#this eid came with its blessings

[riricitaa]

MY MEN ARE TRENDING! AS THEY SHOULD!!!

[serenitychronicles]

From Grief to Growth: the Catalyst for Life's Greatest Changes

Ramadan, a month of contemplation, spiritual growth, and self-reflection, holds a special place in the hearts of millions of Muslims around the world. It's a time when we focus on our relationship with Allah, try to improve our character, and seek forgiveness for our sins. And for many of us, it's also a time of physical rest and rejuvenation, a time to recharge our batteries for the spiritual journey ahead.

During the day of Ramadan, when the scorching sun beats down on us, and our bodies crave a moment of respite, lying down for a while seems like the perfect remedy. I close my eyes, feel the coolness of the air on my skin, and let my minds drift away. Thankfully, if I can sleep for 1-2 hours, even though it is not recommended because it's easy to oversleep until Asr and wake up feeling dizzy. So, scrolling through Instagram is something to do when lying in bed.

One day, while scrolling through Instagram during my brief nap, I came across a story that shook me to my core. It was about someone I didn't know personally, but their story left an indelible mark on me. The person had passed away while sleeping in the days leading up to Eid. Suddenly, the fear of death that I had been suppressing for so long overwhelmed me. It was the third time I had heard the news of someone's passing, and each time it felt more real and more terrifying.

Since then, bedtime has become the scariest time of the day for me. As we drift off into a peaceful slumber, a nagging fear lingers at the back of our minds. I'm afraid of not waking up again, of leaving behind unfinished business, of not having enough time to repent for my sins. What if I don't wake up again? What if my time has come, and I'm not ready to face our Creator? These thoughts weigh heavily on my heart, reminding me that death is always lurking around the corner, waiting for its chance to claim me. And so, every night, I cry myself to sleep, praying for forgiveness and asking Allah to protect me from an untimely death.

When I wake up, I always look for studies by Syaikh that discuss death. I wonder, is it really better to fear or hope for death? Or is this feeling of fear of death actually good or not? Because when I read stories of my friends, they really wish for death, while the fear that I feel makes me hope to be kept away from death, as far as possible that God could do for me. This growing fear is so intense that I told Umi, even though I am the type of person who finds it difficult to convey what I feel to other people. Maybe this can describe how scared I was at that time.

But as the days go by, I realize that this fear of death can be a powerful motivator for change. It can push us to be better, to do better, and to live our lives with purpose and intention. And during Ramadan, when our spiritual senses are heightened, this fear can become a golden opportunity for us to do more good deeds, seek forgiveness, and make the most of our time on this earth.

The fear of death can also remind us of the impermanence of this world and the fleeting nature of our existence. It can be a wake-up call to reduce our sins, to leave behind disobedience, and to strive to be on the path of righteousness. As the Prophet shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said,

ﺃَﻛْﺜِﺮُﻭﺍ ﺫِﻛْﺮَ ﻫَﺎﺫِﻡِ ﺍﻟﻠَّﺬَّﺍﺕِ ‏ ﻳَﻌْﻨِﻰ ﺍﻟْﻤَﻮْﺕَ

"Increase in remembrance of the breaker of pleasures, that is, death." (Narrated by Tirmidhi)

Through the lens of this fear, we can see the world in a different light. We can appreciate the beauty of Allah's creation, knowing that our time here is limited. We can be grateful for the blessings that we have, cherishing them as precious gifts from our Creator. And we can use our time, talents, and resources to make a positive impact on the world, leaving behind a legacy that will continue to benefit others long after we're gone.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz rahimahullah explained the meaning of the hadith listed previously:

الموت، يعني: اجعلوه على بالكم كثيرًا حتى تعدوا العدّة، والهادم: القاطع؛ لأنَّه يقطع اللَّذات في الدنيا، ولكنه يُدني من لذَّات الآخرة، ويُقرِّب من لذَّات الآخرة،

"The purpose of remembering death is to make it often come to mind in our minds so that we prepare provisions. The meaning of the 'breaker' is to decide the delicacy in this world and bring it closer to the delicacy in the hereafter." (Syarh Bulughul Maram, Book of Al-Janaiz)

In the end, the fear of death is not something to be feared. Rather, it is a reminder of our mortality, a catalyst for change, and a call to action. May we all use this fear to fuel our passion for good deeds, and may Allah grant us the strength to make the most of every moment that we have.

Aamiin ya Rabbal alamin

[tejasmehndiartist]

The History and Cultural Significance of Mehndi Art

Introduction

The tradition of mehndi art can be outlined within the cultural diversity of the Indian tradition, as a perfect tradition that has been inherited with years. Mehndi, or henna, is not just a body paint; in essence it is happiness, beauty and spirituality associated with marriage.

While studying the history and adorning mehndi arts we will also turn our focus towards skills of Tejas Mehndi Artist, one of the most professional Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur who has invested a lot in this old age profession.

The Origins of Mehndi Art

Ancient Beginnings

The art of Mehndi came to existence more than 5 thousand years back in Egypt and it was also used to make a cool temperature and as aesthetics.

According to historical evidence from civilizations and from the archeologically diggings it can be deduced that the art of henna was even utilized by the pharaohs and other people of the ancient Egypt.

Spread Across Cultures

Thus, the practice of mehndi was brought from Egypt to India and other parts of the Middle East and Asia. Every culture took the art of mehndi and created their own stencils and ways of applying it that were cultural to them.

Mehndi in Ancient India

In India, mehndi got importance in its culture. It was adopted as a decorative item in many functions with especial relation to weddings as a symbol of wealth, affection, and shield.

Cultural Significance of Mehndi

Weddings and Celebrations

Mehndi is inseparable from the Indian weddings now; it is considered equal to it. The Mehndi ceremony is traditionally performed one or two days before the wedding and is merry where both, the bride and the groom have henna designs on their hands.

However, this ceremony is also performed to produce beauty; however, the ceremony’s purpose is to extend the blessing of happiness and well-being to the couple.

Festivals and Rituals

It is also applied on many Indian occasions such as Karva Chauth, Diwali and Eid, to list a few. In these events, women and girls make it a point to tattoo their hand and feet with henna with all the joy in the world.

Symbolism in Designs

Mehndi designs have many kinds of Designs that are used and these motifs are not without meaning. The more recognizable motifs are peacocks, flowers, and geometric patterns that symbolize such things as virtues and blessings.

The Art and Technique of Mehndi

Ingredients and Preparation

Henna mehndi is prepared from the powder of henna leaves mixed with water, lemon and few drops of any essential oil. To do this, this mixture is applied with a cone or brush to form these beautiful patterns on the hair.

Styles of Mehndi Art

Currently, there are different sorts of mehndi art works, for instance the Indian, the Arabic and the African. All three styles have their distinctive features and are characterised by specific patterns that relate to the culture of the given area.

The Role of a Mehndi Artist

A good Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur like Tejas Mehndi Artist is a master in designing the Mehndi keeping in view the cultural and event importance associated with it.

Mehndi Artist for Weddings

Choosing the mehndi artist for marriage functions is also one of the crucial formalities that brides go through. Competent mehndi artists, for instance, Tejas Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur guarantees that the pattern used corresponds to the bride-to-be’s personality and the event’s tradition.

Mehndi function is one of the happy and colorful functions that are arranged before the marriage between bride and groom.

An expert in mehndi designs is one who blends that which is traditional with the latest trends in the market to finally come up with excellent mehndi design that beautifies the wedding celebration event.

Modern Mehndi Trends

Fusion Designs

Today there is a great popularity of the fusion mehndi designs in which elements of both traditional and postmodern cultures are included. This trend changed is in synthesis with the modern generation in equal measure while still honoring tradition.

Mehndi in Fashion

In the fashion industry, he has also found his way and is apparent, designers have adopted use of mehndi designs. This has been useful in giving the mehndi art a wider market besides the traditional functions.

Temporary Tattoos and Body Art

The beauty of mehndi design has gone international; it is used across the world where people consider it as a kind of body art that is temporary in nature for individuals. This has created many chances for Mehndi Artists in Zirakpur and the rest of the world to present their work to more and more people.

Mehndi in Modern Celebrations

Cultural Preservation

Thus, mehndi art in the contemporary world is a connection to the traditions of people. In general, it contributes to retention of culture and encourages formation and support of unity of communities’ identity.

Personal Expression

To many it is more of an art and people go for mehndi designs to make statements on their bodies. Mehndi can be done in accordance to a classical design for a wedding, or a simple pattern for the festivities of a carnival; thus, mehndi enables people to enjoy their creative freedom.

The Role of Social Media

Social media has greatly helped in extending the reach of the art of mehndi. For instance, mehndi artists in Zirakpur such as Tejas Mehndi Artist use social media to popularize their work, reach out to clients and even share ideas about their artwork.

The Future of Mehndi Art

Innovations in Design

The future of mehndi art is considerably quite promising with a constant improvement to the designs and approaches that are used. Artists have to innovate with new patterns and styles to ensure that the tradition is still practiced till date.

Global Recognition

Due to its globalization, the familiarization with the artwork and its symbolism of mehndi design becomes more apparent. Consequently, it has opened doors and ways for Mehndi Artists in Zirakpur as well as those globally to present their work on global forums.

Preservation of Tradition

However, the idea of mehndi art has not changed ever since; it has only developed several techniques. This shows it is still to this date a symbol of celebration, aesthetic value, and pride in cultural identity regardless of the country one hails from.

Tejas Mehndi Artist

Tejas Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur is the top most talented and dedicated artist who do mehndi. Currently, Tejas possesses years of experience and a profound knowledge of classic and modern patterns. He thus combines innovation and Indian traditions in his animations.

It becomes very easy for the clients of Zirakpur to contact Tejas who ensures that clients’ visions are perfectly illustrated and created on their hands through the ornamental henna design.

FAQ about Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur

Unfortunately, mehndi only stays on for 1-3 weeks and this largely depends on the quality of henna used and how the mehndi is managed. To darken the mehndi, after the design dries, one can use mixture of lemon and sugar over the dried design, do not wash the area with soapy water in the next 24 hours, and warm the mehndi.

Some of the known styles of mehndi art are Indian Style, Arabic Style and the African Style. Each style has unique characteristics: Indian mehndi mostly has very detailed work done on it, Arabic mehndi has big and floral work on it and African mehndi has geometrical shapes and patterns.

Conclusion

How the art of mehndi evolved from back then to the present day is a clear indication of how much people have enjoyed it. In that way, today we celebrate this beautiful tradition and do not forget about the creative artists, such as Tejas Mehndi Artist.

As for anybody looking for the best Mehndi Artist in Zirakpur, Tejas Mehndi Artist is your go-to nice, enhancing tradition with modernity in every creation.

This form will not only persevere, still inspiring hearts with beauty and messages of a mehndi’s importance, but develop with time, educating and enlightening more generations in the process.

[mariacallous]

The first-ever landing of a U.S. bomber on Swedish soil, participation in NATO’s largest-ever air deployment exercise, constant strategic communications from NATO affirming the alliance’s solidarity with Sweden—life on the doorstep of NATO accession has turned out to be surprisingly livable for Sweden. That matters because a new Quran burning (this time by an Iraqi refugee) now seems likely to further extend Sweden’s wait as Turkey throws another tantrum—and because it signals to prospective spoilsports that trying to thwart accession isn’t worth the effort.

NATO and its members are taking pains to celebrate Sweden while the country waits for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change his mind regarding its membership.

But on June 28, with less than a month to go before NATO’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, that wait risked becoming longer still. On that day, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika burned a Quran in front of a Stockholm mosque to “express my opinion about the Quran,” as he’d explained in his protest permit application. (While the police had rejected two previous protest permit applications of a similar nature, a court later ruled against that decision.)

Although Momika told Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper in April that he would consider waiting until Sweden was in NATO, he proceeded with the burning anyway. The Turkish government reacted swiftly, with Communications Director Fahrettin Altun describing the burning as “yet another provocative terrorist act targeting our religion on this sacred day” and calling on Sweden to “take a clear stance against terrorism in all of its forms.” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in turn, condemned “the vile protest in Sweden against our holy book on the first day of the blessed Eid al-Adha.”

Mikail Yuksel, a Swede of Turkish origins who leads the small Muslim-focused Nyans Party, swiftly followed up by promising to “do everything in my power to draw attention to [the Quran burning] on the international stage. We’ll see how it affects Sweden’s NATO application.” In 2018, Yuksel was expelled from Sweden’s liberal Center Party, which found that he’d hidden his links to the Grey Wolves, a far-right Turkish organization.

Even as Sweden’s accession is likely to be further delayed, NATO is keen to advertise its commitment. On June 19, two mighty eagles landed in Sweden: B-1B Lancers from the U.S. Bomber Task Force. The supersonic Lancer—whose power and sleek design have given it the nickname “Swan of Death”—is part of the U.S. military’s most formidable kit. It can carry eight air-launched cruise missiles and 24 nuclear warheads or 84 massive conventional bombs, and it can fly 4,600 miles without refueling. The B-1B is the kind of weapon that strikes fear into the heart of U.S. adversaries.

During World War II, there were cases of U.S. emergency landings in Sweden, but the arrival of the two Lancers at the Swedish Air Force’s far-north airfield outside the city of Lulea (and the subsequent joint exercise with Swedish aircraft) was a carefully planned event. It was an unmissable signal by the United States to Russia that despite being kept in the ante room (sorry to sound posh), Sweden already enjoys the full protection of the U.S. military. “This is a historic event. In these troubled times and while waiting for NATO membership, it is important to have strong partners. We have regularly conducted exercises with the Bomber Task Force … and now we’re taking the next step in our cooperation by basing the B1-B Lancer on Swedish soil,” Brig. Gen. Tommy Petersson, Sweden’s deputy Air Force chief, said in a press release.

The historic landing came in the middle of another event: NATO’s largest-ever air deployment exercise, which also included Sweden. Between June 12 and 23, 250 aircraft and 10,000 personnel from NATO member states and Sweden and Japan practiced air deployment across the alliance’s northern territory—and Sweden. The exercise had been planned long ago. Its timing, though, turned out to be fortuitous, since it has allowed NATO and its member states to demonstrate that Sweden is very much part of the gang.

In Brussels, meanwhile, NATO headquarters has been dispatching a steady stream of solidarity-laden messages, always stressing Sweden’s participation in its various undertakings (including a North Atlantic Council meeting this month). U.S. and other officials, for their part, haven’t tired of mentioning Sweden in every discussion with Turkey and other NATO member states. Sweden is playing a starring role in the alliance: No country bar Ukraine is mentioned more frequently and with more expression of loyalty.

It’s annoying that the country can’t fully participate in NATO intelligence-sharing but not intolerable, said retired Maj. Gen. Gunnar Karlson, Sweden’s chief of military intelligence until 2019. “The intelligence aspect of NATO membership is less important than one might think,” he told Foreign Policy. “All sensitive intelligence cooperation is by definition bilateral, and multilateral organizations—including NATO—are not of decisive importance for what sort of intelligence a country can access. The information that is shared within NATO obviously depends on each member state’s trust in the ally they trust the least.”

The most painful disadvantage for Sweden as it continues its wait on NATO’s doorstep may instead be its exclusion from the alliance’s operational planning—and that’s why NATO and some of its members are taking such pains to communicate how closely Sweden is already working with them.

It’s a signal to Turkey and to any other NATO member state that may be inclined to try to squeeze concessions out of future accessions that such attempts might be frustrating but they’re not fatal. If Sweden can enjoy a highly tolerable existence on NATO’s doorstep, denying it membership won’t force it to make concessions.

But comfort on NATO’s doorstep could bring a completely different complication: Swedish voters could conclude that life is good the way it is and that the country should just stop pushing for membership. So far, that doesn’t seem to have happened. In January, months after Turkey had placed its roadblock on Sweden’s NATO path, a record 63 percent of Swedes supported NATO membership, compared with only 22 percent who opposed it. And there was no desire to placate Ankara: 42 percent thought the government had done too much to appease Turkey, while only 6 percent thought the government hadn’t done enough. Yet the risk persists that voters might conclude that almost-membership, especially with the perks Sweden has been getting, is a good deal.

How many more U.S. bombers will land in Sweden before Erdogan decides he’ll grant his fiat lux? How much NATO stratcom will feature Sweden as its protagonist? How many exercises will demonstrate Sweden’s crucial role within the alliance’s wider family? The goodwill will keep flowing—because it has to. It’s like parents who lovingly spend months decorating their baby’s nursery. Half the joy of welcoming the baby into the world is being able to present it with the most perfect accommodation possible. Quite without anyone having planned it, Sweden is getting favorite child treatment.

And when it finally becomes a member, it won’t be under the yoke of concessions to Turkey but against the backdrop of months of additional love by all the other members. Most of the world, meanwhile, will have been educated about Sweden’s value for the alliance. It may not look like it at the moment, but Sweden has won the NATO lottery.

[alhajmabroor]

தமிழில்

3. Entering ihram from the miqaat is one of the obligatory parts of Hajj

Question:

I brought my father and mother on a family visit to the Kingdom with the intention of doing Hajj. They arrived in Shawwaal from Khartoum to Madinah, and stayed there until they went to Makkah at the beginning of Dhu’l-Qa‘dah without entering ihram. They stayed in Makkah until I came from Dammam to Makkah, also without ihram, And I stayed with them in Makkah for three days, until the seventh day of Dhu’l-Hijjah. Then we moved from Makkah to the Haram, and entered ihram there, and formed the intention to do Hajj ifraad. We did tawaf al-qudoom (the tawaf of arrival) and the sa‘i of Hajj, and on the eighth day of Dhu’l-Hijjah, we went to Mina and stayed there until 1 a.m., then we went to ‘Arafah, which we reached at 3 a.m. Please note that my father has a disability affecting his legs, and he needs a wheelchair. Then we left ‘Arafaat after sunset, and reached the mosque of Muzdalifah at 9 p.m., and at 2 a.m. we moved from Muzdalifah to Mina, where we arrived at dawn. We stoned Jamrat al-‘Aqabah at 6 a.m., then my father and mother paid the price of the hadiy (sacrificial animal), and I also paid the price of the hadiy. Then we shaved our heads and exited ihram. On the second day, we stoned all three jamaraat at 10 a.m., and went to Makkah to do tawaf al-ifaadah. On the third day, we left Mina at 2 a.m., and stoned the Jamaraat, because we were hastening to depart after two days. Then we went to Makkah and did the farewell tawaf, then we went to Jeddah, and from Jeddah to Dammam the following day. Is there any of the rituals that my father or my mother or myself did that is not acceptable? If that is the case, then what must we do?

Answer:

Praise be to Allah.

As your parents came from Khartoum with the intention (niyyah) of performing Hajj and they travelled from Madinah to Makkah with this intention, what they should have done was to enter ihram from the miqaat of Madinah; it is not permissible for them to enter ihram from Makkah.

Based on that, each of them must offer a sacrifice, to be slaughtered in the Haram, and its meat to be distributed among the poor of the Haram.

You also came from Dammam with the intention of performing Hajj, and you did not enter ihram from the miqaat, so you must also offer a sacrifice, like them.

The majority of fuqaha’ are of the view that stoning the Jamrah before the sun passes the meridian is not acceptable because it is proven that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stoned it after the sun had passed the meridian, and he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Learn from me your rituals [of Hajj].” Narrated by Muslim (1297).

As you stoned the Jamrah before the sun had passed the meridian, each one of you must offer a further sacrifice to compensate for not having stoned the Jamaraat at the time prescribed.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Stoning the Jamrah before the sun has passed the meridian is not valid on days other than the day of Eid. As for doing so on the day of Eid, there is nothing wrong with that. As for stoning the Jamaraat before the sun has passed the meridian on the days of at-tashreeq, that is not acceptable because it is contrary to what is prescribed. The Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stoned them after the sun had passed the meridian, and he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “learn from me your rituals [of Hajj].” Similarly, his companions stoned the Jamaraat after the sun had passed the meridian. Acts of worship are tawqeefi [i.e., they can only be known through divine Revelation and sound texts of hadeeth] and are not to be based on individual opinion.

Whoever stones the Jamaraat before the sun has passed the meridian, his stoning of them is not valid, and he must offer a sacrifice to compensate for failing to do was obligatory.

So each of them must offer two sheep, to compensate for failing to do two obligatory acts, namely entering ihram from the miqaat and stoning the Jamaraat at the time stipulated in sharee‘ah.

You also mentioned that you paid the price of the hadiy (sacrificial animal), but in the case of Hajj ifraad, no hadiy is required; it is not like qiraan or tamattu‘.

If you intended this hadiy to compensate for the obligatory actions that you failed to do, then each of you still owes another sheep.

But if you did not intend that, then it was a voluntary sacrifice, and each one of you must still offer two sheep, because in the case of expiatory acts (kafaarah), it is essential to form the appropriate intention (niyyah), as is required in all other acts of worship.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The intention (niyyah) is essential in expiatory acts. The intention of offering expiation is sufficient, and it is not essential to state that it is obligatory, because acts of expiation cannot be anything other than obligatory.

End quote from Rawdat at-Taalibeen (8/279)

It says in al-Ashbaah wan-Nazaa’ir (1/73) by Ibn Nujaym, with the commentary thereon entitled Ghamaz ‘Uyoon al-Basaa’ir:

With regard to acts of expiation, the intention (niyyah) is essential to their being valid, whether the act in question is the manumission of a slave, fasting or feeding the poor. End quote.

In al-Kaafi Sharh al-Bazdawi (3/1066) it says:

Expiation (kafaarah) is an act of worship that is required as a penalty.

With regard to it being an act of worship, that is because it is performed in obedience to Allah, namely fasting, and the intention (niyyah) is an essential condition thereof, or it because of his having committed a misdeed, so that misdeed should be followed by an act of worship, in order to cancel it out. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Follow a bad deed with a good deed, so as to erase it.”

As for it being a penalty, it is a punishment for his misdeed and a deterrent.

See: Qawaa‘id al-Ahkaam by al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd as-Salaam (333), and Maqaasid al-Mukallafeen by al-Ashqar (1/178).

And Allah knows best.

3. மிகாத்திலிருந்து இஹ்ராமுக்குள் நுழைவது ஹஜ்ஜின் கடமைகளில் ஒன்றாகும்.

கேள்வி:

நான் எனது தந்தையையும் தாயையும் ஹஜ் செய்யும் நோக்கத்துடன் ராஜ்யத்திற்கு குடும்ப வருகைக்கு அழைத்து வந்தேன். அவர்கள் கார்த்தூமிலிருந்து மதீனாவிற்கு ஷவ்வாலுக்கு வந்து, இஹ்ராமில் நுழையாமல் துல்-கஅதாவின் தொடக்கத்தில் மக்காவிற்குச் செல்லும் வரை அங்கேயே இருந்தார்கள். நான் தம்மாமிலிருந்து மக்காவிற்கு வரும் வரை, இஹ்ராம் இல்லாமல் அவர்கள் மக்காவில் இருந்தார்கள், மேலும் நான் அவர்களுடன் துல்ஹஜ் ஏழாம் நாள் வரை மக்காவில் மூன்று நாட்கள் தங்கியிருந்தேன். பின்னர் நாங்கள் மக்காவிலிருந்து ஹராமுக்குச் சென்று, அங்கு இஹ்ராமுக்குள் நுழைந்து, ஹஜ் இஃப்ராத் செய்ய எண்ணத்தை உருவாக்கினோம். நாங்கள் தவாஃப் அல்-குதூம் (வருகையின் தவாஃப்) மற்றும் ஹஜ்ஜின் சயீ செய்தோம், துல்-ஹிஜ்ஜாவின் எட்டாவது நாளில், நாங்கள் மினாவுக்குச் சென்று, அதிகாலை 1 மணி வரை அங்கேயே இருந்தோம், பின்னர் நாங்கள் அரஃபாவுக்குச் சென��றோம். அதிகாலை 3 மணிக்கு நாங்கள் சென்றடைந்தோம். எனது தந்தைக்கு கால்களை பாதிக்கும் ஊனம் உள்ளது, அவருக்கு சக்கர நாற்காலி தேவை என்பதை நினைவில் கொள்ளவும். பின்னர் நாங்கள் சூரிய அஸ்தமனத்திற்குப் பிறகு அரஃபாத்திலிருந்து புறப்பட்டு, இரவு 9 மணிக்கு முஸ்தலிஃபா பள்ளிவாசலை அடைந்தோம், அதிகாலை 2 மணிக்கு முஸ்தலிஃபாவிலிருந்து மினாவுக்கு நகர்ந்தோம், அங்கு விடியற்காலையில் வந்தோம். நாங்கள் காலை 6 மணிக்கு ஜம்ரத் அல்-அகபாவைக் கல்லெறிந்தோம், பின்னர் எனது தந்தையும் தாயும் ஹதியின் விலையைக் கொடுத்தோம், நானும் ஹதீயின் விலையைக் கொடுத்தேன். பிறகு தலையை மொட்டையடித்துவிட்டு இஹ்ராமிலிருந்து வெளியேறினோம். இரண்டாவது நாள், காலை 10 மணிக்கு மூன்று ஜமாராத் மீதும் கல்லெறிந்துவிட்டு, தவாஃப் அல்-இஃபாதா செய்ய மக்கா சென்றோம். மூன்றாவது நாள், நாங்கள் மினாவிலிருந்து அதிகாலை 2 மணிக்கு புறப்பட்டு ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறிந்தோம், ஏனென்றால் நாங்கள் இரண்டு நாட்களுக்குப் பிறகு அவசரமாக புறப்பட்டோம். பிறகு மக்கா சென்று பிரியாவிடை தவாஃப் செய்துவிட்டு, ஜித்தாவுக்கும், மறுநாள் ஜித்தாவிலிருந்து தமாமுக்கும் சென்றோம். என் அப்பா அல்லது அம்மா அல்லது நானே செய்த சடங்குகள் ஏதும் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியாததா? அப்படியானால், நாம் என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

பதில்:

அல்லாஹ்வுக்கே புகழனைத்தும்.

உங்கள் பெற்றோர்கள் ஹஜ் செய்யும் நோக்கத்துடன் (நியாஹ்) கார்த்தூமிலிருந்து வந்ததால், அவர்கள் மதீனாவிலிருந்து மக்காவிற்கு இந்த நோக்கத்துடன் பயணித்ததால், அவர்கள் செய்ய வேண்டியது மதீனாவின் மீகாத்திலிருந்து இஹ்ராமுக்குள் நுழைவதுதான்; அவர்கள் மக்காவிலிருந்து இஹ்ராமுக்குள் நுழைவது அனுமதிக்கப்படாது.

அதன் அடிப்படையில், அவர்கள் ஒவ்வொருவரும் ஒரு பலி கொடுக்க வேண்டும், ஹராமில் அறுக்கப்பட்டு, அதன் இறைச்சியை ஹராமின் ஏழைகளுக்கு விநியோகிக்க வேண்டும்.

நீங்களும் தம்மாமிலிருந்து ஹஜ் செய்யும் நோக்கத்துடன் வந்தீர்கள், மேலும் நீங்கள் மீகாத்திலிருந்து இஹ்ராமில் நுழையவில்லை, எனவே நீங்களும் அவர்களைப் போல் தியாகம் செய்ய வேண்டும்.

சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டைக் கடக்கும் முன் ஜம்ரா மீது கல்லெறிவதை ஏற்க முடியாது என்று பெரும்பாலான ஃபுகாஹாக்களின் கருத்து உள்ளது, ஏனெனில் சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டைக் கடந்த பிறகு நபி (ஸல்) அவர்கள் அதைக் கல்லெறிந்தார்கள் என்பது நிரூபிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அவர் (அல்லாஹ்வின் ஆசீர்வாதங்களும் சமாதானமும் உண்டாகட்டும்) கூறினார்: "உங்கள் சடங்குகளை (ஹஜ்ஜின்) என்னிடமிருந்து கற்றுக்கொள்ளுங்கள்." முஸ்லிம் (1297) விவரித்தார்.

சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டைக் கடக்கும் முன் நீங்கள் ஜம்ரா மீது கல்லெறிந்தது போல், நீங்கள் ஒவ்வொருவரும் குறிப்பிட்ட நேரத்தில் ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறியாததற்கு ஈடுசெய்ய மேலும் ஒரு தியாகம் செய்ய வேண்டும்.

ஷேக் இப்னு பாஸ் (ரஹ்) அவர்கள் கூறினார்கள்:

சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டை கடக்கும் முன் ஜம்ரா மீது கல்லெறிவது ஈத் தினத்தை தவிர மற்ற நாட்களில் செல்லாது. பெருநாள் தினத்தில் அவ்வாறு செய்வதில் தவறில்லை. அத்தஷ்ரீக் நாட்களில் சூரியன் மெரிடியனைக் கடக்கும் முன் ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறிவதைப் பொறுத்தவரை, அது ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்படாது, ஏனெனில் அது விதிக்கப்பட்டதற்கு முரணானது. சூரியன் மெரிடியனைக் கடந்த பிறகு தூதர் (அல்லாஹ்வின் ஆசீர்வாதம் மற்றும் அமைதி) அவர்களைக் கல்லெறிந்தார், மேலும் அவர் (அல்லாஹ்வின் ஆசீர்வாதமும் சமாதானமும் உண்டாகட்டும்) கூறினார்: "உங்கள் சடங்குகளை என்னிடமிருந்து [ஹஜ்ஜின்] கற்றுக் கொள்ளுங்கள்." அதேபோல, சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டைக் கடந்ததும் அவரது தோழர்கள் ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறிந்தனர். வழிபாட்டுச் செயல்கள் தவ்கீஃபி [அதாவது, அவை தெய்வீக வெளிப்பாடு மற்றும் ஹதீஸின் ஒலி நூல்கள் மூலம் மட்டுமே அறியப்படும்] மற்றும் தனிப்பட்ட கருத்தை அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்டவை அல்ல.

சூரியன் நடுக்கோட்டை கடக்கும் முன் ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறிந்தவர், அவர்கள் மீது கல்லெறிவது செல்லாது, செய்யத் தவறியதற்கு ஈடுசெய்ய அவர் பலி கொடுக்க வேண்டும்.

ஆகவே, ஷரீஅத்தில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ள நேரத்தில் மிகாத்திலிருந்து இஹ்ராமுக்குள் நுழைவது மற்றும் ஜமாராத்தின் மீது கல்லெறிதல் ஆகிய இரண்டு கடமைகளைச் செய்யத் தவறியதற்கு ஈடுசெய்ய அவர்கள் ஒவ்வொருவரும் இரண்டு ஆடுகளைக் கொடுக்க வேண்டும்.

நீங்கள் ஹதீயின் (பலியிடும் பிராணி) விலையை செலுத்தியதாகவும் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளீர்கள், ஆனால் ஹஜ் இஃப்ராத் விஷயத்தில், ஹதீய் தேவையில்லை; இ��ு கிரான் அல்லது தமட்டு போன்றது அல்ல.

நீங்கள் செய்யத் தவறிய கடமைகளுக்கு ஈடுசெய்ய இந்த ஹதீஸை நீங்கள் நினைத்திருந்தால், நீங்கள் ஒவ்வொருவரும் இன்னும் மற்றொரு ஆடுகளுக்கு கடன்பட்டிருக்கிறீர்கள்.

ஆனால் நீங்கள் அதை விரும்பவில்லை என்றால், அது ஒரு தன்னார்வ தியாகம், மேலும் நீங்கள் ஒவ்வொருவரும் இன்னும் இரண்டு ஆடுகளை வழங்க வேண்டும், ஏனென்றால் பரிகாரச் செயல்களில் (கஃபாரா) பொருத்தமான நோக்கத்தை (நியாஹ்) உருவாக்குவது அவசியம். மற்ற எல்லா வழிபாடுகளிலும் தேவை.

நவவி (ரஹ்) அவர்கள் கூறினார்கள்: பிராயச்சித்த செயல்களில் எண்ணம் (நியாஹ்) இன்றியமையாதது. பரிகாரத்தை வழங்குவதற்கான நோக்கம் போதுமானது, மேலும் அது கடமையானது என்று கூறுவது அவசியமில்லை, ஏனெனில் பரிகாரச் செயல்கள் கடமையைத் தவிர வேறு எதுவும் இருக்க முடியாது.

ராவ்தத் அத்-தாலிபீனின் இறுதி மேற்கோள் (8/279)

இது இபின் நுஜய்ம் எழுதிய அல்-அஷ்பாஹ் வான்-நசாயிர் (1/73) இல், காமாஸ் ‘உயூன் அல்-பசாயிர்’ என்ற தலைப்பில் வர்ணனையுடன் கூறுகிறது:

பாவநிவாரணச் செயல்களைப் பொறுத்தவரை, அவர்கள் செல்லுபடியாக இருப்பதற்கு நோக்கம் (நியாஹ்) இன்றியமையாதது, கேள்விக்குரிய செயல் ஒரு அடிமையின் மனிதாபிமானம், நோன்பு அல்லது ஏழைகளுக்கு உணவளிப்பது. முடிவு மேற்கோள்.

அல்-காஃபி ஷர் அல்-பஸ்தாவியில் (3/1066) அது கூறுகிறது:

பரிகாரம் (கஃபாரா) என்பது ஒரு தண்டனையாக தேவைப்படும் ஒரு வழிபாட்டுச் செயலாகும்.

இது ஒரு வழிபாட்டுச் செயலாக இருப்பதால், அது அல்லாஹ்வுக்குக் கீழ்ப்படிந்து செய்யப்படுவதால், அதாவது நோன்பு, மற்றும் நோக்கம் (நியாஹ்) அதன் இன்றியமையாத நிபந்தனை, அல்லது அவர் ஒரு தவறான செயலைச் செய்ததால், அதனால் தவறான செயல்கள் செய்யப்பட வேண்டும். அதை ரத்து செய்வதற்காக, ஒரு வழிபாட்டுச் செயலைப் பின்பற்ற வேண்டும். நபி (ஸல்) அவர்கள் கூறினார்கள்: "ஒரு கெட்ட செயலை ஒரு நல்ல செயலுடன் பின்பற்றுங்கள், அதனால் அதை அழிக்கவும்."

இது ஒரு தண்டனையாக இருப்பதால், அது அவரது தவறான செயலுக்கான தண்டனை மற்றும் தடுப்பு.

பார்க்கவும்: அல்-இஸ் இப்னு அப்துல் அஸ்-ஸலாம் (333) எழுதிய கவாயித் அல்-அஹ்காம், மற்றும் அல்-அஷ்கரின் மக்காசித் அல்-முகல்லாஃபீன் (1/178).

மேலும் அல்லாஹ் நன்கு அறிந்தவன்.

[srbachchan]

DAY 4824

Jalsa, Mumbai                  May 13,  2021              Thu 11:45 PM

Ramzan 

Id/Eid-ul-Fitar  

Friday, May 14

.. and the wishes on this special day for peace and happiness and the safety of all  .. 

EID Mubarak .. to all the Ef from different parts of the World and prayers to the Almighty to give us His blessings  .. 🙏 ����

The fight continues and the blessings from all, for the deliverance continues .. in words and deeds and in the ability to GIVE .. to give the suffering .. to give in the spirit of providing the elements of medical help and assistance in the locations where most desired ..

The Care Center at Delhi Rakabganj Gurudwara of the 400 bedder has begun its functioning for the first 300 beds and then in time to the 400 .. this facility is giving succour free of cost - bed care food medicine and medical care all .. 

I have to, in deepest gratitude thank profusely the Govt., of Poland, the Mayor of the City of Wroclaw, the Ambassador of India at Warsaw and the LOT Polish Airlines for their very gracious gesture towards me.

The general call from the places that were in need of help had been for the urgent need of Oxygen Concentrators. These are and were difficult to procure and when I was not getting any immediate source to acquire them  my friend and the Indian Consul in Wroclaw stepped forward. He at first realising the situation that we were facing was sending a portable O2 concentrator for my personal emergency use, but I dissuaded him. When he insisted I said if you do send it to me I shall donate it to any institute that was in immediate need. During this discourse he came to know of my work in the procurement of Concentrators and came out with the name and details of a Polish Company that was making them and that were being exported to various parts of the World, and whether this could be one of the sources for my need. I immediately placed an order for 50 Oxygen Concentrators, which were blocked for me by him, since the equipment was in short supply and was being manufactured and sold out rather rapidly.

So I have bought 50 concentrators and they shall be shipped out on the 15th of May. My gratitude that I have mentioned above is to all , in getting LOT Polish Airlines , that is delivering the equipment, to waive the freight charges as a gesture of helping us in our hour of need. This is most humbling and filled with the true spirit of coming together and demonstrating by extending a helping hand for humanity and for those that suffer.

Oxygen Concentrators are a complex operational exercise in its use and they must be handled with professional medical advise and care - preferably by Doctors in a Hospital. They come in two different quantities - the 5 litre and the 10 litre . A monitored mix of the two capacities and the medical condition of the patient needs to be studied before administering it. If any of you are in possession of it, please DO NOT attempt to use it randomly. Do take proper medical advice. An improper balance of the mix of the 5l and the 10l can actually become harmful, if done incorrectly.

So the ones I have ordered are the 5 litre ones and in a few days I shall be buying another 50 hopefully of the 10 litre ones and donate them to a Hospital with proper medical care.

Then the need for Ventilators has been equally acute. The BMC the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation when I said I wished to donate something for the cause, told me to not give money,  but to get them Ventilators. This has been an arduous task as well, but luckily another Agency has stepped forward and is helping me with my order. I had ordered 20 ventilators, 10 of which have arrived to day and I am happy that I was able to deliver them to the BMC and a few Municipal Hospitals in Mumbai today. The balance 10 should be in by the 25th and they shall also be distributed to some more Hospitals in need of them.

Oxygen Concentrators,  have also been ordered from another source and about 60 of them should be coming in in a few days.

This is the FIGHT that we must all fight each hour .. this fight we need to WIN and God willing we shall. 

The FIGHT in its literal meaning is often looked upon as putting on boxing gloves in a ring or a wrestling bout with this virus. Thats a silly approach. The will is the FIGHT .. !! 

Also the 25-50 bedder facility that I had spoken of and contributed to, being put up in Juhu is ready and shall get operational hopefully by tomorrow. 

Every individual effort counts  .. even if its a small drop in the Ocean of need ..  

May all our prayers be answered ..

Amitabh Bachchan

Birthday Ef - Snehal Rajpal, Ahmedabad .. Friday, May 14 .. love and greetings to you, be safe and protected .. and with the love and wishes of all the Ef ..❤️🙏 

[jeanvanjer]

Hi there, I'm the gal who told you early she'd be pestering you about the Sugar Daddy Anthony au, and i didnt actually realise you said you were actually planning on starting it (i had thought it was just an idea passing back and forth with you and molly) so i won't be pestering you. Sorry about that (and if it came across as rude). Eid Mubarak (i hope that's right, i looked it up) xoxo

haha its fine. the pestering is cute. The AU actually is more or less currently an idea we're throwing back and forth at each other. i have a couple of lines written? It's probably going to be a long ass ride seeing as my kids never leave me alone so lets see.

Its so sweet of you to look that up and thank you!! Hopefully anyone and everyone who will be celebrating Eid will have a blessed and joyous one.

[em-ad2]

IBRAHIM

Ibrahim also known as Ebrahym. In Arabic, is recognized as a prophet and messenger of Allah in Islam. Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Muslim belief, Ibrahim fulfilled all the commandments and trials wherein God nurtured him throughout his lifetime. As a result of his unwavering faith in Allah, Ibrahim was promised by Allah to be a leader to all the nations of the world. The Quran extols Ibrahim as a model, an exemplar, obedient and not an idolater. In this sense, Abraham has been described as representing "primordial man in universal surrender to the Divine Reality before its fragmentation into religions separated from each other by differences in form".[5]:18 The Islamic holy day 'Eid ul-Adha is celebrated in memory of the sacrifice of Ibrahim, and each able bodied Muslim is supposed to perform the pilgrimage to pay homage at the Kaaba in the Hejazi city of Mecca, which was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael as the first house of worship on earth.

Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham became the leader of the righteous in his time and that it was through him that Adnanite-Arabs and Israelites came. Abraham, in the belief of Islam, was instrumental in cleansing the world of idolatry at the time. Paganism was cleared out by Abraham in both the Arabian peninsula and Canaan. He spiritually purified both places as well as physically sanctifying the houses of worship. Abraham and Isma'eyl (Ishmael) further established the rites of pilgrimage,[6] or Ḥajj ('Pilgrimage'), which are still followed by Muslims today. Muslims maintain that Abraham further asked God to bless both the lines of his progeny, of Isma'il and Isḥaaq (Isaac), and to keep all of his descendants in the protection of God. Abraham's personality and character is one of the most in-depth in the whole Quran, and Abraham is specifically mentioned as being a kind and compassionate man.[9] Abraham's father is understood by Muslims to have been a wicked, ignorant and idolatrous man who ignored all of his son's advice. The relationship between Abraham and his father, who in the Quran is named Azar, is central to Abraham's story as Muslims understand it to establish a large part of Abraham's personality. The Quran mentions that Abraham's father threatened to stone his son to death if he did not cease in preaching to the people.[10] Despite this, the Qur'an states that Abraham in his later years prayed to God to forgive the sins of all his descendants and his parents. Muslims have frequently cited Abraham's character as an example of how kind one must be towards people, and especially one's own parents. A similar example of Abraham's compassionate nature is demonstrated when Abraham began to pray for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah after hearing of God's plan through the angel Gabriel for them. Although the angel Gabriel told Abraham that God's plan was the final word, and therefore Abraham's prayers would be of no effect, the Quran nonetheless reinforces Abraham's kind nature through this particular event. Ibrahim was born in a house of idolaters in the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldees, likely the place called 'Ur' in present-day Iraq, in which case, the idolaters would have been practitioners of the hypothesized Ancient Mesopotamian religion.[12] His father Azar was a well-known idol-sculptor that his people worshiped. As a young child, Ibrahim used to watch his father sculpting these idols from stones or wood. When his father was finished with them, Ibrahim would ask his father why they could not move or respond to any request and then would mock them; therefore, his father would always scold him for not following his ancestors' rituals and mocking their idols.[13]

Despite his opposition to idolatry, his father Azar would still send Ibrahim to sell his idols in the marketplace. Once there, Ibrahim would call out to passersby, "Who will buy my idols? They will not help you and they cannot hurt you! Who will buy my idols?" Then Ibrahim would mock the idols. He would take them to the river, push their faces into the water and command them, "Drink! Drink!" Once again, Ibrahim asked his father, "How can you worship what does not see or hear or do you any good?" Azar replied, "Dare you deny the gods of our people? Get out of my sight!" Ibrahim replied, "May God forgive you. No more will I live with you and your idols." After this, Ibrahim left his father's home for good. During one of the many festivals that would take place in the city, the people would gather in their temple and place offerings of food before their idols. Ur's most prominent temple is the Great Ziggurat, which can be seen today.[14] Ibrahim would ask them, "What are you worshiping? Do these idols hear when you call them? Can they help you or hurt you?" The people would reply, "It is the way of our forefathers." Ibrahim declared "I am sick of your gods! Truly I am their enemy."[15] After several years, Ibrahim became a young man. He still could not believe that his people were worshipping the statues. He laughed whenever he saw them entering the temple, lowering their heads, silently offering the statues the best of their food, crying and asking forgiveness from them. He started feeling angry towards his people, who could not realize that these are only stones that could neither benefit nor harm them.[16]

One night, Abraham went up to the mountain, leaned against a rock, and looked up to the sky. He saw a shining star and said to himself, "Could this be my Lord?" But when it set he said: "I don't like those that set." The star had disappeared so it could not be God. God is always present. Then he saw the moon rising in splendor and said, "Could this be my Lord?" but the moon also set. At daybreak, he saw the sun rising and said, "Could this be my Lord? This is the biggest and brightest!" But when the sun also set he said, "O my people! I am free from all that you join as partners with Allah! I have turned my face towards Allah who created the heavens and the earth and never shall I associate partners with Allah. Our Lord is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in between. He has the power to make the stars rise and set." After this declaration, Abraham then heard Allah calling him, "O Abraham " Abraham trembled and said, "Here I am O my Lord!" Allah replied, "Submit to Me! Be a Muslim!"Abraham fell to the ground, crying. He said: "I submit to the Lord of the universe!" Abraham kept prostrating himself until nightfall. He then got up and went back to his home, in peace and full of conviction that Allah has guided him to the truth. The decision to have Abraham burned at the stake was affirmed by the temple priests and the king of Babylon, Nimrod. The news spread like fire in the kingdom and people were coming from all places to watch the execution. A huge pit was dug up and a large quantity of wood was piled up. Then the biggest fire people ever witnessed was lit. The flames were so high up in the sky that even the birds could not fly over it for fear of being burnt themselves. Ibrahim's hands and feet were chained, and he was put in a catapult, ready to be thrown in. During this time, Angel Jibril came to him and said: "O Ibrahim! Is there anything you wish for?" Ibrahim could have asked to be saved from the fire or to be taken away, but Ibrahim replied, "Allah is sufficient for me, He is the best disposer of my affairs." The catapult was released and Ibrahim was thrown into the fire. Allah then gave an order to the fire, "O fire! Be coolness and safety for Ibrahim." A miracle occurred, the fire obeyed and burned only his chains. Ibrahim came out from it as if he was coming out from a garden, peaceful, his face illuminated, and not a trace of smoke on his clothes. People watched in shock and exclaimed: "Amazing! Ibrahim's God has saved him from the fire

[southeastasianists]

'Usually I can earn between Rp.300,000 and Rp.800,000 (A$31 to $83) a night, just for one performance. Nowadays, since I live with my sister and have no wages, I help in her warung to show my gratitude,’ says Singgih via Whatsapp. In addition to assisting at the roadside warung in Parung, West Java, Singgih also uses his Instagram account to help his sister sell her homemade rengginang, a kind of traditional cracker. The government’s restrictions on movement and activities in response to COVID-19 have been in place since April. Fortunately, Singgih’s sister’s warung has remained open, but for musicians and other arts industry workers like him, the story is one of uncertainty and a daily struggle to survive.

Singgih, 29, is originally from Grobogan in Central Java. After graduating from the prestigious Indonesian Institute of the Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia, ISI) in Surakarta, Singgih has worked as a pengrawit or gamelan musician in Jakarta. He says before COVID-19 art performances were held in Jakarta each Saturday and Sunday, day and night. But now, ‘during social restrictions, all my job offers have been canceled or postponed. Until when, I don’t know.’

The art of playing gamelan instruments is called karawitan. The term comes from the Javanese word rawit which means intricate or finely worked. According to scholars, the music also matches this description. It is argued that the gamelan orchestra uses a more complex system than western music. The music produced by the gamelan orchestra is built from elaborate components, including both loud and soft instruments. One of the soft instruments, which adds melodic layers, is the singers’ voices. Karawitan divide the singing parts into the male singing, called gerongan, and the female singing, called sindenan.

Prior to COVID-19, the Javanese arts, especially karawitan, were flourishing in Jakarta, where the majority of residents are Javanese, and there was high demand for traditional musical performance to accompany slametan (blessing events). For Javanese, slametan are held to celebrate weddings, birthdays, circumcisions, the inauguration of a new house or building and commemoration days, among other events. Those who can afford to will rent a full gamelan orchestra and karawitan group to play. At the top end of the price scale, hosts may hold a wayangan: a performance of Javanese shadow puppets accompanied by a large karawitan group.

Who are the musicians making up Jakarta’s gamelan ensembles? Most pengrawit and pesinden (female singers) come from Yogyakarta, Central Java and East Java. Some graduated from an SMKI (Sekolah Menengah Karawitan Indonesia, vocational high schools for traditional arts), others from ISI like Singgih. However, the majority of pengrawit and pesinden in Jakarta are in fact self-taught. ‘Graduating from ISI doesn’t guarantee that a person can play gamelan properly,’ says Warsiah, a 50-year-old pesinden who lives in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. ‘It takes a lifetime of learning and commitment to be a skilled artist.’

Warsiah came to Jakarta from Wonogiri in Central Java when she was just 16. She first worked selling jamu (a traditional herbal beverage) and did not begin to learn karawitan until she was in her thirties. ‘The pengrawit who heard me singing for the first time told me that my voice matched with the sound of gamelan. I felt encouraged. That’s when I began to learn properly,’ said Warsiah. She regularly attended karawitan rehearsals in Tanjung Duren, Ciledug, and Bekasi. Five years after her first encounter with gamelan, she took her first job as a pesinden.

Warsinah explained that becoming a pesinden meant she was able to leave her job as jamu seller. ‘I remember – it was the 2000s and I was booked as a pesinden every Saturday and Sunday. Imagine this! In the morning I would sing in a slametan event. Then I would go to a wedding ceremony. At night I was hired to accompany wayangan performances. I no longer had time for my business,’ says Warsiah, laughing with joy.

Pesinden are paid more than pengrawit. In recent years, for one karawitan performance in Jakarta, Warsiah is paid between Rp.700,000 and Rp.1 million. When accompanying an all-night wayangan performance, Warsiah earns Rp.1 million. This is different in her hometown. ‘Ten years ago, in my village in Wonogiri, a pesinden could be paid Rp.150,000 even for accompanying a wayangan performance from dusk till dawn.’

Singgih also thinks that his earnings in Jakarta are comparatively good. ‘Imagine this,’ he says. ‘For accompanying an all-night wayangan performance in Central Java, I get Rp.250,000 – if the event is big and the puppeteers are well known. In Jakarta, for the same effort, I can get Rp.500,000 – that’s the minimum fee for pengrawit accompanying a wayangan in Jakarta! So, I just worked on weekends and I could rest on weekdays.’ PSBB

On 10 April, the Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan issued social distancing regulations for an initial period of two weeks. The large-scale social restrictions, or PSBB, were then extended into June. Violations of PSBB carry penalties, including for not wearing face masks in public spaces.

With restrictions on social and cultural activities, the possibility of being paid to perform on stage disappeared overnight. Even before the regulation was introduced, Singgih and Warsinah were already seeing many social and cultural events being canceled or postponed. In addition to performing, both also teach karawitan, earning an additional monthly salary, but during PSBB art studios and universities where they normally teach have also been closed. Soft instruments in the gamelan ensemble / Rahmadi Fajar Himawan

‘I am kind of grateful that all of this [PSBB] happened during Ramadan,’ Singgih reflected. Ramadan ran from 23 April to 23 May this year, and karawitan and wayangan performances are not usually held during this time. Some slametan, such as weddings, are never held during Ramadan out of respect for those who fast. ‘It’s like a coincidence, right?’ Making a living

In April, Joko Widodo announced that the annual mass exodus (mudik) during Ramadan was banned. This meant Warsiah and Singgih, like millions of other Jakartans not native to the city, were unable to celebrate Eid in their hometown. Normally at this time, with performances not allowed during Ramadan, they would return home and gather with family, and after Eid, go back immediately to Jakarta to take up opportunities for work. This year, unable to perform or return to their hometowns, musicians like Warsiah and Singgih have stayed in Jakarta where they are doing whatever they can do to survive.

Warsiah started making jamu again. She charges Rp.10,000 per bottle and promotes it through social media. ‘It’s not bad – it supports me,’ she says. Warsinah has a mushroom farm near her house in Kramat Jati and also an egg farm at her family home in Wonogiri. Though her farms are not large, she feels lucky to be able to support herself during PSBB. ‘But I can’t go to my hometown to celebrate Eid,’ she says.

Some, like Warsiah, make food or beverages or do sewing to make a living and they use social media such as Facebook or Whatsapp to promote their goods. Others like Singgih, rely on the support of their family and work in the family business.

In April, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched a program called Pendataan Pekerja Seni Terdampak COVID-19 (Register of Arts Workers Impacted by COVID-19). The ministry’s stated aim was to make an inventory of arts workers financially impacted by the pandemic. With the data collected, they would aim to distribute donations to those who had lost income. No specific amount of compensation was announced. A similar program was also launched by the City of Jakarta’s Department of Culture, called Pendataan Pekerja Seni di Jakarta yang Terdampak Secara Ekonomi Akibat COVID-19 (Register of Arts Workers in Jakarta Economically Impacted by COVID-19).

There are currently three options for government assistance for musicians like Warsinah and Singgih. Besides the compensation payments, the ministry aims to include musicians in existing social programs, namely Program Keluarga Harapan (Family Hope Program) or Kartu Prakerja (Pre-Employment Card). The ministry is also encouraging any arts workers ineligible for both those programs to perform through online platforms, including its own newly established Budayasaya. Although it is still early days, it does appear that artists who already have a high profile are making good use of online platforms like this. However, it is less clear if they will benefit performers and musicians like Warsinah and Singgih who are less well-known.

The Ministry of Culture and Education created the Budayasaya platform on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to broadcast arts performances.

As their incomes are less than the limit of Rp.10 million per month, Warsiah and Singgih hope they will be eligible for inclusion in these existing social safety net programs. However, there is another potential hurdle: to be classified as an arts worker, you must not have received income from non-arts-related work. Ironically, this may yet prevent musicians from receiving government assistance as they have needed to use their non-arts skills to survive this far.

On 26 May, the Ministry of Education and Culture finally distributed payments, called PL2B, to those arts workers deemed eligible who had registered back in April. Each successful applicant received Rp.1 million as a one-off payment upon completion of documents required by the ministry. The City of Jakarta’s Department of Culture distributed similar payments in early May.

Like more than 40,000 other arts workers who registered with the ministry by the deadline, Singgih put a great deal of hope in the government programs. I contacted him again in late May via WhatsApp to ask how his application went. He was not one of the lucky ones. His application for compensation was rejected. ‘But PSBB will end soon, right?’ he asked me hopefully. I asked him what he would do if PSBB was extended further. ‘Actually, I have no idea,’ he told me. ‘For now, I hope all of this is stopped immediately.’

[beautifulislam]

By now, it is fairly certain that most of us will still be in lockdown throughout the month of Ramadan. That means no tarawīḥ prayers, and no masjid iftārs, and no Jum'ah, and no Eid.

For one segment, this will prove to be the worse Ramaḍān of their lives. They won't be able to feel the spirit of the month, and they will drag through the days waiting for the month to end.

For another segment, this will be the absolutely all-time best Ramaḍān of their lives. That is because they will discover the pleasure of worshipping Allah in private, and the joys of reciting the Quran, and the serenity that long, quiet prostrations bring in the darkest hours of the night. They will realize that while societal events in previous Ramaḍāns helped them to feel a communal spirit, they came at the cost of personal development.

And hence, now, in this time frame, forced by circumstances, and appreciating all those blessings that they took for granted in previous years, they shall discover the real meaning of worship - a mean that transcends society and is independent of crowds and congregations, because all that is needed is the presence of an attentive heart humbling itself in front of its Creator.

Yq

Yes, I'm sad I won't witness a communal Ramaḍān. But that won't prevent me from trying to make this upcoming Ramaḍān the best one of my life, inshaAllah!

[engine-of-life]

The Old Wilds: The Great Damned City, Golgund Grun

Nestled in an undulating landscape of low-lying mountains is the civilization that once was Golgund Grun. Though it is now ancient and cut with scars left by divine fury, still much of the city remains perfectly preserved with delicate architecture and the glowing ambience provided by street lights and carefully manicured foliage. Yet it is entirely empty, a corpse embalmed and lifeless, save for a single inhabitant: it’s ancient conqueror. She keeps the lanterns lit and watches over the secrets the city hides in its depths, for the original inhabitants knew not the truth upon the land they had built.

The circumstance that laid bare the origins of their kingdom came about during the now distant time of the Pandemic of Eid. The domain of death is normally kept separate from the living world through the diligence of the amnesiac god known only as The Magnificent. But, many times throughout history, he has forgotten his duties and allowed death to slip in where it was not intended. The Pandemic of Eid was one such instance, a terrible plague that swept the lands and left nary a civilization untouched, even those supposed learned heretics of the north who claimed to be beyond the fickle whims of the divine.

However, the kingdom of Golgund Grun, land of walnuts and roses, was left completely free from the mark of the disease. Even those foreign who sought shelter beneath its steeples were said to find their ails already dissipating the moment they crossed into the shadow of the city. Already known far and wide for their buildings made with magic, said to look like precious crowns that reached high into the sky, its unparalleled prosperity during a time of great ills did not pass unnoticed.

Although the kingdom and its inhabitants claimed to be of a pious tradition, they knew not the bones upon which their city had been first built. Countless tunnels and caverns snaked their way through those rolling hills, connecting them to a place ancient and untouched by the diligence of modern deities. It is called The Black Lake, a divine presence in its own right, who somehow evaded both the cloying effects of primordial light and the sanctifying work of Five Hands, the God that is Missing, who has left his fingerprints upon the world. The Lake is a fluid not far removed from water that sinks perpetually into some limitless chasm where only its own trembling darkness can be seen and felt. The Magnificent had no power over The Lake, for The Lake had no need to keep its realities separate, and neither did those who were cast under its shadow.

It was an heir of proper divinity who set her eyes upon the city, one of many who grew suspicious of their miraculous immunity. Named Lach, she was once a mortal, but had inherited of the spirit of the divine Ram, whose blessing courses through her veins and granted her both vision and power. Famously unassuming for her diminutive appearance, she is yet a powerful sorcerer, able to call down and control lightning from the heavens to cleave apart flesh from soul.

The inhabitants of Golgund Grun seemed to Lach somehow tainted and strangely twisted, fully alive and yet simultaneously dead, and, in an act either ascribed to be divine mercy or a terrible massacre, she made the decision to cleanse the land of its inhabitants and take a position as sentinel over that strange presence that lay beneath the hills. Her destruction was not total, but few found their escape, some forced even deeper into the caverns to find solace in the embrace of the ever-sinking Lake.

Lach remains Golgund Grun’s solitary steward, ever a protector of the way of the old wilds, ever dutiful to their concerns and whims, unrelenting in her oaths and mission even after the passage of centuries. The city is hers now, though it is a tempting jewel to the wants of treasure hunters and thieves. Her work has ensured the place is known as terribly cursed and forbidden, for she has vowed to suffer no trespassers and no survivors.

[reading-writing-revolution]

#AmericanCollapse

April 22, 2020 (Wednesday)

I’m going to start tonight with an important story that slipped under the radar on a day when one outrageous performance after another grabbed headlines.

On its surface, the story doesn’t seem terribly important. A number of congressional committees have asked the Office of Personnel Management for updates on how the OPM is handling working conditions for federal employees during the coronavirus crisis. OPM is declining to answer the requests. “It has always been difficult to get information from this administration, but the refusal to provide Congress with a basic briefing during a pandemic is especially egregious,” said a Democratic Senate aide to Politico reporter Daniel Lippman. “We’ve never been denied a briefing like this before.”

But the story is actually very significant. The OPM oversees the 2 million workers in the federal government. In mid-February, after Republican Senators acquitted him in his impeachment trial, Trump set out to purge the federal workforce of civil servants, whom he sees as “snakes,” and replace them with political appointees loyal to him.

To head the Presidential Personnel Office, which recruits candidates for the executive branch, Trump brought in John McEntee, who had been fired from a former position in the White House by former chief of staff John Kelly over a security clearance. On March 17, McEntee forced the director of the Office of Personnel Management, Dale Cabaniss, who had significant personnel experience, to resign. Michael Rigas, formerly of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, took her place. (Phew. I know… but this is going somewhere important.)

The change from Cabaniss to Rigas at the head of OPM transpired just as the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the nation hard.

Rigas has said he believes the 1883 Pendleton Act is unconstitutional. Congress passed the Pendleton Act, also known as the Civil Service Act, after a mentally-ill office seeker shot President James Garfield in 1881. Until then, government positions had been handed out to political loyalists, regardless of their capacity to do the job, but the assassination created a public outcry. Charles Guiteau shot Garfield with the expectation that, once elevated to the presidency, Garfield’s vice president would give Guiteau the position his delusions made him think he deserved. The assassination built momentum behind the idea that government should be non-partisan, and that positions should be filled by people actually equipped to do the job. This sentiment has ruled the nation ever since.

Non-partisan civil service has proved a blessing to the nation in two ways. First of all, over time, as more and more positions came under the act, the government got much more efficient. Second, a non-partisan corps of officials has kept the nation stable since they give their loyalty to the country’s government, rather than to any particular president. Administrations come and go, but government bureaucrats keep the nation on an even keel.

Now, Rigas, the man at the head of the federal government’s 2 million workers, wants to get rid of that system and make all employees of the executive branch political appointees, loyal not to the country but to Trump. Rigas is working with McEntee at the PPO. As of a few weeks ago, agencies now have to submit job openings to the PPO to see if they have anyone they want in the position before they can submit their own choice for it. PPO is filling positions with keen regard for their loyalty: recently it has hired four college seniors to become administration officials.

OPM is the office that is refusing to tell Congress what it’s up to.

Today offered some guesses. Dr. Rick Bright, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, claimed that he was let go from his job for crossing Trump. BARDA is charged with protecting us from pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases (EID) and Bright is a specialist in those areas. He headed the federal agency developing a coronavirus vaccine, and refused to use the agency’s significant budget to promote hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug Trump has been pushing as a treatment for the coronavirus. Bright was transferred to a less central position at the National Institutes of Health, but has refused to resign his position at BARDA.

Bright and his lawyers say his removal is retaliation and that he will be filing a whistleblower complaint. “I believe this transfer was in response to my insistence that the government invest the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic into safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit,” he said in a statement. “I am speaking out because to combat this deadly virus, science — not politics or cronyism — has to lead the way.”

Bright’s defense of science over politics got a boost with Tuesday’s news that hydroxychloroquine is not only ineffective against Covid-19, but possibly worsens the outcome for those who take it. A study of 368 patients at Veterans Affairs showed that those given the drug were more likely to die than those who weren’t. After much hyping of the drug, Laura Ingraham and other Fox News Channel personalities have suddenly gone quiet on it. Trump, who hailed the drug as a “game-changer” but who has stopped talking about it lately, said he did not know of the bad report, “but we’ll be looking at it.”

Demanding loyalty to Trump is about cementing the power of the president, and service to that power means he will sacrifice his loyalists whenever necessary to protect himself. People are noting that Trump tossed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp under the bus today over Kemp's reopening of certain Georgia businesses against the advice of public health officials. After a week of calling for states to reopen, Trump told reporters that he “disagree[s] strongly” with Kemp’s decision to start that process.

But Kemp and Trump have clashed before—Trump wanted Kemp to appoint key Trump supporter Doug Collins to the Senate seat that Kemp gave to Kelly Loeffler (now in trouble for insider trading)—so it’s not a huge surprise that Trump hung Kemp out to dry.

Today’s more significant underbussing was that of Alex Azar, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who was skewered in a piece in the Wall Street Journal for what appears to have been extraordinarily inept handling of the coronavirus crisis. My guess is that he is shortly going to be out of a job, taking the blame for the White House’s poor response to the pandemic.

Considering that Trump’s OPM wants to remove qualified civil servants from the government in favor of political cronies, the piece of the Azar story that has attracted the most outrage is ironic. Azar tapped a key aide with little experience or education in public health, management, or medicine to head up the response of Health and Human Services to the coronavirus crisis.

Before going to work for Azar, the aide, Brian Harrison, was a dog breeder who specialized in labradoodles.

---

also available as a free newsletter at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

If Trump wins, everyone else loses.

[rest-in-being]

At the heart of any authentic religious tradition is devotion, adoration and love; and this should not be a surprise because the world came into existence for the very truth that God (the Divine Consciousness) in the pre-eternity was a Hidden Treasure and It longed to be known and loved, hence the creation was made to manifest. That longing to be known and to be loved permeates the creation. The cosmogenesis and unfolding of creation is love, the play of sustaining-the-creation is love and the destruction and folding back is also to draw near the lovers. Love and love alone is the invisible force through which all is sustained by the Beloved. Now if we understand the above, then next question is where does this love manifest the most intensely upon this plane of existence? It manifested the best at and through a fully awakened human being. The Divine Messengers across ages each were such love awakened human beings and in the personality of Muhammad the culmination reached its zenith and in whom all qualities of all previous Messengers came in full circle. The reality of the locus of Divine Love's manifestation within haqiqat e Muhammadiyya or reality of Muhammadan light is a reality beyond history and time, yet the historical appearance and disappearance of the historical personality of Muhammad had to manifest within a particular time. The Time of Arrival, the Time of Departure The month of Rabiul Awwal, the month of the blessed arrival and departure of the beloved Muhammad Mustafa, the locus of Divine Love, the Example Per Excellence for both Priestly and Kingly Role of a Divine Messenger and Last of Divine Informers (Khatam an-Nabi). This is the month of Eid-e-Milad un-Nabi, Lo! Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. 33:56 O Allah, grant blessings and peace upon our Master Muhammad, the opening of what had been closed, and the Seal of what had gone before, and the helper of the Truth by the Truth, and the guide to Your Straight Path, Allah's blessings be upon him and upon his Family and his Companions; equal to his immense position and grandeur. Hierarchy of Love Here is a spiritual formula for ascension to a station of Divine Acceptance and attraction of Divine Love as mentioned in the Last Testament: Declare to Humanity O My Beloved Muhammad: "If you love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive your shortcomings. Allah is Ever Forgiving, Infinite Source of Mercy. The Qur'an 3:31 So the Divine Prescription is to follow a fully awakened human being and among that rank, the Seal of the Divine Informers, the Last of Prophet Muhammad Mustafa is the first to be created and last to be sent. He is the model per excellence and most contemporary as well as most well documented model in history which is so that people may find guidance in following his footstep. So following him is made into a pre-requisite to receive Divine Forgiveness for our falling short of perfection which is our soul's natural state of being as well as to attract Divine Love. ... follow me (the Divine Messenger and Divine Informer and Guide), Allah will love you (yuhibqumuLlah). Now the Ladder to Attain Divine Love is illustrated by the following illustration: As illustrated above, the journey towards attaining Divine Love begins by the recognition and knowledge of the fully awakened human being, in this case, the Seal of the Prophets. If we fail to recognize him in 2020 AD, we are no different than those who failed to recognize him during his lifetime during circa 610 AD. Such fully awakened human beings are such that can not help but to fall in love with them. They having the highest mandate of love (habibAllah), all souls who come in contact with them, even remotely, beyond time, enters into the fellowship of love. When one love something or someone, it becomes almost automatic to follow that object or person. Rule of love is such. A lover start to love everything about his, her beloved and following the ways are a by product of genuine love. Thus following the way of the Messenger (Sunnah) is a link in this hierarchy of love. And when someone follow the Way of the one who is a beloved (habib) of Allah, one also become a beloved. This is the highest attainment. What else a lover of God can ask for except the love of Allah.

[quranspirit1]

what is fiqh in islam? Fiqh in islam is absolute understanding, and it is also known as understanding the purpose of the speaker’s words, and it also comes in the sense of understanding the exact thing. 

As for fiqhs, idiomatically, it is defined as the work of practical legal rulings that are derived from detailed evidence. As for its source and document, it is Islamic legislation.

As it is derived from the basis of legislation, that is, the book and the Sunnah, while the science of the principles of fiqhs is the knowledge of the rules through which the legal rulings are derived from their detailed evidence, and from here the principles of fiqhs are rules that the Mufti follows to extract rulings from their evidence.

The sources of Islamic fiqh in islam are known as the evidence on which this fiqh is based, and they are also called the sources of Islamic legislation or the sources of Sharia. 

No matter how different the names are, the origin of fiqh in islam is one, which is the revelation, which is defined as the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Where the sources of fiqh islam are divided into original and dependent sources, so the original is the book and the Sunnah.

how many fiqh in islam?

Fiqh in islam is divided into two parts, namely the fiqhs of worship, and the fiqhs of transactions, and we will discuss each section in detail:

1- The fiqhs of worship in Islam deal with the rulings of religious worship as revealed to the master of creation and the seal of the prophets and messengers, our master Muhammad - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - with its detailed evidence from the Book and the Sunnah.

In what follows, an explanation of the fiqhs of worship in Islam will focus on the most important acts of worship and obligations that are required of a Muslim:

A- The fiqhs of Sallah: sallah is one of the most prominent and important acts of worship that a Muslim obeys to his innocence - the Almighty - and it is the first thing that the servant will be held accountable for on the Day of Resurrection. 

The matter is to recognize not only the provisions of the five obligatory prayers, but it also requires recognition of the provisions of the eclipse and eclipse prayers, the two Eid prayers, the Friday prayer, the prayer for rain, the supererogatory prayers, and others.

B- The fiqhs of fasting: Perhaps the most important aspect dealt with by this fiqhs is the aspect that pertains to the great month in which the Holy Qur’an was revealed, which is the month of Ramadan. 

It also deals with the spoilers of fasting, its invalidations, its abominations, and the rulings of making it up, in addition to the days on which fasting is desirable outside of Ramadan, with the legal evidence that was mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah.

C- The zakat fiqhs: It includes what the legal rulings on zakat deal with in terms of its conditions, its time, the recipient of zakat, the items to which zakat is distributed, and so on.

D- Purity fiqhs: This aspect of fiqhs deals with the rulings and evidence that came in the chapter on purity and the removal of impurities. This includes washing and ablution and their nullifiers and their Sunnahs enacted by the Messenger of Allah - may Allah prayers and peace be upon him - and tayammum and others. 

E- The fiqhs of Hajj: Hajj is legally the worship of Allah Almighty with specific actions at specific times, in a specific place by a specific person according to what came in the Sunnah of the Messenger, may Allah prayers and peace be upon him.

And that is by visiting the ancient house of Allah, the Kaaba, and dealing with this aspect of the fiqhs of worship. 

With regard to the rituals of Hajj and Umrah, their Sunnahs, conditions, pillars, times of their performance, and so on, with detailed legal evidence.

2-The fiqhs of transactions is a general section of the science of fiqh in islam, Moreover, transactional fiqhs are the practical legal rulings that regulate the actions of the taxpayer and the relationship of the person with others. 

It includes the relationship of a Muslim with those who agree with him or disagree with him in religion, civil and personal provisions, financial transactions, contracts, and so on. Its meaning is to be able to know the provisions of financial transactions and to understand their purposes.

Transactions in fiqhs include basic topics in which sub-topics are included, the most important of which are:

A- Section of statutes and wills, including inheritance, its conditions, causes, and impediments, imposition and agnate, reckoning, copying and dividing estates, and others.

 B- Department of sales and other transactions, and includes the provisions of sale, types of sales that are valid and invalid, and usury.

And other exchanges, such as partnership, Musaqah, sharecropping, Murabaha, speculation, loan, mortgage, etc., and donations such as gifts, and personal statuses Such as bail, transfer, and trusts such as deposits.

C- The section on marriage and related provisions, and includes provisions related to the family and personal status, such as provisions on marriage, dowry, divorce, divorce, expenses, breastfeeding, custody, and so on.

D- The section on felonies, which includes criminal provisions such as murder, qisas, blood money, death penalty, division, and so on.

E- the section of Judgments and Testimonies, which includes: judgments of the judiciary, conditions of the judge, method of judgment, etc., and provisions related to testimony and witness.

F- the section of Claims and evidence section related to the provisions of the pleadings.

G- The section of hudud, which includes the rulings of hudud, such as the hadd punishment for adultery, slander, theft, alcohol, miraculousness, apostasy, transgression, and punishment.

H- the section on oaths and vows includes the provisions of oaths, vows, and expiations.

What are the basic principles of fiqh?

The definition of the fundamentals of fiqh in islam is based on the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, and it is the path that leads to the release of the appropriate judgment after deriving it from detailed practical evidence. Scholars differed in defining the foundations of fiqhs.

Other scholars believe that the principles of fiqh in Islam mean: Evidence is established by rulings, and rulings are established by evidence.

And others among scholars believe that the science of the principles of fiqh in Islam is limited to ijtihad and weighting.

Or it is the total evidence through which the mujtahid derives the legal rulings and studies them well in order to launch them on emerging issues by analogy, companionship, custom, etc.

And the benefit of this high knowledge is the ability of the mujtahid to devise, in addition to recognizing the methodology used by the jurists in the past, such as Shafi’i, Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and others.

The importance and usefulness of the science of the principles of fiqh Islam 

There are many important benefits to the science of the principles of fiqh in Islam, including the following:

Control of the origins of inference, and the statement of the correct ones, with the statement of the correct way to infer from the evidence.

Simplifying the process of ijtihad, and giving emerging events the appropriate legal ruling.

A statement of the fatwa controls, and the conditions of the mufti.

Knowing the causes of disagreement among scholars, and seeking excuses for them.

Standing on the ease and tolerance of Sharia, and adjusting the rules of dialogue by referring to the correct evidence.

Preserving fiqhs from the openness that may result in introducing new sources to it, or from stagnation in closing the door of ijtihad.

A beacon of legal rulings, and subsidiary fatwas that guide the righteousness of people in this world and the Hereafter.

The way in which he reaches a balance between the opinions of scholars when a dispute occurs, and the researcher uses it to identify the evidence, the method of deduction, and the path of ijtihad.

Statement of what is meant by the texts of the rulings contained in the Book and the Sunnah.

Fundamentals of jurisprudence is one of the sciences needed by the mujtahid in reaching legal rulings.

What are the four branches of fiqh?

The 4 fiqh in islam schools is based on deriving legal rulings from the evidence contained in the Qur’an and Sunnah according to specific fiqhs rules and principles. 

They can be called 4 fiqh in islam schools due to their agreement in belief, principles, and Sharia, but they may differ slightly in the elicited rulings if they are within one school of thought. 

And the fiqhs doctrines that spread widely among Muslims, and which became official in most of their books, and the most famous of 4 fiqh in islam are the doctrines of the four imams of the Sunnis and the community, and they are according to their historical arrangement as follows:

Imam Abu Hanifa al-Numan and his Hanafi school of thought. 

Imam Malik bin Anas and his Maliki school of thought. 

Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i and his Shafi'i school of thought. 

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and his Hanbali school of thought. 

What is the difference between sharia and fiqh?

There is an important difference between Sharia and fiqh islam. And is that Sharia is the religion revealed from Allah Almighty, and fiqh islam is the understanding of those who strive for that Sharia.

The difference between fiqh in islam in its idiomatic sense of later generations, and Sharia in its general idiomatic sense can be summarized in the following points:

1- Between Sharia and fiqhs, in general, and in particular, from one facet; Where Sharia includes practical and doctrinal rulings and morals, while fiqhs is concerned with practical rulings only.

fiqhs include the fiqh of scholars; Whether they were right or wrong, and only what the mujtahids were correct in is considered from the Sharia.

Sharia is generally applied to all that Allah - Glory be to Him - has ordained in terms of beliefs, morals and deeds, and it is applied in particular to all that Allah has legislated from practical rulings only without the moral and belief ones, which are contained in the Book and the Sunnah.

Fiqh is limited to practical rulings only, issued by the servant with the aim of drawing closer to his Lord, and whose rulings are issued as a deduction from the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah.

And based on the foregoing, the Sharia is represented by the rulings revealed by Allah, while fiqh is represented by the rulings that jurists have extracted from the texts of the Sharia or by diligent evidence.

Such as Measurement, sent interests, and the sayings of the Companions, just as the Sharia is general, the fiqh is specific, and the Sharia is all correct.

2- Sharia is more complete than fiqh, and it is what is meant by the Almighty’s saying: 

Therefore, Sharia deals with the general rules and principles, while fiqh is the deduction of the mujtahids from the Book and the Sunnah is based on these rules and those principles.

3- The provisions of the Sharia are right and there is no error in them, and the rulings of fiqh that the jurists deduced may be included in the error resulting from their understanding, but one should beware of the dangerous lawsuit.

Which some contemporary writers have enlarged - which aims to delegitimize jurisprudential jurisprudence as a prelude to de-sanctifying the Sharia itself , Where the proponents of this claim consider Sharia to be the opinions of men rather than divine rulings.

This is a clear mistake. The Sharia is divine rulings, and fiqh is taken from that divine Sharia, and the scholars’ deduction is correct in most cases and expressive of these legislative rulings, but the error issued – sometimes – is only from their personal understanding of some texts and evidence.

4- Sharia is general in contrast to fiqh. The Almighty said: 

And this generality is tangible from the reality of the Sharia and its purposes and texts that address all human beings.

5- The Islamic Sharia is binding on all humanity. Every person, if he fulfills the conditions of the assignment, is obligated to everything that came with his belief, worship, morals and behavior.

In contrast to the fiqh that is derived from the legal evidence through the diligence of the mujtahids; The opinion of any mujtahid does not obligate another mujtahid.

And fiqh in islam may treat the problems of society in one time or place with a treatment that may not be suitable for the problems of another time or place, in contrast to the complete Sharia for every time and place.

To summarize

the science of fiqh is related to the actions of the taxpayers, and the relationship of the taxpayer with his Lord, with himself.

And with other members of society, and includes words, deeds, contracts, and actions; That is, practical rulings, which branch out into acts of worship and transactions. 

Acts of worship are like: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and so on, and transactions like: contracts, disposals, penalties, guarantees, and other things that are intended to regulate relationships between individuals.

[srbachchan]

DAY 3737

London, Mumbai                 June 14,  2018                 Thu 7:49 PM

Birthday - Ef Sejal Shah .. happiness always on this special day .. love from all the Ef ..

On the Holy festive of EID, my love and wishes for EiD to all .. EID MUBARAK ..

On this occasion the young ask the elders for ‘EiDi’ .. a gift or some token money .. I am an elder and my ‘eidi’ is love and peace and affection to all .. remain in sublime affection ever .. remain in constant loving consider .. remain in the environ of holding each others hands .. remain within and remain without .. for each has its divine connect ..

The divine never did any harm to any .. ever did he give care and the best for each , His creation .. never did he bring conflict and misalignment ..  never did He discriminate .. never did He ever treat each creation with remorse or pain .. He gave us all living the wellness of mankind humanity and its care .. we are all blessed and in great affection to Him ..

and this be a song sequence from an early film of mine .. ‘Parwana’, and this be Yogeeta Bali the leading lady of the film .. I was not the leading man, Navin Nischol was, and this was the most awkward moment for me because I had to dance and lip sync and I was hopeless and immature and just terrible - the fact that I still am is another matter - but there .. there we are ..

Yogeeta is now married to Mithun Charavarty .. and has left the film world .. they have a son who is also working in the profession, Mimo ..

But those days of ‘Parwana’ under the direction of Jyoti Swaroop, we affectionately called him ‘buzziya’ ..  a discovery and who worked with Mehmood Bhai, went magical too .. those initial days of work, the scenes of some intensity with Om Prakash ji .. his complimentary words and the reason I believe that many other makers suddenly started to take notice .. late night shoots and the effort to keep the eyes open .. those multiple raw eggs devoured one after the other, because someone advised it would keep me awake .. ya right .. !!

Most of it was shot at Mohan Studios .. the studio with an amazing history .. Bimal Roy did most of his work there .. today’s generation would have trouble understanding the magnificent contribution of Bimal Da to cinema .. Hrishikesh Mukherji was his assistant under him and many of .. indeed all of Hrishi Da’s films were all shot at Mohan Studios .. as also most of Prakash Mehra films .. in particular ‘Muqaddar ka Sikandar’ ..

Mohan Studios a large expanse of raw land about and only 2 floors .. well 3 actually but the 3rd was more a godown .. the roofs and its making were very basic .. corrugated tin roofs and tender walls .. 

In MKS, one of the last scenes shot was the mujra and the death scene of the courtesan, and when we packed up for the day at around 9 pm and came out form the floor .. there was a loud bang from the floor ..

The entire set had collapsed .. !! 

 Saved by the bell .. all of us .. !!

A small passage way separated the 2 floors of Mohan Studios .. there were two large trees in that space .. we often sat about it during shot breaks and Hrishi Da would pick a member from his crew and set up his chess table and play .. he was good  !!

‘Anand’ on one floor and after , ‘NamakHaram’ on the other .. Salim Javed would visit the studio often .. they worked closely with Rajesh Khanna those days and during the shoot of ‘Anand’ would drop by .. I think I met them there first .. and never realised that this association would take me thus far, in some of the most iconic films they wrote as a combine .. 

It was here during the shoot of ‘Anand’ that my Mother visited me on set for the very first time .. having travelled from Delhi to spend some time with me .. 

There was a very small tin shed room like structure at the back of the studio, which Jaya and I converted into a select make up room .. corrugated tin shed, a mirror and a smallish couch to sit on during breaks .. stuck up little pictures on the tin walls to give designation and occupancy exclusivity to the area .. haha !

Historic films made there .. while I was working and many before me too ..

NOW sold off to real estate development and towers of residences adorn the studio space .. 

I wonder if the occupants of the multiple apartments built on it would ever know the quality of the iconic earth they live upon ..

Silent towering structures .. imposing yet humble in its approach .. not able to speak a word yet hear and know all .. at times I wonder if only each wall of the studios could speak could talk .. what a massive library of stories would come about ..

Its back to work tomorrow and the drive to it .. 

we were almost like this in those days ..

Amitabh Bachchan

[savedfromsalvation]

The 12 Worst Ideas Organized Religion Has Unleashed On the World

These dubious concepts advocate conflict, cruelty and suffering.

By Valerie Tarico / AlterNet

April 30, 2018, 10:34 PM GMT

Some of humanity’s technological innovations are things we would have been better off without: the medieval rack, the atomic bomb and powdered lead potions come to mind. Religions tend to invent ideas or concepts rather than technologies, but like every other creative human enterprise, they produce some really bad ones along with the good.

I've previously highlighted some of humanity’s best moral and spiritual concepts, our shared moral core. Here, by way of contrast, are some of the worst. These twelve dubious concepts promote conflict, cruelty, suffering and death rather than love and peace. To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, they belong in the dustbin of history just as soon as we can get them there.

1. Chosen People –The term “Chosen People” typically refers to the Hebrew Bible and the ugly idea that God has given certain tribes a Promised Land (even though it is already occupied by other people). But in reality many sects endorse some version of this concept. The New Testament identifies Christians as the chosen ones. Calvinists talk about “God’s elect,” believing that they themselves are the special few who were chosen before the beginning of time. Jehovah’s witnesses believe that 144,000 souls will get a special place in the afterlife. In many cultures certain privileged and powerful bloodlines were thought to be descended directly from gods (in contrast to everyone else).

Religious sects are inherently tribal and divisive because they compete by making mutually exclusive truth claims and by promising blessings or afterlife rewards that no competing sect can offer. “Gang symbols” like special haircuts, attire, hand signals and jargon differentiate insiders from outsiders and subtly (or not so subtly) convey to both that insiders are inherently superior.

2. Heretics – Heretics, kafir, or infidels (to use the medieval Catholic term) are not just outsiders, they are morally suspect and often seen as less than fully human. In the Torah, slaves taken from among outsiders don’t merit the same protections as Hebrew slaves. Those who don’t believe in a god are corrupt, doers of abominable deeds. “There is none [among them] who does good,” says the Psalmist.

Islam teaches the concept of “dhimmitude” and provides special rules for the subjugation of religious minorities, with monotheists getting better treatment than polytheists. Christianity blurs together the concepts of unbeliever and evildoer. Ultimately, heretics are a threat that needs to be neutralized by conversion, conquest, isolation, domination, or—in worst cases—mass murder.

3. Holy War – If war can be holy, anything goes. The medieval Roman Catholic Church conducted a twenty year campaign of extermination against heretical Cathar Christians in the south of France, promising their land and possessions to real Christians who signed on as crusaders. Sunni and Shia Muslims have slaughtered each other for centuries. The Hebrew scriptures recount battle after battle in which their war God, Yahweh, helps them to not only defeat but also exterminate the shepherding cultures that occupy their “Promised Land.” As in later holy wars, like the modern rise of ISIS, divine sanction let them kill the elderly and children, burn orchards, and take virgin females as sexual slaves—all while retaining a sense of moral superiority.

4. Blasphemy – Blasphemy is the notion that some ideas are inviolable, off limits to criticism, satire, debate, or even question. By definition, criticism of these ideas is an outrage, and it is precisely this emotion–outrage–that the crime of blasphemy evokes in believers. The Bible prescribes death for blasphemers; the Quran does not, but death-to-blasphemers became part of Shariah during medieval times.

The idea that blasphemy must be prevented or avenged has caused millions of murders over the centuries and countless other horrors. As I write, blogger Raif Badawi awaits round after round of flogging in Saudi Arabia—1000 lashes in batches of 50—while his wife and children plead from Canada for the international community to do something.

5. Glorified suffering – Picture secret societies of monks flogging their own backs. The image that comes to mind is probably from Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, but the idea isn’t one he made up. A core premise of Christianity is that righteous torture—if it’s just intense and prolonged enough–can somehow fix the damage done by evil, sinful behavior. Millions of crucifixes litter the world as testaments to this belief. Shia Muslims beat themselves with lashes and chains during Aashura, a form of sanctified suffering called Matam that commemorates the death of the martyr Hussein. Self-denial in the form of asceticism and fasting is a part of both Eastern and Western religions, not only because deprivation induces altered states but also because people believe suffering somehow brings us closer to divinity.

Our ancestors lived in a world in which pain came unbidden, and people had very little power to control it. An aspirin or heating pad would have been a miracle to the writers of the Bible, Quran, or Gita. Faced with uncontrollable suffering, the best advice religion could offer was to lean in or make meaning of it. The problem, of course is that glorifying suffering—turning it into a spiritual good—has made people more willing to inflict it on not only themselves and their enemies but also those who are helpless, including the ill or dying (as in the case of Mother Teresa and the American Bishops) and children (as in the child beating Patriarchy movement).

6. Genital mutilation – Primitive people have used scarification and other body modifications to define tribal membership for as long as history records. But genital mutilation allowed our ancestors several additional perks—if you want to call them that. Infant circumcision in Judaism serves as a sign of tribal membership, but circumcision also serves to test the commitment of adult converts. In one Bible story, a chieftain agrees to convert and submit his clan to the procedure as a show of commitment to a peace treaty. (While the men lie incapacitated, the whole town is then slain by the Israelites.)

In Islam, painful male circumcision serves as a rite of passage into manhood, initiation into a powerful club. By contrast, in some Muslim cultures cutting away or burning the female clitoris and labia ritually establishes the submission of women by reducing sexual arousal and agency. An estimated 2 million girls annually are subjected to the procedure, with consequences including hemorrhage, infection, painful urination and death. – In the list of religion’s worst ideas, this is the only one that appears to be in its final stages. Only some Hindus (, goddess of power) and some Muslims (, Feast of the Sacrifice) continue to ritually slaughter sacrificial animals on a mass scale. Hindu scriptures including the Gita and Puranas forbid ritual killing, and most Hindus now eschew the practice based on the principle of ahimsa, but it persists as a residual of folk religion.

7. Blood sacrifice – In the list of religion’s worst ideas, this is the only one that appears to be in its final stages. Only some Hindus (during the Festival of Gadhimai, goddess of power) and some Muslims (during Eid al Adha, Feast of the Sacrifice) continue to ritually slaughter sacrificial animals on a mass scale. Hindu scriptures including the Gita and Puranas forbid ritual killing, and most Hindus now eschew the practice based on the principle of ahimsa, but it persists as a residual of folk religion.

When our ancient ancestors slit the throats of humans and animals or cut out their hearts or sent the smoke of sacrifices heavenward, many believed they were literally feeding supernatural beings. In time, in most religions, the rationale changed—the gods didn’t need feeding so much as signs of devotion and penance. The residual child sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible (yes, it is there) typically has this function. Christianity’s persistent focus on blood atonement—the notion of Jesus as the be-all-end-all lamb without blemish, the final “propitiation” for human sin—is hopefully the last iteration of humanity’s long fascination with blood sacrifice.

8. Hell – Whether we are talking about Christianity, Islam or Buddhism, an afterlife filled with demons, monsters, and eternal torture was the worst suffering the Iron Age minds could conceive and medieval minds could elaborate. Invented, perhaps, as a means to satisfy the human desire for justice, the concept of Hell quickly devolved into a tool for coercing behavior and belief.

Most Buddhists see hell as a metaphor, a journey into the evil inside the self, but the descriptions of torturing monsters  and levels of hell can be quite explicit. Likewise, many Muslims and Christians hasten to assure that it is a real place, full of fire and the anguish of non-believers. Some Christians have gone so far as to insist that the screams of the damned can be heard from the center of the Earth or that observing their anguish from afar will be one of the pleasures of paradise.

9. Karma – Like hell, the concept of karma offers a selfish incentive for good behavior—it’ll come back at you later—but it has enormous costs. Chief among these is a tremendous weight of cultural passivity in the face of harm and suffering. Secondarily, the idea of karmasanctifies the broad human practice of blaming the victim. If what goes around comes around, then the disabled child or cancer patient or untouchable poor (or the hungry rabbit or mangy dog) must have done something in either this life or a past one to bring their position on themselves.

10. Eternal Life – To our weary and unwashed ancestors, the idea of gem encrusted walls, streets of gold, the fountain of youth, or an eternity of angelic chorus (or sex with virgins) may have seemed like sheer bliss. But it doesn’t take much analysis to realize how quickly eternal paradise would become hellish—an endless repetition of never changing groundhog days (because how could they change if they were perfect).

The real reason that the notion of eternal life is such a bad invention, though, is the degree to which it diminishes and degrades existence on this earthly plane. With eyes lifted heavenward, we can’t see the intricate beauty beneath our feet. Devout believers put their spiritual energy into preparing for a world to come rather than cherishing and stewarding the one wild and precious world we have been given.

11. Male Ownership of Female Fertility – The notion of women as brood mares or children as assets likely didn’t originate with religion, but the idea that women were created for this purpose, that if a woman should die of childbearing “she was made to do it,” most certainly did. Traditional religions variously assert that men have a god-ordained right to give women in marriage, take them in war, exclude them from heaven, and kill them if the origins of their offspring can’t be assured. Hence Catholicism’s maniacal obsession with the virginity of Mary and female martyrs.

As we approach the limits of our planetary life support system and stare dystopia in the face, defining women as breeders and children as assets becomes ever more costly. We now know that resource scarcity is a conflict trigger and that demand for water and arable land is growing even as both resources decline. And yet, a pope who claims to care about the desperate poor lectures them against contraceptionwhile Muslim leaders ban vasectomies in a drive to outbreed their enemies.

12. Bibliolatry (aka Book Worship) – Preliterate people handed down their best guesses about gods and goodness by way of oral tradition, and they made objects of stone and wood, idols, to channel their devotion. Their notions of what was good and what was Real and how to live in moral community with each other were free to evolve as culture and technology changed. But the advent of the written word changed that. As our Iron Age ancestors recorded and compiled their ideas into sacred texts, these texts allowed their understanding of gods and goodness to become static. The sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam forbid idol worship, but over time the texts themselves became idols, and many modern believers practice—essentially—book worship, also known as bibliolatry.

“Because the faith of Islam is perfect, it does not allow for any innovations to the religion,” says one young Muslim explaining his faith online. His statement betrays a naïve lack of information about the origins of his own dogmas. But more broadly, it sums up the challenge all religions face moving forward. Imagine if a physicist said, “Because our understanding of physics is perfect, it does not allow for any innovations to the field.”

 Adherents who think their faith is perfect, are not just naïve or ill informed. They are developmentally arrested, and in the case of the world’s major religions, they are anchored to the Iron Age, a time of violence, slavery, desperation and early death.

Ironically, the mindset that our sacred texts are perfect betrays the very quest that drove our ancestors to write those texts. Each of the men who wrote part of the Bible, Quran, or Gita took his received tradition, revised it, and offered his own best articulation of what is good and real. We can honor the quest of our spiritual ancestors, or we can honor their answers, but we cannot do both.

Religious apologists often try to deny, minimize, or explain away the sins of scripture and the evils of religious history. “It wasn’t really slavery.” “That’s just the Old Testament.” “He didn’t mean it that way.” “You have to understand how bad their enemies were.” “Those people who did harm in the name of God weren’t real [Christians/Jews/Muslims].” Such platitudes may offer comfort, but denying problems doesn’t solve them. Quite the opposite, in fact. Change comes with introspection and insight, a willingness to acknowledge our faults and flaws while still embracing our strengths and potential for growth.

In a world that is teeming with humanity, armed with pipe bombs and machine guns and nuclear weapons and drones, we don’t need defenders of religion’s status quo—we need real reformation, as radical as that of the 16th Century and much, much broader. It is only by acknowledging religion’s worst ideas that we have any hope of embracing the best.

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Wisdom Commons. She is the author of "Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light" and "Deas and Other Imaginings." Her articles can be found at valerietarico.com.