I begin in the name of Allah, I praise Allah and I ask Allah to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This month we would like to talk to you about a very disturbing trend among many people to commit blasphemy when talking about matters to do with the weather.

I have often heard blasphemy committed by the anchor people on news shows and by weather people on the radio and television. Many times the blasphemy which is expressed is that the news person says that the weather man or woman creates the weather we have and is responsible for it. This is so common that we fear that people would get used to and not recognize it to be blasphemy.
As you know, Allah is the Creator of everything and Allah is the only Creator. Weather men and women do not create anything. If it is sunny it is not because a person willed and created it, nor if it is stormy is it because a person willed and created it. We can not suggest that people will and create the weather even if it is in joking and even if the person joking does not believe that the weather person really creates the weather.

Many evils arise when people start taking serious matters lightly. In the media nowadays, every thing is mocked and disrespected. In fact the One Whom we must respect the most, God, is One Who is mocked greatly. One must know without a doubt that mocking God is blasphemy. Those who mock God and do not repent will go to Hellfire forever after they die.

How can we help to stop this terrible trend? We should be aware and active. When I say “aware” I mean we do not need to stop listening to all the media. In fact, if we listen to the media to know what people are saying so we can correct them this can be a beneficial thing. This is where the word “active” comes in. It is not always enough just to know that something is wrong but sometimes we must act to correct the misguidance and to try to prevent misguidance from spreading.

But...our action must be wise. We must start with our heart and check that our reason for acting is really because we have genuine concern for the belief of the people. We must realize that some people have never heard the true knowledge of Islam. If we begin by attacking those people their first impression of us may make them stay away from us and refuse a truly good advise.

It is wise to have good manners with people even when correcting them. Again, remember, the reason you are correcting them is because you hope that they will accept the advice, and repent. If you are hostile, they probably will not lean towards you, but instead will be repelled.

One way you can start being aware and active about this particular blasphemy is the following: When you hear some news people saying something which sounds wrong to you, record the incident. Be careful to record it in the proper way by writing: “Some one on TV said”...and then writing the statement, for to simply write blasphemy is blasphemy. Record the name of the person who said it, the channel and show, and the date and time it was said. Notice if the other people laughed and enjoyed the bad statement made by the co-worker. Remember, to like blasphemy is blasphemy. To laugh at and enjoy a blasphemous statement someone else said is blasphemy.

The First “Dear Youth...” Test

We have prepared a test for you about what we have taught in the past about the Prophets of Allah.
We would like to ask you some questions. If you answer these questions correctly, then this shows you understood the material. Please know that it is very important that you do not guess at these questions. All of the answers to these questions can be found in the previous “Dear Youth...” articles. Please find the answers if you do not remember them. Email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
These are the questions:

1. What is the name of the first Prophet of Allah?

2. What is the first thing which Allah created?

3. What is the second thing which Allah created?

4. What other things did Allah create before He created the first man?

5. What was the first man created from?

6. What did Allah create the first woman from?

7. What is the name of the man whom we all come from?

8. Where did the first man live before he lived on Earth?

9. How many years did he live there?

10. What is the first sin committed by a human?

11. The first man and woman repented from their sin. What happens to the sin when a person repents of it?

12. What is the name of the place to which Prophet Adam descended to when he came from Paradise to Earth?

13. What great building did Prophet Adam build in Makkah?

14. Mention some of the things which Prophet Adam had the knowledge of how to do.

15. How long did Prophet Adam live?

16. Prophet Adam never blasphemed. Give 3 examples of blasphemy mentioned in our article.

17. Give 3 examples of sins which are less than blasphemy mentioned in our article.

18. Name the two sons of Prophet Adam which were involved in the first murder (the murderer and the murdered).

19. What city was Prophet Adam buried in?

20. What is the name of the Prophet after Prophet Adam?

21. The second Prophet was also a Messenger. What is the special distinction of a Messenger?

22. How long did the second Prophet live?

23. What is the name of the third Prophet?

24. Where was the third Prophet born?

25. How many booklets were received by the third Prophet?

As we said before, do not guess at these questions. Instead it is a good idea to print out all the “Dear Youth...” articles from the internet (there are six previous articles) and then re-read all the articles and you will find that all the answers are clearly in the articles. Do not make your answers more than what is in the articles. The best answer will be the one most accurate, not necessarily the one with the most words.
Once you have all the articles printed out, share them with some friends who may not have access to the internet, and encourage them to complete the test as well.

Prophet Idris

Now, we would like to continue with the true story of Prophet Idris. As we said in our last article, Prophet Idris left Babylon with some of his followers.

This move was hard for the followers of Prophet Idris. They said to him: “If we leave Babylon, where will we find a place like it?”. Prophet Idris replied: “If we immigrate for the sake of Allah, He will provide for us.”
So some of Prophet Idris’s followers went with Prophet Idris and they traveled until they reached the land of Egypt. Notice on a map that they went South-west from their original city of Babylon. When they reached Egypt they saw the Nile River. The Nile is a very long and wide river. Rivers are important for providing water for drinking, washing, crops and boats can sail on them. Prophet Idris was grateful to God that He had guided them to this great river. He stood at its bank and said “Subhanallah” which means “God is without imperfection”.

Prophet Idris stayed in Egypt with those who came with him and he preached Islam to the people. He kept reminding them that we must worship our Creator and we must not worship other than our Creator. All the people believed in the message of Islam and no people associated partners with God. No people believed that God has a son. No people believed that God is our father. All the people believed that God is our Creator and God is not similar to His creation.
Prophet Idris informed the people that there is a place called Hellfire and that they should protect themselves from entering it. He told the people how to pray, fast, pay zakah, and he ordered them to do so. Prophet Idris told the people that all intoxicating drinks were forbidden.

When thinking about what it was like during the time of Prophet Idris, don’t imagine that the people of the earth were a small group of believers all speaking the same language. God-willing in the next “Dear Youth...” we will tell you about the number of languages spoken during the time of Prophet Idris and will conclude our story about this great and honorable Prophet of God.
We hope to know about you, our readers. Let us know what you like to learn about from among the vast Islamic knowledge and we will try to present it to you. We ask Allah to bless you and protect you.

As-salamu ^alaykum wa rahmatullah!