Nuha

Riyadh backs Tunisia's plan to host friends of Syria

2012-02-14T06:33:00.001+01:00

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article575198.ece

Shaytan is the third

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000+01:00

♥ Valentine's Day ♥

2012-02-13T06:31:00.000+01:00

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

Celebrating Valentine's Day is what the Non-Muslims do,

Shaitaan is present between the intimate two,

So remember O' Muslim its Haraam for you!

(Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab [rahimuhullah] on Facebook)

Letter from Muslim man to the woman he loves

2012-02-13T06:30:00.000+01:00

A nice reminder for brothers and sisters alike!

If you love me, don’t confess your love to me through haraam ways.

This won’t please me and will instead drive me away! Love games don’t attract me. If you love me, have sabr and I will knock on your door when the time is right. Don’t give me privileges which I don’t deserve.

Keep me away from you, and I will approach you. If you approach me, I will stay away from you. I want to teach you love when the right time comes and when you will be mine, only when we are joined together to our Creator’s satisfaction.

Don’t tell me what you feel, don’t give me from your time, don’t push me to lose you. I am a man who does not want to see the one he loves committing sins or to live a forbidden love behind her family’s back. I don’t want her to feel guilty and don’t want her heart to suffer.

Put me under limits that I won’t cross, kill me inside you so I won’t grow to kill you inside me. Preserve what is beautiful inside you. I want you innocent, chaste, pure. I want you my love, but with Allaah’s blessings and not shaytan’s whisperings. And then, only then, I will face everything and will be ready to go through difficulties to get you. Don’t be easy because then, I may not value you. Don’t love me now, so I won’t hate you! My heart wants you and doesn’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to be just a passing fancy for me.

I want you a wife, a lover, the mother of my children. I want you to be the one I will spend my whole life with. How could I be a faithful man to you when I try to break your chastity? How would I be faithful to you if I push you to betray your family? How could I trust a love which grew under Allaah’s wrath?

To make you mine through niqah is Islaam’s way. Till then wait patiently and do not dismay. To love you means to protect you, to love you is to bring you closer to Allaah and His Deen, to preserve you and not to kill what is beautiful inside you.

Your husband-to-be, In sha Allaah!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
♥ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“We do not think that there is anything better for those who love one another than marriage.”

(Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 1847; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri and by Shaykh al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 624) ♥

(Nikah.com on FB)

The Deen Show - Valentine's day? With Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick

2012-02-13T06:29:00.000+01:00

Back to school!

2012-02-13T06:00:00.001+01:00

Allahu akbar! After being unemployed for more than a year despite a good CV, Allah was Most Merciful to me and allowed me to find a new job, in which I can wear my Hijab. It is a totally other job than that which I have done the last 12+ years and it starts with a 3-months course which automatically turns into a job at the company which trains me - alhamdulillah!

The course starts in 2 hours and I am so exited! I feel like a little girl on her first school day, since that course is accompanied by a couple of smaller tests and ends with a big one infront of an official commission.

Even though my financial situation will now even worsen - can anyone imagine that a working person gets less salary then an unemployed who had a well-paid job before - I am most happy that I finally found a job in which my colleagues don't seem to mind that I am a Muslima (let's see how they will react when I ask them for a place to pray during the lunch break!). I already felt so happy when I went there the first time, because the first person I saw there was a Turkish woman wearing a Hijab - alhamdulillah!

May Allah guide those who mind Muslimas wearing a Hjab and may Allah make Muslimas keep steadfast in their religious responsibilities.

Allahu akbar!

Arab League wants UN peacekeepers in Syria

2012-02-13T05:52:00.001+01:00

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article574708.ece

US Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf

2012-02-13T05:50:00.003+01:00

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article574842.ece

Saudi Arabia: How long will we watch Syrian massacres?

2012-02-13T05:49:00.001+01:00

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article574734.ece

Salafism is only an approach, says justice minister

2012-02-13T05:48:00.001+01:00

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article574685.ece

Doctors Without Borders - Syria testimonies

2012-02-12T21:21:00.002+01:00

May Allah protect our brothers and sisters in Syria, Palestine etc.!

http://vimeo.com/36408836

Ron Paul - Cause and Effect

2012-02-12T09:32:00.001+01:00

This video is not endorsed, approved or funded by Congressman Ron Paul.

Quote of the day

2012-02-11T22:46:00.003+01:00

Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like the deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens. What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.

[Imam Al-Ghazali, rahimahullah]

(Ummah Welfare Trust on FB)

Carly - Autistic Girl Expresses Unimaginable Intelligence

2012-02-11T20:04:00.001+01:00

Carly on Facebook.

Carly's book.

Syria - Boy wounded terribly

2012-02-11T08:16:00.001+01:00

WARNING: This video is of graphic nature!

I do not speak Arabic but I have read, that the medical staff can be heard crying out “Where are the muslims? Baaba amar (district in homs) is in tears”.

MIA tour rider features burka-wearing backing dancers

2012-02-11T00:16:00.002+01:00

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/mia-2011-rider

M.I.A. Wears Burqa On Red Carpet

2012-02-11T00:11:00.000+01:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/mia-burqa-scream-2010_n_766131.html#s159257

Quote of the day

2012-02-10T23:41:00.001+01:00

Indeed, what kind of piety is there in a person who witnesses Allah's sanctities being violated, his religion abandoned, the Sunnah of His Messenger shunned, and yet remains still with a cold heart and a shut mouth? Such a person is like a dumb Shaytan! - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

(الله-Daily Reminders-الله on FB)

Arab League asks the Vatican not to sign agreements with Israel

2012-02-10T14:42:00.001+01:00

http://www.aljazeerah.info/News/2012/February/9%20n/Vatican%20to%20Sign%20Agreement%20with%20Israeli%20Occupation%20Government,%20in%20Violation%20of%20International%20Law%20Concerning%20Occupied%20Jerusalem.htm

Pls visit that brother in hospital!

2012-02-10T12:38:00.000+01:00

Fwd: Assallamu Alaikum Can everyone plz send the men in your family to visit Abdullaah Prescot who is a Jewish revert suffering from cancer. He's in Hammersmith Hospital, Ducane Road, Weston Ward - room 4. Visting hours are from the morning till 9pm. He recently told a brother he had spent 35 days in hospital and no brothers had come to see him. SubhanAllaah let's fulfill the haqq of our brother inshaAllaah. May Allaah grant him health and rectify his affairs...ameen thumma ameen.

BarakAllaahu Feek. Plz spread the word

(Striving for Jannah on FB)

Malaysia arrests Saudi blogger over tweets

2012-02-10T12:26:00.001+01:00

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/02/20122105349670993.html

http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/hamzahkashghri-sparks-polarising-debate-twitter-0022029

Shia scholars say Fatimah is above Allah

2012-02-10T10:53:00.000+01:00

Oh Shia! Do You Call Ali (R) Insane

2012-02-10T10:52:00.002+01:00

Violent Monkey Takeover Caught on Camera

2012-02-10T10:52:00.001+01:00

Ifta wants Kashghari tried for apostasy

2012-02-10T10:42:00.000+01:00

By ARAB NEWS
Published: Feb 10, 2012 02:59 Updated: Feb 10, 2012 02:59

RIYADH: In a new development in the case of Saudi writer Hamza Kashghari, who wrote a few tweets that were considered slanderous to Almighty Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him), the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Religious Edicts (Ifta) issued a strongly worded statement in which it said mocking Allah or His Prophet is a downright sacrilegious act, kufr (infidelity) and apostasy that should no go undetected, local daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Thursday.

"Whoever dares make a mockery of Allah, the Prophet or the Holy Book undermines the religion and displays enmity toward it. It is the duty of the rulers to try such a criminal," the committee said, warning Muslims to stay away from such practices so as to avoid exasperating God.

The committee issued its statement after a meeting under its chairman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Grand Mufti.

The Prophet's Sunnah and Sciences, an Internet site, also strongly denounced Kashghari's blunders and urged the authorities to take stringent actions against him. "This is a sacrilegious action necessitating harsh punitive measures to deter others who might think of doing the same thing," supervisor of the website Faleh Al-Saqeer said.

He expressed confidence that the rulers of this Islamic country would not allow the culprit to get off scot-free.

According to local press reports, Kashghari left the country two days ago. People close to him said that he repented and regretted what he had said about Allah and His Prophet.

Under Islamic Shariah law, anyone who commits sacrilegious actions that may make him or her kafir should be given three days to repent, failing which the person is to be beheaded.

250m copies of Qur'an distributed

2012-02-10T10:34:00.000+01:00

By ARAB NEWS
Published: Feb 10, 2012 02:59 Updated: Feb 10, 2012 02:59

RIYADH: The King Fahd Complex for Printing the Holy Qur’an distributed more than 250 million copies of the Holy Qur’an, translations and other religious books until January this year since its establishment 27 years ago, according to its report issued Thursday.

King Fahd launched the Holy Qur’an printing complex with the aim of preserving, printing and distributing sacred texts to the Muslims all over the world in Madinah in February 1985.

The complex has an annual production capacity of more than 10 million copies.

Its publications include complete mushafs (books which contain the text of the Holy Qur’an), parts of the holy text, audio recordings, translations and books on the Sunnah and biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The report said the complex distributed 224,630 copies and translations of the Holy Qur’an in 21 languages during the Hijri month of Safar (Dec.26, 2011 to Jan.23, 2012), the Saudi Press Agency reported.

“The complex distributed 174,224 copies of the full text of Holy Qur’an and 9,760 copies of parts of the text, 2,570 copies of audio recordings of recitations, 30,960 translations in other languages and 7,116 copies of the various religious books over the first two months of the new Hijri year,” the statement said.

The copies were distributed through charitable societies, the Prince Sultan bin Salman Competition for the Memorization of Holy Qur’an for Children with Special Needs, National Guard’s guidance offices in different parts of the Kingdom, the religious affairs department of the Armed Forces, the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh, Sheikh Muhammad bin Saleh Al-Othaimin Charity Foundation and the Ministry of Economy and Planning in addition to the Cairo International Book Fair and the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Sacred Places and Affairs Ministry of Jordan. Each pilgrim is given a copy of the mushaf when returning after the Haj in line with an order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The complex is supervised by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance. Sheikh Saleh Al-Asheikh, minster of Islamic affairs, is the general supervisor and chief of the complex.

The complex also trains Saudis to work in different technical departments of the complex such as montage, printing, binding and maintenance.

The complex also has five manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an.

Doctors Without Borders: Syria withholding basic care

2012-02-09T18:52:00.003+01:00

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/02/09/intv-syria-doctors-without-borders.cnn?iref=videosearch

Provocative Discussion on Homosexuality and Islam Draws Hundreds

2012-02-09T18:04:00.002+01:00

http://www.muslimlinkpaper.com/index.php/community-news/community-news/2878.html

Quote of the Day

2012-02-09T13:13:00.000+01:00

"Whoever brings slanders to you about others, will make slander about you. And whoever reports to you, will soon report about you."

(Imam Ash-Shafi'ee)

(Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick on FB)

Yarrow Mamout

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000+01:00

Yarrow (Mamout) Marmood was enslaved and brought from Guinea, Africa before the American Revolution. Mrs. Bell thought he was 14 when he was purchased but he claimed he was 35. Yarrow was given his freedom by Upton Bell of Montgomery County in the Washington, DC area, after he made the bricks for the Bell's large house in Georgetown, Maryland. On April 13, 1807, Upton Beall’s deed was recorded that the Negro Yarrow was given his freedom because he was more than forty-five years old and that he would not become a bother to the County of Washington.

Ever enterprising, he twice survived losses of his earning to whites but eventually bought a house and lot in Georgetown in Washington, DC.

He was known for his "sobriety and a cheerful conduct," his Muslim prayers in the streets, and his jocular way with local businessmen. After about a century in America he still adhered to Islam and its dietary restrictions, saying, "It is no good to eat hog & drink whiskey is very bad."

In the 1800 and 1810 census Yarrow’s name was listed as Negro Yarrow with a wife or elderly woman living with him. In the 1810 census Yarrow’s name was listed as Yarrow Marmood with one woman living with him. Yarrow had established a hauling business, owned real estate on what is now 3330-3332 Dent Place NW, and he had invested some of his savings in the stock of the Bank of Columbia. One of Yarrow’s neighbors and friend was another manumitted slave named Joseph Moor who became a respectable grocer in Georgetown.

In Washington, DC the 1820 census identifies Yarrow Marmood and Joseph Moore, both with families and free men. The census identifies Yarrow and a female family member and two other free people of color (blacks), Grace Almonds a family of four and Yarrow’s neighbor Charley Brown a family of three, and one slave. The 1820 census also has three other free blacks Obed Diner a family of five, Free Catty a family of three, and Nelly a family of two.

On April 12, 1844, Yarrow’s estate was administered by probate court in Washington, DC, under the name Negro Yarrow. Yarrow lived to be more than 100 years old. The dates of his birth and death have been recorded as 1736-1844.

Two pictures of Yarrow exsits today, one painted by James Simpson in 1822 which hangs in the Peabody Room at Georgetown public library, and the other picture painted by Charles Wilson Peale in 1819 which hangs at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Mahmout claimed to be 133 at the time when Peale painted it.

Sources:

History of Muslims In America

African Muslims in antebellum America by Allan D. Austin

The woman’s educational status in Islam

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000+01:00

Islam is a religion that is closely related to science, acquiring knowledge, learning and teaching. It is enough to remember that the first word in the constitution of Islam – the Quran - that regulates Muslims’ life and legislates for them is…“Read…”

In principle, seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim - male or female - as stated by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. [Ibn Maajah and Abu Ya‘la (Al-Albaani: Saheeh - Authentic)]

There are numerous Quranic verses and prophetic Hadeeths that call for learning, thinking, seeking evidence and searching for wisdom. For example, Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

{Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding.} [Quran 39:9]
{Allaah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allaah is Acquainted with what you do.} [Quran 58:11]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:

"When Allaah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him understanding of the religion (of Islam).” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
“Allaah makes the way to Paradise easy for him who treads a path in search of knowledge.” [Muslim, Abu Daawood, Ibn Maajah, At-Tirmithi and Al-Haakim]

These texts are general, comprehensive and address both men and women equally and urge both of them to acquire and seek any knowledge that may benefit them in this world and the Hereafter.

As for the texts that addressed women specifically, Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And remember what is recited in your houses of the verses of Allaah and wisdom. Indeed, Allaah is Ever Subtle and Acquainted [with all things].} [Quran 33:34]

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, presented the best example in instructing the Muslim women to learn and teach. For example, he asked one of the female companions to teach Hafsah, may Allaah be pleased with her, how to read and write.

He also educated ‘Aa’ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, such that she became knowledgeable about the Sharee‘ah. She was very intelligent, sharp-witted and a strong memorizer of all that she heard or knew.

Al-A‘mash, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said that Muslim reported that Masrooq said that he was asked, “Was ‘Aa’ishah competent inheritance rulings?” He answered, “Yes, by Allaah, I saw the senior companions of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asking her about inheritance affairs.” [Ibn Abi Shaybah, Al-Haakim, At-Tabaraani and Ibn Hajar]

‘Urwah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said about her, '' I have not seen a more knowledgeable person in jurisprudence, medicine or poetry than ‘Aa’ishah.” [Ibn ‘Abdulbarr, Al-Mizzi, Ath-Thahabi and Ibn Hajar]

‘Ataa’ ibn Abi Rabaah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, “She was the most knowledgeable of all people in jurisprudence and wise judgment.” [Ibn ‘Abdulbarr, Al-Mizzi, Ath-Thahabi and ‎As-Suyooti]

‘Aa’ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, was known for her extensive knowledge of Sharee‘ah including Tafseer (Quranic exegesis), Hadeeth, and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), to the extent that Al-Haakim mentioned in Al-Mustadrak that one quarter of the rulings of Sharee‘ah was reported from her.

That is why Abu Moosa Al-Ash‘ari, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, “We, the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, never asked ‘Aa’ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, about a Hadeeth regarding which we were in doubt without finding that she had knowledge of it.”[At-Tirmithi, Ibn ‘Adiyy and Ath-Thahabi (Al-Albaani: Saheeh - Authentic)]

Therefore, she remains considered as one of the most senior and revered teachers and educators throughout Islamic intellectual history.

'Urwah ibn Az-Zubayr, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said to ‘Aa’ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, “O my mother, the fact that you are knowledgeable about poetry and history does not astonish me, but what really astonishes me is your knowledge about medicine. I wonder, who taught it to you and how you were taught?” She placed her hand on his shoulder (she was his maternal aunt) and said, “My dear son, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was sick at the end of his life and the visiting Arab delegations that came from all over Arabia gave him many prescriptions and it was me who used to treat him with these prescriptions.” [Ahmad and Al-Haakim]

If we went on speaking about the influence of Islam on women’s education, we would find countless examples of women who became knowledgeable about their religion and permanent attendees of knowledge sessions. For example:

Ibn ‘Asaakir, may Allaah have mercy upon him, mentioned that he had eighty female teachers.
Al-Balaathuri, may Allaah have mercy upon him, mentioned in Futooh Al-Buldaan that in his time the Muslim women learnt how to read and write and that the number of known literate women was equal to half of the known literate men.
Historians also mentioned that the female lecturers during the Umayyad caliphate reached to being about eighty in number and that some of them taught medicine and other sciences.

(Islamweb.net)

Syrian siege of Homs is genocidal, say trapped residents

2012-02-08T18:47:00.004+01:00

Tuesday 7 February 2012
Luke Harding, Mona Mahmood and Matthew Weaver · guardian.co.uk

A still from a video filmed in Homs shows bodies wrapped in white sheets outside a hospital in the Bab al-Amr neighbourhood. Photograph: AP

People in the city describe snipers, bombings and their fear that the regime is preparing to make a lethal final assault

Residents inside the besieged city of Homs claim they are under "genocidal attack" from a Syrian regime apparently deaf to international opinion and determined to "bomb, starve and shoot" them into submission.

On Tuesday night the city was under massive continuous bombardment, witnesses told the Guardian, with rockets raining down from the sky every few minutes, and helicopters and fighter planes circling overhead. They said Syrian army tanks had encircled opposition-held suburbs, in preparation for what they feared was a final, deadly ground assault.

"The regime didn't expect us to continue our struggle against them," activist Karam Abu Rabea said via Skype. "They didn't think we would persist. So now it is using its last card. It is the genocide card."

Rabea described the humanitarian situation as appalling. He said the regime was deliberately attempting to starve families trapped in rebel-controlled districts. Army snipers had been positioned on the main roads, he added, and were able to mow down anyone who moved on smaller, intersecting side roads. No one could escape, he said. Two journalists – Salah Murjan and Khalid Abu Salah, documenting the horrors of Homs – were shot by snipers.

Rabea said: "There is no food allowed to get inside neighbourhoods opposing the regime. Especially bread. We don't have any bread. They are targeting the vital installations of the city: bakeries, the hospital, mosques. Some of the bakeries were shut by force. The regime cut off internet and phones on Monday. I have a satellite set, which is why I can speak to you. The Assad regime is trying to destroy Homs completely."

His comments came as Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, held talks in Damascus on Tuesday with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, after Russia and China vetoed a UN security council resolution on Saturday that was designed to stop the bloodshed. The vetoes prompted global condemnation, with the US closing its embassy on Damascus on Monday, and Britain recalling its ambassador for consultations. On Tuesday the diplomatic exodus from Damascus continued, with France and Italy withdrawing their ambassadors. Six Gulf states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – also pulled their envoys out and expelled Syrian ambassadors from their own countries.

Speaking on Tuesday, Lavrov said Assad had assured him he was "completely committed to the task of stopping violence regardless of where it may come from".

But the claim bore little resemblance to the bloody reality inside Homs.

Rabea described how government forces began a pincer movement against the city 10 days ago. He said soldiers slaughtered three families living on the edge of the Karm al-Zayton district, apparently to send a message to opposition forces who have been holding out against the regime since last year.

"It started with a massacre. Trucks of soldiers pulled up. They executed the women and men inside the house and stabbed the children with knives. They killed four members of the Bahader family, 11 from the A'kra family and six from the al-Muhammad family on 26 January," Rabea – who lives in the district – said. [The Guardian was unable to independently verify the report.]

Days later, [according to Rabea,] the bombardment began. First, the army forcibly evacuated students from Homs's university. It transformed the university's compound into a makeshift military base, bringing in truck-mounted missile launchers. The army also moved rocket launchers into the nearby town of Meskana, Rabea said.

"The regime changed its tactics. Instead of doing a ground incursion they are bombarding us from outside," he explained. "They are using artillery and land-to-air missiles." He added: "Many houses have been demolished. People were still inside them."

Other witnesses inside the city said there were ominous signs of preparations for a definitive final assault. Some 11 months after Syria's uprising began, with Homs its epicentre, Russian-made T-72 tanks had penetrated as far as Tripoli Street, south-east of Bab al-Amr, witnesses said. They counted 13 of them. Some 10-12 tanks surrounded al-Khaldiyeh. The Syrian army had entered via areas loyal to the regime, they added.

"We've heard continuous bombing since Monday. It hasn't stopped. Now there is firing as well," Waleed Fares, an activist speaking by satellite phone from inside al-Khaldiyeh said. "I've seen fighter planes and helicopters. We had 11 people killed here on Monday. Five people killed so far in my neighbourhood today. About 40-50 wounded. Women and children among the dead and injured."

Video footage filmed from a Homs rooftop, which emerged on Tuesday, apparently showed an apocalyptic scene: with missiles slamming every few seconds into residential areas, sending plumes of grey and black smoke into the skyline. The whine of a fighter jet could be heard. Against the sound of machine gun fire, a voice cries: "God is great." Other videos from Monday showed corpses lying in the corridor of a makeshift field hospital.

Another activist, Sufian, also speaking by satellite phone, said security forces had captured one hospital in al-Halemei. The injured were taken away to prison. The last field hospital in Bab al-Amr was bombed on Monday, he said. "We lost 10 people when we tried to evacuate it," he said. "This morning five people were killed. Since Friday more than 400 have died, and many more are under rubble."

He added: "We are using kitchen knives for surgery. All the field hospitals have been targeted. We are relying on domestic medicine cabinets to treat the injured. We don't have any blood for donations, or oxygen. We are calling on help from the whole world. We need urgent help opening the blockade of Homs."

Activists said the opposition fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were no match for their well-armed government adversaries, equipped with tanks, fighter planes, and Russian heavy weapons. "The soldiers who defected from the army only have Kalashnikovs. How can you face a battalion with a Kalashnikov?" Sufian asked. "Tanks have been captured, but they were very exposed, and the regime could easily target them. It's a target you cannot hide."

Amid the horror, some activists expressed – remarkably – optimism. They said that despite the ongoing massacre – with Homs becoming Syria's bloody counterpart to the Libyan town of Misrata – they still expected Assad's regime to crumble. Rabea said that in the wake of this weekend's failure to find a diplomatic settlement the only way the world could stop the slaughter in Syria was to arm the FSA.

"The international community needs to give the FSA money. And weapons. We need the Red Cross here. We need a no-fly zone. And we need safe havens so that people can flee." Who did he blame for the situation in Homs? "We blame Russia and China mainly for all the killing happening in the city now." He added: "Our crime is that we wanted freedom. But what we got from the regime was this increase of killing that started a year ago."

For the moment, the existential hell that is Homs continues. Waleed said that families who had survived four days of bombardment were sitting on the ground floor of their houses, hoping and praying the attacks would stop. Children were asking their parents if they would survive, he said, and the parents were unable to answer. "We're waiting," Waleed said. "Waiting to see if we live or die."

(The Guardian on FB)

Shaikh Muhammad Alarifi Friday Khutba,19,02,1433, My sights in Syria

2012-02-07T16:36:00.000+01:00

The Syrian System threatened Shaikh Muhammad Al-Arifi and other speakers and scholars to be killed. They are threatened by kidnapping their families, burning their houses because of their campaign of giving victory to Syria on different TV channels such as Iqra, Al-Weesal, Safa, Al-Burhan, Al-Hikmah, Syrian Nation TV and others . Imams and scholars were also threatened in case they left Saudi Arabia to be tortured like they are torturing Syrian imams inside Syria.

Please read the rest on the YT channel directly. BarakAllah feek!

Maryam bint Jahsh

2012-02-07T05:16:00.000+01:00

Muslim women excelled, not only Fiqh, Hadeeth and Tafseer but also in other Islamic sciences. One such example is of Maryam bint Jahsh, may Allaah have mercy upon her, who lived in the 4th Century; she was an expert of the language in which Allaah chose to reveal the Quran (i.e. Arabic).

She was married to the great Yemeni scholar Jamaal Ad-Deen ‘Ali ibn ‘Abu Al-Fawaaris Al-Hamdaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him. Not only was it due to her knowledge of the Arabic language, but also the acuteness of her mind, that Maryam bint Jahsh, may Allaah have mercy upon her, was able to subtly resolve a difficult point for her husband.

Her husband had been engaged in debate with some adherents of a sect called Murji’ah. Their heresy was such that they believed that as long as one had faith in their heart, regardless of what they commit with the limbs, faith by itself will secure their salvation. Her husband, ‘Ali, may Allaah have mercy upon him, quoted the end of verse 40 of Chapter Al-A‘araaf: "…. Indeed those who belie our signs (aayaat) and disdain them — for them the gates of the heaven will not be opened, nor will they enter the Garden, until the camel passes through the eye of the needle." [Quran 7:40]

The Murji’i who was debating said: “This is easy for Allaah, with His Power, if He Wills, He passes the camel through the eye of the needle.’ When ‘Ali, may Allaah have mercy upon him, returned home his mind was still preoccupied and he could not sleep during the night. His wife, Maryam, may Allaah have mercy upon her, asked him what was wrong; after he, may Allaah have mercy upon him, explained to her what the matter was she said one sentence that gave ‘Ali, may Allaah have mercy upon him, not only a good nights sleep, but a very good nights sleep. She, may Allaah have mercy upon her, said, ‘In the verse of the Quran the camel is the subject [of the verb], not the object.’

(Islamweb.net)

Eight medical reasons to prohibit swine flesh

2012-02-07T05:00:00.000+01:00

Trichina (a.k.a. roundworm)

found in swine's flesh

Why did Islam prohibit eating the flesh of swine?

The answer to this question has remained debatable among Muslims and those of other religions who eat the flesh of swine and breed pigs, as they were unconvinced of the reasons for which Islam forbade eating the flesh of swine until they were panic-stricken by the epidemic outbreak of swine flu that overwhelmed the world.

Let Dr. Hassaan Mustafa, a member of the World Union of Health in Canada, enumerate to us the diseases transmitted by the flesh of swine to man:

The pig cannot get rid of the entire quantity of uric acid that is formed in its body, given that it is the main element of urine. It gets rid of only 2% and 98% remains in its flesh. That simply means that the flesh of swine is saturated with the main element of urine, which the bodies of all living beings on the surface of the earth endeavor to get rid of through the urinary system, due to the poisonous substances it contains. This is why those who eat the flesh of swine have high rates of arthritis, due to the high rate of uric acid in their blood.
The flesh of swine is hard to digest; and it takes four complete hours in order to be digested, given that the amount of digested protein that is absorbed after that process does not exceed 14%. For this reason, the flesh of swine is nutritiously bad and unworthy of the money paid for it, given that the flesh of swine, in many countries, is more expensive than the flesh of other animals whose flesh is edible with no similar problems.
The flesh of swine contains high rates of the growth hormone, which accelerates the proliferation of cancer cells if there are any.
The fat of swine is hard to digest and emulsify in the digestive system. The greatest portion of it is formed of harmful saturated fats. It is absorbed from the intestines into the blood in the form of huge molecules, that might possibly sediment on the walls of blood vessels and block them, causing blood clot, let alone sclerosis and noticeable high rates of cholesterol and saturated fats (triglycerides) in the blood.
The fat of swine sediments in the human body in the same place it comes from in the pig; and this is indeed strange!!! If the fat comes from the belly of the pig, it would settle in the belly of the person who eats it. In this way, the fat of swine helps distort the human body.
Eating the flesh of swine paves the way for many ailments and skin problems and diseases, like pimples, sores, fat sacks, and itching, for it contains a high rate of histamine.
Pigs and their flesh are the source of more than 57 parasitic, germ-caused and virus-caused diseases transmitted to man, of which a mention may be made of Trichinella, from which the flesh of swine could hardly be free. Trichinella parasites remain in the muscles of man, causing severe pains that might probably paralyze their movement. They might also remain in the diaphragm, causing breathlessness and consequently death. Moreover, those parasites might remain for more than thirty years in the muscles after encasing themselves in a calcic sac.
It is quite interesting to know that an American researcher published on the Archives of Internal Medicine website in 11/6/2001 that the renowned German musician Mozart (d.1791) likely died because of eating uncooked flesh of swine 44 days before the beginning of his 15-day fatal ailment. He was infected by Trichinella, which had not yet been known at that time.
The body of the pig in itself is regarded as a biological factory that has the potential to produce virus-caused diseases and epidemics that might affect man due to the genetic resemblance of pig cells to those of man. The world pandemic called swine flu which we are witnessing now is a result of the metamorphosis and merging of the viruses of bird flu, human flu and swine flu, together inside the body of the pig. They have been metamorphosed into a new deadly virus that is transferred from pigs to people and from man to man. In Canada, a case has been recently recorded where that disease was transmitted from an infected person to a herd of pigs, thus making that pandemic enter a dangerous integrated cycle.

(Islamweb.net, 17/01/2010)

Be like the panda

2012-02-06T20:14:00.002+01:00

Why do you worry?

2012-02-06T20:11:00.000+01:00

I contemplated on Allah’s instruction to us to magnify Him with all the magnificence. I was amazed by the times we say or hear Allahu Akbar. The call for prayer is 50 times done by the Mo’athin for the Athan and Iqamah, we say it during prayers more than 584, including the mandatory prayers, Sunnah and night prayers, and we say it 34 times before sleeping. We say Allah Akbar about 668 times a day. Allah is greater than anything that comes to your mind; your wife, boss, debts or illnesses. If you truly believe that Allah is greater than all, why do you worry? Why are you so tensed and stressed? Why don’t you put your trust in Him? If you believe in Allah, He will be with you and you will never be defeated.

(Assim Alhakeem on FB)

Celebrating Valentine's Day

2012-02-06T20:08:00.001+01:00

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Allah's Mighty Power

2012-02-06T17:54:00.001+01:00

http://orf.at/stories/2103593/2103578/

Quote of the Day

2012-02-06T05:54:00.000+01:00

When you give someone charity be thankful to them. You may be fixing their dunya, but they are fixing your akhirah.

(Ummah Welfare Trust)

My attitude

2012-02-05T20:45:00.001+01:00

Only you and Him

2012-02-05T18:35:00.001+01:00

Faatimah bint Muhammad ibn Ahmad, may Allaah have mercy upon her

2012-02-05T18:33:00.000+01:00

We are now going to meet one of the greatest Faqeehah (woman-scholar of Islamic Jurisprudence) of her time. She was renowned for her grounded knowledge of Hanafi Jurisprudence and was no other than the daughter of the great scholar and jurist, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abu Ahmad ‘Alaa’ Ad-Deen Al-Samarqandi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, whose book Tuhfat Al-Fuqahaa’ is well-known by the scholars and students of knowledge. Not only did she learn Fiqh from her father, but she memorized his book Tuhfat A- Fuqahaa’.

Being a jurist in itself is no small matter; one needs to be well-acquainted with the Quranic verses, ahaadeeh of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and the principles of the Mathab they wish to base their ruling on. Further they need to have knowledge of the circumstances and needs of the contemporary world. Her knowledge, may Allaah have mercy upon her, was such that it exceeded her husbands, who would consult her for her opinions, especially when lie erred in passing a Fatwa. Her name was Faatimah bint Muhammad ibn Ahmad, may Allaah have mercy upon her, and her father had married her to ‘Alaa’ Ad-Deen Abu Bakr ibn Mas‘ood Al-Kasaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, who was highly distinguished in the fields of Al-Usool and Al-furoo‘ and who was as "The king of scholars". He wrote a commentary on Tuhfat Al-fuqahaa’ entitled Badaa‘i Al-Sanaa‘i, and showed it to his Shaykh (the father of Faatimah), who was delighted with it and accepted it as a dowry for his daughter, although he had refused offers of marriage for her from some of the kings of Byzantium. The juristsof his time said, “He commentated on his (teacher's) Tuhfah and married his daughter.”

Before her marriage, Faatimah, may Allaah have mercy upon her, used to issue Fataawa (religious edicts and verdicts) along with her father, and the Fataawa would be written in her handwriting and that of her father. After she married the author of Al-Badaa‘i, the Fataawa would appear in her handwriting and that of her father and her husband. Her husband, may Allaah have mercy upon him, would make mistakes, and she would correct them. Ibn Al-'Adeem, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, ‘My father narrated that she used to quote the Hanafi Mathab (school of jurisprudence) very well. Her husband Al-Kasaanee sometimes had some doubts and erred in the [issuing of a] Fatwa; then she would tell him the correct opinion and explain the reason for [his] mistake … Her husband used to honor her and highly respect her.’

She, may Allaah have mercy upon her, authored many books from which scholars benefited, and she used to have a study circle. She lived during the era of the just ruler Noorud-Deen Ash-Shaheed, may Allaah have mercy upon him, who would consult her about different issues and he used to generously gift her.

(Islamweb.net)

Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah: the tortured scholar

2012-02-05T18:32:00.000+01:00

One day, his father and his family asked him to join them on a picnic but he suddenly disappeared, so they had to go out without him. When they came back at the end of the day, they blamed him for not going out with them. He said, pointing to a book in his hand: "You did not benefit anything from your trip, whereas I memorized all this book in your absence."

He was known for his physiognomy, sharp memory and wittedness which amazed the people of Damascus and made them admire him more and more. Though he was young, his fame reached the neighbouring territories. Once, one of the scholars of Halab visited Damascus. The scholars and dignitaries of the city went to welcome him. He told them: "I heard in other territories of a boy who is quick in memorizing everything. I came here to see him."

They led the man to the small school where the boy used to go to memorize the Quran. The Halabi scholar sat for a while until the boy passed with a big board in his hand. The scholar called him, so he went to him.

The scholar took the board from him and said to him: "Sit here son, and I’ll relate to you some Prophetic narrations to write." He dictated for him some, then he asked him to read them.

The boy started reading from the board. Then the Shaykh said to him: "Let me hear it from you." He then started recounting the narrations from his memory exactly like he was reading them from the board. The scholar told him: "Erase this, son." He cited more of the Prophet’s narrations and asked him to repeat them. The boy did the same again; he read it from the board and then from his memory. The scholar stood up saying: "Should this boy live long, he will have a great position [become a great scholar]. We’ve never seen anyone like him before."

This boy was later to be the tortured scholar, Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him who acquired his knowledge from the best scholars of his time. He studied the Hanbali school and no one surpassed him in it. He also studied the main books of the Prophet’s narrations and tradition such as the authentic narrations reported by Al-Bukhaari, Muslim and others.

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him was a devoted person who very much observed the acts of worship. He never let anything distract him from worshipping Allaah. He used to spend his night alone, imploring his Lord, continuously reciting the Quran and performing prayers, mentioning and invoking Allaah, and observing the optional late night prayer.

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him wrote a large number of books; he wrote more than three hundred books. He had a vast knowledge and wrote many classificatory books and literary works. He used to write up to four notebooks a day. One day, he managed to write the “Ar-Resaalah Al-Hamawiyyah” (The Hamawi Treatise) which is made up of seventy medium sized pages. He wrote it between the time of Thuhr and 'Asr prayers. He wrote all his books during the seven years he spent in prison, except the book of Al-Eemaan, (The Faith) which he wrote in Egypt.

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him was keen to do every kind of good deeds. Every week, he used to visit those who were ill especially those in the hospital. He was known for his asceticism and benevolence. He loved to give whatever he had whether it was little or much. Even when he had very little, he gave it in charity. He used to donate whatever he had. If he had nothing to give, he used to take off some of his clothes and give them to the poor.

Despite his poverty, he never accepted any donation from a king or prince. He didn’t save any money for himself; neither had he saved any furniture nor food.

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him was famous for his courage, valour, and brave initiatives. Whenever he went out for Jihaad (fighting in the Cause of Allaah) with the Muslims, he used to be in the front line, encouraging the warriors and arousing their determination and enthusiasm. He took part in conquest of 'Akkah and showed much bravery that proved his strong faith and love for participating in Jihaad.

When Qazaan, a Tartar king, took a number of Muslims as captives, Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him, went to him, rebuked him for this act and requested him to set the Muslim captives free and the king did.

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him, had a difficult life full of continuous trials, calamities, and tests. No sooner did one calamity end than a new one emerged. As soon as he is released from one prison, he is again locked up in another.

Towards the end of his life, some people plotted against him because of his opinion about prohibiting people from visiting the graves of the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, and righteous people. So they spread a rumor among the people that he belittled the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention. Accordingly, the judges of the four schools of Egypt ordered that he be imprisoned. So he was locked up in Damascus citadel.

In that citadel, Allaah inspired him with the understanding of many meanings of the Quran and the basics of knowledge that many scholars would have wished to have.

During his captivity in the citadel, he used to say: “If I gave as much gold as that which would fill this citadel, I wouldn’t have been grateful enough for this grace of being imprisoned.”

When he was reminded of the people who had hurt and caused his imprisonment, he said: “I can never reward them for the good they brought to me.”

Ibn Taymiyyah may Allaah have mercy upon him, remained in jail in that citadel for about two years till he died in 728 A.H. At the time of his funeral prayer in the mosque, the soldiers surrounded the funeral to protect it from the overwhelming crowds. The number of people kept increasing till they filled up all the alleys, streets and markets. May Allaah have mercy on this great scholar.

(Islamweb.net)

Anonymous says it will leak giant cache of Iraq war e-mails

2012-02-05T12:44:00.003+01:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/anonymous-hacks-fbi-scotland-yard-conference-call-about-anonymous/2012/02/03/gIQAjzr0mQ_blog.html?tid=pm_pop

Sheldon Adelson and Newt Gingrich: One gained clout from friendship, the other funding

2012-02-05T12:25:00.001+01:00

Miriam Adelson was born in Israel, and the couple donate to Jewish causes. They have given more than $100 million to Birthright Israel, a charity that pays for Jewish youths to visit Israel.

When the Adelsons were in Israel in December, to attend a Hanukkah ceremony for the program, Sheldon praised controversial comments made by Gingrich last month on the Jewish Channel, a U.S. cable network.

“Read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians, and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people,” Adelson was quoted as saying by the Web site of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/sheldon-adelson-and-newt-gingrich-one-gained-clout-from-friendship-the-other-funding/2012/01/11/gIQACvSrBQ_story_1.html

Iran mulls ban of Samsung over Israeli commercial depicting attack on nuclear plant

2012-02-05T11:52:00.003+01:00

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-mulls-ban-of-samsung-over-israeli-commercial-depicting-attack-on-nuclear-plant-1.410773

Quote of the Day

2012-02-05T05:53:00.000+01:00

‎"Choose carefully for your seed. Marry those who are equivalent (or "qualified") and give to them in marriage." - Ibn Majah

(MuslimMarriageAdvice on FB)

Celebrating Valentine’s Day

2012-02-05T05:48:00.000+01:00

Fatwa no. 21203

Q: Some people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14 by exchanging red roses, dressing in red, and congratulating one another on that day. Some cake shops make heart-shaped cakes in red and draw hearts on them and other shops advertise special items on sale for this day. What is your opinion on:
First: Celebrating this day?
Second: Buying from these stores on this day?
Third: Shop owners who do not celebrate this day selling gifts to those who do celebrate it?
May Allah reward you with the best.

A: The clear-cut evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah, upon which the Salaf (righteous predecessors) of this Ummah (nation based on one creed) of this Ummah unanimously agree, confirms that there are only two `Eids (festivals) in Islam: `Eid-ul-Fitr (the Festival of Breaking the Fast) and `Eid-ul-Adha (the Festival of the Sacrifice). Any other festival, whether peculiar to a person, a group, an event or stands for any meaning whatever, is an invented festival that is not permissible for Muslims to celebrate, approve of, enjoy, or support in any way, because this is considered to be a transgression of the Boundaries of Allah. Anyone who transgresses the boundaries set by Allah has wronged themselves. If we add to this fabricated festival the fact that it is one of the festivals of the Kafirs (disbelievers), this heaps sin upon sin, because it entails imitating them and is a type of support of them. Allah (Glorified be He) forbids the Mu'mins (believers), in His Ever-Glorious Book, from imitating or supporting the Kafirs. It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Anyone who imitates a people is one of them. 1 Valentine's Day falls under this heading, as it is one of the idolatrous Christian festivals. It is not lawful for a Muslim who believes in Allah and the Last Day to celebrate, approve of, or congratulate people on it; it is forbidden to them. Rather, it is obligatory for them to ignore and avoid it, in obedience to Allah and His Messenger and to keep away from that which will arouse Allah's Anger and incur Punishment.

It is also Haram (prohibited) for Muslims to support this festival or any other forbidden festival by any means, whether by supplying food or drinks; selling, buying, manufacturing, gift-giving, corresponding, advertising and so on, because all this comes under cooperating in sin and transgression, and disobeying Allah and His Messenger. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says: Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwâ (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is Severe in punishment. 2

It is obligatory for Muslims to adhere to the Qur'an and Sunnah in all matters, especially in times of Fitnah (trial) when corruption is widespread. They must be sagacious enough and on their guard to avoid falling into the misguidance of those who have earned Allah's Anger, those who went astray, or the Fasiqs (those flagrantly violating Islamic law) who have no fear of Allah nor have pride in being Muslims. Muslims should resort to Allah, asking for guidance and steadfastness in Islam, as it is Allah Alone Who guides and keeps us steadfast.

May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!

Fatwas of Permanent Committee, Miscellaneous Fatwas (Safar), Part No. 2, Page No. 263-264.

Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta'

Chairman: `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah Al Al-Shaykh
Member: `Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan
Member: Salih Al-Fawzan

Member: Bakr Abu Zayd

1 Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on clothing, no. 4031; Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 2, p. 50.

2 Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:2.

(alifta.net)

Markaz Ummul Mumineen Aysha Orphanage

2012-02-04T18:49:00.000+01:00

Situated in Hamarweyne, in the district of Banadir, is Markaz Ummul Mu’mineen Aysha bint Abu Bakr. An orphanage for girls, the centre has 41 staff and 200 orphans.

With your support, UWT is providing clothes, food, and medicines to these children.

http://www.uwt.org/site/article.asp?id=680

Shamsah - My story

2012-02-04T18:29:00.000+01:00

Hadith - Be kind to the ignorant

2012-02-04T15:08:00.000+01:00

On the authority of 'Abbaad ibn Sharhabeel (a man from Bani Gubar), radi Allahu anhu, who said: "One year we were afflicted with hunger and draught, so I went to Medina and I came to one of its gardens whereupon I took an ear of grain, opened it and ate (some of) it and put (the rest) inside my garment. Then the owner of the garden came and beat me and took my clothes. So I went to the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, and informed him about what happened and he, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, said to him (i.e. the owner of the garden): 'You did not feed him when he was hungry (or tired and hungry), and you did not teach him when he was ignorant?' Then the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, ordered him to return his clothes to him, and then he, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, ordered that he be given a wasq* of food or half a wasq of food."

Authenticated by Sheikh Al-Albani in Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah (Hadith #1861, Vol. 2, Pg. 31).

*Sixty or thirty saa'a of food.

(Kidness & Gentleness by Dr. Fadl Al-Ilaahi.)

Quote of the day

2012-02-04T09:59:00.001+01:00

"Do not sit idle, for indeed death is seeking you."

[Al-Hasan Al-Basree]

(Revive A Sunnah on FB)

You have all you need!

2012-02-04T08:17:00.001+01:00

Zeid Dakkan - Asma bint Umays

2012-02-04T08:15:00.000+01:00

Miswaak: The natural toothbrush

2012-02-04T06:30:00.000+01:00

The Miswaak was known before Islam, but Islam added a religious perspective to its usage.

The Prophetic guidance:

The Prophet, Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), recommended Muslims to clean their teeth using a Miswaak every day; especially upon waking up, when performing ablution, before prayer, when reciting the Quran, before sleeping, when entering the house, and when the mouth has a foul odor.

There are many Prophetic narrations that talk about Miswaak. Following are some of them:

‘Aa'ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, related that the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), said: "Ten things are part of one’s natural disposition: Trimming the moustache, growing a beard, (using) the Miswaak, sniffing water, cutting the nails, washing hands, plucking armpits, shaving pubic hair, and conserving water." [Muslim]

Furthermore, he, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), highlighted its importance, saying: "If it were not that it would create hardship for my people, I would have ordered them to use the Miswaak with every ablution and with every prayer." [Al-Bukhaari]

Medical discoveries:

The Miswaak is a natural tool for brushing the teeth. It is taken from the roots and branches of particular desert trees. It differs from one region to another, but in Arabia and Asia it is taken from the Arak tree. This is the most famous variety, and is the kind that was used by the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention ).

Its scientific name is Salvadora Persica. It is a tree that grows in hot equatorial countries, especially in desert valleys. It is widespread in the South of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, and elsewhere.

Salvadora Persica is an upright evergreen small tree or shrub, seldom more than one foot in diameter, reaching a maximum height of three meters. The leaves are small, oval, thick and succulent with a strong smell of cress or mustard.

The Miswaak is also obtained from other trees. In Africa, for example, it is cut from Lime and Orange trees, and in America some are cut from the Senna tree.

As the Arak tree is so well-known, and as it was the kind that the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention) used, it has been scientifically studied. The following summarize the various discoveries regarding Miswaak.

Health effects of Miswaak:

Physically, the Miswaak is a natural toothbrush. It is composed of a compact group of minute natural fibers that perform exactly the same function as a normal toothbrush except that it is made of natural rather than plastic fibers. For this reason it may be more gentle on the gums.

Miswaak's natural toothpaste is made up of many substances that are important for cleaning teeth. Many researchers have studied the Miswaak in depth, and have proven that Miswaak contains over ten different natural chemical compounds considered essential for good oral and dental hygiene.

They are: fluoride, silica, tannic acid, resins, alkaloids (salvadorine), volatile oils (sinigrin), sulfur vitamin C, sodium bicarbonate, chlorides, calcium, benzylisothiocyanate (BIT), and others including salicylic acids, sterols, trimethylamine, saponins, flavenoids.

Some of these components are stain removers and teeth whiteners, some protect teeth against caries, some are bactericidal and antiseptic, some help in healing and to repair tissues, some promote remineralization (building) of tooth enamel, and some give the pleasant taste and smell.

Cytotoxicity:

Results of cytotoxictests showed no cytotoxic (cell damaging) effects from using freshly cut Miswaak. However, the same plant used 24 hours after cutting did contain harmful components. Based on these findings, researchers recommend cutting the used portion of the Miswaak after it has been used for a day and preparing a fresh part.

Scientific comparison between Miswaak and toothbrushes:

A clinical trial study on Ethiopian schoolchildren, comparing Miswaak with the conventional toothbrush, found Miswaak to be as effective as the toothbrush in removing oral deposits. The study also found instruction and supervision to be important since the children in the sample were not familiar with techniques for using Miswaak.

How to use Miswaak:

The method of preparing a Miswaak for use is to cut a branch or root of the Arak tree into pieces between 10 cm and 20cm in length, and between 4mm and 14mm in diameter. Occasionally some are thicker than this.

Fresh Miswaak is brown in color, with a hot, pleasant taste. People usually strip off some of the Miswaak's thin bark from one end, then chew that end a little to separate the fibers so that they become like the fibers of a normal toothbrush. They then use it to brush their teeth.

Length and diameter:

A length of 15cm is recommended, which is convenient to grip, and easy to manipulate in a confined space. The diameter is normally less than 1 centimeter, which provides a supple stick firm enough to transmit the pressure of the cleansing action to the teeth without breaking.

Freshness: Miswaak should be freshly cut so that it is supple, easily chewed, and still rich in active constituents. The root should be whitish-brown in color; a dark brown color indicates that the Miswaak is no longer fresh.

If a stick is dry, the end for chewing should initially be soaked in fresh water for 24 hours. It should be noted that soaking for unduly long periods causes loss of active constituents and diminishes the therapeutic properties, although the mechanical effects on the teeth can still occur.

The end: Before Miswaak is used, the end should be washed with water. It is then chewed repeatedly until the fibers stand out like the bristles of a toothbrush. These fibers should be trimmed every 24 hours.

Brushing technique:

The techniques employed for removing plaque mechanically are similar to that for the toothbrush and the chewing stick; i.e., vertical and horizontal brushing. The cleaning movement should always be directed away from the gingival margin of the teeth (away from the gums) on both the buccal (outer cheek) and lingual (inner cheek) surfaces.

Care should be taken to avoid damaging the soft tissues of the mouth. Satisfactory cleaning can be achieved if this procedure is followed for five minutes.

There are two basic holds: Pen-grip (three-finger) or palm-grip (five finger-grip). In each case the aim is to ensure firm but controlled movement of the brush end of the Miswaak within the oral cavity, so that every area of the mouth is reached with relative ease and convenience.

When to use Miswaak:

In general, the Miswaak should be used a minimum of five times a day (i.e. before each prayer). However it is recommended to use it all the time, whenever possible.

Common mistakes in Miswaak use:

1. The end is either too thin or too thick.
2. Keeping it in the mouth while doing other things.
3. Not cutting the end every day.
4. Forgetting that teeth have five faces (inner, outer, two sides, and biting/chewing face), and only using Miswaak to clean the outer faces.

[From: Al Jumu'ah Magazine]

(Islamweb.net)

Black Seed (Nigella sativa): A cure for every disease

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000+01:00

Abu Hurayrah may Allaah be pleased with him narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), said: “Use this Black Seed regularly, because it is a cure for every disease, except death.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

What is the Black Seed?

Its botanical name is Nigella sativa. It is believed to be indigenous to the Mediterranean region but has been cultivated into other parts of the world including the Arabian peninsula, northern Africa and parts of Asia.

The Black seeds originate from the common fennel flower plant (Nigella sativa) of the buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family. It is sometimes mistakenly confused with the fennel herb plant (Foeniculum vulgare).

The plant has finely divided foliage and pale bluish purple or white flowers. The stalk of the plant reaches a height of twelve to eighteen inches (30-46 cm) as its fruit, the black seed, matures.

The Black Seed forms a fruit capsule which consists of many white trigonal seeds. Once the fruit capsule has matured, it opens up and the seeds contained within are exposed to the air, becoming black in color.

The Black seeds are small black grains with a rough surface and an oily white interior, similar to onion seeds. The seeds have little bouquet, though when rubbed, their aroma resembles oregano. They have a slightly bitter, peppery flavor and a crunchy texture.

The Black Seed is also known by other names, varying between places. Some call it black caraway, others call it black cumin, onion seeds or even coriander seeds. The plant has no relation to the common kitchen herb, cumin.

Muslims’ use of the Black Seed:

Muslims have been using and promoting the use of the Black Seed for hundreds of years, and hundreds of articles have been written about it. The Black Seed has also been in use worldwide for over 3000 years. It is not only a prophetic herb, but it also holds a unique place in the medicine of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention).

It is unique in that it was not used profusely before the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), made its use popular. Although there were more than 400 herbs in use before the Prophet, Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), and recorded in the herbals of Galen and Hippocrates, the Black Seed was not one of the most popular remedies of the time. Because of the way Islam has spread, the usage and popularity of the Black Seed is widely known as a "remedy of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention)." In fact, a large part of this herbal preparation's popularity is based on the teachings of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention).

The Black Seed has become very popular in recent years and is marketed and sold by many Muslim and non-Muslim businesses.

Its nutrients:

The Black Seed is rich in nutritional values. It contain almost 40% fixed oils and 1.4% volatile oils. It also contains around fifteen amino acids, proteins, calcium, iron, sodium, and potassium. Among its most effective compositions are thymoquinone, dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, and thymol. The magazine Food Chemistry found the Black Seed to be high in protein, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins A, B1, B2, C and niacin as well as calcium, potassium and iron. These are the very nutrients that modern science has found that we most lack. It also provides many of the same nutrients that the FDA recommends to help prevent disease and slow down the aging process.

Dr. Michael Tierra, author of Planetary Herbology, also found the Black Seed to be high in the above nutrients. In addition, he found a remarkable number of sterols, especially beta-sitosterol, which is known to have anti-carcinogenic properties. The Journal of American Scientists reports that Black Seed has a number of useful properties such as antihistamine, antioxidant, antibiotic, antimycotic and broncho-dilating effects.

The benefits and uses of the Black Seed:

The Black Seed is an excellent herb with many benefits and uses, especially when it comes to maintaining a strong and healthy immune system.The prophetic reference in describing the Black Seed, as having a healing for all illnesses is not exaggerated as it at first appears. The Black Seed has been used for a variety of medical problems for several thousand years. These uses range from stomach aches to asthma, cancer to coughs, and the traditional use as a spice. The Black Seed is also used as: a carminative (rids the body of gas from the intestines), a digestive (aids in the digestion of foods), a diuretic (increases urine flow by ridding the body of excess water), an emmenagogue (promotes and regulates menstruation), a galactagogue (increases the production of milk), a resolvent (dissolves boils and swelling), a stimulant (increases the flow of adrenaline and energy), a stomachic (relieves stomach disorders), a sudorific (increases perspiration), a tonic (improves bodily functions), and a vermifuge (expels worms). Caution should be taken when using the black seed by pregnant or potentially pregnant women, as high doses of this product could induce spontaneous abortions.

To insure that you are taking the Black Seed look for the words Nigella Sativa. Only this plant, as opposed to true cumin or coriander has the ability to “heal all diseases.”

Research suggests that the Black Seed is an effective antitumor treatment for certain types of cancer, including breast cancer and fibrocystic breast disease. The Black Seed may also be of possible benefit in treating high blood pressure. Except its potential to cause spontaneous abortions (and only at high dosages), there may be little if any toxic side effects to using the Black Seed.

Recent research has provided evidence that most illnesses arise because of an imbalanced or dysfunctional immune system, which cannot perform its primary function of defending the body optimally. Researches also indicate that the Black Seed contains an ability to significantly boost the human immune system - if taken over time.

The role of the Black Seed in increasing human immunity was not clear before 1986, when Dr. Qaadi and his colleagues started a series of researches in the United States. Afterwards, many researches were launched in various countries. Dr. Qaadi proved that the use of the Black Seed strengthens immunity since the ratio of the T assistant lymph cells increased by an average of 72% compared to the restraining cells. Also, there was a considerable development in the activity of natural killer cells with an average of 74%.

The results of many modern researches supported the findings of Qaadi. Amongst them are the results published by the International Immunity magazine in August 1995 about the effect of black seed on the outer lymph cells and the activity of white blood multi-nucleus cells. In September 2000, the International Immunity magazine also published a research on the effect of the Black Seed oil in preventing cytomegalovirus on laboratory rats. The Black Seed oil has been tested as an anti-virus substance and the immunity acquired during the early stages of the disease was measured through determining the natural killer cells and other things.

In October 1999, the European magazine of Cancer published an article on the effect of thymoquinone on abdomen cancer in rats. Likewise, in May 1998, a magazine specialized in anti-cancer researches published an article on the extracts of the Black Seed as a treatment for cancer tumors. On April 2000, the Ethanol Medical magazine wrote about the toxicity and immunity effects of ethanol extracted from the Black Seeds. Also, in February 1995, Medical Plants magazine published an article on the effects of the Black Seed stable oil and thymoquinone on white blood cells. Many other researches came out supporting these facts.

More research is being done on the effectiveness of the Black Seed. Research trials are also being planned in various countries to study its actual effects on humans. However, we don't need to look any further than the Prophet's, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), words that tell us there is healing in this plant. As long as we trust in Allaah and take the prescription His Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), has given us, we will all be evidence of this magnificent plant's abilities to heal all diseases.

Nonetheless, more is needed to be learned about the appropriate doses of this herb for various medical problems. We pray that Allaah may guide Muslim physicians to take a closer look at this plant and begin prescribing it for all of our physical ailments.

Conclusion:

The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), told us that the Black Seed is a cure for every disease. The Arabic word ‘Shifaa’ (cure) came without the definite article which means that it is an indefinite word that covers most cures. This means that the Black Seed contributes to the cure of every disease. It has been scientifically proved that the immunity system is the only system that has the ability to combat diseases and produce cells that kill viruses.

Based on these facts, we can conclude that the Black Seed is a cure for every disease because it strengthens the immunity system which is responsible for curing diseases and combating viruses.

These scientific facts are obvious. No one can claim the credit of knowing these facts fourteen centuries ago, except a Prophet. Allaah Almighty Says (what means): “Nor does he (the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention )) speak of (his own) inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.”[Quran 53: 3-4]

(Islamweb.net)

Tour Manager of Jay-Z Kanye West accepts Islam and becomes a Muslim - TheDeenShow

2012-02-03T19:15:00.000+01:00

The healing of honey

2012-02-03T13:50:00.001+01:00

More than 1,400 years ago, Allaah All-Mighty told us through His Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), that honey can heal a variety of medical problems.

Honey is a remarkable viscous liquid, prepared by bees from nectars of various plants. It has occupied a prominent place in traditional medicines throughout history. The ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans employed honey for different diseases.

The Noble Quran and many Prophetic narrations refer to honey as a great healer of disease.

Allaah, Almighty, Says (what means): "And your Lord inspired the bee, saying: ‘Take you habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect. Then, eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for you).’ There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varying color wherein is healing for men. Verily, in this is indeed a sign for people who think." [Quran; 16: 68-69]

Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri may Allaah be pleased with him related that a man came to the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), and said: "My brother has some abdominal trouble." The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), said to him "Let him drink honey." The man returned to the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), and said: “O Messenger of Allaah! I let him drink honey, but it caused him more pain.” The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), said to him: “Go and let him drink honey!” The man went and let his brother drink honey, then returned back and said: “O Messenger of Allaah, it did not cause him except more pains.” The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), then said: "Allaah has said the truth, but your brother's abdomen has told a lie. Let him drink honey." So he made him drink honey and he was cured. [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), also said: "Make use of the two remedies: honey and the Quran." [At-Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah and Al-Bayhaqi] Modern medicine is only just learning of this fact.

Benefits of honey:

Alleviates inflammation of cornea if used locally on the eye.
An antibiotic if used locally in situations of wounds and burns, and it is used for healing of wounds:
-In case of wounds, honey absorbs moisture from the air, facilitates healing process and prevents scarring. This is because honey stimulates the growth of epithelial cells that form the new skin cover. In this way, honey may eliminate the need for tissue transplantation.
- Honey stimulates the re-growth of tissue involved in the healing process. It stimulates the formation of new blood capillaries and the growth of fibroblasts that replace the connective tissue of the deeper layer of the skin and produce the collagen fibers that give strength to the repair.
- Honey has an anti-inflammatory action, which reduces the swelling around a wound. This improves circulation and thus hastens the healing process.
- Honey does not stick to the underlying wound tissues, so there is no tearing away of newly formed tissue, and no pain, when dressings are changed.
- Thanks to its antimicrobial property, honey provides a protective barrier to prevent wounds becoming infected. It also rapidly clears any existing infection from wounds. It is fully effective, even with antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
- Some studies showed that honey is a good treatment against the hospital infection bacteria "superbugs" (MRSA.)
As honey does not accommodate bacteria, this bactericide (bacteria-killing) property of honey is named "the inhibition effect." There are various reasons of this anti-microbial property of the honey. Some examples are: the high sugar content that limits the amount of water microorganisms need for growth, its high acidity (low pH) and composition which deprive bacteria from nitrogen necessary for reproduction. The existence of hydrogen peroxide as well as antioxidants in the honey prevent bacteria growth.
Antioxidant: Those are the components in cells that get rid of harmful byproducts of normal metabolic functions. These elements inhibit destructive chemical reactions that cause spoilage of food and many chronic illnesses. Researchers believe food products rich in antioxidants may prevent heart problems and cancer. Strong antioxidants are present in honey: Pinocembrin, pinobaxin, chrisin and galagin. Pinocembrin is an antioxidant that merely exists in the honey.
A treatment for gastric and duodenal ulcers, as honey decreases the secretion of hydrochloric acid to a normal rate, thus helping to heal such ulcers and alleviate the related pains and reduce resultant cases of vomiting and colic. For the treatment to be effective, honey should be taken dissolved in warm water one or two hours before meals.
A treatment for involuntary urination at beds. So, if the child is given one small spoon of honey before sleeping, this will have a positive effect, as honey is sedative for the nervous system, thus helping the cyst to relax and expand during sleep.
It supports blood formation: Honey provides an important part of the energy needed by the body for blood formation. It helps in cleansing the blood. It has some positive effects in regulating and facilitating blood circulation. It also functions as a protection against capillary problems and arteriosclerosis.
A treatment for colds, flu and pharyngitis.
A treatment for cases of chronic hepatitis, as honey increases the liver stock of the glycogen material through the increase of blood glucose, thus helping the liver to function properly and relieve it from more burdens.
A treatment for insomnia and a sedative for nerves, as it contains some sedative and tonic substances as sodium and potassium at a reasonable rate such.
A treatment for alcoholic poisoning. Fructose and vitamin B group in the honey help oxidize the alcohol remaining in the body.
A treatment for cough.
In cosmetics, a mixture of honey with lemon and glycerin is considered of the best old medical prescription for the treatment of skin cracking and roughness, the inflammation and wounds of lips, sun stroke, and dermal pigments.
A treatment for muscular spasm of sportive exercises or facial spasms and eyelids muscles, which disappear after having one big spoon of honey for three days after each meal.
Has a low calorie level. When it is compared with the same amount of sugar, it gives 40% less calories to the body. Although it gives great energy to the body, it does not add weight. Furthermore, the use of honey is safe and has no allergic or side effects.

The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention), was right in his prescription for the ailing man. When the fourth treatment of honey was given to the man, he got better. Such is part of the knowledge that the Almighty has revealed to His Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam (may Allaah exalt his mention).

(Islamweb.net)

Henna and its uses in the past and today

2012-02-03T10:54:00.000+01:00

"The best thing with which to color your gray hair is henna or katm." [Abu Daawood and At-Tirmithi]

Jaabir Ibn 'Abdullaah narrated that Abu Quhaafa (the Father of Abu Bakr) came on the day of the conquest of Makkah with his hair and beard extremely white. The Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, said: “Change his hair color with something and do not use black.”

Salmah, the Prophet's, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, maid, said: “Anyone who complained to the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, from pain in his head, he would say to him, ‘cup it.’ And when complained from pain in the foot, he would tell him, ‘Dye it with henna.’” [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah]

She also said: “Whenever the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, had an ulcer, fester or eczema, he ordered me to put henna on it.” [Authentic, Jaami' al-Usool by Ibn al-Atheer]

Henna has been utilized since ancient times as a dye to color the nails, hands, feet and hair. The traditional henna is manufactured from a plant known as Lawsonia Alba. This plant is cultivated in Saudi Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Egypt, North Africa and Australia among others.

The effective dye component of henna is called Lawsone. It consists of fat, resin, manitol and volatile oils.

It is mentioned in the Islamic Encyclopedia of Medicine that the ancient Egyptians used henna in mummification.

The Egyptian henna is typically a green substance that gives the hair a reddish brown color. Other colors are obtained by adding other dyes to the natural henna. Some women in Sudan add a substance called paraphenylen ediamine to the henna to reduce the time needed for dyeing from an hour to several minutes. But this mixture can be fatal although its cause is unknown and this is why people who apply henna are warned against adding this substance. Henna in itself is safe and doesn't have any known side effects. It is 100% natural. The henna found in different brands of shampoos in stores and pharmacies is free of this substance.

Recent medical researches:

Many people in recent years have been inclined to use natural substances. The idea of returning to using some old substances that were once used as cosmetics is gaining ground in the medical field. One of these substances is henna. If we look at the different haircare products available off-the-shelf like shampoos, conditioners, hair color and hair creams, we will find that much of them contain henna.

This substance is described in the Hadeeths as being the best source for hair dyeing. What is the scientific evidence that encourage the return to the use of henna?

An American magazine specializing in skin diseases, Cutis, once published an article about henna in its first edition in 1986. Dr. Natu is a famous professor of skin disease from New York University in America, stated that henna has several benefits, the most important being as follows:

1. Its effects are not permanent. It does not stick permanently to the roots of the hair like other artificial hair colors. Henna starts to fade after 3 to 6 weeks. It then disappears completely and leaves no residue.

2. Henna is compatible with all natural hair colors.

3. Henna enhances the natural color of hair and gives it shine. One would have to use it several times before any visible changes in color appear.

4. Henna strengthens each individual hair, restores damaged hair and prevents split ends. There are many different shampoos and conditioners that contain henna and do not give the hair any new color. They give it beauty and glow.

5. Extensive usage of henna is safe in comparison with other artificial substances. There are only rare cases of skin sensitivity.

Didn't the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, say, “The best thing to color your hair with is henna and katam.” Recent medical evidence in our hands proves what the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, said. That is not strange because the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, said, “Henna is the best perfume for the people of Jannah.” If the henna is the preferred perfume in paradise, it is the ideal hair treatment on this earth.

(Islamweb.net)

Panetta believes Israel may strike Iran this spring

2012-02-03T08:50:00.001+01:00

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article570611.ece

Faatimah bint Yahya

2012-02-03T04:57:00.000+01:00

Faatimah bint Yahya , may Allaah have mercy upon her, was a great Mujtahidah of the 9th Century. A Mujtahidah (which is the female conjugation for Mujtahid) is a scholar of great caliber who can deduce from the sources of Islamic law (texts from the Quran and the Sunnah). In turn they use these deductions to give rulings in accord with both the contemporary and individual needs of the society. For one to be given the title ‘Mujtahidah’, one must have knowledge on both the consensus and opposing views of the Companions, the Successors, and the leading Scholars of Fiqh and Mujtahidoon (plural of Mujtahid). Hence, to be a Mujtahidah was not a minor matter, but Faatimah bint Yahya, may Allaah have mercy upon her, deserved it.

Such was her knowledge, that her father — who was also a great jurist with several students — would be questioned by Faatimah, may Allaah have mercy upon her, regarding several Juristic issues. The great scholar Al-Shawkani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, — says about her: ‘She was most famous for her knowledge. She had debates with her father on several juristic issues. Her father, the Imaam, confirmed that Faatimah, may Allaah have mercy upon her, applied Ijtihaad in deriving rulings. This indicates that she was prominent in the knowledge, because the Imaam would not say something like that except for one who deserved it.’

Her father married her off to the scholar Al-Mutahhar ibn Muhammad ibn Sulaymaan ibn Muhammad, may Allaah have mercy upon him, (d.879). Al-Mutahhar was very lucky since whenever he would be confused on a matter he would refer to his wife for judgement on difficult juristic issues. Even within the midst of his students, when he, may Allaah have mercy upon him, would get stuck on a complicated issue, he would get up and head for the curtain, behind which the great Mujtahidah would be sitting and ask her.

When he would come back with the answer his students would say, ‘This is not from you. This is from behind the curtain.’

(Islamweb.net)

Qur'anic Reminder

2012-02-02T06:00:00.003+01:00

Quote of the day

2012-02-02T05:56:00.000+01:00

‎'I looked at all friends, and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue. I thought about all dresses, but did not find a better dress than piety. I thought about all types of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in little. I thought of all types of good deeds, but did not find a better deed than offering good advice. I looked at all types of sustenance, but did not find a better sustenance than patience.' --Omar ibn Khattab

(MuslimMarriageAdvice on FB)

Deviants celebrating the death of the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam

2012-02-02T05:54:00.002+01:00

Those who celebrate the Mawlid respond to evidences from the Quran and Sunnah by calling Muslims names. They always say that we are Wahabis and there isn’t any such a thing. I am a Saudi and I have been an Imam preaching Islam for over 25 years and we don’t have anyone calling himself Wahabbi. Imam Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahab wrote tens of books on Islam. They didn’t read a single one and they can’t find one single quote that goes against the Quran and Sunnah. They are devastated because he calls a spade a spade. Those who hate this Imam are usually grave worshippers. They ask the dead for what they want and seek their protection. They slaughter sacrifices and light candles to them. They believe that the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam controls the universe and that is why they supplicate to him! You can see them in Medinah, giving their backs to the Qibla and facing the grave supplicating the Prophet. They claim that he is not dead and that he physically leaves his grave to visit those who are throwing a mawlid party to bless them! When their teacher recites the birth of the Prophet in their mawlid, they all stand up chanting and throwing perfume all over the place. They claim that the Prophet’s soul is visiting them. They even say that if you offer salutation to the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, you will not die until you see him alive and shake hands with him! Look how they are mocking our Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam and making fun of him. These people are ignorant and don’t know the Quran, the Sunnah nor Arabic! That is why they hide their ignorance by holding on to their “Christmas” once a year and deviating away from Islam the rest of the year. By the way, all Muslim scholars acknowledge that our beloved Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam died on the 12th of Rabe’e Alawal. Therefore, these people are not mourning his death, they are celebrating it.

(Assim Alhakeem on FB)

Surah al-Buruj in sign language

2012-02-02T05:13:00.000+01:00

Surah an-Naba' in sign language

2012-02-02T05:11:00.004+01:00

Interested in knowing details about Prophet Muhammad

2012-02-01T16:37:00.000+01:00

Fatwa no. 3474

Q: I want to learn about the life of the Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him). When was he born? How long did he live? When did he die? How many women did he marry? What was the Du‘a’ (supplication) he used to say before going to sleep?

A: The Prophet (peace be upon him) was born on Monday, 12th 1 of Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (approximately 570 A.C.). He (peace be upon him) lived for sixty-three years and spent fifty-three years of his life in Makkah Al-Mukarramah and ten years in Al-Madinah. He died in Al-Madinah on Monday, 12th of Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, 11 A.H.

He married eleven wives: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Sawdah bint Zam‘ah, ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, Hafsah bint ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, Um Salamah Hind bint Abu Umayyah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Juwayriyah bint Al-Harith Al-Mustalqiyah, Um Habibah Ramlah bint Abu Sufyan, Safiyyah bint Huyay ibn Akhtab, and Maymunah bint Al-Harith Al-Hilaliyah (may Allah be pleased with them all). Two of the Prophet’s wives died during his lifetime: Khadijah and Zaynab bint Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with them both). When he died, he left nine wives behind (may Allah be pleased with them all).

There are many Prophetic Du‘a’ and Adhkar (invocations and Remembrances said at certain times on a regular basis) to be said before going to sleep. For example, Al-Bukhari and Muslim related on the authority of Al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When you go to your bed perform Wudu’ (ablution) as you do for Salah (Prayer), then lie down on your right side and say: ‘Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa fauwadtu amri ilaika, wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabik al-ladhi anzalta wa nabiyik al-ladhi arsalta [O Allah! I surrender myself to You, and I entrust my affairs to You, and I totally rely on You, in hope and fear of You. Verily, there is no refuge nor safe haven from You except with You. O Allah! I believe in Your Book (the Holy Qur’an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent.]’ If you die (on that night), you will die on Fitrah (pure innate nature, i.e. on the religion of Islam). Let these be the last (words) that you speak (before sleep). 2

Furthermore, Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him) went to bed, he used to say: Bismika amut wa ahyaa [In Your Name I live and die]. 3 Whenever he woke up, he used to say: Al-hamdu lil-Lahi al-ladhi ahyana ba`da ma amatana, wailahi an-nushur [All praise be to Allah Who has given us life after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection.] 4 According to another narration: Allahumma bismika amut wa ahyaa [O Allah! It is in Your Name that I live and die]. 5

If you want to learn more supplications, you can refer to the books of "Al-Adhkar Al-Nawawiyyah" by Al-Nawawy and "Al-Wabil Al-Sayb" by by Ibn Al-Qayyim.

May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!

Fatwas of Permanent Committee, Rabi` Al-Awwal Fatwas, Part No. 4, Page No. 382-383.

Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta'

Chairman: `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz
Deputy Chairman: `Abdul-Razzaq `Afify

Member: `Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan

Member: `Abdullah ibn Qa`ud

1 According to Scheikh Al-Hakeem, the opinion of the scholars is that he, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, was born on the 9th of Rabi‘ Al-Awwal - maybe the mentioned 12th is a mistake by the translator. Allahu alam.

2 Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on supplications, no. 6311; Muslim, Sahih, Book on remembrance of Allah, supplication, repentance and seeking forgiveness, no. 2710; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on supplications, no. 3574; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on manners, no. 5046; Ibn Majah, Sunan, Book on supplication, no. 3876; Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 296; and Al-Darimy, Sunan, Book on asking permission, no. 2683.

3 Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on supplications, no. 6312; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on supplications, no. 3417; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on manners, no. 5049; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 387.

4 Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on supplications, no. 6312; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on supplications, no. 3417; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on manners, no. 5049; Ibn Majah, Sunan, Book on supplication, no. 3880; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 387; and Al-Darimy, Sunan, Book on asking permission, no. 2686.

5 Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on supplications, no. 6312; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on supplications, no. 3417; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on manners, no. 5049; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 387.

(alifta.net)

Bringing Hamas in from the cold

2012-02-01T15:45:00.002+01:00

http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article569604.ece

You have two friends in this life

2012-02-01T15:45:00.000+01:00

Quote of the day

2012-02-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

“The woman is the man's trousers (Limra' sirwal al-rajul)”

(Mauritanian proverb)

Tafseer of Qur'an in sign language

2012-02-01T00:16:00.000+01:00

Qur'an Transliteration

2012-01-31T20:26:00.000+01:00

on Google Docs

Gathering to commemorate the Mawlid

2012-01-31T15:57:00.000+01:00

The thirteenth question of Fatwa no. 5005

Q 13: Is it permissible to gather on the 12th of Rabi‘ Al-Awwal to commemorate the Mawlid (the Prophet’s birthday)?

A: Celebrating the Mawlid is an act of Bid‘ah (innovation in religion). The Prophet (peace be upon him) neither celebrated it nor ordered it to be celebrated. The Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet), who were the keenest to honor and follow the Messenger (peace be upon him) and his Sunnah, did not celebrate it either. Indeed, all goodness lies in following the very way and guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him) for he said: Anyone who introduces anything into this matter of ours (Islam) that is not part of it will have it rejected. *

May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!

Fatwas of the Permanent Committee, Rabi` Al-Awwal Fatwas

Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’

Chairman: `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz

Member: `Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan

* Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on reconciliation, no. 2697; Muslim, Sahih, Book on judicial decisions, no. 1718; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on Al-Sunnah, no. 4606; Ibn Majah, Sunan, Introduction, no. 14; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 6, p. 240.

(alifta.net)

Letter from Shaytan

2012-01-31T10:32:00.000+01:00

DATE: STARTING TODAY AND EVERYDAY

DEAR BELIEVERS,

I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like that about you. I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, Fool, you are mine. Remember, you and I have been going steady for years, and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I hate you.

You see, Fool, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yielded your life to me and I'm going to make your life a living hell. That way we'll be together twice. Thanks to you. With all of the good times we've had.......We have been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, partying, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, indulging in fornication, overeating, telling dirty jokes, gossiping, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults and those in leadership position, NO respect for the mosque, bad attitudes: SURELY you don't want to give all this up. Come on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us.

This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you. When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you make me sick. Sin is beginning to take its toll on your life. You look 20 years older, I need new blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and listen to and dance to the top 10 jams. Do all this in the presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.

Well, Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were smart, you would run somewhere, live for God with what little bit of life that you have left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning, it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I still hate you......IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR YOURSELF.

Waiting for you,

Shaytan (Satan) Devil Iblis

(Islamicbulletin.com)

Quote of the Day

2012-01-31T10:30:00.000+01:00

Maternal support in early childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at school age

2012-01-31T10:29:00.003+01:00

Another reason why it is better to be a stay-at-home mum :)

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/01/24/1118003109

Obama to Israel: Take whatever you want

2012-01-30T23:03:00.001+01:00

24/05/2011

In 2008, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, pandered to pro-Israeli voters and Israel by promising in a speech addressed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), that Jerusalem would forever remain "the undivided capital of Israel".

Three years later, Obama is on another pre-campaign trail in order to improve his chances for re-election in 2012. As part of this campaign, he has made a new round of half-hearted attempts to revive the stalled "peace process" completely under Israel's terms.

In his latest speech addressed to AIPAC, Obama promised Israel everything short of allegiance by reaffirming America's commitment to Israel's political and security goals. His speech denied the right of Palestinians to declare a nation and he even vowed to block any peaceful Palestinian efforts to claim their legal rights at international organizations.
Obama's lip service to Palestinian "self-determination" is nothing more than vacuous rhetoric - as he clearly implied that Israeli interests, especially its security, remain the top priority for American foreign policy in the region.
He mechanically repeated his commitment to the vision of a two-state solution - establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. However, as expected, he left the borders and terms of the creation of such state subject to Israel's "security interests".

His reference to resuming peace negotiations on the basis of the 1967 borders (also known as the Green Line) means neither a complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories nor the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state on all of the land within the Green Line, including East Jerusalem.

There is a significant difference in negotiations "lingo" and even legal language between saying that the establishment of a Palestinian state "will be based on" 1967 borders as opposed to saying it "will be established on" the 1967 borders.

The first leaves ample room for Israel to continue occupying and even annexing vast settlement blocs (and perhaps even all of the illegal, Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem) for "security reasons".

Take whatever you can

Just in case his pro-Israel support base misunderstood the thinly veiled statements from his Middle East speech last Friday, Obama made sure to clarify to his definitively pro-Israeli view that there is no going back to the true 1967 borders:

"[The statement] means that the parties themselves - Israelis and Palestinians - will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 196... It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last forty-four years, including the new demographic reality."

In clearer words, the president is effectively, although not explicitly, equating the presence of Palestinians on their own land with the illegal presence of Israeli settlers living on land confiscated forty-four years ago from the Palestinians.

Basically, despite the fact that settlers live on that land illegally under international law, because they are physically there, the land becomes theirs.

This confirms the belief of many in the region that the construction of Israeli settlements and of the Separation Wall inside the 1967 borders is Israel's way of slowly completing a de facto annexation of Palestinian land.
This latest of Obama's statements may be the closest the president has come to legitimizing illegal Israeli settlements.

Obama's message to Israel appeared to confirm that he is ready to keep former president George Bush's 2005 promise that Israel would be able to keep their largest settlements blocs as a result of any negotiated solution for the conflict.

In other words, Obama's idea of Palestinian self-determination is for Palestinians to accept whatever Israel decides.

In his AIPAC speech, and the previous speech addressed to the Middle East, Obama seemed to have either been out of touch with, or to have simply ignored, the changes brought about by the Arab Spring. For while he argued that Israel should understand that the Arab Spring has altered the political balance in the region, and that Israel should understand it now has to make peace not with corruptible Arab leaders, but with the Arab people themselves.

So much for hope and change

In fact, when it comes to the Palestinian cause, Obama is speaking and acting as if the Arab Spring has not taken place. He has to remember that even America's most loyal Arab allies in the region could not openly support the American-Israeli formula for peace with the Palestinians. So, why then would it be acceptable to millions of pro-Palestinian Arabs?

The Arab Spring may have affected the semantics of American discourse on Palestinian rights but it has not created anything close to a real shift in American policies.

Once again, Obama has succumbed to political blackmail by Netanyahu - whose main goal of raising objections to the peace process is to make sure that Israel continues undisturbed with its expansionist polices, and not because of any real fear from the president's weak demands.

Yes, there is no doubt that Netanyahu wants to see any reference to 1967 borders dropped from the discourse, because Israel is currently busy drawing its own militarily imposed future borders, he could not have misunderstood Obama's clearly pro-Israeli statements.

As the American president pointed out in his speech, he has made good on his declaration of "full commitment" to Israeli interests and security needs: "That's why we've increased cooperation between our militaries to unprecedented levels. It's why we're making our most advanced technologies available to our Israeli allies."
"And it's why, despite tough fiscal times, we've increased foreign military financing to record levels."

Obama has not only been consistent in maintaining full US support for Israel but has also articulated a new, more decisive stance which explicitly confirms the long-standing American policy of blocking any peaceful Palestinian efforts through international law and the United Nations.

"...The United States will stand up against efforts to single Israel out at the UN or in any international forum. Because Israel's legitimacy is not a matter for debate", he promised the gathering of the staunchest and most influential supporters of Israel.

By siding with Israel against the Palestinian Authority's plan to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, the US has in effect declared war on all Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority and activists alike.

He will unabashedly thwart any efforts to pursue legal and peaceful means of challenging the continued Israeli colonization of their land.

But by labeling such campaigns aimed at recognition of a Palestinian state as an attempt "to delegitimize" Israel, the president is inadvertently recognizing that those Israeli policies themselves lack legitimacy.
A rights based discourse?

Furthermore, while Obama's assertion that UN recognition alone cannot create a Palestinian state is technically true, it will restore the topic within a legal rights discourse - which would not be defined by Israel's security concerns as it has in the past.

Such UN recognition, of course, would work towards the establishment a Palestinian state defined by the 1967 borders - meaning that all Israeli settlements within that border would have to be evacuated. Without this, it would only legitimize and perpetuate the American-Israeli negotiations formula.

But Obama has not taken any risks in order to promote peace.

He fears foiling decades of American policies that have aimed to veto any UN resolution pertaining to Israeli crimes and, starting a new discourse about the conflict that would be rights-based.

It was no surprise either when Obama declared the reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas, signed earlier this month, to be an "obstacle" to peace in the region. After all, in his purely pro-Israeli mindset, any attempt at Palestinian unity - regardless of how feeble - does not serve Israeli interest and its tried and true "divide and conquer" method has prevented any real progress for years.

Obama's repeated refrain about Hamas being an unacceptable peace partner, sounds not only like a broken record, but also like a lame excuse for Israeli extremism and intransigence.

If he wants to know who the true unacceptable partners for peace are, all he has to do is get an English transcript of discussions from the Israeli Knesset (parliament) and read how members from the political right call Arabs "animals" and make all manner of racist slurs against Palestinians.

But if Obama is willing to encourage Israeli policies such as 'land transfers', which aim to displace whole Palestinian communities and refers to them as mere "demographic changes", then why would he care about racist rhetoric and threats by right-wing Israelis?

In his latest speeches, Obama did not refer once to the events that took place on the May 15 'Nakba Day' protests. During these peaceful demonstrations, the Israeli military responded in a predictable way, in the only way they know - by firing indiscriminately on unarmed protesters. By the end of the shooting spree, more than 20 people were killed at the Syrian and Lebanese borders.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of Obama's speech is his exaggerated attempt to adopt the Israeli narrative and by default, his complete denial of Palestinian national rights.

In the end of his speech, Obama's claim that Israel's history could be characterized by a struggle for freedom (a repeat from his 2008 AIPAC speech) says it all:

The American president refuses to see Israeli oppression and repression. He refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle for freedom - because if he did, he just might hurt his chances at winning a second term as US president.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington May 23, 2011. (Photo adapted to article by blogger)

By Lamis Andoni
Source: Aljazeera.net

(Islamweb.net)

Rapp Artist Embracing Islam

2012-01-30T17:53:00.000+01:00

Everlast: Taking Islam One Day at a Time
An interview by Adisa Banjoko

Rapp music has seen more than its share influence from the religion of Islam. With groups such as Public Enemy rapping about their respect for the Nation of Islam, to people such as Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest embracing mainstream Islam, the religion seems to be a recurrent theme in the genre, both impacting lyrics and lives. One artist more recently touched by Islam is Eric Schrody, better known in music circles as Everlast.

While Everlast began his musical career as a rapp artist, he has recently shown himself to have much greater depth and diversity. His current album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (currently ranked #49 on billboard's charts after peaking at #9) (Side note: 1998) exhibits this in its reflective and somewhat philosophical tone, showing glimpses of the influence Islam has had on his life.

What follows is an interview in which Everlast discusses his journey to Islam and the challenges he faces as a new Muslim.

Tell me about the first time you learned about Islam?

It was probably around the late 80's. I was hangin' out with Divine Styler (a popular Los Angeles rapp artist). He was basically at the end of his 5% period (referring to the pseudo-Islamic "Nation of Gods and Earths" sect). He was starting to come into Islam. He lived with the Bashir family. Abdullah Bashir was sort of his teacher; and mine it wound up later. As he was making the transition from 5% into Islam I would just be around and hear things.

I'm trying to think of the first time I recognized it as Islam. I think it was when one of Divine's friends took Shahada (the Muslim profession of faith) and I was there. I heard him say, "I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the servant and messenger." And I remember me being like, "What is this? I'm white. Can I be here?" It was outta ignorance, you know? 'Cause here in America, Islam is considered a "Black thing." And that's when someone pointed out to me, "You have no idea how many white Muslims there are in the world." I was like, "Really," and somebody broke it down. I said, "That's crazy. I had no clue."

Do you feel any extra pressure being a white Muslim in America?

I don't think of it on the grand scale. To me, Islam is mine. Allah is the God of all the worlds, and all mankind and all the Al-Amin (worlds/universe). Islam is my personal relationship with God. So, nobody can put any more pressure on me than I can put on myself. But as far as the mosque where I pray, I have never felt more at home or more welcome. And it's not just mine. The few mosques that I've gone to around the country, I've never ever been made to feel uncomfortable. Like in New York, the mosque is big and there's so many people that nobody is lookin' to notice you. There were Chines, Korean, Spanish - everything, which was a good thing for me because at my mosque I'm the only white male, [although] there are some white females.

I think at first, I thought about it more than anybody else the first couple times I went to Jumma (the Friday congregational prayer). The first time I went to Jumma, I was taken by a friend of mine in New York. It was in Brooklyn in Bed-Stuy (Bedford Stuyvestant). I was nervous about the neighborhood I was in, not the mosque. But I was just so at ease once I was there. I was like, "This is great." I didn't feel any different than anybody else in the mosque.

How did your family take your turning to Islam? Because you were raised Catholic, right?

Well, you know my mom is very open minded, very progressive. My mother lives with me. And I've been raised all my life with not a belief in God, but a knowledge that he exists. I was taught [that] if [I were to know] anything in the world, [I should] know there's a God. And my mom, even though she was Catholic she was the first person to point out hypocrisy in the church. My mom really hasn't attended church in a long time. But as far as me, my mom is just happy that I have God in my life.

She sees me making prayers. And Divine is one of her favorite people in the world. She knows how much different we are than when she first knew us as kids. When me and Divine first hooked up, we were wild. We were out partyin', fightin', doin' whatever we had to do. We thought, "Yeah, that's what being a man is about. We're gonna go out here and be thuggish."

[But] she has seen how much it's changed me and him; and how much peace it's brought me since I've started to really accomplish something with it. I actually had a long talk with my mother the other day and we were on the topic of religion. We were actually talking about life and death, and the future and when she might go (die, pass away). That won't be for a long time, inshallah (God willing). But I asked her to do me one favor. I said, "Mom, when you die there might be some angels who ask you a question, and I want you to answer it; and I'm not sure exactly how it goes, 'cause I ain't died yet. Remember that there's only one God, and he's never been a man." She said, "I know what you are trying to tell me." [And] I said, "Jesus wasn't God, Ma".

Some of what I know has definitely shown up in my mother. She's no Muslim, but she knows there's only one God. And that makes me very happy. I know guys that have turned towards Islam and their families have turned them out (i.e. rejected them).

My family tried to. I just can't understand that. But you know what? That's a trial. Although I've changed my name for like 8 years now, they still run up calling me by my birth name. Then it's, "Oh I forgot that you're Muslim." Then it's the pork jokes. It never stops.

It's one of those things where people laugh at what they don't understand. Or they fear what they can't grasp. The thing is that nobody can pretend that they don't understand it. Because I've never come across anything more simple in my life.

Like I remember that when I sat down and asked, "So, what does a Muslim believe," and I got the list run down to me. I was like, "You don't put up the wall between Christianity and Judaism." They were like, "Nah, it's all the same story."

If when you finally get down to reading the Qur'an, the Bible and the Torah, which is pretty much just the Old Testament, you find that the Qu'ran is just an affirmation of what is correct and isn't correct within those books (the Bible and the Torah). And then you say to yourself, "How did that go down when these cats were all from different parts of the world?" But they are all confirming each other's story.

I'm reading a book right now called Muhammad: The Life of the Prophet, by Karen Armstrong. It was written by a non-Muslim. So far, I'm only about a quarter of the way through; but it starts out telling you how they originally tried to make Muhammad look like the most evil man on the earth; that he established Islam under the sword. But then you learn that Muhammad only fought when he had to. Muhammad only fought to defend Islam. It's a very good book about the man. It just lets you know that he was a man. We ain't trying to tell you that he was anything else but a man. We're telling you as Muslims that he was the most perfect example of a man to walk the earth so far. And from what I've read he is the last one to come of his kind.

When you get beyond being scared of Farrakhan and what he's sayin' - and here as a white person I'm speaking - when you get beyond the ignorance of believing that Islam has anything to do with just people that are blowing up things, that doesn't have anything to do with Islam. They might do it in the name of Islam. But it has nothing to do with Islam. You can't argue with it.

When I explain Jesus to a Christian, he can't argue with me. And I don't mean argue, saying, "Jesus isn't God!" I mean, how much more sense does it make that he's a man? If I was Christian, which to me means to be Christ-like, and God asks me, "Hey how come you weren't more like Jesus?" I'll say, I wasn't more like Jesus because you made him half of a God [and] I'm only a man?" That doesn't make any sense.

God doesn't want things hard on us. God wants things easy as possible. Allah is going to make it as easy as possible. If you ask and you are sincere, Allah will bring it to you. He might throw some rocks on your path, to make you trip and stumble. But it's gonna come to you.

Talk to me about the first and second time you took your Shahada (profession of faith).

Well the first time, it was right after I had heard a tape from Warith Deen Muhammad (son of Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad, who took most of the Nation of Islam into mainstream Islam). That just kinda broke down the whole Jesus thing. He explained that we (Muslims) do Christians a great favor by bringing Jesus down to the level of a man. Why would God create a man who is half a God and compare us to him? And it just sent off a bomb in my head. So I took Shahada. And then the initial high wore off.

It was almost like a Christian who says that they accept Jesus. Then they say, "No matter what I do now I'm saved." 'Cause I was raised with that kinda mentality. Like, "OK, I accept the truth so let me just go out here and sin my butt off and I'm saved."

I didn't really claim to be Muslim though at that time. I picked and chose what I wanted to believe. Allah gave me leeway for a time. But eventually it was time to fish or cut the line. I was coming to a point where I was unsatisfied emotionally, and spiritually. I had money in the bank and a $100,000 car, women left and right - everything that you think you want. And then just sitting there being like, "Why am I unhappy?" Finally that voice that talks to you - not the whisper (of Satan) - the voice said, "Well, basically you're unhappy because you're living foul and you're not trying to do anything about it." My stubbornness at that time wouldn't allow me to talk about it at that time. You get in that state of mind where you're like, "I can figure this out all by myself." I finally got humble enough to talk to Divine and Abdullah about it. They asked me, "How do you feel? What do you think it is?" So finally I'm sittin' there taking Shahada again.

From that point on I've made a commitment where I'm going to try my best. I'm gonna do my best to make my prayers, let's start there. Let's not beat ourselves up because we went out last night and had a drink. Let's make our prayers and pray for the strength to stop doing one thing at a time. That's what I'm still dealing with.

You know, once you get over the big things, it becomes very subtle. It can be as subtle as looking a man, and not even speaking bad about him, but back-biting him in your mind. The easy ones to beat - well I shouldn't say easy - the big ones are easy to notice. It's the subtle psychological stuff that helps you get into who really you are. You gotta be able to face the truth of who you are. If you are not able to face that truth of who you are, you're gonna crumble, man.

People question me and go, "You're Muslim?" And I'm like, "Yeah I'm Muslim, but I'm also a professional sinner." I'm tryin' to get over it, tryin' to retire. I won't front and say I'm better than you. I just believe that I've been shown the truth and hopefully that will save me."

(Islamicbulletin.com)

Saudi Rice with Meat and Chickpeas

2012-01-30T12:34:00.000+01:00

http://cooking38317.blogspot.com/2012/01/saudi-rice-with-meat-and-chickpeas.html

Judgement Day Airlines

2012-01-30T08:33:00.000+01:00

Non Transferable

Identification

Name:	Descendant of Adam and Eve
Nationality:	From Clay
Address:	Planet Earth
Payment Method:	C.O.D. (Condition of Deeds)

Flight Information

Departing Terminal:	This World
Arriving Terminal:	The Hereafter
Departure Time:	"No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die."
Arrival Time:	"And the stupor of death will come in truth, 'This is what you have been avoiding.'"
Accompanying Party:	No one, you will stand before your Lord alone and naked. Spouse, children, family, and friends will join you later."

Flight Conditions

1. The Orders in Allah's Book and The Sunnah.

2. Obedience, Love, and Fear of Allah.

3. Constant Remembrance of Death.

4. May experience turbulences. Take proper precautions now.

5. Knowledge benefited from.

6. Your food, drink, and money should be Halal (lawful).

Allowed Luggage

1. No carry-on luggage allowed.

2. Good deeds.

3. A prayer from a righteous son or daughter.

4. Ongoing charity.

5. Knowledge which benefited you.

Nothing else is allowed to accompany you.

For More Information

Return to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Muhammad (pbuh).

Notices

Extra weight of good deeds is allowed.

Check out yourself prior to check-in.

This is a one way flight.

There is no need for you to confirm your reservation, it is already confirmed.

Prior to departure please call 2-4-4-3-4 (Fajr, Duhur, Asr, Maghrib, Isha) for assistance.

(Islamicbulletin.com)

A Good Deed Brightens a Dark World

2012-01-30T08:29:00.000+01:00

Puffin

2012-01-30T08:23:00.000+01:00

Fratercula arctica

♥ Photo depicts pair bonding - when one returns from a fishing trip they rub beaks and call to each other, similar to 'eskimo kisses'. ♥

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo aka. Job ben Solomon

2012-01-29T22:39:00.000+01:00

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (Hyuba boon Salumena boon Hibrahema or Ayuba bin Sulaiman bin Ibrahim in Arabic), also known as Job ben Solomon (1701/1702 (1113 AH) – 1773), was a Fulbe of the clan Jallo, born in Bondu, present-day Senegal, West Africa. Diallo came from a prominent family of Muslim religious leaders. His grandfather had founded the town of Bondu, and he grew up with Samba Geladio Jegi (Diegui) the heir (kamalenku) to the Kingdom of Futa-Toro. They both studied under Ayuba's father. When Ayuba was fifteen years old, he assisted his father as imam. At about the same age he married the daughter of the Alfa of Tombut (Bambouk - gold country). They had three sons: Abduallah, Ibrahim and Samba. He took a second wife in 1729 CE (1141 AH), daughter of the Alfa of Tomga (Damga), who gave him a daughter.

In 1730, Ayuba became a victim of the ever-growing slave exploitation of the Senegambia region. Ayuba, with two servants, was sent to the distant Gambia River by his father to buy paper from the English, and to sell two slaves. His father warned him against crossing the river into enemy Mandingo territory. Such trading ventures to dispose of criminals or enemies were not uncommon. Ayuba negotiated with Captain Pike but disagreed with his price for the two men, so he sent his two personal servants home, engaged a translator, Loumein Yoai (also known as “Loumein Yoas,” “Lamine Jay,” “Lahamin Joy,” “Lahmin Jay,” “Lamine Ndiaye,” “Loumein Ybai,” and “Lamine Jay”) and crossed the river. There he traded his two captives for some cows.

While he was resting, having removed his "Gold hilted Sword, a Gold Knife, which they wear by their Side, and a rich Quiver of Arrows", seven or eight men took him and Loumein captive. Their heads were shaved to make them appear as war captives, and thereby supposedly legitimately enslavable, as opposed to their actual condition of people captured in a kidnapping raid for the specific purpose of selling slaves for financial profit. The two men were sold to factors of the Royal African Company. Ayuba subsequently convinced English Captain Pike of his high social status, and explained his father was capable of paying ransom. Pike granted Ayuba leave to find someone to send word to Ayuba’s family. But after a week passed and the messenger did not return in time, at the behest of Captain Henry Hunt, Pike’s superior, Ayuba and Loumein were sent across the Atlantic to Annapolis, Maryland. Later Ayuba heard that his father had sent slaves to be traded for him and that his friend Samba had made a successful war on the Mandingoes, but they were too late to help Ayuba.

The slaving agent in Annapolis, Vachell Denton, sold Ayuba to a Mr. Tolsey in Kent Island, Maryland. Ayuba was initially put to work in the tobacco fields; however, after being found unsuitable for such work, he was placed in charge of the cattle. His unhappiness and his faith led him to much praying (in the woods). At least once a white boy threw mud in his face as Ayuba prostrated in prayer. Ayuba ran away in hopes of finding a better master or situation. Getting as far as southeastern Pennsylvania, he was taken up by the local sheriff and imprisoned at the Kent County Courthouse.

The lawyer Thomas Bluett and others, having heard something of Ayuba, visited him in June 1731. They discovered Ayuba could not speak English, but they encouraged the affable, calm man to write if he could. He wrote, pronounced the words "Allah" and "Muhammad", and refused wine, so they concluded that Ayuba was a Muslim. No one at that time knew what to do about Ayuba.

Bluett, who was impressed by Ayuba's ability to write in Arabic wrote in the narrative the following:

Upon our Talking and making Signs to him, he wrote a Line or two before us, and when he read it, pronounced the Words Allah and Mahommed; by which, and his refusing a Glass of Wine we offered him, we perceived he was a Mahometan, but could not imagine of what Country he was, or how he got thither; for by his affable Carriage, and the easy Composure of his Countenance, we could perceive he was no common Slave.

A slave who could speak Wolof, a language of a neighboring African ethnic group that Ayuba understood, was able to translate for him, and it was discovered who Ayuba's master was and what Ayuba's problem with him were as well as that he had aristocratic blood. The jailer returned Ayuba and explained that Ayuba thought he deserved to be treated better. As a result, Ayuba was given a place to pray and he was also allowed to write a letter in Arabic to his father. He had it taken to the man who had received him in Annapolis, who eventually got it to England.

The letter however reached the philanthropist James Oglethorpe, Director of the Royal African Company and founder of the colony of Georgia, who, as a social reformer, hoped to resettle Britain's poor, especially those in debtors' prisons, in the New World. After having the letter authenticated by John Gagnier, the Laudian Chair of Arabic at Oxford, he helped arrange a bond to release Ayuba on a promise to pay his happy-to-sell master.

According to his own account, Oglethorpe was moved with sentiment upon hearing the suffering Ayuba had endured. Oglethorpe purchased Ayuba for ₤45 and sent him to the London office of the Royal African Company in London. In March 1733, Ayuba and Bluett set sail for England. On this passage, Ayuba impressed Bluett and others by writing out the Qur'an from memory; by his religious devotion, praying publicly five times a day; his adherence to Muslim dietary rules; and by his pleasant way with the officers and crew. Bluett and the captain took it upon themselves to teach Ayuba English. In about twenty days he had learned to write single syllables. By the time another month had passed and they had arrived in England, Ayuba was able to take part in common conversations. But however emotionally swayed Oglethorpe' letters claimed him to be, Oglethorpe was not so conscientious to leave instructions with the London office of the RAC concerning what to do with Ayuba upon his arrival in late April 1733.

Captain Henry Hunt (or perhaps his brother, William Hunt), one of the original factors in charge of Ayuba's enslavement, arranged for lodging in a country province. Yet Ayuba heard rumors that Hunt was planning to sell him to traders who claimed they would deliver him home. Ayuba, fearing yet another trickery, contacted Bluett and other men whom he had met en route to London. Bluett arranged for Ayuba a stay in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. The RAC, following Oglethorpe’s orders made in part through persistent requests from interested men in London, subsequently paid all the expenses and purchase price of the bond for Ayuba. Ayuba beseeched Bluett once again, explaining that none of this secured he would not be enslaved once again. According to Bluett, all the honorable men involved had promised they would not sell Ayuba into slavery, so, though supposedly Ayuba was not under any threat, Bluett and other sympathizers paid “fifty-nine pounds, six shillings, and eleven pence half-penny” simply to ease Ayubya’s anxiety. Englishmen in London and surrounding provinces who had met Ayuba collected money so that his “freedom in form,” an official document seal made and sealed by the RAC. Bluett explained, “Job’s Mind being now perfectly easy,” he could fraternize with London’s elite, obtaining many gifts and new friendships. Ayuba was in the company of many prominent people, including the royal family and the Duke and Duchess of Montague.

He also politely disputed with Christian divines; wrote three Qur'ans from memory; and translated Arabic for Sir Hans Sloane (one of the founders of the British Museum) and others, probably including George Sale, whose translation of the Qur'an in English in 1734 was hailed as the best to date. Ayuba was also elected to the prestigious and intellectual Spalding Gentlemen's Society, which may have put him in the company of philosopher-physicist Sir Isaac Newton and poet Alexander Pope.

On August 8 1734, Ayuba returned to Gambia and returned to his homeland in June 1735. His father had died, and his first wife, presuming that Ayuba had perished, had remarried. His homeland was ravaged by war, but being a prosperous individual, he was able to regain his old lifestyle. His memoirs were published by Bluett in English and French.

Ayuba was an extremely rare exception in the slave trade. Due to his intelligence and monetary prowess, and Englishmen's desire to use him to increase their own profits in trade on the coast of Africa, he was able to legally escape the hardships of slavery and return back home to Africa.

Ayuba, however, faced later hardships. In June 1736, he was imprisoned or held as a parolee by the French. Ayuba may have been targeted by the French because of his alliances with the British. He was held perhaps for a year by the French, when Ayuba's local countrymen, rather than the British, secured his release. He later sent letters to the London RAC to visit London, but gifts were sent instead. His death was recorded in the minutes of the Spalding Gentleman's Society in 1773.

Notably, none of Ayuba’s English contemporaries mention the conditions and experience of Ayuba and Loumein during the Middle Passage. Even though Ayuba continued to press London factors for Loumein’s freedom, only recent historians have even questioned what became of the translator. Due to Ayuba’s commitment and the help of Bluett, Loumein was eventually returned to the Gambia region in 1738.

Portrait of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo
aka. Job ben Solomon (1701-73)
by William Hoare (1707-72), 1733
Oil on canvas, 762 x 642
© Christie’s Images Limited

The painting:

The portrait of Diallo by William Hoare of Bath was painted in 1733. Following the purchase of the work by the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) at Christie’s in November 2009, the painting was the subject of export restriction, having been judged by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art to be of outstanding importance to the history and culture of Britain. It was on this basis that the National Portrait Gallery expressed its strong interest in the painting.

QMA has decided to lend the work to the National Portrait Gallery for a five year period. It went on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Room 15 on Thursday 20 January 2011. QMA will support a programme organised by the Gallery to include the conservation of the painting, research and interpretation, a UK tour to include Leicester, Liverpool and the North-East, and an exhibition to visit Doha in 2013.

Sources:
Wikipedia
African Muslims in antebellum America by Allan D. Austin. Starting at page 53, you can find in that book more information about Ayuba (I didn't want to type of everything).
News Release by the National Portrait Gallery.

See also:
Some Memoirs of the Life of Job, the Son of Solomon, the High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave About Two Years in Maryland; and Afterwards Being Brought to England, was Set Free, and Sent to His Native Land in the Year 1734 by Thomas Bluett.

Quote of the day

2012-01-29T20:11:00.000+01:00

Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him): "If you see that one of you has slipped, correct him, pray for him and do not help Shaytaan against him (by insulting him, etc.)."

[Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 15/256]

(Revive A Sunnah on FB)

The Founding Fathers of the US and Islam

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000+01:00

Library Papers Show Early Tolerance for Muslim Faith
By James H. Hutson

A selection from Jefferson's autobio-
graphy where he expresses satis-
faction over the Virginia legislature's
expression of tolerance in its Bill for
Establishing Religious Freedom.

Many Muslims feel unwelcome in the United States in the aftermath of September 11, according to newspaper reports. Anecdotal evidence suggests that substantial numbers of Americans view their Muslim neighbors as an alien presence outside the limits of American life and history. While other minorities—African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans—were living within the boundaries of the present United States from the earliest days of the nation, Muslims are perceived to have had no part in the American experience.

Readers may be surprised to learn that there may have been hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Muslims in the United States in 1776—imported as slaves from areas of Africa where Islam flourished. Although there is no evidence that the Founders were aware of the religious convictions of their bondsmen, it is clear that the Founding Fathers thought about the relationship of Islam to the new nation and were prepared to make a place for it in the republic.

In his seminal Letter on Toleration (1689), John Locke insisted that Muslims and all others who believed in God be tolerated in England. Campaigning for religious freedom in Virginia, Jefferson followed Locke, his idol, in demanding recognition of the religious rights of the "Mahamdan," the Jew and the "pagan." Supporting Jefferson was his old ally, Richard Henry Lee, who had made a motion in Congress on June 7, 1776, that the American colonies declare independence. "True freedom," Lee asserted, "embraces the Mahomitan and the Gentoo (Hindu) as well as the Christian religion."

George Washington's 1785 letter
wherein he declared that he would
welcome "Mohometans" to Moun
Vernon if they were "good workmen."

In his autobiography, Jefferson recounted with satisfaction that in the struggle to pass his landmark Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786), the Virginia legislature "rejected by a great majority" an effort to limit the bill's scope "in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan." George Washington suggested a way for Muslims to "obtain proper relief" from a proposed Virginia bill, laying taxes to support Christian worship. On another occasion, the first president declared that he would welcome "Mohometans" to Mount Vernon if they were "good workmen" (see page 96). Officials in Massachusetts were equally insistent that their influential Constitution of 1780 afforded "the most ample liberty of conscience … to Deists, Mahometans, Jews and Christians," a point that Chief Justice Theophilus Parsons resoundingly affirmed in 1810.

Toward Islam itself the Founding generation held differing views. An evangelical Baptist spokesman denounced "Mahomet" as a "hateful" figure who, unlike the meek and gentle Jesus, spread his religion at the point of a sword. A Presbyterian preacher in rural South Carolina dusted off Grotius' 17th century reproach that the "religion of Mahomet originated in arms, breathes nothing but arms, is propagated by arms." Other, more influential observers had a different view of Muslims. In 1783, the president of Yale College, Ezra Stiles, cited a study showing that "Mohammadan" morals were "far superior to the Christian." Another New Englander believed that the "moral principles that were inculcated by their teachers had a happy tendency to render them good members of society." The reference here, as other commentators made clear, was to Islam's belief, which it shared with Christianity, in a "future state of rewards and punishments," a system of celestial carrots and sticks which the Founding generation considered necessary to guarantee good social conduct.

"A Mahometan," wrote a Boston newspaper columnist, "is excited to the practice of good morals in hopes that after the resurrection he shall enjoy the beautiful girls of paradise to all eternity; he is afraid to commit murder, adultery and theft, lest he should be cast into hell, where he must drink scalding water and the scum of the damned." Benjamin Rush, the Pennsylvania signer of the Declaration of Independence and friend of Adams and Jefferson, applauded this feature of Islam, asserting that he had "rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammed inculcated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles."

That ordinary citizens shared these positive views is demonstrated by a petition of a group of citizens of Chesterfield County, Va., to the state assembly, Nov. 14, 1785: "Let Jews, Mehometans and Christians of every denomination enjoy religious liberty…thrust them not out now by establishing the Christian religion lest thereby we become our own enemys and weaken this infant state. It is mens labour in our Manufactories, their services by sea and land that aggrandize our Country and not their creeds. Chain your citizens to the state by their Interest. Let Jews, Mehometans, and Christians of every denomination find their advantage in living under your laws."

The Founders of this nation explicitly included Islam in their vision of the future of the republic. Freedom of religion, as they conceived it, encompassed it. Adherents of the faith were, with some exceptions, regarded as men and women who would make law-abiding, productive citizens. Far from fearing Islam, the Founders would have incorporated it into the fabric of American life.

James H. Hutson is chief of the Manuscript Division and the author of many books, including, most recently, "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," 1998.

(Library of Congress)

News of the day / Nachrichten des Tages

2012-01-29T00:39:00.000+01:00

Navy wants commando ‘mothership’ in Middle East
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...

Pentagon Seeks Mightier Bomb vs. Iran
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB...

Floating Bases Enhance Capacity For Quick Strikes
http://online.wsj.com...
____________________________________________________________________________

US-Streitkräfte: Stilles Rüsten für Nahen Osten
http://orf.at/stories/2102032/

Caravan Leaders and Saharan Scholars - The Women of Tichit

2012-01-28T15:07:00.001+01:00

Jarfuna was arriving. The whole town was alerted as soon as her caravan was spotted crossing the last dunes before the dry lakebed bordering Tichit, a once-prosperous oasis in the heart of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Everyone came down to greet the camel convoy with ululations, cries of excitement and praise to God for safeguarding the travelers. Such was the long-standing tradition among Saharan communities, where the departure and arrival of caravans, awaited with great anticipation, marked the high moments of the year, breaking the humdrum of everyday life.

From Tichit, a caravan laden mostly with salt sets

out for Ayoun el-Atrouss, 10 days’ walk distant.

Jarfuna, a Masna woman of slave descent, was the most celebrated female caravan leader in the town's memory. She was born at the end of the 19th century and died sometime in the 1960's. She was an entrepreneur with a reputation not only for overcoming great adversity in dealing with nature and people, but also for conducting successful commercial ventures: “Jarfuna led the caravan and she rented out her own camels,” explains Shaykh Sid Ahmed Ould Baba Mine, the traditional chief of the Masna people of Tichit.

By Saharan standards, women like Jarfuna were exceptional, for Tichit is the only oasis in Mauritania—or elsewhere in the region—where women are known to have joined commercial camel convoys. Tichit women excelled in other ways as well. At one end of the social scale, women of slave origins joined caravans and engaged in trade on their own account. At the other end, women of higher status learned to read and write and traded through proxies—and some became genuine intellectuals.

Tichit lies at the foot of a long escarpment in southern Mauritania that is topped by a limestone plateau. For more than a millennium, its inhabitants thrived in a diverse and lush environment. In fact, it is here that archeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of African plant domestication outside North Africa and the Nile Valley, dating back 4000 years. Not surprisingly, scattered across the region north and east of Tichit are the stone ruins of permanent or semi-permanent dwellings of farmers, hunter-gatherers and herders—some comprising villages that had thousands of residents. These communities preceded the rise, in the eighth century, of the Empire of Ghana, whose capital was located several hundred kilometers southeast of Tichit on the border with Mali.

Caravan map.

While the history of Tichit remains debated and is largely unexplored by scholars, there is little doubt that its original inhabitants were ancestors of the Masna, a group of Soninké origin that owns majority rights over the extraction of salt from fields of amersal, a salty crust that forms after summertime rains on the lakebeds that surround Tichit; the salt is sold predominantly to herders as an animal-feed supplement. Aside from the Masna, the two other dominant clans in Tichit are the Shurfa and the Awlad Billa, the latter a nomadic clan that settled here late in the 18th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Tichit was a commercial crossroads where caravans from far afield met to exchange regional and international goods. After the French colonial occupation finally reached the oasis in 1911, local caravans continued to supply the town's basic needs, but trans-Saharan traffic from Morocco came to an end. Today, Tichit remains one of Mauritania's remotest desert enclaves.

On the ancient lakebeds near Tichit, both men and women work to break up the salty surface crust. They bag it, load it onto camels and market it to caravanners who in turn sell it to herders as an animal-feed supplement.

Tichit has a long tradition of excellence in Islamic learning and scholarship. As early as the 12th century, several Muslim scholars had settled in Tichit, among them Sharif 'Abd al-Mu'min. Today, there are some 20 large libraries in this Saharan oasis that contain manuscript collections bearing witness to the vibrant scholarly community that once flourished here--including the 800-manuscript library of the family of Limam Ould Abdel Mu'min, who heads the only museum of Tichit.

In recent years, the Fondation des Villes Anciennes, under the Mauritanian Ministry of Culture, has been working to preserve manuscripts in Ticht and sister oasis towns. In Tichit, some families have taken matters into their own hands by creating the Club pour la Sauvegarde des Manuscrits de Tichit, which is cataloging six family-library collections. Mohamedou Ould El-Sharif Bouya, who directs the club, is a scholar and local historian, a role passed down to him by Daddah Ould Idda, the late custodian of Tichit's history. Much material assistance is needed to secure these Saharan treasures for posterity, he says.

Soueid Ould Mohamed Bouyatou, left, and Limam Ould Abdel Mu’min show manuscripts from their archive, one of some 20 archives and libraries in the oasis with writings that date to as early as the 12th century.

Several Tichit women were known as distinguished scholars, and their stories are recounted in the town's oral traditions. The mosque of Tichit, its façade decorated with the triangular niches typical of the town's stone buildings, has a special entrance for women that is notable for its beauty and size. Today women from all three of Tichit's clans still run primary schools in their homes where they teach the Qur'an and basic Arabic literacy to boys and girls.

Historically, many of Tichit's female intellectuals belonged to the Shurfa clan, which traces its lineage to the Prophet Muhammad. Like their male counterparts, they memorized the Qur'an to earn the respectful title of hafidhat, and some of their writings are preserved in the Club pour la Sauvegarde des Manuscrits. The earliest example is A'ishatu mint al-Faqih Abu Bakir ibn al-Amin ibn al-Sha' al-Muslimi, who lived in the 18th century. It is said that she once traded 70 camels for a single manuscript: Ibn Hajjar's collection of hadith, or sayings of the Prophet. Another example is Al-Hasniya mint Fadil al-Sharif, a 19th-century scholar. She married another scholar with whom she had four sons, all of whom became scholars themselves. When she died, numerous praise songs and poems were written in her honor. Several of them have been published in Dala al-Adib, an anthology of Saharan literature by Jamal Ould Al-Hasan. Fatima mint Shaykhna Buyahmed is the most celebrated of these learned women, partly because she lived in more recent times—from the late 19th through the mid-20th century. The daughter of a legal scholar who taught her Islamic jurisprudence, she so excelled in the study of the law that she occasionally wrote fatwas in the name of her father.

Jarfuna, by contrast, used her limited literacy to run her caravans, but she wasn't the only Masna woman to leave her mark as a businesswoman. Fatimatu mint Seri Niaba, for example, was a gifted 19th-century entrepreneur, as well as a learned individual. Although she did not leave any scholarly writings, Fatimatu, like many women of Tichit, earned her access to the caravan economy thanks to her literacy.

Muslim women protected their property rights by keeping a paper trail of their commercial and civil affairs. They documented credit transactions and loan disbursements, and they wrote to men and other women with whom they conducted trade and exchanged market information. To be sure, only privileged and exceptional women—Fatimatu among them—acquired the skills necessary to make use of contracts and correspondence. Tichit depended on caravans to bring in limited supplies of writing paper, making that commodity relatively expensive. Not everyone could afford to engage directly in the caravanning economy at this level or, alternatively, to hire scribes.

Ornamental leatherwork adorns what will become

a usaada, or cushion.

Women were involved in Tichit's scholarly and caravanning activities in other ways, too, by crafting and ornamenting the leather bindings that protected manuscripts. The women of Tichit also made and decorated with colored dyes the cushions and small leather pouches that were among their primary export products. Indeed, there is a firm foundation for the popular Mauritanian proverb, “The woman is the man's trousers” (Limra' sirwal al-rajul), for it conveys the idea that a woman protects her husband and, by extension, their family.

Yuma mint Bay weaves palm ribs and strips of

leather to make a mat.

The skilled labor of women and families was critical to the caravan economy of Tichit in both obvious and subtle ways. For one thing, women played an important role in manufacturing caravanning gear, such as water gourds, camel saddles, riding blankets and the leather pouches in which such goods as dates, lard and millet were transported. And they wove palm-tree fibers, grass and leather strips into the straps, bridles and quantities of cordage used to fasten down camel loads and harness caravans.

However, as Jarfuna illustrates, Tichit women also participated in the caravan trade directly. Falla mint Bubu and her husband, Khalifa Ould Al-Bashir, both now deceased, are a classic example of a 20th-century Tichit caravanning family. Almost every year, they left Tichit with their six children for three months on caravan. And Falla, a strong, warrior-like woman, often also went on caravan without her family.

Typically, caravans from Tichit headed to Banamba, Nouara, Nara or Nioro, Malian markets on the southern edge of the desert. Falla and her family always went to Banamba. Caravanning families rarely traveled alone, preferring to join other families or groups for safety and support.

Falla's children, now in their late 30's to early 50's, describe a typical journey. “It took a full month to travel from Tichit to Banamba, the convoy walking without a break from morning to evening,” they recall. That regimen wasn't unusual. As Fatima mint Mbarak, another veteran caravanner, now a great-grandmother, explains, “We would go walking, walking, walking till the afternoon prayer or the evening prayer. We did not stop for lunch.” The caravan traveled from one well to the next, once going six days without replenishing its water supply, she adds.

Making couscous can take up to two hours.

“As soon as we stopped, we would unload the camels and start grinding the millet,” Falla's youngest daughter explains. “[The women and girls] made couscous with goat lard and tishdar [jerky, the caravanner's staple]. The next day we warmed up the leftovers for the morning meal.”

The daily routine was so intense there was no time to play. Falla's children recall sandstorms and strong winds, but not in detail. What they remember most vividly is the fast pace.

Caravanners usually walked alongside their loaded camels. But not the children: They had to run. The camel's average gait is six kilometers per hour (33/4 mph), a brisk walking pace for an adult human.

There was some respite for the children, however. When they got very tired, every couple of hours or so, they would climb aboard a moving camel, a move that called for great dexterity. One of Falla's sons recalls the agony he endured after scraping his kneecaps raw on the leather sacks of salt his camel was carrying.

Caravans maintained a constant, rigorous pace to make it to the market in time for the end of the millet harvest in January, when prices were most favorable. Upon arrival, men and women traded salt for millet. Then the men took the camels to pasture while the women sold their leather products, beads and other goods. Some learned to speak the local Bambara language to barter more effectively in the marketplace; others got by with sign language (isharaat).

Female caravanners impressed their male counterparts, and today retired caravanning men never fail to recognize the women's contributions to their own training. “I first left on caravan as a young boy with my grandmother Ifna mint Qarba,” recounts Bayba Ould Bala, who is nearly 100 years old. One of the elders of Tichit, he is among the last speakers of Azer, the region's dominant language before it was supplanted by the Arabo-Berber language of Hasaniya. Similarly, Baba Ghazzar, now deceased, discussed how he learned the tricks of the caravanning trade from the women in his Masna family.

The caravans returned to Tichit with a range of supplies, including millet—the staple of the local diet—nuts, a variety of spices, wooden wares and cotton cloth, as well as slaves. Slaves quarried green and gray limestone and sandstone east of town for buildings. They also labored in the palm gardens, which produced one of the town's most valuable exports: dates.

Date cultivation was very labor-intensive, involving regular sand removal, desalination of leaves and replanting of palm tree shoots. A date-palm laborer could maintain a maximum of 10 trees at a time. Nowadays, date production in Tichit has lost its former glory as the oasis's population has fallen. A bad flood in 1999 led to a massive exodus westward to the town of Tijikja and to Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott. There are now fewer than 500 souls here, compared with more than 3000 before the deluge.

One of the specialties of the women of Tichit and the neighboring village of Akreijit was crafting shell beads. In the past, the shells might have been collected locally, remnants of a former era when a green and lush Sahara boasted lakes and teemed with wildlife. In more recent times, the shells have been imported from the Atlantic coast.

Women and girls would sand small pieces of shell on a granite rock for hours to produce beads with the desired round shape, each taking several hours to fashion. Then they would carefully drill four or five holes into each bead with a bow-driven piercing tool. These beads (amjun) were an important item of exchange, highly prized in the markets of Mauritania and Mali by women who braided them into hairdos on such special occasions as weddings. Tahira mint Al-Khatabi, a seasoned caravanner, takes more than an hour to demonstrate the art of making a single amjuna.

Another export, a yellowish calcium powder called luwinkel, was collected in the nearby hills and sold for medicinal purposes. It was used to treat heartburn and indigestion, among other things. Today, every small shop in Tichit sells luwinkel by the kilogram.

These stores also sell products brought in from Mali by caravan or truck via Ayoun el-Atrouss, a town some 200 kilometers (125 mi) to the south. These include a dozen different spices and special mixtures essential for cooking millet-grain couscous. Among them are taqiya, a mixture of herbs; simbala, another herbal concoction sold in cigar-shaped rolls; black pepper and “red pepper” kernels; and tajmacht—ground baobab-tree seeds used both to make a beverage and as a medicine. Goat butter or lard, onions, white and red beans, peanuts and dried meat are also part of this trade, which includes indigo dye and textiles produced from cotton grown and woven in Mali. Aside from foodstuffs and cloth, there are also platters made of woven grass and wooden utensils ranging from large mortars and pestles for grinding millet to receptacles for milking livestock, serving meals and drinks, and preserving dates.

Stories abound in Tichit about travelers nearly succumbing to thirst near a dry well, camels running away in the night and sandstorms wreaking havoc. Murjan mint Izidbih, a granddaughter of the venerated caravan leader Jarfuna, was 11 or 12 years old when she was accidentally abandoned. She was busy collecting gum arabic from thorny Acacia senegalensis trees—a resin used for a variety of purposes, from texturing milk beverages to starching cotton clothes—when she lost track of time. Before she knew it, the caravan had packed and departed without her. Only the next day did her family realize she was missing and immediately send several camel riders to find her. Meanwhile, Murjan had spent a frightful night in the wild. The following day, she met a nomad who sheltered her in his tent. It took seven days for the riders to locate her and return her to the convoy.

Due to their menstrual cycles and fertility, caravanning posed special challenges to women. One woman explains how she was several months pregnant while on caravan late one winter season. On the return journey in the spring, the heat was so intense that she miscarried. She resolved never to join another caravan.

Fatima mint Mbarak remembers the crisis that beset several Tichit families on their return from Mali. Their camels, five teams totaling close to 80 head, strayed during the night, stranding the travelers. Since most caravanning families rented their camels from wealthier Tichit residents—Jarfuna, who owned a number of camels, was an exception—their disappearance put further stress on the members of the convoy. It took two weeks for men on foot to reassemble all of the scattered camels. “Praise God,” Fatima says, “that this happened when we were staying at a well.”

On December 22, 2009 a caravan composed of five men and 57 camels arrived in Tichit. It transported a mixed load of millet, rice—a staple that has recently gained ground in the local diet—and spices from Mali. The whole town was alerted, starting with Mohamedou Ould Hamar, the “guardian of the sabkhah,” or saltpan—a Masna in charge of supervising the salt harvest and tax distribution. Men and women immediately set to work, on their knees, scraping the surface of the lakebed. The next morning, each camel was loaded with four sacks of amersal salt weighing 50 kilograms (110 lb) each. With help from the locals, it took the five caravanners just over an hour to load the entire convoy, which immediately set off. The task was gracefully orchestrated in near-complete silence, save for the braying of the camels.

Each camel-load of salt was purchased for 600 Mauritanian ouguiya or mro (the equivalent of $2.25), which was distributed among the three main clans of Tichit. The Shurfa and Awlad Billa each received one-quarter, and the Masna pocketed the rest, according to an arrangement dating back to colonial times. On top of this, a city tax of about $0.25 per camel-load was collected by the guardian of the saltpan.

In the 1960's, the average exchange rate, by weight, between millet and amersal salt was two to one. Today, profits are much narrower, according to the caravan leader Mohamed Ould al-Najim, a man in his 60's from Ayoun el-Atrouss. This is because caravans no longer travel all the way to Mali: Since 2006, a tarred road links Ayoun to the Malian market town of Nioro. Today, caravans organized by a handful of men travel only between Tichit and either Ayoun or Timbedra, a trip that averages 10 days one way.

In Ayoun, the salt is sold at the rate of 2500 mro per sack, or about $9.40. Thus, gross profits were about $35 per camel, or $1995 for the entire caravan. (Three of the 57 camels on this particular caravan belonged to women.) These figures do not include the costs of renting the camels and outfitting the caravan, or the profits realized from the loads transported to Tichit.

Caravans have long been the lifelines of the Sahara. But today, though Tichit remains largely “landlocked,” without a highway linking it to Mauritania's national road system, its dwindling population nonetheless relies less on caravans than on the diesel truck that regularly makes its way across the rough terrain from Tijikja, to the east, to replenish the town's supplies and carry out its primary exports: amersal salt and dates.

Throughout history, long-distance trade in Mauritania was a male profession. In Tichit, though, caravanning was not just a man's world. The wealthiest women of Tichit invested in caravan journeys by contracting family members and laborers, or sending slaves; women in the lower classes of society joined caravans themselves, for the most part accompanied by their husbands and children. Those women are remembered by all because of their leading role in planning, coordinating and directing camels, loads, supplies and family labor. This is why the story of Jarfuna, the remarkable woman caravan leader, lives on in the oral traditions of Tichit.

(Written by Ghislaine Lydon, Photographed by Arita Baaijens, published by Saudi Aramco World)

NL: Cabinet backs the burka ban

2012-01-27T21:09:00.001+01:00

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2012/01/cabinet_backs_the_burka_ban.php

Bilali (Ben Ali) Muhammad

2012-01-27T19:53:00.001+01:00

The life journey of Bilali (Ben Ali) Muhammad started around the year of 1770. He was a Fula from Timbo, in Futa-Jallon in present day Guinea. Timbo was a beautiful city from which flew the headwaters of three major rivers in West Africa, the Gambia, Niger, and Senegal rivers. That is why it is often called: the “Water Tower” of West Africa, or “the Switzerland of West Africa.”

In addition to its natural wonders, Futa Jallon was “a magnet of learning, attracting students from Kankan to the Gambia, and featuring Jakhanke clerics at Tuba as well as Fulbhe teachers. It acted as the nerve centre for trading caravans heading in every direction. The more enterprising commercial lineages, of whatever ethnic origin, established colonies in the Futanke hills and along the principal routes. It served their interests to send their sons to Futanke schools, to support the graduates who came out to teach, and in general to extend the vast pattern of influence that radiated from Futa Jalon”

Under this rich learning environment did Bilali Mohammed spend his childhood. He joined the prestigious Futa Jalon’s schools, studying subjects of Quran, Arabic, Islamic faith and jurisprudence. The Fula boy showed great integrity, intelligence, and dedication in his studies.

Having a busy port over the Atlantic Ocean and being a highly populated area made Futa Jallon an attractive place for a distinctively different purpose than its beautiful landscape: slaves’ haunting. In fact, many of the Early American Muslims trace back their roots to that part of the world. Namely: Kunta Kinte, Omar Ibn Sayyid and the “Prince of Slaves”, AbdulRahman Ibrahim all came from the same region.

So Bilali Mohammed encountered the same destiny as those pioneer American Muslims. By the year 1792, Bilali was captured by slave haunters and was held as a slave for ten years in the Middle Caicos plantation of Dr. Bell, a Loyalist refugee from the American Revolutionary War. In the Bahamas Bilali married at least one of his four known wives.

Ten years later, in 1802, Bilali arrived in Georgia on Sapelo Island. There, he worked for Thomas Spalding, a prominent Georgian master. Bilali’s skills and leadership led him to quickly gain the admiration of his master. He became the head driver and manager on Thomas Spalding’s plantation where he overlooked 500 - 1,000 slaves without white overseership.

He got married to Phoebe, a young slave woman from his plantation. They had 12 sons and 7 daughters. One of his sons is reported as being Aaron of Joel Chandler Harris’ work, author of Uncle Remus and Br’er Rabbit stories. His daughters" names were Margaret, Hester, Charlotte, Fatima, Yoruba, Medina, and Bint. All his daughters but Bint could speak English, French, Fula, Gullah, and Arabic.

He became the founder and the leader of the only known antebellum African Muslim community in the US..

The early Muslim community led by Bilali Mohammed built villages similar to those in Africa. There, according to the available historic records, Bilali was the Imam (Arabic) or Almaamy (Fulfulde) of about 80 men on Spalding’s plantation in 1812. He led them from 1806 to the late 1830s. He led their five daily prayers facing the east, provided lectures and counseling services on Islamic Faith and Jurisprudence. He was known for regularly wearing his fez (a red hat that Muslims from West Africa used to wear), a long coat, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and celebrating the two Eid holidays when they came. He followed Muslim dietary rules and prohibitions (in various personal recollections, he was ”eating food that was prepared differently from that of other slaves”.), and held himself aloof from non‐Muslims.

In 1812, when President Jefferson declared war against Great Britain after the latter seized American ships and captivated American Seamen, Bilali Muhammad was ready to take his part in defending his country. He told his master, Thomas, that he has “80 believers of true faith that are willing to help defend the land and the country”.

Bilali was described in 1850—the year his master died—by a neighbor, Georgia B. Conrad, as being old, black, tall, well‐formed, good‐featured, and the father of many Muslim children.

In 1857, Bilali Muhammad passed away. He is believed to have been buried with a Koran, (prayer beads?) and a prayer rug. He is still buried in Georgia.

Part of Ben Ali’s legacy was a 13 pages’ Arabic manuscript. At first, this was thought to have been his diary, but closer inspection revealed that the manuscript was a booklet in Fiqh, or Islamic Law, named: “Arrisalah”, or “The Message”, which he had written in 1829. The Rissalah was a hand written text. There are, on average, fourteen lines to a page. Thus far, there seems to be an agreement that page 1 begins with Bismillah and an opening echoing that of the Risala of Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Yusuf bin Ubaid al-Qairawani - a famous book in the Maliki school of Fiqh (Islamic Law) on rules for followers, written before 1032. This is followed by an introduction to what is to come from one who has learned from others. Page 2 asserts adherence to the Faith, learned through the Prophet and his Companions, and the fundamental beliefs in Allah, punishment, the Day of Judgment, and the possibility of Allah's forgiveness. Page 7 reminds the reader to be patient and to keep from disbelief and then launches into a description of ritual ablutions, continuing to page 8. Page 9 repetitively asserts the obligation of worshipping Allah alone. Page 10 emphasizes prayer and Allah's titles. Page 11 tells about where and how to pray. Page 12 reassures that prayer and faith will be repaid. Page 13 that prayer is better than sleep for the true servant of Allah.

The subjects included in the document are believed to be part of West Africa’s Muslim curriculum at that time. The manuscript was written in a mixture of classical Arabic and Fullar dialect that was also written using the Arabic alphabet. This was the custom of the Fulbe scholars. They used to write their literature in Fulbe dialect using the Arabic alphabet, which they referred to as: Ajamiyya. The hand writing calligraphic style used in the manuscript was the Northern African writing style, which was the widespread calligraphic style in Western Africa.

Part of the difficulty in deciphering the content of the manuscript was due to the fact that it had some errors and mixing up of some consonants. Dr. Joseph Greenberg, the Northern University anthropologist who was the first to decipher the manuscript, stated that: “at the time of the writer’s departure from Africa he was still a young student. Books are first taught by oral memorization; and it is apparent that this manuscript was written by a man who had memorized the text, using a pronunciation of Arabic in which many consonants were not distinguished, making the errors that might be expected when he attempted to reproduced what he knew in writing.”

Some recent tests on the document’s parchments show that the paper itself came from West Africa. This was an interesting finding that led to question whether Bilali Mohammed brought the paper with him from West Africa, or did he buy it from an underground market in Georgia. At that time, literacy among slaves was mostly considered illegal and dangerous, and many Muslim slaves sought underground markets to purchase paper in order to keep their faith alive, and pass it on to the next generation.

Bilali kept the document with him until his death in 1857. He gave it not long before he died to Francis Goulding, a local white writer. It is currently situated in the Library of the University of Georgia in Athens (? or Georgis State Library?). It is also referred to as: The Bilali Muhammad Document or the Ben Ali Diary or Ben Ali Journal, since in the beginning it was thought that the document consisted of a diary before it was discovered that it is in fact a book on Islamic Law.

The manuscript is one of the first booklets on Islam written in the American History and as such probably the mother text of American Islamic literature.

His island of Sapelo was, to a great extent, an island of Islam. It remains partially so today as Sapelo's Baptist Church follows several Muslim traditions, beginning with prayers to the East and separation of men and women.

Bilali Muhammad was a true hidden treasure in the history of America. He founded and led one of the earliest known Muslim communities in America; he wrote one of the first known Muslim literatures in America; he excelled in his workplace – even while being a slave; and he spent his lifetime serving and defending his faith and his country without compromising anyone of them. He truly is an inspirational role model for a lot of us, Muslims in the West.

Sources:

Mercy Magazine
Oxford African American Studies Center - please visit for more information.

Wikipedia - please visit for more information.

History of Muslims In America

Bilali Muhammad - Muslim Jurisprudist in Antebellum Georgia
African Muslims in antebellum America and here after signing in.
A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar Ibn Said by Omar Ibn Said, Ala Alryyes

Prince Among Slaves - Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori

2012-01-27T17:09:00.000+01:00

This is part 1 of the documentary, you can find the other parts on the same YT-channel!

In 1788 a slave-ship set sail from West Africa, its berth laden with a profitable but fragile cargo: hundreds of men, women and children bound in chains and headed for American shores. Eight months later the survivors were sold in Natchez, Mississippi. Among them was the 26-year-old Abdul Rahman Sori, heir to the throne of one of the largest kingdoms in Africa.

Captured in an ambush, he was sold to English slavers for a few muskets and some rum. After enduring the brutal Middle Passage to America, packed below decks and in filthy conditions, he was purchased by a struggling Mississippi farmer named Thomas Foster. Foster hoped that the strong African would help establish his farm.

Abdul Rahman promptly escaped, but after several weeks alone in the Mississippi swamps he voluntary returned. Sustained by his deep faith and drawing from his well-honed intellect, Abdul Rahman applied his leadership abilities and knowledge about crops such as cotton to help Foster eventually become one of the wealthiest men in Mississippi. In the meantime, Abdul Rahman married an American-born enslaved woman, and together they had nine children.

Abdul Rahman never wavered in his belief that his rightful destiny was freedom. So it seemed a gift of fate when at a crossroads market twenty years into his enslavement he had a chance meeting with an Irish ship’s surgeon whose life had been saved by Abdul Rahman's father many years before when he was marooned in Africa. This was the one white man in America who owed Abdul Rahman an enormous debt, but the bonds of slavery proved too strong. There were numerous attempts to purchase Abdul Rahman's freedom, but Foster stayed firm, refusing to sell the man he called Prince at any price.

After two more decades and 40 years of enslavement another chance encounter finally led to a breakthrough. A meeting with a local printer who had a friend in the U.S. Embassy in Morocco resulted in an exchange of letters between the Sultan of Morocco and President John Quincy Adams. In a diplomatic exchange, President Adams agreed to do what he could to gain Abdul Rahman free passage to Morocco. The President appealed directly to Foster to let Abdul Rahman go. Reluctantly, Foster agreed, and manumitted him under one condition: that Abdul Rahman was not to enjoy the rights of a free man in the United States – he was to travel directly to Africa.

Defying the edict that he return immediately to Africa, Abdul Rahman set out on a quest to raise enough money to purchase his family’s freedom. He succeeded early with his wife, but the price for his children and grandchildren seemed nearly out of reach. Nevertheless, he persevered giving lectures and soliciting donations. When he finally met personally with President Adams and corrected the error that he was not Moroccan, Adams declined to pay any money to help free his family.

Sickness and the growing threat that he might be returned to Foster forced Abdul Rahman to leave the U.S. without his children. In Africa he continued to press for their freedom, but died only four months after his return, unable to see his quest realized. Some of his children were ultimately purchased free and returned to Africa, while the others remained enslaved in Mississippi and throughout the South.

To this day the legacy of Abdul Rahman, the prince among slaves, lives on in his descendants. Seven generations later, one has survived the horrors of civil war in his native Liberia. Now he finds healing and purpose in a quest to uncover the story of his remarkable ancestor and unite the family torn apart nearly 200 years ago. By reestablishing bonds with his American relatives, he finally realizes Abdul Rahman’s dream.

(PBS)

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Abdu-l-Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (a.k.a. Abdul-Rahman) was a prince from West Africa who was made a slave in the United States. In 1828, he was freed after spending 40 years in slavery by the order of President John Quincy Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay after the Sultan of Morocco requested his release.

Life

He was born in 1762 in Timbo, West Africa, (in present day Guinea, Fouta Djallon) as son of the King Almami Ibrahima Sori Mawɗo (Soriya). He was known as the "Prince of Slaves" or "Prince." He was a 6’2 Fulbe or Fulani, (Fula) of the land of Fouta Djallon. Ibrahim left Futa in 1774 to study in Mali at Timbuktu. Ibrahim was leader of one of his father's army divisions. After winning a battle against a warring nation, he took with him a few soldiers to report back to his father, when he was ambushed, captured, and sold to slave traders in 1788 at the age of 26. They brought him from Africa to New Orleans. It was a grueling journey that took about 6 months. He was bought by a Natchez, Mississippi cotton plantation owner, and eventually became the overseer of the plantation of Thomas Foster. In 1794 he married Isabella, a baptist and also slave of Thomas Foster, and eventually fathered a large family: five sons and four daughters.

By using his knowledge of growing cotton in Fouta Djallon, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim rose to a position of authority on the plantation and became the de facto foreman. This granted him the opportunity to grow his own vegetable garden and sell at the local market. During this time, he met an old acquaintance, Dr. John Cox. Dr. Cox was an Irish surgeon who had served on an English ship. He was the first white man to reach Timbo after being stranded by his ship and falling ill. Cox stayed ashore for six months and was taken in by the Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima family. Cox appealed to Foster to sell him "Prince" so he could return to Africa. However, Foster would not budge, since he viewed Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim as indispensable to the Foster farm (among other reasons). Dr. Cox continued, until his death in 1816, to seek Ibrahim's freedom, to no avail. After Cox died, Ibrahim continued the cause.

In 1826, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim wrote a letter to his relatives in Africa. A local newspaperman, Andrew Marschalk, who was originally from New York, sent a copy to Senator Thomas Reed in Washington, who forwarded it to the U.S. Consulate in Morocco. Since Abdal-Rhaman Ibrahim wrote in Arabic, Marschalk and the U.S. government assumed that he was a Moor. After the Sultan of Morocco Abderrahmane read the letter, he asked President Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay to release Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim. In 1828, Thomas Foster agreed to the release of Ibrahim, without payment, with the stipulation that Ibrahim return to Africa and not live as a free man in America.

Before leaving the U.S., Ibrahim and his wife went to various states and Washington, D.C. He solicited donations, through the press, personal appearances, the American Colonization Society and politicians, to free his family back in Mississippi. Word got back to Foster, who considered this a breach of the agreement. Abdul-Rahman's actions and freedom were also used against President John Quincy Adams by future president Andrew Jackson during the presidential election.

After ten months, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim and Isabella had raised only half the funds to free their children. They made arrangements to leave America. He went to Monrovia, Liberia with his wife. Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim lived for four months before he contracted a fever and died at the age of 67. He never saw Fouta Djallon or his children again.

Legacy

The funds that Abdul-Rahman and Isabella raised bought the freedom of two sons and their families. They were reunited with Isabella in Monrovia. Thomas Foster died the same year as Abdul-Rahman. Foster's estate, including Abdul-Rahman's other children and grandchildren, was divided among Foster's heirs and scattered across Mississippi and the South. Abdul-Rahman's descendants still reside in Monrovia and the United States. In 2006, Abdul-Rahman's descendants gathered for a family reunion at Foster's Field.

He wrote two autobiographies. A drawing of him is displayed in the Library of Congress.

In 1977, history professor Terry Alford documented the life of Ibn Sori in Prince Among Slaves, the first full account of his life, pieced together from first-person accounts and historical documents. In Prince Among Slaves, Alford writes:

Among Henry Clay's documents, for the year 1829 we find the January 1 entry, "Prince Ibrahima, an Islamic prince sold into slavery 40 years ago, and freed with the stipulation that he return (in this case the word "return" makes sense) to Africa, joined the black citizens of Philadelphia as an honored guest in their New Year's Day parade, up Lombard and Walnut, and down Chestnut and Spruce streets.

(Wikipedia, with additions)

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Website of the Film: princeamongslaves.org

You can read the book "Prince Among Slaves" here.

More information and photos of his letters can be found here.

Treaty of Tripoli

2012-01-27T01:06:00.000+01:00

The Treaty of Tripoli (Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary) was the first treaty concluded between the United States of America and Tripolitania, signed at Tripoli on November 4, 1796 and at Algiers (for a third-party witness) on January 3, 1797. It was submitted to the Senate by President John Adams, receiving ratification unanimously from the U.S. Senate on June 7, 1797 and signed by Adams, taking effect as the law of the land on June 10, 1797.

The treaty was a routine diplomatic agreement but has attracted later attention because the English version included a clause about religion in America.

The treaty is cited as historical evidence in the modern day controversy over whether there was religious intent by the founders of the United States government. Article 11 of the treaty has been interpreted as an official denial of a Christian basis for the U.S. government.

You can read the rest of the article on Wikipedia.

And you can find the book "America's Christian history" here - page 162 is extremely interesting ...

Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship

2012-01-26T23:50:00.000+01:00

In December 1777, Moroccan sultan Muhammad III included America in a list of countries to which Morocco’s ports were open. With that message to foreign consuls for communication to European capitals, Morocco became the first country whose head of state publicly recognized the new United States. Relations were formalized with the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship negotiated by Thomas Barclay, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Muhammad III in 1786.

Situation in Morocco

Muhammad III, or Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah, came to power in 1757 and ruled until his death in 1790. Prior to his reign, Morocco had experienced 30 years of internecine battles, instability and turmoil. During the 33 years Sidi Muhammad ruled he transformed the politics, the economy and the society, putting development of international trade high on his agenda and restoring power to the sultanate. This served to quickly bring respect to Morocco on the international scene. Central to his pursuit of international trade was the negotiation of agreements with foreign commercial powers. He actively began seeking one with the United States well before the war with Great Britain was settled in 1783, finally got America's attention in 1784, and warmly welcomed Thomas Barclay's arrival to negotiate in 1786. The treaty signed by Barclay and the sultan, then by Jefferson and Adams, was ratified by the Confederation Congress in July 1787. It has withstood transatlantic stresses and strains for more than 220 years, making it the keystone of the longest unbroken treaty relationship in United States history.

(Wikipedia)

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The Barbary Treaties 1786-1816
Treaty with Morocco June 28 and July 15, 1786

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1786t.asp

Thomas Jefferson's Quran

2012-01-26T23:45:00.000+01:00

WHILE HE WAS A LAW STUDENT, THOMAS JEFFERSON BOUGHT A NEWLY PUBLISHED ENGLISH RENDITION OF THE QUR'AN. WHAT CAN THAT PURCHASE TELL US ABOUT HIM? ABOUT HIS POLITICS, AS AN AMBASSADOR AND AS THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. OR ABOUT THE LEGACY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND PLURALISM THAT HE LEFT TO THIS COUNTRY?

Facing the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. stands the Jefferson Building, the main building of the Library of Congress, the world's largest library... The stately building…is named after Thomas Jefferson, one of the "founding fathers" of the United States, principal author of the 1776 Declaration of Independence and, from 1801 to 1809, the third president of the young republic. But the name also recognizes Jefferson's role as a founder of the Library itself… Among the nearly 6500 books Jefferson sold to the Library was a twovolume English translation of the Qur'an, the book Muslims recite, study and revere as the revealed word of God. The presence of this Qur'an, first in Jefferson's private library and later in the Library of Congress, prompts the questions why Jefferson purchased this book, what use he made of it, and why he included it in his young nation's repository of knowledge.

These questions are all the more pertinent in light of assertions by some present-day commentators that Jefferson purchased his Qur'an in the 1780's in response to conflict between the US and the "Barbary states" of North Africa – today Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. That was a conflict Jefferson followed closely – indeed, in 1786, he helped negotiate a treaty with Morocco, the United States' first treaty with a foreign power. Then, it was relations with Algeria that were the most nettlesome, as its ruler demanded the payment of tribute in return for ending semiofficial piracy of American merchant shipping. Jefferson staunchly opposed tribute payment. In this context, such popular accounts claim, Jefferson was studying the Qur'an to better understand these adversaries, in keeping with the adage "know thy enemy." However, when we look more closely at the place of this copy of the Qur'an in Jefferson's library – and in his thinking – and when we examine the context of this particular translation, we see a different story.

From his youth, Thomas Jefferson read and collected a great number of books… The collection he eventually sold to the Library of Congress comprised 6487 volumes… Jefferson not only cataloged his books but also marked them. The initials "T.J." were Thomas Jefferson's device for marking his books: On this page, the "T." is the printer's mark to help the binder keep each 16-page "gathering" in sequence, and the "J." was added personally by Jefferson.It is his singular way of marking his books that makes it possible to establish that, among the millions of volumes in today's Library of Congress, this one specific Qur'an did indeed belong to him.

Jefferson's system of cataloging his library sheds light on the place the Qur'an held in his thinking. Jefferson's 44-category classification scheme was much informed by the work of Francis Bacon (1561-1626), whose professional trajectory from lawyer to statesman to philosopher roughly prefigures Jefferson's own career. According to Bacon, the human mind comprises three faculties: memory, reason and imagination. This trinity is reflected in Jefferson's library, which he organized into history, philosophy and fine arts. Each of these contained subcategories: philosophy, for instance, was divided into moral and mathematical; continuing along the former branch leads to the subdivision of ethics and jurisprudence, which itself was further segmented into the categories of religious, municipal and "oeconomical."

Jefferson's system for organizing his library has often been described as a "blueprint of his own mind." Jefferson kept his Qur'an in the section on religion, located between a book on the myths and gods of antiquity and a copy of the Old Testament. It is illuminating to note that Jefferson did not class religious works with books on history or ethics–as might perhaps be expected–but that he regarded their proper place to be within jurisprudence.

Jefferson organized his own library, and he shelved religious books, including his English version of the Qur'an, with other works under "Jurisprudence," which fell under "Moral Philosophy. "The story of Jefferson's purchase of the Qur'an helps to explain this classification. Sifting through the records of the Virginia Gazette, through which Jefferson ordered many of his books, the scholar Frank Dewey discovered that Jefferson bought this copy of the Qur'an around 1765, when he was still a student of law at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. This quickly refutes the notion that Jefferson's interest in Islam came in response to the Barbary threat to shipping. Instead, it situates his interest in the Qur'an in the context of his legal studies–a conclusion that is consistent with his shelving of it in the section on jurisprudence.

Jefferson's legal interest in the Qur'an was not without precedent. There is of course the entire Islamic juridical tradition of religious law (Shari'ah) based on Qur'anic exegesis, but Jefferson had an example at hand that was closer to his own tradition: The standard work on comparative law during his time was Of the Law of Nature and Nations, written by the German scholar Samuel von Pufendorf and first published in 1672. As Dewey shows, Jefferson studied Pufendorf's treatise intensively and, in his own legal writings, cited it more frequently than any other text. Pufendorf's book contains numerous references to Islam and to the Qur'an. Although many of these were disparaging–typical for European works of the period–on other occasions Pufendorf cited Qur'anic legal precedents approvingly, including the Qur'an's emphasis on promoting moral behavior, its proscription of games of chance and its admonition to make peace between warring countries. As Kevin Hayes, another eminent Jefferson scholar, writes: "Wanting to broaden his legal studies as much as possible, Jefferson found the Qur'an well worth his attention."

"We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities" (From the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, ratified 1786; drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1777).

In his reading of the Qur'an as a law book, Jefferson was aided by a relatively new English translation that was not only technically superior to earlier attempts, but also produced with a sensitivity that was not unlike Jefferson's own emerging attitudes. Entitled The Koran; commonly called the Alcoran of Mohammed, it was prepared by the Englishman George Sale and published in 1734 in London. A second edition was printed in 1764, and it was this edition that Jefferson bought. Like Jefferson, Sale was a lawyer, although his heart lay in oriental scholarship. In the preface to his translation, he lamented that the work "was carried on at leisure time only, and amidst the necessary avocations of a troublesome profession." This preface also informed the reader of Sale's motives: "If the religious and civil Institutions of foreign nations are worth our knowledge, those of Mohammed, the lawgiver of the Arabians, and founder of an empire which in less than a century spread itself over a greater part of the world than the Romans were ever masters of, must needs be so." Like Pufendorf, Sale stressed Muhammad's role as a "lawgiver" and the Qur'an as an example of a distinct legal tradition.

This is not to say that Sale's translation is free of the kind of prejudices against Muslims that characterize most European works on Islam of this period. However, Sale did not stoop to the kinds of affronts that tend to fill the pages of earlier such attempts at translation. To the contrary, Sale felt himself obliged to treat "with common decency, and even to approve such particulars as seemed to me to deserve approbation." In keeping with this commitment, Sale described the Prophet of Islam as "richly furnished with personal endowments, beautiful in person, of a subtle wit, agreeable behaviour, showing liberality to the poor, courtesy to everyone, fortitude against his enemies, and, above all, a high reverence for the name of God." This portrayal is markedly different from those of earlier translators, whose primary motive was to assert the superiority of Christianity.

In addition to the relative liberality of Sale's approach, he also surpassed earlier writers in the quality of his translation. Previous English versions of the Qur'an were not based on the original Arabic, but rather on Latin or French versions, a process that layered fresh mistakes upon the errors of their sources. Sale, by contrast, worked from the Arabic text. It was not true, as Voltaire claimed in his famous Dictionnaire philosophique of 1764, that le savant Sale had acquired his Arabic skills by having lived for 25 years among Arabs; rather, Sale had learnt the language through his involvement in preparing an Arabic translation of the New Testament to be used by Syrian Christians, a project that was underwritten by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge in London. Studying alongside Arab scholars who had come to London to assist in this work, he acquired within a few years such good command of the language that he was able to serve as a proofreader of the Arabic text.

"In this Qur'an, We have put forward all kinds of illustrations for people, so that they may take heed–an Arabic Qur'an, free from any distortion." That quotation from Surah 39, Verses 27-28, of the Qur'an was rendered into English by Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem, Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. It emphasizes a basic yet far-reaching fact about the holy book of Islam: It was received and recorded in the Arabic language. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is inseparable from the language in which it was revealed, and for this reason, all Muslims worldwide recite it in Arabic, even though today the vast majority of Muslims are neither Arabs nor native speakers of Arabic. Many Muslims also regard the eloquence of the Qur'an as evidence of its divine provenance. A popular story recounts how, in the time of Muhammad, the most famous poet of Makkah converted to Islam after reading one of its verses, convinced that no human could ever produce a work of such beauty.

Sale turned from translating the holy text of Christians into Arabic to rendering the holy text of Muslims into his native English. Noting the absence of a reliable English translation, he aimed to provide a "more genuine idea of the original." Lest his readers be unduly daunted, he justified his choice of fidelity to the original by stating that "we must not expect to read a version of so extraordinary a book with the same ease and pleasure as a modern composition." Indeed, even though Sale's English may appear overwrought today, there is no denying that he strove to convey some of the beauty and poetry of the original Arabic.

An inscription inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. quotes Jefferson's 1777 statute on religious pluralism that inspired the constitutional right that

"no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust."

Sale's aspiration to provide an accurate rendition of the Qur'an was matched by his desire also to provide his readers with a more honest introduction to Islam. This "Preliminary Discourse," as he entitled it, runs to more than 200 pages in the edition Jefferson purchased. But did reading the Qur'an influence Thomas Jefferson? That question is difficult to answer, because the few scattered references he made to it in his writings do not reveal his views. Though it may have sparked in him a desire to learn the Arabic language (during the 1770's Jefferson purchased a number of Arabic grammars), it is far more significant that it may have reinforced his commitment to religious freedom. Two examples support this idea.

In 1777, the year after he drafted the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was tasked with excising colonial legacies from Virginia's legal code. As part of this undertaking, he drafted a bill for the establishment of religious freedom, which was enacted in 1786. In his autobiography, Jefferson recounted his strong desire that the bill not only should extend to Christians of all denominations but should also include "within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan [Muslim], the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination."

This all-encompassing attitude to religious pluralism was by no means universally shared by Jefferson's contemporaries. As the historian Robert Allison documents, many American writers and statesmen in the late 18th century made reference to Islam for less salutary aims. Armed with tendentious translations and often grossly distorted accounts, they portrayed Islam as embodying the very dangers of tyranny and despotism that the young republic had just overcome. Allison argues that many American politicians who used "the Muslim world as a reference point for their own society were not concerned with historical truth or with an accurate description of Islam, but rather with this description's political convenience."

"The style of the Koran is generally beautiful and fluent, especially where it imitates the prophetic manner, and scripture phrases. It is concise, and often obscure, adorned with bold figures after the eastern taste, enlivened with florid and sententious expressions, and in many places, especially where the majesty and attributes of God are described, sublime and magnificent; of which the reader cannot but observe several instances, though he must not imagine the translation comes up to the original, notwithstanding my endeavours to do it justice." – from "A Preliminary Discourse"by George Sale.

These attitudes again came into conflict with Jefferson's vision in 1788, when the states voted to ratify the United States Constitution. One of the matters at issue was the provision–now Article vi, Section 3–that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Some Anti- Federalists singled out and opposed this ban on religious discrimination by painting a hypothetical scenario in which a Muslim could become president. On the other side of the argument, despite their frequent opposition to Jefferson on other matters, the Federalists praised and drew on Jefferson's vision of religious tolerance in supporting uncircumscribed rights both to faith and to elected office for all citizens. As the historian Denise Spellberg shows in her examination of this dispute among delegates in North Carolina, in the course of these constitutional debates "Muslims became symbolically embroiled in the definition of what it meant to be American citizens."

It is intriguing to think that Jefferson's study of the Qur'an may have inoculated him–to a degree that today we can only surmise– against such popular prejudices about Islam, and it may have informed his conviction that Muslims, no less and no more than any other religious group, were entitled to all the legal rights his new nation could offer. And although Jefferson was an early and vocal proponent of going to war against the Barbary states over their attacks on us shipping, he never framed his arguments for doing so in religious terms, sticking firmly to a position of political principle. Far from reading the Qur'an to better understand the mindset of his adversaries, it is likely that his earlier knowledge of it confirmed his analysis that the roots of the Barbary conflict were economic, not religious.

Sale's Koran remained the best available English version of the Qur'an for another 150 years. Today, along with the original copy of Jefferson's Qur'an, the Library of Congress holds nearly one million printed items relating to Islam–a vast collection of knowledge for every new generation of lawmakers and citizens, with its roots in the law student's leather-bound volumes.

Article obtained from Saudi Aramco World.

(Islamicbulletin.com)

The American Dream

2012-01-26T23:14:00.000+01:00

Warning: Contains explicit language and music!

5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam

2012-01-26T19:04:00.000+01:00

http://www.cracked.com/article_18911_5-ridiculous-things-you-probably-believe-about-islam.html

Features of the character of Haajar (Hagar), the Mother of the Muslims

2012-01-26T13:02:00.001+01:00

Hajj was one of the ordinances that were revealed to our great father Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allaah exalt his mention. Some of the Hajj rituals were legislated following the steps of our great mother Haajar, may Allaah be pleased with her. Every year, when the Hajj season comes, it brings to our minds memories of the place that had once been deserted and unknown, then, later was populated with the progeny of Haajar, may Allaah be pleased with her. The mention of our father Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, continues forever. At the end of every Salaah (prayer), when Muslims sit, they recite, “Allaahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘alaaaliMuhammad kama sallayta ‘ala Ibraaheem wa ‘alaaaliIbraaheem innaka Hameedun Majeed, wa baarik ‘ala Muhammad wa ‘ala aali Muhammad kama baarakta ‘ala Ibraaheem wa ‘ala aali Ibraaheem innaka Hameedun Majeed; [O Allaah, exalt the mention of Muhammad and the household of Muhammad as You exalted the mention of Ibraaheem (Abraham) and the household of Ibraaheem. You are the Praiseworthy, the Honorable. O Allaah, bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad as you blessed Ibraaheem and the household of Ibraaheem. You are the Praiseworthy, The Honorable.]”

Our Great Mother

She was a member of the household of Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention. She was great because she was the mother of Prophet Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael), may Allaah exalt his mention. Ismaa‘eel, may Allaah exalt his mention, is the forefather of the Muslim Ummah (nation), which is the final and finest nation. In this article, we will not adopt a narrative approach, but will instead follow a methodology of psychological analysis and analysis of situations, because analysis helps to reveal the underlying meanings, the details, the premises, and the results. This should lead to more benefit and to illuminated emulation. The main features of the character of our great mother Haajar can be summarized as follows:

Certain faith in Allaah The Almighty
Undefeatable courage that overcomes all fear
Practical comprehension and successful disposal of affairs
Firm resolution to guard what she had been entrusted with and to raise her child.

Firstly: Certain Faith in Allaah The Almighty

The intimate friend of Allaah, Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, left his wife, Haajar, and her son Ismaa‘eel in an uncultivated valley in a place where there was no life, fruit-bearing trees, nor plants for food, and he had to return. Our mother Haajar walked with him for some steps. Let us attempt to imagine how confused these steps were. Haajar was from Egypt, the land of water and agriculture. Then she lived in Ash-Shaam (greater Syria), the land of butter and honey, but where was she then? She was in an uncultivated and uninhabited valley. She walked with her returning husband for some steps, even though he did not tell her that she would not return with him. With each step, she tried to foresee the near and far future. She wanted to know how she was going to live. She was her husband’s fertile, affectionate wife, with whom Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, became a father, so she could ask him, “Has Allaah ordered you to do this?”He replied, “Yes.” Then, she said, “Then, He will not fail us.”

Her husband bade her farewell and she returned to her baby, who was under the only tree in that valley. She was not only faithful, she was certain and that made her survive among the mountains of Faraan (Paran) that are surrounded by the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was a rare certainty that overcame the concerns about the urgent need for food and water, and about how life would be in the future; meaning, the house, the furniture, how they would earn their living, would they be able to save, and whether they would have the devices and tools that are considered indispensable by many. We should remember that Haajar had come from a prosperous house in Ash-Shaam. Before Ash-Shaam, she dwelt in Egypt, in civilized houses. What sort of a new life, that was so far from all human communities, this was! There was no city, village, hamlet, or farm. Could any human be content with such a change? Was she content? She was certain.

At the house of Prophet Ibraheem, may Allaah be pleased with him, she was taught to have certain faith in Allaah The Almighty. She translated her certainty into a few words, “Then, He will not fail us.” Many people believe in Allaah The Almighty, but when a believer detaches himself from pinning his hopes on the causes, will his faith be promoted to the degree of certainty?

We rely on causes and material objects because they make us feel secure. Our mother Haajar was a rare examples. Very few people could be like her. The early callers to Islaam of our time were as certain when they were locked up in prisons. Some of them were away from their families and society for twenty years, but they persevered with certain faith. They were righteous people who followed the example of their great mother, Haajar. She was the epitome of certainty and a perfect example to be followed by those who want to learn to be certain.

Secondly, Undefeatable Courage

Her courage overcame and dispelled all the causes of fear. So many causes of fear surrounded our great mother, Haajar: fear of what was known to her and fear of what was unknown to her. All of us can be afraid of things that are known to us, such as lions, insects, hunger and thirst. We may also be afraid of things that are unknown to us, and this kind of fear is more dangerous because obsessions make things seem exaggerated, and the unknown usually casts fear into the soul, no matter how petty our fears might be. We are afraid of the unknown sounds and unexplained movements around us. Therefore, many myths and fables horrify us even when we are among our families and people.

Just as people in our age have obsessions about the unknown, the age of our mother Haajar had its own obsessions. Our mother defeated all these fears thanks to her certainty. Her undefeatable courage was established. Her courage helped her to become familiar with the desolate, wild components of nature around her. People in our time have many fears, because their faith is weak, let alone their certainty. Fear dominates the feelings of today’s Muslims. The reason behind this is that most Muslims are ready to be afraid. Their enemy knows that and takes advantage of it. Muslims fear hunger, and accordingly, their enemy threatens them with stopping economic aid. They fear death, and therefore, their enemy threatens them with war. The grandsons of Haajar lead a life of fear of hunger and death because they do not understand her character and are not inspired by her life story.

Thirdly, Practical Comprehension and Successful Disposal of Affairs

All the resources she had were the tree under which she lived, and the well of Zamzam that was the source of water, or we could say the source of life. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {…and we made from water every living thing.}[Quran 21:30] According to today’s terms, the well of Zamzam was what could be defined as a national asset. How did our mother manage this wealth? People in a caravan that passed her by asked her, “Would you allow us to dwell in your area?” She answered, “Yes, but you do not have a right to the water.” She meant the right of possession of the well. They agreed. That was the first agreement for benefiting from the water of Zamzam. It was concluded by a woman who was all alone in that area. She had management skills. Where did our mother learn Resource Management? To this day, the well of Zamzam continues to run according to this first agreement which was concluded by Haajar. Both visitors and residents drink from the well of Zamzam, but it is still owned by the children of Haajar. What a great and wise mother she was! Our mother spent her life raising her child and looking after her wealth. She was revered and loved. Her son took after her and we, her offspring, have taken after her wisdom, one generation after the other.

Fourthly: Firm Resolution to Guard What She Had Been Entrusted With and to Raise Her Child

Our father Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, entrusted Haajar with their son Ismaa‘eel, may Allaah exalt his mention. When the Well of Zamzam sprang forth, her responsibilities increased. She cared for her responsibilities as perfectly as could be. How had she been qualified to be such a committed mother and wife? The only qualifications were her wisdom and insight, coupled with her firm resolution that she had acquired from the revelation that Allaah The Almighty had sent down to her husband. Her husband prepared her for this responsibility and historical mission. Her resolution was, also, thanks to her aspiring nature and her long, forbearing travel.

Ismaa‘eel, may Allaah exalt his mention, was brought up under the care of Allaah The Almighty and then under the sight and care of his mother with her great determination. This is a lesson for mothers, especially those who have one son who is hardly safe from being spoilt and able to fulfill the minimum duties of manhood. Haajar, may Allaah be pleased with her, managed to raise her son in a way that enabled him not only to fulfill the duties of manhood, but also to be able to shoulder the duties of the mission in a society that he founded and of which he was a pillar. Her success in bringing up her son, Ismaa‘eel, may Allaah exalt his mention, was thanks to the Grace of Allaah The Almighty who chose him for that mission, and was crystallized in two great situations: his obedience to his father in the trial of slaughter, and his assistance to his father while building the House (Ka‘bah)

Daughters of Haajar, be determined and ambitious!

We see and hear about women who call themselves social activists. Some of them are non-Muslim women in Muslim communities. What motivates these women? They are after power, reward, or self-fulfillment. The roles they play have no roots or branches, even if they do have temporary benefits. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And the example of a bad word is like a bad tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, not having any stability.}[Quran 14:26] There is a common saying, “Anything that is done for the sake of Allaah will be sustained and fruitful. Anything that is done for the sake of anyone other than Allaah will cease to be, and will be fruitless.” There are women’s conferences that are held every now and then. Some of them are held at the level of first ladies. What have these conferences and societies offered, with all their considerable potential? Have they suggested solutions for current or anticipated problems? Has any of these conferences resulted in anything that is worth being kept in the records of history as anything that is similar to the contributions of our great mother, Haajar, the mother of Salaah Ad-Deen (Saladin) or the mother of Muhammad Al-Faatih?

A Godly Mother

The features through which the character of our great mother is shown should be present in the mind of every mother, since our mother is a fundamental and original example that should be followed. She has been a prominent mark in our life since our father Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, married her and she will continue to be so until the Day of Resurrection. To those women who seek eternity, we present the example of Haajar, who derived her character from truthful faith, strong certainty, courage that overcame all fears, apprehension of reality, successful management of life’s affairs, and a firm resolution to cherish the trust she was given and to raise her child. She is a fine example of the godly Muslim woman.

(Islamweb.net)

The Ruling of Al-Misbahah (Thikr beads) - Imaam al-Albaanee Discusses Dhikr Beads

2012-01-26T12:06:00.001+01:00

Ash-Shaikh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen Al-Albaanee said in As-Silsilah Adh-Dha’eefah (1/110) with his checking of the hadeeth “What a wonderful reminder the subhah (thikr beads) are.” (A fabricated hadeeth):

Then, verily the hadeeth, in reference to its meaning, is false according to me for reasons:

The first: That the subhah (thikr beads) is an innovation that did not exist in the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). It was only introduced after him (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), so how could it be thought that he encouraged his companions to do a matter that they did not even know (i.e. thikr beads were not known to them)? And the proof regarding what I have mentioned is what Ibn Wadhdhaah reported in “Al-Bida’ wan-Nahy ‘anhaa” (Innovations and the Prohibition of them), on the authority of As-Salt bin Bahraam that he said, “Ibn Mas’ood passed by a woman who had a tasbeeh (string of beads) with her that she was using to glorify Allaah, so he cut it and threw it away. Then he passed by a man who was glorifying Allaah using pebbles so he kicked them with his foot, then said, ‘Indeed you all have went ahead (of the companions), you have wrongfully engaged in an innovation, and indeed you have overcome the companions of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in knowledge.’” And the chain of narrators of this narration is authentic (Saheeh) back to As-Salt, and he is reliable from the followers of the successors (Atbaa’ ut-Taabi’een, third generation).

The second: That it opposes his (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) guidance. ‘Abdullaah bin ‘Amr said, “I saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) counting the glorification of Allaah with his right hand.”

And Al-Albaanee also said (1/117): And if there was nothing in the thikr beads other than one evil, and it is that it has overcome the Sunnah of counting with the fingers or it almost has – this is along with their agreement that the fingers are better – then this would be sufficient (as an evil). For verily it is rare that I see an old man counting the glorification of Allaah on his fingers!

Then, verily the people have become specialized in inventing things along with this innovation. So you will see some of those who attribute themselves to one of the Soofee paths hanging thikr beads around his neck! And some of them count (the remembrance of Allaah) while they are speaking to you or listening to you talk! And the last thing that my eye fell upon from that some days ago was that I saw a man on an ordinary bicycle riding along on it on some roads crowded with people, and in one of his hands was some thikr beads! So they try to show to the people that they are not heedless of the remembrance of Allaah even for the blinking of an eye. And often times this innovation is the cause of losing the performance of that which is obligatory, for indeed it has happened to me repeatedly – and likewise to others besides me – that I have given the greeting of Salaam (peace) to one of these people, so he responds to the greeting by waving without saying the Salaam. And the harms of this innovation cannot be counted, so how beautiful is the statement of the poet:

“And every good is in following those who went before (salafa),

and every evil is in the innovating of those who came after (khalafa).”

Source: As-Silsilah Adh-Dha’eefah, Vol. 1, no. 110, and no. 117

(ahlehadith.wordpress.com)

Palestine is an Islamic endowment

2012-01-26T09:03:00.000+01:00

Question

Could you please explain to me whether or not something I heard about Palestine is correct or not? I heard that Palestine is a Wakf, i.e. it is a Muslim trusts could you please confirm that to me along with the Islamic evidence.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

The scholars may Allaah have mercy upon them agreed that when 'Umar may Allaah be pleased with him conquered Ancient Syria, he set it as an endowment. The reason was that during his reign may Allaah be pleased with him there were many conquests and the Islamic state expanded, therefore its expenses increased. So, 'Umar may Allaah be pleased with him considered that he should not divide the land which was conquered by force among the conquerors, rather he thought of setting it as an endowment for all the Muslims and imposed a given tax on whoever sows the land.

Al-Awzaa'i may Allaah have mercy upon him said: 'When 'Umar, and the companions may Allaah be pleased with them conquered Ancient Syria, they agreed to leave village dwellers in their villages with whatever land they had, so that they would cultivate it and pay tax on it to the Muslims. They were of the view that no Muslim should buy the land that these villagers had, and these villagers should not sell it to them neither by their own will nor being forced to do so. The Muslims disliked buying or appropriating the land because 'Umar, and the companions may Allaah be pleased with them agreed to set these lands as an endowment for the entire Muslims. This land should not be sold or inherited as it will be used as a force in making Jihaad against the non-Muslims whom the Muslims have not yet fought against.'

Allaah Knows best.

(Islamweb.net, Fatwa No: 91000)

Palestine was /is/ and will remain a Muslim land forever

2012-01-26T09:02:00.000+01:00

Question

Jews claim that Allah gave them the Holy Land forever. So, Muslims don't have any right over Palestine. Please explain in details. If promise of Allah is true, then how can we deny the claim of Jews?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Palestine is a Muslim land. It is the land of the prophets. So, no disbeliever (Jew, Christian or atheist) has any right in ruling it or governing it with disbelief and atheism.

The Jewish claim that Allah promised them the Holy land is baseless. It is only a falsity. In fact Allah prescribed this land for Muslims in all times. He prescribed it for believers (Muslims) in the era of Prophet Musa (Moses),may Allah exalt his mention), who was himself a Muslim as were all the prophets. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning) that: "Musa said to his people: "O my people! If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him if you are Muslims (those who submit to Allah's Will)." (Yunus 10:84)

Allah ordered Prophet Musa and those who followed him to enter the sacred land and expel the giants (animists who used to live in Palestine) away from the Bayt Al Maqdis which these giants took over earlier- Allah says that Musa said to his people: "And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his people: "O my people! Remember the Favour of Allah to you, when He made Prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the 'Alamîn (mankind and jinns, in the past). "O my people! Enter the holy land (Palestine) which Allah has assigned to you, and turn not back (in flight) for then you will be returned as losers." (Al-Ma'idah 5: 20-21)

Allaah ordered them to invade this Holy land because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers who ruled with polytheist and Kufr judgments.

The same thing applies to the contemporary era. The Jews who did not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) and indeed in Musa, as disbelieving in one prophet means disbelieving in all the prophets, these Jews have no right to rule Palestine. And Allah never promised it to them. Indeed the contemporary Jews are no better than the giant people whom Musa expelled from Palestine.

Palestine was a Muslim land and will remain as such forever.

Allah knows best.

(Islamweb.net, Fatwa No: 88185)