Articles by Dr. Parvez

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. The following ayat tells us that man has a greater purpose of creation than simply glorifying God. 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 The basic objective of all acts of worship is to inculcate God-consciousness or taqwa. یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اعۡبُدُوۡا رَبَّکُمُ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَکُمۡ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِکُمۡ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَتَّقُوۡنَ Baqarah, 21 God says that all we are expected to do is to serve Him. وَ مَا خَلَقۡتُ الۡجِنَّ وَ الۡاِنۡسَ  اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ  Zariyat, 56 But why? Is this like touching a stone? Or does it have a purpose? God says that nothing in this univers...

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...