The Shi'a and the Qur'an: Between Myth and Reality

Over the past several months, I've obtained several books on Shi'a Islam since I wanted to increase my knowledge about their beliefs and practices. This was mainly due to the fact that there's been considerable coverage of the Shi'a and their scholars due to the ongoing troubles in Iraq, but also because I have some Shi'a acquaintances, thus I wanted to avoid a future case of foot-in-mouth disease — which is generally contracted by opening one's mouth when not knowing what the heck one is talking about (a rather common malady when it comes to speaking about religion, since self-appointed Grand Muftis seem to be a dime a dozen these days). So just as I continuously read on the subjects of Judaism, Christianity, Biblical studies and other related topics in order to stay up to snuff on the subject of comparative religion, I decided it was about the time that I did the same in regards to Shi'a beliefs and practices.

Prior to this endeavor, about the only books that I had read on Shi'ism were short booklets, mostly published in Saudi Arabia, that had a very rabid, and thus seemingly exaggerated and distorted, anti-Shi'a outlook. Due to this, I decided to purchase An Introduction to Shi`i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi`ism, by Moojan Momen, which I happened to see in a local bookstore one day, and Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices, by Ayatollah Ja'far Sobhani. As I've always said, if you want to learn something about a particular religion, read books on it by people who believe in it and adhere to it. This methodology, which should obviously be the one employed by any sincere truth seeker, seems to be lost on a lot of Islamophobes out there who seemingly have only tried to learn about Islam, whether Sunni or Shi'a, from those who are openly hostile to it. I always try to keep in mind that if I had adopted this rather moronic approach, I'd probably still be warming up some church pew somewhere. Anyway, even though Moojan Momen's work is an academic work written by a seemingly rather secular Shi'a, I think both of these books still clearly fall into the category of not being hostile to their subject matter.

Even though I still haven't read either of the above-mentioned books cover-to-cover, I did happen to come across something quite interesting in them the other day. This had to do with the Shi'a view of the preservation and status of the Glorious Qur'an. Unfortunately, there have been some Sunni Muslims, mostly of the so-called "Salafi" and Wahhabi variety, that in their zeal to lambaste the Shi'a and scrounge up any piece of evidence that will put them further out of the fold of Islam, have actually managed to damage Islam as a whole — or at least provide some ammunition to its enemies. This is because some Christian missionaries and Orientalists have gathered these arguments together and attempted (and that's a key word) to use them to bring the veracity of the Qur'an into question. Such arguments have already been dealt with in detail in such articles has M. S. M. Saifullah's excellent Surah al-Walayah & Surah al-Nurayn: Their Authenticity & Literary Style. However, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide even more evidence that these missionary and Orientalist claims against the Qur'an are tenuous at best:

"Says the Shaykh Abu Ja'far: Our belief is that the Qur'an, which Allah revealed to his Prophet Muhammad is (the same as) the one between the two boards (daffatayn). And it is that which is in the hands of the people, and is not greater extent than that. The number of suras as generally accepted is one hundred and fourteen."[1]

And later, the same source says:

"And he who asserts that we say it is greater in extent than this (the present text) is a liar."[2]

As M. S. M. Saifullah rightly says, this "would have been a proof good enough to stop here and dismiss what the missionaries are claiming about the 'Qur'an' which Shi'ites have." However, An Introduction to Shi`i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi`ism, which is one of the books that I purchased recently and one of the references used in M. S. M. Saifullah's article as well, has some even more valuable quotes from Shi'a sources:

"With regards to the question of the text of the Qur'an, it has already been noted that the early Shi'is believed that the Qur'an has been altered and parts of it has been suppressed. The Nawbakhtis are said to have adhered to this view although it went against their usual position of agreeing with Mu'tazili thought. The compiler of the earliest, authoritative collection of Twelver Traditions, al-Kulyanî, seems to have given some substance to this view in several of the Traditions that he relates. Ibn Babuya, however, takes the position that the text of the Qur'an is complete and unaltered. Al-Mufid appears to have wavered somewhat on this point during his lifetime. He seems to have accepted the fact that parts of the Qur'an had been excised by the enemies of the Imams in some of his early writings, although he refused even then to state that anything had been added. In his later writings, however, al-Mufid had reinterpreted the concept of omissions from the text of the Qur'an to mean that the text of the Qur'an is complete (although he does allow that the order needs to be changed) but that what has been omitted is the authoritative interpretation of the text by 'Alî. In this manner, al-Mufid and most subsequent Shi'i writers were able to fall into line with the rest of the Islamic world in accepting the text of the Qur'an as contained in the recension of 'Uthmân."[3]

Similar to this, I found the following passage on page 93 of Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices:

"But we observe that this great soul [Imam 'Ali ibn Abu Talib], to the end of his life, never said anything about even a single word of the Qur'an having been altered. If, God forbid, such an alteration had in fact taken place, a person such as he would never have remained silent. Rather, we see the contrary: that he continuously called upon people to meditate upon the Qur'an…For these, and other reasons, the great scholars of the ahl al-bayt, from the beginning of Islam to the present day, have stressed the immunity of the Qur'an against any alteration (tahrif). It must be stressed that this is has been the position of all Shi'i authorities in all periods; and to this day, all the Shi'i leaders without exception uphold this position."[4]

Later, this same source says on page 95:

"If some Shi'i scholars have written books in which the alteration of the Qur'an is mentioned, we observe that, after the publication of such books, Shi'i scholars have written many refutations of the errors contained in them. In the like manner, when an Egyptian scholar published the book al-Furqan in 1345/1926, in which he tried to prove that the Qur'an had been altered — basing himself upon certain narrations found in the books of the Sunnis, concerning the abrogation or writing of certain Qur'anic verses — the Shaykhs of al-Azhar repudiated the opinion and banned the book."

In conclusion, page 95 of Doctrines of Shi'i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices also says: "The revealed Book for all the Muslims of the world is the Glorious Qur'an, consisting of 114 Suras, of which the first is the Sura al-Fatiha, and the last is the Sura al-Nas." This final statement, taken in context with all of the others, makes it abundantly clear that the Shi'a certainly do not believe that the Qur'an has been altered in any way.

In order to clarify a point made above, in which I touched on the fact that so-called "Salafis" and their cohorts, especially in Saudi Arabia, seemingly enjoy trying to put the Shi'a "further out of the fold of Islam", I want to say that the general belief amongst Sunni Muslim scholars is that the Shi'a are Muslims — albeit mistaken ones in some regards — who are within the fold of Islam. Indeed, in spite of the fact that the schism of Shi'ism has been strongly condemned over the centuries by many of the seminal figures of Sunni Islam, the moderate mainstream position is that the Shi'a are indeed Muslims. This is generally because they not only share our testification of faith of "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His Messenger", but adhere to the five pillars of Islam and pray to the same Qiblah as well. Ultimately, the mainstream of the Ahl al-Sunnah believe the same thing about the Shi'a as the Shi'a believe about them: that they are within the fold of Islam in spite of their innovations and mistaken beliefs. I say this last part somewhat hesitantly, because there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that the Shi'a hold that Sunni Muslims are outside the fold of Islam for failure to recognize their foundational belief of the Imamate. However, I certainly don't intend to dig through the all of the relevant Shi'a sources in order to sort out their scholars' various views on this question.

One final note, because I feel that I should mention that a good way to get more of an authentic feel for a religion, and the mentality and operative world view that it produces in its adherents, is to put aside the sometimes dry works of non-fiction and pick up a less academically inclined book that is meant for popular consumption — or sometimes a work of contemporary literature or even a DVD. In this regard, even though I'm certainly no big fan of the corrupting waste of time known as television, I have to say that I a few years ago I thoroughly enjoined both of the critically acclaimed Iranian films Secret Ballot and The Children of Heaven. Likewise, I've read substantial portions of In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs: A Memoir of Iran, a recent insider's view of Iran by Christopher de Bellaigue, who has lived there for years and covers it for The Economist. I really felt this book provided me with a very authoritative and believable glimpse at what makes Iran and Iranians tick — and in saying this I don't mean to imply that Iranians are strictly synonymous with Shi'a (since they're not), but rather offer it up simply as advice on how to learn about a cultural-religious milieu that one isn't familiar with. On that note I'll mention another book, since I've read a lot of good things about it: The Mantle of the Prophet, by Roy Mottahedeh. Supposedly this book provides one of the best inside looks at late twentieth century Iran and the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and thus has been described as being "essential for understanding Iran and Iranians". Having mentioned these two works, and keeping in mind the current tensions between Iran and the United States, I can't help but endorse a must read that came out last year entitled All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, by Stephen Kinzer. This book clearly exposes some of the dastardly deeds that the U.S. has carried out in Iran over the past few decades and how, in spite of their rhetoric, they've never really promoted democracy over there. Indeed, after reading this book you'll understand that Americans have less cause to be angry with Iran than vice versa, since the taking and holding of the hostages from the U.S. Embassy was almost nothing compared to the much larger, heinous and long-lived crimes that the U.S. helped facilitate in Iran...and those who know and those who don't know certainly are not equal.

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NOTES:

[1] Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Babwayh al-Qummi, I'tiqadatu'l Imamiyyah (The Beliefs of Imamiyyah), English translation: A Shi'ite Creed, 1982 (Revised) Asaf A. A. Fyzee, World Organization of Islamic Services, Tehran, Iran, p. 77.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Moojan Momen, An Introduction To Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, 1985, George Ronald, Oxford, page 81.
[4] An interesting and valuable footnote (#65) is included after this statement, and it can be found on pages 210-11 of Doctrines of Shi'I Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices, by Ayatollah Sobhani. Since this footnote provides a list of valuable references for verifying the above stated Shi'a beliefs, I'm including it here in its totality:

65. The following authorities can be referred to regarding this matter: 1) Fadl b. Shadhan, (d. 260 / 873 AH; he lived in the time of the Imams), Kitab al-Idah, p. 217; 2) Shaykh Saduq (d. 381 / 991), Kitab al-i'tiqadat, p. 93; 3) Shaykh Mufid (d. 413/1022), Majmu`at al-rasa'il, p. 266; 4) Shaykh Murtada (d. 436/1044), Jawab al-masa'il al-tarabilsiyyat; 5) Shaykh Tusi (d. 460/1067), Kitab al-tibyan, vol. 1, p. 3; 6) Shaykh al-Tabarsi (d. 548/ 1153), Majma' al-bayan (see his introduction where he clearly stresses the absence of any possibility of alteration with regard to the Qur'an); 7) Sayyid b. Tawus (d. 664/1265), Sa'd al-su`ud, p. 144 (where he says: `The non-existence of alteration — such is the position of the Imamiyya); 8) `Allama Hilli (d. 726/1325), Ujubat al-masa'il al-mihna'iyya, p. 121 (where he says: `This is the truth: that no addition or diminution has been effected in regard to the Qur'an, and I seek protection from God against speaking the word "alteration" (tahrif); for such an idea causes doubt to be cast on the miracle that was authentically transmitted to us by the Holy Prophet.').

New Printing of "Dala'il al-Khayrat" Now Available

On Monday, I received an email from TariqaTapes.com saying that the new printing of the Dala'il al-Khayrat — meaning “Waymarks of Benefits” — is now available in limited quantities. Since I already have a copy, I can attest to the fact that this is an exquisitely bound and elegantly printed version of this beloved text that was personally undertaken and supervised by Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller.

As the email describes it, this "new printing brings to a close a monumental project that has spanned the length and breadth of three continents and taken countless months of painstaking work. This project brought together one of the leading calligraphers in the world, two renowned illuminators, the finest bookbinder and a team of researchers who traversed the annals of the leading Islamic libraries. Under the supervision and direction of the leading authority on the traditional Islamic sciences Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, they have produced the most authentic edition of a book on one of the most central acts of worship in Islam: the Blessings (salawat/durood) on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)."

For those who might not be familiar with it, Dala'il al-Khayrat is the most celebrated manual of blessings on the Prophet Muhammad — salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam — in history, and was composed by the Muslim scholar of prophetic descent, and baraka of Marrakech, Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazouli (d. 870 AH/1465 CE).

A website has been established to display and provide information about the masterful new printing of this blessed manual of invocation, so please visit it at www.dalail.co.uk. While there, please take the time to not only look at the photos, but to read the informative articles ([1][2]) by Shaykh Nuh Keller as well — and we pray that Allah Most High blesses him and all those who assisted him in producing this fine work...and to Allah belongs all success.

The Dala'il can be ordered from: TariqaTapes.com (login required), AlMuhajabat.com, or FirdousBooks.com, but hurry while supplies last...

Salawat On and Deen On...

Masud Khan Updates: "Contentions 9" and more...

Well I just happened to visit the Masud Khan site early this morning and was very happy to find some significant updates. Not only has Abdal-Hakim Murad's ongoing wisdom series now expanded to Contentions 9, but there's a new article by him about Spiritual Life in Ottoman Turkey. Additionally, there's an new article entitled The Intermediary of Shirk, which is a translation from the Mafaheem of the late Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki — may Almighty God have mercy on him. As far as I know, this is the second translation of this noble shaykh's writing that Masud Khan has posted, the other being included in the previous update last April, so we hope that we'll be seeing more of this in the future as well, insha'llah.

I hope I'm not stealing anyone's thunder, but I can't resist mentioning my favorites from Contentions 9:

9. If you seek amusement, seek it in the absurdities of kufr.

12. Be a good Muslim and you won't want to lie. Be a very good Muslim and you won't need to lie.

13. His name in our age is al-Sabur.

30. Extremism: just say know.

40. The only safe bank is the Sadaqa Bank.

50. Don't get even. (‘God is witr , and He loves the witr .')

64. A man who would marry a feminist is not worth obeying.

79. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is not Israel.

Deen On (and that's not a contention)...

AQSA Publications Update

We still have quite a few copies of three new books by AQSA Publications in stock. These are Albani & his Friends: A Concise Guide to the Salafi Movement ($14.00), Sunnah Notes - Volume I ($16.00), and Jesus Christ the Son of Mary and His Most Blessed Mother ($12.00) - and please click on these links to see more information on these fine new titles.

To order these books from us, please refer to our Book Order Form for shipping prices and other information. The fastest and easiest way to submit payment is by using the Send Money option in PayPal.com to transfer money to the payments email address which is listed in the top right-hand corner of our Book Order Form. Or if you don't want to do that, you can mail in a personal check, money order or bank draft. Using this latter option will ensure that it takes a bit longer for your books to arrive, but otherwise it works just as well.

In addition to these new titles, AQSA Publications has some forthcoming titles as well. These include The Prophet's Isra & Mi'raj, by the late Shaykh Muhammad 'Alawi al-Maliki; a very timely, relavent and detailed anti-terrorism fatwa by Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti entitled Defending the Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless Against the Killing of Civilians; a translation of Ibn Jahbal al-Kilabi's Refutation of Him [Ibn Taymiyya] Who Attributes a Direction to Allah; and a new book by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad entitled Mawlid - Celebrating the Birth of the Noble Prophet — salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam. We're looking forward to reading all of these exciting and beneficial titles, and we'll post an update on them as soon as they're available, insha'llah.

Deen On...

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Notice: Against my better judgment, I've decided to turn Comments back on. However, please keep in mind that this weblog is not a democracy, but rather a personal forum for expressing views and opinions on topics of my choosing. Thus, as the benevolent dictator of the petty cyberfiefdom of Mere Islam, I reserve the right to delete any comments that are blasphemous, profane, slanderous to Islam, or contain anything else that I feel is inappropriate, completely lacking in merit or unduly sloppy.

BOOK: Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad

Today, when doing some searches on Amazon.com, a book entitled Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad happened to catch my eye. Based on the use of the word "Wahhabi" in the title, which is usually perceived to be a derogatory appellation, I first expected the book to be an anti-Wahhabi tract from the same genre as Wahhabism: A Critical Essay, by Hamid Algar—which is currently the Mere Islam Book-of-the-Month. However, after reading two ([1][2]) fairly lengthy and detailed reviews of this relatively new (June 2004) book, I realized that it is nothing but Saudi-funded propaganda masquerading as scholarship.

Indeed, the real value in finding this book on Amazon.com was finding the two scathing reviews of it, both of which were submitted by critics who certainly seem to know their stuff. This is especially true of Zubair Qamar's review, in which he calls Natana Delong-Bas' bluff in a very pointed way.

After initially labeling the book as a work of "Pseudo-scholarship", Zubair Qamar moves on to ask, "Could the portrayal of Wahhabism as intolerant and fanatical by hundreds, maybe thousands, of Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, authors, activists, students, etc. in 200+ years past be flawed? Should their positions be construed merely as a load of sophisticated/polemical gobbledygook?" These are key questions in this debate, so in spite of them being somewhat obvious, it shouldn't surprise us that they need to be asked. This is because Natana J. Delong-Bas' desire to sidestep and avoid the weighty voice of hundreds of years of diverse criticism of Wahhabism is no less outrageous than Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's own break with well over a thousand years of Sunni Muslim scholarship—thinking he was right and the overwhelming majority of Sunni scholars for most of Islamic history were wrong.

Zubair Qamar's review moves on to disassemble and expose the flawed methodology of Delong-Bas' Wahhabi Islam, including its illogical reliance on pro-Wahhabi sources. Of this absurdity, he rightly asks: "But what makes the sources of two Wahhabi supporters more accurate than the works of Wahhabi opponents? While the former are closer in time to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, they are his biased supporters. The latter, however, though further away in time from the Wahhabi founder's period of existence, may - and indeed, do - have accurate information, especially on how Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's teachings contradicted the teachings that orthodox Sunni Muslims had been following for over 1,000 years."

It's this final point, already touched on above, that is really the key characteristic and flaw of the nascent Wahhabi movement. Yes, the Wahhabis (a.k.a. "Salafis"), in spite of their puerile claims that they are following a purified form of Sunni Islam which is based on the Qur'an and Sunnah, have certainly broken with "the teachings that orthodox Sunni Muslims had been following for over 1,000 years". It's unfortunate in the extreme that more Muslims are not aware of this and are unable to see through the devious Wahhabi smoke screen of slogans and methodological gimmicks that not only breaks with normative Sunni belief and practice, but by implication slanders the upstanding and rightly-guided majority of Sunni scholarship from our intellectually rich past.

Seemingly in the interest of providing some concrete examples, Zubair Qamar includes the following description of both how the Wahhabis differ from mainstream Sunni Islam and a succinct but valuable insight into their flawed reasoning: "For example, Delong-Bas provides Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's interpretations of intercession (tawassul) in his "Kitab al-Tawhid" without stating that he contradicted many verses of the Qur'an, hadeeth, and interpretations provided by Sunni orthodox scholars (ulema) throughout the history of Islam (except Ibn Taymiyah and his followers who were the first to deviate from mainstream Sunni Islam on the issue). With an unorthodox interpretation of a genuinely valid Islamic practice, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab accuses the vast lot of Muslims who do 'tawassul' of committing polytheism (shirk) -- the only unforgivable sin in Islam. He then allows his followers to massacre them, believing that they are doing a very noble deed and following the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad when, in fact, they are doing exactly the opposite." Exactly the opposite indeed, thus not much else needs to be said here other than restating that I wish more Muslims were aware of these facts.

In concluding his review, Zubair Qamar asks: "How, then, can Ibn Abd al-Wahhab's biography, as presented in Delong Bas's book, be taken seriously by any objective scholar? It cannot." So based on that, don't waste your money on this piece of Saudi propaganda, but pick up a copy of Hamid Algar's Wahhabism: A Critical Essay instead.

Deen On...

"This is Jihad?" - The Crisis of Understanding Islam

Here's a link to a series of seven audio tracks from a lecture Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller gave to a London audience on August 29th, 2005 — courtesy of Masud Khan's renowned website. The general topic of the lecture is the current crisis of understanding Islam within the Muslim Ummah. In this context, the Shaykh presents the origins of the Wahhabi movement and discusses the so-called "Salafi" Islam that unfortunately has become the default brand of Islam in many places today. Additionally, he touches upon the methodology of the so-called "Jihadi" movement and various related topics from tawassul (use of intermediaries to approach Allah) to suicide bombing.

Since I'm always on watch for good book recommendations, I took serious note of the fact that during the lecture two books were recommended by Shaykh Nuh for those wanting to learn more about what's going on in the world today. The first one he mentioned was Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam, by Jason Burke, which "has a lot of things right and not very many things wrong in it". Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, by Michael Scheuer (although initially published anonymously), is the next book Shaykh Nuh recommended "for everyone who wants to understand anything about the current situation." That's more than enough of an endorsement for me, so I plan to get hold of both these titles as soon as possible, insha'llah.

Based on all of this, I highly recommend that all interested parties (and if you're not interested, you should be) download (they're just over 35 MB total) and listen to (total running times is 1:25:24) all seven ([1][2][3][4][5][6][7]) of these very informative and highly relative tracks (which are in MP3 format).

Deen On...

Seminal Advice from Yemen

Sidi Khalil Moore recently made me aware of a very beneficial document that has been posted in the articles section of the Guidance Media website. This Seminal Advice by Habib Umar bin Haffiz, a scholar and exponent of Classical Islam and Director of the Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen, contains eleven inspiring and wise recommendations to Muslims living in the West:

1. Carefully study the Sirah;
2. Develop strong certainty;
3. Display rapport & composure;
4. Devote yourself to remembrance;
5. Be not affected;
6. Have firm resolve;
7. Focus on Divine acceptance;
8. Look after your family;
9. Make your goal Allah;
10. Respect all scholars & show graciousness to humanity;
11. Fervently ask for forgiveness.

All of these points are expounded upon with superb clarity in the actual article [349 KB Adobe Acrobat file], which has been elegantly translated by Sidi Khalil. I pray that all Muslims in the West read and benefit from these wise words.

Deen On...

Our New Look, Some New Blogs and More...

Well I'm sure most regular visitors to this blog realize that it's gone through something of an overhaul lately. Not only do we have a completely new template design, but we've had a quite a few recent postings by Qadeeb al-Ban Harris as well. Insha'llah, we'll continue to see regular postings by Qadeeb, since his account was created in the interest of taking up the slack time on this blog since I'm often unable to consistently post for a myriad of reasons.

In conjunction with the new look of this blog, there have been some more subtle additions and changes as well. Yesterday, I added Qays' Blog to the BLOG LINKS section in the right-hand sidebar. I've been an admirer of this blog for some time, but just never got around to adding it to my list. The other night - as he mentions on his blog - I happened to meet Sidi Qays Arthur at a local Orlando masjid just after Salat al-Tarawih. This was a very nice experience, not only because Cyberspace and reality finally came together, but also because he's a very nice and personable brother as well.

As his blog shows, Brother Qays is traveling around Florida this Ramadan doing some fundraising for the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) which is a very active charity organization that focuses on helping the needy in Guyana and establishing traditional Sunni Islam amongst the people. And just to clarify...Brother Qays mentioned that he met me at what "wasn't exactly a Sunni Masjid", seemingly because it -- like most masajid in America these days -- doesn't adhere to any of the four acceptable schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Rather, it adheres to what pretty much amounts to a Salafiyyah and Ikhwan al-Muslimeen methodology -- an approach that regular visitors to this blog should know that I certainly don't agree with. However, I'm not one to avoid any masajid that loosely considers itself to be Sunni -- except some of the very puritanically rigid and spiritually suffocating Salafi/Wahabi masajid that we have in the area. Since the masjid in question certainly isn't one of these, that explains why Brother Qays and I both happened to meet last Thursday night. So even though the masjid where me met wasn't Sunni in the highest and most traditional sense of the word, it wasn't like it was Shi'a, rabid Wahhabi or anything like that...

I should also mention that Sidi Qays has some interesting articles on his blog, some of them quite personal, including My Path to Tasawuf - How Allah rescued me from ‘Salafi burnout’ and Man from the Men of Religion - My initial encounter with my master Shaykh Nuh Keller, so give them a read when you get a chance.

In addition to adding Qays' Blog to our BLOG LINKS section, the new Alhambra Productions Weblog and the Scholar's Pen blog have been included as well. Also, two blogs that I've had links to for awhile, namely Ginny's Thoughts and Things and SAFspace, have both moved to new domains -- so please update your own links to them if you've got 'em.

Mentioning these two blogs, as well as Seeker's Digest, reminds me that there seems to be quite a trend of bloggers getting their own domains, abandoning Blogger.com and using free blogger software like WordPress and Moveable Type instead. I'm considering doing this in the future, but since I'm so relieved to have my recent template redesign over with, I plan to delay it for awhile -- and lately Blogger.com has been performing pretty well.

Still on the subject of blogs, a few days ago I came across the Spiritual Tendencies blog, which deserves a few words of praise in my opinion. Not only do they have some interesting Sufistic content, but Shaik Khafid has posted some really cool and unique Islamic graphical artwork as well. However, it's the anti-terrorism banners that they've produced that really won my heart. Yes, it's at Spiritual Tendencies that I found the American Muslims Against Terrorism banner that now shows up in the bottom of the right-hand sidebar. You can check out all of their banners here -- and there are ones for quite a few countries, so please make use of them if you have a weblog or website. All Muslims who adhere to the way of the Prophet of Mercy -- may Almighty God bless him and give him peace -- need to make a more vocal and concerted effort to make it clear that wanton attacks on non-combatants is a gross violation of Islamic teachings.

As far as websites go, Imam Zaid has a new site called New Islamic Directions which I've added to my WEBSITE LINKS section. I expect that this will become one of the most beneficial traditional Islamic sites in the near future, so please remember to check it out. I've also updated my links page with quite a few new sites -- and the new ones always go down at the bottom, which I do quite frequently although I rarely mention it in the blog. As far as I know, this is one of the most complete lists of traditional Islamic sites currently out in Cyberspace -- and maybe the most graphically intensive as well -- so please remember to refer your friends to it.

Finally, I've also added the Bootleg Busters banner to the sidebar, since I want to promote the efforts of the Islamic Media Association whose mission is to promote adherence to copyright protection laws for the benefit of producers of Islamic media. We pray that Allah blesses them in their mission and brings their strategic plan to fruition, since far too many Islamic publishers and multimedia producers face difficulty staying afloat due to the prevalence of bootleg materials.

Please make du'a for all of the above mentioned endeavors and Deen On...

Natural Health and the Islamic Tradition

The MeccaCentric Da'wah Group, which produces high quality audio and video lectures by a large number of Muslim speakers, has recently published Natural Health and the Islamic Tradition, by Hakim Archuletta. These lectures are available on either audio cassette, CD-ROM or VHS tape, and they contain all of the lectures from a 3-day seminar conducted in Washington, DC -- a total of 9 hours and 32 minutes in all. This is a convenient way, alhamdulillah, to benefith from the knowledge and experience of a renowned healer and natural health expert.

Deen On...

Wahhabis Shouldn't Be Allowed To Own Bulldozers

Perhaps I should warn you that the excerpts below are very painful to read, if not outright enraging. They all come from the following article, which was originally published in The Independent (UK), which you can read by clicking on the title below:

The Destruction of Mecca
Saudi hardliners are wiping out their own heritage
by Daniel Howden
August 6th, 2005 -- The Independent (UK)

Here are some of the more relevent and disturbing portions of the article -- and all of the ones containing double quotation marks are statements of Dr. Sami Angawi. Read them and -- quite literally -- weep:

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"Historic Mecca, the cradle of Islam, is being buried in an unprecedented onslaught by religious zealots."

"Almost all of the rich and multi-layered history of the holy city is gone."

"...95 per cent of millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades."

"...as few as 20 structures are left that date back to the lifetime of the Prophet 1,400 years ago and those that remain could be bulldozed at any time."

"'What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina.'"

"The motive behind the destruction is the Wahhabists' fanatical fear that places of historical and religious interest could give rise to idolatry..."

"'At the root of the problem is Wahhabism...They have a big complex about idolatry and anything that relates to the Prophet.'"

"The Wahhabists now have the birthplace of the Prophet in their sights."

"Most of the buildings have suffered the same fate as the house of...the grandson of the Prophet...After its discovery, King Fahd ordered that it be bulldozed before it could become a pilgrimage site."

"On the tailcoats of the religious zealots have come commercial developers keen to fill the historic void left by demolitions with lucrative high-rises."

"'They are removing any historical landmark that is not Saudi-Wahhabi, and using the prime location to make money.'"

"'Mecca should be the reflection of the multicultural Muslim world, not a concrete parking lot.'"

"Whereas proposals for high-rise developments in Jerusalem have prompted a worldwide outcry and the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan buddhas was condemned by Unicef, Mecca's busy bulldozers have barely raised a whisper of protest."

"'The house where the Prophet received the word of God is gone and nobody cares,' says Dr Angawi. 'I don't want trouble. I just want this to stop.'"

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All Muslims should want this to stop.

This is the second blog entry on this subject in the past several months, the first one being Historic Sites in Makkah Threatened. Please take the time during Ramadan to make some du'a that these idiotic crimes come to an end!

Deen On...

Worthwhile "Thoughts on a visit to the Mosque"

Today I found a link to a unique blog posting that I just have to share. Out of curiosity and a desire to understand our much maligned religion, a non-Muslim mother of four visited a mosque the other day. I think her thoughts on the appealing aspects of Islam are worthy of reading and keeping in mind, especially by those involved in community outreach (a.k.a. da'wah). It's always nice to read something by a perceptive and opened-minded person. Anyway, here's the link:

Thoughts on a visit to the Mosque

Enjoy...

Reading to Help Your Marriage

The other day, I was listening to a very motivating Ramadan advice by a well-known and respected American Muslim scholar. He took the opportunity during his short nasiha, as he often does, to give some advice to young couples in regards to straightening out their marriages. In this regard, he recommended reading -- especially for women -- The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, since even though it's "written by a nice Jewish lady who hates Islam, she knows what she's talking about when it comes to personal relationships".

Just after hearing this, I went out and purchased the book, and although I still haven't read much of it, from what I have seen I must say that I agree with the Shaykh's assessment. Indeed, it seems to be one of the better books written by a woman which attempts (often the operative word) to explain what makes men tick, especially in a marital sense. So many women authors out there seem to think they know, but a lot of them really don't have a clue. In my view, that alone is enough to explain why this erudite scholar endorsed this book by Dr. Laura.

During the talk, the Shaykh in question -- who will remain anonymous except to those of you who also listened to his Ramadan advice -- also recommended reading the chapter entitled Intimate Enemies, in Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman. I haven't read the chapter yet, but the title sounds interesting since it's an apt description of how some husbands and wives relate to each other.

Well this noble Shaykh sure does continue to amaze and impress me, since even though he's extremely pious, scrupulously conservative and a staunch advocate of traditional Islam -- and I've heard him recommend books from The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, to War at the Top of the World, by Eric S. Margolis -- and even seen him carrying around a biography of St. Augustine of Hippo, I never thought I'd hear him recommend a book by Dr. Laura. However, now that I've assessed the book, it's nice knowing that there are scholars around who are insightful enough to see the good in things regardless of who does them. It's a true blessing to be able to take advice from such people...and we pray that Almighty God preserves this Shaykh and his family for years to come!

Deen On...

Mutual Connections - A Treasure Trove of Guidance

I just discovered that Guidance Media has an on-line newsletter entitled Mutual Connections. There are three downloadable issues currently on-line ([1][2][3]), and they're all in Adobe Acrobat format. Not only do they look great, but they're full of some outstanding and valuable articles. Insha'llah, we'll be seeing more of these in the future...so pray that Allah Most High grants them success.

Deen On...

The Ramadan Sonnets

Audio versions of the The Ramadan Sonnets, which are a series of poems by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, can be found at Radio Islam. These poems, which are organized into three sections ([1] [2] [3]), are read by the author himself.

Enjoy...

Ramadan Fiqh - Fasting in the Maliki Madhhab

The Zaytuna Institute has posted three lectures, each roughly about an hour long, by Sidi Muhammad Rami Nsour in which he discusses the details of fasting according to the Maliki madhhab. They can be found under the Ramadan Audio heading in the 2005 / 1426 Ramadan Section, which has a lot of other nice material as well. These lectures, as well as quite a few others, can be found in the Multimedia section as well.

Deen On...

And You Thought It Was Just the Saudis...

As the article linked to below explains, "as the White House presses Saudi Arabia to permit women to drive, an ultra-Orthodox community in New York has launched a campaign to reassert its ban on female motorists" - and some of their rules are even more strict than ultraconservative Saudi Arabia. According to the article, husbands and wives "must walk on different sides of the street" (someone please explain the logic behind that!!!) and a woman can't even sit in the front seat of a car, much less be a driver:

Hasidic Village Keeps Women Out of the Driver's Seat
by Steven I. Weiss

Also in regards to the above article...I always feel the need to include a disclaimer when I post something like this, since so many people seem to have a knack for missing the point when I take a not-so-subtle swipe at Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, the point of this post isn't to imply that all conservative standards adhered to in Saudi Arabia are out-of-date and that they should just give in and modernize. Far from it, since many of their practices, for both men and women, are in keeping with the highest standards of Islamic modesty. However, in a day and age where jet planes regularly carry young Saudi males to Morocco, Thailand and other such destinations of ill repute, and where satellite television pumps all kinds of haram images into their erstwhile Muslim homes, I just wonder what kind of impact their suffocating brand of conservatism is having psychologically on the younger generation.

To be effective, modesty and chastity eventually has to be voluntary and based on taqwa, or else it will often backfire. I saw this clearly and repeatedly while attending college, since fellow students who were raised in very conservative Christian homes were most often the ones who really went to extreme excesses with their new found freedoms.

A few decades ago, the younger generation in Saudi Arabia didn't know what they were missing in regards to the proverbial “forbidden fruit” in far off (and not so far off) exotic lands, but now they're seeing it everyday on TV. This, coupled with all of the barriers to getting married in the Kingdom due to ridiculously high mahrs (i.e. dowries), etc., is allegedly already causing an increased rate of very haram activites, up to and including increased homosexual activity.

I don't find this hard to believe. Just think about it: sensual images and provocative music are regularly pumped into the heads of young men – heads that are attached to bodies full of raging hormones. In the past, not only were the images and music not present, but since they married young they had a lawful outlet for their urges. In present day Saudi Arabia, where halal outlets are very hard to come by -- and that sounds a lot cruder than is intended -- due to some of their rather unIslamic cultural practices, it seems that necessity -- or at least irrestrainable lust -- has indeed become the mother of invention.

The analogy of trying to hold the top on a pressure-cooker is an apt one, since the longer you try to hold the lid on the more forcibly and loudly it will eventually explode -- and it will eventually explode. It may not do so openly on a societal scale, but it will start doing so on an individual level -- and thus it will be more hidden and a much easier problem for the authorities to simply deny. The celibacy of Roman Catholic priests is regularly and quite rightly criticized by Muslims as being against human nature. However, it seems that societal issues in Saudi Arabia, coupled with the advances of globalization, have conspired to create a situation that is pretty much in conflict with human nature as well. We all now know the dark side of what was really going on in the lives of allegedly celibate Roman Catholic priests, and I fear that we might be hearing some ugly tales coming out of Saudi Arabia if the current trends continue…and we already are hearing some things as the links above attest to.

Yes, we have to call to and maintain the highest moral and Islamic standards -- and we should want nothing less -- but sometimes I fear that forcing things on the youth "Taliban style" will eventually backfire. Not that I have any solutions for this problem, other than the recommendation that we ban TV...but even that piece of sound advice makes me sound like a prudish Taliban to many people. In today’s world, conservative God-fearing societies face a real challenge in inculcating their values in the up and coming generations. This isn't just a Saudi problem, but every believing Muslim's problem. May Almighty God help us all…

Deen On…

A Muslim Woman's Frustrated Voice: "Back Off"

Today I was trying to find some good articles that address misconceptions about the position of women in Islam, since I've received some inquiries about this from some non-Muslim women. During my search, I happened to come across Umm Zaid's rant against all of the "pundits, experts, politicians, and journalists out there" who try to speak for Muslim women and quickly remembered why her article remains one of my favorites. Umm Zaid tells the so-called "experts", including unveiled and so-called non-practicing Muslim women like Fatima Mernissi and Asma Gull Hasan, to "Get real and back off". So if you're wondering what a Muslim woman thinks about the "help" that the liberals are offering, well here it is:

Unveiled Frustrations: Notes to Non-Muslims from a Muslim Woman
by Saraji Umm Zaid

Pray that strong sisters like this continue to Deen On and tell it like it is...

If Americans Knew...The Truth About What's Going on in Israel/Palestine

I just happened to come across the If Americans Knew website today. The subtitle to the site is "what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine", and it contains a wealth of information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including comparative facts on children killed, deaths, injuries, U.S. Aid, U.N. Resolutions, prisoners, homes destroyed, unemployment rates and illegal settlements.

Also, their Media Analysis section contains some great information exposing the double-standards and slanted reporting of some well known news agencies. For a couple of examples of this, check out Off the Charts and Accuracy in Israel/Palestine Reporting - San Francisco Chronicle.

Please remember to share this with a friend...and Deen On.

On Temporary Repentance in Ramadan

Sister Nzingha, while on her soapbox the other day, asked a couple of very pertinent questions in regards to immoral television programs which are blocked from being on the air in Saudi Arabia during the month of Ramadan: "If there is something wrong with the programming then why show it at any other time during the year?" and "...if it’s wrong in this month what makes it right in the other 11 months of the year?" Good questions that are worthy of reflection!

Bringing up these perceptive questions isn't meant to be a swipe at the government of Saudi Arabia (although plenty is called for there), but rather it's meant to bring attention to a dangerous habit that seems to be rife amongst Muslims. The nefarious practice that I'm referring to is the one in which Muslims abstain from certain sinful practices during Ramadan all the while maintaining an intention to go back to these sins once Ramadan is complete – whether it be smoking, listening to music, watching bad movies or even not praying. The Muslims who seem to have fallen into this trap – and may Almighty God bless them for the good that they do both in and out of Ramadan – seem to be unaware that one of the requirements of an acceptable repentance is a sincere intention never to return to the sin being repented from.

We pray that God saves us from such a moral quagmire and gives us the ability to see ourselves as we truly are!

Deen On...

Upcoming Zaytuna Minara Program - Tampa, FL

The Zaytuna Institute announced today that they will be conducting, insha’llah, one of their weekend Minara Programs the weekend of November 19th and 20th, 2005, in Tampa, Florida. This will be a two-day intensive workshop taught by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir. This new program, several of which have already been conducted in various locations in North America, provides a concentrated educational format in which selected topics are taught in two, day-long sessions to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. The Zaytuna Minara Program is open to all students, new and experienced, with no application required. All wayfarers are welcome. Topics covered in this program include: Practical Steps to Change Our Condition, Taqwa: Its Definition and Its Benefits, The Heart and Its Treatment, Civic Involvement, and a series of exercises for achieving Taqwa.

For more details, please visit the Zaytuna Minara Program page or download the program flyer [Adobe Acrobat - 393 KB]. Also, please assist in promoting this event by downloading, printing, posting and distributing both the program flyer and poster [Adobe Acrobat - 393 KB]. We pray that this program and all other endeavors by the Zaytuna Institute and its noble scholars meet with success both now and in the future, Amin!

Live Radio Interview with Shaykh Nuh Keller

From DeenPort.com: Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller had agreed to a live interview with Awaz FM 107.2 (Glasgow, Scotland), which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Saturday, October 15th, between 10pm-12am GMT (which should be between 6pm-8pm on the East Coast of the U.S.), insha'llah.

To listen to the interview, visit the Radio Awaz website and click on the "Listen Live Now !!" button on the left side of the screen. It's rare that Shaykh Nuh agrees to a live interview, so try to listen if you can. I except it that it will provide some beneficial advice.

Deen On...

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October 20th Update: An MP3 file of the first 15 minutes of the interview can be downloaded here. [3,577 KB]

Muslim Named One of Top 10 College Women

Glamour Magazine has named Ghofrane Benghanem, a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), as one of its Top 10 College Women. The hijab-wearing nineteen year old is described as a "tutor, biochemistry and biophysics student, Muslim, hospital volunteer, woman mentor, biomedical researcher, community advocate, teaching assistant, and more". Here's a brief write up from the RPI website:

Rensselaer Senior Named One of Top 10 College Women by Glamour Magazine

Way to go sister! This should not be taken as an endorsement for Glamour Magazine, but rather is simply recognizing that they didn't let the fact that Ghofrane Benghanem is a Muslim who wears a hijab get in the way of honoring her accomplishments.

Deen On...