Scenes of God’s forgiveness
France’s obsession with the Muslim headscarf
Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ismailra describes God’s forgiveness through a vision
A look at the law in France on the Hijab
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Those who abandon Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya cause no harm
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100 Years Ago... Ahmadiyyat in America and sincere Ahmadis in the UK
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THE WEEKLY
www.alhakam.org AL HAKAM | Friday 29 May 2020 | Issue CXV Ahmadiyya Archive & Research Centre (ARC), 22 Deer Park Road, London, SW19 3TL. UK info@alhakam.org | F: +44(0)208 544 7673
Menu of modern media The curiosity in humankind’s nature has been the main drive behind its pursuit of information. Before the invention of the printing press, sailors and wanderers would bring back information from distant lands, which was then passed on by word of mouth, from one person to another, one community to another. The printing press brought with it the facility of having such information recorded and, subsequently, be challenged if someone had a different version of the same story. Thanks once again to humankind’s curiosity, this storytelling developed into the business of reporting, which became popular at an unprecedented scale, so much so that publications had to be dedicated for this purpose. This is the shortest story of the birth of newspapers and its twin called journalism. When versions of the same story began to differ in core facts was when civilised society started to think about responsible journalism and thus came up the question of credibility, fact-finding and checks of various kinds. State censorships emerged at around the same stage, out of similar reasons. This potentially meant that all newspapers reported the same stories, which, commercially speaking, left no charm in the business. At this juncture, the predicament faced by the newspaper industry was how to be different and how to generate
Hadith-e-Rasul – Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa
The superiority of making peace and establishing justice among people Hazrat Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “There is a sadaqa to be given for every joint of the human body; and for every day on which the sun rises, there is a reward of a sadaqa [charitable gift] for the one who establishes justice among people.” (Sahih al-Bukhari) Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, In His Own Words
Three conditions of repentance
more revenue from circulation and advertisement. It was at this point that gossip was first introduced as a lifesaver for the budding (and already struggling) industry of journalism. The public was already intrigued to know what celebrities did behind closed doors. This genre, later to be termed as tabloid journalism, gained mass popularity as newspapers continued to reveal the everyday lives of celebrities. This led to scandals becoming the main lifeline of
journalism. The definition of celebrities, which was initially restricted to actors and actresses, expanded to take into its fold politicians and leaders. As the world of journalism evolved into mass media, politicians emerged as the most scandalous class and, naturally, one that generated more sales and profits. As we write these lines, actors and Continued on page 3
Repentance, in actuality, truly enables and reinforces the acquisition of good morals and makes a person complete. In other words, a person who desires a change in their immoral habits must first repent with a true heart and firm resolve. It ought to be borne in mind also that there are three conditions for repentance, without fulfilment of which true repentance cannot be achieved. The first of these three conditions is referred to as iqla in the Arabic language. That is to say, the discarding of one’s evil thoughts, which arouse evil propensities. The fact of the matter is that one’s ideas bear a very heavy influence. For every action takes on a form in Continued on page 3