Asif Siddiqi- a student of Quran Academy

  Muslim, you’ve probably often heard that wealth and spirituality don’t mix. That the riches of this world are nothing compared to the hereafter and pursuit of wealth is not a Godly exercise. For others it causes them to settle for a sub-optimal outcome. “I am happy with where my business has got to – after all, it’s not really Islamic to create a business larger than you need is it?” But there is no reason for that guilt or to settle for a sub-optimal outcome. To the contrary, there are many Islamic reasons to aim to be rich if that is right for who you are and you have the right intention. However, if being rich and the pursuit of wealth is not right for you, or you do not have the right motivations – the pursuit of wealth is deeply damaging. In this whitepaper I share: What Islamic literature says about wealth and being rich When aiming to be rich is the right thing When aiming to be an entrepreneur is not the right thing. Whether there is a threshold to how rich is acceptable ...

  Islam has given so much importance to cleanliness as it is considered to be a part of faith. Cleanliness and purification are one of the great exemptions of Islam. Islam places great stress on cleanliness, whether it’s in physical or spiritual terms. The attention to hygiene is the condition which was unfamiliar with any other religion before Islam. While people generally consider cleanliness or purification a desirable aspect, but Islam insists on it, making hygiene an essential part of faith. Cleanliness is an essential part of Islamic life. We can say the meaning and spirit behind the concept of cleanliness is above the slight concept of the traditional cleanliness. In Holy Quran Allah Almighty says: “Allah does not intend to inconvenience you, but He intends to purify you and perfect His favor to you, so that you may give thanks”. (Quran, 5:6) Cleanliness and purification are of two types in which we have inner purification and outer purification. Inner Purification: Inner pu...

  Islam puts a deep emphasis on our individual duty to our neighbors. In fact, the Prophet Mohammad said: "Angel Jibril advised me continuously to take care of the neighbor till I thought that Allah is to make him an inheritor." Being a good neighbor and realizing the duty to our neighbors doesn’t just mean being friendly to the homeowners next door. It means to help take care of the community as a whole—and that includes the poor. Many Muslims know the importance of respecting and caring for our parents and other family members, but too many fail to fulfill their duty to our neighbors and the deprived in the community. Allah says in the Quran: "Serve God, and join not any partners with Him; and do good—to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are strangers, and the companion by your side, the way-farer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: for God loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious." (Quran 4:36) Before we c...

  WHAT IS CONSIDERED BACKBITING IN ISLAM?  To attack the character or reputation of a person who is not present (backbiting). Speaking false information or lies about a person who is not present (slandering). As Muslims it is our responsibility to guard our tongues and to avoid things which are forbidden. The instructions from the Qur’an and hadith are clear regarding the stance on backbiting and slandering. We will explore those in a minute. But first we’ll explore real consequences of just how bad things can get. We live in a digital age where information spreads rapidly. With the right message to the right people, things can go viral and false information becomes the “truth” for many. This is the unfortunate happenings which occurred in an Indian village where WhatsAppp messages led to actual mob lynches. To prevent spreading and subsequent lynchings of strangers Facebook began limiting the number of times a message could be forwarded (read about that story here). We must b...

 Every person has moments in life that may be called difficult. Most people, who live away from the moral values of the Qur’an, experience these moments with feelings like discomfort, sadness and boredom. In such environments, they display traits of aggressiveness, tension and a disputatious attitude. The reason for these reactions is that they do not have faith in Allah and the perfection of the destiny He created. The reasons, which prevent these people seeing the goodness behind these events, can be summed up as follows: Some people think that most of their lives develop as a result of coincidences in a flow. Everything from big incidents like having cancer or losing a close one in a traffic accident, to the food he eats or the clothes he wears are special events preordained in that person’s destiny. Allah creates all these incidents down to the finest detail for that person’s trial. A person is subject to a continuous trial throughout his life; nothing happens by coincidence. I...