LEARNING ISLAM

We have always assumed that God is ghaib (unseen) because we cannot perceive Him through our senses. The status of being “ghaib” (unseen) for an entity implies ignorance about anything that exists or happens in a particular time and place. For example, if we are ghaib (unseen) from the classroom, it means we do not see or know what is happening in the classroom when we are not there. Clearly, this cannot be applied to God, who is All-Seeing, All-Hearing, and All-Knowing about everything that exists and occurs anywhere and anytime. From this, two questions arise: 1. Do we truly understand the meaning of the word "ghaib / unseen" ? 2. Is God truly ghaib / unseen ? Literal meaning of "ghaib" refers to unseen. It is the opposite of "syahid," which means witnessing. Ghaib can be divided into three types: 1. Ghaib Fuadi (empirical unseen) This refers to material absent or empirical unseen, as in the case of Hud hud being absent when Prophet Solomon...

Assalamualaikum wr wb. Greetings, this is Abu Musa. This Friday morning, October 25, 2024, as usual, I opened my computer to begin working. Typically, when I work, I listen to some lectures on YouTube. When I opened YouTube, the algorithm suggested a title: "UNDERSTANDING DESTINY CORRECTLY," with a duration of just a little over 10 minutes. I was curious, so I decided to listen. A while into the lecture, something strange caught my attention. A Islamic preacher mentioned that Allah created both good and evil. I was quite shocked to hear such a statement. With many questions in mind, I wondered, "Did Allah truly create evil?" I continued listening to understand what evil Allah had created. After watching the video until the end, it turned out that A Islamic preacher concluded that Allah created evil to bring forth good. He then explained that Allah created virtues such as honesty, patience, and humility so that they would surface as a response to the vices o...

This morning I didn’t have breakfast, just drink cold Bear Brand. It’s cow’s milk with a bear brand and a dragon in its advertisement. So refreshing! This milk is one of the products of al-an’am (cattle). Actually, when Allah speaks about cattle, which specific animals is He referring to? The first specification, Allah mentions that He created al-an’am 8 in pairs (meaning 4 pairs from 4 types of animals). We can find this in Surah Az-Zumar: 6. خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفۡسٖ وَٰحِدَةٖ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنۡهَا زَوۡجَهَا وَأَنزَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلۡأَنۡعَٰمِ ثَمَٰنِيَةَ أَزۡوَٰجٖۚ يَخۡلُقُكُمۡ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَٰتِكُمۡ خَلۡقٗا مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ خَلۡقٖ فِي ظُلُمَٰتٖ ثَلَٰثٖۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمۡ لَهُ ٱلۡمُلۡكُۖ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُصۡرَفُونَ “He created you from one soul. Then He made from it its mate, and He produced for you from the grazing livestock eight mates. He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, within three darknesses. That is Allah, ...