Management Issues in Relation to International Travel and Tourism Essay

Management Issues in Relation to International Travel and Tourism - Essay Example Sustainability Management in Tourism 08 5.1 Depletion of Natural Resources 09 5.2 Emission of Greenhouse Gases 09 5.3 Damaging Ecosystem 09 5.4 How to Develop Sustainability? 10 6. Human Resource Management in TUI 11 6.1 Training 12 6.2 Staffing 14 7. Conclusion 15 Bibliography 17 1. Executive Summary Tourism is probably one of the fastest growing industries with an operational network over the entire globe. Many parts of the world have observed positive effects from tourism because it contains an idea of incessant development and modernism. The industry observed almost over 940 million tourists across the world during 2010 with 4.7% increasing financial receipt, ending by US$919 billion (World Tourism Organization, 2011). Depending upon specific area and region, the international travel and tourism industry has substantial effects on cultural and social aspects of a society. By nature, the industry deals with numbers of management issues and in modern scenario the role of these mana gement issues are increasing day by day. In several perspectives, the industry has also close association with global hospitality industry. This report primarily deals with those key management issues which are frequently related to this industry and tourists. On the basis of data collected through various online and offline resources, the report not only highlights the key management issues but it also describes the sustainable tourism and the recommendations to improve it. The last part of the report is regarding HRM policies of TUI in the perspective of global hospitality. 2. Introduction Since by nature, international travel and tourism industry has a vast horizon of operations, therefore behavior of industry also changes with certain changes in any of its associated field. International travel and tourism involves several key management issues and a close coordination between these management issues is the key to success for the companies. The key management issues include prod uct and service management, lodging, food and beverages control, communication, guest accounting, energy management, safety and security management, and tourism sustainability management. Besides these, industry also observes conventional management issues like human resource, financial, political, and marketing management issues. 3. Objectives The main objectives of the report are to highlight the areas where international travel and tourism industry faces management issues and challenges along with the role of gastronomic tourism in context of global hospitality industry. Sustainability tourism is one of the hot issues of tourism management. The study has the objective to have an overview of it and provide recommendations for its improvement. 4. Discussions and Analysis 4.1 Product Distribution Management Product distribution is the most important aspect in the field of international travel and tourism. Its horizon is very much broad as in terms of product and services, it include s the marketing, advertising, sales, and reservations etc. in modern scenario; information technology has revolutionized the product distribution of tourism. Leading tourism companies like TUI, Hilton International etc offer online reservations system to the tourists. Online websites, broachers, and yellow pages are used for the advertising of the product or services. The scope of travel and tourism is very vast because numbers of other activities like pick and drop from air ports; ATM facility, internet, gymnasium and entertaining are the services which are

Managing the employment relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Managing the employment relationship - Essay Example mmunicated down to the employees and workers is affected by line managers who lack effective communication skills and the information is ultimately relayed in an untimely way. Small and medium scale enterprises depend on relations between owners and employees. This level of informality fosters positive social relations of production and helps develop close team working, and facilitate rapid and direct communication channels. On the other hand, this same informality situation also presents the problem for subjective, highly-discretionary, ill-informed and unjust managerial approaches. The negative outcome of this set-up can lead to a poor firm performance and consequently, presents a poor safeguard for the protection of employee rights. Smaller companies tend to ignore important labour rights of workers. Hence, there are calls for improving employee participation and employee grievance procedures in small firms such as SMEs. Generally, smaller organisations like the SMEs adopt varying degrees of informality in their labour management practices, hence the adoption and incorporation of any formal employment regulation to these firms can be challenging in the area of compliance. A distinct possibility is to encourage these firms by way of specific government regulations to set up alternative systems for addressing employee rights and grievances. basic right for workers to extend a degree of control over managerial decision making in a Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SME). Economic efficiency emphasizes that it makes sense for employers to encourage closer employee participation in the business as it creates more understanding and commitment. These practices actually mean a lot to the participants and these schemes fosters organisational effectiveness and employee well-being. (Dundon et al. 2004) Direct employee participation takes on renewed forms. Direct participation involves individual techniques such as written and electronic communications, face-to-face

Quality Management in the Public Administration through CAF

Quality Management in the Public Administration through CAF ESF 4.159 – Developing Quality Management in the Public Administration through CAF (SLIDE 3) The Commissions main Thematic Objectives are set out in Article 9 of the Common Strategic Framework. Each common strategic framework contributes to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Such objectives may be translated into specific priorities to each common strategic framework fund. The European Commission believes that the respective member states should continuously improve the environment for their businesses, citizens and stakeholders by means of the modernization of public administration. The chosen project falls within the 11th Thematic Objective that seeks the enhancing of institutional capacity and efficient public administration through stronger institutional capacity and more efficient public administration supported the European Social Fund (ESF). (SLIDE 4) In total the amount of ESF funds allocated to this project amount to a total of three hundred and thirteen thousand, three hundred and seventy euros. The central objective is that of strengthening efficiency and effectiveness of the public administration through lifelong learning and innovative activities. These are the main funding information including the total amount of allocated funds and the areas of intervention. (SLIDE 5) Through such investment economic improvement is one of the main drivers. This will be achieved from better business environment and other societal and economic impacts of the subject stakeholders. The EU Commission will specifically assess: The needs of stakeholders in order to improve the delivery through quality management systems, and; That there is also a set of actions, referring to the establishment and use of already set quality management systems in a sustainable way. (SLIDE 6) Before the implementation of this project, the situation within the Maltese Public Administration was characterised by limited use of quality management systems. Nevertheless, elements such as the CAF, customer care and redress, online portals, service charters, directives and guidelines, eGovernment, one stop shop, Local Councils (as an alternative delivery channel), partnerships with NGOs and capacity building only existed to a limited extent. This project seeks to develop the skills and competences of public officers in the application of the CAF and central competencies within the Management Efficiency Unit (MEU). This would be achieved through training and networking of CAF users and experts. This also leads to commitment that improves the public service delivery through burden reduction of regulation and administrative procedures, quality assurance and control. Service delivery would increasingly become professional, fair, transparent and outcome-oriented. Service users would also be able to choose from channels of delivery which should be as close as possible to them. For such achievements the MEU would become a centre of excellence as regards the CAF. It would be able to strengthen the public sector in CAF implementation and the management of certification in order to ensure long term-sustainability. To obtain such objectives, adoption of better practices, maximizing of partnership synergies, leverage technology and the pursuing of corporate social responsibility are essential tools. (SLIDE 7) The CAF model is mainly based on 3 pillars that are; Structure, Process, Outcome. Structure (or Leadership) holds that; CAF is based on 2 key elements that are: Enablers and Results and that; Each enabler and result is further broken down into key sub-criteria Process holds that; CAF is rooted on a team’s view of the position of an organisation at a particular point in time and that; CAF nurtures a continuous improvement mindset within an organisation Outcome holds that; Benefits for the organization’s stakeholders, image and reputation (SLIDE 8) Assessment of the achievement of desired achieved goals is done through the PDCA cycle. Basically this cycle observes the; Initiation of the project such as the: Planning and organization of the process and Communication within the organisation Carrying out of self-assessment such as the: Setting up of the self assessment team Training and data gathering and Self assessment Planning and execution of improvements includes: Prioritization and planning Communication of the improvement plan ad Periodic review of the project (SLIDE 9 and 10) Scoring of sub-criteria is based on the PDCA cycle which typically takes between 6 to 10 weeks depending on the complexity and scale of the issue at stake. The 6 main criteria for fulfillment under conditionality 11 will achieve results into 3 main areas, which are of a Societal, Citizen and Workforce nature. All achievements lead to further economic efficiency within the subject organisation. Societal, Citizen/Consumer, and People/Workforce benefits will be achieved: Societal improvements include: Improvement in quality of life Adaptation to trends Proactive holistic approach Stakeholder engagement Transparency Citizen improvements include: Faster delivery Improved service level Cost-efficient operations Image and reputation Workforce improvements include: Motivated workforce Role clarity and involvement Improved commitment to mission Better resource utilisation Reduced skill gaps (SLIDE 11) 4 key strategic objectives form the core of this project: CAF as Quality Management System (QMS): that Promotes and implements the CAF as the Maltese Public Administration’s first choice of quality management system It is anticipated that strategic initiative to attain this strategic objective include but are not necessarily limited to: further roll out of CAF within Government; providing implementation support, enablement and capacity to Department and Government Entities implementing CAF; once a critical mass of Departments and Government Entities have adopted CAF, a quality award is introduced to recognize achievement; sharpening the focus on results and outcome orientation; and introducing CAF in education and justice sectors. Partnerships: that Strengthen partnership development and management between the Maltese Public Administration and its stakeholders It is anticipated that strategic initiatives to attain this strategic objective include but are not necessarily limited to: providing guidance and building capacity in partnership development and management; developing further strategic partnerships in various sectors; extending consultation to service design; sustaining and improving on corporate social responsibility; strengthening a proactive information policy; and developing a corporate identity kit for the Public Administration. There are all areas where citizens, service users, and stakeholders can act together in co-design, co-decision making, co-production and co-evaluation. Services/Processes: Improves the way services and associated business processes operate and innovate within the Public administration It is anticipated that strategic initiative to attain this strategic objective include but are not necessarily limited to: improving and innovating services and channels in use within the Public Administration; developing capacity to implement business management; further supporting business processes with ICT; better records management; maximizing citizen/customer suggestion and complaints system; and introducing systematic citizen/customer satisfaction measurement. People: Develops the capabilities of the Public Administration workforce in customer service, partnership development and quality management systems It is anticipated that strategic initiative to attain this strategic objective include but are not necessarily limited to: sharpening the focus on performance management to ensure accessibility, transparency, quality of service delivery, involvement; training and development of Public employees in the required toolkit; and introducing climate and culture perception surveys with staff. (SLIDE 12) Current state-of-play: The adoption of a quality management framework would build on these efforts and works towards a more consistent approach to continuous improvement. CAF is a core tool to achieve sustainable excellence in all performance aspects. Actions are based on the premise that excellent results with respect to performance, customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy, that is delivered through people partnerships, resources, processes and change management. Unlike various other quality management models CAF is specifically targeted for public administration and is capable of capturing unique features of government organisations, holds a high degree of flexibility and may be used n a wide variety of circumstances. For this reason, CAF plays an enormous role in Malta’s National Reform Programme under the Europe 2020 strategy. By the adoption and promotion of CAF, the MEU would be increasing its level of self-assessment. MEU also aims to become the Maltese centre of expertise through the strengthening of its in-house capacity. (SLIDE 13) Three types of training that have been delivered by the European Institute of Public Administration in Mata include: A Specialised Training Programme in CAF delivered by CAF experts to 14 members (out of a total of around 20) of MEU staff; A CAF Model Training Programme delivered by CAF experts to 6 groups of public officials; and Training on the Procedure on External Feedback and the CAF Label Training Programme delivered to members of MEU staff and public officials in the public sector. 154 civil servants were trained in the TQM approach for the public sector to obtain knowledge on relevant concepts of quality development from a holistic perspective†¦ the content of quality instrument that have been used successfully over the past decade in many public sector organisations in many countries and the adequate processes of implementation. Additionally, a group of experts was also trained in the Procedure of External Feedback, assuring qualitative progress in future organisational development. A CAF website has also been created. 3 CAF user organisations in Malta and Gozo have also been registered. Each after successfully completing a cycle of CAF assessment and implementation. (These are the Gozo Public Library, the Food Safety Unit and the Gozo Sports complex.) These users were also made subject to the process of concluding their second self-assessment, which would lead them to achieve the CAF Label certification. It should also be noted that the CAF Label Certification is valid for 2 years and thus each government entity would have to be assessed and certified every two years. Other 5 public organisations including Appogg and Sedqa have engaged in CAF towards excellence with the assistance of the MEU. (SLIDE 14) SERVIZZ.GOV portal is an online portal whereby citizens can complain with Local Councils and entities. There are pre-set timeframes for closure of the complaint, typically 10 or 20 days depending on the subject case. A significant percentage of complains are anonymous and some 95% of cases originate from Local Councils. MEU developed an in-house data warehouse to analyse trends and responsiveness. Overall, Local Council and entity responsiveness are analysed. MEU also monitors customer complaints performance regularly and validates closure on a sample basis. CUSTOMER CARE and REDRESS. All line ministries have customer care officers within their organisational structures. There are also administrative customer care officers within designated Directories within Ministries which route complaint resolution and monitor complaint closure. The major regulatory authorities, Departments and Government entities have various forms of customer care offices in operation. Training to Customer Care officers has been provided by the MEU and the CDRT/OPM. Redress mechanisms available include the office of the Ombudsman, Tribunals and the Law Courts. QUALTY SERVICE CHARTERS. Charters spell out the rights of citizens as customers of a Public Service and specify the quality of service that can be expected. A department holding a charter will commit itself to stated performance targets; typically on waiting times, quality of product, courtesy and information provided. Charters also explain how to lodge complaints. In the light of government commitments, it is the opinion of the MEU that it is worth revising the Quality Service Charter initiative to reflect the changing times and resources of the Public Administration. However, such initiative should be as simple as possible, by monitored and audited regularly by third parties, independent of the servicing Department such as the IAID (i.e. for auditing purposes). ONE STOP SHOPS. Business First one-stop-shops run by Malta Enterprise since the beginning of 2012 with only 5% of total number of applications not being delivered within the prescribed deadline. The Malta Financial Services Authority can register a limited liability company within 48 hours provided the correct documentation is submitted. Local Councils are seen as the key means to move Public Services closer to citizens and service users. They already offer a range of community services. However, more work needs to be done to bring the most-frequently-used Public Services within the locality. (SLIDE 15) Through all these actions this project will lead to significant economic results. It has been calculated that around 70% of the total candidate organisations will benefit from an average of a 20% improvement that mainly includes economic efficiency. Stakeholders within the public administration do not only include private citizens but also the state itself. As a result the State will benefit from lesser deficits. (SLIDE 16 and 17) An analysis highlighting the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats resulting from this project has also been done. Some of the main positive aspects are the better acquired knowledge about the tapping of EU funds, increased employment and the reduction of cost and administrative burdens. However, challenges such as new social risks and fiscal consolidation should still be studied and dealt with. CAF helps the Government in creating and maintaining the best possible environment in which Malta’s economy could sustainably grow. Government would be able to create a sense of peace of mind in which, through transparency and less red tape economic operators will know where they stand. It is vital that pointless bureaucracy does not lead to extra costs that weigh down enterprises and hamper economic growth. Further economic growth will be achieved through investment in infrastructure and the productive capabilities of the country, the skills of the workforce and more workers who enter the labour market.

Save the Whales Essay -- Environmental

Every day whales around the world are being killed. Although some whales are being killed for scientific purposes, the majority of them are killed for their meat by poachers or whalers working for different countries. Careless companies dispose of their waste incorrectly, and in today's society, people do not seem to care about anything but themselves. Arguments can be made both for saving the whales and for killing them; this is a topic that has caused much debate over the past two decades, not only in America, but worldwide. Environmentalists and international governing groups have squared off against whale poachers and countries who ignore the laws governing whales, in an attempt to stop the ongoing, unnecessary killing. All marine life is affected by careless human activity. Man-made pollution from dumps, chemical plants, power plants, and pesticides all flow and spread throughout the oceans of the world. Even low-level contamination of small, sometimes microscopic species causes highly concentrated contamination in larger marine life, specifically whales. Plankton, the main constituent of a whale's diet, is a very small organism that drifts for thousands of miles throughout the oceans, and as a result easily spreads pesticides, toxic metals, and other contaminants throughout the ocean. When the whales eat the plankton, the small amounts of contamination become highly concentrated in the whales systems. Pollution, although deadly over long periods of time, is not the main source of unnecessary whale death worldwide. A recent technology developed by the US Navy emits the most powerful sound known to man straight into the ocean waters. This newly developed technology, called low frequency active sonar (LFA), was d... ...a> http://files.hsus.org/web-files//PDF/SWNW_IWCFctsht.pdf Defenders of Wildlife: http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/marine/whales/climate.html Save the Whales: http://www.savethewhales.org Humane Society of the U.S.: http://www.hsus.org/ace/19943 WhaleNet Population Study: http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/ser_population.html Pro-Whaling Nations: http://files.hsus.org/web-files//PDF/SWNW_ProWhalingFctsht.pdf

Forty Hadith Imam Nawawi

[email  protected] com Commentaries on Imam Nawawi's Forty Hadith The collection of Forty Hadith by al-Imam al-Nawawi (or Imam Nawawi) has been known, accepted and appreciated by Muslim scholars for the last seven centuries. Its significance lay in the fact that these selected forty hadiths comprise the main essential and fundamental concepts of Islam which, in turn, construct the minimum level of required revealed knowledge for every single Muslim.Since having good knowledge of the various fundamental aspects of the religion is key to a Muslim's practice and application of Islam, this web site attempts to provide simple and practical commentaries to the collection of Imam Nawawi's Forty Hadith. Various principles are contained in these hadiths, such as belief, Muslim ethics and fiqh. As such, it is very important to have a good understanding of these hadiths based on scholarly interpretations. In addition, these commentaries also try to offer discussions on related contemporary is sues pertaining to certain concepts mentioned in these hadiths. p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com 1. Actions are judged by intentions It is narrated on the authority of Amirul Mu'minin, Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu ‘anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, say: â€Å"Actions are (judged) by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended.Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated. † [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] background This hadith was said by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, at the time when a man emigrated from Makk ah to Madinah during the Hijrah for the sake of marrying someone and not for the sake of Islam. It is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in Islam.Al-Imam al-Shafie said: This Hadith is one third of the knowledge of Islam; related to about 70 topics of Fiqh. Al-Imam Ahmad (with reference to al-Imam al-Shafie's statement) said: Islam is based on three fundamentals (all are among the 40 hadiths ): i. Hadith 1: which is stated above. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com ii. iii. Hadith 5: â€Å"Whosoever introduces into this affair of ours (i. . Islam) something that does not belong to it, it is to be rejected. † Hadith 6: â€Å"Truly, what is lawful is evident, and what is unlawful is evident, and in between the two are matters which are doubtful which many people do not know†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  These three hadiths are agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. These hadiths can be seen as three criteria to help Muslims evaluate and judge what they do and say â€Å"as an ibadah† in their daily life: i. ii. Hadith 1 – To evaluate and judge our internal actions (actions of the heart).Hadith 5 – To evaluate and judge our external actions (actions of the limbs). Hadith 6 – To evaluate and judge our dealings â€Å"mu'amalat† (interaction between people). iii. Niyyah (intention) has two meanings: i. The intention before an ibadah (e. g. prayer) The willingness ii. The second meaning (ii. ) is what is meant in this hadith. lessons The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, starts the hadith with the principle (â€Å"Actions are judged by intentions†) and then gives three examples. This is the methodology of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam.The examples help illustrate the principle so that it is easier for people to understand and they can apply the principle to other similar situations. The three examples consist of one of good intention (migration for the sake of Allah and His Messenger) and two of bad intentions (migration for the sake of worldly gains or for marriage). This hadith emphasises ikhlas (sincerity – to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah's sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought). Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds.The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah as it will be explained in the fifth hadith. This can be seen in the shahadah : †¢ †¢ â€Å"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah† is the ikhlas – ensuring that we do things for the sake of Allah and Allah alone. â€Å"I bear witness that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah† – the Sunnah is the manifestation of the Quran – the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is our example, our best model to follow. Following his Sunnah in our ibadah, Akhlaq (ethics), and Muamalat (dealings) nsures that we are acting in accordance with the Shariah. Thus, the shahadah shows us the conditions for accepting a deed or performing an action: (a) it should be for the sake of Allah because He is the only One we worship, and (b) it should be in accordance with the Shariah. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com To achieve ikhlas, we have to avoid shirk (associating others with Allah, which causes insincerity).AlImam al-Harawi said the root cause for insincerity (or shirk) is self-desire (al-hawa). Therefore no action should be done because of self-desire. Imam al-Harawi states that there are 7 types of self-desires:i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. To make oneself appear good in the hearts of others To seek t he praises of others To avoid being blamed by others To seek the glorification of others To seek the wealth/money of others To seek the services or love of others To seek the help of others for oneself vii. Ways to obtain ikhlas: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Do righteous deeds – the more good deeds we do and hence get closer to Allah, the more sincere we will be.Before we do any deed we should firstly seek knowledge (ilm) – our actions/deeds should be guided by knowledge so that we do them in accordance to the Shariah. Do not give false impressions – do not make others believe that an action we did was good when it was not. Al-Imam Ahmad said: Before you do anything, check your intention (niyyah) – ask yourself before performing an action: â€Å"Is it for the sake of Allah? † Ibnu al-Qayyim says: Any action we do is subject to three defects: i. ii. Being conscious that others are observing our actions Seeking a return (benefit/reward) for the ac tion Being satisfied with the action ii. Examples: †¢ If we go to the masjid for the salah and we are early, arriving before the Imam and finding a place in the first saff, we should not be proud of ourselves and think of ourselves being better than others. We should praise Allah for enabling us to go to the masjid and for being able to perform the salah without any difficulties. After every salah, we should tell ourselves that we could have performed it better and try to improve in our next salah. †¢ What happens if we were to change our niyyah while performing an action?Ibn Rajab says according to the ulama' if the niyyah at the end of the action matches the beginning (i. e. doing the action for the sake of Allah), then any changes in the middle of the action will be forgiven or does not matter, insha Allah. However, if the niyyah at the end does not match the beginning, i. e. we do the action for other than the sake of Allah, then we must repent (taubah). There are four things that contradict ikhlas: i. ii. Ma'siat – committing sins – this will weaken our ikhlas Shirk – associating others with Allah p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com iii. iv. Riya' – performing an ibadah with the intention of showing off to others Nifaq – hypocrisy Even though we must always make sure that our actions do not deviate from ikhlas, there are actions, which are automatically considered that of good intentions. For example, seeking knowledge in Islam, helping the community, doing da'wah, etc.Some rulings (ahkam) which scholars derived from this hadith: †¢ †¢ †¢ When people ‘swear by Allah' by saying â€Å"Wallahi† every now and then, their intention is not that they actually swear by Allah. They say it simply out of habit – it readily rolls off their tongue. Hence, it is harmless. However a Muslim should do his/her best to minimize it. When someone is asked to give an oath, what is judged is his intention when he gives the oath. There can be a combination of intentions between performing an ibadah and teaching others we perform an ibadah for the sake of Allah, but we also do it with the intention of teaching others. . g. when the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, performed the Hajj, he did it for the sake of Allah as well as for teaching the Sahabah (his companions, may Allah be pleased with them all). A man may go through the process of divorcing his wife, verbally or in court, but it is his intention which counts. What could be seen as ghibah (backbiting – talking bad, but true, things about a person behind his back) could simply be a joke or a dua. If someone talks bad about someone else, it is his intentions, which determines whether it is ghibah or not. †¢ †¢ conclusionOur actions are undermined by our intentions – whether they are good intentions or bad intentions. Therefore we should always check our intentions before we do or say anything. We must make sure that the action is for the sake of Allah so that it is accepted by Allah and that we will be rewarded for it, insha Allah. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com 2. Islam, Iman, Ihsan, Qadar Also on the authority of ‘Umar, radiyallahu ‘anhu, who said: p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com â€Å"While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him. He sat down close by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam. Said the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, â€Å"Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it). † Said he (the man), â€Å"You have spoken truly. † We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, â€Å"Inform me about iman (faith). He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, â€Å"It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects. † He said, â€Å"You have spoken truly. † Then he (the man) said, â€Å"Inform me about Ihsan. † He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, † It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you. † He said, â€Å"Inform me about the Hour. † He (the Messenger of Allah) said, â€Å"About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner. So he said, â€Å"Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i. e. of its coming). † Said he, â€Å"They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings. † Thereupon the man went off. I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, â€Å"O ‘Umar, do you know who that questioner was? † I replied, â€Å" Allah and His Messenger know better. † He said, â€Å"That was Jibril. He came to teach you your religion. † [Muslim] background Al-Imam Muslim says: Towards the end of his life, Abdullah bin ‘Umar (the son of ‘Umar bin alKhattab) was told by two people that a new Islamic sect had emerged from Iraq. They were called AlQadariah and they denied al-qadar (fate). Thus Abdullah bin ‘Umar narrated this hadith which mentions qadar as one of the pillars of Iman to refute the misconception of this sect. lessons This hadith teaches the adab (ethics) of seeking knowledge: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ We should be clean and wear clean clothes. We should sit properly and closer to the speaker.Asking questions for better understanding. Seek knowledge from the right source/authority. The method of seeking knowledge is through asking questions: †¢ The type of questions we ask should be meaningful – questions that will lead to valuable knowledge and good action. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com †¢ †¢ †¢ [email  protected] com Asking good questions will result in better learning as well as teaching.Those who are present when the questions are asked will also learn from the answers – thus, the questioner is teaching the others. When Ibn Abbas, one of the greatest Scholars among the Sahabahs, was asked how he obtained all his knowledge, he replied: â€Å"with an inquisitive tongue (i. e. he always asked questions) and a contemplating heart†. In many hadiths the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, himself will start by asking questions before he imparts with knowledge. Asking questions will prepare the mind/heart so that it will be ready for the answers/knowledge – ready to absorb and learn.In this hadith he calls Jibril â€Å"the questionerâ⠂¬  which implies full appreciation and encouragement of asking questions specially the ones that will lead to gaining more knowledge. In the Quran itself there are more than 1,200 questions – to serve different purposes – to provoke the mind of the reader and force it to indulge in thinking about what he/she reads. †¢ Scholars say that qadar can be seen at two levels: i. We believe that Allah knew, with His ultimate knowledge, what all His creations will do, even before the creations took place. Allah recorded all this knowledge inAl-Lauhulmahfudz – the preserved tablet. We believe that it is the will of Allah that these things will take place, whether they are good or bad. ii. Allah created our willingness and our ability of doing things – we can only do something if we are willing and able to do it. However, we are responsible for the choices we make. Misconceptions about Qadar Many Muslims believe that what they are going to do is caused by what has already been written in Al-Lauhulmahfudz – they confuse ‘causation' with ‘association'. In truth what we have is association, not causation.What we do is not caused by what is written by Allah. Allah with His ultimate knowledge knew what we are going to do. He could easily have put the good-doers into Jannah and the evil-doers into the Hellfire. But Allah is Adil (Just) so He created us in this life as to test us which way to go. What we are going to do will match what has already been written but it's not a matter of causation – what we do is out of our own willingness and ability and we do have full responsibility on whatever choice we make. Looking at guidance and misguidance, guidance (hidayah) is a gift (rahmah) from Allah.It is Allah who created us and gave us the mind so we can distinguish between right and wrong to a certain capacity. It is Allah who equipped us with fitrah to like the truth and good and to dislike the wrong and evil It is Alla h who gave us the ability and power to do things and it is Allah who sent the Messenger with the Message to guide us in things, which are beyond the reach of our conception. So when it comes to guidance it is a bounty from Allah. But when it comes to misguidance, it has to do with us. When we do bad deeds, it is from our own willingness and ability.Those who turn away from guidance do so because they want to turn away, i. e. they choose not to be guided. They have been misguided because they are arrogant – they refuse to listen. And so when they swerved from the right way, Allah let their hearts swerve from the truth. [Surah As-Saff (61): ayat 5] Nevertheless there are people who have not received the Message of Islam/guidance at all or the Message has not reached them in the clearest form, i. e. it is incomplete or distorted. These people are called Ahlul Fatrah and will be excused and not be punished, even though there are misguided. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com There are certain situations where we can do something about our qadar. For example: †¢ †¢ Illness/sickness is qadar – but we have been commanded by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, to look for a cure should we become ill. Finding a cure is also qadar. Thus, a qadar could be dealt with through another qadar. If something unfortunate happens to us, e. g. if we lost our job, we don't just say that it's qadar and do nothing about it.We look for another job, the consequence of which is another qadar. ‘Umar bin al-Khattab was traveling with a group of Sahabahs during his Khilafah (leadership). They were coming to a town when they heard that it had a contagious/infectious disease, i. e. cholera. ‘Umar asked his group whether they should proceed or go back (to Madinah). The majority o f the Sahabahs said they should go back but some said they should proceed. Then one Sahabi said he knew a hadith where the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said, â€Å"If you hear that this disease exists in a country, don't travel to that country. So ‘Umar decided that they should go back. Another Sahabi (it seems from the second group) asked him whether he was running away from a qadar. ‘Umar replied that they were moving away from one qadar to another qadar. Thus, whenever there is a problem, a challenge or any hardship which we can remove, overcome, solve or minimize, it is a must that we do so. Some scholars like al-Imam al-Jilani use the term: â€Å"overcoming qadar† in this regard. In one hadith, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said, â€Å"Be keen for whatever is beneficial for you.Seek the help of Allah. And don't be reckless. † This hadith implies we must make the effort. The right concept of qadar is: we are responsible for whatever we do. For example: If we were to drive recklessly and caused an accident where someone died or was injured, we cannot simply say that it is qadar, abusing the concept to justify our mistakes. It is qadar that the incident took place because it is by the permission of Allah. But we are responsible for the death because it is through our willingness and ability that it happened.That's why in the courts we will be found guilty. If qadar can be used as an excuse, then many crimes will go unpunished – a thief can simply claim that his stealing was qadar! Those who abuse the concept of qadar are those who fail to be responsible. They abuse it to justify their failure. The correct way of using qadar as an excuse is: if someone exerts himself to do his best to fulfil an obligation but due to an unavoidable circumstance, which was out of his control, he could not achieve that obligation – then he might be excused.For example, a student has studied hard for an exa m but on the day of the exam he falls sick and does poorly or cannot even attend the exam, then he can say that it is qadar and that it is the will of Allah. When it comes to religious obligations, the matter is the same. We cannot blame qadar for committing sins or failing to do a wajib as some Muslims might do. We have to know that we are responsible. We might get into a weak status of Iman in doing a sin or delaying a wajib. Islam is such a practical religion that it gives us room for repentance and getting back to the right path.In the above hadith the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, defines Al-Islam, i. e. the five pillars, as the outward actions of the limbs, Al-Iman as being associated with belief – the inner actions of the heart, and Al-Ihsan as the highest level to attain. But the first two definitions can be interchanged with each other – sometimes Islam can be used to describe internal actions and Iman can mean external actions. There are a few h adiths which The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, mentions that there are more than seventy actions which are considered as Iman.If the term Islam is used on its own, it means the whole thing – Al-Islam, Al-Iman and Al-Ihsan. Similarly, when Iman is used on its own it means Al-Iman, Al-Islam and Al-Ihsan. The Prophet, h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, mentions at the end of this hadith that the deen consists of these three things. If the Iman is weak it will affect Al-Islam (good deeds/actions).According to al-Imam Abu Hanifa: Even though Al-Iman and Al-Islam are different, Al-Iman necessitates the actions (Al-Islam). Some Scholars say the Muslims are considered strangers among the Disbelievers; and the Mua'minin are considered strangers among the Muslims; and t he Muhsinin are considered strangers among the Mua'minin. Al-Ihsan (the highest level of Iman where we worship Allah as if we see Him or if we don't see Him we know He sees us) is about fearing Allah and glorifying Him. This will lead us to strive for our best in performing our ibadah – we will be more sincere in our ibadah.Thus Al-Ihsan is also about the best actions of the heart. The actions that will lead to Al-Ihsan: to love Allah the most, to fear Allah the most, to seek the help of Allah, to have hope in Allah that He will give us mercy and guide us, to trust Allah wholly. When Jibril, aliyyhi as-Salam, asks the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, about the Hour (the Day of Judgement), the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, replies that neither he nor Jibril knows the answer. This is an example set by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, where even someone with vast knowledge like himself does not know everything and admits so.Al-Imam Malik w as asked forty questions by someone and to most of them he answered â€Å"I don't know – Allah knows better†. The man was surprised that the great Imam Malik didn't know the answers. Seeing the man surprised, Imam Malik told him that when he goes back to his town, to tell the people that he met and asked al-Imam Malik questions and Imam Malik said he didn't know the answers. AlImam Malik didn't want to be accountable for giving wrong answers. Thus, if we are to become an educator or a scholar, we should have the courage to admit what we do not know. We should not give an answer which may contain incorrect information.The signs of Akhirah mentioned in this hadith are minor signs, as opposed to major ones. We believe in these signs but we should not worry about them too much – we should not worry about when these signs will occur. We should actually be careful as some of these signs are bad deeds and we must steer away from these bad deeds. conclusion This hadith contains everything about Islam: the five pillars of Islam, the beliefs that make up Iman (including the belief of fate or qadar), the attainment of the highest level of Iman which is Ihsan, the adab of seeking knowledge and of teaching. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . u. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com 3. Islam, Iman, Ihsan, Qadar On the authority of Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, radiyallahu ‘anhuma, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, say: â€Å"Islam has been built upon five things – on testifying that there is no god save Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger; on performing salah; on giving the zakah; on Hajj to the House; and on fasting during Ramadhan. † [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] backgroundThis hadith is part of the previous Hadith (2). Mo st Scholars say that the reason why al-Imam alNawawi included this hadith in his collection, even though it seems that it repeats some portions of Hadith 2, is because of the importance of the 5 pillars of Islam. This Hadith stresses the fundamental aspects of the outward submission to Allah. This submission is based on some pillars, similar to a structure. If a person fulfills these aspects, he has laid a solid foundation for his deen as a ‘home'. The other acts of Islam, which are not mentioned in this hadith, can be taken as fine touches to complete this structure.If a person fails to fulfill these obligations (building the pillars), then the entire structure of his deen/iman may be threatened. This depends on how much is being violated – e. g. violation of the shahadah is the most dangerous. lessons The use of metaphors and similes h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory P ro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com This hadith uses a metaphor (i. e. the image of the structure of a building) to affirm certain important meanings.This use of metaphors and similes can be found in many Surahs in the Quran and in many other hadiths. For example: †¢ In Surah At-Taubah (9): ayat 109, a similar metaphor is used – the structure of the Mua'min's deen/iman is based on a sound foundation, whereas the structure of the deen of the Munafiq is based on weak ground which may lead to the collapse of the structure, resulting in the Munafik entering the Hellfire. Surah An-Nur (24): ayat 35, uses the metaphor of light as the light of guidance in the heart of the Mua'min. A metaphor used to condemn those who fail to fulfill the amanah (i. . religious obligations) can be found in Surah Al-Jumu'ah (62): ayat 5. The Bani Israel, having failed to obey Allah's commandments in the Taurah, are described as a donkey which is burdened with heav y books on its back but doesn't understand anything from them. Scholars have said that this metaphor also applies to other nations, which fail to fulfill their amanah. In one hadith the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, divided the status of his ummah into three categories: those who benefit from the Message, those who benefit partially and those who fail to benefit at all.He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, used the metaphor of rain (as the Message) falling down on different types of land, producing different results. †¢ †¢ †¢ Using metaphors to convey the Message is a very important ‘tool' and it is the methodology used in the Quran and by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. There are many modes of expression used in the Quran and Hadith and they are used for different purposes. E. g. Dealing with the misconceptions and false assumptions of the disbelievers, the Quran and Hadith use rational thinking.When describing Jannah and the Hell fire, the style used by the Quran and Hadith is the visual mode of expression – they are described in such detail that it is like we can actually visualize Jannah or the Hellfire in front of us. One of the Sahabahs said that he had already seen Jannah and the Hellfire. The other Sahabahs were puzzled and asked him how this could be so as nobody is able to see them until the Hereafter. He replied, â€Å"I saw them through the eyes of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. If I were to be given the chance to see Jannah and the Hellfire with my own eyes, I would not trust my sight.I trust the eyes of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, more than I trust my own eyes. † Here we can conclude that if we read and understand the Quran and the Hadiths we too can visualize the paradise and the Hellfire. These modes of expression (thinking styles) used by the Quran and Hadith should be well understood and used by Muslims today to convey the Message of Islam wh en doing da'wah as it is the most effective way. Different styles should be used to reach/convince different people – some people are more emotional, some are more rational, etc. First Pillar : The ShahadahThe first part of the Shahadah is testifying that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. There are seven conditions of the Shahadah: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Knowledge – to understand what it means Certainty – to have no doubt about anything confirmed in the Quran or Sunnah Acceptance – by the tongue and the heart of whatever the Shahadah implies Submission/compliance – the actual physical enactment by deeds Truthfulness – to say the Shahadah sincerely, with honesty, to actually mean it Sincerity – to do it solely for the sake of Allah Love – to love the Shahadah and to love its implications and requirements and what it stands for p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com The Shahadah is not simply saying it with our tongue. We need to adhere to these conditions. If we say the Shahadah sincerely and with honesty, we will not do anything which contradicts with or violates the Shahadah.The second part of the Shahadah carries the following conditions: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ To believe in the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and in whatever he told us and conveyed to us To obey him in whatever he commanded us to do To stay away from or avoid whatever he commanded us not to do To follow or emulate him in our ibadah, akhlaq and way of life To love him more than we love ourselves, our family and anything else in this world To understand, practice and promote his Sunnah in the best way possible, without creating any chaos, enmity or harmSecond Pillar : Establishing the Prayers (S alah) Some interpretations of this hadith translate â€Å"iqamatus salah† as ‘performing' the salah. â€Å"Iqamatus salah† is a broader concept than what the term ‘performing' means. The Scholars say â€Å"iqamatus salah† implies: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Doing the wudu in the proper way To do the salah in its time To do it in congregation (jama'ah) – where the reward is 27 times than praying alone To fulfill the six conditions of salah To observe the proper manners (adab) of doing it such as submission and humility To follow preferable actions (sunnan) in our salahIt is important that we follow these conditions and not violate them if we want to truly fulfill the second pillar of Islam i. e. â€Å"iqamatus salah†. We should remember that Allah initially commanded us to pray fifty times a day and it was eventually reduced to five times (with the reward of fifty) – the prayer times are very reasonably spread out throughout the day – it can even help us to manage our time – it can help us to manage our affairs, allowing the Muslim community to meet during congregation and care for and help each other which will lead in turn to solidarity.Thus, the prayers should not be seen as a burden as some Muslims might regard them today. Third Pillar : Zakat The giving of Zakat has been pointed out by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, for certain things and in certain ways or percentages and under certain conditions. The Scholars say that knowing the details of Zakat only becomes an obligation when a person owns the type of property or thing which requires him to give Zakat for. E. g.Farmers or traders or property owners need to know the conditions and percentages of Zakat that they are obligated to give. Fourth Pillar : Hajj Pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House (Kaabah) is an obligation that we need to do only once in our lifetime only if we meet certain conditions, e. g. if we have the financial means, a way of travelling peacefully, etc. If we meet these conditions then we should perform the Hajj as soon as possible and not to delay it. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com Some Scholars say that if we have the means to perform the Hajj several times, then it is better to use this money to help others to fulfill their obligations – we will be rewarded for their pilgrimage or to use the money for the betterment of the community. For each of these Pillars there are conditions, sunnan, ethics (adab), etc. , which should be observed when we perform these ibadahs.Why do we always hear that every year hundreds of Muslims lose their lives or get injured during Hajj? Most of these incidents are due to the negligence of the adab or violation of the sunnan. For example, the throwing of ston es at the Jamrat: †¢ †¢ †¢ Even though we are supposed to use small stones, people tend to use big ones and throw recklessly from a far distance, causing injuries to others. People do not follow the specified directions when they move, causing many to get crushed by the ‘human waves' moving in different directions.People insist on going to throw at the peak times, i. e. the busiest part of the day. The elderly, women and handicapped should be reminded to go when it is less crowded. Thus, it is important that we observe the adab. Fifth Pillar : Fasting Ramadhan is a training program for all Muslims to go through, performing good deeds to become better Muslims. However, we should continue with these good deeds outside of Ramadhan – praying in the mosque, Tahajjud, Qiamu alil, reciting the Qur'an, helping and caring for others etc.The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, when asked what the best way is to finish reading the whole Qur'an, said to do it in one month, i. e. one Juzuk per day. This is something we should practice all the time and not have to wait for Ramadhan to do it. If we cannot achieve this, at least try to read one or two pages a day (a quarter of a hizb). Similarly we should try to do the night prayers (tahajjud), be it only two raka'at and not everyday, outside of Ramadhan. We should not make personal commitments in performing these preferable actions where the Shariah has not made this itself.This might lead us to giving up on our commitment and hence, the good deed. The best way is to do it on ease and convenience aiming at the continuity of these good deeds. conclusion All the Pillars of Islam have rulings, conditions and mannerisms (ahkam wa adab) applied to them. It is important that we know these ahkam and adab and regularly remind ourselves, especially before Ramadan or before performing the Hajj, so that we perform the Pillars properly and according to the Shariah. p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com 4. Creation of human being; Al-Qadar Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud, radiyallahu ‘anhu, reported: The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, the most truthful, the most trusted, told us: â€Å"Verily the creation of any one of you takes place hen he is assembled in his mother's womb; for forty days he is as a drop of fluid, then it becomes a clot for a similar period. Thereafter, it is a lump looking like it has been chewed for a similar period. Then an angel is sent to him, who breathes the ruh (spirit) into him. This Angel is commanded to write Four decrees: that he writes down his provision (rizq), his life span, his deeds, and whether he will be among the wretched or the blessed.I swear by Allah – there is no God but He – one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm's length between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire, till there is naught but an arm's length between him and it, when that which has been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters therein. † [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] background h p: //fo tyhadi th. iu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com This hadith was not only recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim but by other Scholars as well. Apart from ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud, this hadith was also narrated by many other companions (Sahabahs). This narration by ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud was recorded with different versions where some words/terms conflicted with each other, resulting in different versions having different meanings regarding Creation.The conflicts are as follows: 1. The addition of the word â€Å"nutfah† (the drop of a fluid) This word is not mentioned in Bukhari neither Muslim's narration. However it was added to other narrations including the one chosen by al-Imam al-Nawawi to provide a better interpretation or explanation but instead it gave two conflicting views of the creation of mankind in terms of stages of the fetus: First View: The three stages of the fetus consist of forty days each, equaling to a total of 120 days for the stages to complete.It is only after this 120 days that the ruh (spirit) is breathed into the fetus, as well as the recording of the fetus' provision life span, deeds and destiny. This view, the inclusion of the word â€Å"nuftah†, is the view held by the majority of the Scholars. One problem with this view is that the stages of the fetus as interpreted in this hadit h contradict the facts proven by science today. Another problem concerns the Fatwa on abortion. Scholars say that abortion is allowed (provided there is a very good reason – e. g. the woman's life is in danger) only before the ruh is breathed into the fetus, i. e. efore 120 days – as opposed to 40 days if the second view is to be taken (see below). Second View: The word â€Å"nutfah† does not belong to the text of the hadith. This changes the meaning of the hadith which interprets the three stages of the fetus as taking place in the first forty days. This view correlates with scientific facts. And this means that the ruh is breathed into the fetus after forty days, and not 120 days. Consequently the Fatwa on abortion states that abortion is allowed only before forty days. 2. The authenticity of the last section of the Hadith Some Scholars say that the last section of the hadith (i. . â€Å"By Allah†¦) is not part of the text of the Prophet, sallallahu â₠¬Ëœalayhi wasallam, but the words of ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud. But since the issue in this hadith is related to matters which we cannot perceive with our limited human perception, this last section is accepted and included here because ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud may have derived the meaning from another hadith of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, to explain this hadith better. There are other hadiths collected by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, which touch on the same issue. But there are some differences between the texts of those hadiths and this one.Those hadiths narrate the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, as saying: One of you will perform the acts of the people of the Paradise (Ahlul Jannah) as it appears in the eyes of the people. This is like the Munafiqin or hypocrites – they do the acts of the Mua'minin. They appear, in our eyes, to be doing the acts of the Ahlul Jannah but Allah knows best. Their end will be a disaster – by being Munafiqin they are actually denying the message of God in their deep hearts as Allah mentioned in the Qur'an and their end will be in the Hellfire since they do not submit to Allah in their hearts.This explanation of the other hadiths is important in the understanding of this hadith. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com lessons The Scholars say when we do a research on a concept or an issue mentioned in hadiths, we shouldn't depend on only one hadith – we need to search for other similar hadiths, which deal with the same issue/matter.We must remember that some narrators will narrate a hadith by its meaning, and not exactly as it was said by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. This is because being human, some of them may forget some of the exact words/terms used by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasal lam but they still understand the actual meaning of what was said. Then we need to compare the different texts of hadiths on the same issue with each other in order to have a more complete interpretation and better understanding of the issue/matter at hand.Some people, on hearing this hadith as it is and without further explanation, might feel despair, fearing that they fall into the bad group of people mentioned. This will lead to determination (jabriah) they may think that no matter what they do, if their end has already been written, then why should they bother to do good deeds. This is the wrong attitude to have as it is based on a wrong perception. Allah is Just. We should trust Allah. If we are good to Allah and trust Him, He will be good to us. We should be optimistic and not pessimistic.We follow Allah's commands and make the effort to be good Muslims and we should not despair. During one of the battles, a companion (Sahabi) said to the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasa llam, that he was following him, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, to fight in the hope that an arrow will be shot through his (the Sahabi's) neck, coming in from the front and going out the back. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said, â€Å"If you are honest with Allah, Allah will be honest with you. † The Sahabi died exactly as he hoped to. The Prophet's, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, words here are generic and can be used for all situations.If we are honest with Allah, Allah will not leave us – He will help us – He will guide us, etc. The closer we are to Allah, the more He will help us and guide us. Thus, the last section of this hadith is an exception and applies only to few people such as the Munafiqin. But this, on the other hand, does not mean that we live in hope alone. The Scholars say that we must combine hope with fear – when we worship Allah, we should have hope as well as fear of Him. Fearing Allah is a positive thing. T he more we fear Allah, the closer we get to Him. The more we fear Allah, the more calm and at peace we will be.This is unlike the natural ‘fear' where if we fear something, e. g. a fire or a dangerous animal, we will try to get away from it. Scholars say that we should have an equal amount of hope to the amount of fear. This is so we will have a better status of Iman (faith) – there is no despair and at the same time there is no excessive hope (over-confidence) which could lead to laziness and the non-fulfillment of our obligations. This is why we need to combine hope and fear, as well as love Allah the most and have trust in Him. This above hadith is about Allah's Creation and Qadar.The statement: â€Å"that which has been written will overtake him† should be understood in the positive sense and not negatively. Allah with His ultimate knowledge knows what will happen as it has been explained in the previous hadith. Al-Qadar can be categorized as: 1. Al-Qadar al- Kulli – the general qadar which has been recorded by Allah in Al-Lauhulmahfudz or the Preserved Tablet. 2. Al-Qadar al-Sanawi – the annual qadar which takes place once a year (Lailatul qadar) – where it matchs what has been written in Al-Lauhulmahfudz. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com What has been written in Al-Lauhulmahfudz is only known to Allah. It is not revealed to us – we don't know about our destiny, what our rizq is, where we'll end up, etc. To us it is ghaib and unknown. The translation of this hadith using the word â€Å"overtake† may not give the true meaning if it were to be understood that whatever has been recorded by the angels will be â€Å"imposed† on a person's life. We are simply being told about Ilmu Allah or the ultimate knowledge of Allah.What has bee n written does not cause us to do what we do. It is not a cause and affect situation, as believed by many Muslims. Many Muslims believe that as it has already been written, therefore this will cause us to do whatever has been written. The truth is even though it has been written and even though we will do it, we will not do it because it has been written. It is actually an association, or a matching. What we are going to do matches the knowledge of Allah, because Allah's knowledge is ultimate. In other words, what we are going to do matches what has been written.This shows the glory of Allah, the ultimate knowledge of Allah. So we should not have the understanding that things are imposed on us. Otherwise this will nullify the whole concept of iman (faith) and the whole concept of Creation and all other related concepts. We are responsible for what we choose and for what we do. Referring to the last section of this hadith where a person's final destiny changes at the last minute and he ends up not as expected, there are examples in the Sirahs where some people embrace Islam in the last minute – e. g. they embrace Islam and go into battle and die, some of them not having done a single good deed.There are also many examples today where non-practicing Muslims or those doing bad deeds, having reached the last stages of their lives (at the age of 50 or 60), will repent and turn into a good Muslim. The same applies for thousands of new converts every year. These people, according to the will of Allah, will be forgiven and enter Paradise. For the other scenario where a person performs good deeds most of his/her life and at the end of his/her life perform bad deeds deserving to enter the Hellfire (as mentioned in the hadith), this situation affects only a limited number of people compared to the first one.And it is because of the person himself, such as in the case of hypocrites. To have the correct understanding of the concept of qadar, we need to know more abo ut the creation of the human being. What is mentioned in this Hadith is actually a miracle. It describes the stages of the fetus and the creation of man 1,400 years before science and technology confirm it as fact. (This description of the stages of the fetus can also be found in the Quran but without the mention of the periods of times. In other words, scientists were only able to observe this phenomenon in the last few decades whereas it was already mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith hundreds of years ago. A conference regarding the Creation was held in Europe several years ago and some Muslim Scholars were invited to attend. When these Scholars gave the Islamic perspective regarding the stages of the fetus, showing that this was documented in the Quran and the Hadith, some of the people who attended the conference embraced Islam – they were convinced that it is a Divine revelation.We also need to understand the components of the human being in order to help us understand q adar in the positive way. The human being consists of the following components: †¢ The intellect (Al-Aql) – this allows us, to a certain extent, to distinguish between good and evil. The intellect is part of us, part of the creation of Allah. Based on this, a person is regarded as mukallaf, responsible to understand and accept the massage of Allah if he is sane. If someone is mentally disturbed or insane, then he is not mukallaf.The natural disposition or innate (Al-Fitrah) – we are created with this innate which enables us to love what is good and what is right and to hate what is evil and what is wrong. It consists of love and hate. Even though we are created with this fitrah, it is subject to change due to the environment, to our parents, upbringing, etc. Therefore there are people who might love what is bad due to a spoiled or a corrupted fitrah. The Scholars say the original fitrah is still there †¢ h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhad i th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. dffactory. com [email  protected] com †¢ †¢ within these people – if we try to ‘awaken' the fitrah, these people will come back to loving good and hating bad. The commitment that we make, at the time of our pre-creation, to worship only Allah. This is related to the fitrah – it causes us to have this natural disposition or innate towards loving what is good and hating what is bad. The willingness (Al-Iradah) and Power (Qudrah): Allah provided us with willingness and power/ability. An action cannot take place without this willingness and power – we do something only if we are willing and we have the power to do it.But this willingness and power are neutral and can be manipulated and used in either good or bad ways. We have also been created with desires (shahawat) and the existence of these desires within us can manipulate our willingnes s or power towards good or bad. Desires are part of what is known as the internal challenges – things which influence our willingness and ability. The internal challenges consist of: o o Shahawat/Hawa (self desires) Nafs, of which there are three different aspects: i. The nafs which encourages us to do bad deeds ii. The nafs which blames us for our bad deeds or thoughts of bad deeds (if we have iman and knowledge) – e. . our nafs says â€Å"Aren't you ashamed of yourself for thinking about drinking alcohol? † iii. The peaceful nafs (al-Mutma'inah) †¢ We can be dealing with these three different aspects of the nafs in a short period of time, e. g. within less than an hour, where (i) we start in thinking about doing a bad deed, caused by al-nafsu ammarah bi sua' which is the first aspect of nafs, but due to our faith (ii) the blaming self prevents us from performing that bad deed, leading us to (iii) the aspect of the peaceful self. There are also external ch allenges (which attract the internal challenges): o o The existing muharamat (prohibitions) – e. . the first aspect of nafs will activate the hawa and the hawa will push us to think about and do the bad deeds. The insinuation/whispering (waswasa) of Satan. All that Satan can do is to insinuate. He will try to convince us to do bad deeds by promoting evil and making it appear nice and acceptable to us, or convince us to delay doing good deeds. E. g. if we are good Muslims Satan will try to make us delay performing the prayer or giving the sadaqah by making it appear as a bad thing to do because giving sadaqah will result in a financial burden for us. As we can see, both cases are done through coloring our perception.We can see that some of the components of the human being help us while some are challenges. For example, the Fitrah and Aql are strong components which direct us to do good. However there is a limit to our intellect and for this Allah sent us the Messengers with t he revelations to guide us. Allah's Guidance helps us by telling us what is good and what is bad, in what forms the insinuation of Satan can come in, etc. When we recite the Qur'an with contemplation, we will attain the insight (basirah) which will activate the blaming-self and the nafs ul mutma' inah.The Qur'an tells us that we have been created to be tested: (Allah) Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. [Surah Al-Mulk (67): ayat 2] Allah tells us what we are being tested on and the scenarios mentioned above describe the nature of the test. This is the mercy of Allah – He equips us with the power, the will, the fitrah, the aql, the Message/guidance, etc. But He warns us that our will is going to be tested by internal and external challenges. The power and willingness is neutral but it can be influenced/directed to go either way, p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF creat ed with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com good or bad. If we have the insight (basirah), if we recite the Quran, if we are close to Allah, if we have the wisdom (hikmah), then what will be activated is the sound mind and the shahawat (selfdesires) will be controlled and we will not be misled by them. Satan will not come close to us because he knows that if he does so he will not be able to influence us.If we look at it this way, our life is a challenge – it's a real test that we have to go through. Even with all these components Allah has equipped us with, we still need Tawfiqul Allah (guidance from Allah). Without tawfiq we might be misled by our desires or by the insinuation of Satan. Thus we need to be closer to Allah. We need to do du'a to Allah (calling on Him) all the time and to devote our hearts to Him so that we are constantly seeking His help, His refuge, His Hidayah (guidance). That's why at least 17 times a day we say â€Å"Guide us to the Straight Way† – we need Allah's guidance again and again.The guidance is not only to the path but it is also within the path. These are the two types of guidance (hidayah) – (i) to the path is becoming a Muslim and (ii) within the path is increasing our S. The Scholars say we need guidance within the path every second of the day – we need Allah's guidance more than we need to breathe. It is narrated by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, in one Hadith that Allah created a man on an island where he was the only person there. Allah gave the man rizq by providing fruits on which he survived. For 70 ears the man lived and worshipped only Allah, as there were no challenges there. When the time came for the man to die, Allah commanded the angel to bring his soul to Him. Allah asked the man, â€Å"O My servant, to Paradise or to Hellfire? † The man replied, â€Å"O Allah, Almighty, to Paradise. † Allah said, â€Å"O My servant, is it because of My Mercy or is it because of your amal (good deeds)? † The man replied, â€Å"O Allah, it is because of my amal. For 70 years I worshipped you. I have done nothing bad, only good deeds worshipping you. † Then Allah commanded his angel to take the bounty of sight and put it on one scale.He then commanded the angel to put the man's 70 years' worth of good deeds on the other scale. The bounty of sight weighed heavier than the deeds of 70 years. In summary, if for 70 years we were to worship Allah and do good deeds and refrain from bad deeds, we will still not be able to repay Allah for one of His bounties. The Scholars say if you want to know Allah's bounty on you, close your eyes. If we close our eyes and imagine that we can no longer see and try to picture how our life would be, only then can we truly appreciate and value the mercy of Allah. onclusion The hadiths are the sources of our iman (faith), knowledge, and guidance as w e are taught by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. Studying and understanding the Hadiths will activate our insight (basirah), enlighten our hearts, and uplift our souls. This will by the help of Allah, lead us and keep us on the right path to the end, insha Allah. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com . Ibadah & Bida'ah (Innovation) It is narrated on the authority of the Mother of the Believers, Umm ‘Abdullah ‘Aishah, radiyallahu ‘anha, that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said: â€Å"Whosoever introduces into this affair of ours (i. e. into Islam) something that does not belong to it, it is to be rejected. † [Al-Bukhari & Muslim] According to the version in Muslim, (it reads): â€Å"Whosoever works a work which has for it no command of ours is to be r ejected. † background Like Hadith 1, this hadith is one of the most important hadiths.Imam Nawawi said it should be memorised by every Muslim. This hadith is used as a criterion for judging external actions or performance of Ibadah. If an action is not done in accordance with the Shariah or the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, it will be rejected and not accepted by Allah based on text of this hadith. This hadith complements Hadith 1, which was a criterion for judging the intentions or the internal actions of the heart. The Scholars say that the acceptance of actions of Ibadah is based on the above two conditions: i.The intention – the action should be done with sincerity, for the sake of only Allah. It should be done in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam. ii. Apart from Hadith 1 and Hadith 5, the acceptance of actions can also be found in Surah Al-Kahf (18): ayat 110: Whoever looks forward to meeting hi s Sustainer (on Day of Judgement), let him do righteous deeds, and let him not ascribe unto anyone or anything a share in the worship due to his Sustainer. Emulating and following the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is a Qur'anic obligation.Allah, the Almighty says: h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com Verily, in the apostle of God you have the best example to emulate for everyone who looks forward (with hope and awe) to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah unceasingly. [Surah Al-Ahzab (33): ayat 21]. Say (O Prophet): â€Å"If you love Allah, follow me, (and) Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. lessonsThis hadith is related to a very important concept which is following the Sunnah and violating this concept will lead to bida'ah [which will be discussed in detail, insha Allah, in Hadith 28]. Scholars classify actions of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, into actions done for the purpose of Ibadah (worshiping Allah) and actions which are not done for that purpose (i. e. customs, actions done haphazardly, etc. ). There are clear indicators for actions done for the purpose of Ibadah such as commands to do or not to do something, warnings for not doing something, etc.Muslims are only obliged to follow the first kind of Sunnah. Looking at it in a positive way, the actions (i. e. forms of ibadah) that we do should be done in accordance with the Shariah or the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and to ensure this there is a criterion consisting of five aspects that will keep our actions in check: i. Time Any ibadah that we do has to be done in it's designated or specified time. E. g. There are fixed times in the day for the five prayers. For fasting, the month for fasting is Ramadhan. The period that we can fast is from fajr to sunset. Similarly, there is a specific time in the year when we can perform the Hajj – from the 8 to the 12 Zulhijjah. Place The Shariah has specified that certain ibadahs have to be performed in designated places. E. g. The places for performing the Hajj, I'tikaf, doing Ihram for Hajj have been fixed by the Shariah and this is something which is sometimes violated by Muslims, e. g. doing the Ihram (starting talbiyyah and niyyah for Hajj) in Jeddah is incorrect. Quantity For most of the ibadahs the Shariah has specified a certain number of times that the ibadahs or their components need to be performed.E. g. For prayers, there are specified number of rakaahs and sujud and for Tawaf there is a fixed number of rounds (7), etc. We should not violate these rules intentionally. To violate intentionally may make the ibadah subject to be rejected. Way Every ibadah was described or shown to us by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam being our best model to follow and emulate. The w ay that the ibadahs are performed by him have to be followed – it should not be violated. E. g. There are different ways of performing different prayers – Salat ul-Janazah has no ruku' or sujud.Even the size of the stones used for throwing at the Jamrat has been specified by the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, as not to be too big. Before we perform any ibadah, we should know and learn the way the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, performed it and we should do it in the right way as he did it. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said, â€Å"Pray as you have seen me praying. † Many Muslims today violate the way ibadahs are performed, because of ignorance or because they do not bother to learn, and they end up doing the ibadah in the wrong way. ii. ii. iv. h p: //fo tyhadi th. iiu e m r . du. y h p: //f o tyhadi th. iiu e m /hadi ths . h m r . du. y t PDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version http://www. pdffactory. com [email  protected] com v. Type If the Shariah has specified a type of ibadah, then we should stick to that type. E. g. Al-Udhiah (sacrifice) – the type of animal to be sacrificed has been specified by the Shariah and this should not be violated. Recently a Sheikh in one of the Muslim countries made a fatwa that Muslims can use chicken as sacrifice – this is a violation of the type.If a Muslim cannot afford to offer a sacrifice, then they don't have to do it as it is not a wajib (i. e. an obligation). In certain years, some of the Sahabahs (companions) purposely did not perform the sacrifice so that the people did not think that it was a wajib. A clear distinction should be made about the actions of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam whether they were done only from time to time or whether they were done continuously on a regular basis. For example, some o

Modern culture Essay

As has lately been pointed out (Hesmondhalgh, 2002; Negus, 2002) this term has been used with some quite differing meanings or at least deviating from Bourdieu’s original intentions (Bourdieu, 1986). If they can be seen as active and cognizant agents of social and cultural change – change in the supposed interests of themselves and the class fraction to which they go, as Bourdieu would have it – then they have been recognized with cultural critics (Bourdieu, 1986; Hesmondhalgh, 2002); those promoting a new lifestyle (O’Connor and Wynne, 1998); and those who choose which products go forward during the cultural production chain. It has also been used to portray those who â€Å"make things happen,† putting artists, money and audiences together in a means that creates new cultural possibilities. This might comprise Diaghilev, or Brian Epstein, or Charles Saatchi. At a more ordinary level it can be used to portray those who are able to translate between the language of policy makers and that of the cultural producers. As with the A+R men (music industry talent scouts: Artists and Repertoire) in Negus’ description these intermediaries work to bond one level of discourse to another – to â€Å"symbolize† the interests of cultural producers within the framework of wider policy development, and speak this language back to those producers. By the time Tony Blair’s New Labour came to power in 1997 in the U. K. the cultural industries had a well-built policy presence – it was here that consultants and policy makers had interpreted academic literature and practical illustrations into coherent policy possibilities. The narrative context for this was boosted by New Labor’s legitimizing of the cultural industries – and the term â€Å"creative† acceptable an argument about a benign combination of culture and economics to be placed at the level of personal potential and aspiration. Those in the sector could now distinguish themselves and others as â€Å"creatives† (Caves, 2000; Florida, 2002). At the same time the cultural industries also became a U. K. policy export, with consultants – and now academics – being asked by many European cities to advice on culture as a motor of economic development. Though, the interaction of these policy intermediaries with extremely different contexts destined that the work of definition had to be done over, and as such the narratives spelled out more evidently. Often this was not easy as the cultural (and by now â€Å"creative†) industry discourse was linked with Blair’s â€Å"Third Way,† or with some Anglo-U. S. assault on a European cultural policy consent. Certainly it was quite clear that a shift in discourse would challenge recognized policy consensus. The terminology itself brought fresh problems; whereas the U. K. can use â€Å"industry† almost interchangeably with â€Å"economic sector,† elsewhere it evokes factory production (O’Connor, 2000b). Cultural enterprise or cultural business frequently had to supplement the main term. In fact â€Å"cultural industries† became greatly an imported neologism, given in the English original and then explained (O’Connor, 1999a). How the term and the arguments are used and reconfigured depends on the local context. But if it was usually seen as an argument concerning a new relationship between culture and economics, how this relationship was understood could be extremely different, as could too the outcomes envisioned and the groups who picked up the ideas. Policy makers used it to drive diverse agendas – job creation, urban regeneration, the commercialization of subsidized culture, emerging new media industries, creating employment, retaining talent, etc. But cultural producers also reacted in different ways – some seeing it as a new set of opportunities, others as the thin end of a precarious wedge. â€Å"The perceptions that the creative industries are open to talent, and are indeed dependent on diverse talent, have also been somewhat optimistic† . It must be clear then that in working to construct a new policy object, and in efforting to shift discourses around culture towards economics – with the provision that economics too is moving towards culture, the cultural industries discourse rallies a narrative to strengthen its policy goals. These narratives become more obvious when the discourse enters a new framework – it has to justify itself and make its arguments obvious not simply as technical policy tools but as concerned with the primary direction and meaning of modern culture.