By Imam Ibn Taymiyyah
Reprinted from Islaam.com
May a father force his virgin daughter who attained puberty to marry? Two well-known opinions in this regard are reported from Ahmad:
That he may compel her. This is also the opinion of Maalik, ash-Shaafi`ee, and others.
That he may not. This is also the opinion of Aboo Haneefah and others, and is the correct one.
People have differed as to the reason permitting the compulsion: whether it is virginity, the daughter being underaged, or a combination of both. The closest opinion to the truth is her being underaged, whereas no one can compel an adult virgin in marriage. Aboo Hurayrah, radhiallahu `anhu, reported that the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, said:
"A non-virgin woman may not be married without her command, and a virgin may not be married without her permission; and enough permission for her is to remain silent (because of her natural shyness)." [Al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, and others]
Thus the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, prohibits forcing a virgin in marriage without her permission, whether it be her father or someone else. Furthermore, `Aa';ishah, radhiallahu `anhaa, said that she asked the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, "In the case of a young girl whose parents marry her, should her permission be sought or not?" He replied, "Yes, she must give her permission." She then said, "But a virgin will be shy, O Allaah’s Messenger." He answered:
"Her silence is [considered as] her permission." [Al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, and others]
This applies to the father as well as others. Furthermore, Islam does not give the father the right to use any of her wealth without her permission, how then could he be allowed to decide, without her permission, how her body (which is more important than her wealth) is to be used, specially when she disagrees to that and is mature to decide for herself?
Also, there is evidence and consensus in Islam to restrict an underage person’s free control of his wealth or person. However, to make a virginity a reason for the restriction contradicts the Islamic basis.
As for the difference between the non-virgin and virgin in the hadeeth of the Prophet, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, it is not a differentiation between compulsion and non-compulsion; rather, the difference between the two cases is that
(a) the former gives her instructions for the marriage whereas the latter gives permission, and that
(b) the virgin’s silence counts as a permission.
The reason for this is that a virgin would be shy to discuss the matter of marriage, so she is not proposed to directly; rather, her walee (guardian) is approached, he takes her permission, and then she gives him the permission not the command to marry her.
And as for a non-virgin, she would not have the shyness of virginity anymore; thus she can discuss the matter of her marriage, she can be proposed to, and she gives the command to her walee to perform the marriage, and he must obey her.
Thus the walee is command-executor in the case of the non-virgin, and is permission-seeker in the case of the virgin. This is what the Prophet's words indicate. As for compelling her to marry despite her loathing to do so, this would contradict the fundamentals and reason. Allaah ta`ala did not permit a walee to force her to sell or rent her property without her permission. Neither did He permit him to force her to eat or drink or wear that which she does not wish. How would He then oblige her to accompany and copulate with a person whose company she hates - at the time when Allaah ta`ala has sent between the two spouses love and mercy? If such company happens despite her hatred and repulsion, where is the love and mercy.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, November 29, 2008
MARYAM AND THE BIRTH OF JESUS
Allah fully supported Maryam throughout her pregnancy. It is very difficult for a woman to give birth, a potentially life-threatening experience, all alone, without medical equipment or a midwife's assistance. Nevertheless, Maryam overcame all of these difficulties by placing her complete trust in Allah. Allah helped her with revelations while she was struggling toward a date tree in the full throes of labor pains. Allah told her not to grieve, that He had placed a stream at her feet, and that she should shake the date tree in order to get freshly ripe dates to eat. He also told her to drink and to delight her eyes. As a result, she gave birth in the best possible circumstances. Allah reveals her situation:
The pains of labor drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She exclaimed: "Oh, if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!" A voice called out to her from under her: "Do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm toward you, and fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. Eat and drink, and delight your eyes. If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and [so] today I will not speak to any human being.'" (Surah Maryam: 23-26)
Maryam withdrew from her society so that she could be in a psychologically peaceful environment and away from the hurtful behavior of people who could not comprehend her miraculous situation. Allah told her not to grieve and bestowed His grace and protection upon her. No doubt, there was much wisdom in this advice, just as there was in Maryam's withdrawal to a distant place. Muslims must not surrender to sadness; rather, they are to trust in Allah and feel the peace of mind that comes with knowing that Allah will always help them.
This attitude, which is required of all believers, has been confirmed by modern medicine, for doctors tell women, both during their pregnancy and while they are giving birth, to maintain a positive attitude and avoid any sadness and stress. His advice to delight her eyes means not to surrender to sadness and to enjoy the news of Allah's gift.
Eat Dates:
Allah advised Maryam to eat freshly ripened dates. Today, such dates are considered to be food and medicine. Scientists now know that dates contain more than ten substances considered essential for the human body's well-being and continuing health.
Dates contain plenty of the easily digested and absorbed sugars that give the human body its energy for heat and movement. More importantly, these sugars are of the fructose type and not of the glucose type, which quickly raises the blood-sugar levels. Dates provide energy, help muscle tissues and nerve cells develop, and are especially beneficial for people weakened by illness or those suffering from exhaustion, because of their high caloric value. For example, 100 grams of dates contain 1.5 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrates. In addition, their caloric value is 225 kcal. Fresh dates have a 60-65 percent sugar content and a 2 percent protein content.
Modern medical findings suggest that dates benefit women who are almost ready to give birth. Doctors now advise pregnant women to take fructose-containing foods on their due dates, for such foods provide energy used by the weakened body to revitalize itself, have a trigger effect on the milk hormones and thus help the woman's body produce milk, and also increase the volume of that milk.
This information reveals some of the wisdom inherent in Allah's advice to Maryam. Another matter worth reflecting upon is the little stream created by Allah and His advice for her to eat and drink. Now, scientists inform us that people can survive on dates and water for years, because they contain all of the necessary essentials for human life. In fact, one renowned expert on the subject, V. H. W. Dowson, suggests that one glass of milk and one date per day provides a person's daily nutritional requirements.
Dates contain various vitamins (e.g., A, beta-carotene, B1, B2, B3, and B6) and minerals, (e.g., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, iron, sulphur, phosphorus, and chlorine) and are also rich in fiber, fats, and proteins. Some of the ensuing benefits are as follows:
A date's nutritional value is based on the balance between its minerals. During the prolonged period of morning sickness and the altering physiognomy, a shortage of potassium occurs and needs to be supplemented. This fruit's high potassium content is certainly welcome here, as its role in preserving the body's water levels.
Iron controls the red blood cells' synthesis of hemoglobin, which prevents anemia during pregnancy and also regulates the blood's RBC balance, which is so crucial for the baby's development. Due to its high iron content, one-and-a-half dates can meet the body's total iron requirement and thus prevent all complaints caused by a lack of iron.
Calcium and phosphorus are very important elements in developing and balancing the skeleton and the bone structures. Dates protect the body from anemia and weak bones, and thus reduce the risk of such illnesses with their high nutritional value and high phosphorus, calcium, and iron content.
Scientists point out that dates can reduce stress and tension levels. Research done at Berkeley University revealed that dates are rich in vitamin B1 (the "nerve vitamin") and magnesium (essential for muscle functions), both of which are essential for a strong nervous system. Magnesium is also very important for the kidneys, and two or three dates per day are enough to meet all of the human body's magnesium requirements.
Dates also contain folic acid (vitamin B9), which is essential for pregnant women, due to its important role in forming new blood cells, producing amino acids, and developing new cells. As a result, a pregnant woman needs double the usual daily amount of folic acid. If the body's folic acid levels fall below the required amount, bigger but less functional red blood cells are formed and anemia occurs.
Folic acid, which is crucial to developing the cell's genetic makeup and division, is the only substance that must be doubled during pregnancy. Dates are very rich in folic acid.
During pregnancy, a woman's daily vitamin A requirement increases to 800 ug. Dates are very rich in the foremost vitamin A: beta-carotene.
Most other fruits are protein-poor, but dates have good protein content.
Oxytocin is used in modern medicine to accelerate labor and is often referred as "rapid birth." It also increases the level of milk production following birth.
Our Prophet (saas) pointed out the benefits of dates in the following hadith: A family that has dates will not be hungry. This is a piece of very good advice.
All of our current information on dates reveals Allah's infinite wisdom and grace upon Maryam, who, inspired by Allah, satisfied all of her nutritional needs by eating dates and thereby eased her child's birth. (Allah knows best.)
Allah Creates a Stream:
Allah told Maryam that He had placed a stream by her feet to eat, drink, and delight her eyes.
Water, like dates, eases labor pains and regulates muscle tension. In fact, some modern birth clinics have pools in which the delivery takes place.
Water, which is necessary for life and one's physical well-being, plays an important role in regulating the body's temperature, transporting nutritional elements and oxygen, and removing waste matter from the body's cells. It also ensures the healthy movement of joints, skin moisture and elasticity, the digestive system, and protects tissues and organs. Water is becoming more widely used in therapy by the day. Contact with water stimulates the immune system, increases anti-stress hormone production, reduces pain, and stimulates blood circulation and metabolism.
Water is important during pregnancy for several reasons. At that time, water intake is especially necessary because the volume of blood increases and because of the developing baby's needs. Women who choose to breast-feed need plenty of water to produce the necessary amount of milk. Considering that 87 percent of this milk is water, we can see how important this production is.
Water also maintains the electrolyte balances in the blood of the mother and the child. Hormones released during pregnancy alter the way various body fluids are used. Toward the end of the woman's pregnancy, blood volume increases 150 percent, and the loss of water through breathing is much greater. The amnion fluid, in which the baby grows, is renewed every three hours. However, it can decrease, as in the case of dehydration caused by insufficient water intake.
Maryam Shakes the Date Tree:
Allah tells Maryam to shake the date tree toward her when she was headed toward it in her labor pains. (Surah Maryam: 25)
Doctors say that pulling something toward oneself during labor can have a positive effect on the muscles. In order to ease labor pains and help bring about a safe delivery, women are advised to do certain exercises that reduce pressure in the body and, therefore, the risk of complications during delivery. They are also thought to quicken the process of giving birth.
Doctors suggest that in the second stage of labor, the woman's head should be slightly raised to take advantage of gravity. Thus, hospital delivery rooms have beds with suitably placed handles and footrests that enable pregnant women to give birth in the most comfortable position.
Other practitioners advise their patients to squat or sit on specially adapted birth chairs. Before recent technological developments, some birth rooms featured a rope hanging from the ceiling, which the expectant mother was to use to try and pull herself up, thus helping the birth process. All of these methods are theoretically and logically helpful. Perhaps this is why Allah told Maryam to pull and shake the date tree. (Allah knows best.)
Maryam Returns to Her Community
When Maryam returned with Prophet 'Isa (as), her people could not comprehend Allah's miracle. Thus, they accused her of indecency and slandered her, even though they knew that she, being a member of 'Imran's family, was devout, held Allah in great fear and respect, had an immaculate character, and always protected her modesty. Allah reveals some of these slanders:
She brought him to her people, carrying him. They exclaimed: "Maryam! You have done an unthinkable thing! Sister of Harun, your father was not an evil man nor was your mother an unchaste woman!" (Surah Maryam: 27-28)
No doubt, this was a trial for Maryam, for she had to face such accusations despite being a chaste woman who held Allah in the greatest respect and awe. These people ignored her impeccable character and honorable conduct, despite her own reputation and that of her family, and so, as always, she turned toward Allah, and trusted in Him, knowing that He would defend her in the best possible way.
Allah, Who always answered her prayers with generosity and compassion, gave her inner peace during this trial. Knowing that Allah would exonerate her completely, Allah inspired her to make a vow: "If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and today I will not speak to any human being'" (Surah Maryam: 26). This is what she told her people.
After this, she only pointed to Prophet 'Isa (as), about whom Allah said through Jibril: "He will speak to people in the cradle and when fully grown, and will be one of the believers" (Surah Al 'Imran: 46), when people confronted and slandered her.
Allah showed her people a great miracle by enabling Prophet 'Isa (as) to speak while he was still a baby in the cradle. Through his words, Allah exonerated his mother Maryam and also introduced Prophet 'Isa (as) as one of His Prophets sent to the Israelites:
She pointed toward him. They asked: "How can a baby in the cradle speak?" He ['Isa] said: "I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. He has made me blessed wherever I am, directed me to perform prayer and give alms [zakat] as long as I live, and to show devotion to my mother. He has not made me insolent or arrogant. Peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I die, and the day I am raised up again alive." That is 'Isa, son of Maryam, the Word of Truth about which they are in doubt. (Surah Maryam: 29-34)
This miracle amazed Maryam's people. By saying: "… and she who guarded her chastity. We breathed into her some of Our Spirit and made her and her son a Sign for all the worlds" (Surat al-Anbiya': 91), Allah made both of them superior to all other people. Maryam's superior character, honor, and purity were revealed through this speech, and those who had slandered her were defeated.
By saying: "And We made the son of Maryam and his mother a Sign and gave them shelter on a mountainside where there was a meadow and a flowing spring" (Surat al-Mu'minun: 50), He reveals that Prophet 'Isa (as) and Maryam continued to live under His grace after these events.
The pains of labor drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She exclaimed: "Oh, if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!" A voice called out to her from under her: "Do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm toward you, and fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. Eat and drink, and delight your eyes. If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and [so] today I will not speak to any human being.'" (Surah Maryam: 23-26)
Maryam withdrew from her society so that she could be in a psychologically peaceful environment and away from the hurtful behavior of people who could not comprehend her miraculous situation. Allah told her not to grieve and bestowed His grace and protection upon her. No doubt, there was much wisdom in this advice, just as there was in Maryam's withdrawal to a distant place. Muslims must not surrender to sadness; rather, they are to trust in Allah and feel the peace of mind that comes with knowing that Allah will always help them.
This attitude, which is required of all believers, has been confirmed by modern medicine, for doctors tell women, both during their pregnancy and while they are giving birth, to maintain a positive attitude and avoid any sadness and stress. His advice to delight her eyes means not to surrender to sadness and to enjoy the news of Allah's gift.
Eat Dates:
Allah advised Maryam to eat freshly ripened dates. Today, such dates are considered to be food and medicine. Scientists now know that dates contain more than ten substances considered essential for the human body's well-being and continuing health.
Dates contain plenty of the easily digested and absorbed sugars that give the human body its energy for heat and movement. More importantly, these sugars are of the fructose type and not of the glucose type, which quickly raises the blood-sugar levels. Dates provide energy, help muscle tissues and nerve cells develop, and are especially beneficial for people weakened by illness or those suffering from exhaustion, because of their high caloric value. For example, 100 grams of dates contain 1.5 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrates. In addition, their caloric value is 225 kcal. Fresh dates have a 60-65 percent sugar content and a 2 percent protein content.
Modern medical findings suggest that dates benefit women who are almost ready to give birth. Doctors now advise pregnant women to take fructose-containing foods on their due dates, for such foods provide energy used by the weakened body to revitalize itself, have a trigger effect on the milk hormones and thus help the woman's body produce milk, and also increase the volume of that milk.
This information reveals some of the wisdom inherent in Allah's advice to Maryam. Another matter worth reflecting upon is the little stream created by Allah and His advice for her to eat and drink. Now, scientists inform us that people can survive on dates and water for years, because they contain all of the necessary essentials for human life. In fact, one renowned expert on the subject, V. H. W. Dowson, suggests that one glass of milk and one date per day provides a person's daily nutritional requirements.
Dates contain various vitamins (e.g., A, beta-carotene, B1, B2, B3, and B6) and minerals, (e.g., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, iron, sulphur, phosphorus, and chlorine) and are also rich in fiber, fats, and proteins. Some of the ensuing benefits are as follows:
A date's nutritional value is based on the balance between its minerals. During the prolonged period of morning sickness and the altering physiognomy, a shortage of potassium occurs and needs to be supplemented. This fruit's high potassium content is certainly welcome here, as its role in preserving the body's water levels.
Iron controls the red blood cells' synthesis of hemoglobin, which prevents anemia during pregnancy and also regulates the blood's RBC balance, which is so crucial for the baby's development. Due to its high iron content, one-and-a-half dates can meet the body's total iron requirement and thus prevent all complaints caused by a lack of iron.
Calcium and phosphorus are very important elements in developing and balancing the skeleton and the bone structures. Dates protect the body from anemia and weak bones, and thus reduce the risk of such illnesses with their high nutritional value and high phosphorus, calcium, and iron content.
Scientists point out that dates can reduce stress and tension levels. Research done at Berkeley University revealed that dates are rich in vitamin B1 (the "nerve vitamin") and magnesium (essential for muscle functions), both of which are essential for a strong nervous system. Magnesium is also very important for the kidneys, and two or three dates per day are enough to meet all of the human body's magnesium requirements.
Dates also contain folic acid (vitamin B9), which is essential for pregnant women, due to its important role in forming new blood cells, producing amino acids, and developing new cells. As a result, a pregnant woman needs double the usual daily amount of folic acid. If the body's folic acid levels fall below the required amount, bigger but less functional red blood cells are formed and anemia occurs.
Folic acid, which is crucial to developing the cell's genetic makeup and division, is the only substance that must be doubled during pregnancy. Dates are very rich in folic acid.
During pregnancy, a woman's daily vitamin A requirement increases to 800 ug. Dates are very rich in the foremost vitamin A: beta-carotene.
Most other fruits are protein-poor, but dates have good protein content.
Oxytocin is used in modern medicine to accelerate labor and is often referred as "rapid birth." It also increases the level of milk production following birth.
Our Prophet (saas) pointed out the benefits of dates in the following hadith: A family that has dates will not be hungry. This is a piece of very good advice.
All of our current information on dates reveals Allah's infinite wisdom and grace upon Maryam, who, inspired by Allah, satisfied all of her nutritional needs by eating dates and thereby eased her child's birth. (Allah knows best.)
Allah Creates a Stream:
Allah told Maryam that He had placed a stream by her feet to eat, drink, and delight her eyes.
Water, like dates, eases labor pains and regulates muscle tension. In fact, some modern birth clinics have pools in which the delivery takes place.
Water, which is necessary for life and one's physical well-being, plays an important role in regulating the body's temperature, transporting nutritional elements and oxygen, and removing waste matter from the body's cells. It also ensures the healthy movement of joints, skin moisture and elasticity, the digestive system, and protects tissues and organs. Water is becoming more widely used in therapy by the day. Contact with water stimulates the immune system, increases anti-stress hormone production, reduces pain, and stimulates blood circulation and metabolism.
Water is important during pregnancy for several reasons. At that time, water intake is especially necessary because the volume of blood increases and because of the developing baby's needs. Women who choose to breast-feed need plenty of water to produce the necessary amount of milk. Considering that 87 percent of this milk is water, we can see how important this production is.
Water also maintains the electrolyte balances in the blood of the mother and the child. Hormones released during pregnancy alter the way various body fluids are used. Toward the end of the woman's pregnancy, blood volume increases 150 percent, and the loss of water through breathing is much greater. The amnion fluid, in which the baby grows, is renewed every three hours. However, it can decrease, as in the case of dehydration caused by insufficient water intake.
Maryam Shakes the Date Tree:
Allah tells Maryam to shake the date tree toward her when she was headed toward it in her labor pains. (Surah Maryam: 25)
Doctors say that pulling something toward oneself during labor can have a positive effect on the muscles. In order to ease labor pains and help bring about a safe delivery, women are advised to do certain exercises that reduce pressure in the body and, therefore, the risk of complications during delivery. They are also thought to quicken the process of giving birth.
Doctors suggest that in the second stage of labor, the woman's head should be slightly raised to take advantage of gravity. Thus, hospital delivery rooms have beds with suitably placed handles and footrests that enable pregnant women to give birth in the most comfortable position.
Other practitioners advise their patients to squat or sit on specially adapted birth chairs. Before recent technological developments, some birth rooms featured a rope hanging from the ceiling, which the expectant mother was to use to try and pull herself up, thus helping the birth process. All of these methods are theoretically and logically helpful. Perhaps this is why Allah told Maryam to pull and shake the date tree. (Allah knows best.)
Maryam Returns to Her Community
When Maryam returned with Prophet 'Isa (as), her people could not comprehend Allah's miracle. Thus, they accused her of indecency and slandered her, even though they knew that she, being a member of 'Imran's family, was devout, held Allah in great fear and respect, had an immaculate character, and always protected her modesty. Allah reveals some of these slanders:
She brought him to her people, carrying him. They exclaimed: "Maryam! You have done an unthinkable thing! Sister of Harun, your father was not an evil man nor was your mother an unchaste woman!" (Surah Maryam: 27-28)
No doubt, this was a trial for Maryam, for she had to face such accusations despite being a chaste woman who held Allah in the greatest respect and awe. These people ignored her impeccable character and honorable conduct, despite her own reputation and that of her family, and so, as always, she turned toward Allah, and trusted in Him, knowing that He would defend her in the best possible way.
Allah, Who always answered her prayers with generosity and compassion, gave her inner peace during this trial. Knowing that Allah would exonerate her completely, Allah inspired her to make a vow: "If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and today I will not speak to any human being'" (Surah Maryam: 26). This is what she told her people.
After this, she only pointed to Prophet 'Isa (as), about whom Allah said through Jibril: "He will speak to people in the cradle and when fully grown, and will be one of the believers" (Surah Al 'Imran: 46), when people confronted and slandered her.
Allah showed her people a great miracle by enabling Prophet 'Isa (as) to speak while he was still a baby in the cradle. Through his words, Allah exonerated his mother Maryam and also introduced Prophet 'Isa (as) as one of His Prophets sent to the Israelites:
She pointed toward him. They asked: "How can a baby in the cradle speak?" He ['Isa] said: "I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. He has made me blessed wherever I am, directed me to perform prayer and give alms [zakat] as long as I live, and to show devotion to my mother. He has not made me insolent or arrogant. Peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I die, and the day I am raised up again alive." That is 'Isa, son of Maryam, the Word of Truth about which they are in doubt. (Surah Maryam: 29-34)
This miracle amazed Maryam's people. By saying: "… and she who guarded her chastity. We breathed into her some of Our Spirit and made her and her son a Sign for all the worlds" (Surat al-Anbiya': 91), Allah made both of them superior to all other people. Maryam's superior character, honor, and purity were revealed through this speech, and those who had slandered her were defeated.
By saying: "And We made the son of Maryam and his mother a Sign and gave them shelter on a mountainside where there was a meadow and a flowing spring" (Surat al-Mu'minun: 50), He reveals that Prophet 'Isa (as) and Maryam continued to live under His grace after these events.
Friday, November 28, 2008
The Muslim Woman: Her Status in the Ummah
By Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘Azeez Ibn Baaz (d.1420H) (rahimahullaah) [1]
http://www.troid.org/
"PIVOTAL QUOTE"
The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties she has to shoulder – responsibilities and difficilties some of which not even a man bears.
The status of the Muslim woman in Islaam is a very noble and lofty one, and her effect is very great in the life of every Muslim. Indeed the Muslim woman is the initial teacher in building a righteous society, providing she follows the guidance from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Since adherence to the Qur`aan and the Sunnah distances every Muslim – male or female – from being misguided in any matter. The misguidance that the various nations suffer from, and their being deviated does not come about except by being far away from the path of Allaah – the Most Perfect, the Most High – and from what His Prophets and Messngers - may Allaah’s Peace and Prayers be upon them all – came with. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
"I am leaving behind you two matters, you will not go astray as long as you cling to them both, the Book of Allaah and my Sunnah." [2]
The great importance of the Muslim woman’s role – whether as wife, sister, or daughter, and the rights that are due to her and the rights that are due from her – have been explained in the noble Qur`aan, and further detailed of this have been explained in the purified Sunnah.
The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties she has to shoulder – responsibilities and difficilties some of which not even a man bears. This is why from the most important obligations upon a person is to show gratitude to the mother, and kindness and good companionship with her. And in this matter, she is to be given precedence over and above the father. Allaah the Exalted says:
"And We have enjoined upon man to be good and dutiful to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness upon weakness and hardship upon hardship, and his weaning is in two years. Show gratitude and thanks to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the final destination." [Soorah Luqmaan 31:14]
Allaah the Exalted said:
"And We have enjoined upon man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship, and she brings him forth with hardship. And the bearing and weaning of him is thirty months." [Sooratul Ahqaaf 41:15]
A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said: "O Messenger of Allaah! Who from amongst mankind warrents the best companionship from me?" He replied:
"Your mother."
The man asked, "Then who?" So he replied:
"Your mother."
The man then asked, "Then who?" So the Prophet replied again:
"Your mother."
Then the man asked, "Then who?" So he replied:
"Your father." [3]
So this necessitates that the mother is given three times the likes of kindness and good treatment than the father.
As regards the wife, then her status and her effect in making the soul tranquil and serene has been clearly shown in the noble aayah (statement of Allaah), in His – the Exalted – saying:
"And from His signs is this: That He created for you wives amongst yourselves, so that you may find serentiy and tranquility in them. And He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in this are signs for those who reflect." [Sooratur Room 30:21]
Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (d.774H) – rahimahullaah – said whilst explaining the terms muwaddah and rahmah which occur in the above aayah:
"Al-muwaddah means love and affection and ar-rahmah means compassion and pity – since a man takes a woman either due to his love for her, or because of compassion and pity for her; by giving to her a child from himself…" [4]
And the unique stance that the Prophet’s (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) wife Khadeejah – radiyallaahu ‘anhaa – took, had a huge effect in calming and reassuring the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), when the angel Jibreel (‘alayhis salaam) first came to the cave of Hiraa. So the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) returned to Khadeejah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) with the first Revelation and with his heart beating and trembling severely, and he said to her:
"Cover me! Cover me!"
So she covered him until his fear was over, after which he told Khadeejah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) everything that happened and said:
"I fear that something may happen to me."
So she said to him:
"Never! By Allaah! Allaah will never disgrace you. You keep good ties with the relations, you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously and assist those who have been afflicted with calamities." [5]
And do not forget about ‘Aa`ishah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) and her great effect. Since even the great Companions used to take the knowledge of Hadeeth from her, and many of the Sahaabiyaat (female Companions) learned the various rulings pertaining to women’s issues from her.
And I have no doubt that my mother – may Allaah shower His mercy upon her – had a tremendous effect upon me, in encouraging me to study; and she assisted me in it. May Allaah greatly increase her reward and reward her with the best of rewards for what she did for me.
And there is no doubt also, that the house in which there is kindness, gentleness, love and care, along with the correct Islaamic tarbiyah (education and cultivation) will greatly effect the man. So he will become – if Allaah wills – successful in his affairs and in any matter – whether it be seeking knowledge, trading, earning a living, or other than this. So it is Allaah alone that I ask to grant success and to guide us all to that which He loves and is pleased with. And may the Prayers and Peace of Allaah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his Family, his Companions and his followers.
Footnotes:
[1] He is the exemplary Scholar: Abu ‘Abdullaah, ‘Abdul ‘Azeez Ibn ‘Abdullaah Ibn Baaz. He was born in the city of Riyaadh (Saudi Arabia) on the 12th of Dhul-Hijjah in the year 1330H. He began seeking knowledge by first memorizing the Qur`aan before reaching the age of puberty. After this, He began to study noble sciences such as ‘Aqeedah (beliefs), Fiqh (Islaamic Jurisprudence), Hadeeth (Prophetic Narrations), Usoolul-Fiqh (fundamentals of jurisprudence), Faraa`id (Laws of inheritance), Nahw (Grammar) and Sarf (morphology) – even though the Shaykh became permanently blind at the age of nineteen. He studied these sciences under some of the most prominent scholars of Riyaadh and Makkah of his time, including Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul Lateef Ibn ‘Abdur Rahmaan Ibn Hasan and also the former Grand Muftee and noble scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ibraaheem – whom he studied under for ten years. He lived to be eighty-nine years old, he was mild, generous and forbearing in nature, yet firm, whilst wise while speaking the truth. He was a zaahid (one who abstains) with respect to this world and he was one of the foremost scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah in his age. The noble Shaykh – by Allaah’s grace – devoted his whole life to Islaam and it’s people, authoring many books and booklets, teaching and serving the masses, along with being very active in the field of Da’wah. May Allaah forgive our noble father and Shaykh.
This article was a response to a particular question concerning the position and status of Muslim women and has been taken from his Majmoo’ul Fataawaa wa Maqaalaatil Mutanawwi`ah (3/348-350).
[2] Hasan: Related by Maalik in al-Muwattaa (2/899) and al-Haakim (1/93), from Ibn ‘Abbaas (radiyallaahu ‘anhu). It was authenticated by Shaykh al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah (no. 1871).
[3] Related by al-Bukhaaree (no. 5971) and Muslim (7/2), from Abu Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ‘anhu).
[4] Tafseer Qur`aanil A’dtheem (3/439) of al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer.
[5] Related by al-Bukhaaree (1/22) and Muslim (1/139), from the lengthy narration of ‘Aa`ishah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa).
http://www.troid.org/
"PIVOTAL QUOTE"
The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties she has to shoulder – responsibilities and difficilties some of which not even a man bears.
The status of the Muslim woman in Islaam is a very noble and lofty one, and her effect is very great in the life of every Muslim. Indeed the Muslim woman is the initial teacher in building a righteous society, providing she follows the guidance from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Since adherence to the Qur`aan and the Sunnah distances every Muslim – male or female – from being misguided in any matter. The misguidance that the various nations suffer from, and their being deviated does not come about except by being far away from the path of Allaah – the Most Perfect, the Most High – and from what His Prophets and Messngers - may Allaah’s Peace and Prayers be upon them all – came with. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
"I am leaving behind you two matters, you will not go astray as long as you cling to them both, the Book of Allaah and my Sunnah." [2]
The great importance of the Muslim woman’s role – whether as wife, sister, or daughter, and the rights that are due to her and the rights that are due from her – have been explained in the noble Qur`aan, and further detailed of this have been explained in the purified Sunnah.
The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties she has to shoulder – responsibilities and difficilties some of which not even a man bears. This is why from the most important obligations upon a person is to show gratitude to the mother, and kindness and good companionship with her. And in this matter, she is to be given precedence over and above the father. Allaah the Exalted says:
"And We have enjoined upon man to be good and dutiful to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness upon weakness and hardship upon hardship, and his weaning is in two years. Show gratitude and thanks to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the final destination." [Soorah Luqmaan 31:14]
Allaah the Exalted said:
"And We have enjoined upon man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship, and she brings him forth with hardship. And the bearing and weaning of him is thirty months." [Sooratul Ahqaaf 41:15]
A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said: "O Messenger of Allaah! Who from amongst mankind warrents the best companionship from me?" He replied:
"Your mother."
The man asked, "Then who?" So he replied:
"Your mother."
The man then asked, "Then who?" So the Prophet replied again:
"Your mother."
Then the man asked, "Then who?" So he replied:
"Your father." [3]
So this necessitates that the mother is given three times the likes of kindness and good treatment than the father.
As regards the wife, then her status and her effect in making the soul tranquil and serene has been clearly shown in the noble aayah (statement of Allaah), in His – the Exalted – saying:
"And from His signs is this: That He created for you wives amongst yourselves, so that you may find serentiy and tranquility in them. And He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in this are signs for those who reflect." [Sooratur Room 30:21]
Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (d.774H) – rahimahullaah – said whilst explaining the terms muwaddah and rahmah which occur in the above aayah:
"Al-muwaddah means love and affection and ar-rahmah means compassion and pity – since a man takes a woman either due to his love for her, or because of compassion and pity for her; by giving to her a child from himself…" [4]
And the unique stance that the Prophet’s (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) wife Khadeejah – radiyallaahu ‘anhaa – took, had a huge effect in calming and reassuring the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), when the angel Jibreel (‘alayhis salaam) first came to the cave of Hiraa. So the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) returned to Khadeejah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) with the first Revelation and with his heart beating and trembling severely, and he said to her:
"Cover me! Cover me!"
So she covered him until his fear was over, after which he told Khadeejah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) everything that happened and said:
"I fear that something may happen to me."
So she said to him:
"Never! By Allaah! Allaah will never disgrace you. You keep good ties with the relations, you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously and assist those who have been afflicted with calamities." [5]
And do not forget about ‘Aa`ishah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) and her great effect. Since even the great Companions used to take the knowledge of Hadeeth from her, and many of the Sahaabiyaat (female Companions) learned the various rulings pertaining to women’s issues from her.
And I have no doubt that my mother – may Allaah shower His mercy upon her – had a tremendous effect upon me, in encouraging me to study; and she assisted me in it. May Allaah greatly increase her reward and reward her with the best of rewards for what she did for me.
And there is no doubt also, that the house in which there is kindness, gentleness, love and care, along with the correct Islaamic tarbiyah (education and cultivation) will greatly effect the man. So he will become – if Allaah wills – successful in his affairs and in any matter – whether it be seeking knowledge, trading, earning a living, or other than this. So it is Allaah alone that I ask to grant success and to guide us all to that which He loves and is pleased with. And may the Prayers and Peace of Allaah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his Family, his Companions and his followers.
Footnotes:
[1] He is the exemplary Scholar: Abu ‘Abdullaah, ‘Abdul ‘Azeez Ibn ‘Abdullaah Ibn Baaz. He was born in the city of Riyaadh (Saudi Arabia) on the 12th of Dhul-Hijjah in the year 1330H. He began seeking knowledge by first memorizing the Qur`aan before reaching the age of puberty. After this, He began to study noble sciences such as ‘Aqeedah (beliefs), Fiqh (Islaamic Jurisprudence), Hadeeth (Prophetic Narrations), Usoolul-Fiqh (fundamentals of jurisprudence), Faraa`id (Laws of inheritance), Nahw (Grammar) and Sarf (morphology) – even though the Shaykh became permanently blind at the age of nineteen. He studied these sciences under some of the most prominent scholars of Riyaadh and Makkah of his time, including Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul Lateef Ibn ‘Abdur Rahmaan Ibn Hasan and also the former Grand Muftee and noble scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Ibraaheem – whom he studied under for ten years. He lived to be eighty-nine years old, he was mild, generous and forbearing in nature, yet firm, whilst wise while speaking the truth. He was a zaahid (one who abstains) with respect to this world and he was one of the foremost scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah in his age. The noble Shaykh – by Allaah’s grace – devoted his whole life to Islaam and it’s people, authoring many books and booklets, teaching and serving the masses, along with being very active in the field of Da’wah. May Allaah forgive our noble father and Shaykh.
This article was a response to a particular question concerning the position and status of Muslim women and has been taken from his Majmoo’ul Fataawaa wa Maqaalaatil Mutanawwi`ah (3/348-350).
[2] Hasan: Related by Maalik in al-Muwattaa (2/899) and al-Haakim (1/93), from Ibn ‘Abbaas (radiyallaahu ‘anhu). It was authenticated by Shaykh al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah (no. 1871).
[3] Related by al-Bukhaaree (no. 5971) and Muslim (7/2), from Abu Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ‘anhu).
[4] Tafseer Qur`aanil A’dtheem (3/439) of al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer.
[5] Related by al-Bukhaaree (1/22) and Muslim (1/139), from the lengthy narration of ‘Aa`ishah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa).
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Can Human beings be Cloned?
Cloning humans 'easier' than animals (1)
In the middle of the year 2001 a group of scientists said cloning humans might be easier than cloning animals. They were optimistic based on the research carried out into human genetics. However experts in Britain criticized their conclusions. An Italian fertility doctor, Dr. Severino Antinori announced his intention to clone humans, so that he can help infertile couples to have children. Many scientists were dismayed and scientists involved in animal cloning warned of the many practical problems in cloning. For example many clones die early or they are born with genetic deformities, and develop terminal illnesses such as cancer.
Genetic difference
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina say the reason of all these problems may be one specific gene, which is responsible for controlling the way in which cells grow. When this gene is not working properly, cells can grow in an uncontrolled way to cause cancer tumors to develop.
In normal sexual reproduction a copy of this gene is passed from each parent to the offspring. But in many animals other than humans, one of these genes is turned off.
The cloning process affects the remaining active gene; it cannot work properly, and so the cloned embryo grows in an uncontrolled way.
Ageing Dolly
For example, in sheep less than one embryo in 300 develops normally. Even the world's most famous sheep clone, Dolly, who died recently suffered from problems linked to this gene. Also she aged rapidly and was overweight.
Dr. Randy Jirtle of Duke University told that he and his colleagues found this genetic difference while looking at the evolution of genes. According to them this difference arose about 70 million years ago to help control the size of babies in the wombs of very early human ancestors. The researchers also say finding that the gene works in a different way in humans from animals such as rats and mice has raised questions about large areas of medical research. One example they say is that many drugs are rejected because they cause cancer in these animals. Medical Research should take a look at it t again.
'Dangerous' information
The findings are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, but have been criticized in Britain. "It seems that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the authors have allowed themselves to over-interpretate their interesting results," said Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute, in Edinburgh, leader of the team, which cloned Dolly the sheep. "I hope that this will not be used to give encouragement to those who wish to clone humans," he said.
Dr John Parrington, a cloning expert at University College London, pointed out that more than one gene behaved in a way that might cause problems in a growing cloned human embryo. "You can't say, taking this information in isolation, that it's easier to clone primates and humans," he said.
Problems in Cloning People (2)
On April 11, 2003, Washington Post Staff Writer, Rick Weiss, reported "New research suggests that it may be a lot harder to clone people than to clone other animals, an unexpected scientific twist that could influence the escalating congressional debate over human cloning and embryo research."
Researchers Find Replicating Primates Is Harder Than for Other Mammals
"The new work by scientists in Pittsburgh provides an explanation for why hundreds of attempts to clone monkeys have all failed despite successes in several other mammals. The scientists said they suspect that similar roadblocks exist for all primates -- the evolutionary grouping that includes monkeys and humans."
In the light of this information, Congress could settle for less stringent restrictions on embryo cloning studies, which scientists favor. The newly discovered obstacle makes it more likely than ever that rogue scientists' recent claims to have created cloned babies were fraud.
But opponents of human embryo research were afraid that the new research not only identifies previously unrecognized hurdles to human cloning, but also points the way to overcoming those hurdles. They noted that the scientists could come up with a potential way to get around the problem.
"This report is bad news for the unethical charlatans who have been preying on people by claiming they are able to clone people's loved ones," said Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the new study in April 11, 2003 issue of the journal Science.
Scientists want to make cloned human embryos to get embryonic stem cells, which live inside early embryos and have the potential to cure a wide array of diseases. Many in Congress support a proposed ban on such research, however, in part because of fears that a cloned human embryo, once made, might be transferred to a woman's womb to develop into a cloned baby. But this will not be so easy. The team discovered a major roadblock to primate cloning by studying what went wrong in their more than 700 attempts to make cloned monkey embryos -- each of which failed spectacularly in the earliest stages of embryo development.
They started out using standard cloning methods, in which a single cell from the monkey to be cloned was fused to a monkey egg cell whose own DNA had been removed. In sheep, mice and other successfully cloned animals, substances inside the egg cell act upon the DNA in the fused cell, reprogramming the genes in a way that makes the cell "think" it is an embryo cell. That cell then begins to divide, one into two, then two into four, eventually forming a new embryo that is genetically identical to the animal that donated the original cell.
Although Schatten's monkey embryos looked normal on the outside, they always failed to develop after the first few cell divisions. Only on close inspection did the cause become apparent: Instead of each cell having a normal number of chromosomes -- the sausage-shaped collections of DNA found in every cell -- some cells had lots of chromosomes and others had few or none.
Schatten's group found that the spindle proteins and molecular motors in monkey egg cells are so closely bound to those cells' DNA that scientists had been inadvertently removing many of them when they extracted the eggs' DNA in the first stage of cloning. As a result, the "tightropes" became chaotic and chromosomes drifted unevenly to the daughter cells.
Similar studies on cloned human embryos in Britain suggest the same phenomenon is at work in humans, Schatten said.
Even if scientists overcome the chromosome problem, it is unlikely that cloned monkeys or humans would develop normally. Most cloned animals -- even those with normal numbers of chromosomes in their cells -- die in the womb or soon after birth because of other problems, which remain unsolvable today, they said.
Because cloned human embryonic stem cells have so much medical promise, scientists favor legislation that would allow them to make cloned human embryos and outlaw only the creation of cloned babies.
Cloning: The Time is Near (3)
Dr. Panayiotis M. Zavos, the former University of Kentucky fertility expert who is hard at work trying to develop techniques that will lead to the full, reproductive cloning of human beings, claims he created a cloned human embryo from the cell of a patient who wants a child and that it grew to eight to 10 cells before he froze it for further study. Writing an essay, ''Human Reproductive Cloning: The Time is Near.'' for the June issue of Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Panayiotis Zavos said ''our team of scientific and medical experts has created the first human cloned embryo for reproductive purposes.''
The Raelians, a religious group that believes humans are clones of extraterrestrial beings, made a similar claim last winter but offered no proof. Most scientists believe their claim to be a hoax.
The non-controversial cloning research is therapeutic cloning aimed at using a person's own cells to develop treatments for degenerative and fatal diseases.
REFERECNES:
(1) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1491056.stm) Wednesday, 15 August, 2001
(2) Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer, WASHINGTON POST. April 11, 2003.
(3) The Courier-Journal, April 11, 2003, Louisville, Kentucky
In the middle of the year 2001 a group of scientists said cloning humans might be easier than cloning animals. They were optimistic based on the research carried out into human genetics. However experts in Britain criticized their conclusions. An Italian fertility doctor, Dr. Severino Antinori announced his intention to clone humans, so that he can help infertile couples to have children. Many scientists were dismayed and scientists involved in animal cloning warned of the many practical problems in cloning. For example many clones die early or they are born with genetic deformities, and develop terminal illnesses such as cancer.
Genetic difference
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina say the reason of all these problems may be one specific gene, which is responsible for controlling the way in which cells grow. When this gene is not working properly, cells can grow in an uncontrolled way to cause cancer tumors to develop.
In normal sexual reproduction a copy of this gene is passed from each parent to the offspring. But in many animals other than humans, one of these genes is turned off.
The cloning process affects the remaining active gene; it cannot work properly, and so the cloned embryo grows in an uncontrolled way.
Ageing Dolly
For example, in sheep less than one embryo in 300 develops normally. Even the world's most famous sheep clone, Dolly, who died recently suffered from problems linked to this gene. Also she aged rapidly and was overweight.
Dr. Randy Jirtle of Duke University told that he and his colleagues found this genetic difference while looking at the evolution of genes. According to them this difference arose about 70 million years ago to help control the size of babies in the wombs of very early human ancestors. The researchers also say finding that the gene works in a different way in humans from animals such as rats and mice has raised questions about large areas of medical research. One example they say is that many drugs are rejected because they cause cancer in these animals. Medical Research should take a look at it t again.
'Dangerous' information
The findings are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, but have been criticized in Britain. "It seems that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the authors have allowed themselves to over-interpretate their interesting results," said Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute, in Edinburgh, leader of the team, which cloned Dolly the sheep. "I hope that this will not be used to give encouragement to those who wish to clone humans," he said.
Dr John Parrington, a cloning expert at University College London, pointed out that more than one gene behaved in a way that might cause problems in a growing cloned human embryo. "You can't say, taking this information in isolation, that it's easier to clone primates and humans," he said.
Problems in Cloning People (2)
On April 11, 2003, Washington Post Staff Writer, Rick Weiss, reported "New research suggests that it may be a lot harder to clone people than to clone other animals, an unexpected scientific twist that could influence the escalating congressional debate over human cloning and embryo research."
Researchers Find Replicating Primates Is Harder Than for Other Mammals
"The new work by scientists in Pittsburgh provides an explanation for why hundreds of attempts to clone monkeys have all failed despite successes in several other mammals. The scientists said they suspect that similar roadblocks exist for all primates -- the evolutionary grouping that includes monkeys and humans."
In the light of this information, Congress could settle for less stringent restrictions on embryo cloning studies, which scientists favor. The newly discovered obstacle makes it more likely than ever that rogue scientists' recent claims to have created cloned babies were fraud.
But opponents of human embryo research were afraid that the new research not only identifies previously unrecognized hurdles to human cloning, but also points the way to overcoming those hurdles. They noted that the scientists could come up with a potential way to get around the problem.
"This report is bad news for the unethical charlatans who have been preying on people by claiming they are able to clone people's loved ones," said Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the new study in April 11, 2003 issue of the journal Science.
Scientists want to make cloned human embryos to get embryonic stem cells, which live inside early embryos and have the potential to cure a wide array of diseases. Many in Congress support a proposed ban on such research, however, in part because of fears that a cloned human embryo, once made, might be transferred to a woman's womb to develop into a cloned baby. But this will not be so easy. The team discovered a major roadblock to primate cloning by studying what went wrong in their more than 700 attempts to make cloned monkey embryos -- each of which failed spectacularly in the earliest stages of embryo development.
They started out using standard cloning methods, in which a single cell from the monkey to be cloned was fused to a monkey egg cell whose own DNA had been removed. In sheep, mice and other successfully cloned animals, substances inside the egg cell act upon the DNA in the fused cell, reprogramming the genes in a way that makes the cell "think" it is an embryo cell. That cell then begins to divide, one into two, then two into four, eventually forming a new embryo that is genetically identical to the animal that donated the original cell.
Although Schatten's monkey embryos looked normal on the outside, they always failed to develop after the first few cell divisions. Only on close inspection did the cause become apparent: Instead of each cell having a normal number of chromosomes -- the sausage-shaped collections of DNA found in every cell -- some cells had lots of chromosomes and others had few or none.
Schatten's group found that the spindle proteins and molecular motors in monkey egg cells are so closely bound to those cells' DNA that scientists had been inadvertently removing many of them when they extracted the eggs' DNA in the first stage of cloning. As a result, the "tightropes" became chaotic and chromosomes drifted unevenly to the daughter cells.
Similar studies on cloned human embryos in Britain suggest the same phenomenon is at work in humans, Schatten said.
Even if scientists overcome the chromosome problem, it is unlikely that cloned monkeys or humans would develop normally. Most cloned animals -- even those with normal numbers of chromosomes in their cells -- die in the womb or soon after birth because of other problems, which remain unsolvable today, they said.
Because cloned human embryonic stem cells have so much medical promise, scientists favor legislation that would allow them to make cloned human embryos and outlaw only the creation of cloned babies.
Cloning: The Time is Near (3)
Dr. Panayiotis M. Zavos, the former University of Kentucky fertility expert who is hard at work trying to develop techniques that will lead to the full, reproductive cloning of human beings, claims he created a cloned human embryo from the cell of a patient who wants a child and that it grew to eight to 10 cells before he froze it for further study. Writing an essay, ''Human Reproductive Cloning: The Time is Near.'' for the June issue of Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Panayiotis Zavos said ''our team of scientific and medical experts has created the first human cloned embryo for reproductive purposes.''
The Raelians, a religious group that believes humans are clones of extraterrestrial beings, made a similar claim last winter but offered no proof. Most scientists believe their claim to be a hoax.
The non-controversial cloning research is therapeutic cloning aimed at using a person's own cells to develop treatments for degenerative and fatal diseases.
REFERECNES:
(1) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1491056.stm) Wednesday, 15 August, 2001
(2) Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer, WASHINGTON POST. April 11, 2003.
(3) The Courier-Journal, April 11, 2003, Louisville, Kentucky
Jamaluddin Afghani
The lives of towering personages and great minds are like prisms through which we can study the past so that we can make some sense of the present. In this article we will briefly look at one such personality.
Seyyed Jamaluddin Afghani was undoubtedly one of the most influential Muslims of the twentieth century. Some consider him to be the principal figure in awakening Islamic political sentiments and social reforms in India, Persia, Afghanistan, Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. Others criticize his role in the destruction of Islamic institutions, including the Sultanate of Persia and the Ottoman Caliphate and suspect that he was working in collusion with one European power or the other. The verdict of history on whether he was a patriot or a turncoat is not clear. It is much easier to make a case that while he fervently believed in his grand pan-Islamic vision, he was caught in the whirlwinds of the times like so many Muslims of that era and became a partner in the demise of political institutions that had provided stability to the Islamic world for 500 years.
Seyyed Jamaluddin was born in 1838 at Asadabad near the Afghan-Persian border. He was called a Seyyed because his family claimed descent from the family of the Prophet through Imam Hussain. The title of “Afghani” refers to his Afghan-Persian heritage. As a youth, Seyyed Jamaluddin studied the Qur’an, Fiqh, Arabic grammar, philosophy, tasawwuf, logic, mathematics, and medicine, disciplines that were the backbone of an Islamic curriculum at that time. In 1856, at the age of eighteen, he spent a year in Delhi and felt the rising political pulse of the subcontinent, which was soon to erupt in the Sepoy Uprising of 1857.
From India, Seyyed Jamaluddin visited Arabia where he performed his Hajj. Returning to Afghanistan in 1858, he was employed by Amir Dost Muhammed. His talents propelled him to the forefront of the Afghan hierarchy. When Dost Muhammed died and his brother Mohammed Azam became the emir, Jamaluddin was appointed the prime minister.
In 1869, Seyyed Jamaluddin fell out of favor with the Emir and left Kabul for India. In Delhi, he received the red carpet treatment from British officials, who were at the same time careful not to let him meet the principal Indian Muslim leaders. That same year he visited Cairo on his way to Istanbul where his fame had preceded him and he was elected to the Turkish Academy. However, his “rational” interpretation of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet was deeply suspect in the eyes of the Turkish ulema and he was expelled from Istanbul in 1871.
Back in Cairo, Jamaluddin had a major role in the events that led to the overthrow of Khedive Ismail Pasha who had brought Egypt to its knees through his extravagance. European influence increased, and Jamaluddin was at the head of the Young Egyptian Movement and the nationalist uprising under Torabi Pasha (1881) that sought to expel the Europeans from Egypt. The British, suspicious of his motives, sent him back to India just before their occupation of Cairo in 1882.
From India, Seyyed Jamaluddin embarked on a journey through Europe and resided for various lengths of time in London, Paris and St. Petersburg. In Paris he met and influenced the Egyptian modernist Muhammed Abduh. Together, the two started a political organization Urwah al Wuthqa (The Unbreakable Bond) whose avowed purpose was to “modernize” Islam and protect the Islamic world from the greed of foreigners. Its strident anti-European tone annoyed the British who engineered to have the organization and its mouthpiece, the Minaret, shut down.
In 1889 Sultan Nasiruddin Shah of Persia visited St. Petersburg and invited Jamaluddin to return to Tehran, promising him the post of prime minister. A reluctant Jamaluddin saw an opportunity to influence events in the Islamic heartland and returned, soon to find himself out of favor with the monarch. Fearing the wrath of the Shah, Jamaluddin took refuge in the Shrine of Shah Abdul Azeem and from the sanctuary, denounced the Shah as a tyrant and advocated his overthrow. It was while he stayed in the sanctuary that Jamaluddin met and influenced the principal figures who had a major impact on the subsequent turbulent events in Persia, including the assassination of Nasiruddin Shah.
The Shah, furious at Seyyed Jamaluddin’s tirades, banished him from Persia in 1891. The Seyyed arrived in Istanbul and was warmly received by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who nonetheless kept a close watch on his activities. Jamaluddin Afghani spent the rest of his life in Istanbul and died of cancer in1896.
Two principal themes run through the life and work of Seyyed Jamaluddin Afghani. First, his proclaimed goal was to unite the Islamic world under a single caliph resident in Istanbul. Towards this end, he sought a rapprochement between the Ottoman Empire and Persia, working to have the Shah recognize the Ottoman Sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, while the Caliph recognized the Shah as the sovereign of all Shi’as. He wrote to the leading theologians of Karbala, Tabriz and Tehran, passionately arguing his case and was partially successful in bringing them to his point of view. However, the rapprochement did not take place due to the political turbulence in Persia. Second, he sought to “modernize” Islam to make it responsive, as he saw it, to the needs of the age. The movement that he started, which was championed by his disciple, Muhammed Abduh of Egypt, was called the salafi movement. It derives from the word “as salaf as salehin” (the pious ancestors) and refers to the legal opinions advanced by the first three generations after the Prophet. It was essentially a rationalist and apologist movement, which sought to bring about a nahda (renaissance) of Islamic thought.
Muhammed Abduh sought to replace the four schools of Sunnah Fiqh (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii and Hanbali) with a single Fiqh. He taught that the laws of the Qur’an could be “rationalized” and if necessary, reinterpreted. The Salafi movement had a major impact on Arab intellectual circles around the turn of the 20th century. It influenced the Aligarh movement of Sir Seyyed in India as well as the Muhammadiya movement in Indonesia. The salafi movement, however, had no roots either in Islamic traditions or Islamic history. The nahda was suspected of attempting to secularize Islam, just as the renaissance of the 16th century had secularized the Latin West. As a mass movement, the Salafi movement was a failure and was rejected by the Islamic world.
Jamaluddin Afghani’s one major success was in paving the way for the tobacco revolution of Persia, a passive resistance movement, which contained British influence in Iran at the turn of the twentieth century.
Seyyed Jamaluddin Afghani was undoubtedly one of the most influential Muslims of the twentieth century. Some consider him to be the principal figure in awakening Islamic political sentiments and social reforms in India, Persia, Afghanistan, Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. Others criticize his role in the destruction of Islamic institutions, including the Sultanate of Persia and the Ottoman Caliphate and suspect that he was working in collusion with one European power or the other. The verdict of history on whether he was a patriot or a turncoat is not clear. It is much easier to make a case that while he fervently believed in his grand pan-Islamic vision, he was caught in the whirlwinds of the times like so many Muslims of that era and became a partner in the demise of political institutions that had provided stability to the Islamic world for 500 years.
Seyyed Jamaluddin was born in 1838 at Asadabad near the Afghan-Persian border. He was called a Seyyed because his family claimed descent from the family of the Prophet through Imam Hussain. The title of “Afghani” refers to his Afghan-Persian heritage. As a youth, Seyyed Jamaluddin studied the Qur’an, Fiqh, Arabic grammar, philosophy, tasawwuf, logic, mathematics, and medicine, disciplines that were the backbone of an Islamic curriculum at that time. In 1856, at the age of eighteen, he spent a year in Delhi and felt the rising political pulse of the subcontinent, which was soon to erupt in the Sepoy Uprising of 1857.
From India, Seyyed Jamaluddin visited Arabia where he performed his Hajj. Returning to Afghanistan in 1858, he was employed by Amir Dost Muhammed. His talents propelled him to the forefront of the Afghan hierarchy. When Dost Muhammed died and his brother Mohammed Azam became the emir, Jamaluddin was appointed the prime minister.
In 1869, Seyyed Jamaluddin fell out of favor with the Emir and left Kabul for India. In Delhi, he received the red carpet treatment from British officials, who were at the same time careful not to let him meet the principal Indian Muslim leaders. That same year he visited Cairo on his way to Istanbul where his fame had preceded him and he was elected to the Turkish Academy. However, his “rational” interpretation of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet was deeply suspect in the eyes of the Turkish ulema and he was expelled from Istanbul in 1871.
Back in Cairo, Jamaluddin had a major role in the events that led to the overthrow of Khedive Ismail Pasha who had brought Egypt to its knees through his extravagance. European influence increased, and Jamaluddin was at the head of the Young Egyptian Movement and the nationalist uprising under Torabi Pasha (1881) that sought to expel the Europeans from Egypt. The British, suspicious of his motives, sent him back to India just before their occupation of Cairo in 1882.
From India, Seyyed Jamaluddin embarked on a journey through Europe and resided for various lengths of time in London, Paris and St. Petersburg. In Paris he met and influenced the Egyptian modernist Muhammed Abduh. Together, the two started a political organization Urwah al Wuthqa (The Unbreakable Bond) whose avowed purpose was to “modernize” Islam and protect the Islamic world from the greed of foreigners. Its strident anti-European tone annoyed the British who engineered to have the organization and its mouthpiece, the Minaret, shut down.
In 1889 Sultan Nasiruddin Shah of Persia visited St. Petersburg and invited Jamaluddin to return to Tehran, promising him the post of prime minister. A reluctant Jamaluddin saw an opportunity to influence events in the Islamic heartland and returned, soon to find himself out of favor with the monarch. Fearing the wrath of the Shah, Jamaluddin took refuge in the Shrine of Shah Abdul Azeem and from the sanctuary, denounced the Shah as a tyrant and advocated his overthrow. It was while he stayed in the sanctuary that Jamaluddin met and influenced the principal figures who had a major impact on the subsequent turbulent events in Persia, including the assassination of Nasiruddin Shah.
The Shah, furious at Seyyed Jamaluddin’s tirades, banished him from Persia in 1891. The Seyyed arrived in Istanbul and was warmly received by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who nonetheless kept a close watch on his activities. Jamaluddin Afghani spent the rest of his life in Istanbul and died of cancer in1896.
Two principal themes run through the life and work of Seyyed Jamaluddin Afghani. First, his proclaimed goal was to unite the Islamic world under a single caliph resident in Istanbul. Towards this end, he sought a rapprochement between the Ottoman Empire and Persia, working to have the Shah recognize the Ottoman Sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, while the Caliph recognized the Shah as the sovereign of all Shi’as. He wrote to the leading theologians of Karbala, Tabriz and Tehran, passionately arguing his case and was partially successful in bringing them to his point of view. However, the rapprochement did not take place due to the political turbulence in Persia. Second, he sought to “modernize” Islam to make it responsive, as he saw it, to the needs of the age. The movement that he started, which was championed by his disciple, Muhammed Abduh of Egypt, was called the salafi movement. It derives from the word “as salaf as salehin” (the pious ancestors) and refers to the legal opinions advanced by the first three generations after the Prophet. It was essentially a rationalist and apologist movement, which sought to bring about a nahda (renaissance) of Islamic thought.
Muhammed Abduh sought to replace the four schools of Sunnah Fiqh (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii and Hanbali) with a single Fiqh. He taught that the laws of the Qur’an could be “rationalized” and if necessary, reinterpreted. The Salafi movement had a major impact on Arab intellectual circles around the turn of the 20th century. It influenced the Aligarh movement of Sir Seyyed in India as well as the Muhammadiya movement in Indonesia. The salafi movement, however, had no roots either in Islamic traditions or Islamic history. The nahda was suspected of attempting to secularize Islam, just as the renaissance of the 16th century had secularized the Latin West. As a mass movement, the Salafi movement was a failure and was rejected by the Islamic world.
Jamaluddin Afghani’s one major success was in paving the way for the tobacco revolution of Persia, a passive resistance movement, which contained British influence in Iran at the turn of the twentieth century.
Best of Both the Worlds
Recent news reports indicate that there are 15 million new STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) cases each year in the United States; teenagers account for a fourth of them. As Muslims constitute two percent of the US population the STD cases among the Muslim adults must number 300,000 and for teenagers the figure should be 80,000. But in actuality, how many Muslim adults and teenagers suffer from STD.? In Kentucky during the year 2002 there were 88 cases of syphilis, 3,722 cases of gonorrhea and 8,755 cases of chlamydia. Accordingly given their percentage of the population, there should have been two cases of syphilis, 74 cases of gonorrhea and 175 cases of chlamydia among the Muslims. But in reality this was not the case.
Do you know that every two minutes, someone is sexually assaulted in America? In 2000, there were 261,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. [2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics]. Of these, 114,000 were victims of sexual assault, 55,000 of attempted rape, and 92,000 of rape. [2000 NCVS.].
The April 1991 issue of “Free Thought Today” reported that every three days one clergyman or church leader in the US was charged last year with criminal sexual abuse of children or young teenagers. Most of the men received light sentences enabling them to return to the pulpit - and continued sexual abuse of children - quickly. Churches are not only failing to check ministers’ records, but in some instances, are knowingly hiring convicted child molesters. The journal clarified that it was not a complete survey of clergy sexual abuse cases from 1990 - merely a study of 106 criminal cases coming to the attention of Free Thought Today from reports in the daily press. There are 216 lawsuits against Church priests in Louisville for sexually molesting the children. The question is how many Imams and how many Muslim teachers are accused of such crimes?
Islam asks its followers not to wear provocative dresses. It does not prohibit make-up but makes it clear that its purpose should not be to entice the opposite sex indiscriminately. Islam advises its followers that no two non-Mahrams (persons who are lawfully permitted to marry each other) of the opposite sex should meet in private except in dire necessity.
An article titled “ SOCIETY: Is There a Way Out of the West’s Cultural Crisis?” written by Francis Fukuyama (Professor at the International Institute for Advanced Studies at the Johns Hopkins University) was published in the 2 December, 2000 issue of the Wilson Quarterly. An excerpt: “All of the industrialized countries outside Asia experienced a massive increase in social disorder between the 1960s and ‘90s - a phenomenon that I have called the Great Disruption of Western social values. Indeed, by the 1990s Sweden, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand all had higher rates of property crime than the United States. More than half of all Scandinavian children are born to unmarried mothers, compared with one-third of American children. In Sweden, so few people bother to get married that the institution itself probably is in long-term decline”.
The US has a 50 per cent divorce rate. Since this is the highest rate of divorces, one can suspect there is something very wrong with US weddings. Islam permits the termination of a wedding contract, yet the divorce percentage is negligible among US Muslims compared to others.
An American Researcher, Edwin J. Feulner, PhD, president of The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research institute wrote in an article titled ‘Whistling In The Dark’ dated September 28, 1995 and available on line at http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ED092895b.cfm
“Congress is crashing head-on into the devastating problem of illegitimacy, and balking. Decades after liberal ideology declared marriage obsolete and liberal welfare policy discouraged it, America has reaped a bitter harvest: Millions of children growing up without dads, and moms struggling through life without much hope for the future. Congress is now trying to hash out the differences between House and Senate versions of a comprehensive welfare-reform bill….Taxpayers will continue to subsidize out-of-wedlock births. Yet, the numbers are stark and incontrovertible. We are becoming a nation of fatherless children. And fatherless children grow up to commit more violent crime, take more illegal drugs and become statistics in more social pathologies than any other group. Unmarried mothers gave birth to 80 percent of all black children born in the inner city in 1994. But the problem goes far beyond the inner city. In 1965, when a worried young strategist in the Johnson administration’s War on Poverty warned of the end of the black family, 25 percent of all black births were to unmarried mothers. Today, nearly 30 percent of all births in America -- regardless of color -- are to unmarried mothers. …. America must stop providing a financial incentive for women on welfare to have children out of wedlock. The only way to do that is to cut off additional payments to those who have more babies while on public assistance, and to deny benefits to girls under 18 who give birth to illegitimate children. “
Every year in the United States, one million teen-age girls give birth to children out of wedlock. This is scary, but the question is how many Muslim teen-age girls give birth to children out of wedlock?
According to estimates, 2 per cent of one million that is 20,000 Muslim teen-age girls should give birth to children out of wedlock in the whole of the United States. Kentucky is one of the 50 states; so Kentucky’s share comes to 400 Muslim girls. Almost one-third to one-fourth of Kentucky’s population lives in Louisville. Hence Louisville should have at least 100 Muslim teen-age girls giving birth to children out of wedlock per year. This is a rough estimate, because the population of US is unevenly distributed. The Northeast, Chicago, California have very high density population.
So what is the inference or conclusion? The result is zero, which means we are adhering to our Islamic values. We are following the commands of Allah (SWT) as revealed in the Qur’an and practiced by Prophet Muhammad (SAS), which is the Sunnah.
We should get a pat on our backs and we should say “Alhamdulillah” Praise be to Allah. This is a blessing. This is a great achievement and we are an excellent example to the non-Muslims. This is an example of Da’wah work. Slowly American will appreciate the Islamic values and the Islamic way of life. Insha’Allah, the Muslim population in America will grow and it is already growing. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and in the world.
The May 1979 issue of Life magazine had an article on prison life in a San Francisco jail. The emphasis was on the Muslim inmates. What attracted the attention of the Magazine was that all the Muslim inmates were free from homosexuality and drug abuse and drug addiction.
About 10 years ago, The Christian Science Monitor made a couple of documentary films on Muslims in America. They showed how Muslim inmates, on their release from correctional institutions, lead honest lives and practice Islam - sincerely and faithfully. To the extent the Christian building owners, whose lawns the Muslim inmates mow, give them the keys of their buildings in complete trust.
We see the bright side of America and also the dark side of America. We need to enjoy the best of both worlds. What I mean is we can lead our lives as Muslims and at the same time enjoy the bright side of America
Do you know that every two minutes, someone is sexually assaulted in America? In 2000, there were 261,000 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault. [2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics]. Of these, 114,000 were victims of sexual assault, 55,000 of attempted rape, and 92,000 of rape. [2000 NCVS.].
The April 1991 issue of “Free Thought Today” reported that every three days one clergyman or church leader in the US was charged last year with criminal sexual abuse of children or young teenagers. Most of the men received light sentences enabling them to return to the pulpit - and continued sexual abuse of children - quickly. Churches are not only failing to check ministers’ records, but in some instances, are knowingly hiring convicted child molesters. The journal clarified that it was not a complete survey of clergy sexual abuse cases from 1990 - merely a study of 106 criminal cases coming to the attention of Free Thought Today from reports in the daily press. There are 216 lawsuits against Church priests in Louisville for sexually molesting the children. The question is how many Imams and how many Muslim teachers are accused of such crimes?
Islam asks its followers not to wear provocative dresses. It does not prohibit make-up but makes it clear that its purpose should not be to entice the opposite sex indiscriminately. Islam advises its followers that no two non-Mahrams (persons who are lawfully permitted to marry each other) of the opposite sex should meet in private except in dire necessity.
An article titled “ SOCIETY: Is There a Way Out of the West’s Cultural Crisis?” written by Francis Fukuyama (Professor at the International Institute for Advanced Studies at the Johns Hopkins University) was published in the 2 December, 2000 issue of the Wilson Quarterly. An excerpt: “All of the industrialized countries outside Asia experienced a massive increase in social disorder between the 1960s and ‘90s - a phenomenon that I have called the Great Disruption of Western social values. Indeed, by the 1990s Sweden, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand all had higher rates of property crime than the United States. More than half of all Scandinavian children are born to unmarried mothers, compared with one-third of American children. In Sweden, so few people bother to get married that the institution itself probably is in long-term decline”.
The US has a 50 per cent divorce rate. Since this is the highest rate of divorces, one can suspect there is something very wrong with US weddings. Islam permits the termination of a wedding contract, yet the divorce percentage is negligible among US Muslims compared to others.
An American Researcher, Edwin J. Feulner, PhD, president of The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research institute wrote in an article titled ‘Whistling In The Dark’ dated September 28, 1995 and available on line at http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ED092895b.cfm
“Congress is crashing head-on into the devastating problem of illegitimacy, and balking. Decades after liberal ideology declared marriage obsolete and liberal welfare policy discouraged it, America has reaped a bitter harvest: Millions of children growing up without dads, and moms struggling through life without much hope for the future. Congress is now trying to hash out the differences between House and Senate versions of a comprehensive welfare-reform bill….Taxpayers will continue to subsidize out-of-wedlock births. Yet, the numbers are stark and incontrovertible. We are becoming a nation of fatherless children. And fatherless children grow up to commit more violent crime, take more illegal drugs and become statistics in more social pathologies than any other group. Unmarried mothers gave birth to 80 percent of all black children born in the inner city in 1994. But the problem goes far beyond the inner city. In 1965, when a worried young strategist in the Johnson administration’s War on Poverty warned of the end of the black family, 25 percent of all black births were to unmarried mothers. Today, nearly 30 percent of all births in America -- regardless of color -- are to unmarried mothers. …. America must stop providing a financial incentive for women on welfare to have children out of wedlock. The only way to do that is to cut off additional payments to those who have more babies while on public assistance, and to deny benefits to girls under 18 who give birth to illegitimate children. “
Every year in the United States, one million teen-age girls give birth to children out of wedlock. This is scary, but the question is how many Muslim teen-age girls give birth to children out of wedlock?
According to estimates, 2 per cent of one million that is 20,000 Muslim teen-age girls should give birth to children out of wedlock in the whole of the United States. Kentucky is one of the 50 states; so Kentucky’s share comes to 400 Muslim girls. Almost one-third to one-fourth of Kentucky’s population lives in Louisville. Hence Louisville should have at least 100 Muslim teen-age girls giving birth to children out of wedlock per year. This is a rough estimate, because the population of US is unevenly distributed. The Northeast, Chicago, California have very high density population.
So what is the inference or conclusion? The result is zero, which means we are adhering to our Islamic values. We are following the commands of Allah (SWT) as revealed in the Qur’an and practiced by Prophet Muhammad (SAS), which is the Sunnah.
We should get a pat on our backs and we should say “Alhamdulillah” Praise be to Allah. This is a blessing. This is a great achievement and we are an excellent example to the non-Muslims. This is an example of Da’wah work. Slowly American will appreciate the Islamic values and the Islamic way of life. Insha’Allah, the Muslim population in America will grow and it is already growing. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and in the world.
The May 1979 issue of Life magazine had an article on prison life in a San Francisco jail. The emphasis was on the Muslim inmates. What attracted the attention of the Magazine was that all the Muslim inmates were free from homosexuality and drug abuse and drug addiction.
About 10 years ago, The Christian Science Monitor made a couple of documentary films on Muslims in America. They showed how Muslim inmates, on their release from correctional institutions, lead honest lives and practice Islam - sincerely and faithfully. To the extent the Christian building owners, whose lawns the Muslim inmates mow, give them the keys of their buildings in complete trust.
We see the bright side of America and also the dark side of America. We need to enjoy the best of both worlds. What I mean is we can lead our lives as Muslims and at the same time enjoy the bright side of America
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