Are Women Human?

Believe it or not, this question confused and puzzled Europeans for a long time. In 568 AD a gathering took place in France to research and answer the question.  After the meetings, consultations and discussions they concluded that a woman is a human - created to help man.

Before the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

In Arabia, it was a noble deed to kill young girls or even bury them alive since it was thought they brought shame to the family.

In India, it was believed that women had no right to live after the death of their husbands and so they would be killed on the same day.

In Judaism, when a woman would menstruate they would not eat or drink with her but instead desert her.

After the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ


30 years after that meeting in France, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ  was sent and told the world that women are soul mates of men. In a Hadith he said "The whole world is pleasure, and the best pleasure of the world is the righteous woman.”; and there are many, many more Quranic verses and Hadiths that honour women and rank them very highly in society.

Whoever reads about the way of life during the time of  the Prophet ﷺ finds that the role of the woman in the society at that time, was much bigger than her role in society today. 

A woman at the Prophet's ﷺ time was a wife and a mother, she fought in battles, became a doctor, gave opinions in Islamic law, narrated Hadiths and even advised the Ruler or judges.  Therefore, many of the Prophet's wives ﷺ use to give him advice in the concerns of politics & society.

I wonder, has the role of women today returned to how it was before the era of the Prophet ﷺ?

Till today, there are fathers who force their daughters to get married to a man they don't want. Although a woman came to the Prophet ﷺ, complaining that her father forced her to get married against her will, so he called her father and put the entire decision back to her choice - either she permits what her father had done or cancel the marriage, then she said "I permit what my father has done but this was for the purpose of letting women know that their fathers have nothing to do with this".

Also a common phenomenon in the Arab society is that some men find it embarassing to mention the name of his wife or mother infront of friends -  to a point where as if the name of a woman has become something that is to be 'veiled'! Even though when the Prophet ﷺ

 was asked "Who is of most people beloved to you?" he said "Aisha". He did NOT say something like "my 2nd wife" or "the children's mother" but rather mentioned her by her name.

There is no doubt that Islam has given many rights of man over the woman. In a hadith the Prophet ﷺ said: "If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands from the magnitude of his right on her".  However, Islam does not permit  a man to tyrannize his wife or daughter or suppress them or injure/harm them because whether it's the daughter, wife or mother - they have a great position in Islam that must be respected.

Did you know?

- In the US, a woman is hit by her husband every 18 seconds.

- 2 million woman are beaten up in France every year.

- In Britain 77% of husbads beat their wives for no reason

The Prophet 

ﷺ 

described women as '

Qawareer' the plural Arabic for "Glass Vases" to signify their delicateness and need for gentleness 

and one of the scholars said "It's true that women are half of the society but since she's the one that nurtures  the other half then the woman is all the society."

I'm certain that the Islamic Ummah will not rise to as it once was until women are given their stature, honour and respect in the society and only then will mothers raise the likes of Saladin al Ayoub, Umar ibn Abdulaziz and others from unrivaled men




"The man who treats his wife like a Princess is proof that he was raised by a Queen."

From Ahmad al Shugairi's "Thoughts"

احلى لغة The Beautiful Language

۩ إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ۩

12:2, 'We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, in order that ye may learn wisdom' 

How much Arabic do you really know? You might be surprised to know that you are using Arabic words in everyday life.

If you were in Europe or in a Western country and happened to be grocery shopping at the fruit section

and asked for a banana, remember that the word orginiates from the Arabic “banan” which means a 'finger'. The Spanish use to take it from the North African Arabs and called it 'banan al mauz'

Then lets say you went to the vegetable section and wanted a lemon, know that it  comes from the Arabic word ‘limah/laimoon'.

 

After you went to a Cafe for a coffee then remember that the word coffee originates from the Arabic qahwah, the west transformed the word into what it's called today - coffee. 

If you specifically asked for a certain type, such as mocha know that it comes from the word mokha a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen.

You may like your coffee sweet and put some sugar then rmemeber the word originates from sukkar, the English call it sugar, the French sucre and the Spanish azúcar

 

Leaving food and going to Sciences, algebra comes from the arabic al jebr. 

Chemistry, in arabic is Keemya', Jaber ibn Hayyan He is considered by some to be the father of Chemistry.

Moving on to love and romance and let's say you wanted to give your loved one a buquet of flowers and im hoping she is your wife, the word bouquet orginates from ba'ga

Then on to games playing Chess and you're about to beat your opponent so you say 'check mate', which means 'shaah maat' - a dead King.

On to Music and one of the most important instruments in music is the Guitar coming from the Arabic Gheetar

 

As your reading tis you could be relaxing on a sofa which originates from the word sofah, means elevated seating and asked for a massage, coming from the Arabic 'mes'. almomasideen, are people who existed in the Ottoman empire and were the first to perform these massages.

An unseen beauty of the Arabic words, is for example if you take a word and jumble the same letters you get a similar meaning in the same context. Example:

 غرف can also mean فرغ and the word غفر as in when Allah swt removes the sins from you, all three words are in the same context, to take, to empty, to remove - these aren't exact translations because no words exist in the English language that correspond

 رب 'God' and the word بر as in 'bir al walideen', this shows that there is a close relation between Allah and the love and respect of Parents.

عاق meaning you disrespect someone, and when doing so you become at a low level in respect or قاع

My message is not saying that the English language is not important, we have to admit that it is today the language of knowledge so if you want to get somewhere you have to know it.

However, you must not forget Arabic, it is our mother language - especially kids at a young age, special emphasis should be towards learning the language

Some facts about the Arabic Language, written by Spanish, Italian and German scholars.

قال الأسباني فيلا سبازا: إن اللغة العربية من أغنى لغات العالم بل هي أرقى من لغات أوروبية لأنها تتضمن كل أدوات التعبير في أصولها، في حين أن الفرنسية والانقليزية والإيطالية وغيرها قد تحدرت من لغات ميتة وإني لأعجب لفئة كبيرة من العرب يتظاهر أفرادها بتفهم الثقافات الغربية ويخدعون أنفسهم ليقال عنهم إنهم متمدنون.

وقال الألماني يوهان فك: لقد برهن جبروت التراث العربي الخالد على أنه أقوى من كل محاولة يقصد بها زحزحة العربية الفصحى من مقامها المسيطر، وتساءلت الألمانية سيغريد هونكه: كيف يستطيع الإنسان أن يقاوم جمال هذه اللغة ومنطقها السليم وسحرها الفريد؟!! فجيران العرب أنفسهم في البلدان التي فتحوها سقطوا صرعى سحر تلك اللغة.

وقال الإيطالي كارلو نلينو: "إن اللغة العربية تفوق سائر اللغات رونقا ويعجز اللسان عن وصف محاسنها"، وأشار البلجيكي جورج سارتون إلى أن "اللغة العربية أسهل لغات العالم وأوضحها" وقال الألماني فريتاج "إن العربية أغنى لغات العالم". وكان ابن خالويه الفارسي قد قال: "لأن أُهْجى بالعربية أحب إلى قلبي من أن أمدح بالفارسية".

From Ahmed Al Shugairi's: Thoughts

QATAR 2022

FIFA announced that Qatar will be hosting the World Cup in 2022. As a Middle Eastern from the Arabian Gulf, I'm really happy. It's never been hosted before in the region and it's like a dream come true. Congratulations Qatar.

5 state of the art stadiums will be constructed and then after the tournament will be disassembled and built instead in developing countries. Some of my friends from Qatar are already complaining, some are furious.

The GCC railway network to be completed by 2017 will make it easier to get to Qatar starting from Kuwait all the way down to Oman.

They believe that by hosting the World Cup, living expenses are gonna be much higher, alcohol - which is currently on in Bahrain and Dubai will have to be introduced in Qatar too, in designated areas.

Overall the Arabian Gulf will shine, Qatar being in the very middle of all the spotlight.

I will be 34 years old if Allah (swt) gives me a chance to be part of it.

KUWAIT will be taking on Saudi Arabia in the ARABIAN GULF CUP FINALE, let's see if we can win the title for the 10th time. VIVA Q8

University of al Karaouine - جامعة القرويين‎

Long before Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or any other university ever existed. The University of al Karaouine was founded in 859 located in Fes, Morocco

The al Karaouine institution is considered by the Guinness book the oldest continuously operating academic degree-granting university in the world.

Do you know who the founder is?

Fatima al Fihri, a Muslim woman from Tunis who decided to dedicate her life to building the University and Mosque once her parents had passed away.

The Life of This World - الحياة الدنيا

Elegance of the Hijab

Some of the Women’s rights activists try to show that the hijab is something that is derived from Islam and that it’s a symbol of oppression arrogance or suppression - what’s really sad is that some of these people are Muslim.

It was common in the West during the early 20^th century for women to wear a veil.

There are passages about the Hijab from the Holy Bible:

Corinthians (Chapter 11): “If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head”

Timothy 2:9 “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes”

In Judaisim a famous ancient Rabbis saying," It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen....a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty."

So this is proof that modesty and hijab isn’t something derived only from Islam but something instinctive.

Mother Teresa

It’s amazing to see some of the Muslim women of the Arabian Gulf who leave their countries going to Europe, US or elsewhere stop dressing modestly and also remove the hijab; at the same time there are Muslim women are who denied from wearing the Hijab – including one Islamic country that denied University admission to women who wear it – yet no one speaks.

So women of the Arabian Gulf or Muslim countries where it is permissible to wear the hijab should be blessed because no one tries to stop you but instead they support you.

My question to all those girls who wear tight revealing clothing or whatever falls under that category and I’m not a scholar so I’m not talking in terms of religion and I can’t judge because Allah (swt) is the only one who does, but my question is if the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was among us today, would you still wear that type of clothing?

Big thanks to all those Muslim women who wear the hijab proudly regardless of the problems they have encountered or still do, and also to those who wear the hijab even when their families, husbands do not support it.

Finally, this post is to my sister Laila, who recently decided to wear the hijab.

From Ahmad Al Shugairi's 'thoughts'.

Golden Words

"طلب العلم فريضة"

Seeking knowledge is compulsory

"أفشوا السلام بينكم"

Spread salam/peace among you

"لا تشق على خادمك"

Do not burden your servant

"خيركم خيركم لأهله"

The best of you is he who is the best with his family

"من كان له صبي فليتصاب له"

Honour your children, and enoble their character

"في كل ذات كبد رطبة أجر"

There is reward for saving anything which posseses life

- The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Wherever You Are - Sami Yusuf

One of my favourite Artists, Sami Yusuf released his new album last week

This is one of the songs - great lyrics

طالب العلم

بالعلم بل بالأدب ......... تنال أعلى الرتبِ

فعش حياة العلماء .........وقرا صنوف الكتبِ

ودم على تواضع .........لا تفتخر بالنسبِ

كفاك أن تخرج من ......دنيا الورى بالحسبِ

نعم نعم لكنني ........ من غير أم وأبِ

أهوى العلا وليس لي ...... مالا يقضي أربِ

من ياترى يضمني ........يمدني بنشبِ

مناي أن يكون لي.........شأن كشأن الكوكبِ

وأن أكون عالما ........فالعلم ميراث النبي

بالعلم بل بالأدب .......تنال أعلى رتبِ

فعش حياة العلماء .....وقرأ صنوف الكتبِ

للمنشد احمد بوخاطر

Where to find Happiness

Does true happiness in this world come from getting all that we wish from delicacies to entertainment, or is there a different understanding?

For most people, celebrities seem to be the happiest of people, why? They have money, fame, spouse, kids - let's take Elvis Presley as an example - he had it all, handsome, healthy, extremely rich, had all the women he wanted and got married to one of the most beautiful woman of that time.

Although he had all these enjoyments, do you know how this legend died? He was found dead in his bathroom from an excessive amount of drugs - and everyone who reads his biography knows that he didn't really live a happy life, he was full of sadness and depression.

Elvis Presley and alot of us look for happiness in the wrong places. A guy thinks that if he gets to know a specific girl, he'll be the happiest person ever, a businessman thinks that if he reaches a certain deal and gets alot of money then he will too be the happiest man. A girl believes thatif she got married to a particular guy, she'll be the happiest girl!

All of us look for this happiness at places outside of ourselves and at the surroundings, and everyone knows that if we've found what we were looking for, we then get this feeling of emptiness and start looking for another goal to fill this emptiness. All of the philosophers, scientists, prophets have agreed that true happiness is defined as an 'Inner Peace'. It's a reassurance, you feel it inside you, despite what's happening around you.

If we wanted to tell the difference between someone that is happy and someone that is unhappy then look at them during times they face difficulties - you'll find that when the happy person faces a disaster, he might get sad, an that's natural but it only lasts for a day or two and then he's back to normal. On the other hand an unhappy person, when he faces a disaster you'll find him getting depressed, taking drugs, smoking and he'll stay like that for a while , probably messing up his life because of what happened to him. This how you can tell who really has this inner peace and who lacks it.

In the Qu'ran we find that the word "Peace" and "Reasurrance" were found 31 times, whereas the word "Happiness" was only repeated twice in cases relating to heaven and afterlife. And also, we find that part of prayer we recite peace upon the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the righteous believers and we conclude the prayer with "Peace be upon you", so is the Islamic greeting "Assalamu Alaikum" which again means Peace be upon you. Therefore, we find that the main goal for us being Muslims is to find this inner peace within ourselves.

"Know that happiness in this world comes from releasing the world from your heart"

- Badi' al Ziman al Noorsi

(From Ahmed al Shugairi's 'thoughts')