Bakhabar, July 2014

Better light a candle than curse the darkness

Monthly e-Magazine ISSN 2319-4049

http://bakhabar.biharanjuman.org/ Volume 7, Issue 07, July2014BE AWARE, ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE

33 Blessings and Benefits of Ramadhan Fasting

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PublisherBihar Anjuman BaKhabar

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Bakhabar : July 20142

Contents

33 Blessings and Benefits of Ramadhan Fasting 08

A Grand Political Dilemma 11

A Wife is Not a Girlfriend 16

Combating Rape 12

Dates Round the Year 18

Did Muslims Fight to ConvertPeople 03

Myths about Muslims unmasked 05

Sustaining Spousal Love 28

Uniform Civil Code 22

Shariat 26


Q & A

Name of Questioner: BobReply date: 2014/04/10Question: Can you tell me about the battlesfought in which Mohammed led (Uhud etc...) ? Whywere they led? Was it really just to forcefully convertpeople to Islam or else people were killed? I don'tbelieve much of what I read on those websites, asthey try to make Christianity's history look pure andbloodless, when that is so not the case. So I thoughtI'd try to check this web. I'm sorry I just have onemore question, and I know these questions are whatyou get all the time, and are really frustrating, but it'sabout the Crusades. Christians justify the crusadesby saying that if it didn't happen, Muslims wouldhave gone on conquering lands and killing peoplethat didn't follow Islam. What do you say? ... Againsorry for throwing all these questions at you all atonce, I'm an atheist who's pretty much interested inIslamic history, I'm only starting to realize that mostof what I learnt on Islam is propaganda and liesmade by some fundamental Christians. Thanks foryour time.consultant: Shahul Hameed

Answer: Salam dear Bob,

Thank you for your question and for contacting AskAbout Islam.

War has always been a difficult subject for objectiveanalysis. Given the nature of humankind, one cannotimagine a world without wars. What we can do is tohave a code of rules for war.

Islam provides such rules, which remain ever noblerand more realistic than any other code existing forthe conduct of war.

Concerning the rules of fighting as outlined inthe Quran and taught by the Prophet Muham-mad (peace be upon him), the following pointsmay be noted:

In war as in peace, the injunctions of Islam areto be strictly observed. Worship does not ceaseduring times of war. Islam maintains that what-ever is prohibited during peace is also prohib-ited during war.

Allah says in the Quran what means:{Fight in the way of Allah against those who fightagainst you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah lovesnot, aggressors.} (Al-Baqarah 2:190)

The above permission to fight clearly lays down thefollowing conditions: (1) Never commit aggression;fighting is allowed only for self-defense. (2) Fight-ing must never be against non-combatants or non-fighting personnel.

The Prophet used to instruct his followers duringbattles and tell them not to be embittered or inclinedto commit treachery. He asked them to spare non-combatants, particularly children and hermits. Fol-lowing the example of the Prophet, Caliph AbuBakrgave the following instructions to the commanderwho led the campaign to Syria:

"Do not betray, be treacherous or vindictive. Do notmutilate. Do not kill children, the aged or women.Do not cut or burn palm trees or fruit trees. Do notslay a sheep, a cow, or camel except for your food.And you will come across people who stay in her-mitages for worship; leave them alone to what theydevote themselves to."

Justice is highly valued in Islam and no Muslim isallowed to violate it even in times of war againsttheir bitterest enemies. From the early days of Islam,medical assistance was available to all irrespectiveof religion or creed and was even given to the ene-mies. The medical profession itself was speciallyhonored in Islam, and it was the duty of the Muslimsto offer help in this regard to all.

Did Muslims Fight to Convert People?Question and answer details


Q & A

A well-known example is that of Saladin who gavemedical help to his opponent Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, who was seriously ill during theCrusades. He sent his own doctor and personally su-pervised Richard's treatment until he became well.

This is in contrast with the behavior of the invadingcrusaders. When they entered Jerusalem on July 15,1099, they slaughtered seventy thousand Muslims,including women, children, and the elderly: "Theybroke children's skulls by knocking them against thewall, threw babies from roof tops, roasted men overfires and cut open women's bellies to see if they hadswallowed any gold."

This description was given by Edward Gibbon, thefamous historian; and here you get an answer to theclaim that if Christians had not fought the Crusades,the Muslims would have gone on killing people whodid not accept Islam. And in modern times, this ex-ample is paralleled by the atrocious behavior of theSerb army in Bosnia, to quote just one instance.

The battles fought by the Prophet were all for self-defense or for ensuring the freedom of practicingIslam. And no battle was fought by the Prophet forimposing Islam on the people.

Indeed, God in the Quran has commanded not tocompel any one to accept Islam. There are severalQuranic verses and sayings of the Prophet that provethis. Because, Islam specifically and categoricallyteaches that unless a person accepts the truth ofIslam with understanding, there is no meaning inhis/her outward show of allegiance.

Islam is staunchly against any war meant for colo-nization or occupation. On the contrary, it permitsfighting for the sake of liberation from oppressorsand occupiers.And once a people have been liberated, they are al-lowed the freedom to choose their religion, and ifneeded Muslims should fight to ensure this freedom.I hope this answers your question. Please keep intouch.

Salam.http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-about-islam/ethics-and-values/muslim-character/167820-did-muslims-fight-to-convert-people.html

Khabron ki Khabar

Seraj Akram

Desh me ab koi corruption par baat nahi kartaLagata hai sarkar badalte hi corruption khatm ho gaya,ya iske khilaf bolne walon ka kaam khatm ho gaya,aap uska fayeda uthane ka time hai.

Videshi paisa lane ki mang karne wala baba bhikhamoshShayed paison ke len den sare aam karne phansne kebad ab itni himmat nahi iske khilaf bat karne ki.

Election me haarne ke baad laaloo Prasad aur nitishkumar me nazdiki barhiKaash yah samajh election se pahle aati to shayed itniburi haar ka saman in dono ko nahi dekhna parta, auragar yah dono mil kar assembli ka election lare to phirinki kameyabi ke imkan kafi barh jayenge.

Iraq me Shia-Sunni ekhtalfat ko hawa denay ke liyephir halat saazgaarAur sari duniya ke muslim tamashayi ki tarah logo komarte dekh rahe hain

Maharasthra me muslim ko 5% reservation dene kawadaCongress ki itni durgati hone ke bawajud jhuta wadakarne se baaz nahi aaye.

Indian Civil Service ke imtehan me is bar bhi Muslim3% se niche rahe.4% ki lakeer aisi ho gayi ho jaise lakshman rekhakhinch di gayi ho, sari koshishen ek taraf lekin muslimka fisad is se barhta hi nahi. Koshis me kami hai yakoi aur wajuhaat hain.

Madhya Pradesh me Byapam ghotale me kayi BJP aurRSS kay neta shamil…ek khabarYahi hai asli nationalism, apna pet bharo desh kachahe jo bhi ho.

Mahngai din ba din barhti ja rahi haiWah jaadoo ki chhari kaam nahi kar rahi hai shayed jisse election jitte hi mahngai kam karne ka wada kiyagaya.


Islam

I By Prof Nivedita Menon I

In the context of massive propaganda campaigns,the subtle use of stereotypes, and the fact thatboth the Western and the Indian media share cer-

tain basic biases, many people end up believing in arange of myths about the adherents of the world’ssecond largest religion. This is a quick attempt at ex-posing those myths.

Myth: ‘Muslim’ countries are never secular. Mus-lims do not tolerate minorities in ‘their’ countriesbut demand minority rights in other countries.

The world’s largest Muslim majority country is In-donesia (total population approximately 25 crores,larger than Pakistan). Indonesia is a secular democ-racy. Indeed, its population is almost a mirror imageof India’s – 88% Muslim, 9% Christian, 3% Hindu,2% Buddhist, etc. (as compared to India, which has apopulation that is 80% Hindu, 13.4% Muslim, 2.3%Christian, etc.) Indonesia’s national slogan is “Unityin Diversity.” Yes, Indonesia has occasional riots andbomb blasts, but so does India.

In reality the majority of Muslim majority countriesin the world are secular. Several large examples in-clude Turkey, Mali, Syria, Niger, and Kazakhstan.

Despite having Islam as ‘state religion’,Bangladesh’s government is also secular in law. Thesame is true of many other countries. Only six coun-tries in the world claim to use Islam as the basis oftheir law making – and their total population isroughly the same as the population of Indonesia,Turkey and Kazakhstan combined. In other words,the vast majority of Muslim majority countries aresecular, and the vast majority of Muslims live undersecular governments.

Myth: Not all Muslims may be terrorists, butmost terrorists are Muslims.

Even if we accept the government’s definition ofwho is a terrorist in India, this is entirely untrue. InIndia, less than a third of the organisations banned as“terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities (Preven-tion) Act are Muslim organisations. Internationally,the group that engaged in the most suicide bombings

in the world was the LTTE in Sri Lanka – a mili-tantly atheist group whose members are mostly ofHindu and Christian origin.

It is also not true that Muslim organisations engagein the most violence in India. Between 2005 and2014, as per the South Asia Terrorism Portal, twiceas many people were killed in ‘terrorist incidents’ byNortheastern militant organisations and “left wingextremism”. These are all non-Muslim organisations,and the largest Northeastern organisation in this pe-riod (ULFA) has a mostly Hindu, upper caste leader-ship.

Besides, the definition of “terrorism” that the gov-ernment uses is contradictory. Killing twenty peopleby a bomb blast is considered terrorism, but thekilling of thousands of people in 1984 or more than athousand people in Gujarat in 2002 (or, for that mat-ter, the killing of 40 people in Muzaffarnagar, 68people in Orissa in 2008, etc. etc.) are not. All riotsinvolve planning, stockpiling of weapons and sys-tematic attacks. Why then are they not consideredterrorism?

Myth: Muslims have always been fundamental-ists and are ‘more religious’ than followers ofother religions.

Recent history shows that this is a lie, and also ex-poses where current “Muslim fundamentalism”comes from. Just forty to sixty years ago, in most ofthe major regions of the world with high Islamicpopulations – Indonesia, the Middle East, northAfrica – the strongest political forces were secularleftists. This took many forms: the Indonesian Com-munist Party, the Nasserite and Baa’thist regimes inEgypt, Syria and Iraq, the Iranian government ofMohammed Mossadegh, etc. In these countries, es-pecially in the Middle East, it was the United Statesand its client states (such as Saudi Arabia) that spon-sored, financed and armed right wing and religiousfundamentalist organisations, precisely in order tocounter the strength of the secular leftists whom theyopposed. Israel’s role in propping up Hamas tocounter the PLO is also well known. This reached itsheight in the 1980s with the war in Afghanistan, withthe US bankrolling and training the people who laterfounded Al Qaeda. It was during this period as well

Myths about Muslims unmasked


Islam

that the US financed and supported the Zia regime inPakistan in its “Islamisation” drive. The currentstrength of the Islamic fundamentalist movement inthe Middle East is a result of American strategy,which involved finishing off all leftist resistancewhile tolerating and encouraging Islamic fundamen-talism.

Above all, to repeat the key point, Islamic funda-mentalism is a political phenomenon created by aparticular history – just like Hindutva, Christian fun-damentalism and every other form of right wingmovement. The myth of the inherently fundamental-ist Muslim owes a lot to European mythmakingaround the Crusades and subsequent efforts to propup their empire in India. But people continue to re-cycle colonial self-justifications as if they are true.

Myth: Muslims always start violence. Hindusonly ‘retaliate’ or ‘act in self defence’.

Every single group that has ever engaged in masskillings has claimed to be ‘retaliating’ or ‘defendingthemselves’.’ TheSeptember 11 attacks in the USwere justified as “retaliation” for the killing of lakhsof people in Iraq (through sanctions) and in Palestineby the US and Israel. If you believe the emails beingsent before the Delhi and Ahmedabad bomb blasts in2008, the blasts were “retaliation” for police atroci-ties and the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat. In2008 Christians were massacred in Orissa in “retalia-tion” for the killing of a VHP leader. Going back fur-ther in history, the Nazis justified the Kristallnacht-their first state-sponsored riot against Jews, in whichthousands of synagogues and homes were destroyed– by claiming it was “retaliation” for the murder of aGerman diplomat and necessary to ‘defend them-selves’ against ‘international Jewry’.

The reason for this is simple – the only way to con-vince people to commit inhuman atrocities againstother people is to make them believe that they are“defending themselves” or “paying back.” The sheerinhumanity of talking about “retaliation” is obvious.Would those who claim “Hindus only retaliate” becomfortable if a Bihari militia were to massacre Ma-harashtrians as “retaliation” for attacks by the MNSand the Shiv Sena? Would they accept if Northeast-ern armed organisations carried out massacres ofDelhiites in “retaliation” for atrocities and racismagainst Northeasterners in the capital? It is a mark ofhow low we have come as a society that so manypeople go around mouthing these slogans today, as if

gangrape and massacres can ever be justified by “re-taliation” and “self-defence.”

Myth: Hindus do not kill based on their religion.Only Muslims do, because their religion requiresthem to.

In Gujarat in 2002, in Delhi and other cities in 1984,in Bhagalpur in 1989, and in most other riots, theoverwhelming majority of those who died were fromminority communities (Muslims, Sikhs, etc.) Thenwe have the recent instances of bomb blasts by Hin-dutva organisations. The majority of the killers in allof these incidents were Hindus, and the organisa-tions that drove the killings called on them to killnon-Hindus. Would it be accurate to say they killedbecause Hinduism required them to do so? No,clearly, in all those instances, the attackers and theorganisers were political groups seeking politicalgoals (and dressing them up as religious goals). Thisis exactly what far right Muslim groups do too.Every religion has groups that urge conflict withother religions, and holy texts in every religion con-tain things that endorse atrocities (just look at whatthe Manu Smriti says about women and Dalits, orthe Old Testament of the Bible says about massacresof non-Jews). This does not mean that followers ofthose religions follow those texts literally. The vastmajority of Muslims, like the vast majority of Hin-dus, Christians, or any other group, has never killedanyone and never will.

Myth: Muslims are united and act together, whileHindus are divided and weak.

Every election study ever done has found that Mus-lims vote in the same manner as any other commu-nity votes – for facilities, on the basis of thecandidate, whether they like a political party, etc. Inpractice also Muslims are no more united than anyother group; they have internal divisions on reli-gious, caste, gender, regional, language and count-less other lines, just like any other community inIndia. If Muslims were “united”, one would expectthat they would be represented well in Parliament. Infact, Muslim MPs constituted only 5.5% of the out-going Lok Sabha, even though they are more than13% of the population.

If anything, in today’s cities the idea of “Muslims alllive together” has been created by discriminationagainst them and them being forced to live in partic-ular ghettos. Meanwhile, in voting, people worry


Islam

about their own physical safety; just as a Bihari willnot vote for a Shiv Sena candidate, most Muslimswould not vote for the BJP. This is, once again, com-mon sense. A party which has built itself around call-ing you foreigners, terrorists and anti-nationals is notlikely to win your vote.

Myth: The government favours Muslims andpampers them.

On the contrary, official data indicates systematicdiscrimination against Muslims. The Sachar Com-mittee found that availability of bus stops, roads,bank branches etc. is lower in Muslim majorityareas, even when compared to nearby villages with aHindu majority. Muslims on average received only2/3 the loan amounts disbursed to other minorities.The proportion of Muslims living in pucca houses islower than the general population, both in cities andin villages, even if compared to others at their levelof poverty. Muslims form less than 3% of the IASofficers and 4% of IPS officers, even though theirpopulation is about 13% of the total. Overall, theSachar Committee concluded that on average Mus-lims are at roughly the same socioeconomic level asDalits and adivasis.

Similarly, in a study published in the Economic andPolitical Weekly in 2007, the authors responded to548 job advertisements from private sector compa-nies with three identical applications – one with ahigh caste Hindu name, one with a Dalit name, andone with a Muslim name. Even though the applica-tions were otherwise identical, the Dalit name wasapproximately one third less likely to get called foran interview, and the Muslim name was two thirdsless likely. In both the public and the private sectors,Muslims are denied opportunities across the board.

Myth: But Hindus cannot buy land in Jammuand Kashmir!

Non-Kashmiris cannot buy land in J&K – just asnon-Himachalis cannot buy land in HimachalPradesh, outsiders cannot enter Nagaland withoutpermission, non-Uttarakhandis can buy only smallplots in Uttarakhand, etc. Many parts of India havethese regulations to protect local populations. Theissue has nothing to do with religion.Myth: The Muslim population is increasing fasterthan the Hindu population, especially because Mus-lim men can have many wives. Their aim is to be-come the majority.

The National Family Health Survey has found thatyoung Muslim women have the same fertility rate asyoung Hindu women of the same economic level.The slightly higher growth rate for Muslims overallis due to the fact that, on average, Muslims arepoorer than Hindus. Common sense would also indi-cate this. Kerala, which has a Muslim population ofapproximately 25%, also has the lowest populationgrowth rate of any State in the country. Poverty andlack of facilities are far more important than religionin deciding how many children you have. The fertil-ity rate of Muslims in States like Tamil Nadu andKerala is far below that of Hindus in Uttar Pradesh,Bihar or Rajasthan, for instance.

As for Muslim men marrying many wives, it isblindingly obvious that this can make no differenceto population growth, since if one Muslim man hastwo wives, that means some other man will have nowife (given that the populations of men and womenare roughly equal). Meanwhile, the NFHS found (inthe only survey that looked at this) that approxi-mately 5.8% of Hindu men have multiple wives,while only 5.73% of Muslim men do.

Myth: Muslims got ‘their’ country when Pakistanwas created, now they should leave ‘our’ country.

The first active political leaders to talk of separatecountries for Muslims and Hindus were those whowould later be part of the Hindu Mahasabha. BhaiParamanand, later president of the Mahasabha, de-manded this in 1905. The demand for Pakistan didnot emerge from the Muslim League until 1940, andthen as well it was a political demand by a politicalparty. Huge numbers of Muslims opposed the idea ofPakistan, including the biggest Islamic religiousschool in India – the Deoband seminary – and Presi-dent of the Congress party, Maulana Azad, who wasone of India’s greatest freedom fighters. The demandfor Pakistan was a demand by a political party, not ademand by Muslims as a whole.In short, it’s simple: Muslims are human beings,with as much diversity and free thinking as any othergroup of people. In this climate of intense hate-mon-gering against Muslims, it’s necessary to reject theseracist myths and instead stand up for a world thatvalues human dignity.

*Nivedita Menon teaches Politics at School of Inter-national Studies, JNU, Delhihttp://muslimmirror.com/eng/myths-about-muslims-unmasked/


Ramadhan

The blessings and benefits of Ramadhan Fast-ing are too many to be counted. If one doesrecognize them and realize their importance,

he wishes to have the month of Ramadhan to bethroughout the whole year.These blessings are given by Allah to the fastingMuslims, who are to fast with full faith and expecta-tion.These blessings and benefits of the month of fastingduring Ramadhan have been grouped and summa-rized into different categories. They are summarizedhere without commentary. It should be rememberedthat all of these blessings were taken directly fromHoly Quran and Hadith.The following is a partial list for the blessings andbenefits of Ramadhan Fasting:

01. Taqwa: “O you who believe! Observing As-Saum (the fast-ing) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed forthose before you, that you may become Al-Mut-taqun (the pious)” [Quran 2/183]1. Fearing Allah (SWT)2. Practicing the Revelations of Allah (SWT)3. Accepting the little things that one has achieved4. Preparing for departure from this world to theHereafter5. Self-discipline6. Self-control7. Self-restraint8. Self-education9. Self-evaluationBy accepting these criteria and by practicing them,the Muslim will achieve the concept of Taqwa in hisprivate and public life.

02. Protection:1. Avoiding Immorality2. Avoiding anger/outcry/uproar3. Avoiding stupidity4. Avoiding all makrooh/mashbooh/haramBy achieving these good manners, a Muslim willcome out of fasting a better human being in the soci-ety.

03. Revelation of Holy Quran:The Holy Quran was revealed during the month ofRamadhan. “The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the

Qur'an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs forthe guidance and the criterion (between right andwrong)” [Quran 2/185] The Holy Quran is meant to be:1. A Guidance to mankind2. A Manifestation of right from wrong3. A Summation and culmination of all previousrevelations4. A Glad-tiding to the believers5. A Healer6. A Mercy

04. Doors of heaven are open (Hadith Ahmed,Nasai, Baihaqi)

05. Doors of hell are closed (Hadith Ahmed,Nasai, Baihaqi)

06. Devils are chained down (Hadith Ahmed,Nasai, Baihaqi)

07. Fasting with Iman (faith) and expecta-tion:Such type of intention leads to forgiveness by Allah(SWT) to the individual's sins. (Hadith Ahmed, AbuDawood, Ibn Majah)

08. Door of Rayyan: There is in Paradise a door called Al-Rayyan. It isfor the fasting Muslims. Only those who fasted themonth of Ramadhan are the ones to enjoy the blissof Paradise inside that area.

09. Rejoices: There are two types of rejoices for the Muslims whofast. These are:1. When breaking fast2. When meeting Allah (SWT) on the day of Judg-ment .(Muslim 6/2568, Ahmed)

Blessings and Benefits of RamadhanFasting: How many will you reap?33


Ramadhan

10. Mouth Smell: The smell of the mouth of the fasting Muslim will bebetter than the smell of musk during the day ofJudgement.

11. Glad-Tidings: These glad-tidings are given to the well-wisherswhile the ill-wishers are to be stopped during fasting.

12. Ramadhan -to- Ramadhan: Whoever fasts two consecutive months of Ramadhanwith good intention will receive forgiveness for themistakes committed throughout the year.

13. Multiplication of Rewards: Doing good = 10x, 70x, 700x or more during themonth of Ramadhan.

14. Feeding Others: Whoever invites others to break the fast, and who-ever takes care of the hungry, needy, during the lastten days of Ramadhan will receive equal rewards tothe fasting person(s).

15. Blessing of Iftar: Dua is accepted by ALLAH (SWT) at Iftar time.

16. Blessings of Sahoor (The late nightmeal) “ The Prophet (pbh) said, "Take suhur as there is ablessing (Barakah)in it." (Bukhari 31/146) : Thismeal time gives the opportunity for:1. Night Prayers2. Zikr, Remembrance, Contemplation3. Recitation of Holy Quran4. FajrSalat in Jamaat5. Dua of Fajr

17. Night Prayers: Whoever performs the Night prayers with sincerityand good intention will receive forgiveness of hispast mistakes. He who observed prayer at night dur-ing Ramadan,because of faith and seeking his re-ward from Allah, his previous sins would beforgiven.(Bukhari , Muslim 4/1662)

18. Shafa'at (Pleading One's Case for For-giveness (Hadith Ahmed): Whoever fasts Ramadhan will receive on the day ofJudgement the Shafa'at of:1. Ramadhan (Hadith Ahmed)

2. Holy Quran (Hadith Ahmed)

19. Ihya (Passing Nights Awake): Last ten days of Ramadhan. When a Muslim makesthis type of effort, he will get rewards, forgiveness,and multiples of blessings.

20. Itikaf (Retreat): A Muslim who performs Itikaf during the last tendays of Ramadhan will get:1. Blessings and rewards2. Peace of mind3. Contemplation and evaluation4. Better citizen

21. LailatulQadr (The Night of Power): Whoever observes it with sincerity and good inten-tion will get the following benefits:1. Forgiveness of mistakes .(Bukhari 1/34)2. Better than 1,000 months “The night of Al-Qadr(Decree) is better than a thousand months” [3/97] 3. Dua4. Zikr5. Prayers6. Reading Holy Quran7. Rewards8. Blessings9. Better human being

22. Generosity : Kindness, hospitality, vis-itation, etc. All of these and many more are among the benefitsof Ramadhan.

23. Zakat al-Fitrah (Charity on Eid Day): The benefits of paying such as charity to the needyare tremendous, among which are the following:1. Purity2. Feeding the needy3. Sharing happiness4. Improving human relations5. Improving society

24. Sadaqah (Charity): The benefits of paying sadaqah are many. These aresummarized as follows:1. Purity2. Flourishing of wealth3. Improving economy4. Circulation of wealth5. Elimination of inflation6. Elimination of poverty


Ramadhan

25. Fasting and Health: By fasting, one gets the following benefits:1. Purification of body from toxins2. Reducing of weight3. Purity of brain4. Rejuvenation of body5. Living of life with happiness6. Looking younger

26. Change of Lifestyle: By living a different life style, one gets rid of themonotony of life and hence enjoys his life span.

27. Sharing: Of hunger, thirst and rituals with others in the soci-ety.

28. Eid-ul-Fitr (Feast) : Sharing of happiness and visitation of one another asmembers of the society.

29. Graveyards Visitation: One will get the following benefits by visiting grave-yards.1. Dua for the deceased2. Preparing oneself for departure from this world3. Feeling respect for the deceased4. Making the person to be humble in his life

30. Every breath is Tasbiih. Every breath and even sleep is Ibadah and awarded.

31. Umrah in Ramadhan: Performing umrah during the fasting month of Ra-madhan is: Equal to one Hajj (pilgrimage) 'Perform`Umra when Ramadan comes, for `Umra in Ra-madan is equal to Hajj (in reward) [Bukhari 3/10,Muslim 7/2884]

32. Historical Successes and Victories inRamadhan:Muslims throughout their history received manybenefits during Ramadhan the month of fasting,

33. Learning lessons from historical inci-dents that happened during Holy Ramadhan the month offasting

5-Day Mathematics Workshopfor Madarsa Teachers Held In

Delhi

Sadbhav Mission and Hamdard Education Soci-etyorganized a 5-Day “Mathematcis workshopfor MadarsaTeachers” at Talimabad, New Delhifrom May 25 to 29, 2014.Mr. Syed Samar Hamidextended his full cooperation and Dr.Ismail Ghaziworked immensely hard to mobilize teachers andmade all the arrangements. 65 people participatedin theworkshop, 9AM to 4 PM, with great enthu-siasm. Of these 20were women, including 7Hindu girls/ teachers with educationupto B.A.,B.Ed., and M.A.

Prof. V.K. Tripathi gave thelectures while Mrs.Poonam, Mr. Mohammad Inam, Dr. AshokKumar, Dr. Pawan Kumar, Dr. Manoj Kumar, Dr.RohtashSingh, Dr. Deepak Tripathi and Mr.Satish Rajouria conductedthe tutorials with greatinvolvement. We covered angle,triangle,Pythagoras theorem, constructions, fieldbook,circular chart, decimals, unitary method,billing, banking,compound interest, area and vol-ume, Mr. Mohd. Saquib gavean exciting talk ondrawing based on geometry.

Erose Chairman Mr. SAS Kirmani gave a fasci-nating lecture onmagic of numbers. Patna Collec-tive activist Ms. ShahrukhAlam’s talk on socialissues touched every heart. VKT gave alecture onworld history in last 1000 years.

The valedictory function was equally memorableduethe presence of Mr. Syed Samar Hamid andeloquentspeeches by the Chief Guest Prof. AkhtarulWase andHumdard Public School ProncipalMrs. Siddiqui.

The total expenditure of the workshop, includingparticipants’ lunch(Rs. 8900) and transport (9000), folder, books, instruments etc. wasRs.27,000. Of this, Hamdard Education Societyshared Rs. 5000, besides all theresponsibilitiesand Dr. Viveksajal contributed Rs. 2000. Dr.Ashok Kumar,Dr. Pawan Kumar and Dr. Rohtashprovided snacks on three days.


Guest Coloumn

I By Dr. V.K. Tripathi I

On January 6, 1990 we had made a commit-ment deep in our hearts to develop grass-roots resistance against communalism which

we saw as an ideology blurring our perception andan instrument to polarize masses to perpetuate ex-ploitation and political dominance. We realized thatcommunalism operated at many levels, throughshrines (religious hierarchy), education, administra-tion, polity, market forces, media and violence. Agenuine secular effort must evolve multi-prongedstrategy to counter sectarianism at various levels.We, in last 24 years, focused on educational and re-lief activities without touching communalism at anyother level.

There too our efforts remained localized to fewpockets. Their impact on political scene was neverarticulated seriously. We did campaign during elec-tions but that was like educating voters on certain is-sues. In recent Loksabha elections we raised ten vitalissues and carried six weeks of campaigning inDelhi, Lalitpur and Vadodara distributing 24,000fliers “LoksabhaChunaavkeMudde” and “An Appealfor Self Enquiry in the Context of Loksabha Elec-tions”. People appreciated our fliers. However, whenthey asked us which party or candidate they shouldvote for we had no answer as we had no connectionto any political party, nor had full liking for anyparty’s policies and practices.

Besides Sadbhav Mission there are progressivegroups of great integrity and commitment to secular-ism, freedom and equality in the country. However,their number and resourcefulness, when compared toright wing groups, is minuscule. Further, their politi-cal preferences are different. I would consider 60%having Marxist leanings, 20% socialist leanings,20% Gandhi Nehru legacy. The former two can notreconcile to Congress polity and practice, hence,they remain passive during elections, except in fewstates where they have political formations of theirchoice. Some in the third category support Congressbut mostly on surface. This state of indifference topolity is worrisome as state power has over-ridinginfluence on lives of people and its concentration inthe hands of sectarian and corporate elite is danger-

ous.The secular groups need to connect to workers of po-litical parties that have the legacy or ideology offreedom, secularism and equality and help strength-ening their ideological understanding and commit-ment that they severely lack today. They may tell theleaders of the parties to form separate cells for farm-ers, workers, artisans, women, dalits, minorities andtribals and build leadership among them. Other ac-tions awaiting us are:

1) Building News Network: Secular groups arebringing out monthly or quarterly magazines. Theyneed to increase their circulation and frequency.Some issues could be in the form of pamphlets orbulletins. Along with this, campaign must be built onfreeing media from corporate control.

2) Building People-Centric Culture Network: Pro-gressive groups engaged in theatre, music and artsand doing excellent work. Their realm needs to beenlarged. The goal is to spread the culture of self-en-quiry, freedom, harmony, truth and equality that isintegral to the working classes and has labor as itscore component.

3) Preserving Sanctity of Academic Institutions: Inlast 23 years the number of engineering, manage-ment and other colleges has increased many fold.More than 90% of these colleges are private andmostly owned by business houses with link to sectar-ian ideology. In government colleges too there arepeople of such ideology and their influence may rise.The lamp of freedom and equality needs to be litthere along with sharing the educational concerns offaculty and students. Resisting efforts to communal-ize curriculum would be an integral part of this cam-paign.

4) Cooling Down Passions: Elections aroused sectar-ian passions all over the country. These need to becooled down so that the voices of sanity and justiceprevail. Muzaffarnagar and Bodoland, that witnessedmassive violence, need special efforts.

{Dr. V.K. Tripathi, is Professor of Physics @ IIT-Delhi}

A Grand Political Dilemma


Society

I By Sameera Syed I

On the night of Wednesday May 28th, two teenaged-girls were brutally gang raped and murdered in theBadaundistrict of Uttar Pradesh whilst searching fora place to relievethemselves outdoors. Five menwere arrested in connection tothe case thereafter, twoof whom were police officers whorefused to investi-gate the disappearance of the girls.The nation’s out-rage against rape and violence againstwomen, whichcommanded headlines after the events of Dec.2012,once again reached the forefront of media coverage.Undoubtedly, there is reason to be outraged. In its2012Annual Report, the National Crime RecordsBureau reported24,923 rapes to have occurred thatyear, out of a populationof 585 million women. Evenmore deeply upsetting is thenotion that a huge pro-portion of rapes are left unreported eachyear, withvarious scholarly estimates claiming that between54to 90% of rapes are left undocumented.

The aforementioned grotesque act of violence inUPhas highlighted numerous challenges in prevent-ing andcombating rape nationally. Some of these ob-stacles include:

(1) Rampant corruption of the police, particularlywith regardsto FIRs and criminal investigations, (2) A lack of improvedsanitation facilities puttingwomen at greater risk of assault,(3) A highly inefficient justice system, particularly incases ofviolence against women, (4) An unrelenting, widespreadculture of misogyny,and (5) An absence of urgency to ensurejustice andsafety for all women. Considerations for each oftheabove issues are as follows:

(1) An article from June 6th the Times of India ex-aminedthe immense difficulty faced in lodging FIRsin Uttar Pradesh.Across the state, and arguablyacross the nation, it iscommonplace for police offi-cers to refuse to register criminalcases that arebrought to them. Caste partly plays a role inthese re-fusals, with complaints of those from marginalized-groups regularly being dismissed by lawenforcement officials.

It is clear that the longstanding police culture whichallowssuch rampant corruption to occur needs to beaddressedimmediately. Potential courses of actioninclude: trainingpolice forces to begin a systematicshift away from corruptbehavior; strengthening in-ternal monitoring mechanisms toimprove upon po-lice accountability and performance; anddigitalizingthe FIR system to allow for transparency andfurtheraccountability. The key here, and with allrecommen-dations below, is that policymakers at the local,state,and national levels need incentives to zealously pur-suesuch reform options in the first place. This iswhere repeatedengagement from the common man,NGOs, grassrootsmovements, and the private sectorcome into play.

(2) According to the Progress on Drinking WaterandSanitation report from the World Health Organi-zation andUNICEF, 792 million Indians in 2012 didnot have access toan improved sanitation facility,meaning a facility that ensureshygienic separation ofhuman excreta from human contact.

Further, India remains the country with the highestnumber ofpeople (597 million, or approximately50% of the population)practicing open defecation,which is defecation in fields,forests, bodies of water,or other open spaces. One of manyharmful conse-quences of open defecation is that women, inparticu-lar, are forced to find remote, secluded locationstorelieve themselves, oftentimes at night. The im-mense lack ofimproved sanitation facilities in the na-tion thus contributes towomen being at greater riskof assault, as seen in the Badauntragedy. Improvedsanitation and eradication of opendefecation aretherefore two additional areas for policymakersto ac-tively target, particularly in terms of providing safe-facilities for women that are both accessible andappropriatefor their use.

(3) Nation-wide outrage following Dec. 2012prompted theGovernment of India to produce theVerma Report, part ofwhich discussed reforming ju-dicial policy on gender violence.However, accordingto an article published by OxfordUniversity Press inFebruary 2014, the government has failedto actualizemost policy recommendations in the VermaReport,particularly in terms of implementing quicker trials

Combating Rape: Challenges andConsiderations


Society

andenhanced punishment in cases of sexual assaultagainstwomen. In addition, the INR 10 billionNirbhaya funds,approved by parliament in lastyear’s budget to ensurewomen’s safety and secu-rity, have yet to be used. Thejudiciary thereforeneeds repeated prompting and pressure atthe local,state, and national levels to address thefollowing:the gross shortage of courts, judges, andprosecutors, whichlead to trials that last for years;unrestrained intimidation ofvictims and witnesses;and the arbitrary dismissal of rapecases before averdict is even reached.

(4) It is needless to say that unbridled misogyny isone ofour greatest adversaries when struggling tocombat rape. Howcan we expect our populace totreat women with respect anddignity when even ourelected officials assert the notion thatboys will beboys? When commenting on injustices against-women, Dr. AshutoshVarshney states, “A woman’sbody asthe site of cultural purity is the predominanttheme in theancient Sanskrit epics, and dishonoringa woman is equal todishonoring a family and evena culture.” As a result, policeauthorities and com-munity members often see their first dutyafter arape as protecting a woman’s modesty and a fami-ly’shonor, instead of giving her justice. While theidea of aninherent purity to womankind is innocu-ous by itself, failing togive women justice in favorof protecting their modesty is whathelps breed mi-sogyny. This challenge is one that no policyrecom-mendation can holistically tackle. The onus is ourstoconfront injustices against women, whether it’s inourhouseholds, communities, schools, places ofworship, etc.

(5) Last, but not least, the countless discussions ofrapeand violence against women that are broad-casted by themedia lack one very important ele-ment: a sense ofunequivocal urgency in combatingthis tremendous problem athand. How many girlsneed to be assaulted, raped, andmurdered beforethis issue is genuinely considered a topnational pri-ority? Rather than waiting for an answer tothatquestion, let us each individually – and all col-lectively – makean urgent appeal for others to rec-ognize that justice andsafety for women areparamount. Whether through ourspeech, writtenwords, or actions, let it be known that violencea-gainst women is preventable, not inevitable.v{Sameera Syed, in Patrika, a Sadbhav Mission pub-lication}

Har MirchSeraj Akram

Ramadan kay aate hi mubarakbadi ka silsilashrou.

Aur jinko rahne ko ghar nahi, khane ko anajnahi aur laraai dango ke wajah se jaan ki hi-fazt nahi uske bare me sochne ka aur uske liemadad karne walon ki taadad kahi kam banis-bat mubarkbadi dene walon ke. Logon ki tak-leef ka ahsas dilane wale maahe Ramzan meahsas ke bajaye mubarbadi ka shor zyadah hogaya hai.

Ibadat ke mahine me ibadat ke sath sathdawat ka bhi khoob ehtamam kiya jata hai,

Agar khate pite logo ko lazeez khane khilanepar kharch karne ke bajaye garibon parkharch kiya jaye to shayed kahin zyadahsawab hasil ho sakta hai. Saikron tanzeemainpaise ekattha karke pure Ramzan ka iftar kitgaribon me taqseem karti hai jisk kharch 4hazar se zyadah nahi pure mahine ke liye. Absochie dawat zaruri hai ya in garib khandanoki mahine bhar ke liye kifalat aham hai.

Rewayati josh aur jazba apni jagah lekin kyawaqayi Ramzan ki asal rooh ab baqi rah gayihai ya sirf dekhawa ho raha hai, jo jitna paisawala hai wah usi dhang se iftar ka ahtemamkarke apni shanakht qayem kar raha hai.

Dawaton ke ahtamam ke beech hazaronlakhon logo ka iftar ya sehri khanay ke liye 2roti ka hona in mezbanon ke liye sochne kamaqam nahi. Ramzan dawat ka mahina hai aybhaichargi aur hamdardi ka? Jo log dono kamkarte hain to kya dawat ko kam ya khatmkarke sirf garibon ki madad karna zyadahzaruri nahi.


Islam

I Arbaz Fahad I

A conversation between two Non Muslims

Steve: - Hey buddy; Islam is a constant threat toour ideals of peaceful co-existence!

Daniel: - Yeah mate, probably the most outdated, vi-olent and intolerant religion on the earth.A conversation between two Muslim youthsRafiq: - Damn the American’s and Israelis! They areconstantly killing our brethren in Palestine, Iraq andAfghanistan. The Russians are inflicting untold mis-eries on the people of Chechnya and Bosnia; the In-dian’s aren’t sparing us in Kashmir!!Mohsin: - The whole world is conspiring against theMuslims; Jihad is the only way to teach these infi-dels a lesson!Meanwhile, a wooden plate is hanging on the ceilingof the mosque. The inscription on it is printed inbeautiful Arabic, though no one seems aware of itsmeaning. It says:-“WaAllahu yadAAoo ila dari alssalami wayahdeeman yashao ila siratin mustaqeemin”

“And God Calls to the home of peace, and guideswhom he wills onto a straight path”The contrast between the words of the Qur’an andthe actions of the Muslims is appalling. Let me makeone point crystal clear; Islam and Muslims cannot beweighed on the same pedestal! Islam calls towardsthe establishment of global peace and exhorts peopleto exercise the heavenly virtues of tolerance, pa-tience and respect for the beliefs of other communi-ties. Muslims on the other hand are famous for theirnarrow mindset, intolerant attitude and sadistic activ-ities.

Whenever a matter of importance crops up, there aretwo ways to deal with it. One is to adopt the commu-nity point of view, and the second is to pick theQuran’ic point of view. Why are Muslims messingup with their international and social affairs? Simplybecause, they form their opinions in a fit of mis-guided passion, completely disregarding theQuran’ic way to deal with the problem. For example,let’s summarize the global issues of the Muslim

community-

Palestine/Kashmir/Iran/Afghanistan/Iraq/Chechnya-Bosnia issues, accusing the Western nations and theirmedia on grounds of conspiring against the Muslimsand interfering in their socio-religious political af-fairs. Now, let’s shift our focus on the solutions wehave developed to solve our problems. Realitystings, but we need to admit that a group of mis-guided leaders have used the pretext of atrocities onthe Muslims of Palestine to justify terrorism and vio-lence, which has greatly tarnished the reputation ofIslam. Muslims prove their staunchness in faith bybombing innocent people and kidnapping schoolgirls. Wow! We surely are paying a wonderful tributeto our prophet. The same prophet, who was sent as amercy to the whole of humankind-Hindus, Muslims,Christians, Jews, Atheists, Agnostics included. Theseproblems have hooked their head up, just because wehave time and again adopted the community point ofview which is shaped by a particularly influentialgroup and have disregarded the word of God, whichtranscends the limits of time and space.

The Quran’ic path is of absolute peace, forbearance,patience and maintaining equilibrium of mind intesting conditions. The Quran stresses that Peace isnot a timely initiative; it is the eternal law of nature.The Quran reflects that Man is himself responsible,for the corruption that has jaded the earth. Godsays:-

“Truly! Allah wrongs not mankind in aught; butmankind wrong themselves.” Quran 10:44Threats and conspiracies are a constant proportion inthis world. Even, the prophet and his immediate suc-cessors had to deal with conspiracies and intrigues.The need of the hour is to exceed beyond the lines ofconspiracy and emerge victorious. God has createdthis universe on the principle of competition andstruggle- be it in individuals or among communities.The enigma of competition began from Haabil andQaabil and will last until the final confrontation be-tween Masih and Dajjal. In face of trials, tribula-tions, scheming and plotting God commands thebelievers to remain steadfast and patient. God says

“Islam is Peaceful, Muslims are violent”


Islam

“But if you preserve patiently and guard against evil,then that will be a determining factor in all affairs”Quran 3:186After a prolonged period of time, a community losesits sense of consciousness and their perceptive abili-ties begin to disintegrate. The rooh of Deen is missingfrom them. They live in false hopes and entertain fic-tional hopes of their revival. They are far removedfrom the notions of reality and authenticity. God saysin the Quran

“Allah will never change the grace, which he has be-stowed on a people, until they change, what is in theirown souls” Quran 8:53 The immediate task ahead1. Revival of faith- To in surge a conscious revo-lution among the Muslim youth. To produce individu-als, whose faith rides to the level of positive work.2. Refrain from all notorious activities- whichdisturbs the realistic approach of people, and may in-cite their passions to the level of obsession3. Complete abstention from any sort of politicalactivity, and to thrust all efforts towards our academi-cal progress and personal development

{Arbaz Fahad <[email protected]>}

Please Do Not Eat TooMuch Junk

Hajira Khan, Indian School Salalah, Salalah, Sultanateof Oman

Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Alice.She never ate vegetables and fruits. She only ate junkfood. She used to eat chocolates, biscuits, chips anddrink colas. One day her mother told her not to eattoo much junk, but she did not obey. One day she atethe chocolate in the night. The next day she got a verybad toothache. So they went to the dentist. He toldthat, we must take out the cavity tooth. She wasscared to take out the cavity tooth. After taking outthe cavity tooth she began to cry. Then she learnt herlesson, that eating too much junk is not good forhealth.

Moral: Do not eat too much junk food. It makes youweak.

"Yeh Amcha Paper Hai,Baba!"

He was a successful timber merchant from Nagpur,while at the same time a passionate student of theQuran. Every time we held a summer camp, hewould come all the way to Bangalore, at his owncost, to deliver the Dars al Quran. Maulana ParekhSaheb, as he was fondly called, was also a patron ofthe YMD.

An incident he related during one of his talks stillresonates in my ears. A Maharashtrian Dalit womanonce came to his office hawking oranges, which shecarried on her head in a basket. As she lay the bas-ket on the floor, one could notice a newspaperfolded and tucked in the basket along with the or-anges. Maulana Parekh asked her, “Bai, do youknow how to read?” She replied in the negative.Surprised, he asked her, “Then, how do you manageto read the newspaper in your basket”. She repliedquaintly, “Yeh Amcha paper hai (this is our paper).”Maulana Parekh was astonished at her commitment:despite not being able to read, she would still buythe newspaper, with the express intention to supportthe cause.

How many of our educated and well-read class cansay the same when it comes to supporting Muslimnewspapers and magazines.

I can also recall a talk by the late Sheikh AbulHasan Ali Nadwi which he delivered during Juma inthe Lal Masjid in Bangalore some 20 years ago. (Iclearly remember that the late Muslim Leagueleader, Janab Ibrahim Sulaiman Sait, was also pres-ent in the congregation). Among other things,Sheikh Ali Miyan, lamented the lack of a singleHindi or English national daily newspaper pub-lished by Muslims in India. He surmised the reasonfor this, saying, “This is because we do not considerthis (the act of publishing newspapers and maga-zines) a religious duty (Yeh iss wajhe se hai kyon kehum isko deen ka kaam nahi samajthe hain).

They passed away, into the benign presence of theirLord, reminding us of our duty. Will we pay heed!

Khalid Noor Mohammed<[email protected]>, in a message sent toNRI Indians Group


The character and personality of a girlfriend isquite different from the character and person-ality of a wife. She who had been a good girl-

friend, might succeed as a wife, or might not. Inmost cases that does not happen. Not because shecan never be a good wife, but because, the disap-pointment is oppressive. Similar is the case when wecompare the boyfriend against the husband, writesSYED IQBAL ZAHEER in Young Muslim Digest’sJune 2014 edition.

Satan has a million guiles. One of them is that of aninnocent relationship between a boy and a girl. Theybelieve (or pretend to believe) that their relationshipis pure, free of any sexual overtones and undertones,and full of sisterly or brotherly affection and liking.Many parents close their eyes when their childrenfall into this trap. They think it is a harmless rela-tionship.

In actual fact, this kind of relationship (between non-mahrams) is only possible between children who arenot conscious of their selves. If the two are above 9or 10, when sex-consciousness begins to develop,their relationship will definitely take sexual over-tones.

Relationship developed during this age leaves a deepimprint on the mind. In most cases they fall intowhat is called as “boyfriend/ girlfriend syndrome”;or, the “first-love syndrome.” If they do not get mar-ried, the longing for each other remains until death.But the situation changes drastically, in most cases,after marriage. For, a wife is not a girlfriend.There is something strange about these “firsts” oflife. We tend to clearly remember the first things inour lives. The day the first cycle was gifted by thefather and you went out to proudly display it to yourpals, the first train journey, the first day in college,the first child’s birth, and so on. The events stick tomemory and recalling is sweet.

The first dating is similar. Married people with chil-dren and grandchildren, at the borders of senescencestill recall their first date with clarity and fondness.The reasons should not be difficult to guess. Firstcycle, first train journey, etc. are momentary events.They do not involve one’s mind, body, or emotions,but marginally. But human contacts leave their sig-

nature at the deepest level of mind and heart. If theyare prolonged, many memories get attached to them.And when it is male and female, and it is their firstcontact with the opposite sex, when they are teens,then, the memory’s fondness is deeply emotional,deeply etched in mind.

If they were in love, or thought so, but did not getmarried, then, the story is incomplete, the train-jour-ney was cut short, the disappointment is bitter, andwill last the rest of their lives. Marriage is the onlycure. But, most such marriages fail.

Love is the central theme of life. So much so, that atrue Sufi doesn’t bother about heaven and hell. It isenough of a reward for him that he should meet withhis Lord. Christianity’s motto is “God is love.”Rightly so, but, unfortunately, the first Christian hav-ing died on the cross, seems to have taken the elixirwith him, leaving behind an empty bottle.

At all events, neither the Sufi is wholly right in hisbelief, nor the Christians who have been the mostbloody with humans, throughout their history, andevince all intentions to carry with their journey onthe holy grail. May we not fall in their path of love –Amen.

The point we are trying to drive at is that love istruly the central theme of life, but not a very success-ful guile if used as a slogan, little believed in. Butthe boy and girl, recently conscious of sex, little sus-pecting of how the society can convert their God-gifted innocence into artful fiendishness as theygrow, how themodern worldcan train theminto becomingselfish bugs,and how the ad-vancing age al-ters itsdemands, tendto believe thatthey are in truelove. Beliefsblind, whenthey are not ra-tional. People’s

A Wife is Not a Girlfriend


blind belief in stone gods is an example. In Islam, ra-tional love is valued more than emotional love. Incase of teens in love, none of the defects of each isvisible to the other. The Devil sits on their eye-lashes. More: dreamy eyes see merits that do notexist. Their minds are locked, not the hearts, as it iscommonly believed.

Little surprise then that, having fallen into the trap of“first love,” if they get married, they end up in sepa-ration in majority of cases. Separation time is atmost five years. Disappointment follows disappoint-ments. In some cases, regretful feelings visit them onthe first morning after marriage. The boy had neverseen his sweetie – as he sees her now, leaving thebed yawning – with pimples at a few wrong places,the hair disheveled, eyes filled with yellow smut,and the earlobes a little bit out of shape.

They are yet to begin their married life in earnest.They are yet to have a conversation as long as theyused to have earlier. Never again they will have it.Before marriage it was, he: “I love this lake,” andshe, “me too” (the lake is stinking with filthy water).Or he, “I hate fish, they stink,” and she, “I am notparticularly fond of them.” (She enjoys them). Or, “Ilove computer games,” and she, “I suppose they area good pastime,” (she hates them, anyway).

So, it is artificiality through and through. Both arefalling upon each other trying to be agreeable to eachother. Both wish to submerge their personalities intothe other’s. Films give them dialogs, and, as bonus,dreams of happy life thereafter, forever and forever.Although, as pointed out earlier, some regret creepsin the morning after marriage, they remain sup-pressed during coming months and years. But, grad-ually, as and when personalities open up, realitiesbecome visible, disenchantment grows, differencesharden up. There was that pre-marriage time whenthe two wished to submerge in the other’s personal-ity; these are times, when each begins to assert his orher personality. Confrontation is inevitable.

The character and personality of a girlfriend is quitedifferent from the character and personality of awife. She who had been a good girlfriend, might suc-ceed as a wife, or might not. In most cases that doesnot happen. Not because she can never be a goodwife, but because, the disappointment is oppressive.And of course, the reverse is also true, that is, whatis true of a girlfriend is also true of a boyfriend. Ahusband is not a boyfriend. He may succeed as a

husband; he may not. In pretty many cases, he doesnot. Not because he could never be a good husband,but because of his anger.

A girlfriend has to have two qualities: talk smart,look pretty; where talk smart is more important thanlook pretty; for, the boyfriend is partly blind. But awife too must look pretty, but she should also be re-sponsible, and should not be a chatter box. She mustgo as often as possible where she had never beenonce before marriage: the kitchen. When she says,“Your dinner is in the fridge,” the honeymoon isover, arrogance is visible in her face, and anger isvisible on his face. There are pretty many things thata wife has to do, and be. Before marriage, her worldwas her boyfriend. After marriage, there are a dozenmen and women around, with whom she must inter-act rightly. The list of demands on her is long, andgrows. The main point is, she is not a girlfriend. Ifshe tries to remain the happy-go-lucky buddy sheonce was, she will neither be happy, nor enoughlucky.

Rare it is that a boyfriend and girlfriend got married,and they proved to be successful husband and wife.And, where success is seen by the outsiders, it is be-cause they both assure each other that the time for achange is gone, and so, they must simply learn tolive with each other – each hiding disappointmentfrom those who had advised against the dating,against the marriage. But the rise in the cases of sep-aration, tells us that pretty many smiling faces inpublic carry scorn in private.

Another point: they dream of successful marriage.Come to your senses. When life itself is failing, andfailing miserably, at the widest of panorama, as inour times, then, how can husband-wife relationshipsucceed? If the choice had been blind, which it was,then, you are in a blind alley. If you escape bumpingyour head into a wall, you will hurt your toe hitting astone. Successful marriages make a high demand onman and wife. But that is not the topic here. Teenageboys and girls must be strictly kept apart.

Any talk of innocent relationship between a boy anda girl, is simply rubbish. It is kitten-puppy relation-ship. Watch them when they have grown into moraland mental maturity. Watch them turn into enemies.Watch them laughing boisterously. Watch them, be-cause that won’t happen too often.Source: http://www.youngmuslimdigest.com/editor-ial/06/2014/wife-girlfriend/


Health

I By Hajira Khan & Sameen Ahmed Khan I

The Muslims world-wide have the tradition toend the Siyaam (fast or fasting) by takingdate fruits. This is based on the saying of the

Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be uponhim), “break your Siyaam by eating dates as it is pu-rifying”. About twenty fruits and fruit bearing plantshave been identified in the Holy Quran, but it is thedate-palm which is referred the most. It is men-tioned twenty times, in eight places individually andin twelve places with other fruits. The twenty plantsmentioned in the Holy Quran include: date palm, fig,ginger, grape, garlic, henna/camphor, lentil, manna,olive, onion, pomegranate, summer squash, sweetbasil, athel tamarisk, tooth-brush tree, arak, mustard,acacia, cucumber, gourd, leek, cedrus (cedar or Lote-tree) and Euphorbia. The Bitter Thorn and BlessedTree are yet to be identified. The Bitter Thorn is thetree in the Jahannum (hell) and is mentioned inSurah Al-Ghashiyah (88, meaning The Overwhelm-ing Event): 6-7. The Blessed Tree is mentioned inSurah Al-Ra`d (13, meaning The Thunder): 29. TheQuranic botany continues to be an active area of re-search. The date palm is mentioned by name twentytimes, in eight places individually and in twelveplaces with other fruits. The corresponding twentyAyah occurring in sixteen Surah of the Holy Quranare: Al-Baqarah (2): 266; Al-Anàm (6): 99, 141; Al-Ra`d (13): 4; Al-Nahl (16): 11, 67; Al-Isra (17): 91;Al-Kahf (18): 32; Maryam (19): 23, 25; Ta Ha (20):71; Al-Mu'minun (23): 19; Al-Shuàra' (26): 148; YaSin (36): 34; Qaf (50): 10; Al-Qamar (54): 20; Al-Rahman (55): 11, 68; Al-Haqqah (69):7; and Àbasa(80): 29 respectively. Throughout the holy month ofRamadan-ul-Mubarak, dates are a common ingredi-ent in the Muslim diet. Let us have a closer look atthis familiar fruit, which is also known as the tree oflife and king of the oasis. The botanical name of thedate-palm is Phoenix dactylifera. In Arabic the date-palm is known as Nakhl, and the fruit is known asTamar. We shall note the names in several other lan-guages: Tamar (Hebrew), Khajur (Hindi, Urdu, andseveral Indian languages), Khurma (Persian, Urdu),Kharjur (Sanskrit), Khejur (Bengali), Finik (Russ-ian), Datil (Spanish), Date (Italian), Datteir (French),Daten (German), Datum (Dutch), Datas (Portugese)and so on.

The history of date-palm cultivation can be traced toeight thousand years. Every part of the date-palmhas good use: The wood and leaves provide timberand fabric for houses and fences; the leaves are alsoused for making ropes, baskets etc; the stalk is usedas fuel. The fruits famous for their delicious andsweet taste are taken directly or processed to pro-duce vinegar, pickle, bakery items and flavours. Thedate seeds are used as cattle feed after they havebeen softened by soaking and crushing. The date-palms are usually un-branched. It is interesting tonote that the branching occurs only in the maleplants! The date-palm trees grow as high as hundredfeet with leaves up to fifteen feet. There are typi-cally a dozen bunches of dates per tree. A bunchweighs about seven kilograms and has a thousanddates. The life of a date tree is over hundred andfifty years. There are about a thousand varieties ofdates. Some of these are facing possible extinction.The date fruits vary in size, shape and colour. Eachof these numerous varieties have different name inArabic. According to the estimates of the WorldFood Agricultural Organization, there are over hun-dred million date-palms in the world, producing twomillion tons of dates each year. About 65% of theseare grown in the Arab countries.

Dates are very delicious and easy to store as they arelight. Date is one of the most valuable foodstuffs.Date consumption is one of important sources ofsupplying minerals and vitamins and elements in avery balance nutrition regime. About 70% of thefruit is sugar. Dates are excellent sources of numer-ous minerals including: iron, potassium, magnesium,sulphur, copper, calcium and phosphorus. Besides ithas several vitamins, fibre and proteins. A hundredof dates provide the body about 277 kilo-caloriesshortly after eating it. An individual needs about2500-3500 kilo-calories (traditionally, one looselysays calories omitting the kilo!) per day. This is themedical explanation why the dates are consumed atthe end of each Siyaam (fast).

Because of its rich chemical content the dates havebeen used as a medicine since ancient times. Thetradition among the Arabs and the Muslims to placechewed (to soften) dates in the mouth of new bornbabies, carries great virtue and benefit. Date is ef-fective in treatment of infantile paralysis and it is

Dates Round the Year


Health

recommended to give some grains of date to childrensuffering infantile paralysis. Dates strengthen thenervous system. Because of the magnesium presentin them the dates are good for the kidneys. Dates arealso helpful in treatingsore throat and all thepulmonary infections.Persons suffering dia-betes can use dates in-stead of industrialsugars like cane sugar,since the existing mag-nesium within dateshelp the operation ofpancreas and kidneys onthe other hand vitaminB2 within dates absorbssugar components ofother foodstuffs. Datesare also good for heartand respiratory prob-lems.

As stated in theHadeeth, the HolyProphet (peace be uponhim) said, “Whoevereats seven ajwah datesin the morning will notbe harmed by poison orblack magic for the restof that day until thenight.” The Prophet(peace be upon him)also said, “The ‘ajwahdate is from Paradiseand it is an antidoteagainst poison.” Theajwa variety of dates isvery effective in com-bating cardiovascularproblems. Nutritious,health, medical and in-dustrial value of the dateis not fully recognized.The researchers all overthe world is searchingand investigating in thematter.

Dates are excellent choice of food for the pregnantwomen and those who have just given birth. Thisfact is indicated in the famous and the very beautiful

passage of the Holy Quran

(Surah 19, Maryam, Ayah 23-25)And [when] the throes of childbirth drove her to the

trunk of a palm-tree, sheexclaimed: “Oh wouldthat I had died ere this,and had become a thingforgotten, utterly forgot-ten!” Thereupon [avoice] called out to herfrom beneath that [palm-tree]. Grieve not! ThySustainer has provided arivulet [running] beneaththee; and shake the trunkof the palm-tree towardsthee: it will drop fresh,ripe dates upon thee.(English Meaning byMuhammad Asad from://www.IslamiCity.com/)

This was the prescrip-tion given to VirginMary at the time of birthof Jesus, the blessedProphet of Allah. It wasa prescription to makethe delivery easy andcomfortable.

Date seeds are soaked(for softening) andground and used as anexcellent animal feed.Their oil is suitable foruse in soap and cosmet-ics. Date palm seedscontain 0.56–5.4% lau-ric acid (useful in chem-ical analysis,particularly for findingthe molar masses). Theycan also be processedchemically as a sourceof oxalic acid (used indyeing processes andbleaches). The seeds are

also burned to make charcoal for silversmiths, andcan be strung in necklaces. Date seeds are alsoground and used in the manner of coffee beans, or asan additive to coffee. Experimental studies have

Dates (variety: medjool) NutritiveValue per 100 grams

Source: United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) National Nutrient Data Base,http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata

Principle Nutrient Value Percentage of RDAEnergy 277 Kcal 14%Carbohydrates 74.97 g 58%Protein1.81g 3%Total Fat 0.15 g <1%Cholesterol 0 mg 0%Dietary Fiber 6.7 g 18%VITAMINSFolates15 µg 4%Niacin 1.610 mg 10%Pantothenic acid 0.805 mg 16%Pyridoxine 0.249 mg 19%Riboflavin 0.060 mg 4.5%Thiamin 0.050 mg 4%Vitamin A 149 IU 5%Vitamin C 0 mg 0%Vitamin K 2.7 µg 2%ELECTROLYTESSodium 1 mg 0%Potassium 696 mg 16%MINERALSCalcium 64 mg 6.5%Copper0.362 mg 40%Iron 0.90 mg 11%Magnesium 54 mg 13%Manganese 0.296 mg 13%Phosphorus 62 mg 9%Zinc 0.44 mg 4%PHYTO-NUTRIENTSCarotene-ß 89 µg --Crypto-xanthin-ß 0 µg --Lutein-zeaxanthin 23 µg --RDA: Reference Daily Intake or Recommended DailyIntake, which is considered sufficient to meet the di-etary requirements of most individuals.


shown that date seeds exhibit anti-genotoxic and re-duce DNA damage caused by certain chemicals.

In recent decades, the plants mentioned in the HolyQuran and the Hadith (Prophetic Traditions) have ac-quired a special interest of the gardeners, botanistsand the scientists in general. This has lead to thecreation of special gardens which are commonlyknown as the “Quranic Botanical Gardens”, servingas exhibitions and dedicated research centres. TheUNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization) is also taking an interestin such gardens and has set up one in Qatar. Aunique biological garden featuring the plants men-tioned in the Holy Quran has been created in the Ed-ucation City, Doha (capital of Qatar). Known as the“Quranic Botanic Garden”, it is under the umbrellaof the global Qatar Foundation Green Project. ThisQuranic Botanical Garden comprises of all the plantspecies mentioned in the Holy Quran, and those inSunnah (Deeds of the Prophet) and Hadith (Sayingsof the Prophet). It also exhibits botanical terms men-tioned in the Holy Quran, explaining them in thecontext of modern science. It regularly holds confer-ences and other events.

It is high time to cultivate some Quranic/Propheticplants in and around Muslim institutions such asMasajid (mosques); Madaris (IslamicSeminaries/Schools); Eid-Gah Grounds (groundsdedicated for Eid Salaat/Prayers and other Gather-ings); Qabrastan (Graveyards); among others. Thegovernment ministries and state forest officialsshould be introduced to the importance and the needfor cultivating the Quranic/Prophetic plants. Suchinitiatives will benefit the complete region in morethan one way. After all, the plants have medicinaluse and a commercial value through local marketsand exports. If an agency such as UNESCO can takeinterest, when will others be inspired?

The research on date-palms is an active field estab-lishing old sayings and leading to numerous new dis-coveries. An old Arab saying goes: “the uses ofdate-palm are as many as the number of days in theyear”. With all the rapid advances more and morenutritional values of dates are being understood. Donot miss to end your Siyaam (fast) with dates whenthe sunset appears. It is your date with dates! Thedates are round the year!

Bibliography:

1. A website for Quran Majeed with compre-hensive search in Arabic and numerous languages,along with several English translations (meanings),http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/

2. Websites for Hadith,http://www.searchtruth.com/ andhttp://ahadith.co.uk/

3. Mohammed Iqtedar Husain Farooqi, Plantsof the Qur’an, Sidrah Publishers, Lucknow, India(2003).

4. Mohammed Iqtedar Husain Farooqi, Medici-nal Plants in the Traditions of the Prophet Muham-mad: Scientific Study of the Prophetic Medicine,Food and Perfumes (Aromatics), Sidrah Publishers,Lucknow, India (2004).

5. Qur’anic Botanic Garden, Doha, Qatar,http://www.qf.org.qa/explore/heritage-centers/quranic-botanic-garden

6. Sameen Ahmed Khan, A Date with Dates,Youth Observer, pp. 4 (October 2005 – Ramadhan1426 AH). Supplement to Oman Observer, Vol. 24,No. 328 (Saturday the 08 October 2005). (OEPNPA:Oman Establishment for Press, News, Publicationand Advertising in co-operation with the Ministry ofEducation).

7. Sameen Ahmed Khan, A Date with Tradition,Radiance Viewsweekly, Vol. XLIV, No. 17, pp. 28-29 (1-7 October 2006).

8. Sameen Ahmed Khan, Olive the BlessedTree, Radiance Viewsweekly, Vol. XLIV, No. 18, pp.22-23 (8-14 October 2006).

9. Sameen Ahmed Khan, Olive the BlessedTree, Youth Observer, pp. 12 (November 2006 –Shawwal 1427 AH). Supplement to Oman Observer,Vol. 25, No. 355 (Saturday the 04 November 2006).(OEPNPA: Oman Establishment for Press, News,Publication and Advertising in co-operation with theMinistry of Education). {Hajira Khan, Indian School Salalah, Salalah, Sul-tanate of OmanSameen Ahmed Khan, Engineering Department,Salalah College of Technology, Salalah, Sultanate ofOman([email protected], http://SameenAhmed-Khan.webs.com/) }

Health


Ramadan

13 Jun 2014 05:06 PM, ISTBy MumtazAlam, India Tomorrow,New Delhi, 13 June 2014: In last 10years, both Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes maintained theirshare in the Civil Services as per theirshare in the national population. Mus-lims’ share always remained belowone-fourth of their population share.However, share of all these communi-ties have almost remained static forlast 10 years (2004 -2013).

In the Civil Services Exam 2013whose results were announced byUnion Public Service Commission onThursday, in all 1122 candidates weredeclared successful – highest number in last 10years. Out of 1122, Scheduled Castes are 187(16.66%), Scheduled Tribes are 92 (8.19%) andMuslims are 34 that is 3.03%.

In terms of numbers, it is first time in last 10 yearsthat SCs, STs and Muslims have got highest numberof their candidates selected.

From Civil Services Exam 2004 to 2013, in all 7575candidates were successful – 1228 i.e. 16.21% ofthem were from Scheduled Castes, 635 (8.38%)from Scheduled Tribes and 245 (3.23%) from theMuslim community.

As per Census 2001, the population of ScheduledCastes was 16.2%, Scheduled Tribes 8.2% and Mus-lims 13.4%. By Census 2011, SCs were 16.6%, STs8.2% and Muslims 13.43%.

Percentage-wise, the year 2011 was the best for SCsas it got 17.25% of the successful candidates whilefor the STs, the year 2004 was best when it got11.13% share. For Muslims, the year 2007 saw bestperformance as 4.23% of the total successful candi-dates were Muslims.

Wasiqur Rahman is BiharM.B.B.S. topper.

ALIGARH June 4: Anotherfeather was to the cap of pres-tigious Ali- garh MuslimUniversity as Wasiqur Rah-man became the topper ofBihar Med- ical Exam con-ducted by Bihar Com-bined En- tranceCompetitive Examination Board (BCECEB).A resident of Muzaffarpur district in Bihar, Wasiqurhas passed out 10+2 examination in 2014 with 91percent marks from Aligarh Muslim University. Hehas now emerged as a role model for the MBBS as-piring students of AMU.The proud son is giving all credit to his father SaudAzamRahmani who is Block Agriculture Officer inMuzaffarpur. His mother JahanaKhatoon is Head-mistress in a Middle School of Bihar government.Wasiqur Rahman said that he was committed to-wards self-study as per fixed time schedule for 6 to 7hours daily. He now wishes to become a Cardiolo-gist. (Dr. RahatAbrar)

Civil Services: Share of SCs, STs and Muslims remains static for 10 yrs

Share of Communities in Civil Services (2004- 2013)

Year Total No. of SCs (%) STs (%) Muslims (%)Successful Candidates

2004 422 64 (15.16) 47 (11.13) 13 (3.08)2005 425 57 (13.41) 41 (9.64) 12 (2.82)2006 474 80 (16.87) 36 (7.59) 18 (3.79)2007 638 109 (17.08) 53 (8.30) 27 (4.23)2008 791 130 (16.43) 61 (7.71) 31 (3.91)2009 875 127 (14.51) 76 (8.68) 21 (2.4)2010 920 148 (16.08) 74 (8.04) 31 (3.36)2011 910 157 (17.25) 78 (8.57) 30 (3.29)2012 998 169 (16.93) 77 (7.71) 28 (2.80)2013 1122 187 (16.66) 92 (8.19) 34 (3.03)Total 7575 1228 (16.21) 635 (8.38) 245 (3.23)


Politics

I By Hasan Kamal I

Uniform Civil Code is not confined to FamilyLaws only. It is not related only to marriage,divorce and division of inheritance. This is a

wide legal topic that encompasses many worldly af-fairs. It would also be wrong to assume that it is onlyMuslims and their religious practices that will be tar-geted by a Uniform Civil Code while others will notbe affected.

It happened in 2004. Parliamentary elections hadbeen announced. Lal Krishna Advani had made aloud proclamation that if his party wins the electionsUniform Civil Code would be implemented. By theway this slogan had echoed in 1999 too. But onewonders why during NDA’s five years rule it wascompletely ignored.

Anyway, after hearing Advani’s proclamation someof us sent him a message, by telegram, that if a docu-ment or a blueprint about Uniform Civil code hadbeen prepared we should be informed about it andthat we were willing to talk about it. We stressed thatdemocratic principles required that on matters of na-tional interests only after a discussion and exchangeof views should any conclusion be derived. We didnot get any response but after that, throughout wholeelection campaign, the slogan of Uniform Civil Codewas never heard again.

This time round, after BJP’s resounding victory, thisslogan has echoed once again. It is unwise and un-reasonable to react like a child who, after being toldthat the crow has bitten his nose off, starts runningafter the crow and does not try to see and feel hisnose. Would it not be wise to ask those who are rais-ing the slogan for a Uniform Civil Code, what theirconcept of a Uniform Civil Code is? And whetherthey have prepared any blueprint of a Uniform CivilCode? If they have, then it should be made public sothat it may be studied and scrutinised so that it couldbe seen which clause or clauses of it are acceptableto everyone and which are unacceptable, who theyare unacceptable to and why? Getting agitated with-out this exercise and carried away by anger wouldmean that we have blindly fallen into the trap laid

for us by those who raised this slogan and this iswhat exactly they want.

First of all it is very important to understand thatUniform Civil Code is not confined to Family Lawsonly. It is not related only to marriage, divorce anddivision of inheritance. This is a wide legal topic thatencompasses many worldly affairs. It would also bewrong to assume that it is only Muslims and their re-ligious practices that will be targeted by a UniformCivil Code while others will not be affected. Mus-lims think that because no other community opensits mount against Uniform Civil Code hence this slo-gan is raised just to hurt their feelings. Such a fear isneither totally wrong nor wholly justified though.The fact is that every community, including manysections of Hindu community, will also be affectedby this. If others do not say anything against it, it isbecause Muslims have already opposed it so thereremains no need for others to oppose it? The sloganmongers are aware of Muslim sensitivities to provo-cations. They want Muslims to become agitated andthus provide them the opportunity to tell the world,‘See, Muslims do not want to live by the laws of theland.’ Their audience have no idea which law isbeing talked about. However their audience have bythe way heard Muslims proclaiming that they willnot abide by the law. Obviously this creates a very

Uniform Civil Code:Reasonable and unreasonable fears


Politics

negative opinion about Muslims. This serves the pur-pose of the claimants and Muslims get the brunt.India is a multi-religious country. Here even the fol-lowers of the same religion have such diverse cus-toms and practices that one sect appears totallydifferent from the other. Until recently the acceptednorm had been to recognise the customs and tradi-tions that had been practiced for centuries as part ofa religion, a community or a section and let them re-main intact and allowed to be practiced. After theimposition of a Uniform Civil Code will this remainso? For example in some parts of Kerala and southIndia a marriage between a real maternal uncle and aniece is considered to be very auspicious. Obviouslyin the northern, eastern and western parts of India itwill be regarded as abhorring, heinous and a sin. Insome parts of the country a marriage between boysand girls of the same gotra [sub section of a caste]can lead to social boycott or blood feuds. The ques-tion is: will the Uniform Civil Code ban such a sys-tem or will it allow such marriages for everyone?Similarly there is a custom among Sikh communitythat, after the death of the elder brother, a youngerbrother puts a chadar [head scarf] on the widow ofhis elder brother which means that the elder sister-in-law has now become wife of this younger brother.Rajindra Singh Bedi’s novelette ChadarEkMeli Si isa masterpiece on this issue.

In some parts of Nagaland [in the Garo tribe] there isa custom according to which when the husband diesthe widow becomes the wife of her eldest son-in-law. All of these customs have come into practice toavoid division of landed property specially the agri-cultural land. How will the Common Civil Code dealwith such issues? What will be the result if thesecustoms are tempered with? And if they are allowedto be practiced as they are then will it not defeat thevery purpose of a Common Civil Code?

Kanyadaan is also a centuries old practice. Underthis system the dowry a girl is given at the time ofher wedding is considered to be her final and fullshare from ancestral property. After this there re-mains no share for her in parental inheritance.

Until recently similar custom was prevalent amongMuslims with regard to agricultural and immoveableproperty as well. All India Muslim Personal LawBoard changed it in 2004 in accordance to Shari’ah.Before the abolition of Zamindari system a customsimilar to Kanyadaan and dowry being given to agirl at the time of her wedding was prevalent among

Muslims as well. This was amended when someMuslim organisations, Muslims for Secular Democ-racy on top of them, launched strong protests againstthis anti-Shari’ah division of immoveable property.Now a Hindu girl too, if she so wishes, can demandher share in ancestral property but this can only bedone through court of law. However, it is not clearwhether she can also claim a share in her parentalproperty that has increased in value after her mar-riage. What will be the stand of Uniform Civil Codeon this issue?

This should also be borne in mind that it is possibleto give equal share in cash and moveable property.But when it comes to agricultural land situation be-comes very grave. The partition of agricultural landor of an orchard is a matter of life and death for afarmer. A farmer cannot tolerate his sons-in-law de-manding their shares in agricultural land or insistingto sell it. As has been said above the very practice ofsuch customs was to stop the possibility of divisionof a farmland. There can be severe repercussions ifany Uniform Civil Code attempts to interfere in suchmatters.

Another issue is of income tax and ownership of theland. So far an undivided Hindu Family gets someconcession in income tax. Such a family has to paylesser income tax than others and has the right toown more land than others. Will the Uniform CivilCode plead for such rights to all Indians or will itabolish these concessions to a section only so that,with regard to rights and duties, all Indians becomeequal. If the Uniform Civil Code does not touchthese aspects then it will be a very weak legislationand will have to face many kinds of legal challengesin law courts.

As such the slogan of a Uniform Civil Code canhave great attraction for some and may look dreadfulto others but as far as practical aspect is concernedits ground is very uncertain and unclear. For as longas its scope is not clarified it will remain confusing.Is it targeted at particular issues and topics or seeksto treat all Indians as equals? Therefore it should beinsisted upon that the blueprint of the Uniform CivilCode be publicised so that each and every aspectcoming in its ambit could be satisfactorily discussed.Such a demand is the right of every Indian citizenthat no one can deny.

Translated by Urdu Media Monitor.Com fromRozanama Rasitriya Sahara 14 June 2014


Ramadan

I By Sameen Ahmed Khan I

Introduction: Prophet Mohammed (Peace beUpon Him) used to eagerly wait for the month ofRamadan-ul-Mubarak. When he would site the

moon for the months of Rajab and Shabaan, hewould make the Dua: Oh Allah Almighty take us toRamadan-ul-Mubarak. This points to the importanceof Ramadan-ul-Mubarak and the uncertainty in ourlife. Let us note the fact that many of our relativesand friends from the previous Ramada-ul-Mubarakare no more with us (they have died). Those whoare around are a year older and may be having healthissues to do a complete justice to the auspiciousmonth of Ramadan-ul-Mubarak. It is time to seri-ously plan for this Ramadan-ul-Mubarak. Many Ra-madan have come and gone! Time to reflect: whatdid we achieve or not achieve in the previous Ra-madan-ul-Mubarak? Let us try to catch this one, In-shallah. The following Hadith is an eye-opener:

The Three Aameens: Kaab Ibn Ujrah (RA) relates that Rasulullah (peacebe upon him) said Come near to the mimbar and wecame near the mimbar. When He (peace be uponhim) climbed the first step of the mimbar, He (peacebe upon him) said “Aameen”, When He (peace beupon him) ascended the second step, He (peace beupon him) said “Aameen”, When He (peace be uponhim) climbed the third step, He (peace be upon him)said “Aameen” When He (peace be upon him) camedown, We said “O Rasool of Allah (peace be uponhim), we have heard from you today somethingwhich we never heard before” He (peace be uponhim) said When I climbed the first step, the Angel Ji-braeel (alaihi as-salam) appeared before me and said

1.“Destruction to him who found the blessed monthof Ramdhan and let it pass by without gaining for-giveness” upon that I said ‘Aameen’. 2.When I climbed the second step, he said, “Destruc-tion to him before whom thy name is taken and thenhe does not make Dua for Allah’s blessing on me (bysaying, for example , Sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam).”I replied ‘Aameen’. 3.When I climbed the third step, he said “Destruc-tion unto him in whose lifetime his parents or eitherone of them reaches old age, and (through failure toserve them) he is not allowed to enter Jannah”. I said‘Aameen’.

Note that in this Hadith, Jibraeel (alaihi as-salam)gave expression to three curses, upon which Rasulul-lah (peace be upon him) said Aameen every time.May Allah Almighty in His infinite mercy grant usHis help and save us from these three dangers.

Planing the Ramadan: In this short note, we shallconsider some tips for making the month of Ra-madan-ul-Mubarak as productive as possible. Firstand foremost we need to have a powerful intentionand intense Dua to have a good Ramadan accompa-nied with a concrete plan. Subject to feasibility, taketime off from office. The choice of the Masjid(mosque) and the company we keep during the Ra-madan is of paramount importance. Choose aMasjid which has arrangements for the Salaat ofTarawih, Juma and possibly Tahajjud. Try to locatea Masjid within reach, which has very good scholars,to guide us through the Ramadan. Some Masajidhave numerous Ramadan activities done seriously ina spiritual atmosphere.

The key is to have a good plan. Decide on what todo in this Ramadan. The Holy Quran was revealedin the auspicious month of Ramadan. So start withreading of the Quran with Tajweed. We need tomemorize the Holy Quuran. This is to be accompa-nied with meaning and Tafseer (commentaries andexegesis). A book on Seerah of the Holy Prophet isa must for a better understanding of Islam. It is use-ful to employ the technique of “Time Blocking”, thatis allocate time for each activity planned. Plan dif-ferent activities and block time for each activity ‘dayby day’ and within the day ‘hour by hour’. For in-stance, reading the Holy Quran after Fajar. If noth-ing urgent crops up proceed with it. Lack of a planleads to the procrastination that is an attitude of de-laying and postponing. Break the plan into MITs(most important tasks) such that it helps in executingthe plan and having a very productive Ramadan.MIT before anything else! Have a positive attitudeeven if you have missed the Suhoor (predawn meal).Make Dua all the time. Avoid strenuous work onsuch days. Productivity begets productivity! Lazi-ness begets laziness! Small successes keep one mo-tivated and productive. Have a decent routine.Humans are creatures of habit! Routine (morning,after Fajar and before work; duringwork/office/school; and evening routine after the

Plan your Ramadan Month


Ramadan

work) is a must. The routine serves as an autopilot!Is my routine the best it can be? Be conscious ofyour routine. Try expanding the routine realisticallyto accommodate more tasks. Think of some activi-ties after Tarawih and before going to sleep. Spare afew minutes before the sleep and after waking up.Have goals and help others.

Sadaqa is often interpreted as an act of charity (giv-ing help financially or in kind). One needs to do a“Physical Sadaqa” in the sense a kind action/deed:helping a needy person; visiting the sick or thegraveyard. Smiling is also a kind of “PhysicalSadaqa”. Physical Sadaqa gives a human touch andhelps us the situation of the needy. An online dona-tion lacks these aspects. One also needs to think of along term charities: sponsor for a long term some as-pect such as schooling of a kid; medicines for an oldpatient or so. Control our tongue from gossip andslander; apologise when the tongue is misused.Keep our tongues moist with remembrance of AllahAlmighty.

Time and tide wait for none! As time progresses, weneed to reflect on the challenges we are facing andhow best to improve in the rest of the Ramadan.What goals we have achieved and what are the re-maining goals? How to prepare for the last ten dayof Ramadan? One is not to be disheartened or dis-couraged, look ahead and do the best in the remain-ing days of the Ramada. Making most of the last tennights: Plan; make a Dua list; make it very specialby doing Itikaf or some major activity like a charityproject or so. In order to make the Itikaf productive,choice of the Masjid and the company is crucial.Choose good company (scholars and righteous peo-ple); avoid friends as it leads to socializing (chatting,gossiping and killing time). Avoid technologies(laptops; Internet; mobiles etc) as they are likely todistract. Itikaf is about seclusion: avoid petty con-versations in person and over the phones. In the lastten days, we need to be extra focused. Searching forthe Shab-e-Qadar and making long Dua would be amajor activity. One should not be distracted by thesuperfluous functions organized in some Masajid onthe 27th night of Ramadan. Treat this as your lastRamadan!

Concluding Suggestions: The night preceding theEid is also known as Shabe-Jaiza or Lailatul Jaiza,the Night of Reward. Prophet Muhammad (peace beupon him) had said: “Whoever stands up (in wor-ship) in the nights preceding the two Eid expecting

rewards from his Lord, his heart will not die whenthe other hearts will die” (reported in Ibn Majah).On this night we are to refrain from the avoidablemarket atmospheres. To benefit from this opportu-nity, we should perform as much Ibadah in this nightas we can and pray for our needs. Ramadan is themonth of training and not an end. We need to prac-tice in the remaining months, and make best use ofthe training we have undergone. Continue fastingwith six days of Shawwal; Mondays and Thursdays;three mid-days of each Islamic lunar month (13th,14th and 15th). We need to continue the NawafilSalaat particularly in the night. Practice charityround the year. It is useful to keep an envelope or abox for charity. Consistency is the main idea afterRamadan. May Allah Almighty Guide us to planand act in the Ramadan and rest of our lives, Amen.

Bibliography: 1.A website for Quran Majeed with comprehensivesearch in Arabic and numerous languages, along withseveral English translations (meanings), http://www.is-lamicity.com/mosque/quran/ 2.Websites for Hadith, http://www.searchtruth.com/ andhttp://ahadith.co.uk/ 3.Tarawih Summaries in English, Hindi and Urdu,http://NawabMohammedAbdulGhani.webs.com/tarawih.html and http://www.ipci.co.za/information/taraweeh-quran-summary/ 4.Shams Pirzada, Is it not necessary to read the Qur’anwith Understanding?, Idara Da’watul Qur’an, Mumbai,India, 13th Edition (2011). http://scanislam.com/browse-islam/read-quran-with-understanding/ andhttp://www.quranforall.org/quran/iintrqwund.htm 5.Khurram Murad, Way to the Qur’an, Islamic BookService, New Delhi, India. http://www.sunnipath.com/li-brary/books/B0039P0000.aspx and http://www.islamba-sics.com/view.php?bkID=29 6.Learn Arabic through Enlish, Hindi and Urdu at: Func-tional Arabic: http://www.Functional-Arabic.com/ andhttp://www.Explore-Quran.com/index.htm 7.Abdul Karim Parekh, The Easy Dictionary of theQur’aan, This Treasure-house originally in Urdu is nowavailable in numerous languages including: Hindi, Ben-gali, Gujarati, English and Turkish, (Zia Publications,Lucknow, India, Fifth Edition (2005).http://Corpus.Quran.com/. 8.Abdul Aziz Dahran, 80% of Qur’anic Words, ThisPocket-sized booklet is in Urdu and Enlish, Parekh Publi-cations, Nagpur India (2009). http://www.eMuslim.com/. 9. An online source of Quran in different formatsaccompanied with audio to suite a variety of readers:http://www.QuranFlash.com/home?en Sameen Ahmed Khan ([email protected],Engineering Department, Salalah College of Technology(SCOT), Salalah, Sultanate of Oman


HADITH (2nd in first primary source)

In last 3 issues of Bakhabar a general overview ofthe Quran was given. Quran is the first prime sourceof legislation (processing of making and enactinglaws) followed by Hadith. Hadith is a narrativerecord of the sayings or traditions of Muhammad (S)and his companions (R).Consequently, it is of threetypes:QaullandFail(saying &action) of the Prophet(S) and Taqreer(unopposed actions of the companionby prophet).These three are in order of merit and im-portance. Hadith is the interpretation and elaborationof the Quran. For example, a 5-time prayer a day astime-bound obligatory is confirmed by Quran but itswhole method is confirmed from Hadith. The sameis more or less with other worship and non-worshipmatters.

The Prophet (S) said,"The best people are thoseliving in my generation,and then those who willfollow them, and thenthose who will follow thelater.”(Sahihain).

So, the best period are:(1)Period of the prophet (upto 10H), (2) Period of Sa-haba (up to around 110H)(3) period of Tabyeen (upto about 170H). Accord-ing to 2nd meaning of Ha-dith:(1) Period of the prophet (S), and hiscompanions, (2)Tabyeen (up to 150H), (3) Tab-e-Tabyeen (up to 220H).

PS:A period till 300 years Hijra is known as Salaf-Saleheen (pious predecessor), i.e. this period con-cludes with the death of the last Saha Sittah book’sauthor Imam Nesayi.

TADWEEN (COLLECTION) OF HADITH

There is no single word for Tadween in English.Tadween Hadith mainly includes collection, compi-lation and codification. Let us see it century-wise as

follows:-

1ST CENTURY HIJRAH (Period of Hadith inMemory and Practices)

First 10 years was the period of the prophet (S).Then is the period of KhilafatRashida (11-50 H). Pe-riod of Sahaba ends at the death of the last Sahabi“AbuTufail (Aamir bin Wathila)” in around 110H.

If we go back just 100/200 years back we find oneliterate out of 100 men. What about 1400 years be-fore. It may be 1 out of thousands. There were onlyabout 11 Ansar who knew reading and writing. Islamis a practical life. Literacy in Islam means applica-tion of Shariat in one’s life. A graduate Muslim failsto working on Islam is illiterate or worse in the eyesof Allah. Similarly, a Kafir (Ph.D holder) is illiterate

in the eyes of AllahAlmighty or worse thanan animal.

It is the feature of onlyQuran that it was mem-orised word by wordand it came into exis-tence in an official bookduring the period of 1stcaliph Abu Baker (R)and the same wasrewritten and arrangedchapter-wise by theorder of the 3rd caliphUthman with seven

copies which were distributed in the Arab world. Itscompilation and making it in a book form was hav-ing reasons behind it.

As for Hadith it was neither memorised as Quran norcame into any formal book. Instead,Sahaba were dis-couraged from writing down anything from theProphet (S) except the Quran. It was a temporarymandate from the Prophet (S). Later on when Sahababecame familiar with the Quran and numbers ofscribes increased the ban was relaxed, but the print-ing facility was not available at that time and it wasvery difficult to write few on bones, leaves and skin.Leaning of a number of Hadith was easier than writ-

UNDERSTANDING OF SHARIAT (ISLAMIC LAWS)E.g. , Quran, Sunnah and Ijma (consensus ofSahaba)

Part IV {Continued from previous issue…..}


ing down a Hadith. Yet few prominent Sahaba hadwritten down some sayings of the Prophet (S). TheyareAbuhurairah (R), Jabir bin Abdullah, Ali, etc, butI am unaware if their manuscripts are availabletoday.We see that the 2nd Caliph Omar (R) used toalso prohibit Rewayat Hadith (narration ofHadith)under the impression that the Quran may bemixed up with Hadith.

Although a very few Hadith were written down dur-ing lifetime of the Prophet (S) and during period ofSahaba,the vast majority remained committed totheir memories and practices. Later generationslearnt it from their memories. A pupil of Abu Huraira(R),“Hammam B. Munabbih (d110H)”has writtenabout 138 Hadith called “SahifahHammam”whichwas edited by Dr.Hamid and published. This Sahifahis believed to be only book of Hadith of 1st centuryin its original form.

Hadith meaning preservations were in memories andin practices, not necessary its words. Ibn Masoud (R)used to say (likewise orlike that or so) after reading Hadith,or (as the prophet (s) said) is read. Meaning of Ha-dith transmitted from one generation to another inthe language of Rowat (Narrators) till it came intobooks forms in 3rd century onwards whereby Hadithwas recorded in the language of last Ravi (narrator).In another words, Hadith spread verbally from oneSahabi to others and through transmission by inheri-tance as news to the following generations, i.e. Sa-haba to Tabyeen to Tab-Tabyeen (Muslim who hashonour to meet with Sahabi&Tabyeen respectively)and so on.

At that time, the learning process was quite differentfrom today. All reading materials used to be stored inmemories of scholars and in their practices. Theywere not in favour of writing down but to learn.Some used to hate writing. Senior Tabyeen used tohave Shaba’s company (preferably of his town) foryears to learn Hadith. They used to visit them too intheir places of livingin Arab peninsula.Junior Tabyeen did sowith their seniorTabyeen.

According to an esti-mate, 1,060 Sahabifrom around 100,000+have reported the Hadith, outof which 500 Sahabi has reported only one Hadith.

The maximum Hadith (5,374) was reported by AbuHurairah(R) followed by other six SahabaKiram: IbnOmar 2630,Anas bin Malik 2286, Aisah 2210, IbnAbbas 1600, Jaber bin Abdullah 1540 and AbuSaeed Khidri 1170(R). Rest have reported less than1,000. It is wrong to judge the level of knowledge ofa Ravi with their تايورم (narratives). Although only142 Hadith have been reported from Abubacker (R)and 146 from UthmanGhani (R) they were caliphsand among top knowledgeable Sahabi.

Sahaba not only remained in Madinah or Makkahbut started to move from prophet time and mainlyduringKhelafatRashidah. So, they carried whateverthey have learnt from the Prophet (S) to differentparts of Arab world. Tabyeen have learnt Hadithfrom their memories and practices. Famous TabyeenScholars are: Mohammad bin Sa’dAzzuhri (d.124H),Qatada (Basrah, 61-118H), Akrama (Medinah,d.105H), Dahhak (d.100H), Hassan Basari (21-110h)i, Mujahid bin Jubair (Makkah 21-104), Say-eed bin Almusayeeb (Madinah 14-94), IbrahimNakhi (Kofa, 45-96), Sayeed bin Jubair (Kufa 46-95,) Aamir Asshabi (Kufa, d.100H, ‘Ataa binAbiRabah (Makkah, d.114 and Abu Hanifah (80-150). Similar to Sahaba some Tabyeen have alsobeen reported to have writtendown Hadith.

Khalifah Umar bin Abdul Aziz (61-101 H) appointedduring his caliphate two Madani prominent scholarsof Hadith Shaikh Abu Bakr bin Al Hazam(65-135 H)and Shaikh Muhammad bin ShihabZuhri (D124H) towrite Hadiths.

This first collection consists of mostly the Hadithsthat were attributed to the Prophet (S) by two narra-tors in the middle, e.g. Sahabi&Tabyee. Some wereattributed even by one narrator. Since the period wasnearerto the period of the Prophet (S) and the narra-tors were either Sahabi or Tabyeethere was no possi-bility of Hadith for its being weak or false. Onlytheir old age memory was sometimequestionable.During this period Hadith were as:-

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IBy S Farooqi I

“You just spent the last half an hour on thephone! What were you discussing that madeyou laugh so hard? I’ve been waiting for your

conversations to end, just to have a scrap of your at-tention.”Have you ever known someone who is inherently in-secure?

Being in a close relationship with such a person canbe rather stifling. This is because insecurity givesbirth to character and personality traits that make aperson demand from others more than they can give.E.g. those who are insecure suffer from low self-es-teem, frequently copy those around them, cling tothe loved ones, dislike being alone, and want to feelneeded by their loved ones all the time.

They often complain of being ignored or under-mined, wallow in self-pity, and regularly guilt-triptheir dear ones for supposedly neglecting their rightsor being harsh.

Actually, they suffer from fears based on a sense ofinherent worthlessness, which makes them consis-tently undermine and ignore their own positive qual-ities and strengths. They link their sense ofself-worth to others’ need of them, which means thatthe minute their family or friends get busy in doingsomething that does not involve them, they feel “ig-nored” or devalued.

Consequently, they thrive on ensuring that peoplekeep “in need of them” all the time, in some way orthe other.

Now imagine being married to an insecure person.Whether it is the husband or the wife who is inse-cure, the result is usually disastrous, as it affects thecouple’s marriage detrimentally. The more self-con-fident partner starts to feel tied down and manipu-lated. He or she ends up feeling guilty even forenjoying “normal” life activities, because theirspouse makes them feel bad for giving any attentionor time elsewhere.

An insecure spouse becomes controlling and inter-fering, clinging to their partner and often makingthem feel suffocated and trapped.

Insecure spouses refuse to give their spouse ahealthy personal ‘space’ that the latter needs tothrive and grow as an individual.

What is ‘space’?

Any adult needs ‘space’ to succeed; to enable Allahlet them grow and morph into what they are destinedto be. This space comprises of their personal inde-pendence and freedom of choice within the broadboundaries of all actions and endeavors that are per-missible in Islam.

Whether it is their time, profession, choices in cloth-ing, lifestyle, or ways of making and spendingmoney, as long as their choices do not result in thedisobedience of Allah, they are supposed to be freeto do as they please - as responsible, sensible andmature adults.

A healthy marriage allows - rather, facilitates - thegrowth and personal success of both spouses. The re-sult of a happy marriage shows on both of them inthe form of good health, self-confidence, increasedproductivity and a more ‘buoyant’ disposition anddemeanor.

The more caring, respectful and trusting each spouseis of the other; the more the latter grows, thrives andmatures because of the union.

The Insecure Spouse

Newlywed husbands and wives should rememberthat, in the early years of marriage, being clingy,possessive, interfering, and jealous and controlling,can cause damage to their mutual love. It is com-mon, though, for one spouse to be more insecure,and hence more controlling of the other.Small things, such as how much time a spouse isgiving to someone else on the phone, chatting andemailing, be they a family member, friend, or col-league; all this might lead to an insecure and clingy

Sustaining Spousal LoveQuell Insecurity, Give Space


S

spouse the wrong way.

Their job or profession; how many social outingsthey attend without their partner - can begin to ruban insecure and clingy spouse the wrong way.This is especially true for the bored wife who has lit-tle to do to fill up her spare time; who constantly‘waits for her husband to get home’ in order to oc-cupy herself instead of doing something worthwhileto pass her time. Such a wife dislikes being left aloneby her husband at social gatherings, even if he is giv-ing time to a relative he meets only once in manyyears.

As for the insecure husband, he gets jealous even ifhis wife steps outside the home without him, or talksto someone else, on the phone or online, in his pres-ence. He uses the authority that Islam has affordedhim, to promptly place restrictions on his wife assoon as they get married, primarily by stopping herfrom going out without him, or from meeting herfamily on a reasonable basis, or even pursuing per-missible hobbies, education, or work that does notviolate any laws or commandments of Allah.

Insecure wives and husbands thus ‘keep an eye’ ontheir spouse all the time. They check the latter’semail inboxes and mobile phones to survey their textmessages and emails, ensuring that there are nonefrom the opposite gender. They hang around whentheir spouse talks on the phone, fearful that some-thing ‘secret’ might be discussed behind their back.When their spouse is out elsewhere, especially ifthey are enjoying themselves with others, they keepcalling to ask them when they will return home.If not checked, in the first year of marriage theseminor self-esteem issues can blow up quickly, esca-lating into bigger relationship problems.There are ways of giving each other space, in orderto retain their individual identity whilst still main-taining and enjoying a close emotional bond in themarriage.

The First Few Years - Make or Break

The first 2 or 3 years of marriage are different fromthe succeeding ones, in that, most spouses desire ex-clusive time with each other.

These years are usually slow, with a lot of spare timesans the distraction and diversion of babies. Some-times, wives find themselves getting bored, and iftheir husbands do not take them out, or are busy in

work, they can get very frustrated, clingy and home-sick (wanting to go to their parents’ home).

When together, the couple should try to enjoy di-verse activities e.g. they can take road trips, go onquiet nature walks, visit museums or libraries, or un-dertake inexpensive domestic travel in their sparetime, such as holidays, to keep themselves occupied.When one spouse is busy, or needs to give his or hertime elsewhere e.g. to study for an important exam,or attend a conference in another city, the left-be-hind, idle partner should be careful that they do notstart moping around and complaining of boredom.Rather, they should take this “free” time as an oppor-tunity to do something that they are otherwise unableto do when their spouse is around. These thingscould be like catching up with family and friends,reading a book, attending an online webinar or shortcourse, sleeping in, writing a journal entry/blog post,pursuing a hobby (e.g. gardening), working on aproject or deadline, spring cleaning their room, oreven cooking or baking.

Maintaining the Balance

It is very important to be able to differentiate be-tween a spouse’s genuine complains and naggingstemming from insecurity. Time apart should be re-stricted only to necessities, especially in the firstfew, formative years of marriage. Socializing with-out one’s spouse should be a once-in-a-while occur-rence, not a regular feature or daily habit. Forspouses who are insecure by nature, it is imperativethat they realize that their inherent insecurity willcause problems for their own selves.

They should not just curb any negative thoughts,doubts and fears about their husband or wife thatcome into their heads, but should also find produc-tive pastimes to fill up their spare time, when theirspouse is occupied elsewhere.

As they say, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. AndMuslim marriages are prime targets of the Shaitan.As far as personal space goes, the more of it onegives to their life partner, the more love, care and re-spect they get in return.

S Farooqi[www.islaaminfo.co.za]


From The Times of India

CHENNAI: At a time when Muslim organisationsand political parties are holding rallies and publicmeetings seeking to increase reservation in govern-ment jobs and educational institutions in the stateand Centre, a mosque in Chennai has taken a differ-ent route to achieve this.

MoulanaShamsudheenQasimi, chief imam ofMakkah Masjid on Anna Salai is a proud man todayas his efforts have borne fruit in the first attempt. Hestarted a training academy for civil services aspirantswithin the premises of the mosque. AzhagiyaKadanIAS Academy was started on the third floor of themosque with 28 aspirants in 2011. Today, one of itsstudents, Mohammed Ashraf JS, has cracked theUPSC examination in his first attempt with a rank of1,032.

Shamsudheen says that no other mosque in the coun-try has a civil services exam training academy insideits premises. The academy provides coaching, food,accommodation, books and study materials to stu-dents free of cost. It spends more than Rs 40 lakh peryear to run the academy, and all funding comes frommembers of the community.

Ashraf, who was working for Chennai Metro RailLimited, quit his job in 2012 to make his childhooddream of joinng the civil services come true. Ashraf,who finished civil engineering in Anna University in2011 is from Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, where

his father runs a welding workshop. After complet-ing his graduation, he joined CMRL for a salary ofRs 28,000 a month.

He was one of the 28 students shortlisted from the1,200 applications the academy received. He joinedthe academy in August 2012 and took the UPSCexam in May 2013. Though he was ranked as 1,032when the UPSC examination results were announcedon Thursday, it is seen as an achievement by thecommunity members. The academy is expected toplay a huge role in motivating young Muslims in fu-ture.

Shamsudeen said, "Muslim students should be moti-vated by Ashraf's achievement. We want more stu-dents to come forward and join the academy. Rightnow, we have 50 students studying here. Next year,we plan to take in 100 students."

Ashraf said he was able to crack the exam only be-cause of the academy and the environment it pro-vided. "Muslim parents should change their mindsetof sending children to foreign countries as labour. In-stead, they should give them a good education. Wehave only 2% representation in IAS. It can be in-creased only through education and making use ofacademies like the one I studied in," Ashraf said.

Students who want to enroll for the next (2014-15)batch can register online at www.akias.in from June15 to August 12.

Student of academy run by Chennaimosque cracks IAS

The Stark TruthThe Loksabha results have confronted us with stark truth. Cor-porate sector and middle classes influenced by sectarian ideol-ogy and armed with the power of media and internet can put anyone on the throne. The masses are devoid of a grassroots net-work that could safeguard their interests and culture.The danger has been brewing for the last 23 years when corpo-rate sector started wielding increasing authority and owning TVchannels. They showed their media power three years ago whenthey lifted Anna Hazare, and later Kejriwal, to the sky and madethe Central Government end on the knees.A year ago they projected their choice for prime ministershipand poured glamour around him. They went to the extent thateven Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech from the RedFort was overshadowed by Modi’sLallan college speech. They

gave some coverage to Rahul Gandhi, but only to reinforce bycontrast Modi’s strong man and development man image. Mid-dle classes carried massive drive on the internet in his favor.Now the government of their choice has come to power. May Modiji do good work. But the point is different. For thefirst time the entire drive of polity is in the hands of corporatesector and media. In place of compassion, equality and freedom,the forces of arrogance, hatred and show off are dominating. Po-litical workers and basic issues were never so irrelevant in elec-tions as this time. Bodoland and Muzaffarnagar violence reflectthat rioters are united and strong while the ones to resist themare weak.To address these challenges we need to review our position onpolity and culture with utmost seriousness and build appropriatenetworks. By Dr. V.K. Tripathi


Total of 239 students could make it this year, inthe matric (10th Bihar and Jharkhand boardexams) from the 16 centres that remained ac-

tive during current academic year, alhamdolillah.Unfortunately, 18 students out of a total of 257 couldnot make it. Most of these are students who studiedin the RCCs for less than 9 months during the cur-rent year. The students who have consistently beenwith the RCCs from 8th grade (in the centres whichstarted more than 2 years before) have done excel-lently well, thus making a case for “catching themyoung”.

7 RCCs produced 100% pass results – all of themare from Bihar – none of the Jharkhand RCCs couldreach this level of performance. RCC Chapra @ Ol-hanpur village (in Saran district of Bihar), sponsoredby the Aligarh Alumni Association of WashingtonDC, through the efforts of Dr. Razi Raziuddin,proved to be the best performing RCC in terms ofmaximum number of 1st divisioners (and 100% passrate). None of the RCC Chapra students were among3rd divisioners or failed students – all the 24 stu-dents appearing in the 10th board exam achieved ei-ther 1st division or 2nd division. Same numberswere achieved by RCC Muzaffarpur - 13 first divi-sioners, highest number among all RCCs and 12 sec-ond divisioners; however, they could not help 3 oftheir students from failing in the exam.

A total of 95 students could achieve first division,while 132 re-ceived seconddivision and12 studentsscrapedthrough with athird division.The passingrate of allRCCs com-bined is 93%,which was notachieved bymany commer-cial coachingcentres that wesurveyed. Thelevel of stu-

dents who join the RCCs has always been very low,because they come only from the governmentschools (as a policy of RCCs) wherein teachinghardly takes place. Unless these poor students,withno access to quality education, are coached with anoble objective to help them cross the threshold of10th board, the percentage in higher studies cannotbe increased.

A whopping 6 students failed from RCC Ranchi, thecentre which was started this year, proving the gen-uineness of implementing our policy and the academiclevel of the students at entry level of RCCs – all thestudents in such new centres are those who never gotan opportunity to learn, because government schoolsdo everything except teaching. So, even though this isa sad news for the RCC Ranchi, we congratulate themfor having tried their best during the few months theygot. It does require a lot of guts to take up the chal-lenge of transforming the non-meritorious lot into themeritorious ones - that is churning heroes out of zeros.

Two RCC students scored perfect 100% in Maths –they are Saba Perween of RCC Hazaribagh (Jhark-hand), and Shadab Alam of RCC Ramgarh (Jhark-hand). Although RCC Ranchi could not stop 6 studentsfrom failing (highest fail percentage among all RCCs).It has the special distinction of producing the highestoverall scorers. Nagma Perween and Baby Afrin scoredthe two highest scores among the all the RCCs. Jhark-hand RCCs produced 70% of top scores in the top 10list of RCC students (considering main subjects only),

beating BiharRCCs by a widemargin. RCC @Arwal producedthe highestoverall scorer inBihar - Md.Zee-shan Alam re-ceived thehighest overallmarks, coming3rd among allRCCs (includ-ing JharkhandRCCs).

RAHBAR Coaching Centres Continue to Produce Much Better Re-sults than Most Commercial Coaching Centres for Matric exam:

Sl No. RCC 1st Div 2nd

Dev 3rd Div Fail Total Appeared

Total Pass

%age Pass

1 Saran-Chapra 12 12 0 0 24 24 100.0% 2 Hajipur 9 17 2 0 28 28 100.0% 3 Arwal 7 5 0 0 12 12 100.0% 4 Patna 7 10 0 0 17 17 100.0% 5 Kishanganj 4 2 1 0 7 7 100.0% 6 Motihari 4 9 0 0 13 13 100.0% 7 Darbhanga 3 6 1 0 10 10 100.0% 8 Samastipur 7 15 1 1 24 23 95.8% 9 Nalanda-Asthawan 0 5 0 1 6 5 83.3%

10 Ramgarh-Chitarpur 3 9 1 1 14 13 92.9%

11 Hazaribagh 5 2 2 1 10 9 90.0% 12 Bhagalpur 2 6 1 1 10 9 90.0% 13 Dhanbad 7 8 2 2 19 17 89.5% 14 Muzaffarpur 13 11 0 3 27 24 88.9%

15 Aurangabad-Rafiganj 2 10 1 2 15 13 86.7%

16 Ranchi 10 5 0 6 21 15 71.4%

Total 95 132 12 18 257 239 93.00%


RAHBAR Coaching Centres (absolutely free coaching) produce 2ndand 4thAll India toppers in 2014 diploma engineering entrance exam forMANUU – son of a labourer, and daughter of road-side vendor now look forward to a bright futureBihar Anjuman’s RAHBAR Coaching Centres have the honour of producing a high success rate in the 2014diploma engineering entrance exam for MANUU, getting more than 30 students short-listed for admission.

All India 2ndtopper is from RCC Darbhanga, and the 4th topper is from RCC Patna. RAHBAR Coaching centres were able to transform 33zeroes of yesterday into heroes of today, this year,thus adding to the 67 of previous three years (6 in 2010, 16 in 2011, 18 in 2012, and 27 in 2013), taking thetotal to 100, now.33 students of RAHBAR Coaching Centres make history in 2014, with ShahidObaidullah of RCC Darb-hanga getting 2ndAll India Rank (1st in Bihar) and NahidParween of RCC @ Patna bagging the 4thAll Indiarank in MANUU polytechnic entrance exam of 2014. In 2013, the 6th rank was bagged by RCC Patna stu-dent, Khadija Mastoor, while there were 4 students in top 50.

RCC Muzaffarpur took RCC movement to new heights by getting 12 of its students in the qualifying list ofsame all India exam. Six (6) of the top 50 ranks havebeen bagged by RCCs managed byBihar Anjuman, three of these byRCC Muzaffarpur alone.Thanks tothe exceptional efforts of Janab-Shoaib Khan Sb, IPS, who has de-voted his precious time to the RCCsand considered the children studyingthere as his own. His study materi-als for the polytechnic entranceexams as well as the 10th board areplaying a great role in making theRCC students better their achieve-ment every year.

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RCC students Qualifying Polytechnic Entrance Exams

Bakhabar, July 2014

Documents

Transcript of Bakhabar, July 2014