loading

General

<FIRST <PREV NEXT> LAST>

From Issue: 457 [Read full issue]

Living the Quran

Al-Furqan (The Criterion)
Chapter 25: Verse 43

Enslavement
"Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him?"

Greatest Loss

No person can suffer any loss greater than the loss of his humanity and sinking to the level of animals. But this is what inevitably happens when a person does not submit to Allah alone, and falls into submission to his whims and desires.

Enslavement at the Hands of the Ruling Class

Moreover they fall victim to all kinds of servitude to other people - such as the worst kind of enslavement to rulers and presidents who direct their affairs according to laws they make up themselves, with no control and no aim apart from protecting the interests of the legislators themselves - whether that is one ruler, or a ruling class or a ruling race. An examination of the human race as a whole will reveal that this phenomenon applies in the case of every man-made ruling that does not stem from Allah alone or act within the framework of the Shariah of Allah.

Not only about Law-making

Enslavement to people take other subtle forms also. We may quote as an example enslavement to fashion designers. How much power do these people wield over the masses! The fashion dictated by the designers in clothing, cars, architectures, decor and parties, etc. is a harsh kind of enslavement, which no ignorant man or woman can escape or think of going against. It is this pervasive enslavement that pressures us to stay in line with latest and coolest cell-phone or gadget. It is the same enslavement that forces us to live a shop-aholic mall culture to stay in tune with the latest designer fashions, hair style or like. And examples go on and on. If the people of ignorance were to devote to Allah even a part of their submission that they show towards the designers, they would become devoted worshippers. What is this, if it is not enslavement?

Source:
"The Ideal Muslim Society" - Muhammad Ali Al-Hashmi

Understanding the Prophet's Life

Debtless

While on his deathbed the Prophet, peace be upon him, rose and asked whether he owed any of his Companions anything. Did he have an unsettled debt? Had he offended or hurt anybody? If so, that person should speak out so that the situation could be settled. A man stood up and reminded the Prophet that he owed him three dirhams: the Prophet ordered that the money be given back to him immediately.

The Messenger, following the injunctions of Revelation, did not pray on a believer's grave until all his earthly debts were settled, and he knew that even for one who had given up his life to God, debt remained a burden that God did not remit. He had to depart debtless, free from owing anything to any other person, taking with him no unforgiven offense, no unhealed wound, no undischarged trust, no unheard message.

Source:
"In The Footsteps of The Prophet" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 205, 206

Blindspot!

Joint Accounts

Family expenses are the sole responsibility of the husband/father. Wife is not responsible to share in family expenses. But the joint account is a different matter. Joint account usually means that while the two persons who own the account are alive they own its balances on equal shares but when one of them dies the other becomes the owner of all. This is the way usually joint accounts are defined in most civil and commercial laws all over the world.

The Shari`ah on the other hand does not accept the point that the surviving jointer becomes the sole owner and it continues to regard its ownership on a half/half basis even after the death of one of them. We consider the fact that one spouse puts her/his property in a joint manner an indication that the spouse intends to give one half ownership in that property to the other as a gift. Gifts between spouses are permissible and have no limits whatsoever.

Now, this means that a mother, unless it can be proven otherwise, by putting her income in a joint account, is giving half of it to the father, the same applies to the father.

Hence, if one of them dies, La Samaha Allah, the balance in this joint account is considered owned half/half and the half that belongs to the deceased must be distributed according to the inheritance rules, in which the other spouse will have a share. Of course, properties that are not in joint account will be distributed directly according to the inheritance rules.

Source:
IslamOnline.Net - Monzer Kahf

<FIRST <PREV NEXT> LAST>