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FAQs
The FAQ section is aimed at trying to answer some of the common questions: about
Islam, that converts ask and basic fiqh (Islamic rulings) questions.
If you have a questions please contact us and we will
get back to you as soon as we can inshaAllah.
Does Islam condone violence?
Does a convert have to change their name?
Why do Muslims have to pray in Arabic all the time and not English?
Does Islam condone violence?
But if they incline towards peace, you must also incline towards it, and put you
trust in God". [Qur'an 8:61]
It is a sad state of affairs that in our age Islam is often seen as synonomous with
violence. Although some Muslims do commit great atrocities to their fellow human
beings it is not something sanctioned by Islam. It is often the result of political
and social depravation. The Joint Intelligents Committee researched what were the
causes conducive to membership of terrorist organisations in April 2006. They found
that main causes were: opposition to the war on Iraq, economic depravation, social
exclusion and disaffection with community leaders. None of these are religious causes.
Imam Zaid Shakir wrote an excellent article on jihad at the following address: http://www.zaytuna.org/seasons/seasons2/53-64%20Seasons.pdf
.
Shaykh Muhammad Afifi gave a detailed fatwa - echoing the consensus of Islamic scholarship
- prohibitting the use of suicide bombing, which can be found at the following:
http://www.livingislam.org/maa/dcmm_e.html
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Does a convert have to change their name?
Every Muslim has the right to a good name. Therefore only if a converts name does
not have a good meaning should it be changed.
Most of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) kept their names, out
of the foremost - the rightly guided caliphs - Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and Uthman only
one changed his name. Abu Bakr's forename was 'Abdul Ka'aba' (servant of the Ka'aba)
which was a name synonymous with paganism. So the Prophet (peace be upon him) changed
it to Abdullah (servant of God).
It makes no difference whether your name is Arab or otherwise, the only condition
is whether it has a good meaning; for example, if someone converted having the name
'William' (from old German meaning 'protector') there would be no harm in keeping
it.
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Why do Muslims have to pray in Arabic all the time and not
English?
Firstly it is important to make a distinction between the five obligatory prayers
(salah) and supplication (du’a); salah should be performed in Arabic whilst du’a
can be made in any language. Whilst certain etiquettes should be observed, in du’a,
you can say whatever you wish and speak to God in a more personal way.
Perhaps the fact that salah needs to be in Arabic is one of the most striking signs
of the position of the language within the religion of Islam; the two are intertwined.
A brief study is enough to highlight the significance of this. For example; the
word in English for reality comes from the Latin root ‘res’ which means thing, the
equivalent word in Arabic, haqiqah, has the root ‘haq,’ which is a name of God (Al
Haq – The Real). The two languages perspectives of reality are quite different,
English sees reality as made up of things which you can touch and see etc. whilst
Arabic sees reality as God. God is the absolute reality; our reality is merely contingent;
the entire universe is dependent upon Him. The language of Arabic is always turning
us back to Almighty God. There is much linguistic theory about the influence of
a language on a people’s perspectives and indeed vice versa.
To love God you have to know Him. One way of doing this is to understand His revelation
to mankind – the Qur’an. Although a translation serves as a sort of crutch it in
no way encompasses the entirety of meaning within the Qur’an. Any translator normally
takes a relied upon commentary and translates accordingly, thus giving only one
possible meaning. Recitation is an integral part of prayer which can only be in
Arabic, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘there is no prayer without the
Fatiha (the first chapter) and another chapter with it’ [Tirmidhi]. Prayer is a
means to reach God and for the same reasons why the Qur’an cannot be fully translated
neither can the prayer. It is our responsibility to raise ourselves to understand
the words of the prayer and indeed the Qur’an.
The Qur'an's eloquence is a proof of it's Divinity, which no translation can ever
retain. Would Juliet's saying: 'What's in a name? that which we call a rose. By
any other name would smell as sweet.' have the same impact as the factual statement:
'What matters is what something is, not what it is called?' This eloquence is not
only in poetic licence, but also sound. The very recitation itself has made people
weep despite them having no knowledge of Arabic. The Qur'an and the other elements
of salah, recited correctly are a key to our very soul.
From a legalistic (fiqh) perspective the ruling that salah should be in Arabic is
due to the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘pray as you see me pray’ [Bukhari].
He (peace be upon him) performed prayer in Arabic at all times despite the ability
to speak any language. This was the practice of His Companions and has been of all
Muslims until the present day, it is something agreed upon despite the presence
of many different languages amongst the early and latter Muslim communities - the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "My Ummah shall not agree upon error," [Hakim].
This answer is in no way exhaustive and has merely been a brief overview of what
I and my teachers know. What needs to be remembered is that sometimes the reason
behind Divine legislation, especially spiritual aspects, are not always clear. It
does not mean they are irrational, but rather rationality beyond our limited intellects;
it comes from Almighty God whose Wisdom and Knowledge cannot be encompassed. For
example, why is the Noon prayer (Dhuhr) four rakats (cycles) whilst the Morning
Prayer (Fajr) is only two? No one knows, but we follow it with humility because
God through His Bounty has given us a means through which we can reach Him even
if we do not fully understand the how’s and why’s of it. Islam literally means submission
and it is part of the character of the believer to say: ‘We hear and obey’ [Qur’an
2:285] and it is in so doing that meaning is unveiled, for God’s Messenger (Peace
be upon him) has said: ‘Whomsoever practices what he knows, God reveals that which
he did not know.’ And God knows best
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