Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Faith and Fair Trading
Hud (Hud) - Chapter 11: Verse 84 (partial)

"Do not give short measure and weight."

The people of Madyan, whose country was an enclave of land lying between Hijaz and Syria, used to give short measure and weight, thus wronging other people in respect of what was rightfully theirs. That is, they used to give other people less than the value of their goods. Their misconduct reflected badly on their integrity and honour and showed that they were far from clean both externally and at heart. Their geographical position meant that they were able to control the trade route of the caravans moving between the north and the south of Arabia. This enabled them to dictate unfair terms on other people's trade.

Here we see the link between believing in God's oneness and submission to Him alone on the one hand, and honesty, fair trading, honourable transactions and combating all kinds of cheating and stealing, whether perpetrated by individuals or governments, on the other. This relationship appears to be a safeguard ensuring a better human life, justice and peace among people. It is the only safeguard based on fearing God and seeking His pleasure. Hence, it has a very solid foundation which cannot be influenced by special interests or personal desires.

In the Islamic view, business dealings, and morality generally, must have a solid basis which is not influenced by changeable factors. Thus Islam differs fundamentally with all other social and moral theories devised by human beings and governed by their differing bents of thought and their temporary interest.

When business dealings and morality have such a solid basis, they are not influenced by immediate or material interests or by differing environments with different factors and considerations. Hence, rules of morality and those that govern human dealings are not subject to whether people are nomadic, agrarian or industrialized. Such changeable factors lose their influence on the moral concepts of society or the moral values which govern business transactions when the basis of legislation for all spheres of life is Divine law. Then the essential basis of morality is to seek God's pleasure, hoping to win His reward and avoid His punishment. All that is advanced by human-made theories and doctrines about morality being the product of the economic situation and the social conditions prevailing in a particular society become meaningless in the light of Islamic moral theory.

Compiled From:
"In The Shade of The Quran" - Sayyid Qutb, Vol. 9, pp. 235, 236

From Issue: 919 [Read original issue]

Understanding The Prophet's Life

The Wisdom of Muhammad

Family
One who cuts off family ties does not enter the Garden of Paradise.

Women
God enjoins you to treat women well.
Do not forbid your wife to go to the mosque.

The Young
He is not one of us who does not treat the young with compassion.
Let the younger one salute the elderly, let the one walking salute those sitting, and let those small in number salute those larger in number.

Neighbours
He is not a believer if his neighbour does not feel safe from his treachery.
Never scoff at a neighbour's gift, even if it is sheep's hooves.

Source:
"Being Muslims" - Harun Siddiqui, p. 92

From Issue: 467 [Read original issue]

Cool Tips!

Games that bring the family closer

Father's reading the newspaper, mother's on the telephone, brother's on the computer, sister's reading a book, and little Ahmad is playing with his toys. What do these people have in common?

Nothing. How can they be brought together?

Young and old, we all love games. What better way to share each other's company, learn about Islam and have fun at the same time than to play a game? Below are three games to play with the whole family.

1. 'Steps to Paradise' Board Game. This board game, made in England, has questions for different age or knowledge levels. Answer the questions on Islam as you move around the board. And if you have collected enough Sawab (reward) then you might be able to enter Paradise.

2. Question and Answer Cards. Pre-made cards with questions and answers on Islam are readily available. Split the family into two teams and compete with each other to see who has the most right answers. The 'losing' team can do something together for the 'winning' team, for example, cook dinner. (This may mean that dad and some of the children may be cooking dinner for mum!) If pre-made cards are not available, then get into your teams and design the questions for the other team to answer.

3. Treasure Hunting. Mum or Dad designs a treasure hunt for the rest of the family. The number of clues, in the form of questions, depends on how many letters the secret place that contains the prize has. For example, if a cake awaits them in the REFRIGERATOR then 13 questions are needed. The first question needs to have an answer starting with R. For example, "What is the name of Surah 13?" The answer is "Ra'd". Each first letter of the answers form the final word. Draw a map and place each question on a card at each location. Once the code is cracked all can share the prize.

An important note to keep in mind is that when teams are called for, make sure it's randomly selected. Also, for each game, team members will be different each time. If team members remain the same all the time, rivalry will be set up and not all members will have the chance to work with the others.

Compiled From:
"Saying it out loud - the easy way to teach children the daily Duas (supplications)" - Jameela Ho of Yagoona

From Issue: 527 [Read original issue]