Author name: Abu Yusrah

An innocent mind might find it difficult to accept the fact that a Muslim who believes the Quran is the word of Allah can at the same time deny a thing which the Quran affirms more than ten times!  Such is the case of the modernists, those who believe the foundations of Islam should be restructured to fit modern ideology, such movements include the Ahmadiya (Qodiani), the submitters international (the group of Rashad khalifa) and more recent Da’i like Shabbir Ally. The claims of those who reject the existence of the jinn The Ahmadiyas reject that classical belief of Islam about the jinn and claim that the jinns refer to: Jinn refer to hidden creature of any specie According to the Ahmadis, the evidence that jinn refers to any hidden creature is the fact that the Arabic lexicon defined jinn as anything that has the connotation of concealment and invisibility (Ahmad, 1998). They argue from the linguistic connotation of the word. Indeed that is the linguistic meaning of the word: veiled, concealed, hid, covered, or protected, him; (Lane, 1985).  It is interesting to note however, that no Arabic lexicon was compiled until the 8th century (200 years after The Prophet ﷺ),The first dictionary named Kitabu Al Ayn was compiled by Al Farahidi (Verstegh, 1997). It becomes obvious that the Prophet ﷺ, the companions and their followers didn’t translate the Quran by referring to the lexicons.  How then did they understand the Quran?  Allah says  “And We revealed to you the message [i.e., the Quran] that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought” (Quran 16:44) They understood the Quran by the explanation of the Prophet ﷺ, they asked the Prophet ﷺ for meaning of words and verses, they followed the understanding of The Prophet ﷺ who followed the explanation of Allah  “And when We have recited it to you [O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم through Jibrîl (Gabriel)], then follow its (the Qur’an’s) recital.Then it is for Us (Allâh) to make it clear (to you). (Quran 75:19)  So, did the Prophet ﷺ understand the word jinn in the Quran to mean any hidden creature? examples of snakes and women? Of course not. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Last night a big Ifreet from the Jinns came to me and wanted to interrupt my prayers (or said something similar) but Allah enabled me to overpower him. I wanted to fasten him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that all of you could See him in the morning but I remembered the statement of my brother Solomon (as stated in Quran): My Lord! Forgive me and bestow on me a kingdom such as shall not belong to anybody after me (38:35).” The sub narrator Rauh said, “He (the demon) was dismissed humiliated” (Bukhari 461).  From the Hadith, it is clear that only Prophet Sulyman could tie up the Jinn and control them, but everyone can tie up a snake and a woman. Allah says  And we have sought [to reach] the heaven but found it filled with powerful guards and burning flames.And we used to sit therein (in the skies) in positions for hearing, but whoever listens now will find a burning flame lying in wait for him. (Quran 72: 8-9) Is it not clear that snakes and women can’t fly up to the skies to listen to the information being passed by the Angels? Jinn refers to the delegate of the jews of Nasibin Ahmadis also believe that jinns refer to humans, and that the jinns mentioned in Surah Al Jinn refers to a group of men from the Jews of Nasibin (Valentine, 2008).  Allah says  “And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud. And the jinn We created before from scorching fire.” (Quran 15:27-28)” The Prophet ﷺ said  “They (bones and animal dung) are of the food of Jinns. The delegate of Jinns of (the city of) Nasibin came to me–and how nice those Jinns were–and asked me for the remains of the human food. I invoked Allah for them that they would never pass by a bone or animal dung but find food on them.” (Bukhari 3860).  According to the verse, The jinn were created before men from another substance (fire), which necessitates the fact that they are not men! Or does anyone believe all men were created from clay except the Jews of Nasibin? And they were created from fire? Of course not.  Interestingly, The Prophet ﷺ said In the  Hadith that the food for that group from Nasibin will be animal dung and bones, no Jewish tribe in history are known to have fed on animal dung and bones!. Jinns are bacterial and viruses (microorganisms) The Prophet ﷺ said bones and dungs are food for the jinn, and we now know microorganisms consume these things, Ahmadis believe He ﷺ must be referring to microorganisms, since there was no better word suitable for that in the language at that time (Ahmad, 1998)  However, Allah said  “O assembly of jinn and mankind! Did there not come to you messengers from amongst you, reciting unto you My Verses? [al-An’am 6:130] The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, There is not one of you who does not have a jinni appointed to be his constant companion. They said, And you too, O Messenger of Allah? He said, Me too, but Allah has helped me and he has submitted, so that he only helps me to do good. (Reported by Muslim, 2814) Translating the Jinn in these Ayah and Hadith to mean Microorganisms would be nonsensical. Conclusion The jinns are a creation that men can’t see  “he sees you, he (shaytan) and his tribe (the Jinn), from where you do not see them. (Quran 7:27) but must believe in, because Allah informed us of them, interpreting them to mean Microorganisms or anything other than what the

The ultimate business investments in this world are those with the potential of giving back at least 100x of your investments in the near future, therefore investing in tech startups with the potential of becoming a unicorn or investing in real estates are good business bargains.  Those who invested 100,000 Naira in real estate 20 years ago, in developing countries like Nigeria now have their investment portfolio valued at over 20 million Naira, and when Benchmark Capital invested 11 million dollars into Uber in 2011 they made 6.5 billion dollars (at 591x) after the Initial Public Offering (IPO).  The point is that investing in a low-risk high yield venture is a smart business move! Now that you are thinking about the business of earning money, let’s talk about a similar but infinitely more important business, the ultimate business of earning al-Jannatul firdaous. The most expensive and valuable real estate in existence. The Prophet said;  إِنَّ سِلْعَةَ اللَّهِ غَالِيَةٌ أَلَا إِنَّ سِلْعَةَ اللَّهِ الْجَنَّةُ Indeed, the commodity of Allah is expensive! Indeed, the commodity of Allah is Paradise This is not a metaphor! earning the paradise of Allah is indeed a business transaction, and only those who Allah bless with insight to understand the best prices to pay for paradise will achieve Jannatul firdaous. إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَىٰ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth (in exchange) for that they will have paradise Just as I have identified some low risk high yield businesses in the area of earning money, I now set out to identify for you, O seeker of Jannah, the high yield businesses that can leads to Jannatul firdaous.  Allah says in the Quran;  يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰ تِجَارَةٍ تُنْجِيكُمْ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ O believers, shall I direct you to a business that will save you from a painful punishment? Some of these businesses as identified by the Prophet are: In a narration, the Prophet identified these as the best deeds one can ever leave behind as a legacy when he is no more خَيْرُ مَا يُخَلِّفُ الرَّجُلُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ ثَلَاثٌ وَلَدٌ صَالِحٌ يَدْعُو لَهُ وَصَدَقَةٌ تَجْرِي يَبْلُغُهُ أَجْرُهَا وَعِلْمٌ يُعْمَلُ بِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِه The best of what a man leaves behind are three: a righteous child who supplicates for him, ongoing charity the reward of which reaches him, and knowledge that is acted upon after him In another narration, the prophet explained why these are the best investments to make with one’s life; إِذَا مَاتَ الْإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَنْهُ عَمَلُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ ؛ إِلَّا مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ، أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ، أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ When a man dies, all his deeds (reward) come to an end except (reward) from three (types of deed), an ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or a righteous child who prays for him. Combining these two narrations of this hadith we can now say that the best investment you can make that can earn you jannatul firdous are those that will continue to pay you dividends (hassanat) forever, long after you have become dust and bones, and there are only three in this category.  The easiest of these is that of facilitating beneficial knowledge, because there is no condition you can be in, except that you have some useful knowledge or some useful information that will benefit people. A man may say, how I wish I had a lot of wealth, I would have invested so much in ongoing charity, another may say, how I wish I have a righteous child who will outlive me and pray for me when am gone. But what excuse can a man have to not invest in teaching people beneficial knowledge that he has, or leading people to a place of acquiring beneficial knowledge with the information that he has? And if he says, I don’t have any beneficial knowledge to impact and am still learning myself, the answer is; you don’t have to be a scholar to benefit from the investment of knowledge, Allah says in the Quran  مَنْ يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُنْ لَهُ نَصِيبٌ مِنْهَا Whoever intercedes for a good cause will have a share therefrom Therefore, the one who has no capital to start a school or no expertise to teach people, can still be rewarded along those who are actively engaging in impacting knowledge, he only has to be able to direct people to the right places. The same scenario happened in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَقَالَ : إِنِّي أُبْدِعَ بِي فَاحْمِلْنِي. فَقَالَ : ” مَا عِنْدِي “. فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَنَا أَدُلُّهُ عَلَى مَنْ يَحْمِلُهُ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : ” مَنْ دَلَّ عَلَى خَيْرٍ فَلَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ فَاعِلِهِ A man came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: My riding beast has been killed, so give me some animal to ride upon. He (the Prophet) said: I have none with me. A man said: Messenger of Allah, I can guide him to one who will provide him with a riding beast. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: One who guides to something good has a reward similar to that of its doer. It is understandable from this narration that the sheik who teaches people the knowledge of the religion and the layman who invited people to the gathering of the sheik will both get the same reward, they have both made investments that will continue to reach them after they are dead and gone, they will both continue to get rewarded as long as the world remains, even if that’s a million years after their death! Albeit one of them studied for years to become proficient and the other only had to direct people to the right places, such is the blessing of Allah. In the world of today, one of the best opportunities to attain this everlasting reward is to direct people to such places where authentic knowledge can