Category Archive

1.  MashaAllah, great khutbah on the importance of preparing for Ramadan in Shaban.   Less rambling and disjointed than usual, and it clocked in at a mere 35 minutes.

2.  Again, Female Body Inspector?  I just can’t get over how someone could possibly think that this is an appropriate shirt for a muslim to wear when it blatently contradicts explicit quranic instructions.  And to the masjid?

3.  Dear brother in Islam:  While I appreciate the fact that you untucked your shirt to cover your obviously sagging pants and that you are bringing your sons with you to jummah, next time please make sure your 10 year old son’s pants are not hanging down to his knees, displaying his cartoon boxers for the entire jamaat to see.  Thank you.

‘Umar bin Abi Salama said: The Prophet, said to me, “Eat with your right hand.” [Bukhari]

I think I have a better picture of her eating with her right paw, but I haven’t uploaded it yet.  Anyone else’s cat play in their water dish?  It’s adorable – she’ll dip her paw in and then lick it off.  Ok, it’s adorable until she comes to sit on my lap and leaves a big wet spot on my skirt, lol.  This morning, she decided to take a stroll through the bathtub after I took a shower and then left wet little paw prints across the bathroom floor.  For a cat who hates to take a bath, she sure does enjoy water.

Zomgosh, hyperventilating here!  This + Ramadan excitement is almost too much to bear!

Hajj Walking Program

• A unique program (never offered before) designed to follow the Sunnah of the prophet throughout the Hajj journey.
• A guided tour uniquely designed to follow on the foot step of our beloved the prophet (SAW) and his pious companions.
• This program is recommended for seasoned travelers, and Individuals who are willing to forsake the comfort of AC transportation, fancy hotel rooms and other services to gain the ultimate rewards.
• The distance between Makkah and Mina is approximately 8 kilometers (~5 miles) while the distance between Mina and Arafat is approximately 14.4 kilometers (~9 miles).

Since becoming muslim, I’ve always wanted to make hajj walking.  Being stuck on buses in traffic for hours on end just doesn’t scream *spiritual awakening* to me.  Of course, walking around all those buses probably doesn’t either, but maybe, just maybe, this program has found a way to make it happen.

Make dua that I can convince AbuS that this is the way to go.  And make dua that we will be able to go in the next few years, before the hajj creeps into the summer months.  There is so much to save up for – a house, a new car, the hajj – and I really thank Allah (swt) that we can even consider doing these things.  It is only through His Mercy and Grace that we have the provisions to seek these goals.

The walking hajj would also force us to get back into shape.  I was going to the gym pretty consistently last year, until I adopted the Squeakster.  Then, I didn’t want to go to the gym after work – I wanted to go home to love up my kitty.  Not that I don’t want to love up my kitty anymore, but I’m sure she’ll be fine for that extra hour it takes me to go to the gym.  Plus, she’d probably be happy if her mommy doesn’t die of a heart attack before the age of 30.

For now, gotta push myself to at least start, by doing some (secular) yoga and pilates DVDs at home, and then after Ramadan inshaAllah, get back to the gym.

Ten Good Manners for Hajj by Imam al Ghazali

Fifthly, one should perform as much of the Hajj as possible on foot. On his deathbed, Ibn Abbas told his sons: ‘My sons, you should make Hajj on foot, for the walking pilgrim receives seven hundred blessings from the Sacred Sanctuary with every step he takes.’ One should take particular care to walk during the important rituals, such as the movement from Makka to Arafat and to Mina. Some ulema, however, have held that riding is better, because this allows one better to assist others, is safer, and keeps one away from situations which may provoke anger and resentment in one’s heart. In reality, this view is not in conflict with the former opinion: one should simply use one’s discernment, so that one walks if one finds walking easy, but rides if one is weak or fears that walking will worsen one’s behaviour and damage the quality of one’s actions. When performing the rites of Umra, it is best to walk, and to spend the money thus saved in good works.

• Agenda to Change our Condition
• The Difference of the Imams
• Love for Allah (swt)
• Muslim Character
• Every single Star Wars novel written after 2000.

1st – the deeny books are totally awesome mashaAllah.  Agenda to Change our condition gives me motivation and direction to continue to improve my taqwa.  T he Difference of the Imams makes me want to become a muhaddith.  Love for Allah (swt) always gives me a boost in my relationship with the Beloved.  And Muslim Character makes me happy and sad.  It makes me happy because it clearly lays out what a beautiful character our beloved Prophet (saws) had.  And it makes me sad because I realize how far the muslim community falls short of the ideal.  If we muslims embodied the beautiful behavior of the Prophet (saws), people would be clamouring to embrace the deen.

Oh yeah, the Star Wars books.  In 1992, Timothy Zahn created the first in a huge number of novels that expanded and continued the universe created in the Star Wars movies.  Throughout the 90s, my sister and I avidly collected and read ever new addition. 

Then in 2000, I went away to college and my disposable income was sucked up by textbooks.  Coupled with my severe disappointment with the prequels, I stopped reading the novels.  A short while ago, I happened upon the Star Wars section of a used bookstore and found dozens of books I hadn’t read.  Inexplicably, I was compelled to pick up the series where I left off.

I’m still ambivalent about the books surrounding the prequel time frame, so for now, I’m concentrating on the post RoJ universe.  Yes, I am well aware of my dorkiness.

…between backbiting and warning people?  If the warning is done with bad manners and in bad taste, but there is some actual useful information in it?

How would you react if you heard that a scholar you admired publically beat his wife?  Do you try to confirm this by seeking out the person who says they saw it, or do you brush it aside?  And then how do you approach the scholar after this?  Take the good from him and leave the bad?

*sigh*

In other, happier news, I’ve been doing very well with my salat alhamdulilah.  As isha creeps later, I’ve started to go to sleep after maghrib and have AbuSqueakster wake me up when he goes to bed around midnight to pray isha.  I think some new medication I’m taking is wreaking havoc on my ability to fall asleep though, as I’ve been tossing and turning for quite awhile before I finally manage to drift off.  I’m tiiiiiiiired.

Also doing well with my foundation expansion alhamdulilah.  Granted, I’m only on day 3, but I’ve not turned on the television when I got home and instead spent time with Squeaky and AbuSqueakster, cleaned (my stove is clean!) and read 10 minutes of Qur’an.  Alhamdulilah.

So there’s this jehovah’s witness lady who rides my bus.  She’s quite nice, and I used to sit next to her often.  However, our schedules have changed and we don’t take the same bus anymore.

As an ardent JW, she would try to share her faith with me every time we saw each other.  I nod, smile, take the occasional magazine, and in time, I pointed her towards the husband.  The husband actually enjoys talking with proselytizers.   Unfortunately, he has a knack for scaring them away.  When the mormons came knocking, he was happy to talk, but when he asked if they had the signs of faith in Mark 16:17-18, ie they’d be able to drink poison, they left rather quickly.

The JW lady set him up to talk with several different “brothers,” all of whom got frustrated with my husband questions about scriptural discrepancies and stopped returning his emails and refused to meet with him.  For a group of people who profess to be serious students of the bible, they weren’t very good at answering questions about the scripture.  The last brother actually told my husband to just read the message and stop concentrating on the text itself.  The husband countered that if the text is flawed, how could anyone believe the message?

Last year, we had the JW lady and some of her friends over to our apartment.  Their goal was to do some witnessing.  My goal was to do some reverse dawah.  I cleaned everything from top to bottom, and prepared fresh fruit and dessert.  She couldn’t stop thanking me for being so kind to them, that normally people were very terse when they came around.  I explained that our Prophet (saws) made hospitality a matter of faith:

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let them treat their guest generously. (Bukhari, Muslim, others)

And that it was my duty to make them feel comfortable.  Then they got into the discussion with my husband re: the bible.  No headway was made.  After awhile, the JW’s friends started to look uncomfortable, so they prepared to leave.  As they were about to head out the door, I pulled a few qurans off the shelf and offered them.  They refused.  I was floored.  Here was had given them the opportunity to preach their faith to us, offered them the hospitality of our home, and they refused a gift in kind?  After that, I began to politely decline the offers of magazines and discussions on the bus.  If you’re going to witness, at least be open to witnessing in kind.

My husband still sees the JW lady on the bus on occasion.  This morning, he called me up as I walked to work, and was very excited.  He’d been having an email discussion with the JW lady recently, and this morning on the bus, she gave him a list of questions for him to answer about islam.  Alhamdulilah, her first interest in the religion, aside from a few passing questions about the end of times.

Make dua for Allah (swt) to open her heart and to guide our hands as we answer these questions.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr

There is horror in the world around us.  Far away, bombs are dropped and innocent people are killed.  In the forgotten parts of Africa, people are massacred without the world watching. 
Closer to home, there is poverty, death and despair, even if it’s not in our faces.

The Prophet (saws) and his companions experienced hardship.  They saw horrors.  What were they do to about it?

“When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved, let him change it with his hand.  If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue.  And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest faith.” (from the collection of Imam Nawawi’s 40 hadith)

So what is a person to do when they’ve done this, and still, the horrors persist?  It is hard to have any faith left in this world, in our fellow human beings, when we see the awful things we perpetrate upon one another.

The answer is tawakkul, absolute trust in our Lord.  We can feel sadness, and strive to change the wrongs in the world, but if we do not succeed as much as we had hoped, we need to know that is the will of Allah (swt).  There should be no despair in what Allah (swt) has willed.

Anas ibn Malik (ra) is reported as having said:

“A man once rode into town on a fine she-camel of his, and he said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall I just leave her unattended, and put my trust in the Lord [ada'u-ha wa atawakkalu]?’ So the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told him: ‘Hobble her feet with a rope, and put your trust in the Lord [a'qil-ha wa tawakkal]!’”

Granted, it is very easy to type this, but not so easy to do.  It is a struggle, a test from Allah (swt), to submit to Him and to His will.

 Sunnah of the Week 3

June 9th through the 8th, 2008; Al-Akhir 5th through the 10th, 1429

From Al-Adab al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari

386. ‘Abdullah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “You must be truthful. Truthfulness leads to dutifulness and dutifulness leads to the Garden. A man continues to tell the truth until he is written as a siddiq with Allah. Beware of lying. Lying leads to deviance and deviance leads to the Fire. A man continues to lie until he is written as a liar with Allah.”

Waaay back in the day…ok, well, 3 months ago, I attempted to start a series highlighting a sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa salaam) each week.  I got sidetracked by the hadithuna outages and then by life, but I’ve finally kicked myself in the pants and am reviving it inshaAllah.

Sunnah of the Week 3

June 2nd through the 8th, 2008; Jumada Al-Awwal 28th through Jumada Al-Akhir 4th, 1429

from al-Muwatta of Imam Malik, Bukhari and Muslim

12 Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A strong person is not the person who throws his adversaries to the ground. A strong person is the person who contains himself when he is angry.”

For more, check this most excellent piece by Sh. Faraz entitled “Don’t Get Angry: A Little Fiqh of Anger & Aquiring Good Character.”  It’s been one of all time favorite pieces of islamic writing since I first read it years ago.

From Imam Zaid:

Imam Shafi’i is related to have said: “Never do I debate a man with a desire to hear him err in his speech, or to expose the flaws in his argument, and thus vanquish him. Whenever I face an opponent in debate I silently supplicate, ‘O Lord, help him so that truth may manifest itself in his heart and on his tongue. If it be that the truth is on my side, may he follow me; and if the truth be on his side, may I follow him.’ “

Via a Deenport post:

“People are of two kinds: your brethren in faith or your equals in humanity. Be forgiving to them as you wish Allah to be forgiving to you.” – attributed to Imam Ali (ra)

From Lampost Productions via islamica

by Dr. Abdul Hakim Jackson

They came in fact to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal who used to say that if your nose bleeds then you have to renew your wudu. Imam Malik said that if your nose bleeds you do not have to renew your wudu. So they went to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and they said what if you were praying behind somebody and they have a nose bleed and they don’t renew there wudu, do you continue to pray behind them? And Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “How can I refuse to pray behind somebody like Imam Malik? I have daleel (evidence), he has daleel; I have solid daleel, he has solid daleel.” The companions of the Prophet (s) took different things from him and went out to the various parts of the Muslim world and they taught those different things in those various parts. All of them got what they taught from the Prophet (s) so Imam Malik has his point of view and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal has his point of view. This was the spirit of our pious ancestors, and this is what we have to get back to.

  

During my Wednesday web rambling, I happened upon a cute little blog button on somewhere that I now can’t remember.  Ah ha, I thought to myself, that’s exactly what I need.  I’m a nice person right?  I’ve always believed kindess is an important (and often overlooked) part of Islam.  Time and time again in the Prophet’s sirah and ahadith we find examples of the Prophet (saws) displaying kindness, patience, and good humor.  After all, a smile is sadaqa, and what is a smile but a bit of kindness shown to the people you meet?

So I clicked on the button and searched high and low for a “link to us” page.  Alas, none to be found, but I did find a wonderful little project called “Random Acts of Kindness.”  Having recently read through some of Riyad as-Salihin, I dug about and paraphrased a few ahadith for submission.  Low and behold, a few get published on the site, and I’m now the proud winner of the “Kind Blogger Badge.”  Huzzah!

I was a little thief.  In my youth (ok, and in my teenage years), I stole from my parents, my grandmother and my siblings.  $5 here, $20 there.  It wasn’t even for anything important – just going out to lunch with friends, snacks, soda and candy.

My parents knew I was a little thief.  When I was in 6th grade, my mom found gum wrappers in my room.  She made me tell her where I had stolen the gum from, and then made me go apologize.  You would think after that humiliation, I would have stopped stealing.  Nope, I just started stealing from them instead.

When one converts to Islam, they’re told that all their past sins have been wiped away, that you’re as clean as the day you were born.  Unfortunately, if you violated the rights of others (like stealing from them), you still owe them.  If you don’t pay them back and make amends, Allah (swt) will take what you owe them on the day of judgment.  *gulp* 

I had thought I put that chapter of my life behind me.   I had to work hard to regain my parents’ trust.  And now I have to face it all again.  I have to sit down, admit my thefts and repay my family.  *gulp*   I’m going to have to role play this conversation a million times and make lots of dua to have the strength to face these past demons.  It’s going to be a fun thanksgiving at my parents’ house this year.  *gulp*

 Here’s the game plan:

*Sit the whole family down, preferably when they’re all happy at the same time

*Say something along the lines of – you all know that when I was younger I stole from mom and dad.  Well, on occasion, I also stole from you guys (ie brother and sister).

*I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately, and trying to improve myself.  In Islam, when you violate the rights of another person, you cannot be forgiven of that violation unless you recify the wrongs you did to that person.

*So, I’m here to ask for your forgiveness for my past actions, and to repay you what I took.  I am unsure of the amount, so I have  $x in cash for you (brother and sister).  Mom and Dad, I would like to work out a payment plan with you over the next few months until I’ve paid you back. 

Oh Allah (swt), give me strength!  My heart is palpitating just thinking about doing this.

Via Seeker’s Digest:

The Loss of Mercy — And Where To Find It

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) explained, too, that, “The merciful are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Be merciful to those on earth and the Lord of the Heavens will be merciful to you.” [Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud, from Abd Allah ibn Amr; rigorously authentic] It is a sign of the way of traditional Islamic scholarship that this is the first hadith (Prophetic teaching) traditionally conveyed by a scholar to their students.

I was recently asked to join a forum founded by some people who I interacted with during my days on ChristianForums. It’s definately different from most other boards I’ve been on, seeing as how they ask you what your superhero name would be when you sign up, among other interesting questions. One of the subsections is titled “This I believe – Non-confrontational discussion of what matters to you.” After my introductory post, this was the first place I went. Although I am fairly firm in my beliefs, I’ve never actually sat down and written them out. It was a very useful exercise, and one I enjoyed. I think it’s a little too religious for the NPR “This I believe” series, but I’m pretty proud of it.

At the very base of my belief is la ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah – there is nothing worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God. But what does it mean to worship only God, and to believe that Muhammad (saws) is His messenger? It means to practice Islam, have Iman (faith) and to strive of Ihsan (excellence).

This is explained in the hadith (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) that is recorded as saheeh (authentic) in the hadith collection of Muslim:

Also on the authority of ‘Umar, (ra), who said:
“While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah (saws) there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him.

He sat down close by the Prophet (saws) rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam.” Said the Messenger of Allah (saws), “Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it).” Said he (the man), “You have spoken truly.”

We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, “Inform me about iman (faith).” He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, “It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects.” He said, “You have spoken truly.”

Then he (the man) said, “Inform me about Ihsan.” He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, “It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you.” He said, “Inform me about the Hour.” He (the Messenger of Allah) said, “About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner.” So he said, “Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming).” Said he, “They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings.” Thereupon the man went off.

I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, “O ‘Umar, do you know who that questioner was?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know better.” He said, “That was Jibril (Gabriel). He came to teach you your religion.”

This hadith relates the basics of Islam, and if you asked just about any muslim in the world about the contents of this hadith, they would say that they believe what is discussed in it, even if they don’t practice it.

Islam and Iman are rather straight foward. One does the practices, and studies the beliefs. But Ihsan is a bit more tricky. How does one strive for excellence, and remind themselves to always be aware of Allah (swt). On a personal level, I strive for ihsan through adab. Adab is superficially translated as manners, but as with many words in Arabic, a single English word cannot encompass all its meaning. Adab is courtesy, respect, kindness and appropriateness. It is the etiquette and moral code muslims should live their lives by. I am dedicated to adab as a way to live my beliefs in my everyday life, and I hope one day inshaAllah (God willing) to become a scholar in adab and teach it to others. I believe that the muslim community lacks adab, does not understand how to interact with their fellow human beings, and that the root cause of social problems lies in ignorance or just plain ignoring adab.

I believe in the essential goodness and kindness of the Prophet’s message. I also believe that this goodness and kindness is something all muslims should strive to emulate in their daily life. Some people selectively read the Prophet’s biography and see him only as a murdering pedophilic warlord. inshaAllah at a later date, I may write about what I believe about the Prophet (saws), but for this entry, it should suffice that I say that I believe when one reads his whole life story, they will come away with a framework for how to live a good, decent, fulfilling life, in service to God, and with kindness towards fellow man.

There is a hadith that reports that God is beautiful, and that He loves beauty. There is a further hadith that states that “Kindness is not to be found in anything but that it adds to its beauty and it is not withdrawn from anything but it makes it defective.”

I believe every action in our life should be imbued with kindness, thus making us beautiful, and loved by God. If you try to put kindness in every action, it will profoundly affect the way humans interact with each other, from the bottom, all the way up to the top.

So, in conclusion, I believe that la ilaha il Allah, Muhammadur rasul Allah leads me to put kindness in every action, and to treat my fellow man with kindness. This is adab, this is ihsan, this is worship of the Divine.

by Mufti Ebrahim Desai (db) via Munzareen Padela. I really like this list, as it addresses BOTH marriage partners. All too often, from what I’ve seen, muslim marital advice is directed mainly towards the wife, and relies heavily on “be patient.”

“Our Lord! Grant that our spouses and our offspring be a comfort to our eyes, and give us the grace to lead those who are conscious of You”(Furqaan 74).

Q: Every human being by nature has an instinct to dispute. This instinct becomes more manifest between the husband and wife, thus leading to marital disputes. How can this instinct be controlled?

A. Consider the following ten points to control the instinct of dispute and maintain a happy marriage.

1. Fear Allah: It was the noble practice of Nabi (SAW) to conscientise the spouses about the fear for Allah before performing a Nikah by reciting the verses (Nisa v14, Ahzab v69, Aali-Imraan v101) from the Quraan. All the verses are common in the message of Taqwa (fear of Allah). The spouses will be first committed to Allah before being committed to their partner. There can be no doubt in the success of a marriage governed by the fear of Allah.

2. Never be angry at the same time: Anger is the root cause for all marital disputes. One Sahabi came to Rasulullah (SAW) and sought some advice. Rasulullah (SAW) replied, control your anger. The same advice was rendered three times. (Mishkaat pg.433; HM Saeed)

3. If one has to win an argument, let it be the other: Nabi (SAW) said: “Whoever discards an argument despite being correct shall earn a palace in the centre of Jannah. (Ibid pg.412)

4. Never shout at each other unless the house is on fire: Luqman (AS) while offering advice to his son said: ” and lower your voice for verily the most disliked voice is that of a donkey”. (Surah Luqman v19)

5. If you have to criticize, do it lovingly: Rasulullah (SAW) said, ‘A Mu’min is a mirror for a Mu’min.’ (Abu Dawud vol.2 pg.325; Imdadiyah) Advise with dignity and silently.

6. Never bring up mistakes of the past: Nabi (SAW) said: “Whoever conceals the faults of others, Allah shall conceal his faults on the day of Qiyaamah.” (Mishkaat pg.429; HM Saeed)

7. Neglect the whole world rather than your marriage partner: Nabi (SAW) confirmed the advice of Salman to Abu-Darda [RA] for neglecting his wife. “Verily there is a right of your wife over you.” (Nasai Hadith2391)

8. Never sleep with an argument unsettled: Abu Bakr [RA] resolved his dispute with his wife over-feeding the guests before going to bed. (Bukhari Hadith 602)

9. At least, once everyday, express your gratitude to your partner: Nabi [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] said, ‘Whoever does not show gratitude to the people has not shown gratitude to Allah.’ (Abu Dawud pg.662; Karachi)

10. When you have done something wrong, be ready to admit it and ask for forgiveness: Nabi [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] said, ‘All the sons of Aadam commit error, and the best of those who err are those who seek forgiveness.’ (Tirmidhi Hadith 2499)

From the Al-Adab al-Mufrad al-Bukhari (Muslim Morals and Manner of al-Bukhari) chapter on Mercy:

174. The Most Merciful of those in the earth

372. ‘Umar was heard to say, “Anyone who does not show mercy will not be shown mercy. Anyone who does not forgive will not be forgiven. Anyone who does not turn in repentance will not be turned to nor will he be protected or guarded.”

373. Mu’awiya ibn Qurra reported that his father said, “A man said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I was going to slaughter a sheep and then I felt sorry for it (or ’sorry for the sheep I was going to slaughter’).’ He said twice, ‘Since you showed mercy to the
sheep, Allah will show mercy to you.’”

374. Abu Hurayra said, “I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the truthful confirmed one, Abu’l-Qasim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘Mercy is only removed from the one who is destined for wretchedness.”

375. Jarir reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah will not show mercy to a person who does not show mercy to other people.”

My favorite translation of the Qur’an is the Muhammad Asad translation put out by the Book Foundation. SubhanAllah, it’s a gorgeous book, something that is beautiful to look at as well as to read. The translation is easy to understand, has excellent footnotes, and it has accurate transliteration in addition to the english and arabic. If you don’t have this book, put it on your list and get it!

The Book Foundation has also published a number of other books that are well worth checking into. If you don’t have the $100+ it would cost to buy them all at the moment, the Book Foundation has kindly put up the first parts of each of these books online, mashaAllah. I printed them all out yesterday and have started to read through them. They all get a thumbs up from me thus far.

The Book of Revelations, Selections and Interpretations from the Holy Qur’an, Kabir Helminski, Editor – this is the one that’s first on my list to buy. My husband is always telling me to THINK about the Qur’an, not just plow on through. He’s excellent at doing that. He’ll stop on a verse, pause for a moment, and then expound on it, going on and on and on, tying it to other verses and other subjects for as long as I’ll listen to him. This book has 256 verses from the Qur’an with interpretation afterwards. I think it would help me with the thinking and reflecting

The Book of Character, Writings on Virtue from Islamic and Other Sources by Camille Helminski – second on my list to buy. If I could chose to be a scholar of anything, I would be a scholar of adab. Somehow, I feel that most of the world’s ills are rooted in the fact that human beings treat each other like crud much of the time. We need a little more adab in this world.

The Book of Language, Exploring the Spiritual Vocabulary of Islam. Kabir Helminski, with Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad

The Book of Nature, A Sourcebook of Spiritual Perspectives On Nature and the Environment, Camille Helminski, Editor

The Book of Essential Islam by Ali, Aisha, and Aliaa Rafea

The Fragrance of Faith, The Enlightened Heart of Islam by Jamal Rahman

One of my favorite all time pieces of Islamic Advice is a piece from Sunnipath called Don’t Get Angry. Alhamdulilah, I’ve read it so often, that I actually apply it’s advice now. Amazing how that works, isn’t it?

As mentioned earlier, I used to post often on CF. I popped in a few times this last week and posted re: the 6 imams at the Minneapolis airport situation. I definately got to put the advice about anger into practice on these threads. How does one respond to drivil like this? Or this?

At this point, I’m putting advice number 2 into good use:

2. Silence. Do not say anything when angry, lest it contravene the Sacred Law,
or go against your personal or social interests. The Messenger of Allah (Allah
bless him & give him peace) said, “If you get angry, stay silent.” [Ahmad]

I’d would like to provide a cool, rational response to these people, to show them that muslims are not a cancer, that we’re ordinary people who simply live to please their Lord. But, sometimes it’s hopeless. *sigh*

My favorite blogger, Sunni Sister, has finally gotten a computer and is back! As a prelude to her blogging manifesto, she has posted a number of ahadith from Sheikh Hamza Yusuf’s translation of Sheikh al Amin Ali Mazrui’s “The Content of Character.” This book is definately on my to read list.

These ahadith are a representation of another reason I am muslim – the focus on good character. Islam tells us to be good people. It’s unfortunate so many muslims forget this. Again, I marvel at the possible future we would have, if only muslims lived Islam.

The Messenger of Allah, sallalahu aleyhi wa ‘ala ahlihi wa sahbihi wa
salaam, said:

“Keep God in mind wherever you are; follow a wrong with a right that offsets it; and treat people courteously.” (Tirmidhi)

“Love for humanity is what you love for yourself.” (Bukhari)

“After obligatory rites, the action most beloved to God is delighting other Muslims.” (Tabarani)

“Should you ever become eager to mention another’s faults, recall your own.” (Rafi’i)

“If your good deeds delight you and your foul deeds distress you, you are a believer.” (Diyya)

“Abandon desire for this world, and God will love you. Abandon desire for others’ goods, and people will love you.” (Ibn Majah)

“The most virtuous behavior is to engage those who sever relations, to give to those who withhold from you, and to forgive those who wrong you.” (Tabarani)

“True spiritual excellence is devotion to God as if you see Him; and though you do not see Him, you at least know that He sees you.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“What enables people to enter Paradise more than anything is piety and good character.” (Tirmidhi)

“The majority of man’s sins emanate from his tongue.” (Tabarani)

“The servants God loves most are those most sincere with God’s servants.” (Imam Ahmad)

“May God have mercy on a servant who spoke well and gained good, or kept silent and avoided harm.” (ibn al Mubarak)

“Consider well contentment, for it is a treasure without end.” (Tabarani)

“A person has done enough wrong in his life if he simply repeats everything he hears.” (Muslim)

“Veiling the thoughts of the faithful is akin to restoring life to the dead.” (Tabarani)”

“God veils the faults of anyone who suppresses his anger.” (ibn Abi ad Dunya)

“Whoever has no shame before others has no shame before God.” (Tabarani)

“The Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“A person’s spiritual practice is only as good as that of his close friends; so consider well whom you befriend.” (Tirmidhi)

“Speak the truth even though it be bitter.” (ibn Hibban)

“Fulfillment is not plenty of goods; rather it is self-fulfillment.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

“Gentleness never accompanies anything without enhancing it, nor is it ever removed from anything without demeaning it.” (Bayhaqi)

“Beautiful Islam entails minding one’s own business.” (Tirmidhi)

It’s funny where an internet rambling can take you.

Today, it started with the quiz “Which Arab Leader are you?”

My husband and I are both Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen by the way. Two peas in a pod, politics wonks to the end.

This lead to a discussion on different forms of economics and politics, which leads my husband talk about his favorite subject – islamic economics.

Which in turns leads to the topic of distribution of wealth.

Which leads to my husband mentioning the 5th rashidun caliph. I’m like, huh? There are 4. So, I get to learn about Caliph Umar ibn Abdel Aziz (717-720), who had some pretty cool ideas about equality of different races in the muslim ummah and the taxation system.

Finally, as I was attempting to google this Umar (there’s not much out there on him online that I could find), I come across this gem from Imam al Ghazali from the Wikipedia’s page on Caliph.

This is suppose to be from his “Nasihat al-Muluk” or “Advice for Kings,” that he wrote to a seljuq caliph. I don’t have the book to check for sure. If it’s inaccurate, please let me know.

Every muslim in a leadership position should read this and take it to heart:

1. The ruler should understand the importance and danger of the authority entrusted to him. In authority there is great blessing, since he who exercises it righteously obtained unsurpassed happiness but if any ruler fails to do so he incurs torment surpassed only by the torment for unbelief.

2. The ruler should always be thirsting to meet devout religious scholars and ask them for advice.

3. The ruler should understand that he must not be content with personally refraining from injustice, but must discipline his slave-troops, servants, and officers and never tolerate unjust conduct by them; for he will be interrogated not only about his own unjust deeds but also about those of his staff.

4. The ruler should not be dominated by pride; for pride gives rise to the dominance of anger, and will impel him to revenge. Anger is the evil genius and blight of the intellect. If anger is becoming dominant it will be necessary for the ruler in all his affairs to bend his inclinations in the direction of forgiveness and make a habit of generosity and forbearance unless he is to be like the wild beasts.

5. In every situation that arises, the ruler should figure that he is the subject and the other person is the holder of authority. He should not sanction for others anything that he would not sanction for himself. For if he would do so he would be making fraudulent and treasonable use of the authority entrusted to him.

6. The ruler should not disregard the attendance of petitioners at his court and should beware of the danger of so doing. He should solve the grievances of the Muslims.

7. The ruler should not form a habit of indulging the passions. Although he might dress more finely or eat more sumptuously, he should be content with all that he has; for without contentment, just conduct will not be possible.

8. The ruler should make the utmost effort to behave gently and avoid governing harshly.

9. The ruler should endeavor to keep all the subjects pleased with him. The ruler should not let himself be so deluded by the praise he gets from any who approach him as to believe that all the subjects are pleased with him. On the contrary, such praise is entirely due to fear. He must therefore appoint trustworthy persons to carry on espionage and inquire about his standing among the people, so that he may be able to learn his faults from men’s tongues.

10. The ruler should not give satisfaction to any person if a contravention of God’s law would be required to please him for no harm will come from such a person’s displeasure.

Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in, if our muslim leaders would strive to enact even one of these pieces of advice? SubhanAllah!

In addition to time spent on Christian Forums, I’ve been a member of Islamica for years. The posters are teenage and 20 something muslims. I read more than I post there (1000 posts over 5 years, as opposed to my nearly 6000 posts on CF in 3 years), and on occasion come across wondeful gems of wisdom.

Some posters are very agressive in their posting styles. Yesterday, one of these posters posted an apology about his past style, and posted a beautiful reminder of how we should interact with one another. SubhanAllah, the Qur’an has answers to everything. This is one of the reasons I’m a muslim – adab:

Allah says in the Quran to discuss in the best possible manner when youcall to Islam, because not even you yourself know who will get Paradise and who will not:

“You shall invite to the path of your Lord with wisdom and kind enlightenment, and debate with them in the best possible manner. Your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who are the guided ones.” (Quran, 16:125)

I should not retaliate to aggressive posts because Allah says:

“But if you resort to patience (instead of revenge), it would be better” (Quran, 16:126)

“You shall resort to patience–and your patience is attainable only with Allah’s help. Do not grieve over them, and do not be annoyed…” (Quran, 16:127)

And even if someone insults my religion, I should remember Allah’s injunction in the Quran:

“And remain steadfast in the face of their utterances, and disregard them in a nice manner.” (Quran, 73:10)

Even those who reject Islam, Allah says to just give them time:”And let Me deal with those…who reject (the Call); just give them a little time.” (Quran, 73:11)

I do not wish to drive a wedge between myself and other Muslims. Allah says in the Quran:

“Tell My servants to treat each other in the best possible manner, for the devil will always try to drive a wedge among them. Surely, the devil is man’s most ardent enemy.” (Quran, 17:53)