Articles by Dr. Parvez

For those who really want to know, Muhammad ﷺ (before becoming a prophet) was a young handsome man of 25 years when he first married. Whom? A twice widowed lady (Khadijah ؓ ) who was 15 years older and already had kids from her previous marriages. This marriage lasted 25 years (till her death). The Prophet was now 50 years old, and despite the polygamous tradition of Arabs, had not married any other lady all those years. He had 6 kids from her. All the other women the Prophet then married were also either widows or divorcees, with the sole exception of Lady Aishahؓ . Aishah married the Prophet after she entered puberty, and this marriage lasted 9 years (till his death). Each of the marriages with the other wives had their own social context and background. For instance, the Prophet married Lady Zainab ؓ  to demonstrate in clear terms that one's adopted son is not his real son, and his wife is not his daughter in-law. Some ladies were prisoners of war (Juwairiyah ؓ ), so

If Khuda, then why not Ishwar and God? In my last post, while translating the words of the Azan, I had used the word Ishwar for Allah. Some friends pointed out that Ishwar should not be used instead of Allah because ‘Ishwar’ is not one among the 99 names of Allah.  In the Indian subcontinent, salat is known as namaz, and saum is known as roza, despite the fact that these are Persian words which cannot be found anywhere in the Qur'an or Hadith. Can you tell me one more Persian word which is widely used by Muslims in the subcontinent? That word is ‘Khuda’. It is used instead of Allah, despite the fact that Khuda is not one among the 99 names of Allah that we find in the Qur'an and Hadith. When Persia was taken by Muslim forces in the 7th Century CE, some people approached Caliph Umar Farooqؓ and submitted that the Persians use the word Khuda instead of Allah. Caliph Umar, after weighing that word on the scales of the ayaat quoted below, approved the use of the word Khuda for All

We often read this dua after almost every namaz and especially during tawaf:  رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ “O our Rabb, grant us good in this duniya and good in the akhirah, and save us from the punishment of the fire.” [Surah alBaqarah] But what do the phrases ‘hasanah in this duniya’ and ‘hasanah in akhirah’ imply? Some people feel that good life in duniya means a luxurious life replete with all comforts and amenities. They even cite this ayat to contend that it is Allah who asks us to pray for a luxurious life, and hence it is justified to seek the comforts of duniya (i.e. fulfil their monetary aspirations and material pursuits).  Since the Qur'an is its best tafseer, let us ask the Qur’an what it means by فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً In Surah anNahl, Allah uses the exact same phrase for Ibraheemؑ, saying that he gave Ibraheemؑ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً Ok, now let us run the life of Ibraheemؑ before our eyes.

People like me, who have recently started ‘practicing’ deen since a few years, often tend to look down upon other Muslims who appear to be not as devout Muslims as we assume ourselves to be. For instance, when we come across Muslims who are not regular with their namaz or fasts, we tend to view them as some lower life forms, with pity or outright disgust! But Allah says: کَذٰلِکَ کُنۡتُمۡ مِّنۡ قَبۡلُ فَمَنَّ اللّٰہُ عَلَیۡکُمۡ “You yourselves were like that before; before Allah conferred His favor upon you.” [Surah anNisa, ayat 94] This ayat serves to uproot that superority complex. It reminds us that we were also no better than those guys until a few years back. I, for one, began offering namaz only when I was in my late teens, and had never read the Qur'an in Arabic before my 22nd birthday. I should, therefore, be expected to stand in awe of boys and girls who are way ahead of me in deen than what I was when I was their age, right? We need to remind ourselves that ha

Everything today is being done for ‘sawab’. But please pause and ponder! The true purpose of Ibadat is to develop Qalbe Saleem and attainment of Taqwa. وَ  اِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّکَ لِلۡمَلٰٓئِکَۃِ اِنِّیۡ جَاعِلٌ فِی الۡاَرۡضِ خَلِیۡفَۃً ؕ قَالُوۡۤا اَتَجۡعَلُ فِیۡہَا مَنۡ یُّفۡسِدُ فِیۡہَا وَ یَسۡفِکُ الدِّمَآءَ ۚ وَ نَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِکَ وَ نُقَدِّسُ لَکَ ؕ قَالَ اِنِّیۡۤ اَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ Baqarah, 30 یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اعۡبُدُوۡا رَبَّکُمُ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَکُمۡ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِکُمۡ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَتَّقُوۡنَ Baqarah, 21 Ibadat: وَ مَا خَلَقۡتُ الۡجِنَّ وَ الۡاِنۡسَ  اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ  Zariyat, 56 Is this like touching a stone? Or does it have a purpose? وَ مَا خَلَقۡنَا السَّمَآءَ وَ الۡاَرۡضَ وَ مَا بَیۡنَہُمَا  لٰعِبِیۡنَ Ambiya: 16 At the same time, اِنۡ اَحۡسَنۡتُمۡ اَحۡسَنۡتُمۡ لِاَنۡفُسِکُمۡ ۟ وَ اِنۡ اَسَاۡتُمۡ فَلَہَا Bani Israel:7 Hadith: Even if all men on earth become most righteous or all men on earth become most evil, it wouldn't

Everytime you open your Mus’haf, make it a point to recite Surah alFatihah before reciting any part of the Qur'an, and see the magic unfold. Whichever passage you read from the Qur'an would seem to be an answer to Surah alFatihah. Try to connect the dots, and you would find that the passage under study would explain one or more of the following things: a. What does it mean by Allah to be Rabb? b. How is He Rahman and Raheem? c. What and How exactly would be Yaum adDeen (the Day of Judgement)? d. How and Why is He to be thanked and praised? e. How and Why should we serve and worship Him? f. How and Why should we seek His help and what is the response we can expect? g. What is the Straight Middle Path? h. How does He guide us to it? i. What are the qualities of those whom He favours and shows this Path? j. What are the characteristics of those on whom He gets furious? k. What are the characteristics of those who have deviated from that Path? This approach would make o

8 things that I learnt from the Bhagwad Gita. 1. There is only one God. He is formless (Nirakar) and does not have human qualities (Nirgun). He is beyond being a human or spirit. He is unborn, has always been, and will always be. He is the Creator, the Sustainer and Omniscient. 2. Whenever adharm increases, God sends (books and prophets) to protect the good ones, destroy the evil ones and establish dharm. 3. This life is a test, wherein man is required to obey and worship God and strive in His cause (karm yog) and perform selfless deeds (karm sanyas). 4. Upon death, man's spirit is taken away from his dead body. It is returned to a new body on the Day of Judgement so as to hold him accountable for his deeds. He would then be admitted to an eternal Heaven of bliss or to Hell where he would keep dying again and again. 5. Instead of renouncing the world and its obligations (sanyas), man should renounce the fruits of his labour (tyaag). This essentially means that man shoul

We have all heard and read that using a miswak is Sunnah, and many people either consider using a toothbrush as bidah, or as an ancillary tool in addition to the tree twig commonly referred to as miswak.  Now here's the surprise. The toothbrush IS the miswak! Let me explain. Miswak, by definition, is a tool to clean one's teeth. A meem with a zer (مِ) before a word gives it the meaning of a tool. Hence, a key is called miftah (mi + fatah) i.e. a tool that opens, and a lamp is called misbah (mi + subah) i.e. a tool that brings day or light.  On a side note, a meem with a zabar (مَ) before a word gives it the meaning of a place. Hence, a masjid (ma + sajdah) is a place where one offers sajdah, and a maktab (ma + kitab) is a place where one reads or studies. Since a toothbrush cleans one's mouth, it is a miswak (mi + siwak). It is quite confounding that people include twigs of several trees (pelu, neem, babool etc.) under the definition of miswak, despite the fact

Hijab is a word that you might surely have heard of these days. From primetime shows to social media platforms, from magazines to newspapers – the word Hijab keeps glaring at us. Some are seen protesting against it, while others are seen protesting in its favour. Hence, it has become very important for us to know what exactly this Hijab is, and why is it so essential to women. The word Hijab refers to a garment which a lady uses to cover herself, especially her head and bosoms. And this is obviously not something which is peculiar to Islam. Women all throughout history, across religions and cultures have been covering their heads with scarves and dupattas and the pallus of their saris. In fact, the dupatta and pallu have been such an integral part of Indian culture that it is quite surprising that the Hijab controversy should have erupted in India. Moreover, India is known to be a country that personifies the phrase ‘unity and diversity’. India’s idea of secularism, as oppo