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Table of Contents
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Q1) – What is a Din? What is a Religion (Mazhab)? And their difference.
A Din is a complete set of laws and a system of collective life. The aim of Din is the welfare and progress of all mankind. A Religion (Mazhab) is a set of beliefs (which one has to accept without proof and logic), and is concerned only with the so-called private relationship between man and God. Islam is the only true Din in the world because all other Dins, like Christianity and Judaism have been corrupted over time and thus changed into religions.
Q2) – What is Islam/Iman?
To have Iman in something means to “truly accept some objective with your heart". In this case the objective is the word of God/Islam.
And Islam means “to fully act upon that objective".
Q3) – What is an Islamic State?
An Islamic state is a country (state) in which each and every law and rule is according to Quran.
Q4) – Halal and Haram?
"Tell them: 'I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wants to eat it – except (1) carrion, (2) flowing blood, (3) the flesh of swine and (4) that which has been dedicated to someone other than Allah. Eating of such things stops the growth of Self and leads to one to wrongful ways" [6:145.].
The main question here is why pigs are not allowed. The dairy pigs so far have yielded viruses like Mad Cow Disease, Swine Flu and Nipah Virus. Nipah Virus would have wiped out the civilization if it hadn't been discovered in such an early stage and just to stop its spread, millions of pigs were burnt in Malaysia.
Q5) – What is Salat? Or now so-called Namaz (Praying).
(The word Namaz is not used in Quran) Basically Salat means to follow someone. So in Quran the word Salat has been used in many places, where there was a need to follow something. Now the question comes, that are Salat and Namaz the same thing. No and yes. Namaz is an Old Persian (Pahlavi) word which the Zoroastrians (fire worshippers) used for their prayer. Salat in Koranic terms means to follow Allah closely. The only way we can follow Allah is to follow His Book, Quran, to remain within the limits imposed by it, and never to transgress these limits. This implies that we have to establish a system so that we lead our lives according to the Code enshrined in the Koran. Establishment of this system is referred to as Aqeemus Salaat by the Koran.
Let’s come back to the Salat used in the meaning of Namaz. Here Salat means to meet and to discuss. Allah orders the Muslims of a community to meet and to discuss their problems with each other. The Koran does not prescribe the number of Salat in one day. Although there is mention of three times in a day regarding Salat. The number five was decided by the Prophet Mohamad as the head of the Islamic state for that time.
Now where does Namaz go. Don't be surprised to know that Namaz is only a small part of Salat. Whenever a meeting starts, there is always an OPENING or INAUGRATION same way Namaz is the opening of Salat (meeting), where we bow to Allah and pray to him and then after finishing we start our meeting (Salat).
In Koran Allah says not to let go of Salat. So if we only pray (say Namaz) then this is only one tenth of Salat, what Allah has told us to do.
Q6) – What is Soom/Rozah (Fasting)?
As everyone knows, Rozah means to fast, from early morning to evening. Why it was implemented? Because to get the Islamic nation ready for any emergency.
Q7) – What is Haj?
Haj can be regarded as the mother of Salat. In Salat only the local societies meet five times a day, whereas in Haj, Islamic nations from all over the world send their representative to Mecca to meet and discuss their agendas. So it can be regarded as an annual meeting of Muslim nations.
Q8) – What is Jihad?
Jihad is a struggle in the name of Allah with your life and your possessions. Jihad is valid when an Islamic state is attacked by enemy, or to help Muslims from the oppression of a non-Muslim ruler.
Q9) – Can Muslims marry 4 wives?
Yes and No. It is totally depended on the situation. Can be better understood with the example from Messenger Mohamad's (PBUH) life. Khadija (RA) was the only wife of the Prophet for 25 years. All of his later marriages were after some kind of emergencies to the Islamic nation e.g. Jihad (details can be seen in history books).
More than one wife is only allowed when proportion of men to women increases due to whatever disaster in an Islamic nation and a lot of women are gone unlooked after. Now in this sort of environment Allah tells the men to marry them in twos threes or fours of these widows, orphan women in marriage. And when and if the emergency is over, women may divorce these men if they so want. Same was the case with Umma-tul-momineen (Prophet's wives). But when Messenger Mohamad (PBUH) offered them divorce, the umm-ul-momineen chose to stay with him.
Q10) – What is Parda, Hijab, Niqab, covering face….?
The orders regarding pardah are given namely in 24:31 and 33:59 of Koran.
Mohamad Asad's explanation of these verses:
"The noun khimaar (of which khumur is the plural) denotes the head covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the advent of Islam. According to most of the classical commentators, it was worn in pre-Islamic times more or less as an ornament and was let down loosely over the wearer's back; and since, in accordance with the fashion prevalent at the time, the upper part of a woman's tunic had a wide opening in the front, her breasts were left bare. Hence, the injunction to cover the bosom by means of a khimaar (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of Messenger Mohamad (PBUH)) DOES NOT NECESSARILY RELATE TO THE USE OF A KHIMAAR AS SUCH but is, rather, meant to make it clear that a woman's breasts are not included in the concept of
"what may decently be apparent" of her body and should not, therefore, be displayed."
"although the TRADITIONAL EXPONENTS OF ISLAMIC LAW have for centuries been inclined to RESTRICT the definition of 'what may decently be apparent' to a women's face, hands and feet – and sometimes even less than that - we may safely assume that the meaning of 'illa ma zahara minha' is much wider and that the deliberate vagueness of this phrase is meant to ALLOW FOR ALL TIME-BOUND CHANGES that are necessary for man's moral and social growth. The pivotal clause in the above injunction is the demand, addressed in identical terms to men as well as to women, to "lower their gaze and be mindful of their chastity": and this determines the extent of what, at any given time, may legitimately – i.e., in consonance with the Koranic principles of social morality - be considered "decent" or "indecent" in a person's outward appearance."
