Tag: Muslims

  • Catharsis

    akhirah:

    SubhanAllah, I had a moment at the masjid today that hurt me, but the lesson from it was liberating.

    After tarawih I was speaking to a good friend & another acquaintance  of mine when another woman I know came and hugged both of my friends and turned away from me. I refrained from judging the situation too quickly, however the circumstance just stunk of the cliquish attitudes that people adopt. My face fell and I tried not to be offended that this woman was purposefully ignoring my existence yet standing in front of me talking to the people I was just speaking to. I continued to listen to the conversation and nodded my head, feeling a bit embarrassed and not sure why. Finally, I said salaams to all of them and left the masjid, wondering what I could have done to make this woman dislike me. As I pondered it over, it occurred to me that I was blaming myself for this possible error of judgment or this woman’s problem with me, when I was given no inclination as to how I could fix it. 

    It became clear to me that we can blame ourselves so much for how people treat us, but it can sometimes be people who exact the worst kind of revenge: the one where they don’t tell you what is wrong or why they have a problem with you. Then you live in ‘community x’ dealing with people ‘y’ who may consistently give you a negative attitude without ever speaking to you like a decent human being. This situation is juvenile and immature, but I’m afraid it’s all too common in our ummah. At the heart of it, it’s a lack of adab across the board that eats away at the potential we have to be a family, a big huge Muslim family. So many little issues amount to widespread negativity… 

    People afraid to say salaams to others, but stalking the hell out of their facebooks or twitters. 

    People standing shoulder to shoulder to Tarawih, but stepping on each other’s feet to get the free kulfi at the masjid dinner.

    People engaging in the culture/color wars over what country you’re from and what color you are.

    Or worst of all, entering a masjid full of unsmiling faces, just because they don’t know you personally. I feel hurt the most for the visitors who, looking for warmth & unity, find nothing but hostility or even worse: silence. 

    So what do you do?

    Do you sit around and become bitter? Do you accept that people hold grudges in their heart?

    No, you free yourself from it all.

    How?

    Be that person you’ve been looking for all this time. No matter what.

    -Smile at every single person you see & give them that beautiful salutation of As Salaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

    -If someone doesn’t treat you right, show them how it’s done and treat them right. Ask Allah to correct their behavior and if the opportunity avails itself, remind them gently.

    -Look for someone to help and help them with a humble attitude and no expectation for anything in return.

    At the end of the day, you have the potential to promote positive change by leading by example. Take that opportunity and be good with reckless abandon, throwing your smiles at people and helping everyone without hesitation. If you’re already a beacon of light, keep it up my friend. If not, let yourself shine and follow the example of the most merciful human being to ever walk this Earth, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi was’sallam. 

    SubhanAllah, what a beautiful example. The prophet was a man who would treat everyone he met with such deep compassion and care that they would think that they were the most important person in the room when he, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke to them. 

    His enemies became Muslim when they witnessed his beautiful akhlaaq and yet we, who call ourselves Muslim reject our own and lose each other in negativity. 

    Wherever you are, if you are reading this, plead sincerely with our Lord to fortify us as one and bless us with harmony, in the smallest as well as the largest of gatherings. 

    Finally, I’m soothed most by one thing in particular:

    no matter how badly someone may hurt you or reject your good will, it was never for them anyway.

    I wish I could say that I never experienced the above type of behaviour from Muslims as well. It’s a shame really. Vying for attention at the expense of our humility and sincerity.

  • Ever see a non-aligned extremist?

    Just a thought…ever see a Muslim ‘extremist’ that didn’t belong to a specific sect? That’s the thing with sects, or aligning with specific sub-groups of Islam, or giving your iman a label. It’s the same with nationalism, or pledging allegiance to any specific sub-group of a broader movement. You’re automatically inclined to defend the specific view points of that sect rather than remaining objective and neutral in your application and compliance with the rulings and principles of the movement itself.

    The same is true for the raging debates between different sects and different schools of thought. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone that sincerely debates to arrive at the truth, rather than debating to defend their allegiance and adopted perspectives from the sect that they’re a part of.

    I can’t see anything other than three specific states of iman. We’re either guided Muslims, misguided Muslims, or non-Muslims. All the nuances and differing opinions around issues that do not take one out of the fold of Islam are simply whisperings of Shaytaan that successfully sow discord amongst Muslims by instilling a sense of pride or superiority in us about our alignment with what is considered by some to be a superior manner of practising Islam, not realising that our pride and haughtiness, no matter how we disguise it, could easily negate all our efforts in the process. 

  • What’s your reason?

    The moon and star symbols were never used during the time of Rasulullah (SAW), nor during the time of the rightly guided caliphs thereafter, and not even for a few hundred years after the demise of Rasulullah (SAW). So what’s your excuse for using it? Because you found your forefathers doing so? Or because the corrupt house of Saud uses it to deface the two most sacred mosques?

    Does the fact that it stems directly from pagan worship have no effect on you? Or do you think that it’s ok to adopt such symbols and apply it differently, whilst being passionately vocal about other so-called innovations and subscribing to sects that never existed during the time of Rasulullah (SAW) or the chosen generations that followed?

    Are you actively contributing towards the double standards that plague the Ummah? Or is everything assumed to be ok because there’s so much worse that we could be doing? I find it weird that some can go around condemning others for grave worship of Muslim ‘saints’ and other sins while at the same time proudly using the pagan symbols to confirm their identity as a Muslim.

    Why is it that no one is willing to engage on this? Is this the proverbial elephant in the room for the Ummah? 

  • Dua: To Pray Quietly

    The proper way to make du’a is in a subdued voice, as Allah tells us:

    “Call upon your Lord with humility, and in secret.” (Surah al-A’raf:55)

    This is why Allah praised the du’a of Zakaraiya when He described it as being secret:

    “When he made a du’a to his Lord in secret (or privately).” (Surah Maryam:3)

    This principle is also mentioned in hadith. The Prophet peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:

    “O people! Be gentle on yourselves, for you are not calling someone who is deaf or absent. Rather you are calling the One Who hears everything, Ever-Close.” (Recorded in al-Bukhari)

    Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah, also mentioned a number of benefits of making du’a silently in his work Majmu al-Fatawa which are as follows:

    1. It is a sign of strong imaan, as it demonstrates that we firmly believe Allah can hear even the quietest of prayers.
    2. It is a sign of respect and manners in front of Allah, for us to lower our voices.
    3. It is a sign of humility and humbleness, which is the essence of worship.
    4. It is a means of achieving sincerity, since you will not draw the attention of others.
    5. It aids the heart on concentrating on the du’a.
    6. It shows a closeness that the true believer feels for their Creator, and is a means of strengthening the close relationship between ourselves and Allah.
    7. It is easier on the tongue and body and therefore aids us in extending our du’a to Allah.
    8. It causes less distraction to others.
    9. It prevents a person form the the target of envy and jealousy.

  • Question – The Distracted Ummah

    eatandbeawesome answered your question: The Distracted Ummah

    i think the most appropriate way to approach this is to bring about a change in one’s own life, which in turn will affect those around us.

    I agree with you completely. The danger is trying to find a balance between this individual piety that seems to be preached by the conservatives, whilst maintaining a balanced and responsible view of our accountability towards our families and communities. Being grounded and self-conscious but knowing when to speak out against what is wrong. It gets even more difficult when we see our elders and contemporary scholars also towing the sectarian lines and the abrasive condescension. 

    Alhamdulillah, it seems we definitely live in a time when holding onto Iman is like juggling hot coals on our hands. 

  • Question – The Distracted Ummah

    naziafk answered your question: The Distracted Ummah

    🙁 you know, i just went to makkah and came back a month ago alhumdullillah. i was one of those people who took a pic there. i felt hesitant.

    Alhamdulillah. I know how tempting it can be. To put my post into context, that was my experience more than 10 years ago, so it’s expected that things have gotten progressively worse since then, let alone the indulgence in materialism around the precinct of the Ka’aba. So I guess squeezing off a single photo with hesitation will hopefully earn you Allah’s pleasure for resisting the temptation to succumb to the urge completely. Insha-Allah your efforts have been accepted. Ameen. 🙂

  • The Distracted Ummah

    A few more memories surfaced after my last post about my visit to the Haramain in Makkah and Madinah, leaving me somewhat disillusioned about the state of Muslims today. Here’s a few experiences from that same first visit of mine that you may or may not find disturbing. 

    I was making tawaaf one evening with a surprisingly small crowd, when I passed by two young ladies also making tawaaf. Only difference is that they were taking a leisurely stroll around the Ka’aba with designer handbags slung fashionably over their shoulders. I don’t recall clearly if they were also absorbed in conversation or not, but focused on tawaaf they definitely appeared not to be.

    Before I could fully absorb this scene and while trying to turn my gaze away from them, a young man passed me by. He was tall, very well groomed, sporting a really fashionably shaped beard, gelled up hair, and had his cell phone firmly pressed against his ear while also performing his tawaaf. That just seemed wrong on so many levels, it left me really sad.

    Fortunately this was set aside by the sight of a woman in full niqab performing tawaaf, and suddenly jerking to a stop at the fear of accidentally touching a male that was walking in front of her. The man was obviously oblivious to others walking around him, but the motion of her hand that clearly indicated her concern and restraint remains clearly imprinted in my mind whenever I think about that moment. It had all the hallmarks of piety and modesty captured in a single gesture. Whether that reflected her true character or not is really irrelevant to me. But if I had to choose between the three incidents, the latter is definitely the one that reminded me of Allah, while the other two made me cringe.

    Then there was the time that I was walking through the souk in Madinah just after Dhuhr salaah, gaze firmly fixed on the ground in front of me as is my habit when walking in public (mostly out of shyness rather than modesty). Suddenly, from the side of me, I heard this deep throated grunt, quickly succeeded by this gob of discoloured mucus being spat out in front of me in the middle of the walkway, followed by a single flowing motion of the culprit stepping on it and spreading it wafer thin into the pathway as if that eliminated its disgusting presence. It was art in motion. Disgusting art at that.

    I won’t even go into the details of the woman that defecated on Mount Arafat at the time of Hajj a few years ago, as described by someone I knew that attended Hajj that year. Or so many other disgusting images and actions of impiety and filth practised openly by Muslims of all walks of life, and of all nations that I have no doubt that this is not restricted to any specific sect, or madhab, nor do I have any reason to believe any group is immune to this behaviour either.

    I look at many posts on Tumblr where people are sharing intriguing photos, often in real time, about their visit to the Ka’aba, and I wonder how far gone we really are that we can be standing in the single holiest place on earth, and instead of taking advantage of that nearness to Allah by focusing on dua and istighfaar, instead we’re thinking about looking cool and sharing cool photos with others, and wondering where we’re going to find that really cool gift for ourselves or someone back home. 

    The point I’m trying to make is that if we bothered to step away from our social networks for long enough, we’ll realise that the problems with the Ummah run far deeper than differing opinions about rituals, or sects formed by misguided zealots in the name of some innocent scholar. The real problem with the Ummah is that we’ve lost our self-respect, let alone the respect of what is sacred in Islam. We’re so distracted that we assume that our ability to focus on a single distraction at a time is in fact meritorious, forgetting that we’re actually still distracted from what’s important. 

    Look closer to home. Look in the masjid and see how many men of all ages engage in laughter, loud conversation and worldly distractions while waiting for salaah. It’s gotten so bad that at the place where I regularly perform Dhuhr salaah close to the office, some elderly men continue talking right through the Iqamah and only stop when the Imam begins the salaah. 

    So we really should stop trying so hard to focus on rectifying everyone else and convincing everyone else that we’re the only rightly guided ones because we ascribe to the sect that is closest to the correct path, while completely forgetting our manners, modesty, respect, dignity and so many other basic virtues that far outweigh our ability or responsibility to refute the opinions of the ill-informed in ways that expose our own arrogance and pride. 

    This post drips of the same condescension, rhetoric and generalisations that I despise hearing in the Friday khutbahs. But it’s not intended that way. It really is just reflective of how overwhelming the reality of this is when I consider the futile debates about theoretical perspectives while we’re holding on to our faith through token reference points that appease our conscience only, leaving us wondering in agony why our duas rarely appear to be answered. 

  • Knowledge vs. Action

    So aspire, O Muslim, to know your Islaam from your Lord’s Book and your Prophet’s Sunnah. And don’t say, ‘So and so said.’ For verily, the Truth is not known by the men–nay, know the Truth, you will recognise the men.’

    Shaykh Albanee (rahimahullah), As-Saheehah, 5/350. (via understandislam)

    This very clearly and concisely describes my view about those that insist on choosing a label for their iman versus choosing to recognise the merit of individual actions. If we focus on understanding the truth and the true method of the Sunnah according to the way of the salaf, we will be able to recognise such good in any Muslim, regardless of madhab, sect, or other grouping that we have created. Being able to recognise this good without the unfortunate bias of negativity associated with sectarian elitism is the only chance that this Ummah has for uniting against a common enemy.