Dear reader, In The Name of Allah, The Compassionate, the Most Merciful “Noor Al Islam” – Thirty years and Continuing The light of Islam shined with the dawn of prophecies, and its glow and glitter increased with the mission of the Seal of Prophets and the Master of All Messengers - our Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him and His Household). From the embers of this luminous divine light which shined on existence and dispersed the darkness of ignorance, disbelief, and oppression, “Noor Al Islam” Magazine kindled its first In the name of Allah, torch thirty years ago. No soon, it got ready and detected its track to commence in the procession of responsibility and duties in the march of the Beneficent, the Merciful those advancing to raise the Word of Allah Al Mighty in Earth and deep- root the pillars of His noble religion and solemn values in minds and souls and in the movement of the society, particularly in this difficult time we are living in and which is pregnant with major and rapid changes. It is a time of mighty pressures practiced on our generations and communities to derail them and rob them from inside until totally No. 217 - 218, March / April 2018 demolishing their pillars and principles. Praise be to Allah Al Mighty, Jamada 1 / Jamada 2 1439 H the magazine is still carefully carrying, along with the faithful who sponsor it, the trust of this sacred torch, seeking with all its might that every word that embellish its papers and every phrase expressed by its lines, be a blink of guidance, a lantern for awareness, and a guide for the path of reform and renaissance. It is not surprising that the magazine is the paramount promising fruit of Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him) Foundation (the branch of Lebanon). This charitable and cultural foundation has various activities and contributions in the field of culture, spreading the Call of Islam, education, and development. Praise be to Allah, it could found active centers and institutions concerned, with noticeable competence, in all of these vital fields in several Arab and Islamic countries and some states Chief Editor in Africa and Northern America… Thus the magazine sought to reflect these goals and noble expectations and make them fixed axes and topics for its articles, chapters, reports, and diversified intellectual, literary, and scientific corners and columns. The main goal of the magazine is to contribute in founding social- religious awareness based on the moral-humanistic-cultural course asserted by Islam that meant it to be a method for life and conduct for its followers. It is intended to build an Islamic personality able to deal Ranya Mahdi Tanana To be Continued on page 22 CONTENTS 3 Muslims in Ghana (Reportage) 23 Types Khula’ and Mubarat (Fiqh) Maurice Bucaille: An inspiring conversion to Islam 25 (Welcome to Islam) Teachings of Sayyeda Zainab (S.A.) (Occasions) 28 Around the World 31 All correspondence to: Noor Al Islam, DISTRIBUTORS P.O. Box: 25/156, Beirut - Lebanon U.S.A. Tel: 961.5.461242 Mr. Youssef Abdallah 961.3.672260 15111 W. Warren Dearborn, MI. 48126 U.S.A. Fax: 961.5.461236 Mobile: (313) 3507900 www: nooralislam.net Canada: email: [email protected] Mr. Muhammad Jomaa, P.O. Box: 73088 Price 2300 Lawrence Ave. E. Lebanon: 3000 L.L. - Syria: 50 Liras - Scarborough, ON. MIP 4Z5, Tel: (416) 4968842 Iraq 1000 Dinars - Jordan: 1.5 Dinar - Fax: (416) 4969753 Kuwait: 1 Dinar - Saudi Arabia: 12 Senegal: Riyals - Oman: 1.25 Riyals - Bahrain: 1 L’Institution Islamique Sociale, B.P. 1213 - Dinar - U.A.E.: 12 Dhs - Qatar: 12 Rs - Dakar Egypt: 5 Pounds - Sudan: 2000 Pounds Ghana: - Morocco: 25 Dhs - Tunisia: 1.5 Dinar Imam Hussain (a.s.) Foundation - Algeria: 15 Dinars - Yemen: 500 P.O. Box: 16086 Kotoka International Airport, Accra Riyals - U.S.A., Canada & Europe: $4 - Iran Cyprus: 1.5 Pounds - Other countries: Imam Hussain (a.s.) Foundation U.S $4 or equivalent. P.O. Box: 979/37185, Qom Yearly Subscription Kenya: in U.S. Dollars: Madrasat Al-Rasoul Al Akram (P.B.U.H.) Lebanon: $25 P.O. Box: 33058, Nairobi. U.S.A. & Canada & Australia: $100 Pakistan: Other Countries: $50 Imam Hussain (a.s.) University, SC-19, Chandi Chowk, University Rd. Karachi. Noor Al Islam only publishes what is in India: line with its message. Najafi House, 159 Nishanpada Rd. Bombay All articles are classified according to 400009 technical necessity not according to the Nigeria: writer’s importance. Imam Hussain Foundation P.O. Box.: 643 Okene - Kogi State E-mail: [email protected] facebook: www.facebook.com/ Nooralislam.magazine n oppressio g in g Reportage en ll a h Challenging oppressionChallenging C Muslims In Ghana 3 Location: The Republic of Ghana is located along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. It is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana map Area and Population country (Ashanti Region). The middle Reportage Spanning an area of 239,567 km2, Ghana of the country is a hill made up of sandy has a population of 27,043,093 as of 2014 rocks that ascends in its eastern part. estimate. Its capital is Accra. Ghana has a vast river system with an Ghana is a largely Christian country as array of tributaries – the White Volta 69% of the Ghanaians are Christians, being the most famous besides the although a sizable Muslim congregation Black Volta and Oti River. A Dam was of 27% exists; some also practice constructed over Volta River which is traditional and indigenous beliefs. considered one of the main and most The official language is English though important developmental projects in the some of the population talk internal tribal country creating before it Lake Volta dialects and the Arabic Language. The which is by artificial surface the largest currency is the Ghana cedi (GH₵). reservoir in the world. Geography: Climate: 4 Ghana mainly encompasses plains which The climate of Ghana is both equatorial stretch in the north and the south of the and tropical. The southern area is dominated by an equatorial climate, Empire in 1067. Later on, the empire was while the northern and the middle areas merged with the other coastal empires. have a tropical climate. There are two Geographically, the Empire of Ghana main seasons: the wet season and the dry was some 800 kilometres to the north and season. It is affected by the Harmattan west of present-day Ghana. It controlled season and the dry dusty wind which the territories spreading from the River of blows from the Sahara Desert. Senegal eastwards towards the rivers of Niger, Senegal, Mauritania, and present- History day Mali. The etymology of the word Ghana Historically, the territory of the means “warrior king” and was the title southern part of Ghana was included accorded to the kings of the medieval in the Kingdom of Ashanti, one of the Ghana Empire in West Africa, which most influential states in sub-Saharan fame reached Europe and the Arab Africa in the 18th and 19th Century Peninsula. However, it was disintegrated prior to the onset of colonialism. 5 after the invasion of the Almoravid It gained its independence from the Imam Ali (AS) Educational Center- Tamale United Kingdom in 1957 (1377 A.H.), Form of Government: Reportage and it was the first colony in West Pursuant to the current constitution, Africa to gain independence. With its Ghana is a republic headed by a president independence, Ghana changed its name elected by the people for a four-year from the Gold Coast – the name given to term, renewable once – meaning the it by the British colonizers – to Ghana. president’s utmost tenure is 8 years. The independence of Ghana crowned Ghana is a presidential constitutional a procession of national struggle led by democracy. The Parliament of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah – the first president is the legislative power, the cabinet of independent Ghana since the end of consists of the Ministers of the Ghanaian World War I and the spread of the wave of Government, and the Council of State national liberation movements among the consists of the Ghanaian Parliament. occupied peoples in Asia and Africa. The The executive power is exercised by the national liberation movement in Ghana president (also head of government) and commenced by the formation of the the government. 6 United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) The legislative body constitutes one in 1947 presided by Kwame Nkrumah council - the Parliament of Ghana which after his return from Britain. No soon he has 275 members and is elected by was arrested; however, when set free, he universal suffrage after every four years. formed the Convention People’s Party The judicial power is the Supreme Court (CPP) with the motto “self-government of Ghana which is formed of the head of now”. the court and 12 judges. The CPP won the municipal elections in 1950, and Nkrumah became the first Prime Economy Minister of the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1952. Ghana is one of the most economically Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings advanced countries in Africa rich in its won as president in the first Ghanaian agriculture, water, and mineral resources. presidential elections which took place in However, the dominance of foreign and 1992. The presidential elections of 2000 European capitals over the economic saw the first civil president sworn into potencies had diminished its national office after long years of military rule. economic revenues. What also affected the economic crisis are the global forty slave castles or large commercial price dispersion of minerals and export forts used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade products (cocoa, banana, coconut) and when the state was a British colony.