What is the philosophy behind the importance of night Prayer in Islam?

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One of the most recommended worships and Ibadah is night prayer.

There are 11 Rak’ats for night prayer, five prayers which each have two Rak’ats and a single prayer which has one Rak’a.

There are so many benefits for the night prayer which appear in this world and the worlds after death, that we will mention some of them.

There are some recommended and Mostahab prayers that are called Nafilah which literally means, something that is additional and is not obligatory, among them and one of the most important one of them is night prayer. As it is clear from the name of this prayer, it is a prayer which its time is from the religious midnight till the time of morning Azan(call to prayer), and as much as it is performed nearer to the time of morning Azan, it causes more rewards and blessings.

There are some recommended Doa and rituals for this prayer, but just like the base of this prayer that is not obligatory, they are not obligatory too, and we can perform as much as we are jolly and ready and eager to perform, for example we can just perform last three Rak’ats of it or we can perform it in the state of sitting, because the recommended prayers (even though we are able to perform it at the state of standing) can be performed while siting or even while walking. And if we cannot perform it in its time, we are allowed to perform it out of its time and as Qaza prayer (out of its specific time) and all of these, show the importance of this prayer.

Waking up in the midnight or the time near to the morning Azan for worshiping Allah, is very praised by Islam. Allah said in the holy Quran chapter Isra verse 79:

وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَى أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُودًا

“As for the night there is a voluntary deed for you to keep vigil in part it. Perhaps your lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station”.

Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said:

“The one, who does not perform night prayer, is not among our (real and perfect) Shia and followers.”

There is an interesting Narration in which Imam Sadiq peace be upon him narrated for his father, and his father from his father till the holy Prophet of Islam, that he said:

“Allah prides of a servant who performs the night prayer as Qaza (it means that the servant could not perform night prayer in midnight, so he/she performs it during day instead of night) and Allah says: O’ my angels, my servant performs something that I did not make it obligatory upon him/her as Qaza(as compensation), be witness, I forgave him/her.”

Let me mention some of the benefits of night prayer which are derived from the holy Quran and the Narrations.

1) Fulfilling our Doa and wishes.

One of the companions of Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said: I asked the Imam: people say that the holy Prophet of Islam has said: there is a time in the night, that if a servant, asks Allah in that time, definitely his/her Doa and wish will be fulfilled, the Imam said: yes (it is true). I asked the Imam: when is that time? And the Imam replied: between the midnight till the last third of the night. I asked the Imam, is it something that is in a specific night or every night? And the Imam answered: it is for every night.

2) Friendship with Allah.

The holy Prophet of Islam said: “Allah did not adopt Prophet Abraham as His friend, except because of feeding people and performing night prayer while the people were asleep.”

3) Glory.

Imam Ali peace be upon him said: “Allah has put five things in five things (it means that these five things can be obtained through those five things), among them, the Imam said: and majesty and grandeur (can be obtained) in performing night prayer.”

4) It makes the face, good and loveable.

5) It makes the temper, good.

6) It removes the sorrow.

7) It compensates the sins which are committed during day.

8) It is a cause for making the heart, awake and alive.

And as the last point and as a summery to all of above mentioned benefits, let me bring a saying from Ayatullah Qazi, one of the most important Islamic scholars in the field of practical morality, he said to one of his students:

“O’ my son, if you seek the material and worldly matters, perform night prayer and if you seek the spiritual and hereafter positions, perform night prayer.”
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Source:
Akhlagh.porsemani.ir

What is the philosophy behind the importance of Jihad and struggling with ego?

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In Islam, there are two kinds of “Jihad” and struggling or battling, one is with the external enemies and that is with those who are fighting with Islam, but it must be noted as an important point that Islam has never ordered its followers to kill every one that does not believe in Islam, because you know that nowadays some anti-Islam criticize Islam and accuse it of having some harsh rules and they bring as witness, some verses of the holy Quran in which Muslims were ordered to kill some infidels, but these verses do not mean what they say and those verses mean something else, like struggle with those who has started battling Muslims, so here is very important subject, but our subject in this essay refers to the second kind of Jihad and struggling which is with the internal enemy. Some people might ask do we have internal enemy? We answer: yes, and that is our ego. It must be described that we do not say that we are against ourselves and we must kill ourselves in ways like suicide, but we say that some internal wishes and eagerness of ourselves must be struggled with, for example in our inside there might be a sense of envy, so we must try to cure this illness, because in Islam, we do not have just physical illnesses like headache, but rather there are some spiritual illnesses too, like envy, backbiting, etc. and we believe that the dangers of such illnesses i.e. spiritual illnesses are so much more dangerous than the physical illnesses. Imagine a person that has cancer, it is possible for such a person to die after a short while, but let’s compare it with the illnesses that not only make people away from the spiritual perfection, but also if it does not get cured, the lives that we will have after our death which last forever, will be affected by that, and probably for very long time or even forever, we will be punished because of the consequences of that in the hereafter.

So it shows the importance of Jihad and struggling with negative attributes that we might have.

This very important jihad is called جهاد النفس”” or struggling with ego.

And the process of Jihad with ego is called “تزکیه النفس” which means the purification of the soul. So the question is how can we do it?

As the answer to this question, we say: the way of that can be derived from the verses of the holy Quran and the Narrations of the infallibles, because the purification of the soul was the main reason for sending the holy divine books and the prophets and the Imams, and of course the great Islamic scholars in the field of morality have written many useful and beneficial books in this regard.

The holy Prophet of Islam has a saying, he said: “your most hostile enemy is your ego which is inside you.”

If a person is really seeking the perfection and purification of the soul, definitely Allah will help him/her.

Allah said in chapter Ankabut verse 69:

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

“Those who struggle in our cause, we will surely guide them to our ways; and Allah is with those who do good”.

By purification of our soul, we can get and obtain the pure heart. Allah said in chapter Shuara verses 88-89(about the Day of Judgment):

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

“The day when neither wealth nor sons shall benefit,

except him who comes before Allah with a pure heart”.

And the fruit of self-purification is this pure heart.

So let’s mention some of the benefits of this kind of Jihad:

-As we mentioned, by this Jihad we can reach to the pure heart, a heart which spiritually is healthy and if empty from every moral illness.

-We can reach to the welfare and prosperity. If you recite the beginning verses of chapter Shams, you see that after eleven oaths (that shows the importance of the thing for which Allah has sworn) Allah said:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا

“Prosperous is he who purified it (the soul).

And failed is he who buried it”

-By this kind of Jihad, we can reach to the blessings of this world and the hereafter.

Imam Riza peace be upon him said:

“A man asked me, what action causes the blessing of this world and the hereafter and I answered: be against your ego.”

-Imam Baqir peace be upon him said:

Allah the all mighty says: “I swear by my honor and dignity and greatness and grandeur and height of my position, a servant does not prefer my will on his/her will in a matter of the matters of this world, except I do some reactions to him/her, I give him/her an internal richness inside him/her, and I elevate his/her effort in his/her hereafter issues and I guarantee the heavens and the earth for his/her livelihood and I will be his/her supporter behind every business.”

-Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

“The essence of religion is the opposition to the ego.”

-It is a cause for making the life, tasty and pleasant.

Imam Ali peace be upon him said:

“I searched the (pleasant) life and I did not find it except by the means of leaving the selfish desire, so leave the desire of ego in order to have the pleasant life.”

 

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Source:

Gharaati.ir

 

What is the philosophy of emphasis on Pondering in Islam?

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In the religion of Islam i.e. in the holy Quran and the Narrations of the infallibles, there is so much emphasis on “pondering”. If you see in different parts of the holy Quran, you can find so much blaming on those who do not ponder, or those who have chosen their religion and belief out of only following their ancestors, and this shows the importance of pondering from Islamic perspective.

We have different Narrations that show the importance of pondering; some of them are in such words:

Pondering for a while is better that worshiping Allah for a year or in another Narration it is mentioned that it is better that seventy years of worship.

Of course the differences in expressions might be due to the matter and subject on which we ponder or due to the effects of our pondering.

One of the Islamic scholars said: “pondering for a while in some cases can be better than thousands years of worship”, and we will mention the reason of such an emphasis in this essay.

It is true to say that the power of intellect is among the most important gifts of Allah and it is the main difference between Human and the animals, the animals are prior to us in different fields, like the power of body, the power of sight, etc. but they do not have the intellect, so you see that through intellect, Human can overcome even the most dangerous animals.

And another point is that the animals are not responsible for their deeds just like the human and that is just because they are not given the intellect.

Allah has created us in a way that we have freedom to choose our path, He has showed us the path of righteousness and the path of falsehood through the religions and intellect, and He has not forced us to accept one of these two ways.

In Islam there are some bases that we must believe in them out of intellectual discussions, like the existence of God. Of course, we can take help from the experts but the thing which gives the last answer and acceptance is our selection.

Yes, there are other minor issues that if we are not Mojtahid and expert to the extent that can derive the Islamic rules from its sources, we follow the Islamic experts called Maraji and it is something absolutely logical and prevalent in every issue in this world because you see those who are not expert in a field, they refer to an expert in that specific field.

Now let’s see some benefits of pondering:

-Through pondering we can have a better and deeper understanding from the existence of God, His attributes, and different religious issues and it is obvious that as much as our understanding gets deeper, we can have more certainty and be deeper in our beliefs (of course if we act according to what we understand, not just thinking and leaving the good deeds.)

-Through pondering, we can get more familiar with the bounties that Allah has given us and be more thankful to Him and as much as we get more thankful, as the holy Quran says, Allah will give us more. Of course it must be added here that the meaning of being thankful to Allah is not just repeating: “praise is due to Allah”, but rather it means that we obey the commands of Allah and do not use His bounties in the disobedience of Him.

-We can be observant of our deeds and do not let Satan to overcome us; there are a lot of very interesting and helpful discussions in this regard that if God wills, we will mention it in an independent essay.

-One of the matters on which we are recommended to think, is the matter of death, and to remind ourselves that we are not going to live here forever, so it helps us to be on the straight path.

At the end we mention that the importance and priority of pondering over other kinds of worship is that pondering can be a means that can change the way and the style of a sinner to righteousness and toward the perfection. You know that a person by the name of Hor, firstly was among the enemies of Imam Hussein peace be upon him on the tragic event of Karbala, but before starting the battle, he thought for a while about the end and destination of himself if he fights the infallible Imam.

It is narrated that Hor said: I saw myself between Paradise and Hell, so at the end, he repented and came to the tent of Imam Hussein and said to the Imam: is there any way for me to repent? And the Imam accepted him, so Hor fought against the enemies of the Imam and at last he got martyr.

Look at this story deeply, the person that till last night was among the cursed people, now has turned to one of the companions of the Master of the worlds, just because of pondering for a while.

On the opposite side, is Satan that it is mentioned in the Narration that he was worshiping Allah for six thousand years, but because he refused from obeying Allah, he got exiled from the Paradise and till the day of judgment he is cursed by the Allah and the infallibles and the people, he could think that why should we disobey such a wise being who has created me and is my Master?

So we understand that sometimes pondering for a while has an effect that worshiping for six thousand years does not have that effect, and it is the reason that I heard from one of the Islamic scholars that he was talking about the Narrations which for example say: pondering for a while is better that worshiping seventy years. That Islamic scholar said: Islam did not say pondering for a while is better than thousands of years of worship, because we may get confused and deny it, but the reality is that this great comparison is also completely true.

 

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Source:

Akhlagh.porsemani.ir

How does Someone Become a Muslim?

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The basic requirement to become a Muslim is to say, “Ashhadu an laa ilaaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah,” which means, “I testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” Anyone who says this phrase joins the ranks of the Muslim nations. However, saying this only begins the long physical and spiritual journey to practice all aspects of Islam in life and become one of those whom the Qur’an terms “the faithful” (mu’min). Although this journey is long, its rewards are numerous for those who embark on it with sincere will and intentions.

Practicing Islam requires learning the Islamic ideas, teachings, and practices, and then adapting to them – a process that does require some sacrifice. The necessity of sacrifice, however, should not be a deterrent since the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) has said that whenever someone gives up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will replace it with something better.

Sincerity of belief also develops over time. When Prophet Muhammad (S) was first spreading the message of Islam, some people came to him and informed him that they were believers. In reply, Allah revealed:

“Tell them: You do not believe. Better say: ‘We submit’; for belief has not yet penetrated your hearts.”
(The Holy Quran, 49:14)

The first successor to the Holy Prophet, Imam ‘Ali (peace be upon him), has described the dynamic process of following Islam:

I am defining Islam as no one has defined it before me: Islam is submission, submission is conviction, conviction is affirmation, affirmation is acknowledgement, acknowledgement is performance of obligations, and the performance of obligations is good deeds.
(Nahj al-Balagha (The Peak of Eloquence), saying #125)

Who are the Muslims?

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young_muslimsMuslims are the followers of the religion of Islam, i.e. those who submit to the will of Allah as explained in the Qur’an and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (S), the Messenger of Islam. The Muslim population today is about 1.2 billion and is spread over a vast range of races, nationalities, and cultures.

Approximately 18% of the Muslims live in the Arab world, but the majority live in Asia and Africa. The country that has the largest Muslim population is Indonesia, and significant Muslim minorities exist in Russia, China, and Europe as well as North and South America. The Muslim population of the United States is estimated to be around 6 million.

What is Islam?

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islam_is_peace_by_iraneman-d49zryl“Islam” means “submitting or surrendering one’s will to the will of Allah”.2 Mankind naturally submits to Allah; this instinct was born with him on the day of his creation. In reality, the entire universe – the stars, the planets, and the oceans – submits to the will of Allah through its ordered workings.

Modern science calls this phenomenon “the laws of nature,” but these laws of nature, from an Islamic perspective, are not just any laws of nature but the laws of Allah for nature. Human beings, as creatures of Allah who are in need of Him throughout their entire lives, must also surrender their wills and desires to the will of the Almighty, the Creator.

Submitting to Allah does not mean humiliating the individual self or denying the human intellect; rather, it means trusting in the knowledge, wisdom, and fairness of the Creator. People voluntarily give over their lives to others almost every day; for example, passengers embarking on an airplane place their lives in the hands of the pilot because of the pilot’s knowledge, experience, and assumed goodwill.

Similarly, friends trust friends, and if a wise, knowledgeable, rational, and good-intentioned friend invites another to go into the middle of the desert in the middle of a dark night, that person would follow because he knows that his friend would not endanger his life. The decision to trust a person with more knowledge is logical, and so people do not abandon their own intellects by trusting in the wisdom of God.

“Islam” has other meanings, one of which is “to have peace.” Allah has said in the Holy Qur’an:

“He is Allah – there is no God but Him – the King, the Holy One, and the Peace.” (59:23)

“And Allah invites to the abode of peace.” (10:25)

By its connotations of peace and safety, “Islam” indicates that the religion of Islam is free from any deficiencies or defects. As a religion, Islam is perfect because it was ordained by Allah and not invented by humankind.

Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) was the first person that God commanded to use the words “Islam” and “Muslim”3:

“It [Islamic monotheism] is the religion of your father Abraham. He [Allah] has named you Muslims both before and in this [Qur’an].” (22:78)

“Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim (submissive to Allah) and was not one of the polytheists.” (3:67)

Not only Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) but also all the sincere, truthful people after him called their religion “Islam.” Prophet Joseph (peace be upon him) says in the chapter of the Qur’an named “Joseph”:

My Lord! You have given me authority and taught me the interpretation of things. O Creator of the heavens and earth! You are my guardian in this world and in the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim, submitting to Your will, and join me with the righteous. (12:101)

Thus Allah declares in the Qur’an:

“Truly the religion before Allah is Islam.” (3:19)

What is the Viewpoints of Islam and Christianity Regarding Allah?

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russia-christianity-islam-kurban-313.si_The distinguishing feature of Islam is its insistence on absolute monotheism and the forbidding of anything, at all, to be associated with God. This includes the refusal of the idea that Jesus (peace be upon him), the Messenger of God, was God. Allah says in the Qur’an:

Surely they have disbelieved who say that Allah is the Messiah [Jesus], the son of Mary. But the Messiah said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Truly, whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and Fire will be his abode. And for the wrongdoers there are no helpers. Surely, they have disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three,” for there is no God but Allah Who is one. And if they do not cease what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them…. The Messiah, the son of Mary, was nothing other than a messenger; many were the messengers who passed before him. His mother was a woman of truth…. (5:72-75)

Muslims believe that neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament had mentioned in any way that Jesus was the son of God. According to a contemporary American scholar, Barbara Brown:

The doctrine of divinity states that Jesus is the Son of God, the Word of God made flesh. Even though Jesus himself never claimed to be divine, Paul gave him this attribute for one reason – to gain converts among the Gentiles.

The Gentiles were pagans who were used to worshipping gods that had wonderful legends and myths behind them. Several of the pagan deities of the time such as Mithras, Adonis, Attis, and Osiris were all the offspring of a supreme ruling god, and each had died a violent death at a young age, coming back to life a short time later in order to save their people.

Paul took this into account, giving the pagans something similar in Christianity. He attributed divinity to Jesus, saying he was the Son of God, the Supreme, and that he too had died for their sins. In doing so, Paul compromised the teaching of Jesus with pagan beliefs in order to make Christianity more acceptable to the Gentiles.

The term “son of God” was not something new. However, it had been used in the Old Testament to refer to David (Saul 2:7) and his son Solomon (I Chronicles 22:100) and to refer to Adam (Luke 3:38) in the New Testament. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, detailed in Matthew 5, Jesus tells his listeners, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

In all cases, the term “son of God” was not meant to be applied literally but to signify love and affection from God to the righteous. “Son of God” means a special closeness to God, not to be of God. After all, people are sons of God, and Allah is the creator of all life.2

Christians who lived during the time of Jesus (peace be upon him) believed that he was the divine messenger to them, bringing them the words of God and guiding them. However, after the ascension of Jesus to heaven, Saint Paul, who was deeply influenced by Roman paganism, wanted his preaching of Christianity to be more appealing to the Gentiles, so he compromised the teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him) by adopting certain pagan ideas and interpolating them into Christianity. Thus, the idea of the trinity spread even though it was not part of the original teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him).

Why did Allah send Different Prophets and Different Religions?

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-22930 (1)The way of Allah is one, and because the final messenger, Prophet Muhammad (S), has come, there should be no dispute as to what is the right way to follow. However, throughout history, different messengers with slightly different messages were sent to different peoples because the religious needs of humanity were growing and developing just as the human race was itself growing and developing, and also because different civilizations needed different types of guidance. Nevertheless, the source and basic message behind them was the same – namely, Allah the Exalted and Glorious.

Allah sent Moses (peace be upon him) with the Torah as a light and guidance for the Children of Israel (the Jews) along with many other prophets such as David, Solomon, and so on (peace be upon them). 1,500 years after Moses, Allah sent Jesus (peace be upon him), the son of Mary (peace be upon her), confirming the Torah and bringing the Gospel which has also been likened to guidance and light. Finally, 600 years after Jesus (peace be upon him), Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (S) with the Qur’an to confirm all the messages before him and to complete the revelation of religion to mankind.

Since all the Judeo-Christian-Islamic prophets were sent sequentially, the question arises as to why Judaism, Christianity, and Islam now exist as separate religions. The answer is that the followers of these religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity, corrupted the original teachings given to them and ended up making sects of their own rather than following the pure word of God. But as the Qur’an says:

For each of you, We have made a Law and a clear way. If Allah had willed, He would have made you one nation but that He may test you in what He has given you. So strive as a race in good deeds. Your return is to Allah; then He will inform you about that which you used to differ. (5:48)

what is the philosophy behind the importance of Repentance in Islam?

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We have been ordered not to commit any sin, but we are not infallible and sinless, so if in a time we committed a sin, what should we do?

The most important and urgent act after committing a sin is to ask Allah to forgive us, just like what happens in the social wrongs and mistakes, when we commit a mistake against others, we ask them to forgive us.

This asking forgiveness from Allah is called “Tobah” which literally means returning.

So by Tobah we show to Allah that we are sorry for committing a sin, but does that mean to just say “I’m sorry” or the words that have the same meaning, or is there any reality for Tobah other that uttering its words? We will describe the real meaning of Tobah in this essay.

At first let me mention some verses of the holy Quran or some Narrations regarding Tobah and repentance.

In the holy Quran, in more than eighty cases, the word “توبه” (Tobah) and its similar words are used.

In some cases, the holy Quran talks about the position of Tobah before Allah.

In chapter Bagharah, verse 222, we read:

إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ

“Allah loves those who turn to him in repentance and He loves those who cleanse themselves”.

In a very hopeful verse, I mean the verse 53, in chapter Zomar, we read:

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

“Say: O’ my worshipers, who have sinned excessively against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah, surely, Allah forgives all sins. He is the forgiver, the most merciful”.

And let mention some Narrations in this regard.

The holy Prophet of Islam said:

Allah gets happy for the repentance of His servant, more than the happiness of the one who was barren and could not reproduce a child, but now hears the news of having a child, and more than the happiness of the one who has lost something and now he/she has found it, and more than the happiness of a thirsty who has reached water.

Imam Sajjad peace be upon him, said to Allah in one of his supplications: “O’ my Lord, you have opened for your servants a gate toward your forgiveness and you have called it as Tobah”.

Tobah or repentance can be discussed from different angles:

-Form the moral perspective, because it is a kind or moral duties.

-From the theological perspective, because it is a way in which the wrath and discontent of Allah can be reduced or removed.

-And from the jurisprudential issues, because in some cases we must compensate some of our sins, for example if we have usurped something from some people, beside asking Allah to forgive us, we must pay back what we have usurped to its owner and make him/her pleasant, or if we had left our religious duties like prayer or fasting, we must perform them as a kind of compensation, etc.

So now we understand that the meaning of Tobah is not just saying to Allah “I’m sorry”.

In the holy Quran we are ordered to have special kind of Tobah. Allah ordered us in chapter Tahrim verse 8:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا

“Believers, turn to Allah in sincere repentance”

The meaning of  ” تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا ” is to decide really not to commit that sin any more, yes we know that it might happen after a while that we commit that sin again, but our intention in the time of Tobah must be not committing it anymore and if we commit it again, again we decide really not to commit it any longer.

In Islam, getting hopeless and disappointed from the mercy of Allah is considered as the greatest sin, so we have no right to get disappointed, this important note means that the sin of getting disappointed from the mercy and forgiveness of Allah is more and greater than committing other sins, because the plan of Satan is to make the servants of Allah to be hopeless, he says to them: you have committed Allah’s disobedience, you can never reach to eternal welfare, so leave the religion and religious issues, you are no longer going to be a good servant, but we must stand firmly against this very vicious plan and we must know that Allah is very generous and merciful to the extent that He said in chapter Forghan verse 70 (after talking about some bad doers and their punishment):

إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

“Except he who repents and believes and does good works those, Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds; Allah is ever forgiving and merciful”.

Tobah has many benefits that we mention some of them very briefly:

-Returning to the real personality of the Human as the servant of Allah and His vicegerent on the earth.

-Being the beloved of Allah.

-Causing the sin to be forgiven.

-The eternal redemption.

-Enhancement of livelihood.

-Causing the problems in life to be solved, because as it is mentioned in the holy Quran and the Narrations, a lot of our problems are caused by our sins.

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Sources:

Maarefquran.org

Pasokhgoo.ir

what is the philosophy behind the prohibition of Backbiting in Islam?

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Backbiting is a prohibited act in Islam; this forbidden act is translated in the jurisprudential books as following:

To talk about your brother or sister in faith in words that if he/she hears that, he/she will be upset.

Backbiting can be committed through talking, painting, pointing, writing etc.

The holy Quran says about backbiting in chapter Hojorat verse 12:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“Believers, abstain from most suspicion, some suspicion is a sin. Neither spy nor backbite one another, would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Surely, you would loathe it. Fear Allah, without doubt Allah turns (in mercy) and He is the merciful”.

It is said while describing the resemblance between backbiting and eating the flesh of dead brother that in both cases the dead or backbitten person cannot defend from him/herself.

It is mentioned in Islamic sources that the one who backbites the other, in the reality is transferring the reward of him/herself to the backbitten person and if the backbiter does not have good deeds, the punishments of the sins of the backbitten will be transferred from him/her to the person who has committed backbiting.

Some people might ask, is it justly that we lose by a backbiting, the rewards of our good deeds that we have obtained them especially those deeds that we have paid so much money and affairs to do them?

As the answer to this question we say:

Yes. Because you ruin the reputation and honor and credit of the backbitten person; the reputation or honor that he/she might has obtained it through several years and you just ruined it in a second, so it is completely just for the same treatment to be done to you.

The holy Prophet of Islam had at least one elevation (in both physical and spiritual meaning) to the highest levels of paradise and this event is known as Miraj and it is mentioned in the Quran and the description of that in the Narrations and I advise my dear brothers and sisters to read it because it is full of lessons for both physical and spiritual perfections of mankind.

On that journey the Prophet of Islam saw very informative scenes.

One of these events is related to our topic.

He said I saw a group of people that were stretching their faces with their nails.

I asked Gabriel (the angel of revelation): who are they?

And he replied they are the people that were backbiting others and ruining their face.

Backbiting is considered as a kind of hypocrisy, because the one, who backbites others, usually does not do that in front of that person and it is a kind of paltriness and littleness of the backbiter.

If the society gets full of backbiting, no one trusts the others, the hidden faults of every one are revealed and it causes the remoteness of the hearts of the believers from each other and it is completely against the unity and sympathy between people that Islam has ordered us.