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Salaam Sayyyidi  and Salaam to all respected members

I have got a few questions.

If I were sinful right now or maybe for many years, am I away from Allah?

Similar questions regarding the inhabitants of Hell, would they be away from Allah’s love?

I have learnt a new thought that no matter what, where or how we are, good or bad, people of paradise or hell fire, we are always facing to Allah. Everything in the cosmos is facing that Direction. Perhaps anything other than Allah is facing to Allah.

Verses 4:101-104

I find the description of SALAT in verses 101-104 in Surah Nisa (#4) not clear to me. I find their purpose even less clear. The main source of non-clarity is the abundant use of translator’s opinions in parenthesis. When such use of opinions is made I suspect some loss of meaning, or even its possible corruption.

It all started with my trying to understand: إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا  . This partial verse is often cited in support of a rigid timings for Salat and their number (5) in a day. But I realize that to base the understanding on a partial verse is perhaps unsafe.  There may be additional verses on this topic but I have not seen them. So I looked at full verse and it does not add clarity to this partial quote often cited. Then I looked at the preceding and following verse it offered no further transparency. The part  إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًا seems to be standing there by itself.

These are my difficulties. If you can point to some sources that might be helpful for me.

A thank-you note and a question

Salaam Sayyidi and Salaam to everyone

1.Sayyidi,last year you wrote a sentence:

“Sadly for me to be truthful is far more suited than being pious”

I could not understand it that time. Now I am beginning to see the depths of these words. All I can say is thank you.

2. It has been more than eight years I have been performing five times prayer a day.
But all these years I saw nothing.
I experienced nothing.
No sign of any Divine Ray.
All I see is my Self repeating verses of the Quran, making Dhikr, standing up,bowing down and so on.

I feel like a hypocrite, Nafs thinks that it is doing an extemely pious deed while there is no connection with Allah whatsoever.

What might the possible reason behind this? Any hint?

Life Expectancy

Even up to 1900s the average life expectancy was 31 years. Many factors resulted in short life span but what mattered for many communities was early marriages to maintain a population that could function as an organized society i.e. to farm and manufacture and secure and so on.

It is not for us to judge those marriages. We should only judge our own affairs with women and children in our own households, not what those millions of people did centuries back.

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

Era Life expectancy at birth
in years
Life expectancy at older age
Paleolithic 33 Based on the data from recent hunter-gatherer populations, it is estimated that at 15, life expectancy was an additional 39 years (total 54), with a 0.60 probability of reaching 15.[11]
Neolithic 20 [12]-33 [13]
Bronze Age and Iron Age[14] 26
Classical Greece[15] 28
Classical Rome[16] 20–30 If a child survived to age 10, life expectancy was an additional 37.5 years, (total age 47.5 years).[17]
Pre-Columbian North America[18] 25–30
Medieval Islamic Caliphate[19] 35+ Average lifespan of scholars was 59–84.3 years in the Middle East[20][21] and 69–75 in Islamic Spain.[22]
Late medieval English peerage[23][24] 30 At age 21, life expectancy was an additional 43 years (total age 64).[25]
Early Modern England[14] 33–40
1900 world average[26] 31
1950 world average[26] 48
2010 world average[27] 67.2

Age of Consent Laws

Source: http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/24

Age of Consent Laws

Annotation

Information on the ages used historically in western age of consent laws is not readily available. This table has been compiled from a combination of historical and contemporary sources. By 1880, the first date chosen, many western nations had established an age of consent for the first time, typically of 12 or 13 years. By 1920, when the influence of reform campaigns that established a new link between the age of consent and prostitution had run its course, most had revised their age upward, to 14 or 15 in European nations, and 16 in the Anglo-American world. In the last decades of the 20th century, states and nations with ages below those averages amended their laws to move closer to them. In Europe that growing conformity owed much to moves toward greater European integration. Given that the rationale for the age of consent has remained essentially unchanged in its emphasis on the need to protect ‘immature’ children, the table highlights the shifting and various definitions of childhood employed across time and cultures.

Source

Date compiled from the following sources: Hirschfeld, Magnus. The Homosexuality of Men and Women. Translated by Michael Lombardi-Nash. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2000; Killias, Martin. “The Emergence of a New Taboo: The Desexualization of Youth in Western Societies Since 1800.” European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 8 (2000): 466; Odem, Mary. Delinquent Daughters: Policing and Protecting Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, 1885-1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995; “Worldwide Ages of Consent,” AVERTing HIV and Aids, www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm (accessed November 29, 2007).

Primary Source Text

Age Limit in Age of Consent Laws in Selected Countries

1880 1920 2007
Austria 14 14 14
Belgium 16 16
Bulgaria 13 13 14
Denmark 12 12 15
England & Wales 13 16 16
Finland 12 16
France 13 13 15
Germany 14 14 14
Greece 12 15
Italy 16 14
Luxembourg 15 15 16
Norway 16 16
Portugal 12 12 14
Romania 15 15 15
Russia 10 14 16
Scotland 12 12 16
Spain 12 12 13
Sweden 15 15 15
Switzerland various 16 16
Turkey 15 15 18
Argentina 12 13
Brazil 16 14
Chile 20 20 18
Ecuador 14 14
Canada 12 14 14
Australia
New South Wales 12 16 16
Queensland 12 17 16
Victoria 12 16 16
Western Australia 12 14 16
United States
Alabama 10 16 16
Alaska 16 16
Arizona 12 18 18
Arkansas 10 16 16
California 10 18 18
Colorado 10 18 15
Connecticut 10 16 16
District of Columbia 12 16 16
Delaware 7 16 16
Florida 10 18 18
Georgia 10 14 16
Hawaii 16
Idaho 10 18 18
Illinois 10 16 17
Indiana 12 16 16
Iowa 10 16 16
Kansas 10 18 16
Kentucky 12 16 16
Louisiana 12 18 17
Maine 10 16 16
Maryland 10 16 16
Massachusetts 10 16 16
Michigan 10 16 16
Minnesota 10 18 16
Mississippi 10 18 16
Missouri 12 18 17
Montana 10 18 16
Nebraska 10 18 17
Nevada 12 18 16
New Hampshire 10 16 16
New Jersey 10 16 16
New Mexico 10 16 17
New York 10 18 17
North Carolina 10 16 16
North Dakota 10 18 18
Ohio 10 16 16
Oklahoma 16
Oregon 10 16 18
Pennsylvania 10 16 16
Rhode Island 10 16 16
South Carolina 10 16 16
South Dakota 10 18 16
Tennessee 10 18 18
Texas 10 18 17
Utah 10 18 16
Vermont 10 16 16
Virginia 12 16 18
Washington 12 18 16
West Virginia 12 16 16
Wisconsin 10 16 18
Wyoming 10 16 16

How to Cite This Source

“Age of Consent Laws [Table],” in Children and Youth in History, Item #24, http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/24 (accessed June 14, 2016). Annotated by Stephen Robertson

Response to Shakir on Jihad

Shakir wrote:

There have been many VIOLENT Jihad (bloodshed,use of weapons etc.) during the time of the Prophet.

This statement is actually not correct, the modern Arab has made us believe that violent Jihad was often-occurring during the life of the Prophet, but is not a correct statement. The occurrences were no larger or smaller than the usual ancient Arab skirmishes among their own.

As a matter of fact the population of the Arab prior to the advent of Prophethood was decimated to a few, and they used to brag about their tribes’ numbers of gravestones (see Tafsir Takathur).  The population of the Arab exploded after the advent of the Prophethood indicating that the original common violence between the Arab was greatly reduced due to the proper implementation of Shariah.

So do not believe in the lies you are told.

Shakir wrote:

I was wondering WHO are supposed to participate in VIOLENT Jihad?

Mu’min i.e. the Believer who has a rank in piety and observant of Allah’s nearness (Qurb) and thus minimizes the bloodshed. The orders for the Jihad were not issued to Muslims, they were issued to Mu’min. Order of violent Jihad was not for settling tribal affairs or economic advantages. The individual Mu’min is self-disciplining in regards to his ability to inflict pain and suffering and therefore entrusted with limited exposure to warfare.

For many the Prophet peace be upon him forbade Jihad e.g. Abu Zar in the famous Hadith which you know about quite well. Not every believer can meet the standards of justice and restraint required to brandish a weapon.

Shakir wrote:

And AGAINST WHOM?

And for WHAT PURPOSE/INTENTION?

Jihad in its violent form are due when the populations are not allowed to worship Allah and read Qur’an or practice their religion. For example in the USSR until recently, and in parts of China and these days in Myanmar.

If you are able to conduct your religious affairs, read Qur’an and maintain prayers, even if you are abused and harassed you are not allowed to fight a physical fight. You are to persevere and forgive.

If mosques are burnt and Qur’an distribution forbidden and you are not allowed to exercise your freedom to preach and talk about your religion, then Jihad is mandatory in its violent form until such freedoms are restored.

The violence in Jihad is for institutions and governments not for the ordinary bigot who hates Muslims as do common folk.

To kill others to grab their land, or have upper hand over them or control their economy or subjugate them as inferior race, are away from the Jihad of any form.

Examples are those Muslim murderers you see in USA and EU attacks; where we are welcomed in America/Canada/EU and protected by their institutions, given rights to build houses of worship and publish our spiritual works and religious beliefs, and our women and children safe at home and work and school, yet the ignorant criminal in our midst commits heinous crimes under the false banner of Islam! And cowardly does so in restaurants and sidewalks against the unsuspecting innocent bystanders.

 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ

4:135 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk.

Shakir we worship Allah, we do not worship Muslims nor Middle Easterners nor Sheikhs, we do not worship Jihad, we only answer to Allah for our religion and no one else. If you can practice that exclusivity, then you found the very beginning of the Path. And how hard to find the beginning of the Path…

Salaamaat,

Dara

 

 

 

 

Jihad

Salaam Sayyidi and Salaam everyone,

There have been many VIOLENT Jihad (bloodshed,use of weapons etc.) during the time of the Prophet.
I was wondering WHO are supposed to participate in VIOLENT Jihad?

And AGAINST WHOM?

And for WHAT PURPOSE/INTENTION?

On Bismillah

Salaam Sayyidi and Salaam to everyone.

I have a question regarding Bismillah.
It is mentioned in this pattern:”Bi-Ism-Allah”(With/by/by means of Allah’s Name, Ism).
And not “Bi-Allah” (by means of/with/by/in Allah).

I would like to know about the significance of Name.

Is there answers available for the usage of this pattern?