Revert Muslimah

"EVERY BID'AH LEADS ASTRAY"

2011-08-23T10:52:00.003-04:00

The following article was shared with me, and I found it to be very beneficial. InshAllah it helps you as well.

THE SAYING OF ALLAAH'S MESSENGER sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "EVERY BID'AH LEADS ASTRAY"

And you should be amazed at a people who recognise the words of Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "Beware of the newly-invented matters, for every such matter is a bid'ah and every bid'ah leads astray, and everything that leads astray is in the Fire," [Reported by Aboo Daawood, Tirmidhee and others, no. 2549 in Saheehul-Jaami' without, "... every thing that leads astray is in the Fire ...", and hadith no.28 in an-Nawawees Forty Hadith] and they know that his words, "...every bid'ah..." are complete, comprehensive and universal, being encompassed by the strongest grammatical particle used to make a noun universal and all-encompassing, i.e., kullu (which means everything), and (they know that) the one who used this word, may Allaah's salawaat and salaam be upon him, knew what this word indicated and he was the most eloquent of all (in the Arabic language) and he was the sincerest of the creation towards the creation. Hence he would not use a word unless its meaning was that which he intended. Hence (they know that) when the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "... every Bid'ah leads astray ..." he knew what he was saying and he knew its meaning and this saying of his eminated as a result of complete sincerity and concern for the Ummah.

(They know that) when these three characteristics were all present in his words, i.e., complete sincerity and good wishes, complete clarity and eloquence and complete knowledge and understanding -then it is clear that what he said was what he wanted to say in order to convey his desired meaning. So (you should be amazed, that such a people, after recognising all this) think that bid'ah can be of three or five categories? Can this be correct? Never! And what some scholars do claim is that there exists the good innovation. But if this is so, then they can only be referring to two cases:

(i) that it is not an innovation but they do consider it to be one, or

(ii) it is an innovation, and hence it is something evil, but they do not know of its evil.

(And these are the only two possibilities, bearing in mind that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "... every bid'ah leads astray ...")

THE SHARP SWORD AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF INNOVATION

So for everything that is used to claim that there exists a good bid'ah, then the answer for it is all the above. Thus there can be no room for the People of Innovation to claim that their innovations are good while we have in our hand the sharp sword that Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam gave us - i.e., his saying that "... every innovation leads astray." Indeed, this sharp sword was forged in the steel-works of Prophethood and Messengership. It was not forged in some second rate iron-mill, rather in the steelworks of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam forged it so eloquently, that anyone who has the likes of this sharp sword in his hand would never be dumb-founded by someone claiming that bid'ah is good, for the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said that, "...every bid'ah leads astray."

WHAT ABOUT THE SAYING OF 'UMAR radiallaahu 'anhu I AM PLEASED WITH THAT BID'AH?

Now I can sense that there is in your hearts a creeping doubt saying, 'But what about the words of the Chief of the Believers 'Umar bin al-Khattab radiallaahu 'anhu who succeeded in achieving something good when he ordered Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Tameem ad-Daaree to lead the people in prayer during Ramadaan. Hence he left having united the people behind a (single) Imaam, and so said, "I am happy with this innovation, but the part of the night they used to sleep through is better than the part they use to pray in." [Reported by al-Bukhaaree, (Eng. trans. vol. 3, p. 126, no.227).]

The reply to this is from two angles. Firstly, it is not permitted for anyone to oppose the saying of the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam by preferring the opinion of any other -be it the opinion of Abu Bakr who is better than anyone else in this ummah after its Prophet, or that of 'Umar who is the second best after its Prophet, or 'Uthmaan who is the third best after its Prophet, or 'Alee who is the fourth best after its Prophet or that of anyone else. As Allah, the Most High, says:

"So let those who oppose his (Muhammad's sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) command beware that they will be afflicted with a trial or a painful punishment." (24: 63)

Imaam Ahmad rahimahullaah said, 'Do you know what the trial mentioned here is? The trial is shirk - perhaps when someone opposes the Prophet's saying, some deviation may affect his heart such that he will be destroyed.' And Ibn Abbaas radiallaahu 'anhu said, 'Stones are about to be sent down from the sky! I say that, 'Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said so and so ...' while you reply with what Aboo Bakr and 'Umar said!'

Secondly, we know for certain that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab radiallaahu 'anhu was one of the strongest in glorifying the Words of Allaah and His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam and he was famous for halting short of the limits laid down by Allaah, the Most High. To the extent that he was attributed with being a warden and safe-guard of the Speech of Allaah, the Most High.

So can this innovation be that which Allaah's Messenger was referring to when he said that "... every innovation leads astray ..."? No. Rather it can be said with certainity that this innovation about which 'Umar said, 'I am pleased with this innovation ...' falls outside what was intended by Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam when he said, "... every bid'ah leads astray." Thus when 'Umar said, 'I am pleased with this innovation ...' he was referring to the effect - that the people had gathered together behind one Imaam while before that, they were (praying) in separate groups. And this praying (behind a single Imaam) during Ramadhan had its origin from the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, as is proven from that which is reported by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from 'Aa'ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam led the people in prayer for three nights and then hesitated doing so on the fourth night, saying, "Indeed I feared that it would become obligatory upon you, but you would not be able to cope with that." [Reported by Bukhaaree (Eng. trans. vol.1, no.696) and Muslim (Eng. trans. vol.1, no.1666].

Thus performing the night prayer in Ramadaan as a single Jamaa'ah is from the Sunnah of the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and 'Umar radiallaahu 'anhu referred to it as a 'bid'ah' considering the fact that after the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam had left leading the prayer, the people became separated such that one person would he praying alone, and elsewhere two would be praying together, and somewhere else three would be praying in Jamaa'ah. So throughout the mosque there were people praying alone and in groups, so 'Umar, the chief of the Believers, had the idea - and this idea was perfectly correct - to gather the people to pray behind a single Imaam. So this action was an innovation in the sense that it was new and different to how the people were before, i.e., praying in separate groups. Hence this bid'ah was relative and subjective - not original and absolute, being set up by Umar radiallaahu 'anhu, as this sunnah was there during the time of the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam So it indeed was a Sunnah (not a bid'ah), which had been abandoned since the time of the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, until Umar radiallaahu 'anhu revived it.

As a result of all this, it should never be possible for the People of Innovation to use this saying of 'Umar as a way to condone their bid'ah.

WHAT ABOUT THE SAYING OF THE PROPHET sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam "WHOEVER ENACTS A GOOD SUNNAH ..."?

What if someone asks: How do you respond to what the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said i.e., "Whoever enacts a good sunnah into Islam, he will get the reward of it and of all those who act upon it up to the Day of Judgement," with the verb Sanna (i.e., 'enact') meaning Shara'a i.e., to introduce or to prescribe?

The reply to this is: Who is the one who said, "Whoever enacts a good sunnah into Islaam ... ?" He is the same one who also said, "... every bid'ah leads astray." It is not possible for a phrase to eminate from someone who is truthful and proven to be truthful, such that it would deny and negate another phrase of his, and it is absolutely impossible for any speech of Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam to be self-contradictory, nor is it possible to refute any particular meaning by claiming it to be contradictory. Whoever thinks that the words of Allaah's Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam are self-contradictory, then let him look again, for indeed this kind of thought eminates from a person possessing thoughts that are either deficient or limited. Indeed it is completely impossible that one would find a contradiction in the words of Allaah, the Most High, or that of His Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

If this is so, then it should be clear that the hadith, "... every innovation leads astray ..." does not contradict the hadith "Whoever enacts a good sunnah into Islaam ..." for the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Whoever enacts a good sunnah into Islaam...," while innovations are not from Islaam. And he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said "... a good sunnah ..." while innovation is not good. So he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam made a distinction between enacting a Sunnah on the one hand and enacting an innovation on the other.

In any case, there is a reply that no one should have a problem with - that the meaning of, "Whoever enacts a sunnah ..." is, 'Whoever revives a sunnah that was present and then was lost.' Therefore it means that a matter has been revived, and thus in this way "... enacting a sunnah ..."is relative and secondary just as (in the case of 'Umar, where his use of) the word bid'ah (innovation) was relative and secondary in the sense that it involved the revival of a sunnah that had been abandoned.

There is even a second reply that can be given: That is the background of the whole hadith, for it is a story concerning the tribe that came to see the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam while being in exceptionally difficult circumstances. So the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam urged that donations be given to them, and hence one man form the Ansaar came forward with a bag of silver in his hand which was almost too heavy for him to carry. He placed it down before the Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam This made the face of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam glow with joy and happiness and so he said, "Whoever enacts a good sunnnah into Islaam will have the reward of it and the reward of oil those who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection." So we have here that the meaning of " ... enacting a sunnah ..." means to enact an action in the sense of implementing it and not in the sense of setting up a new thing into the sharee'ah. Hence the meaning of his sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam saying, "Whoever enacts a good sunnah into Islaam ..." turns out to be, 'Whoever acts upon a good sunnah in the sense of implementing it as opposed to introducing a new thing in the sharee'ah,' for that would be prohibited as he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "... every bid'ah leads astray."

Money for Metta

2011-06-08T21:44:00.001-04:00

Some of you may know our friend Metta. She is in need of financial help and I'm asking for donations. Please give anything you can. JazakAllah Khair

Almost 5 years, alhamdulilah!

2011-06-02T17:01:00.003-04:00

Its been almost 5 years since I accepted Islam. In late August of 2006 I took my shahada. A lot has happened since then. Good and bad, but I trust that Allah has chosen a path for me that will not be more than I can bear.

When I first accepted Islam, nothing really changed for me. I didn't change the way I dressed at all. Still had the mini skirts and low cut shirts. I had already given up pork and alcohol, so I didn't have to do anything with that, and I knew I was supposed to be praying, but I had no idea what to do.

As I started to learn more about my new faith, I made changes in the way I lived, dressed and interacted with others. I started to wear long sleeves and long skirts, I was careful about what I said, and I started to TRY to learn to pray. Our first Ramadan we fasted (although I'm sure we did lots of things wrong), and we tried to pray taraweeh on our own. I didn't get to the masjid until January of the following year and when I did I was so nervous.

Once I started going to classes at the Masjid, things started to change quickly for me. I met other Muslim women who were so nice and helpful. They taught me how to pray, and they taught me the basics of Islam. I started to read more books and ask more questions. With every passing day I felt more comfortable acting, and dressing like a Muslim. I didn't make the changes in my life because someone told me to, but because I understood why I should make them and I wanted to do it. Everything made sense, and it was all clicking.

Meanwhile, I did make some bad choices about forums and the Internet. The Internet is not the place to learn Islam. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great resources, but you can get so confused by the information that it can be overwhelming. As for Islamic forums.... I really can't say that they are good for anyone. At first, it is great because you can find others that are asking questions just like you are, and then there are all of the 'great' answers you get. WRONG. Depending on what forum you go on, you will get everything from super mush to super strict, and neither are any help. People will make the haram halal and the halal haram. You will find that people will insult each other to make a point, or get angry when the truth is presented. Its an emotional roller coaster that is best avoided. I did meet lots of great people on forums and have kept connections with some of them.... others, were not so great and to this day continue to hold a grudge about things that happened years ago.

When someone becomes very passionate about something, they can make pretty big mistakes when defending what they believe. I am totally guilty of that. I was not very subtle or gentle on forums. At the time, I could not understand why anyone would think differently than I did about Islam. To me, it was very black and white, and there was no grey. I still don't really see grey, but I do understand how some people can, and I've learned to either be more gentle about it, or just leave it alone.

I guess the whole point of this post is to say that the best way for ME to learn about Islam is through books, classes and people that I trust. Not the Internet or forums. That has been made overly clear to me lately and I thought I needed to get it out there. I made mistakes in the past, and I can admit that. Inshallah others can get over the past and move on as well.

Useful ruling on Gelatin

2011-04-17T13:26:00.004-04:00

Recently at the school I work at an issue came up where some of the teachers told the parent group that they could not serve certain yogurt because it contained kosher gelatin. They said that even when it says its kosher it might not be and is haram. These sisters are from the Sufi masjid, and have caused fitnah like this before. 2 years ago it was that Capri Sun juice boxes were also haram because one of the flavorings had a carrier that is produced using alcohol... no clue what that meant or how they know that, but if it isn't on the ingredients I don't worry about it.

In any case, I was very bothered by this accusation that we were eating haram yogurt, so I did some research and I found this ruling on gelatin by Sheikh Albaani.

Bismillahi wa salaatu wa salaamu 'alaa rasulillah,

(Taken entirely from a dars given by Sh. Muhammad Bazmool, translated by Moosa Richardson and a fatwa given by Sh. al-Albaani)

Istihala is when something becomes pure. It was najis (impure) but it is now taahir (pure). A good example would be maitah (animal carcass): it is najis, but should it be burned and become ashes, or decompose and become earth, then it is taahir, it is no longer najis. This can happen with dung or feces or whatever. Whenever something changes from one property to another, then the ruling likewise changes.

Example: Let us say that someone uses the fat of a dead animal to make soap. That fat is najis, but the chemical change that it was put through makes it taahir.

Ibn Hazm put it concisely when he said,

"Ruling upon an object is upon what it is named (what it is), if the name (what it is) changes then so does the ruling."

He also mentioned in his book of fiqh, Al-Muhalla: "If the quality of the substance of naturally impure objects changes the name which was given to it so that it is no more applicable to it and it is given a new name which is given to a pure object, so it is no more an impure thing. It becomes a new object, with a new rule."

Meaning that if the natural composition of a substance changes to another substance of a different composition, so much so that you can no longer call the new substance by the name of what it was-- ruling upon that substance changes too.

Proof/Example 1:

The companions (radyallahu anhum) used to eat a cheese that came from the land of the disbelievers. In that cheese was a part of the calf which was slaughtered by the disbelievers in a way that is not in accordance with Islaam. The companions knew this, but they also knew that the prohibition was upon the calf, what is directly from the calf, and what could be properly called part of the calf; the ruling is not upon that which you cannot identify as part of the calf nor is it called any longer such-and-such part of the calf. This is called istihala.

Proof/Example 2:

Another proof from the Sunnah: The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) forbade making vinegar out of wine, but he said that if you should come across vinegar that has been made from wine then it is halaal.

Why?

The ruling is upon what the object is, and not what it was. Wine is haraam; vinegar is not, and before the wine became an intoxicant, it was halaal. Why? Because it was fruit before that.

Proof/Example 3:

Allah says in the Qur'an:

"And surely there is a lesson for you in the cattle we give you to drink of what is in their bellies from between the feces and blood, pure milk, wholesome to those who drink it." (16:66)

Allah is putting forth an example for us of how something pure can come from something impure.

And we can also use as proof something that we've already gone over. The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said that when the hide of maitah (the carrion) is tanned, then it is taahir. He (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) gave us a method to purify something which was first impure.

Let us examine things we are familiar with: mono and diglycerides, whey, gluten, emulsifiers, gelatin, and whatever else is on the international haraam list. These by-products sometimes come from animals, pigs even, in which case the ruling on the initial substances is that they are haraam. But the initial substances (e.g. fat, marrow, cartilage, etc.) are put through chemical change so that you no longer can even call it "pig fat" or "animal bone" or "skin" or "cartilage", etc. because it is no longer that, hence it is taahir, it is halaal.

What is gelatin? As Oxford dictionary of science defines: "A colorless or pale yellow, water-soluble protein obtained by boiling collagen with water and evaporating the solution. It melts when water is added and dissolves in hot water to form a solution that sets to a gel on cooling." (page 290)

Is this a chemical change or is this not a chemical change? Is it protein any longer? No, it is not.

You are in disbelief so you ask, "But how can it be halaal when it came from something haraam?"

Because of the proofs mentioned above, the ruling is not based upon what it was, the ruling is based upon what it is. A Hanafi scholar, Ibn Abedin gave the example: "the swine which drowns in a salt lake and decomposes and becomes salt itself, is now halaal."

And other Hanafi scholars go on to say: "salt is different from meat and bones. If they become salt, they are salt."

To take the salt example further: salt consists of sodium chloride (NaCl) when together they are the halaal food known as salt, when separated they make up two poisonous substances which are then haraam for consumption.

The ahnaaf (Hanafis) also use as an example the human semen, saying that it is najis, then when it inseminates the egg and becomes a blood clot it is still najis, but when it becomes flesh it is no longer najis. And the ahnaaf are not the only ones who take this position.

The examples are numerous and they extend beyond food: Yesterday a man was kaafir and going towards Hell, today he is Muslim, so what is the ruling upon him? It is based upon what he is today.

We must be careful when we call things haraam because it is a form of thulm (oppression). Scholars have said that it is worse that you make something halaal to haraam rather than making something haraam to halaal. This deen Allah has made yusr (easy) let us not make it 'usr (hard). Wallahu 'Alim.

For me, this cleared up a lot of things. What are your thoughts on it?

"The meaning has changed for me"

2010-12-15T19:45:00.004-05:00

"The meaning has changed for me".... have you heard this before? I mostly hear or read this when Muslims are trying to justify celebrating holidays other than the 2 Eids. Aside from the following hadith telling us that we only celebrate Eid... just about every other holiday that is out there has some sort of pagan, religious or evil origin.

Anas (ra), a companion of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) reported that when the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) migrated from Makkah to Madinah, the people of Madinah used to have two festivals. On those two days they had carnivals and festivity. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked the Ansaar (the Muslims of Madinah) about it. They replied that before Islam they used to have carnivals on those two joyous days. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told them: 'Instead of those two days, Allah has appointed two other days which are better, the days of Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha.'

Lets take Thanksgiving for example. From a very young age, Americans are duped into thinking that Thanksgiving was a day that the pilgrims and Native Americans came together for a feast. The real story goes a little something like this:

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

You can read more here if you like: http://www.manataka.org/page269.html

So back to my point. Even if you share this information with some, they will tell you that it does not mean that to them and its all about family and food. So lets create an imaginary holiday with a similar history and see how it sounds.

Victory Day is celebrated through out La La Land. Long ago, brave fighters from La La Land rode thousands of miles on horseback to a far away land called Splovia. The LaLa soldiers were on a mission and they plundered, killed, raped and burned their way through Splovia. It was said that Splovians were evil and wicked people. The blood ran in the streets of Splovia like rivers. When the battles were over, the King of La La Land declared the mission accomplished and the first Victory day was celebrated by burning a final village of Splovians to the ground and stringing up the bodies for all to see. In modern times, Victory day is celebrated with huge feasts and red and white flags flying. Families travel long distances to see each other and even exchange Victory candles. No one really thinks too much about the murderous past of the day because its 'All about family and food'.

How about we replace La La Land with Europe and Splovia with the 'Holy Land'. Now we have the crusades. Should we celebrate that? I mean come on!!??? It isn't about a murderous rampage... its about family and food! right?

Perhaps my little scenario is far fetched, but when I do my research on most holidays it amazes me that no one cares what they are really about. I'm not saying that we have to protest non Muslim holidays, we should just avoid them and go about our lives. Why do we need to participate in these things? They either involve shirk, pagan rituals, murder or nationalism. None of which we are supposed to give a second thought.

If commercialism wants to take the Christian holidays and make them into a marketing ploy, so be it, but why would we want to support their misguided greed? Santa and the Easter Bunny want one thing from everyone... their money. I don't even understand why Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th... he was most likely born in the spring. The only reason the early Church established it in December was to appeal to the pagans of the time and make their transition easier to Christianity.

So saying that the meaning has changed for you is sort of like saying that you know better than Allah and his messenger. That you know whats best. May Allah make it easy for us all to follow the straight path.

It has been a while

2010-10-24T18:29:00.004-04:00

So, its been a while since I wrote. I am not sure why, but when ever I thought of something to blog about I didn't really feel like writing. This may turn out to be another hodge podge of thoughts and feelings.

Have you ever gotten into a discussion with another Muslim that insists that they are taking the middle path? Their idea of the middle path can consist of not covering all the way to rejecting hadith.... Lets talk about the middle path. There was a hadith that talked about 3 men. One said I will fast all the time and never break my fast, another said, I will pray all night and not sleep and the 3rd said I will not marry woman. When the Prophet sallalahu Alayhi wa salam learned of this, he went to these men and said, I fast, but I break my fast, I pray but I also rest and I marry women. Who told you to be so extreme?

The middle path is not going to extremes that the Prophet told us not to go to. It does not mean just do what ever you want. If you take the extreme the other way you fall into not obeying any of the commands of Allah and the prophet, or just choose the ones that you like. Then we come to those who can't quite justify what they are doing unless they reject hadith for one reason or another. I know that they are fabricated Hadith out there, but the great scholars of Hadith, like Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood etc knew the science of hadith better than anyone. They knew how to classify, research and substantiate what the collected. Who are we to just come along and say...eh...I don't think I'll follow this one. I don't like it.

Finally, and I've said this before, you can find a ruling on the internet that makes just about anything permissible... You need to find scholars that are highly qualified that you trust. Mind you, not the ones that come up with rulings that YOU like, but the ones that give the best proof and have the most knowledge. Lets use the example of men and women shaking hands. There is a site that says this is permissible. They actually even quote the hadith that is proof that it is not, but then go onto say that if you don't fear that it will cause fitnah then it is ok. This puts the opportunity in our hands to make a ruling based on what we feel, not on what is right.

My next thought comes from revert Muslims identifying themselves as American Muslims. Yes, I am Muslim and I am American. But that does not give me any special licences to ignore the commands of Allah or the Prophet. My 'culture' or lack there of, does not make it so I can do things I should not. In fact it is a part of our test that we live as American Muslims everyday. Not that its so hard to do, but that we are tempted with thoughts that we should still do all the things that all other Americans do. We get sucked into useless holidays and celebrations. We long for what we once had... when in fact we should be happy to leave those things behind, because Allah has guided us to the truth. We have a wonderful, peaceful, happy way of life. Why do we need to try to be like the disbelievers? We all have weaknesses, and it is a struggle everyday to overcome them. Sometimes we fail. But we should make an effort to be happy with what we have and not strive for the dunya.

Another thing I hear a lot is 'I'm not Arab so why should I act like one?'. Well You shouldn't. Those things that bother you about Arab CULTURE are very similar to the things that we should avoid about American culture. They are not the same issues but it is the same concept. Unfortunately, this gives people the excuse not to follow things that they deem as Arab, but are actually just a part of Islam. For example, covering properly. People always say that they are not Arab so why dress like one? You don't have to dress like one, but you still need to follow the commands of modesty. It just so happens that an abaya or jilbab covers those requirements pretty well. It should not matter what culture you think they are from. American fashion does not fit the bill. You can take a long dress and put a long shirt under it and pants but you are most likely still showing the shape of your body. Those cute little stretchy dresses cling... helloooo. Not everything in a person's culture is bad, but we need to avoid falling into the trap that we have to stay true to our culture at all costs.

Finally, what is the deal with people freaking out about cheese? I mean really. The process used to make cheese can use certain enzymes that might be derived from an animal that was not killed in a halal way, but then we are talking about the unknown. We are not supposed to dig so deep as to try to identify the origins of the enzymes in our cheese. Ibn Taymihah gave a ruling saying that the rennet used to make cheese is permissible because the milk of the animal that had not been slaughtered properly was drunk by the companions after the battle of Iraq. In any case, even if you think you should not eat doritos or what ever else scares you, would you really yell at someone who does? I witnessed a sister get red in the face when she thought another sister was going to have a microwave pasta meal with cheese sauce. These are the same people that say that capri sun juice boxes are haram because of some flavor carrier that may of been extruded using alcohol. Who comes up with this stuff?

So, I guess this is it for now. Inshallah I didn't say anything wrong, and if I did, may Allah swt forgive me.

Help a Sister in need

2010-07-24T16:27:00.006-04:00

Asalamu Alaikum All

One of my blogging friends has started a 'chip in' campaign to help a sister and her 5 kids. Please follow this link and read the story and give what you can. Inshallah every little bit counts. Sometimes we just need a little boost to get us through the tough times.

Help A Sister in Need

Abayas, black henna and what ever else comes to mind

2010-07-21T12:20:00.007-04:00

Wow, its been quite some time since I wrote anything here. I've had little tid bits that I wanted to write about, but never got around to it. So I'll mush them all into one post.

A few months ago in my Friday class the question came up about the proper clothing for Muslim women. Now don't roll your eyes! It is a constant struggle for some of us, and something that needs to be addressed. The question was "do we have to wear an abaya?". The instructor then quoted the following ayat:

And as for women past child-bearing who do not expect wed-lock, it is no sin on them if thy discard their outer clothing in such a way as not to show their adornment. But to refrain is better for them. And Allah is the All Hearer, All Knower. 24:60

She went on to explain that this ayat tells us that when we are out of the house that we have to wear an over garment that can only be cast off when we are past the age of child bearing, but that it is better to keep it on. Now lets ask ourselves a question. if we are not wearing something abaya like, what are we casting off? If we are wearing pants and a long shirt, what is under there when we 'cast them off'? How about salwar kameez? What is under there? Now a lot of sisters will say 'I'm not Arab, why should I wear something Arab??". The truth is... if it fits the requirement of an over garment, who cares what it is called. If you want to wear a giant sheet loosely wrapped around you, go for it. But its got to cover your 'inner clothes' and it can't be tight, transparent or short. So it became clear to me that most western clothes are not appropriate for wearing out in public. I'll start to brace myself for the storm of comments that will be coming my way over this one.

So moving on... the next thing I wanted to write about is black henna. You may, or may not know that I do henna as a little side business. I recently have been getting inquiries about doing bridal henna. This past weekend I went on a bridal consultation, and the sister asked me for the 'black henna'. For those of you that do not know, there is no such thing as black henna. What people call black henna is really just black hair dye made into a paste and put on the skin. It can cause severe burns, permanent scars and health problems. I absolutely refuse to use this death paste. Usually darker skinned sisters want this done because they say that natural henna won't show up (which it will). I calmly explained that I don't do black henna and why. She said that she had it done before and nothing happened. I calmly told her that it may not burn your skin, but it is getting into your bloodstream and causing problems. She didn't care... it was her 'big day' and she wanted it to show up. She called her sister and she came over to talk to me. She said that natural henna only lasts 3 days. I showed them what I had on my own palm and said that it had been there for 7 days and it was still dark. Her sister said it again. The bride to be said perhaps we can do a test on her before the wedding to see if it shows up. I agree, and we set a date and time to do the test. Her sister keeps going on about it not lasting. At that point I said, do you realize that as a Muslim if you knowingly do something dangerous like black henna that it could be considered a sin? Blank stare. Again, she said it was her big day. And for a final time her sister said that natural henna lasted only 3 days. I finally said, perhaps we should not do this at all. You seem to think I'm lying to you about the henna on my own hand. Oh no! they said, apologies galore. We part ways, agreeing on the date of the test. The night before the test I call to confirm and she tells me that she found someone to do black henna. Sigh. After all of the warnings and even bringing up that it could be sinful, she just didn't care. I guess its best that I didn't do it... she never would have been happy.

So I guess that is it for now, I'm all blogged out. May Allah swt keep us safe and on his straight path.

Drawing Creatures that do Not Exisit

2010-05-24T20:05:00.003-04:00

As most Muslims know, we cannot draw people or animals, unless it is for some educational purpose that we cannot avoid. This ruling is supported by the following hadiths:

While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle. I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects." Bukhari 3:428

Narrated by Aisha: I stuffed for the Prophet a pillow decorated with pictures (of animals) which looked like a Namruqa (i.e. a small cushion). He came and stood among the people with excitement apparent on his face. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! What is wrong?" He said, "What is this pillow?" I said, "I have prepared this pillow for you, so that you may recline on it." He said, "Don't you know that angels do not enter a house wherein there are pictures; and whoever makes a picture will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked to give life to (what he has created)?" Bukhari 4:47

It appears very clear that we should not draw things that are or were living. But what about things that never really existed? Mythical creatures? Unicorns, dragons, even cartoon characters? I was interested in the answer to this question, so I searched for the answer and found the following:

Question
Assalamoalaikum. i know that drawing or painting human faces or animals is wrong in the eyes of Almighty, and on the day of Judgment we will be asked to blow life into it. however, the thing i would like to ask is it alright to draw or sketch dragons? because they are mythical creatures and never existed, so is it okay if we draw them? please answer in detail. Thank you.

Answer

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

It is not permissible to draw pictures of what is thought to be one of the living creatures even if it never existed in reality, for two reasons:

1- This is because it is imitating the creation, and it is only Allaah Who has the ability to create. It is known that the reason of the prohibition of drawing pictures of living creatures is because it is imitating the creation of Allaah, as mentioned in a Qudsi narration: "And who is more unjust than he who creates like my creation [who tries to imitate my creation]." [Al-Bukhaari]. What would be the case of the one who gives himself the attribute of being able to create what never existed before?

2- Drawing pictures of living creatures is forbidden in order to prevent any forbidden means which lead to something forbidden. This is indeed a great fundamental rule in religion; when Allaah forbids something in itself, He forbids any means which may lead to it.

Allaah Knows best.

Ignorance is Dangerous

2010-03-19T18:02:00.002-04:00

Over the last few weeks the news has been full of stories of Muslims doing crazy things. I am sure I don't need to mention any of the specifically for you to know what I am talking about.

Sometimes I wish I could stop the news broadcast and just explain that these people do not represent the true Islam. That they are acting on ignorance and misguidance, and that the majority of Muslims do not hold the same twisted views as these people in the story.

Ignorance is Dangerous. This statement, while at first may seem to apply to only those who act out violently, can also apply to those ignorant to their religion who are not violent. The same ignorance that can cause someone to think they should kill themselves to destroy and enemy, can also cause someone to deny a part of Islam. So while one is more physically dangerous than the other, they both have the same emotional and mental dangers.

If you meet a Muslim who does not pray, does not fast, does not follow sunnah, but yet thinks its their place in life to tell others to do the act like they do, you have met someone who is very dangerous. There are always going to be people that struggle with their deen, but know what is right and strive to get there. Then there are those who revel in their defiance and lash out at those who are doing their best to obey their creator. They not only spread the wrong message to other Muslims, but to non Muslims as well.

What is the solution to this dangerous ignorance? Knowledge. Not the kind of knowledge that we make up ourselves to fit out desires, but the kind that we can learn from the Quran and Sunnah. May Allah guide us all.

Just a Cookie?

2010-02-28T17:09:00.006-05:00

I recently came across this article written by Bilal Phillips. I know its long, but it is well worth reading. Sometimes things as simple as a fortune cookie can send us astray. May Allah protect us from this.

There are among mankind, people who claim knowledge of the unseen and the future. They are known by various names, among them: fortune-teller, soothsayer, foreseer, augur, magician, prognosticator, oracle, astrologer, palmist, etc. Fortune-tellers use various methods and mediums from which they claim to extract their information, among them: reading tea-leaves, drawing lines, writing numbers, palm-reading, casting horoscopes, crystal ball gazing, rattling bones, throwing sticks, etc.

Practitioners of occult arts, which claim to reveal the unseen and predict the future, can be divided into two main categories:

1. Those who have no real knowledge or secrets but depend on telling their customers about general incidences which happen to most people. They often go through a series of meaningless rituals, then make calculatedly general guesses. Some of their guesses, due to their generality, usually come true. Most people tend to remember the few predictions that come true and quickly forget the many which do not. This tendency is a result of the fact that after some time all the predictions tend to become half-forgotten thoughts in the subconscious until something happens to trigger their recall. For example, it has become a common practice in North America to publish, at the beginning of each year the various predictions of famous fortune-tellers. When a survey was taken of the various predictions for the year 1980, it was found that the most accurate fortune-teller among them was only 24% accurate in her predictions!

2. The second group are those who have made contact with the Jinn. This group is of most importance because it usually involves the grave sin of Shirk, and those involved often tend to be highly accurate in their information and thus present a real Fitnah (temptations) for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

World of the Jinn

Some people have attempted to deny the reality of the Jinn about whom the Qur'an has devoted a whole chapter, Soorah al-Jinn (72). By relying on the literal meaning of the word Jinn which comes from the verb Janna, Yajunnu: "to cover, hide or conceal", they claim that the word Jinn really refers to "clever foreigners". Others have even stated that a Jinn is a human who does not have a true mind in his head but he has a fiery nature. But, the reality is that the Jinn represent another creation of Allaah, which co-exists with man on the earth. Allaah created the Jinn before He created mankind, and He also used a different set of elements than those used for man. Allaah said: "Verily we created man from dried clay, from black putrid mud. And we created the Jinn before that from a fiery wind." (Surah al-Hijr 15:26)

They were named Jinn because they are hidden from the eyes of mankind. Iblees (Satan) is from the world of the Jinn, even though he was among the angels when they were commanded by Allaah to prostrate to Adam. When he refused to prostrate and was asked why, Allaah said: "He said, 'I am better than he is. You (Allah) created me from fire and You created him from clay!" (Surah Saad; 38:76)

'Aa'esha reported that the Prophet (pbuh) said, "The angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless fire." (Sahih Muslim)

Allaah also said, "And when We told the angels to prostrate to Adam, they all prostrated except Iblees. He was of the Jinn." (Surah al-Kahf, 18:50)

Therefore it is incorrect to consider him a fallen angel or the like.

The Jinn may first be divided into three broad categories in relation to their modes of existence. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "There are three types of Jinn: One type which flies in the air all the time, another type which exists as snakes and dogs, and an earthbound type which resides in one place or wanders about. " (At-Tabaree and al-Haakim)

The Jinn may be further divided into two categories in relationship to their faith: Muslims (believers) and Kaafirs (disbelievers). Allaah refers to the believing Jinn in Soorah al-Jinn as follows: "Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of Jinn listened and said, 'Verily we have heard a marvellous Qur'an. It guides unto righteousness so we have believed in it. And, we will never make partners with our Lord. He, may our Lord's glory be exalted, has not taken a wife nor a son. What the foolish ones among us used to say about Allaah is a horrible lie."(Surah al-Jinn 72:1-4)

"And there are among us Muslims and others who are unjust. Whoever accepts Islam has sought out the right path. As for those who are unjust, they will be fuel for the Hell fire." (Surah Jinn 72:14)

The disbelievers among the Jinn are referred to by various names in both Arabic and English: 'Ifreet, Shaytaan, Qareen, demons, devils, spirits, ghosts, etc. They try to misguide man in various ways. Whoever listens to them and becomes a worker for them is referred to as human Shaytaan (devil).

Allaah said: "Likewise, we have made for every Prophet an enemy, Shaytaans from among mankind and the Jinn. (Surah al-An'aam 6:112)

Every human has an individual Jinn accompanying him referred to as a Qareen (i.e. companion). This is a part of man's test in this life. The Jinn encourage his lower desires and constantly try to divert him from righteousness. The Prophet (pbuh) referred to this relationship as follows, "Everyone of you has been assigned a companion from the Jinn. " The Sahaabah asked, "Even you, O Messenger of Allaah?" And the Prophet replied, "Even me, except that Allaah has helped me against him and he has submitted. Now he only tells me to do good."(Muslim)

Prophet Sulaymaan (Solomon) was given miraculous control over the Jinn, as a sign of his prophethood. Allaah said: "And, we gathered for Sulaymaan his army from the Jinn, mankind and the birds." (Surah an-Naml 27:17) and they were all kept in order and ranks.

But this power was not given to anyone else. No one else is allowed to control the Jinn and no one can. The Prophet said, "Verily an 'Ifr-eeit from among the Jinn spat on me last night trying to break my Salaah. However Allaah let me overpower him and I wanted to tie him to one of the columns in the masjid so that you all could see him in the morning. Then, I remembered my brother Sulaymaan's prayer: 'Oh my Lord, forgive me and bestow on me a kingdom not allowed to anyone after me.' (Surah Saad 38:35) (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Man cannot gain control over the Jinn as this was a special miracle given only to Prophet Sulaymaan. In fact, contact with the Jinn in circumstances other than possession, or accident is most often made by the performance of sacrilegious acts despised and forbidden in the religion. The evil Jinn summoned in this fashion may aid their partners in sin and disbelief in God. Their goal is to draw as many others as they can into the gravest of sins, the worship of others besides or along with God.

Once contact and contract with the Jinn are made by fortune-tellers, the Jinn may inform them of certain events in the future. The Prophet (pbuh) described how the Jinn gather information about the future. He related that the Jinn were able to travel to the lower reaches of the heavens and listen in on some of the information about the future, which the angels pass among themselves. They would then return to the earth and feed the information to their human contacts.(Bukhari and Muslim) This used to happen a lot prior to the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh) and fortune-tellers were very accurate in their information. They were able to gain positions in the royal courts and enjoyed much popularity and were even worshipped in some regions of the world.

After the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) began his mission the situation changed. Allaah had the angels guard the lower reaches of the heavens carefully, and most of the Jinn were chased away with meteors and shooting stars. Allaah described this phenomena in the following Qur'anic statement made by one of the Jinn, "We (the Jinn) had sought out the heavens but found it filled with strong guardians and meteors. We used to sit on high places in order to listen, but whoever listens now finds a flame waiting for him.."'

Allaah also said, "And We have guarded it (the heavens) from every cursed devil, except the one who is able to snatch a hearing and, he is pursued by a brightly burning flame."(Surah al-Hijr 15:17)

Ibn 'Abbaas said, "When the Prophet and a group of his companions set out for the Ukaadh market, the devils were blocked from hearing information in the heavens. Meteors were let loose on them, so they returned to their people. When their people asked what happened, they told them. Some suggested that something must have happened, so they spread out over the earth seeking the cause. Some of them came across the Prophet and his companions while they were in Salaah and they heard the Qur'an. They said to themselves that this must have been what blocked them from listening. When they returned to their people they told them, 'Verily we have heard a marvellous Qur'an. It guides unto righteousness so we believed in it. And we will never make partners with our Lord.' (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Ahmad)

Thus, the Jinn could no longer gather information about the future as easily as they could before the Prophet's (pbuh) mission. Because of that, they now mix their information with many lies. The Prophet said: "They (the Jinn) would pass the information back down until it reaches the lips of a magician fortune-teller. Sometimes a meteor would overtake them before they could pass it on. If they passed it on before being struck, they would add to it a hundred lies." (Al-Bukhari and Tirmidhi)

'Aa'eshah reported that when she asked Allaah's messenger (pbuh) about fortune-tellers, he replied that they were nothing. She then mentioned that the fortune-tellers sometimes told them things, which were true. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "That is a bit of truth which the Jinn steals and cackles in the ear of his friend; but he mixes along with it a hundred lies." (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Once while 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab was sitting, a handsome man, Sawaad Ibn Qaarib passed by him. 'Umar said: "If I'm not wrong, this person is still following his religion of pre-Islamic times or perhaps he was one of their fortune-tellers." He ordered that the man be brought to him and asked him about, what he suspected. The man replied, "I have never seen a day like this where a Muslim is faced with such accusations." 'Umar said, "Verily I am determined that you should inform me." The man then said, "I was their fortune-teller in the time of ignorance." On hearing that 'Umar asked, "Tell me about the strangest thing which your female Jinn told you." The man then said, "One day, while I was in the market, she came to me all worried and said, 'Have you not seen the Jinns in their despair after their disgrace? And their following of she-camels and their riders." 'Umar interjected, "It is true." (Al-Bukhari)

The Jinns are also able to inform their human contact of the relative future. For example, when someone comes to a fortune-teller, the fortune-teller's Jinn gets information from the man's Qareen (the jinn assigned to every human being) of what plans he had made prior to his coming. So the fortune-teller is able to tell him that he will do this or that, or go here or there. By this method, the real fortune-teller is also able to learn about a stranger's past in vivid detail. He is able to tell a total stranger of his parents' names, where he was born, the acts of his childhood, etc. The ability to vividly describe the past is one of the marks of a true fortune-teller who has made contact with the Jinn. Because the Jinn are able to traverse huge distances instantaneously, they are also able to gather huge stores of information about hidden things, lost articles and unobserved events. Proof of this ability can be found in the Qur'an, in the story about Prophet Sulaymaan and Bilqees, the Queen of Sheba. When Queen Bilqees came to see him, he asked the Jinn to bring her throne from her land. "An Ilfreet from among the Jinns said, I will bring it for you before you can get up from your place. Verily, I am strong and trustworthy for the assignment.(Surah an-Naml)

The Islamic Ruling on Fortune-telling

Because of the sacrilege and heresy involved in fortune telling, Islam has taken a very strong stance towards it. Islam opposes any form of association with those who practice fortune-telling, except to advise them to give up their forbidden practices.

Visitation of Fortune-tellers

The Prophet (pbuh) laid down principles, which clearly forbade any form of visitation of fortune-tellers. Safiyyah reported from Hafsah (wife of the Prophet) that the Prophet (pbuh) said, "The Salaah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and asks him about anything will not be accepted for 40 days and nights."(Muslim) The punishment in this Hadeeth is for simply approaching a fortune-teller and asking him questions out of curiosity. This prohibition is further supported by Mu'aawiyah Ibn al-Hakam asSalamee's Hadeeth in which he said, "O Messenger of Allaah, verily there are some people among us who visit oracles. " The Prophet (pbuh) replied, "Do not go to them". Such a severe punishment has been assigned for only visitation because it is the first step to belief in fortune-telling. If one went there doubtful about its reality, and some of the fortune-teller's predictions come true, one will surely become a true devotee of the fortune-teller and an ardent believer in fortune-telling. The individual who approaches a fortune-teller is still obliged to make his compulsory Salaah throughout the 40 day period, even though he gets no reward from his prayers. If he abandons the Salaah all together, he has committed another major sin. This is similar to the Islamic ruling in the case of Salaah on or in stolen property, according to the majority of Jurists. They hold that whenever obligatory Salaah is performed, it produces two results under normal circumstances:

1. It removes the obligation of that prayer from the individual. 2. It earns him a reward.

If Salaah is performed on or in stolen property it removes the obligation of Salaah, but it is devoid of reward. Consequently, the Prophet forbade praying the same obligatory prayers twice.

Belief in Fortune-tellers

The Islamic ruling with regard to anyone who visits a fortune-teller believing that he knows the unseen and the future is that of Kufr (disbelief). Abu Hurayrah and al-Hasan both reported from the Prophet (pbuh) that he said, "Whosoever approaches a fortune-teller and believes what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad. Such a belief assigns to creation some of Allaah's attributes with regard to the knowledge of the unseen and the future. Consequently, it destroys Tawheed alAsmaa was-Sifaat, and represents a form of Shirk in this aspect of Tawheed.

The ruling of Kufr includes, by analogy (Qiyaas), those who read the books and writings of fortune-tellers, listen to them on the radio or watch them on the T. V., as, these are the most common means used by 20th century fortune-tellers to spread their predictions.

Allaah clearly states in al-Qur'an that no one knows the unseen besides Him. Not even the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Allaah said: With Him are the keys to the unseen and none knows it except Him alone."

Then he told the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), "Say! I have no power to bring good to myself nor avert harm but it is only as Allah wills. If it were that I knew the unseen, I would have multiplied the good and no evil would have touched me."

And he also said: "Say! None in the heavens nor the earth knows the 'unseen except Allah'."

Therefore, all the various methods used around the world by oracles, fortune-tellers, and the likes, are forbidden to Muslims.

Palm-reading, I-Ching, fortune cookies, tea leaves as well as Zodiacal signs and Bio-rhythm computer programs, all claim to inform those who believe in them about their future. However, Allaah has stated in no uncertain terms that He alone knows the future: ''Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allaah alone. It is He who sends down the rain and knows the contents of the wombs. No one knows what he will earn tomorrow nor in which land he will die, but Allaah is all-knowing and aware."(Surah Luqmaan 31:34)

Therefore, Muslims must take utmost care in dealing with books, magazines, newspapers as well as individuals who, in one way or another, claim knowledge of the future or the unseen. For example, when a Muslim weather-man predicts rain, snow, or other climatic conditions for tomorrow he should add the phrase, "In ShaaAllaah (If Allaah so wishes)". Likewise, when the Muslim doctor informs her patient that she will deliver a child in 9 months or on such and such a day, she should take care to add the phrase "In ShaaAllaah", as such statements are only estimations based on statistical information.
http://www.islaam.com/bp/fortunetelling.htm

A House in Paradise

2010-02-10T18:41:00.007-05:00

Narrated AbuUmamah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids quarrelling even if he were in the right, a house in the middle of Paradise for a man who avoids lying even if he were joking, and a house in the upper part of Paradise for a man who made his character good. (Book #41, Hadith #4782)

I've actually posted about this hadith before, but I'd like to revisit it.

Over the past few years that I have been Muslim (alhamdulilah), I have read numerous blogs and posted on quite a few forums. In the beginning, when I was still learning, I was a bit too harsh sometimes with the things that I said. Not that they weren't true, but the approach could have been better. After a while I learned that it was best to stay away from things that cause fitnah. I stopped reading blogs that drove me crazy, and I stopped posting on forums for the same reasons. I still enjoy reading blogs, but I have to keep away from the ones that frustrate me. I also still like reading forums, but I don't post or comment much... it just doesn't seem to make any difference or do any good. This brings me to the first part of the hadith I posted above. 'The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids quarreling even if he were in the right'. I've had to implement this recently. I slipped back into some of the old bad habits of reading blogs that make me crazy and I've had to step back and let it go. Nothing I can so or do will change the problem, so I leave it. For the sake of Allah swt, I leave it and walk away.

Next we have the part of the hadith about lying. 'a house in the middle of Paradise for a man who avoids lying even if he were joking' I always make an effort not to lie... even if it is a joke or I'm kidding. It is a hard thing to do, as it becomes a part of human nature to kid with people, but we have to remember that a lie is a lie, and we have been warned of the consequences of lying.

And finally, the part about good character. 'and a house in the upper part of Paradise for a man who made his character good.' I think we all get tempted sometimes, when arguing, to go for the low blow. Many a time I have typed a response to someone on a blog or forum only to delete what I wrote, knowing that it is not something a good Muslim would do. Believe me, plenty of things go through my mind, but they don't leave it. I try my best not to resort to name calling, insults or outright lies to get my point across... even when I'm angry.

InshAllah we can all learn from this hadith and try to live by it.

The Cage

2010-02-05T19:26:00.006-05:00

You are in a cage that you have trapped yourself in. You rattle the bars violently, screaming at your captors that you have created in your mind. As your anger grows, you begin hurling yourself against the walls of the cage... over and over again... you fall to the floor from exhaustion, drawing ragged breaths while the sweat drips from your forehead to splash on the concrete below. Moments later you are back up, and slamming against the bars once more. People on the outside of your self imposed cage watch you with concern, wincing each time you slam into the bars. Someone comes to comfort you and offer you a cool drink of water, but you slap it out of their hand and snarl like a wounded animal.

The cage.....its in your head. Your violent reactions are self imposed. Its all because you refuse to submit the religion you claim to follow.

The scenario above happens more and more. People accept Islam, but fight so hard not to follow it. They lash out at anyone who tries to help them, all the while spewing venom and hatred towards those who do submit. They would rather make up their own rules that fit their desires than follow the pure guidance of Allah and his Messenger.

When Allah perfected this deen, he didn't put loop holes, footnotes or clauses at the end.... he made it perfect for then, for now, for all time. Can anyone dare to say that Allah didn't know how the world would change when he gave us his guidance to follow? Who are we to decide to change that guidance? And worse yet, to tell others to change it too?

Islam means submission. And if you truly submit, the cage will disappear. The hatred and rage in your heart will dissolve and you will be at peace with yourself and others. Ask Allah to give you this peace. Ask him to show you the path, and if you are sincere, he will give it to you.

May Allah Protect us....

2010-01-19T16:30:00.004-05:00

Recently a Muslim told my husband in a blog comment response that by wearing the niqab, I, and other women, are making the statement that we support the ideology that the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden stand for. This Muslim also said that the context of the niqab had changed and it stood for a backwards, extremist ideology and should not be worn by anyone who thing terrorism is wrong.

I'll give you a moment to stop laughing....... 3...2....1...

For those of you who laughed, you understand my jaw dropping shock. I mean really... this might be this person's opinion, but where do they get this from? Fox News? Of all of the niqabis I know... none of us even remotely fit this description. It is also a very horrible blanket statement about a whole group of Muslim sisters that this person does not even know. Its kind of like turning it around and saying that sisters that do not cover at all support zina and like to sin openly.

I ask Allah to protect us from such things.

Magic in Islam

2010-01-16T18:24:00.004-05:00

I recently heard a lecture that talked about magic in Islam. Magic is real. It is something that we have to believe is real, but we can't participate in it or be pleased with it.

Allah Subhanna Wa T'ala sent two angels as a trial. They told people that they could learn magic but that it was a trial for them and not do it. In the Quran it says:

And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allāh. And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew. 2:102

The whole point of the lecture that I was listening to was to warn Muslims of falling into disbelief by learning about magic or being pleased with it. One of the examples that he used was the series of books about Harry Potter. Now I know that a lot of people would say that its not real (the story line) and we know it, its just for fun, but if you think about it when you read books like that you are actually pleased with magic and its effects. If you think back to each book release, hordes of children and adults alike lined up to get their copy. They would read it with a passion and be so excited to hear the next step of the young wizard. They actually root for him as the 'hero' of the series. In this way, we are becoming pleased with magic. I think the same thing applies for books like Twilight. I've never read them but from what I've heard there is a lot of magical things going on. The lecturer went on to say that watching movies with magic and playing video games with magic was just as bad. Unknowingly we are sucking ourselves in to thinking its cool.

In the end, the lecturer said that if we practice magic or are pleased with it in any way that it is pure disbelief, that it is a form of shirk. We are giving power to others that Allah. Let us all protect ourselves from this by reciting the last three surahs of the Quran:

Al Ikhlas

Say, He is Allah, who is one
Allah the eternal refuge
He neither begets or is born
Nor is there to Him any equivalent

Al Falaq

Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak
From the evil of that which He created
And from the evil of the darkness when it settles
And the evils of the blowers in knots
And from the evil of an envier when he envies

Al Naas
Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind
The sovereign of mankind
The God of mankind
From the evil of the retreating whisper
Who whispers evil into the breasts of mankind
From among the Jinn and mankind

Sale at HudaStore.com! 15% off for the next 2 weeks!!

2010-01-03T16:58:00.003-05:00

Asalamu Alaikum As some of you know (and some of you don't) My husband and I have an online Islamic bookstore. We are now having a 15% off sale on all IN STOCK books. Please take a moment to check it out and see if there is anything you are interested in! www.hudstore.com

Innovation FYI

2009-12-26T23:48:00.004-05:00

Have you ever tried to warn someone of an innovation only to have them come back and say that driving a car, using a computer and talking on the phone is an innovation too, so what you are calling an innovation cannot possibly be valid? Well if you have, I'm sure you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes in frustrated disgust.

If we look at the hadith that best covers this issue we can clearly see that the innovation we are talking about has to do with innovations to the RELIGION, not everyday technological advances.

"Indeed, the most evil of matters in the religion are the newly invented ones, and every innovation in the religion is bid`ah, andevery bid`ah is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Hellfire."

I feel true embarrassment for those who use the 'well you drive a car' argument to defend some innovation that they are attached to. May Allah swt guide them and protect them.

Revert Story

2009-12-18T21:21:00.004-05:00

One of the reversion stories that I have always loved is that of Yusuf Estes. You can watch it here if you have not seen it. Br Yusuf is a very charismatic man. He is at ease in front of a crowd, and has a sense of humor that puts others at ease as well. Each time I listen to him tell his story, I find something new that I had not heard before.

While listening to his story this time I was particularly taken by the part that has to do with his wife wanting to accept Islam. Br Yusuf had just found out that a Catholic Priest he knew had become Muslim. While telling his wife of the Priests reversion she told him she wanted a divorce. At first Br Yusuf thought that she wanted a divorce because she thought he was interested in accepting Islam, but in fact it was her that wanted to become a Muslim. She wanted a divorce because she knew that a Muslim woman could not be married to a Christian man.

What really struck me was this woman's deep conviction for her new faith. She was willing to give up her husband to do what was right. Subhanallah... most of us take months to get used to things... we don't cover, we don't pray, we certainly don't leave our husbands, but she was ready to jump right in. For sisters, all of the new responsibilities of being Muslim can be overwhelming, but for her it was not a problem. May Allah swt make it so easy for us all.

Inshallah this serves as a reminder to us all that as long as we trust in Allah that we can do anything he commands. As long as we ask him for help and guidance, we will always have the strength to do what is right, and what pleases him.

Alhamdulilah.

Serenity Comes from The Quran

2009-12-09T21:49:00.003-05:00

I've been having some issues the last few days. I won't go into details, but it has not been fun. In any case, a friend of mine offered me some comfort and words of wisdom. Of course these words came from the Quran.

O you who believe! Take care of your own selves. If you follow the right guidance and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong no hurt can come to you from those who are in error. The return of you all is to Allah, then He will inform you about (all) that which you used to do." [5:105]

These words are perfect. They give me serenity in times of turmoil, and they show me that to Allah swt, we will return. We all strive to follow the right guidance. Some have different ideas of what that is than others, but if you follow Quran and Sunnah, and enjoin good and forbid evil this ayat tells us that no harm can come to us.

Authentic Statements - Christmas: A Birthday Celebration

2009-12-07T17:44:00.004-05:00

Asalamu Alaikum

AuthenticStatements.com is an excellent resource for Islamic knowledge. According to their 'about us' page,

Authentic Statements was primarily established to introduce the Muslims to the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah and the popular speakers who follow them in knowledge by way of both audio and visual materials.With the Muslims in the west in mind, it is our intention to bridge the gap, which more often than not is no more than a language barrier, with those who invite to Allâh with wisdom and insightful preaching.

I regularly get email updates from the site, and today I received an email with a link to the first of their new monthly newsletter. The topic of the newsletter is very fitting for this time of year and I wanted to share it with my brothers and sisters in hopes that you can benefit from it as well. I'll copy a small excerpt from it to get your started, and please click here for the full PDF newsletter.

There is no doubt that Allah the Glorified and Most High legislated two holidays for the Muslims in which they gather together for remembrance of Allah and prayer, which are Eidul-Fitr and Adha, (given as) a replacement for the pre-Islamic celebrations. He also legislated(other) holidays which include types of remembrance and worship such as Friday, the day of Arafah, and the days of Tashreeq (11th, 12th, and 13th of Thul-Hijjah) and did not legislate Christmas, (a birthday celebration) neither for the prophet (salla Allahualaihi wa sallam) or anyone else and the textual evidence from both the Book and prophetic Traditions demonstrate that these birthday celebrations are innovations in the religion and a form of imitating those that oppose Allah

Revealing Your Sins

2009-12-01T21:25:00.004-05:00

I recently read a blog that openly revealed the persons sins. It was almost as if they were proud of the disobedience that they spoke of. I seem to notice this a lot lately and wonder if they are aware of the following hadith

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu `alayhi wa salam) said: “Every member of my nation will be forgiven, except those who expose their wrongdoings. An example of this is that of a man who commits a sin at night which Allaah then conceals, but, the next morning, he goes and says (to people): ‘I committed such and such a sin last night’ - while Allaah had kept it secret. During the night Allaah had concealed it, but in the morning he tore up the cover provided by Allaah Himself.” [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]

If you want to ignore the commands of our religion, then fine, but don't be so proud of it. Don't write it in your blog like you have no fear, so that everyone can cringe at your ignorance.

Allah Knows What is in My Heart

2009-11-27T22:14:00.004-05:00

"Allah knows what is in my heart".... how many times have you heard this from someone who is trying to make excuses for why they don't follow a part of Islam? In one of my classes our teacher brought this up and then reminded us of Surah Al Asr

By time,

Indeed, mankind is in loss,

Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.

So you see, the Quran is telling us that we must do righteous deeds, and advise each other to the truth. Islam is a religion of inner and outer faith. We must believe it in our heart and show it with our actions.

My First Henna Design Book!

2009-11-08T16:36:00.006-05:00

Asalamu Alaikum all

I've been working on this project for a few months and its finally ready. Henna Hafla is my first henna design book, and includes 40 full hand designs plus 20 smaller ones! I've collaborated with another great henna artist to sell it on her new webstore!

Check it out at www.hennabyheather.com/store

What IS Important?

2009-10-12T15:20:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure how to start this post. There are a lot of things running around in my head. I guess this all started a few days ago when someone told me about the head of Al Azhar humiliating a young woman into taking off her niqab and then basically called her ugly. Then a few days later, al Azhar made the move of banning niqab in the classroom. Read more about it here.

As a niqabbi I find this all really disturbing. I find it even more disturbing when I try to talk to other Muslims about it and they tell me I have to respect this man that called for the ban. Why should I? He obviously does not deserve my respect. He went as far as to say that niqab has no place in Islam? Really? So the mothers of the believers were wrong in wearing it? So the top scholars (Bin Bazz, Uthameen, Fawzaan) are wrong when they say its an obligation? I also get the same old lines from people when I discuss niqab. They always bring up that they know a niqabbi who does bad things AND that sometimes men disguise themselves in niqab to gain access to places they should not have access too. What do I say to that? So what! Just because some people do wrong things does that negate the right things? No, it doesn't.

One other response I get is that clothing does not make a Muslim. Yes, that is true, but following the commandments of Allah does. It is one of the same old arguments I get. When it gets down to it... people want to make excuses and throw up barriers. They want to tell me that dressing like an Arab is not required. I don't think I dress like an Arab, I dress like a Muslim, like I was commanded to dress. Just because abaya and niqab happen to fufill these requirements best does not mean it has anything to do with being arab.

Perhaps I'm delving in too deep here, but the resistance that is found at the level of clothing leads to much bigger issues. If you can't give up the fashion of this world for the sake of Allah you are pretty stuck aren't you? As an Ummah we spend so much time trying to redefine boundaries of Islam that we lose sight of what we should be doing. Worshipping Allah subhanna wa ta'alah. There is this wonderful guide book, its called the Quran.... it had everything we need to know. It also instructs us to listen to our Prophet, and we do that by following the hadiths... so whats the big problem here?

While there are other issues to be discussed in Islam, I find that if we can't get past the speed bump of covering properly that we are lost at the starting gate.

Pictures from Vermont

2009-09-29T19:49:00.010-04:00

We all went to visit my mom this weekend. My husband took the whole week off after Eid and I had it off from school, so it was a good time to do some traveling. We left after our son got out of school on Friday and came back Sunday evening.

While we were there I got to do some henna on an old friend and on my sister.

We also went for a walk in the corn field just after the tractors had come and taken down all of the dry stalks. I took this picture of my shadow... thought it was cool.

My mom had some pumpkins on her front deck...

And on the way home I took this picture as we drove over the mountains

Enjoy!

Update on lots of things

2009-09-21T23:42:00.003-04:00

During Ramadan I wanted to write but never found the time, so here is a little update of what has been going on with me.

I started back to school teaching. It was right at the start of Ramadan so for the first few weeks of school I was tired and so were the kids. I am finally on Eid break and enjoying the quiet.

My henna business has been going slow but good. I had a chance to do a woman's event with another henna artist and it was great to meet her. The only drawback was that it was totally non Muslim. When I arrived, I checked in with the front desk to find out where I should go. Once I found my friend I excused myself to go pray and break fast. When I came back she told me that the event organizers had come over and asked her if I was going to wear 'that' the entire time, meaning my veil. My friend told me when I got back what was said. At the time I laughed it off, but the more I thought about it the more it made me angry. There were women there with various body parts hanging out for all to see, but because I was covered I was a problem? Other than that little issue things went fine and I had some great conversations with the ladies that I did do henna for. They all had questions about Islam and it was nice to share my art and give dawah at the same time.

On Eid day, we went to the early salat at the masjid. It was totally packed, I could not even get in and prayed in the hallway. Towards the end a few sisters came out early. One was wearing a sari with her somach showing... I just about died, but didn't say anything.... I was too shocked to even get a word out. After that a bunch of us went to IHOP for breakfast. The girls were at one table and the boys at another. It was so nice and peaceful to just be with all of these muslims talking about our Ramadan experiences and having yummy food! After that my husband and I went to the Eid carnival to set up to vend. He was selling books for hudastore.com and of course I was doing henna. We did well and were busy the whole time. I was sad to see so many sisters not covered but what can I do. I had one young lady come to me for henna and she was not covered at all, and wearing tight revealing clothing. As she was getting henna some of her other girl friends and some young men were making so much noise in the tent next to us. Then some of the boys came over to see what she was doing. I told them (nicely) that as young muslim men they needed to back about 10 feet off of this beautiful young girl and lower their gaze. They all laughed and talked about being told off by the niqabi! I then asked the young lady when she was going to cover, and she said soon inshallah. Now all of this was done in fun with them, nothing accusatory or rude, so it was a nice chance to give dawah to some young brothers and sister that obviously needed it.

So now I have a week off and so does my husband. We are going to take our son to the zoo tomorrow inshallah... If I have any fun stories from that i'll let you know. :)

I know a Muslim who.....

2009-09-04T22:29:00.003-04:00

I've been participating on a henna forum recently. I mainly go to it to get design ideas, ask questions about essential oils, and see other people work. There are so many talented people that post on that site, mashallah.

When I first joined the site, I noticed there were a few other Muslim henna artists so I decided I would ask for their help with how to deal with a few issues I was concerned about. I submitted a post with a few questions to the other Muslim artists. I asked them 3 things

1. How do you deal with not being able to henna men? (I have a festival coming up and I wondered if I should post a sign saying women and children only)

2. How do you deal with not doing images of animals or people in your designs?

3. How do you deal with not doing religious symbols in your designs?

I didn't exclude the non Muslims, and actually said they could give advice as well. I did get some confused responses from non Muslims about not henna'ing men. They said that they had done bridal henna for Muslims where the groom also had them put henna on them. I explained that not all Muslims follow the rules, but in general we should not be touching or be touched by the opposite sex that is not a member of our family.

What shocked me was a response from an artist that said she was Muslim. She posted "Why not henna men? There's nothing written against it." When I read this response my jaw hit the floor. Nothing written against it? Of course there is. I was not sure she was Muslim at that point so I asked and she said she was. I looked at her links and confirmed that indeed, she had no problem with henna'ing shirtless men, doing animal designs and pagan symbols. I know that not everyone that says they are Muslim follow Islam like I do, but it always makes me cringe when one Muslim contradicts another 'in front' of non Muslims. It just adds to the confusion. It gives them a 'I know a Muslim who....' story to tell.

A couple of weeks later a very nice woman submitted a post about being invited to do henna for an Eid event. This artist is not Muslim and was asking for some tips on what to expect, and any advice. I wrote back to her and said that most Muslim men will not get henna from a woman, and they don't usually shake hands with women. I also said that she might want to avoid bring pattern books with animals or any religious symbols. Innocent enough I thought, until another non Muslim artist came and posted that "Jamila's is a very strict interpretation of Islam". She went on to say that while in Morocco she saw many men getting henna from women and she did some herself. Now first of all, my interpretation of Islam is not 'strict' in the sense that most non Muslim people would think. Its not even my interpretation! Its that of the top scholars of the religion. I follow the religion as best I can, and as closely as I can. Its not strict, its, well... its right! Later in the same topic another artist posted this: "By the way I'm Muslim and don't have any problems at all hennaing men/boys/animals etc". Again I check her links to her work and yes, she does henna men and animals.

The two Muslim artists that said they had no problem henna'ing men also have another important thing in common. They don't cover. So I guess if they don't think they need to follow Allah's command to protect themselves with hijab, why would they bother following his command not to touch non machram men?

My whole point to this post is that its unfortunate that we have Muslims out there that don't feel it necessary to represent Islam in truth. They have no problem contradicting other Muslims on things that are clearly supported by Quran and sunnah. You notice that they don't qualify their statements by saying that they don't fully practice Islam. They only want to justify their own disobedient behavior.

I ask Allah to guide them to the straight path. To protect them from sin, and bring them peace.

New Website

2009-08-08T23:15:00.002-04:00

My website for Jamilah Henna Creations is complete. Please check it out! www.jamilahhennacreations.com

Standing in Line

2009-08-08T23:10:00.002-04:00

Today as we were standing in line at a wholesale club two teenagers with their mother found me very interesting to stare at. One of the kids was wearing a studded dog collar. I waved so they might realize I know they are looking at me for way too long. I still can't get over the dog collar.

Dishonesty and taking responsibility

2009-08-05T18:56:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I was a vendor at a sisters event. I was actually contacted by the organizer to come because she has been given my henna business card. I was told that it was a 6 hour event promoting sisters businesses. There would be a tele link with a woman in Saudi and a fashion show. I asked her how many people usually came, and she was sort of vague, but it sounded ok so I agreed to do it and send via paypal my booth fee.

A week later I emailed her asking how many other vendors where going to be there. She wrote back and told me that another henna vendor would be there. So I called her and said if that is the case perhaps I should just not come, because I can't imagine there will be enough business for the two of us. At that point she assured me that last year there were 2 henna vendors and they had lines all day. So, I still went.

Well let me tell you... it was not anything like I expected. There were 10 total vendors there including me. No one showed up until 1 pm (it started at noon). When it was time for the tele-link the organizer MADE us leave our booth and go to another room to hear the lecture. We sat there for almost an hour and heard nothing because they got the time wrong. At that point I was not a happy girl. We went back to the vending area only to have everyone pulled out again for the fashion show. Now we were not forced to go to this, but it only really benefited the sisters selling clothes and all of the sisters attending (perhaps 30 at best) were gone for another 40 minutes watching that. Finally about an hour later we were all FORCED to go back to listen to a lecture by a brother they must have called to fill in for the tele link. There goes another 30 minutes. So all total I might have been able to vend for 4 broken up hours. I did 4 kids and 2 adults. I make $30.

This event was a 3 hour drive from my house. I was gone from 7Am to 10PM. When I wrote to the sister to express my disappointment she ignored me. At the event she told me it was the will of Allah that the event went the way it did. Yes I can accept that, but it was her words that convinced me that I should go. I've written to her twice and she has not responded. I tried to dispute part of my booth fee in paypal but they don't deal with disputes on non item payments. Of course she responded to that right away.

I'm not only disappointed that I wasted my time and money, but I'm really disappointed that sometimes you can't trust other Muslims to own up to what they said and did and make it right. This was supposed to be a very 'salafi' event, and now I can see why some people have a problem with that term. Some people really give it a bad name. That is really sad. The Salaf would never have acted like this.

So, I have to let this go and just move on. I'm grumpy about it, but I'll ask Allah to forgive me for any bad feelings I have about it and leave it behind. May Allah guide us all to be honest and accountable for ourselves.

New Henna Forum That I like

2009-08-02T19:41:00.002-04:00

Just a quick plug for a henna forum I found. I just started a month ago, but its kind of neat to read all of the posts and ideas... give it a shot!

http://freehandmehndi.lefora.com/

latest Henna

2009-07-26T14:47:00.007-04:00

I'm excited to start a henna business...just something on the side... check out some of the pictures and my spiffy new business card!

Ruling on Celebrating Birthdays in Islam

2009-07-20T12:17:00.002-04:00

The following is a ruling by Shaikh Bin Baaz on celebrating birthdays in Islam. Sometimes its just best left to the scholars.

Question: What is the ruling concerning celebrating birthdays?

Response: Celebrating birthdays has no source whatsoever in the pure shariah. In fact, it is an innovation, since the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

"Whoever introduces anything into this matter of ours that does not belong to it shall have that action rejected."

This was recorded by both al-Bukhari and Muslim. In a version recorded by Muslim and by al-Bukhari in definitive muallaq form¹,

"Whoever performs a deed which is not in accord with our affairs, that deed is rejected."

It is well-known that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not celebrate his birthday at all during his lifetime nor did he ever order it to be celebrated. Nor did he teach such to his Companions. Therefore, the rightly-guided caliphs and all of his Companions did not celebrate it. They are the most knowledgeable of the people concerning his sunnah and they are the most beloved to the Prophet (peace be upon him). They were also the most keen upon following whatever the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought. Therefore, if one is supposed to celebrate the Prophet's birthday, this would have been made evident at their time. Similarly, not one of the scholars of the best generations² celebrated his birthday nor did they order it to be done.

Therefore, it is known from the above that such a celebration is not from the Law that Allah sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) with. We ask Allah and all Muslims to witness that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) had done so or ordered such to be done, or even if his Companions had done so, we would rush to do it and call others to do it. This is because, and all praises are due to Allah, we are the most keen in following his sunnah and respecting his commands and prohibitions. We ask Allah, for ourselves and for all of our brethren Muslims, steadfastness upon the truth, avoiding everything that differs from Allah's pure shariah. Verily, He is Generous and Noble.

Shaikh Ibn Baz

Doubtful Matters

2009-07-16T00:25:00.005-04:00

On the authority of Al-Numan bin Basheer, who said : I heard the messenger of Allah say : "That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah's sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart." narrated by Bukhari and Muslim

In my class last Friday we discussed this hadith. I found it interesting because it makes clear to me those 'doubtful matters' that we all think about. I also thought this might help some Muslims that are struggling to give up things where there are differing opinions. Basically this hadith is saying that there are things that are haram and things that are halal. These things are clear. Then there are the things that are doubtful. It is best for us to avoid these things... as it says above to clear ourselves in regard to our religion and our honor. So things like music (which I think is one of the clear things, but a lot of people do not) should be avoided because its a doubtful matter. Perhaps this will be the thing that will help those that are struggling with those sticky subjects that have 'differing opinions.

To the shore

2009-07-13T20:19:00.008-04:00

Last Monday a sister and I went to the shores of Connecticut with my son. We took a picnic lunch and I did the sisters henna. It was a really nice day, and the water was beautiful. We sat at a spot where there was a bridge that opens up to let the ships pass. People were around us but didn't seem bothered by us at all.

As we walked back to the car, warm and happy some idiot rode by on a moped and yelled at us to 'go home'. Ugh.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the day.

Prohibition

2009-06-28T19:27:00.004-04:00

From 1919 to 1933 alcohol became illegal to sell, produce and consume in the United States. It was called the "Noble Experiment". Over that period of time the government spent millions trying to enforce this law. Over a half a million people were arrested for crimes associated with alcohol and organized crime had a new outlet for it's mischievous ways. Finally, they had to give up and repeal the law.

Now lets go back about 1400 years. The ayat of the Quran is revealed:

They ask you (O Muhammad ) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: "In them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they ought to spend. Say: "That which is beyond your needs." Thus Allâh makes clear to you His Laws in order that you may give thought.

Once the companions heard this revelation they immediately stopped drinking. Some of them had wine in their hands, they threw it. Some had it in their mouths, they spit it out. Some even went as far as to induce vomiting to get any out of their stomachs. The streets of Medina were reported to have flowed with wine because everyone was throwing it away. Subhannallah! They did not need to question one thing. They did not complain or argue they just obeyed.

The reaction of the companions is very noteworthy because it shows how dedicated they were to their religion. They followed the law set fourth by Allah subhannah wa t'ala. The Prophet salalahu alayhi wa salam, did not need to spend millions enforcing it, he did not need to worry about the companions sneaking alcohol around the City. He only had to reveal the ayat to them, and they obeyed. If only the Ummah would do that now.

As an Ummah we find excuse after excuse to do what we want. To dress as we want, to behave as we want, to entertain ourselves as we want. We pretend that we don't know whats right, when we really do. The message of Islam is clear. There is no confusion. As I do my blog travels and read articles on sites, I find myself becoming more and more disappointed with the kind of information being put fourth. There is more of a focus on changing and twisting Islam to fit a modern society than there is on simple tawheed and obedience to our creator.

When I find stories like this one, about the companions being so obedient, it makes me want to be a better Muslim. Inshallah it does the same for all of you.

What a joke

2009-06-14T18:30:00.007-04:00

Just saw this on CNN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel could accept a peace agreement with a "demilitarized Palestinian state" as its neighbor.
In his first speech accepting the concept of a two-state solution for the Middle East conflict, Netanyahu set rigid conditions for moving forward. Among them: unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish national state with Jerusalem as its capital, and full demilitarization for a Palestinian state -- no army, no rockets or missiles, no control of airspace.

What a joke? Who does he think he is? Ok, we'll allow them their own state but they have to remain defenseless against us and any other attacks that may come along, oh and they have to agree to full recognition of their oppressors.... its totally frustrating. I can't wait to see what the US says about this. Who made them in control? Would any other country think they could pull this stunt? Oh, except for our own. Telling another country that they can't have a military? Why don't they just add that they all have to wear I heart Israel t-shirts as well. Disgusting.

No its not, no its not, no its not

2009-06-14T18:24:00.002-04:00

Ughghhhh. This is the answer I get when I give people proof from Quran and Sunnah that something is an obligation. That's it. 'No its not'. Ooooooh, wow, I'm owned now.

Ok, I'm done ranting. That is just truly annoying.

Why we wear it

2009-06-12T17:22:00.002-04:00

I went to a sisters gathering with the teachers that I work with. Up until that time I had never seen any of them without hijab. It was a very good lesson on why we wear hijab. I'm not going to individually point out how beautiful they were, but it was amazing how different they all looked.

Allah Subhanna wa T'ala knows what he is doing when he tells us to cover, and I saw one of those reasons first hand when I saw all of my sisters that day. Inshallah we can all be strong and cover properly.

ICNA, Dissapointment and headscarves

2009-05-31T18:28:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Hudastore.com was a vendor at the ICNA conference. We didn't really make any money but we got out name out there and orders have picked up since then. Alhamdulilah.

Now for the disappointing part. From the moment we started to unload our car at the loading dock, I was so sad to see Muslim women not covered. Now I know that some people will be upset with me for saying that, but I just felt sad. This sadness grew as the convention went on. Women walking around with the scarf around their shoulders instead of on their head. Some women in sleeveless dresses with low backs. I understand that some muslimahs do not cover, but when you are going to an Islamic event can't you just pretend? At one point I went to the ladies room to fix my scarf. As I was talking off the layers (niqab, scarf, underscarf) a sister came in that was not covered. She was watching me out of the corner of her eye, and I guess I was watching her too. She took out a brush and brushed her highlighted hair. Then she put some lip gloss on and played with her hair some more. She was very pretty. She had on tight jeans, high heels and a tight shirt. I was just sad. Not mad, not judgemental, just sad. WHY?

What I want to understand is why some Muslim women choose not to wear a headscarf. I seriously want to learn. I'm not trying to be mean here, I just want to hear from some sisters as to why they don't do it. Do you not find it to be an obligation? Are you 'not ready'? If you are 'not ready' why? What holds you back? Please don't anyone take offense to any of this... I just really want to understand why.

Punishment in the Grave

2009-05-22T19:36:00.002-04:00

I've been listening to a lecture about death, the grave and the day of judgment. It has been quite and eye opener. It has made me want to be better in this life, and to try my best to avoid things that would make Allah subhannah wa t'ala displeased with me.

One of the hadiths mentioned in this lecture was that the Prophet salalahu allaihi wa salam was taken in a dream by two angels. They showed him many ways that people are punished in the grave. The one that stood out to me most was the one about a man lying on his back, with someone standing over him with a huge rock. The rock would be thrown at the man's head and crush it, then the rock would roll off and his head would grow back and it would be crushed again... and again... and again. This was punishment for knowing the Quran but not living by it. How scary is that?

This makes me want to be so careful about things. It also makes me wonder why so many people want to take the chance to try to modify the clear message of the Quran.

Walmart Muslim

2009-05-20T17:49:00.002-04:00

Last Friday I needed to go to Walmart for a few things. When I was checking out the young man at the cash register asked me "If I said Asalamu alaikum to you, would you know what that meant?" I responded wa alaikum asalam, and asked him if he knew what it meant and he said of course he did he was Muslim too... from Bosnia.

While I was waiting in that check out line, he was talking to the cashier on the register next to him about going out that night, and what they were going to do. I also noticed the GIANT gold chain that the kid was wearing. So, it was a bit of a surprise when he said he was Muslim. I also wondered why he asked me if I knew what asalamu Aliakum meant... I mean, I'm wearing an abaya and full niqab, I would hope I knew what it meant.

As I was gathering my bags, he handed me my receipt and said 'here you go sweetheart'. Oh well... you can't win them all.

Shopping In NYC

2009-05-17T14:06:00.006-04:00

I went shopping yesterday with a girlfriend in New York City. We took the train and then had to find the right subway. What a disaster! We were on the wrong one, and instead of 20 min we were on Subways for about 2 hours!

All was not lost... at least i could people watch. Some people were interesting. There was a dad with his two young kids. They were all over the place and he was trying his best to keep them under control. It was so cute when the little girls hair started to fall out of her pony tail. The dad had to put it back up and he was so good at it mashallah. It was just sweet to see. New York is full of strange people, so I was surprised that so many people looked at me! Not the usual..oh...she has a veil on. They actually watched me. Odd. One guy in a business suit just could not stop... whatever.

Once we finally got to where we were going we didn't have much time to shop at all. We were tired and frustrated from the eternal subway ride, so it didn't turn out to be much fun. I got some black seed oil and an abaya... No time for much else. One other thing that made me crazy was that no store had change. If you gave them a $10 or $20 they had to run next door and get change... this happened in 3 places!

The subway trip pack to Penn station was fine. We made sure to ask people this time. We asked the people that work at the subway station and they were kind of mean about it. Then we asked a nice police man and he helped us more.

Once on the train I tried to do some henna for my friend... that was funny. It came out ok, but you could tell we were on a train. It was a bit shaky! At one stop a girl got on and sat with the guy behind us. Most of the time I try to ignore people's conversations but she had such a 'valley girl' voice (remember that from the 80's?) that I could not help it. She was on the phone with a friend and kept saying things like 'be sure to save a beer for me' and 'you've been drinking way too much...hehehe'. I have the feeling she was trying to impress the guy next to her. Yuck. Once they started talking it was all flirting and giggling from her. I was dying to see what she looked like! At that point I had only heard her. When we finally got up I was not disappointed. She was very tan and had about 5 different highlight colors in her hair. It reminded me of how much I don't miss the way I was. Granted I never flirted with men on trains or talked excessively about drinking, but I was so concerned with outward things that I had little time for anything else. Alhamdulilah I'm not like that anymore.

So I think we won't be going back for a while unless my husband drives us. That was rough!

I Remember When...

2009-05-08T18:54:00.003-04:00

I remember when I was learning about Islam, before I reverted, and I thought that every Muslim was devout and faithful to Islam. Some part of this stuck with me for quite some time. Its not that I don't realize that there are Muslims out there that are just Muslim in name, or Muslims who don't want to be too serious, but I always thought that the gift of Islam was so precious that everyone kept it as the most important priority in their life.

Now I am coming to the realization that just like Christianity (and any other religion I suppose) that Islam has its followers that equate to a 'Sunday Christian' (or even a Easter/Christmas Christian). These are Muslims who claim Islam as their religion, but don't really take it too seriously. They don't feel they have to follow the basic tenets of the religion. They don't pray 5 times a day regularly. They don't really care too much about true Modesty. They don't wear hijab (sisters and brothers), and they feel that their career, race or gender is more important of a trait than their religion. These are not people who struggle with these things, they simply just don't care. There is a difference. There are Muslims who let this dunya take over sometimes, but struggle to come back to the straight path. Then there are the ones that want to do anything and everything to justify why they do what they do, but don't care to just submit to Islam and follow it correctly.

I talked a few posts ago about blogs that make me crazy... and I really have to stop reading them. Its like looking at a car wreck. You know you shouldn't, but you can't seem to help yourself. I think I do it sometimes just to make myself upset... to remind myself of what horrors are out there I guess. Sounds pretty stupid eh? I read some random thing today where someone was trying to justify Muslim women marrying non Muslim men... it just blows my mind. The logic (or lack there of) to this post was that there are not any good Muslim men so why can't we marry a good non-Muslim? Ummmm... we can't marry non Muslim men because Allah said so!

And do not marry Al-Mushrikat (idolatresses, etc.) till they believe (worship Allah Alone). And indeed a slave woman who believes is better than a (free) Mushrikah (idolatress), even though she pleases you. And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikun till they believe (in Allah Alone) and verily, a believing slave is better than a (free) Mushrik (idolater), even though he pleases you. Those (Al-Mushrikun) invite you to the Fire, but Allah invites (you) to Paradise and Forgiveness by His Leave, and makes His Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) clear to mankind that they may remember.

What else do you need? why bother writing a post about it?

So now I must go forward and realize that there are going to be levels of Muslims and just accept it. I can only pray for their guidance and try to do whats best to please Allah.

Book Recommendation

2009-04-26T12:02:00.012-04:00

This post is going to be an offshoot of one I wrote a while back about niqab. It seems to have come up again a few times, and I wanted to share a book that I read that helped me make my decision about it being an obligation to veil.

The book is called Four Essays on the Obligation of Veiling and contains 4 essays by some of the best scholars of our time: Bin Baaz, Uthaimeen, Fawzaan and Madkhalee.

The first time I read this book it set for me what my obligations were in relation to hijab. I could not doubt it anymore. The proofs were too strong. I've just started to re-read it and I wanted to share a part that I really found interesting from the essay by Uthaimeen:

Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet Salallahu Alayhi Wa Salam said 'Whoever trail his garment out of pride, Allah will not look at him on the day of Judgement.' So Umm Salamah asked 'Then what should the women do with the hems of their dresses?' The Prophet said 'Let them extend their hems the length of a hand span.' She said 'But their feet would still be exposed.' So he replied 'Then let them extend it a forearm's length and no more.' (reported by Abu Dawood)

There is evidence in this hadeeth that a woman is obligated to cover her feet. This was a well known matter amongst the Sahaabiyaat. Without a doubt, the foot is less a place of fitnah than the face and hands. Thus, warning against something that is a lesser danger also consists of a warning against what is greater and superior than it, based on the wisdom of the Last Revelation. Would it obligate the covering of an area that is less of a place of fitnah, and allow the exposing of that which is a greater area of fitnah? Indeed this a clear contradiction that is not possible for the wisdom of Allah and his legislation.

So if anyone has an interest to study the obligation further please consider this book as a good place to start.

Visiting home

2009-04-25T19:30:00.003-04:00

Last week, I went to Vermont to visit my mom and sister. I took my son with me and we had a very nice time. My son really behaved the entire time and was very sweet, which made it even better.

On Thursday I drove up to visit my sister and we went out shopping and had a great time. At one point she was going to take me to the only halal restaurant around so she asked if she could wear a scarf too! We had a great time trying to get it on her in the car (tiny Jetta), we laughed so hard that we were crying. Finally we got it on and went looking for the place but never found it. :( Instead we got some Chinese food and she kept it on when she went in to get it. It was really sweet of her to be so supportive. May Allah guide her to the right path.

I'll be going up again this weekend to go to a craft show with mom. I love those things and its something really cool that we can do together. It gives us a chance to talk and laugh. When I was up there last week, we had that same conversation where she tells me that she never prays to Jesus, but only to God, and that she thinks communion is gross! Its a start I guess. I am always trying to tell her about Islam, and do my best to show her the truth.

And to top it off, here are some pictures of the sunset off of my moms front deck. Alhamdulilah!

Venting

2009-04-22T18:03:00.002-04:00

I read a lot of blogs. I've narrowed myself down to the ones that don't drive me insane. The ones that drive me insane are usually feminist drivel from Muslimahs that want to put gender before Islam and announce it to the world through their pretentious articles written on topics that only degrade women, not lift them up.

Most of the blogs I read are by intelligent Muslim women who are strict on their deen. They are strong, smart and knowledgeable about Islam. These are the sisters that I take comfort in. We share ideals and learn from each other. These are the things that keep me going. Knowing there are sisters out there that think like I do and support me as I support them.

Now comes the venting part. I know that my viewpoints are considered 'strict' to some, but it drives me crazy to no end when people try to blame me for them. They are not MY opinions, they are the opinions of some of the top scholars of Islam. The next question I always get is 'who do you think the top scholars are?', and when I reply, I just get people saying that they are too strict as well. It makes me crazy when people try to find every conceivable way to make questionable actions allowed, and then turn around and call me strict for following Quran and Sunnah.

Now on to my next rant topic. Fashion. I find it very sad that more muslimahs write about what cute outfit they put together than about issues that Muslims face today. If I see one more polyvore outfit with skin tight jeans, an overly loud tight shirt covered by an equally loud fitted jacket, I'll scream (oh yes, and add the insane 5 inch high heel shoes in some ridiculous color). Why are we so obsessed with looking cute? That is reserved for our husbands and family, not for the rest of the world. If some spent half the time they do on their clothes on learning their deen they might be better off.

Now for the disclaimer. This was a rant. I was venting. I'm allowed that right? These are the kinds of things that you say in your head all the time but don't dare say out loud. I'm not looking for a fight, or any nasty comments, so just save it. Sometimes I just need to get it out, and I did.

Sometimes I Forget

2009-04-13T19:28:00.000-04:00

Friday was a busy day for us. Both my husband and I had a day off and so did my son. We all went to Jummah... it was totally packed! After Jummah we gave a brother and his wife a ride home and went to a sisters house to fix a hole in her wall. Once we were done with that we had an apartment building to go see.

We agreed to check out this building for a friend of ours from New York. He is thinking of buying an apartment building here and wanted our opinion before he drove the 3 hours to get here to see it himself.

The building had 10 units, fully rented. Not the best neighborhood, but it was ok. Right across from an elementary school. I've never had to 'look at a building' before so when I realized that we were going to go into occupied apartments to look around I felt awful! What an invasion of privacy! Now here is where the forgetting part comes in.

I am so used to the way I dress that I sometimes forget that it may be shocking for other people. The first apartment we went to was fine, the family was very nice, but the kids looked terrified of me. oops. The next apartment we went to look at would not let us in. The realtor showing us the place told me to stay out of site until the next apartment occupant agreed to let us in... I hid around the corner. That felt so strange. Once they opened the door and I came around the corner they looked so shocked. This part of town is mainly Hispanic and therefore Catholic so I'm sure they were not too pleased to see me, but I tried my best to be polite and show a good example.

So, this in comparison to my craft show day was quite a vast difference. Inshallah I got the chance at the apartment building to show these people that I'm not scary at all (and neither is my giant thobe wearing husband). I can show them that I love my family, I laugh, I talk to my son like a normal mother and I have manners.

Question at the Craft Show

2009-03-28T20:05:00.003-04:00

Today some sisters and I went to a craft show. I love going to these things. There are so many creative people with beautiful things they have made. I am addicted to really nice pottery (although I can't afford to buy it anymore) and I love to see what the jewelers do as well.

I went to pick up 2 sisters and we were going to meet a 3rd at the show. We were there a bit early so we agreed to wait at the entrance for the 3rd sister. Time for question #1 from a perfect stranger:

Question #1: A group of women and children walked by. A little boy in a stroller said 'who are they, mommy?", she said they are ladies! One of the women in the back of the group turned around and came back to us and asked if she could ask me something. I said sure, and she said "How do you wear glasses when you roll like that?". So the question was, how does a niqabi wear glasses when wearing a veil. I answered that some of the niqabs are cut back wider just for that purpose. She thanked us and went on her way. So that was not so bad... A nice question from a curious person. No biggie.

Now on question #2, which really was not a question but more of a statement and greeting:

Question (statement) #2: We were still outside waiting when an older woman walked by and told me my scarf was pretty. I said thank you, and her husband said salam to us.... we said it back and that was it. They were not Muslim, but knew enough about us to say salam. Another nice interaction at the craft show.

So the 3rd sister arrives with her cute and cuddly baby, and we make our way into the show. We soon get sort of split up but we are not too far from each other. As we are looking at a booth, some other ladies come to us and ask question #3.

Question #3: First they asked if they could ask us a question, which is always nice (do people ever say no?). Anyway, they wanted to know why I wear a face veil and the other women don't. This was a bit more tricky but I explained that I think its an obligation in our religion but there is difference of opinion. I also said some women wear it and don't think its an obligation but wear it for additional modesty. They seemed happy with that. Asked if it was hot and then happily went on their way.

So another pleasant question from the masses. So now for more shopping fun. We really get split up now, and I'm with one sister and the other two are off looking at things on their own. I walk by a booth selling almonds with Cinnamon on them and the man offers me a sample to try. So I try it and like it and decide to buy a bag. Now on to question #4.

Question #4: The almond vendor asks if I'm pretty under there! My friend comes up and says yes she is and thats why she is wearing it. Only her husband and other woman and her family can see her. He joked with us some more and asked 'what about almond vendors, do they get to see?" I politely said no and we were on our way. A bit later when I walked by again he shouted out "come on, just one look, don't make me chase you!" I laughed a bit and kept going. Eeek.... not too bad but a bit scary.

So we keep shopping and we are now in the food isle of the show. There is a booth selling these HUGE eclairs. Of course we have to look at them! The woman behind the counter asks if she can ask me a question - Question #5!

Question #5: She asks, what is it called what you are wearing on your face? So I tell her its a niqab, she asked me to spell it, so I do. She said she met a woman from Iran that said she wears it to honor her... what do you call your God? I tell her Allah. She says yes, right Allah. Then she asks why I wear it so I tell her. Up until now its ok, but she then she says she feels sorry for me. I told her not to and that I'm very happy to cover and be modest like this. She says 'but men don't have to!' and I explain that they have a dress code as well. Then she brings up multiple wives. We explain to her that men can have more than one wife for many reason but that he must treat them all equally or he answers for it on the day of judgement. Finally she says 'well we were all born naked, and we were meant to be seen by the bird and trees and people'. I smile and say that the birds and trees can see me, but some of the people can't. So that was the end of that. Not too bad, but she was kind of argumentative about it.

I don't know what it is really. Perhaps people that go to craft shows feel more open and curious. It was such a surprise to get asked so many questions all in a couple of hours. It was kind of nice actually. Inshallah we were able to show some people what Islam was about. May Allah subhannah wa t'ala guide them to the straight path.

Shirk

2009-03-27T15:58:00.002-04:00

Have you ever noticed that if you read a thread on a forum started by Christians that they rarely talk about God? Its all about Jesus. Everything. They dedicate everything to Jesus. They praise him, they love him they pray to him. He is love, he is the creator, he is everything? As I read these threads I can only think one thing... SHIRK! I know that to them its not shirk but its very surprising to see how little attention they give to the actual Creator.

I also find it interesting that around this time of year someone who claims to be a devout Christian will have anything to do with the easter bunny and easter eggs. Don't they realize that its a pagan mockery of something they claim to hold so dear? Whats worse is Muslims who celebrate it.. I mean really... don't they have anything better to do?

Do I like the community?

2009-03-25T20:24:00.005-04:00

I was talking to another staff member at school today (a revert like me) and she said that a lot of people ask her why they don't see her more for 'community events' at the masjid. She lowered her voice and said 'Jamilah, I don't like the community at this masjid'. She went on to say she felt bad about feeling that way but that every time she came to the masjid for anything she left frustrated or disgusted by what she saw. I thought about it for a moment and I said, you know... I totally agree with you.

I don't go to the masjid for much other than school, but if I happen to go there on a Saturday or Sunday for salat, I'm always completely frustrated by what I see. There are a few different groups of sisters that gather at the masjid every weekend. They all sit in the musallah and talk and eat and laugh.... oh and not watch their kids at all. Usually the kids are either running around like crazy in the musallah or they are downstairs destroying the school's property or in the bathroom flushing things down the toilet that don't fit. The sisters eat in the musallah and make a huge mess. Their kids also eat in there and make an even bigger mess.. PLUS they take the food with them downstairs and in the hall and even in the bathrooms and leave bits of it everywhere.

So imagine that you stop into the masjid for salat, and you want to do some sunnah prayers and dhikr before salat start in 10 minutes. So you walk in, take off your shoes, step over all of the shoes on the floor and not in the rack and put your shoes in the rack. As you are doing this at least 3 kids tear by you screaming about something. Next you open the women's entrance to the musallah and almost hit a baby sitting on the floor right inside the door. The baby is unattended and crying. You step in, pick up the baby, look around and notice that a woman has looked up and noticed you have her child. She motions you over. You hand her the baby, she calls to her 6 year old to come take the baby and goes back to chatting with her friends. You make your way past coats, food and toys on the floor to the front of the women's area so you can pray with the divider wall as a sutrah. As you make takbir and begin praying a ball flies in front of you followed by a child. You try to stop them from crossing in front of you but they are too fast. A bit shaken you carry on. Meanwhile there are 20-25 sisters 10 feet behind you having conversations is Arabic and Urdu at the top of their lungs. You try to focus and ignore the noise. While in sajood a child trips and falls over your feet landing on you. Again, you try to carry on. As you finish praying you look around to see if ANYONE noticed that their children just disturbed your salat twice. Of course not. So you spot the kids that ran in front of you and fell on you and you ask them who their mommy's are. They tell you and run off. So you go to introduce yourself and advise them of their children's behavior. As you finish speaking the sister's face is as blank as it was when you introduced yourself. She mutters a quick apology and goes back to her chatting. Sigh..... anyway, now its time for salat. We all line up, and the imam begins the prayer. The same kids that were running around before are still doing it. Some of them are old enough to pray but they don't. They scream, yell, fight, run, fall and laugh. Salat is over and you decide that doing sunnah prayers would be pointless, because you would have no concentration what so ever. You leave.

What emotion are you feeling right now?

So needless to say, my community is really difficult to deal with sometimes. The Imam tries to keep things under control but no one listens. Signs are posted, asking people not to make a mess, leave their children unattended or hold social gatherings in the musullah, but it never sinks in. I actually have met some very good sisters at the masjid (and my husband has met good brothers as well), but we as a group rarely go to the masjid because of what I described above. I used to have a tajweed class every Friday night at the masjid. We used on of the classrooms downstairs. About 15 minutes into class the kids would start coming downstairs and running around. They would yell in the hall, push the chairs over in the cafeteria. Rip things off the walls and cause havoc in the bathrooms. After a while we just decided to move the class to a sisters house and we never went back. Its sad but true. I wonder if its like this everywhere?

Corruption of Righteous Deeds

2009-03-15T18:38:00.003-04:00

This past week in my Al-Qawaaid Al Arba class the lecture included corruption of righteous deeds. The idea was that man may do righteous deeds but then does something to corrupt or even negate it. One of the 4 categories of this is as follows:

One that does a sinful act, and is persistent upon it. So he does righteous deeds but is persistent upon minor sins. If he does not repent and dies upon this then this is like committing a major sin.

This really got me thinking. First of all, what is a minor sin? A minor sin is something which is prohibited but that does not have a punishment prescribed in Quran and Sunnah (correct me if I'm wrong). So do things like not covering properly, smoking, listening to inappropriate music fall into this category?

This is pretty serious stuff now. I think that we all lose track of minor sins. They don't seem so scary because there is no prescribed punishment for them, but as Allah swt said: you counted it a little thing, while with Allâh it was very great. ~24:15 . Little sins can build up, so we need to constantly be aware of what we do and be sure to repent.

Faith is Dearer to me than Fashion

2009-03-07T01:31:00.004-05:00

I made this design a couple of months ago for my cafepress store. I'm the only one that bought anything with it on it! :) The Arabic word hijab actually translates to curtain or cover. Hijab to me, and to many Muslims is not just a scarf that covers your hair but a whole way of dressing modestly which includes wearing loose clothes that don't show the shape of your body. The dress 'code' for Muslim women is as follows:

1. Clothing must cover the entire body.

2. The material must not be so thin that one can see through it.

3. The clothing must hang loose so that the shape of the body is not apparent

4. The female clothing must not resemble the man's clothing.

5. The design of the clothing must not resemble the clothing of the non-believing women.

6. The design must not consist of bold designs which attract attention.

7. Clothing should not be worn for the sole purpose of gaining reputation or increasing one's status in society.

What I have noticed a lot of recently is the 'fashion' of hijab. Now before I start, I want to say that I don't think that everyone has to wear an abaya or jilbab all the time, but I do wonder about some of the clothing choices that sisters (and brothers) make sometimes. I have no problem with a floor length skirt and a top, but the skirt has to be wide and the shirt has to be loose. I see a lot of sisters that will wear a skirt with that mermaid shape and a shirt that has long sleeves but clings to their arms and chest. This does not conform to the modesty standards that we should adhere to. I'm not really sure what the point is of trying to be 'fashionable'. What is the reason of trying so hard to make mainstream clothing work as a part of a Muslimah's wardrobe? It wouldn't be so bad if people would buy things a few sizes bigger so they didn't cling, but I get the impression that a lot of sisters think that if it covers their skin they are ok.

So, what is it for really? Are you trying to fit in? Impress someone? Feel beautiful? All 3 of these things have issues. Why do you want to fit in with the non believers? As #5 above says, we should not try to resemble the non believing women. The next reason I came up with was that perhaps we are trying to impress someone. Now who do we need to impress anyone other than Allah (swt)? He is the one that we are here for. We don't need to meet up to anyone elses standard but his. Finally, do we want to feel beautiful? Now this is difficult, because by nature, women feel better when the feel pretty. BUT as Muslim women, we need to remember that our beauty is only for our husbands and our family.

I admit that when I first became Muslim I tried really hard to make things work in my wardrobe. I remember going to the masjid wearing pretty tight jeans with a tight zip up sweater.... oh and of course I put on a scarf. At the time, I was still new to Islam and thought I was doing ok... and for the time being I was. It was a step in the right direction. I gradually changed my way of dressing more and more. I would wear skirts and long sleeves shirts (somewhat clingy) and then I moved onto completely loose things, and then finally I just wore an abaya everyday, and let me tell you, that was the best choice ever. Its so easy. You just throw it on and go. You can be wearing anything under it.. it doesn't matter. And you are conforming fully to the modesty guidelines put forth by Allah.

Again there is nothing wrong with not wearing an abaya as long as you still follow the rules. I've seen some sisters really put some nice modest outfits together from clothing bought all at mainstream stores.

One other thing that I dare to bring up is the dreaded high heel shoe. I was a total addict to heels. I loved the way they looked, and they way I walked when I wore them. They made me even taller than I already was and it felt powerful! This all came crashing down when I heard someone at the masjid mention that they had read that we should not wear heels out of the house. I quickly went home to do some research and there it was!

Is it permissible for women to wear high-heeled shoes?

This is not permissible. It involves resembling the disbelieving women, or the wicked women. It has its origins amongst the Jewish women before Islaam. When one of them wanted to attend a gathering where her lover was present, she would wear a pair of high shoes for him to see her, being taller. Then after a time, those became high-heeled shoes. Further, that type of shoe changes a woman’s way of walking, causing her to tilt from left to right, and therefore, the wicked and unbelievers choose this type of shoe. Therefore, a Muslim woman following the Sharee’ah (Islaamic Law) should not wear high-heeled shoes; especially since many times it causes her to fall!

shaikh albani

Once again, this makes perfect sense. Why go through all the trouble to dress modestly only to wear a shoe that causes you to walk in a seductive way, but imitates the disbelievers. Inshallah I don't ruffle any feathers. I'm just making observations, and pondering upon them. May Allah swt guide us all to the straight path.

Snow

2009-03-02T21:56:00.003-05:00

The snow started last night... light at first and then very heavy overnight. Of course school was canceled today (for my son and I) so we got another day off and a bit of fun as well. We went for a brief walk up the street but it seemed to be too much for my son and he wanted to come home... he kept saying snow was getting in his eyes!

It is days like this that remind me of the beauty that Allah has given us. A white blanket of snow 10+ inches deep covers everything, making it look clean and new. Everything is bright and beautiful as the sun reflects off of the snow. And then I remember that each individual snow flake is unique in design. Subhanallah!

First Al-Qawaaid Al-Arba' Class!

2009-03-01T00:11:00.004-05:00

Today was our first Al Qawaaid Al Arba class with Al Baseerah. It is very organized compared with some other online classes I've taken and the first lecture was great. It was all about the history of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahaab.

I've always admired the work that Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahaab did. One of the new things that I learned from this lecture was that when he first started studying he copied by hand many of the books he studied to have for his own personal library. Can you imagine writing, word for word, the books of the great scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah? I also learned that once he found an Amir that would support him he was able to teach and spread his knowledge more easily. And this knowledge still is being taught today.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have the wrong idea about him and his work.

I am really looking forward to the rest of this class and I'll keep you posted on new things I learn.

Now its the Brothers Turn!

2009-02-27T22:53:00.006-05:00

Since my last post was on niqab I thought I'd do something for the brothers. So lets talk about the beard! There are many proofs that the beard is required for all Muslim men. We can see this from the following:

Allah's Apostle said, "Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard (as it is)."Bukhari 7:781

The Messenger of Allah said: Trim closely the moustache, and grow beard, and thus act against the fire-worshippers.Muslim

The Prophet said, "There will emerge from the East some people who will recite the Qur'an but it will not exceed their throats and who will go out of (renounce) the religion (Islam) as an arrow passes through the game, and they will never come back to it unless the arrow, comes back to the middle of the bow (by itself) (i.e., impossible)." The people asked, "What will their signs be?" He said, "Their sign will be the habit of shaving (of their beards)." Bukhari 9:651

Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said "I have no connection iwth one who shaves, shouts and tears his clothing eg. in grief or affication."
- Reported by Abu Darda (R.A.) in Muslim

Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam)said: "Act against contrary to the polythesists, trim closely the moustache and grow the beard."
- Reported by Ibn Umar (R.A.) in Muslim

Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: "Anyone who shaves has no claim to the mercy of Allah"
- Reported by Ibn Abbas (R.A.) in Tibrabi

All of the above hadiths tell the believing Muslim man to grow his beard and trim his mustache. Not too hard right? A lot of people think that because these are hadith that its optional and not required but as we all know the Quran tells us to obey the Messenger:

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (Quran 4:59)

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger, and turn not away from him when ye hear (him speak)." (Quran 8:20)

"O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered."(Quran 8:24)

"Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah an excellent exempler for him who hopes in Allah and the Final Day, and who remembers Allah." (Quran 33:21)

"What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger (and taken away) from the people of the townships,- belongs to Allah,- to His Messenger and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; in order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you. So take what the Messenger gives you, and refrain from what he prohibits you. And fear Allah: for Allah is strict in Punishment." (Quran 59:7)

There will always be argument about this topic. People will say that they can't grow a beard because it will cost them a job or a promotion, but isn't obeying Allah more important than anything? Also, brothers will say that when they do grow a beard it looks strange or does not grow in fully. The answer to this is simple. As long as you don't shave, you are fine, so just grown what you can grow and say Alhamdulilah. Yusuf Estes tells a story that a brother came to him and asked him if he had to grow a beard, and Yusuf Estes answered him saying 'no, just don't cut it'.

The one thing that drives me absolutly crazy is seeing a Muslim man with JUST a mustache! Isn't that like doing opposite of what he has been commanded to do? Why would you do that? I also wonder about brothers who have the 'fashion' beard that is just a goatee or shaved real short, are they that vain that they can't grow a full beard for the sake of their creator?

So there you have it. May Allah guide all of our brothers in Islam to grow a beard as our wonderful Prophet did.

When people ask me about Niqab

2009-02-26T22:21:00.014-05:00

Occasionally I will get asked why I chose to wear niqab. Depending on who is asking I have some short standard answers. If it a non muslim I explain that its a part of dressing modestly in Islam and I believe it to be a command from God. My answer to Muslims is similar but I usually try to go into some of the reasons or proofs that I have for finding it to be fard.

The reason I even started to look into niqab is because a teacher and friend of mine was a niqabi. She never pushed it or said anything about it, but just to know her made you want to be like her. Not in that scary, creepy stalker sense, but because she was a very decent example of a muslimah. She was and is a wonderful role model. When I asked her about it, she directed me to a small book called '4 Essays on the Obligation of Veiling'. I ordered the book and read the whole thing in a couple of days. The proofs contained in the book changed my views dramatically.

I wanted to wear niqab right away, but at the time I worked in an office and was too scared to do it. I would wear it to the office and home and everywhere else, but not at work. I felt stupid about it. I was actually just going to go to my HR department to say I was going to start wearing it when I got laid off! Turns out that was the best thing to happen to me. Now I work in an Islamic School and I can wear it full time and not look back.

Anyway, moving on. The proofs that changed my views are too many to name in one blog post, but I'll try to give you a few so you can get an idea of the impact they had on me.

First there is this Tafsir by Al-Qurtubi:

“And all of the woman is ‘awrah; her body, her voice, and it is not permissible for her to uncover that unless out of necessity, or need such as witnessing (in court), or a disease that is affecting her body…” [Ahkām Al Qur'ān 3/1579]

Which goes along with this Hadith: “The woman is ‘Awrah, when she leaves [her home] Shaytān (satan - may Allah curse him) looks at her.”

Both of the above state that all of a woman is 'awrah. Next there is this Ayat:

O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for a meal, without awaiting its readiness. But when you are invited, then enter; and when you have eaten, disperse without seeking to remain for conversation. Indeed, that [behavior] was troubling the Prophet, and he is shy of [dismissing] you. But Allāh is not shy of the truth. And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. And it is not [conceivable or lawful] for you to harm the Messenger of Allāh or to marry his wives after him, ever. Indeed, that would be in the sight of Allāh an enormity.

(Al-Ahzāb 33:53)

Some will say that this ayat only refers to the wives of the Prophet. The ayat itself is specific to the Prophet but the generality of the words referring to veiling between men and woman seems to apply to all. The flaw of the heart that causes fitnah resides in everyone. This concept can be futher proven by the following hadith narrated by Umm Salamah:

“When my ‘Iddah (This type of ‘iddah refers to the 4 months and 10 days of mourning that Allah has legislated for a woman after her husband passes away) ended from [the death of] Abi Salamah, Rasūlullah (Sallalllahu ‘Alayhi wa Sallam) came and spoke to me and between him and I was a Hijāb, and so he proposed to me…”

Now before anyone says 'it only says 'hijab' not veil, the Arabic word for cover is hijab, so these hadith and ayat are talking about either a curtain or veil of some sort. Another way to look at this concept would be that if in a woman's home they have a barrier or veil between her and a man why would she abandon that form of modesty when she left the home?

The next Ayat is probably one that we all know:

O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their Jalābīb all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allâh is Ever Oft¬-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Al-Ahzāb 33:59)

What comes into question here is 'what is a Jalabib'. We can explore that further in the following hadith:

It was narrated that ‘Aasim al-Ahwal said: We used to enter upon Hafsah bint Sirīn who had put her Jilbāb thus and covered her face with it, and we would say to her: May Allah have mercy on you. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And as for women past childbearing who do not expect wedlock, it is no sin on them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show their adornment” [al-Noor 24:60]. And she would say to us: What comes after that (of the āyah)? We would say: “But to refrain (i.e. not to discard their outer clothing) is better for them”. And so she said: [Referring to, 'But to refrain is better for them'], “It is to keep the Jilbāb.” [Narrated by al-Bayhaqi, 7/93. It is Authentic]

This hadith shows that Hafsah Bint Sirin, who was an older woman and a sahabiat, used to use her jilbab to cover her face. This is proof that the jilbab was worn as a complete body cover. It also shows how a woman of her age does not need to cover like that but it is best for her to continue to do so.

So these are just a few of the things that I found that led me to believe that veiling is fard. Now that I have come to this conclusion I feel naked without it. It is a very safe and respectable feeling. It also sort of forces you to dress properly. Wearing anything but an abaya with a niqab feels strange to me!

I will never tell a sister that she has to wear it, or look down on anyone who does not. If they ask, I'll pass them along to the book I mentioned above and give some advice, but I'll not push it. I've had plenty of people try to talk me out of it, but even more tell me that its a good thing. May Allah guide and bless the believing brothers and sisters.

Defiance Part 2

2009-02-25T19:00:00.006-05:00

My post from a couple of days ago caused quite a stir with some people. It is never my intention write things purely to rile people up, but this post seemed to do just that. Anyway, my whole point behind writing that post was two-fold.

1. I wanted to to discuss the permissibility of Music. This is a pretty plain and simple topic. There are differences of opinion out there, but I usually go with the stronger opinion, which, in this case is that it is not permissible.

2. I wanted to point out some of the defiant attitudes I'd noticed on blogs and forums about some Muslim's choice to listen to music. Perhaps this part of the post was not the best of ideas.

So, getting back to point #1. Once while I was in a class at the masjid a sister asked our teacher about Music. The discussion went on for a while and someone asked if Nasheeds were ok. Our teacher's answer was really good. She said that if you can understand what is being said and determine that there is no biddah or shirk being talked about AND there are no musical instruments than it MAY be ok, but its best to just leave it. What I found interesting about what she said was the part about understanding the words of the song. A lot of nasheeds are in Arabic, Urdu etc. I don't know these languages well enough (or at all) to determine what they singer is actually saying. So as a little experiment I found a nasheed in Urdu and asked someone I knew to tell me what it said. They told me that the song was in great praise of the Prophet but it actually went too far and seemed like shirk to them.

So, if we should be careful about nasheeds, which are supposed to be Islamic songs, wouldn't you think that staying away from today's pop music is only logical? A lot of people will defend their choice to listen to this music saying that it doesn't really contain anything bad so it should be alright, but have you really read these lyrics? Have you looked at the album covers?

As for the 2nd point of my post, I only wanted to discuss how the defensive and defiant attitude that some Muslims have about music should be a sign to them that there is something wrong. Think about it... you get so angry when people try to give you advice and show you proofs. You sometimes even tell people upfront that 'you don't want to hear it' anymore. You defend your choice to listen to music with such passion that you would think that it was something important in this world. Its like an obsession for you. An addiction that you can't give up. When you read something about music being haram you get so angry. Where are these emotions coming from? Not from anywhere good.... And you say that music has no bad effects on people?

Inshallah this post does not get anyone all puffy and irritated. And if it does, try to think about how Shaytan is loving every moment of your aggravation, because he is winning when you feel like that about something so trival. He loves it when you disobey Allah and his messenger.

Perfume?

2009-02-24T14:17:00.004-05:00

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1065 Narrated by Abu Musa
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: 'Every eye is lustful, and when a woman applies perfume and then goes about in an assembly, she is like such and such, i.e. an adulteress.'

Sunan of Abu- Dawood Hadith 4161 Narrated by Abu Musa
The Prophet (saws) said: 'If a woman uses perfume and passes the people so that they may get its odor, she is so-and-so…., (meaning severe remarks)

I used to have such a huge perfume collection. I still have my favorites but got rid of most of them. Its funny because I never really thought about it until Islam, but a nice scent really does turn your head.

Not going to write much today

2009-02-23T18:51:00.002-05:00

My son does not feel good and with his autism sometimes its really hard to understand what is bothering him. So, I'm taking a sick day from my Month-o-Blog a thon.

Defiance

2009-02-22T21:21:00.003-05:00

Lately I've read on a few blogs posts about music. The posts run from Muslims who are struggling to give it up to Muslims who know its wrong and defiantly listen to it anyway.

For those who are trying to give it up, I went through a lot of what you did. I never was without music before I reverted to Islam. At work I would have a radio on my desk and later my ipod packed full of every CD I owned. In the car I was always singing along with the radio at the top of my lungs (how embarrassing!). When I first accepted Islam I had no intention of giving it up. But as I learned and understood it became easy for me. I realized that it was taking my mind away from where it needed to be.

For those who are being defiant about it, I probably won't change your mind, but just do me a favor and read over these few Quran ayats and hadiths:

“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah…” [Luqmaan 31:6]

“Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Qur’aan)? And you laugh at it and weep not, Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)”[al-Najm 53:59-61]

“Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments…” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari ta’leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91).

Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari that he heard the Prophet saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks, and the use of musical instruments as lawful. And (from them), there will be some who will stay near the side of a mountain, and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and Allah will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection."

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: Salam ibn Miskin, quoting an old man who witnessed AbuWa'il in a wedding feast, said: They began to play, amuse and sing. He united the support of his hand round his knees that were drawn up, and said: I heard Abdullah (ibn Mas'ud) say: I heard the apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say: singing produces hypocrisy in the heart. (Book #41, Hadith #4909)

So looking at the above (which is just a few of many) how can you read these and not care about what they say? Where it says 'Among my Ummah will be those who permit zina, silk, alcohol and musical instruments'... Music is being compared to ZINA there. So why would you think its ok? The Messenger of Allah said that singing produces hypocrisy in the heart... do you think you know better than he does?

Even if you don't want to admit it, music takes you away from where you should be. Perhaps you see it as relaxing or as a pick me up, but Allah knows better than we do what is good and bad for us. As Muslims we stay away from alcohol, pork, zina and many other things, but when it comes to music we can't give it up? Why? Do you love something of this dunya so much that you can't obey your creator? Think about it. The desire to listen to music is so strong for you, where do you think that desire comes from? Perhaps a whisper in your ear?

Anyway, my rant is over. For those of you who struggle with it, may Allah guide you to success. For those who are defiant about it, may Allah open your heart and mind to what you do not know.

Textual Islam?

2009-02-21T20:48:00.002-05:00

What is textual Islam? I had never heard the term until earlier today. Apparently it is when someone learns about their deen only from written sources, such as Quran, sunnah and books by scholars. Now to me this seems like the only way to go. Perhaps throw in a some lectures and classes and your set. Right? Wrong... well wrong according to some.

As a revert, I can't think of any other way to learn, but then I forget that if you are born into Islam you are more thank likely going to have had 'knowledge' given to you by other sources. You will learn from your parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends teachers and so on. Now that doesn't sound too bad does it? In theory its great, but its sort of like the telephone game, as information is passed down through families and such, things can get distorted. Fiction can be passed off as fact and people start to learn things the wrong way. Culture gets thrown in there and boom, it starts to look less and less like Islam and more like.... well I don't know what it looks like, but not much like Islam.

I recently read a post on another blog where the poster (a revert) said that when she first accepted Islam she thought she was reverting to THE Islam, only to find out that there are many different sects, schools of thought and cultural divides. I was the same way. I thought that everyone that was Muslim did the same thing. Wow, was I wrong. Once I started to meet Muslims from other countries and sects I realized that it if I didn't 'stick to the books' I was going to get seriously confused. Not only did I have to stick to the books, but I had to be careful about which books. Alhamduliah I found a great community of sisters to help me and a wonderful teacher that guided us all through that maze. If I look back at my book collection from the beginning I wince sometimes thinking... 'did I actually read that?'. Now I am pretty careful about what I read, and when we started our bookstore hudastore.com, we sought advice on which types of books to stock and which to avoid.

So for now, I don't mind being someone that learned 'textually'.

Can't Sleep Reading

2009-02-20T23:32:00.010-05:00

Last night I could not sleep. It was 3:00 AM and I was just laying there. I played with my phone for a while, watched my husband sleep and read a little. One of the books that I found tucked away in the pile next to my bed was a dawah book called 'Priests Entering Islam'.

I read a few of the stories, but the one I liked the best was the reversion story of Gerald Dirks. (you can read his story here) One of the things he said that caught my attention was the following:

There is some irony in the fact that the supposedly best, brightest, and most idealistic of ministers-to-be are selected for the very best of seminary education, e.g. that offered at that time at the Harvard Divinity School. The irony is that, given such an education, the seminarian is exposed to as much of the actual historical truth as is known about: 1) the formation of the early, “mainstream” church, and how it was shaped by geopolitical considerations; 2) the “original” reading of various Biblical texts, many of which are in sharp contrast to what most Christians read when they pick up their Bible, although gradually some of this information is being incorporated into newer and better translations; 3) the evolution of such concepts as a triune godhead and the “sonship” of Jesus, peace be upon him; 4) the non-religious considerations that underlie many Christian creeds and doctrines; 5) the existence of those early churches and Christian movements which never accepted the concept of a triune godhead, and which never accepted the concept of the divinity of Jesus, peace be upon him; and 6) etc. As such, it is no real wonder that almost a majority of such seminary graduates leave seminary, not to “fill pulpits”, where they would be asked to preach that which they know is not true

He later goes on to say that his eduction at the Harvard Divinity School "had taken care of any belief I might have had regarding a triune godhead or the divinity of Jesus" So this made me wonder how many scholars of Christianity feel the same way? If you read his story you don't get the idea that he never had any faith in Christianity, only that when he took the time to study and learn about it, he found it was created by man and not by God. That the scriptures were very altered and that the divinity of Jesus was something politically decided by a council rather than decreed by God.

The above conclusion is not difficult to come by really. Once I started to study Islam, and by default Christianity, I found this all to be true as well. The information is out there for anyone who wants to open their eyes to the truth. Have you ever tried to ask a Christian about the trinity? The explanation given NEVER makes any sense... and even if you as a priest or minister they can't really explain it logically either. Is this what they call suspension of disbelief?

Growing up as a Christian I just knew what I was told. I went to church I went to Sunday school, I was an alter girl, and I just followed along. The very first time a Muslim asked me 'do you believe that Jesus is the son of God?' I said 'Of Course!' and then he said... 'why?'... I had no idea. This was the beginning of my journey to Islam. Someone asked me a question about my own religion that I could not answer... so I started learning the truth and it shocked me.

Alhamdulilah I was guided to Islam and so was my husband and son. I thank Allah for that everyday, the truth is there for those he gives it to.

Ignoring the Gift

2009-02-19T22:07:00.002-05:00

Islam is a gift from Allah. He gives it to some of us at birth, others he guides to it later in life. Some never receive it.

What I wanted to write about today is people who ignore this gift. I'm sure we all know someone born into Islam that takes it for granted, that does not really practice but perhaps follows their culture instead. Sisters that don't cover, brothers that don't pray, parents that don't teach their children the deen. In a way this makes me sad and angry at the same time. They have been given the most precious gift in the world yet they mock it. How can you know about the truth of Islam and not want to do everything you can to please Allah? Perhaps its Shaytan whispering to them about the marvels of this world... perhaps its ignorance. Allah knows best.

Ignoring the gift is not exclusive to born Muslims either! Reverts can fall into the trap as well. As a revert I see Allah guiding me to Islam as the most beautiful thing of all. It is like my eyes were closed tight for 34 years and they were finally opened. Of course it takes time to learn and grow, but how can you see this truth and just take it half way? Once you start learning, don't look back. Have the strength and courage to leave the dunya behind and embrace your deen to the fullest.

We all make mistakes, we all need to learn and grow, but don't ignore this beautiful gift that Allah has given you. Take it, cherish it and love it. Obey your creator. Do what pleases him and leave what does not.

First day of Class

2009-02-18T22:10:00.005-05:00

Alhamdulilah I made it through my first day of class! I tried my best to concentrate, but my cold was winning the war. There were over 180 people in the class, mostly sisters, but a few brothers and it went by pretty fast.

The part that I liked best was tafsir, it was very thorough and I learned some things I didn't already know. One thing that sort of drove me crazy was the amount of pointless chatter being typed in the chat box of the class. At one point the moderator shut it down which was really nice.

Tomorrow night I'll have to relocate my study area because the living room is far to active for me to not be distracted by lots of things. Inshallah I do well and continue to learn

Arrogance

2009-02-17T19:53:00.003-05:00

While listening to NPR I heard a story about our new Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton talking about renewing good ties with North Korea. One of her stipulations was that they cease any nuclear program, be it for energy or weapons. Now I'm not a fan of nuclear weapons but what makes us think we can tell other countries they can't have them when we and our 'allies' do? Its pure arrogance on our part. The US also pulls this with Iran. What makes us think we can just tread all over this earth and lay down commands for other to follow? How dare we as a country send drones into Pakistan to kill people we deem dangerous! Do our borders now extend where ever we want them? Are we allowed to carry out these 'terrorist' acts and brand them as military action?

This also applies to the US's rampant desire to 'spread democracy'. What may work for some does not work for all. Don't impose your rules on someone else unless you are sure they want it. After no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, suddenly liberating the people and giving them democracy was the #1 reason we went there and killed 100's of thousands of innocent people.

At one time the US was more frightened of communism than it was of Islam. If you remember the US funded the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan against Russia. Now the US is there trying to 'spread democracy'. Arrogance.

When any other country dares do something that the US doesn't (even if its better) they are branded as socialist and written off. Like a national health care system that runs smoothly in most European countries would never happen here.. because of arrogance (and possible capitalist greed).

May Allah Subhannah Wa Ta'Ala guide us and protect us from the evils of this world.

Having a cold

2009-02-16T22:15:00.005-05:00

I have no motivation when I have a cold. I've sat here for a while now trying to think of something to write about and I just can't. So I'm going to be lame and write about nearly nothing. I slept really late today, my son was home but my husband had the day off too so I was able to sleep in. We went to a sisters house to re-fix her kitchen light and then went to Target to get a few things. I saw another Muslim there (a couple actually) but they didn't see us.

So there is my boring sick feeling day :) Inshallah I feel better soon.

Back Home

2009-02-15T20:33:00.003-05:00

After the wonderful day I had yesterday, I started to feel sick in the evening. Turns out I have a cold now. :( Inshallah it will go away soon.

I left my mom's at about 3:00 today, and had a pretty uneventful drive home. It took 4 hours and 11 minutes. I guess I was driving too fast! Its nice to go and spend time with mom, we talk about just about everything including religion. I feel sometimes like I'm not sure where to start with dawah with her. I try to explain things the best I can, but I feel I can't be pushy or bring up things that would upset her. Each time I'm there we talk a little more and I think I clear any misconceptions she has, but I find it hard to really say everything I'd like to say. Perhaps it would be better if she heard it from someone else, but who? Next time we all go up I'll ask my husband to spend some time talking about it while I go away or something. That way it won't be coming from her child, and she might be more apt to accept what is being said. Inshallah her heart is opened one day.

And here is one last picture of Vermont. I liked the way the melted snow left curvy patterns on the field.

Pictures of Vermont

2009-02-14T14:45:00.011-05:00

Today my mom and I went out shopping. Our fist stop was the library where they always have a room full of old books they are selling. I found a couple of books on Australia for the project in school and then a few other things that will be nice reference for other lessons. Next we stopped at a yarn shop and I got a nice big skein of yarn. It is such an odd shape, its over sized and looks like a big purple and blue dinosaur egg! Next we drove to the next town to a charity shop where I got a bunch of nifty things to use for art projects at school. I plan on doing some mosaics with the kids so I got about 15 brightly colored plates to smash to use as tiles. I also found some ribbon to use for windsocks and 4 plastic horse shoe game sets for gym class! Such a bargain!

Now for the pictures!!!!

This first one is the view as you come down the hill into the town I grew up in.

These next view are just scenes as we were driving, these are the Green Mountains of Vermont (although they don't look very green right now... and also a few cow fields that I just loved the way they looked.

And now for the grand finale. While we were at the charity shop my 72 year old mum found a scooter... and she just had to try it out! I love my mommy!

Long Drive Today

2009-02-13T23:29:00.000-05:00

Well I'm going to make this entry quick because it is late and I've had a long day. I drove to my mom's in Vermont today. Its about 225 miles and 4 1/2 hours from my house. I did come alone, which I know I should not have done, but for us all to leave for a weekend is sometimes near impossible.

It was a nice drive, not really any traffic, and once you get off the highway the scenery is beautiful. Nice little towns, winding roads and farms everywhere. There is something about coming home that makes me relax... the fresh air, the mountains and the sparser population all seem to help. Alhamdulillah I got here alright.

Tomorrow mom and I will spend the day doing simple things, but inshallah it will be time well spent. Please make dua that I can be a good example for my mom and that Allah opens her heart to Islam.

Australian Muslims

2009-02-12T21:22:00.003-05:00

One of the big events that takes place at the school I teach at is the 'Multi-Cultural Fair'. Each grade has to choose a Country and present information about it in a showcase format. My class is going to be doing Australia.

I've assigned each student something to 'specialize' in, and one of those things is Islam in Australia. I'm looking forward to learning more about our brothers and sisters from down under. So, if any of you out there have any information you can share, my class would greatly appreciate it!

Getting Nervous

2009-02-11T22:53:00.006-05:00

I'm getting a bit nervous now. I've signed up for another intensive course! Thanks to Saira from Italy, I will be taking the Taleem Al Quran evening courses. I am excited but also a bit nervous about the work load.

Wed 5:30-9:30 - Taleem Al Quran
Thurs 5:30-9:30 - Taleem Al Quran
Fri 6:30-8:30 - Tajweed in Hartford
Sat 1:00 - 3:00 - Al Baseerah course
Sun 12:30-1:30 - 40 Ahadeeth class

About a month ago I was getting that itch to start studying seriously. I wanted to increase my knowledge of Islam, but could not find a source that fit my budget. Alhamdulillah all of these new opportunities to learn have come my way, and I think I can manage the cost as well.

Its been over two years since I reverted, and since then I've never stopped wanting to learn about Islam. I've always got 2 or 3 Islamic books going at once. I skip back and forth between them so I can absorb the most information. Its something I never tire of. Mind you I was not like this before, there was nothing that ever captured my heart and mind like this.

So as I get ready to start this intense workload, I am nervous, but mostly I'm just really excited to be learning more about my deen.

Another Hijab Post

2009-02-10T21:20:00.005-05:00

Yes, that's right... yet another hijab post. We see them everywhere. Blogs, forums, emails... everywhere. But this one will be different! Yeah right. As a revert I get asked a lot when I started to wear hijab, and later when I started to wear niqab. It seems to be a really fascinating story to some. Especially those who don't cover. I'm not sure if its because they want to really learn why or they want to validate why they don't.

A sister once asked me if I cover outside of school. I thought it was an odd question at the time. Why would I wear niqab to school and then not cover any other time? And that was also the first time I realized that some of the other sisters I work with don't cover outside of school. Now you may think that as long as they show a good example for the kids that there should not be a problem. This is not the case. Our community is not that large, and I hear whispers from some of the students that they saw Sister so and so out at the store and that they could see her hair and her jeans were really tight. Most of these whispers are from the girls and all of the girls that say this are 'of age' for covering full time. The issues caused by this are two-fold. One, the girls now either question the legitimacy of covering or they question the legitimacy of their teacher. Two, we have teachers that do not 'practice what they preach'. At some point during the year at an Islamic school every teacher has to give a reminder about the proper dress code for a Muslim. So does that make that person a hypocrite for saying one thing and doing another? This scares me very much because of the following hadith

"A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in the (Hell) Fire, so that his intestines will come out, and he will go around like a donkey goes around a millstone. The people of (Hell) Fire will gather around him and say: O so-and-so! What is wrong with you? Didn't you use to order us to do good deeds and forbid us to do bad deeds? He will reply: Yes, I used to order you to do good deeds, but I did not do them myself, and I used to forbid you to do bad deeds, yet I used to do them myself." (Book 54 Hadith #489 Bukhari)

I don't want to come off as judgemental. The reasons that people don't chose to cover are their own, and its between them and Allah Subhannah Wa Ta'Ala. I just wonder if they wonder what the consequences of that choice will be.

Origin of V-Day

2009-02-09T21:08:00.003-05:00

As we approach the next non Islamic holiday I thought I would look up some history on Valentines day and explore why we as Muslims, do no celebrate it.

I found on a site called MissionIslam.com a rather extensive article on the topic. You can read the entire thing HERE. A few of the things that stood our for me are as follows:

The story of the Festival of Love (Valentine’s Day)

The Festival of Love was one of the festivals of the pagan Romans, when paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries ago. In the pagan Roman concept, it was an expression of “spiritual love”. There were myths associated with this pagan festival of the Romans, which persisted with their Christian heirs. Among the most famous of these myths was the Roman belief that Romulus, the founder of Rome, was suckled one day by a she-wolf, which gave him strength and wisdom. The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with a big festival. One of the rituals of this festival was the sacrifice of a dog and a goat. Two strong and muscular youths would daub the blood of the dog and goat onto their bodies, then they would wash the blood away with milk. After that there would be a great parade, with these two youths at its head, which would go about the streets. The two youths would have pieces of leather with which they would hit everyone who crossed their path. The Roman women would welcome these blows, because they believed that they could prevent or cure infertility.

The connection between Saint Valentine and this festival

Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient “martyrs” of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory. When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of “spiritual love” to another concept known as the “martyrs of love”, represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year. The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love letters.

Someone may ask: why do we Muslims not celebrate this festival?

This question may be answered in several ways:

1. In Islam, the festivals are clearly defined and well established, and no additions or subtractions may be accepted. They are an essential part of our worship and there is no room for ijtihaad or personal opinion. They have been prescribed for us by Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Festivals are part of the laws, clear way and religious ceremonies of which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way [al-Maa’idah 5:48] ‘For every nation We have ordained religious ceremonies which they must follow’ [al-Hajj 22:67] like the qiblah (direction faced in prayer), prayer and fasting. So there is no difference between joining them in their festival and joining them in their other rituals. Agreeing with the whole festival is agreeing with kufr. Agreeing with some of their minor issues is the same as agreeing with them in some of the branches of kufr.

Festivals are the most distinctive things by which religions are told apart, so whoever celebrates their festivals is agreeing with the most distinctive rituals of kufr. Undoubtedly going along with them in their festivals may in some cases lead to kufr. Dabbling in these things, at the very least, is a sin. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) referred to the fact that every nation has its own festivals when he said: ‘Every nation has its own Eid and this is our Eid’ (al-Bukhaari , 952, Muslim, 1892).” (al-Iqtidaa’, 1/471-472)

Because Valentine’s Day goes back to Roman times, not Islamic times, this means that it is something which belongs exclusively to the Christians, not to Islam, and the Muslims have no share and no part in it. If every nation has its own festivals, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said – “Every nation has its Eid” (narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim) – then this means that every nation should be distinguished by its festivals. If the Christians have a festival and the Jews have a festival, which belongs exclusively to them, then no Muslim should join in with them, just as he does not share their religion or their direction of prayer.

2. Celebrating Valentine’s Day means resembling or imitating the pagan Romans, then the Christian People of the Book in their imitation of the Romans in something that was not a part of their religion. If it is not allowed to imitate the Christians in things that really are part of their religion – but not part of our religion – then how about things which they have innovated in their religion in imitation of idol-worshippers?!

Imitating the kuffaar in general –whether they are idol-worshippers or People of the Book – is haraam, whether that imitation is of their worship – which is the most serious form – or of their customs and behaviour. This is indicated by the Qur'an, Sunnah and ijmaa’ (scholarly consensus)

Mashallah that really seems to cover it. There will be people that ask what is the harm? We don't celebrate it now like they did then? But to be honest, who cares? Why do we even need to participate in ridiculous things like this? We were given days to celebrate in Islam and they are the best of days.

Signed up for a Class

2009-02-08T19:28:00.004-05:00

I'm really excited to start this new class I signed up for a few days ago. Its an Al Baseerah course on Al-Qawaaid Al-Arba' or the 4 principles of shirk. it was advertised as 'intensive' and is only $30 for a ten week course. You can choose from 3 sessions in the week (you only have to attend 1) and there are assignments and group projects to be completed as well. The course is taught by Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Al-Ghudyaan and will be translated from Arabic to English. If you are interested check it out here: studyislaam.org

This past summer I took an intensive course with TROID that was great, mashallah. It had a bit of everything! Fiqh, Aqeedah, Tafsir and the sciences of Hadith. I learned a lot, and I look forward to doing it again this summer inshallah.

The best part is that I can never get enough of learning about Islam. Its an addiction I think, but a good one!

If a Wife Leaves Islam

2009-02-07T21:25:00.002-05:00

What happens if a wife leaves Islam? I've searched the Internet and asked a few people I trust and the answer is always the same. If a wife apostatizes from Islam the marriage is not valid any longer, and the children go to the father.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Muslim men are allowed to marry women 'of the book' (meaning Jews or Christians), only if they agree to keep a Muslim house and raise the children as Muslims. I would think that would be a difficult thing in itself. A Muslim man has to find a chaste Christian or Jewish woman that is religious enough to be chaste AND willing to raise her children as Muslims. BUT things change when a Muslim man marries a Muslim woman (revert or not). If she leave Islam, she may no longer be willing to raise the children as Muslim.

The problem is, that this ruling would never be carried out in the west. Even if the husband was willing to give up his wife, no western court would ever give the full custody of the children to the father. Sadly this would mean that the child would probably be pulled in many different directions and have a struggle to keep on the straight path of Islam. Inshallah things like this are rare, and when it does happen may Allah Subhannahu Wa Ta'ala make it easy for them.

Tajweed Class

2009-02-06T22:46:00.007-05:00

Tonight was my tajweed class. We have it every Friday night at 6:30 PM at the sister's house who teaches us. She is the Arabic teacher at the school I teach at and for $10 a class shes tutors us in tajweed.

At its best we have 5 sisters that come. Normally its about 3 of us. This allows for a lot of personal attention in the 2+ hours that we are there. I really enjoy the class, she is a great teacher and its so much more comfortable to learn from a sister. I had taken online tajweed and my tutor was a young brother. It just felt strange. I didn't like to recite for him, and sometimes he was so grumpy with me! I felt so self concise and it was hard to repeat what he said when I could not see him. I also now realize that he was not teaching me right anyway.

So, back to my class. I like the class because we are all very comfortable with each other. We encourage each other to do well and our teacher is just amazing. She really can explain exactly how to make the sounds we need to make. She understands that the average American's English does not include a lot of the sounds in Arabic and knows how to help us make them. Its actually pretty amazing mashallah. We also always have tea and something to munch on! Best of all, I've really learned a lot and I feel like I'm improving, Alhamdulilah!

The Kids I Teach

2009-02-05T21:20:00.005-05:00

As you may or may not know, I co-teach 6th grade at an Islamic school and run the art and computer program for the entire school (Grades K-8, about 70 students total). This is the best job I've even had. I'm not talking about how much I get paid, because let me tell you, its not much... I'm talking about the rewards I feel when I'm there.

The kids in the school are great. There are a few that cause a bit of trouble now and then, but it is nothing compared to what happens in public school. These kids are all brothers and sisters in Islam, and when there are issues or problems between students they are dealt with Islamically and everyone involved comes out a better person having learned a lesson that will carry them through life. These kids know how to give each other naseeha! They advise each other in a polite way and share what they learn everyday. Best of all they eager to learn how to please Allah.

When Is backbiting permissible

2009-02-04T21:23:00.004-05:00

Backbiting is a big issue in the Ummah, especially with sisters. We tend to talk about others behind their back and not even realize it until its too late. But when is backbiting permissible?

Imaam Abu Zakariyaa Yahyaa Ibn Sharaf-ud-Deen An-Nawawee has written about backbiting in his book Al-Adhkaar. He gives some specific situations where backbiting may be permissible:

Know that although backbiting is forbidden, it becomes permissible under certain circumstances when done for a beneficial reason. The authorization for doing it must be based on a valid and legitimate reason of which in its absence, its permissibility cannot be achieved. The authorization (making backbiting allowable) can be any one of the following six reasons:

1. Oppression -It is permissible for the one who is oppressed to complain about his situation to the ruler or the judge or anyone else who holds authority or has the ability to grant him justice against his oppressor. He should say: "Such and such person wronged me" and "he did such thing to me", and "he coerced me in this manner" and so on.

2. Seeking assistance in changing an evil and in returning a sinner back to what is correct - One should say to the individual whom he expects has the capability of putting a stop to the evil: "Such and such person did this, so I prevented him from it" or something to that effect. His objective should be to look for a way to ultimately put an end to the evil. If he does not intend that as his goal, then it is forbidden (for him to mention it).

3. Seeking a fatwa (religious ruling) - One should do this by saying to the muftee (scholar capable of issuing a fatwa): "My father" or "my brother" or "such and such person wronged me in this way." "Does he have the right to do so?" "How shall I go about putting an end to it and obtain my right while repelling oppression from myself?" and so on. Likewise, one may say: "My wife did such and such to me" or "my husband did such and such a thing" and so on. This is permissible due to the necessity for it, however, to be more cautious, it is better for one to say: "What do you say about a man who has done such and such thing?" or "concerning a husband" or "concerning a wife who did such and such" (without saying “my”), etc.

By doing this, the goal is achieved without having to resort to specifying anyone. However, specifying an individual by name is permissible (in this circumstance), based on the hadeeth of Hind (radyAllaahu ‘anhaa), which we shall mention later, by the Will of Allaah, in which she told Allaah’s Messenger: "Indeed, Abu Sufyaan (her husband) is a stingy man." And the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) did not forbid her from saying this.

4. Warning and Advising the Muslims against Evil - There are several perspectives to this, of which one is: Declaring someone unreliable in the field of narrating hadeeth and giving testimony. This is permissible to do, according to the Ijmaa' (consensus of the Muslim scholars). Rather, it becomes obligatory due to its necessity. Another case is when an individual desires to enter into a relationship with another person either through marriage, business, the consignment of his property, the consigning of something to him or any other of the daily affairs. It is obligatory on you to mention to that individual what you know about the person he wants to get involved with, with the intention of advising him.

If your objective can be achieved by simply saying: "It is not correct for you to engage with him in business transactions” or “in a relationship through marriage" or by saying: "You should not do this" or anything similar to that, then adding more to this, such as by mentioning his bad characteristics is not permissible. And if the objective cannot be reached, except by specifically explaining that person’s condition to him, then you may mention that to him in detail. Another case is when you see someone buying a product from an individual who is known for stealing or fornicating or drinking or other than these. It is then upon you to inform the buyer of this, on the count that he is not knowledgeable of it already. And this case is not specified to this example only. Rather, it also applies when you have knowledge that the commodity that is being traded is defective. It is then obligatory upon you to clarify this matter to the buyer, if he does not know of it.

Another case is when you see a student going to an innovator or a deviant, seeking to attain knowledge from him, and you fear that may affect the student. In that situation, you must advise him about the condition of that innovator, on the condition that your intention only be for the sake of advising. And this is something in which regard many people fall into error, for perhaps the person speaking may do this (advising) because he is jealous (of the person he is warning against). Or perhaps the Devil may deceive him about this matter, causing him to believe that what he is doing is advising and showing compassion, so he believes this.

One last case is when a person has some leadership role, which he does not fulfill properly either because he is not fit for it or because he is a sinner or neglectful, etc. So in this case, one must mention this to those who have general leadership over this person, so that he can be removed and someone fit can be put in charge. Or those who have charge over him can know this about him so that they can deal with him accordingly and not be deceived by him, and so that they can make the right efforts to encourage him to be upright or to replace him.

5. When one openly exposes his acts of evil or his innovation - An example of this is when someone has openly exposed his consumption of alcohol, or his illegal confiscation of people’s money and raising of their taxes unjustly and his usurping command wrongfully. It is thus permissible for one to talk about what that individual has made public. But it is forbidden to mention any of his other defects, unless they fall under one of the categories, which we have mentioned that backbiting is permissible.

6. Defining someone - If someone is known to the people by his nickname, such as “the bleary eyed one”, “the one who limps”, “the deaf guy”, “the blind guy”, “cross-eyed”, “flat-nosed”, and other than that, then it is permissible to particularize him as such, with the aim of identifying him. However, it is forbidden to apply that to him, when one’s intention is to degrade him. If he can be identified with another (more appropriate) type of name, then that is more preferable. These are the six cases, in which the scholars have stated that backbiting is permissible, if it is done in accordance to the guidelines we mentioned above.

From those who have reported similar to what we have stated is Abu Haamid Al-Ghazaalee in his book “Al-Ihyaa”, as well as other scholars. The evidences for the permissibility of backbiting can be found in authentic and well-known ahaadeeth. Furthermore, there is an agreement of the scholars concerning the allowance of backbiting in these six cases.

I found a bit of point 4 interesting where it talks about a student going to an innovator. Would this also apply to modern day media situations where Muslims are being interviewed who might not be qualified to say what they are saying? Are we allowed to warn against listening to them or refute them? And what about talking about so called 'people of knowledge' are we allowed to warn against them based on what other scholars have said?

In any case we all need to be more careful about what we say and try to refrain from talking about someone in a way that they would not like. We all do it now and then.

Daily Blog for A Month?

2009-02-03T20:08:00.004-05:00

Can I do it? I don't know why really, but I want to try write something each day for a month. So, starting today I'm going to give it a shot.

Today for my 6th grade History class we started to watch 'The Message'. Although it has its cheesy moments, it is actually very good at conveying a brief history of the beginning of Islam.

At first, the sister I co-teach with wanted to show the kids a PBS documentary called 'Empire of Faith'. I watched about 45 minutes of it one night and had to shut it off! I found many things wrong with it and I thought it best not to show it to the class. 'Empire of Faith' has non Muslim 'experts' explaining the history of Islam. It showed the battle of Badr going all the way to Mecca so that Muhammad, Sallahu Alayhi Wa Salam could break all of the idols in the Kaaba and reclaim the City for Islam. It also showed people wailing, dancing and chanting and women hitting themselves in time to a drum beat when the Prophet died. Needless to say I refused to show it. I have no idea if she still will. I'm hoping not. What is even worse is that this film is touted as 'fair and balanced' by some 'American' Muslims. Yucko!

I've been Tagged

2009-01-31T00:19:00.004-05:00

I've been tagged by two bloggers!

The Striving Muslimah

OhSoMuslim

NOTE: You have to add one additional "favorite" thing to the end
of the list when you answer.

Favorite color: Green

Favorite perfume (guys):

Favorite perfume (girls): Clinique Happy

Favorite pj brand: Anything cotton

Favorite clothes brand in general: SunnahStyle

Favorite person in the entire world: my son

Favorite country: from ones I've been to... the UK

Favorite car: VW

Favorite sport: Gymnastics

Favorite sport player: NA

Favorite spot in America: Vermont

Favorite animal: Meow

Favorite movie: Don't really have one

Favorite singer: N/A

Favorite day in the week: Saturday

Favorite time of the day: late afternoon

Favorite holiday season: Fall

Favorite number: 21

Favorite food: Calzone

Favorite chocolate: Cadbury

Favorite cartoon: scooby doo

Favorite blogger: Tea Break Thoughts

Favorite Flavor Ice Cream: Cherry Garcia

Favorite Mobile Brand: Verizon

Favorite name: Muhammad

Favorite hobby: Knitting (for now)

Favorite room in my house: bedroom

Favorite Fruit: Blueberry

Favorite flower: Iris

Favourite Qur'an Recitor: Al Ghamdi

Favorite Islamic Book: My Advice to the Women

I add: Favorite Ayat of the Quran: 55:12 Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?

I'm Tagging...

Through My Muslim Eyes

Dissapointing

2009-01-23T18:17:00.007-05:00

It never will cease to amaze me how oblivious and selfish some people can be. I recently read a blog post (which I won't link to) that complained that Gaza was getting too much attention and that the Ummah forgets other issues with Muslims. While I understand that there are many problems that face Muslims, how can one possibly gripe about trying to help and support our brothers and sisters in Gaza? The blogger commented that Gaza is not all we should focus on. That we should give our attention to national and local issues such as police brutality, health care, education, home ownership and economics.

In times like these, when we see a part of the Ummah getting destroyed unjustly, what is wrong with putting other things aside to focus on helping them? Why would anyone want to wave their own personal flag about saying 'what about meeeee???, what about my needs????'. The problems that we face in this country are real, and yes we have to deal with it, but how can you compare that to Gaza? While we are here, wondering about how unfair health care is, children are dying. They are being blown up by Israeli bombs. Yet some want us to focus our attention on some over hyped class war in the US. Get over yourself. Once we start putting other things before being Muslim (whether it be race, nationality or gender) we lose sight of what is really important.

The blogger went on to ask where all of the outrage was when Muslim immigrants started to sell haram things in oppressed African American and Latino neighborhoods? The post specified that many of these immigrants are Palestinian. So hold on, wait a minute... we should not be focusing on Gaza because some misguided Muslims who may or may not have been from Palestine did some bad things? huh? Isn't this the same logic that main stream media uses to say all Muslims are bad?

Unfortunately I've seen it in many other places online. Entire Islamic forums and blogs that say NOTHING about our brothers and sisters in Gaza, but yet continue to yammer about their own personal plight. May Allah guide us all and protect us from such fitnah.

What should we do?

2009-01-10T21:55:00.011-05:00

I have been keeping up with the news on Gaza. Everyday there is something worse. Over 820 Muslims have been murdered so far in this 'conflict' with over 3000 wounded. It seems crazy to me that anyone could side with Israel on this, but yet the U.S. Congress has decided to pass a resolution in support of Israel. 390 votes to 5. I hope this is a good wake up call for all of those Muslims who thought voting for these morons would change anything. Guess what? it hasn't. And for those of you would like to check if your local congress person was a supporter of Israel check here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll010.xml

Our President Elect chooses not to say anything about the conflict using the excuse that there can be only 'one president at a time'. That is the most cowardly thing I've ever heard. He has not held himself back from commenting on every other issue going on right now, what makes this different? So much for him being more 'Muslim Friendly'.

So what can we do? We can pray for out brothers and sisters. We can make dua for them every time we prostrate in salat. We can ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect them, give them freedom & security and end the genocide of the people of Gaza.

American Media

2009-01-03T16:15:00.003-05:00

Thursday I drove my husband's car to work. He was going to work on mine (fix the brakes), so I was able to drive his. His car has XM radio in it, so I can get things like BBC world service and CNN. As I was scanning through the stations I stopped to listen to a news report on CNN about Gaza. The broadcaster was talking about how Israel was ready to go in on the ground and was gathering troops along the border to be ready. He went on to talk about the events leading up to this point which included how many people had died and were wounded. It was a somber and sad moment. In the very next breath he turned the broadcast over to his female co host who started to talk about a dress registry website so that there would be no embarrassing dress duplicate moments at the inaugural ball of our incoming president. It really disgusted me that they go from a news story as serious Gaza's to something as trivial and stupid. This is Americanism at its best. After the disgusting story about dresses they added that some 'top stars' are donating between $25,000 and $50,000 to the Inauguration so that it can be funded properly. In this economy do you really think that the Pres to be should be throwing an all out bash? How about swear yourself in and get to work??? Skip all of this other nonsense and spend that money on people that need it.

I know that if the news were all doom and gloom no one would watch it, but there has to be some integrity left out there! The day before CNN was also reporting about the 1 ton bomb that Israel dropped on the house of one of the top Hamas leaders. It killed him, his wife and his 3 kids, along with 9 other people. Instead of talking about the insanity of targeting innocent people, they blamed the man for.... yes.... being in his house! Its his fault that he was with his family and drawing the attention of the enemy to target him. This is the kind of stuff that the average American lemming sops up and regurgitates at the water cooler the next day at the office. No wonder people in this country are so ignorant of the truth.

Today we learn that Israel has moved in on the ground. At the end of the article it says that 'U.S. officials' were aware of their plans to go in. We also learned that yet another Masjid was hit. This time during prayers. 11 people were killed including a child. 60 others were wounded.

May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala give the Palestinians victory and peace. And may he punish those who attack our brothers and sisters.

Sadness over Gaza

2008-12-28T20:05:00.007-05:00

This will be short, but I felt I had to write something. I'm just so upset over what is going on in Gaza. There are so many things to be sad about with this situation. It seems now that Israel is planning on going in on the ground as well. Meanwhile the Arab countries do nothing but verbally condemn the violence? How can they just stand by and do nothing? Of course the U.S. sides with Israel which makes me sick. There is a poll on CNN.com right now that asks if the attacks on Palestine are justified or condemnable.... 61% of those polled found it justifiable!!!! How horrible can anyone be to think that this is all justified???

We all should make dua for them and ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to make it easy for them at such a difficult time.

X

2008-12-12T14:47:00.012-05:00

Recently I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Hailey. It was a wonderful story, and I really enjoyed learning more about this complex man's life. I was aware of the injustices done to black Americans, but this book brought them to new light. It is amazing that things like that happened such a short time ago.

One of the first things that really struck me in this book was how Malcolm X was able to immerse himself in learning while in prison. He read anything and everything, trying to get a new understanding of how his race had been treated over the years. This studying formed some of his most profound ideas later in life and allowed him to fully express himself.

Another interesting thing I learned was how strange the beliefs of the Nation of Islam are. I can see how at that time in history SOME of the NOI doctrine seemed to make sense to black Americans, but I honestly don't know how anyone can belong to it now. To think that 6000 years ago a 'big headed' (not my words) black scientist created the evil white race by doing recessive gene experimentation seems ridiculous to me. The way that it was explained in the book was almost laughable. I'm probably going to get in trouble with a few people for saying that, but it honestly makes no sense what so ever. I also never understood how anyone could read the Quran and think that any of that was true. How could you possibly think that WD Fard was Allah himself? And that Elijah Muhammad was his prophet? I also learned that members of the NOI do not pray 5 times a day and they don't pray like Muslims do at all.

Ok, now onto my favorite part... Malcolm X goes to Mecca and sees what TRUE Islam is. There is no color, no class, no gender... just Islam. I got tears in my eyes reading about all of his experiences while in the holy City. It was amazing to read the descriptions of him first learning to pray the right way. He even mentioned how his toe hurt from the sitting between sujood posture!

Now I'm not black, but I do feel that I can relate to Malcolm X because he discovered the true Islam and became passionate about it. I read in another blog somewhere that the poster didn't like it how non black Muslims 'use' Malcolm X for their own issues. Now for one thing I don't think that there is such a thing as white and black Muslims. There are only Muslims. If someone is that obsessed with their color, I think they have some issues of their own. Why is it that the same person that will rant and rave about equality will want to put separating barriers between the Ummah by color? Yes, most of Malcolm X's notoriety comes from his stance on race issues, but to me, A MUSLIM, I admire him for finding the true Islam, and digging himself out of that hole of shirk that he was in.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the life of this great MUSLIM. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guide us all... black, white, brown, yellow, red....

Silly Little Reverts

2008-12-07T20:01:00.004-05:00

Now that I have been Muslim for over 2 years, I see a lot of condescending attitudes out there towards reverts. The shiny new Muslim glow has worn off and now we are a target for attack. The same people, who once were so happy that we accepted Islam, now talk to us like we are children that don’t know any better.

I mostly see this kind of thing on Muslim forums and blogs. A well meaning Revert will want to share something they have learned only to be shot down by another Muslim telling them that they have revertitis or are going through a ‘phase’. A reverts desire to stick to Quran and Sunnah is turned against them, and they are called ‘extreme’.

While I am fully aware that we all grow and change in our deen, I don’t feel that most of these reverts (including myself) are going through a ‘phase’, that we will soon snap out of and come back to earth. As reverts, we were guided by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, to leave the religion of our past and embrace the truth. For a lot of us, this was not easy. We had to face persecution by family, friends, co workers and perfect strangers. We now choose to embrace and follow our religion to the best of our ability. To some born Muslims, that might seem extreme, but to us, it’s the only way we know how.

As I read these things, directed at me or others, I feel like pulling back even more from these social circles (online or otherwise). All they do is cause problems. Perhaps this is the best for me and others. Find those who are like you and stay away from the fitnah. Allah knows best.

10 days of Duhl Hijjah

2008-11-30T15:11:00.005-05:00

Eid card Design can be found at my CafePress Store

Asalamu Alaikum

We are in the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah and we should not miss out on the blessings listed below. (I got these in an email from a very knowledgeable sister).

Recommended Deeds During These 10 Days:

1- Performing Hajj & Ummrah is the best of deeds as supported by numerous ahadeeth including that in which the prophet said: Sins commeded between two ummrah are forgiven & the reward for hajj performed in the right manner is heaven.

2- Fasting as many as thes days as possible, particular the day of arafah ( for non pilgrims ), for fasting is amongst the best of deeds that can be performed as Allah in the qudsi hadeeth says: fasting is performed my sake & I my self shall decide its reward ( for each person ) for he ( the servant ) has abstained from his desire, eatin & drinking for my sake. ( Bukhari & Muslim )

Also the prophet said: Any one who fast a day for the sake of Allah ( seeking His pleasure ), Allah would distances his face ( him ) by seventy seasons ( years) away from the hell fire. ( Bukhari & Muslim ) Also, the prophet said: the reward for fasting the day of arafah would cancel the sins committed in the year before & the year after that day. ( Muslim )

3- Takbeer ( saying ALLAAHU AKBAR ) & to praise & glorify ( remembering ) Allah in those days, as allah says in the Quran: ( And celebrate the name of Allah through the days appointed ) Al Hajj: 28. those days were interpreted as the first 10 days of the month of Zul Hijjah. Thus religious scholars recommend praising & glorifying Allah by saying: LA ELAHA ILLA ALLAH, ALLAHU AKBAR, ALHAMDU LILLAH .

Al Bukhari mentioned that when Ibn Umar & Abu Hurairah ( companions of the Prophet ) went out to the markets they used to say aloud: ALLAHU AKBAR, ALLAHU AKBAR & the people would emulate them. It is also reported that people in early days of Islam Altabieen , in the 10 days of the month of Zul Hijjah, used to say aloud: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar la Elaha illa Allah & Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar , Walillahi Alhamd . It is recommended to raise one s voice with Takbeer when one is out in the markets, streets, mosques & other places for Allah says in the Quran: ( And to glorify Him in that He has guided you), Al Baqarah: 185. It is also possible to praise & glorify Allah by various forms of Takbeer , Tahmeed , Tasbeeh & other supplications.

4- Repentance & refraining from sins & ill deeds, so that one s deeds would gain him Allah s forgiveness & mercy. The Prophet said: Allah can be displeased & His displeasure is in one who commits what Allah forbids. ( Bukhari & Muslim ).

5- Performing extra optional acts of worship ( Nawafeel ) like salah, charity, Jihad, reading Quran, Promotion of virtue & prevention of vice & other acts of worship as their reward is multiplied in those 10 days.

6- Takbeer in general is allowed & recommended in those 10 days, during all hours of days & night up to the time of Eid Prayers. After Eid Prayers Takbeer is allowed for non pilgrims after each congregational prayer starting from Fajr (dawn) Prayer on the day of Arafah & for Pilgrims starting from noon time on the 10th of Zul Hijjah. Takbeer for both groups can continue up to time of Asr (mid-afternoon) Prayer of the day of 13th Zul Hijjah.

7- It is recommended to offer animals for slaughter on the day of 10th 13th Zul Hijjah in commemoration of the very act by Prophet Ibraheem peace & blessings of Allah be upon him, & also because it is a sunnah by Prophet Muhammad peace & blessings of Allah upon him.

8- A Muslim who plans to offer an animal for slaughter during the days of10th- 13th Zul Hijjah should refrain from cutting any of his hair & nails starting from the sighing of the crescent of the month of Zul Hijjah (i.e. beginning of the month) until the actual slaughtering of the animal. This is according to the hadeeth of the Prophet reported by Muslim. Also Allah says in the Quran: ( And do not shave your heads until the offering reaches the place of sacrifice), Al-Baqarah: 196. This applies to the person who will be slaughtering but his wife or children are not asked to refrain from doing so unless one of them in particular wishes to sacrifice. A Muslim however can wash & rub his head even if some hair was to fall down.

9- A Muslim should endeavour to perform Eid Prayer & attend the sermon. He should also understand the wisdom behind the Eid that is a day of expressing gratitude to Allah & of righteousness. Thus, he should not make it a day of ill deeds & sin through forbidden practices by going to nightclubs or consuming intoxicants which by so doing could abolish all the righteous deeds he may have done during those 10 days.

10- In addition to the above, a Muslim should utilize those days in worshipping Allah & by glorifying & praising Him & by thanking Allah for enabling him to perform those righteous deeds & abstaining from ill deeds. Also a Muslim should utilize those special occasions, as in the first 10 days of Zul Hjjjah, to reap Allah s extra mercy & rewards.

Keeping out of the line of Fire

2008-11-17T18:51:00.011-05:00

I'd been really good for a while. I'd stayed away from reading forums and sites that made me upset. Nothing lasts forever!

Recently I got an email newsletter from a forum that prompted me to go back and take a look at what had been going on in a thread I'd posted in. Big mistake on my part. All it did was cause me to feel attacked and I retaliated. The only way I can explain how I feel about these things is that I am very passionate about them, but that might seem like the wrong term to use. I am very serious about my deen. I don't want to even take a chance in compromising it, and that is what happens when I read these forums. I get upset and worried that people are being misguided by 'well meaning' people just trying to make Islam something it is not.

First of all, I'm so tired of people telling me that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has made Islam easy for us, as an excuse to do anything and everything in this Dunya. All of the Ayat and hadith that talk about Islam being easy do not refer to twisting things to suit your needs. They talk about how once you have submitted to Allah and his messenger that things become easy because you understand. They also refer to the mercies that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us, such as combining prayers when traveling and not having to fast when you are ill.

Secondly, I'm tired of trying to explain what a scholar is to people. I have my own theory on it I guess, but I think its pretty sound. A scholar is someone who has studied intensively his whole life under someone else who has done the same. That means spending 20+ years with a teacher. Until you reach that goal you are just a student of knowledge. This is not to undermine anyone of knowledge, but when it comes to serious issues I'm not going to take rulings from someone who has spent a few years here and there and calls himself a Sheikh.

Third, why oh why do non Muslims try to tell me about my religion? Yes, sometimes its a perfect opportunity for dawah, but there are those who find themselves so clever and intriguing they can't take a moment to ask themselves what are they obsessed with? Perhaps they need to validate themselves as human beings, I don't know, but I wish they would do that by taking up needlepoint or something... and leave Islam to those who love and care about it.

Fourth, and I've said this before somewhere else in this blog o mine, Islam does not need to be Americanized!!! We don't need to slap a logo on it and do some marketing. We need to stick to what Islam really is. A faith that has not changed its basic tenets in over 1400 years. So lets stop calling ourselves 'American Muslims' and saying we need to refer to 'American Scholars' (which I don't know if there are any). We are Muslims, first and foremost. We don't need to tack anything else on the front of that. We don't need to be a black Muslims, or white Muslims, or purple Muslims... we need to be.... MUSLIMS. United on the path that our Prophet, Salla Allahu alaihi Wa Sallam, and his companions were upon.

Fifth. Stop telling me that when I give you some information about Islam and its rulings that its my opinion. It's not. It's the opinion of true and learned scholars of Islam (the ones I talked about in rant #2 above). I guess that if you tried hard enough, you could find a ruling or fatwah that would allow just about anything in Islam. That is why we have to be so careful. Just because someone did some studying somewhere for a while, does not make them qualified to tell us what is right and wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, but if you go back to Quran and Sunnah (interpreted by true scholars) you can't go wrong insha'Allah.

So now to the point. A friend of mine told me to stop putting myself in the line of fire..... and it made sense. This same friend also said, that I go out of the house protected, covered from head to toe, but when it comes to things like this, I just leap in and put myself in harms way. At one time I thought that I needed to go to these places and do these things so that people would not be misguided. But I can't change that. Only Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guides who he wills. So I will stick to my own forum, and try to help people see the truth of Islam. Come and join me if you like! www.theoneislam.com

Fashion or Faith?

2008-11-15T17:39:00.011-05:00

I recently did this design for my cafepress store, and it reflects how I feel about hijab and the command of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to cover.

A narration from `Aishah (radhi Allahu anha) that some women from Banu Tamim came to see her wearing transparent clothing. `Aishah said to them: "If you are are believing women, these are not the clothes of believing women."

There seem to be a trend as of late of Muslim women thinking that as long as the actual skin is covered its ok if its tight. An example would be jeans wiith a long sleeve shirt... all tight, but not skin showing! We are to be modest in our dress. Nothing is to be tight, transparent or overly vibrant.

I think this ties into my last post as well, about not being able to let go of this dunya. Muslm women are tempted by what they see in the streets and in fashion magazines. They want to be able to fit in with western society and therefore try to emulate their form of dress. We all have nice clothes for home or sisters gatherings, but they are not meant to be worn in everyday life. For new Muslims things are different, they are just getting used to the concept of modesty and need to have that transition period. But as the knowledge and iman grows, they should start to see the true value in dressing modestly.

Another thing that I find hard to understand is those that don't cover at all. Of course the new Muslim thing applies here as well, but I don't get how people who have been Muslim for years or born Muslim do not follow that command of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala? What is it that holds people back? I'm not being judgmental here, I really want to know? Is it fear of acceptance? Is it lack of confidence?

May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala give us strength to fufill his commands to the best of our ability.

Letting Go of Things From This Dunya

2008-11-12T22:33:00.006-05:00

Around this time of year I'm reminded of how hard it seems for Muslims (reverts or otherwise) to let go of things of this dunya.

It all starts when the leaves begin to change color here in New England. October comes, Halloween rolls around, and the arguments begin. I guess that the idea that we argue at all is silly, but it is our duty as Muslims to advise our brothers and sisters of things that they are doing wrong. It becomes personal, and people get accused of trying to shove their ideas down others throats, when in fact we are only sharing the rulings of some of our best scholars.

A few more weeks pass and we come across Thanksgiving... and yet again, more arguing. Every excuse in the book is thrown up there. Things like... it not a religious holiday, and its a time to be with family and thank God for what we have. At its origin, it was a Religious holiday. The people that celebrated it were Christian, and they were thanking God. If only those Wampanoag Indians knew what would become of their land and tribe they never would have sat down. Over time Thanksgiving has become something else to Americans, but we should not, and can not forget its origin.

Now that we are past the turkey, we bump smack into Santa Clause. Christmas is here! If there is anything I don't understand, it is how any Muslim can justify celebrating Christmas. It is a celebration that glorifies something that is a huge sin in Islam. Shirk. Christian celebrate Christmas because they believe it was the day that Isa (Jesus) was born. They see Isa as God himself. Even if it has become a Santa filled commercialized spending fest, it is still based on a religious holiday. One that is not ours.

As a revert I understand how hard it is to explain to friends and family that you will not be celebrating these holidays. It takes time, but if you ask your family to respect your faith and are firm in that, inshallah they will understand. A lot of reverts (myself included) will have nice memories of time spent with family and friends during the holiday season. But let us try to remember that its not the holiday that made us happy, it is the people that we love. Find ways to keep that feeling alive without comprimising your faith.

Finally, I'd just like to say that we are commanded by Allah to obey him and obey his messenger. That is the most simple thing to understand and its easy to follow.

Anas (ra), a companion of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) reported that when the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) migrated from Makkah to Madinah, the people of Madinah used to have two festivals. On those two days they had carnivals and festivity. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked the Ansaar (the Muslims of Madinah) about it. They replied that before Islam they used to have carnivals on those two joyous days. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told them: 'Instead of those two days, Allah has appointed two other days which are better, the days of Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha.'

CafePress Store - Ummah Designs

2008-11-02T01:08:00.018-04:00

I've recently been working on some Islamic designs and started a CafePress store called Ummah Designs. Here are some of the things you can find there. I'd really like to see some comments on what you think.

Election Thoughts

2008-10-30T20:54:00.006-04:00

I must admit that I keep up with what is going on with the election. I have watched a few of the debates (on CNN.com) and listened to the commentary on NPR and BBC. I still am of the mindset that Muslims should not vote in this election.

I can try to put my thoughts into words, but I think that a post that my husband wrote on our forum today really says it well:

There is a lot of difference of opinion about this including among good scholars but this is why I personally am not going to vote.

The system in the US is based on the majority getting what its wants and so is contrary to shar'ia. If I voted I would feel like I was supporting the idea of ruling by other than Allah's subhana wa ta'ala law. This is the main thing and what I base my general understanding that voting in the US is not allowed. So this is my general rule.

Exceptions: A general rule might change for certain circumstances as mentioned with eating food that is not normally halal if not eating would mean starving. So here are some of the things I see as exceptions and how I see them in this election.

1 - If one of the candidates was a Muslim. - apparently not the case although if you ask a Republican they will probably say Obama is. No reason to override the general rule for me.
2 - If one of the candidates promised to make changes that would benefit Muslims. I don't see this as being the case. Neither candidate has promised to make it easier for us to build Masjids or schools or anything else and they both have expressed strong support for Israel. Obama might pull troops out of Iraq sooner than McCain but then Iraq may kick us out before then too. Obama has said he will move troops to Afghanistan though so is there any real positive benefit to that? Not to mention talks of raids into Pakistan. And can we even be sure that pulling troops out is better for Muslims? I think it would be but Allahu Alim, it might trigger an increase in violence, civil war, greater division, we have no way to know. Basically my point is that the difference between the candidates is on issues that we have no way to know whether the impact would be positive or negative for Muslims so I won't consider that a reason to override the general rule.
3 - Some people might say, as many Muslims did in 2000 that we should consider moral issue like abortion, gay marriage, etc. If we did this McCain would appear to be the better choice but since he is not basing this on Shari'a I would say that is not a reason to override the general rule and I don't see anything changing at the federal level with those issues anyway.

So I will not vote in the Presidential election what about locally?

Locally is where I see the chance for Muslims to potentially make a difference. There are several areas of the country where Muslims have a large enough population to affect the local elections and bring about real change. In this case, in my opinion, this could override the general rule because of the great benefit it could have for the community. This is not the case in my community. We are one of maybe 3 or 4 Muslims families in our town so we could not influence the vote so I will not vote in the local elections either.

So what can we do besides voting to make a difference?

Dawah - The more people who come to Islam the more we can bring about change.
Du'a - Ask Allah to make us successful, to bring the Ummah together again and make us strong. We must have a strong Ummah to make a real difference in the world.

InshaAllah change is coming. In parts of Europe and even in Israel within 10-20 years Muslims could be the majority. You see what is happening in France and The Netherlands and of course Israel. They are doing things to suppress Islam because they see the writing on the wall. Change will come, InshaAllah, but it won't be because we pulled one lever instead of another one, Allahu Alim.

I think that this says it all. This is what applies to us as a family and perhaps as a community. It may not work for everyone, but it works for us. Let us all remember that we are Muslims, and our first allegiance is to Islam, not to any political party or candidate.