A New Astronomical Quranic Method for The Determination Of The Greatest Speed C

by Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby*
Source : IslamiCity.com

Abstract:

The greatest speed C, denoting the velocity of light in vacuum, is hinted at in two glorious Quranic verses relating this fundamental universal contant C with the motion of the Earth-Moon system. A new relativistic interpretation of this Quranic relation gives C=299792.5 km/s in an extremely marvellous agreement with the accepted international value. This astonishing result emphasises the unity of the physical world, the validity of the special theory of relativity and the authenticity of the Glorious Quran for unbelievers.

Introduction:

The velocity of light C in vacuum belongs to a small group of the fundamental constants; however, it occupies an outstanding position even within this group. First of all, it is encountered in very different branches of physics. It will come as no exaggeration if one says the story of the determination of the velocity of light is a concise history of physics. And this story has not come to an end yet.
From the ancient Greeks down to the Middle ages, the speed of light was believed to be infinite. Aristotle believed that light propagates instantly!. In the eleventh century, an Arabic scientist Alhassan suggests that light travels at a finite speed. Galileo (1600) tried this speed but he Eailed saying that light is extraordinarily rapid(l). Roemer (1676) was the first measuring C using the eclipses of the Jovian satellite Io. He obtained an inaccurate value of C (215000 km/s) because the diameter of the earth's orbit was not known exactly.

Starting from 17th century, experiments show the progress of methods and techniques in the determination of the speed C as indicated in the following table (1). table 1

Froome's value was considered to be the most accurate for a long period until 1983 when the modulated laser radiation interferometers were applied for the determination of C with great precision.

According to the US National Bureau of Standards(3): C = 299792.4574 + 0.0011 km/

and according to the British National Physical Laboratory C = 299792.4590 + 0.0008 km/s

A basically new definition of the metre wasaccepted in October 1983 at the 17th General Conference on Measures and Weights(3):

"The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second".

The Fixation of the value of C after the formation of the new definition of the meter does not mean yet the end of the story of this fundamental constant C. There are numerous other questions dealing with the realtion between this multifarious, enigmatic constant C and the theory of Relativity.

Recalling the second postulate of the special theory of relativity declared by Albert Einstein (1905):

"The velocity C of light in vacuum is the same in all inertial frames of reference in all directions and depend neither on the velocity of the source nor on the velocity of the observer".

Pauli(4) (1958) said that the data on binarystars allowed us to consider this postulate of the constancy of the velocity of light to be almost certainly correct.

According to Einstein's general theory of relativity (1917), the law of the constancy of the velocity C of light in vacuum can not claim any unlimited validity because the curvature of rays of light can only take place when the velocity of propagation of light varies with position!. Einstein(4) himself solved this contradiction between special and general relativity declaring in his paper written (1917):

"The results of the special relativity hold only so long as we are able to disregard the influence of gravitational fields on the phenomena".

This validity condition of the second postulate of special relativity is considered in the present work because the constancy of the velocity C needs absolute space (vacuum). To attain vacuum in the Einstein's sense of this word. it is not: sufficient just to eleminate from a volume of space every atom, molecule and particle, it is necessary also to get rid of the gravitational field. Therefore we have screened out the effect of the solar gravitational field on the geocentric orbital motion of the moon, which is considered here, according to the applied Quranic equation; as a standard measure reference for evaluating the greatest cosmic speed described in the Holy Quranic verses.

Lunar Orbital Motion described in Quran:

Fourteen centuries ago, the QURAN(5), i.e. .the Holy Book of Islamic Religion, was directed from GOD to all humanity through Prophet Mohammad, who lived in the Arabian Peninsula.

The ARAB people use the lunar system in their calculation of time. The Quran addressed them in the only language they could understand without upsetting their habits. GOD (in Arabic ALLAH: the ONE and Only GOD, the CREATOR) says in the Quran:

"GOD is the ONE who made the sun a shining glory and the moon a light and for her ordained mansions, so that you might know the number of years and the reckoning" (10:5)

The lunar year is twelve months, the month is defined recently as the time of one revolution of the moon in its orbit around the earth. God hints at such orbit in the Quran:

"GOD is the ONE who created the night, the day, the sun, and the moon. Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion" (21:33).

Here an essential scientific fact is clearly stated, namely, the existence of the earth's, sun'so and moon's orbits; besides, a reference is made to the travelling of these celestial bodies in space with their own motion! A new concept had therefore been established in the Quran, hundreds of years before it was discovered by modern science(6-7)

Today the concept of the lunar year is widely spread and, as we know, the moon is our nearest neighbour in space, and a companion to our planet. It is often said that the earth and moon form a twin-planet. As the moon orbits around the earth, the change in the relative positions of the moon, earth and sun cause the moon to show its phases(8-9). The time between consecutive new moons is 29.53 days and is called the synodic month. During this time, however, the earth, and consequently the moon's orbit, have travelled some way around the sun, so the position of the moon against the background of stars is different. 'l;he time for the moon to return to the same position in the sky as viewed from earth is called the sidereal month (27.32 days) which represents the actual real net time of one revolution in the moon's orbit. This orbit is almost circular having an average radius r=384264 km.

Fig. 1 describes the moon's motion during a lunar month. Position A1 shows a new moon. Position B (about 2 weeks later than A1) illustrates the following full moon. Position A2 the moon has orbited the earth once (with respect to an apparently fixed star). Thus one sidereal period (27.32 days) has elapsed since position A1. The next new moon does not occur until position A3 where the moon has once again lined up with the sun. Thus one lunar synodic period (29.53 days) has elapsed since position A1.

Referring to the Quranic verse (10:5), we notice that it discriminates between the apparent synodic period for knowing the number of years and the real sidereal period for reckoning in scientific calculations. These two systems of measuring time are now given in the text books of Astronomy as indicated(l،) in table 2:

Table (2) Lunar month and terrestrial:day


Period

i) Lunar Month T
ii) Terrestrial day t

Siderial

i) 27.321661 days = 655.71986 hours
ii) 23 h, 56 min 4.0906 sec = 86164.0906 sec

Synodic

i) 29.53059 days
ii) 24 hours = 86400 sec


The aim of this work is to determine the value of the greatest speed mentioned in the following relativistic Quranic verses. In these verses the sideral system should be used for both the lunar month and the terrestrial day as accurate measured periods (with respect to a distant apparently fixed star).

A New Relation in the Earth-Moon System:

The length of the moons' orbit L and the time t of one terrestrial day are correlated in a marvellous Quranic verse which describes a universal constant velocity of a certain cosmic affair as follows:

"GOD rules the cosmic affair from the heavens to the earth. Then this affair travels, to Him (i.e. through the whole universe) in one day, where the measure is one thousand years of your reckoning"(32:5)

the Quranic expression "of your reckoning" leaves no doubt as to our understanding of the year as the lunar year.

The verse begins with a reference to a certain "cosmic affair" which GOD creates and commands. This affair travels, permanently through the whole universe between the heavens and the Earth, so speedily that it crosses in ONE DAY a maximum distance in space equivalent to that which the moon passes during ONE THOUSAND LUNAR YEAR (i.e. during 12000 Sidereal months). The question which pause.; itself now is: what could this cosmic affair be? and what is its greatest velocity as expressed in this Quranic equation?.

To answer this question. The above Quranic verse has been understood** in terms of the following equation:

Distance crossed in vacuum by the universal cosmic affair in Osle sidereal day = length of 12000 revolutions of the moon around the earth.

.:. Ct = 12000 L .

where:

C is the velocity of the cosmic affair,

t is the time interval of one terrestrial sidereal day kefined as the time of one rotation of the earth. about its axis (relative to the stars). i.e. 23 hr, 56 min, 4.0906 sec = 86164.0906sec. )

L is the inertial distance which the moon covers in c-o revolution around the earth during one sidereal month i.e. L is the net length of the moon's orbit due to its own geocentric motion, without the interference of its spiral motion causec by the earth's revolution around the sun, i.e. _ is the lunar orbit length excluding the effec- of the solar gravitational field on the measured value.

Let V is the measured average orbital velocity of the moon deduced from the average radius R of the lunar geocentric orbit tas measured from an orbiting earth during its heliocentric motion)

.:. V=2 Pi *R/T....................................................(2)

substituting R = 384264 km and T = the siderial lunar month = 655.71986 hr

.:. V= (2X3.l4l6x384264 )/ 655.71986= 3682.07 km/hr

This value is given in all text books of astronomy and is accepted by NASA.

Let @ (Fig. 1) is the angle travelled by the earth moon system around the sun during one sidereal month of period 27.321661 days. We can calculate @ if we take into consideration the period (365.25636 days)of one heliocentric revolution (1 year) of the earth-moon system (Fig.l).

@ = 27.321661*360/365.25636= 26,92848

Thus @ is a characteristic constant of this system depending on uniformperiods of the month and the year.

Since the presence of the sun changes the geometrical properties of space and time , we must screen out its gravitational effect on the earth moon system according to the validity condition of the second postulate of special relativity, i.e. we must only consider the lunar geocentric motion without the heliocentric motion of the earth-moon system. Thus a velocity component VO=V cosO representing the net orbital velocity of the moon as shown in fig. (1) is introduced for calculating the net length L of the lunar orbit assuming a stationary earth.

.:. L = V cos @ T ......................... (3)

From equation (1) and (3) we get a new Quranic relation for the earth moon system:

Ct= 12000 V cos @T.......................................(4)

.:. C =12000 V cos @ T/t..................................(5)

substituting the sidereal values of the periods t and T from table (2), the NASA value of the measured orbital lunar velocity V = 3682.07 km/hr., and the calculated yalue of cos@ = cos 26.92848 = 0.89157, we get the velocity of the cosmic affair from eq. 5 as expressed in the Holy Quran.

C=12000 x 3682.07 x 0.89157 x 655.71986/86164.0906

.:. C = 299792.5 km/s

Referring to table (1) and the international value of C = 299792.458 km/s we find an extremely marvellous agreement. Thus we conclude that the cosmic affair, mentioned in the previous Quranic verse, is identical to LIGHT and all similar cosmic affairs travelling in vacuum with this maximum speed such as: all types of electro magnetic waves propagating between the heavens and the earth, the expected Gravitational waves spreading all over the universe, and all particles travelling in this cosmic greatest spead such as neutrinos.

It is very interesting to mention here the second Quranic verse that hints at the same relativistic Quranic equation in the earth-moon system: God Most High said:

"A day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning" (22:47)

Thus both relativistic Quranic equations emphasise the obtained value of the greatest speed C and show that C is a permanent absolute constant. Actually there have been no scientific evidence that the value of C can change in time as yet. The constancy principle of special relativity is confirmed in the present work, which correlates also the speed of light C in vacuum with the celestial mechanics of the earth-moon system. Referring to equation (4) and substituting the velocity V from eq. (2), we find that the average radius of the moon.

R = [C/12000x2 Pi Cos@]*t......................................(6)

.:. "The average radius R of the lunar orbit is directly proportional to the period of one terrestrial sidereal day t.".

This new law deduced in the present work is important so far as it confirms the law of conservation of momentum in the Earth-Moon system. Moreover it implies the influence of the tidal effect and the gravitational change factor on the this system.

According to Dirac's cosmology, the universal gravitational constant G must be variable in time! i.e., it decreases with the age Tv of the universe according to Diracs equation:

G=[e^4/(m*e^2pC^3)]*1/T......................................(7)

where e the electronic charge, m and p are the masses of the the electron and proton respectively. Also according to Newtons law, the gravitational changes affect the radius R of the lunar orbit as indicated in the following equation(ll)

R=[h^2/m^2*M]*1/G................................................(8)

where h is the angular momentum of the moon about the earth, m and M are the masses of the moon and earth respectively. Since h,m and M remain unchanged with time, the radius R is inversely proportional to G. Correlating the last three equations, further studies in Cosmology may be prompted and facilitated.

Conclusion:
It is both important and interesting to find a new astronomical relationZ between the radius of the lunar orbit R and the time t of one terrestrial day deduced according to a new relativistic interpretation of a cosmic Quranic verse alluding to the greatest universal speed identical to the velocity C of light in vacuum.

It is so awesome to find unity in the complex of phenomena, that at first sight appear to have nothing in common. This work proves the universality and constancy of the fundamental constant C as the Greatest Cosmic Speed and reveals the Glorious Quran as a Holy Book worth studying with meticulous analysis since its author is the CREATOR of the Universe.

References:
1) "The speed of light", J.H. Rush Scientific American p. 67, August, 1955.

2) Physics, Halliday and Resnick, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1966.

3) The Greatest Speed, S.R. Filonovich, Mir Publishers Moscow 1986.

4) Theory of Relativity, Pauli, W. Pergmann Press, Oxford, 1958.

5) The meaning of the Glorious Quran, A. Yusuf, Ali. Dar Al-Kitab Al-Masry.

6) The Glorious Quran and Modern Science, Mansour, Hassab, El-Naby, General Egyptian Book Organization BoulacCairo (1990).

7) The Bible, The Quran and Science, Maurice Bucaill, North American Trust Publication (1979).

8) Astronomy, J. Mitton, Faber and Faber London, P. 20 (1978).

9) Discovering the universe Charles, E. Long, Harper & Row Publishers, P. 63 (1980).

10) Macmillan Dictionary of Astronomy, Valerie Illingworth, The Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1985.

11) The Structure of the Universe, J. Narlikar, Oxford Univ. Press, P. 139, 172, 175 (1977).

MARTIAL ARTS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

When analyzing the martial arts, there are many things that as a martial artist we need to look at and look past.

When the martial arts were developed they were developed for the soul purpose of combat, and learning a village, or group of people a form of fighting in a sense for total defense. The systems were developed as a complete devised system of movements, forms and techniques taught in either two fold. A quick fashion to teach soldiers a few basic movements to help them survive on the battlefield, or as a personal expression of a lifelong journey to teach one person or a group a system developed to self preservation and defense.

As the decades had passed the martial arts were only passed down to soldiers, and family members of those that were lucky enough to be taught only as a self preservation of an art. It was taught from Uncle, to Nephew, Father to Son, Mother to Daughter. Family systems were in abundance. This was how Martial Arts were brought forth pre WWII. Post WWII the martial arts took a toll and American soldiers based in Okinawa, Philippines, Korea, and elsewhere would then learn a system that was widely taught for the payment of the American Dollar, or for protection to a village or person,emporor etc...

When the Martial Arts arrived to the US in the 50’s -60’s we so many teachers that were American GI’s who brought the arts of the orient back with them. One most widely known was Master Robert Trias. He headed the USKA in Phoenix AZ. Helping organize sport KARATE for what many of us know as today. Of course we seen the silver screen begin to bring forth the martial arts by none other than Sijo Bruce Lee, he alone changed martial arts as what we see today.

In the past 20yrs sport karate has went from tournament level competition to full contact Kickboxing to what we know as today as NHB or MMA style fighting.

By recognizing in the Midwest one thing that is recognizable is the decline of sport karate. The tournamet style or sport TKD or Karate is rapidly declining. It is not as widely abundant as it was even 5 to 10 yrs ago. One thing is noticable is the BJJ or MMA type event. What has become of the traditional arts? Are they a thing of the past? Are those who teach traditional martial arts such as Sport Karate, TKD doing their students a diservice? One thing is for sure you cannot expect to use that style of fighting to protect oneself in this day and age. There was a time when sport karate was a valuable form of self defense.

The streets are more violent, the fighting has become more violent. MMA has taken over and its’ plain to see even our youth has become more violent.

Is Karate or TKD just a place to go and learn an ancient sport anymore?

One thing is if you watch the movie : Never Back Down. The young man who goes to the instructor to learn MMA has no discipline, no respect for his teacher in the begining. He is a hot head, He was told NOT TO FIGHT OUTSIDE of the school. What does he do? he fights outside the school. This would not even been tolerated in any Karate school many years ago. Lack of Discipline, Respect? That shows were our Martial Arts are going.

MMA has overtaken the roots of what Martial Arts represents. The string of competitors are BRUTES, ANIMALS who have no remorse, no boundries, and will pound thier opponent into hamburger if allowed. Many have anger problems. Many of the smaller circut cage fights have fighters who have little to no experience other than street fighting backgrounds going into the cage. Some are gangbangers, street thugs, just guys w/ big egos and a dream of gaining recognization as the baddest in the cage!! One of two outcomes happen, you go in fight, and win or lose. U get a large ego or you lose an ego.

The future to martial arts is reluctant. We who train in the combative arts are two fold! We maintain a sense of pride, a sense of respect to our fellow martial artist. We are a group of citizens with pride and respect and yet we follow a law of KILL or be KILLED mentality. We understand that the age of sport karate or sport martial arts will be one day all show. Many of us realize and recognize the real threat is the streets, and the possibility of a terrorist attack may and will land on US soil one day and we will not be a target. We will fight back and have the know how. We are survivalist. We are warriors, and fighters. We don’t fear the fact we have to kill, cut, or maim someone to survive. However what makes us different from a MMA fighter? We don’t do it for the glory or fame. We do it for the self preservation of the Martial arts as it was originally taught from our ancestors and teachers past.

BAHALA NA
MABUHAY NG KALI

this is an eye opener to all that has been wondering what may and will happen in the future.

We FMA and all serious combative martial artist band together and stand strong in the understanding that one day we may have to fight for survival and there will not be any rules and BIG JOHN MCCARTHY won’t be there to break it up!!!!

KALI
KRAV MAGA
SILAT
and many of the other Combative Arts are the way of the future!!!

BEST MARTIAL ARTS?

Original Source



What is the "Best Martial Arts" for Self-Defense? - by Wayne Muromoto

A while ago, someone emailed me asking my opinion about the best martial arts to study in terms of self-defense.

Stupidly, I was my usual facetious self in answering that question, until the person gave me the reason why he queried me. He, a young, healthy male, had been robbed. In the course of the crime, he had been assaulted and found himself unable to protect himself from bodily harm. The physical injuries were minor, but the experience shook him to his psychological core. To have your sense of self, of destiny, and control taken over by a criminal is surely one of the worst feelings you can have, and in a sense, this young man might have had a sense of being violated similar to the trauma suffered by sexual assault and rape victims.

One way this young man thought he could rebuild his sense of self-confidence was through becoming trained in a martial art that would enable him to fend off such an attack in the future. Once I realized the seriousness that underlined his question, I tried to reply to him in the way that I am writing now: Basically, I told him, in all honesty, no martial art is a foolproof method against being hurt in a robbery or crime, if the assailant is unarmed, or with a knife, or especially a gun. You can slip on a banana peel, miss a block, or be in the wrong place in the wrong time and get clobbered. Or worse, your life could be in danger if you resist.

Then again, there are instances when compliance or resistance don't really matter one way or another; the attacker is just bent on doing you harm one way or another, and, unable to escape, you just have to figure a way out of your predicament using whatever means are at your disposal, including martial arts. With that caveat, I told him that martial arts can give you a better sense of awareness and physical ability to possibly deal with an attack, but it's no panacea.

Now, although I practice martial arts, what I then informed him was my own, honest opinion, and I had nothing to gain or lose because he lived thousands of miles away from me and I wasn't looking to recruit him for my school, or for any particular martial arts school. If my following opinions rile anyone, then just take it as it is; simply my own opinion, and there are, I'm sure, many more opinions coming from all quarters.

The first line of self-defense, even before being physically trained, is self-awareness. In this, I include being aware of one's own limitations as well as being aware of one's surroundings. If a dark alley seems suspiciously like a great place to ambush someone, then don't go down it if it's late at night and you're walking through it alone. Take a slightly longer route home. So know your own limitations, and avoid the possible places or situations where you could get caught. Old martial artists would call this "winning by not fighting." You maneuver yourself out of a combative situation before it even happens. In a similar manner, if you don't want a fight, then don't go into a bar known for its brawls acting and looking for a fight. Know yourself, know the others. Again, in knowing oneself, don't dress or act the part of a victim. Walk erect but not proud, aware of your surroundings, and put away your Rolex watch and fancy gold chain necklace. Be "normal," i.e., don't act overconfident, but don't act like you're scared of your own shadow.

Don't rely on externals to protect you. What I mean is, don't pack a Saturday Night Special when you decide to go to that raunchy bar on the other side of town. In some places it's illegal to carry a concealed weapon. And in the worst case, it gives you a sense of false confidence. Just don't go to that bar, period. Don't place your hopes on having a pistol in your drawer at home, or carrying a knife or baseball bat in your car, or a can of Mace on your key chain, or a stun gun in your purse. While Mace or a stun gun may help, there's no iron-clad guarantee that you can reach for it in your purse in time to protect yourself. Remember there are limitations to any weapon at hand, and be aware of the local law regarding carrying such weapons on your body and the damage you can inflict in a given situation.

I'm not advocating or denouncing gun control laws here; that's another matter entirely.What I'm talking about doesn't deal with guns as a means of self-defense. I don't want to go there because that's another humongous controversy.

That said, sometimes all your best intentions come to nothing; you try to avoid danger zones, you try to not exude fear or false bravado, and still the bad guys try to rob you. The advice I hear from local police officers is the advice I prefer. If a robber wants your money, give it to him.

Getting involved in a struggle over money is not worth risking your life. There are too many variables so that even as a trained martial artist, you may not survive unscathed. In terms of rape, sexual assault or physical assault, I would refer you to discussions with your local police as to what is the safest, most reasonable responses. I'm a martial arts instructor (a mediocre one at that); not a specialist in counseling rape victims, and I don't pretend to be one.

However, I'm sure that avoiding fighting with a criminal is usually best because you never know what other variables may put you in danger. The assailant could have friends lurking around the corner, for example. Or he could have a knife or gun that you missed seeing. Or he could just be bigger and meaner and stronger than you.

So what about the times when, as this young man noted, that you try to avoid difficult situations, but you nevertheless are attacked. Even though you give the criminal your money and try to avoid conflict by backing off, the attacker still assaults you and you have to fight for your life? Then, I said, you fight as if it's a matter of sheer basic survival. You use whatever you can, whether it's martial art, a two by four, whatever.

So he pressed me. What martial art is the best, then? In that situation I said, it's not so much the style of martial arts in itself, but how much you train and how well that martial arts fits you.

In most instances, assaults require a rapid response. You don't have time to think, "Okay, he's coming in with an overhead strike. I can use either an age-uke block and punch combination, or I could step to the right side, deflect the strike, and kick. . .or. . ." The attack comes quickly, and you must respond reflexively, without the luxury of thinking up a fancy defense. Whether it's judo, karatedo, aikido, or whatever, you need to train long enough so that your response is quick, simple and reflexive.

So if you take up any form of martial arts as a means of self-defense, then you have to focus on the basics, repeating the methods over and over again until they are a natural, reflexive part of you, so that as soon as you see an overhand attack, for example, you can react quickly, without hesitation or thinking, without intellectualizing what you're doing or letting the fear/flight emotional response render you frozen in your tracks.

Repetitive training will help. But mental training also helps a great deal. Martial arts practice is wonderful in that it puts you in a physical situation that challenges both your body, mind and emotion to maintain calmness and deliberateness in the middle of physical mayhem. It's a very good fit for training for self-defense, but not a complete fit, because when all is said and done, a real self-defense situation is still different from martial arts. But the martial arts can prepare you somewhat for it.

To paraphrase one combat veteran, "five minutes of real combat is worth months of basic training." In other words, nothing can prepare you completely for a real self-defense situation. Nothing. Proper training, however, will at least have you ready and more prepared compared to someone who has had no training at all. That is why soldiers are drilled repeatedly for combat; once in combat their reactions have to be reflexive, and the only way to develop that short of throwing them into real battle and letting the rate of natural attrition decide who has natural survival skills is to train the soldiers, over and over again, until such simple and complex tasks under duress become second nature.

Self-defense training's end goals is just that: physical self-defense. There's nothing wrong with that, but that is its limit. Martial arts has a myriad of goals: mental and physical health, self-confidence, spiritual training, learning body dynamics, and thus self-defense is but one of various goals of martial arts. That said, therefore, ten-step self-defense courses for women, etc., have obvious limitations and I am ambivalent about the worthiness of many of those courses. They may give some basic physical tools and techniques to people, they may bolster self-confidence, and within those limited parameters they may serve a purpose and be somewhat adequate.

But it is my experience that without constant and lengthy training in mental and physical methodologies, it is really hard to inculcate the rapid response reflexes needed in a real self-defense situation. I'm not saying such focused short workshops are entirely useless; I'm sure they serve some purpose, but as they are often structured, I don't think the benefits are as great as they are often touted, or as they could be if the whole situation was further studied by specialists in the field over a longer period of time.

Such short workshops may give a brief introduction to some simple safety and self-defense "tips," but students should always be forewarned that it will not turn them into a Jackie Chan overnight.

Nor should any of the aerobic-martial arts instructors give students a false sense that they can "kick butt" after doing aerobics-based martial arts, such as Tae Bo or kickboxing aerobics. I'm sure Tae Bo and the other spin offs are a great workout, and it will slim down and tone students, but unless it's augmented with traditional martial arts training, that emphasizes focus, power punching, proper balance for striking a real physical object, reaction drills and so on, aerobics-based martial arts' primary focus is on body fitness and toning, NOT self-defense. Ditto aerobic kickboxing. You may look great in a Spandex outfit, but it doesn't mean you can really kick butt in the street.

But if instructors in those courses are honest, they will admit to the limitations, as well as the possible benefits, of such courses. If so, then I have no quarrels with them.

For example (and here I know I'm going to get clobbered by some advocates), in some self-defense workshops a favorite practice is to have a guy dressed up in protective padding from top to bottom "assault" a student. The student fights back with punches, kicks and all the methods he/she learned in the few weeks' worth of training that the class offered. All other things being equal, that's not a bad exercise. But it's not a be-all and end-all.

You usually don't get attacked by someone in such padded gear unless you're on a football field carrying a football. Attackers will come in all shapes, sizes, assortments and numbers. They will come at you unarmed, armed with bladed weapons, and/or with guns. Heck, you could even be attacked by someone trying to run you over with an SUV in an instance of road rage.

So I concluded by telling the young man that self-defense courses may be good for a quick dose of self-confidence, and possibly some simple techniques that may or may not work. But it's not the be-all and end-all of everything; it's a quickie stop gap band aid for people who don't have the time to invest in long-term martial arts. And quickie stop gaps can't guarentee you anything permanent or long-lasting.

Thus, if he really was serious, he should take up martial arts, but realize that he should accept whatever martial arts he studies as having more than the limited goal of self-defense. He should realize that everything goes hand in hand; learning the mental and physical discipline, the body dynamics, the basics, all will tie in to his need to learn self-defense, by giving him a firm foundation that will accumulate over the years, like compounded interest in a bank account.

And like compounded interest, there's no quick road to profit. You just have to keep training and training, until the martial arts becomes a part of you. But which martial art is the best, he reitereated. I replied (getting into my dumb-jokes mode again), heck, even learning baseball is great. If you learn how to swing a bat and throw a baseball, then you can swing a stick or throw things at the guy. Or run like heck away from the attack.

Maybe he would enjoy the grappling and free-for-all randori of judo. Or he might prefer the clean and intricate techniques of aikido, or the punching and kicking of karate. Or he may opt to do something like Tae Kwon Do or Chinese Kung Fu, or Filipino Escrima, or Western style boxing. What mattered was that he find something he could stick with and study for years and years. I'm real open about that. I don't think my own martial arts is the best for everyone. He had to find something that would best fit his character and tastes.

I close with a true anecdote, relayed to me by a student of an aikido sensei long since passed away. One day, the sensei came into the dojo with a torn T-shirt. As everyone changed to their training gi, the student said, "Sensei, what happened to your shirt?"

The sensei said that a petty thief had accosted him in the street just before he went to the dojo and tried to rob him.

"What happened?" the student asked.

"I have to study aikido more..." the sensei said. "He tried to grab my shoulder and pull my wallet from my pocket, so I grabbed him and threw him, and he tore my T-shirt when I threw him. The punk was so surprised he got up and ran away. Oh, but I have to study aikido more..."

"Oh, but sensei, that's great. I mean, you threw the guy!" his student said.

"No, you don't understand. I threw him, but it was with a seoi nage (over-the-shoulder judo throw). That's not aikido. I have to study aikido more."

The sensei had studied judo as a young boy for years before he devoted himself to aikido. When faced with an immediate situation, his most basic reflexes kicked in and rather than react in an aikido fashion, he reverted back to the imprinting he received as a child. That is what disturbed the sensei; he realized he hadn't truly integrated aikido into his gut level reflexes as he had done with judo. And this is a sensei who had studied aikido for decades.

So the moral of the story, I guess, is that true self-defense is based on long term training, over and over again. Like a lot of things in life, there really is no quick, short term solution that lasts very long. You simply train. What is the best martial arts for self-defense? One that you have trained in for years and years and years.

Syaikh al-Habib 'Umar bin Hafiz

SOURCE


He is al-Habib ‘Umar the son of Muhammad the son of Salim the son of Hafiz the son of Abd-Allah the son of Abi Bakr the son of ‘Aidarous the son of al-Hussain the son of al-Shaikh Abi Bakr the son of Salim the son of ‘Abd-Allah the son of ‘Abd-al-Rahman the son of ‘Abd-Allah the son of al-Shaikh ‘Abd-al-Rahman al-Saqqaf the son of Muhammad Maula al-Daweela the son of ‘Ali the son of ‘Alawi the son of al-Faqih al-Muqaddam Muhammad the son of ‘Ali the son of Muhammad Sahib al-Mirbat the son of ‘Ali Khali‘ Qasam the son of ‘Alawi the son of Muhammad the son of ‘Alawi the son of ‘Ubaidallah the son of al-Imam al-Muhajir to Allah Ahmad the son of ‘Isa the son of Muhammad the son of ‘Ali al-‘Uraidi the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq the son of Muhammad al-Baqir the son of ‘Ali Zain al-‘Abidin the son of Hussain the grandson, the son of both ‘Ali the son of Abu Talib and of Fatimah al-Zahra the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.




Left to right: Habib Umar and Habib Ali

He was born in Tarim, Hadramaut one of the ancient cities of Yemen that became known far and wide due to the abundance of scholars and pious people that it has produced over the centuries. He was raised in a household that possessed a tradition of Islamic scholarship as well as righteousness with his father being the famous martyr, the Erudite, the Preacher, Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz bin Shaikh Abu Bakr bin Salim. His father was one of the scholars of Islam that dedicated their lives to the spread of Islam and the teaching of the Sacred Law and the lofty teachings of Islam. He was tragically abducted by communist forces and presumed dead, may Allah have mercy upon him. Likewise his grandfathers al-Habib Salim bin Hafiz and al-Habib Hafiz bin Abd-Allah were scholars who were highly respected by the scholars of their day. Allah prepared appropriate conditions for al-Habib ‘Umar in terms of both his connection with the people of knowledge and piety from within his very household as well as the environment and society in which he was raised.

Having memorised the Qur’an at a very early age he also memorised the core texts in fiqh, hadith, Arabic Language and other religious sciences thereby adhering to the circles of knowledge that were held by many traditional scholars such as Muhammad bin ‘Alawi bin Shihab and al-Shaikh Fadl Baa Fadl and other scholars who taught at the famous Ribat of Tarim. Naturally he studied many sciences including the spiritual sciences from his father the martyr al-Habib Muhammad bin Salim acquiring from him a deep love and concern for da'wah and religious counsels in the way of Allah. His father paid a lot of attention to the young ‘Umar with him constantly being at the side of his father in circles of knowledge and dhikr. Tragically al-Habib ‘Umar accompanied his father to the Jum‘ah prayer from which he has abducted by the communist forces, with the young ‘Umar returning home alone with his fathers shawl, with his father never to be seen again. Thus the young ‘Umar began to assume the responsibility of continuing the work done by his father in the field of Da‘wah it was as if his fathers shawl was a banner which he had given to his youngest child before being martyred. Thus, with the banner held aloft he began, vigourously, the arduous journey of exhorting the people, arranging conferences and da‘wah. His vigourous attempt at continuing the work of his father began to bear fruits. Classes were being held for the young and the old in local mosques where opportunities to memorise the Qur’an and to study the traditional sciences were being offered. He indeed had grasped the Book firmly it being evident that he had been given something special from Allah despite his young age. This however began to cause great concern for his safety with it eventually culminating in him being sent to the city of al-Bayda’ which is situated in the then North Yemen away from the grasp of those who may wish to inflict harm on the young sayyid. There began another important phase in his development. Enrolled at the Ribat of al-Bayda’ he began to study the traditional sciences under the expert tutelage of the great al-Habib Muhammad bin ‘Abd-Allah al-Haddar, may Allah have mercy upon him, as well as under the Shafi‘i jurist and scholar al-Habib Zain bin Sumait, may Allah preserve him. His promise was confirmed when he was appointed as a teacher soon after. Likewise he continued his exhausting efforts in the field of Da‘wah. This time the scene was to be al-Bayda’ and her neighbouring towns and villages. No stone was left unturned in his attempt to revive the love of Allah and His r Messenger in the hearts of the people. Classes were established, lectures were held people were counseled. His work which deprived him of much sleep and rest began to have a major impact on all those that came in contact with it, especially the youth who previously had been resolved to a empty and shallow life but now had undergone internal transformations to the point that life now had a purpose, they were proud of their new found Islamic identity wearing the cloaks of Islam and beginning to focus their attention on acquiring the noble traits of the Messenger of Allah r. Thus a large group of people from those he had influenced began to gather round him assist him in his da‘wah efforts and teaching commitments in various cities and towns in Northern Yemen. Within this period he began to visit many neighbouring towns and communities across Yemen from the northern city of Ta'iz in order to take knowledge from the mufti of Ta‘iz al-Habib Ibrahim bin Aqil bin Yahya who began to show him much love and attention likewise he received similar treatment from his Shaikh al-Habib Muhammad al-Haddar to the extent that he gave him his daughters hand in marriage after having noticed in him the lofty traits of uprightness and intelligence.

It was not soon after that he set out on the arduous journey to perform the prescribed pilgrimage to Makka and to visit the Prophet r in Madina. During his trip to the Hijaz he was blessed with the opportunity to study several books of their most prominent scholars especially those of al-Habib 'Abdul Qadir bin Ahmad al-Saqqaf who saw in the young ‘Umar a youthful vigor full with of the love of Allah and his Messenger r totally absorbed in the spread of knowledge and righteousness amongst mankind such that he became endeared to al-Habib Abdul Qadir one of his greatest teachers. Likewise he was blessed to have received knowledge and guidance from the other two pillars of righteousness in the Hijaz al-Habib Ahmed Mashur al-Haddad and al-Habib 'Attas al-Habashi.

Thus the name al-Habib Umar bin Hafiz began to spread far and wide in the land especially due to his unrelenting effort in establishing the call to Islam and reviving its traditionally based teachings this mass popularity did not in any way detract from his academic endeavors on the contrary it provided him with an additional source from which high aspirations could be maintained. No time was wasted, every moment was filled with the remembrance of Allah in its multiple manifestations and in its differing situations and locations. His overt concern with the spiritual development of especially those who kept his company was to become one of his most distinguishing traits one for which his name would spread even as far as the New World.

The land of Oman would be the next phase in the move towards fifteenth century renewal. After responding positively to the invitation of a group of Muslims who possessed a deep desire to benefit from his teachings he left the land of his birth and was not to return for several years. Seeds of erudition and piety were sewn as well in the eastern Yemeni town of Shihr, his first stop on his return to Hadramaut Yemen. There his teachings began to crystalise in the development of the Ribat al-Mustafa. This would be a major turning point for and it could signal in more ways than one the completion of the theoretical aspect of this work and the bringing forth of tangible realities that would embody the prophetic teachings.

The return to Tarim would signal a metamorphosis of all those years he had spent in learning, teaching, in the development of others spiritually in the establishment of the call and enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong. Dar-al-Mustafa would be his gift to the world and to it the world was summoned. In what would seem such a short time the people of Tarim would witness the convergence of students from lands far and wide upon a city that was on the verge of being forgotten whilst under the rule of communist infidels. Students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Comorus Islands, Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt, Great Britain, Pakistan, United states and Canada as well as other Arab states and countries would be under the watchful eye of Habib Umar. They would become agents in what is now becoming an authentic attempt at reviving traditional Islam in the fifteenth century after the flight. The rise of similar Islamic institutions in Yemen and abroad under the management of al-Habib Umar would again be a major impatice in the spread of Knowledge and good behavior and provide the common people with opportunities that they had previously been deprived of.

Habib ‘Umar currently lives in Tarim Yemen where he oversees the development of Dar al-Mustafa and the many schools that have been set up under his management. He still maintains an active role in the propagation of the religion of Islam such that he may spend most of the year traveling all over the world in pursuit of such noble activities.

This information, courtesy of the Ibn Abbas Institute, is correct as of 15 December 2002. Visit Habib 'Umar website.

Al-Allamah Syaikh Al-Habib 'Umar bin Hafiz dijadualkan akan melawat Malaysia dari 10-17 Februari, 2008.

Al-Allamah Syaikh Al-Habib 'Umar bin Hafiz is scheduled to visit Malaysia from 10-17 February, 2008

MEDICINE - KITAB AL-TIBB

SOURCE

Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 28:
Medicine (Kitab Al-Tibb)
Book 28, Number 3846:

Narrated Usamah ibn Sharik:

I came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and his Companions were sitting as if they had birds on their heads. I saluted and sat down. The desert Arabs then came from here and there. They asked: Apostle of Allah, should we make use of medical treatment? He replied: Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely old age.

Book 28, Number 3847:

Narrated Umm al-Mundhar bint Qays al-Ansariyyah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to visit me, accompanied by Ali who was convalescing. We had some ripe dates hung up. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) got up and began to eat from them.

Ali also got up to eat, but the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said repeatedly to Ali: Stop, Ali, for you are convalescing, and Ali stopped.

She said: I then prepared some barley and beer-root and brought it. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) then said: Take some of this, Ali, for it will be more beneficial for you. AbuDawud said: The narrator Harun said: al-Adawiyyah (i.e. Umm al-Mundhar).

Book 28, Number 3848:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The best medical treatment you apply is cupping.

Book 28, Number 3849:

Narrated Salmah:

the maid-servant of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), said: No one complained to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) of a headache but he told him to get himself cupped, or of a pain in his legs but he told him to dye them with henna.

Book 28, Number 3850:

Narrated AbuKabshah al-Ansari:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to have himself cupped on the top of his head and between his shoulders, and that he used to say: If anyone pours out any of his blood, he will not suffer if he applies no medical treatment for anything.

Book 28, Number 3851:

Narrated Anas ibn Malik:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) had himself cupped three times in the veins at the sides of the neck and on the shoulder. Ma'mar said: I got myself cupped, and I lost my memory so much so that I was instructed Surat al-Fatihah by others in my prayer. He had himself cupped at the top of his head.

Book 28, Number 3852:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone has himself cupped on the 17th, 19th and 21st it will be a remedy for every disease.

Book 28, Number 3853:

Narrated Kabshah daughter of AbuBakrah:

(the narrator other than Musa said that Kayyisah daughter of AbuBakrah) She said that her father used to forbid his family to have themselves cupped on a Tuesday, and used to assert on the authority of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) that Tuesday is the day of blood in which there is an hour when it does not stop.

Book 28, Number 3854:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had himself cupped above the thigh for a contusion from which he suffered.

Book 28, Number 3855:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) sent a physician to Ubayy (ibn Ka'b), and he cut his vein.

Book 28, Number 3856:

Narrated Imran ibn Husayn:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) forbade to cauterise; we cauterised but they (cauterisation) did not benefit us, nor proved useful for us.

Book 28, Number 3859:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was asked about a charm for one who is possessed (nashrah). He replied: It pertains to the work of the devil.

Book 28, Number 3860:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: If I drink an antidote, or tie an amulet, or compose poetry, I am the type who does not care what he does.

Book 28, Number 3861:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) prohibited unclean medicine.

Book 28, Number 3862:

Narrated AbdurRahman ibn Uthman:

When a physician consulted the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) about putting frogs in medicine, he forbade him to kill them.

Book 28, Number 3864:

Narrated Tariq ibn Suwayd or Suwayd ibn Tariq:

Wa'il said: Tariq ibn Suwayd or Suwayd ibn Tariq asked the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) about wine, but he forbade it. He again asked him, but he forbade him. He said to him: Prophet of Allah, it is a medicine. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: No it is a disease.

Book 28, Number 3865:

Narrated AbudDarda:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah has sent down both the disease and the cure, and He has appointed a cure for every disease, so treat yourselves medically, but use nothing unlawful.

Book 28, Number 3866:

Narrated Sa'd:

I suffered from an illness. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came to pay a visit to me. He put his hands between my nipples and I felt its coolness at my heart. He said: You are a man suffering from heart sickness. Go to al-Harith ibn Kaladah, brother of Thaqif. He is a man who gives medical treatment. He should take seven ajwah dates of Medina and grind them with their kernels, and then put them into your mouth.

Book 28, Number 3869:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Wear your white garments, for they are among your best garments, and shroud your dead in them. Among the best types of collyrium you use is antimony (ithmid): it clears the vision and makes the hair sprout.

Book 28, Number 3871:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The man casting evil would be commanded to perform ablution, and then the man affected was washed with it.

Book 28, Number 3872:

Narrated Asma', daughter of Yazid ibn as-Sakan,:

I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) as saying: Do not kill your children secretly, for the milk, with which a child is suckled while his mother is pregnant, overtakes the horseman and throws him from his horse.

Book 28, Number 3874:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud:

Zaynab, the wife of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, told that Abdullah said: I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) saying: spells, charms and love-potions are polytheism.

I asked: Why do you say this? I swear by Allah, when my eye was discharging I used to go to so-and-so, the Jew, who applied a spell to me. When he applied the spell to me, it calmed down. Abdullah said:

That was just the work of the Devil who was picking it with his hand, and when he uttered the spell on it, he desisted. All you need to do is to say as the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to say: Remove the harm, O Lord of men, and heal. Thou art the Healer. There is no remedy but Thine which leaves no disease behind.

Book 28, Number 3875:

Narrated Imran ibn Husayn:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: No spell is to be used except for the evil eye or a scorpion sting.

Book 28, Number 3876:

Narrated Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) entered upon Thabit ibn Qays. The version of Ahmad (ibn Salih) has: When he was ill He (the Prophet) said: Remove the harm, O Lord of men, from Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas. He then took some dust of Bathan, and put it in a bowel, and then mixed it with water and blew in it, and poured it on him.

Book 28, Number 3878:

Narrated Ash-Shifa', daughter of Abdullah,:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) entered when I was with Hafsah, and he said to me: Why do you not teach this one the spell for skin eruptions as you taught her writing.

Book 28, Number 3879:

Narrated Sahl ibn Hunayf:

I passed by a river. I entered it and took a bath in it. When I came out, I had fever. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was informed about it. He said: Ask AbuThabit to seek refuge in Allah from that I asked: O my Lord, will the spell be useful? He replied: No, the spell is to be used except for the evil eye or a snake bite or a scorpion sting.

Book 28, Number 3883:

Narrated AbudDarda':

I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: If any of you is suffering from anything or his brother is suffering, he should say: Our Lord is Allah Who is in the heaven, holy is Thy name, Thy command reigns supreme in the heaven and the earth, as Thy mercy in the heaven, make Thy mercy in the earth; forgive us our sins, and our errors; Thou art the Lord of good men; send down mercy from Thy mercy, and remedy, and remedy from Thy remedy on this pain so that it is healed up.

Book 28, Number 3884:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) sued to teach them the following words in the case of alarm: I seek refuge in Allah's perfect words from His anger, the evil of His servants, the evil suggestions of the devils and their presence. Abdullah ibn Amr used to teach them to those of his children who had reached puberty, and he wrote them down (on some material) and hung on the child who had not reached puberty.

Book 28, Number 3887:

Narrated Alaqah ibn Sahar at-Tamimi:

Alaqah came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and embraced Islam. He then came back from him and passed some people who had a lunatic fettered in chains.

His people said: We are told that your companion has brought some good. Have you something with which you can cure him? I then recited Surat al-Fatihah and he was cured. They gave me one hundred sheep. I then came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and informed him of it.

He asked: Is it only this? The narrator, Musaddad, said in his other version: Did you say anything other than this? I said: No. He said: Take it, for by my life, some accept if for a worthless chain, but you have done so for a genuine one.

Book 28, Number 3889:

Narrated AbuSalih Zakwan as-Samman:

A man from Aslam tribe said: I was sitting with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). A man from among his Companions came and said: Apostle of Allah! I have been stung last night, and I could not sleep till morning. He asked: What was that? He replied: A scorpion.

He said: Oh, had you said in the evening: "I take refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He created," nothing would have harmed you, Allah willing.

Book 28, Number 3890:

Narrated AbuHurayrah:

A man who was stung by a scorpion was brought to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Had he said the word: "I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He created, "he would not have been stung, or he said, "It would not have harmed him."

Book 28, Number 3892:

Narrated Alaqah ibn Sahar at-Tamimi:

We proceeded from the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and came to a clan of the Arabs.

They said: We have been told that you have brought what is good from this man. Have you any medicine or a charm, for we have a lunatic in chains?

We said: Yes. Then they brought a lunatic in chains. He said: I recited Surat al-Fatihah over him for three days, morning and evening. Whenever I finished it, I would collect my saliva and spit it out, and he seemed as if he were set free from a bond. He said: They gave me some payment, but I said: No, not until I ask the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).

He (the Prophet) said: Accept it, for, by my life, some accept it for a worthless charm, but you have done so for a genuine one.

Book 28, Number 3894:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

My mother intended to make me fat to send me to the (house of) the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). But nothing which he desired benefited me till she gave me cucumber with fresh dates to eat. Then I became fat as good (as she desired).

OBJECTIVES OF LEARNING SILAT

12 January 2008 - Objectives of learning silat

It has been acknowledged that among the common objectives of learning silat (my typical common objectives) are:

a) To defend - oneself, immediate family members, belongings, those in need and the nation in general.

b) Recreational/Sports & Self-Development (Physical and Mental)

c) perhaps - to delve into the mysteries and the unknowns whether they are of religious-related domains (i.e. Spiritual/Metaphysical) or simply crave for 'inner powers'.

In this century, internet has played an unquestionable role in promoting silat. Those who possesses keen interest in Silat can simply find abundance of information about them by one click in the search engines.

The good part about the internet in the context of silat promotion is that, the apprentice knows in advance what to be expected out of him/her such as the protocol between the master and the student and some form of brief explanation of what Silat is all about. (Example - is this article that Nadzrin speaks about giving some good tips or insight or overview of Silat)

Back to the common objectives of learning silat – factors (a) and (b) would always be the standard core reasons but factor (c) is usually initiated by certain strong influence that is related to the following:

a) Having watching movies or some stories or perhaps documentaries on television that are of silat and spiritual related aspects,

b) Knowing some friends or close relatives who somehow have demonstrated the 'spiritual forces/powers' that relates to silat.

c) Hearing stories about the 'mystical parts' of silat e.g. By God's Willing, you would be 'invulnerable' during the 'boiling oil bath' session.

d) Even, surprisingly, due to the urge to be 'recognized' in certain community in order not to be called some sort of 'weakling',

e) and the aspiration to become a 'new person' – usually from a 'bad guy' to a 'good guy'.

f) encouragement from close friends, relatives and even from parents who are silat practitioners themselves.

Whatever the reasons, I have discovered an interesting phenomenon, that for those who love challenges for the sake of both spiritual and physical strengths would always be the frontline in Silat. Nothing beats the awesome feeling of 'graduation'. It is when the practitioner feeling mixed excitement and nervousness at the same time.

“Can I pass or can't I?”

Of course, the 'level by level achievements' would really depends on the kind of silat that the practitioner is involved in. Most of the silats nowadays would produce their own modules to benchmark the performance and achievement but usually in the end, some masters would tell them that 'there is no ending in the journey of learning silat'.

In a way, it's like the conventional alma-mater graduation – the good lecturers would tell you 'to move on with life and be more matured or learning never ends.

Thanks Poknik for allowing me to post this as an article in my blog. I liked this article because it contrasted nicely with my rant in 'Monolog for a friend'.


Posted by Mohd Nadzrin Wahab
----------------------
PART 2

I like the 3 classification of standard methods - Impression, Expression, Activation respectively.

What I can understand having reading the concepts are :

a. Impression - is the method requiring standard module - e.g. the opponent punches, the person blocks.

'Impression' in this sense is 'memorizing'.

b. Expression - is the method requiring standard module on serving as reference -

i) e.g. the opponent punches, the person blocks followed by counter attack. (the counter attack is not necessarily taught in the module).

ii) e.g. why would sandbags be tied on legs while running on the sand by the seaside? - the answer would be probably to train your 'kicks' and 'jumps' much 'lighter' and 'agile' after a while of this gruelling training.

It is also a form of leg exercise and would help in 'muscle building'.

- thus 'Impression' is actually 'understanding' (why)

c) Activation completes the Impression and Expression. It's like learning the silat history and become part of silat life evolution

- thus 'Activation' is 'the way of life'.

Whether the students like them or not, one factor cannot survive without the other factor complementing it.

To become a really good student, he/she must undergo all the 3 phases without skipping any one of them.
---------------------
Reference Article
10 January 2008

Buah, Born or Barakah: The Nurture, Nature and Gnosis of Silat
by : Mohd Nadzrin Wahab

It is a standard scene. The student has come here to study silat. He harbours a personal goal in wanting to be able to defend himself. It may be for revenge, for protection, for self-development or simply for recreation.

He sees the other students milling about, talking about things other than martial arts until one of them becomes aware of the teacher approaching. He is the first to stand at attention followed by the others.

The teacher says a few words and indicates the beginning of the class. The students salute the teacher, their friends and begin training. Here, the commonality of this scene fractures into three separate realities.

In one reality, the teacher asks one of his students to strike him in the chest. One obligingly does and is met with an evasion and a parry, a strike to the vitals, usually just indicated, followed up with a lock or takedown.

The teacher then repeats it a few more times, ensuring they remember what they see. Once he is satisfied, he tells them to copy his exact movements and apply them on their partners. End of scene one.

In a second reality, the teacher has prepared his student for months in the field. The work he does on the farm has given him proficiency in his physique.

When he executes the wardance, it is something neither master nor student has seen before. It comes naturally to him, and yet, each blossoming of the hands and prancing of the feet are calculated, as if reacting to an unseen enemy.

Every angle is in his control, every imbalance correctable, every muscle in its proper place, every beat of the accompanying rhythm matched note for note. His movements are both pleasing to the eye and intoxicating to the self. End of scene two.

In a third reality, the teacher sits in front of his student and clasps his right hand, or recites some verses into a glass of water, which he drinks, or pats the small of his back, or, or, or... Almost immediately, the student feels empowered, as if his sinews have been charged by a battery. He is pit against a senior student and they fight.

He defends successfully against all his senior's attacks and manages to beat him back and wins the round. He has never studied a martial art before. End of scene three.

Three foreign students who come to Malaysia with the specific intention of studying Silat Melayu may get a shock of their lives when they meet each other at the airport to compare notes on their way home.

Each of them has trained in a different system with different methods and has been indoctrinated with a different idea of what silat is. None of them can comprehend what the other is rambling about because the methods they studied make no sense. Is this a familiar problem?

Impression, Expression, Activation

The truth is that all three methods are considered standard practise by many Melayu martial artists in Malaysia. Ironically, because of the often exclusiveness of major Silat Melayu styles in Malaysia, not many pesilat are aware of alternative training methods. That is, alternative to their own.

Impression Method

The Impression Method (IM), which is technique or buah-based, relies heavily on the impression of the syllabus upon the mind and physique of the student.

This involves the creation of standardised blocks of movement with a set beginning and an end. The student begins with nothing and is taught to mimic and act out the blocks and eventually string them together.

The key characteristics of this system is the initial rigidity of the process, the stressing of reflex as against analytical thought and the belief that a particular block of movements (often termed technique) are a result of strenuous research and is the best possible answer to a particular incursion.

Although the term ‘buah’ is also used to describe any strikeform that makes contact with the opponent, even if it isn’t a reflex action but a result of strategic analysis, most modern Malaysian Silat styles subscribe to this impression method to achieve immediate results.

The advantages are numerous. It keeps the student’s attention focused upon the apparent physical goals of silat: that is learning how to fight. It creates a realistic setting in which the student learns: reacting off a partner who is simulating violence.

It also allows for minimal supervision of a large group: several instructors could monitor a group of hundreds. It allows for training of large numbers of students in a short span and it also produces immediate results: The student usually apply the technique drilled into him almost immediately.

Disadvantages of IM

Unfortunately, there are two sides to every coin. A fighting-focused student usually shies away from the more esoteric aspects of the art such as ethics, responsibility, philosophy, religion, etc. Only a small percentage actually do find themselves interested in such topics and even less finally adopt it as an integral part of their worldview.

Secondly, a realistic setting doesn’t necessarily mean real. A reflex-conditioned fighter may find himself dealing with situations that were not inherent in his training. Since his analytical mind has already been trained to take a back seat to his reflexes, he may survive by sheer effort, but will rarely escape unscathed.

Thirdly, large group training creates minor mistakes and bad habits that unless attended to personally by a trained instructor (and not mass-produced carbon copy yes-men), could result in the ineffectiveness of the technique when applied combatively, or worse, muscular and ligament injury that will lead to permanent damage.

Fourthly, strict IM style training often mentally cages a student and teaches him to think within the box and rarely outside of it. This cuts off important avenues of creative and lateral thinking in problem solving. In combat, life or death hangs in the balance.

IM arts have been very popular in Malaysia because of their apparent systematic pedagogical style and are quite well represented among the major silat styles. Silat Seni Gayong[1], Silat Cekak and Silat Lincah are some of the better examples. Each of them has encountered the setbacks of the Impression Method and have compensated for them in their own ways.

For example, in Silat Cekak, after the initial memorisation and drilling of the standardised buah to completion, students are taken through a Skill Set. Unusual and sneaky attack styles are introduced, of which no standard answer was provided for in the syllabus. Students are guided to analyse the tools provided in the memorised buah and apply them in their unique fashion to counter these new threats[2].

Expression Method

Next is the Expression Method (EM). Counter to IM, the Expression Method seeks to draw personal ability out of the student and makes his thinking a large part of the development process.

Instead of forcing him to accept indoctrination, he is guided through several stages of empowerment, namely physical (re)education, attitude orientation, affinity identification, skill development and practical application.

Because of the unpredictability and delicate psychological processes involved, it can sometimes take years or a matter of months before any noticeable change can be observed. This training method can also be described as experience-guided learning. It is the hallmark of many traditional martial arts and to be fair, traditional education.

A fictional scene reflects this training orientation. A student who had come to study from a silat master was told he had to perform physical duties around his master’s home. The reason is often and justifiably so, that if the master was to devote time to training him, his energies couldn’t be put to sustaining his livelihood.

However, tending to the garden or performing menial tasks served a double purpose. It was meant to educate the student in physical efficiency. Not only would he be taught to swing a hoe properly – using minimal strength and maximum leverage – to reduce long term physical damage and increase work efficiency, he would obviously receive superb physical conditioning.

Going to the gym always ends up with no productivity and glistening muscles, but farmwork got you that and potatoes as well.

Doing work would eventually bore the young student and once in a while, for displaying patience, kindness, diligence – and other good qualities that the master would have deliberately inculcated within him – he would be rewarded with a lesson of empowerment.

The master then identifies the student’s strength in a particular area and develops him towards mastering that end. If his coordination leans toward high fighting, his skills would be developed in that direction.

If he seems comfortable on the ground, then ground fighting and so on. However, the student wouldn’t be forced into any direction, simply given the opportunity to develop.

Finally, the student is given the opportunity to see for himself what he has achieved. He is tested not for what he has learned from his master, but for what he has discovered about himself.

Thus, confidence-breakers such as wrestling with wild animals, engaging full-fledged masters of rival schools, jumping into pits full of sharpened bamboo or being buried alive ensure that the student brings not his master with him to his tests, but that he has all the tools already at hand. He just had to discover them with a little help.

Silat & Karate Kid?

Two very interesting examples of this traditional method come to mind. The first was told to the author. A student who wished to study silat was given farmwork to carry out[3].

However, the master didn’t teach him anything but used to hit him in the back of the head. When asked why, he replied that it was his own fault for not being wary.

Soon after, the student was sensitive enough to his surroundings to sense his master’s approach. After several sad attempts, he finally discovered the most effective and least painful way to parry his blows.

When the master was satisfied, he began throwing stones, requiring the student to master evasions. And so on, and so on.

Eventually, he developed his own martial art, not from being taught, but from guided self-discovery. As they say, necessity IS the mother of creation.

Another example is, ironically, a scene from the first Karate Kid movie when Miyagi sensei (played by the late Pat Morita) had tasked his impatient student Daniel with waxing his cars and painting his fence.

Not realizing what Miyagi sensei was doing, Daniel did what he was told, but in order to make the process smoother, naturalised the tasks with as little muscle inhibition as possible.

He interacted with the curves on the cars and the grains on the fence, until the movements became second nature to him. Yet, they were not combat moves. That is, until Miyagi sensei decoded them for him.

That sudden discovery led to others and the method of trying without trying was made clear to him, as to many other students of the traditional martial arts.

Natural University

Naturally, the advantages include a complete education that shapes and coordinates both aspects of the mind and body. A deepened understanding of the physical and psychological self rids one of muscular and mental inhibition, which could prove disastrous in combat situations.

It makes the adherent a master of himself and a student of none and frees his mind from mental barriers. He thinks in three dimensions and automatically chooses the path of least resistance and most profit.

Most of the students who study this way have an affinity for the esoteric and live their lives by the philosophy that they have been taught/ discovered.

Because of the understanding of his abilities, he is not tied down to one style of fighting, but adapts to the threat, irrespective of whether it comes from man or beast. In silat, this was eventually coded into the form of tari, bunga or kembangan. These flowing forms which have been compared to kata in effect educate the player about himself.

The degree is in Self-Discovery. His core courses are physics, biology, chemistry, biomechanics, balance and percussion while his elective courses are attitude adjustment, psychology, neurolinguistic programming and so on. When he graduates, it is with the ability to control himself. And self-control facilitates the control of others.

EM in Senaman

Today, this method is rarely used in the major silat styles but exist primarily in small, rural silat groups and one on one sessions. However, a modern method is currently practiced in Silat Melayu Keris Lok 9 as founded by guru Azlan Ghanie.

The method, popularly known as Senaman Tua redefines silat tari and kembangan into static calisthenic exercises that seek to reeducate the physical culture of the human being[4].

Disadvantages of EM

Sadly, what was good for IM is not for EM. Training in this method could never produce a ready army on hand, nor can it create cohesion for lack of a solid common identity among students.

A student who is unaware of the process may even become bored, disenchanted and eventually leave his master for other 'greener' pastures. Because of the due attention a master has to provide, this also means groups larger than ten would be difficult to control or monitor.

Activation Method

The third method is the Activation Method (AM). Depending on who you speak to, this can be spiritual, supernatural or psychological in nature. However you want to label it, AM deals with the direct activation of hidden potential within the human being and can be carried out in a number of ways.

It begins with the assumption that every human being is imbued with innate potential for movement. They say, everyone is born with it.

Some call it Gerak (motion), Ibu Gerak (source of motion), Ibu Gayong (source of divine motion), al-Aql al-Awwal (the first mind), Barakah (divine gift), The First Principle, etc.

Whereas IM sought to mold the student to accept the art and EM sought to have the art developed by the student, AM simply bypasses the body and mind and goes straight to the soul and activates the ‘art’ from there.

Scientifically, there is no explanation. Some may try to wave it away as hypnosis, hoaxes or even plain delusion. Since this method is, at best, incredible, I shall proceed to only discuss those examples which have been documented.

In one instance, Ustaz Azam, the Khalifah Perang (War Caliph) of Persatuan Seni Silat Gayong Maarifat Malaysia claimed in an advertisement[5] that "By participating in this Gerak Laksamana course … the caliph/ caliph’s representative will open the door of your body’s ‘batin’ energy … in a short period you will be able to explore any form of silat … perform silat movements and master complex combat techniques".

The advert goes on to explain "It should be mentioned that this energy door is present in all human beings and all masters or practitioners of ilmu batin who are experts are able to open these batin doors within the human body".

"By mastering the knowledge of true internal energy which lies within the human being there is no need for requesting of assistance from jin[6] or other superstitious aspects".

Is the statement an oxymoron? Apparently, it isn’t for many Malaysians who took the advert in stride.

Another explanation is given by guru Abdul Karim Mat Shah[7] of Silat Semula Jadi (Natural Silat). According to him, silat (self-defence) is inherent knowledge in the self. It is present even in a baby who blinks when one attempts to touch his eyes.

The difference here lies is his attestation that training is a must. He stressed that without physical training, ‘natural’ motion cannot translate into movement. He describes the ‘natural’ motion akin to an electric shock.

"It’s like a flowing current… we can sense the enemy’s pulse (intent). We instinctively know his movement and can move anywhere (he goes)"."Silat Semula Jadi will only come to those who really want it to. It will seep into the body if it is really wanted. Within a month, it can be done, if it is really wanted," he repeats.

Islamic Activation?

However, these attempts at clarification often fog the issue and leave the devout Muslim scratching his head (not to mention the pronounced skeptics).

Ustaz Zainuddin Othman[8] of Silat Sendeng Nusantara, a religious teacher of sufistic background gives it a more Islamic spin.

In his explanation, he calls it Ibu Gayong."… in reality, Ibu Gayong is a secret of the soul that emanates from every human being, conferred by Allah to us, which is called reflective movement. In the sufi’s language, it is Al-‘Aql Al-Awwal, or the pure soul".

He gave the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH who wrestled two Arab wrestling champions, Al Aswad and Rukanah, and won.

"How did he win, when he wasn’t even an expert in wrestling? Clearly, he had stepped forward to prove that subscription to Allah’s strength is far more powerful than depending on one’s own … therefore, defensive reflective motion arose from his submission to Allah".

A more graphic and practical display was described by Ustaz Wan Kamarulzaman Wan Abdul Aziz[9], founder of Persilatan Gerak Suci Mangkubumi. When he first made known his intention of studying a silat style named Silat Gerakan Suci, the master guru Wan Asri initiated him with some H2O.

"He gave me a glass of water and immediately, I could extrapolate movements. But my movements were too fast, they were uncontrollable. It came quickly, just as when we first learn to drive a car, just as uncontrollable. After you get your licence, then you’ve mastered it," he quipped.

According to Ustaz Wan, this ‘motion’ exists in all human beings. It only has to be ‘activated’ so that it may be used consciously. He gives the example of reflexive movements that occur during sleep.

"Motion in this silat is a result of our supplications (to Allah) and our spiritual practices … in other silat, the physical is taught first, such as buah, kuncian and such, but in Gerakan Suci, the ‘gerak’ method is given priority".

"Initially, when I began teaching, I also favoured the ‘gerak’ method … but I noticed it wasn’t appropriate. The emanated movements depend on the practitioner. If he has studied silat before, his movements are beautiful".

"But, for those with no silat basics … pandemonium. Some just start rolling around. The silat movements are just rubbish. No artistry whatsoever … that is why … I began teaching the physical aspect first".

It may surprise many to know even though the three methods (IM, EM and AM) seem different, but many perguruan of the former two also subscribe to the AM concept, albeit later, much later in the training.

Sometimes, this is because of the situation that Ustaz Wan faced early on in his teaching career, others because it is considered the highest secret of their perguruan.

Personally, I have only experienced examples of IM and EM but have yet to sample AM. It would make an interesting article should it ever happen. In any case, all three methods, and more besides, exist in all Silat Melayu to a certain degree or other.

To be able to determine the extent of subscription, surveys have to be done on a case by case basis, and because of the secrecy surrounding most of these practices/ beliefs, it mostly has to be done by participative observation.

Whatever method you chose to train in, you’ll almost always have an interesting tale to tell your mates back home, of pain, ecstasy or pandemonium.
_________________________________
[1] Sheikh Shamsuddin S. M. Salim, The Malay Art of Self Defence: Silat Seni Gayong, North Atlantic Books, 2005.
[2] PSSCUHM, Silat Cekak Hanafi: Peneraju Warisan Mutlak, Kuala Lumpur.
[3] Mohd Zainudin Ismail, 2001.
[4] Senaman Tua VCD Vol 1, 2003.
[5] SENI BELADIRI April 2000, p59.
[6] Jin or Djinn, an Arab word used to classify all non-corporeal creatures which are not from the Angelic Hierarchy in Islamic theology.
[7] SENI BELADIRI February 2001, p8.
[8] SENI BELADIRI September 2002, pp7 and 17.
[9] SENI BELADIRI August 2002, pp7, 28 and 29.

Striving for Halal Sources of Income

Islamic Religious Council of Singapore

Friday Sermon
3 June 2005 / 25 Rabiul Akhir 1426


Striving for Halal Sources of Income

My brothers in Islam,

I would like to remind myself, and my dear brothers, to constantly have taqwa to Allah s.w.t. We can do this by following what Islam has taught us, be doing all that Allah has commanded us to do, and avoiding everything that He has forbidden.

Islam teaches us to work with diligence and to give our best in everything that we do. As an exemplary ummah, we should strive to give our best, to work hard to produce good results. The question is: What constitutes a commendable working attitude?

Insya Allah, today’s’ khutbah will discuss on the Islamic concept on the best way to earn our living.

Allah says in surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 198:

Which means: There is no sin on you if you seek the Bounty of your Lord.

This verse clearly tells us to seek Allah’s bounty that awaits those who worked hard for. For Allah s.w.t has made this Earth full of sustenance for His servants. Allah s.w.t has guarantee that everyone will receive his due share or rizq, or sustenance from Allah.

So Allah forbids us from being idle, and just hoping others for donations or assistance. Instead, Allah s.w.t commands us to go out and work. Earn an honest living, to sustain ourselves and our families. For everyone will receive what he strives for. The measure of things he will receive will depend on how much effort he exert to achieve it. Allah is Most Just. If one works hard, Allah will give him the justifiable rewards for his commendable efforts. On the other hand, if one is being lazy, Allah will not give him the same rewards that Allah gives to those who work hard.

Allah says in surah An-Najm, ayat 39:

Which means: And that man can have nothing but what he does (good or bad).

My brothers in Islam,

We all know that Allah commands us to earn our living from Halal sources. This is stated in many verses in Al-Quran, among them, the verse 114 in Surah An-Nahl:

Which means: So eat of the lawful and good food which Allâh has provided for you. And be grateful for the Graces of Allâh, if it is He Whom you worship.


Thus, we must ensure that our sources of income are Halal. But how to ensure that they are Halal?

The answer, is to ensure out sources of income do not contain elements that Allah has forbidden.

Allah has forbidden all things that will bring harm or destroy the our spiritual self, our physical self, our mind, our wealth and our family lineage.

On this ground, everything that destroys or harms our wealth and our mind is Haram. And everything that relates to those Haram things, is also considered as Haram. Such as assisting companies that deals with Haram things.

In order to ensure that our sources of income are Halal, we need to sit down and do some self check. Does our income come from Halal sources? Do we want our children to grow up on foods that come from Haram sources? When Rasulullah s.a.w has said in a hadith narrated by Imam Tirmizi:

Which means: There is no benefit for flesh that grew from Haram sources, except that Hell is a better place for that flesh.


So let us ensure that our the flesh that grows on our body, and on our children’s bodies does not come from Haram sources.

My brothers in Islam,

Allah forbids us from deriving our sources of income from games of chance such gambling, betting and such. This is because the money that we will earn from such sources does not come from our own sweat and toil. But on factors that are beyond our control, factors that are based on chances and fortunes. Factors that will bring about destruction to our wealth and family ties.

Halal sources are those that came from our own efforts. Not from relying on chances. In this respect, Rasulullah s.a.w. said in a hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari:

Which means: There is no food that is better for one to eat other than what he earned from his own hand.

That is why we can see that every prophet worked for their living. They did not rely on donations from other people. The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w himself has camels and sheep for his livelihood. He himself milked his own sheep. He did not rely on others to support him. And he is the greatest Prophet. He is Allah’s selected servant. If he did not work at all, that will not be a problem for him. For Allah will provide everything that he wants. But our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w worked with his two hands. Why? It is an example to the rest of us so that we will likewise earn our living, and not just rely on assistance from others or from games of chances.

We should never think that we are not able to find Halal source of income or that we will forever be poor if we do not indulge in income that is forbidden by Allah. Allah s.w.t has promised us our rizq, our sustenance, according to our needs.

Of course, everything is in Allah’s knowledge. The amount of rizq that we will receive from Allah is determined by Him, from his infinite knowledge on our capabilities and what we will do in the future.

But we do not know how much is that. Only Allah knows. So we must always strive harder to earn our living from Halal sources. We must never sit down and sigh that nothing we do can change our bad luck, our poverty. For that will bring about Allah’s anger.

We need to do only three things: to plan, to strive and to seek Allah’s help.

We make careful planning to find Halal sources of income. And we work hard for it. Give out best. And we pray to Allah, asking Him to grant us continued Halal income, and to bless it. Insya Allah, the food that we eat, that we put on our table, is Halal and blessed by Allah. For there is nothing greater than Allah’s blessing.

Insya Allah, next week’s khutbah will discuss further on one source of Haram income that is quite pervasive in these days.

ISLAM AND BUSINESS

Source

Trade and commerce have always been a part of Islam. From pre-Islamic days, the Holy City of Mecca has been the center of commercial activities. It was indeed the annual trading center of Mecca that provided Prophet Mohammad the forum for preaching Islam.

The early Muslims were not only engaged in trade but they went to distant lands in connection with business. Islam in fact reached East and West Africa, East Asia through the business people.

Islam encourages work in general, and trade and commerce in particular, Prophet Mohammad was himself engaged in this profession before he became a prophet. He was a successful businessman. Known for integrity, he bore the honorific title, the Trustworthy, The Quran states:


"God has made business lawful for you"

In addition, the Qur'an includes rules not only for manners and hygiene, marriage and divorce, but it also lays down detailed rules for commerce and politics, interest and debts, contracts and wills, and industry and finance. Islam has permitted and in fact encouraged business. Islam lays out the basic principles of our economic behavior as consumers, producers and owners of wealth.

The Islamic principle in business is based on individual enterprise and correspondingly individual's reward. It is basically based on benefiting the humanity while maintaining God�s orders.

In business relationships Islam strictly forbids any discrimination between people based on their religion, sex, or gender.

There is no basic conflict between good business practice and profit making in Islam. Islam looks at profit as secondary way to measure efficiency. Business Ethics in Islam

1. Trust: Trust of God's creation and all that is in it. God has created and perfected the whole universe then Man is set over it all with delegated. So as Muslims we realize that we are just trustee for God�s universe and we truly do not owe anything in this life. That kind of belief along with your knowledge that God sees all what you do, will make you work under constant surveillance, and keeps your performance at its best while following God�s defined conduct.

(Quran 45-13): And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are Signs indeed for those who reflect.

(Quran 6:164): It is He who hath made you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth: He hath raised you in ranks, some above others: that He may try you in the gifts He hath given you: for thy Lord is quick in punishment: yet He is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

2. Justice and Honesty: Justice can be defined as just conduct, fairness exercise of authority in maintenance of right and fair dealing between each other regardless of faith is strictly laid down in Islam. Honesty incorporates the concepts of truthfulness and reliability and covers all aspects of relationships in human life thought, word and action. It is more than just accuracy; it is an attitude with integrity.


Quran 4:135): O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.

Quran 6:115): Perfected is the Word of thy Lord in truth and justice. There is naught that can change His words. He is the Hearer, the Knower.

Quran 11:85): O my people! Give full measure and full weight in justice, and wrong not people in respect of their goods

Oh ye who believe! Eat not up each other's property by unfair and dishonest means." (4:29)

3. Mutual Respect: The third principle is mutual respect and consideration for others is also inherent in the moral teachings of Islam.

The application of this has come to mean that self interest only has a place in the community in as much as it takes into account the interests of others. So a person or organization can not under self benefit measures takes an action or start a business that will harm the community or environment more than providing good to it. The prophet (PBUH) said: "You will not attain righteousness, unless you give of that which you love�. And said "God loves kindness when you deal with any matter" And also said: "You will not enter Paradise until you have faith and you will not have faith until you love one another".

What is forbidden in business in Islam?

1. Islam has not permitted producing, selling and purchasing of goods, which are prohibited in Islamic law. Alcohol, Drugs.. The Prophet of Islam has said: "When God prohibits a thing He prohibits (giving and receiving) the price of it as well."

2. Islam has also prohibited any kind of transaction involving uncertainty, as this could lead to quarrel or litigation. The Prophet of Islam has forbidden transaction involving unspecified quantity, acceptance of money for fish in the river or bird in the air as there is element of uncertainty. Similarly the Prophet of Islam has prohibited sale of fruit till they are ripened. However; if the element of uncertainty is very small, the transactions are permissible.

3. Islam condemns hoarding to make high profit at the cost of public interest (when it is needed or so it will become needed). Islam, however; allows normal trade - buying and selling of goods again and again at a reasonable profit.

4. Islam prohibits fraud in business dealings. The Prophet has said: "Sell the good and bad separately. He who deceives is not of us" The sin of fraud is greater if the seller supports it by swearing falsely. The Prophet has said, "Swearing produces ready sale but blots out blessing".

5. Islam prohibits buying or selling what's legal if we know that it will be used for illegal use: weapons, abortion drugs, drugs for meth making, and so on.

6. INTEREST: Muslims are not allowed to pay or receive interest. The Quran is explicit about it and says, "God- has permitted for you trade and prohibited interest" (2 : 275).

Depositors in an Islamic bank would be treated like shareholders, would receive dividends when the bank makes a profit, and would lose capital when it suffers a loss.

The prohibition or fixed interest flows from Islam's concern for social justice Interest is said to reinforce a tendency for wealth to accumulate in a few hands
So how would you by buy a house for example? A new trend has recently started that work as follows: An Islamic financing company buys the house. The house then is leased back to you for a fixed period of time. You pay the finance group the rent value plus an additional amount for the house purchase. The value or the lease home will be reassessed every year, and the rent will be adjusted accordingly. In Closing
To close let me reassure that it is the responsibility of every Muslim to be ethical in their daily business practices and to act responsibly toward the community in which it serves. To review its business practices and remove from its organization any unlawful activities and devote themselves to productive and lawful activities that benefit mankind.

It is everyone's responsibility to take a long and serious look at their organization and implement policies and procedures that are conducive.

As a general guide to Muslims in business we should adopt the following overriding principals:

- Love God and his commands more than your trade or business
- Be honest and truthful
- Keep one's word
- Be humble in how you conduct your life
- Do not deal in fraud
- Do not bribe
- Deal justly


Abdoulrahman Kattih
The Islamic Education And Services Institute