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Showing posts from November, 2006

Definition of the Quran

It is necessary to define the Quran, from this definition we will know what is allowed to be read in prayer and what is not. What is a proof in Hukm Shari and what is not. Also it will tell us what will make somebody a Kafir by denying and what does not constitute disbelief. So when we define Quran we mean the Quran as evidence in Fiqh. It is the word of Allah that is revealed upon his slave Muhammad in the Arabic tongue It is a miracle (Ijaaz) in even the shortest Surah, it is written down and narrated to us through Tawattur (multiple chains of transmission), through which we worship Allah by reading it, it starts with Surat al-Fatiha and ends with Surat Al-Naas. (See Al-Ihkaam by Sayf ul-Deen al-Aamidi 1/28 and Rawdat al-Nathir by Ibn- Qudama al-Maqdisi 1/178). From this definition many points come to mind. The definition excludes any Book that is not the word of Allah, or revealed in the Arabic tongue. It also excludes any narration that has not reached us via a Mutawattir chain of

The Laws of Partnerships (Companies) in Islam

The following is a translation from Arabic. The Company (Partnership) in Islam Company (ash-sharika) linguistically means mixing two or more shares together such that neither can be distinguished from the other. Company in Shar'a is a contract between two or more persons, in which they agree to perform financial work with the intention of making profit. The contract of the company requires the existence of both offer and acceptance, as is the case with all Islamic contracts. An offer occurs when one party says to the other: ‘I made you a partner in such and such’ and the other party replies by saying, ‘I accepted.’ These actual words are not necessary but the meaning is. There must occur in the offer and acceptance something that indicates that one of the parties addressed the other orally or in writing on the matter of partnership over something, and the other accepted. Therefore, an agreement on partnership only does not represent a contract. An agreement to pay money or property

Why Muslims cannot rely on the UN

Recently, Israel shelled the unarmed residents of Beit Hanoun, Gaza. According to the BBC, the majority of the 18 people killed were women and children. The BBC went on to note that 80 Palestinians have been killed in the month of November. In addition, “close to 400 have died - many of them civilians - since the Israeli army intensified operations in late June”. The Guardian reported: “According to Human Rights Watch, since September 2005 Israel has fired about 15,000 rounds at Gaza while Palestinian militants have fired around 1,700 back. The latest disclosures come as an Arab-backed motion condemning Israel’s Gaza offensive was being circulated for debate at the UN Security Council and amid widening demonstrations in capitals of the Middle East.” As was quoted in The Independent, Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch said: “Israeli forces launched the artillery attack on Beit Hanoun at a time when their commanders knew, or should have known, that the risk of civilian deaths far o

Rethinking Intellectual Property

By Dr Abdullah Robin New Civilisation Magazine Dr Abdullah Robin looks at innovation and economic growth in a knowledge based economy and traces the development of the concept of intellectual property from its capitalist origins as a monopoly right through its transformation into an allegedly universal concept of property in ideas. He examines the integrity of the concept and argues that it is a brake rather than an engine for economic progress; a brake that Islam dispenses with for the betterment of humanity. A generation that grew up in fear of 'Mutually Assured Destruction' leaving the survivors with the prospect of 'nuclear winter' witnessed the spread during the early 1990s, not of global communism or genetically engineered bubonic plague, but a highly contagious computer game from one of the Soviet Union's most esteemed academies. The game was called Tetris and it marked a turning point in the handheld and console games industry in the West. It nearly ended up