Born To Struggle: The Child of Rohingya Refugees and His Inspiring Journey

Whenever a Muslim woman has a question about her religion, she should seek the answer in the Qur’an (Allah’s revealed Word) and the Sunnah (the example in word and deed) of His Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). If the answer is not found in these two sources, she should look to trustworthy Muslim scholars for help. She is encouraged to read, study, and learn as much as she can about her religion, for the search for religious knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim individual. A Muslim woman who is learning about her religion finds out quickly that the menstrual period and the period of bleeding after childbirth (postpartum bleeding) are times for her to leave off certain acts of worship such as formal prayer and fasting. It is important for believing women to be aware of exactly which acts are forbidden and which ones are permitted to them in these situations. This revised edition of How Can I Get Closer to Allah? is intended to clear up the issue as much as possible (with Allah’s permission).

Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid’s little book is perhaps one of the most widely-circulated among Muslims today. This is because the topic touches worshippers where it hurts—we know that we often lapse into an automatic sort of prayer when we lose concentration. The Shaykh points out that this loss of concentration really stems from a lack of humility and devotion—in Arabic, khushoo‘. His aim in writing this book is to help us to get back that khushoo‘. His step-by-step approach makes it simple. He gives practical advice and uses the excellent example of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) to guide us, so that as worshippers, we can truly return to a state of humility and devotion before the Lord.

Islam is a religion of peace, love, and compassion. Lies, suspicion, backbiting, slander, vain talk — all these are anathema to Islam. Indeed, such negative activity sows the seeds of enmity among the people and ultimately brings about the downfall of society. Backbiting (ghibah) in particular, according to the Qur’an, is not just a common social evil, but rather an abhorrent act, a major sin — the equivalent of eating one’s brother’s flesh.

Numerous ahadith of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) also underscore the complete futility, extreme loathsomeness and grave consequences of the deliberate misrepresentation of others. Backbiting, by the unanimous rulings of religious scholars (ijma) is forbidden, so that anyone who indulges in it is guilty of serious wrongdoing. Yet people have no qualms about engaging in this practice, flouting all prohibitions and strict commands.

Drawing upon important source material on the subjects of backbiting, false accusation (bhutan), and related issues, this book highlights the need to keep our society free of his ignoble malaise. To this end, it elucidates the relevant commands and prohibitions of the Shari’ah, so as to create in the minds of its readers a deep awareness of the sinfulness and ill effects of calumny.

By Shakil Ahmad Khan and Wasim Ahmad