Letters to the Editor
Q: Hi, I am 18 years old. How should a Muslim satisfy his sexuality without …bation?
Harish,
On Email
YMD
This is one of the immense contradictions created by the modern malicious civilization which has taken away smiles from the faces of the unsuspecting millions. Reproduction and multiplication is the central theme of life. In fact, biologists define ‘life’ as that which replicates. Any biological being which cannot replicate is dead. DNA replicates. Humans replicate.
The drive to replicate is a powerful one. It can over-power men and women and take control of them. When at the height of its power, it can make a person go crazy and do things that he had not imagined doing it. All faculties of the mind are shut off, and nothing but the urge to reproduce completely captures him.
Now, the contradiction of the modern malicious civilization is that it allows women to uncover to any extent they decide. In some places there are some restrictions, but in many there are none. In some places, the demand is to undress, such as a recent art exhibition in Paris, or those regular nude cycle drives in Britain, or several beaches in Europe, or parks, where they ‘show all.’
In colleges, offices and clubs, women commonly wear shorts, as short as possible, and bare the upper torso to whatever will attract looks.
In public, depending on the culture of the town, anything will go, but mostly that which invites attention.
Then there is the print media, the Silver Screen, the Net, the Social Medias, their first business is to expose the less-dressed, the half-dressed, the nude. That’s how they win viewers. That’s how they make their money.
A young man of today, in the prime of nature’s demand to replicate, is assaulted by nudities of all kinds and class, overt and covert, from every direction that he looks.
What should he do? How to overcome the replication demand?
It is definitely a challenge, but not impossible to overcome.
Luckily, you are a Muslim. Your will power is stronger. Be chaste at your level. Do your five-time Prayers. Give some time to Qur’anic reading. Remain in the company of the committed Muslims. The urge is assuaged. The mind is diverted. The looks are deflected.
The Prophet’s suggestion helps out: Fast. Yes, fast as many days as you can.
Nature’s replication demand is more powerful than what these measures can withstand. But, persistent practices make one stronger, and Allah’s own help is registered for a believer.
Q: Recently I had been to my relatives house to attend a funeral. There, I saw that the wife is dead and all the people said to the husband he is not allowed to touch the body of his wife after she died and all other relatives and outsiders are doing the needful handling the ritual. So as the wife lived with her husband for years now he has become na meharam its right or wrong? Please clarify.
YMD
It is right. After she is dead, a woman is no more a man’s wife. The bond was for this life, and he is now like any other ghayr mahram male. He may not be allowed to touch her, or see any of her `awrah, that is, head to foot.
Q: I noticed that all expect her husband not to go down into the grave to bury her.
YMD
To add corruptions to the Shari`ah is the theme overrunning lives of the ignorant. A husband can go down into the grave.
Q: People who were there were of Bareilly sect.
YMD
Barelawys are not a sect. They deviate here and there, but largely remain with the mainstream Muslims. Some of their prominent leaders in Pakistan have strongly and openly disowned some of the deviant practices of their Jama`ah in India.
Q: Please give details in Islam what is correct.
Raees Ansari,
On Email
YMD
Since a dead woman is now within a 5-fold coffin, she can be lifted up, carried into the grave and even lowered down by her former husband or any other non-Mahram. Only, they are not allowed to touch her body without a barrier.
- A, B & C had been three brothers. A died in 1967.
- ” A” had one daughter “D” and one son “E”
- “E” died during the life time of his father in 1960 leaving one daughter, “S”.
- “A” passed wasiyat nama (WILL) of his holdings in favour of his only daughter “D” & died.
- Later “S” was also married presently enjoying her own family husband & children
- “D” had already married with her cousin “R” only son of “B” who (“B”) was already expired
- “R” also expired and “D” still survives with two sons & three daughters all married
- “C” had also expired leaving son & daughters all expired except one daughter but have majored issues enjoying their life with their families
It is said/ learnt from reliable sources that as per Muslim Personal Law “S” is wholly deprived and has no any kind of right over any kind of property of “A” because the father of “S” had died during the life time of his father “A”.
Mohammad Yousuf Shah
On Email
YMD
There’s no reason to create complications. This case is simply that of a woman’s (S) inheritance from her grandfather (A) who is dead, and whose property has long been divided.
What does she get?
Obviously, nothing by law, and nothing because there is nothing left for division.
Q: I am from Pakistan. I heard about Young Muslim Digest and I want this Digest in printed form. I read about the subscription charges on your website 25$ for overseas but 250 Indian rupee for nationals… 25$ = appr. 2500 PKR. Sir, I want to subscribe, but I can’t afford 25$. India is our neighbor country and I don’t think so it will cost more than 2$ for the courier service.
Sohaib Ahmad,
On Email
YMD
If you came back after a few centuries, you might find that the neighbors are still fighting.
We regret that we cannot help you in this case. Further, we are not sure you will get the magazine, even if you subscribed and we posted.
Q: I read the September 2016 issue of your esteemed magazine. In your Q&A section you dealt with the issue of need or otherwise of Khilafah, whether it will work or not. Your answer seems to give the message that, – any system will work, provided, the people who run are of good quality.
YMD
Contrarily, no political system will work to satisfaction if the people who run it lack integrity. We believe you have a glaring example before your eyes.
Q. – People deserve the government and the system they are reeling under.
YMD
Whether the people deserve this or that is for Allah (swt) to judge; for humans, it is to strive to set up the best possible system of governance.
Q. – Muslims have been told not to seek dominance in this world, but be leaders in piety.
YMD
Correct. Political and material dominance should not be the objective of Islamic struggle. Where Muslims cannot manage to dominate through Jihad (as the situation is now, over the world, when any war is forbiddingly devastative), they should not imagine that their duty is over. They should seek to dominate, intellectually, morally, and spiritually.
Q. – Muslims have not been ordered to set up TV centers, open Da’wah centers and print Qur’an!
YMD
Yes, the Muslims should not believe that having taken care of the above, they have fulfilled their role, or that, “setting up Islamic centers, running an Islamic magazine (like ours), et al,” is the prime role of their existence.
Their role toward raising “the word of Allah, over and above the rest,” can be achieved with or without the “Islamic Centers, TV Channels … etc.”
Q. Your answers and your stand are creating more questions than answering any. People of influence, should measure each and every sentence they write and print. It is because of lack of clarity, lack of attention to details, extreme of stands, etc. has caused the misinterpretation of many other sensitive terms like, e.g., Jihad.
YMD
That’s not correct. It is the refusal of Muslims to get their religion from its primary sources, through the language of Islam that has created the situation you have described.
At all events, our writing that you have referred to was a short answer to remove one or two misconceptions – and no more. And, to those who are unfamiliar with the topic, yes, it could create some confusion.
Further to that reply in the Readers’ column, we have followed up with a whole article on the subject in the February issue of this year.
Nonetheless, Khilafah, Jihad, etc. are terms and topics that need volumes to understand.
Q. I fear the Khilafah terminology having the same fate.
YMD
Khilafah terminology has already suffered the same fate. It has been given a topsy-turvy explanation in our times. Those who are ruled are implicitly told to rebel (although the measure does not have Islam’s approval), and the trigger-happy ruling class unleash their scourge on those who challenge their authority and privileges.
Q. Why can’t our scholars clarify the stand, give a pragmatic reply and deal with such issues seriously.
YMD
That’s already done – several times over – in the language of Islam: Arabic. One of the earliest available on the subject of governance, is by Mawardi (d. 450 H), called Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah, another is by Ibn Simnani (d. 499 H) called Rawdatu al-Qada..’ A more recent work – that of Rashid Rida Misri and called “Al-Khilafah” – makes clearer statements. Nadwatu al-Musannifeen (Delhi) has produced a goodly book called, “Islam ka Siyasi Nizam.” But, is there anybody except the academicians who are interested in these and dozens of other books available in Arabic?
On our part, we suspect that these books have not been translated, perhaps, because their contents are not favored by the current deviant political thought.
Q. The logical new questions which will arise after your response are as follows: If any system is good? Then the question will be, whether interest-based economy is also good? Why to condemn the flaws of interest-based economy?
YMD
That’s hilarious. Political systems are one entity and Economic system is another entity. When we said, “any system,” we meant any political system, and not any economic system, or any judicial system.
Q. *Governance and rule based on racial ideology and outdated biblical interpretation should also be good? That means the Jewish occupation of Palestine should not be commented, written and protested about. Your magazine is very much fond of publishing innumerable articles condemning the rule which the ruled upon masses rightly deserves (according to your logic).
YMD
The above is according to your logic; not our logic. In fact, it looks like the above logic does not have the approval of any logic.
Q. *Going by the same logic, the rule of Hajjaj bin Yusuf was deserved by our Salaf. It was not good on the part of Hazrat Abdullah bin Zubair (ra) to struggle against his rule. Similarly Hazrat Hussain bin Ali (ra)’s struggle against Yazid.
YMD
Please see answer to Q.9, except to enhance principles of ‘your’ logic for the process to qualify with greater quibbles.
Q. Salahuddin Ayyubi’s campaign against crusaders. Ayyubi had wasted his energies in liberating Masjid-e-Aqsa, the occupation of the crusaders was well-deserved, according to your logic.
YMD
Look hard. Do the above smack of absurdities?
Q. Why Ibn Taymiyah fought against the Mongols? Poor him.
YMD
The Prophet (saws) had predicted that `Ammar b. Yasir (ra) will be killed by a rebellious party. He died in a battle fought between two Muslim contending parties. When the killing party was told that the responsibility was on them, one of them replied that rather the party that brought him into the battle was responsible. Yasir’s party replied, “If that is any logic, then the Prophet was responsible for the death of his uncle Hamza.” The party which killed Yasir had no answer.
Heads you lose, tails I win, follows a logic that has to crash.
Q. Coming near home.
YMD
Ibn Taymiyyah is near home; why do you place him away from home?
Q. Deobandis of all hues boast of Sayyid Ahmed Shaheed’s struggle against the British and the Sikhs. What was the necessity? And what about the struggle of Shaikh-ul-Hind?
YMD
The literature you might have read so far, concerning struggle to establish “Allah’s Religion” does not seem to distinguish between political struggle between two or more Muslim parties, and the struggle between Muslims and non-Muslims. The absence of that distinction has put your logic into the Reverse Gear.
But this is not your fault. The literature available in the non-Arabic world enjoys the distinct quality of consistently offering wrong concepts clothed in holy words.
Q. *If Muslims have not been ordered to open Da’wah centers, TV Channels, print Qur’an in millions, my question is, whether Muslims have been ordered to print a magazine like yours and give printed sermons on all and sundry issues?
YMD
If the publishers of this magazine believe that “this is all that” Islam demands of them, then they are, as the Salaf used to say about individuals, “he is more misguided than his donkey.”
Q. I suggest you to consult senior Ulama, like those in your advisory board, before giving Fatwas on subtle issues, which may cause confusion, discord, extremism due to misinterpretation, indulging in violence or going into lethargy, paralysis or causing prolonged inertia of the Ummah.
Dr. Farhana Jabeen,
On Email
YMD
The issue is not subtle. The Islamic instructions about how to go about setting up an Islamic State are clear, direct, and simple. There is no need to consult scholars. There is need to avoid modern literature – altogether – and consult only the Mujtahideen of the glorious past. It is perhaps the contemporary literature, prepared by those who do not know the sources, or do not recognize them, which has rewarded you with jumbled, illogical dogmas.
On another front, your admonition addressed to us, reminds us of an incident of the time of the Companions. It goes like this. The narrator Saleh b. Jubayr said:
“(We were in Jerusalem when) Abu Jumu`a al‑Ansari, the Prophet’s Companion, visited (the city) to offer prayers in Bayt al‑Maqdis. Raja’ b. Haywah was also with him. At the time of his departure, we accompanied him for a short distance. When we had to part, he said: “You have a right on me (that you have treated me well. In return) I will narrate to you a hadith that I heard directly from the Prophet.” We said (with some excitement), “Do that please, may Allah enwrap you in His mercy.” He said: “Well. Once we were with the Prophet. Mu`adh b. al‑Jabal, one of the Ten (given the good news of entry into Paradise) was also with us. We asked the Prophet: ‘Will anyone be rewarded better than us, seeing that we believed in you and followed you?’ The Prophet said: ‘What could have prevented you from doing that when the Prophet of Allah is with you, and the revelations come down before you from the heavens? Indeed, a people will come after you who will receive the Book bound between two covers. They will believe in it and live by it. Theirs will be a reward greater than yours. Theirs will be a reward greater than yours.'”
Following the same spirit, and in return of your admonition, we would thankfully offer you our own advice: Apparently, you are quite educated. Your letter projects you as someone who is aware of Islamic issues and sufficiently concerned about them. You must have read a lot. At this stage of your intellectual growth, we suggest that you might avoid reading any propaganda literature. You may not read any book especially in Urdu less than 300 pages in volume. The authors who will not damage faculties of your mind but rather, could lead you to intellectuality are: Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Shibli No`mani, Syed Sulayman Nadwi, Manazir Ahsan Geelani, Abdul Majid Daryabadi, Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Abdul Salam Nadwi, and others of the School called Darul Musannifeen `Azamgarh; Sa`eed Ahmad Akbarabadi, Hifzurrahman Sewharwi, and others of the School called Nadwatu al-Musannifeen (Delhi). These scholars had no agenda of their own nor were promoting any cause except the cause of Islamic knowledge and have, thus, produced the finest of literature ever written in Urdu.
There are at least two books in English on the topic of this discussion that may be necessarily read:
- Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah by Al-Mawardi, now translated into English. This presents the standard texts.
- The Principles of State and Government in Islam by Muhammad Asad. This is a brief but brilliant treatise on the subject.
