Tuesday 22 April 2008

The Primordial Rank of the Prophet, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam

Alhamdulilah, a new article is now available from www.nottsnewmuslims.com. It's a translation of the first chapter of Imam As-Sayuti's classic text entitled Al-Khasais Al-Kubra.

The book deals with the special characteristics that make our Prophet, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, unique, starting with his primordial rank. Insha'Allah a translation of the entire book, both volumes, will be underway soon, and with Allah alone is every success!

Update: this article is now available on www.marifah.net. As for a translation of the entire book, Allah knows best at this point.

UPDATE (17/02/2017): www.marifah.net is down. This translation is now available here.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

Pledge of Mutual Respect and Co-Operation: Sunnis and Salafis

Below is a short response to the abovementioned pledge as well as a discussion of the term 'Sunni' and its validity, posted on www.newislamicdirections.com, subject to approval!

Assalaam alaykum,

The term 'Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah' was used by the First Three Generations. See the first page of Imam at-Tahawi's creed text: 'This is an explanation of the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah...' The Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, said in a Sahih hadith, narrated by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim: 'The best generation is my generation, then those who come next, then those who come next.' If the best generations had no problem calling themselves Ahl us-Sunnah, i.e. Sunnis, then I don't see why those who adhere to doctrine and practice of the First Three generations, which is the Four Madhabs and the creedal disciplines of Imams Ahmad, Abu Hasan Al-Ash'ari and Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi, should shy away from calling themselves 'Sunnis'. It means to adhere to nothing other than the Sunnah of our Beloved Messenger and the way of the First Three Generations.

As for the Salafi movement, no pledge or signed document will change what the Imams of Ahl us-
Sunnah said about Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab and his movement, including those who were contemporary to him and the generations just after, which is that Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab is an apostate and a false prophet and his movement is the revival of the Khawarij in our age. These Imams include, amongst others:

-Imam Sulayman ibn Abdul Wahhab (Hanbali Qadi, see his book As-Sawaiq Al-Ilahiyya)
- Imam Mustafa Ash-Shatti (Hanbali, see his book An-Nuqul Ash-Sha'riyyah, translated as The Divine Texts and available from www.htspub.com)
- Imam Alawi Al-Haddad (Shafi'i, see his book Misbah Al-Anaam)
- Imam Ahmad Dardir (Maliki)
- Imam As-Sawi (Maliki)
- Imam Ibn Abdideen (Hanafi)

Insha'Allah the writings of many of these authors on this topic will be available in English soon, and with Allah alone is every success!

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

P.S. I would like to further add that this is not a personal attack on any individual, but the objective, rather, is to discuss the facts of revelation and the facts of history. The Day of Judgement is real, and within Islam there is the true Orthodox faith and there are counterfeits. I desire to see all Muslims die on the truth and not any form of counterfeit Islam, and Salafiyyah is a very serious counterfeit.

p.p.s I've deleted most of the comments on this post, as of 14 May, and left that which is most beneficial. The discussion on iman and salvation is a response to a question that a brother posted.

Sunday 13 April 2008

Khutbas by Shaykh Ramadan Al-Buti on Fiqh of Minorities

Assalaam alaykum,

The two khutbahs that are on www.marifah.net are now available from www.nottsnewmuslims.com. For the first Fiqh of Minorities article please click http://www.nottsnewmuslims.com/Bouti-Minority%20Fiqh.pdf. Please note that this version is no different than the one available from www.marifah.net.

The Mawlid Khutbah: Fiqh of Minorities is available from: http://www.nottsnewmuslims.com/Bouti_Mawlid%20Khutbah.pdf. Please note that this version includes all of the original footnotes, including quotes from the text Tahkim Al-Qawanin and three footnotes that were removed from the version on www.marifah.net, which further explain Shaykh Al-Buti's words.

The quotes from Tahkim Al-Qawanin were not included in the marifah.net version as they were thought to be unnecessary, but they are included here for the reader's benefit.

The three footnotes, numbers 12, the last bit of 16, and 18 were removed because a certain individual threatened to withdraw his endorsement of marifah.net if those footnotes remained. If anybody feels that I, as the translator, misinterpreted Sheikh Al-Buti's words then I highly recommend that they watch Sheikh Al-Buti's lecture on Minority Fiqh that he gave at the Islamic University of Rotterdam last year (2007), available from:

http://www.marifah.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=71.

In the Q&A session the Sheikh says, and may Allah the Exalted preserve him, that the European Council for Fatwa and Research, which is one of if not the main organisation promoting Minority Fiqh, does not deserve to be called a Fatwa Council because not all of its members are on the level of fatwa. Insha'Allah a transcript of the lecture in Arabic, along with its translation, will be available soon, and with Allah alone is every success.

I would further like to state that the purpose of translating these articles is not to offend or attack anyone, but rather to allow English-speaking Muslims in the West to see both sides of the argument and draw their own conclusions, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

UPDATE (16/01/2011): As the Notts News Muslims website is down and the organisation no more, these two khuthabs (one is actually a monthly word) are now only available from www.marifah.net and the first, shorter, article is now avaible on this blog

UPDATE (08/02/2011) Alhamdulilah, the second article (the Mawlid Khutbah), with all the original footnotes, is now available on this blog.

Assalaam alaykum

Alhamdulilah, this is the blog of Brother Mahdi Lock. This is where I will, insha'Allah, be posting all my own articles and translations from now on, in addition to other sites, and with Allah alone is every success!