T A H I R MAGAZINE

JULY 2013

The official magazine of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK

July 2013 Issue

1 Ramadhan in the Quran

2 Ahadith

3 Sayings of the Promised Messiahas

4 Hadhrat Khaliftul Massihatba to you

6 Ramadhan - Why fast?

8 The night equal to a thousand months

10 Blessings of Ramadhan

12 Jogging

14 Animals in the Holy Quran

16 Kids Corner

‘saw’Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him

‘atba’May Alla support him with his Mighty hand

The Holy Prophet

All other Prophets

Companions

Khulafa who have not met the Promised Messiah

Hudhur

‘as’Peace be upon him

‘ra’May Allah be pleased with him

‘rh’May Allah have mercy on him

Tahir Magazine is the official Magazine of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK, an auxiliary organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The views ex-pressed here by contributors may not represent the views held by Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK, or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

SADR MKA UKMirza Waqas Ahmad

MOHTAMIM MAA UKMusawir Idrees

EDITOR TAHIR MAGAZINENauman Ahmed Hadi

شهر رم��ض��ان ال��ذي أن��زل فيه ال��ق��رآن ه��دى للناس وب��ي��ن��ات

من الدى والفرقان

O ye who believe! Fasting isprescribed for you, as it wasprescribed to those before you,so that you may become righteous.(2:184)

يا أي�ها الذين آمنوا كتب عليكم ��ي��ام ك��م��ا ك��ت��ب ع��ل��ى ال��ذي��ن ال��ص

من ق�بلكم لعلكم ��ت�قون

The month of Ramadhan is thatin which the Quran was sentdown as a guidance for mankind,with clear proofs of guidance and discrimination.(2:186)

.And fasting is good for youوأن �صوموا خي�ر لكم(2:185)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Ever Merciful

Extracts from the Holy Quran

Ahadith Sayings of the Holy Prophetsaw

When the month of Ramadhan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of

Hell are closed and the devils are chained

Sahih Bukhari

Whoever fasts during Ramadhan out of sin-cere faith and hoping to attain Allah's re-wards, then all his past sins will be forgiven.

“

”

“Sahih Bukhari ”

“

”Sahih Bukhari

Fasting is a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins.

It should be remembered that the fast does not mean merely that a person should abstain from food and drink over a certain period. During the fast one should be occupied greatly with the remembrance of God. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) occupied himself greatly with worship during the month ofof Ramadan. During that month one should discard one’s preoccupation with eating and drinking; and cutting asunder from these needs should address oneself wholly towards God. Unfortunate is the person who is bestowed material bread and pays no attention to spiritual bread. Material bread strengthens the body, and spiritual bread sustains the soul and sharpens the spiritual faculties.SeekSeek the grace of God, as all doors are opened by His grace.

Saying of the Promised Messiahas

Essence of Islam Volume ii

Ahadith Sayings of the Holy Prophetsaw

When the month of Ramadhan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and the gates of

Hell are closed and the devils are chained

Sahih Bukhari

Whoever fasts during Ramadhan out of sin-cere faith and hoping to attain Allah's re-wards, then all his past sins will be forgiven.

“

”

“Sahih Bukhari ”

“

”Sahih Bukhari

Fasting is a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins.

Extract from the summary of the Friday Sermon delivered by Hadhrat Mriza Masroor Ahmad Khalifatul Massih Vatba on the 19th of July 2013. For the full sermon see alislam.org.

Each year the month of Ramadan reminds us that the Holy Qur’an is a teaching of guidance and it discriminates between truth and falsehood with illuminating signs. It reminds us about the great importance of the excellence of fasting and how fasting should be observed. Ramadan also re-minds us that the teaching of the Holy Qur’an is complete and comprehensive. Indeed, this re-minding is only beneficial when we understand its spirit and es-sence.

The reminding of the affinity be-tween Ramadan and the Holy Qur’an will be clear to us when we will try and make special ef-fort in this month to Look

for the commandments of the Qur’an. Ramadan reminds us, draws our attention to look for the commandments within the

Qur’an and then put them in practice and make them a part of life.when we experience Ramadan it reminds us that in light of the teaching of the Holy Qur’an ev-ery Muslim should inculcate spirit of sacrifice. We should self-ass-es regarding the promise that we make for the sake of God and His Community and for the sake of Khilafat e Ahmadiyya to sac-rifice our life, property and time.

God has given hundreds of direc-tives relating to how He wishes to see true believers and in this age attention has been drawn to reformation through the Prom-ised Messiahas.

Virtues of Fasting

RamadhanWhy Fast?

You and I eat every day of the year, we enjoy hand-

some meals at the table consisting of everyone’s favourite dishes. Hav-ing three meals a day is something which we do without even thinking about. But there comes a month every year where we are told to stop eat-ing and drinking, there comes a month each year where we are told to fast.

Allah the Almighty com-mands us in the Holy Quran:

“O ye who believe! fast-ing is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righ-teous”(2:184)

The verse above tells us that the reason why we fast in Ramadhan is so that we can become reci-peint of Allah’s blessings and hence become righ-teous through his boun-ty upon us.

Ramadhan also carries a great significane as it is the month in which

the Holy Quran was revealed. So we are en-couraged to recite the Holy Quran more than we usually would as in this month their are great blessings for those trying hard to change themselves into better Muslims.

Ramadhan is such a blessed month that the Holy Prophetsaw used to wait anxiously for it and used to supplicate to Al-lah to see the Muslims safely into Ramadhan.

So the question rises why do we fast? It should be made clear that Rama-dhan is not the month where we just stop eat-ing for a long time. Rath-er, the true purpose of fasting is to avoid any-thing which will not win the pleasure of Allah. The purpose of not eating is

to give us the oppertu-nity to gain nearness to Allah by walking away from all distractions that we face in our daily lives.

So the true spirit of Ra-madhan is not only to keep oneself hungry but with that to make the extra effort to walk the path of righteousness.

That is why the Holy Prophetsaw said:“Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink”

This shows us that the real essence of fasting lies in the actions, not in the food.

The Night equal to a Thousand Months

Laylatul Qadr or Night of Desti-ny is a night of tremendous sig-nificance which falls in the last 10 days of Ramadhan and is the night when the first verses of the Holy Quran were revealed to the Holy Prophetsaw. Allah the Almighty mentions in Surah Al Qadr:

Surely, We sent it down during the Night of Decree. And what shall make thee know what the Night of Decree is? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. Therein descend angels and the Spirit by the command of their Lord with Divine decree concerning every matter. It is all peace till the rising of the dawn.

Meaning that Laylatul Qadr is such a night which is better than 1000 months (83 years!) Such are the blessings of this

night that those people who supplicate to Allah the Exalted during this night it is as if they have worshipped their lord for 83 years.

The Holy Prophetsaw mentions:

Laylatul Qadr has been be-stowed by Allah to my Ummah. It was not given to any people before this.

Hazrath Aishara narrates:

I asked O Messenger of Allah! Tell me if I were to find a Night of Power, what should I recite therein?” Holy Prophet Mu-hammadsaw advised her to recite “O Allah! You are Forgiving, You love forgiveness, so forgive me.”

Therefore, it will be a great op-portunity missed if we do not

take full advantage of this bless-ing and pray to Allah for the removal of our sins and also for spiritual progress during this night. One should be praying throughout the year, every day of his life for the acquisition of nearness to Allah, However, as this night carries with it such spiritual gifts one should try ex-ceedingly hard gain the pleasure of Allah during Laylatul Qadr.

Hudhuratba in his Friday Sermon delivered on 27th August 2010 mentions:

If God so wills, He manifests His special grace for the conso-lation of His servant, creating a condition, by virtue of which this special night is granted. His servant experiences a wondrous spiritual state. That is, fulfilling the pledge of worship of God, in which man notices spiritual development and enhancement every moment, indeed should notice it. When man fasts while reading and reflecting on the Qur’an and primarily fasting in order to enhance his devotion to God, indeed God sees that man is putting the commandments in practice to the best of his abil-ity, and is supplicating and call-ing God in view of: ‘“I am near.

I answer the prayer of the sup-plicant when he prays to Me” (2:187), not only does God lis-ten to prayers, rather He grants Laylatul Qadr in accordance to His promise during which He comes down to earth, near His servants. When man fulfils his pledge, God raises man’s spiri-tual state. If there is ever any de-ficiency, it is on our part, in our effort and our practices. God provides this blessed month every year with its last ten days and Laylatul Qadr, which is the highest point of attaining near-ness to God. How much effort should then be made on man’s part! The spiritual experience of this special night brings about amazing transformation in a person and so it should, other-wise the due of the night is not fulfilled.

So this night is a night which can change the life of an individ-ual and grant him spiritual pro-gression. This is an oppertunity which comes only after one year and therefore, it is incumbent upon us to take full advantage of this blessed night and wor-ship our Lord so that we can gain nearness to him.

Blessings of RamadhanAhadith

The gates of Hell are closed and the gates of Paradise are opened

Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah’s re-

wards, then all his past sins will be forgiven

If people become aware of what ramad-han is, then my ummah would wish that whole year should remain as ramadhan

Whosoever fasts in Ramadan and then follows it with fasting six days of Shaw-wal, it is as if he fasts forever.

Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: “I am fasting!”

The Promised Messiah as mentions:

The third pillar of Islam is fasting. People are also unaware of the reality of fasting. The truth is one cannot talk about a place that one does not go to and is not aware about. Fasting is not merely staying hun-gry and thirsty; rather its reality and its impact can only be gained through expe-rience. It is human nature that the less he eats the more his self/spirit is purified and his capacity for visions increases. The will of God is to decrease one kind of suste-nance and to increase the other. A person who is fasting should always be mindful that he is not just required to stay hun-gry. On the contrary he should remain engaged in remembrance of God so that he can cut asunder ties of worldly desires and amusements and is wholly devoted to God. Hence, the significance of fasting is this alone that man gives up one kind of sustenance which only nourishes the body and attains the other kind of sus-tenance which is a source of comfort and gratification of the soul.

(Malfuzat, Vol. 9, pp. 122 – 123)

JoggingRunning is very good for your health. It provides a great cardiovas-cular workout, strengthens and tones your muscles. Regular jogging gives better overall physical condition as well as some other health benefits, including mental benefits such as relaxation and reduction of anxiety. Most importantly for many, running is a good way to lose weight and generally get fitter.

Regular running and jogging is a good way to improve your health and fitness. You do not need to become a marathon runner to benefit greatly from running but just a regular jog every day can improve your health and make you an active person.

Jogging teaches us to never give up and to keep going to achieve our goals

Running can give you both physical and mental joy, so long as you do not exhaust yourself! When jogging is done correctly, you will actually feel less tired after you have finished a tour than before you began. You may even start to enjoy the feelings in your muscles during the jogging and afterwards.

Strength and physical fitness is also encouraged in Islam as the Holy Prophetsaw said:

A strong believer is better and more dearer to Allah than a weak believer

Therefore, it is essential that we live healthy lifestyles and remain fit so that we can carry out our responsibilities to the best of our abilities. Jogging is one way, and according to some the best, through which one can become physically and mentally fit.

Jogging teaches us to never give up and to keep going to achieve our goals

فما لم عن التذكرة معرضني كأن�هم حر مستنفرة

ف�رت من قسورة

L I O N“The King of the Jungle” as it is known due to its dominace over all other animals. The Lion is a symbol of courage and bravery, it is used once in the Holy Quran in Surah Al-Mudatthir:

That what is the matter with them that they are, from the remind-er, turning away. As if they were alarmed donkeys. Fleeing from a lion?

So the verse is describing that a lion is an animal to be feared, with the rejecting non-Mus-

فما لم عن التذكرة معرضني كأن�هم حر مستنفرة

ف�رت من قسورة

lims fleeing from the message, like donkeys fleeing from a lion.

The Lion has also been men-tioned many times in the Aha-dith. For instance Hadhrat Alira was given the title “Lion of Allah” due to his bravery. This tells us that a Lion has some characteristics which we should adopt such as bravery, courage and fearlessness.

Doctor Doctor I swallowed a bone.Are you choking?No, I really did!

Q. How do you make milkshake?A. Give it a good scare

Teacher: Where’s your homework?Boy: I made it in to a paper plane and someone hijacked it!

Q.How do you make a sausage roll?A. Push it down a hill

RiddlesQ.How many seconds are in a year?A. 12. (January 2, Febuary 2, March 2 etc.)

Q. The red house is on one side and the blue is on the other, where is the white house?A. Washington DC

Q. A rooster lays one egg on the top of the roof. Which way does it roll?A. Roosters don’t lay eggs

Jokes

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NIGHT OF DECREEPRAYERQURAN

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