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Bismillah

Alhamdulillah, it’s been over a year working on this blog and made a lot of contacts, worked with a number of brothers and sister and launched or completed a few projects. At this point the work load has increased substantially making it very difficult for myself as well as the behind the scenes brothers and sisters to work efficiently so I think it’s a good time to pause for a while and see how much has been achieved, which goals have been fulfilled, which haven’t, has a difference been made or not, which goals need to be re-considered or replaced with something more realistic or ambitious. Shaytan does distract us, even with good deeds.

This is quintessential so don’t expect any activity here, or even on the blogosphere for a month maybe?
If you have any comments, concerns or questions, please post them.

Keep us in your duas.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah
Note: Props to Usman for pointing this out.

Here is a campaign that has already taken off. You might have heard of the NYC subway campaign happening and there was a huge furor over that. I guess they needed more money since it is New York, but in Chicago going on.

And you know what? People are converting already.

The sign caught Moses Robinson’s eye. A 38-year-old Gary resident who works for a software company, he saw one of the buses on Canal Street when he left his office on a break. “Everything clicked into place,” he said. After calling the number on the side of the bus and meeting with Gain Peace, he converted to Islam the next day.

“We’ve had eight conversions, close to 400 calls and we’ve had close to 75,000 hits on our Web site in one week,” said Sabeel Ahmed, the director for Gain Peace.
Islam Newsroom.com

So just how much does it cost to do something like this?
Not a heckuva lot!

Sponsor a whole bus X 4 week = $ 600
Sponsor a bus X 1 week = $ 175
Sponsor a bus X 2 days = $50
Sponsor a bus X 1 day = $25

WOW!! Now, you can most definitely help them out.
Visit GAINPEACE.COM and contribute just a little and make a BIG difference!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Why do some Muslims believe what they believe? Why do they behave irrationally even though they have good intentions?

I wrote this up thinking as to how Muslims could be affected to believe or behave in certain ways. These are very subtle ways in which Muslims lean towards certain persuasions of Islam. One might be surprised to learn that it usually has very little to do with the person and more to do with how events unfold.

I also composed this on paper whilst trying to be artistic. I am trying to make a shift from the sheer digital to the real and actual.

See below to read this discussion (it will go to super hi-res if you click on it). And please forgive my messy writing!

Sidenote: Often when Muslims use a label to refer to a group of Muslims, there is a great deal of worry. We wish that no one had even used these terms…they are dirty obscene swear words; the words “Sufi” or “Salafi” are the “Nigger” and this issue can be dealt with in two ways.

Firstly, the more we avoid these words the more powerful they become when someone decides to use them and they are a way in which someone else “controls us”. You can continue on this train of thought in watching the comedian Whoopi Goldberg discuss how the N-word has losts it’s negative meaning and is now “controlled by us”. You can view that here.

Secondly, and this is the issue I am approaching, is that these labels are used in the interest of the people thus labeled- and NOT to their hatred. Yes, it is a fact that women who were (heavy) burkahs are more likely to get osteoporosis. Now is this prejudice towards Muslims or is it a fact? It is a fact and needs to be discussed from a point of view that has the interest of that person at heart. Likewise, my interest here is that of the Ummah–our Ummah is wide and big so we do need to account for and take care of as many segments of it as possible. The only reason I use these terms is because they are common and because their are not any “friendlier” terms out there. And it was in that interest I discussed some of these issues here.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

I hope I am not the first person to point this out but here goes…

1) Constant flow of material and ‘addiction’: You have to keep your quota up. And you need to keep blogging but sometimes it means you just keep blogging and some of the posts that deserve more attention do not get that special attention and so nothing happens…

2) Passivity: A person who sits all day on the blog, reading and writing is going to get lazy. Writing is a great activity but with the problems of the Muslim, let’s understand that blogging is not going to fix anything. Don’t fall under the illusion that this is creating a great deal of change when you are just talking.

3) Writing but not reading: Sometimes we just plain talk too much and don’t learn about the issues we discuss. We focus on the Internet world as our source of ilm but not the millions of books in the libraries. Silence is a virtue we do forget about.

4) Desensitization: We discuss these issues so many times and yet do very little about it. But this also has the negative effect of desensitizing us to these issues. So that when some change does happen…no one really get’s involved.

5) Egotism: Having an entire blog for yourself is A LOT of space for yourself. Alhamdulillah, this blog has a team behind it. Although, I wouldn’t mind having others write…hint hint.

6) Hard to judge the ’stances’ of a blog: It is an issue to understand a blog and it’s world view, which is the context for ANY article, if you simply read one post on a blog. And so you find arguments are apt to happen.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

A very powerful lecture by Shaykh Suhaib Webb on Sufism, Salafi-Sufis, the hate between groups of Muslims and the Adab of ilm. He talks about other issues such as the Adab of the students of knowledge for example, even Imam Bukhari quoted ahadith from a Shia because he was a truthful person. A lot of wisdom about these issues.

But the main topic of the lecture is about one of the books by Shadhili shaykh Ibn Ataillahs discussing tasawwuf, materialism and the heart.

Check it out here.

P.S. I like how he used the word Salafi Sufis, which I wrote about before.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

I have repeatedly shied away from discussing this but I think it’s about time it is said, especially to the people who don’t really understand this issue or think it’s all a bunch of conspiracies.

I recently watched this new program called Undercover Mosques: The Return (I won’t link to it here) and although it is an Islamophobic program it stressed a number of questions:

Do Muslims approach living in the West as something “temporary”?
Why are we so hypocritical in openly claiming peace and then insulting the kuffar in private?
Do we rely too much on Saudi Arabian version of Islam?
What sort of future do we want as Muslims in the West?

Much of the program was speaking about Saudi-trained scholars and their (lack of) adab. Here were some of the problems that keep originating from the Saudi ulama:

-anti-kaffir and anti-Ahlul kitab, when Islam does accord these groups rights
-simplifying complex Shariah laws (example is to say: this person is gay, so we should kill them)
-brainwashed scholars that lack intellectual capacity and just repeat pre-recorded messages
-denying (or as it is legitimized as hadith classification) hadith so as to suit one very narrow interpretation; problem is hadith scholars are not as ‘absolute’ and as harsh as Saudi scholars may coin them
-inserting their interpretation (via commentary, bracketed notes) into translated English Qurans
-hypocrisy of telling people to adhere to their interpretation when the own Saudi government does not always do so (wearing crosses, shaking hands with non-mahram women and not ruling by Shariah)
-denouncing American Muslim scholars (such as Yasir Qadhi) that oppose the position of Saudi scholars

Now I have basically come to reject most of the Saudi scholars, there are a few luminaries left there but all-in-all just because they are Saudi and because they are Arab does not mean they are the greatest scholars in the world. How many times have you heard something from a so-called ’scholar’ and blindly accepted it, without actually knowing who these scholars actually are? No, basically what has happened is that their interpretation–is there interpretation; Saudi interpretation of Islam can only exist and work in Saudi Arabia and the real issue is that this has been exported to us because there is a vacuum of Muslim leadership in the Islamic world and because no one has really taken the role of helping Muslims as much as Saudi Arabia has, may Allah reward them for the good they have done.

And what has this done?

A friend of mine who attended Al-Maghrib’s Ilm Summit commented Al-Maghrib students are too narrow-minded and that they reject everything, unless the shaykh says it. I don’t think this is entirely true but I do know there are a number of hard-liners there who will reject something if it is not related to the type of Islam espoused by Saudi Islam. So not just here but abroad such as in the UAE, extremist literature is disposed of and rejected and most of it originates from Saudi Arabia.

Now, if I were a conspiracy theorist here is what I would say: It is a well-known fact that the Saudi Arabian government is very selective as to who their ulema are and that they DO imprison scholars that speak out against them. And because of that, certain things do happen and let’s face it our bad reputation comes often as a result of events in Saudi Arabia.

So you may think, “Ok well, but it’s still Islam– they aren’t preaching shirk!” And you would be right, but what you are forgetting is that certain things are totally omitted that are invaluable. Notice how there is a emphasis on the destructive aspects of Islam, such as staying away from non-Muslims or
“forbidding” the evil but often forgetting to enjoin the good.

People may not know this but certain parts are censored from the translations of classical texts…now that is what really scared me. It is one thing to do a commentary on a classical book, rename it something else and that’s it, but to give it the exact same name, change the name and use the legendary status of a certain scholar to endorse an opinion that scholar never believed in is deception- and deceiving and lying are akin to shaytaan.

The main reason I wanted to mention this is because it is causing a great deal of harm to the people who look up to these shaykhs and follow them. For one, this very strict form of Islam is very limited and is quick to disown anyone who disagrees with it and so this means that the intellectual growth is stifled and when intellectual growth is stifled, things go downhill. It means, people are not concern with learning and so I wonder if this is why Saudi men are amongst the most sexually active in the Middle East (not just polugyny but partying, prostitutes and porn are hidden yet common in Saudi).

But the real point I want to make is that it is psychologically damaging to people who believe in this Saudi form of Islam. I have a friend studying in a Saudi Islamic university and he has a number of psychological and emotional issues involving his marriage. Knowing him from a long time as a very ardent Salafi, he has had these issues for a long time and the atmosphere in Saudi doesn’t make it much better. This is one case, but I know of a number of brothers and sisters who have been divorced and you will find most of them have a Saudi or Salafi mindset. It is my sincere belief that there is a serious problem among these brothers and sisters and it has something to do with their strict, almost inhuman form of Islam. I recall one Salafi saying that they believe that one should not show emotion- which is very counterintuitive to what Islam is all about. One of my evidences for the psychological problems manifesting in Saudi Arabia is the book, “Don’t be Sad” and how this book is a best-seller there and the mere fact that this book had to be published regarding depression in a society that is supposed to be so God-oriented is troubling. There is a serious need for spiritual development- tasawwuf (Sufism) would normally take this place but it isn’t so common in Saudi Arabia.

So the take home message here is that there is a serious lack of baraka in Saudi Islam- because if they were doing things right there wouldn’t be all these problems there. You will find that there is a lot of materialism with gold-filled mosques (the Sunnah denounces this) and you find that although people are quite active praying and worshiping- there is little room for emotion and the heart. This is a trap and a danger. Again, the dominance of porn and these other problems that you hear about in the news such as fatwas about killing anyone who owns a television are all evidence that there is a lack of baraka in Saudi Arabia. Now, if they were doing things right and practicing Islam in the best way that we idealize, we know that these issues wouldn’t be so common and Muslims who are affected by their dawah would benefit in that way- Islam would gain its honor and glory.

But that is not happening which really makes you wonder at the very least.

I wanted to raise these issues because I think we need to be more conscious about who is teaching us our religion. Just as we need to know about where we get our news from, we need to be conscious of where we learn our Islam from lest it be presented as something akin to lies. And if a person insists on following Saudi Islam (this is different than Hanbali fiqh) they need to balance it by reading poetry and the works of Sufis or other thinkers.

“Fasting to endurance is a way to save on food.
Vigil and prayer is a labor for old women.
The pilgrimage is an occasion for tourism.
To distribute bread in alms is something for philanthropists:

Fall in love:
That is doing something!”
-Shaykh-ul-Islam Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, (a major influence on Ibn Taymiyah) highlighting the importance of intense ikhlaas, sincerity and therefore emotion in Islamic life.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

This is a continuation of this old article which discussed this very pertinent issue: Shaykh Control (part 2)–Dealing with ‘corrupt’ Muslim leaders

If you haven’t read that article because it lays the foundation for dealing with these self-righteous individuals in a conflict scenario- but how can you go beyond that?

Most of these community ‘leaders’ have the eggplant mentality; you put an eggplant in a plate and shake it around and the eggplant will move. The same goes for these leaders, they won’t do anything unless they are shaken or feel a threat. They have no virtue in themselves for leading; little character development, spirituality, and leadership mentality. Even these ‘leaders’ have the follower mentality expecting others to do things because they know they are fake and want to be led, yet still taste power and eat out of the mosque donations.

And in the midst of all this their are a number of very angry people who will develop a very narrow-minded and hate-filled mentality against these tyrants. Some of them are good but they are essentially no different than these leaders, in that, if they were the leaders they would be the same eggplant.

Now these leaders have a certain profile. I’ll go through a few traits and common scenarios:

1) I can do a good job: This is where it begins and the reason this is so problematic is not because they have the wrong intention but they don’t know what the job really entails. Think about how many ‘ideal’ Muslim leaders we have to look up to- ones who actually do a good job and whether or not the uncle running the masjid looks up to them, or even knows of them. They don’t know that it involves doing a great amount of work. And then because they don’t have the skills, that absence of proper skills is room for not-so-good skills to come in like lying, stealing, arguing and backbiting.

2) Background check: Often, you find the democratic mentality running in the masjid where ANYONE can run for these positions, by virtue of just running for it! And how many people actually check what their backgrounds are, where they came from, what reputation they have and their criminal record. Sounds obvious but if there are issues, giving 70 excuses is irrelevant because they will cause problems. You need to know about that dirt because very soon it will stain the rest of the community.

3) No one else can do as good a job as I: And they think after a while that because no one else is doing it that they have to do it. And the community doesn’t pay much attention. If this leader was a decent guy before pretty soon, he will become a bossy, I am in control figure. Shaytaan makes people think that they MUST have control in order to do everything and in order to do that they have to lead the community, where once they get there, they don’t know what to actually do. So this person is essentially a seat-warmer and occupies the place of

4) My race rules: There is often a dynamic of race in masjids and if it’s a community of mixed Muslims, it is the ruling race that can control things and others are left to feel as outsiders. And so what happens is people will push and even lobby together to have a person of a certain race stay in office, irrelevant of whether others who are running are better qualified.

5) If he can be corrupt why can’t I?: And one corrupt Muslim digs up the dirt on one corrupt Muslim leader and then guess what he says: rather then exposing him, I’ll just also try and run; if he can do it so can I. And so the cycle continues and eventually you have these leaders allying together in stopping certain benefits coming to the community because they all have a stake and lose out if the community gains.

6) The Duties of the mosque NEVER (or rarely) change: They have this attitude that 5 prayers, juma’ah, janazahs, Eid and meetings are the only things they need to concern themselves with. What does this really mean? It means to do what is sufficient, but not to do more than that. So a religious studies teacher commented to me how the people at my mosque ALWAYS do the same routine whenever non-Muslims visit the mosque- show the same movie (that the kids actually watched in class) and say the same things- nothing much else. This translates into NOTHING improving.

So HOW do you really deal with these guys?

Let’s go through some overlooked facts:

Yes they eat the money of the masjid but they also tie themselves down with the masjid- when they die they will leave the mosque but that means that they will also NEVER ABANDON the mosque. So if they see you at the masjid regularly and you are friendly with them, they will notice (and conversely they will notice when you are not there) and you can build your reputation with them (make sure not to get angry or reveal any bad traits to them). Now, since they have tied themselves down financially with the mosque (they take the mosques money and even spend on it at times) their money and the mosques is essentially one. What this means is if you can do it properly they will become your greatest source of funding for youth activities like sports leagues or dawah activities.

Keep that in mind- they are one with the mosque. If you need to raise money for something, you ask them. If you need permission for something to happen at the mosque, you talk to them. This is, more or less, politics, but it’s so passive and easy if you are patient that you will wonder why you couldn’t do this before.

What you cannot do as a result is to ally yourself with their rivals or rival organizations or build yourself up (because they know by now you are probably more capable than they are in doing something beneficial). This means you need to be sensitive of their ego and not offending that part and yeah, it doesn’t sound so great but it doesn’t mean sucking up but rather just avoiding them. But it also means that you commit any haraam either- such as have a bad reputation with people who may oppose this corrupt Muslim leader.

As you continue to do events and dawah in your community they will see what impact your result is having and be more willing to donate and fund you. This is about all you can really do because the mosque life is very limited in it’s reach. But I have seen some brothers pull this whole thing off and it is very enabling and fulfilling for the rest of the community- one simple brother makes these tiny sacrifices and then opens the door that these corrupt Muslim leaders had closed whilst arguing with another angry Muslim community member.

It doesn’t sound like much but when you really start applying it you will see how effective and beneficial this is. Remember the hadith where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, “Do not be angry. Do not be angry. Do not be angry.”

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

There are many projects out there that can be done. However there are some that take upon the qualities of the “Sadaqa Jariya”–the ever-lasting charity.

These projects when begun continue forever or for a very long period of time. They are not difficult to create and have spread in many places. If you have a choice, build these up first before you start other temporary projects.

The reason they are so successful is because they are very open, have a strong component of practical application and allow interaction between people.

The best examples of these I find in threads on Muslim forums. Here are some good threads to start that are a guaranteed hit:

Story threads: Marriage, Conversion, etc
Fasting Clubs
Idea threads
Miracles that happened to you threads

Other common continuity projects include sports clubs that require little planning and coordination. The underlying theme of continuity projects is that they are simple and meant to be passive–so they are easy to do. But this means they are rarely as effective as the hard-to-do projects out there.

Bismillah

You know what this is: these are those annoying guys who fill your mailbox up with hundreds of Islamic “reminders” (yeah right, remind me every 30 minutes!) or useless stories parading as Islam.

They are even on Facebook and people have commented on this time and time again. It’s worse when they are just doing it make some money off of you and get you to purchase their product…but they market it so you absolutely are annoyed like with some Islamic magazines (ahem!).

And then there is the actual stuff that IS Dawah and about actually making a change but often it’s so frequent you just get tired of it, or depressed or just delete it because you know you can’t help…or even at times don’t want to help because it seems there is always someone asking for money.

So my solution to this was a simple system:

Events and other inevitable stuff would be free reign I guess but ALL Islamic “reminders” come on Friday or the night before Friday- relating to Jumah as the holy day and also that a lot of Muslims take time off work on this day just because of Jumah so they naturally have more time to pay attention to this stuff.

So you only have to go at it once and at a time when you are spiritually conscious and open to it rather then just have floods and reject it.

The other side of this is, if this was implemented, dawah spammers would be deterred from sending useless or extra material. I remember when I was a once-a-week dawah spammer and I would only send the best material I had on that one day rather then send anything that came to mind to me today and then to the same tomorrow etc etc. So quality is improved hopefully.

Or have something like a database of the most often quoted ayahs and hadith and offering alternative rare quotes about the same themes and topics. These ‘new’ hadiths would shed light on an ignored aspect of the more often quoted hadith and thus enrich our understanding all the more.   

I will try and get this to be implemented in the future in sha Allah.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

This is something I wrote for a forum but I stopped short of it. It was for fun and so here it is.

Formula Muslims

If you’ve been Muslim as long as I have or even if you haven’t you probably know that there are certain types of Muslims out there. We’ve discussed them before and we see them even online.

Some of them are just annoying while others are ones you wish would just disappear and yet others you love to adore. They are common in certain places and whether you are in the UK or Canada you see the same types of Muslims. And no surprise, the same types of conflicts arise. So let’s list a few just for the fun of it.

1) The Antagonist Muslim: Whatever stance you take this person takes the opposing stance or disagrees. Could be a matter of ego. Fun and games

2) The Pretentious Convert: This is the convert that because of them not being raised a Muslim they are scared they aren’t Muslim enough and that they are a kaffir…still

3) Volunteer-ist: The Muslims who are running all the major Islamic events everywhere. Usually its the same gang in the entire country. How do they do it? Allahu Alaam

4) Desi Uncle: Suppos-ah. I don’ta telled you. THEN-AH!?! Or spending half their time trying to imitate the white man and complaining about racism. If they aren’t into Islam–they’ll go for Hajj and come back a new man

5) Super-Salafi: Takfirring everyone, including their shuyookh. Very sad

6) Super-Sufi: Muraqabah man. I can’t believe he was saying “Allah” like that, sounded like he was dying. Must’ve been a miracle, subhana Allah

Super-Salafi vs. Super-Sufi scenario:

Bidatality. Takfirality. Taqleedality. Choose your Destiny. MORTAL KOMBAT

7) Muslim comedian: Awesomesauce. Ownage. Ownagesauce? Is this stuff zabiha eh? Haha. OWNED! (guess who this is supposed to imitate)

8 ) Frustrated Muslim: Oh I feel so helpless with all the suffering of the Muslims…boo hoo. If this is an Imam–the khutbah is all fiery, passionate but really just cathartic. The Imam may even threaten not to ever do anything like this talk again because he is so frustrated. They forget it’s all a test from Allah

9) The I-don’t-know-anything-about-Islam Muslim: Very very sad to see. Spend endless hours cursing and insulting for no real reason at all. Often the most hated and might just be an attention seeker. Do you remember that your going to die one day? ANY DAY

10) Argument-enhanced Muslim: Upon exposure to a highly-contentious and sensitive topic this Muslim has no idea about they will whip out every possible random Islamic fact they know in order to argue for or against this topic making no sense at all. It’s strange to see because they make little to no sense and are to concentrated on the argument at hand to stop and think they might be wrong or how this is related. There are reasons why we have shuyookh.

11) MSA Overkill: This person takes every MSA dawah activity as a matter of life and death. They think the harder and harsher their dawah the better it will be when it’s really just plain rude and hurting the dawah.

12) Wusstaadh: The proverbial brother that doesn’t do anything and man up to the job. He isn’t humble just a wuss. And this is why people end up criticizing sisters more, because there are no active brothers doing dawah etc. to even criticize!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Writing like a Genius

Sometimes my writing really sucks. I don’t know how or why sometimes since I have my own guidelines to writing. The only reason I write is as a quick tool to expression.

Anyways, I found this nice essay by George Orwell regarding writing and the English language. Orwell really knew what he was talking about.

Here are some keep excerpts from one of his essays.

On Metaphors: “For example, toe the line is sometimes written as tow the line. Another example is the hammer and the anvil, now always used with the implication that the anvil gets the worst of it. In real life it is always the anvil that breaks the hammer, never the other way about: a writer who stopped to think what he was saying would avoid perverting the original phrase.”

On Pretentiousness: Words like phenomenon, element, individual (as noun), objective, categorical, effective, virtual, basic, primary, promote, constitute, exhibit, exploit, utilize, eliminate, liquidate, are used to dress up a simple statement and give an air of scientific impartiality to biased judgments.

On ‘Words’ doing the thinking for us: They will construct your sentences for you — even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent — and at need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your meaning even from yourself. It is at this point that the special connection between politics and the debasement of language becomes clear.

On getting the right meaning of words: What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualising you probably hunt about until you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more inclined to use words from the start, and unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning. Probably it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one’s meaning as clear as one can through pictures and sensations.

Read the full thing here.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Notice how Desis all mimic Bollywood actors in their arguments…those moments of high emotion are expressed only though the methods of the television teachers. They will raise their voices saying, “Chillaw maat!” (don’t raise your voice!). Is it that Desis WANT to imitate these Bollywood film idols?

We are almost “brainwashed” via films and Hollywood/Bollywood to react in certain ways in certain situations…

Loved ones argue in the same manner–just watch the drama of a Desi family arguing and you’ll realize how similar it is to their film industry. Or is it simply these films have exhausted every possible reaction and when Desis react emotionally it is because there are no other types of reactions aside from those mentioned in Bollywood (a sort of mirror on this society).

And those phrases we use, that have no political nuances to them, but are everyday phrases that lead us to a form of thinking that conforms. Think about those as well. Like when we say, “like”. So when a Obama comes a long speaking differently, using more tasteful words–we are amazed because he has not used the worn out language we use but rather more colorful, measured and tempered phrases that make us feel that we are in the midst of someone truly unique.

This is the behavior that is programmed using speech and acting. And we look up to those Hollywood actors who excel in mimicking others–what virtue is this to teach us then? Think about it. What do you see happen as a result: go to an Indian wedding and you will even see hijabis dancing with males and everyone.

But can this be used to our advantage?

We use certain words, like “blown” out of proportion etc in certain ways and we do use certain body language when we do this. How come it’s rare to INVENT new words? We of course have that right and ability…do we not?

If we create a word that is positive and make it graphic enough as the above example–it will may elicit the response of changing the terms we think in. Rather than “elicit illicit” thoughts we will have positive good words synonymous with action that is positive and good.

The idea is simple, create more positive words that are charged with meaning and then hopefully make those more real than the cuss words people use, but is it do able?

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

1) Perhaps the biggest issue is the obsession over bida- simply because the hadith that is used has become a “super-hadith” being the deciding factor between many religious practices. People have mentioned that the oft-quoted, “every bida is in hellfire” may not even be an authentic hadith, which is one issue but the main issue is that- why does this hadith exercise so much influence on everything we do? Misguidance comes often when people quote one or two hadiths above all other hadiths resulting in a very narrow and uninformed understanding of Islam.

2) Often in religious discussions what happens is one person says, “Let me show you everything and then let you decide”. What then happens is they present one side of the discussion, say “we aren’t forcing–use your mind” and then you come to conclusion they want. Like putting you in a room with one door and tell you to be open-minded in finding the door, it’s a setup to get you to swallow one dogma when in fact it may not even be the correct view. Areas where this pops up are especially in areas such as Sufism, militant Islam, takfiring.

The other side is never present and it may be out of fear that the other side may be correct, or because it may “misguide” them (although it’s still Islam) and so this is deceiving and it’s not hard to see how shaytaan can manipulate this. You would believe that whoever presents this argument to you, says “decide for yourself” is talking to you as if this is the entire picture- which is not the case at all.

3) Another issue is the balance in fatwas and other discussions. Often you will hear about how a religious practice has a bad history of bida and other weird rituals. And so you get the impression it should be abandoned. But the thing is, it is still in the Sunnah! What happens is, especially among shuyookh, they will answer a question with the assumption that it is dealing with some certain aspects of it- and so answer accordingly. But may not fully explain the issue- again not hitting the whole picture. For example, in the discussion of the 15th of Shaban, brothers discussed over and over again with the impression that it is bida simply because some groups would perform some strange rituals on it…and then at the very end say, “But if people want to perform extra deeds, it is always good”…most people recall the majority of the discussion that makes one think it’s a bad practice, when in fact, the opinion of some of the madhabs is that it is praiseworthy. The key here again is to present the whole picture and take into account how average Muslims will pick up on fatwas and interpret them and make them crystal clear and understandable

4) Other times you hear a talk about a shaykh who will go on and on about this problem. He will make jokes and imitate gangster-speak, get some laughs and then he basically uses just a few minutes to discuss the solution to the problem. The advice he gives is abstract…go on and on about the problem but then give 2-3 minutes of advice that everyone knows, but not how to implement it or practice it. So the problematic situation is presented but the solution offered is, a variatin of “be good”.

I am not the first to notice this so here is what Jami rahimullah said, when asked about hypocrisy and honesty:

“How wonderful is honesty and how strange hypocrisy! I wandered to Mecca and to Baghdad, and I made a trial of the behavior of men.

When I asked them to be honest, they always treated me with respect, because they had been taught that good men always speak thus, and they had learned that they must have their eyes downcast when people speak of honesty.

When I told them to shun hypocrisy, they all agreed with me.

But they did not know that when I said ‘truth’, I knew that they did not know what truth was, and that therefore both they and I were then being hypocrites.

They did not know that when I told them not to be hypocrites they were being hypocrites in not asking me the method. They did not know that I was being a hypocrite in merely saying, ‘Do not be hypocrites’, because words do not convey the message by themselves.

They respected me, therefore, when I was acting hypocritically. They had been taught to do this. They respected themselves while they were thinking hypocritically; for it is hypocrisy to think that one is being improved simply by thinking that it is bad to be a hypocrite.

4) Forbidding the evil…but forgetting to enjoin the good! I think that’s all that needs to be said.

5) Using “absolutes” in fatwas. The truth is there are virtually ALWAYS exceptions so a fatwa or opinion that tries to be absolute is a tell-tale sign of it not being genuine or part of the deen.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, ameen.

Bismillah

I have a number of drafts of articles…but I didn’t post them because I asked myself a few questions:

Is this going to cause controversy? Yes
Is this helping the Ummah? Maybe…but chances are it won’t
Could I be spending my time better? Definitely

Most of the posts were about problems with Muslims–wallahi there are so many and as much as I hate to pick on certain groups, the main culprit are super-Salafis simply a great deal of anger towards them. I won’t say much on that but in short I feel some are undermining Islam by pushing people away from Islam with their forbidding “evil” (but forgetting to enjoin good), bida-bashing, shirkophobia and most importantly, lack of adab.

Think about it from Shaytaan’s perspective: What could be a better way of pushing people away from Allah than by getting a very religious person…to push others away from the deen? Imagine a shaykh saying, “Don’t pray” or saying, “It is better to sleep all night than to pray during the night.” On shaytaan’s part, it’s brilliantly evil.

In reality the problem is all about adab. Virtually every thing I hate and everything that Muslims hate, has to do with nothing other than Adab! We hate Salafis because of their lack of adab in dealing with religion and people. We hate Tableeghis for the same reason and the list goes on.

In fact, when you look at it most of the Muslim blogs that are famous on the Internet are ones that were lacking in adab and had all to do with controversy–very little to do with real benefit. Most of them were cathartic in nature–the writers were essentially relieving themselves when they wrote these pieces. Getting it out of their system or as I like to say farting.

And this is what shaytaan does–he gets people to talk and talk until they get a “high” off of their own words. I’ve heard shaykhs–from different schools of thought–say things that were completely against Islam!

Did these pieces increase anyone’s emaan? NO!
Was it a waste of time? Of course!
Is this what shaytaan wants? He would want you to think he doesn’t…so you will do it all the more.

Now, if I were to post something controversial…yes that may go well with the tradition of blogging (ALL blogs are mainly about umm…controversy) and get me a massive amount of hits but it does not achieve the goals of the Ummah. And therefore, I am not going to post it.

This is my view:

If we have adab-less individuals, then the truth is Allah made this happen for a reason. Yes, it pisses you off to no end…but did you ever think that maybe this is a test? The truth is there has always been an issue in the history of the Ummah between the Ulama (being the austere, stricter party) and the Sufis (being the more wise, socially active party) and today is no different…this tension is just a mechanism by which Allah tests us. And indeed the mechanisms by which Allah cures these problems are not uncommon–I have heard of many people who have returned to the deen after Hajj so again no surprise. So the best way of dealing with this is to maintain adab.

But the other category of posts have nothing to do with controversy…they have to do with who is reading them. I cannot control who visits this blog–I try to by the content of my post to attract smarter individuals–but I can’t control that completely. Yes, there are certain things that one cannot post because of the nature of it. No doubt this is some really amazing stuff to read and learn but if certain people were to read it, it would be a fitnah for them and potentially cause a lot of harm.

Destiny is at hand in everything that happens and if I believe I can change those things which will never change…I am not where Allah requires me to be. It is better to remain silent. And observe until you see where you fit into Allah’s destiny. And then the problem disappears.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

For the longest time, I have these articles just sitting in my draft pile and you know, they are just kind of…problematic. Some of their content is troublesome and going to anger a number of people but I REALLY want to just say it and get it out of my system because they NEED to be said, while others could be grouped together to be an ebook…although a very incongruent one.

The solution: A 24-hour period of non-stop articles, no holds barred and lots of fun. These articles are written to be analytical and constructive and not related to activism–except that if people took these conclusions to heart, it could result in positive thinking among Muslims. They are going to be more sociological in nature and deal with some psychology or trends among Muslims. So yes, they will be a tad controversial and piss some (narrow-minded) people off, but hey, they will be truthful so I at least am not a liar!

Anyways, today is Tuesday. The festivities begin tonight at midnight and will run all through Wednesday.
Enjoy!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

This news about the distribution of this hate-filled film called ‘Obsession: Radical Islam’s war with the West’ to 28 million households in the USA via mainstream American newspapers is just unprecedented.
Such a wide campaign of hate.

It’s time for us Muslims and those who have been blessed with a conscience to strike back with proactive activism.

Everything is happening on Facebook. I won’t be posting updates here so join the group and get involved.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

People sometimes lament at the difficulties they encounter in their affairs. Why are these problems not going away?

Whatever it is, you will often hear Muslims getting pessimistic and constantly wondering how things will be solved. But, it’s amazing to see Allah solve our problems and more than that, just how easily and quickly Allah solves our problems.

Here are some common scenarios and the solutions that Allah uses to remedy them. I say Allah uses these, because the secret is that these ’solutions’ cannot happen without the power of Allah and so all we can do is make dua and have tawakkul- trust in Allah.

Parents hating on their children practicing Islam: They decide to go for Hajj and have a religious awakening.

Extended family away from Islam: A family member passes away.

Marriage: Well, I think most people know how this happens.

The commonly reoccurring theme is that our trust in Allah and our turning to Him is what brings Allah to answer our prayers and bring about these solutions or quite simply ANY solution, just like that. How do you know what will happen on that next phone call or in that next hour?

Again the key is tawakkul- trust in Allah and have a good opinion of him. Don’t become pessimistic and think that Allah has only bad things in store for you, because that is having a bad opinion of him. Have Husnuh Dhan (a good opinion or expectation) of Allah SWT.

Jabir ibn Abdullah (radiallahu anhu) heard the Prophet salalllahu alayhi wasalam say 3 times before his death:

La yamutan-aa ahadukum illa wahuwa yuhsinu dhan-naa bi Allah azza wa jaal.
Let none of you die unless he has good expectations from Allah.
(Muslim)

And we could die anytime so we need to have that good expectation at ALL times! Have tawakkul in Allah!

Now, here are some tried and tested effective methods for having Allah fulfill our prayers quickly. I have found these to work in my own experiences.

1) Salat al Hajat: The prayer of need.

Abullah ibn Abi Al-Awfa Al-Aslami (radiAllahu anhuhim) relates that the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, Whoever has a need with Allah, or with any human being, then let them perform ritual ablutions well and then pray two rakats. After that, let them praise Allah and send blessings on the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). Then recite the following dua:

La ilaha ilAllahul Halimul Karim. SubhanAllahi Rabbil ‘rshil adheem. Alhamdulilahi Rabbil ‘alameen. As’aluka mujibaati rahmatik. Wa aza’ima magh-firatik. Wal ghanimata min kulli birr. Was salamata min kuuli ithm. La tada’ li dhamban illa ghafartah. Wa la hamman illa far-rajtah. Wa la hajatan hiya laka ridan illa qadaytaha. Ya arhamar rahimin.

“There there no god but Allah the Clement and Wise. There is no god but Allah the High and Mighty. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Tremendous Throne. All praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I ask you (O Allah) everything that leads to your mercy, and your tremendous forgiveness, enrichment in all good, and freedom from all sin. Do not leave a sin of mine (O Allah), except that you forgive it, nor any concern except that you create for it an opening, nor any need in which there is your good pleasure except that you fulfill it, O Most Merciful!”

Ahmad has - on sound authority - reported from Abu ad-Darda’ that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘He who makes wudu’, and does it properly, then prays two rak`ahs, Allah will grant him whatever he may pray for, sooner or later.’”

Some Salafi scholars are questioning of this salat but if you do your research you will find MANY scholars like Imam an-Nawawi rahimullah agree upon it and hold it as a good deed.

2) Another method is to fast 3 consecutive days on a nafl fast, and on each day break your fast with as little food as possible. Progressively eat less during these days. Do this before the day on which you need Allah to help you and you’ll find it works. This is something the shuyookh of the past have prescribed and I found it to work.

3) Lastly there is nothing like good old fashioned making dua!!

If you have similar experiences or know of any other methods, post away!
Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah, ramadan is done and past but I bet many of us have old fasts to make up, so it’s far from being done!

Here are a few things that happened around Ramadan (or even a little before it) that weren’t too noticed but they were pretty significant in my eyes.

A unique Eid gift

Here is a really cool and innovative gift to give to people on Eid. Check it out here at Citizen Powered

Iftaar Flashmobs for the Homeless

Somewhere in the UK, a bunch of Muslims got together in the streets for Iftaar and brought more than enough food…why? Why to feed the homeless of course!!

Here’s one of the videos:

This is something simple and easy and it obviously is positive attention for Muslims.

Islamophobe’s use Ramadan as an occasion to attack Muslims

The new Undercover Mosques: The Return documentary was released online. I watched it actually and although of course it has a bad intention behind it, some points in it were valid and I think Muslims need to make a few changes…I’ll talk about that later on.

Ramadan Dua Projects

Visit Duapower.com to see the latest dua pack regarding duas for fasting as well as some tips.
There were a few more things, but they don’t come to mind…

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Most people have heard of Shaykh Khalid Yasin and his famous lecture, “Purpose of Life.” What they may not know is that this lecture has converted people in crowds, in some versions of it 10-20 people convert en masse at the end of the lecture.

So I thought, well this speech could make for some pretty effective dawah literature. And so here it is:

Purpose of Life in Islam

Enjoy it, it contains some hikmah (wisdom) for even Muslims.

Now, since it was based on a lecture, some changes were made so it could be fluid enough for the written context. It’s not an easy task and I am betting there are still a few mistakes in the document so if you spot mistakes, please comment here and I will correct them and release a new version in approximately a month from now, in sha Allah.

And most importantly, special thanks goes to sister Living Paradox (you can tell she’s quite the character!) for transcribing this lecture. And to brother Mohamed Farah for editing it. Jazaka Allahu khayran to them.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Something came to me today which seems to be the moral of the previous discussion on this topic. And that is, if you read the Sunnah or the stories of our pious ancestors, you will find that before or during something miraculous occurred to them, they were performing a good deed.

I mentioned how a good deed is on it’s own miraculous and this was a hint to the bigger conclusion: If you look closely at the stories of miracles (such as meeting Gabriel alayhi salam or some supernatural feat) you will find it occurred just after they performed a good deed, one that wasn’t big or amazing- just an action that showed their unique consciousness of Allah SWT.

And I think that is the moral here: one cannot perform miracles of one’s own accord but an act of worship heralds it. Yet another sign of our servitude to Allah SWT and the security with which the status of the righteous is obtained.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

I’ve talked in the past about Sufism but not a heckuva lot of detail as to how it is done etc. Most people are probably conjuring up images of spinning people or other weird things.

But in reality, Sufism is, in a nutshell everything that is Ramadan; everything that characterizes Ramadan as a time of worship is exactly what Sufism is about.

As Ramadan starts you find yourself fasting and struggling. And while you are at it, you pray on time (especially Fajr) and you recite Quran and pray taraweeh. You really begin to feel the deen don’t you?
And then as you keep going, it gets easier for you to keep a fast. But that is exactly when the amount of worship you do goes up–Lailutul Qadr nears and you find yourself worshiping more and more in those last 10 days.

Now think about all that…only for every single day of the year and for the rest of your life…constant worship and constantly increasing how much ibadah you make. And once more doing so in areas besides worship (recite Quran, dhikrs, fasting, duas, etc.) such as observing proper adab, taking care of the poor, doing dawah through your actions.

Now, people think of these things as “labors” or “chores” and that is why people don’t pray 5 times always. But among Sufis, they will keep striving and they will feel those spiritual highs you feel. And just like how we increase the worship for Lailutul Qadr, so do Sufis continually increase their ibadah and enhance their spiritual life until karamat (miracles) manifest, and yet even then, they continue to increase their worship.

And in a nutshell that is it–doing more, continually doing more and more ibadah, what we call excelling or excellence, which is called Ihsaan, the highest peak of faith. I used to not understand what was meant by “excellence” in this context but I think I do now.

So I think that really clarifies for people what Sufism truly is. There are no magical shortcuts, just a great deal of worship and a great deal of perseverance. And when a person becomes beloved to Allah, He gives gifts to them in the form of miracles and there is no denying there lofty status. And that is what makes them unique–they are different from other people, even other shaykhs and so they are referred to as Sufis or Awliya and that is why Allah mentions them in the Quran alongside the Prophets (ex: Maryam, the mother of Jesus alayhim salam). And that is what characterizes the first Sufis and what characterizes true Sufis from mere imitators.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Bilal and Dawud are doing some Feed the Streets–handing out bagged lunches to homeless people in downtown Toronto. After they are done, they head to Popeyes chicken to get some lunch for themselves.

Bilal: Hey man, I’m dead out of cash.
Dawud: Relax, here’s 5 dollars for food.

Dawud get his chicken and Bilal gets some rice.
As they leave the Popeyes, Bilal gives the rice to a homeless man sitting outside of Popeyes. Dawud hadn’t noticed this person and was really struck that the mindset of taking care of the less fortunate was not oriented around an ‘event’ like it was to Dawud, but a practical ideal for all times.

A few days later…

Bilal: Hey man, here is that money I borrowed from you last week?
Dawud: Oh. Bro. Don’t even worry about it. Just keep it. No worries.
Bilal: Nah man, I insist.
Dawud: Listen, come on we’re bros. There’s no money between brothers.
Bilal: Just take it dude!
Dawud: Alright, how about this. You keep the money and give it in sadaqah (charity). How’s that sound?
Bilal: OK, that sounds cool.

My question to you is since we exchanged hands of the money and the variation of our actions…Who gets all the hasanat? To whom belongs the reward of this good deed? We both would get the reward whereas, if we hadn’t set out with the intention to feed the poor…we wouldn’t have found more good deeds.

This is a true story. And it really impacted me quite a bit when it happened. Here I was thinking that Feed the Streets was the most I could do to help these homeless people…but then I saw something else. That is what you call a real eman rush–really feel the horizon broaden and see that their is something higher. Just seeing this brother giving that bowl of rice was totally surreal–what you imagine a miracle to be like. See that is the thing, even when you bear witness that their is something higher, (namely Allah)…you forget that, you can see glimpses of ’something higher’, something more radiant and beautiful when you see good deeds performed, because you wouldn’t expect it. And that is the true bearing witness of God, that yes, there is evidence that there is something Greater than us Whose Hand we see in the actions of the righteous. Good deeds are the proof of Allah’s existence.

Now, the other moral of this story is that when you perform a good action, you ‘allow’ others to do so as well. In mundane terms we call this setting an example–but when it happens its much more profound. It is miraculous. If I were to see someone walk on water, it would not have as much effect on me as this event. And in the words of the awliya, “the truest miracles occur only in the heart.”

This was one of the spiritual experiences I had that summer in Toronto, I don’t know Bilal personally and he doesn’t recognize me anymore…and that just underlines that Allah wanted me to take from this experience a lesson, not a person or a new friend–but a wisdom.

I asked the question: to whom belongs this good deed?
The answer is: to Allah it belongs and to Him is it’s return.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

There stood Gabriel (alayhi salam) whose piercing scream had laid civilizations to waste. And next to him the Angel of the mountains ready to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains. Waved them away did the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) saying, “Their children will one day come to Islam.” Ta’if had taken pleasure in sending their children and their insane to hurl stones at his every footstep. He fled- leaving behind him a bloody trail of footsteps.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalaam) then cried out:

“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased.

There is no power and no might except by You.”

And now there sat Addas of the land of Jonah (Yunus alayhi salam) kissing the bloodied feet of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam): “There is nothing greater on this Earth than that which he is. Verily, the mountains would not rise up against him!”

With those lips soaked with the Prophet’s (sallallahu alayhi wasalaam) blood did Addas bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Final Messenger.

For this is true belief for which we shall bleed. But this is the belief of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalaam) who would bleed so others would believe.

What blood can be so pure in faith that it waters the hearts to grow into belief?

—

Based on hadiths regarding Ta’if.
The Dua of Ta’if can be found in the biography of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar) said at the most difficult moment of his life.

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

Some of you may be aware of Project Downtown also known as Feed the Streets. It’s a simple idea that MSAs have taken up throughout North America.

A bunch of Muslims contribute a bit of money each, purchase some groceries and make lunches for the homeless. And then they go out and distribute them to the poor. The times I have gone out it’s simple brown bag lunches with: salami sandwich, fruit, granola bar and a water bottle. And then there is a little note that says from your local Muslim community.

Sometimes people change it up to give more elaborate meals such as pasta or samosas. Now I wanted to change it up a little. For those more celebratory times I thought it would be a nice idea to give them a sweet treat.

And in Canada there is nothing sweeter than Tim Horton’s (AKA Timmies)! Their Timbits are cheap (about 2 dollars) and have 10, 20 or 40 mini donuts depending on the size, something that would do good for a group of poor people as they tend to gather together and hang out with each other.

Here it is how it goes, at the bottom of the box there is a little note (made to fit) that they discover after eating away all the donuts. Nice designs and a little point on the importance of taking care of the hungry in Islam.

Now, I haven’t posted mine up because…it’s meant more to be something YOU are supposed to do and introduce to YOUR community! Get involved with the social welfare programs in your community, find out where the poor are and if possible tell your MSA you want to run this under their umbrella. If working with the MSA isn’t possible, than start it up on your own with a bunch of friends! People usually do Feed the Streets once a month so it’s regular and eventually you become a neighbor face.

For the Timbits Note, every design is usually different since every MSA is usually different and this is one of those things that you can do in just a few minutes by hand so I won’t be posting up my image.

For starters, I’ll throw this out there: the Timbits 20-pack box is 19.5 cm by 10.3 cm so fit your note to that.

Have fun!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

There are going to be a few changes around here and I thought it better to post them here.

When people begin to specialize in something–their mind gets wired in a certain way. It’s called neuroplasticity and what it points out is the ability of the mind to change itself at any time so that it can perform one task or set of task successfully and efficiently. An athlete, a thinker, a poet, and a blogger–their minds are all “wired” in a certain way. And the crux of the changes is that I need to change my “wiring” so I stop blogging and focus more on other areas.

1) I talked about closing down the blog but it’s not as simple as walking away. It’s a long process so what I will do is slowly close it down. So key thing to note here is posts will be around once every two weeks at most.

2) I won’t be plugging any websites or causes–even the projects I have helped out with. There are plenty of brothers already active on that front so alhamdulillah.

3) The pages at the top bar won’t be updated regularly–you will have to look around for what you want.

4) No new projects will be taken on–suggestions will go ignored or I’ll refer you to someone else.
Unfortunately, most people email saying, “Brother this project could be amazing, I believe it is truly extraordinary…” and then they disappear within a few weeks.

5) Comments will be deleted that are redundant and require the person to just look at the post to get their answer. In short, dialogue will be limited.

6) Projects will continue in the background until completion and will be posted here when they are done. But as stated earlier, this place is “alive” until further notice.

A few regrets and thoughts:

Since everything is free many people are of the “free-loading” mentality. They want MORE and MORE. But I begin to wonder how much of it they actually value? There is a LIMIT you can ask for someone who is volunteering. Some of the projects are such that I can’t get up and leave–which I find distressing although it was of my own will. The attitude I come across is, “You should pay for this project so that I don’t have to” which is exactly what we don’t want. The right attitude is: “I want to see Islam succeed, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST” meaning I want to pay for it with my money, time and effort and gain that hasanat rather than see it as a burden. And if you thought “the cost could be free” when I said, “no matter what the cost,” than you need to re-analyze your intentions. Other should not have to pay for your Islam when you possess the ability to pay for it yourself. I can’t pray your salaah for you nor can anyone else. Go out and do something about it now.

And secondly, ALL the people here and on other projects are volunteers–they put in their own time and for some people, volunteering is very very difficult. Some people need money as a motivation and although I find it somewhat unfortunate I can agree to it to get the job done.

Also there is a vibe of people taking me as some sort of role model–this is common to see where people take a brother who tries to practice his deen as best as possible as a “shaykh” and then when they see something they may disagree with (even something small and halal but of a different “ideology”) this “shaykh” is all of a sudden evil for even trying to practice his deen. In other words, people’s expectations are higher and harder to satisfy than Allah’s expectations.

I’ve been in the situation of the person who has thought, “Why can’t they do more for Islam?” and in the other situation where it is clear I can’t. So I know what its like to be a victim and the perpetrator of hasty judgment. And being in the situation where I hear something so brain-washed and idealized I feel they know really not a heck of a lot about reality or have done very little themselves. But the truth is its hard to compare x and y (a person’s imaan, knowledge, experience) based on the odd thing you hear from them. Forget judging, take precautions in dealing with people with the best adab and leave the rest to Allah.

Lastly, the main reason for the changes is because I made a lot of sacrifices for this blog and in all honesty, in terms of studying, future and career–I’m not going anywhere and a big part of it is the time I spend here and on other projects. Yeah, it’s all great to do these things but it really comes down to the reality that no one else is doing it for a reason–they’re looking out primarily for themselves and they have every right to do so. As do I.

I ask your forgiveness for any wrongdoings.
Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

A while back I posted something about Deaf Muslims and their unique struggle. Alhamdulillah, now their struggle is becoming not only more well-known but is an opportunity for Muslims to bring those who can’t hear and ensure that they do get the opportunity to hear.

Check it out at SignLab.org

I won’t say much more than that but I know that the people involved with this project (sister iMuslim especially) have been planning this and working on it for months. And I can tell you one more thing: that the way things played out during the preparation made it seem as if Allah was pushing them to fulfill this project–opportunity found them time after time and so it might be presumptuous to say this, but I believe this is a very blessed project and without any doubt, going to be a smashing success!

Barakallahu feek
Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.

Bismillah

There is this ridiculous vibe in the Muslim community. It’s come from different communities and it’s really messed.

Among Salafi brethren their is this immense fear of shirk by saying, “Ya Ali” or “Ya Joe” (see my point?) or visiting graves of the Salaf (people don’t even give the same respect to these graves as they give to their family graves out of fear of shirk). And then among our more politically ignorant and militant there is this idea that voting is shirk and kufr.

In my opinion, this is not shirk. But some believe it to be. And spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing it and not increasing anybody’s emaan. And then once more arguing about it and whether it is or isn’t, isn’t the the point of this. Let’s save a bit of time so we can concentrate on bigger things hmm?

Now don’t get me wrong, there are areas where shirk is very real–like riyaa, when a person shows off is considered to be minor shirk.

The good news is we ALREADY have a solution in the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taslimin katheeran katheeran katheera.

Allahumma in-ni audhu bika an-ushrika bika wa an-na ‘alamu wa astaghfiruka lima la ‘alam

‘O Allaah, I take refuge in You lest I should commit shirk with You knowingly and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do unknowingly.’

This dua, known as the dua for fear of shirk, you can use for all those gray areas that people are out to make you doubt your Islam about.

Problem solved!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen!

Bismillah

This is something I made a few days ago. It’s really simple to do and real fun too. The whole idea is to jazz up your study space and help motivate you while you study at your desk. So when you are feeling kind of doozy or not up to it, reading one of these quotes is bound to fire you up Insha Allah!

(Click to get a closeup of mine and feel inspired)

It’s simple.

Get a hold of a book or two full of quotations and find the ones you like the most or strike you the hardest.
Get a 11 x 14 inches paper and some pens.
Copy out your favorite quotations.
Add in some pictures that relate to the quotations.

After reading through a few books this process should take you at the most an hour.

(I used quotations and not anything like hadith because that needs to be properly respected.)

Notice how many quotations are drawn from analogies? Subhana Allah, you would end up drawing out the entire world if you used up every quotation out there and I think that says a great deal about how much wisdom there is contained in the creation of Allah. Someone once said, the world around us is a holy scripture all on its own and that is so true!

Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.

Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): “Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.

Quran (3: 190-191)

Now remember this collage is for YOU and not anyone else. So don’t worry about making mistakes and whatnot because it is all about YOU!

A word of caution on the drawings: it’s a good idea not to draw animate objects, I drew the outline of a horse but didn’t put in any eyes or too many features. I think that’s ok but others are more strict. Also too much artwork may just end up distracting you while you study!

Have fun!

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk, Ameen.