Benevolence (Ihsān) has been emphasized over and over again in Islamic teachings. The Qur’ān says: Indeed Allah ordains justice and benevolence. (16:90) Benevolent behaviour is considered a natural re...
A young, poor friend of mine came to see me from a place some seventy kilometers from Lahore. He did inform me on the phone that morning about his arrival. Incidentally, I had a particularly busy sche...
The Qur’ān, in general, criticizes the behavior of some People of the Book and says that the arrival of Jesus (sws) was meant in the divine scheme to instill the real spirit of the law among the Jews...
The Qur’ānic text, although it is the Word of God protected from corruption and human interference, is expressed in human language which is the Arabic used at the time of revelation of Qur’ān by the A...
Travelling by an otherwise comfortable bus service plying between Lahore and Islamabad, I had an uncomfortable time facing constant disturbance through involuntary ‘consumption’ of filthy songs and in...
The Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: ‘Both the lawful (Halāl) and the unlawful (Haram) things are obvious, and in between them are doubtful [Mushtabihāt] matters. Whoever forsakes those doubtfu...
It is indeed only Allah who has given man whatever he possesses. Man’s life and all his belongings are the bounties of Allah. The only befitting way man can express his gratitude to acknowledge this t...
A temporary loss of health is one of the great blessings Allah Almighty enables his servants to experience. When one falls ill, all worldly engagements involuntarily come to a standstill -- engagement...
It is only Allah whose discretion holds supreme in this world. No one else’s discretion has in reality even a trace of authority. However, for the sake of trial, Allah has sanctioned freedom to man, w...
Some time ago, I received an email from an old student. One of its paragraphs read: Sir, I belong to the Marxist school of thought. Therefore, naturally I’m in favour of a communist / socialist societ...
A Muslim gets up early in the morning with these words on his lips: ‘O Allah, I thank you for enabling me to sleep and for enabling me to wake up.’ He cleanses himself and proceeds to the mosque for t...
When man has a plan to make a car or any other machine, he breaks it down into numerous parts, first making each one of them separately. Thereafter, he puts them together to create the final object. O...
Some days ago, I was among the many who received the following email from a Swedish priestess: Dear Friends, Please do not ignore this email. This is something that we as women and essentially as huma...
We certainly do not perceive God, but we do observe this world. History has recorded the story of the fashion in which we have beheld it for the last five thousand years. We have observed it from wide...
The Qur’ān says: O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from the Fire whose fuel will be men and rocks, over which will be appointed stern and severe angels as wardens who would never di...
While life is indeed a priceless blessing, death puts an end to it, at least in this present, apparent world. How should a believer react to the phenomenon of death, specially when a close one has dis...
The worldly life of ours, which is a very short duration of existence between birth and death, is only a trial, nothing more and nothing less than that. Whatever different phases man experiences here,...
A pilot of our air force once narrated to me a personal experience of a lifetime: one that shook his imagination to the core and transformed his subsequent behaviour in life completely. He recounted:...
Mankind seems to be divided by religious categorisation. Some religious groups are more exclusive in their approach than others. However, the approach of condemning people belonging to other faiths, a...
From time to time Allah Almighty has picked men to convey the messages of guidance to mankind. These messengers have been described by the titles of Rasūl and Nabī in the Qur’ān. Amongst this list of...
