Monday, 10 June 2013
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Sunday, 2 June 2013
New Muslims
New Muslims: Talk less and listen more
by Lauren BoothSource: OnIslam
By: Lauren Booth
Source: OnIslam
Who can ever forget the overwhelming feeling of taking shahadah?
Wherever it happens – at a friend’s house, down the phone, in an imam’s office or at the center of a vast Masjid on Jummah, it is a heart-thrilling, experience.
Immediately after you testify to the Oneness of God and that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is His final Prophet, you are squished by your new sisters (or brothers if you are male).
Tears in eyes, your new family thrust phone numbers and email addresses at you, pledging with heartfelt intensity to ‘be there’ when you go through ‘tests’ about which, at that moment, you may have no idea.
And then, sometime after the fizzy, amazement fades, it will be you. On your own. With God.
It took me weeks to come down off that first spiritual high and look around at my new life, thinking: “Wow, how did I get here and how do I carry on this journey?”
Helpfully, as in all things, the Quran has the answer. This verse tells precisely what is expected of the believer.
{Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle.
Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.} (Al-Baqarah 2: 177)
This beautifully detailed verse appears before us, as a mountain to climb.
What to Do First?
Your gratitude at being chosen for this perfect faith can quickly turn into a rather confused sense of zeal. Do I adopt an orphan first or give away my old clothes then rethink all my old promises and see which ones I haven’t kept then…? Talk about a life spring clean!
I would like to pass on one of the most potent pieces of spiritual advice I have received since becoming Muslim. Alhamdulillah, it has been repeated by each imam and scholar who has offered me support on my way, until it is imprinted on my brain.
“Slow down. Take your time. God knows you, He knows you are trying. So take your time and go back to the beginning. And above all ask for God’s help in all things.”
Back to the Beginning?
Well that seemed a bit of a blow when I first heard it. Surely I was further down the path of knowledge, after a year than when I first took my shahadah. How long before I ‘knew’ stuff then?
Humility, then, is the best foot forward. The primary aim of Islam is to be able to answer this question with heartfelt sincerity.
Who is Allah? And why and how must I love Him?
Knowing God and understanding His divine attributes is a vast subject, one for those with knowledge to teach. A good idea, as you set out on this path, is to attend one of the growing number of excellent 3-5 day Basic Islam courses, springing up across Europe and North America. Such retreats are food for the soul and guidance. They take you out of your current environment (i.e. worries) and can put you in touch with learned people able to both answer your questions and raise your faith.
You may feel you are strange to everybody now you are a Muslim. Taking this time then to be around sisters and brothers from your own cultural background, I found this a real blessing. Many thanks are due to the Islamic Education and Research Academy (Iera – MuslimNow) for their subsidized retreats for new Muslims.
As we each take our first baby steps on the path to understanding, one of our greatest challenges can certainly be our new peers.
A few months ago, on a retreat, I met a 20 year old British revert to Islam. She said her shahadah and then had a series of pretty awful experiences at the hands of other Muslims. Men preyed upon her for her white skin – sad but true. But far worse than male lechery (a part of life for young women today), was the confusing advice on Fiqh – practical matters – from the sisters.
“I took my hijab off today and I hate it now!” Announced the young sister after a week of wearing hijab. She had been cornered by a group of hijabis who threw questions at her like poison darts.
“So which school of Islam do you follow then?”
“Name the greatest Prophets”
“Are you Hanafi then because you pray like a Hanafi?”
Later the same day she was cornered in a corridor by young Muslim girls who didn’t wear the hijab, yet. Faux intellectual bullying is a sad epidemic in our community.
“Where does it say in the Quran you have to wear hijab – can you tell us huh?’’
“The Prophet’s wives wore it didn’t they?” Stumbled the girl.
“Name them then!” came the harsh response.
{Behold! You are they who disputed about that of which you had knowledge; why then do you dispute about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows while you do not know.} (Al-Imran 3: 66)
You may feel pushed into making decisions on matters about which you know little or nothing. You may also see, in people’s way of prayer, a lot of apparent ‘contradictions’ in Islamic practice. There are four major schools of thought in Islam (madhhab) all of which are considered valid. It is hard to understand when we arrive in the deen and seek out absolutes in all things with the enthusiasm and zeal of the enthusiastic amateur. But, don’t be rushed.
When a discussion leads into something about which the listener does not have knowledge, men of great quality such as Imam Shafi’i simply said “I do not know” and left it like that. Seeking knowledge means accepting that we are worthy of knowing only a little at a time. And more, that until each teaching is absorbed and then practiced with consistency and sincerity in our daily lives and worship – why should the next treasures be unlocked for us?
One of the principles we learn from Islam is that being silent is better than speaking.
Learning to listen and to be quiet, to ponder on existence and wait patiently for God’s guidance – is one of Islam’s many gifts to humanity. Do this and your heart will begin to feel at ease in a way you have not experienced before.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
“Whoever is silent will be successful.”
Learning to be quiet and to live without music playing in the background of my life took me a while. Again, no fatwas on this page about music being haram or halal! Just a sisterly suggestion that now can be the perfect time to take a break from time wasting. There I said it. Stop wasting your time! Ibn Al Qayyim says:
“Wasting time is worse than death because death separates you from this world whereas wasting time separates you from Allah”.
So much on TV is foul and demeaning. Sarcastic people, doing mean things to one another. Women being denigrated to little more than a jumble of body parts – like is existence really best summarized as ‘it’s all about the Hair!’?
Not easy to stay spiritually connected when allowing ourselves to be bombarded with images of strangers’ body parts, harsh language and of course the unending pursuit of material goods and wealth. Please, turn off the TV and radio. Find a recording of the Quran and allow your ears to attune to its inspirational ebb and flow. A home where the Quran is recited has angels present. As the ads say – for far lesser things – ‘Try if for a month and notice the difference!’
God the Exalted makes it very clear, when He says:
{O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger, and make not vain your deeds!} (Muhammad 47: 33)
We live in a great age to be Muslims. Never has so much information been available on our faith, so instantly. But we are just far too busy to study right? The companions of the Prophet, used to tend their fields, their market stalls and their businesses by day, following the Prophet memorizing his words in the afternoon and then stay up for hours at night worshipping God. They certainly had blessed time. And that’s what time is when you seek closeness to the One who made you.
So what’s on your iPod or in your car CD player right now? When you’re cooking at home, why not seek out lectures on YouTube? For working mums, busy students, dads and business people; the car, the kitchen, the bus and the subway are our lecture theatres. And the lessons, in how to live a better way of life in Islam, well they quickly mount up, day by day, InshaAllah.
May Allah SWT be your guide on the straight path now and always.
Peace. Lauren.
Please find below some of my personally recommended links to inspiring resources which have and continue to help me and my family on our journey.
YouTube Recommendations
Sheikh Hamza Yusuf: Stations of Gratitude
Ustadh Ali Hammuda: Praying Attentively
Readings
The Holy Quran - http://www.quranproject.org - for your free copy
Agenda to Change our Condition – Hamza Yusuf and Zaid Shakir
Don’t Be Sad -Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Muslim Scientists and Inventors.
'Abbas ibn Firnas
‘Abbas ibn Firnas (810-887 AD) was an Andalusian polymath, scholar and poet of Berber origin at the court of Cordoba. The invention of the cutting (faceting) of crystal is attributed to him. He is also credited with being the first person to make a scientific attempt to fly when, in 875, he reportedly used a rudimentary glider launched from the Mount of the Bride (Jabal al-'arus) in the Rusafa area, near Cordoba, Spain. The Iraqis built a statue in his memory on the way to Baghdad International Airport, and the Ibn Firnas Airport to the north of Baghdad is named for him. The Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is also named in his honor.
'Abbas ibn Firnas was a Muslim Andalusian polymath: an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician. Of Berber descent, he was born in Izn-Rand Onda, Al-Andalus (today's Ronda, Spain), and lived in the Emirate of Cordoba. He is known for an early attempt to fly.
Ibn Firnas designed a water clock called al-Maqata, devised a means of manufacturing colorless glass, invented various planispheres, made corrective lenses ("reading stones"), devised a chain of rings that could be used to simulate the motions of the planets and stars, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal that allowed Spain to cease exporting quartz to Egypt to be cut.
In his house, Ibn Firnas constructed a room in which spectators witnessed stars, clouds, thunder, and lightning, which were produced by mechanisms located in his basement laboratory. He also devised a rudimentary metronome.
Ibn Firnas is also said to have made an attempt at flight using a set of wings. The only evidence for this is an account by the Moroccan historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari (d. 1632), composed seven centuries later.
Al-Maqqari is said to have used in his history works many early sources that are no longer extant. However, in the case of Ibn Firnas, the only source cited by al-Maqqari was a 9th century poem written by Mu'min ibn Said, a court poet of Cordoba under Muhammad I (d. 886), who was acquainted with and usually critical of Ibn Firnas.
It has been suggested that Ibn Firnas' attempt at glider flight might have inspired the attempt by Eilmer of Malmesbury between 1000 and 1010 in England but there is no evidence supporting this hypothesis.
Alternative names include:
'Abbas Abu al-Qasim ibn Firnas ibn Wirdas al-Takurini
'Abbas ibn Firnas
'Abbas ibn Firnas ibn Wardus
'Abbas Qasim ibn Firnas
Ibn Firnas
Ibn Wardus
Ibn Wirdas al-Takurin
'Abbas ibn Firnas was a Muslim Andalusian polymath: an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician. Of Berber descent, he was born in Izn-Rand Onda, Al-Andalus (today's Ronda, Spain), and lived in the Emirate of Cordoba. He is known for an early attempt to fly.
Ibn Firnas designed a water clock called al-Maqata, devised a means of manufacturing colorless glass, invented various planispheres, made corrective lenses ("reading stones"), devised a chain of rings that could be used to simulate the motions of the planets and stars, and developed a process for cutting rock crystal that allowed Spain to cease exporting quartz to Egypt to be cut.
In his house, Ibn Firnas constructed a room in which spectators witnessed stars, clouds, thunder, and lightning, which were produced by mechanisms located in his basement laboratory. He also devised a rudimentary metronome.
Al-Maqqari is said to have used in his history works many early sources that are no longer extant. However, in the case of Ibn Firnas, the only source cited by al-Maqqari was a 9th century poem written by Mu'min ibn Said, a court poet of Cordoba under Muhammad I (d. 886), who was acquainted with and usually critical of Ibn Firnas.
It has been suggested that Ibn Firnas' attempt at glider flight might have inspired the attempt by Eilmer of Malmesbury between 1000 and 1010 in England but there is no evidence supporting this hypothesis.
Alternative names include:
'Abbas Abu al-Qasim ibn Firnas ibn Wirdas al-Takurini
'Abbas ibn Firnas
'Abbas ibn Firnas ibn Wardus
'Abbas Qasim ibn Firnas
Ibn Firnas
Ibn Wardus
Ibn Wirdas al-Takurin
Monday, 27 May 2013
AFTER 9/11
Seeking Allah in the Midlands
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Of the thousands of white Britons embracing Islam every year, most are thought to be professionally successful, independent-minded women, says a study
Arguably, Islam has more than a mere perception problem over how it treats its women. Even after allowing for stereotyping (the image of a burqa-clad woman walking two paces behind her husband is a crude caricature of the modern Muslim woman), the fact is that Muslim women are more vulnerable to misogyny and cultural prejudices of their menfolk than women of any other faith. The more “Islamic” a society, the fewer individual freedoms its women enjoy.
Yet, Islam appears to hold a strange fascination for white British women who are converting to it in large numbers. Of an estimated 50,000 or so white Britons who convert to Islam every year, some two-thirds are thought to be women. Most of them are independent career women — bankers, doctors, broadcasters — who know what they are doing, and often do so in the face of opposition from family and friends. High profile converts include Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, well-known journalist Yvonne Ridley and MTV presenter Kristiane Backer.
AFTER 9/11
Though there is no hard data, mosques claim that there has been an increase in the number of converts to Islam since 9/11 with more women approaching them.
“I receive many more inquiries from women. It is quite surprising, given the negative publicity in terms of the mistreatment of women. But women say it was all the negative things that first stimulated their interest,” said Sheikh Imam Ibrahim Mogra from Leicester.
So, what makes professionally successful and liberated western women embrace a faith which has become synonymous with oppression? And what has it been like for these “new mullahs”?
A groundbreaking study by Cambridge University’s Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) and the Leicester-based New Muslims Project provides a fascinating insight into the experience of women converts. Its 129-page report, “Narratives of Conversion to Islam,” outlines what it describes as “the social, emotional and sometimes economic costs of conversion” and examines the reasons for women converting to Islam in a society with “pervasive negative stereotypes” about it. The study shows they were prompted as much by a genuine curiosity about Islam, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, and a quest for “faith and spirituality” as by a reaction against too much individualism and excessive permissiveness of western culture. Then there are often such practical considerations as the wish to marry a Muslim boyfriend. Many were introduced to Islam by a “boyfriend, fiancé or husband.” Some were initially drawn to it out of sheer curiosity and then got “hooked.”
Anisa Atkinson, once a devout Catholic, ended up converting after reading a pamphlet on Islam.
“I was pretty bored so decided to flick through it. And a few pages in I realised this was what I had been searching for. It was a light bulb moment. So I read more, and studied the religion, and a few months later I become a Muslim. My mother was devastated.’’
In the case of Caroline Bate, an investment banker, her best friend was marrying a Muslim so she wanted to know more about it and started reading about Islam.
“The literature that I picked up just stimulated me. And Islamic teaching made perfect, logical sense. You can approach it intellectually and there are no gaps, no great leaps of faith that you have to make.”
Yasir Suleiman, project leader and director of CIS, described conversion as “a complex phenomenon.”
“It is often full of joy and pain for the convert and her family and friends, regardless of the faith to which she converts, but no more so than when the faith is a maligned Islam and its followers.”
Women said people wanted to know why a “liberated/free Western woman would embrace a backward faith that oppresses her.” According to Professor Suleiman, the question implied that there “must be something ‘wrong’ with, or ‘perverse’ about, the female convert to want to do this ‘wrong/perverse’ thing.”
REACTIONS
The report — based on the experiences of nearly 50 British women converts of different ages, ethnicities, and faiths or no faith — says that many met with hostile family reactions. One was thrown out by her father who was horrified that she had embraced a “barbaric and uncivilised” faith. Her brother reacted by joining the far-right racist British National Party to prevent further “Islamification” of Britain, and neighbours were told that she had died. When she travelled abroad, her family informed the security services of that country that she was a terrorist.
Atheist families often reacted with greater hostility than the religious ones. One woman said her atheist mother was alarmed that her grandchildren would be indoctrinated into Islam and brainwashed into a set of mythical, “fairy like” beliefs. Most converts reported feeling confused and isolated after the initial euphoria of conversion as they struggled to find acceptance both in their new-found community and the wider society.
The study confirmed a problem that lies at the heart of Islam — the fact that it is not simply a faith, but a way of life. The overlap between faith and culture left many confused. They also faced pressure to get married “often to unsuitable prospective partners such as political refugees or men seeking British passports.” Converts who had a previous sexual relationship were seen as “impure.”
Noting that women’s rights were “a highly charged political issue within Muslim communities,” the study acknowledged the need to raise the status of Muslim women. Most converts were particularly critical of the concept of Sharia Council or courts operating in Britain, seeing them as a threat to women’s rights.
“The consistent themes flowing through the report is the need for increased levels of support for the convert community…Another of the recurring themes was the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of Muslims and Islam in the U.K. media and what role the convert community might have to play in helping to redress the balance,” said Prof. Suleiman.
Until now, conversion was not talked about openly and reported mostly in negative terms focusing, for example, on white criminals converted to Islam by Muslim prisoners — or Muslim converts like the terror suspect Richard Reid, the so-called “shoe-bomber” who tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in mid-air by detonating a bomb concealed in his shoe.
This is the first serious study of its kind and is expected to open up the debate on an issue clouded by prejudice. And the prejudice is not all one-sided. Muslims are no less prejudiced towards other faiths, and notoriously sensitive to desertions from their ranks. When Prof. Suleiman says that “converts have the potential to be a powerful and transformative influence on both the heritage Muslim community and wider British society,” one hopes he means all converts not just Muslim converts.
hasan.suroor@gmail.com
Source:-http://www.thehindu.com
Saturday, 25 May 2013
1500 year old Bible.
SubhaanAllah!!
1500 year old Bible found -Jesus(PBOH) Predicted the coming of Muhammad (SAW)
A 1,500-year-old Bible in which Jesus is believed to have foretold the coming of the Prophet Mohammed to Earth has attracted attention from the Vatican this week. Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly requested to see the book, which has been hidden in Turkey for the last 12 years, according to the Daily Mail.
1500 year old Bible found -Jesus(PBOH) Predicted the coming of Muhammad (SAW)
A 1,500-year-old Bible in which Jesus is believed to have foretold the coming of the Prophet Mohammed to Earth has attracted attention from the Vatican this week. Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly requested to see the book, which has been hidden in Turkey for the last 12 years, according to the Daily Mail.
A handwritten Bible, believed to be 1,500 years old and is recently kept in the Ethnography Museum of Turkish capital Ankara, includes a drawing of the Last Supper, local media reports said on Friday.
The 52-page Bible is written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and consists the depiction of the Last Supper, which shows Jesus dining with his 12 Apostles, and also a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus, a symbol of the sun and a cross, according to Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman.
The report added that there is also a depiction of a cave and a large rock which are thought to be the grave of Jesus.
Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay confirmed on Thursday that the 1,500-year-old Bible was discovered by policeman during an anti-smuggling operation in 2000 and is currently being kept in Ankara, according to Today's Zaman.
A smuggling gang seized during the operation was reportedly convicted of smuggling various items, including the Bible. After that, all the artifacts were kept in a safe at an Ankara courthouse.
The Bible, which was reportedly kept at the courthouse for years, was only recently handed over to the care of the Ethnography Museum of Ankara weeks ago, the newspaper quoted Zulkuf Yilmaz, head of the General Directorate of Museums and Cultural Assets, as saying.
The Bible will be sent abroad for carbon dating in order to determine its actual age, Yilmaz said, adding that the book will be put on public display after restoration.
Regarding claims that the book could in fact be the Gospel of Barnabas, Yilmaz said, "I hope that is the case."
The Gospel of Barnabas contradicts the canonical New Testament account of Jesus and his ministry but has strong parallels with the Islamic view of Jesus. Much of its content and themes are in line with Islamic ideas, and it includes a prediction by Jesus of the Prophet Muhammad coming to earth.
Source:-http://www.china.org.cn
Friday, 24 May 2013
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