hajj interrupted

Somalis’ Holy Trip Ends at Airport

Sheikh Abdirahman Ahmed of Abubakar As-Saddique, a large mosque in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis, and the mosque’s youth coordinator, who did not want to give his name, were not allowed to board a flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but were not told why. The youth coordinator said others in a group that planned to make the trip — a hajj, or spiritual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina– also were not allowed to board, but he did not know how many people were involved.

Mahir Sherif, a California attorney who represents Abubakar as well as other Somali mosques across the country, said there are many possible reasons why the men are on the federal Transportation Security Administration’s “no fly” list, which as of mid-August contained about 50,000 names. But he suspects that the reasons are linked to stories circulating in the Somali community that the mosque has been used to indoctrinate and train young men to return to Somalia — stories that Sherif strongly denied Sunday.

I haven’t been to this masjid and only heard rumors in passing about a Minnesota Somali returning to Somalia to become a suicide bomber.  

Earlier this year, my sister ate at a restuarant that was attacked in Mumbai last week.  In 2005, a hotel my husband was considering working for in Sharm el Sheikh was bombed.  It’s frightening when these international events hit close to home, and unfortunately, this is another such incident.

hajj!

Of hajj related interest:

To watch

• Channel 4’s Hajj Program
• National Geographic’s Inside Mecca Documentary
• Discovery Channel’s Revealed: the Hajj
• CNN’s 2006 coverage
• Al Jazeera English Youtube videos - search “hajj”

To read

• One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Traveler’s Writings on the Muslim Pilgrimage
• Mecca, the Blessed - Medina, the Radiant
• IslamOnline’s Hajj Page
• Oneness of God and Humanity by Ibrahim N. Abusharif

To Listen:

• Sh. Nuh on the Hajj
• Imam Zaid on Hajj
• NPR - Learning to Endure Hajj - stories of american pilgrims

 May Allah (swt) give us the life and the means to make hajj soon, amin.

Islam on NPR

In addition to Islamic lectures and Qur’an, NPR podcasts always have a place on my ipod.  Every once in awhile, a good islam related story will come up and I’ll say, ooo, I gotta blog this.  Alas, in one ear, out the other, and it’s soon forgotten.

 Well, not today.  Here’s a list of all the NPR pieces that I’ve been meaning to put up, but haven’t, and some that I came across while looking through the NPR website.  One of the reasons I *heart* NPR is that it provides a wider range of stories and news coverage than the television media does, and the pieces they do are well researched and in depth.   I’m only putting up the more “story” like pieces, as opposed to ones covering breaking news.

Recommended:

• Muslim Holiday Eid Keeps Texas Butcher Busy - about a non muslim butcher who provides halal meat.
• Learning to Endure the Hajj - american muslims practice before making the hajj
• The Partisans of Ali - history of the shia in politics and faith
• Iraqi Radical Cleric Al-Sadr Studies for Ayatollah - looks like he’s following my study plan - books and cds. 
• Comedy Troupe Mines the Humor in Islam - the Allah Made me Funny brothers
• Plan Would Replace Cairo’s Calls to Prayer
• Zarqa Nawaz on ‘Little Mosque’
• Ellison to Take Oath on Thomas Jefferson’s Quran

To listen to:

• Did ‘Siege of Mecca’ Give Birth to Al-Qaida?
• Yaroslav Trofimov on the Siege of Mecca
• Clerics’ Letter: Signatories Show Global ‘Handshake’
• Imam’s ‘American Crescent’ Sheds Light on Muslim Culture
• A Biographical View of the Koran
• American Muslim Family Chooses Polygamy
• Two Mosques, Two Different Reactions in Germany
• Young Imam Serves as Islam’s Face to Community
• Sept. 11 Message Challenges Young Imam
• A Day in the Life of a Tireless Imam
• Muslim Leader Tells Personal Story of Religious Conversion
• Evangelicals, Muslims Have Milestone Meeting
• Walking the Faith Line with Eboo Patel
• Mosques Reflect on Padilla’s Islamic Education
• Asra Nomani, ‘Standing Alone’ with Muslim Women
• Prospect of Devout Muslim President Divides Turkey
• Documentary Examines Muslim Brotherhood

From Minnesota Public Radio (one of the awesomest local public radio stations in the country, and one of the few things that makes Minnesota livable)

• Muslim women confront clash of cultures 
• Breaking the Ice: Muslims and the Media 
• Islam and the West
• Celebrating Ramadan in Minnesota
  

Ah globalization

Pilgrims celebrated Eid al-Adha on Wednesday, the feast of the sacrifice. Mecca combines tradition with modernity. Here pilgrims are having dinner at a fast food restaurant in Mecca.

Not that I’m in any position to turn my nose up in disgust.  While in Cairo, I’ve sampled the delicacies at the local McDonalds, KFC, Hardees, Pizza Hut, TGIFs and Hard Rock Cafe.  I tell myself that next time I’m there, I’m sticking to tamiyya, shawerma and koshari, but I know in the back of my mind the craving for home food will be impossible to ignore.

Here I am, o Lord!

Muslim pilgrims climb Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. More than two million Muslims from across the globe have gathered around Mount Arafat near the Mecca birthplace of Islam for the zenith of their annual pilgrimage.(AFP/Roslan Rahmann)

Muslim pilgrims recite the surah on Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. More than two million Muslims from across the globe have gathered around Mount Arafat near the Mecca birthplace of Islam for the zenith of their annual pilgrimage.(AFP/Roslan Rahmann)

Surrounded by Iranian officials and security guards, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, makes his way, as he attends the hajj pilgrimage in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. King Abdullah has invited 1,000 guests to this year’s hajj, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.(AP Photo/Iranian Presidency/ho)

Muslim pilgrims pose for a snapshot in Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. This year’s hajj, which officially began Sunday, takes place amid increasing worries across the Islamic world, over the bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan and recent terror attacks by al-Qaida-linked groups including last week’s twin suicide bombings in Algeria that killed at least 37 people.(AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Dua on the Day of Arafat

The Prophet (saws) said: The best invocation is that of the Day of Arafat, and the best that anyone can say is what I and the Prophets before me have said:

237. Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer.

None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things.

Reference: At-Tirmithi. Al-Albani graded it good in Sahih At-Tirmithi 3/184, and also Silsilatul-’Ahadith As-Sahihah 4/6.

Tis the season…

…to go hajj-ing, fa la la la la, la la la la!

•  As always, Sister almiskeenah provides a fascinating glimpse into life in Mecca and Medina.  Her posts on hajj are accompanied (like all her posts) by unique photographs and insider insights.
• Br. Khalil has begun a monthly series translating the words of Habib Umar bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz, Director of Dar al-Mustafa for the Islamic Sciences.  This month’s selection is entitled Hajj and the Imperative of Unity.
• If you haven’t read it yet, do your best to get your hands on One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Writings about the Muslim Pilgrimage.   As one of my favorite books, I revist it often, especially around hajj season.  I *heart* history, and this book is chock full of first hand accounts of hajj throughout the ages.
• I’ve been paroosing flickr, looking for photos of Mecca and Hajj.   Check this flickr set of Hajj 1426, especially these funky pink ladies. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7695971@N06/449269344/

May Allah (swt) grant us the honor and the privilege of making hajj in our lifetimes, ameen.

on a hajj high

For some unknown reason, while at the library yesterday I picked up Asra Nomani’s “Standing Alone in Mecca.”  While I am enjoying parts of it, especially her connection to the ummah, there are definately parts that grate me the wrong way.  But rather than allow myself to be bothered by it, instead it’s gotten me on a hajj high.

 Hajj is something the husband and I are planning on doing before we have kids inshaAllah.  But, until now, it’s just been something we’ve mentioned a few times in passing.  Not anymore!  inshaAllah next Saturday (first weekend in Ramadan, yaaay), we’ll be going to the bank to open up a hajj savings account (which will be in reality a hajj checking account, since savings accounts here draw interest).  inshaAllah, our goal is to start by putting aside $10 each week, the cost of one meal out, and gradually increase the amount when we’re in a better financial position.   That way, we’ll be able to make hajj in a few years time, inshaAllah ta’la!

Standing at Arafat

Sadly, there aren’t a lot of news pictures of the pilgrims at Arafat today.

According to a hadith in At-Tirmithi, the Prophet (saws) recommended this dua for the day of Arafat

Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer.

None has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things.

Today would also be a good day to re read the Prophet’s last sermon, which was delivered today at Arafat in the year 10 A.H., or 632 A.D.

“O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present today.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital , however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.
Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith
ibn `Abd al Muttalib.

O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste…

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves. Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the Quraan) and my Sunnah (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray.
All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people.

Watch Hajj

Islam Channel is showing Mina and Mecca at the moment. Path to Peace has the feed a little bit clearer.