‘In The Belly Of A Whale’ by Shaykh Moataz Al-Hallak

Have you ever been in the belly of a whale? Listen to this inspiring and life changing Khutbah, reflect, and share it with others so others may experience a life changing event in their life inshAllah (God Willing).

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“American vs Muslim: Is there a clash of Identity” by Sheikh Yasir Qadhi

Sheikh Yasir Qadhi answers the mind troubling questions of American Muslim Identity: Can you be a Muslim and be an American at the same time? Is there a clash? Is it permissible for a Muslim to have his/her allegiance to a nation-state. What are you first? An American or a Muslim?

Do Muslims have to live in a Islamic State? Can Muslims live in a Kufr State (non-Islamic or non-Muslim State), use the kufr system to defend themselves in the Kufr State? What is the difference between the concept of Ummah and Qaumiyat (nation or community)?

Muslims residing in the Non-Muslim nation-state, can they be patriotic to their country? Is America a Christian State? What American Muslims should say if some one asks them that why are they in America?

Can American Muslims be loyal to America? Is there a clash of loyalty between Islam and America? Can American Muslims be proud Muslims and patriotic Americans at the same time? And is this permissible in Islam?

Foreign Policy compiles sites and forums of Internet Radicals

Foreign Policy posted this interesting and alarming link at their website. There are few interesting things that I noticed.

On slide 15, it shows that these Radicals are also on Facebook with “200 fans.” Now if you compare this with other Islamic oriented pages on Facebook that are not that famous and are not affiliated with any famous organizations like Productive Muslim, Islamic Studies have many more fans than this. This is one example that it shows that it’s the small group but is highly organized.

Moreover, many of these people are working on their own by listening radical leaders on YouTube and Internet Forums, creating videos and posting on YouTube that are emotional and arouse people to do something against leadership (foreign and domestic!). The ignorance of Islam (limited or no understanding of Islam) combined with zealousy or political/financial situation of the person or his family all contributes to this radicalism.

Ulema (Muslim Religious Scholars) of Islam have always stood against Radicalism and Extremism. If you want to read a book on this subject (especially for Muslims) read “Islamic Awakening between Rejection and

Shame on the Muslim World for their Silence

I have to say this before I say anything else, that this post and what I am about to say will offend many of you (Muslims)! And frankly I really don’t care what you think of me and how offended you get! I just don’t care…

I have said this to some people I know, and mostlty I haven’t receieved a much positive respond. I have been told to stay positive, that I should think positive, that what I say (coming below) creates ill feeling towards other Muslims and that I am being pessimistic, or that I should not judge others. I Strongly Disagree!

So here is what I have to say:

The Silence of Muslims on the issue of Kashmir is just pathetic. There are Human beings dying there, living under occupation for 63 years. How come

Focusing on the Muslim Youth

The future of the Muslim Ummah needs to be guided and revived so that when they become the elders, they are equipped with the tools to lead. Some nice post coming soon inshallah…

I will be focusing on the Muslim youth this month inshallah. Some nice articles and post will be coming soon, so stay tuned.

Muslim youth is going through the identity crises. Besides identity crises there are going into extremes. Extremes of secularism where they are Muslim by name or by culture and are opposite to the teachings of Islam in every way or form (May Allah guide me and them)- and on the other side some of the youth are going into the other extreme and that is religious and political extremes where some youth due to the conflict of the predominant Anti-Islamic/Secular culture and the Islamic teachings that they notice they become reactionaries.

Hadith 18.4: Naseehah To Muslim Leaders (Scholars) and Common Folk

Prophet (peace be upon him) said:“The religion is naseehah.” The people said, “To whom?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “To Allah and to His Book and to His Messenger and to the Leaders of the Muslims and to the common folk of the Muslims.” (Recorded by Muslim)Making Naseehah to the Scholars:The Muslim scholars are leaders in the sense that they guide the others to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. They are the ones who understand … Read More

via The Key To Power

Taqwiyat-ul-Iman by Shah Ismail Shaheed: A Must Read Book for every Muslim

By Umer Sultan

Tawheed, which can be loosley translated as Monotheism or specifically as Islamic Monotheism is the concrete base of the Building of Islam. It is the first article of Faith in Islam, and it is this message that Allah sent the chain of Prophets from Adam to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon all of them.

Today, associating partners with God has become a normal practise, a culture established by traditions. The very message that the Seal of the Prophethood, Muhammad ibn Abdullah was sent by God, seems to be lost in practise. A lot has been written on this after the era of Great Imams. For before that it was common sense, but now the common sense is Shirk- unfortunately. People are labeled with innovative or derogatory words to people who defend the first pillar of Islam- Tawheed.  Unfortunately, these accusers and label stampers are Muslims themselves.

Taqwiyat-ul-Iman (Strenghtening of the Faith) was written by one of the great scholars of Indian Subcontinent- Shah Ismail Shaheed.  Shah Ismail was a grandson of Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Ad-Dehlavi.  After Sheikh-ul-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, Shah Ismail’s Taqwiyat-ul-Iman is a MUST READ for every Muslim Lay men and women. After I read this book, I came to find out some faults in my own belief. Shirk that are so common because of the custom and tradition and lack of knowledge, one never gives a second thought about one’s own believes and practices.

Ignorance will not be an excuse in front of Allah, and understanding the basics of Islam is an obligation upon every Muslim- male or female, young or old. Tawheed is the base of the Shahadah– the first Pillar of Islam, and if that is lacking in a Muslim, then prayers and fasting, Zakah and Hajj is all useless.  Moreover, how can anyone claim to believe in something about which one has no knowledge about! This is a very serious issue, that is largely ignored!

In this book you will find evidences from the Holy Quran and Ahadith-e-Nabwi for every claim. Refusing to believe in Tawheed and by bogus labeling Shah Ismail Shaheed as a “Deobandi” “Wahabi” or “Salafi” is a grave injustice to Islam.

Taqwiyat-ul-Iman can be read online here in English. It can be bought online in USA here and in Europe or Britain here.

May Allah giver guidance to every one and show us Siratul Mustaqeen. Ameen.

Opening the Doors of Ijtihad

We have heard all this before “Why our Ulema do not come together and use Ijtihad?,” however, recently a 3 day international seminar took place in the capital city Islamabad, Pakistan, organized by The Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University-Islamabad (IIUI) on “Islamic Legal Thought and Institutions in South Asia.“

Scholars mainly attended from India and Pakistan with one scholar from United States. Scholars were from different school of thoughts and presented their research work and recommendations on contemporary Fiqh and the evolution of fiqh in South Asia.

Read the complete article on this subject at Hamara Pakistan 1947, where I was able to post the entire article.

When Islam Almost Vanished

By Jawad Jafry

The genocide lasted decades. Historians said that the world had never seen murder and destruction on such a massive scale. Millions died and those left alive often longed for death. People openly wondered whether the light of Islam would be forever extinguished. But the course of history changed through some of God’s most unassuming servants.

In the thirteenth century a tidal wave of devastation swept over the Muslim world. City after city, region after region disintegrated amidst a storm of iron and fire. The death toll was incredible.

Nishapur 1,747,000 dead
Baghdad 1,600,000 dead
Herat 1,600,000 dead
Samarkand 950,000 dead
Merv 700,000 dead
Aleppo 50,000 dead
Balkh completely destroyed
Khiva completely destroyed
Harran completely destroyed

Baghdad was often described as the jewel of the world. For six long weeks this jewel cracked and shattered under the ferocious might of the Tartar hordes. The rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates ran red with blood. Women who had observed modest and chaste lives were savagely assaulted and raped. Five centuries of knowledge accumulated from every literate civilization and contained in the world’s largest libraries was reduced to ashes. Many of humanity’s greatest centers of education, commerce and culture became nothing more than killing fields.

The architect of this colossal avalanche of death was Genghis Khan. His barbaric legions were triggered into a forty year bloodlust through the folly of the Muslim ruler, Muhammad Khwarizm Shah. Once a powerful and mighty monarch, Khwarizm Shah ordered the execution of Mongol caravans that came to trade within his kingdom. When Genghis Khan sent a delegation of envoys to lodge a formal protest, Khwarizm Shah executed most of them. These two inhuman acts were avenged at the cost of millions of innocent lives.

The Tartar Holocaust began in 1218 CE six centuries after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It moved westward from Mongolia across Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, southward toward Delhi and northwest to Budapest and Moscow. People as far away as Sweden shuddered at the thought of a Mongol invasion. Muslims were so overawed by their power that one Mongol could kill over a hundred Muslims and none would dare defend himself. In Arabic a proverb sprang up which meant that if someone tells you the Mongols have suffered a defeat don’t believe him.
On the eve of the Mongol invasion, the spiritual state of the Muslim world was pathetic. Corruption, disunity, and materialism were rampant. Khwarizm Shah was not the only example of insufferable leadership. The Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mustasim, was reportedly pleased to hear of the collapse of Khwarizm Shah’s empire because of his personal dislike for the monarch. Before the Mongols reached Baghdad, the Caliph’s advisors had convinced him to seriously scale back the army. The city was in no way prepared to withstand what lay in store for it.

And yet Islam did not die. Genghis Khan who proclaimed himself as the Scourge of God, who delighted in the rape of conquered women could not exterminate the Muslim ummah. Within a generation the tide had begun to turn in Islam’s favour. Baghdad was destroyed by Genghis’ grandson Halaku but his great grandson Berek became a Muslim. In fact, Berek withdrew his forces from Halaku’s army after the fall of Baghdad which contributed to the first defeat the Mongols suffered against the Muslims during the battle of Ayn Jalut in 1260. The aura of the Mongols’ terrifying invincibility was broken. Three years later Berek himself would defeat Halaku’s forces in the Caucus region. Those who tried to destroy Islam became its protectors.
The role that ordinary Muslims played in this miraculous recovery cannot be ignored. The entire ummah owes a debt of gratitude to those men and women who never forgot the centrality of their faith or the importance of sharing it with others. Berek or Baraka Khan was introduced to Islam by two unknown merchants. Their efforts eventually led Islam to reach Russia and Eastern Europe.

If the Tartars are regarded as part of Islam’s universal brotherhood today, one can thank the efforts of unsung heroes like Jamal Uddeen. The vast Mongol empire was divided amongst the various descendants of Genghis. In certain parts of the empire, the Mongols regarded Muslims as no better than animals while Christianity or Buddhism were expected to become the official state religion. But the sincerity of ordinary believers like Jamal was to outshine all else.

Jamal was a Persian who was travelling through the Middle Kingdom or Chaghatay Khanate known for its animosity toward Muslims. With his small band of travellers he mistakenly travelled through the game preserves of the Mongol Prince Tuqluq. Jamal was arrested and brought before Tuqluq. In his anger the prince told Jamal that a dog was worth more than a Persian. Jamal replied, “Yes. If we did not have the true faith, we would indeed be worse than dogs.” Tuqluq was struck by the reply. He inquired what Jamal meant by the true faith. When Jamal explained the message of Islam Tuqluq was convinced. He asked Jamal for some time to unite the fractured Middle Kingdom and then he would proclaim his faith. Jamal returned home and later fell ill. As he was dying, he instructed his son Rasheed to remind the prince of his promise when he became king. When Tuqluq ascended the throne Rasheed set out to meet him. An ordinary person had little access to royalty and after many efforts Rasheed risked his life to enact a plan. He called out the adhan at fajr nearby the royal compound. He was brought before the king and there he invited him to fulfill his promise. On that very morning Tuqluq Timur Khan, king of the unified Middle Kingdom, became a Muslim.

Death and destruction are ravaging Baghdad once more. The innocent victims of this injustice must not be forgotten. We owe it to them to follow in the footsteps of the Last Prophet, in the footsteps of ordinary believers like Jamal and Rasheed Uddeen and share Islam with each and every human being. The beauty of our character and our sincere conduct need to be the beacons that attract those around us to this Divinely prescribed system of life. True it is Allah alone who guides; it is also true that Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves. For us to do anything less would be to disgrace those who are dying before our very eyes.

Historical Sources:
Saviours of the Islamic Spirit, Volume 1, by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
History of Islam, Volume 2, by Masudul Hasan
A Short History of the Saracens, by Amir Ali

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Just an add on, Jalaluddin Khwarizm Shah tried to fight against mongols after his father, Khwarizm Shah’s wrong decision that led to the rampage on the great Muslim Civilization.~ UmerSultan

International Conference On ‘Islam and Modernity’

ISLAMABAD: International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) is arranging a two-day international conference on ‘Islam and Modernity’ on June 4 and 5 (Wednesday and Thursday) at new auditorium, Faisal Mosque Campus.

Inaugural session will start on Wednesday at 10:00am. Leading scholars and experts from Pakistan and abroad will deliver their lectures and present papers in working sessions of the conference.

In the first working session, M Shahid Alam, Pervaz Hoodbhoy, Noman-ul-Haq, and Khurshid Ahmad will speak on ‘What went wrong: the encounter with modernity and diagnoses of Muslim civilization decline’. Prof Khurshid Ahmed will be the chief guest of this session.

In the second session on the same day, Dr Muhammad Farooq Khan, Tamara Sonn, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Khaled Ahmed and salman Sayyid would present their thoughts on ‘Muslim responses to modernity and globalization: contradictions, tensions and possibilities’. Rector IIUI Prof Manzoor Ahmed would honour the session as the chief guest.

The activities of the second day would start at 11:30am. Misbah Saboohi, Asad Farooq, Suroosh Irfani, Ashis Nandy and M Shahid Alam would speak on ‘towards utopia of modernity’ and development and progress in the Muslim world’. Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari and Dr Khalid Masud would be the chief guests of the session.

Mushahid Hussain, Salman Sayyid, Pervaz Hoodbhoy, Fawzia Afzal Khan and Mumtaz Ahmed, in the second session on the same day, would enlighten the audience on ‘fundamentalist obscurantism or laboratory resistance: perspectives on the Islamic revival’. President IIUI Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqiui would be the chief guest of the session.

The Post

International Islamic University, Islamabad