I know I’ve posted this before, but it’s one of my favorite nasheed, it’s about the Prophet (saws), and it’s Rabi al-awwal. Thus, it is the perfect time to post it again.
A petition has been popping up recently on message boards I frequent regarding the use of persian miniatures of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) on his wikipedia entry. When I first saw the petition a few days ago, it had 60,000 signatures. At the time of this entry, it’s up to 89,000. All the fuss has even attracted the New York Times.
Several thoughts and questions have been bouncing through my mind on the subject, although none of them are too terribly profound:
1. Compared to a lot of sources out there, Wikipedia at least tries to be neutral.  The article isn’t blatently anti-islam, unlike the infamous wiki-islam project.
2. The pictures aren’t horrid. All three that depict the Prophet (saws) are taken from muslim sources. They’re not the danish cartoons, for heavens sake. Well, at least they’re not in the main article. They are included in the sub article regarding depictions of the Prophet (saws), but heck, this is suppose to be a neutral informative source.
3. If one is creating a quasi neutral article, should the authors leave out pictures that are a part of muslim tradition, especially when other historical figures also have portraits in their articles?Â
4. What is the intent of the authors? Was it to offend, bwahaha, let’s put up these pictures to piss off muslims? Or was it more along the lines of, hmm, we’ve got an article about a historical figure, so let’s see what pictures we can include to make the article more comprehensive?
5. How far does a secular, non muslim source have to go to not offend the sensibilities of a particular group?
6. What good is a petition? The whole image debate has been going on for years.
7. I love miniature depictions of the Prophet (saws). Heck, I love the general style of persian and ottoman miniatures that depict islam related content.  Does this make me a bad muslim? Ok, no, don’t answer that.
All of this fuss and anxiety surrounding this issue makes me uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Prophet (saws) as much as the next muslim. Heck, his character is one of the chief reasons I made shahada.  I can’t pick up a story about the Prophet (saws) without getting a bit teary eyed. He is my role model, and someone I love dearly.
But seriously, is this the best way we can defend the honor of our beloved Prophet (saws)? Aren’t there better ways we could spend out time here in internet la la land? Sure, it’s easy to sign a petition, one minute, type type type and you’re done.Â
Wouldn’t it be better to join the wiki team and work on any one of the dozens of islam related articles that need fattening up? Work within the wiki system, interact with the other wiki editors, wow them with our good adab and actually do something positive?
Or, better yet, why not get off the internet and work on implimenting ALL of the sunnah (not just the outward forms of dress etc) in our daily lives. If “we” (ie the generic muslim masses) worked 1/10th as hard at being like our beloved Messenger (saws) in our character as “we” do over being outraged, what a wonderful world this would be.
Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah (ra):
Allah’s Apostle (saws)Â said, “Whoever after listening to the Adhan says,
‘Allahumma Rabba hadhihi-d-da’ watit-tammati was-salatil qa’imati, ati Muhammadan al-wasilata wal-fadilata, wab’ athhu maqaman mahmudan-il-ladhi wa’ adtahu’
‘O Allah! Lord of this perfect call and of the regular prayer which is going to be established! Kindly give Muhammad the right of intercession and superiority and send him to the best and the highest place in Paradise which You promised him,’
then intercession for me will be permitted for him on the Day of Resurrection”).
Bukhari Volume 1, Book 11, Number 588:
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.
“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a Beautiful Pattern (of Conduct)…” [Surah al-Ahzab; 33:21]
read about it here.
Tala’albadru ‘alayna
Min thaniyyati’l
WadaWajaba ash-shukru ‘alayna
Ma da’a lillahi da
Ma da’a lillahi da
The White Moon (track numbers 2 and 5, although 2 is the one that has been stuck in my head for the last half an hour)
Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammadin ‘abdika wa rasulika wa salli
‘ala l’mu’mina wa’l-mu’minat wa’l-muslimina wa’l-muslimat
Oh Allah send Your mercy on Muhammad, Your servant, Your Messenger and send mercy on all believing men and women and all Muslim men and women (Ibn Hibban)
Via Deenport, I found a beautiful turkish site dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad (saws). There is a lot to read, explore and see on this site, so take your time. Also beautiful Prophet related calligraphy.
Black Iris presents 2 contrasting letters, one from the Prophet Muhammad (saws) to the monks at St. Catherines, and another from his purported followers to a christian community in Pakistan.
*insert little pukey smiley here*
Part of the reason I can’t explain it well is that there are some rather complex theology issues that don’t lend themselves well to a simple explanation. But, another reason is that it is hard to explain to someone who is only familiar with the negatives of muslims (and oh, do we have a lot of negatives) that I am, as a 21st century midwestern american woman, truly, deeply, madly love a man who lived and died 1400 years ago.
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