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Who is Adnan Ghalib? Until recently unknown paparazzi photographer is now befriended Britney Spears.

While we don’t know much about Adnan Ghalib, we do know he’s a celebrity photographer and now he got famous since he has been spotted  with Britney Spears, the pop star who in at her bizzarest best. Adnan Ghalib, 35, works for the agency FinalPixx, but seemed to find a place in Britney Spears’ heart.

Well, Adnan Ghalib and Britney Spears have been seen checking into hotels in California. Apparently Adnan Ghalib was not with Britney Spears when she had her meltdown — and he didn’t visit her during her hospital stay either.

Adnan Ghalib and Britney Spears were seen the day after her release, having breakfast together. Where will this relationship go? Adnan is supposedly of Pakistani origin and raised in the UK. He is reportedly married and has an annoyed father.

Where will this relationship go? 

 

The Da Vinci Code

By    Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed

The book, The Da Vinci Code  written by Dan Brown  was published in 2003. Since then more than 45 million copies in 45 languages have been sold. It is claimed that it is the fastest selling adult book of all times. It has been on the New York Times best-seller list for an amazing 159 weeks. A paper back version has sold more than 6 million copies and has taken the No.1 fiction slot. The author Dan Brown has earned more than $425 million dollars. Much of the ground work for the Da Vinci Code, the critics note was laid by other books, including The Templar Revelation, The Woman With the Alabaster Jar, and Daughter of God.  However, Brown won a major victory against an allegation by  two authors, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The latter sued Brown in 2004 arguing that he "appropriated the architecture " of their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail  to produce the mega hit. The British High Court judge Peter Smith dismissed their claim, saying that fictional works like  The Da Vinci Code can be inspired by historical and other sources without the authors needing to secure rights.

The book reveals that the Grail is  not a chalice that was used at the Last Supper of Jesus (peace be upon him). Rather, it is literally the womb, bones and descendants of Mary Magdalene, who secretly bore the child of Jesus. The child's name is given as Sarah.

In the beginning Dan Brown writes "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."  For example Brown says that in order to consolidate their patriarchal power, church fathers declared Jesus to be divine at the Council of Nicea held in 325 CE.  In the book, Brown claims that the medieval church executed 5 million women  as witches. Scholars estimate the figure to be around 60,000.

Catholic and evangelical Christians   are upset about the Da Vinci Code because it talks about Jesus (peace be upon him) marrying and having a child.  Marriage is a sanctified institution in some religions and it is the foundation of every society. Almost every religious leader from Abraham to Moses to Muhammad (peace be upon them) married and had children. In the Qur'an  25 Prophets and Messengers are mentioned and everyone of them was married and had offspring. Some had more than one wife. In Hinduism the Gods and Goddesses got married and had children. Gautam Buddha the founder of Buddhism was married and had a son.  Mahavira married a princess named Yasoda, and they had a daughter, Anojja.  Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism also married soon after his sister’s marriage. His wife was Sulakhani, daughter of Mula, a resident of Batala, in the district of Gurdaspur. Marriage and the birth of two children did not, in any way, stop Nanak’s spiritual pursuits.

Is there something evil about marriage and childbirth? According to Abrahamic Faiths Adam and Eve got married and had offspring and  the source of all humans are Adam and Eve.

Are women the corrupters of “holy men?”  The idea prevails that the church installed mandatory celibacy and unnatural virginity as pathways to holiness. What those “ideals” produced, however, has been little more than distorted sexuality and massive amounts of debilitating guilt.

The Bible does not say that Jesus was married nor does it say that he was not married. The scripture does not talk about the life of Jesus between the ages of 12 and 29 or 30. During this time he might have married and fathered children. The Koran (Quran) says "And verily We sent messengers before thee [O’ Muhammad] and We appointed for them wives and offspring."    Qur’an 5:110 and 13:38.  

A book titled "Jesus in Heaven on Earth" written by  Al-Haj Khwaja Nazir Ahmad has published the photographs of the tomb of Jesus in Mohalla Khaniyar, Srinagar, Kashmir. The  book claims that Jesus survived Crucifixion and moved to Kashmir. There are several books written by Western Scholars abetting the survival of Jesus after the Crucifixion.

A book titled "REDISCOVERING THE REALITIES OF JESUS-his crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and celibacy" written by Akbarally Meherally is available free online at www.mostmerciful????

 

Grief and Religion

By Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood

 

Does a person’s religion make any difference to the way they experience death and grief? It depends on their understanding of religion, even Islam. There are healthy attitudes to religion, and there are unhealthy ones. Unfortunately, while it is certainly a fact that some religious attitudes help the personality to grow, others seriously stunt it.

Unhealthy religion is usually centered on the denial of responsibility. It projects a concept of a God who is capricious and open to manipulation. Believers with this sort of attitude often act rather like spoiled children; they seem to genuinely believe that if they cry loudly enough or long enough they will be able to bring themselves to God’s attention, make Him notice their worthy cause, and perhaps even make Him act differently—in accordance with what they want Him to do. They seem to expect that if they are devoted enough, or chant enough phrases, or do enough pious practices, Allah will produce cosmic results and violate the law and order of the universe just to oblige them.

All their prayers and incantations might seem very pious, but their attitude is really one of subtle shirk (associating other beings/gods with Allah), and certainly one of lack of trust in the will of Allah. God does not need to be told our problems—He knows everything already. He will not have failed to observe that one of His servants is sick, or dying, or bereaved.

But God is not there just to oblige us—no matter how worthy we are, or how desperate our cause. God is not a cosmic errand-boy. He is not standing by, waiting for our ‘orders of the day’—sometimes with the implication that He had better get on with doing what we want Him to do or we will punish Him by rejecting Him. This is a real trivialization of the nature of God, and yet we find so frequently examples of people who lose their ‘faith’ in God because He did not do what they wanted Him to do—He let their loved one die.

It is good for a Muslim to be reminded that no person was more righteous or more loved by Allah than the Prophet Muhammad—and yet there was no miraculous cure for his sickness, and he died, as all humans must die. Remember how his companion `Umar could not bring himself to accept his death, and how Abu Bakr took command by reminding them of the ayah (verse):

[Muhammad is but a messenger; there have been prophets before him, and they all died. Will you now turn back?] (Aal `Imran 3:144)

True religion enables us to take charge of our own lives and accept responsibility in a disciplined way, and this reduces the causes of guilt and sets in motion wise processes necessary for the management of grief.

Some bereaved people feel that they are so helpless to cope with life that they need a special dole of “cosmic kindness” to get them through. Muslims do not need to crawl through life begging for what is already theirs – God’s love and caring concern. They know their duty is towards Him. They have to stand in faith, and accept His will.

While they may not like the results of a molecular process when someone succumbs to disease, or the impersonal results of the law of gravity when a wall falls on an innocent bystander, or the war that follows from the political failures of people over whom we have no control but who can devastate our lives, they would not want to destroy reality by asking God to act in a way that would entail a violation of His nature. We cannot tempt God to do our will. It is important instead to discover how to bring our lives into close accord with His will.

Death seen in terms of a capricious universe with a God who should do our bidding is painful and depressing; death contemplated when we understand the meaning of life in a larger context is seen in a totally different light. It may be that life is as short as a moth’s, or as long as a sequoia tree’s; what matters is not its length but its quality.

Our religious faith should help us find a perspective through which we can evaluate our own feelings.

Healthy religion moves beyond the denial of responsibility, the distortion of reality and the creating of illusions. It puts death in perspective. It helps us to understand the meaning of the pain that comes with some deaths and is absent in others. It under-girds life with an adequate philosophy, emphasizes the reality of life, and the forms of love that continue to sustain life.

Only physical things die; spiritual things already have the dimension of the infinite and eternal and are therefore indestructible.

Death tosses the human being into spiritual turmoil. One of the biggest problems for devout believers is the attitude of so many friends, who—because of their sincere faith in the afterlife—simply do not seem to see that there is a problem in a person’s grief; or if they do see it, they refuse to admit it.

“You are a committed Muslim; your family are committed Muslims. Muslims know there is nothing to fear about death—therefore we can all be quite sure that you will cope wonderfully with your grief and we need not worry about it.”

In reality, the mourner may not be coping very well with his or her grief, but because of the attitude of these pious ‘comforters’ cannot speak up or make it known that help is needed. In fact, religious people who speak like this are quite possibly trying to escape their own emotional involvement, which they find embarrassing or are unable to handle. Everyone feels inadequate, and lacks confidence in what to say for the best to a bereaved person-and in fact, a companionable silence is often preferable to false platitudes.

Well? Should Muslims not grieve at all? Should they just accept a terminal illness as God’s will, or a test of faith? What can they expect from God? What should they ask Him for?

It is not wrong to ask questions. Human beings are creatures with minds and rational faculties. If God had wanted automatons with no minds, He would have created us that way. It is all right for us to ask for the reasons; but we cannot demand an answer. Sometimes we get an answer, if God deems it necessary for us to know. At other times we simply have to accept that although there is an answer, God has not given it, and since His dealings with us are always loving and for our ultimate good, we can leave the matter there. This is where faith comes in.

How does Islam affect Muslims? A life free from guilt? Possibly, if they try hard. A life free from the fear of death? Possibly, if they have enough faith. A life that can be lived differently from that of non-believers? True, with God’s help. A life free from sorrow, problems and difficulties? Sadly, no.

[You shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and you shall certainly hear much that will distress you, from those who received the Book before you, and from those who worship many gods. But if you persevere patiently, and guard against evil-then that will be the determining factor in everything.] (Aal `Imran 3:186)

Being a Muslim does not protect anyone from the reality of suffering. Belief is not some kind of spiritual inoculation which will provide immunity from all that is difficult and painful. We love Allah—but doesn’t He care when we suffer? In times of crisis, it is so easy to feel that He is far away and cannot hear our cries-but this is not so. He is closer than our own neck vein; or, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) touchingly put it, closer than the neck of our own camel. His love will never desert us or let us down, even in our darkest hour.

It is not wrong to grieve. People who believe in God grieve for all sorts of things, including the callous and hardhearted attitudes some people have towards one another, and at the mess that human rebellion against God has made of His world. People with sympathetic hearts feel human misery deeply; some work to exhaustion to heal the sick and reach out to the needy. To see someone we love suffering makes us unutterably sad, and God knows that. He gave us the feelings in the first place.

But believers should not grieve in the same way as those who have no hope—for God promised His people comfort and strength right into the valley of the shadow of death, and beyond.

[Ibrahim said: ‘0 Lord! Show me how you give life to the dead.’ He said: ‘Do you not believe?’ He said: ‘Yes, but to satisfy my own understanding, (tell me).’ Allah said: ‘Take four birds and tame them to return to you; put one of them on each of four separate hills, then call to them. They will come flying to you with speed.’]  (Al-Baqarah 2:260)

When Allah calls us, we will surely ‘come flying’ to Him. Our earthly life is the separation on the hills; when we die, we will be called back to our real home, with Allah.

[So do not lose heart, and do not fall into despair; for you must gain mastery if you are true in faith] (Aal `Imran 3:139)

Many people wonder why, if God is all-powerful and loving, He does not cure our loved ones of cancer, or prevent wars and famines, etc.—either directly through miraculous intervention, or indirectly, perhaps through medical science.

God sometimes works through suffering. Some people are physically healed, others are given the ability to live with the illness and finally to die with trust and hope. Suffering can never be considered enjoyable, but there can be good responses to it. If we can see that neither distress nor death can separate us from the love of God we have a living hope which transcends all the trials of our present situation.

As Muslims, who try to accept God’s will, should we fight the disease, or accept it? Would it be right for a patient to refuse medical treatment on the grounds that it must be God’s will for them to have it? The Muslim answer to that must surely be ‘No’. Such apathy is against the general desire of Allah to see us always working for healing, wholeness and peace. We have a responsibility to care for our bodies as best we can—so we should encourage the patient to seek and take medical advice and co-operate with whatever treatment they think is right and is consistent with Islam; they should move towards full health as positively as they are able.

Human beings are required by Allah to seek medical treatment if it is available. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself told us to seek medical treatment; as he put it “Allah has not created an illness without creating a cure for it” (Reported by Muslim). When you take a medicine, you are not acting against the will of Allah; you are cured by Allah’s will, because He has put into that particular medicine the qualities which will enable the human body to overcome a certain disease.

Medicine functions by God’s will. This is exactly what `Umar ibn al-Khattab said to Abu `Ubaydah once, when the latter questioned him about his orders concerning quarantine—preventing entry to or departure from an area where plague was widespread. Abu `Ubaydah asked: “Are we trying to escape from the will of Allah?” Umar answered: “Yes, we try to escape from God’s will with God’s will.” This means that if we avoid certain causes of death we nevertheless remain subject to the will of Allah, because avoiding them and preventing them is also part of the will of Allah.

A Muslim will always have to acknowledge that the final outcome is in God’s hands. If we pray du`aa’ (personal prayer requests) for our sick and dying, and for the bereaved, it is never wasted; God always hears us, and something always ‘happens’, even if it not quite what the person has prayed for.

Umm Salamah, the Prophet’s wife (peace be upon both of them), reported the Messenger as saying: “Whenever you visit the sick or the dying, make supplication for good, because the angels say ‘Amen’ to whatever you say.” (Reported by Muslim)

We are human and limited in our understanding. Instead of telling God what we want, we should try to ask God what it is He wants for us, or wants us to do, in each situation.

Sometimes He gives a very clear indication of what it is He wants us to do—through inner conviction, through a verse of the Qur’an, or an insight given through another person. When we are less certain, we can pray for what seems to be the best solution, acknowledging that God’s wisdom is perfect.

We are not specks of dust drifting in space blown by random destiny. We are each of us unique—no two people are alike, not even identical twins. Each one of us is born for a specific reason and purpose, and each one of us will die when we have accomplished whatever it was to be accomplished.

True healing is not necessarily a cure, but a completion of God’s work in body, mind, emotions and spirits.

Death sometimes leads us to question things we had taken for granted before. Does God really exist? Does He love me? How could He let this happen?

God welcomes honest searching. Islam is based on historical fact, not on the speculations of human beings with their limited intellects. Truth stands out clear from error (Al Baqarah 2:256), it will not collapse under investigation. Ask your questions, seek your answers. Ask for the wisdom that will lead you to Him. Search the Qur’an for answers—find out for yourself what it says about the things you are questioning. After having experienced suffering or the grief—pangs of bereavement for yourself you may find yourself coming to a new level of commitment, one that is perhaps truly meaningful for the first time.

But you will have some questions that cannot be answered, because God chooses not to tell us everything. Many, many things will remain a mystery in this world.

Abdullah ibn Mas`ud was once walking with the Prophet when some Jews asked him about the soul. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood silent and gave no reply, and Abdullah realized that he was being given a revelation, so he stood quietly beside him. The revelation given was: [They ask you about the soul. Say: “The soul is by the commandment of my Lord, and of knowledge you are given only a little.”] (Al-Israa’ 17:85, Muslim 6712).

God has given us enough information so that the most intellectual person can be satisfied, yet He leaves enough out so that we must all have faith without fully understanding.

Don’t worry; instead, pray, and tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers and His blessings. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

Don’t waste your time with cries of ‘if only’. Regret is a wasted emotion; it is futile, for we cannot go back and change things around. No amount of self-recrimination can change the past. Of course you have made mistakes—we all do that, and some of these mistakes have heavy consequences. Don’t waste your life in remorse. As long as you did the best you could at the time, that is as much as is expected of you.

Don’t be preoccupied with regret. If you did or said something wrong, confess it to God, and accept His forgiveness. Bring the entire situation before Him, commit it to Him, and leave it there.

True believers have nothing to fear in the gloomiest scenes of life; they have nothing to fear in the valley of death; they have nothing to fear in the grave; they have nothing to fear in the world beyond. For God is with them. They do not go anywhere alone—for God is the Companion, the Guide.

Dying people seem to enter the final valley alone. The friends accompany as far as they can, and then they must give the parting hand. They can cheer the dying ones until they are deaf to all their sounds; they can cheer them with their looks until their eyes become dim and they can see no more; they can cheer them with a fond embrace until they become insensible to every expression of earthly affection, and then they seem to be alone. But dying believers are not alone. God is with them in that valley, and will never leave them. On His promise they can depend, and by that Presence they can be comforted, until they emerge from the gloom into the bright world beyond. All that is needed to dissipate the terrors of that valley is to be able to say “You are with me, O Lord.”

Islam, Muslims and Europe

Quantum Note

By Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal 

The writer is a freelance columnist.

As we entered the mosque of Córdoba I realised its isolation from its historical environ that once housed almost eighty thousand shops and workshops of artisans; there was nothing left of the marvellous public baths and inns which once surrounded the mosque. The multitudes of citizens, merchants, and mules passing over the bridge over the Great River (Guadalquiver) into the centre of the city were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were throngs of tourists. In spite of this, the mosque still opens doorways to the numerous connections it once had with Islamic spirituality and sciences and practical arts.

Now, however, one has to use one's imagination to understand these intricate connections, because even the interior of this monumental mosque is not what it used to be; the presence of a "dark church structure that was built between the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and arbitrarily placed at the centre of the light forest of pillars like a giant black spider", as Titus Burchardt once remarked, makes it extremely difficult to clearly distinguish the features of the mosque which once looked like a broad grove of palm trees.

The mosque also stands today without the fabulous royal city, Madinat al-Zahrah, which once provided the backdrop to the city of Cordoba. The famous library of al-Hakam II, with its 400,000 volumes -- many of them containing annotations about their authors in his own hand -- is also gone. The mosque now lacks the traditional courtyard with fountains where the faithful once performed ablution before prayers. But some things still remain, and among them are the prayer niche and the marvellous array of columns and arches with their hypnotic symmetry.

Throngs of tourists take pictures and drift slowly toward the front part of the mosque, through hundreds of pillars, linked by horseshoe-shaped arches. The upper arches are heavier than the lower ones and the abutments of both increases in size with the height of the pillars. The pillars are reminiscent of palm branches, which the Arab rulers of al-Andalus missed in their new land. As we move toward the famed prayer niche the darkness of the interior of the building increases. Once, the area near the prayer niche was the brightest in the mosque.

As we arrive at the seven-sided prayer niche, its many intricate features become obvious. So many aspects of traditional Islamic sciences, arts, and architectural motifs are built into that small area that one can still see a whole civilisation reflected in the prayer niche of the mosque. There is a unique space inside the niche, where the word of God was once recited, a space that evokes awe and reminds one of the mysterious niche of light passage in the celebrated 'Light Verse' of the Holy Quran (24:35).

The fluted shell-like vault, designed to create extraordinary acoustics for the transmission of the recitation of the Holy Quran to the far corners of the mosque, and the horseshoe shaped arch that seems to breathe "as if expanding with a surfeit of inner beatitude, while the rectangular frame enclosing it acts as a counterbalance. The radiating energy and the perfect stillness from an unsurpassable equilibrium."

Today, the mosque of Cordoba stands as a symbol of something far greater than Islamic architecture. This extraordinary mosque, which has remained an enduring source of inspiration and reflection for countless poets and writers (including Iqbal whose poem on the mosque is a masterpiece), today stands as a symbol of Europe's dilemma which it has unwittingly created for itself: what to do with Islam and Muslims. As if to present an immediate example of European intolerance, a Spanish guard rushes toward my fourteen-year-old son as he stands in a corner to offer two rakah prayers.

The Spanish guard incessantly argues that this is not a mosque. I point toward the prayer niche, the beautiful columns, and the entire layout of the marvellous structure where once hundreds of men, women and children prayed, but he sees nothing but the artificially placed dark spider-like building of the Church in the middle of the mosque. "It is a church," he insists.

Our arguments become heated; many other guards rush toward us. I insist on our inalienable right to pray in a building that was constructed for that purpose; they insist that it is not allowed. "Who does not allow it?" I ask. "The authorities." "Can I talk to the authorities?" "No, they are not available".

Finally, they physically stop the prayer and surround us wherever we go inside the mosque. They cannot throw us out of the building, but that is exactly what is on their minds. One more move on our part, and they will have the excuse needed to take that ultimate step.

This episode is a reflection in miniature of the situation of Muslims in Europe today. Some twenty millions of men, women, and children living in this self-proclaimed centre of the civilised world are facing a slow and steady build-up of intolerance, mass hysteria, and state laws which may cut-short their precarious lives built on dreams, hopes, and sheer hard labour over three generations.

Islam and Muslims in Europe have become a dilemma for Europe, which it does not quite know how to deal. After the reconquest of Spain, summary executions, forced conversions, and mass deportations were chosen as the solution to eliminate Muslim presence from this part of Europe. Today, the sheer number of Muslims makes this an impossibility. Yet, state after state, Europe is passing laws that are making it harder for Muslims to practice their religion. The extent of intolerance is such that even a little piece of cloth on the head is considered a threat. Where would this situation lead to?

(To be continued)

Source:  http://www.thenews????.pk/print1.asp?id=27228

by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. 

What is Genetic Engineering? 

Engineering is the technological manipulation of the objects of the natural world in a way that is perceived to be beneficial to people. Traditionally we used the word in the context of inanimate nature: bridges, railways and machines etc. But the term can be used and is used in the context of biology, namely for bioengineering, i.e. modifying or manipulating living organisms. Another term used in place of the term 'genetic engineering' (GE) is 'biotechnology' (BT). Some people think that 'biotechnology' sounds less emotive, less fearful. How is genetic engineering defined then? As with the term 'gene', it depends upon who is using it and in what context.

Genetic engineering refers to a set of technologies that are being used to change the genetic makeup of cells and move genes across species boundaries to produce novel organisms. The techniques involve highly sophisticated manipulations of genetic material and other biologically important chemicals.

Genes are the chemical blueprints that determine an organism's traits. Moving genes from one organism to another transfers those traits. Through genetic engineering, organisms are given new combinations of genes -- and therefore new combinations of traits -- which do not occur in nature and, indeed, cannot be developed by natural means. Such an artificial technology is radically different from traditional plant and animal breeding.  Researchers have discovered ways to change the inherited shape, form and function of living things by altering their Genetic material. This process is known as GENETIC ENGINEERING (GE). 

All living cells-plant, animal and human- contain the genetic material DNA (deoxyribo nucleic acid), which determines the attributes of the offspring of all living things. The molecular gene is a definite sequence of bases in the DNA chain which together code for the production of a particular protein. By directly manipulating the DNA, scientists can change inherited characteristics in predetermined ways. Here the term 'genetic engineering' (GE) shall mean 'transgenesis' or 'recombinant DNA technology', -- i.e. the technology of copying pieces of genetic code from one organism of the same or different species to another by means of the techniques of the molecular biology laboratory. It results in a 'genetically modified organism' (GMO). Genetic engineering is sometimes described as 'modern biotechnology', 'gene technology', 'genetic modification' (GM), 'genetic manipulation' or 'genetic mutilation'.  Gene replacement is essentially transplantation surgery although at the molecular level.   Cloning is a branch of Genetic Engineering.

Novel organisms

Nature can produce organisms with new gene combinations through sexual reproduction.  For example cows must breed with other cows (or very near relatives). A breeder who wants a purple cow would be able to breed toward one only if the necessary purple genes were available somewhere in a cow or a near relative to cows. A genetic engineer has no such restriction. If purple genes are available anywhere in nature -- in a sea urchin or an iris -- those genes could be used in attempts to produce purple cows. This unprecedented ability to shuffle genes means that genetic engineers can concoct gene combinations that would never be found in nature. 

Genetic Engineering has particularly captivated protracted discussions amongst  Ulema (Islamic scholars) because of a phrase in the Quran about "changing God's creation." According to the Quran, after Shaitan tempted Adam (AS) and  Hawwa (AS) ( Eve) to sin by eating from the forbidden tree, he was appalled to see them repenting and being forgiven and honored by their mission to planet Earth as  Allah (SWT)'s  Khalifa (vicegerent). Shaitan asked Allah (SWT) to grant him another occasion to prove that humans are not that trustworthy after all. If allowed to test them on earth, Shaitan disclosed some of his plots to astound them saying: "Verily of Thy servants I shall most certainly take my due share, and shall lead them astray and fill them with vain desires. And I shall ORDER them so that they cut off the ears of cattle (in idolatrous sacrifice), and I shall order them to deface the (fair) nature created by GOD." (4:119).  A. Yusuf Ali in his commentary no. 631 says " To deface the (fair) nature created by God: there is both a physical and a spiritual meaning.  We see many kinds of defacements practiced on men and animals. Against their true nature as created by God, partly on account of superstition, partly on account of selfishness.  Spiritually the case is even worse.  How many natures are dwarfed or starved and turned from their original instincts by cruel superstitions or customs?  God created man pure: the Evil One faces the image. " The regard for this verse among Islamic scholars and physicians and health practitioners also affects their decisions on such issues as plastic surgery, gender transformation (sexual conversion) operations. Fortunately, however, the consensus is that this Quranic verse cannot be invoked as a total and radical ban on genetic engineering. If carried too far it would conflict with many forms of curative surgery that also entails some change in God's creation.
 

MAIN CONCERNS  

Many previous technologies have proved to have adverse effects unexpected by their developers. DDT, for example, turned out to accumulate in fish and thin the shells of fish-eating birds like eagles and ospreys. And chlorofluorocarbons turned out to float into the upper atmosphere and destroy ozone, a chemical that shields the earth from dangerous radiation. What harmful effects might turn out to be associated with the use or release of genetically engineered organisms?

The answer depends on understanding complex biological and ecological systems. So far, scientists know of no generic harms associated with genetically engineered organisms. For example, it is not true that all genetically engineered foods are toxic or that all released-engineered organisms are likely to proliferate in the environment. But specific engineered organisms may be harmful by virtue of the novel gene combinations they possess. This means that the risks of genetically engineered organisms must be assessed case by case and that these risks can differ greatly from one gene-organism combination to another.  

Many ethical issues are raised by scientific development of genetic engineering.  

The creation of new virulent bacteria for use in biological warfare was a serious concern of the early seventies when the technology of recombinant DNA was first described.  This type of destructive application is clearly wrong and unacceptable from the Islamic perspective. On the other hand applications such as the diagnosis, correction, cure or prevention of genetic disease are acceptable and even commendable.  

Potential Harms to Health

Here are the some examples of the potential adverse effects of genetically engineered organisms may have on human health. Most of these examples are associated with the growth and consumption of genetically engineered crops. Different risks would be associated with genetically engineered animals and, like the risks associated with plants, would depend largely on the new traits introduced into the organism.

New Allergens in the Food Supply

Transgenic crops could bring new allergens into foods that sensitive individuals would not know to avoid. An example is transferring the gene for one of the many allergenic proteins found in milk into vegetables like carrots. Mothers who know to avoid giving their sensitive children milk would not know to avoid giving them transgenic carrots containing milk proteins. The problem is unique to genetic engineering because it alone can transfer proteins across species boundaries into completely unrelated organisms.

Genetic engineering routinely moves proteins into the food supply from organisms that have never been consumed as foods. Some of those proteins could be food allergens, since virtually all known food allergens are proteins. Recent research substantiates concerns about genetic engineering rendering previously safe foods allergenic. A study by scientists at the University of Nebraska shows that soybeans genetically engineered to contain Brazil-nut proteins cause reactions in individuals allergic to Brazil nuts.

Scientists have limited ability to predict whether a particular protein will be a food allergen, if consumed by humans. The only sure way to determine whether protein will be an allergen is through experience. Thus importing proteins, particularly from nonfood sources, is a gamble with respect to their allergenicity.

 Resistance  to Antibiotic 

Most genetically engineered plant foods carry fully functioning antibiotic-resistance genes.

The presence of antibiotic-resistance genes in foods could have two harmful effects. First, eating these foods could reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics to fight disease when these antibiotics are taken with meals.  Secondly, the resistance genes could be transferred to human or animal pathogens, making them impervious to antibiotics. If transfer were to occur, it could aggravate the already serious health problem of antibiotic-resistant disease organisms. Although unmediated transfers of genetic material from plants to bacteria are highly unlikely, any possibility that they may occur requires careful scrutiny in light of the seriousness of antibiotic resistance.

 New Toxins Produced by Plants

Many organisms have the ability to produce toxic substances. For plants, such substances help to defend stationary organisms from the many predators in their environment. In some cases, plants contain inactive pathways leading to toxic substances. Addition of new genetic material through genetic engineering could reactivate these inactive pathways or otherwise increase the levels of toxic substances within the plants. This could happen, for example, if the on/off signals associated with the introduced gene were located on the genome in places where they could turn on the previously inactive genes.  

Fungal Toxins

Although for the most part health risks are the result of the genetic material newly added to organisms, it is also possible for the removal of genes and gene products to cause problems. For example, genetic engineering might be used to produce decaffeinated coffee beans by deleting or turning off genes associated with caffeine production. But caffeine helps protect coffee beans against fungi. Beans that are unable to produce caffeine might be coated with fungi, which can produce toxins. Fungal toxins, such as aflatoxin (a fungal toxin usually found in peanuts), are potent human toxins that can remain active through processes of food preparation.  

Potential Environmental Harms

Monarch butterfly mortality

One variety of genetically engineered Corn produced pollen that was toxic  to monarch butterflies.. Recent studies reported in Science and Oecologia journals suggested that pollen from the transgenic Bt com may be fatal to monarch butterflies, which feed on milkweed coated with  Bt com pollen. Scientists have confirmed the mortality of monarch butterflies exposed to Bt com pollen under both laboratory and field conditions. Proponents of the technology claim that under field conditions the concentration of pollen on milkweed may not reach levels that cause lethal effects. Scientists from Iowa State University are examining this more closely, and their findings should be published soon. A study published in Nature (1999) indicated that secretions from remains of Bt com adversely affected certain other soil borne nontarget insect species.  

Unnecessary  Weeds

One way of thinking generally about the environmental harm that genetically engineered plants might do is to consider that they might become weeds. Here, weeds means all plants in places where humans do not want them. In agriculture, weeds can severely inhibit crop yield. In unmanaged environments, like the Everglades, invading trees can displace natural flora and upset whole ecosystems.  Some weeds result from the accidental introduction of alien plants, but many were the result of purposeful introductions for agricultural and horticultural purposes. Some of the plants intentionally introduced into the United States that have become serious weeds are Johnson grass, multiflora rose, and kudzu.. Another example would be a rice plant engineered to be salt-tolerant that escaped cultivation and invaded nearby marine estuaries.

Genes  Susceptible  to Pesticides

Many insects contain genes that render them susceptible to pesticides. Often these susceptibility genes predominate in natural populations of insects. These genes are a valuable natural resource because they allow pesticides to remain as effective pest-control tools. The more benign the pesticide, the more valuable the genes that make pests susceptible to it.

Wildlife Poisoning

Engineering crop plants, such as tobacco or rice, to produce plastics or pharmaceuticals could endanger mice or deer who consume crop debris left in the fields after harvesting. Fish that have been engineered to contain metal-sequestering proteins (such fish have been suggested as living pollution clean-up devices) could be harmful if consumed by other fish or raccoons.

Unknown Harms

As with human health risks, it is unlikely that all potential harms to the environment have been identified. Each of the potential harms above is an answer to the question, "Well, what might go wrong?" The answer to that question depends on how well scientists understand the organism and the environment into which it is released. At this point, biology and ecology are too poorly understood to be certain that question has been answered comprehensively.   

The main concerns about genetic engineering lie in the area of the unknown and unsuspected future. The possibility of grafting new genes not only in somatic cells but also into germ cells thus affecting coming generations, could later be associated with tragic self perpetuating mutations

As with any new technology, the full set of risks associated with genetic engineering have almost certainly not been identified. The ability to imagine what might go wrong with a technology is limited by the currently incomplete understanding of physiology, genetics, and nutrition If pursued with man's inclination for seeking the unknown until it is known and the unachievable until it becomes achievable then mankind may be confronted by patterns of life yet to appear on the biological stage. Science might think that everything is under control while the case is not really so.  Moral concerns have been voiced that bear on equity, justice and the common good. Perhaps it is time for a comprehensive public debate and the prospective formulation of an ethical code for genetic engineering. A long story is in the waiting, and it is just beginning to unfold!  

The hazards of  nuclear  radiation were not apparent for some time, nor could the damage be repaired, and the winnings with genetic engineering are far more serious. The introduction of genetic material from one species into another, in practicality  means the creation of a new species with mixed features. 

Like Adolf Hitler those who support Eugenics (ancestry through inherited characteristics) and elitism  could result in discrimination against normal individuals. Thus, manipulating the human progeny might be extended beyond combating disease to the cultivation of certain physical characteristics considered desirable leading to elitism and discrimination against (normal) individuals who lack those characteristics

People will be inclined to the  abortion of defective fetuses (cystic fibrosis).   Tampering with human personality  and the manipulation of behavior is possible if genes determining behavior are isolated . . Islam would certainly condemn the principle of tampering with the human personality and its capacity for individual responsibility and accountability. One need to look into sin and abuse of our bodies. The health costs are staggering from alcohol abuse, illegal-drug use, smoking, sexually transmitted  diseases and improper diet, not to mention crime and violence as a means to solving problems,  

"The severing of procreation from sex, love And intimacy is inherently dehumanizing, No matter how good the product" (Ethics of Cloning Humans, Gregory E. Pence, Editor, 1998, p.26). Manufacturing children by cloning could prove to be another step in the further disintegration of the family.  In the wrong  hands, biotechnology can be a grave danger. At one time nuclear-power plants seemed Like a brilliant idea, but a string of  Nuclear-power-plant disasters has  dimmed their luster.   

Worse still is  US experiment in which  pigs were given human Growth-hormone gene  so that the pigs can  put on weight faster. They put on weight, but were also partially blind and arthritic and developed Ulcers. 

BENEFITS: 

·      Animals have been bred to be stronger, more hardy, to produce more wool, milk or meat. On the livestock side, a drug has been produced for dairy cows -- Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) or Bovine Somatotropin (BST) -- by engineering a bacterium to contain the gene for the hormone. The drug is administered to cows to increase milk production, despite the chronic oversupply of milk in the United States. A highly controversial product when it was first introduced, BGH is currently used on about 10 percent of the US dairy herd.

Animals Engineered for Leaner Meat. Animals Engineered as Drug-Production Facilities

·         Goats and sheep have been engineered to secrete bioactive molecules into their blood, urine, or milk. Companies are in the process developing commercial enterprises based on these animals. So far, none of the drugs is on the market. It is likely that producers will want to slaughter the animals for food after they are no longer useful for drug production.

The possibility exists  of  using  animals Engineered as Sources of Transplant Organs

Animals Engineered for Disease Resistance. Chickens and turkeys have been engineered to resist avian diseases. None have been commercialized.

Genetically Engineered Fish and Shellfish : Fish and shellfish have been engineered to cause changes in hormones that accelerate growth in several laboratories. So far, none have been commercialized in the United States.

An engineered predatory mite has been field tested in Florida. Researchers have produced honeybees and other beneficial insects engineered to tolerate pesticides.

Bacteria have been genetically engineered to produce rennet, an enzyme important in making cheese. Genetically engineered rennet (chymosin) is approved for commercial use and widely used by US cheese processors.  

·         Strains of wheat, corn and rice  have been created that produce more food while needing less fertilizer and water.   Genetically engineered crops  that were aimed at feeding the hungry,  would be developing seeds with certain predictable characteristics:

·         (a) ability to grow on substandard or marginal soils;

·         (b) plants able to produce more high-quality protein, with increased per-acre yield, without increasing the need for expensive machinery, chemicals, fertilizers, or water;

·         (c) they would aim to favour small farms over larger farms;

·         (d)the seeds would be cheap and freely available without restrictive licensing; and

·         (e) they would be for crops that feed people, not meat animals.

 

·         Fast-growing trees provide more lumber,  Pulp, fuel and shade. Genetically engineered cotton has been approved for commercial use.

·         Flowers are bigger, more colorful,  more beautiful than they would be otherwise.

·         Several tomatoes engineered to delay ripening have been approved for commercial use. In some cases, delayed ripening just prolongs shelf life that is  tomatoes have a longer shelf life.

·         Rice strains are disease-resistant.  Many plants have been commercialized, including tomatoes and squash and commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Most have been engineered for one of three traits: herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, or virus tolerance.

·         Genes of fish have been placed into potatoes and strawberries to make these plants more resistant to cold weather.

·         Sheep with skin that will provide  immunity to insect parasites.

 

Plants that produce toxic chemicals that ward off their natural pests. Engineered Microorganisms Used as Pesticides. Several bacteria engineered to enhance their ability to kill or repel pests have been approved for commercial use. These products are used as pesticides in agricultural fields and gardens.

·         Heal diseases(cancers, diabetes, and Alzheimer's)

·           Fashion "designer children" and reverse the aging process. Design a customized child who is Genetically disposed to be physically  attractive, of superior intelligence or   athletically talented.

·         Eliminating genetic diseases. For example, geneticists think it may be possible to eliminate genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs through careful and methodical screening programs.

·         Screening unborn babies. This refers to screening for genetic disorders either before a pregnancy takes place or in the early months of a pregnancy. More information would give prospective parents more options in dealing with their infants’ problems.

·         Treating diseases. For example, scientists are working on ways to insert cells from embryos into cancerous cells as a way to stop the growth of cancer.

·         The ultimate beneficiaries of technological innovation have always been consumers, both in the United States and abroad. In developing countries, biotechnological advances will provide means to overcome vitamin deficiencies, to supply vaccines for killer diseases like cholera and malaria, to increase production and protect fragile natural resources, and to grow crops under normally unfavorable conditions.

·         The pharmaceutical possibilities of genetic engineering will open tremendous vistas in treatment of many illnesses and the possibilities in agriculture and animal husbandry might be the clue to solving the problem of famine the world over.

 

Conclusion 

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States wrote an OP-ED in New York Times of August  26, 1998  titled "Who's Afraid of Genetic Engineering? "….Anti-biotechnology activists argue that genetic engineering is so new that its effects on the environment can't be predicted. This is misleading. In fact, for hundreds of years virtually all food has been improved genetically by plant breeders. Genetically altered antibiotics, vaccines and vitamins have improved our health, while enzyme-containing detergents and oil-eating bacteria have helped to protect the environment. In the past 40 years, farmers worldwide have genetically modified crops to be more nutritious as well as resistant to insects, diseases and herbicides. Scientific techniques developed in the 1980's and commonly referred to as genetic engineering allow us to give plants additional useful genes. Genetically engineered cotton, corn and soybean seeds became available in the United States in 1996, including those planted on my family farm. This growing season, more than one-third of American soybeans and one-fourth of our corn will be genetically modified. The number of acres devoted to genetically engineered crops in Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Australia increased tenfold from 1996 to 1997.

The risks of modern genetic engineering have been studied by technical experts at the National Academy of Sciences and World Bank. They concluded that we can predict the environmental effects by reviewing past experiences with those plants and animals produced through selective breeding. None of these products of selective breeding have harmed either the environment or biodiversity.

Carter says that by increasing crop yields, genetically modified organisms reduce the constant need to clear more land for growing food. Seeds designed to resist drought and pests are especially useful in tropical countries, where crop losses are often severe. Already, scientists in industrialized nations are working with individuals in developing countries to increase yields of staple crops, to improve the quality of current exports and to diversify economies by creating exports like genetically improved palm oil, which may someday replace gasoline. Other genetically modified organisms covered by the proposed regulations are essential research tools in medical, agricultural and environmental science.

If imports like these are regulated unnecessarily, the real losers will be the developing nations. Instead of reaping the benefits of decades of discovery and research, people from Africa and Southeast Asia will remain prisoners of outdated technology. Their countries could suffer greatly for years to come. It is crucial that they reject the propaganda of extremist groups before it is too late. "

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. 

The rise of the Muslims to the zenith of civilization in a period of four decades was based on Al-Islam's emphasis on learning. This is obvious when one takes a look at the Qur'an and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad(SAS) which are filled with references to learning, education, observation, and the use of Reason. The very first verse of the Qur'an revealed to the Prophet Of Al-Islam (SAS) on the night of power (Laylathul Qadr) in the month of Ramadan in 611 AD reads: 
 

"Read: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot.

Read: And they Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen,

Taught man that which he knew not." Surah Al-Alaq, 96:1-5 
 

"And they shall say had we but listened or used reason, we

Would not among the inmates of the burning fire." Al Mulk, 67:10

"Are those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge

Alike? Only the men of understanding are mindful." Al Zumar, 39:9. 
 

The Qur'an exhorts the Muslims to do scientific research: 
 

" And whoso bringeth the truth and believeth therein such are

the dutiful." Surah Al Zumar, 39:33 
 

Every Muslim man's and every Muslim woman's prayer should be:

"My Lord! Enrich me with knowledge." Surah TA HA, 20:114. 
 

The pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason, based on sense

of observation is made obligatory on every Muslim man and woman. 
 

The following traditions of the Prophet(SAS) supplement the

foregoing teachings of the Qur'an in the following way: 
 

(1) Seek knowledge "even though it be in China."

(2) "The acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every

Muslim, whether male or female."

(3) "The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of

the martyr."

(4) "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."

(5) "God has revealed to me, 'Whoever walks in the pursuit of

knowledge I facilitate for him the way to heaven.'

(6) "The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."

(7) "Scholars should endeavor to spread knowledge and provide

education to people who have been deprived of it. For,

where knowledge is hidden it disappears."

(8) Some one asked the Prophet(SAS): "Who is the biggest

scholar?" He replied: "He who is constantly trying to

learn from others, for a scholar is every hungry for more

knowledge."

(9) "Seek for knowledge and wisdom, for whatever the vessel

from which it flows, you will never be the loser."

(10) "Thinking deep for one hour(with sincerity) is better

than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."

(11) "Worship without knowledge, has no goodness in it and

knowledge without understanding has no goodness in it.

And the recitation of the Qur'an, which is not thoughtful

has no goodness in it."

(12) "To listen to the words of the learned and to instill

unto others the lessons of science is better than

religious exercises."

(13) "Acquire knowledge: it enables its possessor to

distinguish right from the wrong, it lights the way to

heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in

solitude, our companion when friendless; it guides us

to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament

among friends and an armor against enemies." 

 

MUSLIM HERITAGE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

Prophet Muhammad(SAS) was able to unite the Arab tribes who had been torn by revenge, rivalry, and internal fights, and produced a strong nation, that acquired and ruled simultaneously the two known empires at that time, namely the Persian and Byzantine Empires. The Islamic Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean on the West to the borders of China on the East. Only 80 years after the death of their Prophet the Muslims crossed to

Europe to rule Spain for more than 700 years. The Muslims preserved the cultures of the conquered lands.

The Islamic Empire for more than 1,000 years remained the most advanced and civilized nation in the world. This is because Al-Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, developed in Muslims the respect for authority, discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The Muslims recognized excellence and hungered intellectually. The teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah drove many Muslims to their accomplishments in sciences and medicine. 

By the tenth century their zeal and enthusiasms for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical and scientific writings being translated into Arabic in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Arabic became the international language of learning and diplomacy. The center of scientific knowledge and activity shifted eastward, and Baghdad emerged as the capitol of the scientific world. The Muslims became scientific innovators with originality and productivity. The rise of Muslims to the zenith of civilization lasted over a thousand years. During this millennium Muslims contributed vastly to the enhancements of arts, science and cultural growth of mankind.  

For example Islamic medicine is one of the most famous and best-known facets of Islamic civilization, and in which the Muslims most excelled. The Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. Some of the best and most eloquent praises of science ever written came from the pens of Muslim scientists who considered their work to be acts of worship. The same motives led to the establishment of Al-Azhar (800 AD) the first university in the world. They hit the "source ball of knowledge" over the fence to Europe. In the words of Campbell, "The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forbearers of the Europeans." In fact the Muslims are directly responsible for the European Renaissance.

At the apex of its glory around the tenth century Cordoba, the Capital of Muslim Spain, had pavements, street lighting, three hundred public baths, parks, palaces, one hundred thousand houses and seventy libraries. There were close to half a million books in a single library whereas the whole of France contained much less than this figure. The Muslim physicians performed complicated eye surgery 600 years earlier than in Europe. The Muslim scientists used paper 200 years before Europe; they had paper mills, banks, and police stations and invented spherical trigonometry (indispensable for space sciences) in the late 10th century, solved equations of the third and fourth degree, binomials to the nth degree, and developed differential and integral mathematics. They discovered the force of gravitation, blood circulation, laws of motion, and even developed they theory of evolution and taught it in their universities. They measured the circumferences of the earth and value for specific gravities correct to three decimal places almost a thousand years ago. There is hardly a field of knowledge where Muslims did not research, thinks, or investigate and explore or invent something exemplary. 
 

PRESENT STATUS OF MUSLIM UMMAH 

The status of the Muslim Ummah is of great concern to all the Muslim intellectuals. No one can deny that the Muslim Ummah occupies a position, which is at the lowest rung of the ladder in the world. The share of the Muslims in Nobel Prizes and the Olympic Games is close to nothing. Muslims' contributions to literature both general and scientific are marginal at the best. It is very sad to see the status of Muslims in the present world at

the bottom. Muslims have been economically exploited and politically subjugated. Economically, Muslims are poor; in education they are backward; and in science and technology they are marginal. Even very small countries export arms, medicine and

technology to the Muslim countries. The average literacy rate is around 38 percent and in rural areas in Muslim countries, the illiteracy rate among Muslim women is 93 to 97 percent. This is contradictory to the message of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (SAS) as mentioned earlier. The Muslims educated in the western world know about western books and western scholars but they know very little about Muslims books and the intellectual achievements of the Muslims (Fig. 1). The data presented in Table 1 show the Muslims to be at the bottom of the three measures identified. Inspite of the comparable levels of development the mean rate for literacy for the Muslims is 35 per cent lower than

that for the Third World, and 40 percent below the world's average. The data suggests that almost two-thirds of the Muslims worldwide are illiterate. This low level of literacy, evidently, is responsible for the grinding poverty, the backwardness, and the deplorable conditions under which the vast majority of the Muslims live at present( 4). In Table 2 gives the literacy rates for the most populous nations. Pakistan is the most advanced Muslim country in science and technology among Muslim nations. However, the literacy rate for Pakistan, home to the second largest Muslim ummah in the world, ranks the lowest among the most populous nations, is even below the average for the Muslim nations. What is shocking is India the second most populous nation in the world, has a significantly higher rate of literacy than Pakistan and Bangladesh. At one time the three countries constituted a single country(British India) with a literacy rate of 12 percent on the eve of the partition in 1947.

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. 

Literally, Hijab means "a veil", "curtain", "partition" or "separation." In a meta- physical sense, Hijab means illusion or refers to the illusory aspect of creation. Another, and most popular and common meaning of Hijab today, is the veil in dressing for women. It refers to a certain standard of modest dress for women. "The usual definition of modest dress according to the legal systems does not actually require covering everything except the face and hands in public; this, at least, is the practice which originated in the Middle East." 1 

While Hijab means "cover", "drape", or "partition"; the word KHIMAR means veil covering the head and the word LITHAM or NIQAB means veil covering lower face up to the eyes. The general term hijab in the present day world refers to the covering of the face by women. In the Indian sub-continent it is called purdah and in Iran it called chador for the tent like black cloak and veil worn by many women in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. By socioeconomic necessity, the obligation to observe the hijab now often applies more to female "garments"(worn outside the house) than it does to the ancient paradigmatic feature of women's domestic "seclusion." In the contemporary normative Islamic language of Egypt and elsewhere, the hijab now denotes more a "way of dressing" than a "way of life," a (portable) "veil" rather than a fixed "domestic screen/seclusion." In Egypt and America hijab presently denotes the basic head covering ("veil") worn by fundamentalist/Islamist women as part of Islamic dress (zayy islami, or zayy shar'i); this hijab-headcovering conceals hair and neck of the wearer. 

The Qur'an advises the wives of the Prophet (SAS) to go veiled (33: 59). 

In Surah 24: 31(Ayah), the Qur'an advises women to cover their "adornments" from strangers outside the family. In the traditional and modern Arab societies women at home dress quite differently compared to what they wear in the streets. In this verse of the Qur'an, it refers to the institution of a new public modesty rather than veiling the face. 

...When the pre-Islamic Arabs went to battle, Arab women seeing the men off to war would bare their breasts to encourage them to fight; or they would do so at the battle itself, as in the case of the Meccan women led by Hind at the Battle of Uhud. This changed with Islam, but the general use of the veil to cover the face did not appear until 'Abbasid times. Nor was it entirely unknown in Europe, for the veil permitted women the freedom of anonymity. None of the legal systems actually prescribe that women must wear a veil, although they do prescribe covering the body in public, up to the neck, the ankles, and below the elbow. In many Muslim societies, for example in traditional South East Asia, or in Bedouin lands a face veil for women is either rare or non-existent; paradoxically, modern fundamentalism is introducing it. In others, the veil may be used at one time and European dress another. While modesty is a religious prescription, the wearing of a veil is not a religious requirement of Islam, but a matter of cultural milieu.2 

"The Middle Eastern norm for relationships between the sexes is by no means the only one possible for Islamic societies everywhere, nor is it appropriate for all cultures. It does not exhaust the possibilities allowed within the framework of the Qur'an and Sunnah, and is neither feasible nor desirable as a model for Europe or North America. European societies possess perfectly adequate models for marriage, the family, and relations between the sexes which are by no means out of harmony with the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This is borne out by the fact that within certain broad limits Islamic societies themselves differ enormously in this respect." 3 

The Qur'an lays down the principle of the law of modesty. In Surah 24: An-Nur: 30 and 31, modesty is enjoined both upon Muslim men and Muslim women 4: 

Say to the believing men that they Should lower their gaze and guard Their modesty: that will make for Greater purity for them: And God is Well-acquainted with all that they Do. And say to the believing women That they should lower their gaze And guard their modesty: and they Should not display beauty and Ornaments expect what (must Ordinarily) appear thereof; that They must draw their veils over Their bosoms and not display their Beauty except to their husbands, Their fathers, their husband's Fathers, their sons, their husband's Sons, or their women, or their Slaves whom their right hands Possess, or male servants free of Physical needs, or small children

Who have no sense of the shame of  

Sex; and that they should not strike

Their feet in order to draw

Attention to their ornaments. 

The following conclusions may be made on the basis of the above-cited verses5: 

1. The Qur'anic injunctions enjoining the believers to lower their gaze and behave modestly applies to both Muslim men and women and not Muslim women alone.

2. Muslim women are enjoined to "draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty" except in the presence of their husbands, other women, children, eunuchs and those men who are so closely related to them that they are not allowed to marry them. Although a self-conscious exhibition of one's "zeenat" (which means "that which appears to be beautiful" or "that which is used for embellishment or adornment") is forbidden, the Qur'an makes it clear that what a woman wears ordinarily is permissible. Another interpretation of this part of the passage is that if the display of "zeenat" is unintentional or accidental, it does not violate the law of modesty.

3. Although Muslim women may wear ornaments they should not walk in a manner intended to cause their ornaments to jingle and thus attract the attention of others. 

The respected scholar, Muhammad Asad6, commenting on Qur'an 24:31 says " The noun khimar (of which khumur is plural) denotes the head-covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the advent of Islam. According to most of the classical commentators, it was worn in pre-Islamic times more or less as an ornament and was let down loosely over the wearer's back; and since, in accordance with the fashion prevalent at the time, the upper part of a woman's tunic had a wide opening in the front, her breasts were left bare. Hence, the injunction to cover the bosom by means of a khimar (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of the

Prophet) does not necessarily relate to the use of a khimar as such but is, rather, meant to make it clear that a woman's breasts are not included in the concept of "what may decently be apparent" of her body and should not, therefore, be displayed. 
 

The Qur'anic view of the ideal society is that the social and moral values have to be upheld by both Muslim men and women and there is justice for all, i.e. between man and man and between man and woman. The Qur'anic legislation regarding women is to protect them from inequities and vicious practices (such as female infanticide, unlimited polygamy or concubinage, etc.) which prevailed in the pre-Islamic Arabia. However the main purpose is to establish to equality of man and woman in the sight of God who created them both in like manner, from like substance, and gave to both the equal right to develop their own potentialities. To become a free, rational person is then the goal set for all human beings. Thus the Qur'an liberated the women from the indignity of being sex-objects into persons. In turn the Qur'an asks the women that they should behave with dignity and decorum befitting a secure,

Self-respecting and self-aware human being rather than an insecure female who felt that her survival depends on her ability to attract or cajole those men who were interested not in her personality but only in her sexuality. 
 

One of the verses in the Qur'an protects a woman's fundamental rights. Aya 59 from Sura al-Ahzab reads: 

O Prophet! Tell Thy wives And daughters, and the Believing women, that They should cast their Outer garments over Their Persons (when outside): That they should be known (As such) and not Molested. 
 

Although this verse is directed in the first place to the Prophet's "wives and daughters", there is a reference also to "the believing women" hence it is generally understood by Muslim societies as applying to all Muslim women. According to the Qur'an the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garment when go out of their houses is so that they may be recognized as "believing" Muslim women and differentiated from street-walkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their houses but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unwholesome attention. By wearing the outergarment a "believing" Muslim woman could be distinguished from the others. In societies where there is no danger of "believing" Muslim being

confused with the others or in which "the outer garment" is unable to function as a mark of identification for "believing" Muslim women, the mere wearing of "the outer garment" would not fulfill the true objective of the Qur'anic decree. For example that older Muslim women who are "past the prospect of marriage" are not required to wear "the outer garment". Surah 24: An-Nur, Aya 60 reads:  

Such elderly women are Past the prospect of Marriage,-- There is no blame on them, if They lay aside Their (outer) Garments, provided they make Not wanton display of their Beauty; but it is best for them

To be modest: and Allah is One

Who sees and knows all things. 
 

Women who on account of their advanced age are not likely to be regarded as sex-objects are allowed to discard "the outer garment" but there is no relaxation as far as the essential Qur'anic principle of modest behavior is concerned. Reflection on the above-cited verse shows that "the outer garment" is not required by the Qur'an as a necessary statement of modesty since it recognizes the possibility identification women may continue to be modest even when they have discarded "the outer garment." 
 

The Qur'an itself does not suggest either that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Qur'an is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices prescribed for men.

Nazira Zin al-Din stipulates that the morality of the self and the cleanness of the conscience are far better than the morality of the chador. No goodness is to be hoped from pretence, all goodness is in the essence of the self. Zin al-Din also argues that imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. This means that men suspect 'the women closest and dearest to them.' How can society trust women with the most consequential job of bringing up children when it does not trust them with their faces and bodies? How can Muslim men meet rural and European women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully but not treat urban Muslim women in the same way? 7 She concludes this part of the book, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab 8 by stating that it is not an Islamic duty on Muslim women to wear hijab. If Muslim legislators have decided that it is, their opinions are wrong. If hijab is based on women's lack of intellect or piety, can it be said that all men are more perfect in piety and intellect than all women? 9 The spirit of a nation and its civilization is a reflection of the spirit of the mother. How can any mother bring up distinguished children if she herself is deprived of her personal freedom? She concludes that in enforcing hijab, society becomes a prisoner of its customs and traditions rather than Islam.  

There are two ayahs which are specifically addressed to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and not to other Muslim women.  

These are ayahs 32 and 53 of Sura al-Ahzab. ".. And stay quietly in Your houses," did not mean confinement of the wives of the Prophet (S) or other Muslim women and make them inactive. Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or eleventh century (CE). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars helping their brothers and husbands, defend their castles and bastions.10 

Zin al-Din reviewed the interpretations of Aya 30 from Sura al-Nur and Aya 59 from sura al-Ahzab which were cited above by al-Khazin, al-Nafasi, Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and al-Tabari and found them full of contradictions. Yet, almost all interpreters agreed that women should not veil their faces and their hands and anyone who advocated that women should cover all their bodies including their faces could not face his argument on any religious text. If women were to be totally covered, there would have been no need for the ayahs addressed to Muslim men: 'Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty.'(Sura al-Nur, Aya 30). She supports her views by referring to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (S), always taking into account what the Prophet himself said 'I did not say a thing that is not in harmony with God's book.'11 God says: 'O consorts of the Prophet! ye are not like any of the(other) women' (Ahzab, 53). Thus it is very clear that God did not want women to measure themselves against the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab like them and there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding this aya. Therefore, those who imitate the wives of the Prophet and wear hijab are disobeying God's will.12

In Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam: The Spirit of Civilization) Shaykh Mustafa Ghalayini reminds his readers that veiling pre-dated Islam and that Muslims learned from other peoples with whom they mixed. He adds that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a. Any one who looks at hijab as it is worn by some women would find that it makes them more desirable than if they went out without hijab13. Zin al-Din points out that veiling was a custom of rich families as a symbol of status. She quotes Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Maghribi who also saw in hijab an aristocratic habit to distinguish the women of rich and prestigious families from other women. She concludes that hijab as it is known today is prohibited by the Islamic shari'a.14

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali in his book Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith 15 declares that those who claim that women's reform is conditioned by wearing the veil are lying to God and his Prophet. He expresses the opinion that the contemptuous view of women has been passed on from the first jahiliya (the Pre-Islamic period) to the Islamic society. Al-Ghazali's argument is that Islam has made it compulsory on women not to cover their faces during haj and salat (prayer) the two important pillars of Islam. How then could Islam ask women to cover their faces at ordinary times?16 Al-Ghazali is a believer and is confident that all traditions that function to keep women ignorant and prevent them from functioning in public are the remnants of jahiliya and that following them is contrary to the spirit of Islam.

Al-Ghazali says that during the time of the Prophet women were equals at home, in the mosques and on the battlefield. Today true Islam is being destroyed in the name of Islam. 

Another Muslim scholar, Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa wrote a scholarly study of women in Islam entitled Tahrir al-mara'a fi 'asr al-risalah: (The Emancipation of Women during the Time of the Prophet)17 agrees with Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali about the discrepancy between the status of women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the status of women today. He says that Islamists have made up sayings which they attributed to the Prophet such as 'women are lacking both intellect and religion' and in many cases they brought sayings which are not reliable at all and promoted them among Muslims until they became part of the Islamic culture. 

Like Zin al-Din and al-Ghazali, Abu Shiqa finds that in many countries very weak and unreliable sayings of the Prophet are invented to support customs and traditions which are then considered to be part of the shari'a. He argues that it is the Islamic duty of women to participate in public life and in spreading good (Sura Tauba, Aya 71). He also agrees with Zin al-Din and Ghazali that hijab was for the wives of the Prophet and that it was against Islam for women to imitate the wives of the Prophet. If women were to be totally covered, why did God ask both men and women to lower their gaze? (Sura al-Nur, Ayath 30-31). 

The actual practice of veiling most likely came from areas captured in the initial spread of Islam such as Syria, Iraq, and Persia and was adopted by upper-class urban women. Village and rural women traditionally have not worn the veil, partly because it would be an encumbrance in their work. It is certainly true that segregation of women in the domestic sphere took place increasingly as the Islamic centuries unfolded, with some very unfortunate consequences. Some women are again putting on clothing that identifies them as Muslim women. This phenomenon, which began only a few years ago, has manifested itself in a number of countries.  

It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies. For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively but that they choose to. In Iran Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador and in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, modest dress is, including loose clothing and non-transparent stockings and scarves.18 

With Islam's expansion into areas formerly part of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, the scripture-legislated social paradigm that had evolved in the early Medinan community came face to face with alien social structures and traditions deeply rooted in the conquered populations. Among the many cultural traditions assimilated and continued by Islam were the veiling and seclusion of women, at least among the urban upper and upper-middle classes. With these traditions' assumption into "the Islamic way of life," they of need helped to shape the normative interpretations of Qur'anic gender laws as formulated by the medireview (urbanized and acculturated) lawyer-theologians. In the latter's consensus-based prescriptive systems, the Prophet's wives were recognized as models for emulation (sources of Sunna). Thus, while the scholars provided information on the Prophet's wives in terms of, as well as for, an ideal of Muslim female morality, the Qur'anic directives addressed to the Prophet's consorts were naturally seen as applicable to all Muslim women.19 
 

Semantically and legally, that is, regarding both the terms and also the parameters of its application, Islamic interpretation extended the concept of hijab. In scripturalist method, this was achieved in several ways. Firstly, the hijab was associated with two of the Qur'an's "clothing laws" imposed upon all Muslim females: the "mantle" verse of 33:59 and the "modesty" verse of 24:31. On the one hand, the semantic association of domestic segregation (hijab) with garments to be worn in public (jilbab, khimar) resulted in the use of the term hijab for concealing garments that women wore outside of their houses. This language use is fully documented in the medireview Hadith. However, unlike female garments such as jilbab, lihaf, milhafa, izar, dir' (traditional garments for the body), khimar, niqab, burqu', qina', miqna'a (traditional garments for the head and neck) and also a large number of other articles of clothing, the medireview meaning of hijab remained conceptual and generic. In their debates on which parts of the woman's body, if any, are not "awra" (literally, "genital," "pudendum") and many therefore be legally exposed to nonrelatives, the medireview scholars often contrastively paired woman's' awra with this generic hijab. This permitted the debate to remain conceptual rather than get bogged down in the specifics of articles of clothing whose meaning, in any case, was prone to changes both geographic/regional and also chronological. At present we know very little about the precise stages of the process by which the hijab in its multiple meanings was made obligatory for Muslim women at large, except to say that these occurred during the first centuries after the expansion of Islam beyond the borders of Arabia, and then mainly in the Islamicized societies still ruled by preexisting (Sasanian and Byzantine) social traditions.

With the rise of the Iraq-based Abbasid state in the mid-eighth century of the Western calendar, the lawyer-theologians of Islam grew into a religious establishment entrusted with the formulation of Islamic law and morality, and it was they who interpreted the Qur'anic rules on women's dress and space in increasingly absolute and categorical fashion, reflecting the real practices and cultural assumptions of their place and age. Classical legal compendia, medireview Hadith collections and Qur'anic exegesis are here mainly formulations of the system "as established" and not of its developmental stages, even though differences of opinion on the legal limits of the hijab garments survived, including among the doctrinal teachings of the four orthodox schools of law (madhahib). 20  

Attacked by foreigners and indigenous secularists alike and defended by the many voices of conservatism, hijab has come to signify the sum total of traditional institutions governing women's role in Islamic society. Thus, in the ideological struggles surrounding the definition of Islam's nature and role in the modern world, the hijab has acquired the status of "cultural symbol." 
 

Qasim Amin, the French-educated, pro-Western Egyptian journalist, lawyer, and politician in the last century wanted to bring Egyptian society from a state of "backwardness" into a state of "civilization" and modernity. To do so, he lashed out against the hijab, in its expanded sense, as the true reason for the ignorance, superstition, obesity, anemia, and premature aging of the Muslim woman of his time. He wanted the Muslim women to raise from the "backward" hijab into the desirable modernist ideal of women's right to an elementary education, supplemented by their ongoing contact with life outside of the home to provide experience of the "real world" and combat superstition. He understood the hijab as an amalgam of institutionalized restrictions on women that consisted of sexual segregation, domestic seclusion, and the face veil. He insisted as much on the woman's right to mobility outside the home as he did on the adaptation of shar'i Islamic garb, which would leave a woman's face and hands uncovered. Women's domestic seclusion and the face veil, then, were primary points in Amin's attack on what was wrong with the Egyptian social system of his time.21 Muhammad Abdu tried to restore the dignity to Muslim woman by way of educational and some legal reforms, the modernist blueprint of women's Islamic rights eventually also included the right to work, vote, and stand for election-that is, full participation in public life. He separated the forever-valid-as-stipulated laws of 'ibadat (religious observances) from the more time-specific mu'amalat (social transactions) in Qur'an and shari'a, which latter included the Hadith as one of its sources. Because modern Islamic societies differ from the seventh-century umma, time-specific laws are thus no longer literally applicable but need a fresh legal interpretation (ijtihad). What matters is to safeguard "the public good" (al-maslah al'-amma) in terms of Muslim communal morality and spirituality. 22 

In the Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam, the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi

attacks the age-old conservative focus on women's segregation as mere institutionalization of authoritarianism, achieved by way of manipulation of sacred texts, "a structural characteristic of the practice of power in Muslim societies." In describing the feminist model of the Prophet's wives' rights and roles both domestic and also communal, Mernissi uses the methodology of "literal" interpretation of Qur'an and Hadith. In the selection and interpretations of traditions, she discredits some of textual items as unauthentic by the criteria of classical Hadith criticism. In Mernissi's reading of Qur'an and Hadith, Muhammad's wives were dynamic, influential, and enterprising members of the community, and fully involved in Muslim public affairs. He listened to their advice. In the city, they were leaders of women's protest movements, first for equal status as believers and thereafter regarding economic and sociopolitical rights, mainly in the areas of inheritance, participation in warfare and booty, and personal (marital) relations. Muhammad's vision of Islamic society was egalitarian, and he lived this ideal in his own household. Later the Prophet had to sacrifice his egalitarian vision for the sake of communal cohesiveness and the survival of the Islamic cause. To Mernissi, the seclusion of Muhammad's wives from public life (the hijab, Qur'an 33.53) is a symbol of Islam's retreat from the early principle of gender equality, as is the "mantel" (jilbab) verse of 33:59 which relinquished the principle of social responsibility, the individual sovereign will that internalizes control rather than place it within external barriers. Concerning A'isha's involvement in political affairs (the Battle of the Camel), Mernissi engages in classical Hadith criticism to prove the inauthenticity of the (presumably Prophetic) traditions "a people who entrust their command [or, affair, amr] to a woman will not thrive" because of historical problems relating to the date of its first transmission and also selfserving motives and a number of moral deficiencies recorded about its first transmitter, the Prophet's freedman Abu Bakra. Modernists in general disregard hadith items rather than question their authenticity by scrutinizing the transmitters' reliability.23 After describing the active participation of Muslim women in the battlefields as warriors and nurses to the wounded, Maulana Maudoodi24 says " This shows that the Islamic purdah is not a custom of ignorance which cannot be relaxed under any circumstances, on the other hand, it is a custom which can be relaxed as and when required in a moment of urgency. Not only is a woman allowed to uncover a part of her satr (coveredness) under necessity, there is no harm."

In the matter of hijab, the conscience of an honest, sincere Believer alone can be the true judge, as has been said by the Noble Prophet: "Ask for the verdict of your conscience and discard what pricks it."

Islam cannot be properly followed without knowledge. It is a rational law and to follow it rightly one needs to exercise reason and understanding at every step.25 
 

REFERENCES 
 

1. Cyril Glasse. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. Harper and Row Publishers, New York, N.Y., 1989, p. 156

2. Ibid, p. 413

3. Ibid, p. 421

4. Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Holy Quran (Amana Corp.,  Brentwood, Maryland), 1989. Pp 873-874

5. Riffat Hassan. Women's Rights and Islam: From the I.C.P.D. to Beijing. Louisville, Kentucky, 1995. pp. 65-76

6. Translated and explained by Muhammad Asad. The Message of the Qur'an. Dar al-Andalus, Gibraltar. 1984. p.538

7. Bouthaina Shaaban.The Muted Voices of Women Interpreters. In

FAITH AND FREEDOM: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World, Mahnaz Afkhami (Editor). I. B. Tauris Publishers, New York, 1995. p.68.

8. Nazira Zin al-Din, al-Sufur Wa'l-hijab (Beirut: Quzma Publications, 1928), p 37

9. Bouthaina Shaaban, op.cit. P.69

10. Nazira Zin al-Din, op.cit.pp. 191-2

11. Ibid, p.226

12. Bouthaina Shaaban, op. cit. p.72

13. Shaykh Mustafa al-Ghalayini, Islam ruh al-madaniyya (Islam:

The Spirit of Civilization)(Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Asriyya,

1960) P.253

14. Ibid, pp.255-56

15. Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali.: Sunna Between Fiqh and Hadith

(Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1989, 7th edition, 1990)

16. Ibid, p.44

17. Abd al-Halim Abu Shiqa.: Tahrir al-mara' fi 'asr al-risalah

(Kuwait: Dar al-Qalam, 1990)

18. Jane I. Smith.:The Experience of Muslim Women:Considerations

of Power and Authority. In The Islamic Impact. Haddad, Y.Y. (Editor), Syracuse University Press. 1984. Pp. 89-112

19. Barbara Freyer Stowasser.: Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation.Oxford University Press. 1994. P. 92

20. Ibid, p.93

21. Ibid, p.127

22. Ibid, p.132

23. Ibid, p.133

24. Syed Abu Ala Maudoodi. Purdah and the Status of Woman in Islam. Islamic Publications. Lahore, Pakistan. 1972. P.215 

25. Ibid, p.203

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D.  

Education is the birth right of every Muslim and Muslimah. Islam puts considerable emphasis on its followers to acquire knowledge. Investment in education is the best investment one can make, because it eventually leads to intellectual property. Intellectual property is the intangible property, which no one can steal or destroy. This is the property on which no Government can levy a tax. It was as a result of application of knowledge that Muslims were the superpower of the world for twelve centuries. 

Today, globally Muslims have the lowest literacy rate. Education of Muslim children in the west has both opportunities and challenges. 

In the Western World the purpose of education is to provide for the economic prosperity of a nation. At a personal level the purpose of education is to acquire academic and professional skills that enable one to earn a respectable living with riches and fame, and also a luxurious and comfortable life. For a Muslim providing economic prosperity of a nation does not contradict his/her Islamic beliefs, however focusing the goals of education solely for the purpose of money making is unpalatable. Muslims want to impart Islamic education. Vast majority of the Muslims think that Islamic education means acquiring Islamic religious knowledge-study of Qur'an, Arabic, Hadith, Sunnah, Seerah, Fiqh, Islamic history, and allied subjects. As a matter of fact, in the present world broadly speaking we have two types of Muslims. Those who have followed the Western type of education or secular education and those who have acquired Deeni or Islamic education. 
 

In the twentieth century, due to Colonialism and Western influence, Muslim parents concentrated on imparting only Secular education to their children. The weak or not so bright students were sent to Deeni (religious) Madrasas (schools) in their own countries or to one of the Middle Eastern countries. The Muslims who emigrated to Western countries became aware of their religious identity and wanted to impart both Islamic and Secular education, what is now known as "Integrated Education." When they lacked the numbers and resources, they sent their children to public schools during the week and to the Islamic schools in the Mosque or Islamic Center during the weekends. As their numbers grew and acquired sufficient resources, they have opened full-time Islamic Schools from kindergarten (K grade) to 12th grade (senior or final year) in High School. In North America, an estimated 300 Islamic Schools are functioning which impart Integrated education. There are even a few full-time Hifz schools in North America producing homegrown Huffaz (plural of Hafeez-a scholar who has memorized the Qur'an). It takes about two to three years of full-time study to become a Hafeez. During this time the student takes an equivalent to sabbatical leave from his or her public or parochial school. 

This paper analyzes the choice the parents make in sending their children, to Public, Parochial, Private non-parochial, Islamic, Virtual Islamic, or Home School. Their advantages and disadvantages. 

The greatest objective of education is to prepare the young generation for leadership. Islamic education is of course has the highest objective, and more than that can hardly be imagined. The aim of Islamic education is Character building. Growth and development of an Islamic personality should be the final goal of any Islamic School. Islamic values are the foundation of the Islamic personality. As Muslims our educational aim is to develop the personalities of our children to the end that they will be conscious of their responsibility to Allah (the Creator) and to fellow humans. The aims and objectives of Islamic education has been defined in the Recommendation of the Committee I of the First World Conference on Muslim Education as under, "Education should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of man through training of the human spirit, intellect, rational self, feelings and senses. The training imparted to a Muslim must be such that faith is infused into the whole of his/her personality and creates in him/her an emotional attachment to Islam and enables him to follow the Qur'an and Sunnah and be governed by Islamic system of values willingly and joyfully so that he/she may proceed to the realization of his/her status as Khalifatullah to whom Allah has promised the authority of the universe." 

We need to prepare the younger generation having leadership quality and not to be the followers of alien ideologies but to play the role of torchbearer by their excellence in knowledge, character, and positive action. Some scholars believe that this quality can be developed in Muslim youth by a direct study of the Qur'an with a view to solve the problems of life in its light. A program of action to upbring the younger generation for leadership has not yet been formulated.  

Every Muslim parent is advised to raise his or her children well and properly. A happy home, comfort, care and love, providing the necessities of life and a good education are some of the responsibilities that parents are required to fulfill. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said whoever is not kind to young people is not one of us and the best teaching that a parent can give a child is the teaching of good manners and character. The Muslim child absorbs the Islamic values from its parents, teachers, peers, friends and the environment, including the care- givers. Nip it in the bud is the best advice. Otherwise once the Muslim child develops undesirable habits and unethical values, it becomes extremely difficult to make the child into a good Muslim/Muslimah. 

Parents play a vital role in the education of their children. Early childhood education program emphasizes the role of parents. It declares that learning begins in the first days of life and continues for long. Parents should develop a habit to read with their children every night. Parents should provide an Islamic environment, an Islamic culture. It is hypocritical to do things differently and expect the child to have Islamic values. Parents set the best examples for their children to imbibe. Like parents the role of family has also been considered important in learning and upbringing the children. As the children grow the teachers, community elders, their friends exert deep influence on the character of the child. The parents should choose the right schools for their children. Audio-Visual media such as TV, Video, video games, Movies, peer pressure could play an effective role in erasing the Islamic personality the parents are building and deeply influence the behavior of the children for years. It takes constant and continuos effort on the part of the parents and others to keep our youth on the path of Islamic values. Otherwise they will become an American statistic. Character education, promotion of order and discipline and ending the culture of guns and drugs from schools are the important steps of Islamic education. Islamic education should open the door of college education for every Muslim.  

The frontiers of learning are expanding across a lifetime. All the people, irrespective of age, must have a chance to learn new skills. Internet is now the power of information. The classroom, library and even the children's hospitals are planned to connect with it for easy access to knowledge. 

In America the parents of Muslim children are facing the challenge of picking the right school for their children. The parents have the choice to choose the school their children will attend. Parents would like to send their children to a school that promotes academic excellence and a value centered educational environment. The following pages list the different types of schools available for Muslim children, their advantages and disadvantages. 

WHY ISLAMIC EDUCATION? 

American society today is drifting aimlessly in a sea of problems: 

Crime
Guns and violence including rape
Sexual promiscuity and immorality
Drugs
Homosexuality
Poverty
Divorce
Single parent families
Children traumatized emotionally and psychologically as a result of broken families
Disrupted upbringing
One million teen-age pregnancies of unmarried mothers per year
Sexually abused children
Spousal abuse
Child abuse

All of this has great influence on and impacts the Muslims living in America, especially the children and youth. The parents try to teach Islamic values and morals to the children, hence children are to maintain these values at home environment. Outside the home, the children are in a totally different environment. At times the outside social environment is in opposition to what Muslim children are learning at home. As a result of this conflict, children are fighting a psychological battle in their minds. Islam is very deeply concerned with the welfare of human society and the family is considered to be the cornerstone for building the right society. Raising children in this culture and expecting Islamic values from them is a unique and very tough challenge. Muslim families are at a disadvantage in meeting the psychological and spiritual needs of the children. Giving more religious teachings to children at home is not enough. It is extremely important for parents to spend time with their children. Parents have to find time to be with their children at home, school, games, on the playground, field trips, picnics, and tours. The most essential element is to establish an open channel of communication with the children. An effort should be made to create an environment wherein children should not hesitate to say to their parents their thinkings and feelings. The school system in America deals with the teaching of Academic subjects. The system has also been gearing up to teach life skills, such as prevention of smoking and drug abuse, prevention of heart disease, pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Children should get the Islamic education at an early age. In an effort to inculcate Islamic values, the teachings should be done at home as well as Islamic centers or Islamic schools. Islamic schools should create opportunities for Muslim children to get together to bond with each other as this would help in establishing confidence in an Islamic identity and get psychological support. When children meet other children who are Muslim, it enhances their confidence in being a Muslim and they feel more comfortable about their identity and they assert their Islamic identity in non-Muslim environment with more ease and comfort. Islamic identity, according to some, refers to characteristics of thought, behavior, and attitudes emanating from the Islamic beliefs; and it should be manifested in an Islamic way of life. The practice of Islam gives Muslims a tangible identity that they live with and project to the rest of the society. It can be preserved by their dynamic interaction with the realities of the American system of life and influencing and reforming the society through Islamic thoughts. The best role model is the parent's character. The social support systems, such as Islamic centers, weekend or full time Islamic schools should be built in communities across the country. 

Problems in Islamic Schools: 

No Adaab or Islamic etiquette or behavior
Parents want teachers to be lenient
Some girls and boys meet secretly in the basement.
They have girl-friends and boy-friends
They do smoke
Profanity is written on the walls, desks, blackboards, etc.
Behave roughly: laughing, talking, screaming, rip off their Hijab on the buses.
Discipline: Behavior is no different from the Public Schools.
Teachers are not fair. Spoiled kids as their parents are rich or important
Less school activities for girls. Little opportunity to interact with other students.
Islamic schools are running without an Islamic curriculum, often without a syllabus
No textbooks.
No qualified and trained teachers or certified teachers. (Quality in education is not possible without good teachers.)
Those who attend Muslim high schools do not fare better in college.
Non-Muslim teachers who are qualified and certified. (Live-in boyfriend, rejects institution of marriage. Wear tight and revealing outfit. Promote &^% agenda, anti-religion agenda, or insensitive to Islamic values and events)
Qualified and certified Muslim teachers work in Public schools. As Islamic schools do not offer viable salaries, benefits (pension health benefits, etc.)
When they leave Islamic schools and graduate from colleges, some of them, they do marry non-Muslims as the Muslim community and their parents have exerted zero influence on them.
Chronic shortage of space, science labs, auditoriums, gyms, playgrounds, libraries, bathrooms.
High turnover rate (30 to 40 percent annually) of teachers.
Parents' fear Islamic schools trade off academics for Islamic environment.
Organization, planning and discipline -suffer most in Islamic schools.
Governance is the big reason why most Islamic schools suffer
Do not develop an autonomous and unique decision-making (governance) structure
School Boards require training in how to run a school
School Boards rarely include women
Parents do not play a part in Governance structure
No qualified administrators
Some parents worry Islamic schools offer an inferior quality of education.
Children are not prepared to face competitiveness and the challenges of the modern world.
Seriously lacking in Muslim literature and culture.
For many Muslim families, Islamic schools are not affordable.
In sparse Muslim population areas, Islamic schools are not financially viable.
Very few trained Muslim teachers in special education or none  

In North America major problem is the prevalent moral degradation of the society. In establishing the Islamic Schools, Muslims lack a clear perception of their goals and seldom evaluate the final result if it is worth the money in producing the desired results. Many Islamic schools have run into financial difficulties. Their dreams have crumbled down, resulting in scaled down projects after short-lived disastrous venture.  

HOME SCHOOLING: 

The best and safest place for a Muslim child to be educated
Home schooling is possible only for a very small number.
Requires motivated parents who are qualified.
Parents should be trained and willing to devote long hours every day.
Parents should impart both 'Islamic' and 'secular' education
Prepare the children to successfully compete in the outside world.
Parents rejoice in the experiencing a child harvest the fruits of an education.
Taking children from pre-reading to reading is an exhilarating experience.
Public and / or private schools may have turned children away from being interested,

self-motivated learners and taken the joy of learning away from them.

The public/private schools are not as thorough as a parent wishes.
There is no available or affordable local full time Islamic school.
The Islamic school does not provide the entire K-12 educational experience.
Public schools work against the parent's authority and unfriendly to Muslim children-Hijab.
Public school texts and classroom materials may be destructive to Islamic values and parental authority.
Parents develop their own curriculum, pick out books, texts and workbooks that best suit

their needs and family or learners style.

Home schooling removes children from an environment of drugs, violence, alcohol, sexual

Experimentation, gangs, and peer pressure.

It returns them to a healthy, safe, Allah-centered learning environment.
A school schedule that is friendlier to the demands of an Islamic life can be followed.
Classes can be held on Saturday and Sunday, continued during Christian holidays,

lightened during Ramadan and stopped for Eids.

When family moves and relocates, continuity in education is preserved.
Homeschoolers do not have to fit the child to the curriculum
Homeschoolers make the curriculum fit the individual child.
Misconception: parents need to know everything or spend all day teaching.
School days need not be as long, either.
One-on-one instruction is faster than one-on-30.
Home schooling is legal in all fifty states, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries
Homeschooling of children with learning disabilities, special needs or gifted and talented is possible
There are magazines, WEB sites, distance learning programs and curriculum specifically designed for and devoted to this segment of the homeschooling population.
SOCIALIZATION: Muslim families arrange weekly or monthly field trips or social events. Participate in local Boy/Girl Scouts, sport teams, craft and sewing classes,

YMCA (physical education requirements).

Muslim organizations that meet social needs of Muslim children: Muslim Youth Camps, MYNA,

local Masjid youth programs, summer camps, vacation camps, Muslim Athletes United International

Home school students watch much less television than students nationwide.
Home school student achievement test scores are exceptionally high.
Home schooled students have higher scholastic achievement test (SAT) scores than students who attended other educational programs.
Homeschooled children are winning Spelling Bee and Geography Bee National Contests.

PUBLIC EDUCATION: 

No tuition fees. Public schools are run with tax-dollars to which Muslims contribute.
Have qualified, trained and certified teachers
Teachers are paid well, with all the benefits
Provide secular curriculum which has many good skills-like critical thinking
Tries to inculcate thirst for knowledge
Teachers are strict about homework
Classes are scheduled in blocks with longer times.
Provide college preparation with emphasis on science, math, English and other core subjects.
Provide real life experience-meet children of all strata of society, diversity, co-ed
Sufficient space for buildings, libraries, labs, playgrounds, gyms, Internet and individual PCs
Public schools in suburban areas provide quality education, relatively in a safe environment
Provide almost free Textbooks.
Provide free or subsidized lunches for low-income Muslim families.
Provide advanced classes for gifted and talented children.
Provide education for special children who are slow learners or mentally /physically handicapped
Public schools provide an excellent opportunity for advancing the cause of Islam
Gives opportunities for Muslim students and teachers to dispel misconceptions about Islam

 

Problems of Public Education:
Smoking
Alcohol
Drug abuse
Boyfriend-girlfriend -romantic pair- starts early in pre-school
Sexual Experimentation,
Violence
Gangs
Peer Pressure
Secular curriculum places undue emphasis on western culture and ignores Muslim culture
English literature is devoid of Muslim authors and Muslim topics
Cultural heritage (provides identity and belonging to a cultural group) taught is totally Western.
Muslim youth torn between school culture and Muslim culture at home
Religious holidays are celebrated but no Muslim holidays
Lying is accepted as growing up aspect.
Family concept is deeply eroded
Social studies class does not give credit to Muslim/Islamic contribution to the development of West  

OTHERS: 

Correspondence courses
Distance learning via the World Wide Web and Internet.( www.thegateway.org)
Virtual Islamic Schools
Non-Muslim Parochial Schools
Non-Muslim Private Schools
Charter Schools-funded by state and local governments are Independent public schools formed by teachers, parents and/or community members. Exempt from state and local laws and/or policies in exchange for a written contract (or Charter) that specifies certain results are achieved. NOT ALLOWED TO TEACH RELIGION. However school's mission may emphasize on the study of a particular language, cultural and ethnic traditions, and history infused with state's core curriculum.

Examples of Charter Schools: Star International Academy and Universal Academy. Both are in Detroit, Michigan. Website: http://www.uscharterschools.org/

Charter schools provide solid foundations of knowledge and skills to compete in the world.
Admission is open to all state residents and students pay no tuition.

In his state of the union address on February 4, 1997, President Bill Clinton declared that if the United States failed to accept the responsibilities of leadership, it could endanger the peace of the world and its own welfare. He said, " The new promise of the global economy, the Information Age, unimagined new works, life enhancing technology-- all these are ours to seize….. We must be shapers of events not observers." President Clinton plans for strong economy, and democracy, job certainty to Americans, harnessing the force of technology and science, strengthening families and communities, saving the environment and making America the strongest forces for peace, freedom and prosperity. In his address President Clinton gave the topmost priority to education for the next four years. " Education is a critical national issue for our future" he declared. His " Call to Action for American Education" is based on ten principles ensuring that all Americans will have the best education in the world. The President fixes the goals of education at all levels. He observes that every 8-year-old must be able to read; every 12-year-old must be able to log on to the Internet; every 18-year-old must be able to go to college and every adult must be able to continue learning throughout one's life. 

REFERENCES: 

Islamic Horizons May/June 2000
The Message International May 2000

One of the verses in the Quran protects a woman's fundamental rights. Verse 59 of Surah A1Ahzaab reads: "O Prophet! T'ell thy wives and daughters and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when outside) : so that they should be known (as such) and not molested".

According to the Quran, the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garmcnt when going out of their homes is that they may be recognised as "Believing" women and differentiated from streetwalkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their homes, but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unsavoury attention.

Older Muslim women who are past the prospect of marriage are not required to wear "the outer garment". "Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not wanton display of their beauty; but it is best for them to be modest; and Allah is One Who sees and knows all things". (24:60).

The Quran does not suggest that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Quran is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices.

Morality of the self and cleaniness of conscience are far better than the morality of the purdah. No goodness can comc from pretence. Imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. How can Muslim men meet non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but not acccord the same respectful trcatmcnt to Muslim women?

To wear the Hijaab is certainly NOT an Islamic obligatory on women. It is an innovation (Bid'ah) of men suffering from a piety complex who are so weak spiritually that they just cannot trust themselves!
 

Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or 11 th century (A.C.). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars to help their brothers and husbands, and they defended their castles and bastions.

It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies.

For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively, but that they choose to. In lran, Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador, but in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, MODEST dress is.

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