Music is forbidden

Mohammad Muneeb (Highway 61): I'm prepared to face anyone because I have not done anything wrong.
"Music has brought me peace, it has brought me calm."
When I hear such statements coming from none but our own muslim brothers, I just don't believe it. Infact, I'm shocked to know that a muslim, who has been forbidden to listen to music as being 'Haraam', is propagating the tool of lucifer. How could you ask a muslim to pay 'Zakat' if he says that he isn't in peace in giving away a little part of his wealth to the needy! What if a youngester finds peace in a liqueur shop instead of a mosque! What will you have to say when a lad has veneration for so called "King Khan" rather than for the 'Sahaba' - companions of our beloved Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W)!
A muslim must find peace in Islam rather than outside it because in the guise of peace, he indulges in evil and pleasurable things and his inclination for worldly things grows more and more, especially if there are secular elements to 'protect' and 'support' him.
Islam means submission to Almight Allah and His commandments. A believer can't, in any way, challenge His instructions and if he does, then does he still be called a Muslim.
To be honest, I'm not interested in counting the faults of someone but to get the message across that to be a sinner, in the light of Holy Quran and Hadeeth, is obviously not good but to justify one's sin is the worst thing one is expected to do.
I'm myself suffering from a web of sins. I too watch movies and listen to babel (music). But instead of being a hypocrite, I admit my sins and pray to Allah to help me relinquish them. I personally believe that the solution to the most complex questions lies in simple things. For instance, I often start my activities with the words "Bismillah" (in the name of Allah). This simple but powerful line helps me to introspect my about-to-do deed to understand the nature of it. I feel guilty if it confronts the religious guidance and try to forgo it next time but i feel joyful and confident if it has the religious approval and naturally, my tendency towards the good deed develops with each and every passing day.
All in all, I have still a lot to do so as to get myself out of the trap of evil and irreligious influences which have robbed me off my staunch inclination towards Islam - the peaceful religion for universal humanity and brotherhood.
As far as my fellow muslim brothers are concerned, who are also chained in secular, irreligious influence and acts of moral waywardness, my write-up may not happen to change their minds and perception but let me tell them what an unbeliever named Aldous Huxley had to say. He said, "The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced". I guess this is ample for those who, in the guise of noble cause, indulge in immoral act and thus contribute to the growing social evils in our society. The writing on the wall is quite clear. We ought to throw out the menace of secularism out of our land and for that we have to start the process from our own selves as 'charity begins at home'. It's the time to re-think about how sincere we are inside the mosque and outside it. The time has come to choose between good and evil. Time to call a spade a spade. Time to be straight-forward. Time to desist from using religion and noble ends for self-centered interests of fame and following. Precisely, its high time to be selfless.

Why is the eating of pork forbidden in Islam??

•• The Qur’an prohibits the consumption of pork in no less than four different places. It is prohibited in 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 and 16:115.

Allah Almighty says, “Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of SWINE, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah.” [Al Qur’an 5:3]

•• Pork is also prohibited in the Bible. The Bible prohibits the consumption of pork, in the Book of Leviticus:

“And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you.”
[Book of Leviticus 11:7-8]

It is also mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Deuteronomy:
“And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you. Ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.”
[Book of Deuteronomy 14:8]

A similar prohibition is repeated in the Bible in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 65 Verses 2-5.

•• Now let us discuss the Consumption of pork on the basis of Science and Logic:

=> Consumption of pork causes several disease. Eating of pork can cause no less than seventy different types of diseases.

A person can have various helminths like roundworm, pinworm, hookworm, etc. One of the most dangerous is Taenia Solium, which is in lay man’s terminology called tapeworm. It harbours in the intestine and is very long. Its ova i.e. eggs, enter the blood stream and can reach almost all the organs of the body. If it enters the brain it can cause Neurocysticercosis, a fatal disiease. If it enters the heart it can cause heart attack, if it enters the eye it can cause blindness, if it enters the liver it can cause liver damage. It can damage almost all the organs of the body.

=> Another dangerous helminth is Trichuris trichiura. A common misconception about pork is that if it is cooked well, these ova die. But in a research project undertaken in America, it was found that out of twenty-four people suffering from Trichuris trichiura, twenty-two had cooked the pork very well. This indicates that the ova present in the pork do not die under normal cooking temperature.

=> Pork has very little muscle building material and contains excess of fat. This fat gets deposited in the vessels and can cause Hypertension and Heart attack.
It is not surprising that over 50 million Americans suffer from hypertension.

=> The pig is one of the filthiest animals on earth. It lives and thrives on muck, faeces and dirt. It is the best scavenger that I know that God has produced. In the villages they don’t have modern toilets and the villagers excrete in the open air. Very often excreta is cleared by pigs.

Some may argue that in advanced countries like Australia, pigs are bred in very clean and hygienic conditions. Even in these hygienic conditions the pigs are kept together in sties. No matter how hard you try to keep them clean they are filthy by nature. They eat and enjoy their own as well as their neighbour’s excreta!

 SISTERS: PRAYER, WINE AND HIGH-HEELED SHOES

By Shaykh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-AlbaaneeWhat should the Muslimah do whose husband forces her to drink wine, and other issues fundamental to women!

 First, –SHE SHOULD REPENT TO ALLAAH FOR WHAT SHE DID IN THOSE DAYS 

with the usual and known repentance, with its necessary conditions.

1] What is the Islaamic ruling upon a husband offering khamr(wine and intoxicants) to his wife, threatening to divorce her if she refuses it, although he knows that she is regular in her Prayers?

[A.1] The answer to this question is well-known!  “There can be no obedience to the creation, if it involves disobedience to the creator.” [1] It is not permissible for the wife to obey her husband in disobedience to Allaah – the Most High, and her divorce from him is better for her.  Allaah says:

 
“But if their intention is firm for divorce, Allaah sees and knows all things.” [Sooratul-Baqarah 2:227]

This is especially true when the cause for divorce from the woman is her obedience to Allaah and disobedience to her husband, who is flouting the commands of Allaah.  However, other issues need to be taken into consideration; and each case is to be judged according to its individual circumstances.  If the woman is divorced from her husband, her and her children’s lives may be ruined.  In such a case, it would be possible for us to say that she should stay with her husband, by way of choosing the lesser of the two evils.  However, we do not give such a ruling generally, for it is against the essential principle.  The matter is as Allaah says:

“But each man is aware of his own self.” [Sooratul-Qiyaamah 75:14]

[Q.2] Is it permissible for women to wear high-heeled shoes?

[A.2] This is not permissible.  It involves resembling the disbelieving women, or the wicked women.  It has its origins amongst the Jewish women before Islaam.  When one of them wanted to attend a gathering where her lover was present, she would wear a pair of high shoes for him to see her, being taller.  Then after a time, those became high-heeled shoes.  Further, that type of shoe changes a woman’s way of walking, causing her to tilt from left to right, and therefore, the wicked and unbelievers choose this type of shoe.  Therefore, a Muslim woman following theSharee’ah(Islaamic Law) should not wear high-heeled shoes; especially since many times it causes her to fall!

[Q.3] With regard to a woman who did not pray, though she was Muslim, due to lack of fear of the Punishment of Allaah, but then she repents to Allaah; does she have to make up the missed Prayers?

[A.3] First, she should repent to Allaah for what she did in those days – with the usual and known repentance, with its necessary conditions. [2] She should then be careful after that to pray the Prayer at its time, and should pray as much nafl(supererogatory) Prayers to make up for the great good which she missed in those days when she left the Prayer. [3]

Footnotes:

[1] Saheeh: Related by al-Waahidee in al-Asbaabun-Nuzool (p. 195), and by al-Baghawee in his Tafseer (5/188).  It was authenticated by al-Albaanee in al-Mishkaatul-Masaabeeh (no. 3696).

[2] There are four conditions for repentance, 1) To immediately refrain from the sin, 2) Remorse, 3) To make a firm resolve not to return to the sin, and 4) To seek forgiveness.  Refer to al-Istighfaarby Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, with the checking of Fawwaaz Ahmad Zumarlee.

[3] Extracted from a tape by Shaykh al-Albaanee.

THE RULING ON TELEVISION TODAY

tHE RULING ON TELEVISION TODAY

Author: Imaam Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albaanee
Source: Al-Asaalah Magazine, Issue #10 al-manhaj.com
Translator: isma'eel alarcon

Question: What is the ruling on television today? 

Answer: There is no doubt that television, today, is Haraam (forbidden). This  

is since television is like the radio and tape recorder – they are like all the othe

         blessings that Allaah has bestowed upon His servants, as He has stated:

"And if you were to count the blessings of Allaah, you would never be 

able to count them." [Surah An-Nahl: 18]
Thus, hearing is a blessing and eyesight is a blessing, and so are the lips and 
 tongue. However, many of these blessings become trials upon their possessors 

because they do not use them in a way that Allaah loves and wants for them to be used.

Therefore, I consider the radio, television and the tape recorder to be from the 

blessings of Allaah, but when are they deemed as blessings? When they are 

used to bring benefit to the ummah. Today, ninety-nine percent of what is on 

television is evil, licentious, immoral, forbidden, and so on, while one percent 

of it has some shows presented that are of benefit to some people. 

But the consideration is with regard to the majority (and not the minority). So 

when a true Muslim state exists that can place programs based on knowledge 

, which would be beneficial for the ummah, at that point I will not say that 

television is permissible, but rather I will say that it is obligatory.