BRASS TACKS MISSION

n the words of Zaid Hamid sahib, the founder of BrassTacks, "Our organization is Pakistan, our identity is Islam, and our constitution is the quran". We represent nothing other than this. Our mission is to revive our pristine religious values, and helping create awareness among the people so they can understand the finer, subtle truths of our Islamic wisdom in relation to our current situation. Specifically, some of the salient points related to our mission are as follows:

1. Strengthen the people's belief in Pakistan. Promote the study of our history and the thoughts and speeches of Allama Iqbal and Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Familiarize the people with the Pakistan ideology, rekindle the spirit of patriotism, and counter and dispel any false propaganda against Pakistan.

2. Publish literature and video programs to educate the general public and government officials on key issues of national security, thus empowering them with the knowledge to take correct policy decisions.

3. Expose and suggest counter measures against the conspiracies of foreign agencies which are actively working to destabilize and divide us.

4. Free Pakistan from the vicious trap of interest-based economic and banking system which has artifically and fraudulantly indebted the whole nation to billions of dollars of loan.

5. Introduce the true 100% interest-free gold-based Islamic economic system in Pakistan. Publish credible research to demonstrate its economic soundness in modern times.

6. Rekindle the spirit of patriotism and brotherhood among the people, and introduce a culture of zakat-based spending, ecounraging the provision of free food to people under the Islamic concept of "Taam-el-miskeen".

7. Restore a sense of honor and dignity in the nation by reintroducing our people to their glorious Islamic heritage and pristine cultural and moral values.

8. Create awareness against foreign threats to Pakistan's strategic water, mineral and power resources, including the saftey and continuity of our nuclear defence program.

9. Promote and lobby for legal and constitutional reforms to reflect the true spirit of the Quran and Sunnah.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Name: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Where: Abu Dhabhi (UAE)
Opened : Dec 2007
SIze: The total building area exceeds 22,412 m^², about the size of five football fields.
Capacity: 40,000 worshippers

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is named after the United Arab Emirates' late founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, is not off-limits to non-Muslims. The biggest mosque in the UAE and considered within the Top 10 biggest mosques in the world.

The mosque has four minarets on the four corners of the mosque with a height of about 107 metres each. The mosque consists of 57 domes covering the outside yards, main and side entrances. All the domes of the mosque are decorated with white marble and the interior decor was made of the white gypsum. The best types of the colored floral marble and mosaics have been used to pave the courtyard of the mosque which is about 17,000 square metres.

BEAUTIFUL MAKKAH PICTURE

In Saudi Arabia, Within the City Of Makkah, you will find a grand mosque called 'Al-Haram Shareef'. Within this blessed and very holy mosque is the 'Kaabah Shareef', built by Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Hazrat Ismail (Ishmael). This is the place where millions of muslims from across the globe unite annually and perform The Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage, an obligation for all able muslims who have the health and wealth to perform it atleast once in their lifetime, One of the 5 Pillars Of Islam.

The Fatimid Empire

The Fatimids had their origins in Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria). The dynasty was founded in 909 byˤAbdullāh al-Mahdī Billah, who legitimised his claim through descent from Muhammadby way of his daughter Fātima as-Zahra and her husband ˤAlī ibn-Abī-Tālib, the firstShīˤa Imām, hence the name al-Fātimiyyūn "Fatimid".

Abdullāh al-Mahdi's control soon extended over all of central Maghreb, an area consisting of the modern countries ofMorocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which he ruled from Mahdia, his newly-built capital in Tunisia.

The Fatimids entered Egypt in the late 900s, conquering the Ikhshidid dynasty and founding a new capital at al-Qāhira(Cairo) in 969.^[12] The name was a reference to the planet Mars, "The Subduer", which was prominent in the sky at the moment that city construction started. Cairo was intended as a royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliph and his army, though the actual administrative and economic capital of Egypt was in cities such as Fustat until 1169. After Egypt, the Fatimids continued to conquer the surrounding areas until they ruled from Tunisia to Syria and even crossed over into Sicily and southernItaly.

Under the Fatimids, Egypt became the center of an empire that included at its peak North Africa, Sicily, Palestine,Lebanon, Syria, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Yemen and the Hejaz^{[citation needed]}. Egypt flourished, and the Fatimids developed an extensive trade network in both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Their trade and diplomatic ties extended all the way to China and its Song Dynasty, which eventually determined the economic course of Egypt during the High Middle Ages.

Unlike other governments in the area, Fatimid advancement in state offices was based more on merit than on heredity. Members of other branches of Islam, like the Sunnis, were just as likely to be appointed to government posts as Shiites. Tolerance was extended even to non-Muslims such as Christians and Jews, who occupied high levels in government based on ability.^{[citation needed]} There were, however, exceptions to this general attitude of tolerance, most notably Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

The Fatimid palace was two parts. it used to be in the Khan el-Khalili area at Bin El-Quasryn street[1]

BIRTH PLACE OF HOLY PROPHET (P.B.U.H)

Birth Place of The Holy Prophet
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was born on the early morning of Monday the 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal (April 3rd, 571 AD) in Makkah. He was named Muhammad (the Praised one, peace be upon him) by his grand-father Abdul Muttalib. The ravages of time have destroyed the original building but the place is the same where stood Abdullah's house the father of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), who belonged to the family of Hashim the noblest tribe of the clan of Quresh.

The Ummayad Empire

The gains of the Ummayad empire were consolidated upon when the Abbasid dynasty rose to power in 750, with the conquest of the Mediterranean islands including the Balearics and Sicily.^[2] The new ruling party had been instated on the wave of dissatisfaction propagated against the Ummayads, cultured mainly by the Abbasid revolutionary, Abu Muslim.^[3][4] Under the Abbasids, Islamic civilization flourished. Most notable was the development of Arabic prose and poetry, termed by The Cambridge History of Islam as its "golden age."^[5] This was also the case for commerce and industry (considered a Muslim Agricultural Revolution), and the arts and sciences (considered a Muslim Scientific Revolution), which prospered, especially under the rule of Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur (ruled 754 — 775), Harun al-Rashid (ruled 786 — 809), al-Ma'mun (ruled 809 — 813), and their immediate successors.^[6]

jama masjid

he Masjid-i Jahān-Numā (Persian: مسجد جھان نما, the 'World-reflecting Mosque'), commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is the largest and best-known mosque in India. It lies at the origin of a very busy central street of Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk.

The later name, Jāmi' Masjid, is a reference to the weekly Friday noon congregation prayers of Muslims, which are usually done at a mosque, the "congregational mosque" or "jāmi' masjid". The courtyard of the mosque can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers. The mosque also houses several relics in a closet in the north gate, including a copy of the Qur'an written on deer skin.

QUBA MOSQUE

- It was the first mosque to be built in Medina. Allah, the Exalted, praised this Mosque and those who maintained it, "There is a Mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on Piety; it is more worthy of thy standing forth [for Prayer] therein. In it are men who love to be purified, and Allah loveth those who make themselves pure." Thereupon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to them, "What is the good thing you are performing in this Mosque that Allah has so highly praised you?" They said, "We use both stone and water for purification."

2.It has been narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to ride his camel and visit Quba' every Saturday and Monday. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever performs ablution at home, then comes to Quba' Mosque to perform Prayer therein, will get the reward as for `Umrah."

3.It has also been reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Whoever prays in Quba' Mosque on Monday and Thursday is given the reward as for `Umrah."

history part 2

Photo: Crowds at the small town of Mina cast pebbles at pillars that symbolize evil.

The major rites of the hajj begin on the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah when, with thunderous cries of "Labbayk!" the pilgrims pour out of Mecca to Mina, where, as the Prophet did, they meditate overnight. On the next day they proceed en masse to 'Arafat, even farther outside Mecca, and pray and meditate in what is the central rite of the pilgrimage: "the standing" - a few precious hours of profound self-examination, supplication, and penance in which, many say, a Muslim comes as close to God as he can, on earth.

At 'Arafat many actually do stand - from just after noon to just before sunset - but some also visit other pilgrims or the Mount of Mercy, where Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon. The standing is not the end of the hajj, but is the culmination of a Muslim's devotional life. As the Prophet said, "The best of prayers is the prayer of the Day of 'Arafat."

After sunset the pilgrims move to a place called Muzdalifah, where they gather stones for the "throwing of the pebbles" or "stoning of the pillars," and then pray and sleep. The third day of the pilgrimage, back at Mina, they enact a repudiation of evil by throwing the pebbles at a pillar held by many to represent Satan. According to one tradition it was in this area that Satan urged Abraham to disobey God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. At Mina too, begins 'Id al-Adha, the great worldwide Feast of Sacrifice during which the pilgrims sacrifice animals - partly to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son and partly to symbolize a Muslim's willingness to sacrifice what is dearest to him. As Muslims throughout the world perform identical sacrifices on the same day, the Muslims at Mina in effect share their pilgrimage with Muslims everywhere.

history part 1

Photo: Dressed in their simple ihram garments, all pilgrims are equal in the eyes of God.

The hajj proper must be made between the eighth and thirteenth days of the 12th month - Dhu al-Hijjah - of the Muslim year, but in one sense it begins when a Muslim approaches Mecca, bathes, trims his nails and hair, discards jewelry and headgear, and puts on the ihram dress. This consists of two simple white seamless garments symbolizing a state of purity; in donning it pilgrims make a declaration of pilgrimage and pronounce a devotional utterance called the talbiyah: "Here I am, O God, at Thy Service" - in Arabic the joyous cry "Labbayk!" After donning the ihram dress, the pilgrims may enter the haram, the sacred precinct surrounding Mecca, and then Mecca itself, where they perform the tawaf - the circling of the Ka'bah - and the sa'y - the running between two hills at al-Mas'a in Mecca. All this can be part of the 'umrah or "lesser pilgrimage," often a prelude to the hajj but not an integral part of it. One of the main distinctions between the hajj and the 'umrah is that the 'umrah can be done at any time of the year, while the hajj must be performed on specified dates.