Blood Bank, Caring and Love, Personal Freedom
Issue 383 » June 16, 2006 - Jumada-al-Awwal 20, 1427
General
| Living the Quran |
Al-Maidah
(The Table Spread)
Blood donation is considered an extremely meritorious and rewarding act of charity in Islam; since Islam exhorts us to be charitable to all of Allah’s creation, we cannot think of any charity greater than the gift of life. It is a matter of common knowledge that in many cases persons injured in accidents, and so on, can only be saved from imminent death if they are given sufficient blood to replace what they have lost. So by giving blood, which is in short supply today, Muslims are helping people to live. By doing this they are, indeed, carrying out the order of Allah. There is no distinction to be made between Muslims and non-Muslims in donating and receiving blood, as Islam encourages us to be charitable to all creatures regardless of differences of religion or race. There is no distinction to be made in giving or receiving blood, for there can be no greater gift of charity than blood, as it amounts to saving a life. The Quranic order for Muslims is to foster life and be engaged in activities that strengthen and maintain it in all forms. The opposite of this is destruction or fasad, which includes all activities that diminish or destroy life in various ways. In other words, fostering and maintaining life in all forms, human and otherwise, is indeed one of the most meritorious acts entailing the greatest of rewards in the sight of Allah. How can it be otherwise, when humans are the trustees of the earth, and, as such, we are to enhance Allah’s work? Blood donation undoubtedly tops the list of charitable deeds; therefore every Muslim should not only participate in it but also take the initiative in their communities to organize blood banks. May Allah give us the honour of saving lives and thus receive rewards both here and in the Hereafter. Source: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
| Caring and Love The Prophet, peace be upon him, hated to let his companions nurture a pointless feeling of guilt. He kept telling them that they must never stop conversing with the One, the Most Kind, the Most Merciful who welcomes everyone in His grace and benevolence and who loves the sincerity of hearts that regret and return to Him. This is the profound meaning of “at-tawbah” offered to every conscience: “sincerely returning to God” after a slip, a mistake, a sin. God loves that sincere return to Him and He forgives and purifies. The Prophet himself exemplified that in many circumstances. Once, a Bedouin came and urinated in the mosque: the companions rushed on him and wanted to beat him up. The Prophet stopped them and said: “Leave him alone, and just throw a bucketful of water on his urine. God has only sent you to make obligations easy, and not to make them difficult.” [Bukhari] Again, `Aishah reports that once, a man came to the Prophet and told him: “I am lost!” The Prophet asked: “Why?” The man confessed: “I had intercourse with my wife during the fasting hours of Ramadan.” Muhammad answered: “Give charity!” The man replied: “I own nothing!” Then he sat down at a short distance from the Prophet. Some time later, a man arrived, bringing a dish of food. The Prophet called out: “Where is the man who is lost?” “Here”, he answered. Muhammad told him: “Take this food and give it away in charity.” “To one poorer than myself? My family has nothing to eat!” “Well then, eat it yourselves”, the Prophet replied with a smile. [Bukhari and Muslim] That gentleness and kindness were the very essence of his teaching. He kept saying: “God is gentle (Rafîq) and he loves gentleness (ar-rifq) in everything.” [Bukhari and Muslim] He also said: “He gives for gentleness what He does not give for violence or anything else.” [Bukhari] He declared to one of his companions: “There are in you two qualities that God loves: clemency (al-hilm) and forbearance [nobleness, tolerance] (al-anâ). [Muslim] He invited all his companions to that constant effort of gentleness and forgiveness: “If you hear about your brother something of which you disapprove, seek from one to seventy excuses for him. If you cannot find any, convince yourselves that it is an excuse you do not know.” [Bayhaqi] Source: |
| Cool Concepts! |
The Security of Personal Freedom Islam has laid down the principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court proceedings and without providing him a reason- able opportunity to produce his defence is not permissible in Islam. This was the reason why the Caliph 'Umar said: "In Islam no one can be imprisoned except in pursuance of justice." The words used here clearly indicate that justice means due process of law. What has been prohibited and condemned is that a man be arrested and imprisoned without proof of his guilt in an open court and without providing him an opportunity to defend himself against those charges. If the Government suspects that a particular individual has committed a crime or he is likely to commit an offence in the near future then they should give reasons for their suspicion before a court of law and the culprit or the suspect should be allowed to produce his defence in an open court, so that the court may decide whether the suspicion against him is based on sound grounds or not and if there is good reason for suspicion, then he should be informed of how long he will be in preventive detention. This decision should be taken under all circumstances in an open court, so that the public may hear the charges brought by the government, as well as the defence made by the accused and see that the due process of law is being applied to him and he is not being victimized. The attitude and activities of the Kharijis in the days of the Caliph 'Ali are well-known to the students of Muslim history. They used to abuse the Caliph openly, and threaten him with murder. But whenever they were arrested for these offences, 'Ali would set them free and tell his officers "As long as they do not actually perpetrate offences against the State, the mere use of abusive language or the threat of use of force are not such offences for which they can be imprisoned." The imam Abu Hanifah has recorded the following saying of the Caliph 'Ali (A): "As long as they do not set out on armed rebellion, the Caliph of the Faithful will not interfere with them." On another occasion 'Ali was delivering a lecture in the mosque when the Kharijis raised their special slogan there. 'Ali said: "We will not deny you the right to come to the mosques to worship God, nor will we stop to give your share from the wealth of the State, as long as you are with us (and support us in our wars with the unbelievers) and we shall never take military action against you as long as you do not fight with us." One can visualize the opposition which 'Ali was facing; more violent and abusive opposition cannot even be imagined in a present-day democratic State; but the freedom that he had allowed to the opposition was such that no government has ever been able to give to its opposition. He did not arrest even those who threatened him with murder nor did he imprison them. Source: |
