About Me
- Hussam Ayloush
- Hussam has been a lifelong human rights activist who is passionate about promoting democratic societies, in the US and worldwide, in which all people, including immigrants, workers, minorities, and the poor enjoy freedom, justice, economic justice, respect, and equality. Mr. Ayloush frequently lectures on Islam, media relations, civil rights, hate crimes and international affairs. He has consistently appeared in local, national, and international media. Full biography at: http://hussamayloush.blogspot.com/2006/08/biography-of-hussam-ayloush.html
Monday, August 02, 2010
The Chosen One - Maher Zain
The song - The Chosen One - is inspired by Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Maher Zain and Awakening Records felt they had to respond after the recent attacks on prophet Muhammad through cartoons and facebook. The result is this music video. It's a small token in educating the true character our beloved Prophet Muhammad.
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2 comments:
Not to argue with you but you have an uphill battle if you really accept the video's principals and don't just hide behind the precepts.
"The Ruling on Charity for Non-Muslims?
Question:
In the case that a non-Muslim is in dire need of help, is a Muslim rewarded for giving him charity?
Answer:
Charity to a non-Muslim in need is allowed, and the giver of this charity is rewarded. However, a Muslim cannot give his Zakat to a non-Muslim unless it is hoped that by receiving help, the non-Muslim might decide to accept Islaam or at least to refrain from harming Muslims (when he has a reputation for harming Muslims). Even when we give a non-Muslim charity, we must make sure that he is not from those who wage war on Muslims or who drive Muslims out of their lands, because then we are helping someone to wage war against Muslims.
Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-`Uthaymeen
Fatawa Islamiyah vol.8, p.403, DARUSSALAM "
"..1 - It is permissible to give charity – other than the obligatory charity (zakaah etc.) – to poor non-Muslims, especially if they are relatives, on condition that they do not belong to people who are in a state of war against us and have not committed acts of aggression that would preclude our treating them kindly."
"...it is permissible to give charity to the kuffaar. But it is not permissible to give zakaah funds to the poor among the kuffaar, because zakaah can only be given to Muslims to spend on the poor and needy among them as mentioned in the aayah of zakaah.
Giving charity to poor Muslims is preferable and more befitting, because spending on them helps them to obey Allaah, and it helps them in both their worldly and spiritual affairs. This helps to strengthen the bonds among Muslims, especially nowadays when the poor among the Muslims far outnumber the rich..."
Just imagine the reaction if a Christian org announced that giving to non-Christians was ok but did not count as part of any religious obligation and was less perfereable than giving to commited Christians. Such Bigotry would be the cry!
Hi Guy,
There is absolutely no debate in Islam about whether charity can be given to non-Muslims. All Muslim scholars have based their opinion on the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet that charity (Sadaqa) is to be given to any and all needy persons, regardless of gender, race, relationship, or religion. All human beings are worthy of respect, dignity, help, mercy, and kindness. After all, we are all brothers and sisters in humanity and we are all God creation.
What you seem to be confusing is the concept of Zakat in Islam. Zakat is a very specific type of obligatory payment that every able Muslim should offer. It is very similar to the concept of tithing that many Jews and early Christians practiced when they gave 10% of their yearly income to the religious institutions. For Muslims it is 2.5% of ALL their assets, and not just income.
Charity (Sadaqa) is another practice that Muslims, like Christians and Jews, proudly practice to help all people in need.
As for the opinion you chose to post, it is an opinion held by one of the most conservative (late) scholars from Saudi Arabia. If interested in a scholarly in-depth response, here is another opinion from another group of scholars. I copied this from another site that posted that opinion. Here is an excerpt:
...The prohibition of giving them of the Zakah money is based on the hadith of Mu`adh Ibn Jabal when he was sent by the Prophet to Yemen: "It (Zakah) is to be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them," i.e. the rich among Muslims and the poor among them. (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)...
However, Dr. Monzer Kahf, a prominent Muslim economist and counselor, argues:
“Verse 60 of surat 9 (At-Tawbah) does not confine the category of poor and needy to Muslims. Hence, it is evident that Zakah MAY BE GIVEN TO MUSLIM AS WELL AS NON-MUSLIM POOR AND NEEDY. As for the payment of Zakah to non-Muslim poor and needy, I have to add that I had in mind Christians and Jews and whoever we treat similarly such as Hindus and Zoroastrians (as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to treat them like the People of the Book) who live with Muslims peacefully. The permissibility is limited to this category.
In his book Fiqh Az-Zakah, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, states that the hadith of Mu`adh Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) when sent to Yemen does not stand in the face of the general implication of the verses. This opinion is supported by the practice of `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab. The hadith 'It is to be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them', has been interpreted to refer to the geographical area, i.e. from among the people of Yemen, though the phrase is also interpreted to refer only to Muslims. In other words, it is not a 'text' in this argument and Sheikh Al-Qaradawi prefers the permissibility of giving Zakah to non-Muslims."
Also, the late Sheikh Sayyed Sabiq (may Allah bless his soul) gave preference to the opinion of giving Zakatul-Fitr to non-Muslims. He states in his book, Fiqh As-Sunnah:
"Az-Zuhri, Abu Hanifah, Muhammad, and Ibn Shubrumah maintain that it’s permissible to give Zakatul-Fitr to a Dhimmi, basing their argument on the following verse: 'Allah allows you to show kindness and deal justly with those who did not war against you on account of religion and did not drive you out from your homes. Lo! Allah loves those who are just.' (Al-Mumtahinah: 8)"...
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