A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following are the rulings of zakat al-fithr .  Zakat al-fithr is a required charity on the occasion of ‘Iyd al-Fithr .  It is related by Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar ( r.a. ), and his father, Sayyidina ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab ( r.a. ), that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) obligated zakat al-fithr in Ramadhan a sa’ of dates or a sa’ of barley upon every free person and slave, man or woman, from the Muslims.   This was recorded by Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al- Bukhari ( r.a. ) and  Imam ‘Asakir ad-Din Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj  ( r.a. ).   The one who must pay zakat al-fithr gives one of the following: half a sa’ of wheat or similar food grains; a full sa’ of dates, barley, raisins or similar food grains; or the equivalent monetary value of either.  It is actually better to pay the monetary value when the goods are widely available.   If they are not widely available, it is bett...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from “The Hand of the Prophet ( s.a.w. )”, by Dr. Muhammad Muswthafa al-Badawi. The impulse for writing this article came from a conversation with a colleague who told me that while sitting with other colleagues, he had heard one of them repeat the statement that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) was an ordinary human being like the rest of us, except that Allah ( s.w.t. ) had Given him the Qur’an.   My friend knew very well that this kind of statement had been deliberately circulated among Muslims to detach them from their Prophet ( s.a.w. ), thus cutting them off from the Mercy of Allah ( s.w.t. ) that descends upon them through their love for him and close adherence to his teachings.   This is part of an overall plan to destroy Islam from within, a plan that, we regret to say, is carried out by ignorant Muslims, misled by crude suggestions of the Devil that to love the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) and revere him is to worship him ...