J Welcome to Dr. Zeiny’s
Islamic Studies class J
June 3, 2012
Take Home Final:
Click
here to get the take home final
Due date is extended to Sunday 6/17/2012
Audio Notes:
Click
here to listen to the class
Homework:
In 300 words essay, summarize all what we talked about in the
class and send it by email to aelzeiny@hotmail.com
Notes:
You are nothing but a number of days. Every day that passes, a piece of you is gone.
May 20, 2012
Homework
In 300 words essay, summarize all what we talked about in the class and send it by email to aelzeiny@hotmail.com
Make sure to cover the following points
1. Is it appropriate to say Salam to Allah. How did Khadija (RAA) reply to the Salam of Allah delivered to her throw angel Jibril and the Prophet SAW.
2. How to greet Allah. How did the Prophet greet Allah when he saw him in the heavenly journey (the field trip to see Jannah and Hell, which is Called Miraj المعراج)
3. Why Jannah is called Dar-Al-Salam (The house of Salam)
4. What are the actions that we do that will violate our belief in the name (Al-Salam)
Notes
The Name of Allah Al-Salam (The One who is Secured from being Harmed and the One who Provides Others with Security from Harm)
May 6, 2012
Homework
In 300 words essay, summarize all what we talked about in the class and send it by email to aelzeiny@hotmail.com
Notes
April 29, 2012
Homework
Notes
April 22, 2012
Homework
Notes:
Listen
to the class by clicking here
The name
of Allah Al-Hakeem
(The Most Wise)
To explore
the name of Allah Al-Hakeem, we will discuss the wisdom of Allah in the
following:
1. Not making it
possible to physically see him.
2. Not sending us
miracles on regular basis.
3. Making us who we
are now.
April 8, 2012
Homework
None
Notes:
The name
of Allah Al-Tawab (The one who helps us to repent)
Allah SWT
helps us to repent by giving us wise punishments. Consider the following
illustrative examples
1. A father who doesn’t
punish his child for doing something wrong is actually hurting his child
because he is giving him the wrong message. If the father pretends that his
child didn’t do anything wrong, then the child is going to continue doing wrong
and even worse. If the father continues to treat his child as though he didn’t
do anything wrong, the child will keep going and going. This father is not wise
at all.
2. Consider a
teacher that gives the students the lectures, lessons, homework, text book and
his expectations from the students, then at the end of the year he tests the
students and some pass and some fail. This teacher is fair but not Tawab. Allah is better than that. Allah is like the teacher
who also follows up the progress of his students. If they do bad,
then he punishes them lightly first. If they continue doing bad, then he calls
the parents for conference. If they still continue doing bad, then he escalates
the level of his punishment more and more to help them pass the test at the
end. This teacher is Tawab. He helps his students
correct their mistakes before it is too late. He helps them become successful.
Having
good hopes in the mercy of Allah:
It is a
major sin (first degree sin) to despair the mercy of Allah. Those who despair
the mercy of Allah are promised severe punishment. We are ordered to have good
hopes in the mercy of Allah. Having good hopes in Allah’s mercy doesn’t mean
that you disobey him and don’t do what he asked you to do and then say I have
good hope of his mercy. No. Having good hopes in Allah’s mercy means that if
you have the interest and trying but you are not succeeding, you should have
good hopes in the mercy of Allah. It also means that if you make an awful sin
and then you repent, you have to have good hopes in the mercy of Allah. In
other words, you have to try to do the homework and if you fail, then you
should have good hopes in the mercy of Allah.
Some people
do bad deeds and say “Allah will forgive us. We have good hopes in his mercy”.
This is not called having good hopes in the mercy of Allah. This is called
Passive Wishes (or foolish wishes). It is foolish not to do the homework or try
to do it and then wish that you are covered by the rule of having good hopes in
Allah’s mercy. Again, remember that trying to fool Allah or take advantage of
his mercy in a bad way is not going to happen. You are fooling no one but
yourself and you are harming no one but yourself.
April 1, 2012
Homework
Q.1 To make
sure that we don’t think that Allah changes his mind, we need to understand the
reason for which Allah reduced the prayers from 50 times a day to 5 times a
day. There is a wisdom behind that, mention that wisdom?
Q2. I asked
you to handwrite the story so that you don’t do cut and paste. You can read
about the story by clicking
here
Q3. The
Pharaoh tried to repent as Allah described in Surat Yunus
{90} وَجَاوَزْنَا
بِبَنِي
إِسْرَائِيلَ
الْبَحْرَ
فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ
فِرْعَوْنُ
وَجُنُودُهُ
بَغْيًا
وَعَدْوًا
حَتَّى إِذَا
أَدْرَكَهُ
الْغَرَقُ
قَالَ
آمَنْتُ
أَنَّهُ لَا
إِلَهَ إِلَّا
الَّذِي
آمَنَتْ بِهِ
بَنُو
إِسْرَائِيلَ
وَأَنَا مِنَ
الْمُسْلِمِينَ
We took the
Children of Israel across the sea: Pharaoh and his soldiers followed them
motivated by meanness and arrogance. Then when the Pharaoh was about to drown, he said: "I
believe that there is no god except the one that the Children of Israel believe
in and I am joining the ones who are Muslims"
{91} آلْآنَ
وَقَدْ
عَصَيْتَ
قَبْلُ
وَكُنْتَ مِنَ
الْمُفْسِدِينَ
Allah
replied "Now you are saying that and a little while before, you were
disobedient and were spreading corruption”
{92} فَالْيَوْمَ
نُنَجِّيكَ
بِبَدَنِكَ
لِتَكُونَ
لِمَنْ
خَلْفَكَ
آيَةً
وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا
مِنَ
النَّاسِ
عَنْ
آيَاتِنَا
لَغَافِلُونَ
(Allah
continued saying) Today we will save your body so that you become a reminder to
the ones who come after you for most people are forgetful to my reminders”
Hint: Was the Pharaoh repenting to evade
the hell fire or was he repenting out of fear to Allah and regretting that he
disobeyed him.
Notes:
Allah
accepts the repentance of criminals. Would it benefit or harm the society that
Allah is forgiving to the criminals. Remember that the guy who killed 99 and then
he was told that he can’t repent; he killed one more to make them 100. If the
door of repentance is closed, criminals will never stop for they are going to
hell anyway.
March 25, 2012
Homework
Give three
more examples of situations that if you do wrong things Allah will not hold
responsible (not punish you) similar to the ones given below. (Hint: Insanity,
little kids, sleeping …etc)
Solution
of Last Week Homework
Notes
Don’t you ever think that you have a free will means that you can override the will of Allah. You have a free will only because Allah wanted this to happen.
There are two extremes in understanding this concept. Both extremes are wrong. The middle is the correct.
The bottom line and final conclusion is very simple. It is simple enough for a child to understand, which is we are held responsible for our actions with few exceptions
We are not held responsible in the following three exceptions;
1. Compelled by excessive force
2. Forgot
3. Didn’t intended to make a mistake
March 18, 2012
Homework
The purpose of this homework is that to show that the opposite of the statement above doesn’t make any sense and therefore the statement itself makes perfect sense. Does it make sense to say that people are guided and misguided whether Allah wills or not, i.e. whether Allah wants or not. In other words, does it make sense to say that people will be guided or misguided whether Allah like it or not. Therefore, if the opposite of a statement is nonsense, then the statement itself is common sense.
Notes
Ridiculous
Understanding
Correct
Understanding
March 11, 2012
Homework
The Ayat are (24:31), (24:60) and (33:59).
Notes
March 4, 2012
HW
Notes
Since the creator is one, then he is the same one who made the laws of nature and the laws of Islam. Laws of nature can’t be broken but laws of Islam can. Since both laws are made by the same creator, he made them so that they work together. If we choose to obey the laws of Islam, the we live in peace with the laws of nature. If we choose to disobey the laws of Islam, then we will get in trouble with the laws of nature.
February 26, 2012
HW
Ask your father to take you to visit one of the graves
Notes
February 12, 2012
The pictures are deleted by accident. Students should use their notes.
February 5, 2012
Homework:
Handwrite
the story of Prophet Musa since his mother was pregnant until he finished the
8-10 Years agreement with his father in law. Use Surat
28 Ayat 1 to 28 as a reference
Click here to
listen to the English translation of Surat 28
January 29, 2012
Homework:
Print 5
pictures that shows the historic Islamic Civilization in Andalusia.
Notes:
Muslims made
the countries they went into better than their own home land. You can verify
this today by visiting Spain.
January 22, 2012
Homework:
Chapter 2, verse 191 in the Quran. See the replay in this link.
We had a
debate between the students about the following:
1. About Bin Laden sharing the religion with up:
a. Same as Hitler sharing the religion of our fellow Christians
2. Bin Laden hijacked the name of Islam and he doesn’t represent Muslims:
a. Same as Timothy McVeigh representing the home grown terrorism
b. Same as Christian fundamentalists who blew up the abortion clinics. See the anti-abortion violence
c. Same as the catholic Irish Republican Army and Jerry Adams
3. Bin Laden proves that Muslims are violent
a. Bin Laden actually proves that Muslims are peaceful because he represents the exception not the norm. According to this report from the president of US, the number of Al-Qaeda members left in Afghanistan is 100. If we assume that Al-Qaeda has 100,000 members left, then the ratio between normal Muslims and Al-Qaeda Muslims is 100,000 to 1,500,000,000, which is 0.007%, which means that 99.993% of Muslims are main stream, which means that Muslims are doing really well.
b. The exception proves the rule to be true not false because if there is no exception, there will be no rule. In other words, the existence of exception proves the existence of the rule, which is that main stream Muslims are not violent in this case.
4. Many Americans are killed by Muslims:
a. The number of Muslims killed by Americans far exceeds the number of American killed by Muslims.
b. Both sides are wrong, the state sponsored terrorism and the gang sponsored terrorism.
c. The British used to refer to the American freedom fighters as terrorists.
d. One man terrorist is another man freedom fighter.
5. Almost all acts of terrorism are done by Muslims
a. False, see terrorism in United States.
The debate didn’t go well. Only two students were very active and making arguments and the remaining students had no interest. Parents should make sure that their children are not ashamed of their religion or misunderstand their religion. Al-Qeda is a political movement that gave Islam a bad name just like Zionism gave Judaism a bad name. Many Jews are saying that Zionism doesn’t represent us like Muslims saying Al-Qaeda doesn’t represent us.
January 15, 2012
Homework:
1. To highlight the
role of women in Islam, state the names of the following women
a. First person ever
to believe in the Prophet SAW.
b. First Martyr in
Islam.
c. The one who got
her arms cut when defending the Prophet SAW in the battle of Uhud.
2. Write short
essay about Benazir Bhutto and Sheikh Hasina and
their contributions to the improvement of their nations.
Class Notes:
Sharia is
too harsh:
1. It is less harsh
that the National Defense Authorization Act and Guantanamo bay
2. Why are you
concerned about how harsh it is. Do you have criminal
plans? Only criminals should worry the most.
3. In a
non-deterring punishment system, criminals calculate the risk versus the gain
to find out that the crime is worth the risk.
4. In Sharia
country, the number of people who lost their lives or
got disabled because of crimes are mostly the criminals. In a non-Sharia
country, the number of people who lost their lives or
got disabled because of crimes are mostly the victims.
5. In a non-Sharia
country, criminal justice means justice for criminals and unfairness for victims.
In a Sharia country, criminal justice means justice against criminals and
justice to the favor of victims.
6. There are much
more details about Sharia laws other than the ones spread by the stereo types
(criminal or punishment laws). Sharia focuses on the justice of the
distribution of wealth and power. Generally, Sharia main objectives are
a. Protection of
the Religion from a system that pressures someone to sell his/her religion in
exchange of an essential need of life
b. Protection of
human soul against killing, abuse, disability …etc.
c. Protection of
the brain from mental abuse and harmful substances.
d. Protection of
lineage, i.e. it is well known who are the parents and grand
parents of a child. Which family did he come from.
e. Protection of
wealth from being stolen by the government or by individuals.
Women are
oppressed because they can’t be leaders:
1. Islam doesn’t
violate the rights of Muslim women. Islam recognizes that the job of women in general
is more honorable than the job of men. While the product of a woman is a human
being, the product of a man is commercial products. Motherhood is not an
inferior job, rather it is a much more honorable job.
2. Western media
stereo type Islam as a religion that oppresses women and doesn’t allow them to
be leaders. This is not true. Benazir
Bhutto is the former prime minister of Pakistan and Sheikh Hasina is the current prime minister of
Bangladesh. The prime minster is the head of the government in both countries.
The most civilized nation in the world today is United States of America. There
was never a female president elected in the history of United States until now.
The US media doesn’t propagate these facts but rather they stress the stereo
types. We should learn facts about one another rather than stereo types.
Hijab is
oppression:
1. This is what
Muslim women believe is the expectation of God from them. They are free to
believe and practice their beliefs. After Taliban left power in Afghanistan,
Muslim women continue to wear Niqab, which is the most strict version of Hijab.
2. God expects
Muslim women to cover their feminine features for it is not for public display.
This way they guarantee that they are appreciated for their talent and not for
being sexy or not. By having scarves, it is guaranteed that any male will be
interested in them only for descent business. It is very unlikely that a male
who is interested into indecent business will approach a woman with scarf. In
addition, Islam prohibits the use of the feminine features in business and
forbids females from using their feminine features to propagate unethical temptations.
3. Consider the
following statements coming from the mouth of a reporter who won an award when
their male coworkers got jealous of her and said that she won the award because
she is sexy. She got mad and said “Being sexy has nothing to do with winning the
award. I won the award because of my talent, not because of my feminine
features”.
3. If you go to the
Vatican, women are not allowed to meet the Catholic Pope without head covers
and decent cloth.
4. Mary the mother
of Jesus and church nuns believe in Hijab and they are dressed accordingly.
5. Beautiful girls
who are almost naked are used to advertise cars and bulldozers. The implied
message is ….?
December 11, 2011
December 4, 2011
Homework:
November 20, 2011
Click here to download and print the midterm exam.
Solution of the midterm is due on December 4, 2011. Email the solution i@zeiny.net or print and bring to class
November 13, 2011
Midterm:
Homework:
Notes:
October 30, 2011
Homework:
Notes:
October 16, 2011
Homework:
Example of homework:
Notes:
October 9, 2011
HW:
Notes: Struggle between good and evil
October 2, 2011
Homework:
Read over 5:27-32 and write it word for word. No printing.
Notes: Today in class we talked about Qabeel and Habeel
September 25, 2011
Homework:
For Example:
F
Today in class we talked about the struggle between good and bad guys. You can see this on a daily basis (ie cops vs. criminals, nerd vs. bully)
September 18, 2011
Homework:
Notes: Story of Adam in Heaven
September 11, 2011
Class Information:
· This site will be updated EVERY WEEK (usually on the day of the school) so parents should feel free to check if they want to know what their children are learning.
· Report cards will be emailed.
· We will contact parents if the students are doing bad in class.
· Students are expected to bring their notebooks and pencils to class.
· Exams are open notes so if you have good notes, then you’re going to do well.
Homework:
Mention and explain the hadeeth of intentions.
Notes:
The beginning of creation
