Finding the causes for the decline and fall of the Muslim Ummah has become a life long pursuit for me. One of the most important causes of Muslims deterioration is the low literacy rate. Even the Islamic faith's fundamental requirement of knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is marginal. They lack knowledge of even the simple and basic laws of Islam. Those who have read books of collections of Ahadith and have devotedly and extensively studied the Qur'an are ignorant of the many fundamental Aqaid(canons) of Islam including Fiqh. The term Fiqh means knowledge of all the laws of Islam(Shari'ah). Shariah is synonym for Fiqh. It is necessary for Muslims to understand there are four basic sources for the Sharia, viz: (1) Qur'an (2) Sunnah (3) Ijma(consensus) and (4)Qiyas(analogical deduction). These laws cover every action performed by an individual or society.
Today we live in a highly complex and technologically advanced world as a result we are facing very complex problems- to give some examples such as genetic engineering, permissibility eating of genetically altered cattle or vegetables /fruits, gene therapy, in vitro fertilization, organ transplants, space travel(in the near future), etc., Problems of this nature cannot be solved by the Shariah.
To solve problems like these, Prophet Muhammad (SAS) himself introduced the fifth component (if I would say so) of the Shariah called Ijtihad which is individual intellectual effort. One who performs Ijtihad is a Mujtahid. The word Ijtihad is derived from the Arabic root word of jihad. Ijtihad was once an important force in the articulation and interpretation of Shariah. Some of the greatest minds in the history of Islamic jurisprudence used Ijtihad during the first centuries of Hijra. With time for reasons given below, Ijtihad faltered and was replaced by the doctrine of taqlid or blind imitation. Taqlid not only discouraged individual interpretation but also prohibited it. Some Muslim scholars throughout the ages have been protesting the prohibition of Ijtihad as it violates the original spirit and intention of Islam. Muslims all over the world are fond of saying that Islam is applicable to all places and in all times. How can this be achieved without Ijtehad? In order to perform Ijtihad, a Muslim man or woman should be thoroughly familiar with the sciences of Qur'an and the Sunnah, comprehend the wider purposes of the Sharia and understand Arabic correctly. On complicated and complex issues of law, Ijtihad should be purviewed by trained scholars. Any Muslim or Muslima with some knowledge of religion can perform Ijtihad on certain matters, particularly those of personal concern. For example Muslims have been practicing Ijtihad routinely in determining the direction of Qibla or to ascertain the times of prayer by the position of the sun. The Hanbali scholar, Imam Ibn Taymiyah(1263-1328 CE) wrote that " a Muslim can perform Ijtihad for himself or herself on certain questions, it is permitted, because Ijtihad is not an absolute-the pivotal point is ability or the lack thereof. Thus a person might be able to perform Ijtihad on certain questions and not others." Taqlid (blind imitation) is based on an absence of intellectual activity on the part of the believer, and early Muslims held that it was permissible only if one was incapable of understanding due to a lack of mental ability or faculties. Dr. Taha J. al-Alwani of IIIT (International Institute of Islamic Thought) argues that" both the Prophet (SAS) and the Qur'an rejected taqlid, the Sahabas (companions of the Prophet) and many others considered it an evil and also rejected it." He further quotes one of the successors to the companions as saying, "There is no difference between an animal that is led and a person who makes taqlid." By the end of 4th century Hijra taqlid became the rule rather than the exception in Shariah, in spite of the early contempt for taqlid and judgments against its permissibility. Ultimately a majority of the medireview.
Muslim scholars (ulama) declared the door of Ijtihad to be closed and ruled that all future Muslims must practice taqlid. Why did they do this? Because after 400 years they thought all conceivable questions and situations had been explored and resolved by the ulama, obviating the need for new judgments. Some historians say that the door of Ijtihad was closed because Muslim Ummah was under attack from external forces such as the Crusades and Mongol invasion and sacking of Baghdad on June 6, 1258 CE (seventh century Hijra). However taqlid was adopted one hundred before Crusades and 300 years before the devastation by the Mongol hordes who were still in the far Asian steppes. The real reason there was a serious split between different schools of law and theology among individual jurists and imposition of taqlid was the best way to resolve, but at a tremendous cost. Secondly the jurists such as Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik wanted to preserve their intellectual and juristic independence and did not want to rule in accordance with the wishes of the caliphs. As time passed the pressure from the rulers increased, until the ulama declared the Shariah complete to provide an excuse in the face of an angry ruler. On the one hand the ulama preserved the Shariah from dissolute and corrupt Muslim rulers, but on the other they ensured that the Shariah would remain static and therefore stagnant. As a result we are living in a state of withered intellectual activity, starved for fresh ideas and insights.
In the past a number of scholars have claimed the right to Ijtihad. Eminent scholars like Ibn Taymiyah, al-Suyuti, Muhammad ibn Abdal-Wahhab, al-Sanusi,Muhammad Abduh of Egypt, Allama Iqbal of the Indian subcontinent and Ben Badis of Algeria (1889-1940) called for the reactivation of Ijtihad to rouse the Muslim world from its intellectual lethargy and recreate the vigor and elan of the early Muslim community. Today this calls for Ijtihad continues louder and more insistent. Modern scholars are demanding the systematic reinterpretation of the Islamic tradition using the Qur'an and the Hadith as a foundation. In the face of new technologies, new philosophies and new challenges, Muslim thinkers are demanding the right to individual interpretation. Allama Muhammad Iqbal in his famous book "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam" (p.178, Ashraf, Lahore, 1988) declares, "The closing of the door of Ijtihad is pure fiction suggested partly by the crystallization of legal thought in Islam, and partly by the intellectual laziness which, especially in the period of spiritual decay, turns great thinkers into idols. If some of the later doctors have upheld this fiction, modern Islam is not bound by this voluntary surrender of intellectual independence." A modern scholar said taqlid is a renunciation of "critical faith", while Ijtihad is the key to "the Islam of those who understand." Today's Muslims must be critical in their beliefs and in their actions, and have freedom to question, discuss and debate issues that are of personal and collective importance. Only through the exchange of ideas (through Ijtihad) it will be possible to safeguard the Muslim world from deterioration and empty westernization.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Issues: Hijab
Hijab (head cover) for Muslim women is not mandated in the Qur’an. If it is, it is only the subjective interpretation of an Ayah (verse) on the part of the reader. Hence many Islamic Scholars say that according to Hadith, a woman should cover her whole body, except her face and hands. Majority of the Muslims do not know in which Haidth this is mentioned. A very limited number of Muslims know that this is in Sunan Abu Dawud. The English translation of Sunan Abdu Dawud is in three volumes. Again nobody ever mentions that it is in Volume Three. Actually it is in Volume 3, Book XXVII and Chapter 1535, and Hadith number 4092, titled “HOW MUCH BEAUTY CAN A WOMAN DISPLAY?" For the benefit of the readers the exact Hadith is reproduced below:
(4092) ‘A’isha said: Asma’, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (May peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.3523
Abu Dawud said: This is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from ‘A’isha is missing) Khalid b. Duraik did not see ‘A’ishah).
[3523. When a woman reaches the age of puberty, she must observe purdah and have a thick veil which conceals her beauty. She may unveil her face and hand up to the wrists. In modern times some scholars have prohibited to unveil face out of precaution.]
It is very interesting to note that no one- neither the Muslim Scholars nor the Muslim Ummah ever pointed out that this Hadith is a m u r s a l Hadith or weak hadith, although it is imperative that when one uses a weak Hadith for any reason then one should explain it to the people that this is a weak Hadith. What is a mursal hadith? First of all what is Hadith?
Hadith is an Arabic word, which in its real sense means a tale, speech, chat, conversation or communication. In a technical sense, Hadith or Tradition means all the sayings, deeds, decisions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and his silent approval of the behavior of his companions and descriptions of his personality. Each Hadith is prefaced by a chain of narrators called Al-’Isnad. Al-’Isnad was the chain of people through whom the Hadith was transmitted. The second part of the Hadith is Al-Matn, the content, which reports the teaching or the incident. Every Hadith or Tradition must have a chain (‘Isnad) as well as the Text (Matn).
There are three main categories of the Hadith called (1) As-Sahih or the Authentic Hadith (2) Al-Hasan or the Good. Some of its narrators have been found to have a weaker memory in comparison to the narrators of Sahih Hadith, and (3) Ad-Da’if or the Weak. This refers to that Tradition in which there is some problem in either the chain of transmission, in the proper understanding of the transmitter or in its contents, which may be in disagreement with Islamic belief and practice.
Ad-Da’if Traditions are further divided according to the degree of problems with their reporters (ruwaat) or in the text (Al-Matn) of the reports. A few of these divisions are as follows:
a) Al-Mursal: A Hadith in which a Tabi'i (those who succeeded the Sahabah or companions of the Prophet (pbuh) transmits from Rasulullah (pbuh) directly, dropping the Sahabi from the ‘Isnad.
b) Al-Munqati: A Hadith going back to the Tabi’i only.
c) Al-Mu’dal: A Hadith in which two continuous narrators are missing in one or more places in the ‘Isnad.
d) Al-Mu’allaq: A Hadith in which one or two transmitters are omitted in the beginning of the ‘Isnad.
In Shari’ah or Islamic Law only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) Ahadith (plural of Hadith) are used in deriving the rules. The weak (da’if) Ahadith have no value for the purpose of Shari’ah.
As stated above that Imam Abu Dawud himself said that this is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from ‘A’isha is missing). What I interpret is that the narrator of this Hadith is Khalid b. Duraik who did not see 'A'ishah (Radhi Allahu Anha (May Allah be pleased with her)). As this is a weak Hadith, it has no value for the purpose of Shari’ah, that means no Muslim or Islamic Republic or government can pass laws punishing a Muslim woman who does not observe Hijab, particularly covering the hair on their head. This is not being practiced in the so-called Islamic countries where religious police are threatening Muslim women who do not observe Hijab, with their canes.
I have all along maintained in my arguments that Islam emphasizes on modesty in the dress of Muslim women, but no where it mandates the wearing of Hijab (head cover). As a matter of fact modesty in dress is also required on the part of the Muslim men.
In the matter of hijab, the conscience of an honest, sincere Believer alone can be the true judge, as has been said by the Noble Prophet: "Ask for the verdict of your conscience and discard what pricks it."
Islam cannot be properly followed without knowledge. It is a rational law and to follow it rightly one needs to exercise reason and understanding at every step.
(4092) ‘A’isha said: Asma’, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (May peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.3523
Abu Dawud said: This is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from ‘A’isha is missing) Khalid b. Duraik did not see ‘A’ishah).
[3523. When a woman reaches the age of puberty, she must observe purdah and have a thick veil which conceals her beauty. She may unveil her face and hand up to the wrists. In modern times some scholars have prohibited to unveil face out of precaution.]
It is very interesting to note that no one- neither the Muslim Scholars nor the Muslim Ummah ever pointed out that this Hadith is a m u r s a l Hadith or weak hadith, although it is imperative that when one uses a weak Hadith for any reason then one should explain it to the people that this is a weak Hadith. What is a mursal hadith? First of all what is Hadith?
Hadith is an Arabic word, which in its real sense means a tale, speech, chat, conversation or communication. In a technical sense, Hadith or Tradition means all the sayings, deeds, decisions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and his silent approval of the behavior of his companions and descriptions of his personality. Each Hadith is prefaced by a chain of narrators called Al-’Isnad. Al-’Isnad was the chain of people through whom the Hadith was transmitted. The second part of the Hadith is Al-Matn, the content, which reports the teaching or the incident. Every Hadith or Tradition must have a chain (‘Isnad) as well as the Text (Matn).
There are three main categories of the Hadith called (1) As-Sahih or the Authentic Hadith (2) Al-Hasan or the Good. Some of its narrators have been found to have a weaker memory in comparison to the narrators of Sahih Hadith, and (3) Ad-Da’if or the Weak. This refers to that Tradition in which there is some problem in either the chain of transmission, in the proper understanding of the transmitter or in its contents, which may be in disagreement with Islamic belief and practice.
Ad-Da’if Traditions are further divided according to the degree of problems with their reporters (ruwaat) or in the text (Al-Matn) of the reports. A few of these divisions are as follows:
a) Al-Mursal: A Hadith in which a Tabi'i (those who succeeded the Sahabah or companions of the Prophet (pbuh) transmits from Rasulullah (pbuh) directly, dropping the Sahabi from the ‘Isnad.
b) Al-Munqati: A Hadith going back to the Tabi’i only.
c) Al-Mu’dal: A Hadith in which two continuous narrators are missing in one or more places in the ‘Isnad.
d) Al-Mu’allaq: A Hadith in which one or two transmitters are omitted in the beginning of the ‘Isnad.
In Shari’ah or Islamic Law only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan) Ahadith (plural of Hadith) are used in deriving the rules. The weak (da’if) Ahadith have no value for the purpose of Shari’ah.
As stated above that Imam Abu Dawud himself said that this is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from ‘A’isha is missing). What I interpret is that the narrator of this Hadith is Khalid b. Duraik who did not see 'A'ishah (Radhi Allahu Anha (May Allah be pleased with her)). As this is a weak Hadith, it has no value for the purpose of Shari’ah, that means no Muslim or Islamic Republic or government can pass laws punishing a Muslim woman who does not observe Hijab, particularly covering the hair on their head. This is not being practiced in the so-called Islamic countries where religious police are threatening Muslim women who do not observe Hijab, with their canes.
I have all along maintained in my arguments that Islam emphasizes on modesty in the dress of Muslim women, but no where it mandates the wearing of Hijab (head cover). As a matter of fact modesty in dress is also required on the part of the Muslim men.
In the matter of hijab, the conscience of an honest, sincere Believer alone can be the true judge, as has been said by the Noble Prophet: "Ask for the verdict of your conscience and discard what pricks it."
Islam cannot be properly followed without knowledge. It is a rational law and to follow it rightly one needs to exercise reason and understanding at every step.
Women in Islam: Hijab
Literally, Hijab means "a veil", "curtain", "partition" or "separation." In a meta- physical sense, Hijab means illusion or refers to the illusory aspect of creation. Another, and most popular and common meaning of Hijab today, is the veil in dressing for women. It refers to a certain standard of modest dress for women. "The usual definition of modest dress according to the legal systems does not actually require covering everything except the face and hands in public; this, at least, is the practice which originated in the Middle East." 1
While Hijab means "cover", "drape", or "partition"; the word KHIMAR means veil covering the head and the word LITHAM or NIQAB means veil covering lower face up to the eyes. The general term hijab in the present day world refers to the covering of the face by women. In the Indian sub-continent it is called purdah and in Iran it called chador for the tent like black cloak and veil worn by many women in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. By socioeconomic necessity, the obligation to observe the hijab now often applies more to female "garments"(worn outside the house) than it does to the ancient paradigmatic feature of women's domestic "seclusion." In the contemporary normative Islamic language of Egypt and elsewhere, the hijab now denotes more a "way of dressing" than a "way of life," a (portable) "veil" rather than a fixed "domestic screen/seclusion." In Egypt and America hijab presently denotes the basic head covering ("veil") worn by fundamentalist/Islamist women as part of Islamic dress (zayy islami, or zayy shar'i); this hijab-headcovering conceals hair and neck of the wearer.
The Qur'an advises the wives of the Prophet (SAS) to go veiled (33: 59).
In Surah 24: 31(Ayah), the Qur'an advises women to cover their "adornments" from strangers outside the family. In the traditional and modern Arab societies women at home dress quite differently compared to what they wear in the streets. In this verse of the Qur'an, it refers to the institution of a new public modesty rather than veiling the face.
...When the pre-Islamic Arabs went to battle, Arab women seeing the men off to war would bare their breasts to encourage them to fight; or they would do so at the battle itself, as in the case of the Meccan women led by Hind at the Battle of Uhud. This changed with Islam, but the general use of the veil to cover the face did not appear until 'Abbasid times. Nor was it entirely unknown in Europe, for the veil permitted women the freedom of anonymity. None of the legal systems actually prescribe that women must wear a veil, although they do prescribe covering the body in public, up to the neck, the ankles, and below the elbow. In many Muslim societies, for example in traditional South East Asia, or in Bedouin lands a face veil for women is either rare or non-existent; paradoxically, modern fundamentalism is introducing it. In others, the veil may be used at one time and European dress another. While modesty is a religious prescription, the wearing of a veil is not a religious requirement of Islam, but a matter of cultural milieu.2
"The Middle Eastern norm for relationships between the sexes is by no means the only one possible for Islamic societies everywhere, nor is it appropriate for all cultures. It does not exhaust the possibilities allowed within the framework of the Qur'an and Sunnah, and is neither feasible nor desirable as a model for Europe or North America. European societies possess perfectly adequate models for marriage, the family, and relations between the sexes which are by no means out of harmony with the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is borne out by the fact that within certain broad limits Islamic societies themselves differ enormously in this respect." 3
The Qur'an lays down the principle of the law of modesty. In Surah 24: An-Nur: 30 and 31, modesty is enjoined both upon Muslim men and Muslim women 4:
Say to the believing men that they Should lower their gaze and guard Their modesty: that will make for Greater purity for them: And God is Well-acquainted with all that they Do. And say to the believing women That they should lower their gaze And guard their modesty: and they Should not display beauty and Ornaments expect what (must Ordinarily) appear thereof; that They must draw their veils over Their bosoms and not display their Beauty except to their husbands, Their fathers, their husband's Fathers, their sons, their husband's Sons, or their women, or their Slaves whom their right hands Possess, or male servants free of Physical needs, or small children
Who have no sense of the shame of
Sex; and that they should not strike
Their feet in order to draw
Attention to their ornaments.
The following conclusions may be made on the basis of the above-cited verses5:
1. The Qur'anic injunctions enjoining the believers to lower their gaze and behave modestly applies to both Muslim men and women and not Muslim women alone.
2. Muslim women are enjoined to "draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty" except in the presence of their husbands, other women, children, eunuchs and those men who are so closely related to them that they are not allowed to marry them. Although a self-conscious exhibition of one's "zeenat" (which means "that which appears to be beautiful" or "that which is used for embellishment or adornment") is forbidden, the Qur'an makes it clear that what a woman wears ordinarily is permissible. Another interpretation of this part of the passage is that if the display of "zeenat" is unintentional or accidental, it does not violate the law of modesty.
3. Although Muslim women may wear ornaments they should not walk in a manner intended to cause their ornaments to jingle and thus attract the attention of others.
The respected scholar, Muhammad Asad6, commenting on Qur'an 24:31 says " The noun khimar (of which khumur is 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 khimar (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of the
Prophet) does not necessarily relate to the use of a khimar 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.
The Qur'anic view of the ideal society is that the social and moral values have to be upheld by both Muslim men and women and there is justice for all, i.e. between man and man and between man and woman. The Qur'anic legislation regarding women is to protect them from inequities and vicious practices (such as female infanticide, unlimited polygamy or concubinage, etc.) which prevailed in the pre-Islamic Arabia. However the main purpose is to establish to equality of man and woman in the sight of God who created them both in like manner, from like substance, and gave to both the equal right to develop their own potentialities. To become a free, rational person is then the goal set for all human beings. Thus the Qur'an liberated the women from the indignity of being sex-objects into persons. In turn the Qur'an asks the women that they should behave with dignity and decorum befitting a secure,
Self-respecting and self-aware human being rather than an insecure female who felt that her survival depends on her ability to attract or cajole those men who were interested not in her personality but only in her sexuality.
One of the verses in the Qur'an protects a woman's fundamental rights. Aya 59 from Sura al-Ahzab reads:
O Prophet! Tell Thy wives And daughters, and the Believing women, that They should cast their Outer garments over Their Persons (when outside): That they should be known (As such) and not Molested.
Although this verse is directed in the first place to the Prophet's "wives and daughters", there is a reference also to "the believing women" hence it is generally understood by Muslim societies as applying to all Muslim women. According to the Qur'an the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garment when go out of their houses is so that they may be recognized as "believing" Muslim women and differentiated from street-walkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their houses but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unwholesome attention. By wearing the outergarment a "believing" Muslim woman could be distinguished from the others. In societies where there is no danger of "believing" Muslim being
confused with the others or in which "the outer garment" is unable to function as a mark of identification for "believing" Muslim women, the mere wearing of "the outer garment" would not fulfill the true objective of the Qur'anic decree. For example that older Muslim women who are "past the prospect of marriage" are not required to wear "the outer garment". Surah 24: An-Nur, Aya 60 reads:
Such elderly women are Past the prospect of Marriage,-- There is no blame on them, if They lay aside Their (outer) Garments, provided they make Not wanton display of their Beauty; but it is best for them
To be modest: and Allah is One
Who sees and knows all things.
Women who on account of their advanced age are not likely to be regarded as sex-objects are allowed to discard "the outer garment" but there is no relaxation as far as the essential Qur'anic principle of modest behavior is concerned. Reflection on the above-cited verse shows that "the outer garment" is not required by the Qur'an as a necessary statement of modesty since it recognizes the possibility identification women may continue to be modest even when they have discarded "the outer garment."
The Qur'an itself does not suggest either that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Qur'an is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices prescribed for men.
Nazira Zin al-Din stipulates that the morality of the self and the cleanness of the conscience are far better than the morality of the chador. No goodness is to be hoped from pretence, all goodness is in the essence of the self. Zin al-Din also argues that imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. This means that men suspect 'the women closest and dearest to them.' How can society trust women with the most consequential job of bringing up children when it does not trust them with their faces and bodies? How can Muslim men meet rural and European women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully but not treat urban Muslim women in the same way? 7 She concludes this part of the book, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab 8 by stating that it is not an Islamic duty on Muslim women to wear hijab. If Muslim legislators have decided that it is, their opinions are wrong. If hijab is based on women's lack of intellect or piety, can it be said that all men are more perfect in piety and intellect than all women? 9 The spirit of a nation and its civilization is a reflection of the spirit of the mother. How can any mother bring up distinguished children if she herself is deprived of her personal freedom? She concludes that in enforcing hijab, society becomes a prisoner of its customs and traditions rather than Islam.
There are two ayahs which are specifically addressed to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and not to other Muslim women.
These are ayahs 32 and 53 of Sura al-Ahzab. ".. And stay quietly in Your houses," did not mean confinement of the wives of the Prophet (S) or other Muslim women and make them inactive. Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or eleventh century (CE). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars helping their brothers and husbands, defend their castles and bastions.10
Zin al-Din reviewed the interpretations of Aya 30 from Sura al-Nur and Aya 59 from sura al-Ahzab which were cited above by al-Khazin, al-Nafasi, Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and al-Tabari and found them full of contradictions. Yet, almost all interpreters agreed that women should not veil their faces and their hands and anyone who advocated that women should cover all their bodies including their faces could not face his argument on any religious text. If women were to be totally covered, there would have been no need for the ayahs addressed to Muslim men: 'Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty.'(Sura al-Nur, Aya 30). She supports her views by referring to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (S), always taking into account what the Prophet himself said 'I did not say a thing that is not in harmony with God's book.'11 God says: 'O consorts of the Prophet! ye are not like any of the(other) women' (Ahzab, 53). Thus it is very clear that God did not want women to measure themselves against the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab like them and there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding this aya. Therefore, those who imitate the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab are disobeying God's will.12
In Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam: The Spirit of Civilization) Shaykh Mustafa Ghalayini reminds his readers that veiling pre-dated Islam and that Muslims learned from other peoples with whom they mixed. He adds that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a. Any one who looks at hijab as it is worn by some women would find that it makes them more desirable than if they went out without hijab13. Zin al-Din points out that veiling was a custom of rich families as a symbol of status. She quotes Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Maghribi who also saw in hijab an aristocratic habit to distinguish the women of rich and prestigious families from other women. She concludes that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a.14
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali in his book Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith 15 declares that those who claim that women's reform is conditioned by wearing the veil are lying to God and his Prophet. He expresses the opinion that the contemptuous view of women has been passed on from the first jahiliya (the Pre-Islamic period) to the Islamic society. Al-Ghazali's argument is that Islam has made it compulsory on women not to cover their faces during haj and salat (prayer) the two important pillars of Islam. How then could Islam ask women to cover their faces at ordinary times?16 Al-Ghazali is a believer and is confident that all traditions that function to keep women ignorant and prevent them from functioning in public are the remnants of jahiliya and that following them is contrary to the spirit of Islam.
Al-Ghazali says that during the time of the Prophet women were equals at home, in the mosques and on the battlefield. Today true Islam is being destroyed in the name of Islam.
Another Muslim scholar, Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa wrote a scholarly study of women in Islam entitled Tahrir al-mara'a fi 'asr al-risalah: (The Emancipation of Women during the Time of the Prophet)17 agrees with Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali about the discrepancy between the status of women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the status of women today. He says that Islamists have made up sayings which they attributed to the Prophet such as 'women are lacking both intellect and religion' and in many cases they brought sayings which are not reliable at all and promoted them among Muslims until they became part of the Islamic culture.
Like Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali, Abu Shiqa finds that in many countries very weak and unreliable sayings of the Prophet are invented to support customs and traditions which are then considered to be part of the shari'a. He argues that it is the Islamic duty of women to participate in public life and in spreading good (Sura Tauba, Aya 71). He also agrees with Zin al-Din and Ghazali that hijab was for the wives of the Prophet and that it was against Islam for women to imitate the wives of the Prophet. If women were to be totally covered, why did God ask both men and women to lower their gaze? (Sura al-Nur, Ayath 30-31).
The actual practice of veiling most likely came from areas captured in the initial spread of Islam such as Syria, Iraq, and Persia and was adopted by upper-class urban women. Village and rural women traditionally have not worn the veil, partly because it would be an encumbrance in their work. It is certainly true that segregation of women in the domestic sphere took place increasingly as the Islamic centuries unfolded, with some very unfortunate consequences. Some women are again putting on clothing that identifies them as Muslim women. This phenomenon, which began only a few years ago, has manifested itself in a number of countries.
It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies. For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively but that they choose to. In Iran Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador and in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, modest dress is, including loose clothing and non-transparent stockings and scarves.18
With Islam's expansion into areas formerly part of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, the scripture-legislated social paradigm that had evolved in the early Medinan community came face to face with alien social structures and traditions deeply rooted in the conquered populations. Among the many cultural traditions assimilated and continued by Islam were the veiling and seclusion of women, at least among the urban upper and upper-middle classes. With these traditions' assumption into "the Islamic way of life," they of need helped to shape the normative interpretations of Qur'anic gender laws as formulated by the medireview (urbanized and acculturated) lawyer-theologians. In the latter's consensus-based prescriptive systems, the Prophet's wives were recognized as models for emulation (sources of Sunna). Thus, while the scholars provided information on the Prophet's wives in terms of, as well as for, an ideal of Muslim female morality, the Qur'anic directives addressed to the Prophet's consorts were naturally seen as applicable to all Muslim women.19
Semantically and legally, that is, regarding both the terms and also the parameters of its application, Islamic interpretation extended the concept of hijab. In scripturalist method, this was achieved in several ways. Firstly, the hijab was associated with two of the Qur'an's "clothing laws" imposed upon all Muslim females: the "mantle" verse of 33:59 and the "modesty" verse of 24:31. On the one hand, the semantic association of domestic segregation (hijab) with garments to be worn in public (jilbab, khimar) resulted in the use of the term hijab for concealing garments that women wore outside of their houses. This language use is fully documented in the medireview Hadith. However, unlike female garments such as jilbab, lihaf, milhafa, izar, dir' (traditional garments for the body), khimar, niqab, burqu', qina', miqna'a (traditional garments for the head and neck) and also a large number of other articles of clothing, the medireview meaning of hijab remained conceptual and generic. In their debates on which parts of the woman's body, if any, are not "awra" (literally, "genital," "pudendum") and many therefore be legally exposed to nonrelatives, the medireview scholars often contrastively paired woman's' awra with this generic hijab. This permitted the debate to remain conceptual rather than get bogged down in the specifics of articles of clothing whose meaning, in any case, was prone to changes both geographic/regional and also chronological. At present we know very little about the precise stages of the process by which the hijab in its multiple meanings was made obligatory for Muslim women at large, except to say that these occurred during the first centuries after the expansion of Islam beyond the borders of Arabia, and then mainly in the Islamicized societies still ruled by preexisting (Sasanian and Byzantine) social traditions.
With the rise of the Iraq-based Abbasid state in the mid-eighth century of the Western calendar, the lawyer-theologians of Islam grew into a religious establishment entrusted with the formulation of Islamic law and morality, and it was they who interpreted the Qur'anic rules on women's dress and space in increasingly absolute and categorical fashion, reflecting the real practices and cultural assumptions of their place and age. Classical legal compendia, medireview Hadith collections and Qur'anic exegesis are here mainly formulations of the system "as established" and not of its developmental stages, even though differences of opinion on the legal limits of the hijab garments survived, including among the doctrinal teachings of the four orthodox schools of law (madhahib). 20
Attacked by foreigners and indigenous secularists alike and defended by the many voices of conservatism, hijab has come to signify the sum total of traditional institutions governing women's role in Islamic society. Thus, in the ideological struggles surrounding the definition of Islam's nature and role in the modern world, the hijab has acquired the status of "cultural symbol."
Qasim Amin, the French-educated, pro-Western Egyptian journalist, lawyer, and politician in the last century wanted to bring Egyptian society from a state of "backwardness" into a state of "civilization" and modernity. To do so, he lashed out against the hijab, in its expanded sense, as the true reason for the ignorance, superstition, obesity, anemia, and premature aging of the Muslim woman of his time. He wanted the Muslim women to raise from the "backward" hijab into the desirable modernist ideal of women's right to an elementary education, supplemented by their ongoing contact with life outside of the home to provide experience of the "real world" and combat superstition. He understood the hijab as an amalgam of institutionalized restrictions on women that consisted of sexual segregation, domestic seclusion, and the face veil. He insisted as much on the woman's right to mobility outside the home as he did on the adaptation of shar'i Islamic garb, which would leave a woman's face and hands uncovered. Women's domestic seclusion and the face veil, then, were primary points in Amin's attack on what was wrong with the Egyptian social system of his time.21 Muhammad Abdu tried to restore the dignity to Muslim woman by way of educational and some legal reforms, the modernist blueprint of women's Islamic rights eventually also included the right to work, vote, and stand for election-that is, full participation in public life. He separated the forever-valid-as-stipulated laws of 'ibadat (religious observances) from the more time-specific mu'amalat (social transactions) in Qur'an and shari'a, which latter included the Hadith as one of its sources. Because modern Islamic societies differ from the seventh-century umma, time-specific laws are thus no longer literally applicable but need a fresh legal interpretation (ijtihad). What matters is to safeguard "the public good" (al-maslah al'-amma) in terms of Muslim communal morality and spirituality. 22
In the Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam, the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi
attacks the age-old conservative focus on women's segregation as mere institutionalization of authoritarianism, achieved by way of manipulation of sacred texts, "a structural characteristic of the practice of power in Muslim societies." In describing the feminist model of the Prophet's wives' rights and roles both domestic and also communal, Mernissi uses the methodology of "literal" interpretation of Qur'an and Hadith. In the selection and interpretations of traditions, she discredits some of textual items as unauthentic by the criteria of classical Hadith criticism. In Mernissi's reading of Qur'an and Hadith, Muhammad's wives were dynamic, influential, and enterprising members of the community, and fully involved in Muslim public affairs. He listened to their advice. In the city, they were leaders of women's protest movements, first for equal status as believers and thereafter regarding economic and sociopolitical rights, mainly in the areas of inheritance, participation in warfare and booty, and personal (marital) relations. Muhammad's vision of Islamic society was egalitarian, and he lived this ideal in his own household. Later the Prophet had to sacrifice his egalitarian vision for the sake of communal cohesiveness and the survival of the Islamic cause. To Mernissi, the seclusion of Muhammad's wives from public life (the hijab, Qur'an 33.53) is a symbol of Islam's retreat from the early principle of gender equality, as is the "mantel" (jilbab) verse of 33:59 which relinquished the principle of social responsibility, the individual sovereign will that internalizes control rather than place it within external barriers. Concerning A'isha's involvement in political affairs (the Battle of the Camel), Mernissi engages in classical Hadith criticism to prove the inauthenticity of the (presumably Prophetic) traditions "a people who entrust their command [or, affair, amr] to a woman will not thrive" because of historical problems relating to the date of its first transmission and also selfserving motives and a number of moral deficiencies recorded about its first transmitter, the Prophet's freedman Abu Bakra. Modernists in general disregard hadith items rather than question their authenticity by scrutinizing the transmitters' reliability.23 After describing the active participation of Muslim women in the battlefields as warriors and nurses to the wounded, Maulana Maudoodi24 says " This shows that the Islamic purdah is not a custom of ignorance which cannot be relaxed under any circumstances, on the other hand, it is a custom which can be relaxed as and when required in a moment of urgency. Not only is a woman allowed to uncover a part of her satr (coveredness) under necessity, there is no harm."
In the matter of hijab, the conscience of an honest, sincere Believer alone can be the true judge, as has been said by the Noble Prophet: "Ask for the verdict of your conscience and discard what pricks it."
Islam cannot be properly followed without knowledge. It is a rational law and to follow it rightly one needs to exercise reason and understanding at every step.25
REFERENCES
1. Cyril Glasse. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. Harper and Row Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1989, p. 156
2. Ibid, p. 413
3. Ibid, p. 421
4. Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Holy Quran (Amana Corp., Brentwood, Maryland), 1989. Pp 873-874
5. Riffat Hassan. Women's Rights and Islam: From the I.C.P.D. to Beijing. Louisville, Kentucky, 1995. pp. 65-76
6. Translated and explained by Muhammad Asad. The Message of the Qur'an. Dar al-Andalus, Gibraltar. 1984. p.538
7. Bouthaina Shaaban.The Muted Voices of Women Interpreters. In
FAITH AND FREEDOM: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World, Mahnaz Afkhami (Editor). I. B. Tauris Publishers, New York, 1995. p.68.
8. Nazira Zin al-Din, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab (Beirut: Quzma Publications, 1928), p 37
9. Bouthaina Shaaban, op.cit. P.69
10. Nazira Zin al-Din, op.cit.pp. 191-2
11. Ibid, p.226
12. Bouthaina Shaaban, op. cit. p.72
13. Shaykh Mustafa al-Ghalayini, Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam:
The Spirit of Civilization)(Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Asriyya,
1960) P.253
14. Ibid, pp.255-56
15. Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali.: Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith
(Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1989, 7th edition, 1990)
16. Ibid, p.44
17. Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa.: Tahrir al-mara' fi 'asr al-risalah
(Kuwait: Dar al-Qalam, 1990)
18. Jane I. Smith.:The Experience of Muslim Women:Considerations
of Power and Authority. In The Islamic Impact. Haddad, Y.Y. (Editor), Syracuse University Press. 1984. Pp. 89-112
19. Barbara Freyer Stowasser.: Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation.Oxford University Press. 1994. P. 92
20. Ibid, p.93
21. Ibid, p.127
22. Ibid, p.132
23. Ibid, p.133
24. Syed Abu Ala Maudoodi. Purdah and the Status of Woman in Islam. Islamic Publications. Lahore, Pakistan. 1972. P.215
25. Ibid, p.203
While Hijab means "cover", "drape", or "partition"; the word KHIMAR means veil covering the head and the word LITHAM or NIQAB means veil covering lower face up to the eyes. The general term hijab in the present day world refers to the covering of the face by women. In the Indian sub-continent it is called purdah and in Iran it called chador for the tent like black cloak and veil worn by many women in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. By socioeconomic necessity, the obligation to observe the hijab now often applies more to female "garments"(worn outside the house) than it does to the ancient paradigmatic feature of women's domestic "seclusion." In the contemporary normative Islamic language of Egypt and elsewhere, the hijab now denotes more a "way of dressing" than a "way of life," a (portable) "veil" rather than a fixed "domestic screen/seclusion." In Egypt and America hijab presently denotes the basic head covering ("veil") worn by fundamentalist/Islamist women as part of Islamic dress (zayy islami, or zayy shar'i); this hijab-headcovering conceals hair and neck of the wearer.
The Qur'an advises the wives of the Prophet (SAS) to go veiled (33: 59).
In Surah 24: 31(Ayah), the Qur'an advises women to cover their "adornments" from strangers outside the family. In the traditional and modern Arab societies women at home dress quite differently compared to what they wear in the streets. In this verse of the Qur'an, it refers to the institution of a new public modesty rather than veiling the face.
...When the pre-Islamic Arabs went to battle, Arab women seeing the men off to war would bare their breasts to encourage them to fight; or they would do so at the battle itself, as in the case of the Meccan women led by Hind at the Battle of Uhud. This changed with Islam, but the general use of the veil to cover the face did not appear until 'Abbasid times. Nor was it entirely unknown in Europe, for the veil permitted women the freedom of anonymity. None of the legal systems actually prescribe that women must wear a veil, although they do prescribe covering the body in public, up to the neck, the ankles, and below the elbow. In many Muslim societies, for example in traditional South East Asia, or in Bedouin lands a face veil for women is either rare or non-existent; paradoxically, modern fundamentalism is introducing it. In others, the veil may be used at one time and European dress another. While modesty is a religious prescription, the wearing of a veil is not a religious requirement of Islam, but a matter of cultural milieu.2
"The Middle Eastern norm for relationships between the sexes is by no means the only one possible for Islamic societies everywhere, nor is it appropriate for all cultures. It does not exhaust the possibilities allowed within the framework of the Qur'an and Sunnah, and is neither feasible nor desirable as a model for Europe or North America. European societies possess perfectly adequate models for marriage, the family, and relations between the sexes which are by no means out of harmony with the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is borne out by the fact that within certain broad limits Islamic societies themselves differ enormously in this respect." 3
The Qur'an lays down the principle of the law of modesty. In Surah 24: An-Nur: 30 and 31, modesty is enjoined both upon Muslim men and Muslim women 4:
Say to the believing men that they Should lower their gaze and guard Their modesty: that will make for Greater purity for them: And God is Well-acquainted with all that they Do. And say to the believing women That they should lower their gaze And guard their modesty: and they Should not display beauty and Ornaments expect what (must Ordinarily) appear thereof; that They must draw their veils over Their bosoms and not display their Beauty except to their husbands, Their fathers, their husband's Fathers, their sons, their husband's Sons, or their women, or their Slaves whom their right hands Possess, or male servants free of Physical needs, or small children
Who have no sense of the shame of
Sex; and that they should not strike
Their feet in order to draw
Attention to their ornaments.
The following conclusions may be made on the basis of the above-cited verses5:
1. The Qur'anic injunctions enjoining the believers to lower their gaze and behave modestly applies to both Muslim men and women and not Muslim women alone.
2. Muslim women are enjoined to "draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty" except in the presence of their husbands, other women, children, eunuchs and those men who are so closely related to them that they are not allowed to marry them. Although a self-conscious exhibition of one's "zeenat" (which means "that which appears to be beautiful" or "that which is used for embellishment or adornment") is forbidden, the Qur'an makes it clear that what a woman wears ordinarily is permissible. Another interpretation of this part of the passage is that if the display of "zeenat" is unintentional or accidental, it does not violate the law of modesty.
3. Although Muslim women may wear ornaments they should not walk in a manner intended to cause their ornaments to jingle and thus attract the attention of others.
The respected scholar, Muhammad Asad6, commenting on Qur'an 24:31 says " The noun khimar (of which khumur is 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 khimar (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of the
Prophet) does not necessarily relate to the use of a khimar 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.
The Qur'anic view of the ideal society is that the social and moral values have to be upheld by both Muslim men and women and there is justice for all, i.e. between man and man and between man and woman. The Qur'anic legislation regarding women is to protect them from inequities and vicious practices (such as female infanticide, unlimited polygamy or concubinage, etc.) which prevailed in the pre-Islamic Arabia. However the main purpose is to establish to equality of man and woman in the sight of God who created them both in like manner, from like substance, and gave to both the equal right to develop their own potentialities. To become a free, rational person is then the goal set for all human beings. Thus the Qur'an liberated the women from the indignity of being sex-objects into persons. In turn the Qur'an asks the women that they should behave with dignity and decorum befitting a secure,
Self-respecting and self-aware human being rather than an insecure female who felt that her survival depends on her ability to attract or cajole those men who were interested not in her personality but only in her sexuality.
One of the verses in the Qur'an protects a woman's fundamental rights. Aya 59 from Sura al-Ahzab reads:
O Prophet! Tell Thy wives And daughters, and the Believing women, that They should cast their Outer garments over Their Persons (when outside): That they should be known (As such) and not Molested.
Although this verse is directed in the first place to the Prophet's "wives and daughters", there is a reference also to "the believing women" hence it is generally understood by Muslim societies as applying to all Muslim women. According to the Qur'an the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garment when go out of their houses is so that they may be recognized as "believing" Muslim women and differentiated from street-walkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their houses but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unwholesome attention. By wearing the outergarment a "believing" Muslim woman could be distinguished from the others. In societies where there is no danger of "believing" Muslim being
confused with the others or in which "the outer garment" is unable to function as a mark of identification for "believing" Muslim women, the mere wearing of "the outer garment" would not fulfill the true objective of the Qur'anic decree. For example that older Muslim women who are "past the prospect of marriage" are not required to wear "the outer garment". Surah 24: An-Nur, Aya 60 reads:
Such elderly women are Past the prospect of Marriage,-- There is no blame on them, if They lay aside Their (outer) Garments, provided they make Not wanton display of their Beauty; but it is best for them
To be modest: and Allah is One
Who sees and knows all things.
Women who on account of their advanced age are not likely to be regarded as sex-objects are allowed to discard "the outer garment" but there is no relaxation as far as the essential Qur'anic principle of modest behavior is concerned. Reflection on the above-cited verse shows that "the outer garment" is not required by the Qur'an as a necessary statement of modesty since it recognizes the possibility identification women may continue to be modest even when they have discarded "the outer garment."
The Qur'an itself does not suggest either that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Qur'an is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices prescribed for men.
Nazira Zin al-Din stipulates that the morality of the self and the cleanness of the conscience are far better than the morality of the chador. No goodness is to be hoped from pretence, all goodness is in the essence of the self. Zin al-Din also argues that imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. This means that men suspect 'the women closest and dearest to them.' How can society trust women with the most consequential job of bringing up children when it does not trust them with their faces and bodies? How can Muslim men meet rural and European women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully but not treat urban Muslim women in the same way? 7 She concludes this part of the book, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab 8 by stating that it is not an Islamic duty on Muslim women to wear hijab. If Muslim legislators have decided that it is, their opinions are wrong. If hijab is based on women's lack of intellect or piety, can it be said that all men are more perfect in piety and intellect than all women? 9 The spirit of a nation and its civilization is a reflection of the spirit of the mother. How can any mother bring up distinguished children if she herself is deprived of her personal freedom? She concludes that in enforcing hijab, society becomes a prisoner of its customs and traditions rather than Islam.
There are two ayahs which are specifically addressed to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and not to other Muslim women.
These are ayahs 32 and 53 of Sura al-Ahzab. ".. And stay quietly in Your houses," did not mean confinement of the wives of the Prophet (S) or other Muslim women and make them inactive. Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or eleventh century (CE). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars helping their brothers and husbands, defend their castles and bastions.10
Zin al-Din reviewed the interpretations of Aya 30 from Sura al-Nur and Aya 59 from sura al-Ahzab which were cited above by al-Khazin, al-Nafasi, Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and al-Tabari and found them full of contradictions. Yet, almost all interpreters agreed that women should not veil their faces and their hands and anyone who advocated that women should cover all their bodies including their faces could not face his argument on any religious text. If women were to be totally covered, there would have been no need for the ayahs addressed to Muslim men: 'Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty.'(Sura al-Nur, Aya 30). She supports her views by referring to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (S), always taking into account what the Prophet himself said 'I did not say a thing that is not in harmony with God's book.'11 God says: 'O consorts of the Prophet! ye are not like any of the(other) women' (Ahzab, 53). Thus it is very clear that God did not want women to measure themselves against the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab like them and there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding this aya. Therefore, those who imitate the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab are disobeying God's will.12
In Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam: The Spirit of Civilization) Shaykh Mustafa Ghalayini reminds his readers that veiling pre-dated Islam and that Muslims learned from other peoples with whom they mixed. He adds that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a. Any one who looks at hijab as it is worn by some women would find that it makes them more desirable than if they went out without hijab13. Zin al-Din points out that veiling was a custom of rich families as a symbol of status. She quotes Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Maghribi who also saw in hijab an aristocratic habit to distinguish the women of rich and prestigious families from other women. She concludes that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a.14
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali in his book Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith 15 declares that those who claim that women's reform is conditioned by wearing the veil are lying to God and his Prophet. He expresses the opinion that the contemptuous view of women has been passed on from the first jahiliya (the Pre-Islamic period) to the Islamic society. Al-Ghazali's argument is that Islam has made it compulsory on women not to cover their faces during haj and salat (prayer) the two important pillars of Islam. How then could Islam ask women to cover their faces at ordinary times?16 Al-Ghazali is a believer and is confident that all traditions that function to keep women ignorant and prevent them from functioning in public are the remnants of jahiliya and that following them is contrary to the spirit of Islam.
Al-Ghazali says that during the time of the Prophet women were equals at home, in the mosques and on the battlefield. Today true Islam is being destroyed in the name of Islam.
Another Muslim scholar, Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa wrote a scholarly study of women in Islam entitled Tahrir al-mara'a fi 'asr al-risalah: (The Emancipation of Women during the Time of the Prophet)17 agrees with Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali about the discrepancy between the status of women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the status of women today. He says that Islamists have made up sayings which they attributed to the Prophet such as 'women are lacking both intellect and religion' and in many cases they brought sayings which are not reliable at all and promoted them among Muslims until they became part of the Islamic culture.
Like Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali, Abu Shiqa finds that in many countries very weak and unreliable sayings of the Prophet are invented to support customs and traditions which are then considered to be part of the shari'a. He argues that it is the Islamic duty of women to participate in public life and in spreading good (Sura Tauba, Aya 71). He also agrees with Zin al-Din and Ghazali that hijab was for the wives of the Prophet and that it was against Islam for women to imitate the wives of the Prophet. If women were to be totally covered, why did God ask both men and women to lower their gaze? (Sura al-Nur, Ayath 30-31).
The actual practice of veiling most likely came from areas captured in the initial spread of Islam such as Syria, Iraq, and Persia and was adopted by upper-class urban women. Village and rural women traditionally have not worn the veil, partly because it would be an encumbrance in their work. It is certainly true that segregation of women in the domestic sphere took place increasingly as the Islamic centuries unfolded, with some very unfortunate consequences. Some women are again putting on clothing that identifies them as Muslim women. This phenomenon, which began only a few years ago, has manifested itself in a number of countries.
It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies. For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively but that they choose to. In Iran Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador and in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, modest dress is, including loose clothing and non-transparent stockings and scarves.18
With Islam's expansion into areas formerly part of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, the scripture-legislated social paradigm that had evolved in the early Medinan community came face to face with alien social structures and traditions deeply rooted in the conquered populations. Among the many cultural traditions assimilated and continued by Islam were the veiling and seclusion of women, at least among the urban upper and upper-middle classes. With these traditions' assumption into "the Islamic way of life," they of need helped to shape the normative interpretations of Qur'anic gender laws as formulated by the medireview (urbanized and acculturated) lawyer-theologians. In the latter's consensus-based prescriptive systems, the Prophet's wives were recognized as models for emulation (sources of Sunna). Thus, while the scholars provided information on the Prophet's wives in terms of, as well as for, an ideal of Muslim female morality, the Qur'anic directives addressed to the Prophet's consorts were naturally seen as applicable to all Muslim women.19
Semantically and legally, that is, regarding both the terms and also the parameters of its application, Islamic interpretation extended the concept of hijab. In scripturalist method, this was achieved in several ways. Firstly, the hijab was associated with two of the Qur'an's "clothing laws" imposed upon all Muslim females: the "mantle" verse of 33:59 and the "modesty" verse of 24:31. On the one hand, the semantic association of domestic segregation (hijab) with garments to be worn in public (jilbab, khimar) resulted in the use of the term hijab for concealing garments that women wore outside of their houses. This language use is fully documented in the medireview Hadith. However, unlike female garments such as jilbab, lihaf, milhafa, izar, dir' (traditional garments for the body), khimar, niqab, burqu', qina', miqna'a (traditional garments for the head and neck) and also a large number of other articles of clothing, the medireview meaning of hijab remained conceptual and generic. In their debates on which parts of the woman's body, if any, are not "awra" (literally, "genital," "pudendum") and many therefore be legally exposed to nonrelatives, the medireview scholars often contrastively paired woman's' awra with this generic hijab. This permitted the debate to remain conceptual rather than get bogged down in the specifics of articles of clothing whose meaning, in any case, was prone to changes both geographic/regional and also chronological. At present we know very little about the precise stages of the process by which the hijab in its multiple meanings was made obligatory for Muslim women at large, except to say that these occurred during the first centuries after the expansion of Islam beyond the borders of Arabia, and then mainly in the Islamicized societies still ruled by preexisting (Sasanian and Byzantine) social traditions.
With the rise of the Iraq-based Abbasid state in the mid-eighth century of the Western calendar, the lawyer-theologians of Islam grew into a religious establishment entrusted with the formulation of Islamic law and morality, and it was they who interpreted the Qur'anic rules on women's dress and space in increasingly absolute and categorical fashion, reflecting the real practices and cultural assumptions of their place and age. Classical legal compendia, medireview Hadith collections and Qur'anic exegesis are here mainly formulations of the system "as established" and not of its developmental stages, even though differences of opinion on the legal limits of the hijab garments survived, including among the doctrinal teachings of the four orthodox schools of law (madhahib). 20
Attacked by foreigners and indigenous secularists alike and defended by the many voices of conservatism, hijab has come to signify the sum total of traditional institutions governing women's role in Islamic society. Thus, in the ideological struggles surrounding the definition of Islam's nature and role in the modern world, the hijab has acquired the status of "cultural symbol."
Qasim Amin, the French-educated, pro-Western Egyptian journalist, lawyer, and politician in the last century wanted to bring Egyptian society from a state of "backwardness" into a state of "civilization" and modernity. To do so, he lashed out against the hijab, in its expanded sense, as the true reason for the ignorance, superstition, obesity, anemia, and premature aging of the Muslim woman of his time. He wanted the Muslim women to raise from the "backward" hijab into the desirable modernist ideal of women's right to an elementary education, supplemented by their ongoing contact with life outside of the home to provide experience of the "real world" and combat superstition. He understood the hijab as an amalgam of institutionalized restrictions on women that consisted of sexual segregation, domestic seclusion, and the face veil. He insisted as much on the woman's right to mobility outside the home as he did on the adaptation of shar'i Islamic garb, which would leave a woman's face and hands uncovered. Women's domestic seclusion and the face veil, then, were primary points in Amin's attack on what was wrong with the Egyptian social system of his time.21 Muhammad Abdu tried to restore the dignity to Muslim woman by way of educational and some legal reforms, the modernist blueprint of women's Islamic rights eventually also included the right to work, vote, and stand for election-that is, full participation in public life. He separated the forever-valid-as-stipulated laws of 'ibadat (religious observances) from the more time-specific mu'amalat (social transactions) in Qur'an and shari'a, which latter included the Hadith as one of its sources. Because modern Islamic societies differ from the seventh-century umma, time-specific laws are thus no longer literally applicable but need a fresh legal interpretation (ijtihad). What matters is to safeguard "the public good" (al-maslah al'-amma) in terms of Muslim communal morality and spirituality. 22
In the Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam, the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi
attacks the age-old conservative focus on women's segregation as mere institutionalization of authoritarianism, achieved by way of manipulation of sacred texts, "a structural characteristic of the practice of power in Muslim societies." In describing the feminist model of the Prophet's wives' rights and roles both domestic and also communal, Mernissi uses the methodology of "literal" interpretation of Qur'an and Hadith. In the selection and interpretations of traditions, she discredits some of textual items as unauthentic by the criteria of classical Hadith criticism. In Mernissi's reading of Qur'an and Hadith, Muhammad's wives were dynamic, influential, and enterprising members of the community, and fully involved in Muslim public affairs. He listened to their advice. In the city, they were leaders of women's protest movements, first for equal status as believers and thereafter regarding economic and sociopolitical rights, mainly in the areas of inheritance, participation in warfare and booty, and personal (marital) relations. Muhammad's vision of Islamic society was egalitarian, and he lived this ideal in his own household. Later the Prophet had to sacrifice his egalitarian vision for the sake of communal cohesiveness and the survival of the Islamic cause. To Mernissi, the seclusion of Muhammad's wives from public life (the hijab, Qur'an 33.53) is a symbol of Islam's retreat from the early principle of gender equality, as is the "mantel" (jilbab) verse of 33:59 which relinquished the principle of social responsibility, the individual sovereign will that internalizes control rather than place it within external barriers. Concerning A'isha's involvement in political affairs (the Battle of the Camel), Mernissi engages in classical Hadith criticism to prove the inauthenticity of the (presumably Prophetic) traditions "a people who entrust their command [or, affair, amr] to a woman will not thrive" because of historical problems relating to the date of its first transmission and also selfserving motives and a number of moral deficiencies recorded about its first transmitter, the Prophet's freedman Abu Bakra. Modernists in general disregard hadith items rather than question their authenticity by scrutinizing the transmitters' reliability.23 After describing the active participation of Muslim women in the battlefields as warriors and nurses to the wounded, Maulana Maudoodi24 says " This shows that the Islamic purdah is not a custom of ignorance which cannot be relaxed under any circumstances, on the other hand, it is a custom which can be relaxed as and when required in a moment of urgency. Not only is a woman allowed to uncover a part of her satr (coveredness) under necessity, there is no harm."
In the matter of hijab, the conscience of an honest, sincere Believer alone can be the true judge, as has been said by the Noble Prophet: "Ask for the verdict of your conscience and discard what pricks it."
Islam cannot be properly followed without knowledge. It is a rational law and to follow it rightly one needs to exercise reason and understanding at every step.25
REFERENCES
1. Cyril Glasse. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. Harper and Row Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1989, p. 156
2. Ibid, p. 413
3. Ibid, p. 421
4. Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Holy Quran (Amana Corp., Brentwood, Maryland), 1989. Pp 873-874
5. Riffat Hassan. Women's Rights and Islam: From the I.C.P.D. to Beijing. Louisville, Kentucky, 1995. pp. 65-76
6. Translated and explained by Muhammad Asad. The Message of the Qur'an. Dar al-Andalus, Gibraltar. 1984. p.538
7. Bouthaina Shaaban.The Muted Voices of Women Interpreters. In
FAITH AND FREEDOM: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World, Mahnaz Afkhami (Editor). I. B. Tauris Publishers, New York, 1995. p.68.
8. Nazira Zin al-Din, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab (Beirut: Quzma Publications, 1928), p 37
9. Bouthaina Shaaban, op.cit. P.69
10. Nazira Zin al-Din, op.cit.pp. 191-2
11. Ibid, p.226
12. Bouthaina Shaaban, op. cit. p.72
13. Shaykh Mustafa al-Ghalayini, Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam:
The Spirit of Civilization)(Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Asriyya,
1960) P.253
14. Ibid, pp.255-56
15. Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali.: Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith
(Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1989, 7th edition, 1990)
16. Ibid, p.44
17. Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa.: Tahrir al-mara' fi 'asr al-risalah
(Kuwait: Dar al-Qalam, 1990)
18. Jane I. Smith.:The Experience of Muslim Women:Considerations
of Power and Authority. In The Islamic Impact. Haddad, Y.Y. (Editor), Syracuse University Press. 1984. Pp. 89-112
19. Barbara Freyer Stowasser.: Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation.Oxford University Press. 1994. P. 92
20. Ibid, p.93
21. Ibid, p.127
22. Ibid, p.132
23. Ibid, p.133
24. Syed Abu Ala Maudoodi. Purdah and the Status of Woman in Islam. Islamic Publications. Lahore, Pakistan. 1972. P.215
25. Ibid, p.203
Educating Muslim Children: Challenges and Opportunities
ABSTRACT
Education is the birth right of every Muslim and Muslimah. Islam puts considerable emphasis on its followers to acquire knowledge. Investment in education is the best investment one can make, because it eventually leads to intellectual property. Intellectual property is the intangible property, which no one can steal or destroy. This is the property on which no Government can levy a tax. It was as a result of application of knowledge that Muslims were the superpower of the world for twelve centuries.
Today, globally Muslims have the lowest literacy rate. Education of Muslim children in the west has both opportunities and challenges.
In the Western World the purpose of education is to provide for the economic prosperity of a nation. At a personal level the purpose of education is to acquire academic and professional skills that enable one to earn a respectable living with riches and fame, and also a luxurious and comfortable life. For a Muslim providing economic prosperity of a nation does not contradict his/her Islamic beliefs, however focusing the goals of education solely for the purpose of money making is unpalatable. Muslims want to impart Islamic education. Vast majority of the Muslims think that Islamic education means acquiring Islamic religious knowledge-study of Qur'an, Arabic, Hadith, Sunnah, Seerah, Fiqh, Islamic history, and allied subjects. As a matter of fact, in the present world broadly speaking we have two types of Muslims. Those who have followed the Western type of education or secular education and those who have acquired Deeni or Islamic education.
In the twentieth century, due to Colonialism and Western influence, Muslim parents concentrated on imparting only Secular education to their children. The weak or not so bright students were sent to Deeni (religious) Madrasas (schools) in their own countries or to one of the Middle Eastern countries. The Muslims who emigrated to Western countries became aware of their religious identity and wanted to impart both Islamic and Secular education, what is now known as "Integrated Education." When they lacked the numbers and resources, they sent their children to public schools during the week and to the Islamic schools in the Mosque or Islamic Center during the weekends. As their numbers grew and acquired sufficient resources, they have opened full-time Islamic Schools from kindergarten (K grade) to 12th grade (senior or final year) in High School. In North America, an estimated 300 Islamic Schools are functioning which impart Integrated education. There are even a few full-time Hifz schools in North America producing homegrown Huffaz (plural of Hafeez-a scholar who has memorized the Qur'an). It takes about two to three years of full-time study to become a Hafeez. During this time the student takes an equivalent to sabbatical leave from his or her public or parochial school.
This paper analyzes the choice the parents make in sending their children, to Public, Parochial, Private non-parochial, Islamic, Virtual Islamic, or Home School. Their advantages and disadvantages.
The greatest objective of education is to prepare the young generation for leadership. Islamic education is of course has the highest objective, and more than that can hardly be imagined. The aim of Islamic education is Character building. Growth and development of an Islamic personality should be the final goal of any Islamic School. Islamic values are the foundation of the Islamic personality. As Muslims our educational aim is to develop the personalities of our children to the end that they will be conscious of their responsibility to Allah (the Creator) and to fellow humans. The aims and objectives of Islamic education has been defined in the Recommendation of the Committee I of the First World Conference on Muslim Education as under, "Education should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of man through training of the human spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and senses. The training imparted to a Muslim must be such that faith is infused into the whole of his/her personality and creates in him/her an emotional attachment to Islam and enables him to follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and be governed by Islamic system of values willingly and joyfully so that he/she may proceed to the realization of his/her status as Khalifatullah to whom Allah has promised the authority of the universe."
We need to prepare the younger generation having leadership quality and not to be the followers of alien ideologies but to play the role of torchbearer by their excellence in knowledge, character, and positive action. Some scholars believe that this quality can be developed in Muslim youth by a direct study of the Qur'an with a view to solve the problems of life in its light. A program of action to upbring the younger generation for leadership has not yet been formulated.
Every Muslim parent is advised to raise his or her children well and properly. A happy home, comfort, care and love, providing the necessities of life and a good education are some of the responsibilities that parents are required to fulfill. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said whoever is not kind to young people is not one of us and the best teaching that a parent can give a child is the teaching of good manners and character. The Muslim child absorbs the Islamic values from its parents, teachers, peers, friends and the environment, including the care- givers. Nip it in the bud is the best advice. Otherwise once the Muslim child develops undesirable habits and unethical values, it becomes extremely difficult to make the child into a good Muslim/Muslimah.
Parents play a vital role in the education of their children. Early childhood education program emphasizes the role of parents. It declares that learning begins in the first days of life and continues for long. Parents should develop a habit to read with their children every night. Parents should provide an Islamic environment, an Islamic culture. It is hypocritical to do things differently and expect the child to have Islamic values. Parents set the best examples for their children to imbibe. Like parents the role of family has also been considered important in learning and upbringing the children. As the children grow the teachers, community elders, their friends exert deep influence on the character of the child. The parents should choose the right schools for their children. Audio-Visual media such as TV, Video, video games, Movies, peer pressure could play an effective role in erasing the Islamic personality the parents are building and deeply influence the behavior of the children for years. It takes constant and continuos effort on the part of the parents and others to keep our youth on the path of Islamic values. Otherwise they will become an American statistic. Character education, promotion of order and discipline and ending the culture of guns and drugs from schools are the important steps of Islamic education. Islamic education should open the door of college education for every Muslim.
The frontiers of learning are expanding across a lifetime. All the people, irrespective of age, must have a chance to learn new skills. Internet is now the power of information. The classroom, library and even the children's hospitals are planned to connect with it for easy access to knowledge.
In America the parents of Muslim children are facing the challenge of picking the right school for their children. The parents have the choice to choose the school their children will attend. Parents would like to send their children to a school that promotes academic excellence and a value centered educational environment. The following pages list the different types of schools available for Muslim children, their advantages and disadvantages.
WHY ISLAMIC EDUCATION?
American society today is drifting aimlessly in a sea of problems:
Crime
Guns and violence including rape
Sexual promiscuity and immorality
Drugs
Homosexuality
Poverty
Divorce
Single parent families
Children traumatized emotionally and psychologically as a result of broken families
Disrupted upbringing
One million teen-age pregnancies of unmarried mothers per year
Sexually abused children
Spousal abuse
Child abuse
All of this has great influence on and impacts the Muslims living in America, especially the children and youth. The parents try to teach Islamic values and morals to the children, hence children are to maintain these values at home environment. Outside the home, the children are in a totally different environment. At times the outside social environment is in opposition to what Muslim children are learning at home. As a result of this conflict, children are fighting a psychological battle in their minds. Islam is very deeply concerned with the welfare of human society and the family is considered to be the cornerstone for building the right society. Raising children in this culture and expecting Islamic values from them is a unique and very tough challenge. Muslim families are at a disadvantage in meeting the psychological and spiritual needs of the children. Giving more religious teachings to children at home is not enough. It is extremely important for parents to spend time with their children. Parents have to find time to be with their children at home, school, games, on the playground, field trips, picnics, and tours. The most essential element is to establish an open channel of communication with the children. An effort should be made to create an environment wherein children should not hesitate to say to their parents their thinkings and feelings. The school system in America deals with the teaching of Academic subjects. The system has also been gearing up to teach life skills, such as prevention of smoking and drug abuse, prevention of heart disease, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Children should get the Islamic education at an early age. In an effort to inculcate Islamic values, the teachings should be done at home as well as Islamic centers or Islamic schools. Islamic schools should create opportunities for Muslim children to get together to bond with each other as this would help in establishing confidence in an Islamic identity and get psychological support. When children meet other children who are Muslim, it enhances their confidence in being a Muslim and they feel more comfortable about their identity and they assert their Islamic identity in non-Muslim environment with more ease and comfort. Islamic identity, according to some, refers to characteristics of thought, behavior, and attitudes emanating from the Islamic beliefs; and it should be manifested in an Islamic way of life. The practice of Islam gives Muslims a tangible identity that they live with and project to the rest of the society. It can be preserved by their dynamic interaction with the realities of the American system of life and influencing and reforming the society through Islamic thoughts. The best role model is the parent's character. The social support systems, such as Islamic centers, weekend or full time Islamic schools should be built in communities across the country.
Problems in Islamic Schools:
No Adaab or Islamic etiquette or behavior
Parents want teachers to be lenient
Some girls and boys meet secretly in the basement.
They have girl-friends and boy-friends
They do smoke
Profanity is written on the walls, desks, blackboards, etc.
Behave roughly: laughing, talking, screaming, rip off their Hijab on the buses.
Discipline: Behavior is no different from the Public Schools.
Teachers are not fair. Spoiled kids as their parents are rich or important
Less school activities for girls. Little opportunity to interact with other students.
Islamic schools are running without an Islamic curriculum, often without a syllabus
No textbooks.
No qualified and trained teachers or certified teachers. (Quality in education is not possible without good teachers.)
Those who attend Muslim high schools do not fare better in college.
Non-Muslim teachers who are qualified and certified. (Live-in boyfriend, rejects institution of marriage. Wear tight and revealing outfit. Promote gay agenda, anti-religion agenda, or insensitive to Islamic values and events)
Qualified and certified Muslim teachers work in Public schools. As Islamic schools do not offer viable salaries, benefits (pension health benefits, etc.)
When they leave Islamic schools and graduate from colleges, some of them, they do marry non-Muslims as the Muslim community and their parents have exerted zero influence on them.
Chronic shortage of space, science labs, auditoriums, gyms, playgrounds, libraries, bathrooms.
High turnover rate (30 to 40 percent annually) of teachers.
Parents' fear Islamic schools trade off academics for Islamic environment.
Organization, planning and discipline -suffer most in Islamic schools.
Governance is the big reason why most Islamic schools suffer
Do not develop an autonomous and unique decision-making (governance) structure
School Boards require training in how to run a school
School Boards rarely include women
Parents do not play a part in Governance structure
No qualified administrators
Some parents worry Islamic schools offer an inferior quality of education.
Children are not prepared to face competitiveness and the challenges of the modern world.
Seriously lacking in Muslim literature and culture.
For many Muslim families, Islamic schools are not affordable.
In sparse Muslim population areas, Islamic schools are not financially viable.
Very few trained Muslim teachers in special education or none
In North America major problem is the prevalent moral degradation of the society. In establishing the Islamic Schools, Muslims lack a clear perception of their goals and seldom evaluate the final result if it is worth the money in producing the desired results. Many Islamic schools have run into financial difficulties. Their dreams have crumbled down, resulting in scaled down projects after short-lived disastrous venture.
HOME SCHOOLING:
The best and safest place for a Muslim child to be educated
Home schooling is possible only for a very small number.
Requires motivated parents who are qualified.
Parents should be trained and willing to devote long hours every day.
Parents should impart both 'Islamic' and 'secular' education
Prepare the children to successfully compete in the outside world.
Parents rejoice in the experiencing a child harvest the fruits of an education.
Taking children from pre-reading to reading is an exhilarating experience.
Public and / or private schools may have turned children away from being interested,
self-motivated learners and taken the joy of learning away from them.
The public/private schools are not as thorough as a parent wishes.
There is no available or affordable local full time Islamic school.
The Islamic school does not provide the entire K-12 educational experience.
Public schools work against the parent's authority and unfriendly to Muslim children-Hijab.
Public school texts and classroom materials may be destructive to Islamic values and parental authority.
Parents develop their own curriculum, pick out books, texts and workbooks that best suit
their needs and family or learners style.
Home schooling removes children from an environment of drugs, violence, alcohol, sexual
Experimentation, gangs, and peer pressure.
It returns them to a healthy, safe, Allah-centered learning environment.
A school schedule that is friendlier to the demands of an Islamic life can be followed.
Classes can be held on Saturday and Sunday, continued during Christian holidays,
lightened during Ramadan and stopped for Eids.
When family moves and relocates, continuity in education is preserved.
Homeschoolers do not have to fit the child to the curriculum
Homeschoolers make the curriculum fit the individual child.
Misconception: parents need to know everything or spend all day teaching.
School days need not be as long, either.
One-on-one instruction is faster than one-on-30.
Home schooling is legal in all fifty states, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries
Homeschooling of children with learning disabilities, special needs or gifted and talented is possible
There are magazines, WEB sites, distance learning programs and curriculum specifically designed for and devoted to this segment of the homeschooling population.
SOCIALIZATION: Muslim families arrange weekly or monthly field trips or social events. Participate in local Boy/Girl Scouts, sport teams, craft and sewing classes,
YMCA (physical education requirements).
Muslim organizations that meet social needs of Muslim children: Muslim Youth Camps, MYNA,
local Masjid youth programs, summer camps, vacation camps, Muslim Athletes United International
Home school students watch much less television than students nationwide.
Home school student achievement test scores are exceptionally high.
Home schooled students have higher scholastic achievement test (SAT) scores than students who attended other educational programs.
Homeschooled children are winning Spelling Bee and Geography Bee National Contests.
PUBLIC EDUCATION:
No tuition fees. Public schools are run with tax-dollars to which Muslims contribute.
Have qualified, trained and certified teachers
Teachers are paid well, with all the benefits
Provide secular curriculum which has many good skills-like critical thinking
Tries to inculcate thirst for knowledge
Teachers are strict about homework
Classes are scheduled in blocks with longer times.
Provide college preparation with emphasis on science, math, English and other core subjects.
Provide real life experience-meet children of all strata of society, diversity, co-ed
Sufficient space for buildings, libraries, labs, playgrounds, gyms, Internet and individual PCs
Public schools in suburban areas provide quality education, relatively in a safe environment
Provide almost free Textbooks.
Provide free or subsidized lunches for low-income Muslim families.
Provide advanced classes for gifted and talented children.
Provide education for special children who are slow learners or mentally /physically handicapped
Public schools provide an excellent opportunity for advancing the cause of Islam
Gives opportunities for Muslim students and teachers to dispel misconceptions about Islam
Problems of Public Education:
Smoking
Alcohol
Drug abuse
Boyfriend-girlfriend -romantic pair- starts early in pre-school
Sexual Experimentation,
Violence
Gangs
Peer Pressure
Secular curriculum places undue emphasis on western culture and ignores Muslim culture
English literature is devoid of Muslim authors and Muslim topics
Cultural heritage (provides identity and belonging to a cultural group) taught is totally Western.
Muslim youth torn between school culture and Muslim culture at home
Religious holidays are celebrated but no Muslim holidays
Lying is accepted as growing up aspect.
Family concept is deeply eroded
Social studies class does not give credit to Muslim/Islamic contribution to the development of West
OTHERS:
Correspondence courses
Distance learning via the World Wide Web and Internet.( www.thegateway.org)
Virtual Islamic Schools
Non-Muslim Parochial Schools
Non-Muslim Private Schools
Charter Schools-funded by state and local governments are Independent public schools formed by teachers, parents and/or community members. Exempt from state and local laws and/or policies in exchange for a written contract (or Charter) that specifies certain results are achieved. NOT ALLOWED TO TEACH RELIGION. However school's mission may emphasize on the study of a particular language, cultural and ethnic traditions, and history infused with state's core curriculum.
Examples of Charter Schools: Star International Academy and Universal Academy. Both are in Detroit, Michigan. Website: http://www.uscharterschools.org/
Charter schools provide solid foundations of knowledge and skills to compete in the world.
Admission is open to all state residents and students pay no tuition.
In his state of the union address on February 4, 1997, President Bill Clinton declared that if the United States failed to accept the responsibilities of leadership, it could endanger the peace of the world and its own welfare. He said, " The new promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new works, life enhancing technology-- all these are ours to seize….. We must be shapers of events not observers." President Clinton plans for strong economy, and democracy, job certainty to Americans, harnessing the force of technology and science, strengthening families and communities, saving the environment and making America the strongest forces for peace, freedom and prosperity. In his address President Clinton gave the topmost priority to education for the next four years. " Education is a critical national issue for our future" he declared. His " Call to Action for American Education" is based on ten principles ensuring that all Americans will have the best education in the world. The President fixes the goals of education at all levels. He observes that every 8-year-old must be able to read; every 12-year-old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old must be able to go to college and every adult must be able to continue learning throughout one's life.
REFERENCES:
Islamic Horizons May/June 2000
The Message International May 2000
Education is the birth right of every Muslim and Muslimah. Islam puts considerable emphasis on its followers to acquire knowledge. Investment in education is the best investment one can make, because it eventually leads to intellectual property. Intellectual property is the intangible property, which no one can steal or destroy. This is the property on which no Government can levy a tax. It was as a result of application of knowledge that Muslims were the superpower of the world for twelve centuries.
Today, globally Muslims have the lowest literacy rate. Education of Muslim children in the west has both opportunities and challenges.
In the Western World the purpose of education is to provide for the economic prosperity of a nation. At a personal level the purpose of education is to acquire academic and professional skills that enable one to earn a respectable living with riches and fame, and also a luxurious and comfortable life. For a Muslim providing economic prosperity of a nation does not contradict his/her Islamic beliefs, however focusing the goals of education solely for the purpose of money making is unpalatable. Muslims want to impart Islamic education. Vast majority of the Muslims think that Islamic education means acquiring Islamic religious knowledge-study of Qur'an, Arabic, Hadith, Sunnah, Seerah, Fiqh, Islamic history, and allied subjects. As a matter of fact, in the present world broadly speaking we have two types of Muslims. Those who have followed the Western type of education or secular education and those who have acquired Deeni or Islamic education.
In the twentieth century, due to Colonialism and Western influence, Muslim parents concentrated on imparting only Secular education to their children. The weak or not so bright students were sent to Deeni (religious) Madrasas (schools) in their own countries or to one of the Middle Eastern countries. The Muslims who emigrated to Western countries became aware of their religious identity and wanted to impart both Islamic and Secular education, what is now known as "Integrated Education." When they lacked the numbers and resources, they sent their children to public schools during the week and to the Islamic schools in the Mosque or Islamic Center during the weekends. As their numbers grew and acquired sufficient resources, they have opened full-time Islamic Schools from kindergarten (K grade) to 12th grade (senior or final year) in High School. In North America, an estimated 300 Islamic Schools are functioning which impart Integrated education. There are even a few full-time Hifz schools in North America producing homegrown Huffaz (plural of Hafeez-a scholar who has memorized the Qur'an). It takes about two to three years of full-time study to become a Hafeez. During this time the student takes an equivalent to sabbatical leave from his or her public or parochial school.
This paper analyzes the choice the parents make in sending their children, to Public, Parochial, Private non-parochial, Islamic, Virtual Islamic, or Home School. Their advantages and disadvantages.
The greatest objective of education is to prepare the young generation for leadership. Islamic education is of course has the highest objective, and more than that can hardly be imagined. The aim of Islamic education is Character building. Growth and development of an Islamic personality should be the final goal of any Islamic School. Islamic values are the foundation of the Islamic personality. As Muslims our educational aim is to develop the personalities of our children to the end that they will be conscious of their responsibility to Allah (the Creator) and to fellow humans. The aims and objectives of Islamic education has been defined in the Recommendation of the Committee I of the First World Conference on Muslim Education as under, "Education should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of man through training of the human spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and senses. The training imparted to a Muslim must be such that faith is infused into the whole of his/her personality and creates in him/her an emotional attachment to Islam and enables him to follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and be governed by Islamic system of values willingly and joyfully so that he/she may proceed to the realization of his/her status as Khalifatullah to whom Allah has promised the authority of the universe."
We need to prepare the younger generation having leadership quality and not to be the followers of alien ideologies but to play the role of torchbearer by their excellence in knowledge, character, and positive action. Some scholars believe that this quality can be developed in Muslim youth by a direct study of the Qur'an with a view to solve the problems of life in its light. A program of action to upbring the younger generation for leadership has not yet been formulated.
Every Muslim parent is advised to raise his or her children well and properly. A happy home, comfort, care and love, providing the necessities of life and a good education are some of the responsibilities that parents are required to fulfill. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said whoever is not kind to young people is not one of us and the best teaching that a parent can give a child is the teaching of good manners and character. The Muslim child absorbs the Islamic values from its parents, teachers, peers, friends and the environment, including the care- givers. Nip it in the bud is the best advice. Otherwise once the Muslim child develops undesirable habits and unethical values, it becomes extremely difficult to make the child into a good Muslim/Muslimah.
Parents play a vital role in the education of their children. Early childhood education program emphasizes the role of parents. It declares that learning begins in the first days of life and continues for long. Parents should develop a habit to read with their children every night. Parents should provide an Islamic environment, an Islamic culture. It is hypocritical to do things differently and expect the child to have Islamic values. Parents set the best examples for their children to imbibe. Like parents the role of family has also been considered important in learning and upbringing the children. As the children grow the teachers, community elders, their friends exert deep influence on the character of the child. The parents should choose the right schools for their children. Audio-Visual media such as TV, Video, video games, Movies, peer pressure could play an effective role in erasing the Islamic personality the parents are building and deeply influence the behavior of the children for years. It takes constant and continuos effort on the part of the parents and others to keep our youth on the path of Islamic values. Otherwise they will become an American statistic. Character education, promotion of order and discipline and ending the culture of guns and drugs from schools are the important steps of Islamic education. Islamic education should open the door of college education for every Muslim.
The frontiers of learning are expanding across a lifetime. All the people, irrespective of age, must have a chance to learn new skills. Internet is now the power of information. The classroom, library and even the children's hospitals are planned to connect with it for easy access to knowledge.
In America the parents of Muslim children are facing the challenge of picking the right school for their children. The parents have the choice to choose the school their children will attend. Parents would like to send their children to a school that promotes academic excellence and a value centered educational environment. The following pages list the different types of schools available for Muslim children, their advantages and disadvantages.
WHY ISLAMIC EDUCATION?
American society today is drifting aimlessly in a sea of problems:
Crime
Guns and violence including rape
Sexual promiscuity and immorality
Drugs
Homosexuality
Poverty
Divorce
Single parent families
Children traumatized emotionally and psychologically as a result of broken families
Disrupted upbringing
One million teen-age pregnancies of unmarried mothers per year
Sexually abused children
Spousal abuse
Child abuse
All of this has great influence on and impacts the Muslims living in America, especially the children and youth. The parents try to teach Islamic values and morals to the children, hence children are to maintain these values at home environment. Outside the home, the children are in a totally different environment. At times the outside social environment is in opposition to what Muslim children are learning at home. As a result of this conflict, children are fighting a psychological battle in their minds. Islam is very deeply concerned with the welfare of human society and the family is considered to be the cornerstone for building the right society. Raising children in this culture and expecting Islamic values from them is a unique and very tough challenge. Muslim families are at a disadvantage in meeting the psychological and spiritual needs of the children. Giving more religious teachings to children at home is not enough. It is extremely important for parents to spend time with their children. Parents have to find time to be with their children at home, school, games, on the playground, field trips, picnics, and tours. The most essential element is to establish an open channel of communication with the children. An effort should be made to create an environment wherein children should not hesitate to say to their parents their thinkings and feelings. The school system in America deals with the teaching of Academic subjects. The system has also been gearing up to teach life skills, such as prevention of smoking and drug abuse, prevention of heart disease, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Children should get the Islamic education at an early age. In an effort to inculcate Islamic values, the teachings should be done at home as well as Islamic centers or Islamic schools. Islamic schools should create opportunities for Muslim children to get together to bond with each other as this would help in establishing confidence in an Islamic identity and get psychological support. When children meet other children who are Muslim, it enhances their confidence in being a Muslim and they feel more comfortable about their identity and they assert their Islamic identity in non-Muslim environment with more ease and comfort. Islamic identity, according to some, refers to characteristics of thought, behavior, and attitudes emanating from the Islamic beliefs; and it should be manifested in an Islamic way of life. The practice of Islam gives Muslims a tangible identity that they live with and project to the rest of the society. It can be preserved by their dynamic interaction with the realities of the American system of life and influencing and reforming the society through Islamic thoughts. The best role model is the parent's character. The social support systems, such as Islamic centers, weekend or full time Islamic schools should be built in communities across the country.
Problems in Islamic Schools:
No Adaab or Islamic etiquette or behavior
Parents want teachers to be lenient
Some girls and boys meet secretly in the basement.
They have girl-friends and boy-friends
They do smoke
Profanity is written on the walls, desks, blackboards, etc.
Behave roughly: laughing, talking, screaming, rip off their Hijab on the buses.
Discipline: Behavior is no different from the Public Schools.
Teachers are not fair. Spoiled kids as their parents are rich or important
Less school activities for girls. Little opportunity to interact with other students.
Islamic schools are running without an Islamic curriculum, often without a syllabus
No textbooks.
No qualified and trained teachers or certified teachers. (Quality in education is not possible without good teachers.)
Those who attend Muslim high schools do not fare better in college.
Non-Muslim teachers who are qualified and certified. (Live-in boyfriend, rejects institution of marriage. Wear tight and revealing outfit. Promote gay agenda, anti-religion agenda, or insensitive to Islamic values and events)
Qualified and certified Muslim teachers work in Public schools. As Islamic schools do not offer viable salaries, benefits (pension health benefits, etc.)
When they leave Islamic schools and graduate from colleges, some of them, they do marry non-Muslims as the Muslim community and their parents have exerted zero influence on them.
Chronic shortage of space, science labs, auditoriums, gyms, playgrounds, libraries, bathrooms.
High turnover rate (30 to 40 percent annually) of teachers.
Parents' fear Islamic schools trade off academics for Islamic environment.
Organization, planning and discipline -suffer most in Islamic schools.
Governance is the big reason why most Islamic schools suffer
Do not develop an autonomous and unique decision-making (governance) structure
School Boards require training in how to run a school
School Boards rarely include women
Parents do not play a part in Governance structure
No qualified administrators
Some parents worry Islamic schools offer an inferior quality of education.
Children are not prepared to face competitiveness and the challenges of the modern world.
Seriously lacking in Muslim literature and culture.
For many Muslim families, Islamic schools are not affordable.
In sparse Muslim population areas, Islamic schools are not financially viable.
Very few trained Muslim teachers in special education or none
In North America major problem is the prevalent moral degradation of the society. In establishing the Islamic Schools, Muslims lack a clear perception of their goals and seldom evaluate the final result if it is worth the money in producing the desired results. Many Islamic schools have run into financial difficulties. Their dreams have crumbled down, resulting in scaled down projects after short-lived disastrous venture.
HOME SCHOOLING:
The best and safest place for a Muslim child to be educated
Home schooling is possible only for a very small number.
Requires motivated parents who are qualified.
Parents should be trained and willing to devote long hours every day.
Parents should impart both 'Islamic' and 'secular' education
Prepare the children to successfully compete in the outside world.
Parents rejoice in the experiencing a child harvest the fruits of an education.
Taking children from pre-reading to reading is an exhilarating experience.
Public and / or private schools may have turned children away from being interested,
self-motivated learners and taken the joy of learning away from them.
The public/private schools are not as thorough as a parent wishes.
There is no available or affordable local full time Islamic school.
The Islamic school does not provide the entire K-12 educational experience.
Public schools work against the parent's authority and unfriendly to Muslim children-Hijab.
Public school texts and classroom materials may be destructive to Islamic values and parental authority.
Parents develop their own curriculum, pick out books, texts and workbooks that best suit
their needs and family or learners style.
Home schooling removes children from an environment of drugs, violence, alcohol, sexual
Experimentation, gangs, and peer pressure.
It returns them to a healthy, safe, Allah-centered learning environment.
A school schedule that is friendlier to the demands of an Islamic life can be followed.
Classes can be held on Saturday and Sunday, continued during Christian holidays,
lightened during Ramadan and stopped for Eids.
When family moves and relocates, continuity in education is preserved.
Homeschoolers do not have to fit the child to the curriculum
Homeschoolers make the curriculum fit the individual child.
Misconception: parents need to know everything or spend all day teaching.
School days need not be as long, either.
One-on-one instruction is faster than one-on-30.
Home schooling is legal in all fifty states, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries
Homeschooling of children with learning disabilities, special needs or gifted and talented is possible
There are magazines, WEB sites, distance learning programs and curriculum specifically designed for and devoted to this segment of the homeschooling population.
SOCIALIZATION: Muslim families arrange weekly or monthly field trips or social events. Participate in local Boy/Girl Scouts, sport teams, craft and sewing classes,
YMCA (physical education requirements).
Muslim organizations that meet social needs of Muslim children: Muslim Youth Camps, MYNA,
local Masjid youth programs, summer camps, vacation camps, Muslim Athletes United International
Home school students watch much less television than students nationwide.
Home school student achievement test scores are exceptionally high.
Home schooled students have higher scholastic achievement test (SAT) scores than students who attended other educational programs.
Homeschooled children are winning Spelling Bee and Geography Bee National Contests.
PUBLIC EDUCATION:
No tuition fees. Public schools are run with tax-dollars to which Muslims contribute.
Have qualified, trained and certified teachers
Teachers are paid well, with all the benefits
Provide secular curriculum which has many good skills-like critical thinking
Tries to inculcate thirst for knowledge
Teachers are strict about homework
Classes are scheduled in blocks with longer times.
Provide college preparation with emphasis on science, math, English and other core subjects.
Provide real life experience-meet children of all strata of society, diversity, co-ed
Sufficient space for buildings, libraries, labs, playgrounds, gyms, Internet and individual PCs
Public schools in suburban areas provide quality education, relatively in a safe environment
Provide almost free Textbooks.
Provide free or subsidized lunches for low-income Muslim families.
Provide advanced classes for gifted and talented children.
Provide education for special children who are slow learners or mentally /physically handicapped
Public schools provide an excellent opportunity for advancing the cause of Islam
Gives opportunities for Muslim students and teachers to dispel misconceptions about Islam
Problems of Public Education:
Smoking
Alcohol
Drug abuse
Boyfriend-girlfriend -romantic pair- starts early in pre-school
Sexual Experimentation,
Violence
Gangs
Peer Pressure
Secular curriculum places undue emphasis on western culture and ignores Muslim culture
English literature is devoid of Muslim authors and Muslim topics
Cultural heritage (provides identity and belonging to a cultural group) taught is totally Western.
Muslim youth torn between school culture and Muslim culture at home
Religious holidays are celebrated but no Muslim holidays
Lying is accepted as growing up aspect.
Family concept is deeply eroded
Social studies class does not give credit to Muslim/Islamic contribution to the development of West
OTHERS:
Correspondence courses
Distance learning via the World Wide Web and Internet.( www.thegateway.org)
Virtual Islamic Schools
Non-Muslim Parochial Schools
Non-Muslim Private Schools
Charter Schools-funded by state and local governments are Independent public schools formed by teachers, parents and/or community members. Exempt from state and local laws and/or policies in exchange for a written contract (or Charter) that specifies certain results are achieved. NOT ALLOWED TO TEACH RELIGION. However school's mission may emphasize on the study of a particular language, cultural and ethnic traditions, and history infused with state's core curriculum.
Examples of Charter Schools: Star International Academy and Universal Academy. Both are in Detroit, Michigan. Website: http://www.uscharterschools.org/
Charter schools provide solid foundations of knowledge and skills to compete in the world.
Admission is open to all state residents and students pay no tuition.
In his state of the union address on February 4, 1997, President Bill Clinton declared that if the United States failed to accept the responsibilities of leadership, it could endanger the peace of the world and its own welfare. He said, " The new promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new works, life enhancing technology-- all these are ours to seize….. We must be shapers of events not observers." President Clinton plans for strong economy, and democracy, job certainty to Americans, harnessing the force of technology and science, strengthening families and communities, saving the environment and making America the strongest forces for peace, freedom and prosperity. In his address President Clinton gave the topmost priority to education for the next four years. " Education is a critical national issue for our future" he declared. His " Call to Action for American Education" is based on ten principles ensuring that all Americans will have the best education in the world. The President fixes the goals of education at all levels. He observes that every 8-year-old must be able to read; every 12-year-old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old must be able to go to college and every adult must be able to continue learning throughout one's life.
REFERENCES:
Islamic Horizons May/June 2000
The Message International May 2000
The Muslim Belief in Angels
Iman (faith) is to proclaim the Kalimah (principle) with the tongue and affirm its truth with the heart. In the Kalimah one has to bear/witness to the truth in the following words: "I bear witness that there is no god (deity) but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Apostle of Allah." By proclaiming this Kalimah one implicitly believes in the following Articles of Faith:
Existence and Attributes of Allah
Destiny or Measure (Taqdir)
Angels
Prophets
Revealed Books
The Hereafter
Iman is the basis of acts of worship and righteous deeds in Islam.
One of the names and attributes of Allah is Al Haqq (The Truth). In reading and understanding the Qur'an, a Muslim man or a Muslim woman is seeking the truth. Muslims say Islam is the religion of Truth. As defined above our Iman (faith) is affirmation of the truths and not blind beliefs.
There are religions whose followers believe the idols to be gods or Jesus to be Son of God. There are people who worship fire as god or natural entities or forces as gods. There are people who even worship Satan. One can have belief or faith in anything. So what is the difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. As pointed out before, the-Muslim's Iman is affirmation of the truth. In Dawah work a Muslim may encounter the challenge in the Article of Faith in "Angels." In other words a Muslim has to answer the question "Do Angels exist?" and what is the truth?
Belief in the Angels
The Muslims conceptualize angels according to Western ideas as an anthropomorphic (human-like appearance), female in sex, white in color, having two white wings and a halo above the head. In Islam this is a false representation of the angels.
From the Qur'an we know that human beings are made from clay and the Jinns are made of smokeless fire. The angels have no gender (neither male nor female).
All life on earth is made of Carbon and water. Living things on earth need energy for their activities. Some of these activities are chemical reactions, which need a supply of energy. This supply of energy comes from the foods we eat, particularly the sugars. Fat is also a source of (stored) energy. When sugars (glucose) are oxidized by metabolism with oxygen they are converted into water, carbon dioxide and energy. This process is called respiration. Life as we know on earth consists of cells, etc., based on Carbon and chemical reactions and cannot be applied- to life and creatures based on physical reactions found on earth and elsewhere. For example, the author has shown that the Jinns have a more complex basis for their life involving electrical charges as well as magnetic forces. The positive and negative ions interact and respond to the presence of magnetic forces which in turn affect the stable structure and movement of the Jinns: This situation is similar to the influence of proteins and nucleic acids in earthly life.
Hadith and Qur'an
In order to explain the existence of the angels, one must know the nature of the angels. From the Hadith we get the following information:
The angels are created from light' and are invisible.
2. They do not have any free will or an independent will to act on their own. That is they have only a one-dimensional nature, something like a programmed robot
3. They carry out without question all the Commands (laws) of Allah and do not oppose or neglect them in any way.
Like everything in the Universe, day and night they are engaged in praising and glorifying Allah and are never tired of this.
They carry out their functions honestly, efficiently and responsibly and are never guilty of shirking work.
6. The number of angels is only known to Allah, however four of them are well known: Gabriel (conveys Allah's revelations and messages to the Prophets); Israfil (by Allah's Command will blow into the Trumpet on the Day of Resurrection); Michael (arranges for rainfall and supply of provisions to the creatures' of Allah, with His Command); and Izrail (takes people's souls at the time of death).
7. Two angels, called 'Munkar' and 'Nakir' arc sent to the graves to question a person after his/her death.
The Qur'an says:
Behold two (guardian angels) appointed W register (his doings): one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word does he (man) utter, but there is a sentinel by him ready (to register it). Surah L: 17-18
These angels are called the Noble Scribes (Karamun, Katibun). LXXXII: 10-12
And if it were
Our Will We could make angels
From amongst you, succeeding
Each other on the earth
(Surah, XLIII: 60)
In explaining this Ayah one of the scholars says that the angels are created without a father or a mother and that they do not eat and drink. That is they do not have any emotions including passion and they are devoid of instincts (biological urges). They cannot commit sin nor disobey.
Man is superior to the angels because he has a two-dimensional nature. Firstly, he is endowed with an immortal spirit, which is breathed into him by Allah. Secondly, he is endowed with the faculty of reason and an independent will of his own (free will) so that he can obey or disobey Allah's Commandments and choose his own way freely. Unlike the angels, man has a gender (sex), instincts and biological urges.
Scientific Views
The author believes there is nothing wrong in attempting to understand or to interpret the concept of angels in the light of modern knowledge. After all, Muslims and scientists are seekers of the truth and truth is the same in either domain. Some Ulema or Islamic scholars have come very close to explaining the angels in terms of scientific terminology and have given the analogy of radio-waves, cinematography and the recordings of audio and video images on video-cassettes. It is the intention of the author to make efforts in better understanding and in conceptualization of angels, which are created by Allah in terms of nature, natural laws and natural forces, which are also created by Allah.
Angels can be interpreted as Messengers or Instruments of Allah's Will, and may have a few or numerous errands entrusted to them.
The scientific concept which very closely describes the angels is the electromagnetic force (electromagnetic radiation). If angels are made of light then light is made of electromagnetic radiation, which travels at 186,000 miles per second. Like angels electromagnetic force obeys the laws of nature incessantly without mistake and has. No free will or an independent will of its own. Hence it has a one-dimensional nature like angels. Electromagnetic radiation has no gender, no emotions including passions and has no instincts or biological urges. It is invisible except in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (4,000 to 7,000 Angstroms wavelength).
The Qur'an mentions that angels came in -the form of humans to Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Lot and the Hadith mentions about angel Gabriel talking to Prophet Muhammad " " in the form of human being. This is also not difficult to understand because we can create Holographic images, which are three-dimensional human figures that can talk using laser light and white light (visible light). Again, laser light and white light are electromagnetic radiation. Communication is possible by means of radio waves or microwaves, which are also electromagnetic radiation.
The four angels can be explained in terms of the four forces that exist in nature. These four obey the laws of Allah incessantly without any mistake, without any disobedience. These four forces are the Gravitational Force, Electromagnetic Force, Weak Force, and the Strong or Nuclear Force.
PS The ideas, opinions and theories expounded by the author in this article may be proven wrong in the light of new knowledge available in the future and the author takes full responsibility for it. There is nothing wrong in expounding one's ideas; today which may be proven inappropriate or obsolete in the future. One can witness this in the study of great scientists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, such as lbn Sina, Al-Razi, Al-Biruni, etc. and the giants of the Western civilization such as Plato, Aristotle, Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc.
Existence and Attributes of Allah
Destiny or Measure (Taqdir)
Angels
Prophets
Revealed Books
The Hereafter
Iman is the basis of acts of worship and righteous deeds in Islam.
One of the names and attributes of Allah is Al Haqq (The Truth). In reading and understanding the Qur'an, a Muslim man or a Muslim woman is seeking the truth. Muslims say Islam is the religion of Truth. As defined above our Iman (faith) is affirmation of the truths and not blind beliefs.
There are religions whose followers believe the idols to be gods or Jesus to be Son of God. There are people who worship fire as god or natural entities or forces as gods. There are people who even worship Satan. One can have belief or faith in anything. So what is the difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. As pointed out before, the-Muslim's Iman is affirmation of the truth. In Dawah work a Muslim may encounter the challenge in the Article of Faith in "Angels." In other words a Muslim has to answer the question "Do Angels exist?" and what is the truth?
Belief in the Angels
The Muslims conceptualize angels according to Western ideas as an anthropomorphic (human-like appearance), female in sex, white in color, having two white wings and a halo above the head. In Islam this is a false representation of the angels.
From the Qur'an we know that human beings are made from clay and the Jinns are made of smokeless fire. The angels have no gender (neither male nor female).
All life on earth is made of Carbon and water. Living things on earth need energy for their activities. Some of these activities are chemical reactions, which need a supply of energy. This supply of energy comes from the foods we eat, particularly the sugars. Fat is also a source of (stored) energy. When sugars (glucose) are oxidized by metabolism with oxygen they are converted into water, carbon dioxide and energy. This process is called respiration. Life as we know on earth consists of cells, etc., based on Carbon and chemical reactions and cannot be applied- to life and creatures based on physical reactions found on earth and elsewhere. For example, the author has shown that the Jinns have a more complex basis for their life involving electrical charges as well as magnetic forces. The positive and negative ions interact and respond to the presence of magnetic forces which in turn affect the stable structure and movement of the Jinns: This situation is similar to the influence of proteins and nucleic acids in earthly life.
Hadith and Qur'an
In order to explain the existence of the angels, one must know the nature of the angels. From the Hadith we get the following information:
The angels are created from light' and are invisible.
2. They do not have any free will or an independent will to act on their own. That is they have only a one-dimensional nature, something like a programmed robot
3. They carry out without question all the Commands (laws) of Allah and do not oppose or neglect them in any way.
Like everything in the Universe, day and night they are engaged in praising and glorifying Allah and are never tired of this.
They carry out their functions honestly, efficiently and responsibly and are never guilty of shirking work.
6. The number of angels is only known to Allah, however four of them are well known: Gabriel (conveys Allah's revelations and messages to the Prophets); Israfil (by Allah's Command will blow into the Trumpet on the Day of Resurrection); Michael (arranges for rainfall and supply of provisions to the creatures' of Allah, with His Command); and Izrail (takes people's souls at the time of death).
7. Two angels, called 'Munkar' and 'Nakir' arc sent to the graves to question a person after his/her death.
The Qur'an says:
Behold two (guardian angels) appointed W register (his doings): one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word does he (man) utter, but there is a sentinel by him ready (to register it). Surah L: 17-18
These angels are called the Noble Scribes (Karamun, Katibun). LXXXII: 10-12
And if it were
Our Will We could make angels
From amongst you, succeeding
Each other on the earth
(Surah, XLIII: 60)
In explaining this Ayah one of the scholars says that the angels are created without a father or a mother and that they do not eat and drink. That is they do not have any emotions including passion and they are devoid of instincts (biological urges). They cannot commit sin nor disobey.
Man is superior to the angels because he has a two-dimensional nature. Firstly, he is endowed with an immortal spirit, which is breathed into him by Allah. Secondly, he is endowed with the faculty of reason and an independent will of his own (free will) so that he can obey or disobey Allah's Commandments and choose his own way freely. Unlike the angels, man has a gender (sex), instincts and biological urges.
Scientific Views
The author believes there is nothing wrong in attempting to understand or to interpret the concept of angels in the light of modern knowledge. After all, Muslims and scientists are seekers of the truth and truth is the same in either domain. Some Ulema or Islamic scholars have come very close to explaining the angels in terms of scientific terminology and have given the analogy of radio-waves, cinematography and the recordings of audio and video images on video-cassettes. It is the intention of the author to make efforts in better understanding and in conceptualization of angels, which are created by Allah in terms of nature, natural laws and natural forces, which are also created by Allah.
Angels can be interpreted as Messengers or Instruments of Allah's Will, and may have a few or numerous errands entrusted to them.
The scientific concept which very closely describes the angels is the electromagnetic force (electromagnetic radiation). If angels are made of light then light is made of electromagnetic radiation, which travels at 186,000 miles per second. Like angels electromagnetic force obeys the laws of nature incessantly without mistake and has. No free will or an independent will of its own. Hence it has a one-dimensional nature like angels. Electromagnetic radiation has no gender, no emotions including passions and has no instincts or biological urges. It is invisible except in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (4,000 to 7,000 Angstroms wavelength).
The Qur'an mentions that angels came in -the form of humans to Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Lot and the Hadith mentions about angel Gabriel talking to Prophet Muhammad " " in the form of human being. This is also not difficult to understand because we can create Holographic images, which are three-dimensional human figures that can talk using laser light and white light (visible light). Again, laser light and white light are electromagnetic radiation. Communication is possible by means of radio waves or microwaves, which are also electromagnetic radiation.
The four angels can be explained in terms of the four forces that exist in nature. These four obey the laws of Allah incessantly without any mistake, without any disobedience. These four forces are the Gravitational Force, Electromagnetic Force, Weak Force, and the Strong or Nuclear Force.
PS The ideas, opinions and theories expounded by the author in this article may be proven wrong in the light of new knowledge available in the future and the author takes full responsibility for it. There is nothing wrong in expounding one's ideas; today which may be proven inappropriate or obsolete in the future. One can witness this in the study of great scientists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, such as lbn Sina, Al-Razi, Al-Biruni, etc. and the giants of the Western civilization such as Plato, Aristotle, Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, etc.
The Big Bang Theory: From a Qur'anic Perspective
One of the great mysteries facing scientists today are the answers to the two following questions:
1. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE?
2. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF LIFE?
The answer to the first question is difficult than the answer to the second question. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an creation of the universe was a greater problem than the creation of man.
The following verse in the Qur'an alludes to the Big Bang Theory:
DO THEY NOT THE UNBELIEVERS SEE THAT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WERE JOINED TOGETHER (AS ONE UNIT OF CREATION) BEFORE WE CLOVE THEM ASUNDER? WE MADE FROM WATER EVERY LIVING THING. WILL THEY NOT THEN BELIEVE?
Surah: 21. Al-Anbiyaa, Ayath 30
The origin of universe has been explained by several cosmological theories. One theory that seems philosophically far more attractive is called the Steady-State model. This theory was proposed in the 1940s by Herman Bondi, Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle. They stated that the universe has always been just about the same as it is now. As it expands, new matter is continually created to fill up the gaps between the galaxies.
This theory has been replaced by the "Standard Model" or the "Big Bang" Theory. Using the Doppler effect the astronomers confirmed that the galaxies are moving away and that the universe is expanding. The birth of the universe has been estimated to be between 15 and 30 billion years ago.
The experimental confirmation of the Big Bang Theory came from the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Radiation Background by a pair of radio astronomers, Arno. A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson. In 1964 they were working in the Bell Telephone Laboratory which had in its possession of an unusual radio antenna on Crawford Hill at Holmdel, New Jersey. By measuring the cosmic microwave radiation background radiation which is the noise left over from the early universe, they calculated the temperature in the universe to be 3.5 degrees Kelvin.
In the beginning there was an explosion. This explosion is not the same as one observes on earth. As a result of this explosion, space and time were born and started to expand to this day, and they will continue to expand in the future. The temperature of the universe was about a hundred thousand million degrees Centigrade. It is so hot than none of the components of ordinary matter molecules, or atoms or even the nuclei of atoms, could have held together. In the early universe there was abundance of electrons,
Positrons (anti-electron) and neutrinos, ghostly particles with no mass or electric charge. Finally, the universe was filled with light. Light consists of particles of zero mass and zero electrical charge known as photons. The number and the average energy of the photons was about the same as for electrons, positrons or neutrinos. These particles were continually being created out of pure energy (original source of all matter in the present-day universe-galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, earth, etc.).
As the time passed and the temperature of the universe cooled, nucleosynthesis took place and hydrogen and helium and other heavy elements were formed. After 3 minutes of the Big Bang, the universe consisted of 73 percent hydrogen and 27 percent helium. The resulting gases under the influence of gravitation ultimately condensed to form the galaxies and stars of the present universe.
The Big Bang Theory is very close to a comprehensive understanding of Surah 21, Al-Anbiyaa and Ayath 30, which is cited above. In his note # 2690, Allama Yusuf Ali says " The evolution of the ordered worlds as we see them is hinted at. As man's intellectual gaze over the physical world expands, he sees more and more how Unity is the dominating note in Allah's wonderful Universe. Taking the solar system alone, we know that the maximum intensity of sun-spots corresponds with he maximum intensity of magnetic storms on this earth. The universal law of gravitation seems to bind all mass together. Physical facts point to the throwing off of planets from vast quantities of diffused nebular matter, of which the central condensed core is sun." Of course when Allama Yusuf Ali wrote this commentary it was 1935, long before the Big Bang Theory was espoused and long before the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
Conclusion: The Big Bang Theory does not contradict the Qur'anic revelation (21:30) and it can be used as a Tafsir in understanding 21:30.
REFERENCE: Weinberg, S.: The First Three Minutes. A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe. Basic Books, Inc. Publishers, NY 1977.
1. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE?
2. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF LIFE?
The answer to the first question is difficult than the answer to the second question. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an creation of the universe was a greater problem than the creation of man.
The following verse in the Qur'an alludes to the Big Bang Theory:
DO THEY NOT THE UNBELIEVERS SEE THAT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WERE JOINED TOGETHER (AS ONE UNIT OF CREATION) BEFORE WE CLOVE THEM ASUNDER? WE MADE FROM WATER EVERY LIVING THING. WILL THEY NOT THEN BELIEVE?
Surah: 21. Al-Anbiyaa, Ayath 30
The origin of universe has been explained by several cosmological theories. One theory that seems philosophically far more attractive is called the Steady-State model. This theory was proposed in the 1940s by Herman Bondi, Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle. They stated that the universe has always been just about the same as it is now. As it expands, new matter is continually created to fill up the gaps between the galaxies.
This theory has been replaced by the "Standard Model" or the "Big Bang" Theory. Using the Doppler effect the astronomers confirmed that the galaxies are moving away and that the universe is expanding. The birth of the universe has been estimated to be between 15 and 30 billion years ago.
The experimental confirmation of the Big Bang Theory came from the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Radiation Background by a pair of radio astronomers, Arno. A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson. In 1964 they were working in the Bell Telephone Laboratory which had in its possession of an unusual radio antenna on Crawford Hill at Holmdel, New Jersey. By measuring the cosmic microwave radiation background radiation which is the noise left over from the early universe, they calculated the temperature in the universe to be 3.5 degrees Kelvin.
In the beginning there was an explosion. This explosion is not the same as one observes on earth. As a result of this explosion, space and time were born and started to expand to this day, and they will continue to expand in the future. The temperature of the universe was about a hundred thousand million degrees Centigrade. It is so hot than none of the components of ordinary matter molecules, or atoms or even the nuclei of atoms, could have held together. In the early universe there was abundance of electrons,
Positrons (anti-electron) and neutrinos, ghostly particles with no mass or electric charge. Finally, the universe was filled with light. Light consists of particles of zero mass and zero electrical charge known as photons. The number and the average energy of the photons was about the same as for electrons, positrons or neutrinos. These particles were continually being created out of pure energy (original source of all matter in the present-day universe-galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, earth, etc.).
As the time passed and the temperature of the universe cooled, nucleosynthesis took place and hydrogen and helium and other heavy elements were formed. After 3 minutes of the Big Bang, the universe consisted of 73 percent hydrogen and 27 percent helium. The resulting gases under the influence of gravitation ultimately condensed to form the galaxies and stars of the present universe.
The Big Bang Theory is very close to a comprehensive understanding of Surah 21, Al-Anbiyaa and Ayath 30, which is cited above. In his note # 2690, Allama Yusuf Ali says " The evolution of the ordered worlds as we see them is hinted at. As man's intellectual gaze over the physical world expands, he sees more and more how Unity is the dominating note in Allah's wonderful Universe. Taking the solar system alone, we know that the maximum intensity of sun-spots corresponds with he maximum intensity of magnetic storms on this earth. The universal law of gravitation seems to bind all mass together. Physical facts point to the throwing off of planets from vast quantities of diffused nebular matter, of which the central condensed core is sun." Of course when Allama Yusuf Ali wrote this commentary it was 1935, long before the Big Bang Theory was espoused and long before the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
Conclusion: The Big Bang Theory does not contradict the Qur'anic revelation (21:30) and it can be used as a Tafsir in understanding 21:30.
REFERENCE: Weinberg, S.: The First Three Minutes. A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe. Basic Books, Inc. Publishers, NY 1977.
Quantum Theory and Reality
" The Reality!
What is the Reality?
Ah, what will convey unto thee what the reality is! "
……..Al-Qur'an, Surah Al-Haqqah, (The Reality), 69: 1-3
For thousands of years man has been trying to understand the nature of physical reality, consciousness, the purpose of life, the reality of nature and many, many, mysteries of the life and the universe.
For the last 100 years we have seen the introduction of quantum theory, quantum mechanics and quantum physics that have focused on quantum computation to consciousness, parallel universes and the very nature of physical reality. We are not aware of the extraordinary range of scientific and practical applications that quantum mechanics strengthened: almost 30 percent of the United States GNP (gross national product) is based on the inventions made possible by quantum mechanics, such as semiconductors in computer chips to lasers, CD (compact-disc) players, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in medical centers. Quantum mechanics was instrumental in predicting positrons (antimatter), understanding radioactivity that lead to nuclear power, explaining superconductivity, and describing interactions such as those between light and matter that lead to the invention of the laser and of radiowaves and nuclei that lead to MRI.
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics is a branch of physics, which deals with the behavior of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. Its concept frequently conflicts with common sense notions. The business of Quantum Mechanics is to describe and account for the world-on the small scale-actually and not as we imagine it or would like it to be. The world of Quantum Mechanics is strange, fascinating, mysterious and very intellectual. On the other hand the word "Quantum Mechanics" is repelling, boring, uninteresting and very dull. Most of us shy away from the word Quantum Mechanics, whenever it is mentioned.
Consider for example the “classical” atom, i.e. the solar system model of the atom as introduced by Rutherford in 1911. The basic flaw with this “classical” atom is that as the orbiting electron circles the nucleus, it should emit electromagnetic waves of an intensity increasing rapidly to infinity in a tiny
fraction of a second, as it spirals inwards and plunges into the nucleus. However, nothing like this is observed. Thus our observation contradicts our “classical” physics theory. This is why Quantum theory, which certainly was not wished upon by scientists, was forced upon them despite their great reluctance. They found themselves driven into this strange, and in many ways, philosophically unsatisfying view of the world.
Thanks God the real world is neither entirely classical nor quantum. On the “large” scale, the world seems to behave rationally according to the classical theory. However as you go “smaller”, it starts to act in a strange, peculiar way to save itself from extinction.
Now what if we were living in an entirely classical (non-quantum) world?
The answer is simple. There would be no world, classical or other, to live in. In a purely classical world, the atoms would not exist, as the electrons would be sucked into the nucleus, transforming the world into a concentrated, dense material, in a fraction of a second.
One might say that since this awkward quantum theory deals with the very “tiny”, who cares? Wrong. As a matter of fact the very existence of solid bodies, the strength and physical properties of materials, the nature of chemistry, the colors of substances, the phenomena of freezing and boiling, the reliability of inheritance, these, and many familiar properties, require the quantum theory for their explanations.
The World without the knowledge of Quantum Mechanics
On the other hand, quantum theory has been an outstanding successful theory and underlies nearly all of modern science and technology. It governs the behavior of transistors and integrated circuits, which are the essential components of electronics devices such as television and computers, as mentioned earlier, and is also the basis of modern chemistry and biology. In short, it is almost impossible to imagine the modern world without the contributions of quantum theory. Quantum theory as we know it today arouse out of two independent later schemes which were innovated by a pair of young remarkable physicists: a 24 year old German, Werner Heisenberg, and an Austrian, Erwin Schrodinger. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle proves that nature does not allow us to measure the position and velocity of a single particle (let alone the whole universe) with perfection, no matter how precise our measuring instruments. Schrodinger developed what is known as Schrodinger equation. This equation states that there is a wave associated with any particle (like the electron), and it is called the wavefunction and it is spread out to fill the whole universe. The wavefunction is stronger in one region, which corresponds to the position of the particle and gets weaker farther away from this region but still exists even far away from the "position" of the particle. Schrodinger equation is very good at predicting how particles like electrons behave under different circumstances. DUAL ASPECTS
The subatomic units of matter are very abstract entities, which have a dual aspect. Depending on how we look at them, they appear sometimes as particles, sometimes as waves; and this dual nature is also exhibited by light which can take the form of electromagnetic waves or of particles. It seems impossible to accept that something can be, at the same time, a particle-i.e., an entity confined to a very small volume-and a wave, which is spread out over a large region of space. This contradiction gave rise to the formulation of the quantum theory. Max Planck discovered that the energy of heat radiation is not emitted continuously, but appears in the form of "energy packets." Einstein called these energy packets "quanta" (quantum is singular) and recognized them as a fundamental aspect of nature. The light quanta are called photons, which are massless and always travel with the speed of light.
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
In Ayathul Kursi, we read "….His throne includeth the heavens and the earth…" ( Qur'an, 2: 255).
From this verse the Muslims understand that Allah (SWT) is present everywhere in the universe.
Again we read in Surah Qaaf "… We are nearer to him than his jugular vein."( Qur'an, 50: 16).
From this verse the Muslims understand that Allah (SWT) is closer to us than our jugular vein.
So what is the Reality? Apparently, there seems to be some contradiction for those who have no knowledge of Duality.
A PARTICLE AT TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME
Let us assume that we are studying the position of a light photon traveling in space. It has been shown that this photon has a wavefunction as introduced by Schrodinger equation. The wavefunction peaks at the position of the photon. Now if this photon encounters a half-silvered mirror, tilted at 45° to the light beam (a half-silvered mirror is a mirror, which reflects exactly half of the light, which impinges upon it, while the remaining half is transmitted directly through the mirror), the photon's wavefunction splits into two, with one part reflected off to the side and the other part continuing in the same direction in which the photon started. The wavefunction is said to be "doubly peaked." Since each "part" of the wavefunction is describing a position that may be light-years away from the other position given by the other "part" of the wavefunction, we can conclude that the photon has found itself to be in two places at once, more than a light-year distant from one another! Someone might say that this previous assessment is not real. What is happening really is that the photon has a 50 percent probability that it is in one of the places and a 50 percent probability that it is in the other? No, that's simply not true! No matter for how long it has traveled, there is always the possibility that the two parts of the photons' beam may be reflected back so that they encounter one another, for a much awaited "reunion". If it was a simple matter of probability, the photon would be either on one position "OR" the other, and there would not be any need for "reunion" with the other probability. So as long as there is any possibility that the wavefunction will be reduced to one peak again (as it was before the photon hit the half-silvered mirror); the photon in question shall behave as one photon in two places at the same time!
In the experiment presented here, a light beam encounters a half-silvered mirror angled 45° to the light beam, splitting the beam into two. The two parts of this light beam is brought back again to the same point (where a second half-silvered mirror is placed) by using a pair of fully-silvered mirrors .Two photocells (A & B) are placed in the direct line of the two beams in order to find the where about of the examined photon. What do we find? If it were merely the case that there were a 50 % chance that the photon followed one route and a 50 % chance that it followed the other, then we should find a 50 % probability that one of the detectors registers the photon and a 50 % probability that the other one does. However, that is not what happens. If the two possible routes are exactly equal in length, then it turns out that there is a 100 % probability that the photon reaches the detector A, lying in the direction of the photon's initial motion and a 0 % probability that it reaches the other detector B (the photon is certain to strike detector A).
What does this tell us about the reality of the photon's state of existence between its first and last encounter with a half-reflecting mirror? It seems inescapable that the photon must, in some sense have actually traveled both routes at once! For if an absorbing screen is placed in the way of either of the two routes, then it becomes equally probable that A or B is reached; but when both routes are open (and of equal length) only A can be reached. Blocking off one of the routes actually allows B to be reached! With both routes open, the photon somehow "knows" that it is not permitted to reach B, so it must have actually felt out both routes. What is the Reality ? (Qur'an, 69: 1-3)
EPR PARADOX
Locality and non- locality You are spending the summer in Europe. Your mother calls you from California to tell you that you have inherited a large amount of money from your billionaire grandpa. A whole 70 million dollars. You are flying from happiness. What happened in San Francisco - where your mother lives - influenced you seven thousand miles away. Your mum's voice - the cause of your pleasure - had to travel seven thousand miles, and although it took only a tiny fraction of a second to reach your ears, yet it consumed "some" time. So the cause of your pleasure had to travel through space for some time till it influences you. This is called "locality". On the other hand non-locality means that an event at one place shall affect another event, far away from it, instantly. Although this is against special relativity -which prohibits any signal to travel faster than light - it was proved true in quantum mechanics. What is the Reality ? (Qur'an , 69:1-3) The EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) Paradox introduces a class of experiments, which turn out to involve some of the strangest consequences of quantum mechanics. This experiment involves a pair of particles, or physical systems, which interact and then move apart. Quantum theory shows that the results of measurements on one particle enable us to predict the results of corresponding measurements on the other particle.That is because both particles were "one" physical system. Now if we perform a measurement on one particle, the wavefunction shall jump to assume the value of the measurement on this particle. But what about the second particle, since this system was "one" system, this means that a measurement (or jumping) at particle 1 implies an instantaneous measurement (or jumping) at particle 2.
Because the experiment involves some advanced physical properties of particles (spin, polarization…), we designed an analogous experiment using colors so the concept of non-locality can be understood easily. (This experiment is not real.)
Suppose that we have a white particle. This particle was then split into two particles: a green particle and a magenta particle. Now imagine that the two particles moved in opposite directions at the speed of light for 10 years, so that they eventually were 20 light years apart. Now according to quantum mechanics, any measurement (trying to determine the color of a particle) on particle 1 shall determine the outcome of measurement on particle 2. So if we examined the color of particle 1 and found it to be green, then the other particle is automatically magenta.
Now suppose you decided to inspect or measure the color of particle 1 in a red light chamber, and found it yellow (green + red). According to quantum mechanics, at the exact same time, the second particle has turned blue, so that the sum of the colors of the two particles remains white. Now how did particle 2 "know" about particle 1 measurement and how come it was affected by it? What is the Reality? (Qur'an, 69:1-3)
SCHRODINGER'S CAT
What happens if we designed an experiment where a quantum event would have a direct impact on a large object like…a cat!
Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its walls. With the cat inside the container, there is also a device that can be triggered by some quantum event. The quantum event is the triggering of a photocell by a photon, where the photon had been emitted by some light source, and then reflected off a half-silvered mirror. The reflection at the mirror splits the photon quantum state (wave function) into two separate parts; one of which is reflected and the other is transmitted through the mirror. The reflected part of the photon wave function is focused on the photocell, so if the photons are registered by the photocell, it has been reflected .In that case, the cyanide is released and the cat is killed. If the photocell doesn't register, the photon was transmitted through the half-silvered mirror to the wall behind, and the cat is safe. Now, let us take the viewpoint of the physicist outside the container. According to the outside observer, no "measurement" has actually taken place, so the quantum state of the entire system is nothing but a linear superposition between alternatives right up to the scale of the cat (Schrödinger equation). Both alternatives must be present in the state. So, according to the outside observer, the cat is in a linear superposition of being dead and alive at the same time! What is the Reality? (Qur'an, 69:1-3)
(Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed is the foremost exponent in the world to interpret the Qur'an Al-Kareem, in the light of modern knowledge-Editor)
What is the Reality?
Ah, what will convey unto thee what the reality is! "
……..Al-Qur'an, Surah Al-Haqqah, (The Reality), 69: 1-3
For thousands of years man has been trying to understand the nature of physical reality, consciousness, the purpose of life, the reality of nature and many, many, mysteries of the life and the universe.
For the last 100 years we have seen the introduction of quantum theory, quantum mechanics and quantum physics that have focused on quantum computation to consciousness, parallel universes and the very nature of physical reality. We are not aware of the extraordinary range of scientific and practical applications that quantum mechanics strengthened: almost 30 percent of the United States GNP (gross national product) is based on the inventions made possible by quantum mechanics, such as semiconductors in computer chips to lasers, CD (compact-disc) players, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in medical centers. Quantum mechanics was instrumental in predicting positrons (antimatter), understanding radioactivity that lead to nuclear power, explaining superconductivity, and describing interactions such as those between light and matter that lead to the invention of the laser and of radiowaves and nuclei that lead to MRI.
Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics is a branch of physics, which deals with the behavior of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. Its concept frequently conflicts with common sense notions. The business of Quantum Mechanics is to describe and account for the world-on the small scale-actually and not as we imagine it or would like it to be. The world of Quantum Mechanics is strange, fascinating, mysterious and very intellectual. On the other hand the word "Quantum Mechanics" is repelling, boring, uninteresting and very dull. Most of us shy away from the word Quantum Mechanics, whenever it is mentioned.
Consider for example the “classical” atom, i.e. the solar system model of the atom as introduced by Rutherford in 1911. The basic flaw with this “classical” atom is that as the orbiting electron circles the nucleus, it should emit electromagnetic waves of an intensity increasing rapidly to infinity in a tiny
fraction of a second, as it spirals inwards and plunges into the nucleus. However, nothing like this is observed. Thus our observation contradicts our “classical” physics theory. This is why Quantum theory, which certainly was not wished upon by scientists, was forced upon them despite their great reluctance. They found themselves driven into this strange, and in many ways, philosophically unsatisfying view of the world.
Thanks God the real world is neither entirely classical nor quantum. On the “large” scale, the world seems to behave rationally according to the classical theory. However as you go “smaller”, it starts to act in a strange, peculiar way to save itself from extinction.
Now what if we were living in an entirely classical (non-quantum) world?
The answer is simple. There would be no world, classical or other, to live in. In a purely classical world, the atoms would not exist, as the electrons would be sucked into the nucleus, transforming the world into a concentrated, dense material, in a fraction of a second.
One might say that since this awkward quantum theory deals with the very “tiny”, who cares? Wrong. As a matter of fact the very existence of solid bodies, the strength and physical properties of materials, the nature of chemistry, the colors of substances, the phenomena of freezing and boiling, the reliability of inheritance, these, and many familiar properties, require the quantum theory for their explanations.
The World without the knowledge of Quantum Mechanics
On the other hand, quantum theory has been an outstanding successful theory and underlies nearly all of modern science and technology. It governs the behavior of transistors and integrated circuits, which are the essential components of electronics devices such as television and computers, as mentioned earlier, and is also the basis of modern chemistry and biology. In short, it is almost impossible to imagine the modern world without the contributions of quantum theory. Quantum theory as we know it today arouse out of two independent later schemes which were innovated by a pair of young remarkable physicists: a 24 year old German, Werner Heisenberg, and an Austrian, Erwin Schrodinger. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle proves that nature does not allow us to measure the position and velocity of a single particle (let alone the whole universe) with perfection, no matter how precise our measuring instruments. Schrodinger developed what is known as Schrodinger equation. This equation states that there is a wave associated with any particle (like the electron), and it is called the wavefunction and it is spread out to fill the whole universe. The wavefunction is stronger in one region, which corresponds to the position of the particle and gets weaker farther away from this region but still exists even far away from the "position" of the particle. Schrodinger equation is very good at predicting how particles like electrons behave under different circumstances. DUAL ASPECTS
The subatomic units of matter are very abstract entities, which have a dual aspect. Depending on how we look at them, they appear sometimes as particles, sometimes as waves; and this dual nature is also exhibited by light which can take the form of electromagnetic waves or of particles. It seems impossible to accept that something can be, at the same time, a particle-i.e., an entity confined to a very small volume-and a wave, which is spread out over a large region of space. This contradiction gave rise to the formulation of the quantum theory. Max Planck discovered that the energy of heat radiation is not emitted continuously, but appears in the form of "energy packets." Einstein called these energy packets "quanta" (quantum is singular) and recognized them as a fundamental aspect of nature. The light quanta are called photons, which are massless and always travel with the speed of light.
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
In Ayathul Kursi, we read "….His throne includeth the heavens and the earth…" ( Qur'an, 2: 255).
From this verse the Muslims understand that Allah (SWT) is present everywhere in the universe.
Again we read in Surah Qaaf "… We are nearer to him than his jugular vein."( Qur'an, 50: 16).
From this verse the Muslims understand that Allah (SWT) is closer to us than our jugular vein.
So what is the Reality? Apparently, there seems to be some contradiction for those who have no knowledge of Duality.
A PARTICLE AT TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME
Let us assume that we are studying the position of a light photon traveling in space. It has been shown that this photon has a wavefunction as introduced by Schrodinger equation. The wavefunction peaks at the position of the photon. Now if this photon encounters a half-silvered mirror, tilted at 45° to the light beam (a half-silvered mirror is a mirror, which reflects exactly half of the light, which impinges upon it, while the remaining half is transmitted directly through the mirror), the photon's wavefunction splits into two, with one part reflected off to the side and the other part continuing in the same direction in which the photon started. The wavefunction is said to be "doubly peaked." Since each "part" of the wavefunction is describing a position that may be light-years away from the other position given by the other "part" of the wavefunction, we can conclude that the photon has found itself to be in two places at once, more than a light-year distant from one another! Someone might say that this previous assessment is not real. What is happening really is that the photon has a 50 percent probability that it is in one of the places and a 50 percent probability that it is in the other? No, that's simply not true! No matter for how long it has traveled, there is always the possibility that the two parts of the photons' beam may be reflected back so that they encounter one another, for a much awaited "reunion". If it was a simple matter of probability, the photon would be either on one position "OR" the other, and there would not be any need for "reunion" with the other probability. So as long as there is any possibility that the wavefunction will be reduced to one peak again (as it was before the photon hit the half-silvered mirror); the photon in question shall behave as one photon in two places at the same time!
In the experiment presented here, a light beam encounters a half-silvered mirror angled 45° to the light beam, splitting the beam into two. The two parts of this light beam is brought back again to the same point (where a second half-silvered mirror is placed) by using a pair of fully-silvered mirrors .Two photocells (A & B) are placed in the direct line of the two beams in order to find the where about of the examined photon. What do we find? If it were merely the case that there were a 50 % chance that the photon followed one route and a 50 % chance that it followed the other, then we should find a 50 % probability that one of the detectors registers the photon and a 50 % probability that the other one does. However, that is not what happens. If the two possible routes are exactly equal in length, then it turns out that there is a 100 % probability that the photon reaches the detector A, lying in the direction of the photon's initial motion and a 0 % probability that it reaches the other detector B (the photon is certain to strike detector A).
What does this tell us about the reality of the photon's state of existence between its first and last encounter with a half-reflecting mirror? It seems inescapable that the photon must, in some sense have actually traveled both routes at once! For if an absorbing screen is placed in the way of either of the two routes, then it becomes equally probable that A or B is reached; but when both routes are open (and of equal length) only A can be reached. Blocking off one of the routes actually allows B to be reached! With both routes open, the photon somehow "knows" that it is not permitted to reach B, so it must have actually felt out both routes. What is the Reality ? (Qur'an, 69: 1-3)
EPR PARADOX
Locality and non- locality You are spending the summer in Europe. Your mother calls you from California to tell you that you have inherited a large amount of money from your billionaire grandpa. A whole 70 million dollars. You are flying from happiness. What happened in San Francisco - where your mother lives - influenced you seven thousand miles away. Your mum's voice - the cause of your pleasure - had to travel seven thousand miles, and although it took only a tiny fraction of a second to reach your ears, yet it consumed "some" time. So the cause of your pleasure had to travel through space for some time till it influences you. This is called "locality". On the other hand non-locality means that an event at one place shall affect another event, far away from it, instantly. Although this is against special relativity -which prohibits any signal to travel faster than light - it was proved true in quantum mechanics. What is the Reality ? (Qur'an , 69:1-3) The EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) Paradox introduces a class of experiments, which turn out to involve some of the strangest consequences of quantum mechanics. This experiment involves a pair of particles, or physical systems, which interact and then move apart. Quantum theory shows that the results of measurements on one particle enable us to predict the results of corresponding measurements on the other particle.That is because both particles were "one" physical system. Now if we perform a measurement on one particle, the wavefunction shall jump to assume the value of the measurement on this particle. But what about the second particle, since this system was "one" system, this means that a measurement (or jumping) at particle 1 implies an instantaneous measurement (or jumping) at particle 2.
Because the experiment involves some advanced physical properties of particles (spin, polarization…), we designed an analogous experiment using colors so the concept of non-locality can be understood easily. (This experiment is not real.)
Suppose that we have a white particle. This particle was then split into two particles: a green particle and a magenta particle. Now imagine that the two particles moved in opposite directions at the speed of light for 10 years, so that they eventually were 20 light years apart. Now according to quantum mechanics, any measurement (trying to determine the color of a particle) on particle 1 shall determine the outcome of measurement on particle 2. So if we examined the color of particle 1 and found it to be green, then the other particle is automatically magenta.
Now suppose you decided to inspect or measure the color of particle 1 in a red light chamber, and found it yellow (green + red). According to quantum mechanics, at the exact same time, the second particle has turned blue, so that the sum of the colors of the two particles remains white. Now how did particle 2 "know" about particle 1 measurement and how come it was affected by it? What is the Reality? (Qur'an, 69:1-3)
SCHRODINGER'S CAT
What happens if we designed an experiment where a quantum event would have a direct impact on a large object like…a cat!
Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its walls. With the cat inside the container, there is also a device that can be triggered by some quantum event. The quantum event is the triggering of a photocell by a photon, where the photon had been emitted by some light source, and then reflected off a half-silvered mirror. The reflection at the mirror splits the photon quantum state (wave function) into two separate parts; one of which is reflected and the other is transmitted through the mirror. The reflected part of the photon wave function is focused on the photocell, so if the photons are registered by the photocell, it has been reflected .In that case, the cyanide is released and the cat is killed. If the photocell doesn't register, the photon was transmitted through the half-silvered mirror to the wall behind, and the cat is safe. Now, let us take the viewpoint of the physicist outside the container. According to the outside observer, no "measurement" has actually taken place, so the quantum state of the entire system is nothing but a linear superposition between alternatives right up to the scale of the cat (Schrödinger equation). Both alternatives must be present in the state. So, according to the outside observer, the cat is in a linear superposition of being dead and alive at the same time! What is the Reality? (Qur'an, 69:1-3)
(Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed is the foremost exponent in the world to interpret the Qur'an Al-Kareem, in the light of modern knowledge-Editor)
Music Therapy
"Music is the medicine of the future," said Edgar Cayce in 1947 and who healed thousands of people while in a Trance State.
Currently there is an aversion to music by some of the Ulema (religious scholars) in the Islamic world. This paper analyzes the Islamic perspective on music and singing. It concludes that utilization of music as a therapeutic agent in Medicine is not haram or forbidden. There is documentary evidence that shows the power of music can be tapped to heal the body, strengthen the mind and unlock the creative spirit. Published papers and Journal articles offer dramatic accounts of how doctors, musicians, and healthcare professionals use music to deal with everything from anxiety to cancer, high blood pressure, chronic pain, dyslexia, even mental illness. During childbirth, music can relieve expectant mothers' anxiety and help release endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, dramatically decreasing the need for anesthesia. Exposure to sound, music and other acoustical vibrations can have a lifelong effect on health, learning, and behavior. They stimulate learning and memory, strengthen listening abilities. Music has been used as a treatment or cure from migraines to substance abuse.
One thousand years ago, the Muslim Physicians were in the forefront in the world of medicine with innovations and therapeutic techniques that are considered modern in the 21st century. They treated mental illnesses by confining the patients in asylums with 21st century techniques of music therapy. It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and for the insane asylums were built by the Arabs also in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D. In addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands were brought daily to entertain the patients by providing singing and musical performances and comic performers as well.
Malik al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qalawun built the Al-Mansuri Hospital in Cairo in 683 AH (1284 AD). The most outstanding characteristic of this hospital was that, like the advanced hospitals in the 21st century, provision were made to entertain patients with light music. Professional storytellers were appointed to narrate stories and jokes to patients (Radio, TV, and PC have replaced these today). Mu'adhdhinun sang religious songs in their melodious voices before the morning 'adhaan (call for prayer) so that afflicted patients might forget their suffering. It is interesting to note that this hospital is rendering its services even to the present time.
MEDICAL BENEFITS
Music therapy has been lost for more than 1,000 years both in the Muslim countries as well as in the most advanced countries or developed countries in the West. In the last three-decades or so, tremendous interest has been shown in the Western countries in the application of music therapy to treat several diseases and ailments. No one knows exactly how music heals, but it looks like our brains are wired to respond to it. Scientists are finding that the human brain is pre-wired for music("Music on the Mind" by Sharon Begley, Newsweek, July 24, 2000, pp 50-52). Dr. Clive Robbins who is a cofounder of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University in New York City says, "There is something intrinsically musical about the brain's neurological structure and the muscular function of the human organism. At a nonverbal level, music activates our minds, integrates our attention, and seems to help regulate some body functions." Dr Robbins has treated a cerebral palsy child with music therapy making the child to learn to balance his body and coordinate the movement of his limbs. The child is also learning to communicate and made him grow motivated and intent.
The right song seems to work in more than one way--distracting us from pain, boosting mood, reviving old memories, even prompting the body to match its rhythms. Music has long been appreciated for its calming effects, but new research shows it also may have the power to restore and keep us healthy. Soothing sounds, from Tibetan chants to Beethoven symphonies, are being given scientific credit for preventing colds, easing labor pain and even boosting anti-aging hormones. One study found that surgery patients who listened to comforting music recovered more quickly and felt less pain than those who did not. The International Journal of Arts Medicine reports that infants in intensive care go home three days earlier eat better and gain more weight if the staff talks and sings to them.
Clinical studies and anecdotal evidence from music therapists suggest that the sound of music that is soothing and comfortable….
Lowers cortisol, a stress hormone, as much as 25 %
Boosts endorphins, the body's natural opiates or feel-good drugs.
Reduces pain after surgery and reduces the need for sedatives and pain relievers
Make patients recover from surgery faster and with less pain
May prevent colds
Raises blood levels of Immunoglobin A(immune system fighter) to a whopping 14.1 %
Eases labor without drugs
Helps preemies in intensive care
May stimulate neural connections in the brain and promote spatial ability and memory in children
Lowers blood pressure as much as 5 points, reduces heart rate, improves cardiac output, relaxes muscle tension
Manages nonpharmacologically pain and discomfort
Improves mood and mobility of people with Parkinson's disease
Decreases nausea during chemotherapy
Helps patients participate in medical treatment and decreases length of hospital stay
Relieves anxiety and reduces stress
Eases depression
Enhances concentration and creativity
Brings positive changes in mood and emotional states
Increases awareness of self and environment
Gives a sense of control over life through successful experiences
Provides an outlet for expressions of feelings
Improves memory recall which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life
In addition, music therapy may allow for:
Emotional intimacy with families and caregivers
Relaxation for the entire family
Meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way
Exciting new research suggests that our brains respond to music almost as if it were medicine. Music may regulate some body functions, synchronize motor skills, stimulate mind and `even make us smarter.
To take advantage of music's healing power, one need not go to the music store at all with the prescription. The home remedies one needs are probably already in one's music collection. According to Suzanne Hanser, D Ed, a lecturer in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, "There is no set prescription or a particular piece of music that will make everyone feel better or more relax. What counts is musical taste, kinds of memories, feelings and associations a piece of music brings to mind. Some people relax to classical music, others like the Moody Blues. The key is to individualize your musical selections."
DEPRESSION
Research indicates that for 20 women and men whose ages ranged between 61 and 86, moods rose and depression fell when they listened to familiar music they selected while practicing various stress-reduction techniques- on their own or with the help of a music therapist-- according to a study from Stanford University School of Medicine. On the other hand a control group who missed out on the music and the exercises saw no improvement during the 8-week study period. It helps to perform gentle exercises depending on one's fitness level, while the music plays. The movements should be light and flowing. Breathe to the music. Gently come to rest at the end of the music.
INSOMNIA
Research indicates that 24 out of 25 people with sleeping problems nod off more quickly, snooze for longer periods of time or get back to sleep more easily after a middle-of-the-night awakening after listening to classical and New Age music, according to a study from the University of Louisville School of Nursing, in Louisville, Kentucky. The music must be quiet, melodic with a slow beat and few, if any, rhythmic accents. To be effective one should skip the after-dinner coffee or tea, and avoid telephone calls and TV after 9 PM. Softer and quieter music should be played as bedtime approaches. The listening of music should continue in bed with a tape recorder or CD player equipped with a silent on/off switch. One should lie quietly, taking even, deep breaths.
STRESS
Many studies have found that soothing melodies can ease anxious feelings and quiet both blood pressure and heart rate…even under very stressful conditions. Everyday stress responds to music too. The music selected to listen should be such that it must grab your attention and at the same time relax your body, so that all of your worries of the day, such as your concern about what has happened earlier and your plans for what should happen in the future should slip away. Slow music, like a love song sung by a great voice or a calm instrumental piece may be perfect. If a slow tune gives your mind time to fret or obsess, switch to something livelier. The best way to listen is to sit or lie down in a comfortable position, in a place where there is no disturbance. After a few minutes one can perform a relaxation exercise.
PAIN
One study from Yale University School of medicine found that people who listened to their favorite music while awake during surgical procedure needed smaller amounts of sedative and pain medications than those who did not hear music. Physical discomforts from postoperative pain to chronic aches can be eased with flowing melodies and distracting rhythms, music therapists and researchers say.
Dr. Alicia A. Clair, Ph.D. who is a board-certified music therapist and professor and director of music therapy at the University of Kansas in Lawrence says that music can bring transitory relief from short-term as well as long-term pain and discomforts such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Gentle and soothing stress-reducing music is helpful which can relax and distracts the mind. Martha Burke, a board-certified music therapist in Durham, North Carolina says, "Gently flowing music or music with a slow, steady pulse can help promote relaxation, which can then alter patient's perception of pain. Soothing music can lower the heart rate and breathing rate, leading to further relaxation and reduces tension that comes with the pain. We know music is so incredibly complex-- it has tempo, rhythm, melody, and harmony. And so it stimulates the brain in many ways at once."
BRAIN DAMAGE
Samuel Wong, a Harvard-trained physician based in New York City, plays musical instruments to help patients with brain damage (from stroke) and Alzheimer's disease reconnect to the world. He is also music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Honolulu Symphony. "When brain damage (from stroke, Alzheimer's disease, etc) leaves a devastated mental landscape, music "builds a bridge" that allows patients to reconnect with the outside world. The study of medicine has informed my performance of music, and my learning of music has deepened my role in healing," he says.
In 1996, researchers at Colorado State University in Fort Collins tried giving 10 stroke victims 30 minutes of rhythmic stimulation each day for three weeks. Compared with untreated patients, they showed significant improvements in their ability to walk steadily. People with Parkinson's disease enjoyed similar benefits.
Stroke victims and patients with Parkinson's disease walked more steadily and with better balance and speed if they practiced while hearing a balanced metrical beat or a piece of music with a powerful, even beat. A musical beat from any genre seemed to provide a rhythmic cue, which has a powerful, organizing effect on the brain's motor skills; it helps harmonize movement almost at once, according to researchers.
Scottish researchers have found that a daily dose of music significantly brightens the moods of institutionalized stroke victims. When daily music therapy was administered for 12 weeks the patients were less depressed and anxious, and more stable and sociable than other patients in the same building. Music therapy has also proved useful in the management of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.
SOUNDS OF HEALING
Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD, Director of medical oncology and integrative medicine at New York's Strang Cancer Prevention Center (affiliated with the Cornell Medical Center) and author of the new Hardcover book "Sounds of Healing: A physician Reveals the Therapeutic Power of Sound, Voice, and Music" (Published by Broadway Books, June 1999, $25); says, " More doctors are seeing a connection between hormonious sound and health. If we are around very harmonious people and harmonious vibrations and harmonious sounds, we begin to feel better. I have never found anything more powerful than sound and voice and music to begin to heal and transform every aspect of people's lives. It can really change people's lives. We know that music is capable of enhancing immune function, lowering heart rate, lowering stress-related hormones like cortisol that raise our blood pressure and depress our immune systems. It also trims complications after heart attack, calms anxiety, slows breathing and increases production of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. Consider: 80% of stimuli that reach our brains come through our ears. Even before we were born, music makes a difference. Hearing is the first sense to develop, when the fetus is only 18 weeks old (Quran, 32:9). We know that the unborn child hears for literally half the pregnancy and is affected profoundly by what it hears. Studies show music by Mozart and Vivaldi actually can bring down fetal heart rate, calm brain waves and reduce the baby's kicking. Rock music, on the other hand, appeared to drive fetuses to distraction, greatly increasing kicking. Our bodies are 70 % water, and that makes them excellent conductors for sound and vibration. We are not just hearing with our ears. We are literally feeling vibration sound with every cell in our bodies. Disharmony and noise, whether it's from traffic, the boss yelling at us about a deadline or a jackhammer on the street, can make us stressed, depressed and pessimistic -- all of which depress our immune systems. That's why disharmony can eventually lead to disease. Our own voices are very underutilized healing tools. Singing is a great way to tap music's healing power. If you are self-conscious, try chanting. Anyone can do it, and "you can't do it wrong. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as the incredible power of sound to affect every cell and every organ system in our bodies.
The Qur'an Says:
But He fashioned him in due proportion, and Breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) Hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): Little thanks do you give!
-----Surah Sajda, 32: 9 also 16: 78; 67: 23
Dr. Keith Moore, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto School of Medicine, writes in his most popular Textbook on human embryology, (The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, Keith L. Moore, T. V. N. Persaud, Paperback, Published by Saunders W B Co ., March 1998 Price: $49.00) that the
-->human embryo gets first the ears (hearing), then the eyes (sight) and next the brain (feeling and understanding or metal faculties) in that order, as mentioned in the Qur'an in the above verses.
On the other hand very loud music with sounds louder than 90 decibels cause stress and ear damage. Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies in Charlotte, NC, and author of "The Owner's Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research, Paper back, published by Bard Press, November 1999, says," Very loud music creates an altered state of consciousness akin to an alcoholic or drug-induced stupor that can become addictive. "
THE MOZART EFFECT
Don Campbell, a composer, music researcher and teacher, healer and the author of book " The Mozart Effect-Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit", (published by Avon Books, New York, NY, October 1997, 332 pp) learned that he had a potentially fatal blood clot in an artery just below his brain. He shrunk the blood clot from more than an inch and a half in length to an eighth of an inch by humming quietly for three to four minutes at a time, up to seven times a day. He did this for three weeks before he went back for a second brain scan.
In "The Mozart Effect", Don Campbell, says " You know music can affect your mood: it can make you feel happy, enchanted, inspired, wistful, excited, empowered, comforted, and heroic. Particular sounds, tones and rhythms, can strengthen the mind, unlock the creative spirit, and miraculously, even heal the body. Exposure to sound, music, and other forms of vibration, beginning in utero, can have a life long effect on health, learning and behavior."
In conclusion, one should listen to a piece of music that one finds inspirational and uplifting. Dr. Ahmed Al-Kadi of Florida's Akbar Clinic conducted research on the healing power of listening to Qur'anic recitations. There is an urgent need for conducting more research on Music Therapy by Muslim Physicians both in the West and in the Muslim countries
Currently there is an aversion to music by some of the Ulema (religious scholars) in the Islamic world. This paper analyzes the Islamic perspective on music and singing. It concludes that utilization of music as a therapeutic agent in Medicine is not haram or forbidden. There is documentary evidence that shows the power of music can be tapped to heal the body, strengthen the mind and unlock the creative spirit. Published papers and Journal articles offer dramatic accounts of how doctors, musicians, and healthcare professionals use music to deal with everything from anxiety to cancer, high blood pressure, chronic pain, dyslexia, even mental illness. During childbirth, music can relieve expectant mothers' anxiety and help release endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, dramatically decreasing the need for anesthesia. Exposure to sound, music and other acoustical vibrations can have a lifelong effect on health, learning, and behavior. They stimulate learning and memory, strengthen listening abilities. Music has been used as a treatment or cure from migraines to substance abuse.
One thousand years ago, the Muslim Physicians were in the forefront in the world of medicine with innovations and therapeutic techniques that are considered modern in the 21st century. They treated mental illnesses by confining the patients in asylums with 21st century techniques of music therapy. It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and for the insane asylums were built by the Arabs also in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D. In addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands were brought daily to entertain the patients by providing singing and musical performances and comic performers as well.
Malik al-Mansur Sayf al-Din Qalawun built the Al-Mansuri Hospital in Cairo in 683 AH (1284 AD). The most outstanding characteristic of this hospital was that, like the advanced hospitals in the 21st century, provision were made to entertain patients with light music. Professional storytellers were appointed to narrate stories and jokes to patients (Radio, TV, and PC have replaced these today). Mu'adhdhinun sang religious songs in their melodious voices before the morning 'adhaan (call for prayer) so that afflicted patients might forget their suffering. It is interesting to note that this hospital is rendering its services even to the present time.
MEDICAL BENEFITS
Music therapy has been lost for more than 1,000 years both in the Muslim countries as well as in the most advanced countries or developed countries in the West. In the last three-decades or so, tremendous interest has been shown in the Western countries in the application of music therapy to treat several diseases and ailments. No one knows exactly how music heals, but it looks like our brains are wired to respond to it. Scientists are finding that the human brain is pre-wired for music("Music on the Mind" by Sharon Begley, Newsweek, July 24, 2000, pp 50-52). Dr. Clive Robbins who is a cofounder of the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University in New York City says, "There is something intrinsically musical about the brain's neurological structure and the muscular function of the human organism. At a nonverbal level, music activates our minds, integrates our attention, and seems to help regulate some body functions." Dr Robbins has treated a cerebral palsy child with music therapy making the child to learn to balance his body and coordinate the movement of his limbs. The child is also learning to communicate and made him grow motivated and intent.
The right song seems to work in more than one way--distracting us from pain, boosting mood, reviving old memories, even prompting the body to match its rhythms. Music has long been appreciated for its calming effects, but new research shows it also may have the power to restore and keep us healthy. Soothing sounds, from Tibetan chants to Beethoven symphonies, are being given scientific credit for preventing colds, easing labor pain and even boosting anti-aging hormones. One study found that surgery patients who listened to comforting music recovered more quickly and felt less pain than those who did not. The International Journal of Arts Medicine reports that infants in intensive care go home three days earlier eat better and gain more weight if the staff talks and sings to them.
Clinical studies and anecdotal evidence from music therapists suggest that the sound of music that is soothing and comfortable….
Lowers cortisol, a stress hormone, as much as 25 %
Boosts endorphins, the body's natural opiates or feel-good drugs.
Reduces pain after surgery and reduces the need for sedatives and pain relievers
Make patients recover from surgery faster and with less pain
May prevent colds
Raises blood levels of Immunoglobin A(immune system fighter) to a whopping 14.1 %
Eases labor without drugs
Helps preemies in intensive care
May stimulate neural connections in the brain and promote spatial ability and memory in children
Lowers blood pressure as much as 5 points, reduces heart rate, improves cardiac output, relaxes muscle tension
Manages nonpharmacologically pain and discomfort
Improves mood and mobility of people with Parkinson's disease
Decreases nausea during chemotherapy
Helps patients participate in medical treatment and decreases length of hospital stay
Relieves anxiety and reduces stress
Eases depression
Enhances concentration and creativity
Brings positive changes in mood and emotional states
Increases awareness of self and environment
Gives a sense of control over life through successful experiences
Provides an outlet for expressions of feelings
Improves memory recall which contributes to reminiscence and satisfaction with life
In addition, music therapy may allow for:
Emotional intimacy with families and caregivers
Relaxation for the entire family
Meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way
Exciting new research suggests that our brains respond to music almost as if it were medicine. Music may regulate some body functions, synchronize motor skills, stimulate mind and `even make us smarter.
To take advantage of music's healing power, one need not go to the music store at all with the prescription. The home remedies one needs are probably already in one's music collection. According to Suzanne Hanser, D Ed, a lecturer in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, "There is no set prescription or a particular piece of music that will make everyone feel better or more relax. What counts is musical taste, kinds of memories, feelings and associations a piece of music brings to mind. Some people relax to classical music, others like the Moody Blues. The key is to individualize your musical selections."
DEPRESSION
Research indicates that for 20 women and men whose ages ranged between 61 and 86, moods rose and depression fell when they listened to familiar music they selected while practicing various stress-reduction techniques- on their own or with the help of a music therapist-- according to a study from Stanford University School of Medicine. On the other hand a control group who missed out on the music and the exercises saw no improvement during the 8-week study period. It helps to perform gentle exercises depending on one's fitness level, while the music plays. The movements should be light and flowing. Breathe to the music. Gently come to rest at the end of the music.
INSOMNIA
Research indicates that 24 out of 25 people with sleeping problems nod off more quickly, snooze for longer periods of time or get back to sleep more easily after a middle-of-the-night awakening after listening to classical and New Age music, according to a study from the University of Louisville School of Nursing, in Louisville, Kentucky. The music must be quiet, melodic with a slow beat and few, if any, rhythmic accents. To be effective one should skip the after-dinner coffee or tea, and avoid telephone calls and TV after 9 PM. Softer and quieter music should be played as bedtime approaches. The listening of music should continue in bed with a tape recorder or CD player equipped with a silent on/off switch. One should lie quietly, taking even, deep breaths.
STRESS
Many studies have found that soothing melodies can ease anxious feelings and quiet both blood pressure and heart rate…even under very stressful conditions. Everyday stress responds to music too. The music selected to listen should be such that it must grab your attention and at the same time relax your body, so that all of your worries of the day, such as your concern about what has happened earlier and your plans for what should happen in the future should slip away. Slow music, like a love song sung by a great voice or a calm instrumental piece may be perfect. If a slow tune gives your mind time to fret or obsess, switch to something livelier. The best way to listen is to sit or lie down in a comfortable position, in a place where there is no disturbance. After a few minutes one can perform a relaxation exercise.
PAIN
One study from Yale University School of medicine found that people who listened to their favorite music while awake during surgical procedure needed smaller amounts of sedative and pain medications than those who did not hear music. Physical discomforts from postoperative pain to chronic aches can be eased with flowing melodies and distracting rhythms, music therapists and researchers say.
Dr. Alicia A. Clair, Ph.D. who is a board-certified music therapist and professor and director of music therapy at the University of Kansas in Lawrence says that music can bring transitory relief from short-term as well as long-term pain and discomforts such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Gentle and soothing stress-reducing music is helpful which can relax and distracts the mind. Martha Burke, a board-certified music therapist in Durham, North Carolina says, "Gently flowing music or music with a slow, steady pulse can help promote relaxation, which can then alter patient's perception of pain. Soothing music can lower the heart rate and breathing rate, leading to further relaxation and reduces tension that comes with the pain. We know music is so incredibly complex-- it has tempo, rhythm, melody, and harmony. And so it stimulates the brain in many ways at once."
BRAIN DAMAGE
Samuel Wong, a Harvard-trained physician based in New York City, plays musical instruments to help patients with brain damage (from stroke) and Alzheimer's disease reconnect to the world. He is also music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Honolulu Symphony. "When brain damage (from stroke, Alzheimer's disease, etc) leaves a devastated mental landscape, music "builds a bridge" that allows patients to reconnect with the outside world. The study of medicine has informed my performance of music, and my learning of music has deepened my role in healing," he says.
In 1996, researchers at Colorado State University in Fort Collins tried giving 10 stroke victims 30 minutes of rhythmic stimulation each day for three weeks. Compared with untreated patients, they showed significant improvements in their ability to walk steadily. People with Parkinson's disease enjoyed similar benefits.
Stroke victims and patients with Parkinson's disease walked more steadily and with better balance and speed if they practiced while hearing a balanced metrical beat or a piece of music with a powerful, even beat. A musical beat from any genre seemed to provide a rhythmic cue, which has a powerful, organizing effect on the brain's motor skills; it helps harmonize movement almost at once, according to researchers.
Scottish researchers have found that a daily dose of music significantly brightens the moods of institutionalized stroke victims. When daily music therapy was administered for 12 weeks the patients were less depressed and anxious, and more stable and sociable than other patients in the same building. Music therapy has also proved useful in the management of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.
SOUNDS OF HEALING
Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD, Director of medical oncology and integrative medicine at New York's Strang Cancer Prevention Center (affiliated with the Cornell Medical Center) and author of the new Hardcover book "Sounds of Healing: A physician Reveals the Therapeutic Power of Sound, Voice, and Music" (Published by Broadway Books, June 1999, $25); says, " More doctors are seeing a connection between hormonious sound and health. If we are around very harmonious people and harmonious vibrations and harmonious sounds, we begin to feel better. I have never found anything more powerful than sound and voice and music to begin to heal and transform every aspect of people's lives. It can really change people's lives. We know that music is capable of enhancing immune function, lowering heart rate, lowering stress-related hormones like cortisol that raise our blood pressure and depress our immune systems. It also trims complications after heart attack, calms anxiety, slows breathing and increases production of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. Consider: 80% of stimuli that reach our brains come through our ears. Even before we were born, music makes a difference. Hearing is the first sense to develop, when the fetus is only 18 weeks old (Quran, 32:9). We know that the unborn child hears for literally half the pregnancy and is affected profoundly by what it hears. Studies show music by Mozart and Vivaldi actually can bring down fetal heart rate, calm brain waves and reduce the baby's kicking. Rock music, on the other hand, appeared to drive fetuses to distraction, greatly increasing kicking. Our bodies are 70 % water, and that makes them excellent conductors for sound and vibration. We are not just hearing with our ears. We are literally feeling vibration sound with every cell in our bodies. Disharmony and noise, whether it's from traffic, the boss yelling at us about a deadline or a jackhammer on the street, can make us stressed, depressed and pessimistic -- all of which depress our immune systems. That's why disharmony can eventually lead to disease. Our own voices are very underutilized healing tools. Singing is a great way to tap music's healing power. If you are self-conscious, try chanting. Anyone can do it, and "you can't do it wrong. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as the incredible power of sound to affect every cell and every organ system in our bodies.
The Qur'an Says:
But He fashioned him in due proportion, and Breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) Hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): Little thanks do you give!
-----Surah Sajda, 32: 9 also 16: 78; 67: 23
Dr. Keith Moore, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto School of Medicine, writes in his most popular Textbook on human embryology, (The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, Keith L. Moore, T. V. N. Persaud, Paperback, Published by Saunders W B Co ., March 1998 Price: $49.00) that the
-->human embryo gets first the ears (hearing), then the eyes (sight) and next the brain (feeling and understanding or metal faculties) in that order, as mentioned in the Qur'an in the above verses.
On the other hand very loud music with sounds louder than 90 decibels cause stress and ear damage. Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies in Charlotte, NC, and author of "The Owner's Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research, Paper back, published by Bard Press, November 1999, says," Very loud music creates an altered state of consciousness akin to an alcoholic or drug-induced stupor that can become addictive. "
THE MOZART EFFECT
Don Campbell, a composer, music researcher and teacher, healer and the author of book " The Mozart Effect-Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit", (published by Avon Books, New York, NY, October 1997, 332 pp) learned that he had a potentially fatal blood clot in an artery just below his brain. He shrunk the blood clot from more than an inch and a half in length to an eighth of an inch by humming quietly for three to four minutes at a time, up to seven times a day. He did this for three weeks before he went back for a second brain scan.
In "The Mozart Effect", Don Campbell, says " You know music can affect your mood: it can make you feel happy, enchanted, inspired, wistful, excited, empowered, comforted, and heroic. Particular sounds, tones and rhythms, can strengthen the mind, unlock the creative spirit, and miraculously, even heal the body. Exposure to sound, music, and other forms of vibration, beginning in utero, can have a life long effect on health, learning and behavior."
In conclusion, one should listen to a piece of music that one finds inspirational and uplifting. Dr. Ahmed Al-Kadi of Florida's Akbar Clinic conducted research on the healing power of listening to Qur'anic recitations. There is an urgent need for conducting more research on Music Therapy by Muslim Physicians both in the West and in the Muslim countries
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