were leaving, the Maulana said to them, “You came and stayed just as guests. Remember, the cause of God involves forsaking even the barest necessities of life like food and water. Sweat in this path and

in this ephemeral world, whereas not even one of them is willing to spare a little of his time for God. Does this not imply holding this world superior to the next world?” Once a Tabligh gathering was held

There is no alternative but to take the word nafs, occurring in these verses, as meaning ‘kind.’ God has created for you spouses of your own kind, the Quran is telling us, in order that they may provide

Biologically speaking, women have not been extracted from the bodies of their male counterparts. God fashioned them according to His Will, just as He fashioned men in accordance with His Almighty Will

Quran in such a way that their eyes are “filled with tears” (5:86); when, while intensely remembering God, they “forsake their beds to pray to their Lord in fear and hope” (32:16); when they experience such

such painful moments as realizing the truth of what is stated in the Quran: “…and the love of God is stronger in the faithful” (2:165); when they have the most sublime spiritual experiences; when some hidden

BELIEF IN GODRational THIS world has one God. He is its Creator and Master. The greatest proof of God’s existence is the existence of the world itself. Spread around us in all its vastness and complexity

witness to the existence of a great God who, in His infinite power, controls it. If we have no choice but to believe in the world, we have no choice but to believe in God as well, for the world would be meaningless

is that, just as man is bound to believe in the world around him, so also is he bound to believe in God. Now, just think for a moment that the earth we live on is revolving around the sun whilst spinning

(713-801). She was born in 713 C.E. into a poor family in Basra, Iraq. She devoted her life to worshipping God and serving others. She lived a life of extreme asceticism, and a large number of disciples gathered

to compensate for their weakness, they remembered God more and more. This was because, practically, there was no other choice for them. In this way, due to their weakness, such qualities developed in

person. Moreover, it is possible that some may be extremely weak physically, but as to their minds, God may make them strong personalities to the ultimate extent, so that in spite of having weak personalities

feelings of a true believer: “When the time to depart from this world comes, I want to be near to God Almighty, in the company of angels and nobler companions. Let this journey for me become from a lower

their remedies were traditionally linked with the displeasure and subsequent appeasement of gods and goddesses, what appeal could the scientific method of treatment have for the people? Only when the monotheistic

open to that medical progress which saw its culmination in modern medical science. The Prophet said, “God has sent the remedy for every disease in the world except death.” This saying of the Prophet was the

in India, people believe that these diseases are caused because the goddess is angry with their family or their community. The goddess expresses her anger through the diseases. The people believe that the

religious tenets, therefore, is to strengthen the moral fibre of society by inculcating the fear of God in the individuals of which it is composed. The advent of the life hereafter assumes a high degree

of one’s life on earth will remain a secret. It will be possible to know who opted for the path of God and who opted to follow Satan, who drew their inspiration from the angels and who trod the ways of

English or that I would be doing dawah in the international arena. It seems to me now that it was a God-ordained interference. I had scarce knowledge of English then. To this day I vividly remember how I

bright minds had failed. I have no other explanation for it except that it was a special succour from God. I completed M.A. in 1976. After completing my M.A. in English, I wanted to study Islam formally. I

appear for the interview. Then the unthinkable happened. I was selected. It was a special help from God. A village girl who did not get elementary education was now going to be a lecturer in a reputed university

ESSENCE OF ISLAMDiscover God through His Signs EVERYTHING in the universe—the sun, the moon, the stars—have all completely subjugated themselves to God’s will; they cannot make the slightest deviation

path that God has ordained for them. Similarly, all other elements in nature function in obedience to the laws of nature laid down for them by the Creator. The entire universe has surrendered to God, the Lord

of man and that of the physical world. The physical world has been given no option but to submit to God, whereas man has been given free will, so that he may opt for either good or bad ways. To this end