NOT FOR SALE “Our Dialogue” — Seventh Edition the Religious Editor Arab News Jeddah apkar pk Vol. 1 [A-F] Gratuitous Distribution only 2 Source: Arab News — Jeddah Our Dialogue — 7th Edition Acknowledgement is especially made to: Ateed Riaz Ashraf Riaz (Private) Limited 108-110 Qamar House M A Jinnah Road Karachi 74000 Telephone: 92•21•231 03 10 ____________________________ • Copies of the books in the ‘Our Dialogue’ series are offered to those in Karachi who kindly visit us personally. • Those elsewhere in Pakistan are requested to kindly write to us directly, advising their full name, complete & permanent mailing address, telephone numbers at work/ home and also tell us a little bit about themselves. Their copies will, Insha’Allah, be sent through mail as far as may be. • If you are located outside Pakistan, in order to help us avoid bearing mailing costs, we ask that kindly arrange with someone in Karachi to collect on your behalf. If your Pakistani contact is outside Karachi, we can mail to a given address anywhere in Pakistan. Alternately, you may arrange with a visiting friend or any prepaid courier service to collect the books from us for delivery to you. We do wish to avoid overseas mailing costs, which are very heavy indeed. apkar pk [Muhammad Arif] 404 Qamar House M. A. Jinnah Road Karachi - 74000 Pakistan Telephones: 92•21•231 24 95 [Roaming — Work/Home] Telecopier: 92•21•231 09 08 E-mail: [email protected] Website www.ourdialogue.com Our Dialogue 7th Edition Source: Arab News — Jeddah 3 Hadith — Indeed, the creation of each one of you is brought together in the mother's belly for 40 days in the form of a drop of sperm, then he is a germ cell for a like period, then an embryonic lump for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him & who is commanded about four matters: to write down his means of livelihood, his life span, his actions and whether happy or unhappy By Allah, other than whom there is no God, one of you may behave like the people of paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of hell fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the people of hell fire until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of paradise and thus he enters it." (Related by Al Bukhari & Muslim.) 4 Source: Arab News — Jeddah Our Dialogue — 7th Edition “Our Dialogue” — advice & consent • Publishing 'Dialogue' answers in book form Has “Our Dialogue” been published in book form? I have mentioned that such publication requires an extensive editing work if it is to be done properly. What I mean is that questions should be sorted out according to subject and related ones should be consolidated in a more comprehensive way. This will mean some expansion of certain answers so that they treat the subject rather than the specific case the reader puts. It will also mean grouping together various answers so that the treatment of the subject is more complete. I pray God to enable me to undertake this task at some point in the future. Meanwhile, I do not permit any publication, which is intended to generate financial profit, without my prior agreement. Those who had produced compilations seeking no profit, but aiming only to make such answers known to people, who may need them, are generous with their effort. May God bless them and reward them. I hope that God will also grant me a share of that reward. “Our Dialogue” was compiled and printed by some people at their own initiative. I have not had any role in that. They state that copies may be obtained from apkar pk (Muhammad Arif), 404 Qamar House, M. A. Jinnah Road, Karachi - 74000 [Telephone Work/Home 92•21•231 24 95 — Roaming]. Knowing that readers have put majorities of questions to me from the countries of the subcontinent, I realize that if “Our Dialogue” were made available in Urdu, it would serve a good purpose. Therefore, I have no objection, in principle, to its translation into Urdu. [Added: One such compilation in the form of the books called Islami Tarze Fikr is also being offered by apkar pk for the benefit of those who prefer that the material be presented to them in their national language. A Sindhi version of these books called Islami Soch Jo Andaz is also obtainable.] [From: Adil Salahi Arab News, Saudi Arabia's First English Language Daily] Our Dialogue 7th Edition Source: Arab News — Jeddah 5 apkar pk & “Our Dialogue Let me introduce apkar pk. Well, apkar is simply an abbreviation from Allied Promotors Karachi, the company I organize, while the suffix pk stands for Pakistan. And under this brand name, we present a series of publications such as you hold in your hand. A friend, Ateed Riaz, has been involved in copying and gratuitously circulating pages from Adil Salahi’s religious columns of the Jeddah-based paper, Arab News. I was also favored with these pages, and finding them very interesting and deeply thought provoking, decided to start compiling the columns. In 1989, and a hundred pages later, I showed the result of this exercise to some friends, who were very enthusiastic in their response. We felt that such a compilation would serve as a useful and handy guide for anyone keen to learn more about the ways of Islam, but who could not get convincing answers from accessible Ulema. Several friends even offered to help with the printing of such a book, and the first version of this work, comprising just 125 pages, emerged under the title “A Question and Answer Session, the Religious Editor, Arab News, Jeddah.” This was our beginning. Encouraged with the response to our first book, I continued with this compiling work and brought out an enhanced version of the same book under the title, “Our Dialogue,” named after the title of the original columns appearing in Arab News, Jeddah. (These columns are now called “Discourse.”) Yet another volume, “Our Dialogue — Volume IV,” contained further selections from the religious columns which have appeared in Arab News, Jeddah up to July 2003. A handy version based on selected quotations from these books — entitled 'Our Dialogue in a Nutshell' is also available for those readers who are too busy for voluminous reading. In 1996, a compilation covering 'Pilgrimage' was issued and since that year through fine work by Br. Abdus Salam Salami, an Urdu version is also being provided under the title of "Islami Tarze Fikr". A second volume of "Islami Tarze Fikr" — translated by Br. Kaleem Chughtai — has since been launched in 1999. Since 1998, through initiative of Br. Noor Ahmad Memon, a Sindhi translation of 'Islami Tarze Fikr" has been presented under the title of 'Islami Soch Jo Andaz". Alhamdulillah, the scope has been enlarged and improved since, and a consolidated, improved and revised version of all the previous issues of “Our Dialogue” is now presented to you in four Volumes under the title of "Our Dialogue — Seventh Edition". Much thought and effort have gone into the body of works presented in the “Our Dialogue” series. All this would come to naught except for the enlightenment provided through the original material presented by Adil Salahi under his worthy columns 'Islam in Perspective' in Arab News, Jeddah. We are also deeply indebted to a host of supporters from our very inception. Valued advice and kind assistance has come in varied and special ways from people who are too many to enumerate, but without whose help, this series of books could certainly not have been presented. [A list of supporters is appended on p.7, but we may have missed out to mention some.] May Allah in His Mercy accept the efforts of all of us. Tasbahoona Alal Khair Muhammad Arif apkar pk • Karachi 74000 • Pakistan Telephone: 92 21 231 2495 [Work/Home — Roaming] November 2005 6 Source: Arab News — Jeddah Our Dialogue — 7th Edition Answers to questions in “Our Dialogue” are provided by more than one scholar and edited by Adil Salahi Arab News Jeddah, K.S.A. • There is a main rule in Islamic Law that a particular regulation, which is made for a particular reason is enforced only when that reason is clearly in evidence “Our Dialogue” — Seventh Edition Our Dialogue 7th Edition Source: Arab News — Jeddah 7 Supporters In alphabetical order Abdul Lateef Abbasi • Abdur Rahman Haji Habib Abdus Salam Salami • Ahmad Khan Ahmad Parekh • Ahmad Zahir Khan *Alimuhammad Abdullah • Anwar Ahmed Meenai Arshad Daad • Ashfaq Qamar Asma Ahsan Khan • Ateed Riaz *Badruddin Dharani • Ghulam Mustafa Rajpar *Hassanali Dharani • Javed Saleem Qamar Jeddy Family • K M Yaqub* Kaleem Chughtai • M A Shaheed M K Kamil • M Khalid Malik M M Ajmal Khan • Maudood Ahmad Lodhi *Muhammad Amin • Muhammad Ayaz Ghaznavi Muhammad Iqbal Raja • Muhammad Saleem Khokhar Muhammad Siddiq Faruk • Munir Malik Naeem I Khokhar • Najma Hakeem Noor Afshan Uraizee • Noor Ahmad Memon Owais Yaqub • Rif’atullah Khan Salahuddin Ahmad • Shahbaz Malik Suhadar Muhammad Yousuff • Syed Salman Rasheed Tahir Shafiq • Zahid Jamal Butt Zahir H Malik • Colleagues At My Office & the Members of My Family AND MANY MORE WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT MENTIONED * They Had All Suffered Cancer And Have Preceded Us To Their Final Abode. May Allah In His Infinite Mercy Reward Them Plentiful. Amen apkar pk • Karachi 74000 • Pakistan 8 Source: Arab News — Jeddah Our Dialogue — 7th Edition Questions on religious matters may be sent to the following address, which will be forwarded to the appropriate channel for reply and clarification. Islam in Perspective Section Arab News — P. O. Box 10452 Jeddah 21433 Saudi Arabia E-mail address: [email protected] For current replies — visit web site www.arabnews.com For past records — visit web site www.ourdialogue.com