Truth Revealed

New Farhat Hashmi Video & ISNA

2012-02-13T07:37:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv9YrCi5R80&feature=channel_video_title

Why Pork is Haraam (Unlawful): an absurd question

2012-01-26T07:43:00.005+08:00

Recently, I was out having a cup of coffee with an english friend of mine, at a newly opened Cafe in Kuala Lumpur. For all these months that I have known this person, we never discussed religion. In fact, my friend indicated to me that he had studied in Birmingham and had been around Muslims for a very long time. But when he asked me the question, "Why is Pork Unlawful in Islam", it didn't really take me by surprise. In reality, I didn't feel like going into any fancy explanations or defensive arguments to make my point as to why pig is unlawful in Islam, because Muslims are always faced with this question all over the world. My answer was no different than what Allah ta'ala had revealed to our beloved messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the Quran:

حُرِّمَتۡ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلۡمَيۡتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحۡمُ ٱلۡخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيۡرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ

I told him that I was born a Muslim, I grew up learning that "lahmal Khinzeer" (meat of the swine) is unlawful and forbidden as the word clearly states "Hurrimat alaykum" (forbidden on you all). I told him that it is is a matter of blind faith (taqleed) in the message of the Quran and really nothing else. However, I told him that Islamic Jurists have then set out certain principles based on the Quran and oral traditions of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) to establish whether a by-product originating from an Unlawful thing becomes lawful (or not). This is a science that helps us in our daily lives to understand if we can have medication, or use toothpaste et cetra. He found that very enlightening. I mentioned to him that I had a very good American friend called Jim Vidar who was a fan and follower of Pastor Benny Hinn; who ran a huge evangelical church (at the time) out of Orlando Florida. This particular Christian friend of mine gave me a book written by a Christian Pastor that discusses the Prohibition of Swine as clearly stated in the Old and New Testament. In fact, the book goes on to criticize Christians for disregarding the clear and concise message of God Almighty!

"But what is interesting to note", I told my friend is that when we look at Arabia at the time of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam), the only animal that was never found in abundance was the swine. So, why would a dessert nomad (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) go so far as to implement a strict ban on eating an animal like the pig when it wasn't even commonly available, nor reared, nor a staple diet? Unless this was decreed by God Almighty! It is like we decide to ban Nano-Technology products when in reality no one really even understands the depth of such a thing? "I ban nano-Technology". How crazy is that? So, how can the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) just decide to ban the eating of an animal that was non-existential in their society. But the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) goes so far as to state (more or less) that if a fly falls in a cup of milk then dip its other wing, throw it away and drink the milk! He doesn't ban people from drinking the milk when it was common sense that a fly was considered a "dirty" insect. It would have made more sense to prohibit people from drinking milk that has been affected by a dirty fly. So, did he get this from the Bible? If he did get this from the Bible than your question is absolutely absurd. You should not be eating the pork at all nor even asking us such a silly question, period! The truth is what is in the Quran.

Jerry Springer getting back at FOX News on Obama!

2012-01-19T07:41:00.001+08:00

The Great Lie about Nigeria's Oil Subsidy

2012-01-12T08:10:00.008+08:00

Professor Tam David-West
By The NEWS January 8, 2012 Professor Tam David-West, Petroleum Minister during the era of General Muhammadu Buhari, and Mines, Power and Steel in the General Ibrahim Babangida government, spoke with GBENRO ADESINA on the controversy over oil subsidy removal.

For the layman on the street, does oil subsidy exist?There is no oil subsidy in Nigeria. It is a lie and fraud. After the regime of General Buhari, I challenged government after government, from General Ibrahim Babangida and Chief Ernest Shonekan to General Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to appear on national television with me to justify their subsidy.Let me introduce you to the basics. Let us say a particular commodity like gari is sold for N10 per bag hypothetically and the farmers are producing to make us self-sufficient at N10. But at a time, they can’t produce enough because of either bad harvest or natural causes, the government now says since garri is a staple food, the government goes to another country where gari is produced and buys it at N20 per bag and brings it to Nigeria to sell at N10 per bag. The government now writes off the extra N10 –– that is subsidy. The extra N10 the government pays on behalf of the people for them to still buy at N10 is the subsidy paid on that commodity.No government should exist if it can’t serve the people because government is a trust. They are trustees for the people. Edmund Burke, the great British philosopher, said that government is a contrivance of human wisdom and the wisdom should be used to satisfy people’s needs. Any government that can’t satisfy the need of its people is irrelevant and must be overthrown and kicked out.Coming to petroleum, there is no oil subsidy. Oil subsidy in Nigeria is fiction, it doesn’t exist and it is a fraud. During Buhari’s time, we had three refineries. When necessary, I mean, whenever there was shortage of oil, we embarked on offshore processing. If at a time, the production of oil couldn’t satisfy our needs, we selected oil companies like Shell and others that we would give crude oil to refine abroad, sell at foreign exchange and pay to our account. We got quantum of barrels of crude oil and gave to these companies and after they might have refined it, let’s say they got one million litres and we needed only 200 litres, they would give us the quantity we wanted and sell the remaining and give us foreign exchange. We only took our fuel back, never imported fuel.

This time what do they do? These fraudulent people will take our oil, refine it and bring it back and sell it at foreign exchange. This is fraud in the highest places. Why is it that during Buhari era, with three refineries we were self sufficient but at their time, with four refineries we are now importing fuel?I personally signed the contract of the fourth refinery which we call new Port Harcourt Refinery in 1984. It was one of the best in Africa, with a capacity of 160,000 barrels per day. The first refinery, in Port Harcourt, was built in 1965; Warri refinery in 1978, and Kaduna refinery in 1980. A newly constructed refinery can’t have major problem for about 30 years. The problem they will not tell you is that after Buhari, every Minister and Head of State became an oil sheikh, except General Abdulsalami Abubakar.Some ministers have petrol stations and oil blocs. You can’t serve the nation and serve yourself at the same time because you can’t serve two masters at a time. One must serve his country and the dividends of doing this is satisfaction. Total capacity of our four refineries is 445,000 barrels per day. If the refineries are working even at 80 per cent, we will have more than enough product. They did not do that but sabotaged our refineries. I have been shouting since 1995 and I wrote that they are killing Nigeria and poor men. And in 2009, the House of Representatives corroborated me by saying that refineries were sabotaged. Abdulsalami as head of state, reacting to the state of our refineries, said he didn’t want to open a box of scandal.

Why did they do this to the common man? Who are the importers? Big people!A senator said this year, Nigeria spends N860 million on fuel importation and they projected that by the end of the year, over N1 trillion will be spent on importation of fuel when our budget is N4.3 trillion. Insanity! Dan Etete said they needed $250 million to repair the refineries but the same minister said Nigeria is importing fuel at $900 million. Is that not insanity? If you need this huge amount of money to repair refineries, why don’t you build new refineries? The money you are using to import, use it to build refineries.Why do you think Obasanjo did not repair the four refineries we had and build four extra for petroleum to be sold at N20 as he analysed when he was in power?Olusegun Obasanjo is a great liar. They will not do so in order to continue to import fuel for selfish reasons.Is it true that Nigeria has the lowest prices of refined products among oil producing countries?Forget Jonathan! He doesn’t understand what he is saying. He is only parroting what they told him. He talks like a parrot. Can he remove what doesn’t exist? Can’t we build our own refineries to serve us and remove the untold hardship they want to impose on us? Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the subsidy goes to the wrong hands.

If they remove it, will people not suffer the more? Everything will increase. The new minimum wage of N18,000 will become N2,000.But Obasanjo said because it is built in phases, it will take about five years to build a refinery?It is a lie. I told you Obasanjo is a liar. It took just two years to build the fourth refinery. I signed its contract. It is between two and three years. The problem is that there is intellectual laziness and physical indolence. In developed countries, the president will not just talk without being well quizzed. But in Nigeria, at a media chat once, Obasanjo shouted on journalists or talked to them as a teacher. They kept quiet. It doesn’t take five years to build a refinery.

Okonjo-Iweala talked about cushioning the effect of the removal of oil subsidy?Rubbish! She is sermonising to seduce people to accept the callous oil subsidy removal. Things she promised are palliative, nobody should agree. Labour and Nigerians should make it impossible because you don’t take away what doesn’t exist. We don’t need oil subsidy to build roads, provide water and electricity; vote for capital projects has taken care of that. Degrees don’t guarantee good governance.Can a school certificate holder rule a nation?Yes and very well.

What degree does Shehu Shagari and Balewa have? School teachers. Winston Churchill was among the dullest in his class and he became one of the greatest British leaders. Degrees don’t make leaders. Leadership is a natural endowment or one acquires it by hard work.Jonathan wasn’t born great, he said he was born poor. Rubbish! It is a privilege to be born into a wealthy home. I was born into a wealthy home but one can’t control where God puts you. I tell my son that he should not allow the wealth of his father to go into his head because his minister father could as well be a driver. You don’t regret where you were born. So, I didn’t have shoes or wasn’t born great is rubbish. God is not partial. He does things with reasons.Being born humble is not an issue. How you articulate your humble situation is the issue. That you are born rich doesn’t say you should look down on people. The problem with Jonathan is that though he has Ph.D, he is a brilliant man, but there is a difference between native intelligence and book intelligence. Jonathan is basically brilliant. The danger in that is that such people whenever somebody like Iweala comes talking, they idolise them like mental geniuses and become internally inferior to them. Whatever they say goes –– garbage in, garbage out. He doesn’t have the stamina to challenge them.For a prince to be advised wisely, he must be wise too. Iweala is not the most brilliant economist. There are hundreds of people more brilliant than she is. Pius Okigbo and Ojetunji Aboyade, they served the nation meritoriously. She is working with somebody psychologically inferior and she will lead him into a ditch. She talks like the president. She once said that government would not negotiate with the Niger Delta militants. Did they not negotiate later? She was paid in dollars when she served in Obasanjo’s cabinet and her monthly pay was N2.8 million and now she is saying oil subsidy is killing the economy. Hypocrite!If you know that what you are doing is right, convince people in arguments, facts and figures, not by sermonisation. Now, they have hired consultants with millions of naira to convince Nigeria to accept their rubbish. It was done during Shonekan’s time when a Nigerian was given N20mn for public relations job. He collapsed. They have started again. Please, Senators, Honourables of the House of Representatives, throw out this bill. Don’t think and say we are safe in Nigeria. There could be corporate protest here, just like what is happening in the Arab world. If you do anything that will make Nigerians suffer more, they will go on the streets because the suffering is already too much. I can afford things but millions of Nigerians that form the majority cannot. They should know that government is not about commissioning or investment and profits. Government should have moral dimension. Any government that disregards the moral dimension, that is, respect of God, God will punish such for making Nigerians to suffer.How do you react to the fact that governors have endorsed it and labour has tactically endorsed it with conditions?All that is nonsense. NLC should represent the masses well. NLC should not give any condition for the consideration of the removal of oil subsidy. Government has ways of compromising labour. When things are hot, they can approach them with millions and buy them over and they will start to talk with double tongues. NLC should be firm. The government should publish the names of those that are importing fuel and government should sign that if it is removed and the effects are not felt between three and six months, then we must dissolve the present government. If they remove oil subsidy, l will lead a protest. I will organise students for demonstration.Do you still have faith in Nigeria?My dear young man, if I don’t have faith in Nigeria, I will not be talking to you. I still have faith in Nigeria. To keep Nigeria as one is a task that must be done. We should differentiate between metaphysical Nigeria and political Nigeria. Nigeria is a great country blessed by God. The way we are going, the political Nigeria will destroy the metaphysical Nigeria. Most of those in government are rogues and thieves. They love themselves more than Nigeria. Every Nigerian owes Nigeria more than what Nigeria owes him/her. Nigeria will change for better when we have more statesmen than politicians.Now, we have a bunch of politicians who only think of the next election while a statesman thinks of the future. Nigeria will collapse if we have more politicians than statesmen. Nigeria is a country where a senator is earning more than the President of America. They even buy government houses. They spend billions on cars and they can’t pay N18,000 minimum wage. They have morally crippled the country and the governance. They will be destroyed by God. Nigeria is a great country –– no natural disaster, there are able men and natural resources. But people are still crying, no job, graduates are driving taxis, doing menial jobs. Many now engage in armed robbery because they have to survive. May God bless us with good leaders.The worst enemy of Buhari says that Buhari is not corrupt and that is the truth. It takes integrity and rigidity not to be corrupt and lead the nation. You don’t lead like Jonathan. God will punish those that are punishing Nigerians and Nigeria. When the poor man weeps, the tears go to heaven and come down with burning fire and consume his enemies. And that is what will happen.

Solar bottle-bulbs bring light to Filipinos

2012-01-09T13:49:00.001+08:00

An Interesting look at Shia Leadership - What do you think?

2011-12-30T16:42:00.001+08:00

Yvonne Ridley

2011-12-30T16:37:00.000+08:00

What should you make out of the Current Events?

2011-12-19T18:53:00.006+08:00

Everyone is well aware of the Arab Spring, the withdrawal of American Troops from Iraq, the problems in Somalia, the conflict in Afghanistan, the Euro-crisis and on top of all that the lunar eclipse. The youtube is filled with Islamic speakers and even some respectable Ulema (may Allah enlighten the world through their hearts) who have taken the time to speak about the "End-Times" and the current events.

But going beyond the Ulema, people from all walks of life: bloggers, twitters, Aljazeera, BBC, CNN, Independent Voices and the internet have overloaded the communication media with information about the "war for oil" and what not! But as the great Ulema of our times have stated that this is all a deception of Shaytaan. I asked my Ustaad as to what is going on in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Libya, Cairo, Somalia, Afghanistan, Russia....? In Islamic countries overall? The current events? He said, "Can you fight against the Qadr of Allah? Who are you to question why all this is happening? Are you praying all your 5-daily prayers in the Masjid with Khushoo and Khudoo? Are you reciting Quran, or just wasting time blogging? The amount of time you spend reading the news you could sit down and make dua?" He said, "The Devil tries to keep all of us busy in activities that will waste our valuable time; time that we can spent well as an investement for the hereafter. Time by which Allah (Ta'ala) has taken an oath. The time which will not wait for you if you are lazy or in a state of headlessness. So, value this time. Don't take it for granted and don't walk, talk and sit around thinking as if YOU are some CHOSEN one that is going to MAKE a change. You are not in Libya. You are not in Cairo. You are not in any other part of the world. Stop and think carefully as to where you are and what you are doing? This is where Allah has put you and the only way you will become valuable to Him is by not wasting time. Spend your time in remembering Him, worshipping Him, crying to Him and getting to know Him. The Sahaba suffered 10yrs, but did they question the Qadr of Allah? No one can make any policy against what Allah (ta'ala) has ordained. The greatest think-tanks were Sahaba. They were simple, they were moderate, they were soft hearted, they gave sadaqa even when they had no money, they were forgiving and always mindful of Akhiraah."

This reminded me of the story of Sayyidna Abu Bakr (radhi Allahu anhu) whose wife had spent months saving money from his Salary so that she could buy a special ingredient to make a sweet-dish for him. When she informed him of how she had managed to save money over months just to make that dish; Sayyidna Abu Bakr (radhi Allahu anhu) requested that his Salary be reduced by that much amount! These were people with inner strength. With Spirituality and a light in their hearts and faces that has illuminated the world. In fact, it is said that when Abu Bakr (radhi Allahu anhu) will start to cross the dreadful bridge of Siraat, the fire of hell will start to cool down and it will request Abu Bakr (radhi Allahu anhu) to cross like speed of lightening so that it does not get extinguished!

May Allah (ta'ala) give me and all of us the ability (tawfeeq) to value our time on this earth and not lose focus of the hereafter. Death only ends the earthly journey, but life continues into the transitional journey of the Qabr (grave) till we are resurrected (out of our graves), drink from the fountain of Kauthar (hopefully) and pass the bridge of Siraat like Sayyidna Abu Bakr to start our life in our Home in Paradise.

2011-12-14T11:27:00.000+08:00

Farhat Hashmi and Zakir Naik: Their definition of Straight Path

2011-12-09T07:34:00.011+08:00

A question that continues to bother most Muslims is, "Which Islamic group, party or organization is on the right path?". Zakir Naik and Farhat Hashmi have created a perception amongst Muslim's that "They (meaning Zakir and Farhat) are on the Truth and what they are telling the masses is the Absolute Clear Truth. Conversely, they have no hesitation in educating and brainwashing the masses by accusing "Maulvis", "Mullah's", Madrasa's, Hanafi's, Maliki's, Shafi's and Hanbali's of causing disunity and dissention in this Ummah."

A lot of Muslim's tend to get confused by this information. Who is telling the truth? Won't that be a fair question? Because Zakir and Farhat claim to follow the prestine Quranic and Sahih Hadith guidelines. The "fat" bellied "Mullah's" have been protrayed as Statues of Buddha who are supposedly feeding on the masses for their personal gains. These "Mullah's" are accused of creating "turf wars" within their mosques, and supposedly issuing fatwas about beard, cap, burqa and "fiddly" things that have nothing to do with Truth and Justice. But this is all an absolute lie! Muslims also get confused as to HOW can Zakir and Farhat be wrong? These people are contributing immensely towards the betterment of the deen, and people are changing their lives towards becoming better practicing Muslims. In this post I like to address this confusion.

The Litmus Test
We all have 5-senses. When we are out trying to buy oranges do we carry the Quran and Hadith to see what orange would match the principles of Quran and Hadith? Other than the fact that Orange is Halal we exercise our 5-senses (smell, taste, touch, sight & hearing) when buying Oranges. Right? This also applies in matter of deen. We have our 5-senses to gauge if a certain person is giving the whole truth, half truth or absolute garbage. This is the first thing we all need to apply when making certain simple decision's of life. Common sense is part of this exercise.

Secondly, the poplular Hadith of Rasullullah (Sallahu alayhi wa sallam) that there will be 72 sects in Islam, and only ONE will be on the right path. It is this particular hadith that Zakir and Farhat use to their advantage by giving people the idea that the Maulvi's the "followers of the four schools" are the misguided sects. Zakir and Farhat then boldly claim that they are "followers of Rasullullah sallahu alayhi wa sallam" and NOT the "followers of Imaam Abu Hanifa". In there catechism they ask the people, "WHO IS BETTER? A MUSLIM THAT TAKES RASULLULLAH (SALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM) AS HIS/HER IMAAM OR THE ONE WHO FOLLOWS IMAAM ABU HANIFA?" May Allah forgive Zakir and Farhat Hashmi for misguiding people for causing confusion with this apparently very "clear" question.

The Answer:First and foremost, 100% of the time the Salafi's, including Zakir Naik and Farhat Hashmi NEVER tell their followers the full contents of the hadith that mentions the 72 sects in Islam and that only one (1) will be on the right path. The messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave a very precise and clear answer, unlike the misguided questions raised by Zakir and Farhat. So, who is the "Firqatun Naajiyah" (Rightly Guided Sect/Group)? The messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) answered as follows: "maa ana alayhi wa ashaabi" [(those who) follow my way and (the way of my) sahaaba]. He (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not say "Follow the Quran and Sahih Hadith?"He (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not say, "I am your Imaam, hence, only follow me?" Did he say that? No, he did not. So, where did Farhat Hashmi and Zakir Naik concoct questions that are designed to mislead people - meaning that their Imaam is the Messenger of Allah, whereas, Millions of other Muslims have different Imaams viz Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi & Hanbali. It is nothing but a blatant lie! This type of misleading information can not be excused. Till the day of judgment the truthful statement of rasullullahi sallahu alayhi wa sallam is etched in stone, "maa ana alayhi wa ashaabi". Thus, it is incumbent us to refute people like Zakir and Farhat for their negative propaganda.

If Zakir Naik and Farhat Hashmi are willing to lie and tell people that "their Imaam is Rasoolullah sallahu alayhi wa sallam and that they do not follow the opinion's of other men (like Abu Hanifa/Malik etc)," then why on earth do they blindly follow the research of Imaam Bukhari? Every single hadith has a chain of narrators. Hence, one has to blindly follow the narrator's words; one has to rely on the narrators information and research before one gets to read, "Qala Qala Rasullullah...."! In order to follow the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) one has to follow Imaam Bukhari blindly, who was NOT AN ARAB (rather a non-Arab from Bukhara)! So, why are Zakir and Farhat following the Ajami Book from a non-Arab of Bukhara? Imaam Bukhari was not educated in Madinah University; or was he? When Zakir Naik and Farhat Hashmi blindly follow the research of Imaam Bukhari they never tell the people that we are following "Imaam Bukhari"; rather they lie and tell the people that their "Imaam is Rasullulahi sallahu alayhi wa sallam". But no one can claim to follow the messenger of Allah sallahua alayhi wa sallam until on agrees and accepts the research of the narrators of the Muhaditheen (like Imaam Bukhari and Imaam Muslim). But, when any other Muslim says we are following the research of Imaam Abu Hanifa, they are branded as a sect! This is a grave lie and a very misguiding concept presented to confuse people. May Allah protect us from such erroneous views.

Libyan Soldiers loyal to Gaddafi

2011-10-27T07:52:00.002+08:00

Libyan Soldiers Loyal to Col.Gaddafi pray in a Jail located in Misrata.

The Dua that Changed my Life

2011-09-28T20:54:00.004+08:00

This is a masnoon dua of the messenger of Allah Sallahu alayhi wa sallam. I prayed it for 3yr straight years and Alhamdullilah my life transformed.

Allahumma inni aauzoobika minal hammi wal hazn
wa aauzoobika minal ajazi wal kasal
wa aauzoobika minal jubni wal bukhal
wa aauzoobika min ghalbata dayn wa qaharir rijaal

Furthermore, I also used to pray the following:

Allahumak fini bi halaalika an haraamik,
wa aghneenee bi fadlika aman siwaak

Lufthansa Serving "Non Halal" to Muslim Passengers under pretext of "Moslem Meal"

2011-09-12T19:05:00.008+08:00

Assalam-u-Alaikum,

I was surprised and disturbed to see the definition of "Moslem Meal" by Lufthansa. It says the following:

Moslem Meal: No use of pork, no venison and no alcohol used. The meat is not "halal".

This definition can be found on Lufthansa Website: http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/ca/info_and_services/on_board?nodeid=1788697&l=en

Please be extra careful when travelling on International Airlines (from Non-Muslim Countries) that claim to serve "Muslim Meals". I find this naming of "Moslem Meal" as deceiving; rather misleading for most muslim travellers. Very few would even think that the Moslem meal uses non-Halal meat. Please share this information with your friends, family and Muslim Organizations in your area.

Response to Bilal Philips stand against Hamza Yusuf, Nuh Keller, Tawassul & Tasawwuf

2011-07-13T10:08:00.002+08:00

What science has to say about Zikr

2011-07-09T19:19:00.004+08:00

Every Muslim knows that Zikr (recitation of Quran, or chanting the names of Allah, or chanting various tasbeeh's like Subhan Allah etc) is described in the Quran as "Verily Zikr of Allah is a tranquility for the heart" (Alaa bi zikrillahi tatmainnal quloob).

The Holy Quran when recited and recoreded over a frequency analyzer shows modulation. When one recites the Quran in Salaat the domes of the Masjids amplify the Imaam frequency of recitation driving the listeners to tears. The heart is elated and the brain becomes active. In fact, the Huffaz of Quran are known to do very well in Secular education because all areas of the brain are active due to Quranic recitation.

Similarly, the Zikr during salaat is "jehri" (loud) and "sirri" (silent). Allah ta'ala has chosen Fajr, Maghrib and Isha for "jehri" zikr. All salaats are audible and loud. Zuhr and Asr have been chosen by Allah ta'ala for silent zikr. However, the Imaam still mentions Allah's name when changing positions.

Even the zikr made in group and in person has effects. This is what science has to say:

Dr. Ian A. Cook of UCLA and colleagues published findings in 2008 of an experiment in which regional brain activity in a number of healthy volunteers was monitored by EEG through different resonance frequencies.

Findings indicated that at 110 hz the patterns of activity over the prefrontal cortex abruptly shifted, resulting in a relative deactivation of the language center and a temporary switching from left to right-sided dominance related to emotional processing. People regularly exposed to resonant sound in the frequency of 110 or 111 hz would have been "turning on" an area of the brain that bio-behavioral scientists believe relates to mood, empathy and social behavior.

Why 110 Hz?

Many archaeo-acoustic investigations of prehistoric, megalithic structures have identified acoustic resonances at frequencies of 95-120 Hz, particularly near 110-12 Hz, all representing pitches in the human vocal range. These chambers may have served as centers for social or spiritual events, and the resonances of the chamber cavities might have been intended to support human ritual chanting.

A recent study [2] evaluated the possibility that tones at these frequencies might specifically affect regional brain activity. In a pilot project, 30 healthy adults listened to tones at 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130 Hz while brain activity was monitored with electroencephalography (EEG). Activity in the left temporal region was found to be significantly lower at 110 Hz than at other frequencies. Additionally, the pattern of asymmetric activity over the prefrontal cortex shifted from one of higher activity on the left at most frequencies to rightsided dominance at 110 Hz.

These findings are compatible with relative deactivation of language centers and a shift in prefrontal activity that may be related to emotional processing. (see Left Brain:Right Brain by Dan Eden). These intriguing pilot findings suggest that the acoustic properties of ancient structures may influence human brain function, and suggest that chanting might have been used to enhance right brain activities!

Pipe Bombs taken from a Man in USA: Yet he is not branded a Terrorist

2011-06-28T10:56:00.004+08:00

This news has been on several networks including YAHOO. Unfortunately Yahoo couldn't get any names of the non-Muslim, White Male who was carring Pipe Bombs. All the newspapers and law enforcement agencis were shy to brand this man a terrorist. I am publishing this to preserve the name of this man so that no one will call Tony a Muslim Militant or Al-Qaeda sleeper cell. I wonder what "Cell" will they discover on this guy?

LOCKPORT, La. - Several pipe bombs were taken from a wrecked car on Hwy. 308 causing the highway to be shut down for several hours Monday.

The injured driver, 53-year-old Tony A. Barisich, was airlifted to a hospital in serious condition. Officials won't release what charges he faces until Tuesday. Officials said it was not known why Barisich had the explosive devices in his vehicle, but said they could have been deadly.

"We believe that this situation could’ve been a grave situation,” said Austin Banks, an agent with the ATF. Banks says investigators recovered 10 pipe bombs from the truck – devices he describes as destructive. “We don’t know what the intent was, but we do know that this is a destructive device, created to cause harm and damage.”

Authorities say the vehicle’s driver crashed while traveling southbound on Hwy. 308. Officers buried the bombs in an empty field and detonated them Monday afternoon.

(source: http://www.wwltv.com/news/lafourche-terrebonne/Highway-near-Lockport-closed-after-accident---pipe-bombs-found-inside-car-124602914.html )

Dajjal: Who? When? Where?

2011-06-20T08:33:00.003+08:00

http://sites.google.com/site/dajjalantichrist/

Welcome to the unofficial open source english translation Website (TNWP Affiliate) of the book "Dajjal" written by Mufti Abu Lubaba.

First of all! JazakAllah to all of you who join hands together to translate the book "Dajjal" in English as to spread the message widely over the world. There are various books and websites on false stories on this subject and a very few authentic informational books and websites are available.

This book is written by an authentic scholar well known in Pakistan but since the book is written in the native language Urdu, many of the people from around the globe are unable to benifit themselves from this marvelous research.

In order to benifit people widely across the globe, we join hands together with you to translate the book in English.

We pray to ALLAH to accept our efforts and oblige us here and hereafter, Ameen!

How Gaddafi Helped Bring An End to the Humiliation of Apartheid

2011-06-15T13:21:00.004+08:00

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Editorial Team

Lest we forget: When former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused to allow sanctions against then apartheid South Africa and used to call Nelson Mandela a terrorist, Col Gaddafi was embracing him and funding his fight against apartheid by training ANC fighters, arming them and paying for their education abroad. No wonder this photos shows how President Mandela appreciated what Col Gaddafi had done for South Africa.

While the world press continues to bring to our TV screens and in newspapers the atrocities being committed in the Libyan Arab Peoples Jamahiriya, writer Jean-Paul Pougala continues today with his second part of his analysis on Col Muammar Gadhafi’s leadership. He expounds the qualities of the Libyan leader, especially the role he played in helping African liberation movements attain independence. We are publishing his opinions for our readers to make your own minds as to whether to believe him.

For most Africans, Gaddafi is a generous man, a humanist, known for his unselfish support for the struggle against the racist regime in South Africa. If he had been an egotist, he wouldn’t have risked the wrath of the West to help the ANC both militarily and financially in the fight against apartheid. This was why Mandela, soon after his release from 27 years in jail, decided to break the UN embargo and travel to Libya on 23 October 1997. For five long years, no plane could touch down in Libya because of the embargo. One needed to take a plane to the Tunisian city of Jerba and continue by road for five hours to reach Ben Gardane, cross the border and continue on a desert road for three hours before reaching Tripoli. The other solution was to go through Malta, and take a night ferry on ill-maintained boats to the Libyan coast. A hellish journey for a whole people, simply to punish one man.

Mandela didn’t mince his words when the former US president Bill Clinton said the visit was an ‘unwelcome’ one – ‘No country can claim to be the policeman of the world and no state can dictate to another what it should do’. He added – ‘Those that yesterday were friends of our enemies have the gall today to tell me not to visit my brother Gaddafi, they are advising us to be ungrateful and forget our friends of the past.’

Indeed, the West still considered the South African racists to be their brothers who needed to be protected. That’s why the members of the ANC, including Nelson Mandela, were considered to be dangerous terrorists. It was only on 2 July 2008, that the US Congress finally voted a law to remove the name of Nelson Mandela and his ANC comrades from their black list, not because they realised how stupid that list was but because they wanted to mark Mandela’s 90th birthday. If the West was truly sorry for its past support for Mandela’s enemies and really sincere when they name streets and places after him, how can they continue to wage war against someone who helped Mandela and his people to be victorious, Gaddafi?

And what if Gaddafi’s Libya were more democratic than the USA, France, Britain and other countries waging war to export democracy to Libya? On 19 March 2003, President George Bush began bombing Iraq under the pretext of bringing democracy. On 19 March 2011, exactly eight years later to the day, it was the French president’s turn to rain down bombs over Libya, once again claiming it was to bring democracy. Nobel peace prize-winner and US President Obama says unleashing cruise missiles from submarines is to oust the dictator and introduce democracy.
The question that anyone with even minimum intelligence cannot help asking is the following: Are countries like France, England, the USA, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Poland, who defend their right to bomb Libya on the strength of their self-proclaimed democratic status really democratic? If yes, are they more democratic than Gaddafi’s Libya? The answer in fact is a resounding NO, for the plain and simple reason that democracy doesn’t exist. This isn’t a personal opinion, but a quote from someone whose native town Geneva, hosts the bulk of UN institutions. The quote is from Jean Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva in 1712 and who writes in chapter four of the third book of the famous ‘Social Contract’ that ‘there never was a true democracy and there never will be.’

Rousseau sets out the following four conditions for a country to be labelled a democracy and according to these, Gaddafi’s Libya is far more democratic than the USA, France and the others claiming to export democracy:

1. The State: The bigger a country, the less democratic it can be. According to Rousseau, the state has to be extremely small so that people can come together and know each other. Before asking people to vote, one must ensure that everybody knows everyone else, otherwise voting will be an act without any democratic basis, a simulacrum of democracy to elect a dictator.

The Libyan state is based on a system of tribal allegiances, which by definition group people together in small entities. The democratic spirit is much more present in a tribe, a village than in a big country, simply because people know each other, share a common life rhythm which involves a kind of self-regulation or even self-censorship in that the reactions and counter reactions of other members impacts on the group.

From this perspective, it would appear that Libya fits Rousseau’s conditions better than the USA, France and Great Britain, all highly urbanised societies where most neighbours don’t even say hello to each other and therefore don’t know each other even if they have lived side by side for twenty years. These countries leapfrogged leaped into the next stage – ‘the vote’ – which has been cleverly sanctified to obfuscate the fact that voting on the future of the country is useless if the voter doesn’t know the other citizens. This has been pushed to ridiculous limits with voting rights being given to people living abroad. Communicating with and amongst each other is a precondition for any democratic debate before an election.

2. Simplicity in customs and behavioural patterns are also essential if one is to avoid spending the bulk of the time debating legal and judicial procedures in order to deal with the multitude of conflicts of interest inevitable in a large and complex society. Western countries define themselves as civilised nations with a more complex social structure whereas Libya is described as a primitive country with a simple set of customs. This aspect too indicates that Libya responds better to Rousseau’s democratic criteria than all those trying to give lessons in democracy. Conflicts in complex societies are most often won by those with more power, which is why the rich manage to avoid prison because they can afford to hire top lawyers and instead arrange for state repression to be directed against someone one who stole a banana in a supermarket rather than a financial criminal who ruined a bank. In the city of New York for example where 75 per cent of the population is white, 80 per cent of management posts are occupied by whites who make up only 20 per cent of incarcerated people.

3. Equality in status and wealth: A look at the Forbes 2010 list shows who the richest people in each of the countries currently bombing Libya are and the difference between them and those who earn the lowest salaries in those nations; a similar exercise on Libya will reveal that in terms of wealth distribution, Libya has much more to teach than those fighting it now, and not the contrary. So here too, using Rousseau’s criteria, Libya is more democratic than the nations pompously pretending to bring democracy. In the USA, 5 per cent of the population owns 60 per cent of the national wealth, making it the most unequal and unbalanced society in the world.

4. No luxuries: According to Rousseau, there can’t be any luxury if there is to be democracy. Luxury, he says, makes wealth a necessity which then becomes a virtue in itself, it, and not the welfare of the people becomes the goal to be reached at all cost, ‘Luxury corrupts both the rich and the poor, the one through possession and the other through envy; it makes the nation soft and prey to vanity; it distances people from the State and enslaves them, making them a slave to opinion.’

Is there more luxury in France than in Libya? The reports on employees committing suicide because of stressful working conditions even in public or semi-public companies, all in the name of maximising profit for a minority and keeping them in luxury, happen in the West, not in Libya.

The American sociologist C. Wright Mills wrote in 1956 that American democracy was a ‘dictatorship of the elite’. According to Mills, the USA is not a democracy because it is money that talks during elections and not the people. The results of each election are the expression of the voice of money and not the voice of the people. After Bush senior and Bush junior, they are already talking about a younger Bush for the 2012 Republican primaries. Moreover, as Max Weber pointed out, since political power is dependent on the bureaucracy, the US has 43 million bureaucrats and military personnel who effectively rule the country but without being elected and are not accountable to the people for their actions. One person (a rich one) is elected, but the real power lies with the caste of the wealthy who then get nominated to be ambassadors, generals, etc.

How many people in these self-proclaimed democracies know that Peru’s constitution prohibits an outgoing president from seeking a second consecutive mandate? How many know that in Guatemala, not only can an outgoing president not seek re-election to the same post, no one from that person’s family can aspire to the top job either? Or that Rwanda is the only country in the world that has 56 per cent female parliamentarians? How many people know that in the 2007 CIA index, four of the world’s best-governed countries are African? That the top prize goes to Equatorial Guinea whose public debt represents only 1.14 per cent of GDP?

Rousseau maintains that civil wars, revolts and rebellions are the ingredients of the beginning of democracy. Because democracy is not an end, but a permanent process of the reaffirmation of the natural rights of human beings which in countries all over the world (without exception) are trampled upon by a handful of men and women who have hijacked the power of the people to perpetuate their supremacy. There are here and there groups of people who have usurped the term ‘democracy’ – instead of it being an ideal towards which one strives it has become a label to be appropriated or a slogan which is used by people who can shout louder than others. If a country is calm, like France or the USA, that is to say without any rebellions, it only means, from Rousseau’s perspective, that the dictatorial system is sufficiently repressive to pre-empt any revolt.

It wouldn’t be a bad thing if the Libyans revolted. What is bad is to affirm that people stoically accept a system that represses them all over the world without reacting. And Rousseau concludes: ‘Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium – translation – If gods were people, they would govern themselves democratically. Such a perfect government is not applicable to human beings.’ To claim that one is killing Libyans for their own good is a hoax.

Jean-Paul Pougala is a Cameroonian writer. Translated from the French by Sputnik Kilambi. Courtesy of Pambazuka News. Edited by Henry Gombya. Courtesy of Pambazuka News. Please do not miss the last part of M Pougala’s analysis here Wednesday

Khalid Yasin - Truth about Taliban

2011-06-14T07:59:00.000+08:00

Lesley Hazleton: On Reading the Quran

2011-06-10T22:09:00.004+08:00

Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found — as a non-Muslim, a self-identified “tourist” in the Islamic holy book — wasn’t what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in the the Quran. This is a myth-debunking talk.

(Source: http://pakteahouse.net/2011/06/01/lesley-hazleton-on-reading-the-koran/ )

Surah Munafiqun

2011-06-04T13:33:00.007+08:00

When the hypocrites come to you, [O Muhammad], they say, "We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah ." And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.

The Holy Quran describing Netanyahu

2011-05-27T01:11:00.005+08:00

"Wa idhaa qeela lum laa tufsidu fil ardi, qaaloo innama nahu muslihoon. Alaa Innahum humul mufsidoona wala killa yashuroon" (Surah Baqarah)

Dr Farhat Hashmi Exposed! Former Student Reveals Lie In 'Misaali Ustad' (Exemplary Teachers) Lecture

2011-04-29T21:45:00.006+08:00

This information has been provided courtesy Sofie Ahmad an ex-student of Al-Huda. She can be reached at sophie78@live.co.uk

Dear All,
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,
In this episode of al-Huda WikiLeaks, Sophie examines the role of Dr. Farhat Hashmi in the Farah Rabbani corruption case, the tragic true story of a London al-Huda class. Sofie and her fellow students have taken great care to ensure that no one is is blamed or accused unjustly. For matters unresolved, she had sought answers and explanations from Dr. Farhat Hashmi herself, and it took her ten (10) long months of patience and investigation. However, she discovered that Al-Huda Institute was neither co-operative nor forthcoming in addressing the real problem.

Sofie has provided us with audio evidence that implicates ‘Ustazah’ Farhat Hashmi in lying, deception and slandering her own innocent al-Huda students in a public lecture. She writes, "Therefore you may see this as a kind of public trial of Dr. Farhat Hashmi for a crime committed openly. We are the party that has been wronged so we must defend ourselves openly. This audio was taken from part 3 of “Misaali Ustad”, recorded in May 2010, from 33:38 mins onwards. For your convenience I have extracted the relevant clip as an attachment to this email."

Please open the audio file http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9oWcEXnUpM and prepare to be shocked! The audio goes along with the script

The Evidence (1)

00:01 – ‘One person in a class turns out to cause extreme disturbance…’

This scenario is preparing the ground for the true incident coming up next. I guess Ustazah has me in mind when describing this one person causing extreme disturbance and we are compared to naughty little children in a class that will correct themselves eventually.

00:39 – ‘Shaytan is bound to intervene…..but we must ask for Allah’s help and continue’

Good old shaytaan to the rescue again. We have become rather familiar of this al-Huda policy of never admitting one’s own mistakes, just blame everything on shaytan and maintain your innocence. We also learn that teachers are encouraged to continue in such circumstances.

01:05 – ‘We had a student, very able, very good, very hardworking, very passionate, very dedicated…..’

This is the introduction to our corrupt, lying, cheating teacher Farah Rabbani. Ustazah is going out of her way in praising her. By this time (May 2010), I had sent a number of emails to al-Huda some of which have been released. Despite everything I said in my emails, Ustazah maintained a high opinion of her. In actual fact, our teacher was a good speaker and actor, clever politician, manipulative shrewd tactician, sly and cunning business woman.. So yes, very able and talented indeed.

01:15 – ‘She started work in a new place… big lesson for us all, I want to explain to you all’

The new place was London. She (Farrah Rabbani) moved from Karachi to London. Why are these facts being hidden? Let the truth be out. You are about to teach us some lesson here, I hope you get your facts right, Ustazah..

01:30 – ‘That poor woman was doing dars here, there and everywhere; day and night..

SubhanAllah! Where did she do dars here there and everywhere exactly? She came here for Daura-e-Quran in 2008 and through your own contact Mrs. Sheikh and then Firdous, she was able to find a place in our local Mosque directly. She didn’t go through all this trouble beforehand as you say. She landed straight in the Mosque without having to frustrate herself here there and everywhere, day and night as you claim. This intro was designed to draw audience sympathy and support for this poor woman right from the outset.

01:37 – ‘Her home was here in Pakistan, in it a number of servants, a variety of comforts, all kinds of luxuries.. She left all that and took a ‘bacha’ (kid) to work in a new area, some other place.. And it is not easy to start work in a new place, especially where you don’t know anyone, but she worked very hard to establish everything. She started a class.’

Yes, her home was in Pakistan indeed. This confirms that she stepped foot internationally, in London like I stated. Next Ustazah is following in the footsteps of Farah Rabbani herself by impressing us with the wealth and riches of this teacher. What do her servants and luxuries have to do with anything? Most rich people in Pakistan are corrupt these days anyway. Just take a look at your leader and politicians. So what?

Anyway, what possessed her to leave all that, leave the country and step into the wilderness to set up a class with a bacha tagging along? Was everyone dead back home? This is a lie! Let me tell the truth: Farah Rabbani was not alone out here. She came to her daughter Rabia who is already here with her husband on a work permit. The ‘bacha’ actually landed here months later on a student visa and Farah Rabbani has been looking for a British rishta for him using the “al-Huda” marriage bureau and contacts.. It is not easy to start work in a new place I agree, but luckily, Farah Rabbani was able to find a place in our Mosque and immediately after Daura-e-Quran, she was able to sign up most people for a course and take over the existing class and teachers. So really, she didn’t work so hard to ‘establish’ the class after all.. Just gate-crash the Daura-e-Quran and towards the end sign up everyone for a course. Simple.

But hang on a minute, was this really a new place where she needed to be established? What about the proper al-Huda branch already established here not far from us, which I have mentioned in my previous emails? Why didn’t she go and team up with those people? Farhat Hashmi has even denied the existence of her own al-Huda site to add flavour to her story. How sad!

02:04 – ‘Forty to fifty people attending the class, the class read 10 paras, everything got done’

Bingo! This is definitely our class. We had this many people and we had completed ten paras. Where else in an international class did ‘fitnah’ break out after 10 paras? I challenge al-Huda to come out and deny this is us.

02:10 – Now, from them one or two people turned out.. who accused her of not being transparent in donations… And they began telling everyone… What was it, a small amount of fees money perhaps, and a small amount of other money according to the occasion, qurbani and other money here and there she had collected of donations. And whatever she collected, she wrote down every penny/paisa, and wherever she spent it, there was receipts and everything present. But it gave opportunity for those who wanted to allege/make an issue, to do so.’

Astaghfirullah, this is buhtanun azeem! Farhat Hashmi, is this what really happened? Well the teacher Farah Rabbani was in Pakistan at the time. She had left behind an incompetent daughter who cannot sit tafseer or teach a book, so she alone was finding it difficult to run the class. Our main concerns were about the way the class was being run and the fraudulent result for our ten paras. As for fees and donations, we wanted to verify from you if they really reached al-Huda and you know that. So our class problem did not start from accusations about finances. All the issues were addressed in the confidential class report I sent you in April 2010. Why didn’t you declare this? Why did you make us out to be some kind of mischief-makers and disturbers? Of course, if you told the truth, it wouldn’t suit your agenda would it?

And you say that she was writing down everything and there are receipts for everything. Another blatant lie. She was writing down nothing. I was closest to her and I saw her writing down nothing (except tafseer). Whenever anyone gave her money there were no receipts. And if al-Huda has a financial record then why is it that after 10 months of communicating with you, I have not seen a single figure or receipt from your end despite my many requests for verification on finances?? Were we wrong in referring the matter to authority? We are not talking a small amount of money here and there but money of the order of tens of thousands of pounds. Not even Farah Rabbani defended herself as much as you have defended her on money matters, SubhanAllah!

02:46 – And they created so much chaos, that everything was sabotaged.

Allahu Akbar! Another slander. Here we have been accused of creating fitnah and mischief in a Qura’n class. Actually we left the class (and we are more than 2 people by the way), and never returned. The remaining class continued. It was your own beloved Farah Rabbani that created fitnah when she started phoning up everyone from Pakistan, crying wolf and accusing us of being power-seekers that were after her chair!!

But your story still doesn’t make sense I’m afraid. If she was being so transparent, then why would anyone level an ‘accusation’ against her of being untransparent in the first place. Further how could they succeed in sabotaging a class? Hmm..By bringing in bulldozers perhaps? If these people were genuinely fitnah-makers, the Mosque could have banned them from class, right? Instead we find that Farah Rabbani has been banned twice by the Mosque from taking classes. How do you explain that, Ustazah?

02:53 – ‘This is a big trial. You cannot bear witness for anyone but like we read in surah Nur, that why didn’t you say about her: “This is a great lie”. You should have said, this isn’t possible, it doesn’t suit us to say this about anyone.`

I wish these al-Huda teachers would stop invoking religion like the ancient Jews to prove right their falsehood. Before the lectures on Misaali Ustad, Ustazah recorded a fresh version of surah Noor 2010 to drive home the same message of keeping a good opinion of anyone ‘accused’ of malpractice. Well, what if the sanctity of a Qur’an class has been violated and there is hard core evidence against someone, should we continue giving them the benefit of the doubt? Our teacher had cheated us in our results and I had proof of that. Al-Huda was not interested in this matter. When I finally scanned the result to Ustazah, she gave a strange comment on the result by saying that ‘Some policies have not been followed’. What was that supposed to mean? Some policies have been followed and some haven’t? Can something be both right and wrong? What we needed to hear was this, “Yes CHEATING has occurred here and I condemn it in the strongest terms. I am withdrawing Farah Rabbani and her daughter from your class straight away and sending in fresh teachers from my Ilford branch.” Or “I am dissolving this class immediately”. Wallahi, this issue could have been resolved in two days. However Ustazah kept the matter in doubt and confusion deliberately as she continued to secretly support her Farah Rabbani and propogate against us.

This was a big trial indeed, one in which Dr. Farhat Hashmi and her corrupt management has been exposed. And we students by the Grace of Allah have been exonerated. Alhamdulillah.

Nasheed by Zain Bhikha - Islam is Deen

2011-04-09T16:47:00.000+08:00

Ahmed Deedat - Easter a Muslim Viewpoint Part 1

2011-04-07T23:19:00.001+08:00

The Myth of a “Ja’fari” Madhhab

2011-03-30T12:04:00.005+08:00

This article was taken: http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/jafri.htm Sincere Muslims who may possess good intent, but are insufficiently educated in their Deen, are misled into accepting a myth of a so-called “fifth Madhhab” referred to as the “Ja’fari Madhhab,” supposedly named after Imam Sayyid Ja’far as-Sadiq, radiyallahu ‘anh. The above-mentioned are unaware of the fact that no such Madhhab exists, is not accepted by Muslims as a “fifth Madhhab,” and is a continuous attempt by Shiites[1] to gain acceptance from Muslims under the guise of a school of Islamic Law (Shari’ah). Examination of this “Madhhab” by one who does not have a firm foundation in Shari’ah or a sound grasp on the existence and history of Islamic Law will lead one to unknowingly think: “This is very similar to the Maliki and Hanafi Madhhab.” A brief glance at the history of this hoax, who it is named after, and where its name really originates is necessary in order to understand its inception. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (radiyallahu ‘anh) was a blessed Wali of Allah who revived al-Islam in Madinah, upholding the letter and spirit of al-Islam. By lineage, he is Sayyid Abu Abdullah Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib al-Hashimi; son of Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad al-Baqir and father of Imam Musa al-Kazim (radiyallahu ‘anhuma). As it is well known, the Four Imams of Fiqh[2] wrote many books pertaining to Islamic Jurisprudence, Doctrine, and Worship. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (radiyallahu ‘anh) did not write any books on such matters, but as related in Asmaa’ul-Mu’allifeen, three books were written by Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq: 1.) Taqseem-i-Ru’ya, 2.) Jami’atu fil-Jafr, and 3.) Kitab-ul-Jafr. The word Jafr means a four month-old lamb. When referenced in scientific terminology, the word “Jafr” relates to a branch of predicting future events beforehand. In the narrative of Sayyid Abdul-Wahhab and Kamus-ul-A’lam, it is related that the first book written in this science was by Hazrat Babul-‘Ilm Ali ibn Abu Talib (karramallah wajhah). Two of the three books written by Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq were written on sheets of sheepskin, and because of this, the science dealt with in these two books was named ‘Ilm-i-Jafr. A book titled Imam-i Ja’far Buyrugu, in the possession of Shiites today, was written by a clergyman named Ja’far bin Husain al-Qummi (d. AD 951), who was the first to write on religious practice in the Shi’ah religion. Abu Ja’far Muhammad al-Tusi (d. AD 1068) wrote another book, titled Risala-i Ja’fariyyah, a commentary consisting of twenty volumes. Putting forward the books written by the two Ja’fars (al-Qummi and al-Tusi), Shiites name themselves “Ja’fari,” thus attempting to project that they are directly following Hazrat Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, the way that Muslims who are Hanafi or Hanbali actually follow Imam Abu Hanifah or Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal, respectively. Exploiting the similarity between the words “Ja’far” and “Jafr,” Shiites assert that these two books, authored by Abu Ja’far al-Tusi and Ja’far al-Qummi, were written by Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (radiyallahu ‘anh). Clearly, the “Ja’fari Madhhab” is a case of word games being played. Some even have the cheeks to say that it is the “Madhhab of Ahlul-Bayt.” The Four Madhhabs of al-Islam (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hambali) were either founded by the Imams themselves or by their students who expounded upon the decisions of the Imams. The ‘Ilm of Hazrat Ja’far al-Sadiq can only find it in the Madhhabs of Imam al-A’zam Abu Hanifah and Imam Malik ibn Anas (rahmatullahi alaihima), both of whom were the only students of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq to have a Madhhab founded. The direct connection with the Ahlul-Bayt is prevalent in Madhhab of both. The Maliki Madhhab connects with Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq. The Hanafi Madhhab connects to a total of five members from amongst the Ahli-Bait, four of which being Imams. In addition to the gaining of ‘Ilm from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, Imam Abu Hanifah gained ‘Ilm from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, Imam Zaid ibn Ali, and Abdullah ibn Hasan ibn Ali (radiyallahu ‘anhuma). The Sahibain (Imam Muhammad al-Shaibani and Imam Abu Yusuf al-Ansari) gained ‘Ilm from Imam Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kazim (rahmatullahi ‘alaih). Thus, the true Madhhab of Ahlul-Bayt resides within the Hanafi and Maliki Madhhabs. From the facts presented, it is evident that the “Ja’fari Madhhab” is not only a non-existent (and illegitimate) school of Islamic Law, but it is merely a cloak utilized by Shiites, with their clergymen plagiarizing many of the works of Islamic Jurists and placing the name Ja’fari (or Imami) upon them. Muslims should not allow themselves or their family members to get tricked, swayed, or softened by Shi’ah propaganda. If one wishes to gain the Fiqh of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (radiyallahu ‘anh), then one does not have to look any further than the Hanafi or Maliki Madhhab. NOTES: This pertaining specifically to the majority of Shi’ah, being that of the Rawafidh. They now hide behind the following names: Jafria (also spelled as: Ja’faria, Jaffaria, or Ja’fariyya). Imami (Imamiyya, also referring to themselves as Imami Madhhab). Ithnaa ‘Ashariya (commonly seen as Twelvers). Al-Husainiyya (this is a misuse of the descriptive that is reserved only for the descendents of Imam al-Husain ibn Ali, radiyallahu 'anh). The Four Mujtahid Imams are: Imam al-A’zam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik ibn ‘Anas, Imam Muhammad al-Shafi’, and Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal. Muhammad Taqi al-Qummi: a Shiite lobbyist for Dar al-Taqrib whose lobbying influenced the ridiculous fatwa by Jami’ah al-Azhar declaring the “Ja’fari Madhhab” to be permissible to Muslims.

Powerful Durood Shareef Recite 80 times on Friday After Asr Salaat

2011-03-28T16:34:00.001+08:00

April Fools Day: This has nothing to do with Islam

2011-03-27T19:32:00.004+08:00

Sheikh Yusuf Estes has the following interesting article.

As regards the incorrect story circulating amongst the Muslims saying that April Fool's Day is the celebration of the non-Muslims over the conquest of Muslim Spain. I felt that it was necessary to clarify a few points in the interest of truth.

Bismillah Al Hamdulilah was Salat wa Salam ala rasoolulah. Allahu Alim. In the Name of Allah, I praise Allah and ask for His Peace upon Muhammad, ameen. Allah Alone is The All-Knower.

The concocted story states that Christians could not conquer the Muslims of Spain. Thus, they sent spies to discover why. According to the story, they found that the Muslims there were on the 'Taqwah' (God Fearing and Pious) of Islam. Then the story says the Christians sent in alcohol and cigarettes which the Muslims used and lost their 'Taqwah' and then the Christians defeated the Muslims on April first and began celebrating 'April Fool's Day' ever since. This story is not correct in many aspects.

1.) First, let us consider the historic fact that Muslim Spain ended on the 12th of January in the Christian year of 1492 A.D. yet 'April Fool's Day was not heard of until over fifty years later. Once upon a time, back in 16th-century France, before computers, people celebrated New Year's Day on March 25, the advent of spring. It was a festive time. They partied steadily until April 1. In 1564, when the calendar reformed and became Gregorian, under the influence of Pope Gregory, King Charles IX proclaimed, perhaps pompously, that New Year's Day should be celebrated on January 1st instead of in the spring. Diehard conservatives resisted the change (or perhaps didn't hear about it due to the absence of e-mail) and continued to celebrate New Year's from March 25 to April 1. During this period of spring festivity, the more flexible French mocked the rigid revelers by sending them foolish gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties. The victim of an April Fools' Day

prank was called a "poisson d'avril," or an "April fish," because at that time of year, the sun was leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces. April Fools' Day hit its stride (avoiding the banana peel) in England in the 18th century, and was brought to colonial America by the English, Scottish, and French.

2.) Second, we should know that cigarettes were not even invented until AFTER the time of the fall of Muslim Spain (January 1492). According to the State College in Framingham, the Human Biology course by Dr. Roger Morrrissette, Ph.D., smoking of any kind did not exist in Spain until after it was brought back from the New World AFTER King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had come to rule Spain. This is from their website:

Introduction to Human Biology Framingham State College
Roger N. Morrissette, Ph.D.

I. The History of Smoking.

900: smoking is referred to on a Mayan stone carving.

1492: Columbus notes the natives of the New World smoke leaves.

1550: Spaniards begin cultivating tobacco in the West Indies to export to Europe.

1880: Tobacco use is widespread but people only use small amounts.

3.) Muslim Spain began to deteriorate at the time of Ibn Seenah and others who were beginning to use their logic in place of Divine Revelation of Allah. Some were very interested in the Greek and Roman philosophies and concepts and began to try to 'rethink' Islam much the same as some 'modernists' are doing today. It was right after this that Muslim Spain began to divide up into small kingdoms and fight against each other for control and gold. They employed mercenaries from amongst the Christians and killed and destroyed each other for a number of years. When the Christians came against them the first time, they appealed to the ruler of Maghrib (Morocco) across the Mediterranean Sea who sent troops to quell the attacks. He stipulated that the Muslims must stop fighting each other and go back to the Islamic system of rule under one leader. They did not do it. When they began fighting each other again, the Christians came in very strong against them and this time the ruler of Morocco refused to help them. They lost battle after battle against the Roman Christians and finally the last stronghold of Islam fell to the Christian King, Ferdinand, in January of 1492. [for details order the video "Muslim Spain"]

So regarding the email claiming that April Fools Day is a celebration of the take over of Muslim Spain, it is clear the whole thing is a made up lie. This is totally unacceptable and should be brought to the attention of the one who sent you this lie in the first place. A good Muslim would never accept to repeat lies and fabrications especially in presenting facts about the history of Islam.

If you have received such a letter it is your duty in front of Allah to write back to those who also received it and ask them to contact all of those on their lists and email the truth about this issue. And we should all fear a Day when we will stand in front of Allah and be asked about these matters.

If we don't do something about correcting the education of our beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, then everyday on the internet is MUSLIM FOOLS DAY.

Again, it is only Allah who has All Knowledge. May He forgive me my mistakes and guide us all to the right way, ameen.

Imaams in America: A new commercial market

2011-03-27T10:33:00.007+08:00

Today if someone wants an Imaam for their mosque in America it is like finding men from mars. In almost every Muslim community one finds wealthy doctors, business owners and the common people of that community. I used to be part of Daytona Beach Islamic Center for years. Some of the pioneers of that community, who were very sincere and pious passed away - alhamdullilah there are still a good number of sincere pioneers keeping the boat afloat. But when the Salafi tide made it to the Daytona Shores in 1998-2001 there was mayhem. The Salafi movement came with a new agenda of re-calibrating America with pure and pristine Islam. So, out of nowhere appeared people who were very much like Paul - the 13th self appointed disciple of Jesus (peace be upon him). These Charlataans took the stage on the pulpits and after maghrib lecture programs; impressed the masses with Arabic and Hadith. They disguised their shallow knowledge and constipated spirituality by growing long beards, long thobes and chanting the name of Albani, Uthaymeen and Bin Baaz. This Salafi Tsunami damaged every household. After 9-11, most of the Imaams (salafi and non-salafi) have re-packaged themselves to become more commercial. Take for example Daytona Beach Florida. A community that cycled Imaams every year for the last 10yrs and to date there is not a single child in that community that has become a Hafiz of Quran. A generation of young boys and girls went from the age of 10 and reached their 20's yet they were left out from receiving the gift of life: memorizing, reading, reciting and learning the Quran. Many self centered and selfish Imaams in American mosques are focused on recording every bit of their after Fajr Lectures, and Juma prayers and then selling their CD's / books. It is all about them. I once ran into a Tablighi Jamaat brother who was in full gear - beard, turban, leather socks, perfume and miswaak - yet blinded by the fact that all these outer looks had consumed his innerself. He went on-on-and on about Allah and how we have to give dawa'a, yet he was the one who had no realization of Allah Almighty. Why? Because a man who is obsessed with his own looks can not be cognizant of Allah. If you are getting a new Imaam in your mosque this is what you will need to assess:

He must be a hafiz of the Quran. This will empower the entire community, especially the children to start memorizing the Quran. I mean every single child (and adult if possible) of that community must be immersed in learing, reading, reciting and memorizing the Holy Quran.

He must not focus on producing lectures and books (free or not free).

He must observe strict rules of Islamic appearance. Not some Justin Timberlake beard. One can be a role model without following deceptive role models. We all rant and rave that we follow in the footsteps of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) yet our expectations are to water down Islam and make it more palatable. This is not Chinese food or Indian Briyani; Islam is what it is and so is the Sunnah. Looking cool means strict adhere to Islam with a heart like the Sahaaba. Look at Usmaan Ibn Affan (radi allahu anhu), he was so soft at heart yet never compromised one inch on anything to do with Islam. In fact, it was his practice to finish an entire recitation of the Quran in two rakaats! This is spirituality, this is power, this is what makes a heart soft.

Dealing with the Maladies of the heart. This is not a joke for anyone. It requires spiritual reformation. One that is not reformed can not reform others; the good old cliche, "empty vessels make the most noise." Imaam's marrying left and right is not spiritual reform! This is self gratification and a clear sign that this person does not have control of their self. So, how will they assist a community that has a million spiritual diseases? Giving people a dose of Hadith and aligning their feet a few inches and making sure that the finger wiggles verses wobbles during tashahhud are not spiritual reforms. The rememberance of Allah is a must and like Imaam Bukhari mentioned in his book, the zikr has to be done on an individual level and in a collective manner. Anyone who denies this has denied the Sahih Hadith of Imaam Bukhari (rahmatullahi alayhi)

Teaching the Quran is vital and important. But teaching the Quran just by itself is not enough. Teaching the Quran with hadith is also not enough. Teaching the Quran in light of the Sunnah and with Jurisprudence is what people need. Experience has shown that Shop owners who sell Alcohol clearly understand that Alcohol is forbidden in Islam. They know the clear injuctions of the Holy Quran. Then, the question is that how do you fix a problem so endemic? The only way to fix a problem is by engaging the people, visiting the people and inviting the people at a personal level; as an Imaam. Didn't Umar Ibn Khattab (radi allahu anhu), as a Khalifa, walk around at night to get a good feel of his people, the problems and prevailing conditions? Getting involved with the business owners and understanding their circumstances, their problems and their challenges will bring about a positive change. This is teaching the Quran! Working for the people unselfishly. This is the only way to estimate the damage and start re-building. Applying the Quran and Sunnah needs jurisprudence. Denying this fact is like denying that the sun exists.

If the Imaams can not do the basic points oulined above then they clearly lack Wisdom and the community is in for another bumpy ride. The Imaams agenda will be different and will undermine the communities goals.

Salary of the Imaams have to be considered after all the above points have been taken into account. If the Imaam is going to build the community then he should not be left un-supported. In fact, if he executes and makes positive strides the community should look to increase his compensation to ensure that he does not have to struggle for his own survival.

Once an Imaam establishes this within 40days of taking charge, he must transform his community to put things back on the road. The 40 day is a good milestone to use. Incremental changes are worthless. Transformation means that the entire community is engaged, a health check of financials is clearly understood, community concerns are clearly outlined and a bold step forward is now required to bring the change. Whether it is a the expansion of the mosque, or a new community center, or increasing the presence of Musalla's in different areas or a new School for the new generation; any or all of these bold steps have to taken to transform the community. My ustaad sheikh Abdur Rahmaan Baseer used to say, "Islam is a movement so move".

Amr Khaled - an expose

2011-03-20T16:44:00.003+08:00

Amr Khaled Phenomenon
The person who attained phenomenal success with Islamic programs on television is undisputedly Amr Khaled of Egypt. An accountant turned lay preacher, his official resume is full of large numbers. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions. On facebook more than two million “like” him. His television program is seen by millions. He lists the audience size in the gatherings he has addressed during the past decade. 20,000 here, 40,000 there. Like the televangelists he can bask in the glow of an unprecedented popularity. There is no other Islamic television host that comes close.

How did he do it? Exactly the way the televangelists had done.
Amr Khaled rose to stardom in 2001 with the appearance of his show “Kalam min al-Qalb” (Words from the heart) on satellite. His producer Abu-Haibah was very impressed with televangelists saying, “if we did this with Islam it would be a new experience for Islam.” Their stated goal was to make Islamic media “not just as good, but much, much more interesting than the most interesting programs on other channels.”

They did whatever it takes to become more interesting than the vulgar commercial fare. They chose a set that had no relation to Islam, rather it would be “something that will feel like a top-ten [music] program.” They invited celebrities, many of them former film stars who had gone through the coming-back-to-Islam experience. (It was a carefully calibrated conversion where they started wearing a headscarf without stopping a public display of beauty --- makeup and all). Amr Khaled wore expensive European suits and a clean shave. The format was that of a talk show and the level of the talk was the same.

“Not a Shaikh”
Amr Khaled frequently says that he is not a shaikh or a religious scholar. What is left unsaid is even more important: “And you do not need a shaikh. I am much much more entertaining and accommodating.” For otherwise he feels fully qualified to challenge any tenets of Islam or give his personal opinions on any subjects. He stated, for example, that Shaytan was a believer, because of his conversation with Allah as reported in the Qur’an. He justified mixed gatherings of men and women using the incident about Syedna Umar’s acceptance of Islam. He belittled such towering personalities as Imam Malik. In the case of blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, he stood against a united Muslim stand, taking a position that was childish if not sinister. Under normal circumstance these would be considered sufficiently scandalous to end the career of a preacher, but his audiences still love him. They would find some excuse for the aberrant statements and move on. They do so not because he has made major breakthroughs in Islamic scholarship or statesmanship but because he is so entertaining. His style and his content find perfect resonance with the medium.

“Better” Packaging for Islam
There are others who have copied the Amr Khaled technique --- with the same great results. In Saudi Arabia it is Ahmad al-Shugairi, who started as a TV host for Yalla Shabab (Hey Youth) program and moved on to his own Ramadan program called Khawater or stray thoughts. He is very popular with the youth who credit him, just like the fans of Amr Khaled, with bringing them back to Islam. His philosophy is that of a Procter and Gamble marketing manager: “Islam is an excellent product that needs better packaging.” This packaging includes a glitzy studio, lighting, panning between him and his devoted audience, the music montage introducing the show, and soothing sound bites that offer a feel good Islam. In short everything demanded by the entertainment world. In an interview with On the Media he explains his winning strategy of not focusing more than 20-30 seconds on the same frame.

In this marketing-driven preaching, the goal is to give the audiences what they want (It is a minor detail that the entire purpose of dawah is to give people what they need). A fan told the New York Times: “Ahmad helped me see that I can want to be with a girl, and it’s O.K. — I don’t need to feel bad.” According to the report the fan Muhammad Malaikah was able to spend time alone with his girlfriend and still feel he was being true to himself and his culture (7).

Paradise Here and Now
Yet another star in the kingdom of Islamic television is Mostafa Hosni of Egypt. The set for his weekly program looks like that of a pop music show, with the name, Love Story, drawn over a big purple heart in the background. "The time has come to speak to the young in their language, to live in their world," he says. This is the language of the entertainment media. He opened the first episode of his show ‘Ala bab al-ganna (At the Gates of Paradise) by bringing paradise to a screen near you. Using a studio set that reflected his visualization of paradise in front of a mixed-gender studio audience, he told viewers that tuning into this program would help “transform Paradise from merely an invisible dream to a daily reality.” This is precisely what the entertainment media doctors had ordered. Never mind that Islamic teachings for centuries have praised the believers for believing in an unseen paradise. The Qur’an opens with the statement that it is guidance for those who believe in the unseen. But television cannot deal with the unseen; it cannot communicate without pictures. And so the tenets of the most iconoclastic belief are now to be communicated visually. Although for obvious reasons he cannot present it as a new theology in Islam, his scheme would be the envy of any proponent of the health and wealth gospel.

[please read the complete article on http://www.albalagh.net/general/0097.shtml ]

Shariah Law: Upheld by United States

2011-03-18T16:30:00.013+08:00

Our Politicians in America who normally tremble at the mention of Sharia, had thier 007-spy saved by the Sharia Court. Raymond Davis bought his flight to freedom. A tension-filled saga spread over more than a month and a half was brought to an abrupt conclusion on Wednesday as American citizen Raymond Davis was released and quickly flown out of Pakistan after heirs of the two youths he had shot dead on Jan 27 told a local court they had accepted blood money (othewise known as "Diya").

This story goes to show that Sharia after all is the most fair system for mankind. The continued lie, bigotry and hatred against Islam in America is coming from those Republicans and Tea Party members who have succumbed to narcissism. I hope the family of Raymond Davis is not protesting against Islam, the very religion that has given him an opportunity to live free. Had this trial been in an American Justice system, he would have been locked behind bars for Murder in the first degree, espionage and having illegal fire arms. This would have been the Justice in America! But the Sharia offered him the greatest justice. The following verse of the Quran sums it all up:

...wa ja'ala kalimatul ladheena kafarus-suflaa, wa kalimatullahi hiyal ullya. Wallahu Azeezun Hakeem.

[and (Allah) made the word of those who disbelieved nethermost (lowered), and the word of Allah (becomes) elevated (upper most). And Allah is Mighty and Wise- Surah Tauba verse 40

ZION Logo for 2012 Olympics: Fact or Fiction?

2011-03-16T10:39:00.000+08:00

Free Cricket World Cup 2011 online - Live!

2011-03-15T10:36:00.004+08:00

For those who have a passion for cricket and would like to watch for free please click on the link below and enjoy. No requirements to signing in. Just remember that "Server 3" and "Server 4" seem to work great. Every now and then if your live-streaming frame freezes just scroll to the top of the page and click on the Server again. There are pop-ups; free ads - just close them. If the traffic is too much open www.cricinfo.com as a parallel window with "Live Score" to be on top of your game.

http://www.crictime.com/

Verdict of Imaam Bukhari Against Salafi(s)

2011-02-28T17:40:00.010+08:00

Many years ago Gerry Spencer, a defense lawyer took up the case of Lee Harvey Oswald - alleged killer of President J.F.Kennedy. But Owald was already dead and Gerry Spencer gave him a voice.

What I like to do today is take the Salafi Scholars (Madkhali, Albani, Salih-al-Fawzaan, Bilal Phillips, Zakir Naik and Farhat Hashmi) to court. Ladies and gentlemen, as the prosecuting attorney on behalf of Imaam Bukhari (rahmatullahi alayhi) I would like to invite Mr.Salafi for cross examination.

Prosecutor: Mr.Salafi do you know why we are prosecuting you?
Mr.Salafi : No, I am not sure what this is all about.
Prosecutor: Mr.Salafi do you follow each and every Sahih Hadith in Sahih Bukhari
Mr.Salafi : Yes I do
Prosecutor: Okay, we will take a note of this and come to this later.
Prosecutor: You have been accused of causing dissention amongst Muslims and have done so by wrongfully using the name of my client (Imaam Bukhari rahmatullahi alayhi). So, my client brings a charge of lie and Slander against him.
Mr.Salafi : Looks a bit surprised but is neverthless confident that this is all some sort of a joke or misunderstanding.
Prosecutor: When it comes to the attributes (Sifaat) of Allah do you make تأويل (interpretation), for example, "Hand of Allah"? What do you make out of this?
Mr.Salafi : We accept it "Bi laa Taweel" (without Interpretation). Regarding "Sifaat of Allah" one does not find anyone from amongst the Sahaaba, Tabi'een or the Salafus-Saliheeen making interpretation (taweel) in regards to this matter. This was against their Madhab (school of thought) and Manhaj (way).
Prosecutor: So, what if someone makes Taweel? You accuse them of being heretics, people of Bida'a and call them Ashaari's or Maturidi's. Right?
Mr.Salafi : Yes we do
Prosectuor : You have accused my client Imaam Bukhari of being an innovator. Because Imaam Bukhari believes in making interpretation of Quranic verses that are considered Mutashaabihaat (alligorical). My client has interpreted the phrase "Istiwaa Ilaas Samaa" to mean "Irtafa'a". Furthermore, Imaam Bukhari has also interpreted the phrase "Istiwaa a'alal arsh" to mean "Alaa a'lal Arsh".
باب قوله و كان عرشه على الماء و هوا رب العرش العظيم و قال ابوالعالية استوى الى السماء ارتفع٠٠٠

I rest my case. You have accused Imaam Bukhari of being a deviant, yet you continue to use his name and keep telling people that you follow his Book. How is that possible? That means you intend to spread confusion and dissention amongst Muslims. If your Aqeedah is correct then Imaam Bukhari's Aqeedah is deviant; or vice versa. Can you please explain yourself.
Mr.Salafi : I leave this to my lawyer to defend me.

Session 2: (1st MARCH 2011): Mr. Salafi is once again invited to take the stand.

Prosecutor: Did you watch the arrival of King Abdullah since he had been out of Saudi Arabia?
Mr.Salafi : No I didn't watch his arrival. I have no TV in my house.
Prosecutor : Well then, let me infom you that When King Abdullah arrived in Saudi Arabia, Al-Jazeera had the camera's on him. He walked out of the plane and sat on a wheel chair. Then so many people leaned forward and kissed his hands paid their tributes to the King. My question to you is what is your belief regarding kissing hands and feet of "people that command respect", for example, the king?
Mr.Salafi : There is no place in Islam for kissing of hands and feet. This is a Bida'a (innovation)
Prosecutor : Why does your jamaat (group)not issue a fatwa (verdict) against this innovative practice openly encouraged by King Abdullah?
Defense Lawyer: Objection My Honor. This is contempt and the prosecution is politicizing this issue. Please ask questions related to Imaam Bukhari.
Judge to Prosecutor: Mr.Prosecutor please ask questions that are relevant to your client's concern.
Prosecutor : Okay. Now Mr.Salafi I bring to you EXIBIT 1 - The book titled "Adab Al-Mufrad". Have you seen and read this book before? Did you know that Imaam Bukhari wrote this book?
Mr.Salafi : Yes I know that this is book was written by Imaam Bukhari.
Prosecutor : Now, let me share with you here EXIBIT 2 - The book titled "Sahih Adab Al-Mufrad". Please examine this book and tell us if Imaam Bukhari is the author of Exibit 2 or not?
Mr.Salafi : No. The author of "Sahih Adab Al-Mufrad"is Nasirudeen Albani, not Imaam Bukhari.
Prosecutor : Doesn't it strike you that Albani has modified EXIBIT 1 (Adab al-Mufrad) and modified it to EXIBIT 2 (Sahih Adab al-Mufrad). If you turn to the last page of EXIBIT 1 you will see that the last entry of Hadith put in there by my client Imaam Bukhari is Hadith No.1322. However, when you turn to the last page of EXIBIT 2 you will find that the last entry of Hadith put in by Albani is No.992. Albani has unceremoniously purged 330 Ahaadeeth from Imaam Bukhari's works. Why such a discrepancy? My client is insulted by the fact that Albani has corrupted his works. I want to know why?
Mr.Salafi : I am not Albani, I can't answer for him.
Prosecutor : So, Nasirudeen Albani has uncerimoniously thrown out 330 Ahaadeth of Imaam Bukhari. In fact, Albani deleted 83 Chapters from Exibit 1. On top of that he has re-written the book cover and stamped Exibit 2 as "SAHIH". Meaning Exihibit1 is "NOT SAHIH". So, Albani's book supercedes Imaam Bukhari's book, right? Did you know why he interpolated the book? Very simple. Albani deleted all those chapters and ahaadeeth that prove that kissing of hands and feet are part of Islam. However, Imaam Bukhari's Aqeedah is contrary to your belief and that of Nasirudeen Albani, Bilal Phillips, Zakir Naik, Farhat Hashmi and Madkhali. You (and your group) have now accused Imaam Bukhari of being an innovator.

Imaam Bukhari (rahmatullahi alayhi) has requested that he does not want to press any more charges against all of you. He wants the jury to start deliberating. I request the readers to please put their comments so that we can request a closure of this case.

Islamic History: Important dates

2011-02-27T22:13:00.007+08:00

The last Sahaabi to pass away:
Anas Ibn Maalik (Radhi Allahu anhu) died 94AH

The four (4) Mujtahid Imaams:
Imaam Abu Hanifa (ra) was born on 80AH and died 150AH
Imaam Malik (ra) was born on 95AH and died 179AH
Imaam Shaafi (ra) was born on 150AH and died 205AH
Imaam Ahmad (ra) was born on 164AH and died 241AH

The Six (6) Great Muhaditheen (Authors of Sihah-Sitta):
Imaam Bukhari (ra) was born on 194AH and died 256AH
Imaam Muslim (ra) was born on 204AH and died 261AH
Imaam Abu Dawood (ra) was born on 202AH and died 275AH
Imaam Tirmidhi (ra) was born on 209AH and died 279AH
Imaam Nisaai (ra) was born on 215AH and died 303AH
Imaam ibn Majah (ra) was born on 209AH and died 273AH

NOTE 1: "AH" stands for "After Hijri". The Hijrah of rasullulah sallahu alayhi wa sallam to Madina was marked as 1-AH by Umar Ibn Khattab radhi allahu anhu. Hence, the begining of the Islamic Calender.
NOTE 2: "ra" stands for "rahmatullahi alayhi" (May the Mercy of Allah be upon them)

Libyan Tribal Structure

2011-02-23T10:41:00.000+08:00

Bravest Girl in Egypt!

2011-02-22T11:05:00.003+08:00

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qardawi's Khutbah in Tahrir Square

2011-02-20T22:58:00.002+08:00

Egypt: Dua of Shk Jibreel in Tahrir Square

2011-02-16T19:48:00.002+08:00

Malcolm X: Making of the of Tunisian and Egyptian Uprisings

2011-02-04T19:02:00.014+08:00

It took over 30yrs for Muslims to do what was accomplished in United States through the Civil Rights Movement. Here are excerpts from the speech delivered by Malcolm X titled, "Ballot or the Bullet". The evolution of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt shows the far sightedness of Malcolm X (May Allah enlighten his grave):

"I'm not a politician, not even a student of politics; in fact, I'm not a student of much of anything. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican,.."

"So it's time in 1964 to wake up. And when you see them coming up with that kind of conspiracy, let them know your eyes are open. And let them know you -- something else that's wide open too. It's got to be the ballot or the bullet. The ballot or the bullet. If you're afraid to use an expression like that, you should get on out of the country; you should get back in the cotton patch; you should get back in the alley."

"These 22 million victims are waking up. Their eyes are coming open. They're beginning to see what they used to only look at. They're becoming politically mature. They are realizing that there are new political trends from coast to coast. "

"Before we try and explain what is meant by the ballot or the bullet, I would like to clarify something concerning myself. I'm still a Muslim; my religion is still Islam. That's my personal belief. Just as Adam Clayton Powell is a Christian minister who heads the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, but at the same time takes part in the political struggles to try and bring about rights to the black people in this country; and Dr. Martin Luther King is a Christian minister down in Atlanta, Georgia, who heads another organization fighting for the civil rights of black people in this country; and Reverend Galamison, I guess you've heard of him, is another Christian minister in New York who has been deeply involved in the school boycotts to eliminate segregated education; well, I myself am a minister, not a Christian minister, but a Muslim minister; and I believe in action on all fronts by whatever means necessary."

"Well, I am one who doesn't believe in deluding myself. I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. "

"How can you thank a man for giving you what's already yours? How then can you thank him for giving you only part of what's already yours? You haven't even made progress, if what's being given to you, you should have had already. That's not progress. "

"I find you can get a whole lot of small people and whip hell out of a whole lot of big people. They haven't got anything to lose, and they've got every thing to gain. And they'll let you know in a minute: "It takes two to tango; when I go, you go."

"I might stop right here to point out one thing. Whenever you're going after something that belongs to you, anyone who's depriving you of the right to have it is a criminal. Understand that. Whenever you are going after something that is yours, you are within your legal rights to lay claim to it. And anyone who puts forth any effort to deprive you of that which is yours, is breaking the law, is a criminal."

Yvonne Ridley - Voice of Truth

2011-02-02T15:30:00.002+08:00

Yvonne Ridley, for those who might have forgotton, was captured by Taliban and then safely released at the Pakistan border before the Bush Administration started bombing Afghanistan. She embraced Islam and spoke highly of how she was treated by her captors.

She has been writing a lot of articles. Her latest article had the following punch line that I wanted to share with the readers:

"Like pet scat in New York's Central Park, you (Washington/London/Paris) have to take responsibility for the mess your dogs (refering to Arab-Muslim leaders, especially Mubarak) make."

Egypt: People Powered by faith & ready for change

2011-01-30T19:12:00.006+08:00

Allah does not change the condition of a people unless people change their own condition. (Al-Quran)

Al-Maghdub - Surah Fatiha!

2011-01-28T12:54:00.001+08:00

A Challenge to Zakir Naik

2011-01-24T23:40:00.003+08:00

When one looks at the top 10 Muslim countries in the world, it is interesting to note that each of these countries have by large their population that is Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi or Hambali. In the History of Islam, one can never find a group called Salafi. Dr.Naik defends Albani for calling himself Salafi but he never gives an excuse for the Majority of the Ulema in India who come from Darul-Uloom Deoband. I want to know from Dr.Naik if all the 10 Muslim countries are deviant and have committed shirk because of following a certain school of thought blindly? Let us look at the the top 10 Muslim countries, their population and the Juristic School they follow:
1. Indonesia: 202,867,000 (country is 88.2 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Shafi
2. Pakistan: 174,082,000 (country is 96.3 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Abu Hanifah
3. India: 160,945,000 (country is 13.4 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Abu Hanifah
4. Bangladesh: 145,312,000 (country is 89.6 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Abu Hanifah
5. Egypt: 78,513,000 (country is 94.6 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Abu Hanifah
6. Nigeria: 78,056,000 (country is 50.4 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Malik
7. Iran: 73,777,000 (country is 99.4 percent Muslim). Shia's
8. Turkey: 73,619,000 (country is about 98 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Abu Hanifah
9. Algeria: 34,199,000 (country is 98 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Malik
10. Morocco: 31,993,000 (country is about 99 percent Muslim). Follow Imaam Malik

The Salafi (Zakir Naik, Farhat Hashmi, Salih Al-Fawzaan, Madkhali) rhetoric is that their Imaam is Muhammed Mustapha (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). In other words, they have accused the entire Muslim world population of being deviant for not following the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) but rather "opinions". Muadh ibn Jabal (ra) mentioned that if he is unable to find an answer to his problem in the Quran or Sunnah or Ijma of the Sahaba he would make ijtihaad with his opinion (Ijtahidu bi ra'ee). These words were uttered during a question and answer session with rasullullahi sallahu alayhi wa sallam. The messenger of Allah did not reprimend Muadh (ra) for formulating an opinion, nor did he warn him of being a deviant for not following Sahih Hadith - as everyone should know there was no such thing as Sahih hadith. So, the people of Yemen were entrusted to Muadh (ra) and no Zakir Naik's were born at that time to accuse Muadh (ra) of using his opinion in matters of deen. No Bilal Phillips was born inciting the Muslim masses of following their Imaam (Muadh) rather than following rasullullahi sallahu alayhi wa sallam. The simple answer to this is that Ijtihaad and formulation of laws are always based on primary textual evidence. Imaam Abu Hanifah, Imaam Malik, Imaam Shafi and Imaam Ahmad (may Allah be please with them) were all mujtahids following in the footsteps of the Sahaba and Tabieen.

Looking at the top 10 list above, it is clear that the influence of Imaam Abu Hanifah is far greater than any of the Jurists. It is for this reason that the Salafi movement has launched a campaign to undermine the research of Abu Hanifah (rahmatullahi alayhi).

When one turns to the Salafi literature it would shock the readers that they have not produced a single book that would outline the entire method of performing Salaat (prayers) from A-Z using one and only one hadith. My challenge to Zakir Naik, Farhat Hashmi and their type of people is to tell us in writing if the vast populations of Muslims are deviants and commiting shirk because of blind following. They will never in this life-time ever dare to put this in writing and sign this as an Islamic Verdict. Because if they are taken to court, their reputation will be at stake for passing any such erroneous fatwa.

Muslim charity squandered money for poor

2011-01-22T23:49:00.002+08:00

Devout Muslims donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to one of Canada’s largest Islamic organizations on the promise that the cash would be used to help the poor.

But only one in four dollars donated to a special pool of money at the Islamic Society of North America Canada (ISNA Canada) actually reached the needy.

Mismanagement of more than $600,000 is among the findings in a scathing audit obtained by the Star.

A “very small portion . . . is distributed to the poor and needy and the major portion is spent on the administration of the centre,” concluded the 2010 audit of the previous four years.

Complete article can be read here along with the Audit Report:
www.thestar.com/news/article/924865--muslim-charity-squandered-money-for-poor

Ahlul-Quran: Rejectors of Hadith

2011-01-20T12:28:00.026+08:00

There has been an under current in Islam for sometime with a group of people who claim that since, Allah is Perfect then all one needs is the Quran. The Ahlul-Quran reject the Sunnah by accusing the collections (or oral traditions) as being "man-made" and full of contradictions. They also make fun of Islamic Jurisprudence and three of its four corner stones, viz, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas. (The fourth corner stone is Quran - which the Ahlul-Quran claim to follow but in reality they don't)

This group, Ahlul-Quran, claims that Sunnah and Fiqh are human creations, imperfect and are collectively responsible for the dilapidated condition of Muslims today. In Malaysia, I have run across a book written by Syed Akbar Ali who has pinned the problems of the Muslim world to Sunnah and Fiqh. In fact, in one of my casual table talks with a very influential Malaysian I discovered that there are Muslims that feel that Islam does not flow like Christianity and other religions. In other words, the Muslims are caught into non-essential things like: Beard, Hijaab, Jihaad, Salaat, reciting Quran like a parrot, fasting and Eid's - these are all rituals! This group also claims that Islam is "all about balance, honesty and truth" and not ritualistic patterns; as if Christianity and other religions are about "Truth"! Unfortunately, when one's heart is distant from the rememberance of Allah then these maladies emerge. There is no reality or facts in such claims as you are about to discover. I have run across several blogposts, books, internet chats and websites that are dedicated in openly insulting the "Ahaadith" of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). The sole purpose of these people is to impress the audience with their flimsy, unreasonable and illogical arguments. In brief their motto is "We believe only in the Quran". Here is a myth-buster.

Attack on Ahaadith
There is a well known hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari (Volume 4, Book 54, Number 537) :
Narrated by Abu Huraira (more or less): The Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) said "If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink), for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease."

The accusation made against this hadith is that this is a very "unhygenic" practice being advocated by the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). This particular hadith is highlighted by Ahlul-Quran as "human corruption" and "illogical backward thinking". Let us now go to the Quran, which they claim is their litmus paper, and let us evaluate their accusations.

Quran against the "Ahle-Quran"

In Surah Baqarah, verse 26 the following challenge is presented:

Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat or anything above that. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say: What doth Allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? He misleadeth many thereby, and He guideth many thereby; and He misleadeth thereby only miscreants; (verse26).

So, Allah Almighty gives guidance to people who are able to decipher the truth even if it is an example drawn from a gnat (or fly). Let us now see where such a challenge is presented. This verse challenges the Ahlul-Quran and puts them in the category of "Faasiqeen" (miscreants).

Hadith against the "Ahle-Quran"
To teach this Ummah the reality of this verse we have already quoted the hadith from Imam Bukhari's Sahih (an oral tradition) which actually presents an example pertaining to a fly! We know for a fact that there is nothing in the Quran that opposes this hadith. To the contrary, the Quran questions the mindset of people who fail to understand simple facts.

Jurisprudence against the "Ahle-Quran"
The Ahlul-Quran can scream all they want and accuse the four illustrious Mujtahid Imaams of creating confusion. However, the readers are about to discover that in reality it is the Ahlul-Quran who are narrow minded and are unable to solve any human problem. All their claims, statements and internet wars are purely theoretical and academic in nature. They have never offered any solutions to date that one can consider as practical. The Arabic word for "Buffalo" is "Jamoos". I want the Ahlul-Quran to please show mankind from the Quran whether "Buffalo" is "Halal or Haraam?" What about eating the meat of a Monkey? To such simple questions, they have no answers.

Now, let us see how Imaam Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi alayhi) empowers the Muslims. Here is a question for Ahlul-Quran and people like Syed Akbar Ali and his brand of Muslims:

"You have invited 30+ guests to your house and your wive spends all day preparing the meals. On the menu she has Briyani rice, yogurt, salad, lentil soup and a jug of cold drink. When the time comes for serving food Mr.Akbar Ali's wife discoves that a fly has fallen in the soup, an ant has fallen into the Biryani rice and the jug of cold drink has a little mosquito floating on the top. Faced with this problem, she calls upon her husband to offer a practical solution".

Based on the above scenario (which happens in every kitchen of the world), here are my questions to Mr.Akbar Ali and the "Ahlul-Quran":

Do you throw away the Biryani Rice because an ant has fallen into the whole pot? Please show ONLY from the Quran why you choose a "yes" or a "no".
Do you throw away the entire pot of Lentil Soup because of a small fly? Please show ONLY from the Quran why you choose a "yes" or a "no".
OR does Mr.Syed's wife need to start all over again; and what if a fly falls into the Biryani Rice again?

Till the day of Judgement Mr.Akbar Ali and these type of "Muslims" will never be able to answer these questions. There is no answer in the Quran for this universal problem that happens in over a billion homes everyday. It is at this juncture that one realizes the importance of Sunnah and Fiqh (Jurisprudence). By rejecting the Sunnah as a primary textual evidence the Ahlul-Quran have introduced a problem of unprecedented magnitude. In order to answer these questions in a practical manner, Imaam Abu Hanifa (and the other jurists) has opened the door of "analogical reasoning" based on the "primary textual evidence". This in Arabic is called "Ijtihaad fil Masaail". Hence, the jurists determined that there are many categories of insects that are similar to a fly. A fly has six legs, an ant has six legs and a mosquito has six legs. Today there are 8,500 types of "six-legged" flies and insects (similar to flies) that can fall in our food and drinks. So, the jurists solved a massive problem by expanding the application of the hadith. The Quran only provides a corroborative hint but not an exact example. The hadith gives a specific example and the jurists have provided a wide practical solution.

1300yrs ago the great Jurists looked carefully into each and every piece of evidence (Quran, Sunnah, Ijma) and they applied a scientific approach called "analogical reasoning" - widely known in the scientific communities as "The Empirical Method". Islam was already mature and had stepped into an "age of enlightenment", whereas, Europe was still in its "dark ages".

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that the hadith of fly goes to show the scientific fact that if one wing has germs, by dipping it again on the other wing will create an antigen. This scientific discovery is used to treat a snake bite. The following article from wikipedia corroborates this fact:

"Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep, goat or cat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation."

Rickshaw - Hot Rod

2011-01-14T11:13:00.000+08:00

A Tribute to Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri - rahmatullahi alayhi

2011-01-13T18:07:00.001+08:00

Interior Minister of Pakistan's wrong recital of Surah Ikhlas

2011-01-03T23:02:00.002+08:00

Avatar - A Movie on Atheism

2010-12-25T15:47:00.006+08:00

I do not watch movies, but a friend of mine insisted that I should watch the Avatar and give my thoughts on it. I have the following to say about this movie:

It is a waste of valuable time. I could have spent my time better reciting Quran. I honestly, truly regret watching this movie. It has no value to any person in this life or the next.
Without doing any research on the producer of the movie, my first impression was that this movie tows an atheistic belief. After watching the movie my suspicion's were confirmed.
The fact that a giant "Tree" is the "source of life" is the popular belief of free thinkers who deny the existence of Allah who belief in "Mother Nature".
In the movie, Pagan rituals are played out with people having no clothes. The Hindu concept of "Nirvana" is acted out in one of the scenes. When a person dies, according to this belief, they become an integral part of the "Nature". This is the life after death concept of free thinkers.
One can only guess what happens to the "bad guys" after they die? There aren't too many human angles on this issue other than the Hindu belief that bad people reincarnate as lower life. This concept is not clarified; not that the movie was meant to deliver clarity.
Nudist colonies are shown; and I won't recommend people watching this movie with children.
The "Adam and Eve" theory is leveraged. The necklaces, hair styles and use of spears along with their language are all based on African traditions
The evolution theory is alluded to by showing that the "Homo-Sapiens" were much taller compared to mankind today.

If there is a movie I were to recommend, it would be Omar Mukhtar (Lion of the Dessert).

How Jews have benefitted from Islam - A lesson in History

2010-12-24T15:41:00.002+08:00

In 1973 the war between Arabs and Israel was about to start. Meanwhile an American Senator visited Israel on a special mission. He was chief of the Senate Arms Committee. A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was arranged immediately.
Golda Meir welcomed him into her home, like any common housewife welcoming a family guest. She took him to the kitchen. While seating him at the kitchen dining table, she went over to prepare tea for the guest.
As the water was kept for boiling, she came over and sat on a chair near the dining table. She opened the discussion regarding planes, missiles, and guns. In the course of negotiations, she got the aroma of the brew.
She prepared two cups of tea, and offered one cup to the Senator, and another to an American guard who was standing at the gate. On returning, she came back, continued talking with the Senator. After a discussion they settled the arms deal. In the meantime, she stood up, collected all the cups, and turned to senator and said “I agree to this deal. You can send your secretary to my secretary for written deal”.
It may be remembered that Israel at that time was facing a serious economic crisis, but the huge arms deal was settled by Meir with the greatest of ease in the history of Israel. It was quite astonishing that earlier, the Israeli cabinet had rejected the same deal, because they thought it would be so costly, that the whole nation would have to make do with a single meal a day, for years to come.
Meir knew about their stand, and said, “Your doubt are well founded, but if we win this war, and defeat the Arabs, history will remember us as the victors, and in history, once a community is know as the victor, it forgets how many eggs they ate and how many times they had food. Whether there was jam, honey, butter on the table, and how many holes they had in their shoes. Or whether the sheaths of their swords were new or old! A conqueror is a conqueror.”
Based on Meir’s solid logic, the Israeli cabinet approved the deal. Later it was proved that the decision taken by Meir was right, and the whole world witnessed the Jews knocking on the doors of the Arabs with this artillery. A war took place, and the Arabs faced a shameful defeat at the hands of an old lady.
After a gap of one decade after the war, a reporter of the Washington Post interviewed Meir, asking “Was the logic you had in your mind for the arms was spur of the moment decision or you had had an advance strategy?”
Meir’s reply was very surprising.
She answered, “I got this logic from the prophet (of the Muslims) Mohammed (peace be upon him). When I was a student, my favorite topic was comparative study of religions. Those days I studied the life of Mohammed (PBUH). One author stated that when Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) died, there was not enough money to buy oil for a lamp, his wife (Ayesha Siddiqua) mortgaged his battle shield to buy oil, yet there were nine swords hung on the wall of his house.
When I read this account, it occurred to me- how many people in the world would have known about the worst economic condition of Islamic state? But everyone recognizes them as conquerors of half the world. So I decided that I would buy arms at any cost; even if we would have to starve or to live in camps instead of buildings, but we would prove ourselves as the victor”.
Meir revealed this secret, but requested the interviewer to keep it “off the record”, and refrain from publishing it, because if she referred to Prophet Mohammed, the Jews would have revolted against her and the Muslim position would have strengthened.
Over the time, world situation changed. Golda Meir died. By this time the interviewer had given up the profession of journalism. Meanwhile another correspondent was busy interviewing 20 famous American journalists. In connection with this, he met the journalist who had interviewed Meir as a representative of the Washington Post.
In this interview, he recounted the story of Meir that drew on the life of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
He said he was not ashamed to tell the story. Further, he said, “After this incident I studied the history of Islam, and was astonished to know about the savoir-faire of Arabs. Because I learnt that Tariq bin Ziyad conquered Spain through Gibraltar, while more than half his army did not have complete suit of clothes. They subsisted for 72 hours at time on water and dried bread.
It was then that the interviewer agreed with Meir’s view that history counts victory; it does not count the eggs, jams and butter on the table.”
When the interview with Meir was published, the whole world learned of this entire story.
This astonishing incident is history’s wake-up call to the Muslims of the world. It teaches them a lesson; it reveals how 14 centuries ago, a shepherd, clad in a cloak and worn-out shoes became the leader of the world, and conquered four continents.
Could enormous castles, grand palaces, magnificent gardens, splendid clothes, adorned rest places of silk and sleepless, gold silver, boxes, gems and jewels, spread of savory dishes and the jingle of coins save them? The locust-swarm of Tartar forces did not reach the palace of Musta’sim Billah by trampling over Baghdad. What a terrible and astonishing scene it was in the history of Islam, when Musta’sim Billah was bound in chains, standing like a prisoner before Halaku Khan (grandson of Changiz Khan). And at mealtime, Halaku Khan ate in simple plates, but offered plates of gems and precious metals to Caliph Musta’sim Billah, mocking “Eat from these diamonds, gems, gold and precious metals you have collected!” There stood the Sovereign of Baghdad, helplessness, powerless, lonely, destitute, saying, “How can I eat gold?” Halaku Khan replied, “Then why you have collected all this silver and gold?”
The Muslim, whose religion calls on him to make arms and rear horses, had no reply. Halaku Khan glanced at the palace doors and windows, asking, “Why did you not make iron arrows by melting these iron nets? Why did you collect these diamonds instead of paying money to your soldiers, so they could fight bravely against my forces?”
“It was the will of Allah”, replied the grieved Caliph.
The arrogant Halaku shot back, “Whatever is now going to happen with you is also God’s wish”.
Then Halaku covered Musta’sim Billah in a cloak and crushed him under the hooves of horses, and proceeded to make a graveyard of Baghdad.

Zakir Naik on Minimum Length of Beard in Islam

2010-12-24T07:45:00.005+08:00

I am a big critic of Dr.Zakir Naik. However, on the subject of beard Dr.Naik has presented a very comprehensive response; which is the position of Imaam Abu Hanifa (ra). Conversely, Dr.Tahir-ul-Qadri who despite following the research of Imaam Abu Hanifah (like myself), has presented a very obscure view on this very subject.

Status of Yazid bin Muawiyyah in Islam

2010-12-17T22:03:00.001+08:00

There are many conflicting narrations regarding Yazeed. Some narrations describe him as being addicted to dancing, wine and music. (Al Bidaya wan nihayyah 11/659 Marqazul buhooth wad diraasaat) He was also accused of legalizing adultery. Some regard him responsible for the martyrdom of Hazrat Husain (R.A). Based on these narrations, some Ulama regarded it permissible to curse him and even passed the verdict of kufr on him.

There are however, other narrations that describe him as a pious and learned leader. He is also praised for his night prayers. He was very disheartened at the martyrdom of Husain (R.A) and he also cursed the killer. Based on these narrations, there are Ulama who hold him in great esteem.

A third group of Ulama prefer silence and hand over his matter to Allah. This is the view of the vast majority of Ulama including the (majority of the) Ulama of Deoband. (Aap ke masaail aur unka hal 1/171)

قال ابن صلاح "والناس في يزيد ثلاث فرق : فرقة تحبه وتتولاّه ، وفرقة أخرى تسبه وتلعنه ، وفرقة متوسطة في ذلك لا تتولاّه ولا تلعنه ، وتسلك به سبيل سائر ملوك الإسلام وخلفائهم غير الراشدين في ذلك وشبهه ،وهذه الفرقة هي الصائبة ،"(أ ب كي مسايل اور ان كا حل 1-172 نقلا عن معارف السنن6-8)

Ibn Salah (R.A) mentions: “The people have divided in three groups with regards to Yazeed. One group loves him and (accepts him) as a leader. Another group criticises and curses him. (The third) group is moderate towards him. They do not (accept him) as a leader, nor do they curse him. They treat him (as they treat) all other kings and leaders (besides the khulafa rashideen and their likes).This group is on the correct part.”(Aap ke masaail aur unke hal 1/172 with reference to Ma’arifus sunan 6/8)

The reason for this stance is that many reports condemning Yazeed are weak, especially in view of the fact that many senior Sahabah took allegiance to Yazeed. Yazeeds love for the family of Husain (R.A) is also recorded in many narrations. Consider the following….

وقد كان عبد الله بن عمر بن الخطاب وجماعات أهل بيت النبوة ممن لم ينقض العهد، ولا بايع أحداً بعد بيعته ليزيد . كما قال الإمام أحمد : حدثنا إسماعيل بن علية، حدثني صخر بن جويرية، عن نافع . قال : لما خلع الناس يزيد بن معاوية جمع ابن عمر بنيه وأهله ثم تشهد ثم قال : أما بعد، فإنا بايعنا هذا الرجل على بيع الله ورسوله، وإني سمعت رسول الله يقول : (إن الغادر ينصب له لواء يوم القيامة يقال هذه غدرة فلان، وإن من أعظم الغدر إلا أن يكون الإشراك بالله، أن يبايع رجل رجلاً على بيع الله ورسوله ثم ينكث بيعته ) فلا يخلعن أحد منكم يزيد ولا يسرفن أحد منكم في هذا الأمر، فيكون الفيصل بيني وبينه . وقد رواه مسلم والترمذي من حديث صخر بن جويرية، وقال الترمذي : حسن صحيح . وقد رواه أبو الحسن علي بن محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي سيف المدائني : عن صخر بن جويرية، عن نافع، عن ابن عمر فذكر مثله"راجع البداية والنهاية/ج11/ص652.مركز البحوث.

Abdullah bin Umar (R.A) and groups from the household of Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not break their allegiance nor pledge to anyone else after pledging to Yazeed, as Imaam Ahmad narrates (with a chain) to Nafi who said : “When the people retreated from Yazeed bin Muawiyah, Ibn Umar (R.A)gathered his children and family and called out… “Verily we have pledged allegiance to this man on the pledge of Allah and his messenger, and verily I have heard Allah’s messenger say: “On the day of Qiyaamah, A flag will be erected for a person who deceives. It will be said: “This is the deception of a certain person. And verily the greatest deception besides associating partners to Allah is that a person pledges to another on the pledge of Allah and his messenger, and then breaks his pledge. None of you should retreat from Yazeed in this matter nor should you exceed any bounds. That will then be a decisive criterion between me and him.” Imaam Muslim and Tirmidhi also narrated this on the authority of Sakr bin Juwairiyya (R.A) and Imaam Tirmidhi has graded it as hasan and saheeh. Abul Hasan Ali bin Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abi Saif Al Madaainy narrates (this incident) from Sakr bin Juwairiyya from Nafi from Ibn Umar (R.A). (Al Bidayah wan nihayyah 11/652 Markaz ul buhooth)

قال علي بن الحسين : دخلنا دمشق بعد أن شخصنا من الكوفة فإذا الناس مجتمعون بباب يزيد فأدخلت عليه وهو جالس على سرير وعنده الناس ساكتين من أهل الشام ومن أهل العراق والحجاز . وكنت قدام أهل بيتي فسلمت عليه فقال : أيكم علي بن الحسين ؟ فقلت : أنا فقلت : ادنه فدنوت ثم قال : ادنه فدنوت حتى على صدري على فراشه ثم قال : أما إنه لو أن أباك أتاني لوصلت رحمه وقضيت ما يلزمني من عنقه ولكن عجل عليهم ابن زياد قتله الله فقلت : يا أمير المؤمنين أصابتنا جفوة فقال : يذهب الله عنكم الجفوة . فقلت : يا أمير المؤمنين أموالنا قبضت فاكتب أن ترد علينا . فكتب لنا بردها وقال : أقيموا عندي فإني أقضي حوائجكم وأفعل بكم وأفعل فقلت : بل المدينة أحب إلي قال : قربي خير لكم قلت : إن أهل بيتي قد تفرقوا فنأتيهم فيجتمعون ويحمدون الله على هذه النعمة فجهزنا وأعطانا أكثر مما ذهب منا حتى الكسوة والجهاز وسرح معنا رسلا إلى المدينة وأمرنا أن ننزل حيث شئنا(مختصر تاريخ دمشق-1-3754 المكتبة الشاملة)

Ali bin Husain (R.A) (the son of Husain R.A) mentions: “We entered Damascus on our return from Kufa. Many people had gathered at the door of Yazeed. I was taken to him and (found him) seated on a bed. By his side there were people from Shaam, and Hijaaz who were all silent. I was at the head of my family (therefore) I saluted (first). Yazeed asked: “Who of you is Ali bin Husain?” I responded to him. He commanded that I be brought closer to him so much until my chest was just above his bed. Thereafter he said: “Know well, if your father came to me so that I could join ties with him and fulfil his rights (I would have gladly done so) but Ibn Ziyaad, may Allah’s curse be on him, was too fast.” I responded: “Oh Ameer ul mumineen, we are overtaken with dissension.” Yazeed replied: “May Allah remove this dissension.” I submitted: “Our wealth has been snatched. Make a note that it should be returned to us.” He immediately recorded it down. Thereafter Yazeed said: “Stay by me so that I can fulfil your needs and show kindness to you.” I answered that Madinah is much more beloved to me. Yazeed retorted: “Being close to me is better for you” I submitted: “My family is scattered. We would gather them so that they can be thankful to Allah for this bounty.” Thereafter, he equipped and provided for us more than was taken from us to such an extend that he also gave clothes and (other) equipment and sent with us messengers to Madinah. He also allowed that we stop wherever we desire.” (Mukhtasar tareekh Dimasq 1/3754 Al Makabah al shamillah)

فيروي البلاذري أن محمد بن علي بن أبي طالب - المعروف بابن الحنفية - دخل يوماً على يزيد بن معاوية بدمشق ليودعه بعد أن قضى عنده فترة من الوقت ، فقال له يزيد ، و كان له مكرماً : يا أبا القاسم ، إن كنت رأيت مني خُلُقاً تنكره نَزَعت عنه ، و أتيت الذي تُشير به علي ؟ فقال : والله لو رأيت منكراً ما وسعني إلاّ أن أنهاك عنه ، وأخبرك بالحق لله فيه ، لما أخذ الله على أهل العلم عن أن يبينوه للناس ولا يكتموه ، وما رأيت منك إلاّ خيراً .( أنساب الأشراف للبلاذري 5/17 المكتبة الشاملة)

Allamah Baladhry narrates that Muhammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib-famously known as Ibnul Hanafiyyah- once came to bid farewell to Yazeed when departing from Damascus after spending some time with him. Yazeed said to him (and he always honoured him): “Oh Abul Qasim, if you had seen any bad quality in me (inform me so that) I can reform. And I can practice on the advice you give me.” Ibnul Hanafiyyah responded: By the oath of Allah, if I saw any evil in you it would be incumbent on me to prohibit you and inform you of the truth for the pleasure of Allah because Allah has made it binding on the people of knowledge to speak the truth and not conceal it. However, I NEVER SAW ANY EVIL IN YOU. (Ansaabul ashraaf 5/17 Al Maktaba al shamilah)

In the above narrations, the brother of Husain (R.A), Ibnul Hanafiyyah (R.A), testifies that he never saw Yazeed perpetrating any evil. In another narration he denies that Yazeed ever drank wine, omitted prayers or exceeded the laws of the Quraan. Ibnul Hanafiyyah (R.A) also talks of Yazeed’s perpetuity on salaah, his love for good, his thirst for knowledge and attachment to the sunnah.

نقل الحافظ ابن كثير في البداية والنهاية (11: 654) أن عبد الله بن مطيع مشى هو وأصحابه إلى محمد بن علي بن أبي طالب ( المعروف بابن الحنفية ) فأرادوه على خلع يزيد ، فأبى عليهم ، فقال ابن مطيع : إن يزيد يشرب الخمر ، ويترك الصلاة ، ويتعدى حكم الكتاب . فقال لهم : ما رأيت منه ما تذكرون ، وقد حضرته ، وأقمت عنده ، فرأيته مواظبا على الصلاة ، متحريا للخير ، يسأل عن الفقه ، ملازما للسنة . قالوا : فإن ذلك كان منه تصنعا لك . فقال : وما الذي خاف مني أو رجا حتى يظهر إلى الخشوع ؟ أفأطلعكم على ما تذكرون من شرب الخمر ؟ فلئن كان أطلعكم على ذلك إنكم لشركاؤه ، وإن لم يكن أطلعكم فما يحل لكم أن تشهدوا بما لم تعلموا . قالوا : إنه عندنا لحق وإن لم نكن رأيناه . فقال لهم أبى الله ذلك على أهل الشهادة فقال : إِلَّا مَنْ شَهِدَ بِالْحَقِّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ( الزخرف : 86 ) ، ولست من أمركم في شيء . قالوا : فلعلك تكره أن يتولى الأمر غيرك ، فنحن نوليك أمرنا . قال : ما أستحل القتال على ما تريدونني عليه تابعا ولا متبوعا . قالوا ؟ فقد قاتلت مع أبيك ؟ قال : جيئوني بمثل أبي أقاتل على مثل ما قاتل عليه . فقالوا : فمر ابنيك ؟ أبا القاسم والقاسم بالقتال معنا . قال : لو أمرتهما قاتلت . قالوا : فقم معنا مقاما يحض الناس فيه على القتال . قال : سبحان الله . آمر الناس بما لا أفعله ولا أرضاه ؟ إذن ما نصحت لله في عباده . قالوا : إذن نكرهك . قال : إذن آمر الناس بتقوى الله ، وألا يرضوا المخلوق بسخط الخالق ( وخرج إلى مكة ) .

Hafidh Ibn Katheer has related in Al Bedayah wan nehayah (11/653) that Muhammad bin Mutee and his companions came to Muhammad bin Ali bin Abi Talib (famously known as Ibnul Hanifiyyah) and desired that he removes Yazeed (from the post of a leader). Ibnul Hanafiyyah blatantly refused. Ibnul Mutee remarked: “Verily Yazeed consumes wine, omits prayers and trespasses the laws of the Quran.” Ibnul Hanafiyyah responded: “I never found him to be how you mention. Instead I stayed by him and found him PUNCTUAL ON PRAYERS, PURSUING GOOD, ASKING MATTERS OF DEEN AND STEADFAST ON THE SUNNAH.” To this they said: “He did this only to impress you” Ibnul Hanafiyyah answered: “What was there for him to fear or have hope in me that he had to show so much humility? Should I inform you of the reality of your accusation that he used to drink wine? If I inform you, you (would realize) you are his partners. If I don’t inform you it would not be permissible for you to bear testimony on what you don’t know.” They said: “This news (of Yazeed’s evil) is true, even though we did not see him personally (carry out any of those evils).”Ibnul Hanafiyyah (R.A) responded: “Allah does not accept that from those bearing testimony.” Then he recited the verse ‘…except those who bear testimony to the truth knowingly.’ And said: “Therefore I have nothing to do with what you say.” Thereupon Ibn Mueet and his companions remarked: “Perhaps you dislike someone besides yourself to be the leader. We would make you our leader.” Ibnul Haniffiya replied: I do not regard it permissible for me to fight for what you want from me-not as a leader nor as a follower.” “But you fought with your father” They interjected. “Bring me the likes of my father so I can fight for what he fought.” Responded Yazeed. “So command your sons Abal Qasim and Qasim to fight with us.” They instructed. Yazeed responded: “If I were to command them I should fight myself.” They said: “At least support us so that people can be encouraged to fight.” Ibnul Hanafiyyah shouted: “Subhanallah! Should I command people with something I won’t do and I am not even pleased with? In that case I won’t be faithful to Allah with regards to His servants.” “In that case we’ll force you.” They threatened. Yazeed retorted “In that case I’ll command people to fear Allah and not please the creation at the cost of the anger of the Creator.” And then he left for Makkah.

These narrations show the love and respect Yazeed had for the Ahl al-bait. The family of Husain (R.A) are the ones that exonerated Yazeed from the evil’s that were attributed to him.

Yazeed was also outstanding in his knowledge. Hazrat Ibn Abbas (R.A) praised him for this.

روى المدائني أن ابن عباس وفد إلى معاوية بعد وفاة الحسن بن علي ، فدخل يزيد على ابن عباس وجلس منه مجلس المعزي ، فلما نهض يزيد من عنده قال ابن عباس : إذا ذهب بنو حرب ذهب علماء الناس ( ابن كثير 11: 642 مركز البحوث) .

Madaeeny (R.A) relates that Ibn Abbaas (R.A) came to Muawiyyah (R.A) after the demise of Hasan bin Ali (R.A). Thereafter Yazeed entered and sat next to Ibn Abbaas (R.A) to console him. When Yazeed got up, Ibn Abbaas remarked: “When the Banu Harb departs, the Ulama of the people depart.” (Ibn Katheer 11/642 Markazul buhooth)

Hazrat Laith used to give him the title of 'Amir al Mumineen'

قال القاضي أبو بكر بن العربي: "فإن قيل: كان يزيد خماراً. قلنا: لا يحل إلا بشاهدين، فمن شهد بذلك عليه؟ بل شهد العدول بعدالته: فروى يحيى بن بكير عن الليث بن سعد، قال الليث: (توفي أمير المؤمنين يزيد في تاريخ كذا) فسماه الليث ( أمير المؤمنين) بعد ذهاب ملكهم وانقراض دولتهم، ولولا كونه عنده كذلك ماقال إلا (توفي يزيد)" راجع: ابن العربي: العواصم من القواصم 153 دار الكتب العلمية .

Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (R.A) says: “If it is objected that Yazeed was addicted to wine, we’ll say: This is not accepted unless you bring two witnesses, so who would bear witness for you? In contrast, liable people bore testimony to Yazeeds good reputation.

Yahyah bin Bukair relates that Laith (R.A) used to say: “Amir al-Mumineen Yazeed passed away on such a date…” So he called Yazeed ‘Amir al-Mumineen’ years after their rule and dominance. Had Yazeed not deserved this title according to Laith, he would merely say ‘Yazeed died’.”(Al Awaasim minal qawaasim 153 Darul kutubul ilmiyyah)

It is also not authentically proven that Yazeed had any thing to do with the martyrdom of Husain (R.A)

قال ابن الصلاح : " لم يصح عندنا أنه أمر بقتله (الخلاصة في بيان رأي شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية في الرافضة - ج 1 / ص 151 المكتبة الشاملة)

Ibn Salaah (R.A) says: “It is not authentic according to us that (Yazeed) commanded that Husain (R.A) be martyred.” (Al Khulaasa fi bayaani rayi Sheikil Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah fir Rafidha 1/151 Al Maktabah as shamillah)

The last words uttered by Yazeed were

اللهم لا تؤاخذني بما لم احبه، ولم ارده، واحكم بيني و بين عبدالله بن زياد

“Oh Allah do not take me to task for what I don’t like, and I didn’t intend (i.e. the martyrdom of Husain (R.A), and judge between me and Abdullah bin Ziyaad.”

Thereafter he said

أمنت بالله العظيم
“I belief in Allah, the Glorious”

And with this he passed away. (Al Bidaya wan nihayah 11/659 Markaz ul buhooth)

This proves his death with Imaan.

In view of the above mentioned narrations, the Ulama of Deoband have adopted a cautious view and refrained from condemning Yazeed. The general principle of Sharee’ah is to hold a good opinion about a fellow Muslim brother and also to invoke Allahs mercy for Muslims in general.

(Taken from: http://www.askimam.org/fatwa/fatwa.php?askid=e65dfd0bcc40c10cb8b82b808fc45dfd)

Wikileaks - Fact or Fiction?

2010-12-12T00:20:00.005+08:00

One of the most historic events that happend was the Birth of Jesus (Sayyidna Isa ibn Maryam). In fact, the current Bible alludes to Jesus preaching the Gospel. This is what the Quran calls the "Injeel", or as Sheikh Ahmed Deedat used to said, "Gospel according to Jesus (Sayyidna Isa ibn Maryam). "

Despite the magnitude of this event the Quran reveals (sort of a wikileak) that "woe unto them for writing the book with their own hands and then making the claim that it is from God." This "wikileak" from the Quran is a Fact. But every Muslim knows that the current Bible is a mixture of truth and falsehood. Hence, the effectivness of the Bible is in most cases negative on peoples lives. Information contained in the Bible is bereft of any spirituality. Despite the fact that Sayyidna Isa (alayhi salaam) remembered Allah by saying, "Eli, Eli.." the Christians have forgotton how to remember Allah. Did not Jesus say, "I am the way, the truth and life." Well this teaching is only in words but the fruits of these teachings are only found in Muslims and Islam.

The mixture of truth and falsehood has created problems where the real name of Isa ibn Maryam is Jesus, God Almighty is God (Heavenly Father) and the Gospel According to Jesus is lost and is called "Biblios". Similarly, the Wikileaks are a human creation and if a critical document like the Bible can be adulterated, the Wikileaks are certainly a mixture of truth and falsehood - admixutre of fact and fiction.

Singapore: iPhone app tracks down snatch thief

2010-12-08T10:30:00.003+08:00

The “Find my iPhone” application tracks down snatch thief (Yahoo!)

Snatch thieves should know better than to be stealing “smart” phones these days.

According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), a serial snatch thief who stole a 36-year-old woman’s iPhone last Sunday morning along Lim Liak Street in Tiong Bahru didn’t get very far — all thanks to an iPhone application called “Find My iPhone“.

The iPhone application, which can be downloaded for free via Apple’s iTunes, helped tracked police track down the missing phone via a map.

It led to the arrest of an18-year-old Malaysian man, who was arrested along Outram Road on Monday.

He is believed to be accountable for other snatch theft cases in the Tiong Bahru and Kim Tian estates.

How the Bible Led Me to Islam: The Story of a Former Christian Youth Minister - Joshua Evans

2010-12-05T23:28:00.001+08:00

What type of world would it have been without Makkah and Madinah?

2010-11-28T19:03:00.001+08:00

By Shaykh Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA)
Posted: 18 Zul-Hijjah 1422, 3 March 2002

Friends have invited me to give a talk on Madinah, describing what I saw there, and I have readily agreed. As a Persian poet has said: "To talk of the beloved is no less pleasant than to meet him."

I do not know when I first heard of Makkah and Madinah. Like all Muslim children, I was brought up in an environment in which Hijaz (Arabia) and Makkah and Madinah were household words. I, distinctly, remember people saying Makkah, Madinah together as if these were the same. When they took the name of one of them, they, generally, mentioned that of the other as well. I, thus, came to imagine that Makkah and Madinah were not two different places, but one, and learnt to appreciate the difference only as I grew up. It, then, became clear that these were two different towns separated from each other by over 300 kilometers.

In my childhood, I had heard people talking about Arabia and the two towns with the same fervor and enthusiasm as they did about Paradise and its joys and comforts, and it was from that time that I was seized with the desire to attain Paradise and visit Arabia.

Soon I realized that it was not possible for anyone to see Paradise during his lifetime, but he could, of course, go to Arabia. Parties of Hajjis (pilgrims) were visiting it regularly. So, why could I, also, not make a visit to that 'Paradise of Faith?'

It relieved humanity of the heavy load under which it was groaning and broke the fetters unjust rulers and ignorant lawgivers had put around its feet.

Days rolled by and I grew in age. My old eagerness was revived when I read books on the life of the Holy Prophet and studied the history of Islam, and the urge to perform the Hajj and make the pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah became so strong that I was never without it.

Then, it so happened that I did reach the place where neither the grass grew nor rivers flowed. Only barren mountains stood on all sides of it like sentinels. Yet, as famous Pakistani poet Hafeez Jullundri has said:

Neither grass grows here nor flowers bloom,
Yet even heavens bend themselves low to meet it.

As I saw the apparently unattractive stretch of land, I felt how devoid of scenery that town was. At the same time, however, I thought what a great favor it had bestowed upon mankind. Without it, the wide world would have been nothing more than a golden cage, and man, a prisoner. This was the town that took man out of the narrow confines of the earth and made him acquainted with limitless possibilities of development, and restored to mankind its glory and freedom. It relieved humanity of the heavy load under which it was groaning and broke the fetters unjust rulers and ignorant lawgivers had put around its feet.

As I reflected over what the world would have been without this town, I thought of comparing it with the bigger towns of the world and seeing what would have been the loss of human race and civilization had the latter not come into existence. One by one, all those towns came to my mind, and I felt that they were flourishing merely for the sake of a handful of men and had made no notable contribution to human progress and happiness. On the contrary, they had been guilty of various sins against man, at various stages of history. For selfish gain, one town had razed the other to the ground, and one country had ravaged the other countries.

Civilization would have been none the poorer without those cities. But without Makkah, humanity would have, certainly, remained unblessed with truths, beliefs, ideals and sciences that were its pride today. It was owing to it that the world regained the imperishable wealth of Faith and rediscovered the true knowledge that lay buried under a thick crust of conjecture and speculation. It got back the dignity and nobility that had been trampled under the feet of cruel oppressors. In fact, humanity was reborn at Makkah, and history turned a new leaf.

But what am I saying? What do I mean when I ask: What would the world have been like had there been no Makkah? It had remained asleep, until the 6th Century, with its dry mountains and huge sand dunes, even with the House of Ka'aba and the Well of Zam-Zam, while humanity was caught in the clutches of death. Surrounded by its mountains and sand dunes, it went on leading a secluded life as if it had nothing to do with the larger human family, and was not a part of, but apart from the world that lay around it.

I should, therefore, not be enquiring what would have been the state of the world without Makkah, but without its illustrious son who turned the scales of history and showed a new path to mankind.

As I reflected on it, a few scenes emerged on the landscape of my mind. It appeared as if the leader of the Quraish was circumambulating around the House of Ka'aba, alone and by himself, and people were jeering at him and passing sarcastic remarks, but he was carrying out the circumambulation with supreme indifference to all hostility and opposition.

On finishing the circumambulation, he wants to go into the House of Ka'aba, but the key-bearer, Osman bin Talha checks him with a firm hand. The leader of the Quraish bears it, too, with exemplary fortitude, and says: "Oh Osman! What will it be like on the day when the key will be in my hand and I will give it to who I please?" "Will all the Quraish be dead on that day?" asks Osman in anger. "No", he replies. "On that day, they will attain real respect and honor."

I, then, see the same leader circumambulating around the House of Ka'aba, on the occasion of the Victory of Makkah, and his Companions who had sacrificed their all for his sake gathering around him like moths. He sends for the keeper of the key, and says to him: "Osman! This is your key. Take it. Today is the day of showing kindness and keeping the promise."

As history tells, the celebrated son of Makkah did not only become the owner of the key with which he could open the door of the House of Ka'aba, but, with him, also, was the key with which he could open the locks of humanity no seer or philosopher had been able to do till then. It was the Qur'an that had been revealed to and the Apostleship that had been bestowed on him.

After performing the Hajj, I flew towards Madinah on the wings of eagerness. The hardships of the way seemed to be a blessing to me, and before my eyes was drawn the soul-stirring image of the earlier traveler whose camel had passed through the same route.

The first thing I did on reaching Madinah was to offer two Rak'ats of salat and express my sincerest gratitude to the Almighty for granting me the good fortune to be there. After it, I betook myself into the 'presence' of the Holy Prophet . How boundless was his favor upon me, really! I could never give thanks to him as was his due. I offered Durood and Salaam, and affirmed that he had conveyed the Message of the Lord to the world, proved true to the trust He had placed with him, showed the Straight Path to the Ummah, and strove till the last breath of his life in the way of God.

I, then, made the salutation to both the trusted friends of his whose selfless devotion was without a parallel in history. No one had discharged the duties of companionship or fulfilled the obligations of succession as they did.

The first thing I did on reaching Madinah was to offer two Rak'ats of salat and express my sincerest gratitude to the Almighty for granting me the good fortune to be there.

From the Prophet's Mosque, I went to Jannat ul-Baq'ee. What a priceless treasure of truth and purity, of love and dedication is buried in this small plot of land! Asleep here are those who had sacrificed the life of this world for the life of futurity. These are the men who willingly abandoned their hearths and homes in the way of faith, and preferred to spend their lives at the feet of the sacred Prophet than with friends and relatives. "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah." [Al-Ahzab 33:23].

Thereafter, I visited Uhud where the most spectacular drama of love and fealty was staged. It was here that the world saw living models of faith and steadfastness; it was here that it learnt the true significance of courage and constancy. On reaching there, it seemed that I heard Hazrat Anas bin Nazr, Radi-Allahu anhu, say: "I feel the sweet smell of Paradise coming from the side of Uhud." Or that on hearing the news of the martyrdom of the Holy Prophet , Sa'ad bin Mu'ad, Radi-Allahu anhu, was saying: "What is the joy of fighting and Jihad when the Apostle of God is no more?" And Anas, Radi-Allahu anhu, interjecting: "What is the joy of living after him?"

It was here, again, that Abu Dujana, Radi-Allahu anhu, had made his back serve as a shield for the Prophet arrows pierced his flesh, but he flinched not. Syedna Talha, Radi-Allahu anhu, in the same way, had taken the arrows aimed at the Holy Prophet on his hands until the arms were paralyzed. Hazrat Hamza, Radi-Allahu anhu, was killed on this very battlefield and his body was cut to pieces, and Hazrat Mas'ab bin Omair, Radi-Allahu anhu, was martyred in such a state that even a shroud could not be provided for him, and he was buried in a blanket which was so short that if the head was covered, the feet became bare, and if the feet were covered, the head became bare.

Would that Uhud gave something of its treasure to mankind! Would that the world got a small particle of the faith and steadfastness of those glorious times!

Friends say: "You took us to Cairo and acquainted us with its important personalities; you have told us about Damascus and its people, and introduced us with its scholars; you have taken us round the Middle East. Now, tell me something about Hijaz and its distinguished sons." But what am I to do? To me Hijaz stands only for one man about whom I can go on talking forever. It is because of him that Hijaz is Hijaz, and the World of Islam is the World of Islam.

Our honor, indeed, is by Mustafa's name!

SOURCE - http://albalagh.net/general/talking_madinah.shtml

Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam): The Greatest Single Person In History - M.Hart

2010-11-24T13:27:00.003+08:00

A World without Islam by Graham F. Fuller - History did not start with 911

2010-11-21T13:55:00.005+08:00

An excellent interview with Graham F. Fuller, former vice chairman of the CIA - Central Intelligence Agency.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?rn=222561&cl=22669549&ch=224106

Mansion of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe

2010-11-20T14:13:00.013+08:00

The Mansion in these pictures is in Harare and belongs to dictator and president of Zimbabwe in Africa; Robert Mugabe. Living in oppulence!

While his people starve, have no food, and die because of no medical help...and we are asked to help his people over and over again! Mugabe and his family live in their man-made paradise; why? GREED.

Imam W.D. Mohammed's Historic Vatican Address

2010-11-01T17:33:00.000+08:00

Tablighi Jamaat: a response to accusations against 40days and 4months

2010-10-29T17:09:00.025+08:00

Is going in Tabligh for 40 days Bida’a?
The Simple straight forward answer is that doing any religious work for the pleasure of Allah (ta'ala) within a fixed 40-day time frame is not a Bida’a (innovative practice). The reason the Salafi’s and Ahle-Hadith shout slogans of Bida’a is because they don’t understand the guiding principles of Islam. The Ahle-Hadith, unfortunately, are notorious for creating rules and breaking rules. That is why they are branded as laa’madhabiyya – people with no principles.

40-Days from Quran

Allah (ta’ala) mentions in Surah Baqarah verse 51: "We appointed 40-nights for Musa.." (wa Idh wa adna Musa arbaain laylatan ….). This verse establishes the numerical value and importance of 40days. So, this answers the question of, “where did they (meaning the Tablighi Jamaat) get the 40days from?” The Ahle-Hadith tend to ramp up their criticism, by brushing aside the Quranic evidence. Their claim is, "I am not following Musa (alayhis salaam), rather, my Imaam is the prophet of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam)."

40-Days from the Hadith

I will make this nice and easy for the critics. Imaam Tirmidhi (rahmatullahi alayhi) has recorded the following hadith:

"Whoever prays to Allah for forty-days in congregation, reaching the opening Takbeer, will have immunity from two things: freedom from the Fire and freedom from hypocrisy." (Hasan by Tirmidhi, declared Hasan by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jaami' (6365).)

('An Anas ibn Maalikin [radhi allahu anhu] qaala, Qaala rasullulahi [sallahu alayhi wa sallam]: man salla lillahi 'arba'aina yauman fee jamaatin yudriku-takbeerata al-ulaa kutibaa lahu baraa-ataani, baraa-atun min-nan naar wa baraa-tun min-nan nifaaqi) - Rawahu Tirmidhi

What we should ask ourselves is, "have we acted according to this hadith knowing well that it brings immunity from Hypocrisy and fire of Hell?" This is the manhaj (way) of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) that has been implemented in the work of Tablighi Jamaat. Spending some time out of our busy schedules to get closer to Allah (ta'ala) and His beloved messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) is literally called "fee-sabeelillah" (in the path of Allah).

Imaam Bukhari (rahmatullahi alayhi) has mentioned a hadith [more or less] that whomsoever goes in the path of Allah (fee-sabeelillah) and dust gathers on their feet, then Allah will forbid the fire of Hell on them. This hadith was put under the Chapter of Juma'a and Imaam Bukhari has applied it to all Muslims going for Juma Prayers:

حدثنا علي بن عبد الله قال: حدثنا الوليد بن مسلم قال: حدثنا يزيد بن أبي مريم قال: حدثنا عباية بن رفاعة قال:
أدركني أبو عبس، وأنا أذهب إلى الجمعة، فقال: سمعت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: (من اغبرت قدماه في سبيل الله حرمه الله على النار

There is not a single shred of evidence to suggest that this hadith was narrated by the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) regarding "Juma'a". However, Imaam Bukhari has included this in this chapter because "fee sabeelillah" is a broad word. Similarly, when people "go out" (root word Kharaja: noun - Khurooj) in the "path of Allah" (fee-sabeelillah) for 40-days they not only get the rewards mentioned in Imaam Bukhari's Sahih but are also practicing the hadith of Imaam Tirmidhi (rahmatullahi alayhi).

A doubt and its clarification

Despite looking at the evidence presented by the Quran and Hadith people still raise the question that the work of Jama'a Tabligh is not aligned with the Sunnah. It is argued that these ayats and ahadith do not give them (meaning the Jama'a Tabligh) the free ticket to organize themselves in the manner that they follow today. The answer is very simple. Imaam Nawawi (rahmatullahi alayhi) has quoted a hadith [more or less], "whomsoever memorizes and preserves for my people 40-Ahadeeth relating to their religion.....". Based on this weak narration, Imaam Nawawi produced his work titled "The 40 Ahadith". The salafi's have published this book, with commentaries of their own, yet one never hears them accusing Imaam Nawawi of Bid'a, eventhough, the actions of Imaam Nawawi are based on a "Weak" (Dae'ef) narration. Conversely, the Jama'a Tabligh has its actions based on a hasan-sahih Hadith from Imaam Tirmidhi, yet they are branded as innovators. The truth is that the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) stated the Hadith (as recorded by Imaam Tirmidhi) and left it to the Ummah to organize themselves in whatever manner (individually and/or in a group) to act on that hadith.

How about 4-Months?
The Ahle-Hadith and Salafi's continue their propaganda that the Tablighi Jamaat is not following the "Manhaj" (way) of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). But as it is seen above that everything is according to the Quran and Sunnah.

Let us ask the fundamental question, "How much time & sacrifice should Muslims put-in (or sacrifice) for the pleasure of Allah so that we are closer to the practice (manhaj) of the sahaba?" This question is answered by considering The Battle of Tabook - in which every Muslim in Madina was requested to contribute for the pleasure of Allah.

1. Sayyidna Abu Bakar (radhi Allahu anhu) contributed 100% of everything he had. Are there any Ahle-Hadith, Salafee's or Muslims like Abu Bakr (ra) today? Maybe; far and few!

2. Sayyidna Umar (radhi Allahu anhu) contributed 50% (1/2) of everything he had. Are there any Ahle-Hadith, Salafee's or Muslims like Umar (ra) today? Maybe: far and few!

3. Sayyidna Usmaan (radhi Allahu anhu) contributed 33% (1/3rd) of everything he had.

It is the contribution of Sayyidna Usmaan (the Manhaj of the sahaba) that the Tablighi Jamaat follows. The Ahle-Hadith will never explain any manhaj clearly, because they follow their own way. Yet they tell people that they are following the Manhaj of the prophet (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). And lately, after much exposure they have added a new item to their list, they are now close to the Hanafi's in that they also follow the manhaj (way) of the Sahaba. We welcome this addition, alhamdullilah.

Let us now make "Istinbaat" (inference - derive) based on the 1/3rd contribution given by Sayyidna Usmaan (radhi Allahu anhu). Why? Because the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) wanted his ummah to understand the three highest levels of contribution / sacrifice. So, we can derive - make"Istinbaat" - based on the actions of Sayyidna Usman (radhi Allahu anhu).

(a) How many hours are there in a day? 24hrs. What is 1/3hrs of a day? 8hrs a day should be our goal individually (and/or collectively) for the pleasure of Allah. Anyone doing that? Ask yourself this question. 8hrs should include, as a minimum, all the 5 obligatory prayers and extra prayers that are around the clock, including tahajjud prayers, zikr, recitation of the Quran, teaching and learning - self and family, visiting Muslims, entertaining guests, visiting the sick and any actions that are for the pleasure of Allah.

(b) How many days are there in a month? 30 days. What is 1/3rd of a month? 10 days. The month of Ramadhan is a bench mark because it has the first, middle and last 10 days. Depending on ones level of effort, if one spends everymonth like any of the 10 days then there is a good chance that we will attain success. A cursory look at our condition during Ramadhan shows that we as Muslims not only waste time during Ramadhan, but are constantly spending time sleeping, still watching TV and avoiding Tarawih prayers with excuses like "it is not required" - thanks for the Salafi's who have deviated from the Manhaj of the Sahaba and given people a confusing concept of Tarawih where no one has to do anything just attend a lecture!

(c) How many months are there in a year? 12 months. What is 1/3rd of a year. 4months. Is anyone dedicating 4 months a year to exclusively please Allah (ta'ala). Or is anyone keeping a count of each day spent and adding them up to say that those days were spend for the sake of Allah and in His path? I think the Ramadhan is an excellent reflection of our own deception. When we are unable to optimize 8hrs a day at a minimum rate of 10days a month; 4-months is not a goal for the faint hearted and weak.

So, who is really following the MANHAJ of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) and his esteemed Sahaaba? Clearly, the Tablighi Jamaat is not doing anything contrary, yet they are falsely accused of shirk and Bida'a! In reality the hadith "An ta'budallah ka annaka tarah" (worship Allah as if you see him) is the goal. In order to achieve this we have to become a seeker (Salik) of Allah's ridaa (pleasure) and make the journey from the state of "nafs-ul-ammara (baser desires) to "nafs-ul-mutmainna" (peaceful soul). This journey (sulook) requires one to be on the Tariqa (way) of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) meaning a lover of Allah and his messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). The culmination of all of this is described in the following hadith (more or less):

"when a person becomes a beloved of Allah, then Allah becomes his ears, his tongue, his hands and feet." The meaning of the Hadeeth is that a person begins to live his life for Allah’s sake alone and his hands and so on are not used to commit sin. His sole purpose in life is to seek Allah’s pleasure. And all this starts from the time when a person begins to remember Allah and do Allah’s dhikr.

May Allah give us the tawfeeq (ability) to remember Him, and do His dhikr with sincerity and in abundance.

The American Propaganda Machine

2010-10-20T19:43:00.008+08:00

By Eric L. Wattree

The American propaganda machine tells us that Muslims are a hostile people who hate American freedom. The most cursory examination of that claim reveals that the evidence the claim is based upon is highly flawed, yet the American people have been persuaded that it's true. That suggests that the American people have learned nothing from our experience with the Nazi's, and it also suggests that the biggest threat to America is the propaganda machine itself.

The primary argument against the claim that Muslims are inherently hostile toward America is the fact that we had absolutely no problem with Muslims at all until we, Western "Christians" and "Jews," began our imperialistic excursion into the Middle East. Prior to that time Muslims were content to be left alone to practice their religion in their own lands.

So when we consider Muslim hostility towards America we must keep two things in mind. First, we need to consider all the hell we're raising over the loss of 3000 citizens during 9/11. If we've been impacted to our core over the loss of 3000 of Americans, how do you think Muslims feel over the loss of hundreds of thousands of their people resulting from the unjust and illegal invasion of Iraq? And secondly, we must remember that while we're quick to call Muslims aggressors, we're invading their countries, they're not invading ours.

Americans tend to believe that American lives are more valuable than the lives of other people. When Americans are killed we never stop talking about it. It, literally, goes down in the history books. But when we kill innocent women and children in other countries we simply say, "Oops, sorry 'bout that," then expect the people to forget about it.

Look at what Obama said about Bush and Cheney's war crimes - "We want to look forward, not back." What the hell is he talking about? Bush killed close to a million people for nothing more than corporate greed. How can we expect to dismiss the killing of a million men, women, and children by simply saying, let's let bygones be bygones? One can only wonder if Obama would have taken that position if his family had been among that million? Somehow, I doubt it.

It was that one remark that opened my eyes regarding our president. While I consider Obama the best that we've got, I also recognize that he's far from an angel. The remark served to remind me that Obama is also the product of a propaganda machine - his own. So while I continue to support Obama, I never allow myself to forget that even though he's an impressive man, he's also a politician, not the Messiah.

Americans need to recognize that life is not a football game. It's not good enough to just pull for our side, regardless to whether we're talking about the nation, political parties, or individual politicians. We should always pull for justice, period - regardless to whose political ox it gores. Because if we continue to allow the various propaganda machines to cloud our minds to the truth, none of us will be safe. It's Muslims who are being demonized today, but tomorrow it may be Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, activists, the entire middle class, or whatever group is convenient to meet our rulers' needs. And yes, I said rulers, because those who control our minds, control our destiny.

But the propaganda machine is an insidious device, because it tells us what we want to hear, and helps us hide what we don't want to see, so it has the seductive properties of a drug. Take the issue of terrorism for example. Terrorism is defined as the killing of innocent noncombatants for political gain. Keeping that definition in mind, we must not forget that we are the ONLY country on Earth who has ever dropped an atomic bomb on not one, but two cities, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. As horrible as 9/11 was, the horror of that atrocity makes 9/11 look insignificant.

But accepting the fact that we committed such a horrible atrocity is inconsistent with the image that we so passionately embrace of "that shining light on the hill," our propaganda machine swung into action. It helped us to justify that action by convincing us that we only did it to save the lives of thousands of American troops. But there's a very serious flaw in that argument. By embracng that argument it affirms that we accept the fact that there are times when terrorism is justified. Thus, by our own definition the United States is, in fact, a terrorist state. So the fact is, the only difference between Muslim terrorists and American, or "Christian," terrorists is that we have a much more efficient delivery system.

Now, before someone gets upset and start shouting that I'm un-American, please remember that truth and justice is the American way - and what I've just told you is both true and just. What I've said here is not simply my opinion. Every word I've written is verifiable, and based on pure logic - and like mathematics, logic doesn't lie.

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, The Black Star News, Staff writer for Veterans Today, and a contributing writer to Your Black World, the Huffington Post, ePluribus Media, and several other online sites and publications. He's also the author of "A Message From the Hood." http://wattree.blogspot.com/

Verdict of Imaam Abu Hanifa against Dr.Tahirul Qadri (Hanafi)

2010-10-03T00:18:00.025+08:00

In a video posted on Youtube, Dr.Tahir-ul-Qadri - who goes by the title of "Sheikh-ul-Islam" appears with a beard that is less than one-fist in length. I am sure you are wondering why do we need to talk about this subject matter? There is a large group of Muslims today in the world that shave their beards (or modify them according to the looks of non-Muslims). This group continues to accuse all Muslim scholars of of spreading chaos, confusion and inter-religious conflicts, giving the young generation the impression that Islam is a scientific, logical and a philosophical way of life - Dr.Ghamidi leads this type of movement. The subliminal message behind the beardless "movement" is to weaken the spirit of Islam and align people to think that having a beard is backwards.

Alhamdullilah, Dr.Tahirul Qadri is far from such a movement. He subscribes to classical methods and has been at the forefront of educating people at an international level. However, what took me by surprise was the response of Dr.Qadri regarding the question on "Length of Beard".

Interestingly, keeping the beard to the amount of a fistful is proven from the Holy Quran as the practice of the previous Prophets. When Sayyidna Musa alayhi salaam went to the 'Tur' Mountain, he left Sayyidna Harun alayhi salaam in charge. He returned later to find that his people had started worshipping the calf. He displayed some anger towards Sayyidna Harun alayhi salaam and as a result grabbed the latters beard. As the Quran mentions, Sayyidna Harun alayhi salaam replied: "O son of my mother! Grab (me) not by my beard, nor by my head! (20;94) .The scholars (Ulema) state that his beard must have been at least a fistful for Sayyidna Musa alayhi sallam to be able to grab it.

Dr.Tahirul Qadri mentions that there are two types of Sunnah's viz "Mu'akkadah" and "Ghair-Muakkadah". According to Dr.Qadri growing a beard is "Mu'akkadah" but having fist length is "Ghair Mu'akkadah".

Ibn Umar (radhi Allahu anhu) is one of the esteemed companions that was so strict about adhering to the every sunnah that he had shoes that were exactly like those of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). It is this same Sahabi who is reported by Imaam Bukhari to have grabbed a fist full of his beard and trimmed everything below it.

In other words, Dr.Qadri is stating that every Muslim male must have a beard but they don't have to be concerned about the length of their beard.

Hence, in the court of Imaam Abu Hanifa the verdict against Dr.Tahir-ul-Qadri is as follows:

Imam Muhammed (R.A.) writes in his book "Kitabul Aathaar" where he relates from Imam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) who relates from Hadhrat Haytham (R.A.) who relates from Ibn Umar (R.A.) that he (Ibn Umar) used to hold his beard in his hand and cut off which was longer. Imam Muhammed (R.A.) says that this is what we follow and this was the decision of Imam Abu Hanifa. Therefore, according to Hanafies, to shorten the beard less than a Fist Length is Haraam and on this is Ijma (concensus of opinion).

"Haraam" clearly signifies that having a beard a fist length (unless it is naturally impossible) is a Sunnah Mu'akkadah according to the fatwa of Imaam Azam, and the acceptance of this position by Imaam Muhammed.

In the subcontinent, Abul Ala Maududi floated a statement about beard that stated: (Islam may dardhi hai, laykin dardhi say Islam Nahi). "There is beard in Islam, but having a beard does not mean one has Islam". This apparently simple statement was actually a very convoluted cliche aimed at misguiding the Muslim masses. Today, one finds many Muslims who feel no hesitation (or shame) in quoting this statement as if it is the Word of Allah and His Noble Messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). Those who continue to shave their beards vehemently quote the statement (as shown above in red) to tell our young generation that just because one has a beard does not make one a better Muslim. The truth is that "There is beard in Islam" and just because one does not live upto the standards of Islam does not give one the right to shave ones beard.

Dr.Jinks - Harvard Professor Embraces Islam

2010-09-27T12:44:00.000+08:00

The Brutal killing of two Brothers - Return of Hulagu Khan

2010-09-12T21:10:00.007+08:00

The Siege of Baghdad, which occurred in 1258, was an invasion, siege and sacking of the city of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid caliphate at the time and the modern-day capital of Iraq, by the Ilkhanate Mongol forces along with other allied troops under Hulagu Khan. The invasion left Baghdad in a state of total destruction. A number of inhabitants ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000 were massacred during the invasion of the city, and the city was sacked and burned.(Source Wikipedia)

What is left out in the above story is that before the siege and destruction of Baghdad a man had been roaming the streets warning people to wake up. Unfortunately, one day this man was lynched to death with spectators from the Public. The man begged for mercy and even questioned the the crowd if they were Muslims and realized what they were doing? When a people become so dead at heart then the inscriptions are written on the skies. The inevitable destruction.

The brutal, unbearable and unimaginable beating, killing and public hanging of two brothers in front of spectators, killers and police has now sealed the fate of Pakistan's Sialkot. The inscriptions have appeared on the skies. The Governor of Punjab and ultimately the Rulers of Pakistan have murder written on their foreheads. "Hulagu" and his forces have surrounded Pakistan and if there is any hope it will be in the lines of how Allamah Rumi saved Koniah from the same armies that destroyed Baghdad.

Ramadan and the signs of Last Days

2010-08-22T13:47:00.006+08:00

(Picture of flood victim in Pakistan)
Earthquakes, Land Slides, Floods and Fires are surely the clear signs given to us by the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). From Haiti to Pakistan, East, West, North and South the supplications of the oppressed will not go unheard.

The days of Ramadan are moving faster than flood waters. It is our choice to take the high grounds and increase our efforts to come closer to Allah (ta'ala) or drown in the materialism of this life. We either change ourselves for good or the the next flood, next earthquake or the next landslide may take everything away from us. Let us not lose time in praying for everyone, and let us keep moving onto the high grounds by acquiring Zuhd and Taqwa. Allah ta'ala is reaching out to those who would like to be rescued. He is saying, "wa man yattaqillaha yaj'al lahu makhrajan wa yarzuqhu min haythu laa yahtasib..." - [more or less translated to mean that whosoever adopts piety (taqwa) Allah Almighty will bring forth for him/her means of sustenance from a place that is beyond ones imagination..]. Take the high grounds while the days of Ramadhan are still many because whosever loses precious time will drown (metaphorically) and become a loser.

Islam and Terrorism: Fatwa of Ulema Deoband

2010-08-21T23:22:00.003+08:00

One can read the Fatwa of the Scholars connected to Darul Uloom Deoband (this is a city in India). The Scholars from Deoband have the most significant contributions in Islamic works in the subcontinent. Please, follow the link below and read the Urdu, followed by the English translation of the position (Fatwa) held by "Ulema-Deoband".

http://www.tauheed-sunnat.com/sunnat/content/islam-and-terrorism

Rabbi Caught in illegal Organ Trafficking

2010-08-21T23:05:00.006+08:00

This is Levy Rosenbaum - the Jewish Rabbi & his disciples who pay $10,000 for Kidneys from kidnapped helpless people. I have not been able to link Rosenbaum to any Trafficking related to Palestinian children. However, the Israeli government is known for Human Rights Abuse. Levy Rosenbaum might have leveraged the Human Rights Abuse to his advantage.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/24/2009-07-24_seven_year_quest_to_end_rosenbaum_evil_work_pays_off.html

Hilal Sighting in Saudi Arabia: A First Hand Report

2010-08-14T21:53:00.002+08:00

By Salman Zafar Shaikh (Article published on www.Albalagh.net )

[Note: Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world today that employs the Hijri calendar for every day use. That is great. It is a practice that needs to be followed in the rest of the Islamic world also. Unfortunately, the way the calendar is established in Saudi Arabia leaves a lot to be desired. Because of Saudi Arabia’s status in the Muslim world, the problems with Saudi calendar have spilled over into other areas as well, especially in Muslim communities in Europe and America. Here is some information that could help Muslims in those areas sort out the issue. Editor]

Background
Muslims in North America have made a good effort Alhamdulillah to do local sighting, especially with the coordination of ISNA, ICNA, WDM and NC, which together formed the Islamic Shura Council of North America. But still some insist on following the announcement from Saudi Arabia, which is often ahead of sighting (including my personal sighting) in America, and also almost always one or often even two days ahead of sighting reported from countries east of Saudi Arabia e.g. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

So the natural question is - is there some problem in the Saudi announcement? If the Saudi sighting is correct, then the Hilal should be more easily seen in USA where the sunset is several hours later. Also, how come at times the Saudi announcement indicates sighting of Hilal when the moon sets before sunset there, and even before the birth of the dark invisible astronomical new moon! Further even the following simple reasoning casts doubt on Saudi dates: The world being a globe, any place round the world (on the same latitude), should over time be equally likely to be the first place to sight the Hilal. Hence for some years, the sighting in USA should be before sighting in Saudi Arabia. But if every year the Saudi announcement is ahead of the sighting in USA, the question arises: Is something wrong going on?

Stay in Saudi Arabia
Allah gave me a chance to work and stay in Saudi Arabia for about 5 years (1416-1421 AH / 1995-2000G). I wanted to use my stay to find out about the system for Hilal sighting there, and to check my personal sighting attempts there. I had also heard a lot about the "Umm-ul-Qura Calendar". I wanted to locate the people making this calendar and meet them. It was not easy to find this. I was surprised that the local brothers usually do not know such things. Also, most people there do not suspect any mistakes in the Hilal announcements and hardly anyone of my local practicing Muslim friends had ever attempted to sight the Hilal in their life!

Finally I learned that the source of Umm-ul-Qura calendar is KACST - the prestigious King Abdul Aziz University for Science and Technology in Riyadh. After several calls to their offices, I was able to narrow down the names of the brothers involved and finally communicated with them and set a time to meet them!

Umm-ul-Qura Calendar
I met the brothers at KACST who were calculating the Umm-ul-Qura Calendar for Hijri dates. The brothers were very warm and welcoming. I was able to find out first hand, the details behind the Umm-ul-Qura Calendar. I found that there has been a major change in the computation criteria starting 1420 AH. Before that year, the Umm-ul-Qura calendar was based on Greenwich and not Makkah. Also it was based on the dark invisible Astronomical new moon being born. Thus it was totally different from the actual Hilal observation. Starting about 1420 AH, the new criterion is that the Moonset be after Sunset in Makkah (even by one second). Starting 1423 AH Insha’Allah, it will again change slightly to directly take the astronomical new moon (conjunction) into account. But the main input I got was that the Umm-ul-Qura calendar was for civil use only, and not for predicting the Hilal for religious dates. The author of the calendar is well aware that the moonset needs to be after sunset by a long time, and not just one second (along with other factors) for the Hilal to be visible. But the point was that the Umm-ul-Qura calendar neither attempts nor claims to predict the Hilal. It is merely used for the official dates in the Ministries, schools, Saudia Airlines, and indeed all over the country.

I was a bit hesitant to introduce the issue of errors in the Saudi announced dates for fear of offending my hosts. But Alhamdulillah they themselves expressed that they knew there were a lot of errors.

Official Saudi Hilal Sighting Committees
I was told that after the Saudi Government became aware of the complaints of errors in the announced dates, around 1419H, the ruling council ordered the formation of Hilal sighting committees. Each such committee includes:

one member of Qada (Islamic Scholar/Justice department),
one member of KACST/Astronomer,
one member of Imarah (ruling council of the city), and
volunteers.

Currently there are six such committees in Saudi Arabia - near Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Tabuk and Asir. While they may carry a telescope with them, the official sighting of the committee is with naked eye only. (Saudi scholars like Sheikh Al-Othaimeen are against use of telescopes. Sheikh Al-Othaimeen for example indicates that using telescopes increases the "Takalluf" (Burden) on Muslims, which Allah does not want.)

While the establishment of the committees is an excellent idea, these committees have not been given exclusive jurisdiction over the issue of moon sighting, thereby reducing their usefulness. The Justice department still accepts the witness of "any" Muslim. Thus, often the new month is declared while none of these six official Hilal sighting committees saw the Hilal. In fact, most people, including scholars are unaware of the existence of these official committees.

Eid-ul-Fitr 1420 AH
In the case of Eid-ul-Fitr 1420 AH, I myself went with the Makkah committee to a sighting point on a hilltop of Shamesi outside the city of Makkah Mukarramah on Thursday evening. Neither I, nor the other 5 committee members sighted the Hilal. But we came back to the Haram Shareef and were astounded to hear the announcement that Eid-ul-Fitr was next day (Friday). In fact moonset was before sunset in Makkah for Thursday evening. In this case the error was quite brazen. Later I learned that Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa indicating that Muslims who celebrated Eid 1420 AH on Friday following the Saudi announcement should make up one missed Ramadan fast.

Further, the solar eclipse of Feb 5, 2000 also proved the mistake in Eid date, according to Sheikh Al-Othaimeen’s fatwa, which implies that if there is a solar eclipse anywhere in the world after sunset in your city, then next day is not the 1st of lunar month for your city.

I also learned that apparently it is the same few people at certain locations, reporting on those occasions when the claims are extraordinarily early in Saudi Arabia, year after year. WAllahu A’alam!

While Saudi Astronomers are quite aware of the problems, there seemed to be negligible awareness in the community at large. But that is changing. I saw an excellent article in Arab News of February 11, 2000 about the inaccuracy of Eid-ul-Fitr 1420 AH. Subsequently I also saw nice articles in Arabic in Ad-Dawah magazine, 6 Shawwal 1420 AH etc., and the article of Sheikh Al-Manea (of Makkah Al-Mukarramah) in Al-Jazeerah, December 12, 1999. So while the coverage was still limited, at least there was some acknowledgement of the errors, albeit not officially.

Views of Islamic Scholars of Saudi Arabia
I started writing letters to a lot of the respected Ulema of Saudi Arabia, mentioning in particular the Eid-ul-Fitr 1420 AH error as proven from the Solar Eclipse also, and I attached the Fatwa of Sheikh Al-Othaimeen about solar eclipse and Hijri dates. Most scholars seemed to be totally unaware of the problem. However, some scholars like Sheikh Al-Othaimeen and Sheikh Al-Manea (of Makkah Al-Mukarramah), we found have a broad knowledge in this field. We did not get much response to the scores of letters we sent. But then Alhamdulillah we managed to get a meeting with Sheikh Al-Othaimeen!

Meeting with Sheikh Al-Othaimeen in Unayzah
Sheikh Al-Othaimeen welcomed us at his big Masjid in Unayzah after the Friday prayers and gave us a special private audience after the ‘Asr prayers. We found that Alhamdulillah Sheikh Al-Othaimeen was himself aware of some of the errors from other complaints. But he indicated it would take time for most scholars to understand and fix the problem. He asked us to write a letter to the Majlis Al-Kabair Al-Ulema (Council of the Senior Ulema), which I believe meets twice a year in Taif. I personally did send a letter, but somehow did not receive any response. I also learned that scholars like Sheikh Abdullah bin Sulaiman Al-Manea (Makkah Mukarramah) support using calculations to reduce errors.

Sheikh Al-Othaimeen Supports Local Sighting
I mentioned to Sheikh Al-Othaimeen that for Muslims in America, the error in Saudi date announcements causes big problems, since some Muslims follow that, while others follow local sighting, thus resulting in multiple Eid celebrations in the same city, if not the same Masjid! I learned that Sheikh Al-Othaimeen supports Ikhtilaf Al-Matale (local sighting) - Muslims outside Saudi Arabia should do their own local sighting (instead of calling Saudi Arabia). This is already published in the book: Fatawa Islamiya (Sheikh Bin Baaz, Sheikh Al-Othaimeen & Sheikh Al-Jibreen, published by Darul-Watan Lil-Nashr.

Sheikh Al-Othaimeen also writes that Sheikh Ibn Taimiya supported Ikhtilaf Al-Matale. In fact Saudi Arabia itself practices Ikhtilaf Al-Matale (e.g. they did not follow Yemen’s earlier sighting in 1420 AH). I mentioned that while most Muslims in America agree to local sighting for 11 months, some want to follow the Saudi announcement for Eid-ul-Adha. Sheikh Al-Othaimeen (RH) indicated that he supports Ikhtilaf Al-Matale for Eid-ul-Adha also (Muslims outside Saudi Arabia should do their own local sighting for Eid-ul-Adha also, instead of calling Saudi Arabia). He wrote a fatwa on this and gave me the original paper, while keeping a photocopy for his records. Thus in his opinion, Muslims in North America should not have multiple dates for Eid etc. and just go by local sighting, unaffected by the errors in Saudi announcements including Eid-ul-Adha.

There are also other references to Sheikh Al-Othaimeen supporting local sighting for Eid-ul-Adha. (See http://www.ummah.net/moonsighting/fatawah/saudalim.htm ). Also see at http://www.ummah.net/moonsighting/fatawah/isnaqa.htm that the Annual Session of Fiqh Academy, held in Jordan, October 11-16, 1986 attended by more than 100 outstanding scholars of Shari’ah adopted a resolution recommending that all Muslim countries should determine all the lunar months including Dhul-Hijjah on the same basis. Also available on the website is the Fatwa of Mufti Taqi Usmani from Pakistan supporting Ikhtilaf Al-Matale for Eid-ul-Adha as well.

Further, even those scholars who support Ittihad Al-Matale, say categorically that one cannot fix any one point on earth (e.g. Saudi Arabia) for worldwide decision on date. Thus, sighting in USA / India / Yemen / Nigeria / Fiji etc. should be as valid in establishing the date worldwide including Saudi Arabia as the sighting in Saudi Arabia. Further, if we fix Saudi Arabia sighting to decide the Eid in America, what if Hilal is sighted in America before Saudi Arabia (the world is round, in certain years this should be true). Would we then ignore our earlier sighting in America? Clearly wouldn’t this violate the hadith of fasting on seeing the Hilal and breaking on seeing it? (Compiled by Bukhari 3-124: Abu Huraira (RA) has narrated that the Prophet (SAW) said: "Start fasting on seeing the crescent (of Ramadan) and give up fasting on seeing the crescent (of Shawwal) and if the sky is overcast (and you cannot see it) complete thirty days of Sha’ban").

Use Astronomy to Negate Erroneous Sighting, Not to Replace Sighting
As a Muslim, we believe that all knowledge is from Allah, who is the ultimate source. Thus we find that the Qur’an has no contradiction with established facts of science. In fact the description of the embryo in the womb of the mother, the stability provided by the mountains, the hydrology / water cycle, composition of living matter mostly with water, origin of the universe and the movement of both the sun and the moon are among the amazing examples of how accurately the Qur’an revealed about 1400 years ago describes scientific facts discovered recently. The Qur’an states in Sura Ar-Rahman #55,Verse 5: (Yusuf Ali translation): The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed.

Saudi Arabia is Slowly Catching On
Thus I was happy to learn that several scholars including Sheikh Al-Manea (of Makkah Mukarramah) support using calculations to negate erroneous sightings. Similarly, historically, great Islamic Scholars like Imam Subki have also supported using Astronomy to negate erroneous Hilal sighting. Also, Sheikh Ibn Taimiya has written on how long it takes for the Hilal to appear after the "old moon" (seen at Fajr) disappears. Of course, none of the Saudi scholars I know, support calculations to completely replace sighting.

I learned from reliable sources that that last Eid-ul-Fitr (1421 AH), several "early witnesses" in Saudi Arabia were turned down due to the solar eclipse. This is perhaps the first time I hear of "witnesses" being turned down in Saudi Arabia due to contradiction with basic scientific facts. Insha’Allah this seems to be a new and good trend in Saudi Arabia, but there may not be a solar eclipse every time! (There is a solar eclipse on 29th of Ramadan 1422 AH - next year though).

Astronomical Support for Ikhtilaf Al-Matale (Local Sighting)
Since the world is round like a globe, the first Hilal sighting ("Lunar Date Line" for a month) can occur anywhere around the globe. Programs like MoonCalc of Dr. Monzur Ahmed (obtain software from http://www.ummah.net/ildl/mooncalc.html ) can predict the first Hilal sighting curve.

Thus we see that Astronomy supports Ikhtilaf Al-Matale (Local sighting) since areas outside the "Lunar Date Line" curve see the Hilal on the next day (Cross International Solar Date Line). Hence we should aim towards Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha celebration around much of the world in about 24 hours (But two "solar dates" because of the artificial International solar date line). We should not force an effort to artificially make the worldwide lunar date coincide with a solar date. Also, note that at any one given moment of time, one part of the world has one solar day/date while another part of the earth has the next solar day /date! For example, at the exact time of my writing this sentence, it is Wednesday evening in USA, but Thursday morning in China / Japan! So we should focus on Eid prayer around the globe in about 24 hours rather than one solar date. Local sighting for Eid is as natural as local timings for prayer. After all, New York does not pray Fajr by Tokyo time!

Prof. Muhammad Ilyas of Malaysia, a pioneer in the calculations of Hilal prediction, Masha-Allah has hence proposed for civil use, a Tri-zonal Hijri calendar: dividing the earth into 3 zones: Americas; Europe-Africa-West Asia; Asia-Pacific and calculating Hilal visibility separately for each region. Please see http://www.starlight.demon.co.uk/ildl/zone3 for details. Thus for example, sometimes Hilal sighting in North America can be one date before Hilal sighting in Saudi Arabia. See http://www.ummah.net/moonsighting for more details.

Malaysian State (Kelantan) Introduces Islamic Currency

2010-08-13T18:43:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Malaysian state's attempt to revive use of gold and silver coins common in early Islamic societies has run afoul of the country's central bank, which said Friday that local governments have no authority to issue their own currency.

The gold dinar and silver dirham coins provide an alternative to Malaysia's currency, the ringgit, in the northeastern state Kelantan, which is governed by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, a conservative opposition group that promotes religious policies in its rule.

The gold dinar was the official currency of Muslim societies for centuries. The value of the coins used in Kelantan can fluctuate according to market prices, but officials say it remains a better alternative to currency affected by the U.S. dollar and other foreign currency.

Kelantan authorities also say the use of such coins is encouraged in the Quran.

State officials have produced coins worth about $630,000 for use at about 1,000 outlets in Kelantan's capital, said Nik Mahani Mohamad, executive director of Kelantan Golden Trade, which mints the coins.

"It's a great, great moment for Muslims," Nik Mahani said. "We are providing an alternative means for the people to trade with."

The coins came into circulation Thursday and can be purchased at various locations in Kelantan. Their worth is currently about $180 per dinar and $4 per dirham.
(read more on http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_as_malaysia_islamic_currency.html?source=rss)

MOOZ-lum (The Movie)

2010-08-09T21:46:00.001+08:00

Violence and Killings in Karachi

2010-08-09T13:37:00.001+08:00

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/letters-to-the-editor/bloodshed-in-karachi-980

Zardari's Katrina

2010-08-06T23:00:00.008+08:00

This week, Pakistan 's president, Asif Ali Zardari, boarded a private Gulfstream Jet along with his family and his hundreds-large entourage to visit the European countries included on the president's grand tour. Yesterday, Zardari -- who was married to my aunt, the late Benazir Bhutto, before her 2007 murder -- landed in London . As soon as the plane touched down, the president and his Very Important coterie were chauffeured in a dozen luxury vehicles to a five-star hotel where the president will be staying in a £7,000 ($11,160) per night Royal Suite.

His welcome, however, was less than royal. On the drive to the hotel, protesters held placards reading "Zardari King of Thieves," "Zardari 100% Pure Corruption," and "GO Zardari GO." While Zardari was schmoozing with his cronies in luxe London hotels, Pakistan was reeling from the deadliest floods to hit the country in 80 years. In short, it looks like Zardari's Katrina.

More than 3 million people in the northwestern region of Pakistan have now been affected by the floods. Parts of the north are facing terminal food shortages even as they are inaccessible to relief workers. The U.N. World Food Program says that 1.8 million will urgently need something to eat in coming weeks. The death toll has risen steadily in recent days to more than 1,400 people. About another million have lost their homes.

The news is also unlikely to get any better: Officials now say that the waters are expected to hit Punjab and Sindh provinces, Pakistan 's food-producing regions. New flood warnings are still being issued, and the country is bracing for further monsoon downpours.

Zardari takes a lot of overseas trips -- so many that one local TV pundit estimated somewhat anecdotally last year that Richard Holbrooke, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the "AfPak" region, had spent more time in Pakistan than Zardari had recently. But the timing of this particular visit has angered not only his subjects but also his hosts. Two prominent Asian Britons refused to meet the visiting head of state. Khalid Mahmood, a member of parliament, vigorously condemned Zardari's decision to visit London . "A lot of people are dying," he told the press. "He should be [in Pakistan ] to try to support the people, not swanning around in the UK and France ." Lord Ahmed, a labor MP, continued that Zardari had a responsibility to be "looking after people, not [be] over here."

Yet the protests seem to have fallen on deaf ears -- which really shouldn't surprise anyone who has watched the Zardari government in action. The floods are just the latest, most tragic example of how inept the Pakistani state truly is. The inundation was predictable; Pakistan suffers monsoon rains every year at exactly the same time. But in a country -- and with a president -- so endemically corrupt, dealing with the entirely preventable, whether terrorism or natural disasters, has become impossible. There is simply no will, and more importantly no money, to spend on the Pakistani people. The country's coffers are constantly being diverted to more pressing programs -- or pockets, for that matter. Before he came to office, Zardari was facing corruption charges in Switzerland , Spain , and Britain . (As president, he withdrew Pakistan 's cooperation with the latter two countries' courts; his presidential immunity prevented a Swiss case from re-opening.

And thus the tragedy unfolds: There are no emergency evacuation plans for natural disasters, nor is there money for institutions that could help victims of such crises. What there is money for -- almost $600,000 -- are such programs as the Martyr Benazir Bhutto Income Support Scheme, a cult of personality initiative named after the president's late wife. Those who sign up receives meager cash handouts and find themselves on the president's ruling party's election rolls -- which themselves received more government funds than two whole federal departments of Pakistan put together.

Meanwhile, if rumors in the Pakistani press are right, Zardari's European tour is even more cynical than it already seems. The trip is meant to kickstart the president's young son's political career. That launch has to take place overseas to avoid the inevitably hostile reactions such a dynastic coronation would draw back in Pakistan . Speculation has it that Zardari's son Bilawal, a recent college graduate who is already co-chairman along with Zardari of their political party, will proclaim himself the future leader of Pakistan to a select audience in Birmingham on August 7.

Pakistan's The News newspaper summed up popular sentiment in a laundry list of questions posed to the country's High Commission in London . "Who is paying for the buses and coaches being booked to bring people to the Birmingham rally?" the paper asks. "Why will the president not cancel his visit?" And the most crucial question: Shouldn't the money for the trip be better spent on the flood victims? In response, the Pakistani High Commission issued a one-line blanket response: "This is an official visit and procedures for official visits are being followed."

Pakistan can ill afford a president who prioritizes his personal political future over the lives of millions of his citizens. We have always known in Pakistan that the rest of the world's attention comes at a tremendously high cost. Yet we seem to keep paying.

Imam Muda - Malaysia's Young Imaam Reality Show

2010-08-06T19:05:00.001+08:00

Ten Lie Against the Black Race

2010-08-05T16:39:00.006+08:00

Since the existence of man, the worst things have always happened to the Black race.
Black people have persevered through countless years of slavery, racism and the crack epidemic.
What possibly could be the worst event the Black race has ever experienced?
The following 10 events will outline the worst events to happen to Black people in history.
1. Colonization: The Scramble for Africa
During the 19th century, European countries saw Africa’s richness in natural resources and decided that it would be a great place to conquer and colonize. Each European country raced to the continent and treated it like a huge buffet table; but perhaps forgot to ask Africa“Are you going to eat that?” The theft of the land included our heritage, resources, history, and was possibly the reason for the rest of the worst events listed.
2. Slavery
After all this, Europeans then decided they needed people to work for them, but for FREE. Enslaved Africans were the first type of slaves in history to be owned by law, and were treated as property that could be sold, beaten, or killed at owners consent. Slavery stripped Black people of common human rights, tore apart societies, and is one of the worst events to ever happen to a group of people.
3. Imposition of Religion
One of the greatest tools of enslaving Africans was Christianity. Their strategy was to send missionaries and militaries to embrace and accept their message as Africans were very religious. What they did not anticipate was the ass-whooping the military had in store for them.
Christianity not only played a role in tricking Africans, it also was used to make whites believe slavery was not a negative act. White populations were taught that Africans didn’t have souls so many embraced the idea of owning Black people.
4. Institutionalized Racism
If something is law, then it must be right? Right? Of course not. This is evident by what we have witnessed with Jim Crow laws, apartheid, and the numerous other laws that have stripped Blacks of our human rights. Institutionalized racism forced nations to practice bigotry, making an atrocious belief become a foundation of societies. In the United States, institutionalized racism is no longer as evident as it was 60 years ago—considering we don’t talk about the prison system.
5. The AIDS Epidemic
It is believed by many that AIDS was created as a biological weapon to wipe out the Black race, and was administered in polio vaccines to thousands of Africans in the 1950’s and the smallpox vaccine to thousands of Africans in the 80’s.
Despite the validity of these theories, the AIDS epidemic hit Africans and African-Americans hard becoming the number one killer of African-Americans for numerous years. In 2008, an estimated 22.4 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV/AIDS.“The Silent Killer” has ravished Black society, as it has also marked us with a label of being sexually irresponsible.
6. The Color Line
In 1903, W.E.B. Dubois stated that the problem of the 20th century is the color-line; a concept dealing with discrimination which exists in politics, academia, and all types of class systems.
In the early 1900s, African-American class systems were created; lighter-skinned people typically went to college, were more accepted and successful, and created elitist societies like the Black Bourgeoisie.
This idea of class systems exists in all races. It is rather prevalent in the Black race because of the clear distinction of skin-tone.
7. The Crack Epidemic
The epidemic hit the U.S. in the 1980’s and devastated Black communities.
Crack became a multi-million dollar illicit industry that ravished Black communities in New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York City, Houston, San Diego, and Baltimore to name a few. As a result of the rampant drug use, crime skyrocketed and many communities have yet to recover to this day.
8. Invasion and Westernization of Egypt
Does it matter if Cleopatra was Black or White? Yes, it’s crucial to our academic existence. We understand that the Roman’s invaded Egypt, but who actually contributed to the greatest wonder of the world?
White people?
By taking credit for some of the most genius inventions known to man, they have taken away the only evidence of a magnificent BLACK civilization. All the art shows evidence of darker-skinned people, and many historians speculate that the Sphinx’s nose was exploded off to hide the fact that it had African features. We can speculate if Egypt was in fact a Black civilization, but must I remind everyone that Egypt is in Africa.
9. Educational Disparity
African-Americans have had a history of low achievement in the educational system for years. Culture, learning, teaching patterns, importance of education, and prejudice have all contributed to the low levels of achievement. It has also contributed to crime and many other problems that affect the Black community. The stigma of unintelligent Black people has prevailed for years, even with the increasing number of Black intellectuals.
10. Modern Day Genocide
The continent of Africa has been vastly exploited for its resources. That corruption and theft has been a foundation of these new governments who recently gained their independence. Genocide and religious wars have turned countries into uncivil places for anyone. Thousands of people are being enslaved, killed, and exploited for material things non-Africans benefit from like diamonds.

Yahoo Singapore! What Good is it?

2010-08-04T21:58:00.002+08:00

Yahoo is a global search engine used by millions all over the world. I use it all the time, but prefer Google as a more efficient and technically sound search engine. Since, I live in Malaysia it is easier to connect to Yahoo Singapore. Unfortunately, I found Yahoo Singapore to be very uninformative and biased. The entire world has been reporting the flood disaster in Pakistan except Yahoo Singapore! Unbelieveable but true.

It goes to show that Singapore as a country does not care about what goes on in Asia when it comes to human lives. Should one really expect anything? The truth is no, not really. However, it goes to show that Yahoo Singapore internet team has people working to keep a tight control on information. Just a note of caution.

Gandhi's Reflections on Khalifa Abu Bakar and Umar (radhi Allahu anhuma)

2010-08-04T10:58:00.007+08:00

In 1937 the Congress Party came into power to govern India. Mahtama Gandhi advised his elected members and leaders to adopt simplicity in life. Following are the words of Gandhi:

"I can not give you the reference of Ram Chandar or Krishna, because they were not historical figures. I can not help it but to present to you the names of Abu Bakar (rad) and Umar (rad). They were leaders of a vast Empire, yet they lived a life of austerity." (27-07-1937 Hari-ji)

Analyzing Bin Baaz's Fatwaa Regarding 15th of Shabaan (nisf shabaan)

2010-07-29T22:40:00.014+08:00

The Fatwa of bin Baaz is found in Majmoo’ Fataawa Samaahat al-Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, 2/882.

Sheikh bin Baaz (raheemuh Allah) was amongst one of the most esteemed and honorable scholars. May Allah (ta'ala) enlighten his grave. It was the Fatwa of Sheikh bin Baaz that allowed non-Muslims troops to enter into Muslim land, to defend Muslims against another Muslim Nation - the infamous Gulf War. However, bin Baz was spared criticism due to the fact that he was a blind man. It is not clear what he was told and how information was relayed to him.

In light of this, most of Sheikh bin Baaz's fatwaa(s) have gone under greater scrutiny. As for those who love him and follow his verdict: alhamdullilah. On the subject of 15th of Shabaan, there has been a fatwaa that is in wide circulation on the internet. However, what most of beloved followers have not taken into account is the fact that when formulating a Fatwaa there are certain issues that have a 50-50 vote; basically a tie. Meaning 50% of Muslim scholars are for the issue, while, another 50% is opposed to the issue. In the case of Nisf-Shabaan it is considered a 50/50 issue. When that happens, Ulema have always leaned towards tipping the verdict slighly in favor of those who are "for the issue" and not "against the issue". Becuase, as a principle, the Ummah can not unite on a wrong. But to say that bin Baaz has given an ultimate verdict and sealed this matter forever will be outright unjust. (and Allah Knows Best)

The following Fatwaa given by Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Tamiyya (rahmatullahi alayhi) stands to challenge bin Baaz's position on the subject of 15th night of Shabaan.

Ibn-Taimiyyah was asked about of the 15th night of Sha’ban. He replied:

اما ليلة النصف روئ فئ فضلهااحاديث واثار ونقل عن طانفتهمن السلف انهم كانوايصلون فيها فصلاة الرجل فيها وحده وقد تقدمه فيه سلف فيه حجته فلا ينكرمثل هزا
Translation: As for the 15th night of Shabaan, there are many narrations and Athar (quotes from the Sahabah) regarding its virtue. It has been reported of the salaf that they prayed in this night. Therefore, praying alone on this night, having precedence in the salaf, is sufficient evidence and something of this kind surely cannot be denied.

At another occasion, Ibn-Taimiyyah was asked the same question and he replied:

وسنل عن صلاة نصف شعبان فاجاب ازا صلئ الانسان ليلة النصف وحده اوفئ جماعته خاصته كما كان يفل جماعته خاصته كما كان يفعل طوانف من السلف فهواحسن

Translation: If one prays on this night alone or in a select company of people as many groups amongst the salaf did, “then it is good (arabic: fahuwa ahsan)“. [Fatawa Ibn Taimiyyah Volume 23, Page 131-132]

Flotilla in the light of Bir Ma'oona Tragedy

2010-06-11T16:10:00.003+08:00

The news media has not been shy about the Flotilla Tragedy. However, when one reads the story of Sahaba about 1400yrs ago; we find the Tragedy of Bir Ma'oona. The likeness/ differences between the Muslims of Flotilla and Sahaba is worth noting:

The Sahaba were on a mission of spreading peace. The mission of the Flotilla Muslims was also a mission in peace.
The Sahaba were 70 in number, whereas, the Flotilla Muslims were also a large number
The sahaba used the ship of the dessert, whereas, the Flotilla Muslims used the Ship of the waters.
The Sahaba were all Huffaz (had memorized the Quran completely) but there is nothing to clearly indicate how many Huffaz were on the Flotilla.
The Bir Ma'oona campaign consisted of Sahaba who were very much loved by the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). This can not be said about the people on board of the Flotilla
Both the Sahaba and Muslims on Flotilla defended themselves but were poorly armed to really evade the loss of life.
When the Sahaba died they exclaimed, "we have become victorious". It is not clear what the Flotilla people uttered during the time of death.

We should not politicize Islam rather learn the politics of the prophet. So, nowhere in the annals of Sahaba - while the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) - can we find a wish or suggestion that Islamic politics has to be learnt. Rather than protesting and broadcasting, the Sahaba made dua's and then moved forward to implement what they had learnt.

Dubai: A Plastic City Built in Steel and Glass

2010-05-10T22:57:00.006+08:00

George Fulton is a freelance broadcast and print journalist.

I recently escaped to Dubai for a holiday. Big mistake. Huge. Dubai may have the world’s tallest building and the world’s largest shopping mall, but it also has the world’s tiniest soul. It’s a plastic city built in steel and glass. It has imported all the worst aspects of western culture (excessive consumption, environmental defilement) without importing any of its benefits (democracy, art). This is a city designed for instant gratification a hedonistic paradise for gluttons to indulge in fast food, fast living and fast women. It’s Las Vegas in a dish dash. You want to eat a gold leaf date? Munch away. You want to drink a Dhs 3,000 bottle of champagne? Bottoms up. You want a UN selection of hookers at your fingertips? Tres bien. Let’s start with the malls. These cathedrals of capitalism, these mosques of materialism are mausoleums of the living dead. Slack jawed zombies roam around consuming food, clothes and electronics in a desperate attempt to fill the emptiness of their existence.

Whilst at the Mall of the Emirates the azan goes off. Nobody appears to move to the prayer room; everyone’s too busy performing sajda before Stella McCartney, genuflecting before Gucci, and prostrating themselves at Prada. With Dubai , one recalls F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

The people are modern day Gatsbys, buying shirts that they will never wear and books they will never read. Like Fitzgerald’s roaring 20s America , Dubai is a moral failure a society obsessed with wealth and status. Everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones’ or the Javaids. You see the goras with their perma-tans, streaked highlights and their flabby cleavages.
The upwardly mobile South Asian man prances around wearing a silly shirt with a large picture of a polo player on a horse, whilst their women wear oversized sunglasses and carry oversized handbags. And the Arabs walk about with enough gold bling to blind you at ten paces. But not everything that glitters is gold. And Dubai is not only morally bankrupt it is also financially bankrupt.

Lately, Dubai , and its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum have been compared to another piece of literature — Percy Shelley’s famous poem Ozymandias, which illustrates the inevitable decline of all leaders and the empires they build. Shelley finishes it thus: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains.

Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away With $80b of debt and a stock and property market that has tanked, the comparisons with Ozymandias are apt. Abu Dhabi may have bailed them out but can Dubai survive as a regional hub in the long-term? Or will this city of hubris built on sand and folly sink back into the dunes a desert mirage that evaporates once the public relations people, the speculators and the tourists disappear?

Ameen Explained

2010-04-26T14:30:00.000+08:00

Ameen Explained

Children should memorize the Qur'an

2010-04-24T23:31:00.002+08:00

Memorizing the Holy Qur’an creates strength in the child’s intellectual skills.
The child and it’s parents, moreover the whole lineage is graced by honour and diginity.
Eternal salvation from poorness and hunger gained through the removing the shortness of sustenance. (content of a Hadith)
Parents will be given a crown on the Day of Judgement, whichs light will be more than that of the sun.
Through the blessings of memorizing the Qur’an one is protected from going astray and wrong beliefs.
The whole life will become ‘Ibaadah when one recites in every situation some or other verses, because one has memorized the Holy Qur’an.
Through the blessings of the Holy Qur’an one is to a large extent protected from a life of game and play [Lahw wa La'ab].
By the intercession of a Hafiz 10 persons from his family are granted salvation. (provided that they are Muslims)
Allah Ta’ala appoints angels for the protection of a Hafiz-e-Qur’an.
A Hafiz will be granted the highest place of Jannah which he likes for himself.
Let your children by all means memorize the Holy Qur’an. A Hafiz child easily progresses in worldly education and the exams of the fifth grade become easy, too.

by Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanvi

How International Shariah & Fiqh Bodies Work -- Mufti Taqi

2010-04-17T15:55:00.001+08:00

IslamicFinanceNews — May 17, 2008 — Mufti Taqi Usmani explains the constitution and working of the Islamic Fiqh Academy--of which he is vice-chairman--and the Shariah Council of AAOIFI. He explains the method of issuing fatwas and of drafting Shariah standards on auditing and accounting. Mufti Taqi goes on to name the leading scholars in the field of Islamic Finance today. This was recorded at a training course on Islamic Finance conducted at the Centre for Islamic Economics, Bait al-Mukarram Masjid, Karachi Pakistan.

For news and information on Islamic Finance, please visit:
http://islamicfinancenews.wordpress.com/

Which Muslim Group should one follow?

2010-04-04T23:19:00.004+08:00

Allah Almighty has given us the five senses, a heart and a soul. Today Muslims from all walks of lives complain that it is hard to conclude who is right and who is wrong. However, this attitude amongst Muslims is an unacceptable excuse for not using the 5 faculties, the heart and soul. Let me explain this with an example, many years ago I was in the company of my Ustaad/Murshid when a friend of mine accused my ustaad of creating confusion. My friend said,

"Maulana sahab, you have a white turban on your head, some wear black and some wear green. Different mosques have different Imaams, some Arabs and some non-Arabs. There are so many divisions and sects in Islam. Then there are those who follow Imaam Abu Hanifa [ra], and the methods of prayers are different. One says the wudu doesn't break by touching a woman, while the other says it does. You also will find the Sufi's, Khanqah's, Urs, Mazaars, naats [nasheeds] and khataam's [rituals]. I think we should just follow the Quran and Hadith and make the messenger of Allah our Imaam. This is the simplest, most logical and direct solution to all these complexities that we Muslims have created. What do you think Hazrat Sahab? I am seriously confused."

So, my teacher said, "[xyz] Sahab, when you were in Karachi and decided to take admission into a college in the United States, had you been to the States to make a clear decision?" my friend replied, "no". So, my teacher continued, "Someone must have told you that such and such college is best for the field of your interest. At some point, I am sure you made a decision based on blindly accepting either a US educational councelor, a friend or statistics / research. This is blind following. You adopted this using all your God given faculties because physically you had never seen America and your judgement was based on blindly following some convincing piece of information. Then you went to America and enrolled in the faculty of engineering. Within that faculty you chose Aerospace Engineering. Once you graduated and went for an interview, what did you tell your interviewer? Did you tell them that you graduated from the faculty of engineering? No, you must have given them a specific degree that you hold otherwise it would have made no sense to sit in an interview where the job was for a chemical engineer; whilst you were an aerospace engineer! This would be totally insane. Similarly, in the faculty of Fiqh there are four illustrious Imaams but one single legacy."

So, when it comes to wordly matters we are very intelligent in filling out information when it comes to getting money, transferring money and deciding where to live, what to eat and which car to drive; what vacations to take and what is good for our careers. However, when it comes to the most critical thinking, which is our deen, we act unintelligent, play ignorance and blame the world of Muslims for the mass confusion.

Azaan from Masjid Quba Al-Madinah Al-Munawwara

2010-03-28T17:15:00.001+08:00

The Killer of Malik Al-Shabaaz (Malcolm X) to be released!

2010-03-28T07:34:00.005+08:00

[MORE VIDEOS ON www.malcolmxfiles.blogspot.com]

With the appalling March 4, 2010 announcement that Malcolm X assassin Talmadge Hayer/Thomas Hagan is due to be granted parole and released on or around April 28th, Muslims of America should issue a statement calling on President Barack Obama to sign an executive order declassifying all federal files relating to this vicious (and as-yet-unsolved) crime, re-opening a full investigation aimed at identifying the real perpetrators and tasking Attorney General Eric Holder with bringing the full force of the Justice Department to bear against anyone and everyone who had any involvement whatsoever in the 21 February 1965 assassination of Malcolm X (Malik Shabaaz).

FILM ► 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets

2010-03-27T23:29:00.001+08:00

Oscar-winning actor and screen legend Sir Ben Kingsley has taken the starring role in a short feature film about the scientific heritage of Muslim civilisation. The mini-movie, entitled 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets, accompanies a global touring exhibition that this currently open to the public at the Science Museum in London. The exhibition runs till 30th June 2010 and then goes on an international tour.

In the movie, Sir Ben takes on the role of a mysterious and cantankerous librarian who takes a group of school children on an enlightening journey to meet pioneering scientists and engineers from the history of Muslim civilization. The librarian is then revealed to be 12th century engineering genius Al-Jazari.

WATCH: What is 1001 Inventions? http://www.1001inventions.com/media/video/library
Dark Ages? 1001 Inventions is a global educational initiative that promotes awareness of a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilisation from the 7th century onwards, and how those contributions helped build the foundations of our modern world.

Quotes from Malcolm X...

2010-03-27T19:42:00.004+08:00

In Surah Fatiha Allah Almighty talks about "those" whom He has "favored". These are the prophets, the Siddiqeen (the truthful ones), the Saliheen (the pious ones) and Shuhadaa (those who sacrificed their lives for upholding the truth). Malik Shabaaz, otherwise known as MalcolmX was amongst the esteemed and honored category of "Shuhadaa". Here are some of his quotes for everyones' reflection:

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.
Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.
Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.
Power never takes a back step - only in the face of more power.
Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.
Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.
Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

Democracy falling apart; Pakistan

2010-03-26T19:08:00.004+08:00

All this great talk about Democracy has brought no relief to the suffering of the people in Pakistan. Here is an insight into the escalating cost of democracy:

-FLOUR (per KG): Before Zardari 13Rupees/kg. After Democracy 31Rupees/Kg
-SUGAR (per KG) Before Zardari 21 Rupees. After Democracy 70 Rupees
-MILK (Per Liter) Before Zardari 32 Rupees. After Democracy 46 Rupees
-MOTORCYCLE Before Zardari 53,000. After Democracy Rupees 63,000
-US DOLLAR Before Zardari 60Rupees . After Democracy 86 Rupees
-TAX ON CAL Before Zardari 15% . After Democracy 19%
-PETROL (Per Liter) 45 Rupees. After Democracy 71 Rupees

This clearly indicates that the current government is stealing from people for their personal benefits.

Pakistan is finally safe!

2010-03-25T22:37:00.003+08:00

THE WORLD IS GOING CRAZY EVERY SECOND.

2010-03-25T22:28:00.000+08:00

Most of us see airport security as a pain. Some of us even feel violated. When you see the below pictures, you'll understand why they want our cell phones through the x-ray machine. If you get asked to test your cell phone at the airport, this is the reason. Cell phone guns have arrived. AND they are real.
Beneath the digital phone face is a .22 caliber handgun capable of firing four rounds in rapid succession using the standard telephone keypad. European law enforcement officials are stunned by the discovery of these deadly decoys. They say phone guns are changing the rules of engagement in Europe . Only when you have one in your hand do you realize that they are heavier than a regular cell phone. Be patient if security asks to look at your cell phone or turn it on to show that it works. They have a good reason! Wake up to our NEW WORLD!! We shouldn't complain about airport security 'invading your privacy

South African Cricket Player & Alcohol!

2010-03-09T19:25:00.003+08:00

Hashim Amla does not wear a Castle Lager logo on his cricket shirt, said that he did not pocket a cent from his match fee. Promoting beer & liquor is against the teaching of Islam and as such Amla became the first player to be the exception who was granted permission by South African Breweries and Cricket South Africa not to wear the Castle logos on his clothing. He scored 250 runs (not out) in the recent test match against India

INTERVIEW WITH HASHIM AMLA
You religion is clearly important to you but just how much?
The importance of my religion has increased as I have got older. I couldn’t put a timeframe on it but I have found that following the Islamic way of life has a lot of beauty to it. Although I was born into a Muslim family I wasn’t always practicing. The more I have understood the differences in the various faiths I have adopted as much of Islam as possible. I’m certainly no saint but the discipline of the Islamic way of life has helped my cricket without a doubt. I don’t drink and I pray five times a day, which gives stability to my daily routine.

Can you tell us about your background?
I come from a small town 40 kilometres north of Durban . I played a lot of sport at primary school like cricket, soccer, tennis, table tennis. I was brought up in a predominantly Asian community but I later went to Durban High School , which had a good sporting heritage and my Dad encouraged me to go there and paid the fees for me to go. Fortunately after the first year I got a bursary as I was good at sport and got looked after.

Marjah: New Afghanistan Chief has Criminal Record

2010-03-06T17:03:00.003+08:00

One has to wonder why Western officials are happy putting a criminal over people's affairs?

KABUL – The man chosen to be the fresh face of good Afghan governance in a town just seized from the Taliban has a violent criminal record in Germany, but Western officials said Saturday they are not pushing to oust him.

Court records and news reports in Germany show that Abdul Zahir, the man appointed as the new civilian chief in Marjah, served part of a more than four-year prison sentence for stabbing his stepson in 1998. A U.S. official confirmed that he did serve time in Germany, though Zahir himself denies he committed any crime.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY BY FOLLOWING THE LINK BELOW:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100306/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_marjah_chief

Mossad: Caught in the eye of Technology

2010-02-18T23:04:00.011+08:00

The clandestine secret service of Israel called Mossad has finally caught the eye of modern technology. Even the best agency can not hide itself behind the unbiased eyes of the camera's.

However, what is really sad is that agencies like Mossad and CIA have created such a hype about themselves in the hearts of people; as if they are invincible and invisible. Thanks to modern technology, it has found them with their pants down! In the words of George W. Bush, "they can run but they can not hide".

Dr.Farhat Hashmi and her erroneous views

2010-02-16T20:54:00.007+08:00

There are a lot of Muslims who think that these discussions are fruitless, and why I continue to write on fiddly matters; rather we should all talk of unity. These are all matters of Ijtihaad (analogical reasoning) and we should not delve into these endless arguments. Unfortunately, people like Farhat Hashmi, Dr.Zakir Naik and the Salafi Movement does not consider certain matters of jurisprudence as matters of analogical reasoning.

In fact, Farhat Hashmi and Dr.Naik have openely and clearly declared that saying Ameen Loudly, Reciting Surah Fatiha Behind an Imaam, Raising Hands going into Ruku and the number of Rakaats of Taraawih are not matters of jurisprudence, but these differences are a battle for differentiating between truth and falsehood! In the Quran one can clearly read the command of Allah (ta'ala):
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَرۡفَعُوٓاْ أَصۡوَٲتَكُمۡ فَوۡقَ صَوۡتِ ٱلنَّبِىّ

"Ya ayyuhal ladheena aamanu, laa Tarfa'u As-waatakum fawqa sawtun nabiyy.." Oh you who believe. Do not raise your voices above the voice of the messenger..Surah Hujuraat.

Contrary to this clear command, Dr.Farhat Hashmi, Dr.Naik and the Salafi movement insists on producing a fabricated narration as Sahih in which the "whole mosque echoes Ameen". There is absolutely no proof in the Hadith that the people uttered Ameen. However, it is deduced by Dr.Hashmi & Zakir Naik that the "echoing of the Ameen" means that the people uttered the Ameen loudly. It should be noted, that "deducing" (analogical reasoning) is outright rejected by these people. Their slogan is, "follow the Quran and Sahih Hadith; don't follow anyone's opinion." However, by deducing they have introduced an opinion. So, when they have an opinion it is acceptable, but if someone says that we follow the research and anological reasoning presented by Imaam Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi alayhi) these same people shout slogans of falsehood! This is the shallow understanding that Dr.Farhat has of the Quran. On the one hand she boasts about teaching Quran, and on the other hand she violates the crystal clear injunctions of the Quran with a fabricated Hadith! I wonder if women should also say Ameen loundly? Let the mosques echo the voices of women in saying Ameen? This is certainly the age of great trials and tribulations for the Ummah of Rasullullah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). May Allah protect us from such erroneous ideas; and the people who propagate these ideas.

Zakir Naik, Salafi's and Prayers

2010-02-08T23:17:00.015+08:00

People always send me emails and queries wondering why I continue to write about Dr.Naik; knowing well that he has so many great contributions - especially in the field of comparative religion. What most Muslims fail to understand that comparative religion is a specialized branch of Islam and Jurisprudence is another specialized branch in Islam. A medical doctor is not expected to build the next tallest building in the world! So, this criticism is based on Dr.Naik's weakness in the area of Jurisprudence.

Take for example, the video above: Dr.Zakir is quoting Sunan Abu Dawood Volume 1, Book of Salaah Chapter 271, Hadith No.755. This is what he is saying, "...there is a hadith in Abu Dawood, if you read....which says that the prophet kept his hands below the navel when he offered his salaah, BUT this is a Daeef (weak) hadith."

Dr. Naik Continues further, "Immediately, the next sahih hadith says that the prophet kept his hands above the navel. There are other Sahih Hadeeth, like in Sahih ibn Khuzaima that the prophet kept his hands on the chest":

Dr. Naik now draws his conclusion as follows:

"When there are Sahih Hadith saying that the prophet kept his hands (not clear if Zakir is saying hand or arm) on his chest, so the hadith of below the navel is weak. Thus, the right way to offer salaat is to keep the hands on the chest." This research is based on the Works of Nasirudeen Albani's book "Sifah Salatu Nabi".

The problem is that Dr.Naik (and Albani) contradicts himself by saying that there is a Sahih Hadith that the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) prayed with his hands above the navel. If that is the case, then there are two methods of placing the hands, that is, one above the navel and the one as suggested viz "on the chest".

Examining Zakir (and Albani's) Claim:

Here are the Narrators of Ibn Khuzaimah:

1. Mumil lbn Ismail

2. Sufyaan

3. A'asim

4. Kulaib

5. Wail (radhi allahu anhu)

Please note that if any of the above listed narrators appear in a chain of a Hadith; Albani, the Ahle-Hadith, Salafi's and all those who follow the literalist school of thought outright brand that particular hadith as daeef (weak). In the narration of Ibn Khuzaimah (quoted by Dr.Naik) all four unacceptable narrators appear in that hadith back-to-back. This is the Mother-Lode of DAEEF - according to Albani's criteria. Yet Albani and Zakir have now conveniently hidden this fact from the readers. When Albani and Zakir see that a hadith fits the purpose of their thoughts they brand it Sahih eventhough there exists a weak narrator. In Ibn Khuzaimah's narration Mu'mil ibn Ismail is extremely weak.

In fact, what Zakir Naik needs to tell his audience is how did Imaam Bukhari perform his Salaat, and where did Imaam Bukhari place his hands? Why did such a great Muhadith like Imaam Bukhari not quote a hadith in his Sahih? So, should we be ranting and raving like Dr.Naik that the Sahih Hadith of where the hands should be placed during salaat did not reach Imaam Bukhari? The Arabic words "Ala'a Sadr" (on the chest) are not to be found in Imaam Bukhari's and Muslim's Sahih!

Baptist Mission and Osama bin Laden: Conversation with a missionary

2010-02-05T22:01:00.013+08:00

About 20 minutes before my plane landed at Los Angeles Airport last Friday, a gray haired gentleman happened to walk past me. He stopped and greeted me. Since, the seat next to me was empty I invited him to take the seat. Tim had embarked on THAI Airways from Bankok, which was my transfer hub coming from Kuala Lumpur.

Tim: Hello. My name is Tim and where are you from.
Nadeem: My ancestral background is Pakistan/India, but I am a US Citizen.
Tim: I am a medical doctor and know a lot of Pakistani doctors. Pakistani's are great people. But you know Nadeem, Osama bin Laden and the whole Al-Qaeda thing must really distress you. Because these people have really exposed Islam and I am sure you as a Muslim feel betrayed?
Nadeem: I am not sure what you mean. But please go on.
Tim: You see Nadeem (pulling out a pamphlet)these are tough times for Muslims and that is because you, Nadeem and the Muslims have this entity you worship called "Alla". If only you believe in the True God, Jesus Christ and believe in Him you will find the truth.
Nadeem: So, Tim you are a missionary I understand?
Tim: Yes, I have been working in Cambodia, Thailand and in this region trying to spread the truth. You see Nadeem (pointing to the pamphlet) we have all sinned, we lie and we cheat; simply put we are going to hell. All mankind is going to hell.
Nadeem: I agree with you 100%.
Tim: Oh! So you agree that we sin.
Nadeem: Yes I agree with you that we all sin and what you have said is no different than what is in the Quran, "Verily by Asr, Mankind is at a loss....". (Before I could finish Tim interrupted me, not withstanding the Quranic recitation in Arabic and its translation that I rendered to him).
Tim: Nadeem but you see the Quran and the God of Quran talks about violence, killing, and Jehad.
Nadeem: Tim first and foremost Jesus said in the Bible, "Eli, Eli, Lamasabachtani". Do you remember this Tim? (He nodded his head). So, did Jesus speak Latin or Aramaic? Tim, Jesus spoke Aramaic, not English. Eli in Aramaic, El, Elah in Hebrew and Alah / Allah in Arabic. This is His Name. Secondly, over 2 Billion Christians call upon Allah in their churches everyday by singing Halleluya. The problem with you Tim is that you read from Left-Right, whereas sematic languages are read Right-Left. You read "Halleluya" wherase reading this from Rigth-Left it reads, Ya-Allah-Hu! The word "alle" or "Allah" is clearly spelt in Halleluya. So, let us clear this record once and for all. Your God and the God of Quran is the one and same God; Allah. Your churches and 2 billion Christians hymm His name; the only difference is that your holy spirit and insincerity with God has never opened your eyes to seeing the true light. So, call him Allah if you are in the footsteps of Jesus. Your God is Allah and my God is Allah. That is why we say in Arabic, "Allah Rabiyy wa Rabbukum". Allah is my Lord and your Lord!
Tim: Okay I will accept your explanation. I am sorry that I did not know this. Thank you for explaning. (Thank you in the language of Missionaries means, I will go back to my church and prepare myself better the next time I run into another Muslim).
Nadeem: Since, we are talking about names. Tim if Jesus was to pass by us in this plane and you called upon him by his name; Jesus would not even turn and look back at you. You keep on asking me to accept and believe in Jesus. I am sorry Tim, if I called you John or Bob, you will feel insulted and insist that I call you by the name given to you. This is precisely where you have to appreciate the great service done by Islam and the Holy Quran to Christianity by telling you the real names: Allah is Rabb (Lord) and Jesus is ISA (Esau in the Bible). In fact, Isa the Son of Mary (Mariam). We don't have the time to discuss this in depth, but Esau is the Hebrew name in the Bible that you have Latinized.
Tim: Well He Jesus is God.
Nadeem: Okay I am willing to accept your religion right now on this plane provided you can show me clearly where did Jesus say, "I am God, Worship me"? If you can't show me this simple fundamental statement, all I can say is that you are accusing Jesus of what he never said.
Tim: Well, Jesus said, "I and my Father are ONE".
Nadeem: The Hebrew word for ONE is ZEN. This has been used in another place where Jesus says that he in the diciples and they in him and he is with God, All ONE (Zen). Plus, Jesus was talking about ONENESS OF PURPOSE, not Likeness. Otherwise he would not have said, "My Father is greater than I".
Tim: Well are you forgetting that he performed miracles....
Nadeem: He raised Lazurus from death by God's permission. Go read the story. Again clarifying to everyone that Allah is greater than him and that he (Jesus) can not do anything without Allah's help. Jesus said, "My Father is Greater than I".
Tim: Well, Nadeem you need to forget about all this. You need to just believe in Him.
Nadeem: I already told you I believe in him what more can we say. If you don't want to accept my word for it, I am also inclined to belief that you also don't believe in him.
Tim: I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior and God. (astaghfirullah)
Nadeem: Since you brought Osama Bin Laden early on in this discussion, I will tell you what impact Osama has had on your Baptist mission. Prior to 9-11 every single Christian critic of Islam had one thing to say, "Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) met a Christian slave Bahira, and during his trade times Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) learnt about the Christian faith and decided to write the Quran. So the Quran was copied from the Bible". You see Tim, after 9-11 every single Christian mission in the world stopped making these blasphemous statments / accusations. So, Osama must have had some influence on your naughty tricks. It seems like he has also hijacked your mission. So, can you please tell me if I am right or wrong? Is it true that you dare not tell me anymore that Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) copied the Holy Quran from the Bible? Because, if the Quran was copied from the Bible, this phobia about Terrorism, suicides and ticking-time bombs will be tied to the Bible. Well, let me write the story for you, since you are so good at telling me stories. You see, Jesus said (in the Bible), "For those my enemies, bring them hither and SLAY THEM ALL." You see, prior to 9-11 Osama bin Laden was reading the Quranic copies that you claim were plagarized from the Bible. When Osama could not find any such harsh statement made by Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) about slaying and killing, he tracked down the real source of motivation; the prince of peace Jesus Christ. No one could be more direct than Jesus, giving clear commands to kill according to the Bible!
Tim: This is not true.
Nadeem: It is true. The Bible is a source of corruption and destruction. So, you have to acknowledge that the Quran is NOT copied from the Bible. Do you acknowledge this Tim?
Tim: Thinks for a bit and changes the subject.
Nadeem: Now, just look at this pamplet you are reading to me. 98% of the material in this pamphlet is typed and written by someone in your organization. Some MAN has decided to write this down and pass it on to you, and you are passing these words to me. (So, I took his pamphlet and strike-through all the text leaving behind JUST the words of JESUS). Now, Tim if you and I truthfully and sincerely read just the words of Jesus, we will both come to the same agreement.
Tim: NO
Nadeem: Okay, what do you think of Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the Bible.
Tim: NO, THERE IS NO MUHAMMED IN THE BIBLE. No one comes unto the Father but through me (meaning Jesus). I am the way, the truth and Life.
Nadeem: So, what did Jesus mean when he said, "I have yet MANY things to say unto you, but you CANNOT BEAR THEM NOW". I fully accept that at the time. If I was there during the time of Jesus I would have fully accepted and agreed. Since, the Bible does not clarify the time lines, and we know a great man of God can not possibly contradict himself. The only sensible explanation is that Jesus came and declared himself as the truth, the way and life to Allah. But after meeting "an evil and adulterous generation" with just a hand full of followers, he went to the Garden of Getsemane; fell on his face (like Muslims pray five times) and asked Allah to remove the cup of death. Thus, he was not killed nor crucified; rather he had MANY things to say and left all of that upto Prophet Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) to guide mankind into "All the truth" (Bible).
Tim: It is the Holy Spirit. NO coming of any other prophet; especially Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). NO WAY.
Nadeem: Okay. It was nice talking to you

Tim and I exchanged emails and we both shook hands and went our ways.

The challenge of Beard

2009-12-20T23:17:00.010+08:00

Muslim homes are burning down because some scholars of Islam have decided to take a stance on the subject of beard totally contrary to the understanding of the Messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) and his esteemed companions.

Today, Muslim women want their husbands to cut and trim their beards to look cute. As much as I respect Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and Sheikh Suhaib Webb, I find it so unbelieveable and difficult to understand how scholars like these have goatee's and short trimmed beards; when in reality they are supposed to highlight the sunnah of the beard to the people. Women watching these men have brought wars into their homes; accusing their husbands of being illiterate of understanding Islam. These women tell their husbands, "Suhaib Webb is a sheikh, he has learnt Arabic and studied in an Islamic University, are you (oh husband) fully understanding Islam to challenge such Scholars." To this I say "YES".

(NOTE: Sheikh Suhaib Webb (hafidhullah) and Sheikh Hamza Yusuf (hafidhullah) are not to be disrespected because of this blog post. I personally love both of them and respect them for their scholarship and extensive contributions. I personally know Sheikh Suhaib from my old college days in Kansas. Furthermore, I still have well over a dozen videos, audios of Sheikh Hamza Yusuf in my personal collection. This should make it very clear to the readers that this blogpost is not meant to slander or belittle the Ulema. This is a cry for clarity quell the fiery debates raging in Muslim homes.)

So, this is a matter of trust. Who do you trust for understanding your deen? Imaam Azam Abu Hanifa or Sheikh Suhaib Webb? Do I blindly follow Shk.Suhaib Webb in the 21st century for sizing down his beard, or should I trust Imaam Abu Hanifa's research 1300yrs ago (when he was actually living in the golden era described by the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa salaam).

Imam Muhammed (R.A.) writes in his book "Kitabul Aathaar" where he relates from Imam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) who relates from Haytham (R.A.) who relates from Ibn Umar (R.A.) that he (Ibn Umar) used to hold his beard in his hand and cut off which was longer. Imam Muhammed (R.A.) says that this is what we follow and this was the decision of Imam Abu Hanifa. Therefore, according to Hanafies, to shorten the beard less than a FIST LENGTH is HARAAM and on this is IJMA (concensus of opinion).

We are going to be in the grave one day, and we would have wished that we had kept the beard the way the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) advised, and the Sahaba demonstrated to us.

We will also drink water from the fountain of "Kauthar" on the day of Judgement. Where we will meet the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). Shouldn't the men then have beards that reflect the looks of the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam)?

Right before we step on the Bridge of Siraat, the messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wa sallam) will be there pleading our case. Now, if our face is diametrically opposed to that of the messenger of Allah (Sallahu alayhi wa sallam) how will he feel? Pleading a case for his follower who didn't even care to look like him?

And what about facing Allah? I hope we all enter into paradise without reckoning. However, if we have to step forward in the court of Allah to be judged, can't we make the plea, "Oh Allah, I didn't bring anything with me for this day, however, I just brought the face of your beloved messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam)". How valuable this action would be if we are given the opportunity to make a plea bargain. Our deen is about bargaining. That is why Beard is a part of Islam and a show of our love for Allah and His messenger (sallahu alayhi wa salam).

I pray that Allah gives us his nearness, and He gives us the love of His messenger (sallahu alayhi wa sallam). "In kuntum tuhibbuna Allaha, fattabi Uoni yuhbibkumu Allah."

Javed Ahmed Ghamidi - a Muslim or an Agent?

2009-12-06T19:19:00.023+08:00

Javed Ahmed Ghamidi is a self proclaimed Pakistani Muslim "scholar" who is like Saul. Paul was the 13th self appointed disciple, who joined Christianity to create Pauline-Christianity. Today, another Saul is born, however, in the ranks of Sayyidna Muhammed Sallahu alayhi wa sallam by the name of Ghamidi. His agenda is to systematically slaughter every Sunnah and replace Islam with a new belief system, like his predecessor Paul.

In an interview, posted on Youtube, Ghamidi (who shaves his beard) is asked about the subject of "Beard in Islam". Given the opportunity to explain Ghamidi neither quotes the Quran nor any hadith in this matter. Conversely, he resorts to a philosophical explanation:

"in my opinion Muslims will keep a beard, and the reason Muslims will keep a beard is because their messenger kept a beard and they (the Muslims) love their messenger. As you know when people have a strong affinity towards great personalities, and are impressed by that personality they follow and emulate that person. Muslims also have such great love for their messenger. We know that the messenger of Allah used to keep a beard. The other prophets also had a beard, and people try to express their love by adopting and emulating; thus beard falls under this category."

It is very interesting that Ghamidi does not refer to himself as a Muslim; rather he talks about Muslims as what is known in English Grammer "third person plural" tense. He says:

....their messenger
....they (the Muslims) love their messenger
...Muslims.....love for their messenger

Is he not a Muslim? Why didn't he say our messenger? Our love for the messenger dictates...? I, and We as Muslims love our messenger? He does not use the first person singular, thus clearly dissociating himself with the Muslims. He forwards his corrupt views and clearly insults the messenger of Allah by rejecting the Hadith of Beard in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. He also mocks at the hadith and plays it off as cultural norm. In fact, during his interview he refers to Muslims as "their messenger" - a number of times.

Ghamidi refers to "Muslims" and "their belief system", which clearly indicates that his belief system is not that of Sayyiduna Mustapha Muhammed Sallahu alayhi wa sallam. Otherwise, he would have kept a beard, because, in his own words the requirement of love is to emulate and follow a great personality. It is obvious that he does not consider the messenger of Allah as a great personality, nor does he feel the need to follow him. So, who is that great personality that he really follows in his heart? His words reveal a shocking conclusion, "....that which had nothing to do with 'Deen' (way of life) has been made a part of 'Deen' (Islam)...." Javed Ahmed Ghamidi abrogates the command of the messenger of Allah regarding beard, thus, advancing himself as the new "great" personality that should be 'followed'!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EzT829ZSp4