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Showing posts from January, 2016

Dargahs

Mazars and dargahs are graves of pious Sufis and important people of yesteryears. Muslims should visit them as we are asked to visit graves to remind us about the ultimate reality-death and life after death. I visit dargahs to remind myself of the history of Islam in India and sacrifices made by so many to make Islam integral part of India. I wrote about my experience after visiting Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin in 2008. Finding India in a Sufi Dargah . I have met people who go to dargaahs to ask for favors. There is no doubt that is shirk . And why go to someone or someplace when Allah says he is very near to us: And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way. [Al Baqarah: 186] So do visit dargaahs but not for asking for favors.

Piety and activism

Conventional thinking is that piety is becoming gosha-nasheen, removing yourself completely from the world and becoming one with Allah. This verse in Surah Baqarah explains piety: "It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets; and giveth wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the Allah-fearing." [ Surah Baqarah: 177 ] Quran explains piety https://t.co/hmL0676TnE and Maulana Azad explains the aim of Shariah while explaining the verse pic.twitter.com/gNTQw3zODP — کاشف الہدیٰ (@kaaashif) January 7, 2016 Islam has a strong social justice an