Holding on to Your Deen (Part 2)

By Asrar BenHoucine

PART 1

Bismillah

In the first part, I discussed the importance of children and adolescents learning the basics of Islam especially while living in the United States, where public schooling hardly gives an adequate education of Islam. I covered a few basics about Islam and will continue the topic here.

Basic Knowledge of Islam continued…

Why must we pay Zakat?

Have you ever heard someone say you do not know how someone feels unless you have experienced it? Well it is true! With fasting we now understand the meaning of being hungry, which opens up our hearts to better understand how to really give charity. However Zakat is no charity, it is obligatory on every Muslim to give 2.5% of his income every year. It is a major economic means for establishing social justice and leading the Muslim society to prosperity and security.

Hajj

Finally the last pillar of Islam is Hajj (pilgrimage) which we do not always get questions about from the youth because they are not financially ready to undertake the journey, however one should go when one has strength and money to do so.

Why do I have to wear Hijab?

Answer mostly given is because your beauty is for your husband. This is a good one, but this is not the only reason nor is it the most important one mentioned in the Quran. It is for your security! Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is all about protecting us from evil. He is very much aware of the evil surrounding us and no, not because He created it (rookie mistake), He created all people good, Iblis was in Heaven at the time, however those who do evil choose to. So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells women to cover for their protection otherwise someone might try to harm them.

There are many cases where what we do or want to do may seem logically accurate however it really is not. We do not always understand why, because Islam is so vast in depth and one could really spend one’s lifetime learning but we must learn this golden rule…

If the Prophet and his companions did not do a certain act, then we should not.

Narrated Abu Wail:

I sat with Shaiba in this Mosque (Al-Masjid-Al-Haram), and he said, "`Umar once sat beside me here as you are now sitting, and said, 'I feel like distributing all the gold and silver that are in it (i.e., the Ka`ba) among the Muslims'. I said, 'You cannot do that.' `Umar said, 'Why?' I said, 'Your two (previous) companions (the Prophet () and Abu Bakr) did not do it. `Umar said, 'They are the two persons whom one must follow.'" (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

I hope my points have helped to shed light on the basics of Islam. We all wish that our mosques did a better job in teaching this. There are few people in the mosque that come regularly these days. It is because they do not understand and give importance to religion. They do the things they do because they were told to or they have to and when they ask why they should do these things they are yelled at and are told, “Because you are a Muslim, that's why!!!” Sorry parents and loved ones, but that is not why…

References

1. Sahih Al Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 92, Hadith 373

2. Quran; Surah Al-Baqarah verse 185

3. Sahih Al Bukhari; Vol. 9, Book 92, Hadith 380

4. Quran; Surah Al-Baqarah verse 255

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Posted in: Asrar BenHoucine,Deen,Islam,Knowledge,youth