Heavenly Jewels

with shoulders." "Does a horse have shoulders?" he enquired to which she said, "Have you not heard of the shoulders of the horses possessed by Hazrat Sulaiman �I?" Hearing this Rassoollalah � smiled. (Aim Dawood) It can be deduced from this Hadeeth, that girls can play with dolls and it is also known from it that they should be kept in a Purdah (covering) so that they cannot be seen. They are not objects for decoration and displaying. Due to the fact that small children do not possess this level of understanding, it is up to the elders of the house to be mindful of this law. Negligence must not be demonstrated lest the home becomes bereft ofangels ofmercy and Barkat. CORRECTION OF PRACTICES In every stage of life, e.g. Birth, circumcision, Aqeeqa, marriage etc there are many practices of Muslims. These practices vary across geographic divide and within different families. No one believes them to be Waaj ib, Sunnat or Mustahab according to the Shariah rather they are based on Urf (general practice) . Until a practice is not said to be Haraam by the Shariah or goes against it, it cannot be termed disallowed. Care should be taken in fulfi lling this rule and without credible proofprohibiting these actions is oppressive. However, there are many ills that have propped up within Muslims, e.g. intermingling of sexes, patronizing cinemas and music shows song and dance, wastage of wealth on vain practices and objects, l ighting fireworks etc. Allah� states, • 1)yi5' "" ) j�1 jl.) ) b;> �I "And spend not extravagantly." (Surah Bani Israeel, Verse 26) Muslims need to make a concerted effort to l ive their lives according to the requirements of Islam and rid themselves of actions and customs 229