The Khilafah Issue

Surat At-Tawba 9:122

Alhamdulilah, Al-Hajj Abu Ja'far Al-Hanbali has written a very insightful article on the topic of the Khilafah, explaining why so many groups and organisations have failed to bring it about since its demise. The simple reason is that establishing or reestablishing the Khilafah is not the prerogative or responsibility of the layman but rather that of the highest-ranking scholars. Thus, when laymen attempt to accomplish that which is beyond their mandate, Allah is not with them.

As for the highest-ranking scholars, they did meet after the demise of the Ottomans and the conclusions of that meeting have been translated for the first time into the English language:

Grand Meeting Regarding the Collapse of the Khilafah (PDF)

Grand Meeting Regarding the Collapse of the Khilafah (Meeraath)

And with Allah is every success.

Madness is Rare in Individuals

Book Review: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer (New York: Harper Perennial, 2010)

Blurb: A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer –the first and most famous of his books – became a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest televised press conferences. Completely relevant and essential for understanding the world today, The True Believer is a visionary, provocative look into the mind of the fanatic and a penetrating study of how an individual becomes one.

The author: Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) was self-educated and lived the life of a drifter through the 1930s. After Pearl Harbor, he worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco for twenty-five years. He is the author of ten books, including The Passionate State of Mind, The Ordeal of Change, and The Temper of Our Time. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983 and died later that year.

This book first came to my attention in 2010, after the failed IPCC summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009, followed by the “climategate” emails of the preceding months, had all of a sudden cast doubt on what was arguably the most significant mass movement of the age. The scare was not quite what is had been hyped up to be, but certain people, even to this day, still cling doggedly to the belief that the world is warming up and mankind is primarily to blame, especially through our emission of carbon dioxide. Back in 2010, I noticed that such people were being labelled as “true believers”, and the purport was that such people’s faith never wavered in the slightest, regardless of the ever-emerging cracks or even overwhelming evidence that what they had called for and advocated no longer held up under scrutiny.  For further details, one had to read Eric Hoffer’s book, which was first published in 1951.

In previous blog posts, it has been pointed out the truth is not something that everyone is sincerely seeking, and the proof is that the majority of humanity lives and dies upon other than Islam. Therefore, demonstrating that something is undoubtedly true is not always enough to convince someone, because it is not minds and intellects that are diseased; it is hearts. Furthermore, this book was first mentioned on this blog in relation to a post about the religiosity of the AGW movement, and the lady who appears in the debate with Viscount Monckton would fit the description of the “true believer” perfectly. Again, one can see that the truth is not the primary motivator.

The College Conspiracy Scam

This documentary discusses several important points, including:

• Why higher education in the US is a corporatist racket
• Why tuition fees continue to rise, i.e. government subsidies
• The crippling debt that students accumulate and how this debt is preventing young people from saving money and investing, especially in gold and silver.
• The link between higher education and the legal industry
• The dearth of farmers, miners and other productive members of the economy due to greater desire among young people to be bankers and lawyers
• The lack of skills that college and university courses actually provide and why an apprenticeship or work experience would be far better
• The decreasing value of university degrees due to their increased prevalence
• The future of education: online learning

An Epidemic of Irresponsibility

A transcript of this video can be found here.

Thomas Sowell explains the how the lack of personal responsibility is the path that leads to dictatorship, because as individuals become more and more reckless and irresponsible the nanny state has to step in to "take care of them". Once it is easy to blame externalities and never oneself for one's problems, the finger can then be pointed at the nebulous entity called "society", which basically means that the state can and should use its coercive powers to bring about the desired utopia in which no one has to feel responsible for their actions.

Thomas Sowell further explains this phenomenon here and here. 

What Prof. Sowell is saying dovetails nicely with what is called the Peltzman Effect, named after University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman:



In brief, the safer people feel the more recklessly and irresponsibly they will behave, as explained very well in this blog post. This is another example.

One only has to reflect on various state services to see examples of the Peltzman Effect. For example, in London there is a special ambulance, aptly called "the booze bus", that picks drunks up off the street. Some of the people these paramedics pick up are women:

Not a pretty or dignified sight, but more dangerous and disturbing is that the girl is easy prey for a passing attacker. Paramedic Brian Hayes shakes his head: "Look at the state of her. These young women just don't realise what risks they're taking when they go out and get smashed. They're so vulnerable."

But how will these young women realise the risks they're taking if the nanny state is always there to take care of them? Isn't the very existence of the booze bus encouraging this type of behaviour? Without it, the very real threat of being mugged or raped would dissuade women from acting so irresponsibly. In the short-sighted vision of the state, citizens are being "taken care of", but the long-term effect is that they are being infantalised.

The wider problem of state-sponsored healthcare is that it generally leads to irresponsible behaviour in terms of lifestyle and eating habits. If one never has to pay directly (i.e. as opposed to via taxes) for a visit to the doctor or a stay in hospital, the incentive to keep oneself healthy is greatly diminished. When people have to pay directly for such things, you will notice how much more concerned they are about eating the right foods, dressing properly and maintaining a generally healthy lifestyle.

This attitude also extends to schools, as parents can now blame teachers for their children's vile behaviour. While teaching at an "Islamic" school in the UK almost a decade ago, I often received complaints from parents about how their children were misbehaving...at home. For example, one parent complained that his son didn't wake up for the fajr prayer, while another said that while his son behaved during the school day, he was not the same when he arrived home. I responded by asking this father, "Do you ever go out with your son and spend time with him?" The father responded with an incredulous look on his face, "I work seven days a week!" Obviously, in his mind, anything beyond providing his son food, clothing and shelter was not his responsibility, so it can't be his fault that his 14-year-old son smokes, skips classes, only prays when monitored and told to etc. A boy like that may very well become a pimp and drug dealer later on, but again, this would be the fault of his teachers, his classmates, the government, "society" etc., but never the two people who brought him into this world.

Allah says:

"Safeguard yourselves and you families from a Fire whose fuel is men and stones." [Taḥrīm 66:6]

In short, we are responsible for ourselves and our families. We can't blame others. To many of us it may be instinctual to place safety nets in as many places as possible, but in most cases those very safety nets are the cause of the problem. The attitude that "someone else will do it" or "someone else will clean up the mess", or "pick up the bill", must die and die hard. It should have no consideration whatsoever in any of our personal decisions, i.e. decisions that effect us directly, from major decisions such as what to study at university and whom to marry and start a family with to relatively minor ones such as whether to eat certain foods or to be at a certain place at a certain time.

We must learn and understand that our actions have consequences, and this valuable lesson must be passed on to our children.

Related Posts:

Human Livestock
Good Intentions

Hikma 185: Speaking About the Revealed Law Without Knowledge and Sincerity

With Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him

ربما برزت الحقائق مكسوفة الانوار

اذا لم يؤذن لك فيها بالاظهار

Book Release: Right Livelihood and the Common Good: Three Classics from the Islamic Tradition

This special volume includes three texts:

Imam Al-Shaybani's Kitab Al-Kasb

Imam Al-Ghazali's Kitab Adab Al-Kasb wa Al-Ma'aash

Imam Al-Lubudi's Kitab Fadl Al-Iktisab

Please click here for further details. The volume is also available from Wardah Books.

What Every Muslim is Obligated to Learn

A translation of this fatwā from Naseem Al-Sham

Question:

I’m an adult,[1] twenty-five years old…am I obliged to learn the rules for reciting the Qurʾān[2] as well as fiqh or are they sunnah?[3] As a young Muslim, what is the minimum that I am obligated to learn?

Answer (from Sheikh Rushdī Salīm Al-Qalam):

Praise be to Allah, and He suffices, and peace be upon His Chosen Messenger:

To proceed:

It is obligatory upon every human being to know what he is obliged to learn in order to carry out his prayers, his zakāt, his fasting and his Ḥajj,[4] as these are all individual obligations. The person who prays must have proficiency in the Fātiḥah and well as some sūrahs through which his prayer is validated. Likewise, with other matters of fiqh, it depends on what is needed. Thus, the merchant must know the rulings regarding trade,[5] usury[6] and partnerships[7] before entering the market. The person who does not own any wealth is not compelled to know the details of zakāt with regards to himself, and all rulings must be learned from Muslims who are proficient in such matters and specialise therein.[8]

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[1] (tn): bāligh. The source for the picture is here.

[2] (tn): Ar. al-tajwīd (please see this fatwā)

[3] (tn): i.e. recommended in the Revealed Law, which is synonymous with words like mandūb and mustaḥabb.

[4] (tn): For the Shāfiʿīs, the obligation includes ʿUmrah. Please see Al-Baqarah 2:196 as well as Sūrat Al-Tawbah 9:3, in which Allah refers to Ḥajj as Al-Hajj Al-Akbar, or the greater Ḥajj. If there is a greater Ḥajj then there must be a great Ḥajj, or Al-Hajj Al-Kabīr, which would be ʿUmrah. Thus, both Ḥajj and ʿUmrah must be performed once in a Muslim’s lifetime.

[5] (tn): Ar. al-bayʿ

[6] (tn): Ar. al-ribā

[7] (tn): Ar. al-sharikah

[8] (tn): i.e. Muslims who are qualified to teach such matters

More on Fracking

Clips from the film Fracknation:





Related Articles:
Shale gas is Rearden Metal
The new Luddites are standing in the way of a shale gas revolution. They must be stopped
The Sound and Fury: Josh Fox on The Daily Show

More Articles:
The environmental movement has been taken over by eco-loons with a CO2 fetish. We need to save it
My constituents are complaining about eco-protesters, not drilling
Official: wind turbines are an iniquitous assault on property rights

The Innovation of Loneliness

Related Articles/Posts:
Facebook Linked to Unhappiness
Western Mass Education
Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted

Not Fasting Due To Illness

Sūrat Al-Baqarah 2:184

A translation of this fatwā from Naseem Al-Sham:

Question:

What is the value of the kaffārah[1] for the person who has been prevented from fasting by his doctor for health reasons? How does he carry it out, when and to whom?

Answer (Imam Muḥammad Tawfīq Ramaḍān):

Whoever has to break his fast due to illness and it is hoped that he will recover, all he has to do is make them up when he is able.

Whoever has to break his fast due to an illness[2] from which he is not expected to recover has to donate the equivalent of approximately half a kilogramme of rice[3] for each missed day,[4] and when we say rice we mean the rice itself, not its monetary value.

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[1] (tn): The word should actually be fidyah, which means redemption, while kaffārah is expiation. Please see this fatwā  and this article. Someone who misses fasts due to illness has not committed any sin, and thus fidyah should be regarded as an alternative means of worshipping one’s Lord.

[2] (tn): ‘those who are ill (N: the illness that permits not fasting being that which fasting would worsen, delay recovery from, or cause one considerable harm with; the same dispensation applying to someone who needs to take medicine during the day that breaks the fast and that he cannot delay taking until night.’ [Reliance of the Traveller (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publication, 1999), section i1.3(1), p.279]

[3] (tn): i.e. half a litre of food, which should be the staple crop of the country. Please see Reliance, section i1.33, p.290. According to Muʿjam Lughat al-Fuqahāʾ (Beirut: Dār Al-Nafāʾis, 1431/2010), s.v. Mudd, one mudd is equivalent to 0.543 kg, to be precise.

[4] (tn): i.e. to the poor

More Fatawa On Ramadan And Fasting

Combining Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ when ʿIshāʾ is Late

Evening Twilight

A translation of this fatwā from Naseem Al-Sham:

Question:

My family and I live in Europe and the adhān for ʿIshāʾ is very late, around quarter past eleven. We’re very tired by that time and especially the children, who have to sleep early in order to wake up and get ready for school. It is permissible for us to combine the ʿIshāʾ prayer with the Maghrib prayer when the first prayer comes in,[1] which is at about ten minutes to nine? Or, do we have to wait for the ʿIshāʾ prayer, and if it is the case that we have to wait until ʿIshāʾ, it is permissible for the children, especially those who are under 14, to combine their prayers and sleep, and especially the ones who are used to sleeping early, i.e. before half past nine? Please let us know, and may Allah reward you.

Answer (Sheikh Rushdī Salīm Al-Qalam):

Praise be to Allah, and He suffices, and peace be upon His Chosen Messenger.

To proceed:

Jamʿ al-taqdīm is not permissible unless one is travelling, and it is possible for the difference between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ to be an hour and a half for people whose red horizon[2] never disappears, and this applies to every adult.[3]

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[1] (tn): known as jam’ al-taqdīm, which would also apply to praying al-Ẓuhr and al-ʿAsr during the time for al-Ẓuhr. Jamʿ al-taʾkhīr, on the other hand, refers to delaying the first prayer and combining it with the second prayer during the second prayer’s time.

[2] (tn): Ar. al-shafaq al-aḥmar, i.e. evening  twilight, during which time there is red in the sky.  Please see http://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/corfidi/sunset/, which is also the source for the image above. What the sheikh is saying, may Allah preserve him, is that it is not permissible to combine prayers merely because the second prayer is late. If there is indeed no disappearance of the redness in the sky, one can wait an hour and a half and then prayʿIshāʾ.

[3] (tn): Ar. bāligh, which, in the Revealed Law, is anyone who has reached puberty, indicated by a wet dream in the case of boys and menstruation or pregnancy in the case of girls. If none of these occur, then the child is deemed legally responsible (mukallaf) once he or she turns 15 lunar years of age. Please see Reliance of the Traveller (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications, 1999), section k13.8, p. 411-412, which is in the Book of Trade.

The Legal Ruling for the Tarāwīḥ Prayer

Question:

What is the legal ruling for the Tarāwīḥ prayer?

Answer (from Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī):

Aḥmad, Ibn Ḥibbān and Al-Ḥākim have related, and the latter declared it authentic (ṣaḥīḥ), from the ḥadīth of Abū Dharr, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Prayer is the best of matters, so whoever is able to do a great deal of it let him do a great deal.”[1]

This clearly means that whenever a Muslim does a lot of supererogatory (nāfilah) prayers he gets more reward for doing so, and the Tarāwīḥ prayer is supererogatory. Therefore, whoever forbids someone praying from doing more than eight or ten or twenty [rakʿa] has gone against the speech of the Messenger of Allah. Indeed, he has declared it mistaken!

Indeed the debate that gets worse and worse in some masājid, regarding this issue, only exists for the sake of exalting one’s ego and defending one’s position, and whoever has devoted his attention to seeking Allah’s pleasure will never delve into this debate in the slightest. Let the person praying know that he is in charge of himself, and thus, if he wants to pray Tarāwīḥ as four, or eight, or twenty or more…then it is supererogatory, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has said, “Prayer is the best of matters, so whoever is able to do a great deal of it let him do a great deal.”

[Translated from Maʿ Al-Nās: Mashūrāt wa Fatāwā (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr, 1423/2002), v. 1, p. 37]

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[1] (tn): Ar. الصلاة خير موضوع فمن استطاع ان يستكثر فليستكثر

Taking Remuneration for Being an Imām

A translation of this fatwā from Naseem Al-Sham:

Question:

As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa Raḥmatullāhi wa Barakātuh. Is it permissible for one to take material remuneration (a monetary amount) in exchange for leading people in the Tarāwīḥ prayer? May Allah reward you a thousand times over and grant you a long life.

Answer (Imam Rushdī Salīm al-Qalam):

Praise be to Allah, and He suffices, and peace be upon His Chosen Messenger. 

To proceed:

A wage in exchange for the prayer is not permissible but in exchange for one’s time, one’s travelling,[1] one’s devoting all their attention to a specific place and one’s remaining there, then there is no harm in it, especially if there are donations.[2] When people leave off these actions[3] the fuqahāʾ have given the fatwā that it is permissible due to necessity.[4]

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[1] (tn): i.e. to the masjid where one will lead prayers, and in many cases imams travel to other cities and countries to lead people in prayer

[2] (tn): i.e. the congregation donates money to compensate the imām, and thus the masjid itself incurs no additional expense

[3] (tn): i.e. donating

[4] (tn): because there would then be the risk of no communal prayer

More Fatawa on Ramadan and Fasting

Claims about the Unseen

And Picturing One’s shaykh

Sūrat Al-Zumar 39:3

Question:

1. We have an imam of the masjid who says that on Laylat al-Qadr, Muḥammad, may blessings and peace be upon him, came to the masjid and gave the greeting of peace (salām) to the people, and that Jibrīl, peace be upon him, also came to the masjid and gave the greeting of peace to the people. What is your opinion regarding these statements?

2. Is it permissible to pray behind someone who says that whoever does not picture[1] the shaykh[2] during his wird[3] will be cut off from divine illuminations?

Answer (from Sheikh Wahbah Al-Zuḥaylī):

1. These claims and allegations are false. It is not lawful to make them, repeat them or believe in them. Lies like these are akin to lying against the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, against the Revelation[4] and against Jibrīl, and the matter therein is spiritual;[5] no one has knowledge of it besides Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

2. This statement is false and is also not lawful in the Revealed Law. It is not permissible to picture a shaykh or anyone else whenever one is in prayer,[6] because a condition of the prayer is to be sincerely devoted to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the texts of the Qurʾān show the opposite of this, such as the Exalted One’s statement regarding idol-worshippers: “And those who take protectors besides Him – ‘We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah’…” [Sūrat Al-Zumar 39:3] This kind of picturing is closer to idolatry,[7] and we seek refuge in Allah the Exalted.

[Translated from Fatāwā Muʿāṣirah (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr, 1427/2006), p.67-68]

Related Posts: A Beautiful Interview with Sheikh Ramadan Al-Bouti (Part 2)

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[1] (tn): Ar. takhayyul, i.e. to picture him in one’s mind

[2] (tn): i.e. the leader of a Ṣūfī ṭarīqah

[3] (tn): a set of daily supplications and invocations, which in this case would be prescribed by the shaykh. For a general example, please see A Daily Wird.

[4] (tn): Ar. waḥī, which includes the Qurʾān and the Sunnah

[5] (tn): Ar. rūḥānī, i.e. immaterial and thus not something that can be witnessed and verified

[6] (tn): and the same applies to supplicating to Allah and invoking Him

[7] (tn): Ar. shirk

Windmills vs. Fracking

White Throated Needletail (Photo by Steve Duffield)

Assalaam alaykum,

Please have a read of these two blog posts; one discusses the ongoing oppression and tribulations that are bring wrought by the wind industry while the other deals with the Leftist opposition to fracking, which again shows that Leftist/socialist policies are narcissistic at core, serving their aims to exalt their own egos as opposed to being derived from any sincere intention for the welfare of others. This is a theme that has been discussed before on this blog.

1. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100223770/this-bird-rare-enough-for-you-greenies/

2. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100223838/greens-dont-like-fracking-because-they-dont-like-prosperity/

Wassalaam,

Mahdi

Authentic Narrations regarding the 15th of Shaʿbān

Question:

Is there anything affirmed in the Revealed Law that indicates that it is recommended to supplicate (duʿāʾ) and fast the middle day of Shaʿbān, or fast the day following the night of the Isrāʾ wa Al-Miʿrāj on the 27^th of Rajab?

Answer (from Sheikh Wahbah Az-Zuḥaylī):

There is nothing affirmed in the Revealed Law that indicates that one should spend the night of the middle day of Shaʿbān in group supplication, nor is there any specified prayer (ṣalāh) therein. Likewise, there is nothing affirmed regarding it being recommended to fast the middle day of Shaʿbān, or the day of the Isrāʾ wa al-Miʿrāj due to the difference of opinion amongst the ʿulamāʾ regarding its exact date. Amongst the things that are rejected is the supplication that is frequently used on the middle day of Shaʿbān, for it contains that which transgresses the bounds of the Revealed Law when, in the supplication, it is said, “Allah erases whatever He wills or endorses it. The Master Copy of the Book is with Him” [Sūrat Ar-Raʿd 13:39], because the foundations of things are never erased or reaffirmed and thus differ with what is written on the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ).[1]

The ḥadīth that has been related by Ibn Mājah on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “If it is the night of the middle day of Shaʿbān, then stand during its night and fast during its day, for indeed Allah, Blessed and Exalted, descends therein upon the setting of the sun to the lowest sky, and says, “Is there anyone seeking forgiveness that I can forgive? Is there anyone seeking provision that I can provide for? Is there anyone suffering that I can relieve? Is there anyone such-and-such? Is there anyone such-and-such?” until the crack of dawn” is not authentic (ṣaḥīḥ).

The only thing that has been authentically narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is regarding the virtue of the entire month of Shaʿbān, without distinguishing one night over another, and this is why he would fast a lot during this month. Also, it is unlawful to fast in the second half of Shaʿbān unless one has fasts to make up or those days coincide with one’s normal fasts.[2]

[Translated from Fatāwā Muʿāṣirah (Damascus: Dār Al-Fikr, 1427/2006), p.36-37]

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[1] (tn): i.e. the āyah is being used out of context and incorrectly.

[2] (tn): For example, if one has a habit of fasting Mondays and Thursdays, or every other day, then one is permitted to persist with those fasts throughout the month of Shaʿbān.

Hikma 182

With Sheikh Muhammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him

تسبق أنوار الحكماء أقوالهم

فحيثما صار التنوير وصل التعبير

Courtesy of the Naseem Al Sham Channel.

The Creation of Man and Evolution Theory

By Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him, from his book Kubrā Al-Yaqīniyyāt Al-Kawniyyah

Alhamdulilah, the full section is now available in English and can be read and downloaded from the English Naseem Al-Sham site. Please scroll to the bottom to access the PDF version.

And with Allah alone is every success.

UPDATE: This translation is now available here.

An Important Announcement from the Family of the Great Scholar and Martyr

A translation of this announcement from Naseem Al-Sham:

 

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful

            The Ummah of Islam has suffered an immense loss, and we have suffered especially due to the loss of our master and teacher, the great scholar, Dr Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him, who was martyred, and along with him his grandson Aḥmad and fifty students of knowledge, on the night of Friday,[1] the 10^th of Jumād Al-Awal, 1434 AH.

            First of all, for our part, we remember the families and children of these sincere brethren who accepted nothing but to attain the honour of companionship and martyrdom, and they are from the minority that stayed firm despite the circumstances that our blessed land is suffering under. Likewise, we ask Allah to heal and restore to health those who have been wounded and afflicted, and they are greater in number.

            We thank all the loving and sincere brethren who have offered their condolences and consoled us with regards to our loss, from within Syria and without.

            However, our first and last consolation is that the great scholar and his companions ascended to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in a gathering that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, described as, as related in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: “No people gather in one of the houses of Allah reciting the Book of Allah and studying it amongst themselves except that tranquillity transcends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them and Allah mentions them to those with Him.”

   

            The great scholar and martyr has attained martyrdom in the most magnificent of ways: in the miḥrāb of one of Allah’s houses while accompanied by students of knowledge who were studying the Book of Allah amongst themselves. When the wretch from amongst the wretched had blown himself up, shortly after the explosion the masjid was overcome with intense darkness while the great scholar and martyr remained sitting, undaunted, with his enlightened face like the full moon on the chair of teaching, embracing the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and sealing his life with the words: ‘O Allah.’

            Engraved on his face was a smile of pleasure to be meeting Allah the Exalted, and his blessed body remained tender and fresh as if he were sleeping until the time came to wash him, which was carried out by a group of loving and sincere people from amongst the people of knowledge. Meanwhile, his warm blood drained from a wound in his body up until the time in which he was buried.

            Indeed on this occasion, we decisively negate the lies that are being spread by a channel that is known near and far for lying and falsehood, and we make it absolutely clear that the virtuous scholar and martyr does not have any sons or daughters in Turkey. Likewise, we negate that any one of his sons, daughters or grandchildren have made any statement accusing the Syrian regime, and especially for the channel whose dubious background, along with its agents and lies, the great scholar and martyr warned tirelessly against.

            Whoever examines the internet will realise who was spewing threatening and menacing words towards the great scholar and martyr and who was inciting the killing of scholars, and are now gloating over the martyrdom of the great scholar. 

            Our sheikh, our master, our teacher: you lived well and you have died well… we ask Allah the Exalted to gather us with you and with our grandfather, Sheikh Mulla Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, under the banner of the master of creation, our master Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

The Family of the Great Scholar and Martyr

30/03/2013

19 Jumād Al-Awal, 1434

This translation is also available on the English Naseem Al-Sham site.

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[1] (tn): please note that an Islamic day starts after sunset