Stories of the Quran: Dhul Qarnain

by Ahmad Bukhari
September 19th, 2009

Allah the Almighty says:
{And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnain. Say: “I shall recite to you something of his story.” Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people. We (Allah) said (by inspiration): “O Dhul-Qarnain! Either you punish them, or treat them with kindness.” He said: “As for him (a disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah) who does wrong, we shall punish him, and then- he will be brought back unto his Lord, Who will punish him with a terrible torment (Hell).”But as for him who believes (in Allah’s Oneness) and works righteousness he shall have the best reward, (Paradise), and we (Dhul-Qarnain) shall speak unto him mild words …

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Who are the Houthis?

by Ahmad Bukhari
September 10th, 2009

The Houthis are a group of Shiite rebels, who are based in the north of Yemen. The current unrest goes back to 2004, when the cleric Hussein Al-Houthi started an armed rebellion against the central government.

Hussein Al-Houthi was a representative of Al-Haq party in the Yemeni parliament from 1993 to 1997. However, Al-Houthi, who had wide backing the northern provinces, thought the government was too closely allied with the United States. The Zaydi leader established a group known as Al-Shabab Al-Mo’men (The Believing Youth).

The protests led by the group against Israel and the United States turned to violent clashes with the security forces, and the situation quickly escalated to a full-blown rebellion. After months of fighting, Al-Houthi and a number of his aides were killed during a government operation against the rebels.

Yet, against all expectations, the armed revolt continued under the leadership of a number of the late cleric’s family …

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The History of Palestine

by Ahmad Bukhari
September 7th, 2009

The fifteenth of May 2006 marked the fifty eighth anniversary of the catastrophe, which has brought about the worst calamity that could befall a nation in the whole history, namely the tragedy of the Palestinian people. Fifty years, during which Israel has implemented its plots and schemes to force itself as a reality in the region, where it worked on embedding its institutions on the Arabic lands and building settlements for the Jewish immigrants there. To achieve this, it has usurped the Arabic lands, forcing out the Palestinians from their home and uprooting them from their own lands.

Despite all this the Palestinian preserved his entity and instilled patriotism deep in his sons’ hearts, passing on the flag of the nation from the elder, whom the enemies wanted him to perish, to the youngster, whom they wanted him to sink into oblivion. Such flag together with devotion and love to one’s …

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Imam Abu Hanifah ‘Imam-e-`Adham’

by Ahmad Bukhari
September 1st, 2009

Better known as `Imam-e-`Adham’ (The Greatest Imam), or by his kunyah `Abu Hanifah’, Nu’man ibn Thabit was born in the city of Kufa (modern day Iraq) in the year 80 A.H (689 A.D). Born into a family of tradesmen, the Imam’s family were of Persian origin as well as descending from the noble Prophet’s (saw) Companion Salman al-Farsi (ra). Imam Abu Hanifah’s father, Thabit, had met in Kufa Imam `Ali Ibn Abi Talib (ra) who made dua for him and his progeny, and some say that Abu Hanifah was a result of this dua.

A hadith given by al-Bukhari and Muslim states that Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated Allah’s Messenger (saw) as saying:”If the Religion were at the Pleiades, even then a person from Persia would have taken hold of it, or one amongst the Persian descent would surely have found it.” Abu Hurairah (ra) also narrates:”We were sitting in the company …

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