Mahdi Lock

Imām Ash-Shāfiʿī: Yearning for Gaza

2012-01-31T21:08:00.000Z

Masjid As-Sayyid Hashim, Gaza

Yāqūt Al-Ḥamawī[1] said: ‘In Gaza,[2] Al-Imam Abū ʿAbdullah Muḥammad Bin Idrīs Ash-Shāfiʿī was born, may Allah be pleased with him. As a child he moved to the Hijāz and acquired knowledge there, and it is related from him that he remembered [Gaza] by saying:

Indeed I yearn for the land of Gaza

To be taken far away from it is the cause of my silence

Allah sends rain upon a land; if only I had taken some of its earth

I would rub it on my eyelids out of my intense yearning

[Translated from Dīwān Al-Imām Ash-Shāfiʿī, p.391 (Beirut: Dar Al-Fikr, 2007/1428)]

[1] Yāqūt Bin ʿAbdullah Ar-Rūmī Al-Ḥamawī, Abū ʿAbdullah, Shihāb Ad-Dīn, reliable historian, master of geography and scholar of language and literature (d.626/1229).

[2] (tn): i.e. Gaza City, which is where Hāshim Bin ʿAbdul Manāf is buried, the grandfather of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, and this is why it is also known as Ghazzat Hāshim. (Muʿjam Al-Buldān: 4/202)

The Great Global Warming Fizzle

2011-12-06T10:59:00.000Z

The Religiosity and Idolatry of the AGW Movement: Part 2

From the SPPI Blog:

The climate religion fades in spasms of anger and twitches of boredom.

How do religions die? Generally they don’t, which probably explains why there’s so little literature on the subject. Zoroastrianism, for instance, lost many of its sacred texts when Alexander sacked Persepolis in 330 B.C., and most Zoroastrians converted to Islam over 1,000 years ago. Yet today old Zoroaster still counts as many as 210,000 followers, including 11,000 in the U.S. Christopher Hitchens might say you can’t kill what wasn’t there to begin with.

Still, Zeus and Apollo are no longer with us, and neither are Odin and Thor. Among the secular gods, Marx is mostly dead and Freud is totally so. Something did away with them, and it’s worth asking what.

Consider the case of global warming, another system of doomsaying prophecy and faith in things unseen.

As with religion, it is presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge that promises to make the seas retreat and the winds abate. As with religion, it comes with an elaborate list of virtues, vices and indulgences. As with religion, its claims are often non-falsifiable, hence the convenience of the term “climate change” when thermometers don’t oblige the expected trend lines. As with religion, it is harsh toward skeptics, heretics and other “deniers.” And as with religion, it is susceptible to the earthly temptations of money, power, politics, arrogance and deceit.

This week, the conclave of global warming’s cardinals are meeting in Durban, South Africa, for their 17th conference in as many years. The idea is to come up with a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire next year, and to require rich countries to pony up $100 billion a year to help poor countries cope with the alleged effects of climate change. This is said to be essential because in 2017 global warming becomes “catastrophic and irreversible,” according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.

Yet a funny thing happened on the way to the climate apocalypse. Namely, the financial apocalypse.

The U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and the EU have all but confirmed they won’t be signing on to a new Kyoto. The Chinese and Indians won’t make a move unless the West does. The notion that rich (or formerly rich) countries are going to ship $100 billion every year to the Micronesias of the world is risible, especially after they’ve spent it all on Greece.

Cap and trade is a dead letter in the U.S. Even Europe is having second thoughts about carbon-reduction targets that are decimating the continent’s heavy industries and cost an estimated $67 billion a year. “Green” technologies have all proved expensive, environmentally hazardous and wildly unpopular duds.

All this has been enough to put the Durban political agenda on hold for the time being. But religions don’t die, and often thrive, when put to the political sidelines. A religion, when not physically extinguished, only dies when it loses faith in itself.

That’s where the Climategate emails come in. First released on the eve of the Copenhagen climate summit two years ago and recently updated by a fresh batch, the “hide the decline” emails were an endless source of fun and lurid fascination for those of us who had never been convinced by the global-warming thesis in the first place.

But the real reason they mattered is that they introduced a note of caution into an enterprise whose motivating appeal resided in its increasingly frantic forecasts of catastrophe. Papers were withdrawn; source material re-examined. The Himalayan glaciers, it turned out, weren’t going to melt in 30 years. Nobody can say for sure how high the seas are likely to rise—if much at all. Greenland isn’t turning green. Florida isn’t going anywhere.

The reply global warming alarmists have made to these dislosures is that they did nothing to change the underlying science, and only improved it in particulars. So what to make of the U.N.’s latest supposedly authoritative report on extreme weather events, which is tinged with admissions of doubt and uncertainty? Oddly, the report has left climate activists stuttering with rage at what they call its “watered down” predictions. If nothing else, they understand that any belief system, particularly ones as young as global warming, cannot easily survive more than a few ounces of self-doubt.

Meanwhile, the world marches on. On Sunday, 2,232 days will have elapsed since a category 3 hurricane made landfall in the U.S., the longest period in more than a century that the U.S. has been spared a devastating storm. Great religions are wise enough to avoid marking down the exact date when the world comes to an end. Not so for the foolish religions. Expect Mayan cosmology to take a hit to its reputation when the world doesn’t end on Dec. 21, 2012. Expect likewise when global warming turns out to be neither catastrophic nor irreversible come 2017.

And there is this: Religions are sustained in the long run by the consolations of their teachings and the charisma of their leaders. With global warming, we have a religion whose leaders are prone to spasms of anger and whose followers are beginning to twitch with boredom. Perhaps that’s another way religions die.

Related articles:
• Climategate 2.0
• Climategate 2.0: Mann suggests Harvard take action against Soon, Baliunas
• Uh oh, global warming loons: here comes Climategate II!
• Climategate 2.0: the not nice and clueless Phil Jones
• Climategate 2.0: junk science 101 with Michael Mann

Further reading:
SPPI Collection of Papers as of October 2011
Environmentalism as Religion

Economics 101: The Broken Window Fallacy

2011-11-09T20:59:00.000Z

Alhamdulilah, this short video explains why government bailouts, stimulus plans and "job creation" schemes never help an economy but in fact make things worse.

The baker in the video makes reference to Frederic Bastiat and Henry Hazlitt. Bastiat's work is called That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen, while Hazlitt's book is called Economics in One Lesson. The latter was first published in the 1940s and explains very clearly and brilliantly how a healthy economy can be brought to ruin, albeit unwittingly, and thus it explains why the global economy, especially in the United States and Europe, is in such a terrible state.

And with Allah alone is every success.

Imam An-Nawawī on the Ten Days of Dhul Ḥijja

2011-11-02T22:37:00.001Z

The chapter on the Adhkār of the first then days of Dhul Ḥijja[1]

Allah the Exalted has said: “so that they can invoke[2] Allah’s name on specific days.” [Al-Ḥajj 22:28] Ibn ʿAbbās, Ash-Shāfiʿī and the majority say that these are the ten days of Dhul Ḥijja.

Know that it is recommended to increase one’s dhikr in these ten days more than any other time, and it is recommended to do it more on the Day of ʿArafa[3] than any of the remaining ten days.

504_We have related in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “There are no better days than these in which to do good deeds.” They said: ‘And not even to strive in God’s way?’ He said: “Not even to strive in God’s way, except for a man who goes out and risks his life and his wealth and does not come back with either.” This is the wording of Al-Bukhārī, and it is authentic.[4] The wording in the collection of At-Tirmidhī is: “There are no days in which to do righteous action that are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.” The wording in Abū Dāwūd’s narration is almost identical, except that his says: “than these days” i.e. the ten days.

We have related in the Musnad of Imam Abū ʿAbdillah Bin ʿAbdur Raḥmān Ad-Dāramī, with the chain of transmission of the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections, that he said regarding it: “There are no better days in which to do good deeds than the ten days of Dhū Al-Ḥijja.” It was said: ‘Not even striving?’ The rest of the ḥadīth was then quoted in full. In another narration it says: “the ten days of Al-Aḍḥā.”[5]

505_We have related in the book of At-Tirmidhī, on the authority of ʿAmr Bin Shuʿayb, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, that the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “The best supplication[6] is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafa, and the best thing that I and the Prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no god but Allah alone, He has no partner. He has the Dominion and He deserves all Praise, and He has power over everything.’[7]” At-Tirmidhī declared its chain of transmission to be weak.

506_We have related in the Muwaṭṭāʾ of Imam Malik, with a chain of transmission that is mursal[8] and the wording of which is shorter, which is: “The best supplication is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafa, and the best thing that I and the Prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no god but Allah alone, He has no partner.’”

507_It has reached us on the authority of Sālim Bin ʿAbdillah Bin ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he saw someone asking people on the Day of ʿArafa, so he said: ‘O feeble one! Is other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, asked on this day?’

508_Al-Bukhārī has said in his Ṣaḥīḥ: ‘ʿUmar would make takbīr[9] in his dome in Minā, and the people in the masjid would hear him and do likewise. Then the people in the market would follow likewise until all of Minā was shaking with takbīr.

509_Al-Bukhārī said: ‘In these ten days, ʿUmar and Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with both of them, would go out to the markets and make takbīr and the people would make takbīr with them.

[1] (Translator’s note: translated from Al-Adhkār lil Imām Abi Zakariyyā Yaḥyā Bin Sharaf An-Nawawī Ad-Dimashqi (Beirut: Muʾassasa Al-Maʿārif, 2005) p.154-155

[2] (tn): i.e. dhikr

[3] (tn): i.e. the 9^th of Dhul Ḥijja

[4] (tn): Ar. ṣaḥīḥ

[5] (tn): i.e. the Sacrifice

[6] (tn): Ar. duʿāʾ

[7] (tn): Ar. La ilaha illa Allah, waḥdahu, la sharīka lah, lahu al-mulk, wa lahu al-ḥamd wa huwa ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr. It should be noted that even though this ḥadīth is weak per se, it is backed up by numerous other ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīths that mention the praiseworthiness of this invocation. For example, there is the ḥadīth in the collections of Al-Bukhārī and Muslim in which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever says: ‘There is no god but Allah alone, He has no partner. He has the Dominion and He deserves all Praise, and He has power over everything’ one hundred times in a day, will have the reward of freeing ten slaves. Also, one hundred good deeds will be written down for him, one hundred evil deeds will be erased from his account and he will be protected from Shayṭān on that day until he turns in. No one can bring anything better than what this person has brought apart from the person who does more than that.”

[8] (tn): i.e. a ‘discontinued’ or ‘disconnected’ ḥadīth, especially at the level of a Companion.

[9] (tn): i.e. saying Allah Akbar

The Difference Between Tawassul and Shirk

2011-10-18T13:56:00.000+01:00

Assalaam alaykum,

Alhamdulilah, a new article is now available from www.marifah.net entitled "Wasila, Circumambulating Graves and Accusing Others of Shirk and Kufr". Please have a read, as the article discusses the fundamental difference between Ahl us-Sunnah and the Khawarij, which, in summary, is that the latter always assume the worst of fellow Muslims.

And with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Good Intentions

2011-09-20T08:15:00.002+01:00

Assalaam alaykum,

From the You Tube Channel:

"Walter Williams' PBS documentary Good Intentions, based on his book The State Against Blacks (1982). The documentary was very controversial at the time it was released and led to many animosities and even threats of murder.

In Good Intentions, Dr. Williams examines the failure of the war on poverty and the devastating effect of well-meaning government policies on blacks, asserting that the state harms people in the U.S. more than it helps them. He shows how government anti-poverty programs have often locked people into poverty, making the points that:

- being forced to attend 3rd rate public schools leave students unprepared for working life

- minimum wages prevent young people from obtaining jobs at an early age

- licensing and labor laws have had the effect of restricting the entrance of blacks into the skilled trades and unions

- the welfare system creates perverse incentives for the poor to make bad choices they otherwise would not."

Insha'Allah, you'll find that a lot of what Dr. Williams has to say applies to the economy in general, and not just in the United States.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Imam An-Nawawī on Benefitting the Deceased

2011-08-31T21:43:00.000+01:00

Al-Ḥashr 59:10

Assalaam alaykum,

Alhamdulilah, a new article is now available from www.marifah.net entitled 'Imam An-Nawawī on Benefitting the Deceased', which is a translation from the Imam's book Al-Adkhār min Kalām Sayyid Al-Abrār .

Please have a read, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

The Aphorisms of Ibn Ataillah: Hikam 177

2011-08-28T12:45:00.000+01:00

With Sheikh Muhammad Saeed Ramadan Al-Bouti:

ان اردتَ ورود المواهب عليك صحّح الفقر و الفاقة لديك

انَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ الفُقَرَاءِ

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Showing Birr to Parents and The Rights of Children

2011-07-10T19:23:00.002+01:00

Sūrat Luqmān 31:14

Assalaam alaykum,

Alhamdulilah, a new article is now available from www.marifah.net, entitled 'Showing Birr to Parents and the Rights of Children', which is a khutba given by Sheikh ʿAbdul Ḥamīd Kishk. Insha'Allah, you will find it very beneficial, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

When is Ramadan?

2011-07-08T17:12:00.003+01:00

Assalaam alaykum,

Please listen to this lecture (with slides) by Al-Hajj Abu Ja'far Al-Hanbali, in which he discusses how the beginning and end of Ramadan, and every other month of our lunar calendar, are determined according to the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the First Three Generations and the fuqaha that have followed since. The various fallacies that come up every year regarding moon sighting, such as the assertion that it can't be seen in the UK, that we don't have to bother looking for it because of modern science, that we should follow Saudi Arabia because that's where Islam began, and so on and so forth, are clearly dealt with, and with Allah alone is every success.

Courtesy of the Reasons for Faith Channel.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Related Posts:

Moon Sighting: The Evidence from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim with commentary by Sheikh al-Islam Yaḥyā An-Nawawī

2011-06-27T01:17:00.009+01:00

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

2. The Chapter on the obligation of fasting Ramaḍān upon seeing the crescent and breaking it upon seeing the crescent and if it is obscured at the beginning or the end the month is completed as thirty days.

(#1080) Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā has related to us. He said: ‘I read under Mālik, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, from the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, that he mentioned Ramaḍān and said: “Don’t fast until you see the crescent, and don’t break [your fast] until you see it. And if it is obscured from you then count it (faqdurū lahu).”

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shayba related to us. Abū Usāma related to us. ʿUbayd Allah related to us from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, mentioned Ramaḍān and brought his hands together, saying: ‘The month is such and such and such (and he tied his thumbs when saying the third) so fast upon seeing it and break [your fast] upon seeing it, and if it is obscured from you then count (faqdurū lahu) thirty.’

Imam An-Nawawī: (faqdurū lahu) In a narration we have ‘count 30 days’, and in another narration we have ‘If you see the crescent, fast, and if you see it, break [your fast], and if it is obscured from you, then count it.’ In another narration: ‘If it is obscured from you then fast thirty days.’ In another narration: ‘If it is obscured from you then complete the number.’ In another narration: ‘If the month is obscured from you then count thirty.’ In another narration: ‘If it is obscured from you then count thirty.’[1]

All these narrations are in the book in this order. In the narration of Al-Bukhārī: ‘If it is not known to you then complete the number of Shaʿbān[2] as thirty.’ The scholars differ as to the meaning of ‘faqdurū lahu’. A group of scholars have said: ‘The meaning is “confine it and count it under the clouds.” Amongst those who said this is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and others who hold it permissible to fast on the day following a cloudy night of Ramaḍān, as we will mention if Allah the Exalted so Wills.[3] Ibn Surayj said, along with a group that includes Maṭraf ibn ʿAbdullah, Ibn Qutaybah and others: ‘The meaning is to count it by calculating lunar phases.’ Mālik, ash-Shāfiʿī, Abū Ḥanīfa and the majority of the Salaf and the Khalaf[4] hold that the meaning of qadurū lahu is to complete the thirty days. The people of language say…[5]

The majority use as their evidence the mentioned narrations and complete the number as thirty, and this is the explanation of qadurū lahu and for this reason the two are not gathered in one narration. Rather, sometimes this one is mentioned and sometimes that one is mentioned, and the previous narration of ‘then count (faqdurū lahu) thirty,’ strengthens this. Al-Māzarī[6] said: ‘The majority of jurists hold that the meaning of his saying, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, ‘faqdurū lahu’ is to complete the number as thirty as has been explained in the other ḥadīth. They say: “It is not permissible to hold that it means the calculations of the astronomers because the people, if they are made responsible for this, will be put in a difficult situation because only a few people know [the science of astronomy] and the legislation is that the people know what the masses of them know[7], and Allah knows best.

As for his saying, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: (if it is obscured from you) means that there are clouds between you and it. It is said…[8]. In these aḥādīth are evidences for the madhabs of Mālik and Ash-Shāfiʿī and the majority that it is not permissible to fast the day of doubt[9] nor the day of the 30^th of Sha’ban as Ramadan if the thirtieth night is cloudy.

His saying, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: (fast upon seeing it and break [your fast] upon seeing it). The meaning here is the sighting by some Muslims. It is not a condition for every individual to see it; rather the sighting of two upright witnesses is sufficient for everybody, and likewise one [upright witness], according to the strongest position, for fasting. As for breaking the fast, the witness of one upright person of the crescent of Shawwāl[10] is not permissible according to all the scholars, except for Abū Thawr, who holds one as permissible.

His saying, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him: (The month is such and such). In a narration: ‘The month is twenty-nine days.’[11] The meaning is that the month could be twenty-nine days. The gist is that, with consideration of the crescent, the month could be complete as thirty or incomplete as twenty-nine. The crescent may not be seen and therefore it would be obligatory to complete the number of thirty. They say: ‘The incompleteness [i.e. 29 days] could be continuous for two months, or three, or four but not more than four. In this ḥadīth is the permissibility of relying upon the understood indication in something like this.

[Translated from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi Sharḥ An-Nawawī v.7 p.165-7]

5. The Chapter clarifying that every locality has their own sighting and if they see the crescent in a locality its ruling is not established for those who are far from them.

(#1087) Yaḥyā bin Yaḥyā has related to us, and Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb, and Qutaybah, and Ibn Hujr (he said Yaḥyā bin Yahyā: informed us, while others said: Ismāʿīl related to us, and he is Ibn Jaʿfar) from Muḥammad (and he is Ibn Abi Ḥarmalah) from Kurayb, that Umm al-Faḍl, the daughter of al-Ḥārith, sent him to Muʿāwiya in Shām.[12] He said: ‘I arrived in Shām. I carried out her [Umm al-Faḍl] task and the month of Ramadan came in, and I was in Shām. I saw the crescent on Friday night.[13] Then I arrived in Madīna towards the end of the month. ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, asked me questions. Then he mentioned the crescent and said: “When did you see the crescent?” I said: “We saw it on Friday night.” He said: “You saw it?” I said: “Yes. The people saw it. They fasted and Muʿāwiya fasted.” He said: “But we saw it on Saturday night, and we will not stop fasting until we complete thirty days, or we see it.” I said: “Isn’t the sighting of Muʿāwiya and his fasting sufficient for us?” He said: “No, and this is what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, commanded us.”’

Yaḥyā bin Yaḥyā was not sure whether he said ‘sufficient for us’ or sufficient for you’.

Imam An-Nawawī: In this [chapter] is the ḥadīth of Kurayb from Ibn ʿAbbās and it is clear evidence of the Tarjima[14] and the strongest position amongst our companions[15] is that the sighting is not general for all people, but rather it is specific to whoever is close by a distance in which one does not shorten the prayer.[16] It is also said that if there is agreement of the region[17] they are necessitated. It is also said that if the locale (iqlīm) agrees [they must fast] and if not then no. Some of our companions hold that the sighting is general for all the people of the earth[18], and regarding this we say that Ibn ʿAbbās did not act on the information of Kurayb because it was one testimony and it cannot be established by one person. However, the outward purport of the ḥadīth is that he [Ibn ‘Abbas] did not reject it for this reason but he only rejected it because the ruling of the sighting cannot be established for those far away.

[Translated from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi Sharḥ an-Nawawī v.7 p.172]

Conclusion: The objective of this article is to provide the evidences for reviving the Sunnah of sighting the moon in western lands, as it still remains in the Muslim heartlands. In order for there to be unity amongst Muslims in the United Kingdom, United States, and other western countries, what better way than to return to the Sunnah of sighting the moon and establishing your own lunar calendar?

[1] All of these narrations can be found in the same chapter of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

[2] This is the month that precedes Ramaḍān.

[3] For further details on this position, which is unique to the Ḥanbalī school, please listen to this lecture by Al-Hajj Abu Jaʿfar Al-Hanbali, which is available from the Reasons for Faith Channel.

[4] The Salaf are the first three generations of Islam, and the Khalaf are those who come after.

[5] The part is left untranslated because the Imam goes into lexicography, which is of little benefit to the non-Arabic speaker.

[6] Imam al-Māzarī is Abū ʿAbdullah Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, d. 536/1141, a Mālikī scholar of Sicilian origin who settled in Al-Mahdiyya and wrote a commentary on Al-Burhān by Imam al-Juwaynī.

[7] In other words, this religion is accessible to the layman in its foundational form. Moon sighting is not the exclusive property of so-called experts, intellectuals, academics and self-appointed spokesmen for Islam in the west.

[8] The part is left untranslated because the Imam goes into lexicography which is of little benefit to the non-Arabic speaker

[9] This is the day that could be either the 30^th of Shaʿbān or the 1^st of Ramaḍān.

[10] This is the month that follows Ramaḍān.

[11] This and other narrations on the month being twenty-nine days can be found in chapter 4 of the Book of Fasting.

[12] Shām includes modern-day Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. Muʿāwiya was the Khalīfa at the time and based in Damascus.

[13] This means the night before the day of Friday.

[14] Ibn Abbas is called ‘Tarjima al-Qurʾān’, which means the Interpreter of the Qurʿān. The Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, made a supplication for him in which he asked Allah to bless him with this ability.

[15] i.e. the Shāfiʿīs

[16] That distance is approximately 50 miles. (Reliance of the Traveller p.190) N.B This is not the limit of the sighting zone in the Shāfiʿī school. Please see following note.

[17]An example of a region, or sighting zone, would be the Ḥijāz, or Iraq, or Egypt. (Reliance of the Traveller p.281)

[18] The idea of a global lunar calendar is inherently flawed. Lunar calendars are based on moon sightings, which differ from region to region. Furthermore, there is no precedent for this from the first three generations, as this ḥadīth demonstrates. Some ʿulamāʾ, particularly ʿAlā u-Dīn Al-Mardāwī Al-Ḥanbalī (d. 885 AH) and others, explain that when the Khalīfa, the chief Qāḍī, or his representative, see the crescent moon, they declare it for all seven domains, those being the seven jurisdictions of the Khilāfa, stretching from areas in South America to China. They then start their own Ramaḍān from that day and the nearby cities and areas do the same, an example being Baṣra and Baghdād. However, faraway lands, which have not seen it, follow suit but according to their peculiar calendar, i.e. they hear that the chief Qāḍī has announced it but it may only be the 28^th where they are, so they wait a day and then start fasting.

A Guide for New Believers

2011-05-01T12:28:00.015+01:00

A[1]

Assalām ‘alaykum [Peace be upon you],

Welcome to the bliss of Islam, the religion[2] of Truth. We ask Allah to bless you in this life and the next, and to make your journey to Him easy.

Allah says in the Qurʾān:

“He is the one Who sent His Messenger with Guidance and the religion of Truth to make it manifest over all other religions.” [At-Tawbah 9:33]

“Whoever Allah wants to guide, He opens his heart to Islam.” [Al-Anʿām 6:125]

“Whoever desires other than Islam as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” [Āl-ʿImrān 3:85]

INTRODUCTION

Now that you have embraced the faith and accepted salvation, all praise be to Allah, you must have many questions, and maybe even concerns. The purpose of this guide is to make things easy and clear for you, and to put you in the right direction so that you can stand up in this world as a confident Muslim, proud of your Islam and prepared to deal with challenges that will come your way while constantly turning to your Lord for assistance, seeking His forgiveness, and asking Him to shower His mercy upon you in this life and the next.

Let us now look at the benefits of embracing Islam and accepting salvation:

* All previous sins have been wiped out and all previous good deeds have been validated and recorded.

This means that whatever good deeds you have done in your life have been recorded, and you will be rewarded for them, insha’Allah (God willing). As for all your sins, they have been wiped away. Allah has now given you the opportunity to start afresh.

* You now have a direct relationship with your Lord. Allah says:

“And when my slaves ask you [Muḥammad a[3]] about Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls on Me, so let them respond to Me, and let them believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.” [Al-Baqara 2:186]

Call on Allah at any time. Ask Him to make things easy for you, to guide you, to fill your heart with love for Islam, love for Allah, and love for the final Prophet, Muḥammad a. If you have just recently said the Shahādah, it is highly recommended at this time that you make lots of supplication (duʿā) to Allah. This will help you build your relationship with Him, and you will start to feel Allah working in your life. Allah also says:

“Is there doubt in Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth? He calls on you in order to forgive you your sins, and He gives you respite until an appointed time.” [Ibrahim 14:10]

* You will see Allah in the Hereafter, and be admitted into Paradise.

Allah says: “Faces radiant on that day, looking at their Lord.” [Al-Qiyāma 75:22-23]

This is the most awesome reward, and cannot be comprehended or understood by our limited human minds. Seeing Allah in the Paradise is the exclusive reward of the believers, and cannot be compared to any pleasure that we know of or don’t know of.

THE BEGINNING

It was mentioned before that you would now notice and feel Allah working in your life. The enemy of mankind, Shayṭān [Satan], is constantly trying to divert human beings from the worship of Allah. He tries his hardest to keep people in a state of disbelief, and if they believe he tries his hardest to cause them to sin. [Read the first 30 verses of Surah Al-ʿArāf, the 7^th chapter, for more details] This is part of the test that will come, but this is not to dissuade you. Allah is the Friend of those who believe, and He comes to the aid of those who call on Him. He has power over all things. It is very easy for us humans, when everything is going well, to forget Allah. However, when things go wrong we cry out for help, and Allah is remembered once again. Even the ardent atheist, if he finds himself lost in the middle of the sea or at the bottom of a well, will call out to the Lord. Make constant supplication, for the Prophet a said: ‘The duʿā is the weapon of the believer.’

It is very important that you do not rush yourself. Take your time. The last thing you want to do is wear yourself out. The Qurʾān was revealed over a period of 23 years. As new believers we develop step by step. It’s more like a marathon than a 100-yard dash.

WHO IS ALLAH?

Allah is the Lord and Creator of the universe. He is not in need of anyone or anything, but everything and everyone is in need of Him. He existed before He created time and space, and He is as He ever was. He is not in need of children, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him whatsoever.

[It is recommended at this point to get a translation of the Qurʾān, if you don’t have one. The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall is very good, and you can read it online at www.altafsir.net. Another excellent option is The Noble Qur’an by Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley. You should also get a copy of A Guide to the Book of Allah, available here. It provides you with beneficial verses to help you understand the absolute basics of faith.]

Allah says: “Know that there is no god but Allah, and seek forgiveness for your sins.” [Muhammad a 47: 19]

Allah uses the singular command form in this verse to indicate that knowing Him is a personal obligation, due on every believer. We also have the verse where Allah says:

“And I have not created the jinn (spirits) and the humans except to worship me.” [Adh-Dhāriyyāt 51:56]

The commentators on this verse indicate that the believer must know Allah in order to worship Him. This leads us to the topic of creed, or belief.

For starters, you should read this text: Shahāda in Detail, by Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ.

It is also recommended that you acquire a copy of Al-ʿAqīdah At-Taḥāwiyyah by Imam Abu Jaʿfar at-Ṭaḥāwī, translated and published by the UK Islamic Academy. A copy of this translation can be downloaded from www.htspub.com from the ‘downloads’ section. It is an authentic text and the orthodox scholars of Islam have made consensus on its authenticity about fifteen times.

There is also an excellent new book available called The Creed and Way of Muslim Orthodoxy which includes three classic texts in theology in one volume. This book is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US.

The Taḥāwiyyah text will also cover issues about the Prophet Muḥammad a, and what we believe about him. For further reading we recommend the following:

1) The Shifāʾ of Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, translated by Aisha Bewley. This book describes the character and the station of the Best of Creation a, and is very famous throughout the Muslim world.

2) Fiqh As-Sīrah (The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography) by Sheikh Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī, translated by Nancy Roberts and revised by Anas Ar-Rifāʿī. This is an absolutely excellent work for understanding the Prophetic Biography, and indeed Islam itself. The book is also available from www.al-haddad.co.uk.

3) Muhammad a: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings. This is a very well-written biography, but should be checked against more reliable works.

4) The Shamāʾil of Imam at-Tirmidhi, Darul Ishaat, Karachi. This is a classic work detailing the Prophet’s a character and characteristics.

5) Look out for a forthcoming translation of Imam Ibn Hishām’s As-Sīrah An-Nabawiyyah.

[All the above-mentioned books are available online or can be ordered from almost any decent Islamic bookshop.]

One can also listen to and watch a series of online lectures at http://www.seerah.co.uk/Introducing-the-Seerah.

THE PRAYER AND OTHER ACTS OF WORSHIP

Most people who are not Muslims know that Muslims pray five times a day. This is absolutely true and it is a fundamental of the faith. You must be wondering how to go about it and how to master it. As mentioned before, take your time. You should make great effort to establish the prayer regularly in your life, and you should desire to do this as soon as possible, but don’t burn yourself out. Ideally you should find a brother or a sister who can guide you through purification and prayer.

Books are also useful, and can be used as a reference if a brother or sister is not available. We recommend the following:

1) Ar-Risālah Al-Jāmiʿah - The Essentials of Islam, by Imam Ahmad bin Zayn Al-Habashi, translated by Abdul Aziz Ahmed.

2) Safīnat An-Najā - A Short Treatise on Worship based on the School of Imam Ash-Shāfiʿī, by Salim b.Abdullah b.Sa'ad b.Sumair Al-Hadrami, The Ribat Institute. You can also download an alternative translation from www.shafifiqh.com.

3) An-Nawawi’s Manual of Islam, translated by Nuh Keller.

4) Reliance of the Traveller, a translation of ʿUmdat as-Sālik by Ahmad ibn Naqib al Misri, by Nuh Keller, Amana Publications. A copy can be downloaded from here.

Prayer, along with fasting, giving charity [zakat], Ḥajj and all other rulings regarding transactions between people are usually classed under the title fiqh, which, literally, in Arabic, means ‘understanding.’ When you hear someone mention the word ‘fiqh’, or say ‘I want to study fiqh’, it usually means that they want to know how to purify themselves, pray and so forth. It is most commonly translated as ‘jurisprudence.’

The above-mentioned books, particularly the third and fourth, deal with all aspects of fiqh, and are therefore very useful and highly recommended. The fourth book also deals with creed, purification of the heart and a whole array of other topics.

One thing you are most likely to notice about the prayer is that not everybody prays exactly the same way. This is because there are four Orthodox schools of jurisprudence. See the Appendix for more details.

PURIFICATION OF THE HEART/SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

Once you have accepted the faith, entered into a direct relationship with your Lord, learned who your Lord is and how to worship Him, you can then focus on purifying and bettering yourself as a human being. This means improving one’s character and aiming to remove diseases from the heart, such as pride, envy, rancour and so forth. It also means to avoid sin as much as possible, and to be in a state of remembrance of Allah [dhikr] as much as possible. Your ultimate purpose is to improve your relationship with Allah, and constantly strive to draw nearer to Him. Allah says:

“The Day when wealth and children will be of no benefit to anyone, except the one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” [Ash-Shuʿarāʾ 26:89]

‘Say: “Indeed Allah misguides whoever He wills, and guides to Himself all who turn to Him; those who believe and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance of Allah. Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace.”’ [Ar-Raʿd 13:27-28]

“The true believers are only those whose hearts feel fear when Allah is mentioned, and when the revelations of Allah are recited to them they increase in faith, and who trust in their Lord.” [Al-Anfaal 8:2]

There are many verses like this. Purification of the heart is part of the constant development of a believer. It is recommended that each day one should spend time doing extra acts of worship, such as supplicating Allah, glorifying Allah, reading portions of His Revelation, and so on. Allah willing, these will all help you refine your character and bring your heart closer to Allah.

The following books are highly recommended:

1) A Word of Advice by Imam Muwaffaq ud-Din Ibn Qudamah, translated by Al-Hajj Abu Ja’far Al-Hanbali, www.htspub.com

2) The Book of Assistance by Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, translated by Mostafa al-Badawi.

3) The Lives of Man by Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, translated by Mostafa al-Badawi.

4) Gifts for the Seeker by Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, translated by Mostafa al-Badawi.

5) Key to the Garden by Habib Ahmed Mashur al-Haddad, translated by Mostafa al-Badawi. This book is also very useful for creed.

6) Two Treatises: Mutual Reminding and Good Manners by Imam ‘Abdullah bin ‘Alawi al-Haddad, translated by Mostafa al-Badawi.

7) Any book by Sheikh ʿAbdul Qādir al-Jilānī, translated by Muhtar Holland and available from Al-Baz Publishing. Futūḥ al-Ghaib is an excellent starter.

8) Any book by Imam al-Ghazālī, published by Islamic Texts Society and others. A good starter is Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, translated by Muhtar Holland.

For a book on manners and etiquettes, Islamic Manners by Sheikh ʿAbdul Fattāḥ Abū Ghudda is probably the best book available in English.

You can also look at posts under the Purification label on this blog. Purifying the Soul is highly recommended.

SUPPLICATION (DU’A)

Supplicating to Allah is a key part of your relationship with Him, and there are many recorded supplications from the Prophet a, his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and the early Muslim community. These can be found in the following translated books:

1) Invocations and Supplications by Imam al-Ghazālī, translated by K Nakamura.

2) The Prophetic Invocations, compiled by Imam al-Haddad and Imam an-Nawawī.

3) Al-Hizb al-Azam, or ‘The Great Prayer Book of Islam’ by Allamah Ali bin Sultan Muhammad al-Qārī, with English translation and introductory comments. There is one very good edition published by Waterval Islamic Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. Another translation is available here.

4) Once you’ve acquired some basic Arabic, Al-Adhkār by Imam Yaḥya An-Nawawī is an unparalleled book that contains supplications for every event and occasion. A translation into English should be available soon, insha’Allah.

There are many blessings in reading these invocations, but you are of course free to ask Allah what you want, for whatever you want and in any language you want. Don’t forget that you have a direct relationship with Him and do not require an intermediary or permission from anybody to communicate directly with Him!

THE ARABIC LANGUAGE

As a Muslim, knowledge of the Arabic language cannot be stressed enough. It is the key to understanding the Qurʾān and the traditions of the Prophet a, and opens up so many doors for the one seeking to develop and grow in the faith.

It is recommended that you try to learn at least the basics. Take your time and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you are able, keen and wish to take it further, then you could spend at least a year in an Arabic-speaking country and try to learn as much as you can. Doing an Arabic degree at a university, as a joint honours subject or even as an elective can bring some benefits, Allah willing.

If you are not already living in an Arabic-speaking country, there are means of learning the language, but it ultimately depends on your own enthusiasm and commitment. Look around for classes in your local community. Finally, ask Allah to give you a burning desire to learn Arabic!

There are two sets of books that are highly useful:

1) Gateway to Arabic by Dr. Imran Hamza Alawiye. This set consists of eight books and a couple of tapes. It can be used to teach yourself, but having a teacher is greatly desired. The first book will teach you the alphabet: www.greatwaytoarabic.com

2) Arabic Course for English-Speaking Students. Originally devised and taught at Madinah Islamic University, by Dr. V. Abdur Rahim, published by UK Islamic Academy. This is a set of three books. You will need to have knowledge of the alphabet before starting.

3) Al-Ajrumiyyah, which is a translation in progress and can be found here, starting with the first chapter, which is on the qualities of speech. This a classic beginners’ manual in Arabic grammar.

THE QURʾĀN

Once you have some knowledge of Arabic, meaning that you can read the words, you can start reading and reciting the Book of Allah. Try to read a portion every day. Don’t let a day go by without letting your eyes gaze on the Revelation of the Almighty One. Part of building your relationship with your Lord is to make yourself more and more familiar with His Book. An copy of the Qurʾān in Arabic can be obtained from any Islamic bookshop, but you should also read it in a language that you can understand, such as the above-mentioned English translation by Marmaduke Pickthall.

Recitation of the Qurʾān [tajwīd] can be a difficult skill to master, but there are ways, Alhamdulillah [All Praise is for Allah], of alleviating this problem:

- Find a teacher in your local community.

- Listen to a recorded recitation.

Ask for recorded tapes/CDs by Sheikh Maḥmūd Khalīl Al-Ḥusrī and Qārī ʿAbdul-Bāsiṭ ʿAbdus-Ṣamad in particular. Sheikh Minshawi is another option.

You can also download the Juz 30 programme from ImaanStar. Highly recommended.

Once you have progressed in your recitation abilities there are certain chapters (sūrahs) that you should try to recite every day:

1) Yā Sīn - chapter 36 - to be recited after the Dawn Prayer (Al-Fajr)[4]

2) Al-Wāqiʿah - chapter 56 -to be recited after the Sunset Prayer (Al-Maghrib)[5]

Before going to bed try to recite:

1) Al-Mulk - chapter 67

2) Āyat ul-Kursī (The Verse of the Throne, which is Verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqara, the second chapter)

3) The last two verses of Surah Al-Baqara, Al-Kāfirūn, Al-Ikhlāṣ, Al-Falaq and An-Nās, which are right at the very end of the Qurʾān.

For more details on this and other issues related to the Book of Allah, there is an excellent book called Etiquette with the Qurʾān by Imam an-Nawawī, translated by Musa Furber and published by Starlatch Press.

Memorising the Qurʾān is highly recommended. The Prophet a said: ‘The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and then teach it.’ [Narrated by Imams al-Bukhārī and Muslim]

Start with the final chapter, An-Nās, and work your way back to the 78^th chapter, which is An-Nabaʾ. Then you will have memorised one thirtieth of the Qurʾān, known as a juzʾ. The above-mentioned tapes/CDs can be very useful in this regard.

ḤADĪTH (PROPHETIC SAYINGS)

The best collection available in the English language is The Complete Forty Hadith of Imam an-Nawawi, translated by Abdassammad Clarke and published by Taha. Imam An-Nawawi compiled and commented on these hadiths with the intention of providing the reader with a basic and comprehensive guide to the faith. Reading these sayings will give you great insight into the amazing character of the Prophet Muhammad a. The Arabic text is also provided and it is recommended that, if you can, try to gradually memorise it. Don’t worry about it if you can’t. Insha’Allah, with time you’ll get there! The 2^nd hadith in the collection is called the ‘Hadith of Angel Gabriel’, and is an excellent hadith that sums up the religion of Islam in a very clear manner.

CONCLUSION

May Allah bless you and aid you on your journey! You are not alone - Islam is a religion of strong brotherhood and sisterhood, and Allah commands us to take care of and look out for one another. Make the effort to meet and spend time with fellow Muslims. This will help you learn more about the faith and make you feel part of the community. Don’t keep all your concerns to yourself. There are people out there who care about you and love you for the sake of Allah! Remember not to rush yourself. Allow yourself time to develop as a believer.

It is also strongly advised to be extra good to your family and friends. Don’t put pressure on them and don’t be neglectful in fulfilling their rights. Parents especially, whether Muslim or not, hold a special station. Be merciful towards them and take care of them, especially as they grow older. Manifest Islam through excellent character and let them see nothing but good resulting from your decision. Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, so that others can see the benefits of Islam in your life, and want the same for themselves.

We hope that you have found this guide beneficial. If you have, know that it is from Allah and all praise is for Him. Only the mistakes are ours.

APPENDIX

There are two other important points that are bound to come up at some point in your journey to Allah. They are related but are best treated individually.

What is a madhab [school of law/jurisprudence]? Where do they come from and why should I follow one?

Are all Muslims orthodox? Are there sects/cults amongst Muslims? How do I avoid them and become an orthodox believer?

What is a Madhab?

A madhab is a school of jurisprudence. Each of these schools is named after an Imam from the very first centuries of Islam. These are the schools of:

* Imam Abū Ḥanīfa (d.150 AH[6])

* Imam Mālik (d.179 AH)

* Imam Ash-Shāfiʿī (d.204 AH)

* Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d.241 AH)

May Allah have mercy on all of them, āmīn.

These schools agree on the basics of jurisprudence but differ in the branches. Each school also has its own method of deriving rulings from the sources, i.e. the Qurʾān, the Sunnah (practice of the Prophet a), the way of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and so forth.

What must be understood is that the Prophet a taught his Companions different things when it came down to details. Some Companions were told to raise their hands in the prayer, while others were told not to. Some wiped their entire heads when washing for prayer (known as wuḍūʾ) while others only wiped a third. There are many more examples like this, and we must realise that these differences are a mercy.

Because the Companions differed on various minor issues, it is impossible to think that later Muslims can resolve these differences. The four madhabs are a natural consequence of these early differences of opinion. After the death of the Prophet a, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, spread out from Madinah in the Arabian Peninsula and went to other lands to spread the faith. This movement can be summarised as follows:

The Companion ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿūd g[7] settled in Kufa in Iraq with about three thousand other companions, including Anas ibn Malik g and Abu Musa al-Ashʿarī g. Their understanding and practice was taught, passed on, and then gathered and codified by Imam Abu Hanifa, a native of Kufa, and the school became known as the Hanafi school.

Many Companions stayed in Madinah, such as Abū Bakr g, ʿUmar g and ʿUthman g. Their understanding and practice was taught, passed on, and then gathered and codified by Imam Mālik, a native of Madina, and hence that school became known as the Mālikī school. For further details and texts from the Maliki school, please visit the Madani Timbukti Traditions blog.

Another three thousand Companions settled in Makkah, including Ibn ‘Abbas g, the cousin of the Prophet a, who was the first exegete of the Book of Allah and an amazing scholar. Imam ash-Shāfiʿī, who originated from Gaza in Palestine, studied with the students of Imam Abu Ḥanīfa in Kufa and with Imam Mālik in Madinah. He spent some considerable time in Makkah, where he gathered and codified the understanding and practice of the people before moving on to Egypt, and the school became known as the Shāfiʿī school. The four fiqh texts mentioned above are from this school.

Three thousand companions also went to Baṣra in Iraq, including ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Fāṭima, Ḥasan, Ḥuṣayn, and ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with all of them. Their understanding and practice was taught, passed on, and then gathered and codified by Imam Aḥmad, and the school became known as the Ḥanbalī school. A beginner’s text in Ḥanbalī fiqh, called Qadumi’s Primer, should be available in English soon, and with Allah alone is every success.

There is a lot more literature available on this subject. For articles, we recommend that you have a look at the following:

* ‘Understanding the Four Madhabs’ by Abdal-Hakim Murad.

* ‘What is a Madhab?’ by Nuh Ha Mim Keller.

* Why Does One Have to Follow a Madhab? , which is a conversation between Sheikh Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī and a leading advocate for the abandonment of madhabs.

For lectures:

* The Manhaj of the Salaf, which is a lecture given by Al-Hajj Abu Ja’far Al-Hanbali.

For books:

* Abandoning the Madhabs is the Most Dangerous Innovation Threatening the Islamic Revealed Law by Sheikh Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī. This is probably the most decisive book on the subject.

* The Differences of the Imams by Sheikh al-Hadith Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandhlawi, available from White Thread Press. [www.whitethreadpress.com] This book is ninety-four pages long and is very detailed and explanatory. It has been called the best book on the subject.

Eventually you should choose a school and stick with it. Find one that suits you and your circumstances, and Allah willing you will find a teacher who can assist you. To help you make this choice you can read The Four Imams by Muhammad Abu Zahra, translated by Aisha Bewley and published by Dar al-Taqwa. It also helps to talk to and ask people who follow different madhabs!

Last but not least, it’s crucial that you do not mix and match between schools regarding obligatory acts, as this is not what the Prophetic Companions did, and could result in you following a method (e.g. praying in a certain way) that has no precedent from them, and thereby your worship would be invalid. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘The best generation is my generation, then those who come next, then those who come next.’ [Agreed upon by Imams al-Bukhārī and Muslim, may Allah have mercy on them] When you follow a madhab know that you are following a massive group of at least three thousand Companions who were all scholars, all strikingly upright, and took directly from the Best of Creation, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. You have become part of that blessed and noble link. It is an amazing system with absolute authority in the dīn [religion], and to go against it is to ask for nothing but confusion. The Qurʾān and the Sunnah must be followed, no doubt, but the understanding must also be followed. The first three generations are our basis for understanding the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. If we can’t trust them then who do we trust?

Are all Muslims orthodox? Are there sects/cults within Islam?

The answer is that the vast majority (88%) [8] of Muslims are orthodox.

The Prophet a said about the Ummah [nation] of Musa [Moses] e[9], peace be upon him: ‘They will divide into 71 sects, all of them are in the fire except one.’ He a told us about the Ummah of Isa e [Jesus] : ‘They will divide into 72 sects, 71 will be in the Fire and one in the Paradise.’ He a said: ‘My Ummah is exalted above both of them, and will have one more sect, 72 will be in the Fire and one in the Paradise.’ Then he a was asked: ‘Who is the saved sect?’ He a said in a hadith: ‘It is what I and my Companions are on.’ And in a hadith: ‘The overwhelming majority.’ And in a hadith: ‘One is in Paradise, and it is the Majority [Community]. [Narrated by Abu Dawud (4597), Ibn Majah (3992), and Tirmidhi with the wording: ‘The Jews have divided into 71 or 72 sects, and the Christians likewise, and my Ummah will divide into 73 sects.’] [10]

If one looks at the history of Islam one finds that the vast majority of Muslims adhered to the four schools of jurisprudence and had the same foundational creed. There are differences over branch issues. Orthodox Islam has some key tenets that tend be contradicted or denied by cultists and innovators. Here are a few examples:

There is no god but Allah:

No other deity exists. Allah says: “If there were therein [in the heavens and the earth] gods besides Allah then they [the heavens and the earth] would have been corrupted. Glorified is Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they ascribe [unto Him].” [Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:22]

Allah is nothing like His creation:

Allah says: “There is nothing like Him whatsoever, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Ash-Shūrā 42:11] We believe in Allah’s attributes without how and without meaning. We are not literalists. Allah is the Creator of time and space, and thus is not in need of a body, He does not need to occupy a space, He is neither dependent nor in need of the Throne and He does not need to move around. There is nothing like Him whatsoever. He is outside of creation, so we as created beings have no capacity to encompass Him or picture Him in our heads. We know what we need to know and we have a direct relationship with Him.

Salvation is not by deeds and faith but faith alone:

The evidence for this is in the following verse and Prophetic traditions:

Allah the Exalted says: “Indeed those who disbelieve and bar others from the path of Allah, their [good] deeds are null and void.” [Muhammad 47:1]

On the authority of ʿĀʾisha j[11] who said: ‘I said: “O Messenger of Allah, in jahiliyyah [pre-Islamic ignorance], Ibn Judʿān used to keep the ties of kinship and feed the poor. Will this benefit him?” He said: ‘It will not benefit him, because he never said: “O my Lord, forgive me my sins on the Day of Judgement.’ [Narrated by Imam Muslim #214]

On the authority of Abu Hurayra g who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah a said: ‘You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not [truly] believe until you love one another. Shall I indicate something that if you do it you will love one another? Spread peace amongst yourselves.’ [Narrated by Imam Muslim #54]

On the authority of Abu Hurayra g who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah a said: ‘No one of you will enter the Paradise based on his deeds.’ They said: “Not even you O Messenger of Allah?” He said: ‘Not even I, unless Allah covers me with His Mercy and His Bounty.’ [Narrated by Imam Muslim]

On the authority of Abu Hurayra g who said: ‘Somebody asked the Messenger of Allah a: “What is salvation?” He a said: ‘Salvation is accepting the word [There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah] that my uncle denied today.’ [Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad]

For the believer, good deeds are done to manifest obedience, to ensure that one is not punished temporarily in the next life, and to give one a high rank in the Paradise. You can read The Lives of Man by Imam Al Haddad for further clarification. Because you are a believer you are saved, and that can only change if you choose to reject Allah. Allah, the All Merciful, will never reject you.

Seeing Allah in the Hereafter:

This is made clear by the following verses where Allah says: “Faces that Day radiant, looking at their Lord.” [Al-Qiyāma 75:22-23] and “For those who did good is the best reward, and something extra.” [Yūnus 10:26] The best reward is the Paradise, and that something extra, according to all orthodox scholars, is the seeing of Allah in the Paradise.

Tawḥīd (Unity of Allah) is one and cannot be divided into different types:

Muslims have tawḥīd while disbelievers don’t. It’s that simple. Some cultists claim that disbelievers have something called tawḥīd rububiyyah (unity of Lordship), and they will quote the following verses: Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:61 and 63, Luqmān 31:25, Az-Zumar 39:38 and Az-Zukhruf 43:9 and 87. Let’s look at verse 39:38:

‘And if you should ask them [the disbelievers]: “Who created the heavens and the earth?” They will say: “Allah.” Say: “Do you think you should call on other than Allah? If Allah wanted to harm me could anyone remove that harm? And if Allah wanted to be merciful towards me could anyone withhold His Mercy?” Say: “Allah suffices me. Upon Him do they rely, those who rely.”’

These same innovators claim that disbelievers believe in the existence of One Unique Deity, because when the disbelievers are asked they say ‘Allah.’ However, they worship other than Him, and this is why only the believers have something called tawḥīd uluhiyyah [Unity of Godship], which is the belief that only Allah, and no other god, has the right to be worshipped. Orthodox Muslims believe that nothing deserves to be worshipped besides Allah, but we also believe that there is no other god period! The fact that disbelievers do not believe in One Unique Deity is evidenced from the following verses:

‘[The disbelievers, particularly the polytheists of Makkah, say] “Has he [Muhammad a] made all the gods [ilah] one God? Indeed this is a strange thing.”’[Ṣad 38:5]

From this verse we can clearly see that the disbelievers believed in the existence of other gods, and were not merely worshipping other gods. The word ilah (deity, god) in Arabic not only means something that is worshipped but also something that is believed to exist and can bring about benefit or harm. This definition can be found in all the authoritative Arabic dictionaries, including Lisān al-ʿArab.

‘And he [Pharaoh] proclaimed: “I am your Lord (rabb) Most High.”’ [an-Naziʿāt 79:24] Are we to believe that the Pharaoh had this thing called tawḥīd rububiyyah (unity of Lordship)?

‘Do you know about the one [Nimrod] who argued with Ibrahim [Abraham] about his Lord, because Allah had given him the kingdom; how, when Ibrahim said: “My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death,” he answered “ I give life and cause death.” Ibrahim said: “Indeed, Allah causes the sun to rise in the East, so make it rise from the West.” The disbeliever was bewildered, and Allah does not guide the oppressors.’ [al-Baqarah 2:258] Are we to believe that Nimrod had this thing called tawḥīd rububiyyah (unity of Lordship)?

Alhamdulilah, you are a believer and have tawḥīd. Don’t worry about it! You might want to note that this strange belief subconsciously admits to the existence of other gods (i.e. there are other gods in existence but only Allah deserves to be worshipped) which is not only blasphemous but impossible, because Allah says: “If there were therein [in the heavens and the earth] gods besides Allah then they [the heavens and the earth] would have been corrupted. Glorified is Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they ascribe [unto Him].” [Al-Anbiyāʾ’ 21:22]

Allah also says:

“Know that there is no god (ilah) but Allah, and seek forgiveness for your sins.” [Muhammad 47:19]

“O Mankind! Worship your Lord (rabb) who created you, and created those who came before you, so that you may ward off evil.” [Al-Baqara 2:21]

The Punishment of the Grave is true, for those who are deserving of it:

This is evidenced from the following verses:

“The Fire; they [Pharaoh and his people] are exposed to it morning and evening, and the Day the Hour is established [it will be said to the angels]: ‘Enter Pharaoh and his people into the most awful punishment.” [Al-Ghāfir 40:46]

Pharaoh and his people are dead and they are being shown the Fire every morning and evening. Where are they now? In their graves. Are they being punished? Absolutely.

“And among those around you of the wandering Arabs there are hypocrites, among the townspeople of Madinah [there are some who] persist in hypocrisy whom you [Muhammad a] do not know. We know them, and we shall punish them twice, and they will be exposed to a mighty punishment.” [Al-Tawba 9:101]

The mighty punishment is the punishment of the Fire. What are the two other punishments prior to that? According to Muslim Orthodoxy, the first punishment is humiliation or being killed in this life and the second is the punishment of the grave. [You can read The Lives of Man by Imam al-Haddad, as mentioned above, for more evidence and details of this subject]

The Prophet Muhammad a is the last and final Prophet and Messenger:

Allah says: “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is aware of all things.” [Al-Aḥzāb 33:40] The Prophet a also said: ‘I am the first of the Prophets to be created and the last one sent.’ [Narrated by Imams at-Tirmidhī, Al-Ḥākim, Aḥmad, and graded as authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) by Imam at-Tirmidhī.]

It should also be noted that every Messenger is a Prophet but not every Prophet is a Messenger. Allah communicates to both Messenger and Prophet, but there is a difference. A Messenger is sent with a new divine dispensation (the creed doesn’t change but the law does) that he is obliged to call people to, whereas a Prophet merely revives and tries to call people back to the last dispensation. He may also be sent to aid a Messenger, as Hārūn e (Aaron) was sent to help his brother Musa e [Moses]. Messengers in fact perform both duties, because while calling people to a new revelation, with new legal rulings, they are also calling people to what every Messenger called to previously, namely the Unity of Allah; that fact that only He exists and deserves to be worshipped. The above-mentioned hadith is also evidence of the primordial rank of the Prophet Muḥammad a. His essence was the first one created whereas Adam e was the first human being to be given bodily form. For further discussion on the primordial rank of the Prophet Muḥammad a, please click here.

The Prophets, upon whom be peace, are infallible in their nature:

This contradicts the belief of the Christians and Jews, as can be seen from reading their Bible. For example, the Prophet Noah is described as becoming drunk and getting naked in Genesis 9:20-23. In Genesis 19:30-38 we read how the Prophet Lot slept with his both of his daughters after they gave him wine to drink, and this was done to preserve their father’s lineage. There are other examples of this, and this clearly poses serious theological problems. Prophets are entrusted with the greatest responsibility: delivering the message of salvation to mankind. If they are not infallible then they cannot be entirely trusted, and the revelation they claim to bring can be brought into question. The fact that some innovators/cultists hold this belief is worrying indeed.

In the Qurʾān, Allah describes the Prophets quite differently. We find Noah saying to his people: “O my people! There is not the slightest bit of error in me but I am a Messenger from the Lord of all creation.” [Al-ʿArāf 7:61] The Prophet Hūd said: “O my people, there is not the slightest bit of foolishness in me, but I am a Messenger from the Lord of all creation.”[Al-ʿArāf 7:67] The Prophet Yūsuf [Joseph] was tempted by the wife of the Aziz and Allah says: “Had it not been for the clear proof of His Lord that he saw, and it is likewise that we turned him away from evil and perversion. Indeed he is from our sincere slaves.” [Yūsuf 12:24]

‘Sincere’ is mukhlas in the Arabic text, and is in the passive sense. Allah made Yūsuf sincere and pure, and this is the case with all the Prophets. They cannot be tempted to sin and they are infallible in their essence. As for forgetting the name of an individual, missing out a part of a prayer, or understanding a command to be disliked [makrūh] as opposed to actually forbidden [ḥarām], these are all possible, and have occurred. However, these are not considered to be mistakes, because they occur in order to derive benefit, and not harm, as is commonly the case when non-Prophets make mistakes. For example, the Prophet Muhammad a missed something in the prayer once in order to teach us the Forgetfulness Prostration (sajda sahu).

For further information on this subject please visit Al-Hajj Abu Ja’far’s website: www.htspub.com, which specialises in reaching out to adherents of cults and false religions. It stands for Hanbali Text Society Publications.

Final Note: Insha’Allah, this guide will be updated as and when more literature and resources become available, and with Allah alone is every success.

[1] The symbol above reads ‘Bismillah HiRaḥmān niRaḥīm’ which means ‘In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful.’

[2] Islam is not just a religion but rather a complete way of life, providing guidance in all areas and aspects.

[3] This symbol means ‘May the Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him.’

[4] The Prophet a said: ‘In the Qurʾān is a sūrah that will make intercession for its reader and seek forgiveness for the one listening.’ [Narrated by ‘Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her.] He a also said: ‘Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Qurʾān is Yā Sīn, and I wish for it to be in the heart of everybody from my Ummah.’ [Collected by Al-Bazzār]

[5] The Prophetic Companion, ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿūd, said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah a saying: “Whoever recites Sūrah Al-Wāqiʿah every night will never be afflicted with poverty.”’ Al-Jāmiʿ As-Saghīr of Imam As-Suyūtī, as well as other collections.

[6] This refers to the Islamic calendar, which began in 622 AD, the year in which the Prophet a emigrated from Makkah to Madinah.

[7] This symbol means ‘May Allah be pleased with him’.

[8] 1.5 billion out of approximately 1.7 billion worldwide.

[9] This symbol means ‘peace be upon him’.

[10] For an in-depth discussion on this matter, one can refer to Al-Ghunya by Sheikh Abdul Qādir Al-Jilāni, in which he explains that Ahl us-Sunnah wa Al-Jamāʿah, or Muslim Orthodoxy, are the saved sect and the majority of the Muslims. He also explains who the other seventy-two sects, or cults, are.

[11] This symbol means ‘may Allah be pleased with her’.

The Aphorisms of Ibn Ataillah: Wisdom 176

2011-04-23T11:07:00.000+01:00

With Sheikh Muhammad Saeed Ramadan Al-Bouti

الفَقَات بُسُط المَوَاهِب

From the Naseem Al-Shaam Channel. Please click on the link for more videos.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Advising Today's People to Honour Those in Charge of Their Affairs

2011-04-19T23:15:00.001+01:00

Assalaam alaykum,

Alhamdulilah, a new article is now available from www.marifah.net, entitled "Advising Today's People to Honour Those in Charge of Their Affairs", which is a translation of a poem by the great, contemporary Mauritanian scholar Sheikh Muḥammad Al- Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad Al -Khadīm. Insha'Allah you will find it very beneficial and informative, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

The Abodes of the Earth

2011-04-02T07:57:00.010+01:00

What is the Middle Way?

Introduction

This article has been compiled in order to clarify the current confusion that exists regarding the terms Dar Al-Islam, Dar Al-Ḥarb, Dar Al-Kufr and Hijra. If Allah so wills, it will be made clear that no single term can be applied in blanket fashion to the entire world. Rather, those same classifications that the great scholars of Islam have used throughout history still apply today, and with Allah alone is every success.

Dar Al-Islam and Hijra

In Al-Arbaʿīn An-Nawawiyyah, Imam an-Nawawī, the muʿtamad source for the Shāfiʿī school, quotes the great Mālikī scholar, Qāḍī Abū Bakr Ibn Al-ʿArabī[1], who said:

‘The ʿulamāʾ, may Allah be pleased with them, have divided travel in the earth into flight and search, and the former sub-divides into six sub-divisions:

‘First, going out from the abode of war to the abode of Islam, and this remains until the Day of Resurrection. That which ceased with the Conquest [of Makkah] according to his words, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, “There is no emigration after the Conquest [of Makka]”[2], was the emigration to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, where he was.

‘Second, leaving the people of innovation. Ibn Al-Qāsim said, ‘I heard Mālik say, “It is not permitted for anyone to remain in a land in which the Salaf[3] are being cursed.”’

‘Third, leaving a land where the ḥarām is predominant, since it is an obligation upon every Muslim to seek the ḥalāl.

‘Fourth, fleeing from harm to one’s body. It is one of the bounties of Allah that He makes an allowance for that. If one fears for oneself in a place then Allah permits one to leave it, and fleeing with oneself will save one from that peril. The first person to do this was Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, when he feared his people and said, “I am leaving this place to follow the pleasure of my Lord.” [Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:26] Allah the Exalted has also told us about Mūsā, peace be upon him, saying: “So he left there fearful and on his guard.” [Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:21]

‘Fifth, leaving unhealthy cities from fear of illness to go to a healthy land. He, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, permitted the ʿAraniyyīn[4], who found Madīna bad for their health, to leave and go to pasture-land.

‘Sixth, leaving from fear of financial harm, since the sanctity of a Muslim’s wealth is the same as the sanctity of his blood.’[5]

What is Dar Al-Islam?

The contemporary Shāfiʿī scholar, Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būtī [6], states:

‘According to what the Imams of the Four Madhabs have agreed upon, it is the country or land in which the power of the Muslims and their leadership has entered, such that they are able to manifest their Islam and keep away from their enemies, whether this is accomplished by conquest and fighting or peace and conciliation, or something of that nature.

‘In terms of defining Dar Al-Islam, the expressions of the fuqahāʾ have differed, but these differences are only in wording. All of these definitions agree that [Dar al-Islam] is when the Muslims are able to have their own rule over that land, such that each one of them is able to make the rulings of Islam and its outward rites superior therein.[7]

‘This Islamic rule over some land is what makes it Dar al-Islam, and this is regardless of whether the population are Muslims or not, such as a country that the Muslims have conquered and its people are settled therein by paying the jizya[8] or something of that nature.[9]’[10]

After discussing the rulings of Dar Al-Islam, Sheikh al-Būṭī goes on to say:

‘Through knowing these rulings one will notice that the implementation of the rulings of the Islamic Revealed Law is not a condition for considering the abode Dar Al-Islam. Rather, it is from the rights of Dar Al-Islam and it is the responsibility of the Muslims. If the Muslims fall short in carrying out the various rulings of Islam in the Islamic abode that Allah has caused them to inherit, then this does not stop that abode from being Dar Al-Islam, but those who are falling short are sinful and bear the burden for their sin.’[11]

What is Dar Al-Ḥarb?

In his book Fiqh As-Sīrah, Sheikh Al-Būṭī[12] says:

‘The “abode of war” is, by extension, any place in which it is not possible for a Muslim to perform his religiously prescribed duties, such as prayer, fasting, meeting for communal worship, issuing the public call to prayer, and any other outward rites associated with Islam.’[13]

Where does Dar Al-Islam come from?

Another contemporary Shāfiʿī scholar, Sheikh Wahba Az-Zuḥaylī[14], states:

‘The Prophetic emigration to Al-Madīna Al-Munawwara (Yathrib), and the two treaties of ‘Aqaba that preceded it, are the foundation for establishing or forming the Islamic state, or Dar Al-Islam in the terminology of our fuqahāʾ. With it the identity of the Muslims was distinguished from that of the idol-worshippers and in Al-Madina the first pillars of security and stability were firmly established and the Prophet’s political authority was manifested. This authority is now considered the essential element in forming a state.’[15]

What does this mean now?

Sheikh Wahba Az-Zuḥaylī was asked:

‘Is it permissible in the Revealed Law to acquire the citizenship of a foreign, non-Muslim country or to reside in that foreign country, or is it impermissible?’

His answer:

‘Our ʿulamāʾ, such as Ibn Al-‘Arabī in Aḥkām Al-Qurʿān and An-Nawawī in Al-Arbaʿīn An-Nawawiyyah (p.9-10),[16] have affirmed that Hijra, or leaving Dar Al-Ḥarb for Dar Al-Islam, is a ruling that remains in place until the Day of Resurrection. It is not permissible for a Muslim to reside in Dar Al-Kufr, especially if he fears tribulation for his religion, because in residing amongst them their multitude is increased, except in the case of, as Al-Māwardī has stated: ‘If it comes to be that he, and his family and people, are able to manifest their religion therein, it is not permissible for them to emigrate because the place in which he is in may become Dar Al-Islam.’ This is the short answer.

‘As for the detailed answer: residing in non-Islamic lands in order to seek knowledge or spread the Islamic call, or to strengthen the Muslims, or to earn and work, or due to an excuse such as treatment for an illness, or because of captivity, or being prevented from residing in an Islamic country, is permissible in the Revealed Law. In this there is an Islamic benefit for the Muslims, which is that it is preferred for such a person to stay and remain rather than leave [the Muslims living there]. In other than these situations, residence is not allowed.[17]

‘As for citizenship, the foundation is that it is impermissible, because it is allegiance to a flag or a set of philosophical commitments that have not originated in Islam, and because it leads to strengthening the enemy, as is what happens with the emigration of professional people.[18] This is also the case because citizenship results in one being bound to certain requirements that may contradict the principles of Islam and its rulings, such as taking part in fighting Muslims or non-Muslims, and adhering to certain legal responsibilities that Islam has not affirmed. It is also because residing amongst non-Muslims leads to loving their customs or being influenced by their customs and approving them, especially in the minds of children. This is why the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon, said: ‘I am free of every Muslim who resides amongst the idol-worshippers.’ They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, why?’ He said: ‘You should not be able to see each other’s fireplaces.’’[19]

What about ‘Fiqh of Minorities’?

Sheikh Ramaḍān Al-Būtī has already dealt with this issue. Please see the following articles:

Fiqh of Minorities (Part 1)

Fiqh of Minorities (Part 2)

Related Articles

For the Ḥanbalī discussion on these matters, please click here.

For the Mālikī discussion on these matters, please click here.

[1] Translator’s note (tn): (468-543 AH/1076-1148 AD). Referred to loosely as the Qāḍī of the Mālikīs, he was a famous student of Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, may Allah have mercy on him. He was born in today’s Spain and is considered one of their greatest scholars. His commentary on the Qurʾān as well as different hadith collections are held to be amongst the many pearls and jewels of Islam. He is buried in Fes, Morocco.

[2] (tn): Al-Bukhārī and Muslim. The wording in Muslim is: ‘On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said on the Day of the Fatḥ [conquest] of Makka: “There is no more Hijra, but rather jihād and intention, and if you are summoned to fight go out and fight.”’’ In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi Sharḥ An-Nawawī, the Imam states: ‘The ʿulamāʾ have stated that Hijra from Dar Al-Ḥarb to Dar Al-Islam remains in place until the Day of Resurrection. As for the interpretation of the ḥadīth [quoted above], there are two opinions regarding it. The first is that there is no Hijra after the Fatḥ [of Makka] from Makka because it has become Dar Al-Islam, and Hijra can only be made from Dar Al-Ḥarb. This comprises the miracle of The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, that it would remain Dar Al-Islam and emigrating from it is inconceivable. The second opinion, regarding the meaning of ‘there is no more Hijra’, is that the virtue of emigrating after the Fatḥ of Makka is not like the virtue of having emigrated before it, as Allah the Exalted has said: “Those of you who gave and fought before the Fatḥ are not the same…”’ [Translated from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi Sharḥ An-Nawawī (Dar Al-Kutub Al-ʿIlmiyyah, Beirut, 2003) v.9 p.104-105, in The Book of Ḥajj] The full quotation from the āya is: “Those of you who gave and fought before the Fatḥ are not the same as those who fought and gave afterwards. They are higher in rank.” [Al-Ḥadīd 57:10] In Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ Al-Muhadhdhib (v.19 p.264), which is the ultimate reference work for the Shāfiʿī school, Imam an-Nawawī states the same thing, i.e. he quotes Imam Ibn Al-ʿArabī again and states that Hijra from Dar al-Ḥarb to Dar Al-Islam was obligatory in the time of the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, and that this obligation remains in place after the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, for whoever fears for themselves. What came to an end after the Fatḥ of Makka was emigrating to wherever the Prophet was, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him.

[3] (tn): I.e. the first three generations of Islam, based on the ḥadīth in Al-Bukhārī and Muslim: “The first generation is my generation, then those who come next, then those who come next.”

[4] (tn): i.e. a tribe bearing this name

[5] (tn): Based on Al-Hajj Abdassamad Clarke’s translation entitled The Complete Forty Hadith (Taha Publishers, London, 1998) p.10-11. Please see pages 9 and 10, i.e. the commentary on the first ḥadīth, of any Arabic edition.

[6] (tn): For a list of his written works, please click here or visit his other website: www.bouti.net.

[7] See Tuḥfa Al-Muḥtāj 9/269, Al-Mughnī by Ibn Qudāma 9/247 and 248, the Ḥāshiya of Ibn ʿĀbidīn 3/260, and Mughnī Al-Muḥtāj 4/339. (tn): The first book, Tuḥfa Al-Muḥtāj, is Imam Ibn Ḥajar Al-Haytamī’s, another muʿtamad source in the Shāfiʿī school, commentary on Imam An-Nawawī’s Minhāj At-Ṭālibīn, a muʿtamad curriculum text in that school. The second book, Al-Mughnī, is written by Imam Muwaffaq u-Dīn Ibn Qudāma, the muʿtamad source for the Ḥanbalī school. The third book is written by Ibn ʿAbidīn, the muʿtamad source for the Ḥanafī school.

[8] (tn): ‘The minimum non-Muslim poll tax is one dinar (n: 4.235 grams of gold) per person (A: per year). The maximum is whatever both sides agree upon. It is collected with leniency and politeness, as are all debts, and is not levied on women, children or the insane.’ (Reliance of The Traveller (Amana Publications, Beltsville, 1994), section o11.4, p.608.) As of 23/03/2011, 18:53 GMT, one gram of gold is worth £28.47, so the tax would be £120.57, or £10.05 per month. This is the only tax that non-believers have to pay.

[9] Tuḥfa Al-Muḥtāj 9/269

[10] (tn):This section is translated from the Sheikh’s book Al-Jihād fī Al-Islām (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 1992) p.80. Dar Al-Kufr, therefore, is the opposite of Dar Al-Islam.

[11] (tn): Ibid, p.81. It is worth noting that on the same page and the one that follows, Sheikh al-Būṭī refutes those Islamists who claim that implementation of the Revealed Law in its entirety is a condition for a land being Dar Al-Islam, which goes against what the ʿulamāʾ of Islam have agreed upon. These people claim that if the Revealed Law is not being implemented in its entirety it therefore becomes Dar al-Ḥarb, which would mean that Muslims living in most of, if not all, the Muslim-majority countries would have to leave, but where to? Oddly enough, many of them choose to emigrate to Europe or America. As the Sheikh rightly says, these people are only following their inclinations and desires and they have veiled their intellects from understanding the religion with thick veils of straying, emotional disturbance.

[12] (tn): Fiqh As-Sīrah (The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography) as translated by Nancy Roberts and revised by Anas Ar-Rifāʿī (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 2008), p.230. Please see p.130 of the Arabic edition (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 2003)

[13] (tn): One can also have a look at Reliance of The Traveller, section w43.5, p.946-947 (Amana Publications, Beltsville, 1994)

[14] (tn): Born in Syria in 1932, author of over fifty books, including an eleven-volume comparative fiqh book, quoted below, and a sixteen-volume tafsīr of the Qurʾān. For further information, please visit his website.

[15] (tn): Translated from Al-Fiqh Al-Islāmī wa Adilatuhu (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 1997) v.8 p.6303

[16] (tn): This is what has been quoted above.

[17] Al-Fatāwa Al-Ḥadīthiyyah by Imam ibn Ḥajar Al-Haytamī: p.209

[18](tn): i.e. the so-called ‘brain drain’.

[19] (tn): Translated from Fatāwā Muʿāṣira (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 2003) p.288-289. The ḥadīth is narrated by Abū Dawūd in his Sunan.

The Atlantic Slave Trade

2011-03-27T10:44:00.003+01:00

Assalaam alaykum,

Please listen to the following excerpts (Parts 3 to 8) from Week 10 (966 to 1099 AH) of the series 13 Centuries of Islamic History, in which Al-Hajj Abu Ja'far Al-Hanbali discusses the differences between slavery in Islam and slavery as understood and practiced by Europeans and Americans. You will also learn about how the Europeans (and later to be known as "Americans") decimated the native populations of North and South America, some of whom were Muslim.

Note: Parts 5 and 6 include the introduction of tobacco and smoking into the Muslim world, and how no fewer than eighty-nine fatwas emerged at the time condemning it and deeming it absolutely impermissible.

In part 3, the discussion starts at 10:26.

For further reading on the topic, the following books are recommended:

1) The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz Del Castillo
2) Comanches: The History of a People by T.R. Fehrenbach
3) Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies & Sparked the American Revolution by Alfred W. Blumrosen and Ruth G. Blumrosen.
4) The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815 by Robert J. Allison.
5) A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present by Ward Churchill

And with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

An Utter Waste of Time and Money

2011-03-20T21:45:00.007Z

Book Review: How to Watch TV News: Revised Edition by Neil Postman and Steve Powers (Penguin Books, London, 2008)

Blurb: ‘In 1992, renowned media theorist Neil Postman, author of the controversial bestseller Amusing Ourselves to Death, and Steve Powers, an acclaimed broadcast journalist, delivered an eye-opening message: anyone relying exclusively on their television for accurate news is getting a vastly distorted picture of the world. Instead of the vital information the viewing public needs, TV news shows pump out pseudo-news filled with entertainment and celebrity fodder in order to attract cash-cow advertisers. Today, this message is still appallingly true.’

The authors:

Neil Postman (1931-2003) was chairman of the Department of Communication Arts at New York University and founder of its program in media ecology. He wrote nineteen books, including Amusing Ourselves to Death and Technopoly. In 1986, he won the George Orwell Award for clarity in language.

Steve Powers is a journalist with more than forty-five years’ experience in radio and television news, including as a newscaster for the New York Times radio network, an anchor/reporter for Fox Television News in New York, a correspondent for the ABC Information Radio Network, and the host of a top-rated morning talk show. He has received an Emmy, a Clio, and a New York Press Club Deadline Award. Powers earned his Ph.D. in media studies from New York University in 1987 and was an associate professor of communications at St. John’s University in New York.

When discussing the ills of television, the ultimate excuse that the owner of a television will give is that they are using it for the ‘news’; in order to keep in touch with ‘current affairs’, but does television actually do an adequate job? This is the question that Postman and Powers manage to answer very decisively, and the answer is a resounding ‘no’.

It should be noted that the authors exclusively focus on TV news as it is in the United States, but the reader should be able to see parallels with other news networks, such as the BBC and the two major stations that have received acclaim recently, namely Al-Jazeera and Russia Today. While the two latter stations do provide the ‘other’ side of the story, the fact that the medium is still television should not be forgotten. What is the point of television? In the first chapter we have the answer: ‘In fact, the reason popular TV series get on the air and stay there is that they can deliver the right audience for a sponsor, an audience that sees commercials and buys products or ideas. There is no escaping that fact: the whole point of television in America is to get you to watch so that programmers, performers and others can rake in the money.’[1] As they go on to explain, news shows are cheaper to produce than slick Hollywood dramas and laugh-track comedies, and this is why more news shows are being presented now than ever before.

In the second chapter, the authors ask the question: what is news? ‘The law, [Justice Oliver Wendell] Holmes said, is what the courts say it is. Nothing more. Nothing less. In similar fashion, we might say that the news is what news directors and journalists say it is. In other words, when you turn on your television set to watch a network or local news show, whatever is on is, by definition, the news.’ This issue is very similar to the question: what is history?[2] In the same way that a historian decides what events are worth writing about, and which facts concerning that event should be included, the journalist decides which events are newsworthy, which facts from those events should be included and so forth. This is an inevitable situation, as the journalist, like the historian, cannot be expected to cover every single detail and to do so exhaustively. However, just as it is better to read more than one account of an historical event, it is better not to rely on one journalist, or one news network, for one’s news. Furthermore, a historian can cram far more information into a book, or article even, than a journalist can cram into a thirty-second or maybe two-minute news slot. The authors give this example, ‘Let us suppose that a fourteen-year-old Palestinian boy hurls a Molotov cocktail at two eighteen-year-old Israeli soldiers. The explosion knocks one of the soldiers down and damages his left eye. The other soldier, terrified, fires a shot that kills the Palestinian instantly. The injured soldier eventually loses his sight in the damaged eye. What details should be included in reporting this event? Is the age of the Palestinian relevant? Are the ages of the Israeli soldiers relevant? Is the injury to the soldier relevant? Was the act of the Palestinian provoked by the mere presence of the Israeli soldiers? Was the act therefore justified? Is shooting justified? Is the state of mind of the shooter relevant?’

In the same chapter, the authors go on to discuss who owns news networks and how this will obviously affect what ‘news’ is presented, with General Electric owning NBC given as an example. This is followed by a discussion on the psychological effects of television. ‘Studies conducted by Professor George Gerbner and his associates at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that people who are heavy television viewers, including viewers of television news shows, believe their communities are much more dangerous than do light television viewers.’ One early twentieth century journalist, called Lincoln Steffens, proved that he could create a “crime wave” by writing about all the crimes that normally occur in a large city during the course of a month.

The book then goes on to discuss the various means used by news shows, and their networks, to make sure you ‘stay tuned’, such as the short blurbs that appear before a show starts, which are actually called “teases”. Their purpose is to grab your attention and keep you watching, and once the show has started you forget why you’re actually watching it. You also have “bumpers” before commercial breaks, telling you what’s ‘coming up’ so that you don’t stray towards another channel during the interval. Then there is the crafting of the news show; how it is presented to you and how it is supposed to make you feel:

‘So there you are, ready to watch the news presented by a high-priced anchor[3], and on comes the show, complete with a fancy opening and music that sounds as though it was composed for a Hollywood epic. The host appears: an anchor god or goddess sculpted on Mount Arbitron – at least the best of them. But even the worst looks authoritative. Of course, the anchor has had plenty of help from plenty of craftspeople in creating the illusion of calm omniscience. After all, it’s not all hair spray. That glittering, well-coiffed, commanding presence has been placed in a setting that has been designed, built, and painted to make him or her look as wonderful as possible. Consultants have been used to make sure the lights are fine-tuned to highlight hair and fill in wrinkles. Colour experts have complemented the star’s complexion with favourable background hues. Short anchors sit on raised seats to look taller. Makeup has been applied to create just the right look: accenting cheekbones, covering baldness, enlarging small eyes, hiding blemishes, perhaps obscuring a double chin.’

In the sixth chapter, entitled ‘The News Director’, the authors restate a point that Postman made in Amusing Ourselves to Death, which is the importance of image, or the importance of the ‘photo op’:

‘The photo op is, obviously, a particularly important source of news for television. In America, politicians are known by their image on television. As a consequence, politicians like to do things that show them in a positive light: visiting a hospital, welcoming a visitor from another country, observing the aftermath of a train wreck, and so on. News directors accommodate the visual needs of politicians because television needs pictures. There is not much television news to be made of a congressman’s twenty-two page-position paper on the decline of education in a particular city. But a photo op of the congressman inspecting a decaying building is useful.’

Chapter 8 discusses the bias of pictures and language, but more importantly the use of music and sounds:

‘The music is crucial, for it equates the news with various forms of drama and ritual – the opera, for example, or a wedding procession – in which musical themes underscore the meaning of the event. Music takes us immediately into the realm of the symbolic, a world that is not to be taken literally. After all, when events unfold in the real world, they do so without musical accompaniment. More symbolism follows. The sound of Teletype machines can sometimes be heard in the studio, not because it is impossible to screen this noise out, but because the sound is a kind of music in itself. It tells us that data is pouring in from all corners of the globe, a sensation reinforced by the world map in the background (or clocks noting the time on different continents).’ This is done even though Teletype machines were replaced by silent computer terminals years ago. Viewers will also often see news workers scurrying around in the background, answering phones and taking notes, even though it would be easy to build a set in which they weren’t seen. In short, all of this is meant to give the viewer the impression that, despite the hectic pace and volume of world events, the news team, and particularly the anchor, are in full control, making sense of the events for you and presenting them in a calm and collected manner.

Is this problematic? The authors give us the answer:

‘The fact that television news is principally made up of moving pictures prevents it from offering lengthy, coherent explanations of events. A television news show reveals the world as a series of unrelated, fragmentary moments. It does not, and cannot be expected to, offer a sense of coherence or meaning. What does this suggest to a TV viewer? That the viewer must come with a prepared mind: information, opinions, a sense of proportion, an articulate value system. To the viewer lacking such mental equipment, a news program is only a kind of rousing light show. Here a falling building, there a five-alarm fire, everywhere the world as an object, much without meaning, connections, or continuity.’

Chapter 9 deals with the commercial, ‘the backbone, the heart, the fuel, the DNA (choose whatever metaphor you wish) of non-public television in America.’ As mentioned before, the whole point of these news shows is to get the viewer tuned in, and to remain tuned in, in order to watch the commercials. If you watch as much TV as the average American, you may watch over thirty-nine thousand minutes of commercials in one year.

The psychological harm of commercials cannot he understated: ‘But commercials are also about the serious manipulation of our social and psychic lives. There are, in fact, some critics who say that commercials are a new, albeit degraded, means of religious expression in that most of them take the form of parables, teaching people what the good life consists of. It is a claim not to be easily dismissed.’

The authors give an example of a typical mouthwash commercial, in which a woman’s first date with a man doesn’t go as well as planned. She thus consults her friend, who tells her that the problem is her bad breath. Her current mouthwash doesn’t last long enough, but if she were to use (enter brand name here) her potential boyfriend would fall head over heels in love with her. She therefore follows her friend’s advice and the story has a happy ending, but what lessons are actually being conveyed in such a commercial? The message is that there are quick-fix solutions to all of life’s problems: ‘whatever problem you face (lack of self-esteem, lack of good taste, lack of attractiveness, lack of social acceptance), it can be solved, solved fast, and solved through a drug, a detergent, a machine, or a salable technique. You are, in fact, helpless unless you know about the product that can remake you and set you on the road to paradise. You must, in short, become a born-again consumer, redeem yourself, and find peace.’

This is largely what American culture and civilization is all about; advertising fuels a capitalist economy. ‘For a market economy to work, the population must be made to believe that it is in need of continuous improvement. If you are quite satisfied with your teeth, your hair, your 2003 Honda, and your weight, you will not be an avid consumer. You will be especially worthless to the economy if your mind is preoccupied with worldly events. If you are not an avid consumer, the engine of the economy slows and then stalls. Therefore, the thematic thrust of advertising is to take your mind off earthquakes, the homeless, and other irrelevancies and to get you to think about your inadequate self and how you can get better.’

Chapter 10 discusses television in the courtroom, and to what extent the ‘public’ has the right to know about court proceedings. Because television gives the ‘public’ this access, does this mean that it should? The response is as follows:

‘First, what’s wrong with turning back the clock if the clock is wrong? We need not be slaves to our technologies. Every technological advance has its advantages and disadvantages. It is our job to control the uses of technology so that what is best about our culture can be preserved. Second, television does not turn trials into a public event but into a public spectacle. Let’s be honest about this: what the public is shown is intended only to entertain them, even titillate them. TV stations are not, in fact, interested in showing trials but only in showing fragments of “sexy” trials, those that involve murder, rape, kidnapping, and other horrifying crimes…’

‘As for the courtroom being a semipublic space, that’s exactly what it should be. Its rules have been worked out over centuries. The procedures are not perfect, but they are determined to give everyone a fair shake, and there is no good reason to alter them. And keep this in mind: reading about a trial and seeing it on television are two quite different experiences. A man who is found not guilty ordinarily may resume his life. A man who is found not guilty but who has been seen on television during his trial may find it impossible to resume his life. Audiences may even forget if he was found guilty or not. In any case, he becomes notorious in one way or another, which is to say, he is tried twice: once in the courts and a second time in the court of public exposure.’

Of course, the sharʿī principle of preserving people’s honour is discarded. Someone may be found innocent but they now have a tarnished reputation, and this obviously makes things difficult for them in their personal and professional lives.

Before concluding this review, a note should be made about how television affects children, and this is what the authors do in the eleventh chapter. By the end of high school, the average American will have spent 30% of their waking hours in front of a television, including approximately 13,000 killings, 200,000 violent episodes and 650,000 commercials, most of those being for fast food, beverages and sweets. Research has led to the following conclusions:

The American Academy of Pediatrics has concluded that too much TV can make children fat since TV viewing is a sedentary activity.

‘According to a 2007 study published in the journal Pediatrics, watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence. The research showed that there was a 40 percent increase in attention problems among heavy TV viewers in both boys and girls.’

The National Institute of Mental Health supported a study by Robert Kubey of Rutgers and Mihaly Csikszentmihayli (pronounced Schwartz) of the University of Chicago. ‘Their research spanned thirteen years and involved 1,200 subjects in nine different studies. Their conclusion: television makes people passive, tense, and unable to concentrate; more skill and concentration are required in the act of eating than in watching television; although people assume that TV watching offers relaxation and escape, it actually leaves people in worse moods than they were in before watching television.’

Regarding television and violence, ‘the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that TV violence “promotes a proclivity in violence and a passive response to its practice….Kids who view violent events, such as kidnapping or murder are more likely to believe the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them.”’

The authors also comment on the problem of “information glut”, i.e. there is so much information available, coming from all directions, that we are no longer able to decide what it all means. We become information junkies, addicted to more and more news, but we do not have a clue as to what to do with it.

In the final two chapters the authors give their advice as to what we can do about the problems of television, and television news in particular, and as Muslims we can take some of these on board and add to them:

1) In terms of commercial TV news stations, and I would include the BBC in this, Muslims should absolutely avoid appearing on them. These people are looking for sensation and for ratings, at best, and at worst they are looking to paint an unsavoury picture of Muslims and Islam. The truth, of any event, is the least of their concerns. Live radio, on local stations, can be far more effective as there are fewer advertisements and statements cannot be edited or cut and pasted and put together afterward. There is also a lot more time to get a point across.

2) In terms of getting information about current affairs, go on the internet and check out different sites. Read articles, and especially articles that attempt to analyse events. To deepen your understanding, look at how different media outlets report on events, such as the BBC vs. Al-Jazeera, or CNN vs. Russia Today, or the Daily Telegraph vs. the Guardian. Sticking to just one news source is pure folly. All media outlets have political and commercial interests.

3) Get your children to read more, or read stories to them. This allows their imaginations to develop, in addition to their general language skills, such as speaking, listening, and grammar. Memorizing parts of the Qurʾān, along with some of the basics of creed and fiqh, should be part of their daily schedule. If you feel that you as a parent are too busy to give them that time, get audio recordings of the Qurʾān, or stories, for them to listen to. This will not only make your children more intelligent and sagacious, but also happier and more content, as the abovementioned research has shown.

And with Allah alone is every success!

How to Watch TV News is available from Penguin Books as well as Amazon US and Amazon UK.

[1] While networks like the BBC, Al-Jazeera and Russia Today are not entirely dependent on commercial sponsors, they still have a lot in common with their American counterparts.

[2] The Historian’s Craft by Marc Bloch is an excellent book that deals with this topic.

[3] Who, most likely, will be more of a qualified anchor than a qualified journalist, as is explained in the same chapter.

Allah is the Walī of Those who Believe: Sheikh Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī on Current Events

2011-03-09T21:48:00.009Z

All praise is due to Allah[1], praise that complies with His blessings and compensates His abundance. Our Lord, for You is all praise as befits the majesty of Your countenance and the might of Your authority. O Allah, I cannot sufficiently enumerate praises upon You; You are as You have praised Yourself. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone and He has no partner, and I bear witness that Muḥammad is His slave and Messenger and His sincere and intimate friend, the best prophet that Allah sent to the entire world as a herald of glad tidings and admonition. O Allah, pray upon, give peace and give blessings upon our Sayyid[2] Muḥammad and upon the family of our Sayyid Muḥammad, prayers and peace that last inseparably until the Day of Judgement. I advise you and my sinning self to have fearful awareness of Allah the Exalted.

To proceed, dear slaves of Allah:

Recently, an āya from Allah’s Book, Mighty and Majestic caught my attention and held it for a long time, and it stirred up overflowing feelings of security, tranquillity, pride and joy, and it is the statement of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted:

“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light. But those who disbelieve have false gods as protectors. They take them from the light into the darkness.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]

Then, more feelings of joy entered my thoughts when I came across the other āya that confirms and increases the meaning of this āya that caught my attention, and it is the one in which Allah says:

“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe and because those who disbelieve have no protector.” [Muḥammad 47:11]

Therefore, I am Allah’s pampered slave, living under His shade. I am His slave, safe under His guardianship and care, because I am from amongst those who believe in Him and know Him as One, Unique, Eternal Lord. From Him is the beginning and to Him is the end. I certainly haven’t been abandoned in the earth. I am not an orphan nor have I been orphaned in the deserts of the world. Psychological problems will never ensnare me. The maladies of depression will never ensnare me. The traps of transgressors and the forces of evil will never catch me, because I am shaded by Allah’s protection, because I am from those of whom Allah has said:

“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe.” [Muḥammad 47:11]

Indeed – dear brothers – indeed overflowing joy entered my being and a spirit of pride overwhelmed my feelings. Me! Who am I? I am Allah’s pampered slave, as I’ve told you, under His shade, and I believe that these feelings that entered my being when this āya in the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, caught my attention, must inevitably enter the thoughts of each one of you. Each of you must be struck by this āya and made to reflect on it:

“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]

This overflowing joy will undoubtedly enter you. You will inevitably feel the tranquillity that you have certainly not been abandoned in the earth. You are not orphans and you haven’t been orphaned in the deserts of the world. Indeed, neither psychological problems nor maladies of depression will ever ensnare you. Various psychological problems will never lead you to drugs and intoxicants, and other such things, because you are living under the shade of Allah’s protection. You are living under the shade of Allah’s guardianship:

“This is because Allah is the Protector of those who believe and because those who disbelieve have no protector.” [Muḥammad 47:11]

Once this joy has entered your being, each one of you must rejoice and recite this verse that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has taught us when He addressed us, informing us:

“My Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book. He takes care of the righteous.” [Al-ʾAʿrāf 7:196]

Yes, yes my Lord:

“My Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book. He takes care of the righteous.” [Al-ʾAʿrāf 7:196]

Indeed I believe that these feelings should enter the thoughts of all Muslims. They should enter the being of the entire Islamic world, embodied by its people and its leaders, as long as we have been honoured by true faith in Allah, as long as we have been honoured by knowing that we are His owned slaves and that we are connected to this protection – His protection of us and His guardianship over us – that is because He is the Creator of the entire universe. That is because He is the administrator of the entire world. These feelings must enter the being of the entire Islamic world, wherever it is, and be embodied – as I have said – by its people and its leaders.

I am amazed, dear slaves of Allah, I am amazed at those who know Allah and know how they are under Allah’s protection and know how they are under Allah’s guardianship, yet they insist on falling down from the throne of Allah’s protection over them and submitting to the transgressors and the forces of evil, and then making themselves enslaved prisoners before them, enslaved prisoners of the transgressors. I am amazed at those who exchange Allah’s protection for the protection of the transgressors from amongst Allah’s slaves, Mighty and Majestic.

These forces of evil, which kick the Muslims around, left and right, right and left, play about with them as if they were playing with a ball; they proclaim democracy[3] and they call to it, and they threaten those who haven’t enjoined it upon themselves, and they do this as long as it is the vessel that they are able to ride in order to realise their interests, as long as it is the trustworthy servant that the forces of evil are able to herd towards their benefits and their stolen goods, for when the forces of evil see that democracy only serves its adherents and that democracy only guides its adherents towards the truth and they cling to it, and they turn away from falsehood and reject it,[4] see then how quickly the forces of evil turn and call for despotism and for the protection of despots, until the very last drop. Indeed it is not democracy or despotism, but rather special interests that the forces evil desire to make use of. The forces of evil desire to ride us like a vessel in order to realise their benefits and achieve their goals.

I am amazed at those who exchange Allah’s protection and shade and insist on falling from the throne of this divine protection, and then surrender to the prison of these transgressors, or surrender to the forces of evil, dear slaves of Allah.

As for us, we are Allah’s believing slaves, we believe in Him. We are His slaves who know Him as One Lord Who has no partner and we know that we are His slaves. We have pledged ourselves to Him to be upon that way that He has commanded us to be upon, with our utmost effort. We pledged ourselves to Him to turn away from everything that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has warned us against, with our utmost effort.

Therefore, our Protector is Allah, Glorified and Exalted. This is our identity, dear slaves of Allah. This is our reality. We will never fall down from the throne of Allah’s protection over us. We will never turn our faces towards any direction in the world that entices us towards it for its own interests and its own benefits, desiring to control us and our rights. How? How can we exchange felicity for wretchedness? How can we leave the felicity that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has assuaged us with and let ourselves drool at wretchedness? Who would drool at the wretchedness that is enticing him for its own purposes, dear slaves of Allah!

This is a summary, which I have mentioned to you, of the revelation of joy that entered my being, and I am saying the truth: when I recently came across this beloved āya, which is so dear to us:

“Allah is the Protector (Walī) of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light.” [Al-Baqara 2:257]

Indeed I say to you in truth, bring glad tidings, and I say to myself: as long as we live within Allah’s shade, Mighty and Majestic, as long as we are proud of Allah’s protection over us, as long as we are truthful in our pledge to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that we will never take anyone besides Him as a protector, then I give myself and you the glad tidings that security will never desert us, that tranquillity will remain inseparable from us and that the joy of felicity will remain within us. Who is it that doubts that when Allah’s protection, Glorified and Exalted, follows an Ummah, then this Ummah will achieve every kind of felicity?

Dear slaves of Allah, the last thing that I want to say to you is an answer to a question that may have entered the thoughts of many of you: do you think that these tribulations that keep coming from all around us, from the east of the earth and the west, will any of it reach us? I give you this answer: Have you heard the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted? Indeed, He responds to you, and it’s as if it were revealed yesterday. Indeed it is the answer that is contained within this good news for you:

“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.” [Al-Anʿām 6:82]

Have you heard? Have you reflected on this speech?

“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.”

Indeed I declare, in my name, in your name, in the name of our Ummah here in our Shām, that we are believers in Allah. We are confident that we will adhere to the covenant of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as far as we are able. Therefore, security and safety will be our ally. Security and safety will never desert us. This is glad tidings from the Lord of all Creation to us.

“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing, they are the ones who are safe; it is they who are guided.”

O Allah, indeed we call on You as our witness, that we are believers in You, so make all of us, O Allah – leaders and people – O Allah, make all of us from amongst “Those who believe and do not mix their faith with any wrongdoing” so that we can be safe and secure in this life and the next.

I say this statement of mine and I seek forgiveness from Allah the Most Great.

[1] tn: This Khutbah was given on February 25^th, 2011.

[2] tn: This word means master and is only used for human beings.

[3] tn: For more information on democracy, please have a look at this article which explains Plato’s position on democracy. Plato, one of the fathers of western civilisation, enumerated five types of government, from the most desirable to the least desirable:

Aristocracy – this is the best form of government, according to Plato, in which the ruler is a philosopher, someone whose soul has been educated through the contemplation of arts and the exercise of the intellect. Having studied philosophy, this ruler would know the true virtues and, therefore, he would be able to lead people towards wellness and prosperity. Since the ruler would be virtuous, he would not want to deceive and abuse the citizens;

Timocracy – this is the form of government ruled by warriors in which all the political decisions aim to bring military power and status. Timocrats may seek virtues just as the aristocrats, but they also pursue power, which can lead them to wars and combats. Timocracy, according to Plato, is a kind of government that arises when aristocracy starts to degenerate;

Oligarchy – this is the system of government that establishes a division between the rich and the poor. The rich ones, which are fewer, rule and the poor must subject. This, according to Plato, is a problem because rich people are not necessarily virtuous, and when the power is in the hands of non-virtuous people, the rich will attempt to become richer and the poor might become even poorer due to bad policy, generating revolutions;

Democracy – democracy is the child of oligarchy. Since people cannot agree with the rich ruling and deceiving the poor, people start to believe that if they could choose the ruler, their interest would prevail. The poor are greater in numbers so they elect one of them to be in charge. However, since the masses aren't educated to become virtuous or to exercise the intellect, they are not apt to make political decisions that prioritize their real needs;

Tyranny –democracy naturally degenerates into tyranny and society becomes a total chaos in which there's no rule, no priorities and no laws. Whoever is stronger takes charge and does as he pleases. Nobody is able to remove a tyrant man from the power, as there's no law to be obeyed.

You will notice that democracy lies between oligarchy and tyranny, and it is effectively the oligarchy remaining firmly in control while giving the masses the impression that they have freedom of choice. In reality, they are easily taken advantage of because they are poorly educated; which would include being intellectually dependent and therefore incapable of making proper, meaningful decisions that would benefit them. Please see the post “Western Mass Education” for further details. For an article about how this does indeed work today, please read this article, in which the author says:

‘As Plato and Aristotle observed, the system allows the rich and powerful to manipulate the ill-informed and to influence policy to further their personal interests.’

As for tyranny, what Plato says is more or less a description of how Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came into power in Germany. Norman Davies, in his seminal work Europe: A History, states:

‘Hitler’s democratic triumph exposed the true nature of democracy. Democracy has few values of its own: it is as good, or as bad, as the principles of the people who operate it. In the hands of liberal and tolerant people, it will produce a liberal and tolerant government; in the hands of cannibals, a government of cannibals. In Germany in 1933-44 it produced a Nazi government because the prevailing culture of Germany’s voters did not give priority to the exclusion of gangsters.’ (p.969)

Allah the Exalted has said: “Allah never changes a people's state until they change what is in themselves.” [Ar-Raʿd 13:11]

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, said: “As you are, you will be ruled over.” (كما تكونوا يولى عليكم), as mentioned by Imam As-Suyūṭī in Al-Jāmiʿ As-Ṣaghīr.

For more details on authority and ruling in Islam, please see the series 13 Centuries of Islamic History.

[4] tn: i.e. allowing people to govern themselves, in whatever form of government, may not suit their interests.

Reciting the Qurʾān for the Deceased

2011-03-05T11:17:00.008Z

Question: Does the reward of the Fātiḥa and reciting other parts of the Qurʾān reach the deceased after they have died or after have they have been buried in their graves or any other place?

Answer: [Sheikh Wahba Az-Zuḥaylī:] There are two conflicting opinions on this matter that have been mentioned by As-Sanʿānī in his book Bushra Al-Kaʾīb bi Liqāʾ al-Ḥabīb.

The first opinion, which is the dominant [mashūr] opinion of the madhabs of Mālik and Ash-Shāfiʿī, is that it does not reach.

The second opinion, which is the madhab of Imam Aḥmad and the majority of the salaf and the four madhabs, including the later Mālikīs and Shāfiʿīs, is that the reward does reach. Imām Abū Ḥanīfa said: ‘The deceased receives everything from ṣadaqa and whatever else.’ He also said: ‘Read “Āyat al-Kursī” three times and “Qul huwa Allahu aḥad” and say: “O Allah, indeed the bounty [faḍl] is for the people of the graves.”’

As-Sanʿānī mentioned the proofs for the second opinion, who say that the deceased benefit from what the living do for them, from the Book, the Sunnah, the Consensus [ijmāʾ] and the principles of the Revealed Law.

As for the Book, it is His, the Exalted’s, statement: “Those who come after them say: ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith.” [Al-Ḥashr 59:10] Allah praised them because they sought forgiveness for the believers who came before them, and this proves that the deceased benefit from the living seeking forgiveness. The deceased benefitting from supplication [duʾā] is also proved by the Consensus of the Ummah regarding supplicating for them in the janāza prayer.

The aḥādīth have confirmed that he, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, supplicated in the janāza prayer for whoever sent prayers on him, and he said: ‘O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, excuse him and pardon him.’[1]

Consensus has been made stating that it is permissible for a debt to be discharged on behalf of a deceased person by anyone, close or far, and that if the deceased owes a debt to a living person, that person can waive it and no longer make any claim to it, just as he would with a living person. Consensus has also been made stating that the reward of fasting (voluntary or obligatory) reaching the deceased being confirmed in the Sunnah is proof that the reward of all other actions reaches them. The texts have confirmed that the reward reaches the deceased for three kinds of worship, physical (i.e. fasting), financial (giving charity on behalf of the dead) and both the physical and financial together (through performing the Hajj on behalf of a deceased person or someone who is chronically ill and unable to move).[2]

Ibn Taymiyah[3] said: ‘Indeed the deceased benefit from the recitation of Qurʾān, as they benefit from financial worship such as charity (ṣadaqa) and other things.’ Likewise, An-Nawawī said in Al-Majmūʿ[4]: ‘The reward for reciting the Qurʾān reaches the deceased.’

In conclusion, the relied-upon (muʿtamad) position of the four madhabs is that the reward for reciting the Qurʾān reaches the deceased if the living dedicate it to them.

[Translated from Fatāwā Muʿāṣira by Sheikh Wahba Az-Zuhaylī, p. 273-274 (Dar Al-Fikr, Damascus, 2003)]

[1] Narrated by Al-Bukhārī in Al-Adab as well as Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, At-Tirmidhī and An-Nisāʾī from Abū Hurayra.

[2] Translator’s note (tn): The Imam is mentioning this statement because this is what everyone is agreed upon. This issue also includes other actions, such as reciting the Qur’an and so forth, as there are famous positions from Shāfiʿī Imams stating that such things do not reach the dead and are not to be done. It is this position that Salafiyyah adopts as if there were no other position , when in fact there is a difference of opinion.

[3] tn: i.e. Taqī ud-Dīn Ahmad ibn Taymiyah.

[4] tn: This is Imām An-Nawawī’s 27-volume fiqh book, which is the ultimate reference work for the Shafiʿī school.

Who Is Ibn Taymiyah?

2011-03-02T22:37:00.002Z

Assalaam alaykum,

Imam Taqi u-Deen Ibn Taymiyah is one of the most divisive figures in Islamic history, with some claiming him to be the Sheikh of Islam while there are others who claim that he exited Islam. Alhamdulillah, in these three shorts videos, Al-Hajj Abu Ja'far Al-Hanbali tells us where the truth of the matter lies by explaining Ibn Taymiyah's family background, his scholarship, his creedal positions, his fatawa, his tasawwuf, and so forth.

In the first video the discussion starts at 8:40, although before that there is a beneficial discussion on Imam an-Nawawi and other great scholars who died in that time period.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

Note: These videos are taken from the series 13 Centuries of Islamic History(Week 7, parts 5, 6 and 7), courtesy of the Reasons for Faith Channel.

Mawlid and Our Reality

2011-02-24T07:59:00.005Z

Assalaam alaykum,

Alhamdulillah, a new khutbah by Sheikh Ramadan Al-Bouti is now available from www.marifah.net, entitled 'The relationship between the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, and the reality of the Ummah.' Please have a read.

For further details on the 'amaama being the crown of the Muslims, please have a look at this article, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi