Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Litmus Test of Islam.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Specially Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord, the God of Mankind.


"And most of them believe not in Allah except while they associate others with Him. (Quran 12:106)

Recently, someone passed away, and a gathering has been called in the Masjid to make dua and some other rituals may be. So, someone asked me if this is allowed in Islam. First of all, I pray to Allah that he forgives this person and give him Jannah. Instead of answering this question, I would like to present the foundation of Islam which should answer the question itself. Following is the explanation of above verse from Hafiz Kathir.

Ibn `Abbas commented, "They have a part of faith, for when they are asked, `Who created the heavens Who created the earth Who created the mountains' They say, `Allah did.' Yet, they associate others with Him in worship.'' Similar is said by Mujahid, `Ata, `Ikrimah, Ash-Sha`bi, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. In the Sahih, it is recorded that during the Hajj season, the idolators used to say in their Talbiyah: "Here we rush to Your service. You have no partners with You, except a partner with You whom You own but he owns not!'' Allah said in another Ayah,

So, what it means is that it is easy to say that we accept Allah as the Supreme Lord, and consider him above everything, but it is not enough to say that. We can still commit shirk while we worship Allah as the only God. Without going into technical details of types of Tawheed, we should believe in three things to be clear of Shirk.

1) Allah is the creator of everything (which almost every human and Jin believes, including mushrikeen, and the people of the book)

2) When it comes to unseen belief, we shall only believe in what is explicitly said in the Quran, and taught by Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). We are allowed to believe on anything that our five senses and logic determine to be true unless it contradicts the belief described above. Any other action that is based on faith and not listed above is shirk.

3) We shall not add or remove from the description of Allah as it is explicitly recorded, and don't mix Allah's attribute with human attributes, and vice versa.

Any violation of above is considered shirk. So, if someone says that please take the medicine X because it heals, we are allowed to believe it, and follow it. However, if someone says that please wear a black thread it will protect you from evil spirit, it needs to be checked, because this is a matter of faith. If it turns out that it was taught by the Prophet (PBUH) then we accept it, otherwise we reject it.

Once again, if an act is not explained by nature (a worldy matter), and done on the basis of unseen belief that a benefit will come, and it does not have a precedence in the Quran and Sunnah, then it is a form of shirk. For example, when Umar (RA) ordered Taraweeh, he was re-instating something that was already established in the Sunnah. Also, when Utham (RA) added a second adhan, his intention was not to increase the reward, but to give people more time to prepare. Intention for an innovation has to be natural, otherwise it will be rejected.

I hope this has helped clarify the foundation of Islam, and provide a litmus test that can be applied for rejecting bad bid'a. Good bid'a is not only allowed, but it is necessary for us today. However, it can not violate the principals of Tawheed.

P.S. I beg you all to find a venue of learning and increase your knowledge. Islamic Center of Orlando has classes of Tafseer, Arabic, Hadith, Seerah etc. Islamic Online University has free courses that are taught by live persons. Please don't be caught by the angel of death while not intending to increase knowledge, as it affirms ones disbelief in Allah's help.

And Allah knows best

JazakAllah Khairin

A seeker of knowledge
AbuArman Jumani

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Islamophobia: The Beginning of the End

In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the owner of the Day of Judgement.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:    "Islam began as something strange and will return" (IbnMajah Kitab-AlFitn #3968)(Muslim Kitab-Ul-Iman #145)  

Islamophobia is a term used to describe the undue fear of Islam. Many around the world have the opinion that Islam in its true form is not a system we should follow. When someone tries to practice Islam according the Sunnah of Allah and Sunnah of his Messenger, they would encounter Islamophobia from majority of humans. Above hadith describes this fear that Makkans had in the early days that Islam will destroy their wealth as the idols are removed from Kaba. They were threatened that their culture which was preserved for hundreds of years will alter. It is the same fear that I see in the eyes of people today.

Muslims, including my relatives, fear me and hate me for practicing Islam. They don't want to be told that Eid is our holiday, and we should celebrate it better then we celebrate Birthdays, and Weddings. They don't want to be told that women should wear modest clothes. They don't want to be told that backbiting is a Major sin. They don't want to be told that earning haram wealth will nullify the connection with Allah. They don't want to be told that Women are to be allowed in the Masjid main hall for prayer, and participate in the lectures, so they can ask questions. They don't want to be told that women are not allowed to hold leaderhip position in the community...I can go on for another day or so, but lets leave it at that.

Islamic Sharia has become the dirty word, and even Muslims see it as unnecessary for their survival. I don't see a person being a Muslim, if he or she doesn't commit to Islamic Sharia completely.

I was talking to a young man yesterday, who is a "hafiz of Quran" and our future. I ask him whether he sees the split of Arab and non-Arab in our masjid, and he confirmed, but didn't have any clue how to resolve it. He did repeat the false hope line from Tableeghi Jamat about increasing our iman by coming to Masjid. Hopeless! Hopeless! Hopeless! When I ask these people why can't they sit with scholars from other race, they say you should learn from who you trust. I think that's an excuse to hide the Islamophobia that they keep inside their heart. Everyone is afraid of the other's set of believes.

Even, in the Sunday class, we are told not to judge someone, whereas Allah command us to Forbid Evil in Quran many a times. They are afraid that people will turn away from the class. Well, if we use the wisdom, that should not be the case. We should not fear Islam. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) did not hold back on his judgement, and told one of the person "Go back and pray again, as you have not prayed properly". I ask, Are you afraid of saying this to someone, then you are an Islamophobic.

I predict that as time progress, Islamophobia will increase among Muslims and Christians, and it will eventually lead to the great wars prophecized in the Bible and Quran. In fact, it has already started. Turkey has sever ties with Israel on a small dispute. Dictators, who were loved by the world as the counteracting agent on Islam are being removed, and being replaced with fresh blood, who ultimately will come to one conclusion that Islam is the only way to run human society. It is the beginning of an End. Wheels are in motion, and only a few see the writing on the wall. The world has slowly started to polarized upon Islam, and it will continue. Islam is peace and will remain peace. Muslims who teach dis-engagement with Christians are wrong. Muslims who teach dis-engagement with radical Islam are wrong. We need to engage. We need to stop this polarization.

I say to Christians, don't be afraid, Islamic Sharia is not what you think. I say to Muslims, don't be afraid to judge each other, as it is our duty, if done with wisdom, don't be afraid from a little bit of Ijtihad to remove corrupt traditions as it is not going against the Fiqh. I say to Vanilla Muslims, you will not lose status among your workplace and schools for practicing Islam. I say to my family, don't be afraid of prioritizing Allah over everything else, and taking the first step towards Allah. I say to fellow practicing Muslims, don't be afraid of staring into the eyes of who defy you, Allah is with you, nothing to be afraid, as the worst that can happen is death, which is the beginning of the eternal life.

Again, Practicing Islam has become strange, and if you are accepted easily by your fellow Muslims, then you must not be practicing as it should be. This is not the time to blend in. This is the time to stand out. As a wise person said recently, "It is time to Represent!"

May Allah make us stranger and provide us strength to remain in the strange ways.

JazakAllah Khairin

A stranger to all, perhaps
AbuArman Jumani