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Showing posts from March, 2019

Gleanings from the Islamic Contribution in Agriculture

  1. Introduction Since the beginning, Islam encouraged the practice of agriculture. Several verses in the Qur’an are connected to agriculture, as a part of the creation process and life on earth. Likewise, the  hadiths  (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) that encouraged Muslims to practice agriculture are abundant. Within the same conception, Muslim rulers paid much attention to agriculture as it constituted then as a major economic activity and a pillar of the Islamic treasury. Therefore, a continuous effort was directed towards reforming lands for cultivation, digging rivers and irrigation channels and, wherever appropriate, pieces of land were attributed to those who lacked them, to cultivate. This became a recorded history [1]. Figure 1a-b:  Two views from  Kitab al-filaha  of Ibn al-Awwâm: (a) manuscript page (Source) and front cover of the Spanish translation edition  by Joseph Antonio Banqueri (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1802). (Source). The  Kitab al-Filahah al-Andalusiyah  (The Bo

Aayatul Kursi

Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem Allahu laaa ilaaha illaa huwal haiyul qai-yoom; laa taakhuzuhoo sinatunw wa laa nawm; lahoo maa fissamaawaati wa maa fil ard; man zallazee yashfa'u indahooo illaa be iznih; ya'lamu maa baina aideehim wa maa khalfahum; wa laa yuheetoona beshai 'immin 'ilmihee illa be maa shaaaa; wasi'a kursiyyuhus samaa waati wal arda wa la ya'ooduho hifzuhumaa; wa huwal aliyyul 'azeem اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلاَ نَوْمٌ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاءَ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاواتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَلاَ يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ "Allah! There is no god but He - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there

70,000 angels in procession….

Sayyidina Ka’b al-Ahbar (radi Allahu ‘anhu) said: Not a day goes by without seventy thousand angels descending upon the Rawdha of the Prophet ﷺ, surrounding him and sending salawat upon him until night falls. When they ascend another such group of angels take their place and do the same; until when the earth splits open before him ﷺ, he comes out with 70,000 angels in procession around him. Recorded (with authentic chains to Ka’b) by Darimi (1:57 #94), Bayhaqi (Shu’ab, 3:492), Ibn Mubarak in Kitab az-Zuhd (1:558), Abu Nu’aym (Hilya, 5:390), Qadi Isma’il (Fadl as-Salat, #102) _______________________________________ Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O you who have believed, send your blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. (33:56) اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد

Jashn e Wiladat Mawla Ali (عليه السلام)

https://youtu.be/LzAD_dC81pk

Imam Ali’s (Alaihi Salaam) Mathematical Brilliance: THE FIVE LOAVES OF BREAD

Zarr Bin Hobeish relates this story: Two travelers sat together on the way to their destination to have a meal. One had five loaves of bread. The other had three. A third traveler was passing by and at the request of the two joined in the meal. The travelers cut each of the loaf of bread in three equal parts. Each of the travelers ate eight broken pieces of the loaf. At the time of leaving the third traveler took out eight dirhams and gave to the first two men who had offered him the meal, and went away. On receiving the money the two travelers started quarrelling as to who should have how much of the money. The five-loaf-man demanded five dirhams. The three-loaf-man insisted on dividing the money in two equal parts. The dispute was brought to Imam Ali (AS) (the Caliph of the time in Arabia) to be decided. Imam Ali (AS) requested the three-loaf-man to accept three dirhams, because five-loaf-man has been more than fair to you. The three-loaf-man refused and said that he would take only

Mawla Syedna Ali RA ki Hayat o Khidmat

https://youtu.be/S2c97Z3bl50

The Science of Restoring and Balancing – The Science of Algebra

Muslim contributions in the field of mathematics have been both varied and far reaching. This article by Mahbub Ghani (from the Department of Electronic Engineering at King's College, London University) considers some Muslim contributions in algebra, focussing in particular on the contributions of scholars such as Al-Khwarizmi, Ibn Qurra, Al-Karaji and Al-Samaw'al. Figure 1.  Some geometrical shapes from Suhayl al-Quhî's book  "Fî istihraci mesaha al-muhassama al-maqafî or Risala-i abu Sahl" . Suleymaniya Library, Ayasofya 4832. There are many occasions where we are confronted by problems in which we are concerned with determining the value of an unknown quantity. Often, these problems are problems of geometry: for instance, given a line segment AB, we wish to divide it into segments AG and GB, such that the rectangle whose sides are AB and GB is equal to the square whose side is AG. The unknown item here is the segment AG. Such puzzles were very popular amongst t

A smart believer should hurry to repent for his sins….

To delay making tawba by succumbing to the temptation of Satan is like wasting one’s life which is one of the worst things one can waste. A smart believer should hurry to repent for his sins and prepare himself for the moment of his last breath. According to certain narrations a tailor once asked a righteous man: “What do you have to say about the hadith of the Messenger of Allahﷺ which says: “Allah Most High will accept the tawba of a person while the soul has yet to reach the throat”   (Tirmidhi, Dawat, 98/3537) . That righteous man asked the tailor: “Yes this is true. But tell me, what is your profession?” “I am a tailor, I sew clothes”. “What is the easiest thing about tailoring?” “To take my scissors and cut the cloth”. “How long have you been doing this for?” “For 30 years”. “When your soul reaches your throat will you be able to cut cloth?” “No I would not”. “O tailor! If you will not be able to do what you have been doing for 30 years with ease and which you struggled with for

For Allah’s sake…..

  One of the friends of Allah was once asked if he had ever experienced any event concerning sincerity that had left an impression on him. He replied: “Indeed I have”  and he explained: One time I lost my purse at Mecca and was left penniless. I was expecting money from Basra but it had somehow failed to arrive. My hair and beard had grown somewhat. I went to a barber and asked him: “I have no money. Would you cut my hair for the sake of Allah?”  At that point the barber was shaving a man. Indicating the seat next to him he said:  “Sit here”  and leaving him he began to shave me. The man objected. The barber turned to him and said: “I am sorry sir. I was shaving you for a fee but this person here asked me to shave him for the sake of Allah. Duties done for Allah always have priority and they have no fee. The servants can never know the price of those things done for Allah and never can they pay them”. After he shaved me, the barber slipped a few pieces of gold into my pocket:  “You can

For Allah’s sake…..

  One of the friends of Allah was once asked if he had ever experienced any event concerning sincerity that had left an impression on him. He replied: “Indeed I have”  and he explained: One time I lost my purse at Mecca and was left penniless. I was expecting money from Basra but it had somehow failed to arrive. My hair and beard had grown somewhat. I went to a barber and asked him: “I have no money. Would you cut my hair for the sake of Allah?”  At that point the barber was shaving a man. Indicating the seat next to him he said:  “Sit here”  and leaving him he began to shave me. The man objected. The barber turned to him and said: “I am sorry sir. I was shaving you for a fee but this person here asked me to shave him for the sake of Allah. Duties done for Allah always have priority and they have no fee. The servants can never know the price of those things done for Allah and never can they pay them”. After he shaved me, the barber slipped a few pieces of gold into my pocket:  “You can

The Advent of Scientific Chemistry

Until recently, the mainstream history of scientific ideas has failed to acknowledge numerous Islamic scientists and their great efforts and achievements throughout the centuries. This short article seeks to contribute in redressing this injustice by highlighting Muslim contributions and attitudes towards the progress of chemistry. Salim T S Al-Hassani* and Mohammed Abattouy** Figure 1:  15 th -century European portrait of "Geber", the Latin name of Jabir ibn Hayyan: in Codici Ashburnhamiani 1166, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence (image in the public domain). Before addressing the main subject of this article, an important remark needs to be made. It concerns the etymology and the root of the word "alchemy". The use of this word is a representative big corruption of science on the part of scholars, including Muslim-Arabic speaking scholars. The source of the corruption is two fold: linguistic and anti Muslim bias. As far as the linguistic source goes,  alche