Monday, December 01, 2008

Daily Contemplation

Surah Al ma'un

Surah 107: 4-7

Ah, woe unto worshippers
Who are heedless of their prayer;
Who only make a show of worship
Yet refuses small kindnesses!

Surah 107: 1-3

Hast thou observed him who belieth religion?
That is he who repelleth the orphan,
And urgeth not the feeding of the needy.

The Prophet migrated from Makkah to Madinah, a hunted and persecuted man. In Madinah all his forces rallied round hum, and the efforts by the Makkans and their confederates to destroy him and his community recoiled on their own heads. Gradually all the outlying parts of Arabia ranged themselves round his standard and the bloodless conquest of Makkah was the crown and prize of his patience and constant endeavour. After that, whole tribes and tracts of country gave their adhesion to him collectively, and before his earthly ministry was finished, the soil was prepared for the conquest of the wide world of Islam.

What was the lesson to be learnt from this epitome of the world's history? Not man's self-glory, but humility; not power but service; not an appeal to man's selfishness or ketuanan, but of God's Grace and Mercy, and the abundant outpouring of God's Praises in words and conduct.

(Reference: The Holy Quran - Original Arabic Text by Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anything to comment on Sahih Bukhari Vol 4, Book 63, No 260:-

The Prophet(pbuh) said, "If a Muslim left his religion, kill him".

Anonymous said...

retreat is retreat lah, no need to disguise with the word "migration".....

even genius military like napoleon or frederick II won't disguise it (who defeated 80,000 armies with mere 36k at Battle of Leuthen)

Anonymous said...

Leaving Islam on the basis of belief only and without offering any damage or oppression to others or to the Islamic State does not carry corporal or capital punishment, or any other type of punishment that I have found evidence for. In fact, there were cases at the time of the prophet, peace be upon him, where some had entered Islam, left Islam and then came back to Islam. Other cases people left and did not come back and lived on without any persecution or prosecution for that matter, whatsoever.

Many non-Muslim, seem detested by the fact that Muslims could believe that God has legislated death for apostasy. Some people claim, that Islam must be some barbaric religion to believe in such a penalty. This attitude is very perplexing and it is one thing to say, “We no longer believe in such a law” and quite another to say, “We do not believe in a God that would legislate such a penalty.” In the former case, the individual is simply turning his back on what may have been part of his religion. Such an approach is common for modernist Jews, Christians and Muslims. However, the latter approach clearly denies what is stated in their holy books. Unfortunately, this is also not uncommon for modernists. However, many less-extreme Jews, Christians and Muslims do not allow themselves to go that far.

An in-depth study of all of the relevant Biblical texts is well beyond what is needed here. Furthermore, one may consult a qualified Islamic scholar on this issue

Anonymous said...

Denzook, if you had actually studied the history of the Prophet (PBUH) emigration from Makkah to Madinah, you would know that the word "migrated" used in this article is more pertinent than "retreat".

A group of Muslims from Yathrib (Madinah) came to Makkah and met with the Prophet. Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle who was himself not a Muslim yet, was present at the meeting. They invited the Prophet and the Muslims from Makkah to emigrate to Yathrib. They promised to treat them as true brothers and sisters. A long discussion ensued between the Muslims of Yathrib and the Prophet's uncle to make sure that they really wanted to welcome the Makkan Muslims into their own homes. The Prophet agreed, in the end, to emigrate to this new land.

Thank you Maverick for this useful post

Maverick SM said...

Asyraf,

The Prophet said: Knowledge is only given to those who sought wisdom and understanding. To many others, they prefer informations that suits their level of thought and thoughtlessness.

As regards to the knowledge pertaining to apostasy, I agree with your opinion. However, there are some scholars who preferred the orthodox interpretations and it is inappropriate to discuss it here.