Monday 25 July 2016

Prophetic Tradition on Marriage

Marriage   الزواج
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ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): مَن أحَبَّ أن يَلقَى اللّه‏َ طاهِراً مُطَهَّراً فَلْيَلْقَهُ بزَوجَةٍ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Whoever wants to meet Allah pure and immaculate should meet him accompanied by a wife.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): ما بُنِيَ في الإسلامِ بِناءٌ أحَبَّ إلى اللّه‏ِ عزّوجلّ ، وأعَزَّ مِنَ التَّزويجِ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'There is no institution in Islam more beloved and dearer to Allah than marriage.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): النِّكاحُ سُنَّتِي ، فَمَن رَغِبَ عَن سُنَّتي فَلَيسَ مِنّي .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Marriage is my practice, so whoever rejects my practice is not from me.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): ما مِن شابٍّ تَزَوَّجَ في حَداثَةِ سِنِّهِ إلّا عَجَّ شَيطانُهُ: يا وَيْلَهُ ، يا وَيْلَهُ ! عَصَمَ مِنّي ثُلُثَي دِينِهِ ، فَلْيَتَّقِ اللّه‏َ العَبدُ في الثُّلُثِ الباقِي.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'When any young person gets married at the prime of his youth, his inner Satan cries out in rage, 'Woe unto him! Woe unto him! Two thirds of his faith have now been secured against me, and he has only to be careful of his duty to Allah in the remaining third.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): إذا تَزَوَّجَ العَبدُ فقدِ استَكمَلَ نِصفَ الدينِ ، فَلْيَتَّقِ اللّه‏َ في النِّصفِ الباقي.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'When the servant gets married, he has completed half of his faith, so let him be careful of his duty to Allah in the remaining half.’
Marriage (..2)   الزواج
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ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): المُتَزَوِّجُ النائمُ أفضَلُ عِندَ اللّه‏ِ مِنَ الصائمِ القائمِ العَزَبِ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'A married person sleeping is better in the sight of Allah than an unmarried person spending his night in fast and prayer.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): اِتَّخِذُوا الأهلَ؛ فإنّه أرْزَقُ لَكُم.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Take up a wife for verily that will bring about an increase in your sustenance.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): زَوِّجُوا أياماكُم ، فَإنَّ اللّه‏َ يُحسِنُ لَهُم في أخلاقِهِم ، ويُوَسِّعُ لَهُم في أرزاقِهِم ، ويَزِيدُهُم في مُرُوّاتِهِم .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Marry those who are single among you for verily Allah will develop their moral traits [through marriage], He will increase their sustenance for them, and will enhance their integrity and gallantry.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): شِرارُكُم عُزّابُكُم ، رَكعَتانِ مِن مُتَأهِّلٍ خَيرٌ مِن سَبعِينَ ركعةً مِن غَيرِ مُتَأهِّلٍ .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The worst ones from among you are the single ones - two units of prayer performed by a married person is better than seventy units performed by an unmarried person.’
ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): مَن زَوَّجَ أعزَبا كانَ مِمَّن يَنظُرُ اللّه‏ُ عزّوجلّ إلَيهِ يَومَ القِيامَةِ .
Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, 'He who arranges for a single person to get married will be amongst those whom Allah will regard [with mercy] on the Day of Resurrection.’
Marriage (..3)   الزواج
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ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): مَن تَزَوَّجَ امرَأةً لا يَتَزَوَّجُها إلّا لِجَمالِها لَم يَرَ فيها ما يُحِبُّ ، ومَن تَزَوَّجَها لِمالِها لا يَتَزَوَّجُها إلّا وَكَلَهُ اللّه‏ُ إلَيهِ ، فعلَيكُم بذاتِ الدِّينِ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'He who marries a woman solely for her beauty will not find anything he likes in her, he who marries her for her wealth will be deprived of it as soon as he marries her, so look to marry women of faith.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): لا يُختارُ حُسنُ وَجهِ المَرأةِ على حسُنِ دِينِها.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The beauty of a woman's faith must be given priority over the beauty of her face.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): إذا جاءَكُم مَن تَرضَونَ دِينَهُ وأمانَتَهُ يَخطُبُ (إلَيكُم) فَزَوِّجُوهُ ، إن لا تَفعَلُوهُ تَكُن فِتنَةٌ في الأرضِ وفَسادٌ كبيرٌ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'When someone comes to you with a proposal and you are well-pleased with his faith and his integrity then accept him in marriage, for if you do not, discord and corruption will prevail in the land.’
ـ الإمامُ الحسنُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ لرجل جاءَ إلَيهِ يَستَشِيرُهُ في تَزويجِ ابنَتِهِ ـ: زَوِّجْها مِن رَجُلٍ تَقِيٍّ ، فإنّهُ إن أحَبَّها أكرَمَها وإن أبغَضَها لَم يَظلِمْها .
Imam al-Hasan (AS) said to man who came to ask his advice about getting his daughter married, 'Marry her to a pious man, for if he loves her he will honour her, and if he comes to dislike her, at least he will not be unjust towards her.’
ـ الإمامُ الرِّضا (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): نَزَلَ جَبرئيلُ على النبِيّ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) فقالَ: يا محمّدُ ، إنّ رَبَّكَ يُقرِئُكَ السلامَ ، ويقولُ: إنّ الأبكارَ مِنَ النساءِ بمَنزِلَةِ الثَّمَرِ على الشَّجَرِ، فإذا أينَعَ الثَّمرُ فلا دَواءَ لَهُ إلّا اجتِناؤهُ وإلّا أفسَدَتْهُ الشَّمسُ ، وغَيَّرَتْهُ الرِّيحُ ، وإنّ الأبكارَ إذا أدرَكنَ ما تُدرِكُ النساءُ فلا دَواءَ لَهُنَ‏إلّا البُعُولُ، وإلّا لَم يُؤمَنْ علَيهِنَّ الفِتنَةُ، فَصَعِدَ رسولُ اللّه‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) المِنبَرَ فَجَمَعَ الناسَ ثُمّ أعلَمَهُم ما أمَرَ اللّه‏ُ عزّوجلّ بِهِ.
Imam al-Rida (AS) said, 'The archangel Gabriel descended to the Prophet (SAWA) and told him, 'O Muhammad, verily your Lord extends salutations on you and says, 'Verily the virgins from among your women are as fruits on a tree, which when they ripen must be plucked otherwise the sun rots them and the wind alters them. So when young women reach marriageable age, they have no other recourse apart from husbands, otherwise they will not be safe from corruption.’ The Prophet (SAWA) then climbed the pulpit, gathered the people and informed them of what Allah had commanded him.’
Marriage (..4)   الزواج
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ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): أفضَلُ نِساءِ اُمَّتِي أصبَحُهُنَّ وَجهاً وأقَلُّهُنَّ مَهراً.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The best women of my community are those that have the prettiest faces and the smallest dowries.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): تَزَوَّجُوا في الحِجْزِ الصالِحِ، فإنّ العِرْقَ دَسّاسٌ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Marry into a good clan (family) for verily what is bred-in-the-bone will come out in the flesh.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): تَخَيَّرُوا لِنُطَفِكُم ، فإنَّ النساءَ يَلِدْنَ أشباهَ إخوانِهِنَّ وأخَواتِهِنَّ .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Choose carefully for your seed, for verily women give birth to children who resemble their own brothers and sisters.’
ـ رسولَ اللّه‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): إيّاكُم وخَضْراءَ الدِّمَنِ ، قيلَ: يا رسولَ اللّه‏ِ، وما خَضراءُ الدِّمَنِ ؟ قالَ: المَرأةُ الحَسناءُ في مَنبِتِ السُّوءِ.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, addressing the people, 'Beware of the verdure growing in manure.’ When asked what verdure growing in manure was, he replied, 'It is the beautiful woman that comes from an evil environment.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): أعظَمُ الناسِ حَقّاً على المرأةِ زَوجُها ، وأعظَمُ الناسِ حقّاً عَلَى الرَّجُلِ اُمُّهُ .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'The person with the greatest right over a woman is her husband, and the person with the greatest right over a man is his mother.’
Marriage (..5)   الزواج
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ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): ويلٌ لاِمرَأةٍ أغضَبَتْ زَوجَها ، وطُوبى لاِمرَأةٍ رَضِيَ عنها زَوجُها .
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'Woe unto the woman who angers her husband, and blessed is the woman whose husband is pleased with her.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): لَو أمَرتُ أحَدا أن يَسجُدَ لِأَحَدٍ لَأَمَرتُ المرأةَ أن تَسجُدَ لِزَوجِها.
The Prophet (SAWA) said, 'If I was in a position to command anyone to prostrate in front of anyone else, I would command the woman to prostrate in front of her husband.’
ـ رسولُ اللهِ‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ): ما زالَ‏ جَبرَئيلُ يُوصِينِي بالمرأةِ حتّى ظَنَنتُ أ نَّهُ لا يَنبَغِي طَلاقُها إلّا مِن فاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ.

The Prophet (SAWA)

Sunday 3 July 2016

Nigeria: Hijab, CAN and Religious Tolerance

UN News 
Wednesday June 29, 2016.
By Dauda Ayanda

On September 11, 2003, two teachers at the Franklin Science Academy in Muskogee, Oklahoma, were discussing the terrorist attacks that had occurred exactly two years earlier, when they spotted a sixth grader, Nashala Hearn, wearing a Muslim headscarf. The school's dress code prohibited students from wearing "hats, caps, bandanas, plastic caps, or hoods on jackets inside the building." One of the teachers sent Nashala to the principal, who warned and later suspended the eleven-year-old when she continued to wear the scarf.

The school attorney said, "You treat religious items the same as you would any other item, no better or worse. Our dress code prohibits headgear, period." The school was willing to articulate the Establishment Clause argument against its initial antagonist, the Rutherford Institute, a Christian civil liberties foundation that assisted the Hearns in filing their complaint in a federal court. When the US Justice Department intervened by filing additional briefs against the school in the spring of 2004, however, the school quickly caved in.

Under a settlement agreement, the school agreed to change the dress code so as to include an accommodation, or exception, for religious headgear (hijab). The school also paid an undisclosed sum of monetary damages to the Hearn family. In response, Assistant Attorney General Alexander Acosta issued a public statement that "This settlement reaffirms the principle that public schools cannot require students to check their faith at the schoolhouse door."

It is this constitutional position of law that underlines the judgment delivered by Justice Jide Falola of the state High Court in Osun State on Friday June 3, 2016 in favour of a case instituted by Osun State Muslim Community against the state government on the right of female Muslim students in public schools in the state to use hijab on their school uniforms. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), its chairman and others later joined voluntarily as respondents.

In his judgment, Justice Falola traced the history of religion and observed that religion was introduced to the case when CAN and others joined the suit, noting that he decided to deliver the judgment after all plea to settle the matter amicably has proved futile. Premising his judgment on Section 38 of the Nigeria Constitution and Article 8 of the 2004 policy published by the state Ministry of Education, Justice Falola held that female Muslim students were not exempted from the freedom of religion, conscience and thought.

The judgment re-echoed the position of Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General, addressed to the Department of Public Information (DPI) seminar on "Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding" in New York, 2004 where he identified unlearning intolerance in part as a matter of legal protection. The right to freedom of religion - and to be free from discrimination based on religion - is long enshrined in international law, from the UN Charter to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other instruments. Such standards have been incorporated into the laws of many countries.

Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Tolerance is harmony in difference. It is not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace as enshrined in Article 1.1 of the Declaration on Principles of Tolerance, proclaimed and signed by the Member States of UNESCO on 16 November 1995.

Article 26 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the international community in 1948, states that "Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace."



It is on the basis of using education as a tool in promoting tolerance that prompted Vernon Hills High School in USA to stage "Walk a Mile in Her Hijab" event in 2015 designed to allow Christians and other non-Muslim female students the opportunity to wear hijab and gain a better understanding of the Muslim faith. In the same vein, Dr Larycia Hawkins, a Christian and a Wheaton College Political Science Professor, posted photos of herself on Facebook and Twitter wearing a hijab to show solidarity with Muslim women in America and inviting other women to join her.

Saheela Ibraheem, a native of Ede in Osun State with her full-grown hijab was accepted to Harvard College at age ahead of her time. At 16, she was named to a list of "The World's 50 Smartest Teenagers," which got the attention of the White House. She was invited to Washington D.C. in early March 2015 where she introduced the president and first lady at a reception to kick off Black History Month. Acknowledging her exceptional nature, Obama said, "We are so proud of your accomplishments and all that lies ahead of you, and you reflect our history. Young people like this inspire our future." At no point in her career has she been denied wearing hijab.

It is on this basis of freedom of religion that Barack Obama stated at Cairo University in 2009 that "Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That's why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it."

Reinforcing this assertion, Michelle Obama paid a visit to Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom in 2015 to inspire hundreds of young people where majority of teenage students cover their heads with hijab. Speaking to the crowd of hijab-clad girls, Mrs. Obama said, "When I look out at all these young women, I see myself. In so many ways your story is my story. I'm here because of you. Because girls like you inspire and impress me, every day.' She couldn't have chosen a more fantastically multicultural school - only a handful of hijab-free heads in the entire place - or a more impressive one, against the odds. More than 70 per cent of the students are on free school meals, but four-fifths go on to university.

Obviously, we live in one world as reiterated by Kofi Annan. We need to understand and respect each other, live peacefully together and live up to the best of our respective traditions. That is not as easy as we might like it to be. But that is all the more reason to try harder, with all our tools and all our will.

It is time to unlearn intolerance and accept hijab as a divinely endowed honours worn by blessed Eve wife of Adam, Sarah wife of Abraham, Mary mother of Jesus and Khadijah wife of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with them all) as a symbol of purity and humility.




Engr. Dauda Ayanda (MNSE); former Executive Member, Nigerian Society of Engineers (Ibadan Branch) and IEEE P1903 Working Group Consultant (USA) writes from Durban, South Africa