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Page 6 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 5 Page 7 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 5
Biryani
(Servings for 10 - 12 people)
Ingredients:
- 2 lb mutton or chicken (pieces)
- 1/2 lb almonds
- 25 green chilies
- 1/4 lb cashews
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 pc. of turmeric
- 10 big sliced onions
- 12 cloves
- 1 lb butter
- 6 bits of cinnamon
- 2 lb rice
- 1 pc of ginger
- 8 cups of water
- 6 pads of cardamom
- coriander leaves
- little tapioca
- salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Stew meat for 20 minutes to soften.
2. Grind together chilies, coriander seeds and turmeric; set
aside.
3. Separately grind cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.
Also, grind and keep separate coconut, almond, cashews
and tapioca.
4. Fry onions in butter and add to it the first two grindings.
5. Add on-half onions, salt and a handful of coriander leaves
to the meat.
6. Fry rice in the remaining butter for 10 minutes - add water,
and stir well.
7. Add the meat, remaining onions and the third grinding.
8. Cover with clean cloth and kettle lid.
9. Cook over low heat.
10. Add more hot water if rice is not done in 20 minutes.
If the rice is done, then the Biryani is ready to be served.
The Story of Umme Hakim (R.A.)
Umme Hakim (R.A.) was the wife of Akrimah-bin-Abi-Jahl.
She participated in the battle of Uhud on the enemy side. She
embraced Islam on the fall of Mecca. She loved her husband
very much, who would not embrace Islam, on account that
his father despised Islam.
After the fall of Mecca, her husband fled to Yemen. Umme
Hakim (R.A.) secured a pardon for him from the Holy Prophet
(pbuh) and joined her husband in Yemen and induced him
to return back home. She told him, “You can be safe from
the sword of Mohammad (pbuh) only when you put yourself
in his lap.”
She returned with him to Madinah, where Akrimah embraced
Islam and the couple began to live together happily.
They both participated in the Syrian war during the
Caliphate of Abu Bakr (RAA). During another battle,
Akrimah was killed. Umme Hakim (R.A.) was remarried
to another Mujahid, Khalid-bin-Said (RAA). It was at a
place called Marja-us-Safr that her husband wanted to
meet her.
She said: “We have enemy concentrating on all fronts. We
shall meet after they are done away with.”
Khalid-bin-Said (RAA) said: “I am not sure if I will survive
this battle.”
They then shared the bed for the first time in a tent at that
place. Next day, Khalid-bin-Said (RAA) was arranging for the
Walimah when the enemy attacked with full force and he
was killed in the battle.
Umme Hakim (RAA) packed up her tent and other luggage,
and with a tent-peg in her hand, jumped in the battle
and fought ferociously with the enemy till she had killed
seven of them. In times of war, not to speak of woman,
but even no man would like to get married under such
circumstances.
Speaking of courage and valor, instead of mourning the
loss of her husband on the day of his death, she rushed
into the battlefield and killed seven of the enemy soldiers
single handed. What could be a better proof of the strength
of Imaan (faith) in the women of those times?
Architecture
Like every other Islamic discipline, architecture and its devel-
opment was very much influenced and directed by the Holy
Qur’an and its philosophy of life.
The spirit of Islamic faith was the unifying factor which kept
together different designs of building and molded them into a
style representing the spirit of Unity in multiplicity - a unique
characteristic of the Islamic architecture. It also reflects the
remarkable sense of harmony and equilibrium between the
different, and even the opposite elements.
This is because the keynote of the Islamic sciences, including
architecture, is the interdependence and interrelation of all
things in the Universe. There is complete equilibrium in Islamic
architectural designing, as well as in city planning, between the
natural environment and the natural forces and elements, like
water, air and light, which are essential to human life.
In planning their buildings for residence, worship or business and
the streets within the town area and for other basic necessities
of the city life, Muslim architects made the maximum use of the
natural factors available in the area. In hot areas, narrow streets
were built to preserve the cool air of the night during the hot
hours of the day.
When the temperatures were very high, wind towers were built
to ventilate residential buildings and low basements were used
during summer for spending the hot hours of noon and also for
cisterns to keep the water cool.
The Holy Qur’an presents the ideal architectural style which
offers the maximum comforts, joy and beauty to the residents
and is in complete equilibrium with the natural environment,
making the maximum use of the natural factors with the least
possible waste.
It is described in very simple words in Surah Al-Imran, “But
those who fear their Lord, for them are gardens underneath
which rivers flow, wherein they are to dwell forever. A gift of
welcome from their Lord.” (Qur’an 3:198)
And in Surah Al-Tawbah, we read, “Gardens underneath which
rivers flow, wherein they abide, and beautiful mansions in
gardens of everlasting bliss.” (Qur’an 9:72)
And in Surah Al-Sajdah is this revelation, “For those who believe
and do righteous good deeds, for them are gardens (Paradise)
as an entertainment, for what they used to do.” (Qur’an 32:19)
In other words, their normal residence will be in gardens with
all the usual facilities, comforts and peace of home but with the
added pleasure and joy of a natural environment.
The Qur’an further mentions some of the additional facilities
of these residential gardens in these words, “We shall soon
admit (them) to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath, - their
eternal home; and We shall admit them to shades, cool and
ever deepening.” (Qur’an 4:57)
And in Surah Al-Ra’d, we read, “A similitude of the garden
which is promised to the righteous! Beneath it rivers flow;
everlasting is the enjoyment thereof and its shade (cool and
temperate).” (Qur’an 13:35)
This quality of their blissful residence is clearly described in this
verse, “Reclining therein upon the couches, they will find there
neither (heat of) a Sun nor (the Moon’s) bitter cold. The shade
of the (garden trees) is close upon them and the clustered
fruits thereof hang low.” (Qur’an 76:13-14)
And in Surah Al-Mursalat, we read, “As to the righteous, they
shall be amidst (cool) shades and springs (of water). And
they shall have fruits such as they desire.” (Qur’an 77:41-42)
These descriptions of ideal buildings amidst a natural envi-
ronment stimulated architectural styles in the early Islamic Era
and produced architectural wonders such as the Alhambra of
Granada, the beautiful and massive mosques of Cordoba and
Seville, Medinat al-Zehra near Cordoba, the Dome of the Rock
of Jerusalem, the mosques of Istanbul, the Ibn Tulun Mosque of
Cairo and the Taj Mahal of Agra.
Innumerable mosques, palaces and castles in Spain, North Africa,
India, Turkistan, Iran and other Muslim countries bear evidence
of the grandeur and majesty of the architectural styles and modes
which sprang from the Qur’anic studies. The massive structural
beauty and simplicity of these buildings, especially of mosques
remind one of the Majesty and Greatness of The Creator.
Among many other aspects of the Islamic architecture, its iden-
tification with the environment is predominant.
It is the influence of the Qur’an and the Islamic faith that a Mus-
lim has always felt that his life on this Earth is that of a traveler
on a journey and that his permanent home is elsewhere. He has
therefore tried to live in peace and harmony with his environ-
ment with the least disturbance of the latter, and his architectural
designs and town planning fully reflect this philosophy of life.
Sayyed H Nasr in his article on Islamic Science states, “He has
thus lived in equilibrium with his environment because he has
submitted himself to the universal laws which dominate all levels
of existence and which are the metaphysical source of the laws
governing the natural world. He has lived in peace and harmony
with The Almighty and His Laws and therefore with the natural
environment which reflects on its own level the harmony and
the equilibrium of the universal order.”