Contents
SADR MKA UK Mirza Waqas Ahmad
MOHTAMIM MAA UK Musawir Idrees EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Zubair Ahmed MANAGERS Anser Ahmedi Muddasser Ahmedi EDITORIAL TEAM Dr Tayyib Hayat Dr Mahmood Ahmad Mussaver Ahmedi Danny Lone Tahir Shah Osama Salaam Ghalib Lone
FROM KHALIFATUL MASIH VABA TO YOU
1
FEAR OF GOD
3
SPEECHES FROM ATFAL ACROSS THE UK
5
LOVE OF GOD
7
ANIMALS IN THE HOLY QUR’AN: SNAKE
9
EXISTENCE OF GOD
11
SPACE & SCIENCE
13
FUN SECTION
17
PROOFING Jamal Akbar
Tahir Magazine is the official Magazine of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK, an auxiliary organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The views expressed here by contributors may not represent the views held by Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK, or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
EXTRACTS FROM THE HOLY QUR’AN
‘And there is none like unto Him’ [Holy Qur’an, 112:5] This verse from Surah Al-Ikhlas shows that we should always keep in mind that there is only one God and there is nothing like Him in any way. He is above and beyond anything else and therefore He has the power to do whatever He wants. Once we understand this then we can ask Allah for protection and for help as only He has the power to help us and not anyone else.
SAYINGS OF THE HOLY PROPHETsa “Paradise lies under the feet of the Mother” [Wisdom of the Holy Prophet] This very important and famous Hadith shows the high status of a mother in Islam for her son or daughter. This Hadith shows that for a person to enter paradise and be successful he needs to focus on making his mother extremely happy with his behaviour and actions. If a person makes his mother angry or upset with him, he will be disobeying the teachings of the Holy Prophetsa as he has told us to be kind and helpful to our mother so that we can please Allah and enter paradise. We must put this into practice as we all want to enter paradise and the Holy Prophetsa is telling us how to achieve that.
WRITINGS OF THE PROMISED MESSIAHas It is not without reason and special significance that I remind people to be courteous and cautious in the use of their words. [Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, page 97] This quote from the book Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya tells us all that we should express good morals and we should watch what we say at all times. This means that whoever we speak to, we should be polite, respectful and considerate to their feelings even if they are rude to us. This will seperate us as an Ahmadi Muslim from the rest of the world and they can distinguish us by our good behaviour.
SERMON
2
FROM KHALIFATUL MASIH Vaba TO YOU The Promised Messiahas stated: ‘If one has knowledge of the life experiences of the Holy Prophetsa and is fully aware of what was the condition of the world at the time and upon coming what the Prophetsa did, one calls out in a trance-like state ‘O Allah bless Muhammad’.
It is evident from this verse that the pious practices of the Holy Prophetsa were such that Allah the Exalted did not specify any word to praise them or quantify his attributes. Words would have been found but they were not used.
“you should invoke blessings I say most truthfully, it is not mere on him as a mark of gratefulness.” thought and imagination, the Holy Qur’an and world history fully bear testimony to what the Holy Prophetsa did.
Otherwise why would it have been stated exclusively for him: ‘Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! you also should invoke blessings on him and salute him with the salutation of peace.’ (33:57). Such a call was not made for any other Prophet. The only man who came to this world with complete success and complete conciliation was him; who was called Muhammadsa.
“and salute him with the salutation of peace.”
That is to say, praise of his pious practices was immeasurable. A verse such as this has not been stated in the glory of any other Prophet. His soul was so pure and honest and his practices were liked by God to such an extent that Allah the Exalted gave the perpetual commandment that in future people should invoke blessings on him as a mark of gratefulness.’ Hadhrat Khalifatul Masihaba said it is a believer’s task to read the teaching brought by the Holy Prophetsa and to note his blessed model and when trying to put it in practice, also invoke blessings (Durud) on him in gratefulness of the tremendous favour of this benefactor of mankind. [Read the Sermon from 5th of October 2012 on www.alislam.org.uk]
FEATURE
3
ARTICLE: FE
DOES GOD PROTECT US?
WHO IS THE MOST POWERFUL?
HOW DO WE FEAR GOD?
IS OUR LIFE PLANNED BY GOD?
FEAR OF GOD
4
EAR OF GOD In this edition of the Tahir Magazine we will discuss the relationship between you and God and how you can become closer to Him. We will also reference books and articles which you can use for further reading. As we all know, God is the most powerful Being and has the ability to do whatever He wishes. No creature has that same ability as there is only one God and all living things are directly created and controlled by Him.
In a similar way, if you recognise that God has all the power you will become fearless of all other things because you know that God is protecting you at all times. For example, if a mother has a baby then naturally she would protect the child as it grows up and do everything to keep away all harm and bad things.
Similarly, God has created you and so He is always protecting you. Therefore, if you recognise and This means that every moment of our reflect on the power of God you lives is planned by God and nothing will become a person who is fearcan happen unless He first allows it. less in all situations and circumstances and only fears God because Knowing this, we must under- you know He has all the power. stand that everything apart from is explained preciseGod has not any power and that This all power lies with God alone. ly in Surah Al-Baqarah from the Holy Qur’an, when God says: Let’s think of this in another way, Imagine yourself standing next to a “whoever submits himself completely policeman in the street. You will re- to Allah, and is the doer of good, alise that no criminal or bad person shall have his reward with his Lord. can harm you because the police- No fear shall come upon such, man will arrest them immediately. neither shall they grieve.” [2:113] Therefore, you will feel and secure because you policeman is in control of ation and has the power a person who wants to
protected know the the situto arrest hurt you.
In the next article on page 7 we will discuss how you can increase in your Love of God.
5
ATFAL SPEECHES
SPEECHES FROM ATF
ACROSS THE UK
6
FAL ACROSS THE UK OBEDIENCE TO GOD Allah is the sole Creator of the universe and the Maker of heavens and earth. This is one of the many reasons why we should obey Allah. This is significant because we should be grateful to Him for creating us. Another reason is that Allah listens to our supplications and prayers. Allah is alive and we should behave towards Him in a way which shows that He is present in our daily lives. In public and in private Allah is watching our every action so we should obey His instructions so that He is pleased with us. Allah also provides for all our needs and forgives our sins. Allah does all these things for us and we should repay Him by being obedient to Him and His Messengers. The reason why we ought to obey Prophets and Messengers of Allah is that they are the selected people through whom Allah conveys His guidance to mankind. To obey them will help us to get closer to Allah, which is our main purpose of life.
We should also obey Allah and his Messengers because if we do, we will get rewards. If we obey Allah and His Messengers we will get rewards such as nearness to Allah, which is the purpose of our lives, we will gain a better, more religious and more obedient mind and personality. If we obey Allah He will also help us in our time of need. He will also forgive our sins and help us wash away our impurities. Finally I would like to conclude that obedience towards his messengers is vital because if you are obedient to Allah and His Messengers, you will have lots of rewards. But if you go astray, then you won’t be loved by Allah and you will find your life scattered in pieces.
BY ZERGHAM DIN AGE: 14 REGION: EAST FAVOURITE SUBJECT: SCIENCE FAVOURITE SPORT: JUDO
FEATURE
7
ARTICLE: LO
CAN WE LEARN TO LOVE GOD?
HOW DO WE LOVE GOD?
WHAT WAYS CAN WE LOVE GOD?
LOVE FOR GOD
8
OVE FOR GOD Think of someone you really love... feel inside yourself that love you have. True love is a hidden and personal experience which can be felt for your parents, brothers and sisters.
The third example - the greatest, which is called True Love or unity, is when you can see that your whole character, instincts and reflexes are no different from those of the person you love.
So how can a person love God and increase the inside real feeling of love for God? The Promised Messiahas says that we should think deeply about examples that look like a real love.
There is no other way for truly loving someone unless these three examples or levels are eagerly observed in a genuine, person.
The first example is - to love someone, you need to love (a) the personality of that person and (b) whatever things he or she likes. You have to love both these things so much that you want to make the person happy with you and you serve them by giving them things that they need. The next example - which is a deeper love, is when everyone thinks that you have got ALL your personality and preferences from the person whom you love. This is from loving to COPY in perfect detail as well as passionately following all the WISHES of the person you love.
Love your parents like this. Love Hadhrat Khalifatul Masihaba like this and most of all love your Creator like this. Now think of God ...as someone you really love and begin to interact with Him by thinking of what he likes and dislikes as well as copying his personality. [Further reading: Essence of Islam Vol. 1, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Chap. Holy Prophet’ssa nearness to God Almighty, pp. 238240, Ed. 2007. www.alislam.org]
ANIMALS
9
ANIMALS BACKGROUND
Snakes belong to the animal class of Reptiles. This group also includes Crocodiles, Lizards, and Turtles. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals that raise their body temperature by lying in the sun or lower it by crawling into the shade.
PHYSICAL FEATURES Body - Snakes have a long and slender body and they slither across the floor and up trees. Some of them are very deadly creatures and can move extremely fast. Camoflague - The colour of snakes differs depending on their enviornment but they can all blend into their surroundings with a green or yellow skin colour. This makes them difficult to see by predators. Also, if you are walking in the jungle or desert be careful because you could easily step on a snake, ouch! Venom - Some snakes such as Vipers have venom which is poison and they use it against other animals to attack when they are in danger or looking for prey.
IN THE HOLY QUR’AN In the Holy Qur’an the word ‘Serpent’ is used to describe the snake which is mentioned at the time of Prophet Mosesas in many Surahs (Chapters). It says in the Holy Qur’an: “And it also said: ‘Throw down thy rod.’ And when he saw it move as though it were a serpent, he turned back retreating and did not wait.” [28:32]
SNAKE
S: SNAKE
10
FEATURE
11
ARTICLE: EXIST WHO IS RUNNING THE UNIVERSE?
WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE?
WHERE DOES GOD LIVE?
EXISTENCE OF GOD
12
TENCE OF GOD Can you name anything around you that was not made? If you cannot it is because nothing makes itself! Is it right to say that the whole universe and everything in it was made by itself, worse still to say that it happened by accident or chance? Some people say such things only because they think that by believing the universe created ‘itself’ they can then avoid having to obey anyone other then themselves. As if they are their own God. Do you feel that YOU made yourself, or were made randomly by accident? Allah is everyone’s Master and Maker. His creation is always well organised and has a proper purpose. For example if you do something randomly in school you will get punished. If you say then that your random act was based on the fact that you are made randomly in a universe made by chance then you may get doubly punished.
In the Holy Qur’an it says that proof for the existence of God is in the Earth which means that by looking at the planet in a scientific way you will see the presence of God. “And in the earth are Signs for those who have certainty of faith, And also in your own selves. Will you not then see?” [Holy Qur’an, 21:22] In this verse it also states that if On this very basic level you will easily find proof for the existence of God which many overlook because they don’t want to accept the truth. To say that the universe with all it’s complex details and life forms was made by accident or by chance does not make sense. It is too sophisticated to be random and it is being sustained by something more powerful. We know that powerful being is God Almighty.
SPACE
13
SPACE & SCIENCE
BACKGROUND We have nine planets in our Solar System. These planets circle around the sun which is called orbits. A lot of astronomy people like to think of the Solar System been made up in two parts We have the Inner Solar System which has Mercury, Venus, Earth and not forgetting Mars. These are closest to the sun and are called the terrestrial planets simply because the have very solid rocky surfaces. The Outer Solar System has Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune these are sometimes called the gas giants Out past Neptune you’ll find the small planet of Pluto which has a solid but icier surface. Many don’t class this as a planet anymore because it is so small. These two systems are separated by the asteroid belt Our Solar System also contains comets, moons, dust, gas and some minor planets. Over the next editions of the Tahir Magazine we will go through all the nine planets and their qualities, this edition will focus on Venus.
PLANETS & SOLAR SYSTEM
14
PLANET VENUS: FAST FACTS The atmosphere of Venus is mainly made up of Carbon Dioxide. It’s size is slightly smaller than Earth. Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Venus features no liquid water. Venus is approximately 67 million miles from the Sun. Venus is the hottest planet in our Solar System. Venus is one of the brightest objects in our night Sky. Venus can be seen early in the morning and just after sunset.
Answers DOWN 2 Elephant 4 Horse 5 Monkey 7 Cat 10 Rabbit 11 Lion
ACROSS 1 Rhinoceros 3 Giraffe 6 Dog 8 Penguin 9 Turtle 12 Zebra 13 Crocodile
FUN SECTION
RIDDLES What goes round the house and in the house but never touches the house? Sunlight What is it that you can keep after giving it to someone else? Your word The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? Footsteps What gets wetter as it dries? A towel What belongs to you but others use it more than you do? Your name
JOKES Q. What type of animal needs oil? A. A Mouse, because is squeaks! Q. In which school do you learn to make ice cream? A. Sunday school! Q. Why did the chicken cross the road? A. To show everyone he wasn’t chicken!
WORD SCRAMBLE There are many animals metioned in the Holy Qur’an. Rearrange the letters below to reveal 6 animals.
EPA _ _ _ GFOR _ _ _ _ GIP _ _ _ NOIL _ _ _ _ ANETOPEL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ GERTI _ _ _ _ _
ATFAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2013
teams: 12 (southern regions) location: The Hub (Mitcham) website: www.atfal.org.uk