Category Archive

I believe I’ve mentioned before that there is a very polite Jehovah’s Witness who rides AbuS and my bus.  While I am totally not up for proselytizing or being proselytize to, AbuS has been more than happy to chat with her about the Bible. 

AbuS rode the bus home with her yesterday and someone the subject of my conversion came up.  AbuS talked about how the character of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) was a large part of what drew me to Islam.

I’ve attempted to give her a copy of the Qur’an in the past, which she has always refused.  I’ve found that a little off putting, since we’ve accepted free bibles and watchtower magazines from her.  But now, a small breakthrough.

She has agreed to possibly reading a biography of the Prophet (saws)!  Alhamdulilah!  I plan on giving her Tariq Ramadan’s In the Footsteps of the Prophet and Submission, Faith and Beauty.

She is very much into the book of Revelations and the end times.  Are there any good books out there on the end times in Islam?  It’s never been something I have concerned myself much with, as I figure it will happen when it happens and what I really need to worry about is preparing for my own death.  However, she consistently sees signs of the end of times in the news.  I know I’ve mentioned a few of the signs from the hadith to her, but maybe a good book on the matter will also open her heart.

Please make dua to Allah (swt) open her heart to Islam through the beauty of our beloved Prophet Muhammad’s (saws) character.

From Terry* via Racialicious:

Talking to Someone Wearing a Headscarf: An Etiquette Guide

I’m continuously flabbergasted every time I see this claim in assorted forms:

My priest made a good point that in Islam they say their god is merciful and just, but never loving. The do not have any concept of God being love, as we do. Love is the highest good. It is the reason that our God is merciful and just. These latter two virtues are secondary virtues, that only exist because of the reality that God is love. Allah is lacking that fundamental characteristic of the true living God–only copying mercy and justice to some degree, but not existing as love itself.

I mean, how hard is it to read through the 99 names of Allah (swt) and come upon this:

And He alone is truly forgiving, all-embracing in his love. (85:14)

And in case they need to read further:

• Allah’s Love
• God and Love
• Feeling Allah’s Love

Now I’ll also often have christians say, “ah ha, but God loves everyone, no matter what they do!  In Islam, your God does not necessarily love everyone all the time.

To this I ask, “what good is the love of your God if at the end of the day, you burn in hell because you reject Jesus’ (as) supposed sacrifice?  Yes, God is our loving friend and buddy and He’s throwing us into hell, big woopdeedo.”

In Islam, the attributes of Allah (swt) are balanced.  He is Allah (swt) first and foremost, not “Love.”  He is the Loving, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Just, the Forgiver, amongst dozens of other names.

We are encouraged to seek the pleasure and love of Allah (swt), and in every action increase our love for Him.  If there isn’t love in Islam, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing everyday.

While I haven’t had time to read it all yet, Reuter’s FaithWorld blog has quite a bit of coverage of al-haj al-babawi, ie the pilgrimage of the Pope to the holyland.   Check out the Pope’s keffiyah:

Pope Benedict XVI, wearing an Arab keffiyah headscarf presented to him, simles at Lady of Peace Church in Amman May 8, 2009. Photo taken May 8, 2009.REUTERS/Osservatore Romano

Some of the Pope’s comments re: muslims:

 “One of the highlights of these days was my visit to the Mosque Al-Hussein Bin Talal, where I had the pleasure of meeting Muslim religious leaders together with members of the diplomatic corps and University Rectors. I would like to encourage all Jordanians, whether Christian or Muslim, to build on the firm foundations of religious tolerance that enable the members of different communities to live together in peace and mutual respect. His Majesty the King has been notably active in fostering inter-religious dialogue, and I want to put on record how much his commitment in this regard is appreciated. I also gratefully acknowledge the particular consideration that he shows towards the Christian community in Jordan. This spirit of openness not only helps the members of different ethnic communities in this country to live together in peace and concord, but it has contributed to Jordan’s far-sighted political initiatives to build peace throughout the Middle East.” (Farewell Address in Jordan)

“During my stay in Jerusalem, I will have the pleasure of meeting many of this country’s distinguished religious leaders. On thing that the three great monotheistic religions have in common is a special veneration for that holy city. It is my earnest hope that all pilgrims to the holy places will be able to access them freely and without restraint, to take part in religious ceremonies and to promote the worthy upkeep of places of worship on sacred sites.” (Arrival Address in Jerusalem)

“We cannot fail to be concerned that today, with increasing insistency, some maintain that religion fails in its claim to be, by nature, a builder of unity and harmony, an expression of communion between persons and with God. Indeed some assert that religion is necessarily a cause of division in our world; and so they argue that the less attention given to religion in the public sphere the better. Certainly, the contradiction of tensions and divisions between the followers of different religious traditions, sadly, cannot be denied. However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society? In the face of this situation, where the opponents of religion seek not simply to silence its voice but to replace it with their own, the need for believers to be true to their principles and beliefs is felt all the more keenly. Muslims and Christians, precisely because of the burden of our common history so often marked by misunderstanding, must today strive to be known and recognized as worshippers of God faithful to prayer, eager to uphold and live by the Almighty’s decrees, merciful and compassionate, consistent in bearing witness to all that is true and good, and ever mindful of the common origin and dignity of all human persons, who remain at the apex of God’s creative design for the world and for history.”  (at  King Hussein bin Talal Mosque)

“Today I wish to refer to a task which I have addressed on a number of occasions and which I firmly believe Christians and Muslims can embrace, particularly through our respective contributions to learning and scholarship, and public service. That task is the challenge to cultivate for the good, in the context of faith and truth, the vast potential of human reason. Christians in fact describe God, among other ways, as creative Reason, which orders and guides the world. And God endows us with the capacity to participate in his reason and thus to act in accordance with what is good. Muslims worship God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, who has spoken to humanity. And as believers in the one God we know that human reason is itself God’s gift and that it soars to its highest plane when suffused with the light of God’s truth. In fact, when human reason humbly allows itself to be purified by faith, it is far from weakened; rather, it is strengthened to resist presumption and to reach beyond its own limitations. In this way, human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and extending, rather than manipulating or confining, public debate. Thus, genuine adherence to religion – far from narrowing our minds – widens the horizon of human understanding. It protects civil society from the excesses of the unbridled ego which tend to absolutize the finite and eclipse the infinite; it ensures that freedom is exercised hand in hand with truth, and it adorns culture with insights concerning all that is true, good and beautiful.

“Together, Christians and Muslims are impelled to seek all that is just and right. We are bound to step beyond our particular interests and to encourage others, civil servants and leaders in particular, to do likewise in order to embrace the profound satisfaction of serving the common good, even at personal cost. And we are reminded that because it is our common human dignity which gives rise to universal human rights, they hold equally for every man and woman, irrespective of his or her religious, social or ethnic group. In this regard, we must note that the right of religious freedom extends beyond the question of worship and includes the right – especially of minorities – to fair access to the employment market and other spheres of civic life.” (at  King Hussein bin Talal Mosque)

“My visit to Jordan gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by His Majesty the King in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam. Now that some years have passed since the publication of the Amman Message and the Amman Interfaith Message, we can say that these worthy initiatives have achieved much good in furthering an alliance of civilizations between the West and the Muslim world, confounding the predictions of those who consider violence and conflict inevitable. Indeed the Kingdom of Jordan has long been at the forefront of initiatives to promote peace in the Middle East and throughout the world, encouraging inter-religious dialogue, supporting efforts to find a just solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, welcoming refugees from neighboring Iraq, and seeking to curb extremism.

“At the Seminar held in Rome last autumn by the Catholic-Muslim Forum, the participants examined the central role played in our respective religious traditions by the commandment of love. I hope very much that this visit, and indeed all the initiatives designed to foster good relations between Christians and Muslims, will help us to grow in love for the Almighty and Merciful God, and in fraternal love for one another.” (Arrival in Amman)

 

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.

define chutzpha.  To stand outside someone’s place of worship with a megaphone and slander their religion.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/nPZxsuRlvh4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/-v1DtuYOEYc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

I especially like the rant at minute 6 of the first video.  We don’t convert to christianity because we don’t want to give up our sin, that we’d rather have a few minutes of pleasure then all of eternity.  Srsly?  Aside from polygamy and not believing in the divinity of Jesus (as), I can’t think of anything muslims are allowed to do that is considered a sin for christians.

If they took down the signs, put away the megaphones, and just tried to engage in dialogue (a’la the Prophet Muhammad), I’d have no issue.  But dudes, a megaphone?

Interesting, a collaboration between Madison and WPR:

Inside Islam: Challenging Misconceptions, Illuminating Diversity

When I went to Madison, they were just starting to build up their program re: Islam.   I took an excellent class on Islamic History with Michael Chamberlain, and if I had had more time, I would have taken every class he taught.  Joe Elder also taught courses on the middle east and islam that were well worth the time taking.  Assema Sinha taught a course on South Asia in the International System that greatly helped me understand Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.  I kept a lot of books from those classes, which means they must be awesome if a poor college student passes up the chance to make a few bucks selling them, ha.

Since my time there, I see they’ve been developing their ME program and adding faculty, in particular Asifa Quraishi at the Law School as a specialist in Islamic Law.

Ok, enough musing about my college days, check out the Inside Islam webpage and the WPR programs.  They have a program on Eco-Islam planned for the future that looks exciting.  If there’s a topic you’d like them to discuss, or someone you’d like to hear, they’re open to suggestions.  It would be nice to see more guests who come from outside academia.  Also, no topics on american converts yet.  Maybe I’ll have to suggest something…

Between the election and the kitteh quest, I haven’t had much time to surf the muslim blogosphere as of late.  Sorry ’bout that.  We’re going kitteh hunting this weekend at local shelters and rescues, and my internet time will be devoted to surfing petfinder until we find one to adopt inshaAllah.

I do want to mention some goings on in Rome where there’s a Catholic-Muslim forum going on. 

• Catholic-Muslim Forum opens with frank talk at Vatican
• No news is good news at Catholic-Muslim Forum
• Peering through funnels at interfaith problems
• Pace picks up in international interfaith meetings

The Reuters FaithWorld blog is on my daily blogstroll.  If it’s not on yours, it should be.  I’d miss a lot of religion related stories (like the Catholic-Muslim forum) if I didn’t check it periodically.

On a related note, I’ve forsaken my ipod in favor of my little portable radio these last few days, in order to listen to all the election goings on in real time.  I happened to turn it on around 10 this morning and catch part of an interview with Eboo Patel on our local public radio station.  The hour was on the 2008 election and the religion gap, although the portion I heard was q&a from callers, mainly asking about Eboo’s interfaith work. 

Here’s the official Vatican press release related to the meeting between muslim scholars and catholic higher ups this last week.  Granted, it doesn’t tell us anything more than what’s been in the news stories, because, well frankly, there’s not much to the release.

There is a bit more at the A Common Word website, in particular, a reflection by Sh. Abdul Hakim Murad.  One can find more of Prof. Murad’s articles, as well as his bio, here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7279412.stm

Pope Benedict XVI will host landmark Catholic-Muslim talks in November to improve ties between the two religions.

The announcement was made in a joint statement after a two-day meeting between senior Vatican and Muslim leaders in Rome.

…

The joint statement said the first Catholic-Muslim summit would be held in Rome on 4-6 November and would involve 24 religious leaders and scholars from each side.

It said the Pope would address the meeting on the themes of “Love of God, Love of Neighbour”, “Theological and Spiritual Foundation” and “Human Dignity and Mutual Respect”.

Catholic and Muslim leaders hope the forum will start a regular official dialogue between the two religions.

Interestingly, the mainstream media doesn’t list who the muslim delegates to the two day talks were.  Only after searching did I find the names from a catholic news source. 

The Muslim scholars visiting the Vatican this week are Ibrahim Kalin, a Turk, from Georgetown University; Abd al-Hakim Murad Winter, a Englishman, from the Shaykh Zayed Divinity School at the University of Cambridge; Sohail Nakhooda, a Jordanian, the editor of Islamica magazine; Yahaya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, an Italian, the imam at Milan’s al-Wahid mosque; and Aref Ali Nayed, a Libyan, from the University of Cambridge. 

It seems to me that those attending were heavily in the “traditionalist” camp.   While I’m certainly happy that that view is being presented, it is a little discouraging that the muslim view point presented is apparently monolythic, especially when so many muslim camps were represented among the original Common Word signatories.

This next meeting will hopefully be more diverse, inshaAllah.

Professor Aref Ali Nayed, from the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, in Jordan, said: “Who attends the seminar will depend on their diaries. We will ensure that from our side as many regions and sects are represented; who the Catholics send is up to them.

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)

Over 300 Christian leaders responded to the Common Word letter sent out by 138 muslim scholars on Eid.  Official Vatican statements may be forthcoming as well.

We’ll see.  Printed it out to read on the bus ride home (in between the VA Suhba).  It does have quite a variety of high level shayook as signatures.  Can’t comment on the variety, as I’m not too familiar with most of the top salafi scholars today, but all my favorites are there.

 A Common Word Between Us