Dear Youth 03

Dear Youth...

We are glad you have come back again this month, welcome! Do you remember that last month we were talking about how some people lie about God, our Creator? We had mentioned that one way in which people lie about God is by saying that God is a man, and by painting a picture of a male figure and calling that figure "God". Always remember and know that God is not like you or me. God is not a man, or a woman; God is not similar to His creation.

This month we would like to warn you about some other lies that people say about God, the One we worship. We know that people say these lies because we hear people saying them on T.V. If people say them on T.V. then probably people are listening to that and sadly some people are probably believing those lies as well.

One lie about God which we have heard said on T.V. is when someone says "God made a mistake". We must not say these words. By saying this a Muslim becomes a non-Muslim. It is blasphemy. Many times the blasphemer who says this also looks up and waves his finger upwards.

This saying is not funny. There is nothing funny at all about this statement. This is a lie about God, our Creator. The person who says this does not worship God correctly. He is not a believer. He is not a Muslim. To be a Muslim he would need to stop saying this and say the two professions of faith in Islam, knowing that he was blasphemous and in need to say the two professions to be Muslim. He can say: I profess that no one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

God does not make a mistake. What is a mistake? The dictionary says: a mistake is an error in action, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc. God is the Creator of everything. God owns everything. God is the One Who orders us to do some things and forbids us from doing some other things. God does with His creation what ever He wills. God is not weak. Humans are weak. No way does God make a mistake.

Usually when those people say those ugly words they are talking about something they don’t like, for example when a small baby is born without an arm or is born blind. In their ignorance they think: "God created this baby. I don’t like this thing about this baby, so God made a mistake". They are the ones making a big mistake.

If someone learns what the Prophet taught, he knows that in every hardship there is an opportunity for reward from God. If the Muslim parents of that blind baby are patient with this hardship they get reward. If the Muslim who is blind is patient with his hardship he gets reward. This reward is weighed on the Day of Judgment. Don’t we want to be people who have a lot of reward in one pan of the balance and no bad deeds in the other pan? The one who learned about the Day of Judgment would know how much we would want this on that Day.

Also if those people believe that God is a body which is up somewhere, this is also blasphemy. God is not a body and God does not need a place to be in. Many people believe this blasphemy now a days and that is why they look up when they say something to God.

So always remember that God does not make mistakes. Instead it is likely that people make mistakes and most people make a lot of really big mistakes. We ask God to make us among those who learn Islam carefully without making mistakes. God-willing next month we will talk more about lies which people say about God.

A Prophet of Islam - Prophet Adam

This month we continue to talk about the father of all us: Prophet Adam. Did you know that in Arabic he is also called Adam? We had mentioned last month that Prophet Adam and his honorable wife Hawwa’ (Eve) first lived in Paradise for a long time and then Allah made them descend to earth. You know, Paradise is a very big place that is far above us. It is a real place just like this earth is a real place. Just because we do not see it and men do not go there by rockets does not mean that it does not exist.

Remember how we said last month that even something from Paradise is with us on earth? See if you can remember what that is. Here is another question. How many years did Adam and Lady Hawwa’ live in Paradise before they came to earth? The answers are at the end of this article.

Prophet Adam and Lady Hawwa’ had many, many children. Usually Lady Hawwa’ would have twins, a girl and a boy. Their sons could marry their sister at that time except their twin sister. So Adam’s children married and had children and more and more people were on the earth. After the time of Prophet Adam, Allah revealed that brothers could no longer marry their sisters; this was only allowed in the rules revealed to Prophet Adam by Allah.

All of Prophet Adam’s children were Muslim. He taught them the belief of the Muslims, that there is no God except Allah, and they accepted Prophet Adam as their Prophet and Messenger. Prophet Adam taught them prayer, fasting, and how to make pilgrimage (Hajj).

Prophet Adam also had the knowledge of how to live on earth, building buildings, farming, coining money, baking bread, living in an honorable and respectable way.

Prophet Adam lived for a long time, for 1000 years, and during his time no one blasphemed; no one went out of Islam.

Everyone was Muslim, although sinning less than blasphemy occured.

It is important to know the difference between blasphemy, and sins that are less than blasphemy. Blasphemy is a belief, saying, or action that is against the Islamic faith. When a Muslim does blasphemy he stops being Muslim. To believe that God does not exist is blasphemy. To say that Jesus is the son of God is blasphemy. To prostrate to an idol is blasphemy. These are just a few examples. If a person is Muslim and then does blasphemy, he has to return to Islam by stopping the blasphemy, and clearing himself of blasphemy by saying and believing the two professions of Muslim faith: There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. If he clears himself of the blasphemy then he is Muslim again.

Blasphemy is the worst sin. Then there are sins that are less than blasphemy. If the Muslim does them he does not become a non-Muslim but he is ordered to repent of them. Some sins that are not blasphemy are killing unjustly, fornication and adultery, not praying the required prayers, using drugs and drinking alcohol and for the woman to not cover her body properly. Every accountable Muslim must learn from a qualified Muslim teacher about what is blasphemy and what the sins are that are less than blasphemy so that he does not do them.

The first time that some person killed another person was a killing that happened between two of Prophet Adam’s children, Qabil and Habil (Cain and Abel). Qabil killed Habil because he was jealous of him. This murder was a great sin, but still Qabil did not leave Islam because of this because it is not blasphemy.

It is mentioned that when Prophet Adam died he was buried in the city of Mina near a mosque called Al-Khayf. Minais a city very close to Makkah. It is also mentioned that near to Prophet Adam seventy other prophets are buried.

After Prophet Adam died, his children and their children stayed Muslim. Allah made one of Prophet Adam’s children a prophet who continued teaching the people and ordering them to do the good deeds and not to sin. Next month we plan to talk about this Prophet of Allah.

Answers to our questions

What thing on earth is from Paradise?

The black stone which is on one of the corners of the Ka^bah is a stone from Paradise. It used to be very bright but it became black after blasphemers passed their hands over it a lot.

How many years did Prophet Adam and Lady Hawwa’ live in Paradise before they went down to earth?

They lived for 130 years in Paradise before going to earth.

Allah is not our father.

Allah is our Creator

and we all come from Prophet Adam.