our thoughts do not wander away so easily.
Why has dhikr been asked as a way to remember God?
Other worships have a defined set of rules and time. For example, everyday Salats have 17 units that are obligatory and if you want to do more, twice as much are recommended during a day. Hajj is wajib only once in our lifetime and if we want to do more, even that is only on a fixed date of the year. Khums is 20% and not more. But dhikr is a kind of 'ibadat' that is unlimited. We can do it anywhere, anytime, as much as we want.
So how is it possible? As mentioned earlier, this is actually the remembrance of Allah in our heart all the time, and every where that keeps us away from many sins.
Similarly, if our heart is not conscious of the Lord and does not know to Whom we are worshipping and why, then the salat is no more than a workout for the body.
What is Salat? It is a means to reach the proximity of God, not an end. It is the tool to get connected to God.
The benefit of remembering Allah all the time is that when we are in danger of sinning, it holds us back. And if, God forbid, a mistake happens, we feel guilty and repent.
Sometimes peer pressure, rather social/relatives' pressures force us to ignore the tiny knock in our minds that is trying to remind us of what is the right thing to do. For instance, it has been seen that mostly during the times of weddings, people give in to haram things for pleasing family and friends. Others encourage us to do what we should not be doing, so if the remembrance of Allah is there, it will not let us rest peacefully.
Another example would be when we step out of our home, we should think if God is okay with my appearance? Have I done anything to attract or be pleasing to a na-mahram? Will I be within the limits set by Allah at my place of work, school or store? Would I give up on hijab in order to get a prospective job?
Remembrance of Allah will help us in such circumstances and in fact give us courage or even consolence for a lost worldly privilege.
The above verse 41 of Surah Ahzab, 33rd chapter of the Holy Qur'an says:
"O you who have faith! Remember Allah with frequent remembrance."
In this world we have enough sources of distractions and temptations. One of the weapons of a believer to confront such things is the remembrance of Allah. Here the ayah says that remembrance should be abundant.
Who are these people to whom this verse is addressed to? The believers, people who have faith. Naturally, I assume that such people would be practicing Muslims already. So this means that despite that, the believers need to remember Allah a lot and all the time.
First let us try to understand what is meant by 'dhikr'. Does frequent dhikr mean to do tasbeeh repeatedly or take the 99 names of Allah again and again without understanding anything? Is this how we are supposed to remember him?
When we speak, we use words to convey what we are trying to say. Words represent meanings and they are nothing but sounds that are associated with some meaning. When a child makes some sound that seem like words but have no meaning , therefore we cannot call them words unless they have a meaning.
Now what is the point of repeating words (dhikr) when you don't mean them or actually know what it says.
Therefore, it is very important that we must try to understand the meaning of whatever dhikr we do. IF we know the translation and then read, for example, tasbeehat-e-arba'a, it will have effect on our souls. I don't mean to imply that should not read anything if we don't understand but what I am trying to say is do our best in trying to understand them.
Now the broader meaning of the ayah suggests that 'dhikr ' is actually what we have in our hearts. SO when we pray, we should have the concentration of mind and presence of heart by paying attention to the meanings of whatever we are reading, then we become more involved and our thoughts do not wander away so easily.
Why has dhikr been asked as a way to remember God?
Other worships have a defined set of rules and time. For example, everyday Salats have 17 units that are obligatory and if you want to do more, twice as much are recommended during a day. Hajj is wajib only once in our lifetime and if we want to do more, even that is only on a fixed date of the year. Khums is 20% and not more. But dhikr is a kind of 'ibadat' that is unlimited. We can do it anywhere, anytime, as much as we want.
So how is it possible? As mentioned earlier, this is actually the remembrance of Allah in our heart all the time, and every where that keeps us away from many sins.
Similarly, if our heart is not conscious of the Lord and does not know to Whom we are worshipping and why, then the salat is no more than a workout for the body.
What is Salat? It is a means to reach the proximity of God, not an end. It is the tool to get connected to God.
The benefit of remembering Allah all the time is that when we are in danger of sinning, it holds us back. And if, God forbid, a mistake happens, we feel guilty and repent.
Sometimes peer pressure, rather social/relatives' pressures force us to ignore the tiny knock in our minds that is trying to remind us of what is the right thing to do. For instance, it has been seen that mostly during the times of weddings, people give in to haram things for pleasing family and friends. Others encourage us to do what we should not be doing, so if the remembrance of Allah is there, it will not let us rest peacefully.
Another example would be when we step out of our home, we should think if God is okay with my appearance? Have I done anything to attract or be pleasing to a na-mahram? Will I be within the limits set by Allah at my place of work, school or store? Would I give up on hijab in order to get a prospective job?
Remembrance of Allah will help us in such circumstances and in fact give us courage or even consolence for a lost worldly privilege.
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