Copyright:

The Muslim Educational Trust 1425 ah / 2004 ce

1st Edition March 1993

Reprinted July 1993 Reprinted October 1995

2nd Edition January 1997

3rd Edition June 1998

4th Edition April 2004

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Published by:

The Muslim Educational Trust

130 Stroud Green Road

London N4 3R2

UK

Tel: 020 7272 8502

Fax: 020 7281 3457

URL: www.muslim-ed-trust.org.uk

Email: info@muslim-ed-trust.org.uk

ISBN 0 907261 42 6

Printed and bound in Great Britain by:

Hobbs The Printer.

Brunei Road

Totton, Hampshire

SO40 3WX

Tel: 023 8066 4800 Fax 023 8066 4801 http://www.hobbs.co.uk

What does Islam say?

Contents

Contents 3

Foreword 4

Preface 5

Introduction 6

Abortion 7

Adoption 9

Animal Welfare 10

Calendar 12

Capital Punishment 14

Contraception 15

Crescent 16

Divorce 17

Drugs and Alcohol 18

Environmental Issues 21

Festivals 22

Food and Drink 23

Homosexuality 25

Jihâd 27

Marriage 29

Music 35

Muslim Schools 38

Parents and Children 40

Racism 42

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (AIDS/HIV) 44

Slavery 45

Suicide 47

Surrogacy 48

Terrorism 50

Women 53

Bibliography 56

Glossary 57

Index 60

MET Publications 64

Foreword

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind

The Muslim Educational Trust (MET), the UK’s oldest Muslim educational organisation (established in 1966), regularly receives queries from schools, students, teachers, educational institutions and bodies, and those interested in the many aspects of Islâm, a religion with over 1.3 billion adherents worldwide, and the fastest growing of the major faiths.

The response to many of these queries is to send a fact sheet on one of a wide range of topics, including: abortion, Aids, drug abuse, suicide, surrogacy, mosques, marriage, music and the status of women, etc. Readers should note that these responses are necessarily brief; the scope to deal with all the aspects of Islâmic jurisprudence (fiqh) and Islâmic law (sharî’ah) is limited.

Ibrahim Hewitt, who was the Assistant Director of the MET between 1989-1994, prepared and edited some of these fact sheets (apart from the section on surrogacy). The MET decided to publish these as a booklet in 1993. The booklet, then titled What does Islâm say about…, was well received, alhamdulillâh (all Praise is for Allâh).

In this fourth edition we have made extensive changes and additions to Abortion, Contraception, Divorce, Homosexuality and Sexually Transmittied Deseases like HIV/ AIDS. Brother Ibrahim Hewitt has rewritten the topic Muslim Schools and added a new topic entitled Terrorism. We are grateful to M. Alamin for the cover design. I hope this book will continue to benefit those for whom it is intended, especially non-Muslim students and teachers. Any comments and suggestions from readers will help us to improve future editions of the book.

May Almighty Allâh reward Ibrahim Hewitt for his contribution. May He also accept the efforts of the MET in promoting the understanding of Islâm in the West. Âmîn.

London Ghulam Sarwar

Şafar 1425 AH Director

April 2004 CE The Muslim Educational Trust

http://www.shareonall.com/what_does_islam_say_erak_pdf.htm