Islam is derived from the Arabic root "Salema": peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law. Everything and every phenomenon in the world other than man is administered totally by God-made laws,
Submission to the good will of God, together with obedience to His beneficial Law, ie, becoming a Muslim, is the best safeguard for man's peace and harmony.
Fears that dead are being unearthed without permission and graves reused to free space
Police have opened an investigation after a broken skull, a shoulder blade and leg-bones were among suspected human remains discovered lying uncovered in a cemetery.
The bones include a partial skeleton and were found at the privately owned Tottenham Park cemetery in north London by a group of campaigners who fear that graves are being dug up and reused without consent amid a nationwide shortage of burial space.
Three decades after Salman Rushdie’s novel ignited Muslim fury and shook the world, we’ve yet to learn the right lessons
Thirty years ago last week, Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses was published. Rushdie was then perhaps the most celebrated British novelist of his generation. His new novel, five years in the making, had been expected to set the world alight, though not quite in the way that it did.
The novel was, Rushdie suggested, both about “migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death” and “a serious attempt to write about religion and revelation from the point of view of a secular person”. At its heart was a clash of race, religion and identity that, ironically, prophesied the controversy that engulfed the novel and still shapes our lives today.
The Nasheed Hub, an initiative of SeekersHub Global, aims to showcase the traditional Islamic art of nasheed, or Islamic devotional songs.
Qasida Burda, Chapter 9
In this chapter, Imam al-Buṣirī expresses what he hopes to attain through the exquisite praise of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) which he has adorned this poem with: redemption. We learn of his deep remorse over the many wasted days, months, and years spent following his whims; and of the deceit experienced by those who exchange the permanent afterlife to gain the fleeting pleasures of the life of this world.
Imam al-Buṣīrī is full of confidence in the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) who never let anyone down. Never did someone hoping for his favour have his hopes dashed, nor did any of his neighbours leave without being honoured. How can he be let down, then, by the Messenger of Allah?
Throughout the decades and civilisations of Islam, the vocal tradition, sometimes known as nasheed or devotional songs, were penned as a way of celebrating and giving thanks to Allah for the message of Islam, as well as for the Messenger himself.
These nasheeds were a way for people to turn towards their Lord in joyful celebration, rather than stringent routine. They were also tools to spread the message of Islam in a non-confrontational way. These nasheeds were able to reach out to those who were alienated or indifferent to the religion and the Muslim community, as well as to teach children who were too young for academic study.
These nasheeds originating from all corners of the Muslim world – from West Africa to Malaysia, from Turkey to Great Britian – mirror their own culture but all carry a common thread: love of Allah and His Messenger.
This series will explore the different nasheeds, penned by some of the great historical Muslim figures, poets, and scholars.
Every year in August and September, millions of American children return to their classrooms for the new academic year. Within weeks, the entire school community marks one of the most significant moments in American history: the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Will schools’ service and remembrance projects of that tragic day knit together a community out of an increasingly religiously diverse country? Can education about Islam—and religion in general—move beyond platitudes on 9/11 toward a more robust education about the role of religion in social, political and cultural life?
Unfortunately, textbooks often exacerbate students’ prejudicially unfavorable view toward Islam and Muslims. One Georgetown University researcher found that world history textbooks in the United States often “[d]egrade Arabs and Muslims by situating them as foreign and antithetical to the American national narrative.” As Emma Green wrote in a 2015 article in the Atlantic, “In the absence of Muslim neighbors, it’s easier to see those who practice Islam as fundamentally foreign, and to elide their faith with violence.”
Amidst this toxic environment, is it possible to teach about Islam—or religion generally—in public schools? Yes. In fact, teaching about religion in public schools may be the most effective long-term strategy to combat bigotry against people of all religions and none. There is evidence that teaching about religion can decrease the ignorance and prejudice that fuel violence against religious minorities. One 2006 study found that students who completed a required high-school religious studies course in Modesto, California “were more likely to express their support for the extension of basic religious liberties to all religious groups.” Significantly, the study found that the religious studies course “did not contribute to religious relativism or encourage students to change their religious beliefs.” Given this evidence, a civic education that lacks First Amendment compliant religious studies curricula should deeply concern all Americans.
If teaching about religion can effectively combat religious bigotry and prejudice, why don’t more schools prioritize education about religion? To answer this question, it is vital to understand at least part of the history of America’s longstanding debate about religion and education.
After the historic U.S. Supreme Court cases of Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)—which struck down government-written prayers and school-sponsored Bible recitations in public schools—educators struggled to balance the rights of students to freely exercise their religion, the non-establishment of a religion by school officials and the academic importance of teaching about religion. Amidst the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s, religious liberty and education advocates like Dr. Charles Haynes sought to provide safe harbor for teachers fearful of litigation by creating consensus statements related to religion and education. Signed by educators, administrators and religious and civil society organizations from across the political, religious and ideological spectrum, these consensus statements answer frequently asked questions about the religious freedom rights of teachers, students, parents and religious communities in public schools. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education distributed five of these documents—including the popular reference, A Teacher’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools—to every school in the nation.
Despite Haynes and his colleagues’ efforts to protect religious liberty in schools, mainstream education organizations at the turn of the millennium paid little attention to the importance of the cultivation of religious literacy. After September 11, 2001, that situation changed.
By 2007, two high-profile books by Stephen Prothero and Diane Moore called attention to the woeful state of religious literacy education. Their claims were backed by a 2010 study from the Pew Research Center, which found that Americans on average could only answer 50% of general knowledge questions about religion. That same year, the American Academy of Religion, the largest professional association for religious studies scholars, released guidelines for teaching about religion in schools. Education about religion began to trickle into public school curricula.
Last year, the floodgates opened: The National Council for the Social Studies, the largest professional association of social studies educators, issued its official guideline for the academic study of religion in K-12 social studies instruction in their College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework. As the most widely used reference point for states developing social studies standards, the inclusion of religious studies in the C3 will have a profound effect on the social studies education landscape.
Fortunately, a variety of training opportunities and curricular resources exist for schools and districts committed to implementing the best practices outlined in the C3. In recent years, educators and experts have written about tips, strategies and constitutionally appropriate ways to teach about religion in public schools. The Freedom Forum Institute’s Religious Freedom Center offers free, online professional development modules on religious studies for K-12 educators called Constitution2Classroom. Washington, D.C.-based Newseum—also supported by the Freedom Forum, a non-partisan foundation—offers case studies and lesson plans on First Amendment freedoms and Islam in America through NewseumEd. Organizations like the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding have developed trainings and curricula for educators.
Religiously affiliated organizations have also stepped up to meet the need for religious literacy training and classroom resources for educators. The California-based Islamic Networks Group launched the Interfaith Speakers Bureau in 2007 in part to “[f]ulfill the growing demand for education about world religions in public institutions.” The Hindu American Foundation and the Sikh Coalition both offer teachers training and classroom resources on their respective religious traditions. All three organizations—with expertise in Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism—are engaged in this work not only out of commitment to constitutional principles but also out of necessity due to the illiteracy and ignorance-fueled bullying faced by students of minority religious traditions. Religious literacy education should be of serious concern particularly for educators in religiously diverse districts as well as members of minority religious communities.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding made a compelling case for religious literacy education in its 2015 report, “Meeting the Needs of Generation 9/11; Strengthening Religious Literacy.” Based on recommendations from a convening of education experts, the report suggests that American Muslim youth “may not be gaining a broad foundational understanding of their non-Muslim peers’ religious traditions and heritages in school” and “are not equipped to address the ignorance, intolerance, fear, and hate of Islam resulting from broader religious illiteracy, nor are they able to find the answers to their own questions on Islam.”
Despite the challenges ahead for religious literacy advocates, there is reason for hope. Seventeen years after the 9/11 attacks, there is a marked difference in how families, communities and educators are thinking about the role of religion in public schools. Many religious and cultural centers are at the forefront of education efforts. The Islamic Center of Nashville hosts visiting students and educators for religious literacy sessions about Islam and Muslims. The International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson, Mississippi provides local public school educators with resources based on its exhibit on the intellectual heritage of Islamic civilizations in West Africa, connecting these themes to the struggles for civil rights and human dignity in U.S. history.
As more religious communities and educators explore ways to better equip students with a foundational education in religious studies, it is of critical importance that we build on the work of these trailblazers and take full advantage of the standards and guidelines that provide a constitutionally sound path forward.
This post was co-authored by Usra Ghazi and Benjamin Marcus, the religious literacy specialist at the Freedom Forum Institute’s Religious Freedom Center.
The Living Green Series takes us through our responsibilities towards green living and environmental stewardship. In this segment, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani explains why we all have a responsibility to be stewards of the earth.
Stewardship a necessary part of living in this world. We are actually commanded to work towards justice to everything around us, and we have been given the moral ability to do so.
Allah commands us in the Qur’an:
Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded. (16:90)
Justice entails giving everything its due, whether it be other humans, plants, and animals. The Prophet Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, would give names to his tools and household objects, signifying that he had a relationship with them.
Muslims have an overarching commitment to environmental protection, and are called to have a good balance with everything in our daily lives. This includes doing things like avoiding waste, knowing that small amounts of waste and extravagance are disliked, while gross waste is sinful.
It also involves having a commitment to do well in work, studies, and family and social life, but not be excessively attached to them. This balance involves being in a position where we seek the good for ourselves, while still seeking good for others. We do this while being mindful of Allah, and doing everything with the intention of reaching Him.
About the Series
What is the place of green and environmental stewardship in Islam? How does the Qur’an view concern for the environment? What is your responsibility towards the environment? Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin and Shaykh Ali Hani answer these are other critical questions by citing several prophetic traditions emphasising environmental consciousness and awareness.
Alhamdulillah, through your support and the diligent work of our entire SeekersHub Global team, we are launching our online portal in the Arabic language.
While we refer to it internally as “SeekersHub Arabiyya,” its formal name is Al Ma‘had Nur al Huda al ‘Alami li’l Ulum al Shar‘iyya.
The full services of SeekersHub will also be offered in the Arabic language, including:
(a) full online courses (launching with 13, in a range of subjects—Arabic grammar, Islamic beliefs, logic, Islamic law, and more);
(b) on-demand courses (launching with ten);
(c) podcasts with a range of scholars;
(d) daily blog of knowledge and guidance from some of the top living Islamic scholars.
Featuring Some of the Top Living Islamic Scholars
Alhamdulillah, some of the top Islamic scholars from around the Muslim world are participating in SeekersHub Arabiyya, including:
(1) Habib Umar bin Hafiz (Tarim, Yemen)
(2) Shaykh Abd al Karim Tattan (Syria/UAE)
(3) Shaykh Akram Abd al Wahhab (Mosul, Iraq)
(4) Shaykh Hassan al Hindi (Damascus, Syria)
(5) Shaykh Ali Hani (Amman, Jordan)
(6) Dr Essam Eido (Syria; USA)
(7) Shaykh Muhammad Abu Bakr Ba-Dhib (Shibam, Yemen; Toronto, Canada)
(8) Habib Hussein al Saqqaf (UAE)
(9) Shaykh Muhammad Awwama (Syria; Turkey)
(10) Habib Muhammad al Saqqaf (Saudi)
… and many more, Insha Allah.
Making This Knowledge and Guidance Available in English
It is our plan to offer much of this incredible content in English, as well, as part of growing SeekersHub Global into a truly “Global Islamic Seminary.”
Please pray for the success of the SeekersHub Arabiyya project (trial launching at www.SeekersHub.org/ar this Friday, with official launch on Monday, InshaAllah).
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
Haramain railway connecting Mecca and Medina part of plan to increase visitor numbers
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has inaugurated a high-speed rail link between the two holiest cities in Islam, part of efforts to boost tourism as the country seeks to shed dependence on oil exports.
The 280-mile (450-km) Haramain railway connecting Mecca and Medina with the Red Sea city of Jeddah cost £6bn ($7.87bn) and is one of the largest transport projects in the Middle East, targeting nearly 60 million passengers annually. Commercial operations are due to begin next week.
Our praises due to Allah who has revealed the scripture unto his servant and has made no crookedness therein. (Sura al Kahf 18:1)
Allah Most High has blessed us to live in interesting times, as they say. One of the characteristics of our time, speaking specifically of this land that we reside in, is the despair that we see. That despair can be measured by what collectively are referred to as the diseases of despair: drug addiction, alcoholism, suicide, depression.
In terms of drug addiction, just discarding other forms of drugs, every day in this country, there are 170 fatal overdoses from opioids alone – heroin, morphine, percocet, oxycontin – the whole family of opioids. One hundred and seventy.
Were it not for Narcan which revives overdose victims, maybe it would be eight hundred a day, because for every one who fatally overdoses seven or eight are revived who would otherwise fatally overdose.
The Ravages of Despair
There are 241 alcohol consumption related deaths every day in this country. Just consumption. Excluding alcohol-related deaths, most fatal fatalities from auto accidents, the majority are alcohol-related. Most killings in domestic violence are alcohol-related. Maybe not most. A large percentage. But excluding all of that, 241 who die from overconsumption of alcohol every day.
There are 123 suicides every day. Almost 4,000 suicide attempts every day, which means that there are far more, because a lot of suicide attempts aren’t reported to the authorities. Increasingly large numbers of our children who should be the most hopeful find themselves dead as a result of suicide. Diseases of despair.
You see Muslims increasingly falling into many of these categories which indicates two things. One is a ignorance of our religion, because one who has knowledge of this religion understands that this is the antidote to despair: the anti-despair medicine.
The other is weakness of faith, which means there might be knowledge of the religion, but that knowledge hasn’t penetrated to the depths of the heart, so that it affects the hearts in ways that insulate the individual from the ravages of despair.
Understanding of Religion
We should understand. Understanding is very important. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, says: “The one Allah desires good for, He gives him or her a sound understanding of the religion.” We can mention a balance of the hadith because it has benefit in it.
It was related from Mu‘awiya, Allah be pleased with him, who said, “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, says: ‘The one Allah desires good for, He gives him or her a sound understanding of the religion. I dispense the Revelation, it is Allah who gives understanding.’”
So the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, gives it freely to everyone but Allah causes those seeds that he, Allah bless him and give him peace, spreads out to take root in some hearts. “And there will always remain from this community of believers a party, a group, who will establish their affair on the basis of the commandment of Allah.” (Bukhari)
What the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, is telling us is that understanding translates into action. The foundation of our action is establishing our affair on the commandment of Allah. People are rejecting their traditional religious teachings. As people increasingly turn to atheism and that’s part and parcel of the crisis of despair.
Atheism and Meaninglessness
There’s no coincidence that as atheism goes up suicide goes up, because atheism is telling a human being that you’re no different from this […] this minbar I’m standing on. You are no different than these walls. You’re no different than a fly. You’re no different then feces or urine. You’re just physical stuff.
If a human being comes to believe that he or she is just physical stuff, there’s no relationship to a higher power, there’s nothing to hope for beyond the demise of this physical body, why not commit suicide? Why not end it all? There’s nothing beyond this to hope for. That’s one of the reasons you see this upward trajectory.
The believers must hold on to the commandment of Allah. The believers must hold as lawful that which our Lord through his Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, has declared to be lawful. And the believer must maintain and hold on to what our Lord through his Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, directly from Revelation, which came through the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, or through his Sunna, have declared to be unlawful.
The lawful is unambiguously clear. The unlawful is unambiguously clear. Between those two are doubtful matters. Most people don’t know their rulings. There are people who want to make that which is unambiguously clear from the mutashabihat in terms of its lawfulness, and that which is unambiguously clear in terms of its unlawfulness, amongst the doubtful matters.
Adhere to The Book and The Sunna
Well, we need to reassess this. 1,400 years of Islam and scholarship from some of the most brilliant minds to ever walk this planet couldn’t figure out how Muslims are supposed to dress? 1,400 years of scholarship with clear unambiguous evidence, scriptural evidence, couldn’t figure out who Muslims should go to bed with?
We need to reassess? No, we need to adhere to the Book of Allah and the Sunna of his Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, and die upon that and pass it on to our descendants. If we do that, we’ve done our job. If we fail to do that, there’s going to be more suicides. There’s going to be more alcoholism. There’s going to be more drug overdoses, because people will be lost.
The prophets were sent to guide people. And this Umma, the scholars of this Umma are the heirs of the prophets. And their communities are the community of believers in this world. They will establish their affair on the commandment of Allah. They will not be harmed by those who oppose them until the command of Allah.
Some scholars say [the command] is the emergence of the dajjal. Some scholars say it is the wind that will blow at the end of time and take the souls of the believers. Most scholars say it is Doomsday. They won’t be harmed.
Hold on to Your Inheritance
Our task, brothers and sisters, if you want to be safe and you want to be sound, make sure you’re in that group. Ibn Hajar al Askalani says it could be one group in one place, but most likely it is many groups. There’s some here, there’s some there. Some in America. Some in Africa. There’s some in Asia. There’s some in Europe.
This is a source of mercy, not just for us but for the world. As we said, the world, this country and the world in general, is being besieged by despair and hopelessness. We are the people of hope. Not foolish optimism, but the people of Hope.
We are the people of prophetic guidance and prophetic guidance brings clarity. We are the people of mercy. One of the reasons a lot of Muslims are so downcast and gloom-struck in our day and times is because they believe the lives of people who profit from their being no source of hope for people.
There are people that profit from that and say, “Oh, you Muslims, you have no mercy and compassion in your heart.” And Muslims start believing that. You want to know no compassion? No compassion are people who would sell nine million narcotic pills in a small town in Appalachia.
The Invention of Falsehoods
Prescribe nine million knowing this is going to addicting entire population. Where is the mercy in that? Then the people are dropping like flies from overdoses. Where is the mercy in that? Where is the mercy in fabricating enemies for the sole purpose of feeding a war machine that’s financed by 700 billion dollars of our tax money to keep the factories making bombs?
Inventing enemies in this country to keep this a machine of Islamic hate going. They’re stealth jihad. They’re taking over. Taking over what? “The Muslim Brotherhood’s taking over Congress and the Senate and our institutions.” Well, they’re doing a terrible job. there are 535 congressmen and 100 senators; 435 representatives.
There are zero Muslim senators and one Muslim congressman. Zero out of 100 and one out of 435 and that’s stealth jihad. That’s a merciless scheme to demoralize the community, to villainize and demonize the community, for the sole purpose of making money. They’re financed by tens hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s an industry.
Where is the mercy? Right now, this hurricane, the winds died down, but the rain is coming. And they have open lagoons of pig manure and pig fetuses and pig blood from these hog farms next to African-American communities. Poor people who can’t go anywhere. They’re going to flood over. Even without flooding the spraying in the air coats their houses. They can’t breathe the air. People have respiratory problems. They have to breathe that garbage.
And the North Carolina legislature banned a bill that would even declare this a harmful practice. Where’s the mercy in that? You go up and down the ledger, there’s no mercy. There’s total exploitation of people.
Industrialized Despair
They won’t even give you a meal. You can fly on Ethiopian Airlines – one of the poorest countries in the world – you can fly from Addis Ababa to […]; they give you a hot meal, a hot towel to clean your hands with, for a two-hour flight. You fly from New York City to Los Angeles, five and a half hours, you’re lucky if you get a bag of pretzels.
When you got on the plane, the sky cab, the company is going to take their tips. Where is the mercy in all that? And they’ll tell you, “Muslim, you’re not merciful.” And then you believe it and get all demoralized. Stand up! Be proud to be a Muslim. Don’t hang your head. Don’t give those people the satisfaction of demoralizing you. Thieves and killers.
A lady, Beth Macy, wrote a book about this whole opioid epidemic recently [Dopesick] and the subtitle: “[…] the [drug] company that addicted America.” Purdue Pharma, responsible for tens of thousands of dead Americans and no one went to jail. Tens of thousands of dead people, millions of addicts, and to misdemeanor charges for false advertisement, because they said this stuff isn’t abusive.
Pure morphine repackaged is not abusive. So when the abuse rate was almost a hundred percent, “Oh, we’re guilty.” Misdemeanor on two of their executives. No one goes to jail. But all these little people, not selling heroin, selling marijuana on the street corner, are going to jail feeding this prison industrial complex. Where is the mercy in that?
Never Despair of Allah’s Mercy
And you, demoralized, believe your religion has no mercy. “Oh, my servants who are going to excess in terms of abusing the rights of their soul.” This is addressed of people who are idolaters. What does Allah say about the idolator? Allah doesn’t forgive that partners are joined with him, but he forgives any sin other than that to whomsoever he pleases. But if that idolator repents, then Allah says, even if you are an idolater, “do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins.” (Sura al Zamar 39:53)
Allah forgives the idolater. Allah forgave the man who killed 100 people. Allah forgives people. One man came, long story short, and mention his sin and he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do that to atone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, he started laughing and said, “Just scram. Get out of here.” Allah bless him and give him peace.
Your sin is one against you. You do a good deed and it’s immediately multiplied ten times. Seven thousand. Seventy thousand. Seven million. Allah is Rahim and Karim. How hard do you have to work to go to hell, if that’s how things are reckoned? One sin is one against you.
The Reason for Hope
Even if you conspire to sin and then you leave it, then it’s credited as a good deed. Leaving a bad deed is a good deed. You know, I’m gonna do this and that, masha Allah. I get home, get dressed, go call up someone. I’m gonna go visit and we’re gonna go out and … “astaghfir Allah, that’s totally haram.” That’s the good.
You left the bad deed, it’s a good deed. Don’t you say you’re a sinner. Leaving the bad deed is a good deed and so the cycle kicks in. How hard does one have to work to go to hell? This is the mercy of Allah Most High. Allah forgives all sins. What did you do? Just repent to Allah and Allah will forgive you.
Why do you have no hope? Why are you despairing of Allah’s mercy. If those are the odds and if this is the mercy of Allah, then it’s rightfully said, “It is only a disbelieving people that despair of Allah’s mercy.” (Sura Yusuf 12:87)
So believers, never despair of Allah’s mercy. Don’t walk around here in a state of doom and gloom. Lift up your head, smile in the face of your your fellow believer. Smile in the face of everybody: the ordinary people. Spread peace, spread greetings of peace to people. Feed people.
“Oh, Messenger of Allah, what is the best manifestation of Islam, the most virtuous manifestation of Islam?” “That you feed people and greet people, those you know and those you don’t know.” Our sister, in the Rainbow Rec Center, just feeding people for 20-something years. Every Saturday. It’s one of the best manifestations of Islam.
And greet people those you know and those you know not. You should be a greeting machine. Everyone you pass:
– Assalam alaykum, how you doing? Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhaban.
– What does that mean?
– That means, Hey, you’re welcome. You’re like my family.
– Really? No one ever said that to me.
– We Muslims. That’s how we roll.
Islam Is The Beautiful Religion
Pick your head up. This is a beautiful religion. Don’t despair. It’s not a believing characteristic. It’s a characteristic, as we said, of people who have no faith. Those are the people, unfortunately, falling into drugs, falling into despair, falling into suicide, falling into alcoholism. We’re the antidote. We should be going to people.
That’s why they want to demoralize the Muslims, so we don’t believe we have anything to offer anybody. “Who wants to listen to us? They all think we‘re a bunch of terrorists.” I’ll tell you who wants to listen to you, those hundreds of people every day who are taking their Shahada, all over this country. They don’t want to see that.
We have to organize ourselves to serve them. And to serve those people who aren’t Muslim. The sister feeding the people at the Rainbow Rec in East Oakland, most of those people aren’t Muslim, but they’re human beings and they have human needs.
We should be rising up and organizing ourselves to meet their needs and don’t let them politicize our religion. They’re willing to politicize it so they can frame the discussion and frame the way that they present Islam to people. No, we have to we have to spiritualize it. It’s not a political struggle.
This Is Not a Game
We. as Muslims, we do a disservice when we frame it like that, because we’re playing into their hands. It’s a spiritual struggle. It’s a struggle between truth and falsehood. It’s a struggle between people who want to victimize and exploit and destroy people, and people who want to give them life, and to give them hope, and to give them direction.
That’s the struggle and we have to keep it at that level, because that’s our strength. Everything else will take care of itself. The politics, the economics, will take care of themselves.
But if we become wrapped up into this political struggle the parameters of which have been defined by the enemies of Islam, we’ll never get to the spiritual and the people will never get the hope, because in their mind they’re looking at Islam through a frame that we as Muslims sometimes help to reinforce.
We have to frame the issue along the lines that play into our strengths. When you have one congressman and zero senators, politics is not our strength. I hope you understand that. You can hoop and holler all you want. But when those are the odds, I’m not saying there’s no politics in Islam, I’m saying that our struggle is a grassroots struggle.
Our struggle as a struggle to save people. Our struggle as a struggle to give people hope. Our struggle is a struggle to inspire people. Our struggle is a struggle to put people back in touch with their humanity. And when that happens to tens and hundreds of thousands of people, to millions of people, everything else will take care of itself. May Allah give us tawfiq.
We Are a Joyous People
Let me leave you with this verse, brothers and sisters. Allah Most High mentions in the Qur’an:
Say, [O Muhammad]: In the grace of Allah and in His mercy let them rejoice. It is better than anything they can gather [from this world.] (Sura Yunus 10:58)
We should be a joyous people. All this stuff has happened out there. Islamophobia and all this other stuff is happening. Depression, suicide, we went through the whole gamut and the first khutba. We still should be a joyous people, because we have faith in our heart, because we have belief in the Hereafter, because we know no matter how bad things get in this world, if we patiently persevere, if we struggle and we forge on, then we’re opening the gates for unimaginable bliss for the rest of eternity.
Eternal bliss. When we understand what eternity means, and we understand that everyone’s life in this world will end, young or old, rich or poor, black or white.
Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion. (Sura Aal Imran 3:185)
Life Begins in The Hereafter
Everyone is going to die. Everybody’s going to die and so our life really begins when we die – in the big scheme of things, in the greater scheme of things – and once we die the gate is opened to eternity. This world is finite. Paradise and Hell are eternal.
خالدين فيها
dwelling therein forever
خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا
dwelling therein forever and ever
Either Hellfire. Not forever and ever for believers, but who wants to experience a second of that? Or Janna [The Garden]. That’s what it’s all about. And Allah Most High, in giving us faith, has blessed us and placed us on a path to Janna.
We have to nurture our faith, and cultivate our faith, and rejoice in our faith. “Let them rejoice in this. I is better than anything anyone could gather from the world.” What does it mean that someone gets all the cars? They have the whole collection. They have the 1965 Mustang all the way up to their 2018 Tesla. They have them and everything in between. They got the Rolls Royce, they got the Lamborghini, you name it. They even got the Bugatti.
They got the whole lineup. They have the whole residential lineup. They have the condo at Lake Merritt. They have their chateau in the Rocky Mountains, in Aspen. They have their home in the Hamptons that they never get to. They have the whole line up from the condo to the chateau to the the house in the Hamptons. Check everything on the list. They got it.
Wardrobe. They have it all. From the alligator shoes to whatever you’re supposed, if you have money. They got it. In the house in the Hamptons they have horses they never ride. Because they never get over there. But they got the horses, too. They got the house and they got the horse.
Faith Is Proof of Allah’s Love
What does it mean if they don’t have faith? What does it mean that as soon as they get the house with the horses and they’ve checked the final check the final box on the list, they die? People are deceived into thinking all this means something.
“If this world meant to Allah as much as a gnat’s wing,” do you know how small a gnat is? If it meant a gnat’s wing “He wouldn’t have given an arrogant rejecter a single drop of water to drink.” (Tirmidhi) Allah gives it freely to whomsoever He pleases.
He gives it to the Muslim. He gives it to the person who’s not a Muslim. He gives it to the rich. He gives it to the black. He gives it to the white. He gives it to those who come who inherit it and those who get it because they can throw a ball in a basket. He gives it freely to whomever He pleases.
But He only gives faith to those He loves. That’s why the believer rejoices. May Allah give us faith that leads us to rejoice no matter what is happening in the world, because we can look beyond the world. We can look at something that transcends the world. We can look at something more valuable than the world and everything in it.
At a time when Islamophobic attacks are soaring, it’s despairing to see the BBC pander to dangerous stereotypes of hijab wearers
• WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
Frustratingly, right from the onset of the BBC’s hugely popular drama Bodyguard, we were bombarded with negative stereotypes of Muslim women. We first see a hijab-wearing woman hiding in the toilet of a busy train, about to detonate a vest she is wearing packed with bombs (stereotype one: Muslim woman as terrorist). It then transpires she is actually a victim who looks frightened and vulnerable while our hero steps in to save the day (stereotype two: the oppressed Muslim woman).
Shaykh Abd al Rahman ibn Abdullah Ba ‘Abbad hails from a tribe which has long been known for knowledge and piety in Hadramawt. The Ba ‘Abbad tribe trace its lineage to our master Uthman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.
His first teacher was his father, Shaykh Abdullah, who later directed him to Habib Umar ibn Hafiz to complete his spiritual instruction. His in depth legal training came at the hands of Habib Abd al Qadir ibn Salim Rawsh al Saqqaf, Mufti of Hadramawat. He also took knowledge from Habib ‘Abd al Qadir ibn Ahmad al Saqqaf and the other great scholars of his time.
Although still young in years, many people benefited from his wisdom and witnessed his beautiful character both in his home town of Al Ghurfah and in Yemen, the Middle East and South East Asia.
He contributed significantly to the renewal of traditional Islam in Hadramawt and students came from far and wide to study in the institute which he established and directed, Ribat al Is’ad, in his hometown, Al Ghurfah.
Those who attended the annual visit to the Prophet Hud, peace be upon him, will remember his powerful speeches in the mosque established by his illustrious ancestors, Masjid Ba ‘Abbad. He was always a voice of reason and moderation and helped to maintain unity among the tribes of Hadramawt. He expended all his efforts to prevent bloodshed during the current conflict in Yemen.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman was killed in a car crash in Oman on 12 Muharram 1440 (22 September 2018). May Allah raise his station and the station of Hasan ibn Muhammad Ba ‘Abbad who died alongside him and bless their loved ones with patience and contentment. His loss comes after the loss of his younger brother, Shaykh Muhammad, also a promising young scholar, in recent years.
May Allah enable his youngest brother, Shaykh Ma‘ruf to continue to carry the banner of the Prophetic legacy.
As the year 1439 came to a close, the Ummah lost one of its great men, Habib Abbas ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al Saqqaf, the most senior of the Ba Alawi scholars in Singapore.
Habib Abbas was born in Singapore in 1923. He studied the Islamic sciences with the principal scholars of the city, including two great jurists: Shaykh Umar bin Abdullah al Khatib and Qadi al Shihr Habib Shaykh bin Abdullah al Habashi. He then taught at a variety of places around Singapore.
The great caller to Allah, Habib Abd al Qadir al Saqqaf, indicated that Habib Abbas should establish gatherings of knowledge in his house and it duly became a focal point where the scholars and students of Singapore would gather.
The most frequented and well known of these gatherings was on Saturday morning in which the mawlid of Habib Ali al Habashi, Simt al Durar, was recited and a lesson in tasawwuf would be delivered. Any scholar visiting Singapore would make a point of visiting Habib Abbas. He passed away on 29th Dhu’l Hijjah 1439 (10th September 2018).
Let us heed his oft-given advice: always be humble, show respect to your elders and show respect to all, regardless of whether they rich or poor, beggars or government ministers.
May Allah raise Habib Abbas to the highest of stations and allow his legacy to live on.
In the first week of the Hijri New Year, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and Ustadh Amjad Tarsin offer reflections and advise us on how to benefit from this occasion.
Ustadh Amjad reflects on the hijra of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace and its applicability in our own lives. He mentiones how the Islamic New Year marks a turning point for Islam, when the Prophet made hijra, or migrated, from his native city of Mecca to the city of Medina. Although that time period is over, we are still called upon to make a spiritual hijra, where we migrate and move ourselves away from heedlessness, and begin to move closer to Allah. Our guide on this Hijra is none other than our Prophet Muhammad.
He advises us to begin this year with a sincere intention to draw closer to the Prophet, and learn more about him. We should aim to learn about him in a way that perfects our relationships with our family and those around us, rather than just a dry list of facts. In fact, we should intent to try to emulate him in every one of our dailty tasks. When we do this, even our small actions can become acts of worship.
Finally, he advises to set spiritual goals for 1440 AH, by resolving to become a better person by the time 1441 comes around.
Next, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani encourages us not to be afraid of making resolutions, thinking that we are full of shortcomings. Rather, we should know that our faults are an opportunity for us to get closer to Allah by overcoming ourselves. We are not responsible for attaining success, rather we are responsible for making an effort.
He closes by speaking about the event of Karbala and the martyrdom of Hussein, and how his sacrifice teaches us about love and commitment to Allah.
Here is a video in which you can learn Allah’s Remembrance and Praises. Repeat them often for lots of blessings from Allah. Click below to watch the video. — End
The Nasheed Hub, an initiative of SeekersHub Global, aims to showcase the traditional Islamic art of nasheed, or Islamic devotional songs.
Qasida Burda, Chapter 8
Imam al-Būṣīrī continues, in this chapter, to mention honours the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) was granted. Allah aided him with such might and bravery that he was the best protector of Islam. Enemies only had to hear of him before being immediately immersed in paralysing fear. His companions, eager to support him in all situations, are described as being the true mountains, due to their strength and fortitude. Those in doubt can go ask Ḥunayn, Badr, and Uḥud what bravery and resolve really are.
Indeed, even lions in their own den’s would retreat on facing a person whose aid is from the Messenger of Allah. Yet, his knowledge – despite being unable to read – and his excellent character – despite growing up an orphan in era of decadence – are more than enough to prove his greatness and prophethood.
Throughout the decades and civilisations of Islam, the vocal tradition, sometimes known as nasheed or devotional songs, were penned as a way of celebrating and giving thanks to Allah for the message of Islam, as well as for the Messenger himself.
These nasheeds were a way for people to turn towards their Lord in joyful celebration, rather than stringent routine. They were also tools to spread the message of Islam in a non-confrontational way. These nasheeds were able to reach out to those who were alienated or indifferent to the religion and the Muslim community, as well as to teach children who were too young for academic study.
These nasheeds originating from all corners of the Muslim world – from West Africa to Malaysia, from Turkey to Great Britian – mirror their own culture but all carry a common thread: love of Allah and His Messenger.
This series will explore the different nasheeds, penned by some of the great historical Muslim figures, poets, and scholars.
In this series, Shaykha Tamara Gray narrates the stories of great Muslim women through the centuries, who excelled in fields of Islamic knowledge, science, and philanthropy. This segment features Fatima bint Saad al Khayr from the 6th century.
Fatima bint Saad al Khayr was born in China to a family originally from Valencia in Islamic Spain. She grew in a home of great scholarship, and at age seven she was sitting in hadith circles as a serious student of knowledge. At age 19, she was an accomplished scholar, which indicates that perhaps she was a child prodigy.
After she got married, she moved to Damascus with her husband. He was a secretary to Nur al-Din Zenghi, the teacher and mentor of Salahuddin. She became a sought-after teacher in Damascus. and later moved to Cairo where students would travel to learn from her.
Fatima bint Saad al Khayr is an immense example of dedicating one’s life to the study of Sacred Knowledge.
This wasn’t the first time Evangelical leaders participated in the largest annual gathering of Muslims in the United States. The Islamic Society of North America Annual Convention has for many years included panel sessions, discussions and even celebratory events on interfaith relations with religiously diverse leaders. Perhaps because of the unique relationship between the current U.S. presidential administration and Evangelical leaders, and because of a heightened political climate of partisan and ideological divides, this was the first ISNA convention to feature multiple conversations about bridging these divides and a majority Evangelical panel, live recorded for a predominantly Christian podcast audience.
Neighborly Faith is an organization that seeks to help Evangelicals become better neighbors to people of other faiths. On September 6, 2018 Neighborly Faith partnered with America Indivisible, a national organization that addresses anti-Muslim bigotry by strengthening neighborly ties, to make the case for better Muslim-Evangelical relations directly to Muslims in Houston and Evangelical podcast listeners all over the country.
The panel, titled “Reaching Persuadable Americans: Why Engaging Conservatives Matters,” featured Neighborly Faith co-hosts Kevin Singer and Chris Stackaruk, Texas megachurch Pastor Bob Roberts Jr., president of Islamic Relief USA Anwar Khan, and Dalia Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. What was especially intriguing were the questions and comments during the Q&A. They provide a window into what everyday Muslim Americans are concerned about when it comes to their relationships with Evangelicals and conservatives. As we shuffled through the question cards, we noticed a couple of themes emerge.
Some Muslims Believe They Could Be Reaching Out More
Much to our surprise, we received several questions and comments insinuating that Muslims were as much to blame as Evangelicals for their fractured relationship. One guest wrote, “Sadly we Muslims are to blame for not reaching out to our neighbors and colleagues. Our weekends are saved to visit other Muslim families. Many of us are afraid to converse in languages other than ours, afraid to make mistakes. If it wasn’t for my Jewish friend at university correcting my English, I would not have become the Muslim that I am today, coming to an English language convention.”
Of course, this sentiment was not without challenge. Another audience member wrote, “I want to challenge the notion that the onus either singularly or jointly is on an oppressed person or people to get the person in power or the oppressor to accept them. The Islamophobia of White Evangelicals is a serious problem that hurts the country, that hurts Muslims and hurts White people. What does the church need to do to address its crisis? It has to be more than make friends.”
Frustrations with the Media
Audience members were also concerned that the news media might be undermining their relationship with Evangelicals, and some felt that Evangelicals could be doing more to correct misinformation and curb anti-Muslim bias coming from conservative media outlets. “The misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians are mainly propagated by the media,” one audience member explained. “Muslims are not well spoken of or well received by the media. Can the Christian pastors who are knowledgeable about Islam be the frontline defense of Muslims and start talking the truth about Islam and Muslims to the media?” Another question read, “How do you confront news media like Fox where talking negatively about Islam is the norm?”
One guest wondered if anti-Muslim sensationalism could be curbed with countermeasures from Evangelical allies: “My hats off to the Neighborly Faith initiative, and Pastor Bob’s courageous effort. A big challenge that is behind Islamophobia is mass media and social media. Anything sensational sells. How can your initiative do something sensational/out of the box to get media/social media attention in a positive direction?”
Challenges in the Trump Era
Several audience members described changes in their relationships with Evangelicals in the past few years. “Growing up in Texas as a minority, I have always had good relations with Evangelicals,” one audience member wrote. “But recently the new thought process is that it is not worth converting Muslims because of the hate, and they have no soul worth saving. What are your thoughts about this?” Another guest asked whether Evangelical Christianity is separable from “an aggressive U.S. foreign policy,” adding, “I feel much of the tension starts here.”
Still, audience members seemed genuinely curious about the prospect of improved relations with Evangelical Trump supporters. “What is the role (is there a role) in trying to engage Trump supporters?” one audience member asked. Another attendee even expressed sympathy for conservatives who are worried about their faith being mocked and removed from the public square, asking, “Can the shared experience of marginality be a basis for positive relationship?” This question is not necessarily a new one. Muslim thinkers have pondered over the ways that Evangelicals of the past paved the way for the Muslims of today to insert religion into public conversation and politics.
Puzzlement about Evangelical Behavior
Unsurprisingly, some of the questions and comments we received indicated a perceived contradiction between Evangelical faith commitments and Evangelical behaviors. One recalled a pastor in Florida who burns Qurans, perplexed that someone taught by their religion to love would do something so hateful. Another asked, “How do we reach those who identify as Evangelicals but do not practice what they preach?” One attendee admitted confusion over why someone claiming to be an expert in his religion, pastor or imam, would cite fear of being converted as a reason for withholding friendship.
Perhaps the most intriguing question we received was one that appreciated the complexities that conservative Evangelicals grapple with when considering whether to befriend Muslims. “Can you speak about the views among some Conservatives/Evangelicals that if you’re friendly to Muslims, you’re not a ‘real conservative?’ How are people like you balancing the desire to reach out, with your moral and political conservatism? Do you feel like you’re being pushed to be ‘less conservative’?”
Eagerness to Take Steps Forward
Though some audience members wrestled with their doubts and negative experiences, others expressed an eagerness to take steps toward Evangelicals and asked the panelists to give them practical tips for getting started. “Please tell us steps for ‘ordinary’ as in, not well-informed in religion, Muslims to approach conservatives and non-Muslims,” one card read. “What can Muslims (individuals, communities, etc.) do to stand up against hate?” and “How do we motivate Muslims to take the first step?” were also posed to the panel.
These themes, when taken together, suggest that American Muslims are negotiating between pessimism and optimism when considering the prospect of a shared future with American Evangelicals and political conservatives. Americans of Muslim and Evangelical faith are not monolithic and each community has its fair share of bad actors. Still, the 150-plus participants conveyed seeds of a willingness to seek forward progress if Evangelicals are willing to share the load. To that end, it is imperative that Evangelicals and Muslims realize this opportunity, to show good neighborliness through a posture of hospitality and love, and to invest their time and generosity in those who seek friendship.
Feature image courtesy of author. From left: Anwar Khan, Bob Roberts, Dalia Mogahed, Kevin Singer and Chris Stackaruk.
Kevin Singer and Chris Stackaruk are co-directors of Neighborly Faith, an initiative that seeks to help Evangelicals become better neighbors to people of other faiths.
features Fatima bint Saad al Khayr from the 6th century.