Invitation To Dialogue

Moderate Muslim

2011-01-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Who is a "Moderate" Muslim?

On December 18th, 2010 the Toronto Star published an article that advocated the banning of not only the Niqab (face covering) and Burqa (full body covering), but also the Hijab (head covering).

The article stated, "The burqa and niqab represent a tradition that views women as sexual objects, temptresses who, with the flash of an ankle, can bring men (weak creatures incapable of resisting this temptation) to their knees. It's a repugnant value system and I reject it. So should all Canadians who embrace secular feminism. So let's ban the burqa, the niqab, and while we're at it, the hijab."

The article used the term "moderate Muslim" to describe the person who stated that, "The law of the veil is not only humiliating to women, but it is an insult to men."

"Moderate Muslim": An Islamic Measure?
The article gives an opportunity to examine the practice of the media, opportunistic politicians and others who praise some as "moderate Muslims" and denounce other Muslims as "militant," "radical" and "extremist." It can be tempting to present oneself as part of the camp that is not cast in a negative light. However, before using terms such as "moderate Muslims" and "extremist Muslims," we need to understand what each of the terms mean.

What does it mean to be a "moderate Muslim"? Who exactly are the "extremists"?

Some may argue that these words are harmless, and that they are simply a way to distinguish between "good" and "bad" Muslims. CNN labeled Algeria as "extremist" for banning the import of alcohol. Prior to this ban, Algeria was considered "moderate."

To analyze this (or any) issue, we must first refer back to the Qur'an and Sunnah. Did RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم divide the Sahaba (ra) into "moderates" and "extremists"? Did the Sahaba (ra) measure each other by scales of "moderation" or "extremism"? Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

"Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you." [al-Hujraat, 49:13]

Therefore, the measure of people is not in how extremist or moderate they are, but rather in their righteousness. Dividing Muslims into "moderates" and "extremists" is an innovation in Islam. It was never professed by the early generation of Muslim scholars, and has been only recently introduced into the Islamic discourse.

Making Islam Look Undesirable
The reality of this discourse is to make Islam look undesirable. The media, think tanks, and politicians denounce Islam as "militant," "radical" and "extremist" so that Muslims feel threatened when they practice their Deen. Some examples include:

Abstaining from Alcohol: Muslims are considered extremist for forbidding Muslims from purchasing alcohol within the Muslim lands! CNN reported: "A surprise vote by Algeria's parliament to ban the import of alcoholic drinks in the moderate Muslim country marks the return of Islamic extremism..." We can see that the media considers consuming alcohol as the hallmark of a "moderate" Muslim. Conversely, one who forbids Muslims from consuming alcohol is an "extremist."

Wearing the Hijab: The Toronto Star - a left-leaning paper in one of the most tolerant cities in Canada - demonized the Hijab and called for it to be banned! The Star article cited earlier praised the "moderate Muslim" for despising the ruling prescribed by Allah سبحانه وتعالى for women to cover their hair, wear the Jilbab (body covering), and for men and women to maintain their modesty when dealing with one another. Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰ أَنْ يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

"Oh Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters and the believing women to draw their cloaks all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known so as not to be annoyed." [Al-Ahzab, 33:59]

وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ

"And (for women) to draw their head-coverings (khumur) over their necks and upper chests (Juyub)." [An-Nur, 24:31]

Abandoning the Khilafah: A RAND Publication, "Building Moderate Muslim Networks," states: "Whether a political philosophy derives from Western or Quranic sources, to be considered democratic it must unequivocally support pluralism and internationally recognized human rights...Support for democracy implies opposition to concepts of the Islamic state... Muslim moderates hold the view that no one can speak for God. Rather, it is the consensus of the community (ijma), as reflected in freely expressed public opinion, that determines what God's will is in any particular case."

This directly attacks the concept of Khilafah as established by RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم. We are well aware that the Sahaba (ra), who succeeded the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, established the Khilafah, where the State applied the Ahkam Shar'iah based on the Qur'an, the Sunnah, Ijma-as-Sahaba, and Qiyas. They never implemented laws based on the collective whims of the people.

Therefore, think tanks, media personalities, and certain politicians define a "moderate" Muslim as someone who is willing to abandon the commands of Allah سبحانه وتعالى whenever it conflicts with liberal values that emanate from the secular creed (Aqeedah). On the other hand, a Muslim who abides by the commandments of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is deemed an extremist and someone who should be shunned by society.

Dangers of Compromise
We should also be aware of the dangers of compromise. We may be tempted to curtail our Islamic practices in the hope of being considered moderate. However, Allah سبحانه وتعالى has warned us against such a practice:

وَدُّوا لَوْ تُدْهِنُ فَيُدْهِنُونَ

"They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you." [al-Qalam, 68:9]

Although this tactic of promoting "moderate Muslims" is recent, it is in actuality nothing new. The colonial powers have been working for centuries to make the Muslims adopt secularism as their sole reference point. This vision to engender a colonized mentality was articulated in 1854 by Mountstuart Elphinstone, who said, "we must not dream of perpetual possession, but must apply ourselves to bring the natives into a state that will admit of their governing themselves in a manner that may be beneficial to our interests..."

Remaining Steadfast
Muslims today have fallen upon severely trying times. We cannot pick up a newspaper, turn on the television or surf the internet without being exposed to accusations and lies leveled against our Deen, our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, or our Ummah. This pressure has compelled some to explain Islam in a manner that appeases its critics - with the hopes of being considered "moderate" themselves. We must not fall into this trap. Instead, we must first strengthen our ties to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and recall that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has warned us about such trials:

وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَذًى كَثِيرًا

"You will certainly hear much that is hurtful from those who were given the Book before you, and from the Mushrikin (polytheists)." [al-Imran, 3:186]

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ
وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ۖ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ

"Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: ‘We believe,' and will not be tested. We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make (it) known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make (it) known (the falsehood of) those who are liars, (although Allah knows all that before putting them to test)." [al-Ankaboot, 29:2-3]

And RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم warned us that: "A time is going to come on people when remaining steadfast on Deen will be like holding a burning coal in one's hand." [At-Tirmidhi]

In this climate of Fitna (trial), we must reaffirm our commitment to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, work hard to maintain our Islamic identity, and be confident in that which the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم brought us. Allah سبحانه وتعالى promised us:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ

"O you who believe! If you support Allah, Allah will support you." [Muhammad, 47:7]

We should also recognize that the real goal of our existence is to attain the pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and be resurrected amongst the companions of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم. Consequently, we must endure whatever trial we may be afflicted with and remain steadfast on the duty that we have been entrusted with. A believer is never at loss when he or she endures for the sake of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, as he or she is working for a reward that is eternal: Jannah.

RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "The affair of the believer is amazing! The whole of his life is beneficial, and that is only in the case of the believer. When good times come to him, he is thankful and it is good for him, and when bad times befall him, he is patient and it is also good for him." [Muslim]

If we look to the Sahaba (ra), we will find in them excellent examples of persistence and steadfastness. They were faced with trials similar to ours where the disbelievers used tactics of labelling Islam. The People of the Book attempted to make Islam look crooked in order to create obstacles for the message of Islam. Allah سبحانه وتعالى revealed:

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ تَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا وَأَنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءُ ۗ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

"Say: O followers of the Book! Why do you hinder him who believes from the way of Allah? You seek (to make) it crooked, while you are witness, and Allah is not heedless of what you do." [Al-Imran, 3:99]

Quraysh also used propaganda to label RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Sahaba (ra) as extreme elements of society. Although the terminology they used was different, their goal was similar: to put pressure on the Muslims so that they would conform to the Kufr thoughts, emotions, and laws of the Quraysh. For example, Al-Waleed bin Al-Mughirah led the effort to devise a propaganda strategy to isolate RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم. Some ideas (e.g. labeling him a poet, soothsayer, one possessed by Jinn, etc) were rejected because they were unrealistic. They settled on labeling him a sorcerer with words who broke up families.

Despite this climate of Fitna and fear, RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Sahaba (ra) stood firm in their Deen and did not buckle under the pressure. Instead the sahaba (ra) displayed great courage. For example, when RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Sahaba (ra) were living in Makkah (i.e. before the Hijrah), Abdullah bin Mas'ood (ra) said that he would make Quraysh listen to the Qur'an. So, one morning he went to the Ka'aba and read the Qur'an aloud, whereupon the people of Quraysh attacked him. When he returned to the Sahaba (ra), they said: "This is what we feared would happen to you." He said, "Allah's enemies were never more contemptible in my sight than they are now, and if you like I will go and do the same thing again tomorrow."

Allah سبحانه وتعالى eventually made them victorious over their enemies in this world, and granted them His pleasure in the Hereafter:

رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ

"Allah is well pleased with them as they are well pleased with Him." [at-Tawba, 9:100]

If we desire Allah's سبحانه وتعالى pleasure, we must follow the example of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم and his companions (ra) and, inshAllah, we will be amongst those whom Allah سبحانه وتعالى is pleased with.

May Allah سبحانه وتعالى give us the strength and resolve to endure the tribulations of our times and always be at the forefront of carrying the mission of Islam and returning the implementation of the Deen of Allah to this world. Ameen.

وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ

"So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers." [al-Imran, 3:139]

Victory (Nasr)

2010-04-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

The True Understand of Victory (Nasr) being from Allah

“Verily those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the way of Allah and so they will continue to spend it, but in the end will become an anguish for them. They will be overcome and those disbelievers will be gathered in Hell" [TMQ Al-Anfal: 36].

Ibn Kathir in his Tafseer mentions that this verse was revealed during the battle of Badr in particular concerning Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. Moments before the battle it is narrated that Abu Sufyan delivered a speech calling on the Quraish to donate their wealth for the war (harb) and in particular to get rid of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) once and for all.

He also narrates from Ibn Abbas (ra) from Mujahid (ra) that it was revealed concerning Abu Sufyan because he donated his wealth to kill the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam).

Dahhak (ra) said: "This verse was revealed concerning the people of Badr and all those capable of doing (what the ayah mentions). The Sabab an Nuzul (circumstance of revelation) was concerning a specific incident i.e. at Badr. Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) has informed us that the Kuffar will spend their wealth so as to hinder people from following the Tareeqa (path) of Haq (truth), and they spend their wealth for this purpose until they become miserable … they wish to extinguish the light of Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) and to make their word prevail over the word of truth but Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) raises his light although the Kuffar may detest this and He helps his Deen and makes it prevail over all other Deens and this is their humiliation in this life and punishment of hellfire in the hereafter." [Tafseer Ibn Kathir]

This verse is applicable to the current reality where the Kuffar have launched a crusade against Islam and are continuing this during the blessed month of Ramadhan. This verse was revealed during the month of Ramadhan when the Quraish were gathering their forces and wealth in order to quell Islam, which culminated in the famous battle of Badr. Today the forces of Kufr are also attempting to curb Islam by attacking the Muslims of Afghanistan, Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and other parts of the Islamic land. They spend their wealth not only to fight the Muslims physically but also to colonise the minds of the Muslims by attempting to sever them from their Aqeedah (belief) and distort the Islamic culture.

Unlike the battle of Badr, the Muslims today do not stand side by side under a single leadership, which implements Islam. Rather since the destruction of the Khilafah, the Muslims have been in the absence of the shepherd, shield and protector whom the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) called the shade of Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) upon the earth.

Al-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi reported that the Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: "The Sultan is the shade of Allah on earth".

Without this Sultan, Imam or Khalifah we are exposed to attack from all sides without having a leadership that protects our lives, property and dignity. In this situation it is of paramount importance that we understand the concept of Nasr (victory) being from Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) in the correct manner. It can be noticed, from looking at their statements and behaviour, that some Muslims misunderstand this concept.

Some find it hard to believe that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) can provide us the victory when we are drowning in a sea of problems and the ship of the Kuffar seems so powerful. They see the heads of Kufr such as America and its modern Ahzab (Alliance or Coalition) as too strong economically, militarily and politically for the Muslims to overcome. They become mesmerised by the spider’s web (Bait al Ankabut) and can’t see through its weak structure. This has led to some being defeated by the current onslaught and has resulted in their inactivity and failure to try to liberate the Ummah from the Fir’awn of the world by standing up and re-establishing the Khilafah. Defeatism should never enter the heart of the true believer who knows that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) will provide the victory.

Another misunderstanding that people fall into is one of mixing the Aqeedah (belief) and the Ahkam Shari’ah (Shari’ah rules). They believe that Allah Azza wa jall will provide us with victory but they rely on this without undertaking the actions that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) ordered us with. This error in understanding leads people to remain inactive to change the situation around them and leaves them content in waiting for the victory to come, often the only action they call for is Du’a to Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) and the asking of help from Him (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala). This diseased view is a corruption in the Islamic mentality and can lead Muslims into fatalism and neglecting their Fara’id (obligations). To demonstrate this we can look at the belief in the Rizq (provision) being from Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala). We belief that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) is Ar-Raaziq (The one who provides) however when it comes to our actions we must follow His commands and prohibitions otherwise we would be violating the Qur’an which he revealed to us as a Furqan (criterion) and we would definitely fall into sin.

It was narrated that Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) passed by some people, who were known as readers of the Qur’an. He saw them sitting and bending their heads, and asked who they were. He was told: "They are those who depend (al-mutawwakiloon) upon Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala)." Umar replied; "No, they are the eaters who eat the people’s properties. Do you want me to describe who those who really depend upon Allah (al-mutawwakiloon) are?" He was answered in the affirmative, and then he said: "He is the person who throws the seeds in the earth and then depends on his Lord, The Almighty, The Exalted."

Umar bin al Khattab (ra), of whom the Shaytan was afraid, explained to us how depending upon Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) does not mean leaving his obligations and not working to achieve his responsibilities. The Muslim man is commanded by Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) to earn a living for himself and his family although he has the permanent belief that effort is not proportional to Rizq. Hence there is a difference between the matters of Aqeedah and the following of the Ahkam Shari’ah.

Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) once shook the hand of Sa’ad ibn Muadh (ra) and found his hands to be rough. When the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) asked about it, Sa’ad said; “I dig with the shovel to maintain my family.” The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) kissed Sa’ad’s hands and said; “(They are) two hands which The Supreme loves.” The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “Nobody would ever eat food that is better than to eat of his own hand’s work.”

As Muslims, we know that the Ajal (lifespan) can be only terminated by Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala). As He (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) said,

“And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave and at an appointed term” [TMQ Ale-Imran: 145].

Although our death cannot be avoided the knowledge of this should not lead to us abandoning any cures to illnesses or other means from the reality. Rather we seek cures for illnesses in response to the Hadith, “For every disease there is a cure. So seek the cure.”

Unfortunately we can see contradictions in those who restrict themselves to Du’a when it comes to solving the dire problems the Ummah is faced with like the bombardment of the innocent Muslims of Afghanistan. They would not limit themselves to Du’a when it comes to seeking their Rizq (provision) rather we would find them studying, working and striving in order to achieve it. Nor would we find them leaving their property unattended and their houses insecure even though they believe that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) is Ar-Raaziq (The Provider). When they are ill we would find them going to the doctor and taking medicine. Then how can it be, when Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) has commanded us to motivate the people of power like the armies in the Islamic world to undertake their duty of repelling the aggressor and crushing the crusaders that they remain inactive praying for the Mahdi to emerge or for the victory to be granted? How can it be that they remain silent when Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) has commanded us to undertake the intellectual and political struggle in order to remove the corrupt rulers in the Islamic land and replace them with the Khilafah? As if we are like a feather in the wind with no accountability.

We must understand that victory is only granted by Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) just as Rizq (provision) is, however we have not been left on this earth without a Shari’ah wandering aimlessly. Rather He (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) revealed the Qur’an in the month of Ramadhan as a guidance for mankind together with the clear proofs of this guidance for us to follow.

The two extremes of defeatism and fatalism are both incorrect and did not exist in the Sahabah (ra). The Muslims in the battle of Badr as in all the other battles understood that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) is the provider of the victory even if they were outnumbered, so they didn’t become defeated by the difficult reality around them, rather they knew that they were entrusted with the obligation of doing their utmost to defeat the enemy. The example of Badr is sufficient to demonstrate this.

In the second year of Hijrah the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) set out on the 8th of Ramadhan with three hundred and five of his companions mounted on seventy camels - ‘Amr ibn Umm Maktum was assigned to lead the prayer whilst Abu Lubabah was left in charge of Madinah. They rode the camels in turn heading towards a caravan led by Abu Sufyan. As they marched on they sought news of the caravan until they had reached the valley of Dafran where they settled, and news reached them there that Quraish had set out from Makkah to protect their caravan. The whole affair then assumed different proportions for it was no longer simply a raid on a caravan, the question was whether to confront Quraish or not. So Allah’s Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) consulted the Muslims. Abu Bakr (ra) followed then by ‘Umar (ra) voiced their opinions respectively, then al-Miqdad ibn ‘Amr (ra) arose and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Go where Allah tells you, for we are with you. We shall not say as the children of Israel said to Moses ‘You and your Lord go and fight and we will stay at home’, but you and your Lord go and fight and we will fight with you.""Give me advice O men!" by which he meant the Ansar who had paid allegiance to him at al-’Aqabah. They had pledged to protect him as they protected their wives and children, with the stipulation that they were not responsible to fight with him outside Madinah. When the Ansar sensed that he (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) meant them, Sa’ad ibn Mu’adh (ra) who was holding their banner said, "It seems as if you mean us, O Messenger of Allah." He (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, "Yes.” Sa’ad said, "We believe in you, we declare your truth, and we witness that what you have brought us is the truth, and we have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey; so go where you wish, we are with you; and by He who sent you, if you were to ask us to cross this sea and you plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you; not a man would stay behind. We do not dislike the idea of meeting our enemy tomorrow. We are experienced in war, trustworthy in combat. It may well be that Allah will let us show you something which will bring you joy, so take us along with Allah’s blessing." The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was delighted with Sa’ad’s words and said, "Forward in good heart, for Allah had promised me one of the two parties, and by Allah, it is as though I now saw the enemy lying prostrate."

Then the two sides advanced and drew near each other on Friday morning on the 17th of Ramadhan. The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) straightened the ranks and incited the Muslims to fight. The Muslims were encouraged by the words of Allah’s Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and went forward. The fighting broke out fiercely and the heads of the Quraishi fighters went flying from their bodies, the Muslims becoming stronger all the time chanting ‘Ahad! Ahad!’ (The One, the One). Allah’s Messenger (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) whilst standing in the midst of the confrontation took a handful of pebbles and threw them at Quraish saying, "Foul be those faces!" Then he (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) ordered his companions to charge and they duly obliged until the battle was over, and the foe was routed. The Muslims emerged victorious despite being outnumbered three to one, they slew many warriors and tribal leaders of Quraish and took captive many more. The Quraish fled the battlefield and the Muslims returned to Madinah having achieved a truly great victory.

In these difficult days it is vital for us to have the mentality the Sahabah (ra) had regarding the issue of Nasr (victory). We must believe that Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) will provide it whenever He (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) wishes, we shouldn’t become defeated if we don’t see it, nor should we remain idle waiting for it to come about. We have to do our utmost in implementing all the orders of Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) including those regarding changing the status quo and re-establishing the Khilafah. This life is a test and in pursuit of political change we may face all types of tribulations as the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and the Sahabah (ra) faced.

“Or do you think that you shall enter the gardens of Bliss (al-Jannah) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you?” [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 214]

Indeed Allah (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) has promised us His (Subhanahu Wa ta’ala) help and victory.

“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers” [TMQ Ale-Imran: 139].

“O you who believe if you aid the cause of Allah he will aid you and make your foothold firm” [TMQ Muhammad: 7].

Aafia Siddiqui?

2010-01-20T02:35:00.000-08:00

Who will free Aafia Siddiqui?

In March 2009 two female US Journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were seized by North Korean border guards while reporting for California-based Current TV. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to 12 years in prison for "hostile acts" and illegal entry into North Korea. After their imprisonment America worked tirelessly to get the women released and in August 2009 dispatched former US President Bill Clinton to speak with North Korea's Kim Jong Il. The meeting was productive and the two women were later released.

In March 2003 a women was also seized and imprisoned. Her name was Aafia Siddiqui. Like the US Journalists she was a women, she studied and worked in America and her three children were American citizens. But unlike the US Journalists captured six years later she was a Muslim and she had no leader to take care of her affairs.
This is her story.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 2, 1972. She was one of three children of Mohammad Siddiqui, a doctor trained in England, and Ismet. She is a mother of three and also a Hafiz-e-Quraan. Aafia and her three children were seized by Pakistani intelligence agents in March 2003 and handed over to the Americans in Afghanistan where she was imprisoned in Bagram and repeatedly raped, tortured and abused for years. A report in the Pakistani Urdu press at the time said that Aafia and her three children were seen being picked up by Pakistani authorities and taken into custody.

Moazzam Begg, and several other former captives of the Americans reported that a female prisoner, "prisoner 650", was held at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Yvonne Ridley of Cageprisoners.com wrote about "Prisoner 650" (Aafia) her ordeal of torture and repeatedly being raped for over four years.

"The cries of (this) helpless woman echoed (with such torment) in the jail that (it) prompted prisoners to go on hunger strike." Yvonne called her a "gray lady (because) she (was) almost a ghost, a spectre whose cries and screams continue to haunt those who heard her. This would never happen to a Western woman."

Both the Pakistan government as well as US officials in Washington denied any knowledge of Aafia's imprisonment until her plight was brought out in to the open and started to receive media attention. Trumped up allegations were then brought against her that she was involved in terrorism and a ludicrous claim that she managed to wrestle a gun off a US soldier and shoot at US officers.

On 4th August 2008, federal prosecutors in the US confirmed that Aafia Siddiqui was extradited to the US from Afghanistan where they allege she had been detained since mid-July 2008. The US administration claimed that she was arrested by Afghani forces outside Ghazni governor's compound with manuals on explosives and ‘dangerous substances in sealed jars' on her person. They further allege that whilst in custody she shot at US officers (none being injured) and was herself injured in the process.

On 7th August 2008 an article in the The News exposed some of the treatment Aafia had been subjected to whilst in American custody.

one of her kidneys had been removed
her teeth had been removed
her nose had been broken, and improperly reset
her recent gunshot wound had been incompetently dressed, was oozing blood, leaving her clothes soaked with blood.

An August 11, 2008, a Reuters report stated that she had appeared at her court hearing in a wheelchair, and that her lawyers pleaded with the judge to make sure she received medical care. Elizabeth Fink, one of her lawyers, told the Judge:

"She has been here, judge, for one week and she has not seen a doctor, even though they (U.S. authorities) know she has been shot."

Aafia's Lawyer Elizabeth Fink told a federal judge in New York that Aafia shows signs of having been imprisoned and treated inhumanely for a long period of time. According to documents described in court by Fink, Aafia told prison staff that she feared her son was being starved and tortured, and asked them to take food off her tray and send it to her son in Afghanistan.

Another of her lawyers, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, "We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous."

Aafia remains in a US detention facility in New York, in poor health, subjected to degrading and humiliating strip searches and cavity searches whenever she receives a legal visit or appears in court. She has subsequently refused to meet with counsel. It has been reported that she may suffer from brain damage and that a part of her intestine may have been removed. Her lawyers say her symptoms are consistent with a sufferer of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The trial of Aafia Siddiqui will start this week.

In the absence of the Khilafah she along with every other Muslim in the world is effectively stateless and as prophesised by the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم we are like froth and scum that is carried down by a torrent of water.

"The People will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their food." Someone asked, "Will that be because of our small numbers at that time?" He صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, "No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be froth and scum like that carried down by a torrent (of water), and Allah will take the fear of you from the breasts (hearts) of your enemy and cast al-wahn into your hearts." Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what is al-wahn?" He صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, "Love of the world and dislike of death." [Abu Dawud and Ahmad]

It's wahn that led the Pakistani authorities to kidnap and handover a Muslim women to the Americans even though the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. [Bukhari]

It's wahn that prevented any ruler in the Muslim world lifting a finger to help protect the honour of a Muslim women and free not just Aafia but the thousands of Muslims incarcerated in Guantanamo, Bagram, and secret CIA detention centres even though the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Indeed it is obligatory upon the Muslims to free their captives or to pay their ransoms."

It's wahn that leads the rulers in the Muslim world to imprison, torture and abuse hundreds of thousands of sincere Muslims in their dungeons even though Hisham bin Hakeem said; "I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم say; 'Allah will punish those who punish the people in the Dunya.'" [Muslim]

We must remember that we were not always stateless. When the Islamic State existed in the past the honour of Muslim women was protected and the Muslim prisoners were freed.

During the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم a Jewish goldsmith of Banu Qaynuqa abused the honour of a Muslim woman by tying the edge of her garment causing her private parts to become uncovered. A Muslim man happened to be there and killed the man. The Jews then retaliated by killing that Muslim. The man's family called the Muslims for help and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم sent an army against them and after a 15-day siege expelled the entire tribe from Madinah.

Imam ibn Athir records in ‘Kamil' the famous story of a Muslim woman who was captured by the Romans and held in a place named ‘Amuriyyah. Not content with only capturing her they tried to dishonour her as well. Frightened and alone she called out the name of the Khaleefah, "[Ya Mu'tasim] Oh Mu'tasim." A man witnessed this incident and rushed to the Khaleefah informing him of what had happened. When he heard the plight of this woman he responded bravely, "Labbaik [I am here at your call]." He prepared a large army and set off for battle and to rescue the woman. Mu'tasim's army conquered the enemy and entered ‘Amuriyyah. After destroying the enemy stronghold, they came to the woman and freed her.

Khaleefah Umar bin Abdul-Aziz sent a letter to the Muslim POWs in Constantinople. He told them:

"You consider yourselves to be POWS. You are not. You are locked in the cause of Allah. I would like you to know that whenever I give something to the Muslims I give more to your families and I am sending so and so with 5 dinars for each one of you and if it wasn't that I fear the Roman dictator would take it from you I would have sent more. I have also sent so-and-so to secure the release of every single one of you regardless of what the cost would be. So rejoice! Assalamu Alaykum."
Oh America and its allies!

Today you murder our men, women and children, torture and imprison us and steal our resources. But you must realise this is only a temporary situation. The Islamic revival is gathering pace and the wahn is slowly melting away through the interaction with the strong Islamic thoughts. You know this which is why you launched the war on terror and why you spend $billions occupying our lands.

When the victory of Allah سبحانه وتعالى arrives and the Muslim lands unite under one Khaleefah, be under no illusion that the Khilafah will utilise all its political, economic and military might to free the Muslim prisoners and protect the honour of our women.

Lessons from the story of Musa (as)

2010-01-19T02:17:00.000-08:00

Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem informs us about organizing the relationship between man and his Creator, man with himself and man with others. This is done so that harmony will be existent until the Day of Judgment. In addition to this, one cannot help but notice that in many places, the Qur'an includes stories about previous Prophets. What is the role of these Qur'anic anecdotes in carrying the da'wah during this and every age? There is no doubt that the Qur'anic stories are replete with signs, lessons and miracles, and that a da'wah carrier needs to be attuned to them. The Qur'an does not leave any aspect of our life without having an effect on it in one way or another.
It is quite true that we are bound to the Shari'ah that Muhammad (saaw) brought, and we are not allowed to take the Shari'ah of those that preceded us. It should be noted, however, that when we examine the stories of previous prophets (pbut), we are not taking any legislation from them, only the wisdom and lessons about how they carried the da'wah. It is solely for this purpose that Allah (swt) mentioned these stories in the Qur'an. Now, if we had to choose a lesson from the Prophethood of Muhammad (saaw), one story that may initially come to mind is the Isra' and Mi'raj. This story reminds us of what happened to the Holy Land that Allah (swt) has blessed, and how today this land has been taken away from the Muslims. This should become a source of motivation for Muslims to save the Holy Land, and all other lands.
The story of Musa (asws), in particular, has many lessons and many steps that Musa (asws) undertook when he called Firawn (Pharaoh) to believe. These actions are tactics that we now need to examine and study. Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem has a variety of stories of different Prophets. When it comes to Musa (asws) and his life, we can conclude that Surah Taha is enough as a source to expound upon the lessons from his life. We will examine this Surah, Insha'Allah, understand it, and see how Syed Qutb (ra) explained it in his book Fi-dhelaal Al-Qur'an (In the Shade of the Qur'an).
Surah Taha begins with Allah (swt) telling Prophet Muhammad (saaw) that the Qur'an was not revealed to him (saaw) in order for him to suffer or live in misery, especially when people reject him and disbelieve in the message he (saaw) carries. This is because Muhammad (saaw) had no control, whatsoever, over the hearts of people, which would compel them to believe. As the Surah continues, it gives many details about the be'tha (when Allah sent Musa), and describes how Allah (swt) takes care of those who carry His message. Even though it is true that the stories comprise almost one-third of the Qur'an's contents, the story of Musa (asws) occurs most often, being mentioned many times and in many Surahs.
As we begin to analyze Surah Taha in understanding the story of Musa (asws), we see that Musa (asws) and his wife returned from Medyan, where Shu'ayb (as) once lived. On the way back to Egypt he saw a fire near the mountain of Sina. He asked his wife to stay behind as he went to examine the fire, hoping to catch some of its flame and start a fire of his own, to help guide him and keep him warm during the cold night. This beginning shows how Allah (swt) prepares a da'wah carrier, both mentally and physically, for what is required of him in delivering the message. A da'wah carrier is willing to do what the da'wah requires from him no matter how difficult the challenge is. This example exhibits this attitude, where Musa (asws) knew he would have to climb mountains and walk long distances to reach his destination.
When he reached the light, Allah (swt) revealed,
"And when he came to it (the fire), he was called by name 'Oh Musa!, Verily! I am your Lord! So take off your shoes, you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa. And I have chosen you. So listen to that which is inspired in you' " (20:11-13)
Upon hearing this, Musa (asws) was given the knowledge that he had been chosen to be Allah's messenger, and this required him to prepare, with all of his senses, to understand the message he would be carrying. This message was based on three fundamental issues, as described:
"Verily! I am Allah! None has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me, and offer prayers perfectly, for My remembrance. Verily! The hour is coming - and My Will is to keep it hidden - that every person may be rewarded for that which he strives. Therefore, let not the one who believes not therein, but follows his own lusts, divert you therefrom, lest you perish (20:14-16)."
These core elements, which are required from every message and da'wah carrier, are:
To believe in Allah (swt) and His oneness; to believe that Allah (swt) is the only one who deserves to be worshipped and not anyone or anything else; and to expect no reward from anyone, whomsoever, except from Allah (swt).
In doing so, the da'ee will pay no attention to those who are trying to deviate him, or those who are telling him things like: "you are just wasting your time", "nobody listens to you", or "why don't you do something more pragmatic."
Then the Surah proceeds to another issue, of how Musa (asws) felt when he saw his staff transformed into a snake, and how fear overwhelmed him. Nonetheless, he was ordered to pick it up, and not to be scared, because Allah (swt) would make it go back to its real nature. After witnessing this, Musa (asws) felt relaxed and Allah (swt) continued to comfort him. Allah (swt) cured Musa (asws) from the ailment he had in his hand, Allah (swt) said,
"And press your (right) hand to your (left) side, it will come forth white (and shining), without any disease as another sign, (20:22)."
This was another miracle the Messenger of Allah (swt) would use as proof of his prophethood. Once all of this took place, then all of his senses, abilities, and every part of his body was ready to carry the requirements of this obligation from Allah (swt).
This brief description of how the Qur'an prepared Musa (asws) to carry the message, reminded our Prophet (saaw), and reminds us, that the nafs need preparation in order to carry the requirements and responsibilities of the Da'wah. This preparation requires special attention and signs, and might be through a miracle like making the staff of Musa (asws) a snake, or a miracle like Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem, which is the case with Muhammad (saaw). Then the ayat talk about the first obligation placed on Musa (asws),
"Go to Firawn! Verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience, and has behaved arrogantly, and as a tyrant) (20:24)."
After receiving this order, he began to remember how oppressive and cruel Firawn was to his people, enslaving and torturing them. Musa (asws) began to seek help and support from his Lord, Allah (swt),
"Musa said: 'O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness). And ease my task for me; And loosen the knot (the problem) from my tongue, (i.e. remove the impairment in my speech), that they understand my speech, And appoint for me a helper from my family, Haroon, my brother; Increase my strength with him, And let him share my task (of conveying Allah's message and Prophethood), That we may glorify You much, And remember You much, Verily! You are of us Ever a Well-Seer (20:25-35)."
He asked for all this because he knew the weaknesses he and his brother had, and would have to overcome in order to accomplish their mission. With this, Allah (swt) reminds us that whenever he orders someone to do something, whether it is one of His prophets or a da'wah carrier, He will provide them with the abilities to achieve their obligation. Allah (swt) will never ask His da'wah carriers to do something beyond their reach or their abilities. In response to Musa's request,
"Allah said: 'You are granted your request, O Musa! (20:36)."
Allah (swt) continues to remind Musa (asws) of the favors that have already been bestowed upon him, starting with how he was supposed to be killed at birth, like the rest of the children that Firawn was killing, but was spared. This reminds the da'wah carriers that Allah (swt) will never let them down, because they are the ones that are trying to establish His Deen, and they are the ones who are trying to spread the call to obey Allah (swt) amongst all of mankind.
Allah (swt) then told Musa (asws),
"Go you and your brother with My Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelation, etc.,) and do not, you both, slacken and become weak in My remembrance. Go to Firawn, verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience, and has behaved arrogantly, and as a tyrant). And speak to him firmly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear Allah (20:42-44)."
This demonstrated to us that when Allah (swt) ordered Musa (asws), Muhammad (saaw), and all the prophets to carry the da'wah, He also told them how to carry it. He even told them which style to use, as in this example. They were told not to be harsh, rather they should be firm with the people, even with the oppressors. Also, they shouldn't become desperate or frustrated, nor should they ever lose hope that the people will be guided. This is because once frustration gets to the heart of the da'wah carrier, then the da'wah will lose its momentum and its spark. This will make the da'wah carrier slow his efforts, and eventually stop him from carrying the da'wah. Those who deliver da'wah must continue carrying it without any frustration, even if the road is full of Firawns.
Fear was in the hearts of Musa and Haroon (pbut), mainly rooted in the imminent interaction between them and Firawn,
"They said: 'Our Lord! Verily! We fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress (all bounds against us)' (20:45)."
This shows us how a da'wah carrier may become fearful of the dangers posed to him, and how peace-of-mind is needed in order to overcome his fear. This must be accomplished in a way that will never make him have fear from delivering da'wah again, and to the point where he will disregard the source of the fear. Upon this request, Allah (swt) sent them good news
"He (Allah) said: 'Fear not, Verily! I am with you both, Hearing and Seeing' (20:46),"
reminding them that He, Allah (swt), Al-Qadir, the one in control, the one above every oppressor and every person, the one who is stronger than anybody, was with them. This was enough for them to become relaxed, allowing them not to fear anything, and to realize that when Allah (swt) is with them, then no one can harm them.
Subsequently, Allah (swt) gave them the order
"So go you both to him, and say: 'Verily, we are Messengers of your Lord, to ask you to let the Children of Israel go with us, and torment them not; indeed, we have come with a sign from your Lord! And peace will be upon him who follows the guidance!' (20:47)."
They were the two messengers sent to save Bani Israel from the oppression of Firawn, to bring its people back to the 'aqeedah of Tawheed, and to take them to the Holy Land. This was also good news to Muhammad (saaw), reassuring him that Allah (swt) would never let him nor those who follow him, down. The ayat continues, relaying to us the conversation that took place between Musa (asws) and at-taghiya (the tyrant), Firawn.
"Firawn said: 'Who then, O Musa, is the Lord of you two' (20:49)?"
Then, "Musa said: 'Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright' (20:50)."
Firawn neglected and ignored the fact that Haroon and Musa (asws) were messengers of Allah (swt). That is why he asked them about their Lord, and he heard the answer, that their Lord is the Creator and the organizer of everything. Then Firawn questioned Musa (asws) again,
"(Firawn) said: 'What about the generation of old' (20:51)."
To which,
"(Musa) said: 'The knowledge thereof is with my Lord, in a Record. My Lord is neither unaware nor He forgets. (20:52)."
In actuality, by this Musa (asws) was telling Firawn that Allah (swt), the Creator, was the One who was guiding him, and without this guidance, Musa (asws) would not have knowledge. He continues to tell Firawn,
"Who has made earth for you like a bed (spread out); and has opened roads (ways and paths etc.) for you therein; and has sent down water (rain) from the sky. And We have brought forth with it various kinds of vegetation. Eat and feed your cattle, (therein). Verily, in this are proofs and signs for men of understanding (20:53-54)."
His aim in this was to explain to Firawn the ability of his Lord, Al-Khaliq (The Creator), Ar-Razzaq (The Provider), Al-Mudhabir (The organizer). This description which Musa (asws) gave to Firawn called upon every good mind to think about this wonderful system that was created by Allah (swt). Musa (asws) continued his discussion with Firawn, hoping he might fear Allah (swt) and believe
"Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again (20:55)."
Firawn, however, was stubborn and arrogant, claiming that he was a lord himself. In reality, of course, he was very weak, and had no answer to the signs that Musa (asws) was bringing him. Instead of responding to the evidence which Musa (asws) brought with another evidence, he started maneuvering and tried to change the subject. He began throwing accusations at Musa (asws),
"He (Firawn) said: 'Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Musa? Then verily, we can produce magic the like thereof; so appoint a meeting between us and you, which neither we, nor you shall fail to keep, in an open, wide place where both shall have a just and equal chance (and beholders could witness the competition)' (20:57-58)."
To this Musa (asws) responded,
"(Musa) said: 'Your appointed meeting is the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen (forenoon)' (20:59)."
Now in order to understand what type of person Firawn was, we must remember his crimes, namely that he killed the sons of Israel, he used to kill their men and their boys, leaving their womenfolk alive. He did this because he was so afraid of his people, fearing that they would threaten his status in life, which he was so careful to protect. He paid attention to nothing but his kingdom, to the throne he sat on, and whatever else he owned. This behavior is typical of our rulers today. They are so fearful that some ideological movement or political parties who are trying to implement Islam as a complete system, which would wrest their rulership from them. That is why today's rulers slander and hunt down such movements the same way Firawn attacked Musa (asws) and his people.
The way Firawn challenged Musa (asws), thinking that Musa (asws) would give up, serves as a valuable lesson for da'wah carriers nowadays. However, Musa (asws) did not give up, he accepted the challenge because he was assured that Allah (swt) was with him. He was confident that the Haqq would win and the batil would be defeated, no matter what the oppressors and the liars did.
"So Firawn withdrew, devised his plot and then came back (20:60),"
He assembled all his magicians and all his powers. This is quite similar to what our current rulers do today when they are confronted with the Haqq. Their aim is to manipulate the minds of the populace, trying to make them believe what the rulers want them to believe. This can be easily observed when we hear government backed scholars giving us fatawa that legitimize whatever haram our rulers commit, such as accepting peace with a Jewish state established on Muslim lands, or inviting the troops of the kuffar to Muslim lands to fight against other Muslims. Our rulers attack those who carry da'wah by all means, at all times.
Musa (asws) did not forget to remind Firawn about something very important before the day of the meeting. He told him what the end would be for those people who fight against the da'wah and its carriers,
"Musa said to them: 'Woe unto you! Invent not a lie against Allah, lest He should destroy you completely by a torment. And surely, he who invents a lie (against Allah) will fail miserably (20:61)."
This statement made its way into the hearts of some of Firawn's people who were listening. Those who heard what Musa (asws) was saying started to think about it. Some of them believed that Musa (asws) was calling for Haqq, and Firawn was on the side of batil.
"Then they debated with one another what they must do, and they kept their talk secret (20:62)."
This shows us that good elements do exist in society during all times. They may even be from the offspring of the kuffar or from the oppressors. More importantly, this shows us that the da'wah carriers must not hesitate from saying the truth anywhere they are, at any time, because this word of truth might influence some people. Even in this example, we should know that the wife of Firawn became a believer.
In the meeting that came thereafter, Firawn's magicians faced Musa (asws),
"They said: 'Verily! These are two magicians. Their objective is to drive you out from your land with magic, and overcome your way of life. So devise your plot, and then assemble in line. And whoever overcomes this day will be indeed successful' (20:63-64)."
The ayah indicates that the dawah of Musa (asws) was comprehensive and was accused of threatening the status-quo. Also, the ayah shows that Firawn underestimated the people around him, assuming that they all would help him, and they would not say anything against him. However, he was mistaken. From this there is another lesson to be learned, that the Will of Allah (swt) was there, and that He (swt) witnessed all that occurred, and made Firawn offer to Musa (asws) the challenge to confront him in front of the people. This demonstrates how Allah (swt) will help da'wah carriers develop a platform from which they can address the people in an effective manner.
When the magicians met Musa (asws),
"They said: 'O Musa! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw (20:65)?"
Musa (asws) told them to begin, showing that the challenge was accepted from both parties. The magicians threw down their ropes and staffs. They were so convincing that Musa (asws) became frightened of what they had produced, believing what he saw to be real snakes. This serves to remind us that after everything, Musa (asws) was still a human being, and even though he knew Allah (swt) was on his side, he was overwhelmed by what he witnessed. So Allah (swt) reminded him,
"We (Allah) said: 'Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand. And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician's trick, and the magician will never be successful, no matter whatever amount (of skill) he may attain (20:68-69)."
Again, this is because what Musa (asws) was doing was the Haqq, and what they were doing was the batil. The batil will never succeed, no matter how powerful its proponents appear. When the batil is confronted with the clear Haqq, then the batil will collapse.
Musa (asws) responded to the order of Allah (swt), and threw down his staff. Upon doing this, a reaction that nobody expected took place.
"So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: 'We believe in the Lord of Haroon and Musa (20:70)."
The prior disputes they had amongst themselves were reconciled, and now they all agreed with what Musa (asws) had brought. Their doubts transformed into iman, and their darkness became light. In response to this,
"(Firawn) said: 'Believe you in him (Musa) before I give you permission? Verily! He is your chief who taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will surely crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees, and you shall surely know which of us [I (Firawn) or the Lord of Musa (Allah)] can give the severe and more lasting torment (20:71)."
Firawn was arrogant, believing that before the magicians could become mu'mineen (believers), his permission was required. This is the way all of the oppressors are, believing that the people are their slaves, and that they have to do whatever they command, whenever they want it.
Firawn refused to accept what Musa (asws) did as a miracle, but rather as magic. He threatened the magicians who believed in Musa (asws) with torture and execution. This is similar to what we find ourselves in today, when our current rulers use the same tactics, claiming that they want to maintain stability and the current way of life, and that they don't want any radicals or extremists to change the way people are living. Firawn thought that just by his order, the people who responded to Allah (swt) and His messenger would return to kufr. He underestimated the power of iman, which enters the heart and makes it more powerful than a mountain. The magicians responded to Firawn,
"They said: 'We prefer you not over the clear signs that have come to us, and to Him (Allah) Who created us. So decree whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decree (regarding) this life of the world (20:72)."
These are the believing sparks, which attack falsehood and the kufr, destabilizing its very foundation. Imagine the way Firawn perceived the scene, how dare they say something like this directly to Firawn's face, who claimed himself to be a god. He believed he owned the whole world, and the ability to take and give life. Firawn listened to these powerful statements, and how these believers didn't care about him or his threats and warnings anymore. They told him that they consider the iman which they just accepted as a means for their forgiveness. They continued,
"Verily! Whoever comes to his Lord as a Mujrim (criminal, polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah and His Messengers, sinner, etc.), then surely for him is Hell, therein he will neither die nor live. But whoever comes to Him (Allah) as a believer (in the Oneness of Allah, etc.), and has done righteous good deeds for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter), - Everlasting Gardens ('Adn Paradise), under which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever: such is the reward of those who purify themselves [(by abstaining from all kinds of sins and evil deeds) which Allah has forbidden and by doing all that which Allah has ordained)] (20:74-76)."
Not only did they tell Firawn how they felt about his threats and their feelings towards this life, but now they began to threaten him. They told him that his crimes and his tortures would lead him to the torture of jahannam, a punishment which is more severe than Firawn could ever impose, leaving him to never die and never live. They declared their belief in their Lord, and vowed to never do anything but the khayr (good), in order to attain the highest level in Jannah. This level of conviction is completely foreign to the understanding of the oppressors. Their hearts are sealed, and refuse to be opened to the truth.
The ayat described the victory of the Haqq and the defeat of the batil, and exhibited the blessings of Allah (swt) when He (swt) directly intervened to save Musa (asws) and his people, and how He (swt) made Firawn and his soldiers drown in the sea. This came at a time when Musa (asws) and his people had no hope, because they were much weaker than the army of Firawn. The ayat tell us that the end of the struggle between the believers and kuffar resulted in a victory for iman and defeat and humiliation for the kufr.
This serves as a good example for us today, showing how in the past the believing sons of Israel were tortured and they had no helper or supporter whatsoever. Nowadays, the da'wah carriers who carry the Haqq, have no support or help, and no one to rely on, except Allah (swt). Consequently, they must remain on the Haqq, until Allah (swt) provides them with victory, the way He provided previous believers with victory.
".Verily, Allah will help those who help His (cause). Truly Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty (22:40)."
The batil, the falsehood, will not last forever, it will be defeated sooner or later. The da'wah carriers must work until Allah (swt) gives His victory to the Muslims.
"It is He Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Deen of truth (Haqq), to make it superior over all other ways of life, even though the Mushrikun hate it (9:33)."
Oh Shabbab of Muhammad (saaw)! We call upon you to raise up once more the rayaat (flags) that Muhammad (saaw) held up in the past, under which kufr and oppression were destroyed. Carry them, lift them, and spread the da'wah everywhere, so that you will live happily, your Ummah will live happily, and the Haqq will become superior on the earth, as Allah (swt) wants it to be.

Resetting US relations with Iran

2009-10-17T04:41:00.000-07:00

Many have interrupted Obama's recent proclamation to suspend deployment of US missile shield components to Poland and the Czech Republic as proof that finally America is serious about recasting its relations with Russia in a more positive light. However, subsequent statements by members of Obama's administration about future plans for missile defense dubbed ‘phased adaptive approach' are likely to forestall warming of ties between Moscow and Washington.

For instance in a New York Times opinion piece, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized his detractors for describing the new plan as "distorted as some sort of concession to Russia". He further emphasized that the new proposals would bolster European security. "We are strengthening-not scrapping-missile defense in Europe," he wrote.
Away from the public bickering over the effectiveness of the phased adaptive approach, one cannot help but notice that America is most interested in resetting its relations with Iran and not Russia.

New revelations about Iran's diminished missile capabilities now set the stage for the normalization of relations between Tehran and Washington. Downplaying the Iranian threat last month, Robert Gates said, "the intelligence community now assesses that the threat from Iran's short- and medium-range ballistic missiles...is developing more rapidly than previously projected" and "the threat of potential Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles capabilities has been slower to develop than was estimated in 2006." Gates sudden reassessment follows a familiar pattern frequently employed by US officials to downgrade the peril of Iran's military assets-whenever the situation most demanded it. Previously, under the Bush administration, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) revised its estimate from 2010 to 2015 the date by when Iran would possess and atomic bomb.

Additionally, and more significantly, the NIE claimed that Iran had abandoned plans to weaponize its nuclear programme in 2003. NIE claims were a severe below to Israeli plans to attack Iran, and at the time was widely derided by officials of the Jewish State. At the end of last year, America also refused to sell Israel advanced versions of its bunker-busters bombs and downplayed Israel's show of air power over the Mediterranean. America's lack of support to its most trusted ally in the region clearly underscores that American intentions towards Iran are not nefarious at all.

America's ambivalence towards Iran was again on display when another close ally Britain found its sea personnel captured by Iranian forces. American indifference was intentional as she feared that Britain engineered the naval fiasco to instigate an attack on Iran. Likewise, the US offered very little public support to European voices that vociferously bellowed out calls for the Iranian protestors to topple the Iranian regime.

When scrupulously analysed each event presented America with a unique opportunity to initiate regime change in Iran that many politicians in Washington coveted for. But Washington chose not to do so. On the contrary, America acted in a strange manner-she either watched as a silent spectator or diplomatically mobilized efforts to cool down tensions. The out of character behaviour when measured against the ubiquitous fiery rhetoric that emanated from the corridors of power in Washington suggests to any reader of political events that the two countries are working in cohorts to cement America's hegemony in the region.
America's reliance on Iran to stabilize Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon is too precious to be squandered by any crude attempts undertaken by her closest allies to attack Tehran.
The overly inflated threat from Iran's benign nuclear programme by the incessant news coverage has conveniently provided America with the necessary pretext to augment its military ties with Israel and the Gulf countries. Not to mention it also provides America with new avenues to strengthen her missile defense shield abroad and aid nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East under the guise of peaceful nuclear pacts and in the shadow of nuclear arms reduction talks with Russia. There is little doubt that America will exploit such pacts to ward off competition from Russia, China, and Europe to control cheap Middle Eastern oil.

All of this brings us to the present nuclear talks between Iran and the big six powers. The talks will only conclude, when America is fully satisfied that she can no longer achieve any of her strategic objectives and that her surrogates in Iran have been completely exhausted and are unable to execute her plans. At that juncture, America will settle the nuclear issue and may even allow Iran to keep nuclear weapons in exchange for strict controls.

Women and Shariah

2009-06-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

Women and Shariah: Unraveling the myths

Whenever the word "Shariah" is mentioned, the oppression and mistreatment of women comes to the mind of many in the West. The Muslim community is all too familiar with words and phrases that are commonly associated with the subject of "Women and Shariah" in the Western media: second-class citizen, discrimination, injustice, violence, inferior to men, patriarchal, insignificant in society, enslaved to men and the list goes on.
One of the arguments presented by the West as to why they believe that the Shariah oppresses the woman is that the laws are restrictive towards the woman and particularly do not allow her personal,or sexual freedom. -They quote the dress code, segregation and the prohibition of socialising between the sexes, and the severe punishments for fornication or adultery. However, these liberal values come wrapped in their own set of problems. For example, they have allowed the sexual exploitation of women through the pornographic, advertisement and entertainment industries that have degraded the status of the woman in society. This has led to rising sexual harassment, abuse, and even rape. According to the British Crime Survey 2007, 230 women were raped every day in the UK. According to the British Crime Survey 2004, one in four women in the UK have faced some form of sexual assault since the age of 16. The US Department of Justice has reported figures regarding sexual assault in the US that indicate that a woman is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes. How much choice does a woman really have to engage in basic actions such as travel, work, education and taking her children to the park without fear of harassment or harm?

Islam does not believe in securing unlimited individual freedom but aims to protect other values within society. Values such as chastity, honour and respect of men and women alike, strong marriages, strong family units where every child is born within wedlock, knowing its father and mother and knowing who is responsible for its financial, physical and emotional welfare. It also believes in the cooperation of men and women within society - in education, economics, politics and societal life in general. It does not simply look at what will ensure maximum pleasure for individuals within society, but what is best for the harmony, safety, and respect for the community as a whole.

It believes the idea of men and women viewing one another in a purely sexual manner produces a culture of promiscuity and adultery that creates an obstacle in their cooperation and harms the other values it seeks to protect within society. It therefore sets down laws, rules and limitations to regulate the relationship between men and women in society to try and ensure that the triggering of the sexual desire and sexual relations are restricted to marriage and kept away from public life. The dress code, the prohibition of the socializing between the sexes, the prohibition of the use of the woman's body to sell any product or service, and the severe punishments for fornication, adultery and slander against the reputation of an individual, are all examples of such laws. The aim being to produce a society where women can interact with men and have an active public life that is productive, safe, and based upon mutual respect.

Another accusation brought against the Shariah is that it discriminates against the woman, is patriarchal and gives her inferior status to the man. -e reason given is the lack of gender equality in various laws. They quote the difference in the process of divorce between men and women, differences in the laws on inheritance, testimony, polygamy, roles and rights in marriage, and so on.

If we examine this concept of "Gender Equality", the irony is that in itself it is a patriarchal concept for it places the man as the figure head or goal that the woman aspires to reach. Over the generations many Western feminists have accepted that it brings its own set of contradictions and dilemmas. For example, the dilemma of how a woman can call for equality which negates the relevance of gender in public life but at the same time call for pregnancy or maternity rights or flexible working hours based on sex difference. The call for gender-neutral laws that do not recognise the obvious differences between the sexes may actually contribute to injustices against women. For example, employers could expect the same commitment at work with respect to time and physical activity of women who are pregnant or have young children. In addition, the concept of gender equality, which theoretically produced the "have it all woman" in reality produced the "do it all" woman - who continued to burden the household responsibility but now also had to burden the financial maintenance of the family through struggling to maintain a demanding career.

Islam has ordered that the man view the woman with great respect and honour. The Prophet(saw) said, "-The world and all things in the world are precious but the most precious thing in the world is a virtuous woman." The Messenger(saw) gave many sayings to elevate the status that the woman has in society, breaking away from the lowly status that women had as second class citizens enslaved to men in the Arab society. He (saw) said "The believer who has the most perfect faith is the one whose behaviour is the best and the best of you are the ones who are best to their women". It is this view towards the woman and the accountability to the Creator that acts as the primary guard to disrespect, discrimination, and harm of the woman.

With regards to gender equality, Islam does not compare the woman against the man or look at what is best for the woman verses what is best for the man when setting down all rights and responsibilities in family life or society. Rather it looks at the needs of the man and woman as a human being and what is best for family life and the community as a whole to achieve harmony.

Therefore, in certain areas the rights and rules are the same. For example access to basic needs, education, healthcare, economic rights, access to justice, the same punishment for the same crime, having a political voice in society and the right to vote for the leader of the state. In some areas the responsibilities are the same, for example the prayers, the fasting, the Hajj, the paying of the zakat, the carrying of the dawa and accounting the rulers. However, in some issues the rights and roles are different between the man and the woman, for example, the process of divorce, the dress code, inheritance, polygamy, the need for 2 female witnesses to provide testimony in certain court cases against one man, custody of the child, and the roles and rights in marriage and family life.

Therefore, in some areas, Allah (swt) has given the man certain rights He has not afforded to the woman and in other issues He (swt) has given the woman rights He has not afforded to the man. Islam does not see difference as a problem nor as discrimination for it does not view one role or right above another. For example, in family life Islam defines the responsibility of the man as the breadwinner and the woman as the homemaker and the nurturer of the children. One role is not above another, but both are essential for the functioning of a family and the progress of society as a whole. Within Islam the woman is to be financially supported by the male members of her family, her community, and by the state. Therefore, although the woman is permitted to work, there should be no societal or financial pressures upon her to do so if she chooses not to. This is crucial as the woman cannot compromise her vital role of being a wife and mother and of nurturing the thinking and behaviour of the future generations.

In summary, the roles and rights of men and women in Islam are complementary rather than competitive. Simply looking at what is best for the woman verses what is best for the man can sometimes overlook what is best for the children, for a strong marriage and for a harmonious family life. It believes strongly in cooperation rather than in gender battles.

As Muslims living in the West, we are in a prime position to challenge the lies being propagated about Islam and the Shariah. We have a great responsibility to not only defend the Islamic rules but to show others the failings of the capitalist secular liberal creed in solving the problems that women face within society. We have a duty to present the truth and beauty of the Islamic system in addressing the status and position of women within society and a duty to present the beauty of the Shariah in regulating the relationship between men and women to produce true cooperation and harmony in society.

One State Solution

2009-03-05T02:19:00.000-08:00

One State Solution: A Zionist Dream

Recent events in Palestine have raised many concerns about the practicality of the so-called ‘Two States Solution’. Political analysts are now perplexed, thinking as to whether this ‘solution’ will ever really work. Political commentators are now seriously questioning whether this proposal is realistic and if Israel will ever treat its potential neighbour, the imaginary state of independent Palestine, with fairness and justice? The overwhelming majority of these commentators and analysts, having witnessed Israeli barbarity in Gaza, will reject the notion of trusting Israeli authorities altogether and will propose many different solutions. A different solution is already in existence, which, is deliberately ignored by the powers vested with the responsibility to diffuse this conflict. This solution is a ‘One State Solution’[1], which has worked perfectly well in the past and still has the potential to restore the same prosperous and peaceful co-existence – which lasted for centuries - between the Muslims, Jews and Christians: The Golden Age of Islam.

The Islamic system is the only system that carries the capacity of treating others with complete fairness. Under the Islamic system, Jews lived in harmony and peace for over one thousand years and some of the Jewish scholars/historians remember that era as the ‘Islamic Golden Age’. Whenever the non-Muslim powers took control of any land, they failed to demonstrate impartiality and justice towards the other, especially, in political as well as socio-economic affairs.

In recent years, the British government has exerted immense pressure on Muslim leaders to combat anti-Semitism in the Muslim community. Muslims are however, the least deserving people to be accused of fostering anti-Semitism, as the facts presented below will amply demonstrate that the Jews were not treated in Islamic lands as they were treated elsewhere. The following discussion will substantiate the value and necessity of reviving the ‘One State Solution’ for Palestine, a solution that will provide freedom and security to all.

Jews had reached the peak of their prosperity under Islamic rule. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) was the chief minister of the Islamic Caliphate of Cordova, governed by the most powerful monarch in Western Europe, Abdur-Rahman III. Hasdai’s position inevitably benefited his people, as he made inquiries into the affairs of his brethren scattered as far as Caucasus. In a letter to the Jewish Khazar King Joseph, he elaborated upon his fortunate position in the Islamic lands:

‘Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest.’ [2]

Due to an active implementation of the Zionist apartheid policy in Palestine, one can never imagine a Palestinian Muslim becoming the prime minister of Israel. Samuel Ibn Nagrella ha-Nagid (993-1056 CE) was another powerful Jewish chief minister of Granada in Islamic Spain who served his people well. Abraham Ibn Daud (ca. 1161), a Jewish chronicler, elaborated upon ha-Nagid’s significance for the spread of the Jewish tradition:

‘He achieved great good for Israel in Spain, the Maghreb, Ifriqiya, Egypt, Sicily, indeed as far as the academy in Babylonia and the Holy City. He provided material benefits out of his own pocket for students of Torah in all these countries. He also purchased many books – [copies] of the Holy Scriptures as well as of the Mishna and Talmud, which are also among the holy writings. Throughout Spain and the countries just mentioned, whoever wished to devote full time to the study of the Torah found in him a patron. Moreover, he retained scribes who would make copies of the Mishna and Talmud, which he would present to students who were unable to purchase copies themselves, both in the academies of Spain as well as of the other countries we mentioned. These gifts were coupled with annual contribution of olive oil for the synagogues of Jerusalem, which he would despatch from his own home. He spread Torah abroad and died at a ripe old age after having earned four crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of power, the crown of Levite, and towering over them all, by dint of good deeds in each of these domains, the crown of a good name.’ [3]

Samuel ibn Nagrella’s fortune and his influence benefited the Jews worldwide. This was only made possible because of his position as a chief minister of an Islamic power, and the relaxed attitude of the Muslim government towards the Jewish faith. For the Jews, this was certainly a practical manifestation of the promise made by Allah in the Quran:

‘And We have sent you (O Muhammad [SA]) not but as a mercy to mankind’ [4]

The mercy that Prophet Muhammad was sent with was not restricted to the Muslims alone, rather Islamic domination was to bring prosperity for others too. Note, that all the Jewish activities, under the patronage of Samuel Ibn Nagrella, mentioned above by Ibn Daud were taking place in the lands controlled by the Muslims. In other words, the freedom and autonomy allowed by the Shariah Law enabled the Jews to carry out their religious pursuits without any hindrance. Can one imagine an independent Islamic university or Madrasa functioning freely in the present day Tel Aviv? One needs not to be a genius to find an answer to this question. Bahya ibn Paqudah, a medieval Andalusian Jewish writer, describes the prosperous existence of the Jews in the Islamic lands in a treatise titled Kitab al-Hidaya (ca. 1080):

‘If one of our contemporaries looks for similar miracles now, let him examine objectively our situation among the Gentiles [Muslims in this case] since the beginning of the Diaspora and the way our affairs are managed in spite of the differences between us and them both secret and open, which are well known to them. Let him see that our situation, as far as living and subsistence are concerned, is the same as theirs, or even better, in times of war and civil disturbances. You see how both their leaders and their vulgar peasants toil much more than the middle and lower classes among us, according to our Lord’s promise contained in the Scriptures.’ [5]

Ibn Paqudah’s satisfaction concerning Jewish prosperity in Islamic Spain was not due to any other reason than the effective adherence by the authorities to the Islamic regulations with regards to the treatment of the non-Muslim subjects. He even acknowledges that ‘in spite of the differences between us and them both secret and open, which are well known to them’ the Jewish living conditions were some times better than those of the Muslims. This can not be attributed to anything other than the commandments in the Quran whereby Muslims are asked by God to uphold justice at all times, even towards those they may dislike:

‘O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah as just witnesses; and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety; and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is well-acquainted with what you do.’ [6]

Can a Palestinian citizen assert with confidence, like ibn Paqudah, today that his living standard is at least similar to that of an Israeli? The question of an ‘even better’ living standard for a Palestinian is as laughable as an American promise to deliver a just solution in the region. Benjamin of Tudela, a Spanish Jew who travelled to Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, described the situation of the Iraqi Jewry in these words:

‘In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’ [7]

The security, prosperity, and honour conferred upon the Jews of Baghdad is not surprising if one considers the teachings of the Prophet of Islam and his immediate followers in regards to protecting non-Muslim minorities living under Islamic governance. In the book of Sahih al-Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad (SA) is reported to have said:

‘Any one who kills a non-Muslim (Mu’ahid [protected one]) protected by the Islamic state will not smell the fragrance of paradise even though one can identify it from the distance of 40 years journey.’ [8]

Al-Bukhari narrated that even the immediate followers of the Prophet (SA) exercised maximum care in regards to fulfilling the promises of protection made with the non-Muslim citizens:

‘Omar bin Khattab [the 2nd Caliph] said on his death bed that whoever shall succeed me must fulfill the promises of Allah and his Messenger. Whatever treaty has been made with non-Muslims must be respected by my successor. He shall fight (if he has to) to protect them and he shall not put a burden upon them which they can not bear.’[9]

Will the Muslims in Palestine ever live in ‘security’, ‘prosperity’ and ‘honour’ the likes of which were enjoyed by the 12th century Iraqi Jews? In 1420 CE Rabbi Yitzhak Tsarfati wrote a letter to his persecuted German brothers from the Ottoman Turkish territory (Edirne [Adrianople]) inviting them to join him in prosperous and tolerant Islamic lands:

‘Your cries and laments have reached us. We have been told of all the sorrows and persecutions which you suffer in German lands. Listen, my brothers…if you…knew even the tenth of what God has blessed us with in this land, you would give heed to no further difficulties. You would embark at once to us…Here the Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow hat as a badge of shame…You will be free of your enemies. Here you will find peace.’ [10]

‘Here you will find peace’, is the concluding statement Rabbi Yitzhak used in his letter. This peace was an outcome of the justice delivered by the Ottoman authorities. If the Ottomans were just, this was due to the ideal they followed. The Prophet of Islam told his followers that on the Day of Judgment, when there will be no other shade, seven will be under the shade of Allah’s throne and a just ruler is at the top of the list [11]. Does a Muslim from Palestine have similar peace or can he invite other persecuted Muslim brothers and sisters to his homeland using the words of Rabbi Yitzhak? Are the Muslim men, women and children enjoying even the tenth of the prosperity the Israelis are enjoying today? Again the answer is easy to deliver, even by a Palestinian toddler. Even the Jewish pilgrims were protected from any injuries unlike today’s situation in Jerusalem. The Muslims are asked to produce all kinds of draconian paper work and endure humiliating security checks before they can even think of gazing upon the third most important land mark in Islam: Masjidul-Aqsa. In a stark contrast, an Italian Rabbi, Obadiah Yareh Da Bertinoro, travelled to Jerusalem in 1486 CE and he wrote a letter to his father telling him about the country and its people:

‘The Jews are not persecuted by the Arabs in these parts. I have travelled through the country in its length and breadth, and none of them has put an obstacle in my way. They are very kind to strangers, particularly to anyone who does not know the language; and if they see many Jews together they are not annoyed by it. In my opinion, an intelligent man versed in political science might easily raise himself to be chief of the Jews as well as of the Arabs…’ [12]

The Muslim scientists and academics are unable to achieve anything in the laboratories in Tel Aviv or any of the Israeli controlled institutions for that matter. One may argue that this may be due to the security threat posed by the Palestinian resistance. But the question ultimately boils down to what has caused this security threat to occur? Lack of justice and violation of rights naturally produces anxiety and fervour for resistance. Historically speaking, the Jews had no desire to resist Muslims in any way due to the prosperity they enjoyed under Islamic rule. They did, however, resist the Christian powers, as they were very often persecuted and provoked. A Jewish historian Elijah Capsali describes the Jewish prosperity in the Ottoman Empire in this way:

‘The Jews gathered together from all the cities of Turkey, both far and near, each person coming from his own place, and the community gathered in Constantinople in its thousands and its tens of thousands. The heavens helped them, too, and the king provided them perfect estates and houses filled with all kinds of goodness. The Jews resided there with their families and their clans; they were fruitful and swarmed and multiplied, and the land was full of them. From that day on, whenever the king conquered a place where there were Jews, he would immediately shake them up and drive them from there – and despatch them to Constantinople, the seat of his kingdom, and he would pick them up and cuddle them for ever. Now, since the Jews feared the Lord, he provided them with houses filled with all kinds of goodness in a place where formerly, at the time of the King of Byzantium, there were only two or three congregations, the Jews increased in numbers, becoming a people with more than communities, for the land could not support them altogether – for their property was overwhelming.’ [13]

‘For their prosperity was overwhelming’, having read this, can one still assert with reasonability that the Muslims were ever anti-Jewish or ant-Semitic? Islamic behaviour towards the Jews has been consistently filled with kindness and sympathy. This is due to the law Muslims follow, which is derived from the Quran and Sunnah. The Holy Quran instructs the Muslims to be kind to those who do not fight them for their religion:

‘Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity’.[14]

The Jewish chroniclers themselves testify to the Islamic kindness towards the weak and vulnerable. The Portuguese Jewish chronicler Samuel Usque elaborates upon the Jewish migrants’ situation in the city of Salonika, which was under the Ottoman rule:

‘The majority of my children who have been persecuted and exiled from Europe and many other parts of the world have taken refuge in this city, and she embraces them and receives them with as much love and good will as if she were Jerusalem, that old and ever pious mother of ours.’ [15]

Having read so many Jewish testimonies, one can easily see that the Jews found a safe haven in the Islamic lands and this fact alone is enough to convince one to place one’s confidence in the Islamic ‘One State Solution’. Those persecuted Jews who took refuge with the Muslims were also treated as friends and furthermore, their vulnerable situation was not exploited by the Muslim authorities. An Italian Jewish traveller, David dei Rossi, travelled through the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. He documented his observations about Jewish people living in Safed in these words:

‘The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes.’ [16]

The aforementioned primary testimonies provide a vivid perspective on the Jewish experience in Muslim lands, however, it is equally prudent to ponder upon the views of the contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish historians. The following paragraphs will shed light upon some of the modern works on the Islamic behaviour towards the Jews.

Some contemporary views:

Karen Armstrong notes in her History of Jerusalem that the Jews hailed the early Islamic conquest of the Byzantine lands as a mercy from God:

‘Toward the end of the seventh century, a Hebrew poem hailed the Arabs as the precursors of the Messiah and looked forward to the ingathering of the Jewish exiles and the restoration of the Temple. Even when the Messiah failed to arrive, Jews continued to look favourably on Islamic rule in Jerusalem. In a letter written in the eleventh century, the Jerusalem rabbis recalled the “mercy” God had shown his people when he allowed the “Kingdom of Ishmael” to conquer Palestine. They were glad to remember that when the Muslims arrived in Jerusalem, “there were people from the children of Israel with them; they showed them the spot of the Temple and they settled with them until this very day.”…In about 750 the Jewish author of “The Mysteries of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai” saw the building [the Dome of the Rock] as a prelude to the messianic age. He praises the Muslim Caliph as “a lover of Israel” who had “restored the breaches of Zion and the breaches of the Temple” [17]

After having studied some early Jewish sentiments about the Muslim compassion, Karen Armstrong further concludes that:

‘The Muslims had established a system that enabled Jews, Christians, and Muslims to live in Jerusalem together for the first time.’ [18]

What Karen Armstrong failed to acknowledge was the fact that, under Islamic governance, it was not only the first time in Palestine but also the last time when the Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together in peace. And if this is proven to be accurate historically, then all sincere peace-brokers in the region and elsewhere should propagate the return of the Islamic system. History has proven beyond any element of doubt that this is the only long-term and durable solution for Palestine: ‘The One State Solution’.

Professor Dean Phillip Bell, who is dean and professor of Jewish history at Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in Chicago, had similar views in regard to the Jewish treatment at the hands of Muslims:

‘Jews under medieval Islam never suffered from the same general negative perception as in the Christian West. Despite regional variations and high medieval political instability, in medieval Islam multicultural environments, combined with active engagement in sciences and literature, led to something of an Islamic golden age for the Jews, at least according to most historical accounts. It has been primarily in the context of recent political developments that the once assumed positive views of Jewish life under medieval Islam have been seriously questioned.’ [19]

Professor Bell’s comments are self explanatory and decisive, not requiring any further elaboration. Zion Zohar, an American Jewish historian, confirms the Jewish appreciation of the Muslim arrival in Spain (711 CE) in this way:

‘Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 CE and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution…Born during this era of Islamic rule, the famous Golden Age of Spanish Jewry (circa 900-1200) produced such luminaries as: statesman and diplomat Hasdai ibn Shaprut, vizier and army commander Shmuel ha-Nagid, poet-philosophers Solomon Ibn Gabriol and Judah Halevi, and at the apex of them all, Moses Ben Maimon, also known among the Spaniards as Maimonides.’ [20]

This prosperity and the Golden Age did not just end in the Middle Ages, rather this pattern continued for many centuries to come. In some places Jews were so comfortable with the Islamic system that they deliberately applied to Shari’ah courts for the purpose of attaining justice and arbitration, even when they had complete autonomy in their religious affairs [i.e. they had their own courts to refer to]. For instance, Amnon Cohen, another American Jewish historian, studied the 16th century documents stored in the archives of the Shari’ah religious court of Jerusalem (commonly known as sijill), whereby he found 1000 Jewish cases filed form the year 1530 to 1601 CE. Cohen published his research in 1994 and during his research he made some astonishing discoveries, as he himself states:

‘Cases concerning Jews cover a very wide spectrum of topics. If we bear in mind that the Jews of Jerusalem had their own separate courts, the number of cases brought to Muslim court (which actually meant putting themselves at the mercy of a judge outside the pale of their communal and religious identity) is quite impressive[21]…The Jews went to the Muslim court for a variety of reasons, but the overwhelming fact was their ongoing and almost permanent presence there. This indicates that they went there not only in search of justice, but did so hoping, or rather knowing, that more often than not they would attain redress when wronged…The Jews went to court to resolve much more than their conflicts with Muslim or Christian neighbours. They turned to Shari’a authorities to seek redress with respect to internal differences, and even in matters within their immediate family (intimate relations between husband and wife, nafaqa maintenance payments to divorcees, support of infants etc.).’[22]

Cohen further elaborates upon the Jewish condition in the 16th century Ottoman Jerusalem:

‘Their possessions were protected, although they might have had to pay for extra protection at night for their houses and commercial properties. Their title deeds and other official documents indicating their rights were honoured when presented to the court, being treated like those of their Muslim neighbours[23]…The picture emerging from the sijill documents is baffling. On the one hand we encounter recurring Sultanic decrees sent to Jerusalem – in response to pleas of the Jews – to the effect that “nothing should be done to stop them from applying their own law” regarding a variety of matters. There are also many explicit references to the overriding importance of applying Shari’a law to them only if they so choose. On the other hand, if we look closely at some of the inheritance lists, we see that the local court allocated to female members of Jewish families half the share given to male members, exactly as in Islamic law. This meant, ipso facto, a significant improvement in the status of Jewish women with respect to legacies over that accorded them by Jewish tradition, although it actually meant the application of Islamic law in an internal Jewish context [24]…he [the Muslim Judge] defended Jewish causes jeopardized by high-handed behaviour of local governors; he enabled Jewish business people and craftsmen to lease properties from Muslim endowments on an equal footing with Muslim bidders; more generally, he respected their rituals and places of worship and guarded them against encroachment even when the perpetrators were other Muslim dignitaries.[25]’

And finally Amnon Cohen describes the effective practicality of the Islamic One State Solution for the Jewish interests:

‘No one interfered with their internal organisation or their external cultural and economic activities…In a world where civil and political equality, or positive social change affecting the group or even the individual were not the norms, the Sultan’s Jewish subjects had no reason to mourn their status or begrudge their conditions of life. The Jews of Ottoman Jerusalem enjoyed religious and administrative autonomy within an Islamic state, and as a constructive, dynamic element of the local economy and society they could – and actually did – contribute to its functioning.’[26]

Therefore, the modern scholarly opinions too seem to suggest that the Muslims were never anti-Semitic nor did they ever persecute Jews because of their religion. If the Muslims have this historical record then they should be allowed to run the affairs of Palestine and other Islamic lands ensuring that the Islamic law is implemented comprehensively, as it was the effective implementation of this law in the first place which produced the ‘Golden Age’ discussed above. The ‘One State Solution’ based upon the Islamic model supported by Shari’ah is a cohesive model that allows a diverse multitude of ethnicities to co-exist and enjoy the same freedoms and rights that are thwarted by the Zionist state today. The ‘Two State Solution’ based upon Secular Democracy does not qualify to be a solution for the conflict, but rather will only intensify the divisions between the Muslim Palestinians. Furthermore, the proposal of the ‘Two State Solution’ is divisive and advocates the segregation of a ‘Jewish’ Sate from a Secular ‘Muslim’ state, proving that it is not a long term solution for the Middle East.

The Israeli authorities are not to be trusted, as their policies are adverse to peace and stability, and these policies are harmful for both the Muslim and the Jewish people. Orthodox Jews are also severely persecuted in Israel due to their opposition to the apartheid state of Israel. Neturei Karta Internationa[27] and International Jewish Anti Zionist Network[28] are two Jewish organisations working hard to show their solidarity with the Palestinian people. This in itself proves that not all the Jews sympathise with the Zionist cause. The 60 years Israeli criminal record alone should suffice to convince one to disqualify this terrorist state from taking charge of the holy land. Re-implementation of Islam and Islamic values alone can bring back the ‘Golden Age of the House of Jacob’, as the Muslims are bound to follow the teachings of their prophet concerning Jews, which are to be found in the treaty of Madina:

‘It is incumbent on all the Muslims to help and extend sympathetic treatment to the Jews who have entered into an agreement with us. Neither an oppression of any type should be perpetrated on them nor their enemy be helped against them.’[29]

An "Extremist"

2009-02-21T04:01:00.000-08:00

CONTEST 2: UK Government Leaked Plans to Label Every Muslim an "Extremist"

Draft plans by the British government were leaked to the Guardian newspaper and BBC Panorama this week, which expose that the British government is once again playing politics with terrorism. The plans have nothing to do with preventing 'violent extremism' or promoting ‘community cohesion' as they tell people. The leak provides yet more evidence that the government's projects and funding for mosques, community centres, youth groups and women's groups are aimed at changing the deen that the Muslims hold. These projects are about gathering intelligence (though the police deny this) and their grants are so our communities become addicted to government money, so they can then dictate to us what we can and cannot think, believe or say

According to the Guardian, under the draft of the strategy Muslims would be considered as ‘extremists' if they believe in some of Islam's core ideas.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you advocate a Caliphate (Khilafah) in the Muslim world - an Islamic state that unifies Muslim countries.

This Khilafah was explained by Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم who said:

"Bani Israa'il were ruled by the Prophets, every time a Prophet died he was followed by another Prophet, and there will be no Prophets after me, and there will be Khulafaa and they will be many. [What do you order us?] Fulfil your pledge of allegiance to them one after another, and give them their rights, and truly Allah will ask them about their responsibilities."
(Muslim)

But according to the British governments draft plans it is unacceptable for the Muslim Ummah to have a Khalifah. According to these draft plans other states in the world may seek strength through ever closer unity but the Muslim Ummah must remain divided - ruled by tyrants and despots who serve the west. According to these draft plans a Muslim can support political movements in Zimbabwe or Burma, but must cut their ties with the growing Islamic revival and the call for Khilafah and end to dictatorship in the Muslim world.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you promote Shariah law - the law of Allah سبحانه وتعالى derived from the Quran, Sunnah, Ijmaa as- Sahabah and Qiyas. It is a law that is principled, which does not bend when placed under pressure, and that cannot be manipulated for any lobbyist. They manipulate the laws to suit capitalists and corporate interest groups even try to sell positions in the US Senate and votes in the House of Lords. The Shariah is the fundamental basis of Islamic law and the basis of the Muslims way of life. By attacking the Shariah their aim is for Muslims to abandon the halal and haram, the fard and the Sunnah and adopt their corrupt kufr criteria of benefit and pleasure that has brought so much harm to their own society.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you believe in Jihad, or armed resistance, anywhere in the world including armed resistance by Palestinians against the Israeli military. So, for the British government, when the Israeli war machine massacred over 1300 people in Gaza, including hundreds of children, it would be ‘extremist' for the Muslims to resist this massacre - despite the fact that Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us:

وَقَاتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ

"And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits" (Al-Baqara, 2:190)

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you argue that Islam bans homosexuality and that it is a sin against Allah. Islam has given us clear rules for relationships, marriage and families. These values are in decay in this society. Peoples' sexual desires are fulfilled in any way creating a society that is in moral decline. They are trying to impose upon us the same breakdown of families, unhappiness of children, and promiscuity and immorality that is so damaging western societies.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you fail to condemn the killing of British soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan - even though this government sent these soldiers there to invade someone else's country; to kill and be killed in failed colonial wars which were motivated by greed and the seeking of wealth and power.

Muslims the world over are being forced to leave their Islamic values and adopt western ones. This is what they mean when they say that the war on terror is to spread 'freedom and democracy'. This is what was said in a report by a think-tank called Civitas that advises British politicians when they said:

"it is not enough for the vast majority of decent, peaceful, law-abiding Muslims to renounce terror in principle: they also need to renounce the view - frequently expressed by Islamists - of an inevitable war between Islam and the rest of the world. If they choose to live in Western liberal democratic societies, they must accept the values of liberal democracy - as Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and others have done for many years."

It is clear to everyone that this war on terror is nothing less than a cover for a wider war against Islam. Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us in the Quran in that:

وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ

"Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you (O Muhammad) unless you follow their millah (religion)."

(Al-Baqarah, 2:120)

Yet the values of liberal democracy, which they expect Muslims all over the world to adopt as their political and social ‘religion', are not even values that all people in Britain believe in. About 40% of people in mainstream society do not vote in elections, and many of the remaining 60% do not trust their elected politicians. Every week we read alarming reports about how badly children, the elderly, women, immigrants and asylum seekers are treated or how people with a religious conviction or illiberal view are treated by liberal society. And we now also see the collapse of disaster capitalism, which has been the back bone of the secular liberal democratic system for the past 200 years.

Brothers and Sisters! Are these values, forced upon us in the UK and in the Muslim world, the values that we wish for ourselves and our children to adopt? Have we not seen the harm caused by the values in the west? Their way of life is one that has failed to bring harmony for their own society never mind for humanity. Their way of life is one that has encouraged individualism and selfishness, and the craving for material wealth. It is one that has meant ‘life liberty and the pursuit of happiness' even if it meant through colonising the world and making hundreds of millions of others suffer.

Every one of us has to understand that this is nothing less than an attempt to change the deen of the Muslims. Sometimes they have attacked the women's dress code and sometimes they have attacked the modesty and family values of Muslims. At worse we have even seen our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Noble Quran attacked. Yet this is what our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم faced in his struggle in Makkah. He faced personal attacks, attacks on Islam, lies and slander. They labelled him صلى الله عليه وسلم with all kinds of names. Yet he responded with an intellectual dawah showing the superiority of the sublime Islamic values over those of kufr; proving the truth of the Islamic belief over other beliefs; meeting falsehood with the truth of Islam. And Allah made His صلى الله عليه وسلم call victorious.

This should be our calling when faced with this attack. The response to this is that every Muslim has to know his or her deen, and know the political and social values that are being forced on us - not just here but all across the Muslim world.

We should oppose government attempt to control our institutions but we should demonstrate and explain the superiority of the Islamic values and prove the truth of the Islamic belief. We must stand for Islam and expose falsehood when we see it.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands us:

ادْعُ إِلِى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ

"Invite to the Way of your Lord with hikmah and fair preaching and argue with them in a way that is better."

(An-Nahl, 16:125)

That is our duty - to focus our efforts towards this dawah in the west, as well as supporting the call to replace tyranny, dictatorship and kufr in Muslim lands with a just Islamic leadership that rules by Quran and Sunnah - the Khilafah, which can show the world what the justice of Islam can bring for humanity.

As to the success or failure of these plans, the very fact they have resorted to using bribery and force against Muslims, in order to achieve these goals, proves they cannot deal with Islamic ideas intellectually and that they have lost the battle of ideas. If any individual Muslim were to abandon the truth, he would do so to his own loss. But their plans can never succeed in replacing Islam in the heart of the Muslim community or anywhere in the world for Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us:

يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِؤُواْ نُورَ اللّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللّهُ إِلاَّ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ

"They seek to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths; but Allah refuses but to perfect His light, though the disbelievers may resent it."

(At-Tawba, 9:32)

HADITH

2009-01-18T07:07:00.000-08:00

From Mu'adh bin Jabal رضي الله عنه who said: I said:

"O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed which will take me into Paradise and will keep me away from the Hell-fire." He said: "You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is, indeed, an easy matter for him to whom Allah Almighty makes it easy. (It is ) that you worship Allah without associating anything with Him, that you perform the prayers, that you pay the zakat, that you fast during Ramadan, and that you make the pilgrimage to the House."

Then he said: "Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and a man's prayer in the middle of the night." Then he recited:

تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

"Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do."

[Surah al-Sajdah 32: 16-17]

Then he said: "Shall I not also tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its topmost part?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "The peak of the matter is Islam (submission to Allah), the pillar is prayer; and its topmost part is jihad." Then he said: "And shall I not tell you of the controlling of all that?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah". So he took hold of his tongue and said: "Restrain this." I said: "O Prophet of Allah, will we be held accountable for what we say?" He said: "May your mother be bereft of you! Is there anything that topples people on their faces (or he said, on their noses) into the Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues?"

Related by Al-Tirmidhi, who said it was a fine and sound.

Resolution 1860

2009-01-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

Disgraceful slap in the face of the rulers in the Islamic Lands

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Resolution 1860 is a disgraceful slap in the face of the rulers in the Islamic Lands, Not content with denying Gaza the help of the Muslim armies, they surrender it to the ZIONIST through international resolutions

This morning the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 1860 regarding the brutal hostility against the Gaza Strip. This resolution’s wording employs malicious, political cunning, as used previously in Resolution 242, after the hostility in 1967, which mentions withdrawal from “territories,” without specifying withdrawal from “the territories,” and thus granting the state of Isreal scope to remain on territories that it seized!

With regards to Resolution 1860, its does not mention withdrawal from Gaza, rather it limits itself to a ceasefire “leading” to withdrawal! And “how” or “what” is “leading.” And how is it such a resolution, intentionally cloaked with ambiguity, end the Jewish hostility, when they have never ended hostility for other even clearer resolutions?!

The Security Council resolution is not worth the paper it is written on. Moreover there are many resolutions that the Jews ignored, that now fill their dustbins! Despite this, America and its allies prevented the issuing of any Security Council resolution that insists on cessation of hostilities, in order to give the state of Jews an opportunity to continue to spill blood in Gaza, in brutal hostility, until the state of Jews achieves its objectives.Following and emulating America, the rulers in the Muslim lands fulfilled America’s will, willingly and fearfully, so they differed, disagreed and they did not gather…

And when the state of Jews faced great resistance and it was clear to the state of Jews that it was unable to achieve its objectives through military actions, and that the matter will prolong to the time that is due for their elections, when they need an environment of “victory,” whether by war or peace, up to the elections and during them, America then became active in realizing their goals for them through the means of the Security Council. Condoleezza Rice was steering the meetings and she moved her pawns amongst the rulers and they started to move, making pilgrimage to the Security Council, to merge their days and with their nights in unrelenting efforts… And they are the ones who look at helping Gaza with the look of the one who is dazed by death, at a time when if a single front, or even a few fronts, were opened, by these rulers the state of Jews would be shaken if not completely annihilated.These rulers are the “sponsors” of the resolution that allows the state of Jews to achieve what it could never achieve through its hostility! And the resolution keeps the Israeli army in Gaza, whilst sanctioning the Gaza strip of any means of strength and weaponry, and this does not change anything, despite the cosmetic mention of relieving food sanctions!…

And to market this resolution, America abstained from voting for it, as if it were not behind it and so that the Muslim rulers are able to give the impression that they achieved a big victory without America’s help, but they are lying and anyone who has a mind that can comprehend will realize that if America was not behind the resolution, it would not have allowed it to be passed.

O Muslims!

Indeed, it was true what the most truthful RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,

إذا لم تستح فاصنع ما شئت

"And if you have no shame than do what you wish"

And as for these rulers who are looking on as pure blood is spilled in Gaza of Hashim (named after the grandfather of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم), they neither mobilize the armies nor launch rockets and bombers, but instead they prevent the volunteer fighters from fighting…! Yet they fall head over heels to endorse the resolution that prohibits weapons and the means of strength for Gaza and ensures the Jewish army’s occupation of it, may Allah fight them for what they do.Any one who looks to the Palestine-occupying entity of the Jews, which is surrounded by these rulers, would realize that the existence of this entity relies upon the existence of these rulers. Not only are the Jews protecting themselves, so are the rulers on their behalf. And America and the other Western states would not be able to protect this entity effectively, if there were a single righteous man amongst them!!

O Muslims!

As we mentioned many times before, and we re-iterate now, anyone who wants to annihilate the entity of Jews and return Palestine to the Abode of Islam, he has to work for the sincere ruler, the sincere state, the Khilafah Rashida. RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,

الإمام جنة يقاتل من ورائه ويتقى به

"Indeed, the Imam (Khaleefah) is a shield, from behind whom you fight and by whom you are protected."

And then the state of isreal will cease to exist, as will other colonialist, occupying kufr, states that are stronger and more effective than the entity of the Jews, and they will all be in humiliation.

نَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ

“And this is a reminder for those who have a believing heart and hearing, so bear witness.”

[Surah Kaf 50:37]

G20 Summit

2008-12-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

Analysis on G20 Summit

1. From 14 to 15 of November the Group of Twenty (G20) met to discuss a variety of issues pertaining to the healthy of the world economy. Before elaborating on what was discussed and concluded, it is important to comprehend some background information.

2. The Global Financial System (GFS) unleashed a series of financial crisis in Mexico (1994-95), Asia (1997-98), Russia (1998), and Argentina (1999). It was in the aftermath of these crises that The G20 (more formally known as the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) was formally established at the G7 Finance Ministers' meeting on September 26, 1999. The inaugural meeting took place on December 15-16, 1999 in Berlin.

3. G20 is a group that consists of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies. This includes 19 of the world's largest national economies, plus the European Union (EU). Collectively, the G20 economies comprise 85% of global gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade) and two-thirds of the world population. Full membership of the G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU. In addition, to the financial ministers of these countries, the leaders of the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) also attend G20 meetings.

4. The mandate of G20 is to protect the GFS and the economies of the major Western powers by strengthening the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions. G20 works with emerging economies through the IMF, WB and WTO to ensure that these economies are well integrated in the GFS.

5. The Washington meeting was called at the behest of European leaders including France's President Nicholas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Europe’s leaders have been incensed at the way America allowed the credit crises to spread across the globe. For instance, the US manipulated oil, food and commodity prices to shore up the dollar. Subsequently, the cost of production and inflation soared in Europe; the European Central Bank (ECB) had little choice but to raise interest rates to tackle inflation. As a direct consequence of this policy the EU’s economy started to contract and investors switched from Euros to the Dollars. Investors felt that America’s low interest rates and economic growth was a more favorable investment as compared to the EU. Hence the value of the Euro plummeted and the EU’s economy started to tilt towards recession. Faced with poor growth the ECB was forced to slash interest rates. This further aggravated the value of the euro in comparison to the dollar. Amidst this, Sarkozy and Brown, later to be joined by Merkel and other EU leaders pressed Bush for an international summit to discuss the crisis. Associated Press reported on 5 October, that following an emergency meeting, four members of the G8 - Britain, France, Germany and Italy - “called for an international conference "as soon as possible" to consider sweeping reforms of the global finance system.” At an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup on 12 October, 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented a proposal to deal with the financial crisis. During a press conference at the 2 day EU summit in Brussels on 15-16 October 2008, European Commission chief Manuel Barosso said there will only be “a global agreement if Europe has a leadership role.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manual Baroso visited President George Bush at Camp David on 18 October, 2008. Mr Sakozy said “We have a mandate from the 27 members of the European Union to come here and say first and foremost that this is a worldwide crisis and, therefore, we must find a worldwide solution”. Mr Baroso stated: “The international financial system - its basic principles and regulations and its institutions need reform. We need a new global financial order...This is why Europe wants the calling of an international summit as soon as possible to launch an effective world response to world crisis.” On 21 October, 2008 President Sarkozy told the European Parliament that “Europe must be the standard bearer for the idea of reforming world capitalism.” José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister said, “The EU must take over the leadership of change because that is what it has long been calling for while the US was not favorable…. There has to be regulation and limits to everything to do with incentives and rewards.”

6. EU leaders believe that the cause of the global financial crisis was inadequate regulation of the financial sector, especially in the US. In other words the real culprit behind the global financial crisis in their view is American capitalism. Europe’s leaders would like to see more coordinated action to revive the world economy, both by more interest cuts and more spending by governments to bring countries out of recession. They hope that the meeting will agree a blueprint for future reform, including changes to the international organizations charged with regulating the world economy, such as the International IMF and WB.Against this backdrop, Bush finally agreed to convene an international summit in Washington from November 14 to November 15.But From the outset the meeting of the G20 was not going to produce anything substantive, apart from agreement on lofty goals and general principles. These were mentioned in a fact sheet issued by the Whitehouse after the summit.

Goals

1. Reached a common understanding of the root causes of the global crisis

2. Reviewed actions countries have taken and will take to address the immediate crisis and strengthen growth

3. Agreed on common principles for reforming our financial markets

4. Launched an action plan to implement those principles and asked ministers to develop further specific recommendations that will be reviewed by leaders at a subsequent summit

5. Reaffirmed their commitment to free market principlesPrinciples

1. Strengthening transparency and accountability by enhancing required disclosure on complex financial products;

2. Enhancing sound regulation by ensuring strong oversight of credit rating agencies; prudent risk management;

3. Promoting integrity in financial markets by preventing market manipulation and fraud, helping avoid conflicts of interest

4. Reinforcing international cooperation by making national laws and regulations more consistent and encouraging regulators to enhance their coordination and cooperation across all segments of financial markets

5. Reforming international financial institutions (IFIs) by modernizing their governance and membership

The reason for a lack of consensus on detail solutions amongst EU, US and UK leaders at the summit is as follows:-First, President George Bush does not possess the domestic clout or international legitimacy to carry out a comprehensive reform of the GFS. Besides, Bush is a lame duck president and leaders of many countries are waiting for president elect Obama to take office before seriously considering all the proposals on the table. Hence that is why George Bush launched a passionate defense of the free market on the eve of the summit, as he aimed to deflect European criticism about American capitalism. “While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth,” he told an audience in New York. "And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.” So the best George Bush could do was get consensus agreement on the free market (see goal nos. 5) which he did. The rest is left to his successor Obama to pursue.Second, prior to the G20 meeting, some EU leaders had urged a complete rethink of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 that created the post-war system of fixed exchange rates and established the IMF and the World Bank. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said “Bretton Woods II” should bring about “genuine, all-encompassing reform of the international financial system”. On October 13, 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said world leaders must meet to agree to a new economic system. “We must have a new Bretton Woods, building a new international financial architecture for the years ahead.”However, Brown's approach is quite different than the original Bretton Woods System. Britain wants to carry on emphasizing the continuation of globalization and free trade and is opposed to a return to fixed exchange rates. Sarkozy disagrees with Brown and argues that the "Anglo-Saxon" model of unrestrained markets has failed. He is supported by Italian Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti has said that Italy will use its 2009 G7 chairmanship to push for a "New Bretton Woods.Europe’s view is diametrically opposed to America’s view on Bretton Woods, as America does not want to cede control of IMF, WB and WTO. Moreover, America possesses very little appetite to abandon the world of floating exchange rates, as it has given Wall Street complete reign over the world markets. Britain is keen to pursue free trade but is looking to acquire greater control over the international financial institutions and also wants America to regulate its corporate masters who have hitherto escaped punishment.

Because of these two factors the G20 could only agree on goals and principles. This was acknowledged by several leaders, as being the first step in the reform GFS. Future meetings of the G20 and other forums will decide what will become of the GFS.

Ramadhan

2008-08-31T10:47:00.001-07:00

Ramadhan

Salam'

Ramadhan starts on Monday 01/09/2008.

Many Allah swt accept our fast and reward us with Jannah al Ferdous.

Wa-Salam

Saudis

2008-06-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

Americas: Saudi’s capitulate to American pressure and raise production

On 13/6/2008 the BBC reported that Saudi Arabia could increase its output by more than half a million barrels of oil per day to a record 10 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia is coming under increasing pressure from G8 and the Bush administration to raise production and curb escalating oil prices. However, the popular perception is that speculators are the chief culprits behind the soaring price of crude oil. Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said "enormous" speculation is behind the rising energy prices.
It is now widely documented that whenever the dollar falls powerful hedge funds intervene and cause huge spikes in the price of crude oil. Such initiatives cause a temporary rebound in the value of the dollar. If the rulers of Saudi Arabia had a modicum of common sense they could take advantage of the current situation to rid the Saudi Arabia of American and western domination. All that is required is to de-peg the Saudi Riyal from the dollar and withdraw money from western banks.
Europe: Italy- Europe’s new police state
On 15/06/2008 the Italian government announced that 2,500 soldiers are to be deployed for a maximum period of one year. The deployment is the government’s attempt to curb Italy’s soaring crime. Up to 300 soldiers are expected to carry out patrols and security checks there to help combat muggers and pickpockets. This is the first time the Italian army has been used since World War 2. The fundamental cause of crime in capitalist societies like Italy is the capitalist goal in life, which each member of society strives to achieve. This goal in life only recognizes the pursuit of sensual pleasure for human beings as the sole way to attain happiness. The capitalist goal in life has no room for spiritual, moral or humanitarian pursuits. Naturally such a self-centered outlook towards life leads people to be irresponsible, callous and rebellious towards law and authority. Even the severity of the law does not deter people from committing crime. Thus for many years, Western governments have struggled to reduce the growing number of paedophiles, rapists, drug addicts, joy riders, burglars, fraudsters and the like - no matter how many laws they enact or how much time and money they spend on policing.
In Islam the individual through his Taqwa, the public through their concern about the preservation of society and the state all act in unison to ensure that the Islamic laws are implemented and that crime is minimized. The Islamic history bears testimony to this fact. For example, when Imam Malik was appointed the judge of Madinah, he had to wait almost a year before he presided over his first case.
Middle East: Egypt’s misplaced Fatwa
On 15/6/2008 it was reported that Al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a fatwa demanding that the government donate 20 percent of its profits from oil, gas and minerals to the poor as alms. Does not Al-Azhar recognize that this fatwa will never solve the economic problems of the poverty stricken masses? This is because the crux of the Egypt’s numerous economic problems is caused by capitalist solutions imported from the West. These solutions permeate all spheres of Egyptian life—not just economics. The fatwa that Al-Azhar should have issued is a stipulation for the removal of capitalist solutions along with the Mubarak regime that implements them. Allah says in the Quran: “And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are disbelievers” [TMQ]. A fatwa calling for the removal of Mubarak’s evil regime, and the re-establishment of the Khilafah on its ashes is long overdue from the ulema of Al-Azhar. The messenger (saw) of Allah described the ulema as the inheritors of the prophets. But today, Al-Azhar is a staunch supporter of Mubarak’s kufr regime that oppresses Muslims at the behest of colonialist powers.
Africa: Are Chad and Sudan on the brink of war?
This week Chad accused Sudanese soldiers of helping rebels attack one of its frontier military camps. The attack came as rebels opposed to Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno claimed further advances on the capital N'djamena. ”After dispatching columns of mercenaries to Chad and failing to secure strategic areas, the Sudanese army took matters in its own hands today and attacked Ade, backed up by helicopters,” a Chadian government statement said. Diplomatic relations broke off in mid-May after an attack near Sudan’s capital, Khartoum , by a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement. The real architects of this perpetual conflict are Europe and America. Chad through French and British aid and Sudan through American support are engaged in a bitter proxy war—which threatens to explode into a full blown conflict. The conflict is sold to world as humanitarian crisis in Darfur —nothing could be further from the truth.
At the heart of the dispute are Sudan’s strategic oil reserves. The struggle between the major powers also explains why hitherto the UN is ineffective and EUFOR (European Force) is stationed in Chad.
South Asia: Taliban’s assault demonstrates more than luck
The recent escape of hundreds of prisoners from Kandahar, the seizure of small towns in nearby vicinities, and the capture of helicopter engines bound for US crusaders speaks volumes about Taliban’s growing confidence. America and Europe frightened by an imminent Taliban comeback have ushered in huge deployments to fight the bold pushtun resistance. The rag-tag band of men, once dismissed as ineffective by crusader forces are now posing a grave threat—one of strategic proportions. The question on most people’s minds is what would happen if the Muslim armies from Iran, Central Asia and Pakistan joined the Taliban. Whilst the agent rulers in these countries reject such assertions, their people are hoping for such an outcome. Indeed, only the Khilafah can provide such a result. The messenger (saw) of Allah said, “The Imam is a shield behind whom the people are protected and behind whom they fight”.

The Dollar

2008-06-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

The dollar crisis, rising oil & commodity prices

Question:The dollar crisis continues to persist and it its slide down is markedly visible. This has been followed by a surge in crude oil, gold and other minerals & metals prices thereby resulting in steep rise in foodstuff prices. This multi-faceted crisis is unprecedented both in terms of its intensity as well as persistence…Is this crisis really a result of economic problems, or is it the US policies that are spurring & aggravating it?I request you to please clarify this, may Allah reward you for it.

Answer: Indeed this crisis has a genuine economic aspect as well, but the interference of political hands has compounded & aggravated the problem to such proportions that we see.To fully clarify the picture, we shall explain how the crisis developed, how the political hands interfered with it and how the rise in the prices of crude oil, gold and metals affected the crisis, and finally we shall see how it developed into a food crisis.First of all: Indeed there is a genuine crisis in the US economy which has affected the strength & influence of the US dollar, consequently the US economy has been hit by the currently widespread slowdown. The current crisis has grown to such proportions due to the following factors:The US Trade Deficit:The United States imports more goods & services than it exports and its consumers have a great appetite for imports. For instance, the US imported goods & services worth US$ 1,625 billion in 2003, while its exports during that year were worth US$ 1,203 billion, which leaves a deficit of US$ 449 billion and has since risen to a gigantic figure of US$ 816 billion! This difference between the imports & exports was adjusted by printed currency (US dollars) or by US government bonds. This, by its nature leads to a downturn in US Dollars though it may not be officially acknowledged.Certainly, the US has never before experienced a trade deficit of such colossal proportions; on the contrary, it has been witnessing trade surplus and that too for many a decades, especially after World War II. Gradually, this trade surplus began to taper off over the years thanks to stiff competition from European as well as Asian countries that produce the goods at lower costs. This resulted in even higher imports of goods & services from such countries. This coincided with a huge military expenditure in the Vietnam War resulting in steeply risen balance of payment. In 1971, the US was forced to abandon supporting its dollar with gold, this was the first tremor. In the 80’s when global trade grew and industrial plants shifted from America to those countries that offered cheaper labour, economic shortfall began to show its ugly face. Also the continued imports from the countries that produced cheaper goods like Mexico, China & Malaysia led to further widening of the trade-deficit.Thus the deficits in the trade & payment balance sowed doubts and distrust about the US economy among the investors and later this led to a slump in the value of the US dollar.Debt:The US Treasury department statistics showed a rise in the indebtedness of the government (the Federal administration as well as the local administrations) from US$ 4.3 trillion (US$ 4,300,000,000,000) in 1990 to a staggering US$ 8.4 trillion in 2003, further rising to about US$ 8.9 trillion in 2007. This general debt is the size of 64% of the Gross Domestic Product. Thus the US can be grouped alongside those countries that suffer most from their debts. This debt is not confined to the US governments alone but comprises firms and individuals in its web. Individual debts alone in the US have recently reached a staggering figure of US$ 6.60 trillion, while the corporate debts, ranked first have reached US$ 18.40 trillion. Thus the total debts stand at US$ 34 trillion which is three times the GDP. This, in itself is a grave economic crisis.The Rise of the Euro:Ever since the advent of the Euro, it became the second alternative global reserve currency after the US dollar. This was due to the fact that Euro inherited this distinguished position from the Deutsche Mark, but it even surpassed it and this adversely affected the dollar. Thus the Euro enjoys even more trust than its German predecessor with its value constantly on the rise affecting the demand for the US currency and taking its shine. Hence several investors were encouraged by this fall of dollar’s value into switching their investments from the US currency to the stronger Euro.In addition to these, the US economy suffers from several factors foremost of them being inflation crossing 4%, unemployment in excess of 5%, an industry in disarray, poverty, poor education services, and the like…All these factors have contributed to the dollar losing its face & value.The dollar’s fall has forced several central banks across the globe to reduce their stocks of the US currency.Paul Michael, a currency strategist at the HSBC says: “The central banks have for quite some time realised that they are no longer keen to boost their dollar stocks. As a result, most central banks around the world have reduced the dollar part of their assets form 73 to 64%”.This is the real picture of the crisis confronting the US dollar.Secondly: It is in these circumstances that the US political interference came about in order to exploit the crisis in order to serve its own interests and thus turn the crisis from being a local crisis to a global one… this is how it came about:1. Any decrease in the value of an exporting country’s currency increases its exports because the costs of the goods becomes relatively cheaper for the importing country due to the fact that the importer pays a lower price for the goods considering that the currency of the exporting country has fallen. For instance, when an importer pays US$ 1000.00 as cost of the goods and presuming that this equals €1000.00. Now if the US dollar loses say 10% of it value, the importer will only need to pay €900.00 instead of €1000.00 on the earlier rates. Therefore the importers prefer to import goods from such countries that have lower value currencies.It is another matter that all this is fine so long as the currency depreciation is within 5% and is still acceptable if the currency has lost up to 10% value. But if the depreciation exceeds 10%, the industrial plants that manufacture the goods suffer due to the resulting inflation, in other words, the cost of the goods increases in such countries that have lost the currency values because the purchasing power of that currency is impaired. This inflation results in higher cost of the industrial plants and thereby an increase in the prices of its goods follows. This means that the cost of the goods does not remain US$ 1000.00, but it increase. Thus if a currency loses its value beyond an acceptable limit, the cost of production increases resulting in reduced exports due to the resulting inflation. In the case of America, the loss of the dollar’s value has crossed an acceptable limit, for instance, the Euro is trading at around US$ 1.60 as compared to US$ 0.80 in 2000. Which means that the value of the US dollar has breached critical economic limits and has lost over five times….As a result of this depression, the US exports have only grown by a meagre amount meaning that though the trade deficit has marginally been reduced, it remains and haunts the economy.Yet in spite of these, the US has not taken any steps to correct the trade deficit, it has not opened up its oil reserve stocks for usage to bring down the cost of production for the industrial plants which would result in increased exports. In fact the Bush administration has refused to open up the oil reserves for usage in order to reduce the fuel costs which have been shooting up drastically. In other words, the US has not tried to solve the deficit problem from an economic perspective.Similarly, it has not addressed the issue of the debt, on the other hand it has in fact it has worked to increase it further as a result of its aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq which have cost it over 2 trillion dollars! In addition the Bush administration has given loans to the wealthy US capitalists in the range of about a trillion dollars by way of tax subsidies. This is motivated by electoral & political considerations… leaving the debt as it was, or even worse.Thus the fall of dollar has persisted and the US has taken no economic steps to rectify the situation. It then exploited this low-cost dollar to politically blackmail countries that have huge dollar reserves such as China which has dollar reserves in the range of a thousand billion dollars causing it to lose colossal sums, then it exploited India, European countries and the oil countries forcing them float their currencies and buy dollars. This increased the demand for dollars and marginally contained the US deficits.2. Then came the collapse of the shares of US real estate mortgage firms which enabled America to transfer its crisis to the global level!America gave loans on soft interests to housing companies, especially the real estate mortgage firms that sell houses on mortgage until the installments are paid for. Thus liquidity was available to these companies in a big way, motivating them to go soft on conditions of sale and on easier terms and even reduced rates because liquidity was no problem for these companies thanks to the cheaper state loans. The Americans went in for buying houses in a big way because cash was available to them from US banks that gave loans on easy terms. In fact the banks gave loans even to extent of the full value of the mortgage unlike the European banks that give loans only up to 60% of the mortgage value. All this was because the US government was giving cheaper credits to real estate companies, causing them to register considerable profits.Now because of globalisation and susceptibility of one company buying out another whenever it sees a profit opportunity, the multinational companies, specialised banks and central banks as well as individuals bought shares of US real estate companies with the aim of taking profits… this caused the real estate companies to register consistent boom in the stock exchanges across the globe and especially in the US and eventually the real estate shares became the preferred form of investment at the cost of other sectors including modern technologies that were exposed to losses. Earlier, the investment of choice were the information technology and communication firms, but now the Americans, both individuals and companies preferred to buy real estate as long-term investment or for speculative trading. The real estate facilities were now so easily and widely available that banks even gave to loans to those individuals who were not in a position to pay their debts due to their reduced incomes.This situation persisted and caused no severe problems till the current year until the burden of the loans became untenable for the government. The US then stopped the soft-loans to the mortgage & real estate sector banks; it even demanded repayment of the earlier loans which were now due. These real estate companies and mortgage banks in turn asked their customers to repay. But since unemployment, inflation and economic stagnation was rampant in the US, the house owners could neither repay the loan mortgages on the house cost nor the bank loans… real estate prices collapsed as a result of this payment default and the individuals who were in a position to repay their loans also defaulted. Thus, a house whose price was US$ 500,000 lost over half of its value and was available for US$200,000, yet as was reported in the press, no one was willing to buy even at this price. Over 2 million American owners were left encumbered with life-long financial liabilities. Consequently, due to loans default at such an enormous scale, the lending banks’ shares fell on the stock markets and mortgage companies collapsed under tremendous losses estimated to be in the range of US$ 2,000 million! This led to several real estate companies announcing their bankruptcy.As a result of this, an enormous portion of the debts became unrecoverable bad debt.The big banks were at last exposed to a severe jolt in the American mortgage sector, ‘Market’ magazine published by the German-Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Berlin, pointed that the American ‘CitiGroup’ that opened the new year with losses incurred in the last quarter of the previous year to the tune of US$ 9.83 billion (equivalent to € 6.60 billion at the then prevalent rates). This loss to the ‘CitiGroup’ in the mortgage sector has now reached a staggering US$ 18.10 billion.The same losses were suffered by other banking institutions; the American ‘Merryll Lynch’ announced a write-off of US$ 14.10 billion from its assets, meaning that it ran a loss of US$ 9.80 billion in the last quarter of 2007-the biggest loss in its history.The Swiss giant ‘UBS’ was also similarly placed; it received billions of dollars from the Singapore Sovereign Fund, the ‘GIC’ to enable it to avoid going bankrupt.This is how the shares of real estate mortgage firms collapsed in the stock markets and as a result the shares of banking institutions followed in several countries across the world that were linked to the real estate investments or directly involved in the US real estate market. This did not strictly remain confined to the specific sector, but spread to even such sectors that do not deal in real estate, but because of the effects of globalisation, and overlapping of economic sectors over each other, no sector was totally insusceptible.It was not just that the shares of the real estate sector firms collapsed by on the American Wall Street, this phenomenon was repeated across the world; the Frankfurt exchange index fell by 7.10%, in Paris, the index lost 6.80%, the London index fell by 5.40%, in Madrid by 7.50%, Tokyo lost 3.80%, Shanghai 5.10%, Sao Paolo index fell by 6.00%, Riyadh index lost 9.80%, Dubai index fell by 9.40%, Beirut by 3.00% and Cairo lost 4.20%.Owing to the enormity of the losses suffered, it was decided by the French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in their 27th March, 2008 meeting that they will urge the banks to immediately disclose the extent of bad debts with them. In January last, Brown had said that Britain faces a tough test with the global economy in difficult and dangerous times due to the credit crisis precipitated by US loans default. This statement came after the 5th largest British real estate mortgage bank; the ‘Northern Rock’ was exposed to huge losses due to the US real estate crisis.This is how the United States passed its local crisis to the global level to such an extent that the European central banks pumped in a whopping US$ 150 billion in the last year to support real estate mortgage companies so that the resulting crisis does not adversely affect the global stock exchanges including the European exchanges due to the global reach of multi national companies that affects every country because of the maze created in the aftermath of a globalised world. Thus America exposed Europe and then supported its own real estate companies through such means.In conclusion, the American crisis had several political & economic ramifications; the US, passing through real crises leading to the devaluation of its currency, indulged in manipulative politics (or conspired) to involve the entire world to be sunk in by a crisis that was essentially an American crisis especially after globalisation and opening up of stock exchanges in the name of ‘market economy’ and extending the reach of multinational firms to the whole world. In this environment, most countries’ stock exchanges are open to each other and affected by them.The dollar devalued owing to America’s economic woes was thus exploited by it to reduce its trade deficit and to politically blackmail especially those countries that maintain huge dollar reserves. In the process, it also managed to convert what was essentially a US real estate mortgage firms’ crisis into a global crisis; it is another matter that America itself is not insulated from this.Yet in spite of all these political maneuverings, the US economy has not returned to growth cycle, it is just that its’ collapse has ceased for the time being. Were it not for globalisation, open-market economy and the capitalist economic order being prevalent and dominant over the world economy, and importantly if the countries were not relying on the US dollar as the reserve currency, the American economy could not have stood on its own and sustained until now.Thirdly: As for the rising prices of such minerals as oil, gold, iron etc., it must be observed that it followed the real estate mortgage crisis and the resulting stock & derivatives market crisis when the stock indices collapsed. In the aftermath of these crises, the investors’ confidence took a beating in such investment instruments that do not carry any intrinsic value, like bonds, shares and equity stock markets. Therefore they moved away from such investments and preferred such investment avenues that have an intrinsic value like gold and other important metals thereby creating demand for such commodities and consequently a huge upsurge in their prices; thus gold prices have already reached US% 1,000 per ounce and as the current indicators point, it is poised to even reach US$ 1,500.00 an ounce.Indeed the United States is itself among those worst affected by the gold price upsurge. If this upward trend in gold prices persists, the value of the dollar will not be worth the paper it is printed on! Therefore, the US is expected to take steps to curb gold prices, indeed there are already pointers to that; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to sell 403 tons of gold due to its own budget deficit. However, the IMF has said that this quantity will be sold in phases over a long term. This declaration by the IMF will go a long way in curbing the (speculation) in gold prices. It is probable that this gold will be sold to central banks which may cause the central banks to increase their profit margins and thereby it may also result in increased exchange rates. Again, the IMF on 9th April, 2008 stated, that the financial crisis will cost a trillion US dollars. Such statements more than being honest reflections of the situation are designed to be speculative aimed at changing the course of economy and finance. As the English newspaper ‘Telegraph’ said in its commentary, the IMF is the last resort to emerge out of the current financial crisis, thus this statement of the IMF amounts to preparing grounds for it.Thus the fall in dollar prices and investors’ lack of confidence in the primary US markets has pushed many of them not to invest in banknote credit instruments. A logical assessment of this reveals that the current banknote credit instruments are not fully backed in any perceptible way. In other words, in the current atmosphere, the confidence crisis will quickly spill over to other currencies. Therefore, certain central banks, like the Central Bank of China have begun to buy gold and this has pushed gold prices t its highest levels. The same applies to the price rise in other metals like silver and platinum. Further, due to increased demands of copper, zinc, aluminum and nickel from India and China, their prices have also risen. This increased demand from India and China is due to their rapid economic growth. This has been the case of the Chinese demand for the last 12 years while in the case of India, it has been there for 4 years. China has invested US$ 1 trillion in its infrastructure development and will spend another US$ 50 billion every year for the coming 15 years. On its part, India has begun its infrastructure development plan six years back. In the beginning, the investments on this plan were meager, but in the last 4 years investments have reached US$ 50 billion and it has plans to invest between US$ 30 to 40 billion annually for the next ten years. However, India does not have sufficient mineral reserves to support this investment plan; moreover, the rise in petrol prices has meant an increase in its production costs and as a result of this, there is an overall price increase.Indeed the cause of oil price increase is related to the sinking dollar prices and the higher purchasing power for oil of countries like those in the European Union, China and India and this is driving the demand for oil. However, the chief cause for oil price upsurge is the speculative trading, and it is the American speculation that has led to it. This was meant to put together the dollars in circulation from those who want to buy oil in order to enable the US to avoid a total collapse of its currency. This is reason behind uncertain information (rather misinformation) regarding American oil reserve figures that the US puts out periodically.Speculations play a key role in price rise; for instance, take the speculative trading in futures contracts or the speculative trading in minerals, especially gold. A higher gold price pushes such countries as China, Russia and other Asian countries to buy gold as a means of getting rid of their enormous dollar reserves. These countries no longer trust the US currency, because any decrease in its value results in severe losses to them. Similarly, China bought iron and other metals required for its industry and this pushed the iron and other metals’ prices up. Also Germany bought huge quantities of scrap iron and this caused the price surge, in fact it multiplied because a big portion of it is exported to China.It has been known for a long time that crude oil prices increase whenever there is a surge in the value of dollar. These two are inversely linked to each other. The current condition is no different, on 17th April, 2008, the crossed the barrier of US$ 115.00 per barrel and the upswing continued with the prices crossing US$ 120.00 per barrel today on 5th May, 2008.The oil prices have increased more than four folds since the year 2002 due to an increase in demand not just in China and other growing economies. In fact, the projections indicate that oil prices will reach US$ 130.00 per barrel by December next.Fourth: As for the global food crisis, it has exacerbated the economic crisis arising out of the US home mortgage crisis. Another crisis has emerged which is far more severe and threatens global food security in various parts of the globe where food prices ranging from bread to even milk have shot up.This crisis became evident recently after the increase in prices of wheat, maize and other basic food stuffs in the last few years. This worrisome trend has emerged in the past few months.On 12th May, 2008, the British magazine ‘Economist’ published a report which said that the pulses prices increased in an unprecedented manner unheard of since the “Economist Index’ for food stuffs was instituted in 1945 and according to the magazine, this increase has been 75%. The Chicago Chamber of Commerce, whose food pulses price index is the world’s leading indicator of pulses reports a 90% increase in wheat prices, 80% in soya beans and 20% in maize prices and are still on the rise even today.The major reasons behind the foodstuffs price rise and consequently the emergence of the food crisis:Increase in oil prices and sliding dollar prices:1. Certainly, the increase in oil prices has led to an increase in the prices of products required for agriculture like seeds, fertilisers, insecticides & pesticides, agricultural implements and transportation. An increase in cost of production and transport influences increase in the prices of foodstuff especially wheat and maize. For instance in the Philippines, the rice prices have risen by 70% during the last year.On the other hand, the foodstuff prices are mostly assessed US dollars, and when the dollar loses its value, it is but natural that foodstuff prices will automatically shoot upwards.Gratsiano observes: “loss of confidence in the dollar has pushed the investment funds to look for higher returns in the basic goods…first of all in metals and then in foodstuffs”. A number of speculators have in the past years switched their investments to the commodity markets in search of higher returns than they would earn in shares and bonds markets.2. Climatic Conditions: Climatic conditions such as floods, droughts and cyclones affect agricultural production. For instance, Australia, one of the largest exporters of food pulses is currently facing unprecedented levels of droughts in its history. Such conditions have been compounded by an economic boom in countries such as China, India and Brazil and this has resulted in accentuated levels of meat consumption.It is a known fact that to produce a piece of meat containing 100 calories, 700 calories of vegetation has to be fed to animals. Out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains only 1.01 tons is earmarked for human consumption. These figures are released by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN. Consequently, as the global economy grows, cattle livestock also grow proportionately.3. Bio-fuels from food grains:Jean Zeigler, UN’s Special Rapporteur on the ‘Right to Food’ observed in a statement over the German Radio that intensive bio-fuel production now represents ‘crime against humanity’ because it pushes food grain prices across the world.Bio-fuels depend on agriculture production, and during the recent years many of the industrialised countries have exploited agriculture produce and agricultural land for the production of bio fuels in order to reduce their dependence on petro oil whose prices are touching record-high levels. This is leading to increased demand for bio fuel and thereby for food grains.Therefore in certain countries such as the United States and Brazil, agricultural land is being converted for production of maize and soy bean required for producing ethanol from them. Since 2001, the quantity of maize used in production of ethanol in the US has increased 300%. Further, the US is attempting to produce 35 billion gallons (133 billion liters) per annum of ethanol by the year 2017. The US Congress in its ‘Energy Document’ for 2005 has decided to increase maize-extracted ethanol production from 4 billion gallons in 2006 to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.In March 2007, the US President George Bush met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign the ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two countries for cooperation among them to develop research and development on the next generation bio fuels. They also agreed on forming a trade union for bio fuel especially in the Central Asian countries. This ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two presidents marks the beginning of a growing phenomenon of producing food grains for extraction of bio fuels. In the grasslands and forests of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay, the land is being set aside for production of sugarcane plantation, palm oil and soy beans for extraction of bio fuels. In Brazil alone, soy bean production has occupied some 21 million hectares of forest lands, 14.0 million hectares in Argentina. It does appear that this phenomenon will subside so long as the food grains prices continue to surge upwards. In the year 2008, it is expected that out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains, 100 million tons will be used to extract bio fuels, in other words, this 100 million tons will used for feeding cars instead of human beings!4. Administrative & Political failures:As regard to wheat and other strategic grains production, the EU produces some 122 million tons, China produces 106 million tons, India, 75 million tons, America produces 56 million tons and Russia produces 48 million tons of grains. The US exports 32 million tons, Canada exports 15 million tons and the EU and Argentina export 10 million tons each.As for the Arabian countries, they all import wheat except Syria. The leading importer is Egypt, the land of Nile. It is the largest wheat importer in the world with wheat imports of 7 million tons while Algeria, that used to present itself as the land of the Atlas Mountains and farmlands during the French period, imports 5 million tons. The land of Tigris & Euphrates, Iraq imports 3 million tons, Morocco also imports 3 million tons, Yemen imports close to 3 millions as well while Tunisia imports 1 million and Jordan 500,000 tons of wheat.During this period of a lower dollar and higher oil prices, the import cost of wheat is likely to go higher and higher, which will greatly encumber the budget of importing countries even if wheat and other food grains are made available to them at subsidised rates.This is despite the fertile lands & water resources available to these Arab countries! Is it not surprising or even shocking that the land of Nile delta (Egypt), the land of the two rivers (Iraq), and the land of the Atlas Mountains (Algeria) happen to be the largest importer of wheat in the world!!!.Perhaps this is what becomes evident from the recent report of the World Bank on water resources in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This explains how the wicked politics shapes the Arab world! The report concluded that in order to provide water, it is imperative to develop agriculture policies in such a way so as to reduce dependence on water consumption. The World Bank has advised to grow tomatoes, water melons etc.. Instead of wheat! As per the recommendations of Francisco Montovani, the water resources expert at the World Bank, it is not related to technological processes to be decided upon by engineers; rather it is through deeper policies!

It is known that several countries have capacity to grow wheat, but colonialist policies followed by the International Monetary Fund prevent this. The IMF recommends growing of tobacco & cotton to those countries that follow its recommendations and gives them loans and other assistance to grow such crops, while it refuses loans and other assistance for growing wheat. This is evidently meant to feed the industrial plants of the rich nations with these raw materials.Indeed Allah (swt) has bestowed the Muslim countries with bounties of fertile lands and abundance of water resources, and if these are properly harnessed, Muslims can lead affluent lives. But this requires a rightful system from the One who has wisdom, i.e. the system of Islam, the Khilafah Rashidah which will fill the world with justice and well being. It is hoped that this will soon materialise with the command of Allah (swt).

Geert Wilder’s Film

2008-03-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

Political Opportunism

Under the banner of the “War On Terror” politicians have used the current political narrative to serve their interests. Right wing politicians such as Geert Wilders are calling for the ban of the Qur’an, and it was reported this week that the right wing Dutch Politician released a film on the divine book which he named Fitna, a Qur’anic term meaning strife.The film is an attempt to show how the Qur’an incites to violence, terror, death and destruction. In addition to this he has commented on the Qur’an many times, his opportunistic one liner’s include:

“Ban this wretched book just like Mein Kempf is banned”“Muslims living in the Netherlands should tear out half of the Koran”“…this fascist book called the Koran”However, can anyone take him seriously? Isn't this political opportunism at its best? The current situation in the Netherlands gives some damning answers,Netherlands under its current secular political framework suffers from:– 48% increase in robbery– 35% increase in violent crime– 24% increase in drug trafficking– 105% rise in prison population in the past 10 years (1991-2001)– 15% increase in homicideWhere are Geert Wilder’s detailed policies on these issues? Is he really interested in the Dutch people and the future of his country? If he is, then why does he and his political party just produce anti-Islamic rhetoric?

This exposes his political opportunism.Additionally, politicians who advance that secularism is the only political framework suitable for the world should be humbled by the statistics from a country seen to to be a shining example of secularism.ApproachMany politicians who attack the Qur’an claim that Europe is based upon the Judeo-Christian heritage and that secular values are the standard to follow, misquoting and twisting verses from the Qur’an. However if their thinking and approach were to be applied to their own heritage, then can not the following be taken as an excuse or justification for violence, oppression and hatred?“If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in, that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’.

Then you must enquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely both its people and its livestock

Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a - whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.” Bible, Deuteronomy 13: 12-16Dutch Constitution Article 97,

(1) All Dutch nationals who are capable of doing so shall have a duty to cooperate in maintaining the independence of the State and defending its territory.

(2) This duty may also be imposed on residents of the Netherlands who are not Dutch nationals.If we use the line of thinking that the politicians who attack Islam and the Qur’an use, then anyone can conclude that the above statements have been, and are being used, as a justification to murder, subjugate, oppress and terrorise human beings.

Was it not under the secular political framework that the following occurred?- 700,000 innocent deaths due to the current Iraqi occupation?

- 500,000 Iraqi children dead in the 10 year sanctions?
- Over 60 million preventable deaths is Africa due to unjust trade laws and economic policies in the past decade?
- 70,000,000 murdered American Indians?
- World War 1 and 2?
- The occupation of Palestinian land?
- The genocide of Bosnians?
- The genocide of the Jews?
- Stalin? Hitler? Bush?
- The Vietnam War?
- The mass murder of new born baby girls in China?
- 250,000 dead Fillipinos?- Hiroshima?
- The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Chechnians?
- The oppression of Muslims via western backed dictators in the Muslim world?

However, the replies to this crude analysis of the Dutch constitution and the Bible would include ‘you are no law maker’, ‘do you have all the necessary tools to extract legislation?’, ‘you have ignored the context’. Muslims would agree, and this is how Islam and the Qur’an should be viewed too.In order to extract law from any secular text, knowledge of the language, relevant education in Law, knowledge of legislative changes and the rules of interpretation are required.

For example to interpret any UK book of law there are four basic rules of interpretation,
- Literal Rule: Literal Meaning of the Words
- Golden Rule: Take the whole of the statue rather than a few texts
- Purposive Rule: Ascertain what the craftsman intended
- Mischief Rule: Looks at what the circumstances and history when that law was created

This is similar with the Qur’an. Islamic scholarship has developed methods and rules of interpretation based upon the Islamic intellectual heritage. One requires all the necessary tools and techniques to extract legislation and law whether it is a secular text or the Qur’an, because they both deal with the individual and society. Therefore Geert Wilders who simply quotes and associates the Qur’anic verses with terror and oppression shows that his agenda is to destroy bridges and prevent dialogue.In a world of sound bytes and generalisations his politically motivated and agenda driven film does not facilitate any form of dialogue and understanding.

This indicates that he is a self-publicist and a political opportunist, using the current narrative on the War On Terror to achieve his right wing goals.This façade does not create an environment where people of the Netherlands, and Europe, can learn about the Qur’an without pre-judging the book and its followers. Dutch society is thirsty for information and its people are willing to initiate in a dialogue that transcends the anti-Islamic hysteria and hype.

Geert Wilders further exposed himself when he stated on Fox News “I am not a cultural relativist…I don’t believe cultures are equal I believe our culture is better than a retarded Islamic culture…” Without initiating a dialogue and a positive debate, how can he make these claims? It seems that he has already assumed the position of judge, jury and executioner.

The Qur’an can not be viewed just as a spiritual text but as a dynamic text that provides legislation for all of aspects of human life and behaviour. Politicians are in no position to understand the Qur’an with regards to Law, Foreign Policy and Economics as they do not have the tools in place to interpret the divine book.

If someone was willing to understand the Qur’an they would acquire all the tools necessary to do so or at least ask those who know. Can a butcher read a law book and claim he has knowledge of the law?

Islam

2008-03-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Whenever western governments mention weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Muslims in the same breath, the western media immediately breaks into wild frenzy warning its people that a catastrophic event of epic proportions is about to unfold.

Old European fables of Muslims spreading Islam by the sword are reinvented to convey the impression that Muslims are extremely dangerous, highly irresponsible and pay scant regard to human life. Hence the mantra of disarming Muslim countries of WMD has become the rallying cry of the West directed against the Muslim world.

In some cases the arguments are extended to justify the West’s ongoing policy of regime change in Syria, Iran and perhaps Pakistan. However, a close study of Islamic rule in the past contradicts the popular western myth that Muslims are bloodthirsty people anxious to wipe out the rest of mankind in the name of Islam.

The same however, cannot be said about the West. The West armed with its secular doctrine and materialistic world-view proceeded to exploit, plunder and colonise vast populations in order to control resources and maximise wealth.

In pursuit of these newfound riches the West succeeded in destroying civilisation such as the Incas, American Indians, Aztecs, and Aborigines. Those who survived colonisation were forcibly converted to Christianity, stripped of their heritage and sold into bondage to western companies. For the indigenous people of Africa, India, Asia, Middle East and others, the promises of freedom quickly evaporated and were replaced by colonial rule. Rather than show remorse towards such atrocities the West could only gloat at its achievements.

Technologies such as cannons, pistols, steam engines, machine guns, aeroplanes, mustard gas etc only hastened the acquisition of colonies and the exploitation of its people. Resistance offered by the natives towards their colonial masters was met by brute force – often resulting in the destruction of entire communities. When the West was not destroying the natives they were too busy annihilating each other in a desperate bid to cling on to their precious colonies. World Wars I and II are prime examples of the destructive nature of western values.

This is a description of the Old World where countries like England, France, and Germany built empires and accumulated immense wealth on the death and destruction of millions of innocent people. Is the New World (America leading the West) any different today?

Take the example of the New World and its relationship with Afghanistan and Iraq. Liberation has become occupation; democracy has given way to colonial rule, devastation is termed as precision bombing and the slaughter of innocent Muslims is described as collateral damage. Meanwhile, American and British oil companies are queuing up to exploit the oil wells of Iraq and transport the energy reserves of the Caspian Sea to Europe via Afghanistan.

The Islamic Khilafah in the past never treated mankind in such a barbaric fashion. Neither did the Khilafah spread Islam by force nor destroy civilisations. When Islam spread to Egypt, many Coptic Christians did not embrace Islam and today they still number approximately 7 million. Likewise, when India was opened up to Islam the inhabitants were not coerced into accepting Islam. India today has a population of more than 750 million Hindus.

Compare this to extermination of Muslim and Jews in the courts of the Spanish Inquisitors during the much-coveted European renaissance. Those Jews that survived this Spanish holocaust, were warmly welcomed by the Ottoman Caliphate. In Islamic Spain they flourished and became important members of the Islamic society.

Today the world has more to fear from the destructive nature of western values than WMD. In the past these values were enforced upon nations either through direct colonial rule or through tyrannical regimes loyal to the West. Presently, the greatest danger-facing mankind is the constant threat of the West imposing its values on the rest of the world through WMD.

Britain and Shariah Bond

2008-02-25T00:02:00.000-08:00

Despite Britain ‘s animosity to Islam it plans to enter the Shariah bond market

On 17/2/08 it was revealed by the British media that the Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce in his March 12 Budget if the Treasury will go ahead with plans for so-called "Sharia bonds (Sukuk)". The Treasury spokesman added: "We want the City of London to be one of the gateways globally for Islamic financial products and we want it to be competitive on all products you can imagine, so we should be competitive on Islamic finance as well as any other. Just because of your faith, there shouldn't be any issue about your access to financial services in the UK ."‌ Sukuk is now estimated to be worth £ 5.5billion in a £125 billion global Islamic financial market. The announcement highlights a contradiction in Britain‘s commitment to its ideological values. On the one-hand, the British establishment regularly brow beats the Muslim community to compromise its Islamic values in exchange for the adoption of British values. Whilst on the other hand, the same establishment is prepared to sacrifice its ideology in a desperate bid to enter the booming Sukuk market and secure its commercial interests.

This contradiction should provide ample reassurance to those skeptical about the longevity of the coming Khilafah state. Simply put, Western capitalist states will willingly sacrifice their ideology to co-exist with the future Islamic state, as long as their interests are secured. The history of the 20th century also bears testimony to this fact. Britain on many occasions supported the Soviet Union against the US, even though she was ideologically opposed to it. Likewise, the US supported China against the Soviet Union .

Only an aware Islamic leadership that is political astute can exploit such situations and successfully navigate the Khilafah state to dominate the international situation.

World Aids day[2006] - an Islamic perspective

2008-02-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

• December 1st was World Aids Day, we have seen in the newspapers and on TV screens a lot of discussion about HIV & Aids• Let us look at this subject to understand its reality and look at the Islamic solution to the problem of HIV & Aids.

• HIV stands out in respect of its prevention. It is one of the most notorious infectious diseases around today, with good reason, as it is currently incurable. Although, it’s disease progression in an individual can be significantly slowed down.

• The uniqueness of HIV is in its transmission. It is a virus that must pass from person to person through the exchange of significant quantities of bodily fluids, primarily sexual fluid or blood.

• These fluids do not ordinarily transfer from person to person except through the undertaking of specific activities over which an individual normally has control. The main methods of transmission amongst adults are via sexual intercourse or the sharing of needles that enter the blood stream of sequential individuals. The sharing of needles primarily occurs during the use of recreational drugs such as heroine.

• A safe assertion may be made that if a healthy adult avoids certain high risk activities, the probability of contracting HIV are miniscule. If two people of the opposite gender marry, and are faithful to each other for the rest of their lives, their risk of contracting HIV through sexual activity is negligible. HIV in children is usually transmitted during childbirth from an infected mother. There are various techniques that can be used to prevent this vertical spread. However, it is simple reality that if adults do not have HIV, children could not get it either.

• The UN has reported that rates of HIV throughout the world are reaching previously unprecedented levels, estimated to be 40 million people infected worldwide. There were over 4 million new cases in the last year, 700 000 of which were in children. Current boom areas are Pakistan and Indonesia, where the report said that transmission was out of control, although the problem is most critical in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Secular response

Practically speaking this means the promotion of condom use, and the provision of clean needles and syringes to drug addicts so that they do not need to share. These principles have been the lynch pins of strategies aimed at preventing the spread of HIV in the Western world. These approaches are increasingly being peddled to the developing world as the solution.This has not worked at all so far. While condoms are believed to be protective and the provision of clean needles may well limit the risk of transmission, it is naïve to expect uneducated drug addicts to be responsible, and condoms do not provide full proof protection. If these are really the only preventative measures that can be offered, failure is assured and the virus will continue to spread. This is an issue that many in the west are starting to acknowledge.

Jim Yong Kim, head of the WHO’s HIV/Aids program, said in reference to the G8’s pledge to pump more money into getting wide spread access to anti-retroviral drugs that this is more to do with social change rather than administering better pharmaceuticals. “Treatment is not rocket science,” he said “prevention is rocket science”.

Cause

The cause behind the increase of promiscuity & drug taking in society here and everywhere in the world is concepts of Freedom & Benefit.Destroys any type of morality people haveIndecency & fornication are norms in West e.g. office environment. Places like Indian subcontinent are catching up, traditional values eroding.This is occurring due to concepts of personal freedom, freedom of ownership and benefit as the criterion for actions.Let us look at the cause behind this – idea of Freedom.

They believe in 4 Freedoms – Freedom of belief, expression, ownership and personal freedom

Personal Freedom

The fourth type of freedom which the Capitalist system calls for and works to achieve and protect is the personal freedom. According to this system, every human being has the right to live his private life as he wishes unless he transgresses against the private lives of other people. He has the right to marry or to have an extra-marital relationship with any woman as long as it is done with her consent.He has the right to practice sexual perversion as long as this practice does not involve a minor. Also, he has the right to eat, drink and wear whatever he wants within the public laws. For these Capitalists, the concept of halal and haram does not exist when it comes to personal conduct, as long as the person behaves lawfully, and "lawful behaviour" in the Capitalist societies is subject to disparity from one society to another and from one time to another.

Religion has no influence upon this freedom. The system is detached from religion according to the Capitalist ideology. As a result of applying this type of freedom in the Capitalist societies, immorality has spread. Men and women live together without any legal relationship, and even men and women have partners of the same sex and establish abnormal relationships amongst themselves under the protection of the law.The personal and sexual perversions that prevail in the Capitalist societies result from personal freedom which has also led to unbelievable conflicts. Pornographic magazines and movies, sex phone lines, and nude bars are just a few examples of the abnormalities and perversions which the Capitalist societies have degenerated to as a result of personal freedom. The evident disparity between one Capitalist society and another in the practice of this freedom results from the origin of the Capitalist societies and their gradual application of the Capitalist ideology.

The Capitalist societies were established on the ruins of the Feudal system and the traditions and culture upheld by the Church. Because it was impossible to change these traditions overnight, the Capitalists were divided among themselves. One group pushed to immediately abandon these traditions, whilst another group called for removing the old traditions and culture gradually by taking into consideration the reality of the societies and the prevalent culture and traditions at the time. Those who called for the immediate practice of freedom were called Liberals, and those who called for the gradual application of freedom were called Conservatives. Another intermediate group has surfaced between these two groups who were called Moderates. This "Middle Group" was also divided; some of them were more inclined to the Conservatives and were called Rightists, and some of them were more inclined to the Liberals and were called Leftist. The Capitalist societies still have these classifications of groups today.

A Muslim is not allowed to accept personal freedom because it allows what Allah has forbidden, even aside from it being a source of various social diseases. Personal freedom is the freedom of fornication, sexual perversion, immorality, drinking alcohol, and other diseases.

Allah swt says;

“And those who disbelieve, their actions are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one thinks it to be water, until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing, but he finds Allah with him, Who will pay him his full due (hell). And Allah is swift in taking account.”

[Nur: 39]

He (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) also said:

“Two categories of people I have not seen them (yet): some people who hold whips like the tails of the cows by which they lash the people. And women who wear (clothes) but (are) half-naked, bending (their bodies) and bending the sight of the men to them. Their heads are like the tilted humps of the camels. These women will not enter the paradise nor will they experience its smell (odour), though its odour is felt at a distance of so and so (days)”

[Muslim].

Islamic alternative

The Islamic social system properly applied, holds the long-term solution to the problem of HIV. It constructs a society that heavily emphasises the importance of marriage prior to sexual relations, even prescribing penalties on those who transgress such boundaries. The resulting society would therefore have a particular complexion. The society would be founded on a number of principles.Firstly, an Islamic State would create an atmosphere conducive for taqwa (consciousness of Allah [swt]) to thrive. Islamic codes contain certain etiquettes, which guard against inappropriate social relationships. These include dress regulations and arrangement of private buildings.

Allah swt says;

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze, and protect their private parts. That is purer for them. Verily, Allah is All Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and protect their private parts."

[TMQ An-Nur : 30-31].

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “When a person commits fornication there goes out of him the Iman (belief) and it hovers like a canopy over his head and when he quits this act the Iman reverts to him again”

[Tirmidhi & Abu Dawud]

It has been narrated by Abu Musa al-Ashari that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “Any women that uses perfume and walks past men in order for them to smell her fragrance; she is a fornicator”

[Tirmidhi & Abu Dawud].

The Shari’ah prevents khulwa (seclusion) between men and women. The reality of khulwa is that it makes the man and woman more sexually agitated. By prohibiting this solitary privacy a cause of corruption is eliminated, because the khulwa is one of the direct means to corruption.

Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

“Whosoever believes in Allah and the Last Day (Al-Yawm al-Akhir) let him not be alone with a woman who has not a Mahram (male relative who she cannot marry) with her. Indeed, the third (person) is al-Shaytan!”

[Ahmad]

Taqwa & public opinion – quote of Umar – Those who are not corrected by the Taqwa are corrected by the Sultan (authority).

The Islamic punishment system enforces these rules;

“The woman and man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes."

[TMQ An Nur: 2]

Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah Al-Ansari: a man from the tribe of Bani Aslam came to Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alaihi wasallam) and informed him that he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and he bore witness four times against himself. Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alaihi wasallam) ordered him to be stoned to death, as he was a married person.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol 8, Hadith no 805).

Homosexuality

From Ikrimah from ibn Abbas who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Lut, kill the doer and the one to whom it is done” [it is narrated by the five excep An-Nisai]As for Ijma as-Sahabah, the Sahabah differed in the style of killing the homosexual; however, they had a consensus (ijma) on killing him.

Al-Bayhaqi extracted from Ali (ra) that he stoned a homosexual, and Al-Bayhaqi extracted from Abu Bakr that he gathered the people in the concerning a man who was married just as women are married and he asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) about that. The most severe among them on that day was Ali (ra). He said: ‘No nation among the nations has disobeyed with this sin except one nation with whom Allah did what you know. We view that we should burn them with fire.’

And Ja’far bin Muhammad narrated from his father from Ali in other than this incident who said: ‘He is stoned then burnt with fire.’Al-Bayhaqi extracted from ibn Abbas that he was asked about the hadd of the homosexual and said: ‘The highest building in the town is looked for then he is thrown from it upside down, then he is followed by stones.’ And it narrated from Ali: ‘He is killed by the sword then burnt due to the enormity of the sin.’ Umar and Uthman adopted ‘that a wall is thrown upon him.’ All these opinions collectively indicate killing even if they differ on the style of killing.

Marriage

Finally, Islam encourages marriage at a young age if possible, and seeks to remove the obstacles to this.“Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and guard his modesty (i.e. private parts from unlawful sex). And whoever is not able to marry he should fast because it will protect him”

[Muslim].

Abu Hurairah (ra) narrates that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: "Three (persons) have a right from Allah to be helped: the Mujahid in the way of Allah, the seeker for marriage who wishes to guard his chastity and the slave who seeks funds to free oneself."The upshot of the Islamic social system regarding marriage is that young people would not have casual affairs but make strong commitments before engaging in sexual relationships. This is likely to go a long way in preventing the spread of HIV. In contrast with some major religions, it does not prohibit barrier contraception, which could be seen as the last protection against the spread of HIV rather than the only protection.

As for the injecting of drugs, intoxicants are absolutely prohibited in Islam and an Islamic social system would seek to eradicate drug use among its people. This would start with the cultivating of the individuals taqwa and creation of an Islamic atmosphere in society, but would proceed to an uncompromising crack down on the producers and dealers of drugs. It should be remembered that the medical name for heroine is diamorphine, which is used in many medical conditions and is currently in short supply (Britain’s National Health Service recently went through a national shortage, some hospitals running out altogether). Therefore such produce does not have to be traded illegally though the illegal version ismore profitable.

The Problem of Stigma – the Islamic view

Muslim countries with HIV problems such as Pakistan or Indonesia should cultivate an Islamic environment within their societies and this is the best way to eradicate the spread of HIV in the short and long term. HIV is not a disease exclusively transmitted between homosexuals. It is now possible to contract HIV without performing any action prohibited in Islam, although very unlikely. HIV must not carry a stigma in Islamic societies. If a person has performed a prohibited action it must be proven, otherwise speculation and suspicion is not permitted. If a person has performed a prohibited action and it has been proven, then he should be penalised as proscribed in Islam, but the presence or absence of this infection does not make him or her guilty of any further crime.

In Islam having HIV is not a sin in itself. It is mostly, but not exclusively, transmitted through prohibited actions and it is those actions that should be frowned upon if it is proven that they have been performed, regardless of the transmission of this virus.Seeking a cure – Prophet (saw) said “For every disease there is a cure, so seek the cure”

Conclusion

Eliminating the stigma and cultivating an Islamic society may contribute to controlling the spread of HIV in Islamic lands. Those who have already contracted the virus should be treated with the appropriate medications with compassion.As for the non-Muslim lands, they are likely to continue to suffer hugely until a satisfactory model of an Islamic society can be displayed to them proving its capability to prevent HIV. Strong political leadership in these countries is required to modify behaviours but these political leaders need something to lead with which they do not currently have.

The importance of retroviral drugs and future vaccines should not be over-emphasised. They are needed for those people who currently suffer from the virus, but are not the solution. Even if a vaccine or cure is found, it will inevitably be expensive and there are many terrible eminently treatable infections that plague the developing world and are not treated due to expense or practicality leading to millions of deaths each year. Pharmaceutical companies will not solve this problem.

The Euro/American plan of action involving condoms, clean needles and medication has not worked so far and is unlikely to work in the long run. Total social change is required world wide to help stem the spread of this disease but that must be based on ideas and only the Islamic ideology has a social structure likely to tackle this disease. This is particularly relevant in affected Muslim countries, which should act as leaders by example.These changes are needed immediately because sub-Saharan Africa, standing now as 28 million infected and 2.4 million dead, cannot continue like this for much longer.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

2008-02-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

Let Muslims establish the Shariah in their own lands!

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams gave an interview to the BBC on 7th February 2008 in which he proposed that some aspects of Shariah law could be incorporated into English law. The responses to his comments have been vitriolic. The media provocatively reported his words that it was ‘unavoidable' that Muslims would have Shariah law in the UK, opening a familiar attack on Islam. Prime Minister Gordon Brown entered the debate saying that laws in Britain should only be based on British values - although where lucrative profits for the City of London are concerned, he is happy to promote Britain as a centre for Shariah compliant finance. A typical response to the William's interview on websites was: "Muslims are running away from this barbaric law which is practiced in their own countries, once here they want to bring this barbaric law with them. If they want this law they could go and live in a country that practices this law."

The perverse irony is that the politicians who make policies that encourage such a hostile climate also make policies to prevent Muslims from establishing the Shariah in the Muslim world. The ‘war on terror' was, in the words of Bush and Blair, to prevent the rise of a Khilafah and Shariah. The support for tyrants who crush all Islamic political opposition has continued for decades for the same purpose. Although Brown said that laws in Britain should only be based on British values, successive western governments have worked to force laws everywhere in the world to be based on secular liberal values.

It is the height of conceit that these politicians, who approved the bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan to export this secular system, cry about protecting Britain's traditions and heritage, whilst obstructing the desire in the Muslim world to have laws that reflect their Islamic beliefs, heritage and system. It is this supremacist desire of western governments to enforce western secular values on the Muslim world that is the real problem in the world, and not a fabricated campaign of Muslims to enforce Shariah laws on the people of Britain. In fact, this fabrication of a campaign to establish Shariah in Britain is nothing more than part of a propaganda campaign to justify and fuel Britain's global agenda to prevent the rise of the Caliphate, so as to secure its colonial interests.

To seek to organise marriages and divorce, inheritance, food regulations and personal financial arrangements within our community is not a campaign for the establishment of Shariah. It is to live our lives according to Islam, in a personal space. Yet, some amongst politicians and the media have sought to use this as another Muslim bashing exercise, encouraging an out pouring of abuse against Shariah, and comments that if Muslims want it, they should leave. These events only go to show the inherent intolerance of western liberal values. The irony is that the Islamic Khilafah state protected the rights of minorities and allowed minorities to live according to their laws within their personal lives and religious codes.

Moreover, whilst people will say they do not want to see Shariah punishments in Britain, it is rich of the critics in this society - with its high levels of theft, murder, rape and other crimes - that they lecture Muslims on their choice of law in the Muslim world.

Prejudice is not a new thing for many Muslims in Britain. Xenophobia and the inherent assumption of superiority is part of Europe's tradition. Germany in 1930's and Bosnia in 1990's illustrate the worst of Europe's treatment of minorities. The experience of Blacks and Asians, Jews, Catholics, the Irish and other minority communities' show just how common bad treatment of minorities has been in the UK

So how should Muslim's respond?

We should realise that this media propaganda is a deliberate provocation. This is a means to set people against each other and create fitna (division). We should show the beauty of Islam and the Shariah in our lives and show how Allah has given us a sublime deen, which brings tranquillity to the heart and mind. Such an example, where the Shariah commands us to be good to our neighbours (regardless of race or religion), good to our elders, parents and teachers, to refrain from insulting people's beliefs, is sorely needed. It stands in stark contrast with increasing individualism and selfishness, antisocial behaviour and disrespect, and the freedom to insult and persecute that so characterises western countries today.

In this climate of attacking and smearing Islam we must stand up as a united community and enter into a vigorous debate with the way of life in the west i.e. secularism. For it is not merely that they attack Islam, it is also that they are blind to the flaws that exist in this secular system that they export across the world. While they resort to abuse and insults we should follow the example of our Prophet (SAW) and show the flaws and wrongs of western secularism that has brought so much misery to the people of the world. Rampant materialism, a widening wealth gap, individualism, rape, child abuse, racism, occupation and oppression are the fruits of a world ruled by man's freedom to do whatever he pleases. The secular age of man has been arguably the most bloody in human history.

Secondly, we should continue to join the work to establish the Shariah in the Muslim world. Britain is where so much anti-Shariah and anti-Islam propaganda is created and exported. We need to counter this propaganda by illustrating the great weaknesses in the secular model that is so often immorally exported at the barrel of a gun, or as a condition to humanitarian aid.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, faced such propaganda and worse during 13 years in Makkah. They restricted their response to words, arguments and a battle of ideas without raising a finger in action. This is the battle that the enemies of Islam fear, and why they attack with smear, exaggeration, insults and hate speech.

Our goal, dear brothers and sisters, is to voice the message of Islam strongly to those around us, and to stay close to Allah (swt) seeking His Help at all times.

وَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ مَوْلاَكُمْ نِعْمَ الْمَوْلَى وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ

And if they turn away [from righteousness], know that Allah is your Protector - [and] how excellent a Protector and how excellent a Helper!

(TMQ al - Anfal 8:40)

Kenya

2008-01-31T00:47:00.000-08:00

What is happening in Kenya?

Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) claims that last month's election was rigged in favour of President Mwai Kibaki. Protests have led to over 900 deaths nationwide and more than 250,000 people have fled their homes.

According to the official results, Mr Kibaki won with a tiny margin of 230,000 votes out of a total cast of some 10 million. There were various discrepencies in the elections, such as:

The results were delayed for more than a day, at a time when ODM candidate Raila Odinga was leading
Many thousands of people seem to have only voted in the presidential election but not the parliamentary or local polls held at the same time
Some of these results came from areas known to be pro-Kibaki
In the parliamentary race, Mr Odinga's ODM won twice as many seats as Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU)
Results in some constituencies were different when announced nationally, to when they had previously been announced locally
The head of the election commission has admitted that turnout in one constituency was 115%.

Opinion polls conducted by Steadman prior to the election indicated that Raila was ahead and his ODM was more popular than the PNU. It is likely that President Mwai Kibaki manipulated the results in order to remain in power.

It is important to understand the background of both parties and their allegiences.

I) The Party of National Unity (PNU) headed by the incumbent president Mwai Kibaki. This group actually is an alliance for the following groups:

1. National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya: This is Kibaki’s original party.

2. The Democratic Party (DP)

3. Kenya African National Union (KANU)

4. Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya.

5. Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-People.

6. Shirikisho Party of Kenya.

7. TIP

8. Safina

9. Sisi Kwa Sisi

10. Agano

Most of these ten parties are led by the regional tribal leaders. This alliance was hastily cobbled up just before the general elections because Kibaki feared that chances of his NARC party winning the polls alone were slim. He therefore forged this alliance under a single umbrella to face the opposition as a unified front.

II) The Opposition Alliance: The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) which split into three outfits:

1. The Orange Democratic Movement is the main group and the strongest of the alliance. This is led by Raila Odinga who is the Opposition Leader who is form Lou, the second largest tribe in Kenya. He was chosen to head the party in its conclave held recently and nominated to be the opposition candidate for the Kenyan presidency in the ensuing elections. Immedeately on being elected leader, Odinga took the initiative to foster cordial relations with all his 5 rivals whom he had defeated at the party conference. This was designed to put forward a unified opposition front as these rival leaders represented various tribes as follows:

A. Musalia Mudavadi, the former Vice President represented the Luhya tribe which is the 3rd largest tribe on Kenya.

B. William Ruto, was the right hand man of the former president Moi. He represents the Kanenjin tribe.
C. Najeeb Bala’la’, a Muslim of the Yemeni (Hadhrami) origin. He is a strong supporter of Raila Odinga within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

D. Joseph Niagah, who although belongs to the Kikuyu tribe of the current president, yet is in the opposition.

E. Charity Ngilu, is from the Kamba tribe who heads the NARC alliance which actually brought Kibaki to the presidency. She then joined the opposition.

Raila won the nomination to head the oppostion alliance thanks to the American support which is evident from the statements of the US Ambassador who called upon the voters to back the “youth” , indicating Raila who is many years junior to Kibaki. It is known that Kibaki who inspite of his previous British loyalties, was closer to the US in his tenure as president during 2002-2005 and the US had hoped to lure him to its ways especially after his US visit in 2003.

Britain on its part had foisted its own men around the president by using the ‘carrot and stick’ tactics. This campaign for Britain was carried out by the former president Moi who is a bastion of the British politics in Kenya: Moi thretened to start an intensive campaign to expose Kibaki’s corrupt practices, at the same time he offered to support him in the next prsendential elections. Moi convinced him that the current public opinion was against the US and cited the results of the 2005 referendum on the draft constitution prepared by Kibaki which went against him. Kibaki was convinced that the people and their votes were with Moi and thereby the British loyalists and if he went wioth them, he can be assured of a second presidential term.

Thus by using the threat of exposure and incentive for a second term, Britain ensured that since 2005, Kibaki reverted back to his original loyalty.This prompted the US to back Raila as Kibaki’s rival. Consequently, the alliance in power started a massive campaign against Raila and the US as follows:

A. The government charged Raila that he promised the Americans to establish their military base in Kenya.
B. The government refused to allow American observers for elections from the Carter Center while permitting only EU deputed observers.

C. Newton Kulundu, the Labour Minister in the government charged the US of ignoring the Human rights and liberties aspirations of the Third World and cited the Guantanamo and Abu Ghuraib incidents. This infuriated the US Ambassador so much so that he refused to shake hands with Kulundu.

D. The government supporters organised a protest at the site of the 1998 US embassy blasts and raised anti-American slogans.

2. The Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K) is led by Kalonzo Musyoko, a conservative christian with links to the former president Moi and belongs to the 5th largest Kenyan tribe of Kamba. It may be recalled that Kalonzo had split from the original ODM before its conference where Raila was elected its leader. He his regarded by most local observers as a government agent sent to the opposition in order to cause disruption in its ranks and confuse the voters due to the similarity in the names and their election symbols. Kalonzo has so far only succeeded in getting a few leaders to his party from his own tribe. His party is therefore regarded as a mere tribal entity.

3. Kenya African National Union (KANU) has further split into two factions:

1. Faction led by Uhuru Kenyatta the younger son of the first Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta. He has little political expertise but belongs to the largest Kenyan tribe of Kikuyu. He is widely regarded as a pawn in the hands of the former president Moi. Until recently, Uhuru was in the opposition ODM even during the referendum on the new draft constitution in November 2005, but switched his loyalties to the current president Kibaki under pressure from former president Moi. As a result, the ODM movement was reduced to being a single party rather than an alliance.

2. The new Kenya African National Union (KANU) led by Nicholas Biwott, who is a right-hand man of Moi. There wer persistent rivalries between Biwott and Uhuru, but were sorted out by Moi to unify the KANU.

Raila is the strongest opponent of Kibaki who was nominated by the ODM as the presidential candidate. This is why Kibaki spared no effort to engineer a split in the ranks of the ODM with the help of former president Moi. Hence the opposition charged Kibaki of allying with a dictator.

Both Kibaki and Moi are from the British Imperialist background are working to keep Kenya under the British influence and to isolate Raila who appears to harbour American loyalty. They regard him as dangerous for the British influence as he is an impressive orator who can sway the people with his eloquent speaking skills.

This is another example of the turmoil created by the meddling of the Western powers in Africa, a rich continent destroyed by the greed of the colonialists.

World Aids day

2008-01-24T02:57:00.000-08:00

World Aids day - an Islamic perspective

• December 1st was World Aids Day, we have seen in the newspapers and on TV screens a lot of discussion about HIV & Aids

• Let us look at this subject to understand its reality and look at the Islamic solution to the problem of HIV & Aids.

• The uniqueness of HIV is in its transmission. It is a virus that must pass from person to person through the exchange of significant quantities of bodily fluids, primarily sexual fluid or blood.

The Secular response

“Freedom” is one of the core principles in the capitalist ideology. They therefore shy away from advising people to avoid those behaviours likely to lead to HIV infection. They prefer to try to find ways to perform the various risky behaviours that they want to practice, but with a modicum of protection.Practically speaking this means the promotion of condom use, and the provision of clean needles and syringes to drug addicts so that they do not need to share. These principles have been the lynch pins of strategies aimed at preventing the spread of HIV in the Western world. These approaches are increasingly being peddled to the developing world as the solution.

This has not worked at all so far. While condoms are believed to be protective and the provision of clean needles may well limit the risk of transmission, it is naïve to expect uneducated drug addicts to be responsible, and condoms do not provide full proof protection. If these are really the only preventative measures that can be offered, failure is assured and the virus will continue to spread. This is an issue that many in the west are starting to acknowledge.Jim Yong Kim, head of the WHO’s HIV/Aids program, said in reference to the G8’s pledge to pump more money into getting wide spread access to anti-retroviral drugs that this is more to do with social change rather than administering better pharmaceuticals. “Treatment is not rocket science,” he said “prevention is rocket science”.

Cause

Personal Freedom

[Nur: 39]

He (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) also said:

[Muslim].

Islamic alternative

Firstly, an Islamic State would create an atmosphere conducive for taqwa (consciousness of Allah [swt]) to thrive. Islamic codes contain certain etiquettes, which guard against inappropriate social relationships. These include dress regulations and arrangement of private buildings.

[TMQ An-Nur : 30-31].

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

“When a person commits fornication there goes out of him the Iman (belief) and it hovers like a canopy over his head and when he quits this act the Iman reverts to him again”

[Tirmidhi & Abu Dawud]

It has been narrated by Abu Musa al-Ashari that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

“Any women that uses perfume and walks past men in order for them to smell her fragrance; she is a fornicator”

[Tirmidhi & Abu Dawud].

Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

[Ahmad]

Taqwa & public opinion – quote of Umar – Those who are not corrected by the Taqwa are corrected by the Sultan (authority).

The Islamic punishment system enforces these rules

“The woman and man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes."

[TMQ An Nur: 2]

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol 8, Hadith no 805).

Homosexuality

From Ikrimah from ibn Abbas who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Lut, kill the doer and the one to whom it is done”

[it is narrated by the five excep An-Nisai]

As for Ijma as-Sahabah, the Sahabah differed in the style of killing the homosexual; however, they had a consensus (ijma) on killing him. Al-Bayhaqi extracted from Ali (ra) that he stoned a homosexual, and Al-Bayhaqi extracted from Abu Bakr that he gathered the people in the concerning a man who was married just as women are married and he asked the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) about that. The most severe among them on that day was Ali (ra). He said: ‘No nation among the nations has disobeyed with this sin except one nation with whom Allah did what you know. We view that we should burn them with fire.’

Marriage

Finally, Islam encourages marriage at a young age if possible, and seeks to remove the obstacles to this.

“Oh you who are young. Whoever amongst you can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and guard his modesty (i.e. private parts from unlawful sex). And whoever is not able to marry he should fast because it will protect him”

[Muslim].

Abu Hurairah (ra) narrates that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said:

"Three (persons) have a right from Allah to be helped: the Mujahid in the way of Allah, the seeker for marriage who wishes to guard his chastity and the slave who seeks funds to free oneself."

The upshot of the Islamic social system regarding marriage is that young people would not have casual affairs but make strong commitments before engaging in sexual relationships. This is likely to go a long way in preventing the spread of HIV. In contrast with some major religions, it does not prohibit barrier contraception, which could be seen as the last protection against the spread of HIV rather than the only protection.As for the injecting of drugs, intoxicants are absolutely prohibited in Islam and an Islamic social system would seek to eradicate drug use among its people. This would start with the cultivating of the individuals taqwa and creation of an Islamic atmosphere in society, but would proceed to an uncompromising crack down on the producers and dealers of drugs. It should be remembered that the medical name for heroine is diamorphine, which is used in many medical conditions and is currently in short supply (Britain’s National Health Service recently went through a national shortage, some hospitals running out altogether). Therefore such produce does not have to be traded illegally though the illegal version ismore profitable.

The Problem of Stigma – the Islamic view

Conclusion

America campaigns

2008-01-05T02:42:00.000-08:00

America campaigns to eradicate Islam

بِسْمِ الله الرَّحمَنِ الرَحيمهَذَا بَلاَغٌ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيُنذَرُوا بِهِ“

This is a Message for humankind, so that they take heed of its warning.”

[Surah Ibrahim 14:52]

Even whilst the Muslims of Pakistan faced the violent upheaval that came after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, with many deaths, much destruction of private property and shortages in fuel and food, the Americans vigorously campaigned for democracy in Pakistan. On 28 December 2007, US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice said, “But obviously, it’s just very important that the democratic process go forward.” And on the same day, US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher, said, “We want to see smooth and safe elections go forward.” However, America’s campaign for democracy is not for a truly representative government in Pakistan, rather it is an attempt to prevent the rise of Islam.

The Muslims of Pakistan have faced the oppression of dictatorship for a long time. In this situation, America tries to make the Muslims feel that the only substitute for dictatorship is democracy. In its campaign for democracy, America attempts to appeal to the feelings of the Muslims by linking democracy to elections for a representative government, where the Muslims would choose their rulers. Since Islam rejects the one who usurps the authority and commands that the ruler is elected by choice and consent, America hopes to make democracy appealing to the Muslims by embellishing democracy in their eyes. This is in order to cast a veil over the eyes of the Muslims about the actual essence of democracy, which is legislation by other than the laws of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, and turn their gazes instead to what democracy calls for in terms of representative government.

However, we are confident that America’s campaign for democracy will fail in Pakistan. It is a fact that anything that clashes with the belief of the Muslims can never become entrenched strongly in their hearts and minds, however much effort America may expend in spreading it and however many agents were mobilized to impose it. The fundamental basis of democracy to which America invites is that the sovereignty belongs to people wherein they are free in deciding right and wrong, they are not answerable in front of any other, hence being sovereign they will legislate through their representatives. So, in democracy, it is man who decides what ought to be Halal and what ought to be Haram, rejecting and accepting according to desire that which Allah سبحانه وتعالى has decided, thereby wrongfully raising man to the status that Allah سبحانه وتعالى claims for Himself Alone. But no Muslim can accept that any man or assembly of men should decide what is legaly Halaal and Haraam for others, after Allah سبحانه وتعالى and RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم ordered and forbade. Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلاَ مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمْ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ“

It is not for a believer man or woman to have any say in the matter after the decision is made by Allah and RasulAllah ”

[Surah al-Ahzab 33:36]

And Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

وَمَا آتَاكُمْ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

"So take what RasulAllah assigns to you and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. And fear Allah; for Allah is strict in Punishment.”

[Surah Al-Hashr 59:7]

And Allah سبحانه وتعالى has strongly condemned ruling other than Islam, in any taghoot (non-Islamic authority),

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ وَيُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُمْ ضَلاَلاً بَعِيدًا

"Have you not seen those who pretend that they believe in that which has been revealed unto them and that which was revealed before them, how they would go instead for judgement to taghoot (non-Islamic authority) when they have been ordered to disbelieve in it? Shaytan would mislead them far astray.”

[Surah An-Nisai 4:60]

And Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الظَّالِمُونَ

Those who do not judge by the law which Allah has revealed, they are the oppressors.”

[Surah Al-Maidah 5:45]

The above-mentioned ayahs are explicit in establishing that any system in which sovereignity does not belong to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, or in which the people share in holding sovereignty with Allah سبحانه وتعالى, is a kufr system, whether it is democracy or dictatorship.

Since in democracy sovereignity belongs to man, as in dictatorship, this matter makes this system suitable in the eyes of the colonialist powers, because it opens the door for making laws which protect the interests of the colonialist. The 17th Amendment, through which all the steps taken by the Pakistani government to support the American war on Muslims have been provided legal validity, is a clear, recent example.

Moreover, there is no truth in America’s high claim that it wants representative government in Pakistan. America knows that if Muslims’ opinion was represented then no ruler of Pakistan would have the courage to embolden the Hindu mushrikeen by abandoning the Muslims of Kashmir, or diminish the nuclear program of the world’s only Muslim nuclear power, or eliminate Islamic values from the education syllabus, or allow the savage killing of hundreds of students in Lal Masjid, or order Muslim soldiers to fight Muslims in the tribal areas to secure America’s occupation of Afghanistan, as Musharraf has done for so long in the name of “true democracy.” Indeed, America is always full of praise for Musharraf who is imposed upon the Muslims, without their choice and approval! And America knows that after dictatorship, it is democracy alone that can prevent the real representation of Muslims from reaching the ruling.And as for the Muslims’ opinion for the establishment of Islam as a state, a survey supported by the US Department of Homeland Security and conducted by the University of Maryland between December 2006 and February 2007, revealed that the majority of Muslims in Pakistan held a goal “to unify all Islamic countries into a single Islamic state or Caliphate (Khilafah).” So, how can America ever tolerate a government that represents the Muslims in their deen, Islam, when it would mean that the Muslims would then emerge as the largest, most powerful state in the world? How, O Muslims, how?

And this is why the Americans in particular, and the West in general, campaign against the rise of Islam with all their might, funding agents and organizations to spread democracy and sponsoring brutal oppression of those who call for Islam. The example of Algeria is not far from our minds. Under the watchful gaze of the West and its agents, the ballot boxes showed that the people wanted Islam. The West and its agents were shocked and agreed unanimously to cancel the elections. And with Western blessings, the Algerian rulers began to brutally suppress the Muslims, rather than honoring the elections.So rather than allowing representation of the Muslims, America campaigns for democracy to prevent the rise of Islam. This is why they will also never spare any opportunity to accuse the Muslims, without proof, violate and occupy the Islamic Lands, attack the Islamic values and even desecrate the Qur’an in their prisons.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

قَدْ بَدَتْ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ

Rank hatred comes from their mouths and what their breasts conceal is greater.”

[Surah Aali Imran 3:118]

O Muslims!

America aims to hoist democracy, the cause of your ills and woes, over your necks so that you will never taste the blessings of the implementation of the one true deen, Islam. We call upon you to boycott the elections thereby demonstrating your clear, unequivocal rejection of democracy. And we call upon all of you to stand with us, the youth of Hizb ut-Tahrir, in the serious work to remove democracy that has been imposed in the Muslim World, and re-establish the Khilafah in its place.

And know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has promised that those of you who believe and do righteous deeds will be granted succession in ruling, providing security after a time of fear.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لاَ يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا

"Allah has promised those amongst you who believe, and do righteous deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession in ruling on the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, that which He has chosen for them. And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear provided they worship Me and do not associate anything in worship with Me."

[Surah an-Nur 24: 55]

Interfaith Dialogue

2008-01-03T03:14:00.000-08:00

Interfaith Dialogue

Inviting non-Muslims to Islam is a matter that Allah has made
obligatory on the Muslims. The Muslims have been doing this for
fourteen centuries, and continue call others to Islam whether they
are from the People of the Book or not. Allah said:

"Invite (O Muhammad) to the Way of your Lord with Hikma
(clear proof) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better."

[Al-Nahl: 125]

And he said in his letter to Heraclius, the Roman Emperor:

“Verily,I invite you with the call of Islam. Embrace Islam and you shall be
safe and Allah will grant you the reward twice. If you turn away
then upon you will bear the sin of the people under your rule.”

Thus, our call to the non-Muslims is an invitation to have conviction
in Islam and to abandon Kufr.

As for the idea of interfaith dialogue that is being circulated nowadays,
it is a foreign, evil and Western idea that has no basis in Islam. This is
because it calls for mutual relationships between different religions. It
calls for a new fabricated religion which the Kuffar want the Muslims to
embrace instead of Islam, because the advocates and followers of this
idea are the Kuffar themselves.

Internationally, this idea started in 1932 when France sent

representatives to confer with the scholars of al-Azhar University about
the idea of uniting the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
This was then followed by the Paris Conference of 1933 attended by
orientalists and missionaries from every university in France, England,
Switzerland, America, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey and others. The
Conference of world religions in 1936 was the last conference of
religions before the Second World War, which distracted the Europeans
from these conferences.

In 1964 Pope Paolo VI sent a letter in which he called for dialogue
between the religions. The Vatican then published a book in 1969 with
the title: 'Guide to dialogue between the Muslims and Christians.'
During the 1970’s and 1980’s more than thirteen interfaith and
intercultural meetings and conferences were held, the most prominent of
which was the Second World Conference of Religion and Peace held in
Belgium attended by 400 delegates from various world religions. Another
conference was held in Cordoba in Spain attended by Muslim and
Christian representatives from 23 countries. These two conferences were
held in 1974 followed by the Christian-Muslim assembly in Qurtaj, Tunis
in 1979.

It was in the 1990s that those calling for interfaith dialogue became
most active. Thus they held the Arab-European Conference in 1993 in
Jordan, followed in 1994 by the Khartoum Conference for interfaith
dialogue. In 1995 two dialogue conferences were held, one in Stockholm
and the other in Amman, both of which were followed by the
Conference "Islam and Europe" at the University of Ahl al-Bayt in
Jordan in 1996.

One of the most significant justifications presented by delegates at
the interfaith conferences is standing firm in the face of the disbelief and
atheism represented by the Soviet Union before its collapse.
Communism was depicted as a danger to the divine religions, which
would threaten their cultural achievements. Then they pretended to weep
for humanity and to fight for the defence of all believers in the world.
They sought to define truth in relative terms, emphasising that no
individual and no religion could claim sole ownership of the truth, but
it should be subject to the democratic process where the majority
opinion is closest to the truth.

The following were the most important recommendations of the
conferences held in the name of interfaith and intercultural dialogue
and between Islam and Europe:

1. Devising and adopting new meanings and provisions for words
such as disbelief, atheism, polytheism, belief, Islam, moderation,
extremism and fundamentalism to ensure that these words would not
become factors of division between people of different religions.

2. Identifying shared elements in the three religions, which would
include creed, morals and culture, and to place emphasis on positive cooperation
between the religions and cultures, since all the people of the
Book were accepted as believers, and worshippers of Allah .

3. The formation of a joint document on human rights to permit
peace and co-existence between the followers of different religions. This
would be achieved by eliminating the feeling of barriers of blood
between the religions and by removing the concept of the cultures of
different peoples and policies of different states.

4. A comprehensive review of the history and education curricula,
so that they become free of any incitement or hatred. Religious
education would be considered part of basic humanitarian studies that
aim to create personalities open to human cultures and with mutual
understanding of others. Therefore, the study of certain beliefs and
worships had to be disqualified.

5. Raising interest in studying the following subjects and
formulating unified concepts for them: justice, peace, women rights,
human rights, democracy, work morals, pluralism, freedom, world peace,

peaceful co-existence, cultural openness, civil society etc.

After the failure of the Western Kuffar in distancing the Muslims from
their Aqeedah via the missionaries, orientalists, cultural works, the media,
intellectual and political deception, they resorted to government
authorities in their countries and in the countries of their agents. They
began to hold conferences and seminars, formed joint work teams and
established centres of study in their countries and in the Muslim lands,
such as the Oxford Centre for Islamic studies, the Centre for Middle
Eastern Studies at Durham University, the American college of the Holy
Cross, the Muslim League, the Royal Academy for the study of Islamic
Culture, the University of Ahl al-Bayt and the World Council of
Churches etc.

They deliberately used terminologies and pretentious general
expressions with undefined meanings to create deception and delusion.
For example, terms such as renovation, openness to the world, human
civilisation, universal sciences, the need for peaceful co-existence,
renunciation of partisanship and extremism, globalisation etc., were all
examples of this.

They mixed the concepts of science and culture, and the concepts of
Hadharah (civilisation) and Madaniyya (material progression) to justify
attacking those who hold to their specific way of life. They claimed that
such people opposed science and technology and the civilisation arising
from them, and accused them of being reactionary and backward, even
though this is not the case in Islam. Islam opens its gates to science and
to the technology that is derived from this science, but closes them in the
face of any Thaqafa (culture) or Madaniyya from other than the Thaqafa
and Hadharah of Islam. This is because these thoughts and concepts are
related to the behaviour of the human being, which has to be controlled
by the Islamic concepts about life.

They painted certain capitalist thoughts in glowing tones to the
Muslims and promoted them by claiming that they do not contradict
Islam to such an extent that some Muslims considered them as part of
Islam, such as democracy, freedom, pluralism, socialism and others. On
the other hand, they denounced certain Islamic thoughts and described
them as uncivilised and out of date, such as Jihad, the Hudood, polygyny
and other Shara’i rules.

They subjected the study of the Islamic texts to the Capitalist way of
thinking, which makes the reality the source of the rule and not the
subject of the thought. It makes benefit the criterion in adopting or
leaving the rule rather than the Halal and the Haram. This incited some
Muslims to invent certain principles, which did not rely on the Shara’i
texts to understand Islam. This is like the Fiqh of reality, the Fiqh of
balances, necessity permits the prohibited things and others. This
resulted in the dilution of certain rules of Islam and non-differentiation
of the foreign rule from the original rule, and even between what
constitutes Kufr and what constitutes Islam. For example, Riba (usury)
has become acceptable and martyrdom is now portrayed as suicide.

The non-muslims who initiated this dialogue are now generalising and
widening its scope. It will no longer remain restricted to the few who
participate in conferences and seminars. Rather it will include all sections
of society from men, women, the educated and labourers. This is done
via the universities, institutes of study, parties and associations. It is, as
some conference delegates have described, joining the western Hadharah
in economics, social relations, politics, education etc. Thus, Capitalism -
according to their claim - is humanity, rationalism, freedom and
democracy. It is the new and successful Hadharah. As for Islam, it is seen
as blind faith, despotism and heritage and depicted as the sovereignty of
religion, slavery and polygyny. It is thus an uncivilised religion!
One of the styles used to blind the Muslims to the real objective of
these conferences is to invite those belonging to certain beliefs such as
Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism to attend alongside the Muslims,
Christians and Jews. This happened at the World Conference for Religion
and Peace in Japan and in a seminar in Beirut in 1970, to ensure that
Muslims would not suspect they were the only targets of the dialogue.
How could so-called Muslim scholars allow Islam to be placed on an
equal stage with Buddhism and other religions?!

The West, which calls for dialogue with the Muslims and heads
conferences of dialogue, views Islam as the enemy. This viewpoint is
the motive for such dialogue and governs and directs this dialogue. For
example, the encyclopaedia of French culture, which is a renowned point
of reference, states that the Messenger Muhammad is: 'a killer, the

Antichrist, kidnaps women and the greatest enemy to the human mind.'
Likewise most of the textbooks in Western Europe describe the
Messenger Muhammad , Islam and the Muslims with the most ugliest
of descriptions. Recently, the following has been mentioned in the book
'The End of History' written by the American thinker Fukuyama: “The
Capitalist system is the eternal salvation for man on earth. Islam, despite
its weakness and disintegration, threatens this new victorious way of life
(i.e. capitalism).” The former General Secretary of NATO, Javier Solana,
said: 'Fundamentalist Islam is the danger which threatens the geopolitics
of the future.' The orientalist Barnard Lewis said about Islam and
Capitalism: 'They are contradictory. There is no scope for dialogue.' And
Samuel Huntington, professor of political science at Harvard University
and the Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies said: “The clash
between civilisations (Hadharah) will dominate foreign policy. The
dividing lines between the civilisations (Hadharah) will be the battle lines
in the future.” Then he says: “Religion vehemently distinguishes itself
and it is clear to the people. A person can be half French and half
Arab...but it is difficult for a man to be half Catholic and half Muslim...”
Where is the dialogue they call us for from t h i s enmity?
When these statements are compared with the hostile actions which
have come from the West against Islam and the Muslims, such as the
Crusades, the extermination of Muslims in Spain, the destruction of the
Khilafah State and afterwards the establishment of the Jewish state in
Palestine, and the portrayal of Islam and the Islamic movements as
terrorist and extremist. When we compare these statements, we realise
the meaning and the aims of the dialogue that the Kafir West is
conducting with the Muslims.

The primary aim that the capitalists are working to achieve from the
dialogue between religions and Hadharah is to prevent the return of
Islam to life's affairs as a comprehensive system. This is because it
threatens the survival of their ideology and Hadharah and will destroy
their interests and influence.

As for other partial aims that serve their primary aim, these are various.
Thus the West aims to paint the world according to the colour of the
Capitalist civilisation, especially in the Muslim lands, in order to replace
the Islamic Hadharah. This will make it easy for them to remove the
Islamic Thaqafa (culture) from the minds of the people. They aim to
achieve that by shaking the confidence of Muslims in the Islamic Thaqafa
(culture) and in its sources and principles. They aim to neutralise Islam
in the clash of civilisations by stripping it of its most important
characteristics which distinguish it from other religions, namely the
political aspect with which the Khilafah would be established to look
after the affairs of the people according to the rules of Islam and carry
it to the whole of mankind.

The Capitalists also aim to reshape the personality of the Muslim a new
such that he finds no shame in leaving the duty and doing the
prohibited . Then they aim to corrupt the Islamic desires and
values and destroy in the Muslim the zeal for Islam such that he no
longer hates Kufr and the Kafireen, and he no longer enjoins good and
forbids evil. With this they will remove the cultural immunity of the
Islamic Ummah with which she resisted all external elements, and will
remove the emotional and intellectual barriers that threatened the
presence of Capitalist civilisation in Muslim lands. Thus, preserving their
influence and interests becomes easier and they guarantee their survival
and continuance.

The intention behind this dialogue, which the non-muslimsand their agent
rulers guard in the Muslim countries with an entourage of scholars and
thinkers, is to create a new religion for the Muslims. It is based upon the
creed of separating religion from life, and in which man is the Legislator
instead of Allah , the Creator of mankind. They are as Allah
describes them:

"And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your Deen."
[Al-Baqarah: 217]

And He said regarding the people of Lut (peace be upon him):

"But We found not there any household of those who submitted (muslimeen)
except one (i.e. of Lut and his two daughters)."

[Az-Zariyat: 36]

And on the tongue of Musa (peace be upon him):

"Then in Him put your trust if you are those who have submitted (to Allah's will
[Muslimeen])."

[Yunus: 84]

And on the tongue of the Hawariyyoon, the followers of 'Isa (peace
be upon him):

"We believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are those who have submitted
(muslimoon)."

[Al-Imran: 52]

So the word 'Muslimoon' found in the Ayats means 'those who have
submitted' (Munqaadoon). It does not mean that they professed one Deen,
which is Islam as revealed to Muhammad saw. Islam was not known to
them and they were not addressed with it. Rather, each people had a
particular Messenger who called them to a specific Shari'ah. Allah
said:

"To each (Ummah) among you, We have prescribed a law (Shari'ah) and a clear
way (Minhaaj)."

[Al-Ma'ida: 48]

After the revelation (Wahy) came down to Muhammad , the
revelation took up certain Arabic words and transferred them from their
conventional linguistic meanings to Shara’i meanings. The Shari'ah texts
from the Qur'an and Sunnah have clarified this. One of these transferred
expressions is the word 'Islam' which linguistically used to mean
'submission' (Inqiyaad), and became a Shara’i meaning - the Deen revealed
by Allah to His Messenger Muhammad . Allah said, addressing
the whole of mankind until the Day of Judgement:

"I have chosen for you Islam as your Deen."

[Al-Ma'ida: 3]

And Allah said:

"And whosoever seeks a Deen other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him."

[Al-Imran: 85]

And the Messenger of Allah saw said:

“Islam has been built on five.”

Other religions are not based on these five.

After the divine transference of the meaning of the word 'Islam', the
words derived from it, such as the verb and active participle (Aslama
and Muslim), if used without a Qareena (context), indicate the Shara’i
meaning only. If the conventional linguistic meaning is intended this
would then require a Qareena to change it from the Shara’i meaning.

Allah for example says:

"Ibraheem was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one who truly submitted
(Musliman) (to Allah's will)."

[Al-Imran: 67]

This does not mean that Ibraheem (peace be upon him) was on the
Deen that Allah revealed to Muhammad . Rather it means that
Ibraheem (peace be upon him) had submitted to Allah regarding that
which Allah revealed to him, unlike the Jews and Christians who
fabricated the Deen of their Prophets.

As for the statement that Muhammad , 'Isa and Musa (peace be upon
them) were on the Deen of Ibraheem (peace be upon him), it means that
they believed in the same ‘Aqeedah, which is the foundation of every

Deen revealed from Allah .

This is what is meant from His saying:

"He (Allah) has ordained for you the same Deen which He ordained for Nuh, and
that which We have inspired to you (O Muhammad), and that which We ordained
for Ibraheem, Musa and 'Isa saying you should establish the Deen and do not become
divided over it."

[Ash-Shura: 13]

So the word 'Deen' in the Ayah means the foundation of the Deen,
which is the ‘Aqeedah. Allah specified this when He said:
"To each (Ummah) among you, We have prescribed a law (Shari'ah) and a clear
way (Minhaaj)."

[Al-Ma'ida: 48]

(2) The Shar’i issue

Allah sent Muhammad saw was the seal of the Prophets and the
Messengers to the whole of mankind. He ordered them to leave
whatever religion they were following, whether divine or not, and called
on them to embrace Islam as a Deen. Whoever responded to the call
became a Muslim and whoever rejected committed Kufr. Allah said:

"And say to those who were given the Book (the Jews and Christians) and to
those who are illiterates (Arab pagans): 'Do you (also) submit yourselves (to Allah
in Islam)?' If they do, they are rightly guided; but if they turn away, your duty is
only to convey the Message; and Allah is All-Seer of (His) slaves."

[Al-Imran: 20]

And He said:

"Those who disbelieve from among the people of the Book (Jews and Christians)
and among the Mushrikeen (polytheists), were not going to leave (their disbelief)
until there came to them clear evidence, a Messenger (Muhammad) from Allah."

[Al-Baiyinah:1-2]

They are not separated from the Kufr except by their embracing of
Islam. The Messenger of Allah said: “By the one in whose Hand
lies Muhammad's soul! No one from this Ummah, whether Jew or
Christian, who hears about me and then dies without believing in
what I have been sent with, except that he will be from the
inhabitants of the Fire.” So the people are all called to gain conviction
in Islam, and whoever does not profess Islam after the matter has been
proven to him, then he is definitely a Kafir. After Muhammad was
charged with prophethood, if the Jews and Christians continued to hold
to their religion, they are considered Kafir according to the Quranic text.
It is forbidden to describe them as Muslims, and whosoever believes
that they or others are Muslims, he is a Kafir. This is because with this
belief of his he has rejected clear Shara’i texts that are definite in
meaning and authenticity. If they die on this belief then they will be
from among the inhabitants of the Fire.

(3) The issue concerning the sons of Ibraheem (Peace be
upon them)

This is a call to the bond of nationalism. It is a bond arising from the
survival instinct and is shallow and emotional in nature. It is not suitable
for man because it cannot bind one human being with another if they
differ in lineage.

The bond of the sons of Ibraheem (peace be upon him) has been
negated by time. It does not exist today because the descendants of
Ibraheem (peace be upon him) and his offspring have mixed with other
peoples through marriage, social intercourse, migration and wars.

Todayit is impossible to separate them from other peoples. Since the followers
of the three religions can be found among all peoples and tribes of the
world, they have mixed on the basis of religion and not on the basis of
ethnicity. Therefore, applying the claim regarding the sons of Ibraheem
(peace be upon him) on the Muslims, Jews and Christians and on those
who live around al-Masjid al-Aqsa or any others is a pointless exercise
and is incorrect. The intention is to fight Islam, justify the peace process
and normalise relations with the Jewish entity of Israel that exists on the
usurped land of the Muslims; all of this to give legitimacy to the terrible
crimes committed by the treacherous rulers of the Islamic lands under
the orders of their masters, the Kuffar of the West.

The family or nationalist bond is like the bond of the sons of
Ibraheem (peace be upon him). It is rejected by the Shari'’ah as a basis to
organise the relationships of the people. Allah said:

"Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the
wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear decline, and the dwellings
in which you delight...are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving
hard and fighting in His Path, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision
(torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Fasiqoon (disobedient)."

[At-Tauba: 24]

Thus, the order of Allah is above every nationalistic, family or benefit
bond. Allah clarified the shallowness of this bond to the previous
Messengers. He said:

“And Nuh called upon his Lord and said: 'O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my
family! And certainly your promise is true, and You are the most just of the judges'.
And He said: 'O Nuh! Surely, he is not of your family, indeed his work is
unrighteous.’”

[Hud: 45-46]

And He said about Ibraheem:

"He said to him: ‘Verily, I am going to make you a leader of mankind',
(Ibraheem) said: ‘And of my offspring (to make leaders).’ (Allah) said: ‘My covenant
includes not the Zalimeen (wrongdoers).’”

[Al-Baqarah: 124]

Thus, the son of Nuh (peace be upon him) according to the Shara’i
criterion is not from his family, because he did not believe in what Allah
revealed to his father. And the Zalimeen (wrongdoers) from the
offspring of Ibraheem (peace be upon him) are exempt from the
covenant of leadership made by Allah since they did not follow what
Allah revealed to their father Ibraheem (peace be upon him). So the
call to the sons of Ibraheem (peace be upon him) today is Jahil (ignorant)
and a politically motivated call. It is forbidden to call for it and invite
people to it. This is because the intention is to fight Islam, divert the
Muslims from their Deen, justify the treacherous peace treaty with the
Jews and concede to them what they usurped from the blessed land of
Palestine, so that relations with them may be normalised and Israel can
be accepted as a state in the Middle East.

Insults to the Religion

2007-12-31T03:12:00.000-08:00

Why Muslims Don’t Laugh at Insults to their Religion

Twelve cartoons, first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30th 2005, satirised the prophet Muhammad and were received negatively by Muslims in Denmark and throughout the world. Muslims generally perceived them to be derogatory and took the insult as an attack upon Islam. Protests were organised all over the world, and serious violence occurred at a number of them: embassies were ransacked and western institutions and property in the Muslim world bore the brunt of these expressions of anger. Other forms of protest included economic boycotts of Danish companies leading to considerable financial loss for the companies affected, which formerly had a substantial market investment in the Muslim world.

Regardless of the nature of the Muslim expressions of anger, many westerners were incredulous. The extent and universality of Muslim anger were to them very surprising. Why, they asked, should Muslims be so upset by harmless cartoons that should not have hurt anybody? The old English saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' just didn't seem to wash with Muslims. Why? Why couldn't Muslims just accept the insults to their prophet and their religion as harmless fun, or as a legitimate form of criticism?

Western critics were not alone however in their incredulity. Muslims also felt incredulity. How could the Danish and other governments allow such insulting material to be published in their countries? Shouldn't they apologise and promise to prevent a repeat of the offence? It seems that the mutual incredulity proves the truth of the famous saying about east and west that 'never the twain shall meet'. Despite the deeply polarised feelings the cartoons have generated, it ought to be possible for Muslim and western personalities to understand each other’s sentiments. The opposing emotions highlight not only the sharp differences between Muslim and western thinking, but also some unexpected similarities. This article explores these differences and similarities, and offers a possible basis for mutual criticism and debate between opposing ideologies, without recourse to rancour and reckless provocation.Before exploring the deeper issues in question, it is necessary to decide upon the reality of the cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad. Do they constitute an intellectual argument or are they to be regarded as an insult?

The question is important in order to determine whether Muslims have a problem with intellectual criticism of Islam or with being insulted. It is clear from listening to the protestations of Muslims across the world that they feel insulted, but are these perceptions accurate? Could it be that they feel insulted by criticism or do the cartoons in reality constitute an insult? One of the most controversial cartoons depicted Muhammad with a bomb in his turban; the fuse was lit and written upon the bomb was the Islamic creed. Another cartoon included a poem with the words: ‘Profet! Med kuk og knald i låget som holder kvinder under åget!’ which means: ‘Prophet, you crazy bloke! Keeping women under yoke!’ Mohammad is also drawn standing in heaven, upon a cloud greeting dead suicide bombers with the words: ‘Stop Stop vi er løbet tør for Jomfruer!’ which means: ‘Stop, stop, we have run out of virgins!’ It is difficult to see how such cartoons could be seen by Muslims as anything other than an insult to the prophet Mohammad. In response to Muslims protests, Jyllands-Posten published two letters of explanation. The second letter, dated 30th January 2006, states that the cartoons: ‘were not intended to be offensive … but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologise.’

The stated intentions of the cartoons’ publishers have a bearing upon these questions. The Danish publishers explained that their motive was to test the boundaries of freedom of speech and they did not challenge Muslims to debate any substantive issues about Islam. They did not explain what intellectual criticisms they were bringing through the medium of cartoons; rather they sought to see how far they could go to provoke Muslims in order to make a statement about freedom of speech. They claimed that freedom of speech was under threat in Denmark and published the insulting cartoons as a means to bring attention to their issue. Insulting Muslims may not have been their objective, but it was a means of publicising their concerns through the debate that followed. Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Posten’s culture editor, made this clear:‘

The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule … we are on the way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end. That is why Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has invited members of the Danish editorial cartoonists union to draw Muhammad as they see him.’

Thus Rose made it clear that Muslims should be ready to accept insult, mockery and ridicule. Debating Islam is not the issue, and so Muslim perceptions of being insulted were accurate. The question then is not why Muslims cannot accept to listen to criticism and respond with reasoned argument, but why Muslims cannot accept ‘insults, mockery and ridicule’ of Islam. As Rose explained in the Washington Post, on February 19th 2006, his paper was not singling out Islam for attack, but was drawing Muslims into the secular fold, so that they be treated as equals to Christians and those of other religions:

'The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: we are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.’

Jyllands-Posten were thus making a principled stand for secularism in general and more specifically for freedom of speech in Denmark, which was enshrined in the constitution of 1849 and reaffirmed, after the suspension of freedoms during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II, in section 77 of the Constitutional Act of Denmark (1953). The feeling amongst some Danish thinkers, that freedom was under threat in Denmark, was expressed two weeks before the publishing of the cartoons. On September 17th 2005, the Danish newspaper Politiken printed an article titled: ‘Dyb angst for kritik af Islam’ (‘Profound fear of criticism of Islam’, which discussed the difficulty the writer Kåre Bluitgen was facing in finding an illustrator for his children’s book about Islam. Three illustrators refused and a fourth agreed to assist anonymously - apparently for fear of repercussions. Carsten Juste, Editor-in-Chief of Jyllands-Posten, wrote in a letter of clarification dated 8th February 2006, that the cartoons were published: ‘as part of an ongoing debate on freedom of expression, a freedom much cherished in Denmark.’

Freedom is an abstract concept; you cannot see or hear freedom, you certainly cannot eat it, but it does have a reality nonetheless, to those who cherish it. The editors of Jyllaands-Posten cherished freedom and they made sacrifices for it that were borne by many Danish companies and individuals. The Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, described the cartoons affair as, “Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II”. Such an abstract concept cannot have a priced assigned to it, and the initial publishers of the cartoons were arguing that it was worth paying a high price in order to preserve freedom. Many Muslims viewed the cartoons as a base attack upon Islam, but the publishers of the cartoons claimed they were making a principled stand for a core western belief in the primacy of freedom.

Abstract concepts are can be priceless and they often ennoble human society. Abstract thinking and aesthetic appreciation distinguish man from beast and enrich life with many forms of art. The western renaissance and scientific revolution fused art and science, which were built upon new forms of abstract reasoning. In the arena of personal relationships, the abstract concepts of love and honour are cherished as priceless. It has always been considered noble to believe in high concepts and sacrifice material benefits for the sake of principle.Western societies do not, however, hold a monopoly on cherishing abstract ideals. In fact, while such ideals have become scarce in the west, Muslims cherish a multitude of abstract ideals and this is where East and West crashed head-on over the issue of the cartoons.

Muslims hold the concept of honour in high esteem, and to insult someone is to transgress upon his honour. Just as the publishers of Jyllaands-Posten were ready to sacrifice for freedom, so too were Muslims, ready to sacrifice for the sake of honour. If a Muslim would seek to defend his own honour, then it would be even nobler for him to defend the honour of another. If defending the honour of his mother or his father should be nobler than defending his own honour, then for the Muslim nothing is more precious than defending the honour of the prophet who brought to him his religion. Honour, however, like freedom, is an intangible concept that does not put food on the table. Pragmatists who criticise Muslims for getting upset, and might equally criticise a newspaper for causing such a fuss in the first place, argue and against taking principled stands for the sake of intangible concepts. They are practical people who concern themselves solely with the material; this preoccupation with the material has become a dominating feature of western life, which has eroded many former values and concepts in favour of hard-nosed materialism. The concept of honour, held dearly by Muslims, needs no explanation to a western audience who are familiar with it as a part of their historical heritage. Nowadays however, honour is an outmoded concept in the west. Standing up for honour, as opposed to reason, is to be considered naive or romantic at best, and dangerous fanaticism at worst. It is no surprise, therefore, that the editors of Jyllaands-Posten found little support from their freedom loving allies in Britain or America and took the full force of criticism on their own. Their publication of cartoons that were expected to cause offence appears foolhardy. Likewise, intense expressions of Muslim anger may by western standards also be considered unreasonable. In both cases, to argue a point of principle too far, be it western freedoms or the honour of a prophet, risks being labelled in the west as extreme or fanatical.

While western values are being eroded, Muslims are still adhering to and championing their own values. By opposing insults upon the prophet Muhammad, they are not excluding the possibility of reasoned debate and listening to intellectual arguments against their belief, but standing up for the honour of the man most beloved to them – Mohammad the prophet. The indignation expressed by Muslims would be easier for many to understand if Mohammad were a company director, Islam a company and Muslims shareholders! In such a situation an insult upon Mohammad would affect the stock value of the company capital and the shareholders could sue for damages. Honour or what used to be called in law ‘goodwill’ is an intangible phenomenon that as capitalism has developed is now considered an asset, which can be given a pecuniary value and hence receive protection in law. The ‘good name’ of a company or an individual may be lost and the implications of that could be financial loss. Financial loss being a material thing is protected in western law, but honour for the sake of honour itself has no such recognition. This is in contrast to Islam, which protects not only life and property, but also honour for its own sake regardless of the financial implications.

As for argument and debate, while Muslims jealously protect the honour of the prophet Mohammad and react strongly to any insults levelled at them or their religion, they are not unyielding to criticism. Reasoned criticism is of the greatest concern to Muslims because Islam calls for adherents to assent to belief in the truth of key ideas: the existence of a supreme Creator and the messengerhood of Mohammad who brought the Qur’an as guidance for mankind from the Creator. This is an intellectual belief that requires proof for acceptance and led Muslims to engage in intellectual dispute with others from the time of the prophet Mohammad himself until today. The Qur’an expressly forbade the coercion of non-believers into the faith of Islam and protected their right to live in peace and harmony as citizens of the Islamic authority, without compulsion to change their religion. Muslims through the centuries have listened to the arguments and philosophies of other nations, translated their literature into Arabic and responded intellectually to whatever criticisms of Islam they encountered.

When the issue of reasoned debate is considered comparatively, it will be discovered that the thinkers and politicians of western countries are remarkably opposed to debate with their own Muslim minority populations and seek to impose their beliefs by coercion rather than persuasion. When Jyllands-Posten sought to make a stand for freedom they chose not to raise an intellectual discussion directly, but to offend Muslims in Denmark and push them into a corner. If it were not for the world-wide reaction, then the Muslims in Denmark would have been under intense pressure to concede to others the right to ‘freely’ express any racist or insulting views towards them, in the name of secularism and tolerance. They would have been asked to compromise on their values and give up their adherence to pre-modern non-tangible values in the name of integration with the Danish host society.

The publishing of offensive cartoons in the name of freedom seems less honourable when it is recalled that in April 2003, the same Danish newspaper rejected publishing cartoons "lampooning" Jesus Christ, citing that they could be offensive to readers and were not humorous. The Sunday editor of the paper remarked, "I don't think Jyllands-Posten's readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them." Freedom then has its limits – except when used against Muslims and what they hold dear. If politicians, editors and writers in the west are concerned that the Muslims living in their countries do not share their political visions and their values, then they ought to try and convince Muslims through discussion and debate. In fact coercion is the favoured method used against Muslims who do give intellectual reasons for their beliefs and values. Muslims who reject western political culture are commonly insulted rather than refuted. In fact it is almost impossible to find any serious attempts to refute the political ideology of Muslims who refuse to believe in democracy and secularism. Instead, offensive cartoons or the issue of immigration are used to coerce Muslims into believing in and participating in the political culture of secularism. If this does not work, Muslims are told they must conform or the extremists will gain power. If Muslims still fail to fall in line, they risk being labelled as ‘extremist,’ ‘militant,’ ‘fanatic’ or ‘terrorist’.

Such a tactic has an historical precedent. The nationalism of the 19th century that cemented the concept of the ‘nation state’ in Europe had violent consequences in the 20th century in the rise of fascism. Fascism had a powerful hold on many Europeans and wars had to be fought in order to defeat it. Nevertheless, ‘far-right’ politics is still very much alive in Europe. It seems then that fascism is a resilient force and those opposed to fascism have adopted a common tactic in fighting it. They are incapable of defeating it intellectually, because it is no more or less rational than any other western political philosophy. No one tries to prove the concept of ‘freedom’ in the same way that Muslims, for example, offer proofs for the existence of the creator or the prophethood of Mohammad. Instead the terminology used against fascism is framed in opprobrium and insult. Fascism is ‘obscene’, ‘repugnant’, ‘unacceptable’ and so on, but is also ‘wrong’. While Muslims would respond to fascism by trying to demonstrate its intellectual flaws, western opponents of fascism simply insult it and those who believe in it. This approach has been successful in marginalising extreme forms of nationalism and even the word fascism has become a standard insult in the English language. This word is even applied to Muslims who hold to their political culture and express the hope of the return of the Caliphate. The debates in Denmark and throughout Europe regarding the presence of growing Muslim minorities that are slow to accept western political concepts has focused upon coercion and has neglected debate. This can only end in disappointment, because Muslim political thought is resilient and evidence-based, leaving it untouched by coercive integration measures. This approach may also lead to conflict, because Muslims believe in intangible values, such as honour, and will respond vigorously to insults upon their religion.

If newspaper editors dispense with mocking cartoons and opt for intellectual debate with Muslims they can expect a more fruitful response than the worldwide reaction the editors of Jyllands-Posten managed to incite with: ‘Prophet, you crazy bloke! Keeping women under yoke!’

The secular attack on Islam

2007-12-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

The secular attack

Good talk to listen and learn from.

http://www.khilafah.com/kcom/multimedia/audio/audio-talk-the-secular-attack-on-islam.html

Britain's Afghan venture

2007-12-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Why Britain's Afghan venture has failed

Six years after the invasion, the overthrow of the Taleban regime, the installation of a client regime that is now steeped in corruption, the deaths of thousands of people and an aid programme that is failing dismally,
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has set out Britain's 'plan B' for Afghanistan. Given the appalling record of destruction, matched only by the chaos that is Iraq, it is no surprise that people are sceptical about the likelihood of these new plans bringing peace and stability to the region, and cynical about the motives behind the ongoing intervention. Corruption, poverty and insecurity have all worsened in Afghanistan under occupation. This "free, democratic" Afghanistan has levels of poverty comparable to sub-Saharan Africa, as well as 120,000 women and 60,000 children who are amongst Afghanistan's new drug users, giving a meaning to the term "liberation" that is entirely in keeping with intervention by capitalist liberal states.

One has to ask if this is what western politicians mean when they boast that they have brought democracy to Afghanistan . People want more than a rigged vote labelled as democracy. They want stability, security and a decent standard of living. Not death, destruction and poverty. They want Islamic values, not to be liberated to enjoy cannabis and heroin.

Given the deepening crisis in Afghanistan it is no wonder that Brown is suggesting this new plan. He has to win hearts and minds in Britain and justify the billions of tax payers money, as well as justify the many troop casualties. However, the hearts and minds in the Muslim world are already lost. The worsening security and worsening poverty prove this military venture has not been about ensuring a more peaceful world, or about humanitarian intervention, but has been about Britain fighting its corner in a new colonial Great Game. Sadly, the people of Afghanistan are the victims of this competition between Russia, Britain and the US, in this most strategically and materially important region.

On Security, Brown has proposed this be under the auspices of ISAF and the Afghan national army. Yet under their watch the UN estimates that violent incidents are up at least 20 percent since the previous year. In November 2007 they criticised international troops for killing civilians at 'alarming levels'. It is NATO troop presence that fuels the insecurity. Moreover the UN high commissioner also raised concerns about whether ISAF was turning detainees over to torture in Afghan custody. Amnesty International said that NATO forces in Afghanistan have handed detainees to Afghan security services (the NDS) despite reports that they torture their prisoners.

On economic development the current record is shameful. Almost half of the US ' aid budget goes directly to fatten the profits of five US contractors. Much has been squandered on profits for companies or subcontractors, or spent on high salaries and living expenses for expatriate staff (each full-time expatriate consultant costs up to $500000 a year.) Only $270 million of the $15 billion of aid has been spent on the agricultural sector when this is the major source of income for 80 percent of Afghans. Heroin production is up since the occupation, providing 93 percent of the world's opium supply. Tragically the rates of addiction within Afghanistan have increased sharply since 2003 to nearly 4 percent of the population.

On political development, even Karzai himself cannot hide the levels of corruption. The democratic parliament is packed with former warlords, who voted themselves an amnesty from war crimes earlier this year. Large profits from Afghanistan's $3-billion opium crop, funds skimmed from aid and reconstruction contracts and bribes for services all fuel official corruption. One elderly parliamentarian addressed Karzai saying. "The government and cabinet members are sucking the blood of innocent people; we can't tolerate the corruption in every government office."

The on-going western occupation and interference only fuels the desire for an independent Islamic Caliphate where authority lies with people; where elected representatives cannot vote themselves an amnesty from prosecution; where the laws and values are those based on the beliefs,heritage and values of the population; where the executive is wholly accountable and has to stand up for the interests of its citizens and not for those of foreign governments.

Western governments will never admit that their repeated interventions trying to "fix" what they themselves have broken only creates more problems. They show no signs of wanting to leave the Muslim world to shape its own future and political destiny. Stability can only come when a system of government enjoys the trust and confidence of the people and that will only come when Islam lies at the heart of the system. All people want to have the rulers they chose, and not be forced to accept stooges who represent foreign interests.

In Britain

2007-11-10T05:34:00.000-08:00

Possessing a book can be 'Terrorism'

This week a 23year old woman was convicted of an offence of possessing material ‘likely to be used for terrorism'. It was accepted that she has committed no act of violence and has not helped anyone planning to commit acts of violence. However, by simply writing poems and possessing literature for which no violent motive was found, she has been convicted as a ‘terrorist'. Hers is not an isolated case. A young Muslim man was recently convicted of possessing DVDs and we now see ‘innocent' people being pressured - via long detention periods - into pleading guilty to ‘get it over with', thus changing the law of precedent and in some instances making possession of certain literature virtually illegal.

This is occurring in Britain, a nation that trumpets the rhetoric of freedom and free speech. Many in the media turn on Muslims who criticise Salman Rushdie for insulting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or who are critical of those who draw offensive cartoons. Yet this is now a nation where possession of articles meant for no violent purpose is considered terrorism!

Undoubtedly, there will be media outlets, academics and maybe even some who are simply ‘voyeurs' who view and possess material that is similar to what the convicted lady possessed. However, prosecutions will be selective and based on racial, religious and political profiling. Destroying the lives of young people and their families by criminalising ‘possession without intent' is the justice of countries like Uzbekistan.

Quotes

2007-11-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

Quotes praising Islam by non-Muslims

“I have always held the religion of Muhammad (saw) in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him - the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness.”

[Sir George Bernard Shaw in ‘The Genuine Islam’ Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936]

“Our use of phrase ‘The Dark ages’ to cover the period from 699 to 1,000 marks our undue concentration on Western Europe... From India to Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished…To us it seems that West-European civilization is civilization, but this is a narrow view.”

[Bertrand Russel in ‘History of Western Philosophy,’ London, 1948, p. 419]

“The Islamic teachings have left great traditions for equitable and gentle dealings and behavior, and inspire people with nobility and tolerance. These are human teachings of the highest order and at the same time practicable. These teachings brought into existence a society in which hard-heartedness and collective oppression and injustice were the least as compared with all other societies preceding it....Islam is replete with gentleness, courtesy, and fraternity.”

[H.G. Wells.]

“…Science owes a great deal more to Arab culture (Islam), it owes its existence”

[Robert Briffault in the “Making of Humanity”]

“I have to deplore the systematic manner in which the literature of Europe has continued to put out of sight our obligations to the Muhammadans. Surely they cannot be much longer hidden. Injustice founded on religious rancour and national conceit cannot be perpetuated forever. The Arab has left his intellectual impress on Europe. He has indelibly written it on the heavens as any one may see who reads the names of the stars on a common celestial globe.”

[John William Draper in the “Intellectual Development of Europe”]

“History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated”

[De Lacy O’Leary in ‘Islam at the Crossroads,’ London, 1923]

“Islam is a religion that is essentially rationalistic in the widest sense of this term…and the dogma of unity of God has always been proclaimed therein with a grandeur a majesty, an invariable purity and with a note of sure conviction, which it is hard to find surpassed outside the pale of Islam....A creed so precise, so stripped of all theological complexities and consequently so accessible to the ordinary understanding might be expected to possess and does indeed possess a marvelous power of winning its way into the consciences of men.”

[Edward Montet, ‘La Propagande Chretienne et ses Adversaries Musulmans,’ Paris 1890. (Also in T.W. Arnold in ‘The Preaching of Islam,’ London 1913)]

Arabic language

2007-11-06T00:37:00.000-08:00

The importance of the Arabic language

Language is a means of communicating thoughts, ideas, and concepts. Through this medium, ideas are conveyed from one person to another, from one place to another, and from the past to the present and recorded for the future. Whether written or spoken, it remains as a medium through which people express their thoughts, images, and emotions in a manner comprehensible to others.If we analyze language, and study the relationship between language and thought the issue becomes more complex. Does language play a role in the way we perceive, think, analyze, or judge, and if so to what extent and in what ways? Many different scientific theories and research have only contributed to confusion. Rather, we will discover through empirical evidence that language is not part of the thinking process but one of its byproduct. This is evident by people who speak different languages and share similar ideologies and views. It is common to see a Chinese, a Korean, a Cuban, or a German adopting Communism as an ideology and applying it without any interference from their respective languages. These languages do not modulate their viewpoint towards different issues. The same can be said of the Muslim and Capitalist with respect to the fact that dissimilar languages do not result in ideological differences. To claim the opposite does not only mean to cast a blind eye on hard empirical evidence but more significantly demonstrates a racial inclination that speakers of certain languages are more intelligent than speakers of other languages. It should be emphatically noted that language is independent from thought, and that thinking precedes language and thinking produces language and continues to expand the depth and breadth of language.Moreover, there is no language that is superior to another. A certain language is viable to the extent that it can encompass the various needs of the people who speak it. As such needs expand in scope or multiply in number, the medium will naturally expand and improve by borrowing existing terms and words from other languages or through the coinage of new terms and words.Arabic, like other languages is a medium of communication. It is not a sacred language as some believe. By origin it is believed to have come into existence around three thousand years ago, though its writing appeared much later. Some Muslims scholars used to believe that Arabic came from Allah (swt) and cite the verse, "...He Taught Adam all the names." The majority of scholars, however, believe that the verse refers to Allah (swt) instructing Adam what things are called and how he could use them. After all, we know that the Arabs are descendants of Isma'eel and Ibrahim who lived at a time when Arabic was not used.Arabic, however, is very unique. It is the language of the Qur'an and Sunnah. It is the medium through which the Islamic concepts and laws were conveyed to us. It is impossible to know what Allah (swt) wants us to do without knowing and understanding Arabic. Nobody can claim to know why Allah (swt) selected Arabic for His final revelation. Allah (swt) says:"Allah knows best where, or to whom, He should reveal His Message." [TMQ 6:124]The Arabic language has certain characteristics. One of them is that it is derivational, rendering it as a language where a Mujtahid can seek the Illah or reasons behind the law and thus extend the Illah to other situations to apply the law. Another fascinating quality of Arabic is in its richness in words which describe human actions and feelings while lacking names of objects. As a matter of fact, many Arabic words describing objects have their etymological roots in other tongues like Persian, Hindi, and Ethiopian. The Arab who lived in the desert with very few objects and many actions was compelled to deal with the harsh nature of the desert, managed to produce a language capable of describing human thought and actions in a clear manner. Life in the desert continued to be an inspiration for those who sought oratory skills and eloquence for many generations. When Prophet Mohammed (saaw) was born, his (saaw) mother sent him (saaw) to the desert to live amongst the nomads for some time. These qualities cannot classify the Arabic language as part of the Islamic thought. It is the legal aspect which classifies the Arabic language as such. The importance and relevance of the Arabic language to the Islamic ideology can be divided into three aspects:Fundamental beliefs: the Arabic language here is not relevant. One can become a Muslim and believe in Allah, His Angels, Messengers, Revelation, Day of Judgment, or Divine Destiny, simply by pondering about the creation of Allah and accepting what he or she is asked to believe in.Practice: To practice Islam, one needs to know a certain amount of Arabic, such as in performing the 'Ibadah (e.g., Salah or Hajj);Islamic law: Arabic is required for the study of Islamic law, 'Usul ul Fiqh and Hukm Shari' (the body of laws). Muslim scholars mastered Arabic, its syntax, semantics, vocabulary, grammar, various modes of usage, and rhetoric as a prerequisite for Ijtihad.Since Islamic law deals with all aspects of life; social and individual, economic and cultural, and since the Qur'an and Sunnah constitute the foundation of Islamic civilization, any serious study of Islam should include the study of Arabic. The Arabic which is meant here is the classical Arabic along with its structure. The study of colloquial Arabic of a certain dialect or vernacular is without value in this regard.Amongst the factors which contributed towards the decline was the neglect of Arabic language. The Arabic language is the medium by which revelation becomes accessible, thus applicable in life. The neglect of Arabic language led the Muslims to a situation in which they were not able to derive laws from the Qur'an and Sunnah and thus apply Islam. It eventually led to the closure of the doors of Ijtihad and the opening of the doors of Taqleed or imitation. At one point, Ijtihad became impossible and as a result, new issues and circumstances were either left out without knowing the Islamic views on them or were accepted as being Islamic only because there is no direct evidence in Islam against them. As a result, many Muslims began to believe that Islam is a thing of the past and looked for answers to new issues in the Kufr civilization. When the Kuffar finally abolished Islam as a way of life, only a few amongst the Muslims objected to it because it was widely accepted that Islam was an obstacle to modernization and progress. This is a view which is still rampant amongst some Muslims today who express it directly if they are secular or indirectly by finding middle grounds between Islam and the Western civilization if they are "moderates."Revival is not embodied in material or scientific advancement. Rather, the intellectual and ideological elevation is the basis for the correct revival, whereby material advancement is a byproduct . Thus, the revival for Muslims lies with resuming the Islamic way of life. The Arabic language is needed to deduce solutions from the Islamic perspective in leading an Islamic way of life. Deducing the solutions requires the comprehension of the Arabic language, since Ijtihad can be performed only in Arabic. Also, to produce original material requires from us to directly access the revelation, otherwise we will be restricted to thought based upon translations or secondary works.When the campaign against Islam reared its ugly head, the Europeans specifically targeted the Arabs and Turks. The Turks were targeted because the ruling belonged to them while the Arabs were targeted because the heart of Islam was nestled in the Arab world, due to the Arabic language. Missionary campaigns, ideological and cultural invasion, and secret associations were established specifically in those area to destroy the fabric of the Islamic State. Therefore, the work for revival mandates that it commence in a well defined area, a location where one would be able to establish a creative way of thinking which leads towards revival.Today, as Muslims reflect on their past and look to the future, it is required for them to make the study of the Arabic language an integral part of their study of Islam. We need Mujtahideen, legal experts of Shari'ah, Muslim thinkers, judges, and statesman, all of whom must have a good command of Arabic, the language of Qur'an. The Prophet (saaw) said: "I am the most eloquent Arab being one of Quraysh". Allah says,"We have revealed it as an Arabic Qur'an." [TMQ 12:2]Arabic is the official language of the Islamic State, as the Prophet (saaw) used it in government affairs and the Khulafah followed suit. The Muslims should not heed to the rumors from the West and their sympathizers amongst the Muslims who claim that calling for the study of Arabic and adopting it as the official language of the state means calling for Arab nationalism or an "Arab Islam". All Muslims, Arab and non Arab should leave aside national affiliations and patriotic affinity and identify themselves with Islam. Let us not forget that the West attacks the Arabic language and its study as a part of its campaign against Islam. That's why they do not direct their attacks against Turkish, Somali, Urdu, Bengali, Pushto, Malay, Chinese, or Farsi even though millions of Muslims speak those languages. All Muslims are called upon to defend Arabic in the manner they defend Islam.

Fatalism

2007-10-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya

During the time of Rasool Allah (saaw) and the Sahabah, the meaning of Qadr was well understood without any ambiguity and what it meant was very clear. There was no debate. inquiries, or differences in this issue, except the discussion between Abu Ubaidah and Umar (ra), when Umar decided not to proceed in his trip to as-sham, once the news came telling that there was a plague spreading there and decided to go back to Madinah, telling the people '' I'm returning back, thus you should return as well''. In this incident Abu Ubaidah did not attend Umar's consultation with the people and the result of the consultation.

However, when Abu Ubaidah heard of Umar's orders. he came to Umar telling him ''O Umar, are you running away from Allah's Qadr.'' By this he was objecting Umar's decision to return back to Madinah. Umar was amazed by this objection raised by Abu Ubaidah and Umar said to him, ''O Abu Ubaidah. I wish someone other than you would have said this. Yes. I am running away from Allah's Qadr to Allah's Qadr ''. He explained this by saying, if you see a man coming to a place where there are two areas, one area is lush and the other barren. Don't you see that if he takes his cattle to the lush area, he is doing so according the Allah's Qadr and if he take his cattle to the barren area, he is also taking it by Allah's Qadr.

This is the only report which talked about the difference in understanding Al-Qadr, amongst the Sahabah. Otherwise, Muslims in general understood Al-Qadr the way it is in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. This understanding is that everything is written in the preserved tablet (al-Lowh al-Mahfooz), from the very beginning (before creation) and there is no relationship for this in the man's actions or in the obligations Allah orders us to carry. This situation continued all the way till the second half of the second century Hijri or till the middle of the Abbasid era. Due to the translation of the Greek, Persian and Hindu philosophies, some misconceptions accumulated in the minds of some people and the question of al-Qada wal-Qadr emerged and over shadowed the concept of Al-Qadr.

After that, the issue of al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya (fatalism) became widespread among the people. It influenced them and shaped their behavior. It was one of the declining factor for the Muslim Ummah and when the decline became more obvious (during our time), it was one the most important factor, which prevented the Muslims form working for the revival. This situation continued till the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, Common Era (CE). At that time, a new Islamic culture emerged, clearing the issue of al-Qada wal-Qadr intellectually and presenting the Islamic point of view towards it. This culture also cleared the meaning of al-Qadr based on the Sharii text.

Thus, now the issue of al-Qada wal-Qadr became very clear for those who are involved in the Islamic work or Islam in general. Those who looked up to the western culture and the ones cultured by it, their interest in addressing Islam started decreasing (so they stopped attacking Islam through this perspective). The issue of al-Qada wal-Qadr was no longer an issue which occupied the mind of the Muslims or shaped their behavior. However, this did not affect al-Qadaria al-Ghaybiya (fatalism) and its place in the minds of the Muslims. All of the Muslims kept being influenced by it, the way it was in the past and those who are adhering to the Western culture, they started to get influenced by similar ideas carried by the West, which they call divine destiny. Thus, the issue of the al-Qadaria al-Ghaybiya is not solved and a question emerged about the difference in al-Qadr and al-Qadaria al-Ghaybiya due to the difficulty in distinguishing the difference between them. Before starting to address this question, we would like to pay attention to the fact that al-Qadr is a word which is different than ''al-Qada wal-Qadr'', the combined term.

The Qadr as the word is what Allah knows and wrote in preserved tablet (al-Lowh al-Mahfooz) at the very beginning (of creation). However, al-Qada wal-Qadr means the question of having the actions occur against man's will. This includes the characteristics of objects, which also occur against man's will. Thus, the real meaning of both are different. Although, the meaning which may come to the mind of the people once they hear both terms may be the same, which is the ability of man to stand and face what was written.

Since al-Qadr is different then al-Qada wal-Qadr, then a deep investigation of the issue leads us to realize that what needs to be addressed in al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya versus al-Qadr. It should not be al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya versus al-Qadr and al-Qada wal-Qadr. Because the issue is the written actions and not the free choice of man or having man being forced to carry out his actions. Now it is clear that al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya emerged when people started mixing between al-Qadr and the meaning of al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya without distinguishing them. In other words, it emerged as a result of mixing between al-Qadr and its results (submitting to it). While forgetting al-Qadr itself and being confined to its submission. Due to this mixing and the failure to define the fine line of separating both, al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya emerged and spread and even over shadowed al-Qadr. Therefore, we need to understand the reality of both and the difference between them. Al-Qadr is all that Allah (swt) knows which is everything in al-Lowh al-Mahfooz. This taken from many Shani text (which are used as Daleel for the meaning of al-Qadr); for example when Allah (swt) says:

''(All) except the family of Lut. Them all we are surely going to save (from destruction). Except his wife, of whom We have decreed that she shall be of those who remain behind (i.e. she will be destroyed)''.

[Al Hijr 15: 59-60]

Also'

..And the Command of Allah is a decree determined.''

[Al-Ahzab 33:38]

also,Say:

''Nothing shall ever happen to us except what Allah has ordained for us..''

[At-Tauba 9:51]

and

And there is nothing hidden in the heaven and the earth, but is in a Clear Book (al-Lowh al-Mahfooz)

[Al-Naml 27:75]

and

And no aged man is granted a length of life, nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book (al-Lowh al-Mahfooz,)

[Fatir 35:11]

and

And with Him are the keys of the Ghaib (all that is hidden), none knows them but he. And he knows whatever there is in (or on) the earth and in the sea; not a leaf falls, but he knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.

[Al-An'am 6:59]

The meaning of all of these Ayat is that Allah knows everything in the universe and Allah wrote it in a clear book. Similarly, this is described in the following Ahadith:

The one which mentions that a woman should not ask for her sister's divorce in order to marry her sister's husband, because she will have what Allah wrote for her.

And the one which says that Musa told Adam, ''O Adam, Allah has chosen you and wrote by His hand for you; how come you blame me for something Allah wrote before He even created me.''

And in the Hadith which mentions that Allah wrote the Qadr of everything 50,000 years before the creation of the universe while His throne was on the water.

And the Hadith which mentions that Allah (swt) created the pen and instructed it to write. The pen asked, ''O Allah, what should I write''. Allah said, ''write the Qadr of everything till the day of judgement.''

And the Hadith which mentions that writing is dried and you will meet what is written.

And the Hadith which mentions that if the Ummah gathered to benefit you in something, they will never be able to benefit you with something other than what Allah wrote for you and if the whole Ummah got together to harm you in something, they will never be able to do it. unless Allah wrote it for you. Pens are laid down, and the ink has dried. (Ibn Abbas)

When Rasool Allah (saaw) says all of this, he means that nothing happens, except what Allah destined and wrote for the human beings and nothing happens against that which Allah knows. This is the meaning of Qadr and this is the meaning which is included in the Sharii text.

The Sharii text gives the meaning in a clear way without any ambiguity. This is what a Muslim should believe in. A Muslim knows that he cannot do anything against what Allah has determined. He knows also that what he can and cannot accomplish are within al-Qadr. A Muslim knows that he cannot succeed, unless Allah determined this success for him (wrote in al-Lowh al-Mahfooz). A Muslim is aware of all this and believes in it, because this is what the different Ayat imply: such as:

''...Nothing will happen to us except for what Allah wrote for us

[At-Tauba 9:51]

And what the different Ahadith tell us; such as the one which mentions that the pens are laid down and the ink has dried.

Based upon this understanding, Muslims believed in al-Qadr without any ambiguity. There was no doubt in a Muslim's Aqeedah, so long as no alien ideas were attached to this understanding. However, after Muslims got influenced by alien thoughts, a veil covered their minds, causing them to loose the clarity of their understanding of the Aqeedah. Muslims used to believe in the Qadr and keeping it in the realm of belief (Iman). But now, Muslims started noticing this Iman in the Qadr, before performing any action and they started to carry various actions shaped by this Iman in the Qadr. Thus, they surrounded themselves by what is predetermined. Muslims started to think that whatever Allah predetermined is going to happen, regardless if they became active or passive in carrying out an action. They started believing like this, despite the fact that they know for sure that, it is impossible for anyone to have access to Allah's knowledge. In other words, the Muslims do believe that it is impossible for anyone to know what Allah's knowledge is.

Muslims know all of this, yet they still link their actions with this knowledge of Allah. Thus, al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya (fatalism) emerged. It became something different than believing in al-Qadr. This is because, believing in the Qadr is to believe conclusively that nothing will happen in this universe, other than what Allah has predetermined everything and wrote in al-Lowh al-Mahfooz. However, al-Qadariya al-Ghaibiya means to surrender to what is predetermined. There is a difference between believing in the Qadr and surrendering to the predetermined. Surrendering to this predetermined is simply the result of believing in the Qadr with the absolute surrender; which is that what is predetermined is going to happen and nothing will happen if Allah did not predetermined it.

By the time, believing in the Qadr was over shadowed and now the Muslims have the total surrender. In other words, the belief in the Qadr is no longer restricted to the realm of belief. Now, the outcome alone (which is the total submission) became the issue. Al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya, inside ourselves is linked to the combination of Iman in the Qadr and absolute submission to it; but when it comes to the actions of a person who believes in it, it is no longer a combination of Iman in the Qadr and the total submission to it. Now it is just total submission. In the end. Muslims started saying (once they fail), this is Allah's predetermination and it is my Qadr. If he fails many times, and succeeds in the end, he will say, this is the predetermined time for my success and I succeeded just because it came in the time which Allah had decided. Thus, Muslims started linking the success or the failure to the Qadr in most of their actions. Muslims started saying that it is useless to overcome the predetermined because whatever is predetermined is going to happen and no power can stop it.

This is al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya. It is the absolute surrender to the predetermined without even looking at the belief in the Qadr. In other words, it is moving the issue from the belief to the surrender. As a result, all actions will be linked to the Qadr and to Allah. From this we see that al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya did not emerged from the belief in the Qadr. Rather, it emerged from surrendering to the Qadr or from observing al-Qadr when performing an action. This observation is the fine line and it is the pit fall. Thus, we have to understand it believing in the Qadr and understand that issue of this observation and recognize the fine line that separates believing the Qadr and al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya. We must know that believing in the Qadr is just a belief. It is a conclusive belief and must not produce a submission to the predetermined. The danger is from this surrender which was produced by this belief. In other words, it came form observing the Qadr while we perform an action or while we are just about to perform it. This danger cannot be prevented, except by keeping the Qadr totally and completely in the realm of Iman without linking to the actions. It is like any issue of the Aqeedah, we are asked to believe in it, while making it distinct from the actions. Mixing it with the actions and removing this fine line is what causes this pit fall. Al-Qadaria al-Ghaybiya spread amongst the Muslims during the decline era, because of the lack of clarity misunderstanding the Qadr and not separating this Iman in the Qadr from the actions. People started surrendering to the Qadr. Muslims started justifying their failure and successes to the Qadr. They started justifying their obedience and disobedience to Allah on the Qadr.

Consequently. Muslims no longer want to overcome obstacles facing them and no longer want to achieve the great achievements which they are supposed to, because they started surrendering themselves negatively to whatever happened to them, good or bad. Al-Qadaria al-Ghaibiya is to observe the Qadr in everything and in every action: whatever occurred and whatever did not occur. It is to believe and surrender to the Qadr in a negative way. It is one of the most dangerous and harmful dogma the Ummah can carry. It has grave consequences and it annihilates the individual, Ummah and the society, any society. Thus, it has to be countered and separated from the belief in the Qadr. We do believe that Allah knows or predetermined everything. This, however, should not be observed in our actions. We do not have access to Allah's knowledge. No one knows that there is going to be a failure or success. No one knows weather there is going to be obedience or disobedience. We do not have access to Allah's knowledge and consequently Allah's knowledge should not be observed and linked to our actions, because we do not know it and it is impossible for us to know. Thus, we do not surrender to it. Rather, we should put a thick barrier separating it (Allah's knowledge) from our minds. It should not be thought about, imagined or speculated before carrying any action. But, we should restrict ourselves to the issue, the hukm Sharii, causes of success, the factors of failure and keep this alone in mind.

Death

2007-09-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Importance of thinking about death

The rising of the sun reminds of Sakhr, I remember him at every sunset, If it were not for the number of those weeping around me, for their brothers, I surely would have killed myself, they do not cry for anyone as dear as my brother, but I console myself by weeping for him, for I have said farewell to the day we separated, father of Hassan, with it my pleasures and happiness, how my sorrows go out to him and my mother, for him to awake in his grave and then to rest at night?

With these phrases and others like them, Al-Khansaa’ mourned the death of her brother, Sakhr, and cried for him until she lost her eye-sight, falling into anguish, disparity and wishing for death. This is how Al-Khansaa’ saw death and this is how she handled it. In the battle of Al-Qadisiyyah, in an honourable stance of life and death, Al-Khansaa’ stood with her four sons and said to them: “You became Muslim and did not apostatise, and you emigrated and did not turn back, then you came to your old mother and placed her in the hands of the people of Persia. You are the sons of one man, as you are the sons of one woman. I did not betray your father, nor did I disgrace your uncle. Go, and be witnesses of the battle from the beginning to its very end.” All four of her sons were martyred, and when the news reached her she said her famous words: “All praise be to Allah, who honoured me with their death. I ask Him, glory be to He, to join me together with them, in the dwellings of his mercy.”

What changed the picture of death in the eyes of Al-Khansaa’ from ignorance to Islam? Was honour sought from the death of her sons after losing her eyesight due to her crying over the death of her brother? And after the anxiety of death, prayers of meeting them in paradise were made? What change of heart and mind is this? What change is this that can change a human being from one life to another, and from one point of view to another? It is Islam, with its Aqeeda, which made death for a Muslim the meeting of Allah (swt).

Allah (swt) said

“Among the Believers are men who have been true to their Covenant with Allah: of them some have fulfilled their obligations, and some of them are still waiting: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least”

[Al-Ahzab: 23].

There are the ones who wait and those who were truthful to the promise they made to Allah (swt), but their time has not come yet, so they wait. There are the ones who wait, yes! Waiting as if they are living in this world, remaining patient over it and waiting for their Ajal (decree of death) to come, for them to catch up to their companions, and to meet the countenance of their Lord; and why not wait when they were the ones who were truthful to the promise they made to Allah (swt), and Allah (swt) confirmed this for them and those like them, that they would not turn back and change their determination, so they were the ones who did not turn back and change. Of them are those who have moved on, their Ajal having ended, and there are those who wait for its coming, and prepare them-selves for it. Those who have not prepared for this meeting do not wait for it: Allah(swt) said:

“Say: The Death from which you flee will truly overtake you: then will you be sent back to the Knower of all things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that you did!”

[Al-Jumu’a:8].

So the one who runs away from death, either does not believe in the meeting of Allah (swt) and wishes to seek the greatest amount of pleasure in this world for as long as he can, and Allah (swt) said, “Until, when death comes to one of them, Allah (swt) says:

“O my Lord! Send me back (to life), in order that I may do good in that which I have left behind!” - No! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a Partition until the Day they are raised up. Then when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no more kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another! Then those whose scales (of good deeds) are heavy, they are the successful. And those whose scales (of good deeds) are light, they are those who lose their own selves; in Hell will they abide”

[Al-Mu’minun: 99-103]

He who is a Believer who is weak in his remembrance of Allah (swt) and the Day of Judgement, thus is heedless of the Akhirah (afterlife), too busy with his world, so when death comes to him, he becomes regretful and sorrowful:Allah (swt) says

“Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds, until death faces one of them, and he says: “Now I repent” nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them have we prepared a painful torment”

[An-Nisa: 18]

It was narrated that when death approached Abdul-Malik b. Marwan, he looked to a man washing his clothes near Damascus, twisting his clothes, then slapping them against his washing basin, when Abdul-Malik said:

“How I wish that I were a cleaner, eating from the earnings of what my hands have earned day after day, not having desired anything in this world.”

When this reached Abu Hazim, he said:

“All praise be to Allah, who made them wish for what we have when death approaches them, and when death approaches us, we do not wish for what they have.”

Belief in that the ending of Ajal is the cause of death is a necessity that cannot be separated from it, causing one to be wary of death every second of every moment, and what follows this wariness of readiness and preparation is in line with the belief in the Akhirah, whose doors open upon death, where there is no more work, or Jihad or carrying of the Da’wa. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Abdullah b.Umar (ra),

“If you awoke in the morning, do not speak to yourself of the evening, and if you reach the evening, do not speak to yourself of the morning. Take from your life for your death, and from your health for your illness, as you, oh Abdullah, do not know what your name will be tomorrow”

[Bukhari]

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,

“The clever one is he who disciplined himself and worked for what is after death, and the feeble one is he who followed his desires, then made (vain) prayers to Allah”.

And in the Sahih (authenticated) narration of when Jibreel (as) asked the Messenger (saw) about Ihsan, he (saw) said,

“To worship Allah as if you see him, and if you do not see him, then he surely sees you”.

Belief in death is worthless without the belief in the Akhirah(Hereafter), for death is the beginning of the path to the Akhirah; the everlasting life, the life where fate is decided; either complete bliss, or severe punishment. So whoever feared death and believed that its cause is the ending of Ajal, but did not carefully guard and account himself and did not imagine the Akhirah in a manner that prepares him to travel to it at any moment, will find no effect of his Iman upon his actions in this world, and if he is affected, then this will add up to no more that a few quick moments of guilt, without being followed up with careful guarding and accounting, thus he will very quickly go back to his old ways of disobeying Allah (swt) after the effects of what he saw heard or what reminded him wear off. ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan (ra), in the last Khutba he gave in his life, said:

“Allah (swt) gave you this world to request the Akhirah, and did not give it to you for you to rely upon, for this world ends and Akhirah is everlasting. So let not that which ends make you disregardful, nor keep you busy from that which lasts. Choose to seek that which lasts over that which ends, for this world will be cut off and our return is to Allah.”

Death reminds us of Akhirah, and there is no better reminder. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,

“Increase the remembrance of that which destroys all desires”

[Al Tirmidhi and said the Hadith is Hasan]

And he (saw) said,

“If animals knew what the sons of Adam knew of death, you would not have found any fat on them to eat”

[Al Baihaqi in “Al Sha’ab”].

Ibn ‘Umar (ra) said,

“I came to the Prophet (saw), and I was the tenth of ten men, when a man from the Ansar asked: Who is the most clever and the most honourable of people, Oh Messenger of Allah? He (saw) replied: “Those who remember death the most and work the hardest to prepare for it; they are the clever ones. They have left with the honour of this world and the dignity of the Akhirah”

[Ibn Majah (Summarised version) and Ibn Abi Al Dunya (Complete version) - Good chain of narrators].

‘Umar b Abdul Aziz (ra), in one of his Khutbas said,

“Doubtlessly, for every travel provisions must be made, so provide for your travel to Akhirah with Taqwa (fear of Allah), and be like those who examined what Allah has prepared of rewards and punishments, so that you may desire and fear. And do not delay, as your heart may harden and you may be led to your enemy, for, by Allah, there is no-one who has more expectations than the one who is unaware that he may not awake after he goes to bed, or go to bed after he awakes, even though he may find glimpses of the fate of death between them. How many people have you and I seen in this world who walk about arrogantly, but only those who are confident of their being saved from the Hellfire will have their hearts at ease, and only those who have been protected from the tribulations of the Day of Judgement can be happy, for the one who does not nurture his wounds will only be cut once again from another direction, so how could he be happy? I seek refuge in Allah that I order you to do what I do not order myself, so that I lose my deal (with Allah), and my shame will show, and my weakness will be laid bare on the day that the rich and the poor will be made to show all, and the scales in it are set up. You have been burdened with a task, if the stars were bur-dened with it, they surely would have fallen, and if the mountains were burdened with it, they surely would have melted away, and if the earth was burdened with it, it surely would have been torn to pieces.”

Every night ‘Umar b. Abdul Aziz (ra) would gather the Fuqahaa’ and remember death and the Day of Judgement and the Akhirah, and they would cry as if a funeral was before them. And it was said that if death were to be mentioned around him, he would shiver like a bird and cry until tears would run down his beard, once cry-ing making the whole house cry with him, and when the moment passed, his wife Fatima asked him:

“May my father be sacrificed for you, oh Amir of the Believers, why do you cry?” He said: “I imagined the departure of the people from between the hands of Allah, and saw a group in Paradise and a group in the Hellfire.”

Then he cried out and fainted. Death reminds us of the Akhirah, and involves much reminding and careful examination. Al-Hassan (ra) entered a room where a man was reading Qur’an to himself, and said:

“The first of this matter (life) is made proper when its end is feared, and the end of this matter is made proper when its first is renounced.”

Whoever imagines that his Akhirah may come at any moment must prepare for it the best he can. When Ahmed b. Khadhrawiyyah neared death, he said to his son:

“My son, a door that I have been knocking at for 95 years is about to be opened upon me this hour, and I do not know if it holds for me happiness or misery.”

And it was narrated that one of the pious Muslims was approaching his death and his wife began crying, so he asked her:

“What makes you cry?” She said: “I cry for you.” He said: “If you wish to cry, then cry for your-self, for I have cried over this day for 40 years.”

Do you see, how it is if you have a long journey ahead! Would you disregard preparing for it and making yourself ready? If you did this, then you fall under one of these two categories: Either you do not really care about the trip, nor worry about it, nor do you give it any value whatsoever; or you are heed-less, as time means nothing to you. Death is a reality which we all believe in its coming, a belief that meets no doubt whatsoever. And at every passing day we come one day closer to death. So whoever reaches thirty years of age has come thirty years closer to death, and who-ever reaches sixty years of age has come sixty years closer to death, and so on. Who amongst us has prepared to travel at any moment… now… or in a short while… or tomorrow… or after it…? You only have two types of breath, one inhaling and one exhaling, and you do not know which one will take out your soul. Oh, Allah, we beg for your mercy and for peace on the day that we meet you.

Death is a reminder, which is followed by careful accounting and guarding, as Al-Rabee’ b. Khaytham had dug a grave in his house, so that if he found hardness within his heart, he would enter it and lay down for as long as Allah wished and read:

“O my Lord! Send me back (to life) in order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected” repeating it, then he would reply to himself saying: “Oh, Rabee’, here, you have been returned, so work.”

Remembrance is not crying and wailing and blaming one’s self when one is on the brink of death, or attending a funeral or visiting graves alone. Rather, remembrance of death is when a believer imagines that he will meet his Lord at any moment, and his actions will be cut off, as will his ability for repentance. So he will be aware of himself, careful to obey Allah (swt), wary of his Lord every second of his life. Anas (ra) said: I overheard ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab (ra) as he entered upset, and there was a barrier between us, saying:

“Oh, ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab, Amir of the Believers, bravo! By Allah, Oh, son of Al-Khattab, you better fear Allah, or he will punish you.”

And Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (ra) said:

“Whoever detests himself before Allah (swt), Allah will protect him from His anger.”

Accounting one’s self and guarding it from mistakes is how a believer saves himself from the punishment of Allah (swt), preparing himself so that he may meet Allah (swt) obedient and in submission, committing himself to what Allah has ordered him, not getting tired, or compromising or giving up, rather treading the path of Allah (swt), withstanding the trials of the world and its disasters, renouncing what the created have to offer, seeking what the Creator has to give.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) read the verse:

“Those whom Allah (in His plan) wishes to guide, He opens their breast to Islam.”

[Al-An’am:125]

and said:

“If the Nur (light) enters into the breast, it widens.” Then someone asked: Is there a visible sign of that, Oh, Messenger of Allah? He said: “Yes, increased renunciation of the dwelling of vanities (Dar Al-Ghurur), and the desire for the everlasting dwelling (Dar Al-Khulud), and preparation for death before its’ time.”

[Al Haakim in “Al Mustadrik”]

Allah (swt) said:

“He (is the one) who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed”

[Al-Mulk: 2]

Those of you who remember death the most, and the best of you in preparation, and who are most cautious and fearful of it. Have you, examined what Allah (swt) has enjoined upon you, firstly, as a Muslim and secondly, as a carrier of the Da’wa? Have you asked yourself if you have put forth the deserved effort, or have you been negligent in its undertaking? Have you realised that you are of the most burdened, and of the most responsible, and you are the most needy of people, in this day and age, of accounting yourself and subduing it to what Allah (swt) has enjoined upon it of actions, and to what your back has been burdened with of responsibilities?

Have you realised,as you contemplate death, and remember the Akhirah, and cry, fearing the punishment of the Hellfire, and work, desiring the pleasures of Paradise; have you realised that what you have of enlightened thought, and precise understanding, and sincere awareness will not make you an oblivious Sufi or an ignorant Darweesh, or someone stuck in a corner with only the pillars and corners of Islam, crying and moaning? No, and it is not acceptable of you to do so, either. Ratheryou should be a carrier of the Da’wa, who sold his soul to Allah (swt), a political leader who cries upon hearing an Ayah, and a special moment can agitate his emotions.

Did you not know that the Messenger of Allah (saw) was the most fearful of the people, and cried the most? Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (ra) once said to him:

“Your hair has become grey, Oh, Messenger of Allah.” So he (saw) said: “[Surah] Hud and its sisters have made my hair grey: Al-Waqi’a, ‘Amma Yatasaa’alun and Itha Al-Shamsu Kuwwirat.”

And it was narrated by Ibn Najjar, of Ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (saw) overheard a reader reading:

“With Us are Fetters (to bind them), and a Fire (to burn them)”

[Al-Muzammil: 12]

and he (saw) fainted. And it was narrated that when he (saw) was travelling to Makkah to liberate it, and the Muslims were fully prepared and armed, he (saw) saw a lark flying above his head, crying out, so he (saw) cried and said, “Who upset her by taking away her son? Give back her child.” When Allah revealed,

“Do you then wonder at this recital? And will you laugh and not weep?”

[An-Najm: 59-60]

The people of Al-Suffa cried until the tears ran down their face, and when the Messenger (saw) heard this, he cried with them, causing the rest of the Companions to cry along with him, then he (saw) said,

“The one who cries from fear of Allah will not be made to walk through the fire, and the one who insists on disobedience will not enter Paradise, and if you did not commit sins, Allah would bring another people who would commit sins, so that he may forgive them”

[Al Baihaqi]

Did you not know that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab (ra), due to his strong stance upon the truth and his nerve, as well as the strength of his courage, would drop at the hearing of an Ayah and would be streaming tears whenever he was reminded of the afterlife; and on his ring he had engraved: “Death is enough of a reminder, oh Umar”. Did you not know that one of the Companions said of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq,

“If you saw him as he was preparing the armies, you would think that he does not depend on Allah whatsoever, and if you saw him as he prayed profusely to Allah for victory, crying and weeping, you would say: This man has not prepared a single thing, at all.”

Have you not heard the saying of Allah (swt), describing the best of His creation,

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are severe against disbelievers, and merciful amongst each other. You see them bowing and falling down prostrate (in prayer) seeking bounty from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their (visible) marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their description in the Taurat; and their description in the Injeel: is like a (sown) seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands straight on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight, that it may enrage the disbelievers with them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds, forgiveness, and a mighty reward.”

[Al-Fath: 29]

These are the leaders who established Islam and fought in the way of Allah (swt) until they met their Lord. As Ali bin Abi Talib (ra) said, describing them:

“By Allah, I have seen the companions of Muhammad (saw), and I do not see anyone here today any-thing like them. They would awake ruffled and dirty, between their eyes what is similar to those who ride goats, for they have spent the night prostrating and praying, reading the book of Allah (swt), moving from their face to their feet, and when they awoke, they would mention Allah, the Most High, swaying like a tree would on a windy day. Their eyes have cried until their clothes have been soaked, and by Allah, it was as if that evening the people had been put to sleep.”

Abu ‘Ubaydah Al-Baji said:

“We entered upon Al-Hassan while he was ill, the illness which he died from, and he said: Greetings to you and welcome. May Allah greet you with peace, and may He make the everlasting dwelling (Paradise) lawful for you and I, if you are patient, and truthful and god-fearing. So do not make your share of this information, may Allah have mercy upon you, that you take it in one ear, while it goes out the other, for whoever saw Muhammed (saw), saw him coming and going, and he did not simply lay brick upon brick, or straw upon straw, rather knowledge was raised up to him, so he embarked upon it. Al-Wahi, Al-Wahi (the revelation, the revelation), to be delivered, to be delivered. Allah has blessed a slave with his mercy who lived life as it were once, so he ate little, and wore tattered rags, stuck to earth and exhausted himself in worship, crying when he made a mistake, fleeing from punishment and seeking His mercy, until his time comes and he is in that state.”

[Ibn Habban in “Al Thuqaat” and Abu Na’eem in “Al Hilya”]

This world,and what it has of pleasures and trials can make a Believer busy, no matter how measly the pleasures, and how insignificant the trials. They will keep him busy if he accepted them, and allowed them to keep him busy. Allah (swt) says,

“Know that the life of this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children. It is as the likeness of vegetation after rain thereof the growth is pleasing to the tillers; soon it withers; then you will see it grow yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. But in the Hereafter is a severe torment (for the disbelievers - evildoers). And forgive-ness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers - good doers). And what is the life of this world, but a deceiving enjoyment? Race one another (in seeking) Forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers: that is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He pleases: and Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding.”

[Al-Hadid: 20-21]

Death is no more than the truthful companion for those who continues to remind the Believer of the Akhirah, and as long as a Believer remembers his Akhirah and acts accordingly, then he is heading in a good direction and he will live his life in a state of remembrance and preparation for it. This is why the Messenger of Allah (saw) stressed the remembrance of death and to pre-pare for it, as he stressed the visiting of graves and praying for peace upon them, as it is the best admonition and the best of reminders. Abi Tharr (ra) said The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Visit the graves, as it will be a reminder of the Akhirah, and wash the dead, as taking care of an empty body is an outstanding admonition, and pray over the Jana’iz (funerals), as it may sadden you, for the sad one is in the shade of Allah”

[Ibn Abi Al Dunya and Al Haakim -Good chain of narrators]

And Ibn Abi Mulaykah said, The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Visit your dead and pray for peace upon them, for there is an admonition for you in it”

[Ibn Abi Al Dunya - Good chain of narrators].

It has been narrated of Abu Hurairah that if he saw a funeral, he would say: “Move on, for we are to follow.” And Al-Dhaahik said: A man once said: Oh, Messenger of Allah, who is the most Zaahid (abstinent) of people? He (saw) said:

“He who does not forget the grave and abandoned the luxuries of life, seeking that which lasts above that which ends, not counting yesterday as one of his days, and counted himself amongst the people of the graves”.

In the Messenger of Allah (saw) we have a beautiful pattern of conduct to follow, and in the honourable companions we have integrity of conduct and forthrightness, and in those who preceded us, who were righteous, we have admonition and remembrance, for they were mindful to always remember death to help them remember and prepare for the Akhirah, and if death were to approach them, you would find them between one crying over himself out of fear and terror of Allah’s (swt) punishment, and one who has done righteous deeds for the sake of Allah (swt), hoping for the best, praying for his forgiveness, and one who is fully pre-pared and ready.

As for the Messenger (saw), he began his preparation by praying for the forgiveness of those in the graves, and this was during the illness which he died from, where Abu Muwayhiba, the servant of the Prophet (saw), narrated:

“The Messenger of Allah (saw) called for me in the middle of the night and said to me: “Oh, Abu Muwayhiba, I have been ordered to pray for forgiveness for the people of the graves, so come with me.” So I departed with him, and when he (saw) stood between them, he said, “Peace be upon you, dwellers of the graves. What you are in is more comfortable than what the people are in, for tribulations have approached like dark patches of night, one following another, and each one is worse than the one before it.” Then he came near to me, and said: “Oh, Abu Muwayhiba, I have been given the keys to the treasures of the world and lasting life in it, then Paradise, and was given a choice between this and the meeting of my Lord and Paradise, so I chose to meet my Lord and Paradise.” So I said: May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, take the keys to the treasures of the world and lasting life in it, then Paradise. But he said, “No, by Allah, oh Abu Muwayhiba, I have chosen to meet my Lord and Paradise.” He then prayed for forgiveness for the people of the graves and left, when the pain that he (saw) was going through showed upon him. As the pain increased, he (saw) said to Al-Fadhl, with his head wrapped, due to the overwhelming pain, “Take my hand, Fadhl”. So Al-Fadhl took his hand until he sat on the Minbar, then said to Al-Fadhl: “Call the people.” So they gathered. He then praised Allah, and prayed for peace upon the companions of Uhud, and forgiveness for them and prayed much for them, then said: “and furthermore, oh people, I praise Allah between you, of whom there is no Lord worthy of worship other than Him. It has been made known to me that there are some (unful-filled) rights between yourselves, so whoever I have whipped his back (unjustly), this is my back, so take back your right, and if I have vilified someone’s honour, this is my honour, so take back your right. Although resentment is not in my nature, nor my disposition, but you would be beloved to me if you took from me what was rightfully yours, or if you forgave me the right, so I can meet Allah with my soul at ease, and even this, I do not see as sufficient until I undertake (the responsibility) over and over again.” He then stepped down and prayed Dhuhr, then returned and sat upon the Minbar, returning to his speech regarding resentment, and other matters. A man then stood and said:

“Oh, Messenger of Allah, I have with you three Dirhams.” So he (saw) said: “Fadhl, give it to him.” Then he (saw) said: “Oh, people, whoever has something to finish, he should, and (do not fear) the embarrassment of this world, for the embarrassment of this world is less than that of the Akhirah.” So a man then stood, and said: “Oh, Messenger of Allah, I have three Dirhams which I took (unjustly) in the way of Allah.” He (saw) then asked: “Why did you take it?” The man replied: “I needed it.” He (saw) then said: “Take it from him, Fadhl.” and said: “Oh people, whoever fears something of himself, he should come forth and I will pray for him.” So a man stood, and said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, I am a liar and indecent and I sleep too much.” So he (saw) said: “Oh, Allah, bless him with truthfulness, Iman and lift away his sleep if he so wished.” and another man stood and said: “By, Allah, Oh Messenger of Allah, I am a liar and a hypocrite and there is not one crime that I have not committed.” when ‘Umar b. Al-Khattab (ra) stood and said: “You have disgraced yourself.” So the Messenger (saw) said: “Oh son of Al-Khattab, the disgrace of the worldly life is less than that of the afterlife; may Allah bless him with truthfulness, Iman and lead his matter to a good end.”

The Prophet (saw) urged the people to take care of the Ansar, and said: “…and furthermore, oh group of Muhajireen, it has become that you are increasing (in number), and the Ansar are not increasing (in number), (they will remain) as they are today. The Ansar are my cover who extended to me their aid. So be generous to their generous and look past their shortcomings.” The Messenger (saw) then said: “A certain slave of Allah (swt) has been given the choice between whatever he wishes of the delights of this world, or what Allah (swt) has to offer, so he chose what Allah (swt) has to offer.”

Abu Bakr (ra) then cried and said:

“We sacrifice ourselves, our fathers, our mothers and our sons for you, oh Messenger of Allah (swt).”

The people were surprised by the reaction of Abu Bakr (ra), and some said: ‘Look to this Shaykh; The Messenger of Allah (swt) informs us of a slave who has been given a choice by Allah (swt), and he says, "we sacrifice our fathers and mothers?"' The Messenger (saw) then said, in reply to Abu Bakr (ra): ‘Be at ease, Abu Bakr). Do you see these open doors of the Mosque (in Makkah), close them, except for the one that is facing the home of Abu Bakr, for the most gracious of people in his friendship and his wealth to me is Abu Bakr, and if I were to take from the slaves (of Allah (swt)), a bosom friend I surely would take Abu Bakr as a bosom friend, but it will remain as companionship and brotherhood in Iman until Allah (swt) brings us together in His company.’

The mother of the believers, 'A'ishah (ra), said: 'I saw the Messenger of Allah (saw) as he was dying. With him was a container of water, where he would put his hand into the container then wipe his face, saying:

"‘La 'ilaha 'illAllah, truly death has its agonies. Oh Allah, help me with the agonies of death.’ and held his finger up, saying: ‘Nay, the Most High companion, the Most High companion.’ He (saw) then turned his sights, focusing them on the roof of the house, and said: ‘Oh Allah (swt). The Most High companion.’"

Then he (saw) died, his hand falling into the water.

When the time of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (ra) came, 'A'ishah (ra) expressed her thoughts of the situation with the words: ‘By your life, wealth is of no use to a person when it (death) rattles the throat and constrains the breast.’ So Abu Bakr (ra) uncovered his face, and said: ‘It is not like this, my daughter, rather I say: "And the stupor of death will bring Truth (before his eyes). This was the thing which you have been trying to escape!” Take my two pieces of clothing here, wash them and bury me in them, for the living are more needy of new clothing than the dead.’ As Abu Bakr (ra) was dying, 'A'ishah (ra) said, praising him: ‘(His) white (face), feeding the birds with the (light of) his face, the spring time of the orphans and the protector of the widowers.’ Abu Baker then said: ‘This is a description of the Messenger of Allah (swt).’ The Sahaba then entered the room, seeing the pain he was going through because of the effects of the poison, they said to him: ‘Should we not send our doctor to take a look at you’? He replied: 'My doctor has looked at me and said: I am the doer of whatsoever I intend.’ Salman Al-Farisi (ra) then entered the room and said: 'Oh, Abu Bakr (ra), entrust us with something.' So the Siddiq said: 'Allah (swt) is opening the world to you, so do not take of it except what you need, and know that he who prays Fajr is under the protection of Allah (swt), so do not embarrass Allah (swt) in His protection 'Allah (swt) will throw us in hell fire on our faces'?

When the burden became heavy on Abu Bakr (ra), he sent for Umar (ra) b. Al-Khattab (ra), and entrusted him with a mighty duty, saying: 'I wish to entrust you with a duty, if you allow … Allah (swt) has rights upon you at night-time which He will not accept of you in the daytime, and rights upon you in the daytime which He will not accept from you at night-time. He does not accept a Nafila (supererogatory actions of worship) until the Fard (obligation) is completed. Truly, the scales are heavy for the one whose scales become heavy in the Afterlife because of his seeking the truth in this world. And it is proper for the scales to become heavy if truth were to be placed into them. And truly, the scales are light for the one whose scales have become light in the Afterlife because of their following falsehood and how insignificant this was to them. And it is proper for the scales to become light if falsehood were to be placed into them. Have you not seen that Allah (swt) has revealed the verses of anticipation with the verses of severity and the verses of severity with the verses of anticipation. And He revealed the verse of mercy and the verse of punishment so that the slave may be in a state of desire and fear, so that he does not to throw himself into destruction (the Hellfire) and not to ask of Allah (swt) anything but the truth. If you safeguarded this trust of mine there will be nothing absent but more beloved to you than death, as you cannot do without it. And if you forget and lose this trust of mine, there will be nothing absent but more hated by you than death, and you cannot be without it, nor will you ever escape it.' The last thing he (ra) said before his soul departed his body was: 'My Lord, Cause me to die as one who has submitted to Your Will, and join me with the Saliheen (the righteous)'

As for Umar (ra) b. Al-Khattab, he went out four days before his death to traverse the markets. He met Abu Lu'lu'a, the servant of Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah, who said: 'Oh, Amir of the Believers, show me the way to Al-Mughirah b. Shu'bah, for he pays me well.' Umar (ra) said: 'How much is your pay?' he replied: 'two Dirhams.'

Umar (ra) asked: 'What is your trade?' Abu Lu'lu'a said: 'Carpentry, sowing and ironmongery.' Umar (ra) said: ‘I do not see your wages to be much in comparison to your skills and it has reached me that you are able to construct a mill that grinds using the power of wind.’ The disbelieving Kafir replied: ‘If you wish I will make a mill that people will speak of from east to west’, and then departed. Umar (ra) then said: ‘This slave has promised me before.’

Umar (ra) then departed to his home and when he neared it Ka'ab Al-Ahbar came to him and said: ‘Oh Amir of the Believers, be informed - you are to die in three days.’ Umar (ra) said: ‘And how do you know this?’ Ka'ab replied: ‘I have seen it in the Torah.’ Umar (ra) said: ‘By Allah (swt), you find Umar (ra) bin Al-Khattab in the Torah?’ Ka'ab replied: ‘By Allah (swt), no, but I do find your description and disposition, and your Ajal (Decree for life) has run out.’ The next day Ka'ab came to him again and said: ‘Oh Amir of the Believers, one day has gone and two are left.’ And the day after, saying: ‘Two days have passed and one day and one night are left.’ Which was that night and its' morning. When morning came, Umar (ra) left for prayer where he delegated one man to make sure the lines were straight, and when he was confident of their organisation he began the prayer. Just then, Abu Lu'lu'a, may Allah (swt)'s wrath come down upon him, came between the people with him a double headed dagger that meets in the middle, and struck Umar (ra) six times - one of them just under his navel, which was the one that, in the end, killed him. Ka'ab Al-Ahbar then ran away, not leaving anyone to the left or right of him without striking them. At the end thirteen men were stabbed, nine of which died. When one of the Muslims saw this occurring he threw a cloak over the murderer, and when Ka'ab Al-Ahbar thought that he had been caught he committed suicide.

When Umar (ra) felt the warmth of the stab wounds, he fell, and called out: 'Is Abdul-Rahman b. 'Awf between the people?' They replied: 'Yes, he is over here.' Umar (ra) said to him: 'Come forth and lead the people in prayer.' So Abdul-Rahman led the people in prayer, while Umar (ra) was lying on his side. The rows behind Umar (ra) could see what was happening but the people praying at the outskirts of the Mosque had no idea what was occurring, only that they had lost Umar (ra)'s voice and were calling out 'Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah.’ So Abdul-Rahman led the people in a light prayer, then the people carried Umar (ra) to his house, where he said: 'Oh Ibn Al-'Abbas, go and see who stabbed me.' So Abdullah left, returning after one hour, and said: 'The servant of Al-Mughirah b. Shu'bah.' Umar (ra) said: 'May Allah (swt) declare war on him. I had just done a good deed for him.' Then said: 'All praise be to Allah (swt) who did not make my death at the hands of a Muslim man who prostrated even one prostration to Allah (swt).’ The people that day were acting as if they had never seen a calamity before this one, where one man would say he is doing just fine, and another saying that he is worried. They brought him some wine, which he immediately vomited in a different colour. They then brought him some milk, which he also vomited, then they knew that he was to die.

The Muhajireen and the Ansar began to visit him and to pay their last respects. When Ka'ab Al-Ahbar came between them, Umar (ra) remembered what he had said: 'Ka'ab told me of three he counted, and there is no doubt that the matter is as he told me, what good is it for me to be cautious of death, for I surely will die, but I fear the sin that is followed by another.’ One of the people who visited him was a young Muslim, who said to him: 'Glad tidings, oh Amir of the Believers, with glad tidings from Allah (swt), you had the companionship of the Prophet (saw), and a role in Islam which you know quite well, you then took care of the Muslims and were just in your duties, then a Shahadah.' When Umar (ra) said: 'Amir of the Believers? I wish this were neither a point for me nor against me.' And when the young man walked away, Umar (ra) noticed his robe was dragging on the floor, so he said: 'Bring the boy back to me.' And when the boy came, he said to him: 'Oh son of my brother, lift your garment, as it is purer for your clothing and more god-fearing.'

When Ali b. Abi Talib (ra) entered the room, he noticed Umar (ra) crying, so he asked: 'What makes you cry, oh Amir of the Believers?' Umar (ra) replied: 'I cry over the news in the sky, will I be sent to Paradise or thrown into the Hellfire?' Ali said: 'Glad tidings, for I have heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: "The two masters of the Kuhool (respected men) of Paradise are Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra).”' Umar (ra) said: 'Are you a witness for me, oh Ali, that I will have paradise?' Ali answered: 'Yes.' Umar (ra) then said: 'And you, oh Hassan, are a witness on your father that the messenger of Allah (saw) said that Umar (ra) is of the people of Paradise' When Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas arrived, he said to Umar (ra): 'Glad tidings of Paradise, oh Amir of the Believers. You were a companion of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and this companionship was a long one, then you took care of the Muslims affairs, where you stood firm and fulfilled your trust. Allah (swt) brought many matters down to you. He paid the charities through you and spread the wealth through you.' Umar (ra) said: 'As for your glad tidings of paradise, by Allah (swt), to whom there is none worthy of worship but He, if I had this world and all what is in it, I would pay it as a ransom to escape the horrors I am to face before I am given the decision. And as for what you said regarding the leadership of the Muslims, by Allah (swt), I wish that I would be taken out of it, the same as I had entered it, having neither good deeds nor sin. As for what you have said regarding the companionship of the Messenger of Allah (saw), it is this (that I truly wish for).’ Then he (ra) said: ‘Sit me up.’ And when he was sitting upright, he said to Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas (ra): ‘Repeat to me what you have said.’ And after he repeated it, Umar (ra) said: ‘Will you testify to this on the day of Judgement’? Ibn 'Abbas said yes, so Umar (ra) was pleased with this when he said: 'If a caller called out from the sky: Oh people, you are all to enter paradise except for one, I would fear that I would be that one. And if a caller were to call out: Oh people, you are all to enter the Hellfire except for one, I would have hoped to be that one.'

As Umar (ra) neared death, he said to his son: 'My son, when death comes to me place your right hand on my forehead and your left on my cheek so if I die, shut my eyes and bury me quickly. For if I have a better place with Allah (swt), then He will grant me a better place, and if it is other than this, then I will be taken away more quickly. And do not send a woman with me (my burial) or speak well of me in that which I am not, for Allah (swt) is more knowledgeable of whom I really am. If you depart with my body, walk quickly, for if there is good with Allah (swt) then you have sent me to what is better for me and if it is otherwise, then you will have removed this evil from off your shoulders.' He (ra) then said: 'Place my cheek on the ground.' As his head was in Abdullah b. Umar (ra)'s lap, so Abdullah moved his head down to his leg and said: 'What is the difference whether it is in my lap or on the ground?' Umar (ra) said: 'Put my head on the ground, motherless one [an Arabic expression, not to be taken literally]', Abdullah did so. And when Umar (ra)'s cheek and beard were pressed against the ground he said: 'Woe to you and to your mother, oh Umar if Allah (swt) does not forgive you, oh Umar.' Then he passed away.

As for Thul-Nuwrayn (the one with the two radiating lights), Uthman (ra) b. Affan, when he was held captive in his house and he was fasting, he asked his captors for clean water for him to break his fast with. They denied him this and said: 'You will have no more that what has gathered in the garbage over there.' Thus Uthman (ra) did not break his fast. So his wife, Naailah bint Al-Qaraafisah, departed to seek water. Finding a group of people, she asked if they has clean water, so they gave her a small sachet of water and she returned to Uthman (ra) upon the calling of Adhan for Fajr and said: 'This is clean water I brought for you.' Uthman (ra) then looked outside, seeing that the sun had risen, and said: 'I have started the day fasting.' She asked: 'How did you eat, when I have not seen anyone give you any food or water?' She exclaimed this with bewilderment, as it is obliged upon the Muslim to break his fast with food or drink before beginning a new fast. He said: 'I saw the messenger of Allah (saw). He entered upon me from the roof and he had a water container and said to me: "Oh, Uthman, have they held you captive?'" I said: "Yes.” He said: "Have they denied you water?" I said: "Yes." So he extended the water container out to me and said: "Drink, oh Uthman." And I drank until I was satisfied. Then he (saw) said: "More." So I drank until I was well fed. He (saw) then said: "These people will turn against you, so if you wished, fight them and you will claim victory against them, or if you wished, you may leave them, and break your fast with us." So I chose to break my fast with him.

Katheer b. Al-Sult then entered, upon where Uthman (ra) said to him: 'I do not see myself but murdered on this day, oh Katheer.' So Katheer said: 'Allah (swt) will give you victory over your enemy, oh Amir of the Believers. Did something happen to you today or was something said to you?' Uthman (ra) replied: 'No, but I stayed up late last night and during the time of Suhur (just before sunrise) I fell asleep, and I saw the Messenger of Allah (swt), Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra), where the Messenger of Allah (swt) said to me: "Oh Uthman (ra), do not keep us waiting, for we are awaiting you." Uthman (ra) died that day.

After Uthman (ra) was murdered, they searched through his storage and found a small case with a paper in it. On it was written: 'This is the Will of Uthman, in the name of Allah (swt), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Uthman b. 'Affan bears witness that there is no lord worthy of worship but Allah (swt), alone, having no partners attributed to him and that Muhammad is his slave and Messenger, and that Paradise is truth, and the Hellfire is truth, and Allah (swt) brings forth the dwellers of the graves to a day that will without doubt come. Allah (swt) does not break his appointment. Upon it we live and upon it we die and upon it, by the Will of Allah (swt), we will be brought forth.'

It was narrated that on the night Ali b. Abi Talib (ra) was stabbed, Ibn Al-Siyaaj came to him at sunrise to call him to prayer and found him sluggish and lazy, then came to him for a second time and found him the same, then came to him a third time, where Ali awoke and started walking, saying: 'Prepare yourself for death, for it will meet you and do not fear death, even if reached your dwelling place.' When he reached the entrance to the mosque, Abdul-Rahman b. Muljam ran up to him and stabbed him and Ali said: 'By the lord of the Ka'bah, I have won.' As they carried Ali away, he asked: 'What has happened to the one who stabbed me?' They said: 'We took him away.' He said: 'Feed him my food and give him of my drink, so if I were to live, I will decide what to do with him, and if I were to die, then strike him once, not more.' Ali then entrusted Al-Hassan to wash him (and perform the rituals of burial) and said: 'Do not be excessive in wrapping my body, for the Messenger (saw) said: "Do not be excessive in wrapping (the dead body), for it will be taken away very quickly." Walk quickly, but do not rush nor move slowly, for if there is good awaiting, you will have brought it to me quickly, and if there is evil awaiting, you would remove my weight from off your shoulders more quickly.'

When death approached Mu'ath b. Jabal (ra), he said: 'Check if morning has come yet.' And it was said: 'Not yet.' And he continued to ask them until morning came, at which time they informed him that: 'Morning has come.' So he said: 'I seek refuge in Allah (swt) from a night whose morning is in the Hellfire.' Then said: 'Welcome, death, you absent visitor and beloved one who comes at the times of need. Oh Allah (swt), in the past I have feared you, and today I implore you (for Your mercy). Oh Allah (swt), You know that I never did love this world and long life in it to make paths for rivers or to plant trees, rather I loved the thirst on long midsummer days (from fasting) and staying up (praying) the long winter nights, the wrestling with the hours and the crowding of the scholars at the gatherings of remembrance of Allah (swt).' When death approached Bilal (ra), his wife said: 'How sad this moment is.' And he said: 'No, say: How joyous this moment is. For tomorrow we see the beloved ones, Muhammad (saw) and his companions.' As for the Mother of the Believers, 'A'ishah (ra), at the time of her death, Abdullah b. 'Abbas came to her and praised her and said: 'Glad tidings, oh wife of the Messenger of Allah (swt), he did not marry anyone before her coming of age other than you, and your innocence was sent down from the sky.' Ibn Al-Zubair (ra) then entered the room after Ibn 'Abbas and she said to him: 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas praised me when I did not wish to hear anyone praise me today. How I wish that I were completely forgotten, wiped out of existence.' Abu Muslim said: 'I came to Abu Al-Darda' (ra) and found him moaning to himself: 'Is there a man would work himself to such a destruction as mine? Is there a man would work himself to this day of mine? Is there a man who would work himself to this hour of mine?' He then passed away, may Allah (swt) have mercy upon him.' Salman Al-Farisi cried when death came to him. It was asked: 'What makes you cry?' He said: 'The Messenger of Allah (swt) promised us that whatever we have of excess (wealth), will be similar (on the Day of Judgement) to the excess carriage of a rider, and look at all this excess (wealth) around me.' And it was said: 'There was only his plates and cutlery, a bowl and a wash basin, where their worth was no more than about 10 Dirhams.'

Abu Hurairah (ra) cried on his death bed and it was asked: 'What makes you cry?' He replied: 'I do not cry for this world of yours, rather I cry over the long journey ahead of me and how few provisions I have with me. I am rising on a runway to Paradise and Hellfire and I do not know which of them it will lead me to.' It was narrated by Al-Muzni saying: 'I came to Al-Shafi'i during the illness from which he died and said to him: “How was your morning?” He said: “I awoke departing this world, leaving my companions behind, on my way to meet my bad deeds, to drink from the cup of desire (for forgiveness) and to Allah (swt) I proceed. I do not know whether my soul will be sent to Paradise so that I may congratulate it, or to the Hellfire so that I may give my commiserations." He then began saying: "When my heart hardened and the places for escape ran out, I made the escape from myself; Your forgiveness. As my sins towered above me, I compared them to Your forgiveness, my Lord, and found Your forgiveness to be greater. You continue to forgive my sin until now, by Your Graciousness, Mercy and Generosity."'

When Al-Hassan b. Ali (ra) neared death, Al-Hussein (ra) entered the room and said: 'My brother, why are you worried? You are approaching the Messenger of Allah (swt) and Ali b. Abi Talib, and they are your fathers; and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and Fatimah bint Muhammad, and they are your mothers; and Hamza and Ja'far, and they are your uncles!' He replied: 'My brother, I am approaching something unlike anything I have ever approached before.' It was also narrated that when Umar b. Abdul-Aziz (ra) became ill, a doctor came to see him and after looking at him he said: 'It seems the man has been fed poison and I cannot say that he is secure from death.' Umar (ra) then raised his sights to the doctor and said: 'Nor can you secure one from death even if he has not taken poison!' The doctor said: 'Have you felt this (poison), oh Amir of the Believers?' He replied: 'Yes, I had known it from the very moment it entered my stomach.' The doctor said: 'You should get treatment for I fear that you may die.' Umar said: 'My Lord is a better choice to go to. By Allah (swt), if I knew that my cure was sitting at the tip of my ear, I would not raise my hand to get it.' And when death came to him, he began crying and it was asked: 'What makes you cry, oh Amir of the Believers? You should be joyous, for Allah (swt) has brought many Sunnahs back to life with you and spread justice through you.' He replied: 'Will I not be made to stand and be questioned regarding these creations? By Allah (swt), I may have been just, but I fear for myself that it will not bear any weight before Allah (swt) until it is scrutinised with its evidences, so how is it with most of our actions?' And he cried profusely, then said: 'Sit me up!' So they sat him up, and he then said: 'I am the one who you ordered, and I fell short, and I am the one who you accounted, and I disobeyed.' Saying this three times, he then said: 'But there is no Lord worthy of worship except Allah (swt).' He then lifted his head, and seemed to be inspecting something keenly. When he was asked regarding this, he said: 'I see green fields,...and they are neither humans nor Jinn.' Then he died.

It was narrated of Haroon Al-Rasheed that he chose the shrouds which he was to be buried in himself and would look at them reciting: 'My wealth has not been of any profit to me. My power has perished from me.' And it was said that Abdullah b. Al-Mubarak opened his eyes upon his death and recited: 'For the like of this, let the workers work' Then passed away. It was also narrated of Huthayfah that when death approached him, he said: 'A beloved one has come at a time of need, I will gain nothing from sorrow. Oh Allah (swt), if you know that poverty is more beloved to me than wealth and illness is more beloved to me than health and death is more beloved to me than life, then make death easier for me until I meet you.' This was their stance and this was their accounting of themselves. They lived in the vast expanses of Allah (swt) earth.treading the path He laid out, following His Messenger (saw), continuously accounting and scrutinising themselves over every matter, big or small, so that when death came to them their reaction was as if they had lived their lives in complete disobedience to Allah (swt). This was due to the intense fear they had of Allah (swt) and how much they desired His mercy and forgiveness. Truly this is how the believer should be, ever watchful, always accounting himself, catching up before time runs out, when sorrow is of no value and regret is useless.

"Oh carriers" of the call to Islam you are undertaking a mighty task, for when the people have turned away to seek what this world has to offer, you turned to seek what the After-life has to offer. During the times where those who are working are few, you took the weight of the Prophets upon your necks, so you moved to achieve what no men, other than Muhammad (saw) and his beloved companions (ra), had ever achieved. Although the Companions (ra) have been favoured with the companionship of the Prophet (saw) over you, you have been favoured over all others in the work to bring Islam, the Deen of Allah (swt) and the final message, back to life on Earth, so that you may please your Creator and follow the way of your Prophet (saw). So congratulations, to the Da'wah carriers, for what you are in and be sincere in accounting yourself and each other, for what you carry on your shoulders of a superior Minhaj (Methodology), great determination, patience and endurance would cause the mighty mountains to collapse. Truly it is a trust and if we were to make our commitment and undertake this task, giving it what it deserves of effort, we may become one of the brothers of the Messenger of Allah (saw), who he said regarding them:

‘How I wish to see my brothers who will come to Al-Hawdh (a pool in paradise), where I will greet them with a container, in it a drink, and I will feed them from my Hawdh before they enter paradise.’ They asked: ‘Are we not your brothers?’ He replied: ‘No, you are my companions. My brothers are the ones who believed in me, although they had never seen me. I am very anxious to see them.’

It may be that your Kutlah (party or group) will be of those who the Messenger of Allah (saw) said regarding them:

‘Oh Huthayfah, in every group of my Ummah, there is a group of ruffled, dusty (individuals), who desire my way and follow my path. They uphold the book of Allah (swt). They are from me and I am from them, even though they have not seen me’, and his (saw) saying: ‘Allah (swt) revealed to Musa b. ‘Imran that in the Ummah of Muhammad there will be men who stand upon every elevated place and in every valley, calling out the Shahadah of La-ilaha-illAllah (swt), their reward will be that of the Prophets.’

Oh Allah (swt), you know that we did not say this except in obedience to Your order and we did not remind ourselves of our meeting you except in fear of Your punishment and we have not prayed to you except out of desire for Your pleasure, so place this onto our scales on the day that the scales will be weighed. Keep us firm onto Your Deen and onto the work of carrying the message of Your beloved Prophet (saw), until we meet you and help us with the trials of this world and do not send upon us calamities so that we become disgraced, and if you do send upon us calamities, then keep us firmly upon the truth.

May Peace and Blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad (saw) and upon his pure and generous family and companions, and upon all those who follow his guidance, until the day of Judgement. Ameen.

Ramadan

2007-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

As-Salam to all my fellow Muslims and Muslimas

Ramadan is the month of mercy,patience,reward,Victory,It is allso the month when the Quran was reveal to all of Mankind.
May Allah(swt) forgive us for our mistakes and guide the Muslims to the right path.
To you Allah(swt) we ask for guidance and Victory over the oppression that is happening in the Muslims lands, with the re-establishment of the Khalifah.Insha-Allah
May Allah swt shower you all with the good in this world and in the hereafter(Jannah ul Ferdous).

Ramadhan mubarak to you all and the Muslim Ummah!!!!!

Revival of the Islamic Culture

2007-09-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Arabic and the Revival of Islamic Culture

Allah (swt) said:

"And We revealed it as an Arabic Qur'an, that you might gain wisdom"

[TMQ: Surah Yusuf, ayah 2]

Suppose you were a non-Muslim living in a country that had joined itself to the Khilafah's territories. The old taghuti rulers would be gone, allowing the reorganization of the new wilayah (province) in harmony with the political, social, and economic system of Islam. No one would come to your door with a sword to make you quit your old religion; but still, Islam would be all about you in the streets.

Most likely, you'd even notice that it worked. Your new rulers, though Muslim, would be directly responsible and accountable to you; and your taxes probably would be less. Better still, being a citizen of the constantly expanding Khilafah would open new opportunities for material advancement: new jobs and markets, among others.

To take full advantage of these, however, you would have to make yourself skilled in Arabic, the common and official language of the Khilafah. Fortunately, that wouldn't be too difficult: some sounds might be unfamiliar, but the grammar is much simpler than say, English, French, or Latin. With a little luck, you might even become better at it than Arabs themselves, or at least good enough to understand Arabic poetry and the technical works you study to improve yourself.

One day, you might find yourself walking outside a masjid, or through a public place, hear somebody reciting the Qur'an, then realize it is not background noise anymore. It is a reading in Arabic, but not like anything you heard or read before. It reminds you of poetry, yet it really isn't; every word is "just right," making its message equally profound and simple. How could a human being, someone who couldn't read or write, make this up? It had to come from God Himself! And that would be your first step into Islam, something that came about because you saw, heard, and knew that it was true.

In this way, whole peoples found the truth in Islam, one person at a time. It was a slow process-Egypt, for example, lived hundreds of years under the Khilafah before it had a Muslim majority-but it produced the kind of people who could keep Islam working and sacrifice for it when needed, whatever the conditions.

If a Muslim understanding Arabic knew-not just believed, for "belief" always contains a smidgen of doubt-that the Qur'an came from Allah alone, then he or she would know that Allah knew everything about his or her actions and intentions.

And that Muslim would know, just as the sky is blue, that sooner or later, he or she would have to meet Allah, face to face, and give account for his or her brief time on earth, before seeing the stark reality of Heaven and Hell!

And knowing that, it would be strange indeed if he or she did not then live avoiding everything Allah hates, and clinging for dear life to all that He loves, including struggling in His path, "straightening the rulers," and yes, defying them when they go astray.

That is why the Islamic State must make standard Arabic its official language as an essential tool for preserving the Islamic system and doing dawah. Among the worst mistakes of the Ottomans was their failure to appreciate the importance of Arabic among themselves. The results were even more tragic when the Mughal sultans made Persian, then Urdu, their court and literary languages, and not Arabic. (These days, even in Arab-speaking countries, the masses' command of the Arabic of the Qur'an is slipping as local dialects start to predominate: the average Egyptian, we have heard, might understand as little as one word out of three in Allah's Book. It is even worse, unforgivably so, among women, where higher rates of illiteracy tend to prevail. However, this situation is relatively easy to repair.)

Whether born into the Deen or not, Muslims who can't taste the miracle of the Arabic Qur'an miss the rock-solid certainty it brings. They look for it in other ways: possibly doing more salah, saying it "more sincerely," or reciting more "dhikr," whether they understand what they are saying or not. Perhaps too, they try to replace a bond of knowledge with one of emotion: we love Islam because of our parents, our spouses, our shaykhs, or other Muslims. None of these ways really work, because they distract us from the things we really need to be doing to revive Islamic Civilization, and make us depend mainly on ordinary human beings, who aren't prophets and are apt to let us down, sooner or later.

Make no mistake, the new Khilafah will need, right away, many thousands of people, men and women, who can understand and use the basic sources of Islam in their original language-even before it needs scientists and engineers, though Allah knows they'll be wanted, too. They are found most quickly, whether we like it or not, in the present-day Arab-speaking countries; and that is one reason why the nucleus of the Islamic State is best begun, God willing, there.

Al-Huda (guidance) Wa-Dhalal (deviation)

2007-09-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

Al-Huda Wa-Dhalal

In the Arabic language “Al-Huda” (guidance) means “Al-Rashad” (to be rightly guided). In Shari'ah terminology, “Al-Hidayah” is to be guided to Islam and to have Iman in it. “Al-Dhalal” according to Shari'ah is to deviate from Islam; for instance,

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Truly Allah does not gather my Ummah over a Dhalalah (misguidance).”

Allah (swt) has made Heaven for the guided and Hell for the strayed; meaning that Allah (swt) rewards the guided and punishes the misguided. Hence, making the reward and the punishment dependent on “Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal” indicates that guidance and misguidance are part of man’s actions and not from Allah (swt) ; for if they were from Allah (swt), He would not reward for the guidance and punish for the Misguidance, for this would lead to attributing injustice to Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) is far too exalted above this.

Allah (swt) says:

"Nor is your Lord ever unjust to His servants."

[41-46]

Allah (swt) also says:

"And I do not the least injustice to My servants.."

[50-29]

However, there are several Ayat(verses) that indicate the attribution of Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal to Allah (swt). Hence, one can deduce from these Ayat that Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal are not from the servant, but rather from Allah (swt). Other Ayat(verses) indicate the attribution of Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal and Idhlal (misguiding others) to the servant, and one can deduce from these that “Al-Hidayah” And Al-Dhalal is from the servant.

It is imperative to understand all these verses jurisprudentially, meaning that the Shari'ah reality for which they have been decreed must be perceived. Then, it becomes clear that the attribution of Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal to Allah (swt) has a different indication to the attribution of Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal to the servant; also, it becomes clear that each one of them is directed at a side that is different to the side to which the other is directed. Hence, the Shari'ah meaning becomes conspicuously clear.Indeed, the Ayat that attribute “Al-Dhalal Wal-Hidayah” to Allah (swt) are clear in the fact that it is He (swt) who guides and that it is He (swt) who misguides.

Allah (swt) says:

"Say truly Allah leaves to stray whom He wills and He guides to Himself those who turn to Him in penitence."

[13-27] .

Allah (swt) also says:

"Allah leaves to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills."

[35-8] .

Allah (swt) also says:

“Hence Allah leaves to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills."

[14-4]

Allah (swt) also says:

“But He leaves straying whom He wills and guides whom He pleases."

[16-93].

The literal meaning of these verses contains a clear indication that the One who makes “Al-Hidayah Wal-Idhlal” is Allah (swt) and not the servant. This means that the servant does not get guided by himself but if Allah (swt) guides him then he will be guided and if he misguides him then he will stray. However, there are conjunctions which divert this literal meaning to other than the meaning of having the Guidance and Misguidance initiated by Allah (swt). These meanings attribute the creation of “Al-Hidayah Wal-Dhalal” i.e. Guidance and Misguidance to Allah (swt), and attributed the initiation of “Al-Hidayah Wal-Dhalal” i.e. Guidance and Misguidance, as well as “Idhlal” i.e. misguiding others, to the servant. The conjunctions are both Shari'ah based and rationally based.As for the Shari'ah Qara'in(indications), these are reflected in the several verses attributing “Al-Hidayah Wal-Dhalal Wal-Idhlal” i.e. Guidance, being misguided and misguiding others, to the servant.

Allah (swt) says:

“Who receives guidance receives it for his own benefit; who goes astray does so to his own loss.”

[17-15]

Allah (swt) says:

“No hurt can come to you from those who stray if you follow guidance.”

[5-105]

Allah (swt) says:

“He, then, that receives guidance benefits his own soul.”

[39-41]

Allah (swt) says:

“And they are the ones that received guidance.”

[2-157]

Allah (swt) says:

“And the unbelievers will say: Our God! Show us those among Jinns and men who misled us.”

[41-29]

Allah (swt) says:

“Say if I am astray I only stray to the loss of my own soul.”

[34-50]

Hence, the literal meaning of these Ayat contains a clear indication that it is man who initiates "Al-Huda Wa-d-Dhalal" i.e. "Guidance and Misguidance", that he misguides himself and misguides others and that Satan also misguides. The attribution of “Al-Hidayah Wa-d-Dhalal" to man and Misguidance to Satan. The Ayah indicate that man can be guided by himself and misguided by himself. This acts as a Qareenah (indication) to indicate that the attribution of “Al-Hidayah Wa-l-Idhalal" to Allah (swt) is not a direct attribution, but rather an attribution of Creation; for if we were to place all the verses together and perceive them from a Shari'ah angle, it becomes clear that each set of Ayat is dedicated to a different side; for the Ayah says:

"Say it is Allah Who gives guidance towards the Truth."

[10-35] .

and the other Ayah says:

“Who receives guidance receives it for his own benefit"

[17-15];

The first one indicates that it is Allah (swt) Who has guided whereas the second one indicates that it is man who was guided. The guidance of Allah (swt) in the first Ayah is the Creation of the Guidance within the soul of man, i.e. the generating of the aptitude to be guided; the second Ayah indicates that man is the one who initiates what Allah (swt) has created in terms of aptitude towards being guided, thus he was guided. This is why Allah (swt) says in another Ayah:

“And We have shown him the two highways.”

[90-10].

i.e. the path of Al-Khayr and the path of Al-Sharr; meaning that We have placed in him the aptitude of “Al-Hidayah” (Guidance) and We have let him initiate the act of being guided himself. Hence, the Ayat that attribute “Al-Hidayah Wa-l-Idhlal" to man serve as a Shari'ah conjunction indicating that Allah (swt) has decided to dedicate the initiation of “Al-Hidayah” to man.

As for the rational Qareenah (indication), this is reflected in the fact that Allah (swt) accounts people; thus He (swt) rewards the Guided and punishes the Misguided. He (swt) made the accounting according to the consequences of man's actions.

Allah (swt) says:

“Whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil, it is against his own soul.Nor is your Lord ever unjust to His servants.”

[41-46]