Don’t Forget…

these brothers and their families and know that there are countless more like them all over this country, and other countries, and in Guantanamo Bay in this “war against the Truth” where justice and “just us” are denied.

Imam Anwar al-Awlaki: Unjustly Detained

Dr. Ali al-Timimi: Statement at Sentencing & Update

Ali Asad Chandia: Statement at Sentencing

Seifullah Chapman: On Ali Asad Chandia’s Conviction

Masuad Khan: Statement at Sentencing & Update

When Opening Your Fast

Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

“You see the believers as their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.” [Bukhari]

Muharram & Ashura

I pray that all of you that were able to fast or had the intention to fast will attain the rewards for fasting in this month and of the good deeds performed and forgiveness for any mistakes.

The Prophet may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said:

“All children of Adam repetitively make mistakes, but the best of those who make mistakes are those who repent the most.” (Ibn Maajah)

“By Him in Whose Hand is my soul (i.e. God), if you did not commit sins, God would do away with you and replace you with a people that committed sins. They would seek forgiveness from God and He would forgive them. (Saheeh Muslim #4936)

Gem

Manners are the happy way of doing things; each once a stroke of genius or of love–now repeated and hardened into usage.

They form at last a rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed, and its details adorned.

If they are superficial, so are the dewdrops which give such depth to the morning meadows.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Umar Lee on the Salafi Decline

Umar Lee has recently begun an informative series on the history and decline of the salafi movement in the United States. The series is ongoing and currently he has the first 7-parts out on his blog.

I came into Islam after 9/11 and spent much of my first two years in Islam learning by myself about the deen. And I think it would be hard for most Muslims irrespective of their own ideological background in the US to ignore the influence that the often sincere yet not without mistakes salafi dawah has had on the American Muslim community.

I have seen much good and much excess in the salafi movement and did not have a good grasp on how the movement began, flourished, and developed into the state in which I first encountered it. I had done some research into it but Umar Lee’s series has increased my understanding and filled in some gaps and erased some misconceptions that I had about the salafi movement.

The seven posts thus far have been a good quick read and shouldn’t take most people more than 20-30 minutes to get through all of the posts. I highly recommend it.

Umar Lee: The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Dawah in the US

To Publish or Not to Publish

I have never liked seeing horrific images neither real nor imagined. I’ve never liked scary movies or horror films and even Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video used to give me nightmares as a kid. I remember once, my mother dropped my sister and I off at a lady’s house to braid our hair when we very young I think probably less than 8 years old at the time and the woman put on Hellraiser 1, 2, and 3 with Pinhead for all of us to watch, it was a terrible experience on so many levels. I never liked Chucky, Nightmare on Elm Street, Tales from the Crypt, X-files, and didn’t care much for the Goosebumps book series.

On the other hand, I love history, documentaries, nonfiction books, used to be a news junkie, try to keep up to date on current events around the world especially in the oft-overlooked and litte known places. I try to get an understanding of a place and situation from mutiple perspectives and as close to the ground as possible.

There are so many situations past and present that are absolutely horrific, heart wrenching, and devastating in nature. I am a firm believer that our society (meaning human society worldwide) is becoming more coarse and that this is a terrible development.

I was once over at the home of an Iraqi couple that had a satellite dish during the second Iraq war in 2003. And the lady of the house, would come crying over to me to tell me of some of the horrible images she had just seen on one of the Arab satellite news stations. When I was there, I made sure to avert my gaze from the television set not because I didn’t want to know what was happening but as a protection for myself. I gather no benefit from seeing those images, none whatsoever. And I feel harmed mentally and emotionally from seeing them. Continue reading

60 Ways to Keep Your Wife’s Love – Guaranteed

Ahmed Shehab guarantees in this video lecture that these are some of the ways to keep your wife’s (notice wife’s is singular posessive and not plural) love. Check out more suggestions over here.

1. Make her feel secure and sakinah – don’t threaten her with divorce
2. Give sincere salaams
3. Treat her gently – like a fragile vessel
4. Advise in private, at the best time, in the best way and atmosphere
5. Be generous with her
6. Warm the seat for her, you will warm her heart
7. Avoid anger, keep wudu at all times
8. Look good and smell great for your wife
9. Don’t be rigid or harsh-hearted or you will be broken
10. Be a good listener
11. Yes for flattery, No for arguing
12. Call your wife with the best names, cute nicknames, names she loves to hear
13. Utilize pleasant surprises
14. Preserve and guard the tongue
15. Expect, accept, and overlook her shortcomings Continue reading

Do You Ever Wonder?

Sometimes I see a person that seems so familiar to me but I can’t place their name or face or I’m quite sure that we have never met before. And sometimes a person sees me and says, “Haven’t we met before? You look so familiar.” Or you meet someone or read about a personality past or present and feel a certain kinship, connection, or understanding for them.

I often wonder whether or not we were perhaps standing next to each or in the same section in the situation described below:

Ibn Abbas (radiyAllahu anhu) reported that the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) related that,“When Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) created Adam (عليه سلام), He took a covenant from him in a place called Na’man on the day of Arafah. Then He extracted from him all of his descendants that would be born until the end of the world, generation after generation, and spread them out in front of Him in order to take a covenant from them also.

He spoke to them face to face saying: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they all replied, ‘Yes, we testify to it.’ Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He was their Creator and only true God worthy of worship. He said, ‘That was in case you (mankind) should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Surely we were unaware of all this. We had no idea that You, Allah , were our God. No one told us that we were supposed to worship You alone.” Allah went on to explain that it was also in case some people would say: ‘It was our ancestors who made partners (with Allah) and we are only their descendants; will you the destroy us for what those liars did?’ Continue reading

Deleted RIS Mawlid Video

Mujahideen Ryder asked that I delete the apparently controversial mawlid video from GoogleVideo and I have complied, although it seems that there might be a delay from Google’s side since after I deleted it, it is still accessible.

UPDATE: Seems Google has gotten around to removing it from their servers.

SECOND UPDATE: Ignoring the naysayers, back by popular demand.

Mawlid & Hadra – I Don’t Get It

Gem

Related in al-Musnad and other sources, is the hadeeth of Abu ad-Dardaa, may Allah be pleased with him, in which he says, The Messenger of Allah – sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam – said:

“He who treads a path in search of knowledge Allah will direct him to tread a path from the paths of Paradise. The Angels lower their wings for the student of knowledge in approval of what he does. All in the heavens and earth and the fish in the depth of the water seek forgiveness for the scholar, and the superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like the superiority of the full moon at night over the rest of the stars. Verily the scholars are the heirs to the Prophets. Verily, the Prophets did not bequeath dinars nor dirhams. All they left behind was knowledge, so whoever takes it, has indeed acquired a huge fortune.”

- Al-Musnad, 5/196. Also related by Aboo Daawood, 3/317; at-Tirmidhee 5/49; Ibn Maajah 1/81, ad-Daarimee, 1/98 and ibn Hibbaan, 1/152 (al-Ihsaan). It was declared saheeh by al-Albaanee; see Saheeh al-Jaami 5/302.

Interview with Wife of Shaykh ibn Uthaymeen

SubhanAllah, amazing. The shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen rahimullah was the real deal, it’s so refreshing to hear of the lives of real scholars that dedicated their lives to the service of Islam.

The following is an interview with his wife.

Some highlights:

He consistently fasted the three days a month when the moon was fullest.

He used to treat his students like his children.

His marriages were monogamous.

He was a good family man.

Read more for yourself in the PDF file.

Interview with Wife of Ibn Uthaymeen

Seen first on Ibn alHyderbadee