"O our Lord! Surely You know what we hide and what we make public (declare), and nothing in the earth nor any thing in heaven is hidden from Allah:” [14:38]"
- (via iwonderful)
Anonymous asked: Thanks. I wanna go to Qum or Najjaf for hawza studies. I only understand/speak urdu and english, so is it necessary for me to learn arabic or farsi before i go or do they have classes for learning that? Also, I am a 17 year old girl, so will i be accepted for admission if i go alone or do females have to go with families? Jazakallah.
Salaams,
I only know of one English speaking Hawza in Najaf. Here it is: http://www.zahratrust.com/pages.php?id=42
It is recommended to learn some Arabic beforehand, but it’s not a requirement - they will put you in an intensive Arabic course at the start.
In Najaf, they only take girls who are married.
I know there are English speaking Hawzas in Qom, but they do make you learn Farsi and Arabic before commencing. I’m afraid I don’t know the names of the Hawzas, but they do exist.
As far as I know, in Qom they also reccomend that girls are married, or at the very least have a brother in the Hawza.
I recently reciecved an email about a new Hawza that has just opened in Qom, which actually teaches the Hawza material in English, and only teaches you Farsi later on. They will take sisters if 20 or more apply.
Here is the email:
Salaamun Alaaykum
I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of a new program Hawza Ilmiyyah Qum has developed for English speaking students who want to study in Qum. Up to now the program was a Farsi based program and that the students needed to study Farsi first before they could commence to other parts of the full-time studies program. However now students are being invited to enrol onto an Introductory Islamic Studies Course starting from September 2012 in which students will be taught in English and the course will initially be for a period of nine months (Ending in June 2012). This will be quite useful for students who want to take a gap year off from their university studies to study Islam in a complete Islamic/Hawza environment. Enrolling students have the opportunity still available to them to join the full-time Hawza studies course after completing the nine months if they themselves feel this is what they want to study for the future. And likewise if somebody who initially felt that he wanted to study in the Hawza at the beginning of the course and after completing nine months felt it was not quite what he wanted, he would be allowed to withdraw without any obligations.
The course is sponsored by the Hawza and requires students to only pay for their visas and ticket to and from IRI.
After a period of 6/7 months they will be introduced to basic Farsi which could be useful for them if they decide to stay on after completing the first 9 months of the studies program.
This program is also available for female students if 20 or more students apply for it.
For any other information please do not hesitate to contact me at this email address – nicetotalk@hotmail.com.
Your brother in faith
Syed Taqi Jaffer Razvi
Anonymous asked: Salaam. Do you have any information about hawza studies? I have a few questions and i can't find the answers to them on the internet.
Wa alaykum al salaam,
Sure, feel free to ask your questions, and I will endeavour to answer them.
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Hijab In The Qur’an
When we look at the Holy Qur’an we find that it has addressed the issue of hijab in about ten verses and in none of these verses does Allah (swt) introduce hijab as a new command. It is not a new command. Islam did not introduce hijab for the first time; rather, Islam tries to remind us of that which has always existed and ensure that we understand and practise it in its proper way.
For example, Prophet Muhammad (s) was asked by Allah (swt) to tell ladies that they should keep their covering, orjilbab, close to themselves, so that it covers them properly:
O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw closely over themselves their jilbāb… (33:59)
Allah (swt) did not say that they should wear a jilbābbecause this was a known and understood idea at the time, but they did not know how to practise it correctly so sometimes they wore it so loosely that the parts of the body supposed to be covered were visible.
Through the Holy Prophet (s), Allah (swt) asked them to keep their jilbāb close to their bodies so that it suitably covered and protected them. Allah (swt) also told the Holy Prophet (s) to ask the believing men to be cautious about their approach in looking at women because this is another aspect of a woman’s protection.
Thus, part of the protection of her beauty derives from the lady wearing proper hijab and part of the protection comes from Allah (swt) asking men to respect a lady by not having bad intentions when looking at her and by not looking at the parts of her body that are not to be seen. To protect the beauty of a lady, Allah (swt) says that men of faith, principles, and high values should be careful about the way in which they look at her, all of which is done out of a sense of care, respect and honour for a lady.
Contrary to how some people think, if a woman is considered as a sexual object, there would be no reason to be so careful about the beauty of a lady and trying to safeguard and protect it from anyone who may have bad intentions.
Islam regards this beauty as a manifestation of Allah (swt)’s Beauty and only some clearly defined people can look at, touch or have contact with. These are either the people who have no sexual intention at all like a father, brother, uncle, young children, or the one who has proven himself trustworthy and reliable and has made vows and commitments to protect her, which is her husband.
Therefore, in Islam, hijab is not merely related to clothing.
It also regulates the manner in which women should look, how contacts should be formed and maintained, and the manner in which they are to speak. For example, Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur’an that the wives of the Prophet (s) should speak very carefully to people who are not their close relatives. They should not speak in a way that might attract those people to their beauty or to their privacy.
Allah (swt) says:
O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any other women: if you are wary (of Allah), then do not be complaisant in your speech, lest he in whose heart is a sickness should aspire, and speak honourable words. (33:32)
The wives of the Prophet (s) are asked not to speak very humbly and softly to men who are not related to them by birth or marriage in case they have a sickness or weakness in their heart and who therefore may think that the lady is giving them an improper signal.
Another important part of hijab is reducing unnecessary contact with unrelated members of the opposite gender. A man and woman who are not related should keep their contact to a minimum. As previously stated, Islam is not against women being active in society and, indeed, hijabfacilitates this.
However, men and women should not form and increase unnecessary contacts without having specific and useful aims and intentions. For example, if there are men and women working together in the same office they should keep their contacts at a reasonable level. They must not openly and freely speak to each other, and this includes laughing, joking, or doing everything apart from, for example, physically touching each other.
By: Shaykh Muhammad Ali Shomali originally posted in the Message of Thaqalayn
(Source: m360youth.com)
Anonymous asked: What is your aim in life?
‘Success is the result of foresight and resolution, foresight depends upon deep thinking and planning and the most important factor of planning is to keep your secrets to yourself.”
- Imam Ali (AS)
