Never before has a book like 'WHY ONLY ISLAM; the Summation & Culmination' been so poignant and logical disposition of thought provoking. It elucidates the strengths and weaknesses of human beings, societies, and nations of the world. In the process, Author SYED H. JAFFAR shares his passion for a winning ATTITUDE to eradicate ILLITERACY by facilitating proper EDUCATION. COEXIST with tolerance and understanding in stopping human suffering that, he says, blows him hither and thither to the verge of mental pain and hopelessness. With his own enticing thoughts combined with Dr. PAYAM AZMI's classic work on 'ISLAMIC FACTS as distinct religion's true rights with instructional doors of knowledge', JAFFAR affirms, people can change their life. The AZMI-JAFFAR book, a guide for all the just people, is written with an eye toward today's new generation and that of a hundred years from now, when there will be all new people. JAFFAR's passionate and earnest desire is to entreat Muslims for outsmarting the enemies of PEACE (ISLAM). Through science, technology, and religious wisdom, we can control the world, ourself, and our soul; the coalition of teams of dedicated people worldwide, JAFFAR concludes, can achieve PEACE (ISLAM) ON EARTH; it's up to us!
Why Only Islam
The Summation & CulminationBy SYED H. JAFFARTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2010 Syed H. Jaffar
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4269-4701-8Contents
— PREFACE....................................................................................................17— ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................27— ILLUSTRATIONS..............................................................................................35— An EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................53-Peace (Islam) on Earth; It's up to us -Exec-E X H I B I T S.......................................................79— A Detailed INTRODUCTION....................................................................................89-Why Only Islam, the Summation & Culmination -Intro-E X H I B I T S................................................153The English Translation............................................................................................173— YA ALLAH...................................................................................................1751. Our Own Talk....................................................................................................1772. Foreword........................................................................................................1793. Preface.........................................................................................................1814. Intellect (Aql).................................................................................................1875. God's Providence................................................................................................1916. Wisdom..........................................................................................................1957. Knowledge and Intention.........................................................................................1998. Scales and Quantity.............................................................................................2079. Life............................................................................................................21110. Creation.......................................................................................................21511. Refusal Not Possible...........................................................................................21912. In the Master's Audience.......................................................................................22313 The Need for Guidance...........................................................................................22714 Which Way Do I Go...............................................................................................23115 The Rule of Life................................................................................................23516 The Search......................................................................................................23917 The Letter of Guidelines........................................................................................24318 In the Light of the Qur'an......................................................................................24919 In the Audience of the Qur'an...................................................................................25520 The Qur'an-e-Mubeen (The Manifest)..............................................................................26721 In the Audience of the Apostle (Risaalat).......................................................................27522 It's a Favour Not Tyranny.......................................................................................28323 Death and Resurrection..........................................................................................289• So Close, Yet So Far Apart; Stopping the Abuse of Others By Syed H. Jaffar.................................298• Relation of Man with Nature; Domestic Setup & Women's Rights By Ayatollah M. Mutahhari.....................373
Chapter One
Why Only Islam The Summation & Culmination
Italic Words within ( ) are in Roman Urdu
An INTRODUCTION By: SYED H. JAFFAR
BACKGROUND
While the central theme in this Introduction and the (Urdu to English) translation effort of the entire book is about Islam (Peace), our Creator (Allah / God), and the Great Creator's most eminent of created beings, Human Beings —as the followers of any religious sect, group (firqa), or simply the just people of the world—, it focuses on the truth about Muslims (the Sunni and Shi'a brothers and sisters) as an endeavour to fill a major lacuna (khalaa, gap) on the subject of "political, juridical, and spiritual" legitimacy of Islam's position around the world.
In addition, there is a convincing attempt in the book to discuss this life and the life hereafter as well as humanity (insaniyat) on Allah's precious little Earth within His unimaginably infinite and expanding Universe.
My hope is that the issues discussed here will create a new opening and beginning for all, particularly our beloved Muslim new generation living in the Western world.
As a caution, I must preface with clear warning that some of the readers are not going to like my constructive criticisms here that may be very hard to stomach. Some details here, if not taken as constructive criticism for a positive outcome, may seem somewhat provocative. At the outset, however, let me point out that the humble effort here is an honest attempt to throw light upon the strengths and weaknesses of human beings —people—, their communities, nations, societies, religions, and cultures. It should, therefore, get attention if the reader would follow what Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (a) had stated 1400 hundred years ago: "Consider not who said [it], rather, look at what he said."
Lastly, the Introduction here by 'Yours truly' SHJaffar is somewhat detailed for those who may prefer it that way, anyway.
As I have written in one of my successful books in the past and it's worth repeating here in this chapter, humankind —people— and their civilizations on our Earth have come a long way from the Dark Ages, Arabic Numerals, Great Architectural and the Agricultural as well as Railroad Eras. To continue, the nineteenth century's Telephone Invention and Industrial Revolution as well as twentieth century's Automobile and Airplane beginnings together with the Space Exploration to the current Age of Information Technology jungle or Digital E-Commerce Epoch/Era of the twenty-first century.
While we appreciate all these inventions, contrivances, and improvements associated with the human skills and wisdom, some people seem to be having difficulty in accepting a much greater wisdom (Hikmat), our Creator's oneness and purity with truly the immense and infinite skills.
Our Creator's infinite skills that have not only created the whole universe but have also brought into existence His most eminent created beings —human beings with human skills, knowledge, and wisdom. Even our Great Creator, Allah, as the holy and divine books have pointed out, was "pleased and proud" to have crafted such a complete specimen as His great work of craftsmanship.
So, will the next epoch/era be a more universal acceptance of our Great Creator that could result in a true appreciation of Life and Humanity (Insaniyat) on this precious little Earth?
That's a 'billion-dollar' question among other questions below, as we complete the first decade of the twenty-first century CE of the third millennium and are well into Islam's fifteenth century AH.
Will the Day of Judgment be part of this century or millennium? What changes are in store for us? Will we still need the political systems or religions, as we know them today? Can the just people of the world make the tyrants and other 'people and power' abusers a thing of the past? Will the people of different religions or religious sects get along?
What sorts of challenges await us as we struggle to satisfy the internal and external demands of our existence on God created blue and beautiful planet Earth?
Russell's viewpoint here is based on his belief of the absence of any evidence about God's existence. The religious people of the time, however, may have rightly argued that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. But: then, long ago the religious elites had a hard time accepting astronomer Nicolas Copernicus' comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from center of the universe.
Well, the Russell's and others, however, have all long gone. Can the people, who are around and about today, find the evidence of our Creator through Azmi's enlightening book here to discover themselves first, and then make a concerted effort to try and convince today's Russell's and others?
The answers to this and all the above questions about the future, obviously, cannot be very reliable. The future role of today's powerful political, cultural, and religious world, specifically the people-made differences, is very blurry.
What should not be blurry any longer after reading Dr. Payam Azmi's book (Urdu Edition) or its English translation with an Executive Summary and Introduction by 'Yours truly' SHJaffar here, however, is the existence of our Creator (Allah/Khuda/ God/Yaveh/Ishwer), our Master, our Lord.
As well, His divine Books; His Messengers; and with them the great religions like the Ancient Beliefs, ... Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which is the Summation and Culmination (climax or Inteha) of all the religions and the Messengers including His final Messenger Prophet Muhammad (s).
A simplistic way to accept what Azmi so convincingly has accomplished in 20-25 years of hard work, deep thoughts, and observations is to see what Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi of India in the 13thc CE tried and then finally found; as he says: "I did not find God in ancient temples, Judaism, Christianity, not even in Kaaba [Makka, Arabia] ... but I found Him in my own heart."
Nonetheless, in addition to the heart, human beings also possess brain/mind/wisdom/ intellect. So, let's use it.
I, therefore, humbly and strongly recommend that we should try to find and understand ourselves through this book's mind-opening convincing thoughts and the findings, first. Then and only then, we make an honest attempt through its work to comprehend "a distinct religion's true rights and how to reach our Creator."
We simply cannot refuse the existence of our Creator (Allah) of the infinite universe; His most eminent of created beings – human beings— on our blue and beautiful planet Earth with its mountains and valleys, rivers, oceans, lush greenery with flowers, and other living things. As well, His Messengers – from Adam ... Noah ... Abraham ... to Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad; His divine books — ... The Torah, The Holy Bible, The Qur'an; and lastly, great religions – ... the Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
To repeat, Islam is considered to be the summation and culmination of all the religions and all the messengers and prophets including Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad (s) was entrusted with the power of informing people about his own mission and that of other Messengers before him, like Jesus (Isa), Moses (Musa), David (Daud), Jacob (Yaqub), Isaac (Ishaq), Ishmael (Ismail), Abraham (Ibrahim) —Avraham in Judaism, Noah (Nuh), and ... Adam.
The legal sources of Islam are Allah's book Qur'an and the original Hadith that are reports of the sayings, deeds, and approvals of Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad (s a w) was chosen by Allah to deliver His Messages of Peace, namely Islam. So, Islam means 'submission' to the will of Allah and it derives from an Arabic word meaning 'peace'.
It also means that Islam is not just a religion, it's a complete way of life and that peace comes only after we submit ourselves to the will of Allah. Allah's final divine book is Qur'an and with it, His last Messenger was Muhammad (s); his full name was: Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Munaf(pbuh). See Intro-Exhibit-4 for the family tree of the prophets.
Encyclopedia Britannica ...
Prophet Muhammad (s) of Islam, to take it from a more universally accepted source —Encyclopedia Britannica, was born in the year 570 CE at Makka, Arabia. The son of a merchant of ruling tribe, he was orphaned at the age of six when his mother Bibi Aminah binte Wahab passed away; his father, Abdullah ibn Abd-al-Muttalib, had died before Muhammad was born. Muhammad was then first brought up or raised by his grandfather Abd-al-Muttalib ibn Hashim and later by his uncle, Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib. At the age of 25, he married a rich widow, Khadija Al-Kubra binte Khuwaylid ibn Asad [at her own proposal], with whom he had six children, including a daughter, Bibi Fatima Zahra.
Encyclopedia Britannica –volume12 concludes: According to tradition, at the age of 40 in the year 610 CE Muhammad was visited by Angel Gabriel (Gibreel-eAmin), who informed him that he was the Messenger of Allah. Muhammad's revelations and teachings as recorded in the Qur'an are the basis of Islam. Islam is a complete way of life and Muhammad was the most successful of all the Messengers. Muhammad died on June 8, 632 CE [Year 11AH, at the age of 62].
On the 18th of Zilhaj, Year 10 AH —after his last (Haj) Pilgrimage to Makka—, Muhammad (s a w) had designated Ali ibn Abu Talib (a s) to be the leader of Islam by raising him high up on a hill for all to see and then announcing that "Ali is Maula (Leader or Master) of all just as the Prophet is Maula" in front of a very large audience at Ghadeer-e-Khum, near Qasr-e-Abyaz about 3-miles from Johfa between Makka-Mukarramah and Madina-Munawwara, Arabia.
After the announcement, tens of thousands of people for three consecutive days gave (Mishaq) oath of allegiance to Hazrat Muhammad (Rasulullah) and Ali Maula (Wasi-e-Rasulullah).
In a book: SHI'ISM; Imamate & Wilayat, author Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi of Toronto, Canada writes: "Ali and the Imams from among his descendants are the Ahlul Bayt in the Qur'anic term. Loving and honouring them is an Islamic duty of all Muslims. The Ahlul Bayt have been vested by Allah with the wilayat [a near position in the audience of Allah] in the broadest sense of the word."
However, with the power politics of the time, Muhammad's message, as the Ali followers were led to believe, was simply ignored after Prophet Muhammad's death. Consequently then, Islam's first three Caliphs were Abu-Bakr ibn Abi Quhafah (2 years), Umar ibn Al-Khattab (4 yrs), and Uthman ibn Affan (12 yrs).
After those 18 years of "power grabbing", which has never been accepted or forgiven by the Ali followers who are also known as the Shi'a Muslims, Ali ibn Abu Talib (a s), to save Islam, had "reluctantly" accepted the fourth Caliph's position for the next four years as the Commander of the Faithful.
Unfortunately though, the split among the people of Islam had already taken place into either the Sunni Islam or the Shi'a Islam. Nevertheless, the strength of Islam is still its people who are devout Muslims worldwide known as the Sunni (80%), the Shi'a (15%), and others (5% Kharijites, Sufis ... Ahmadis). To repeat, the Sunni and Shi'a Muslims are, as I consider them, the two solid pillars of Islam.
Based on the US Library of Congress of the year 2009, there are about 1.55 billion Muslims worldwide ... (Sunni 1.250 billion, Shia 0.230b, others 0.070b); Christians 2.250 billion (Catholics 1.100b, Protestants 0.600b, others: 0.550b); Hindus 0.800b; Buddhists 0.400b; Non-Religious 1.000b; others 0.800b; and Jews 0.015b (15 million).
That makes the total world population today as about 6.800 billion people. Why can these people not live in peace?
Some of the answers, as a show businessman George Carlin says: "We have been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways but narrower minds; two incomes but more divorces; and fancier houses but broken homes."
SHI'A ISLAM
Shi'a literally means 'Follower'. The famous book 'Sahih Al-Bukhari' by Abu A. Mohammad, as well as Sunni Ulema Firozabadi and Ibn Athir confirm that "The name Shi'a commonly means every person who is a friend of Ali (a s) and Ahl Al-Bayt [Muhammad and His Household: Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn ...]". Prophet Muhammad (s a w) himself called the followers of Ali ibn Abu Talib (a s) "The Shi'a, the Delivered, and the Rescued."
The Shi'a population of roughly 15% of the Muslim world today may sound low.
However, if we were to consider the persecutions of the Ithna Asheri (eleven out of the twelve) Shi'a Imams, learned people (ulema) like many great Shi'a authors / thinkers / scholars, and many of the Shi'a followers in general by the tyrant ruler Yazid ibn Mu'awiya in 680 CE / 61 AH and his descendants in Arabia as well as the tyranny by other evil rulers around the world for centuries since, it's a miracle that the followers of Shi'a Islam still amount to over 230 million devout, strong, and dedicated people worldwide today.
Here is then just one example of an evil tyranny and the most unforgettable and unparallel supreme sacrifices.
In the month of Muharram 61 AH / 680 CE, Imam Husayn ibn Ali —grandson of Prophet Muhammad and a Model for Sacrifice between Right and Wrong, Good and Evil ... Truth and Falsehood— made the supreme sacrifices "in the way of Allah to save Islam".
The whole world mourns today. See Intro-exhibit-6 on Imam HUSAYN ibn ALI (a) at the end of this chapter.
For denouncing and refusing to legitimize the evil and tyrant ruler Yazid, Husayn was martyred with his noble family, an infant, and other companions, —72 martyrs— during the blockade of water and food for days in the sizzling hot desert and during the battle of Karbala-Iraq, by the well armed forces of the ruler Yazid in the thousands.
Even after the passage of more than 1400 years, the Prince of Martyr, Imam Husayn (a s) and all the other martyrs of Karbala are still mourned by hundreds of millions of people (mainly by the Shi'a Muslims but others too e.g. many Brahman Hindus of India) around the globe as if this excruciatingly painful tragedy had happened only yesterday to some nearest family members of ours.
Roughly six-Million people from around the world visit Imam Al-Husayn Shrine in Karbala-Iraq each year, mostly during Islam's first month of Muharram (the month of the unforgettable tragedy) to pay their respect.
Many of them walk for several hundred kilometers –km (e.g. over 600 km from Basra in Iraq to Karbala-Iraq) in the sizzling heat or cold, with children, with elders, with one leg, carrying the sick on their backs ... and people on wheel chairs to get there. They are fed three times a day by the local families along the way, all the way. Amazing!
To quote from a report involving an Australian who had just been converted from Roman Catholicism to Shi'a Islam; his journey to the Right Path began after watching a 30 second coverage of the March-to-Karbala on an evening ATV-News.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Why Only Islamby SYED H. JAFFAR Copyright © 2010 by Syed H. Jaffar. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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