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Newsletter/Wed
25 Muharram 1428/14 February 2007
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FUNERALS - MAYYITS
14.02.07 - Mayyit of: Maryam Pandor - WILL LEAVE FROM: - 241 Banglore Drive, Ext.11a Time: 9:45 - QABRASTAAN: Avalon CAUSE OF DEATH: Natural

HADITH, SAYINGS/TRADITIONS OF MUHAMMAD SAW
A’ishah RA reported: A woman came to me with her two daughters. She asked me (for charity) but she found nothing with me except one date-fruit, so I gave it to her. She accepted it and then divided it between her two daughters and she ate nothing out of that. She then got up and went out. When Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came in, and I narrated to him the story, he said, "He who is involved (in the responsibility) of (bringing up) daughters, and he is benevolent towards them, they would become protection for him against Hell-fire". [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Commentary: This Hadith also tells us about the great merit and reward of kind treatment with daughters.

THE MESSAGE
VALENTINE’S DAY, ITS ORIGIN
The story of the Festival of Love (Valentine’s Day)
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The Festival of Love was one of the festivals of the pagan Romans, when paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries ago. In the pagan Roman concept, it was an expression of “spiritual love”.

There were myths associated with this pagan festival of the Romans, which persisted with their Christian heirs. Among the most famous of these myths was the Roman belief that Romulus, the founder of Rome, was suckled one day by a she-wolf, which gave him strength and wisdom.

The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with a big festival. One of the rituals of this festival was the sacrifice of a dog and a goat. Two strong and muscular youths would smear the blood of the dog and goat onto their bodies, and then they would wash the blood away with milk. After that there would be a great parade, with these two youths at its head, which would go about the streets. The two youths would have pieces of leather with which they would hit everyone who crossed their path. The Roman women would welcome these blows, because they believed that they could prevent or cure infertility.

The connection between Saint Valentine and this festival - Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient “martyrs” of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love, but they changed it from the pagan concept of “spiritual love” to another concept known as the “martyrs of love”, represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love letters.

It was also said concerning the origins of this holiday that when the Romans became Christian, after Christianity had become widespread, the Roman emperor Claudius II decreed in the third century CE that soldiers should not get married, because marriage would distract them from the wars they used to fight. This decree was opposed by Saint Valentine, who started to perform marriages for the soldiers in secret. When the emperor found out about that, he threw him in jail and sentenced him to execution.

In prison, he (Saint Valentine) fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, but this was a secret because according to Christian laws, priests and monks were forbidden to marry or fall in love. But he is still regarded highly by the Christians because of his steadfastness in adhering to Christianity when the emperor offered to pardon him if he forsook Christianity and worshipped the Roman gods; then he would be one of his closest confidantes and he would make him his son-in-law. But Valentine refused this offer and preferred Christianity, so he was executed on 14 February 270 CE, on the eve of February 15, the festival of Lupercalis. So this day was named for this saint.

Today, Valentine’s Day has become commercialized a mere money-making opportunity. Prohibition of imitating pagan ways is one of the basic principles of Shariah. Allah has made Islam cover all (human) interests at all times and in all places and for all people. So there is no need to adopt the ways of pagans or imitate them.

Expression of feelings and emotions is not a justification for the Muslim to allocate a day for celebration based on his own thoughts and ideas, and to call it a festival, or make it like a festival or Eid. In Islam, a husband loves his wife throughout the year, and he expresses that love towards her with gifts, in verse and in prose, in letters and in other ways, throughout the years – not just on one day of the year.

Love in Islam is more general and more comprehensive; it is not restricted only to one kind of love, that between a man and a woman. There are many more kinds of love. There is the love of Allah, love of His Messenger Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam and his companions RA, love for good and righteous people, love and support for the religion. There are many kinds of love. It is a dangerous mistake to restrict this broad meaning to just one kind of love.

DUA/PRAYER
DUA TO BE READ FOR A BURNT PERSON
ATH HIBIL BA’S RABBAN NAAS ISHFI ANTASH SHAAFI LAA SHAAFIYA ILLAA ANTA.

“Remove the difficulty, O Lord! Of the people! Grant cure. You are the only Curer. There is none who gives cure besides Thee.”

HANDY HINT
To have garden twine handy when you need it, just stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do that and you'll never go looking for twine again.

RECIPE
TABOULI - TABBOULEH SALAD RECIPE
Lebanon, Palestine
Prep: 20 – Easy Serves 4 – 6 - Delicious Middle Eastern salad or appetizer.

3 cups of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley - 1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh mint - 4 or 5 finely chopped spring onions (with the green parts) - 4 ripe, medium size tomatoes, chopped into small cubes - 1 cup of medium burghul (cracked wheat) - 1/2 tsp allspice - 1/2 cup lemon juice - 1/2 jalapeno pepper, de-seeded, chopped fine (optional) - 5 TBS good olive oil - Salt and Pepper.

Rinse burghul several times and then soak in cold water for about twenty minutes. Chop the tomatoes (small dice). Clean the parsley and remove the large stems (you want mostly leaves). Chop fine. Put the burghul in a sieve to drain. Trim the spring onions, and chop them into 1/4" lengths. Put the drained burghul and tomato in a large mixing or serving bowl. Add salt, pepper, allspice, lemon juice, olive oil, mint, parsley, and optional minced jalapeno. Taste for seasoning. If too dry, you can add additional lemon juice. Toss well. Tabouli benefits from resting - you can cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for a few hours or over night, tossing occasionally. Serve with cabbage or lettuce leaves - scoop some tabouli into a leaf and enjoy!

MUSLIM NAMES
MALES
Bahaudeen: The magnificent of the Faith.
Daud: The Biblical David is the English language equivalent. A Prophet's name.
Fadlullah: The excellence of Allah.

FEMALES
Badi'a: Unprecedented. Admirable. Unique.
Fadwa: Name derived from self-sacrifice.
Hadiya: Guide to righteousness.

PERSONALITY
ABU BAKR AL-SIDDIQ RA
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Prophet Mohammad’s Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam exclusive companion and greatest supporter.

He was the first man who believed in Prophet Mohammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam and the first one who did so unhesitatingly, also he is the first of the ten who were promised Paradise, and first of the Prophet’s Community to enter Paradise.

Alone among the Prophet Mohammad's Companions, Abu Bakr RA led the Community in prayer in the lifetime of the Prophet. The latter used to call him "The Most Truthful" (al-Siddîq) and "Allah’s Freedman from the Fire" (`Atîq Allâh min al-nâr). When the Quraysh tribe confronted the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam after the Night Journey, they turned to Abu Bakr RA and said: "Do you believe what he said, that he went last night to the Hallowed House and came back before morning?" He replied: "If he said it, then I believe him, yes, and I do believe him regarding what is farther than that. I believe the news of heaven he brings, whether in the space of a morning or in that of an evening journey." And that was the reason Abu Bakr was named al-Siddîq: the Very Truthful, the One Who Never Lies.

Umar Ibn Al Khattab RA, another of Prophet Mohammad's companions, said: "Abu Bakr’s faith outweighs the faith of the entire Ummah (The Muslim Nation)." Umar also said: "The best of this Community after its Prophet is Abu Bakr." Ali named him and `Umar, the two Sheikhs of Islam of the Community and said: "The best of this Community after its Prophet (PBUH) are Abu Bakr and `Umar," "The most courageous of people is Abu Bakr," and "The greatest in reward among people for the volumes of the Qur’an is Abu Bakr, for he was the first of those who gathered the Qur’an between two covers." He was also the first to name it Mus'haf.

The Prophet confirmed his high rank in many of his sayings, among them when he (PBUH) said: "Allah gave one of His servants a choice between this world and what He has with Him, and that servant chose what Allah has with Him." Abu Bakr wept profusely and we wondered why he wept, since the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam had told of a servant that was given a choice. The Prophet himself was that servant, as Abu Bakr RA later told us. The Prophet continued: "Among those most dedicated to me in his companionship and property is Abu Bakr. If I were to take an intimate friend other than my Lord, I would take Abu Bakr. But what binds us is the brotherhood of Islam and its love. Let no door [of the Prophet’s mosque] remain open except Abu Bakr’s.

"Allah praised Abu Bakr RA above the rest of the Prophet's companions by saying: "Those who spent and fought before the victory are not upon a level (with the rest of you)."

A THOUGHT
The Khalifah said to Laila, (one of the two lovers) "Art thou really she for whom Majnun lost his head and went distracted? Thou art not fairer than many other fair ones."

She replied, "be silent; thou art not Majnun!" If thou hadst Majnun's eyes, the two worlds would be within thy view.

THE SMILE
A man goes into a library and asks for a book on suicide.
The librarian takes one look at him and says: "get out of here, who's gonna bring it back?"

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