Islam and the Rule of Law

Yesterday, while doing some searches on the SunniPath.com Fiqh Q&A database I happened to come across a response by Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad entitled Contemnor's Right to a Fair Trial, which relates to his article Nigeria's Ugly Pageant. Even though both of these responses relate to events that took place back in 2002, they're still very much worth reading due to their current relevance. One of the main reasons for this relevance is that there seem to be far too many Muslims today who believe that they can take the law into their own hands in spite of Sunni Islam's great emphasis on rule of law.

Indeed, "due procedure is required" when anyone is accused of a capital crime under Islamic law, and this includes "hearing, examination, sentence, conviction, possible execution, all of which the responsibility of the accredited authorities." The requirement for lawful and "accredited authorities" is key, since this certainly nips in the bud the false idea that one can take the law in their own hands.

While searching on SunniPath.com, I also came across the following responses by Shaykh Gibril that deal with issues that are commonly misunderstood, deserve more publicity or are simply worth knowing:

• No Clergy or Hierarchy in Islam?


• Is the Satanic Verses Story True?


• Marriage Between a Muslim Girl & Devout Christian Man


• How Old is Islam?


• The Veil In Islam


• 'Salafi' Tampering of Riyad al-Salihin


• What is the Sunnah?

Deen On...

Was Sufism in Disarray before Imam al-Ghazali?

Yesterday, I found an audio response by Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller to the following question: Was Sufism in Disarray until Ghazali Came? As the Shaykh makes clear, the short answer is "No", but he discusses this issue in considerable detail since, due to Orientalist distortions of Islamic history, there are a lot of misunderstandings in this regard—especially amongst Muslims educated in the West.

In this same response, which is about seven minutes and forty seconds in duration, the Shaykh also addresses the question of whether there was a "huge divide" between the scholars of the "outward sciences" and the Sufis that was only resolved after Imam al-Ghazali came. Again, the short answer is "No", but please listen to the entire response so that you get all of the details.

Deen On...

Shafi'i Fiqh Resources

This post is more of a question than a statement, since I'm hoping to obtain some information from my well-informed readers. My question is...If one were considering adopting the Shafi'i madhhab, are there any good resources in English for learning about it other than the ones listed below?

BOOKS:

• Reliance of the Traveller:
  The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law
  by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller
  
  
• Al-Maqasid: Nawawi's Manual of Islam
  Translated and Notes by Nuh Ha Mim Keller
  
  
• Fiqh Al-Ibadat - Jurisprudence of Worship
  According to the Shafi'i School of Thought
  by Hajjah Durriah Al-Aytah, Translated by Dr. Lama Al-Jabban
  
  
• Tuh-fatul Ikhwaan
  by Moulana Muhammad Ibrahim Ba'k
  
  
• A Sunni Shafi'i Law Code
  by Anwar Ahmad Qadri
  
  

ON-LINE COURSES:

• Essentials of Worship (Shafi'i Fiqh) - Part 1
  Purification and Prayer - Based on Imam Nawawi's Al-Maqasid
  Course Code: LA110-1S — Teacher: Sidi Hamza Karamali


• Essentials of Worship (Shafi'i Fiqh) - Part 2
  Zakat, Fasting, Hajj, and Sufism - Based on Imam Nawawi's Al-Maqasid
  Course Code: LA110-2S — Teacher: Sidi Hamza Karamali

Please let me know...

Updates at Islamic Awareness

There have been several interesting updates posted to the Islamic-Awareness.org site in recent weeks. These include images of the Arabic Islamic inscriptions on the interior of Dome of the Rock (Qubat al-Sakhirah) and the copper plaque inscriptions as well, both of which date to just 72 years after the Hijra.

There's also a nice refutation of the Orientalist Nöldeke's claim that the Prophet Muhammad—salla Allahu 'alayhi was salam—was "ignorant" of everything outside of Arabia. The example given to support this assertion was that the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi was salam—made the fertility of Egypt, where precipitation is generally rather light, dependent on rain instead of the inundation of the Nile. As to who exactly is ignorant about the facts of ancient Egypt is discussed in the article Theodor Nöldeke And Fertility In Ancient Egypt.

Similarly, it has been claimed by Christian missionaries that al-`Aziz is "an anachronistic title" given to Potiphar in the story of Joseph (Yusuf) in the Qur'an. What is actually anachronistic is made clearer in the article Al-`Aziz & Potiphar: A Confused Nomenclature?

In regards to the Bible, the question of whether there has been a uniform canon of the Bible from apostolic times or has there been a uniform misrepresentation of the historical processes relating to the conception, formation and closure of the biblical canons is dealt with. While Christian missionaries have claimed that the formation of the New Testament canon was complete in the 4th century CE, The Formation And Closure Of Biblical Canons: A Multifaceted Development discusses whether this claim is true. This article charts the course of history of the biblical canon and lists various canons of the Bible in different churches. The thorny question of whether the canon is open or closed is addressed, as is the manuscript evidence for a twenty-six book New Testament canon. Additionally, a critical appraisal of evangelical, missionary and apologist claims regarding the history, formation and closure of the biblical canons, especially the twenty-seven book canon of the New Testament, is provided.

On a similar note, I encourage everyone to take a look at this month's Book-of-the-Month selection, which is entitled Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. This latest book by Bart D. Ehrman, a renowned biblical scholar, is a captivating and fascinating look at the textual history of the New Testament that all Muslims involved in da'wah should be aware of. In contrast to his very scholarly and detailed The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament, this new work by Dr. Ehrman is written for the layman. Not only does it give a general historical overview of the textual criticism of the New Testament, along with three glaring and in-depth examples of textual corruption, but it also contains an intriguing autobiographical account of Bart Ehrman's journey from being a naive Born-Again Christian to becoming a world-renowned scholar of Biblical manuscripts...and I plan to write more about later, insha'llah.

Enjoy and Deen On...

ReflectOnThis Now Live

Sidi Khalil Moore has a new blog entitled ReflectOnThis, which can be found here. He's an American convert to Islam that has studied in al-Madinah, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen, and who currently resides in the U.A.E. The Answer, which explains how he came to embrace Islam, and a brief travel log entitled Before His Death: A Quest for Sacred Knowledge, can be found on his new blog and are certainly worth reading.

ReflectOnThis also contains some other never before seen content, including some of Sidi Khalil's own translations of classical Arabic texts ([1][2][3][4]), as well as a selection of hot book links and other material as well—so be sure to check it out. We're happy that his blog has finally gone live and we expect to benefit from it in the future, insha'llah.

Deen On...

New Islamic Directions...and Translations

New Islamic Directions, a website "dedicated to disseminating the work of Imam Zaid Shakir", has posted a new translation of Al-Burhan al-Mu'ayyad, a classical work on Sufism authored by Ahmad ar-Rifa'i (died 578 A.H.) who is "one of the great scholars and spiritual guides of the Ummah." This was produced as part of their on-going translation project, so we hope to see more from them in the future, insha'llah. This site also has a lot of Imam Zaid's essays in the articles section. Just in case you missed it above, here's the link to the translation:

Al-Burhan Al-Mu'ayyad [171 KB Adobe Acrobat file]

Also, in case you don't already know, Imam Zaid has a new book out entitled Scattered Pictures: Reflections of An American Muslim, which is available from New Islamic Directions, Alhambra Productions and, of course, Amazon.com. I already have a copy of this book, and even though it contains some previously published essays, it's well worth purchasing not only for the new material but because the other essays are worth re-reading as well.

Deen On...

Remembering the WWI Vets Who Are Still Alive

Since Armistice Day (a.k.a. Veterans Day in the U.S.A.) just passed us by, I thought it was rather timely that I came across an article about the few remaining veterans of the First World War that are still alive. I was a bit surprised to find this article, but I guess I shouldn't have been, since living past one hundred years old isn't all that uncommon these days. However, out of the millions who served Britain in the "War to End All Wars" a mere ten survive. They're all that remain of a young generation that was squandered on the fields of Flanders...

The Race to Remember
by Megan Lane
BBC News Magazine - 11 November 2005

As someone who has had a life-long interest in military history, World War One has always fascinated me. One reason for this is that it's one of the greatest examples of not only the senselessness of war, but also a towering example of just how bull-headed and cold-blooded both military and civilian leaders can be. In addition to classics like All Quite on the Western Front, one of the best books for getting a feel for the huge number of human lives that were expended in order to capture tiny patches of real estate is Alistair Horne's The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916.

Other notable books on The Great War, which it was called until the even greater Second World War came about, include Dare Call It Treason, by Richard M. Watt, that I quickly read cover-to-cover after stumbling across it at a local book store. It's the only book that I know of which covers the little-known mutinies of the bloodied, frustrated and demoralized French Army of 1917 in sufficient detail.

However, a true non-fiction classic is Barbara W. Tuchman's The Guns of August. Based on some of her other books, one might well accuse her of being an Islamophobe, but that's worth setting aside in order to enjoy this book about the origins of the First World War. Since it reads like a thriller, this fascinating and well-written book is nothing like the dry history that you learned in high school. As you read, you'll become increasingly fascinated and disgusted about how such a costly war was fought for no real reason. Indeed, rather than being fought over natural resources, ideology, religion or one of the other usual reasons, the First World War started when diplomatic stupidity and military paranoia caused mobilization plans to essentially take on a life of their own...and the rest is history.

Another worthwhile example of the type of slaughter that this war led to is A Storm in Flanders, by Winston Groom, who is also the author of Forrest Gump [Paperback][DVD]. As with other infamous meat-grinder battles such as Verdun and the Somme, the number of casualties produced in the Ypres are mind-boggling. Indeed, they make the number of casualties in the current Iraq War seem almost like child's play — and know that on the first day of the Somme offensive the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including over 19,240 who were killed outright or later died of wounds. Again, those were casualties for one day in which they only were able to advance, at most, several hundred meters from the trench line where they began. If you wonder how they managed to lose so many soldiers, especially when they were often deeply entrenched (although at the Somme the British marched straight into a steady stream of machine gun and cannon fire), here are some astonishing before and after photos of what massed artillery fire can do.

Such slaughter wasn't limited to the Western Front, since during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, which was an amphibious attack along the coast of Turkey (which was still known as the Ottoman Empire), over 140,000 Allied troops became casualties (a number which doesn't even include at least another 140,000 lost due to disease). Gallipoli, by Alan Moorehead, remains about the best book on this unmitigated disaster for the Allies. This campaign, which eventually became an Ottoman victory (in spite of the fact that they lost over 200,000 soldiers in the campaign), had important ramifications for Turkey since it catapulted Kemal Atatürk to great fame and power. Likewise, the First World War produced some dire consequences for the entire Middle East, as David Fromkin demonstrates in his brilliant A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. After reading this must read book, it's easy to see how we're still living in the shadow of World War One, since many of the conflicts that are still on-going today, including those in Palestine and Iraq, have their roots in British and French actions at the end of the war in 1918.

To get a authentic feel of what it was like fighting in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography probably has the most renowned reputation and is certainly one of the best, if not the best, autobiography to come out of the war. Since it seems to be a twist on this title, although its author never admits this fact, I'll take the opportunity to mention Hello to All That: A Memoir of War, Zoloft, and Peace, by John Falk, which I read several months ago. It's a well told tale of a mentally ill American who decides to become a war correspondent and thus ends up in besieged Sarajevo during the latter stages of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. It's an interesting read, although not a great one, mainly because it contains some rather unexpected and colorful episodes. These somewhat make up for the fact that it has less about the actual war than I expected. If you're looking for that, read My War Gone By, I Miss It So, by Anthony Loyd, which is grisly, shocking and all that sort of thing. I found it interesting that these two books, along with War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, by Chris Hedges, tend to agree that the adrenaline rush of war is much like an addictive drug — and it's a drug that soldiers, war correspondents and others easily get hooked on. You can read my review of Chris Hedges' book, in which this topic is touched upon in some detail, here.

Below I've posted what is probably the most famous poem to come out of the First World War (at least in English) in a late tribute to all of the veterans on both sides. Keep in mind that a considerable number of these veterans were Muslims, since not only were there a lot of Muslims amongst the British and French colonial troops, many of whom served with distinction in the trenches, but there were hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Turks who served as well.

Here endeth the history lesson...

---

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— by LtCol. John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

---

New Articles from Guidance

Guidance Media has posted some new articles, all of which are well worth reading:

• Desert Roads [2,176 KB Adobe Acrobat file]
  by Mustafa Shaheed Davis


• The Fellowship of Tarim, Yemen [308 KB Adobe Acrobat file]
  by Hasan Hatem


• From Convent to Convert [422 KB Adobe Acrobat file]
  By Umm Abdul-Karim Yahya

I have to admit that this last one, in which the mother of American convert Abdul Karim Yahya explains why she embraced Islam at the age of 70, is my favorite.

Deen On...

Saved by the Veil

The interesting article linked to below helps shatter some common stereotypes about Muslim women. It focuses on a new book by Na'ima Bint Robert, a British convert to Islam, entitled From My Sister's Lips and profiles several other converts as well.

The Veil has set us free
by Diana Appleyard and Rachel Halliwell
Financial Mail Women's Forum - May 1st, 2005

For more myth-shattering information about Muslim women, click here, here, here, here and here.

Deen On...

Death in Jordan - The Scourge of the Takfiris

Our prayers go out to all of the people in Jordan who were injured in the recent terrorist attacks, and our condolences go out to all of the families and friends of those who were killed. Also, we pray that Almighty God removes this bloody fitna of ignorance from our Ummah and frees us from the scourge of these takfiri neo-Khawarij who continue to tarnish the name of Islam.

For those of you who haven't read the details of the dreadful attack on a Muslim wedding ceremony, in which fifty-seven people were killed, please read the following:

Blind Terror Blasts Raise Fury in Jordan
by Bassiouni Al-Wakil - IslamOnline.net

With Three Blasts, the Mundane and Joyous Alike Are Transformed Into the Unthinkable
by Michael Slackam - The New York Times (11/11/2005)

Moustapha Akkad, 'The Message' filmmaker, dies in Amman explosions
Jordan Times - November 12, 2005

The Human Toll of the Jordan Suicide Bombings
NPR - All Things Considered - November 11, 2005

[All of the above links are courtesy of Seeker's Digest.]

Likewise, if anyone somehow thinks that these criminal acts were somehow "Islamic" in nature, please refer to Defending the Civilians: Mudafi' al-Mazlum, which is a scholarly explanation of why suicide-bombing is undoubtedly unlawful (haram) in Islam, as well as "Monkey See, Monkey Do" - Not An Islamic Ideal which addresses some of the various questions related to this matter.

Deen On...

The Fitna of Takfir and Kharijism

The following, which is an excerpt from Shaykh Gibril Haddad's New Kharijism, is well worth reading:

---

Since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, the only manifestation of Kharijism to remain is the declaring of Muslims apostate. The exercise of takfîr and tashrîk are therefore the chief marks by which neo-Kharijis can be recognized in our time. They are those who address the Muslims with the shouts and libels of kâfir! mushrik! kufr! bid`a! shirk! harâm! ("apostate," "polytheist," "unbelief," "innovation," "idolatry," "forbidden") without proof nor justification other than their own vain lusts - and without solution other than exclusionism and violence against anyone that disagrees with them.

They satisfy their consciences that such charges may carry capital punishment in Islam and so make light of the sanctity of life and the honor of their brethren. As Shaykh al-Islam said: "Extremists are fanatic zealots who exceed bounds in words and deeds" and "bigots" [Imam Al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim (16:220 and 7:214)].

So, to perpetrate takfîr of the Muslims today makes one a Khariji, regardless whether one calls oneself Sunni, "Salafi," Ash`ari, Shi`i, Sufi, or Ibadi.

The chief brand of New Kharijism distinguishes itself by three main principles which we may call their Usul al-Thalatha `inda al-Khawarij al-Jadida:

1.) Tajsîm al-Ma'bûd: Attributing a body to the object of Islamic worship, i.e. anthropomorphism of the Deity.

2.) Adhâ al-Mustafâ: Harming the Prophet through disrespect of his noble person, Mosque, grave, vestiges, Family and Companions, those who visit, love, and praise him; and disparaging or disdaining his intercessor-status.

3.) Tafkîk Madhâhib al-A'imma: Dismantlement of the Schools and methods of the Sunni Imams of the Muslims past and present including:

(a) The Imams of Sunni doctrine ('aqîda): al-Ash`ari and al-Maturidi, and their Schools. (b) The Imams of Sunni jurisprudence (fiqh): Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and their Schools or madhâhib, sing. madhhab. (c) The Imams of Sunni morals (akhlâq) known as the Poles (aqtâb, sing. qutb) of the science of soul-purification (tasawwuf): al-Junayd, al-Gilani, al-Shadhili, al-Rifa`i, al-Jishti, al-Suhrawardi, Shah Naqshband, al-Tijani, and their Schools, known as Paths (turuq, sing. tarîqa).

Since all sincere Muslims are "People Who Hold That Allah is Transcendent" (Ahl al-Tanzîh) and are people who love their Prophet , it follows that this third principle - dismantlement of Sunni Schools - is by far the most harmful tenet of New Kharijism in our time and its most devastating achievement.

This dismantlement has polluted pure belief with nagging doubts in our pious Muslim Predecessors (al-Salaf al-Sâlih) and a general arrogant rejection of Islamic authority resulting in libeling whoever follows a madhhab a "blind follower" (muqallid a'mâ), whoever adheres to the Sunni Ash`ari creed a "Jahmi nullifier of the Divine Attributes" (mu'attil), and whoever follows a Sufi path, a "shaykh-worshipping grave-lover" (turuqî qubûrî)!

These despicable labels are all the more ironic in light of the fact that it is usually those who apply them who are more aptly characterized by what they pretend to blame. Thus, they accuse us of blind-following but are themselves immersed up to their necks in the blind-following of innovators such as al-Albani who confessed not having memorized the Book of Allah nor a single book of hadith; Ibn Baz the mufti of flip-flops, al-Jaza'iri who decided who goes to Paradise and who goes to Hell, and countless others of those the Prophet warned us about in the hadith of "the minor scoundrels"!

---

The rest of this important article can be read here.

A Critical Reading of Martin Lings' Prophetic Biography

Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad has written an informative Foreword to the first Swedish translation of Martin Lings' Muhammad [saaws]: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources which can be found by clicking on the following link:

A Critical Reading of Martin Lings' Muhammad [saaws]: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources [135 KB Acrobat .pdf file]

In this document, Shaykh Gibril offers a fair, balanced and rather detailed look at both the merits and the shortcomings of Dr. Lings' well known work of Prophetic biography — which remains one of the best written in the English language. Even though I expect that some readers will be offended by any criticism of the late Martin Lings' work, after reading this even-handed critique I think it should become painfully clear that this particular book, in spite of its substantial merits, certainly has some flaws that need to be addressed.

I found it refreshing that the paper addresses the "well known 'Perennialist' deviations in flat contradiction of Quran, Sunna, and Consensus" in enough detail to substantiate this charge. This is critical, since from what I've seen many of those who try to defend the assertion that the perennialist philosophy and Orthodox Islam are in agreement regarding the current validity of non-Muslims religions usually prefer to stay in the arena of vague generalities rather than addressing the unwanted details. In this case, Shaykh Gibril deals with the facts in painstaking detail, but the facts are all that he deals with, since he wisely avoids jumping to any distasteful conclusions or making any unnecessary speculations regarding the extent of Dr. Lings' perennialist beliefs and to what degree his beliefs could be squared with the beliefs of the Ahl al-Sunnah. As we said in a posting back in May 2005, "We pray that Allah Most High has mercy on Dr. Martin Lings, overlooks any of his faults, errors, or mistakes — real or perceived — and judges him by the best of what he did...Amîn."

In this paper, Shaykh Gibril also takes the opportunity to mention the dismal status of the Islamic book publishing industry. I certainly agree with his assertion that "[m]ore than ninety-nine percent of all those editions, translations, thoughts and philosophies are unfit for publication" since there does seem to be a lot of useless fluff on the shelves and, unfortunately, most Muslims don't know an authentic book written by qualified scholars from a half-baked patchwork of texts assembled by an unqualified scholar wannabe with a modernist agenda.

Unfortunately, there is another category of books that belongs in the dismal category, but for wholly different reasons. These are books which are written by erudite scholars and skillfully translated as well, but which are an embarrassment in regards to typesetting, cover design and quality of printing. This is the case with the recently printed The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography & A Brief History of the Orthodox Caliphate, by Dr. M. Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti, which although a unique and analytical work in the original Arabic, the English version leaves a lot to be desired in the realm of aesthetics.

And so not to sound unduly pessimistic, in recent years there has been a real upsurge in quality Islamic publishing in English. From what I know, this trend was essentially started by the Islamic Texts Society back in 1981 and is now being carried out by quite a few others. Indeed, there now seem to be so many reputable publishers of well translated and fine looking classical texts, that it's difficult to keep track of them all ([1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9])...and we pray that this trend continues, insha'llah.

In conclusion, I recommend that everyone read Shaykh Gibril Haddad's A Critical Reading of Martin Lings' Muhammad [saaws]: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources with an open mind. Additionally, in spite of its shortcomings, I also recommend purchasing a copy of The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic Biography & A Brief History of the Orthodox Caliphate, by Dr. M. Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti, since the merits of the beneficial knowledge which it contains far outweigh its cosmetic flaws. Likewise, another very worthwhile book on Prophetic sirah that has also been translated into English, this time from a seminally popular classical work which is truly a fountain of barakah, is Aisha Bewley's rendering of Qadi 'Iyad's Ash-Shifa', which is available from the IslamicBookstore.com and probably other Islamic booksellers as well. I highly recommend this book since, simply put, there is none other like it in regards to presenting many unique details on the life, status and blessed character of our Noble Messenger - salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam.

Deen On...

On Unenlightened Feminism and Praying for Show

Well Shaykh Gibril Haddad really brings down the house in his latest article...the House of Progressive Islam. Please make haste to read An Innovation of Misguidance: Am?na Wadud’s Unenlightened Feminism [48 KB Acrobat .pdf file], which is certainly the most pointed, devastating and painfully true exposé of the sham of so-called "Progressive Islam" that I'm yet to read.

This article touches upon a myriad of flaws and shortcomings that seem to be inherent in the "Progressive Islam" movement in general, but it also deals with the specific missteps, bloopers and flat-out ignorance surrounding Amina Wadud's now infamous publicity stunt. Probably the most damning aspect of all this, as Shaykh Gibril astutely observes, is that Amina Wadud hijacked Divinely ordained worship — worship that is meant to focus human beings solely on their Lord — in order to put forward her half-baked agenda. Indeed, the article makes it clear that Wadud, by her own admission, used the sanctity of Islamic prayer as "simply a public announcement".

Overall, An Innovation of Misguidance: Am?na Wadud’s Unenlightened Feminism is a much welcomed addition to all of the scholarly rebuttals of the incredibly shallow movement called "Progressive Islam" — a movement which seems to be hobbled by an almost shocking ignorance of the Islam that it's allegedly trying to “fix”. This alone more than accounts for their complete lack of credibility amongst traditional God-fearing Muslims — Muslims who actually know something about their religion and try to practice it — in contrast to the “non-practicing” Muslims and easily bamboozled non-Muslim supporters of Amina Wadud. Actually, I think it's actually somewhat of a shame that scholars like Shaykh Gibril even have to waste their precious time deconstructing antics that are so foolish and refuting arguments that are so specious...but such is the nature of our age.

Deen On...

Some Links from Down Under

Well here are a couple of useful links, both of which are coincidentally from Australia. The first is an insightful, timely and forthright presentation on Why violence against women is a men's issue, which I encourage all men to read. The most disturbing aspect of this, other than the abuse itself, are the double standards that are so often present when it comes to the treatment of women within some, but certainly not all, Muslim cultures. Sure, a lot of this comes from cultural influences and acute ignorance of Islam, but sometimes even so-called "religious" Muslims (i.e. they have all the external niceties, but not much knowledge and even less compassion) are guilty of this as well. Instances where just the women get punished but not the men, or the rules being enforced on women but not on men, should disgust every Muslim who is familiar with the Sunnah of our Noble Messenger — salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam.

Personally, I find it ironic that such things go on within so-called "shame cultures" which allegedly place so much emphasis upon personal honor, because from my perspective cowardly actions against women do nothing but dishonor those who carry them out while casting shame upon our Ummah as a whole. Indeed, they seem to be about as contrary to the values of futuwwa (noble chivalry) that the Sunnah exemplifies as anything that I can think of. Not only do shameful actions against women fail to live up to the ideal of always helping the weak and less fortunate (which many women are these days), but it contradicts basic justice as well — another Islamic value that often seems in short supply these days.

I don't plan to speculate on "What went wrong?" or "How did we get this way?", but rather I'll simply encourage all Muslims to keep an eye out for such double standards and to try to do something about them — with patience, humility and hikmah of course. I long for the day that I will no longer see a Muslim woman in full jilbab and niqab walking down the street on a hot and humid summer afternoon accompanied by her clean-shaven husband who is wearing shorts that expose his thighs. Aghghgh!

The other link from (actually to) Australia is for the website of a new traditional Islamic institution which, also rather coincidentally, happens to be named for a Muslim woman — the beloved Mother of the Believers and wife of our Noble Prophet — salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam, Aisha bint Abu Bakr — radi Allahu anha. The Daar Aisha is "an independent non-profit educational institution run by a group of individuals commited to spreading Islamic knowledge through traditional time-honoured methods". The founder and director of Daar Aisha Shariah College is Sheikh Abdul Moez Nafti, who has studied under a host of eminent scholars including Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Arna'ut and Dr. Mohammad Sa`id Ramadan Al-Bouti — may Allah bless them all.

Needless to say, I was very happy to see that traditional Islam is becoming more established in Australia. We have high hopes that Almighty God will bring their efforts to success, so please pray for them. They actually have a rihla planned for next year, so anyone willing to make the trip should check out the details, insha'llah.

Deen On...

Boys Will Be Boys - Torture in Iraq

Yes, boys will be boys, but that doesn't make their actions right. If you give a bunch of twenty-something young men guns and ammo, then send them over to fight in a frustrating counter-insurgency war against an enemy that has been almost thoroughly dehumanized in their brainwashed minds...bad things are going to happen. However, the seeming inevitability of excesses and attrocities when employing the blunt instrument of war doesn't make them right. Armies are not armed mobs and America is supposedly a country that places a premium value on the rule-of-law and on basic human dignity as well...and please hold your laughter until you finish reading this entire posting.

Indeed, the failure of U.S. leadership to make the best possible effort to act morally and without brazen double-standards in its so-called "War on Terror" — which includes Iraq, from their perspective, in spite of a lack of connections to 9/11 — is ultimately going to be its undoing. Once you surrender the moral high-ground, it's just a matter of time. Indeed, any people who oppress and abuse other people — especially when they're self-righteous, arrogant and doing it on a world-wide scale — are on their way down. Almighty God makes this abundantly clear in the Qur'an, and for those of you who don't believe in this Last Testament to all of mankind, well then just read some history since it will certainly validate my assertion that arrogant empires fall...

What got me started on this ramble is an article entitled Torture in Iraq, by Human Rights Watch, which I recently read on the New York Review of Books website. It's a harrowing article that should disgust everyone, but should surprise no one. I guess "should" is the operative word here, since I'm well aware that there are many people out there who will be surprised by it or who simply won't believe it. That's partly because conservative radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, both chickenhawks who have never even been in the military — much less a war, regularly put forward an idealized (and highly naive) view of the U.S. military which portrays them as a bunch of clean-cut "baseball and apple pie" Christian soldiers who regularly go out of their way to avoid hurting Iraqis. However, anyone with experience in the U.S. military, or who has read personal accounts of how U.S. soldiers (or any soldiers for that matter) have generally behaved during counter-insurgency operations in the 20th century, should be able to see right through this thinly veiled propaganda.

In short, we should be disgusted by what's going on in Iraq, but we shouldn't be surprised by any of it. The sad thing is that many Americans, with their radios and televisions tuned to FauxNews and other sources of misinformation, will either just go into denial about all of this (i.e. "it's all lies from the liberal media that hates America...") or will never hear about it in the first place. On that note, here (again) is the link to the article under discussion followed by some excerpts:

Torture in Iraq
by Human Rights Watch

"One officer and two noncommissioned officers (NCOs) of the 82nd Airborne who witnessed abuse, speaking on condition of anonymity, described in multiple interviews with Human Rights Watch how their battalion in 2003–2004 routinely used physical and mental torture as a means of intelligence gathering and for stress relief...According to their accounts, the torture and other mistreatment of Iraqis in detention was systematic and was known at varying levels of command."

"All three soldiers expressed confusion on the proper application of the Geneva Conventions on the laws of armed conflict in the treatment of prisoners. All had served in Afghanistan prior to Iraq and said that contradictory statements by US officials regarding the applicability of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Conclusion) contributed to their confusion, and ultimately to how they treated prisoners."

"The military has made no effort to conduct a broader criminal investigation focusing on how military command might have been involved in reported abuse, and the administration continues to insist that reported abuse had nothing to do with the administration's decisions on the applicability of the Geneva Conventions or with any approved interrogation techniques."

"The officer who spoke to Human Rights Watch made persistent efforts to raise concerns he had with superior officers up the chain of command and to obtain clearer rules on the proper treatment of prisoners. When he raised the issue with superiors, he was consistently told to keep his mouth shut, turn a blind eye, or consider his career. When he sought clearer procedures from general officers, he was told merely to use his judgment."

"On February 7, 2002, President George W. Bush announced that the Geneva Conventions concerning the treatment of prisoners did not apply at all to al-Qaeda members or to Taliban soldiers because they did not qualify as members of the armed forces. He insisted that detainees would nonetheless be treated "humanely." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told journalists that day: "The reality is the set of facts that exist today with the al-Qaeda and the Taliban were not necessarily the set of facts that were considered when the Geneva Convention was fashioned."

"The abuses alleged in this report can be traced to the Bush administration's decision to disregard the Geneva Conventions in the armed conflict in Afghanistan."

"The accounts presented in this report are further evidence that this decision by the Bush administration was to have a profound influence on the treatment of detained persons in military operations in Iraq as well as in the 'global war on terror'...coercive interrogation methods approved by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for use on prisoners at Guantánamo—including the use of guard dogs to induce fear in prisoners, stress techniques such as forced standing and shackling in painful positions, and removing their clothes for long periods...contributed to the widespread and systematic torture and abuse at US detention centers."

Imam Zaid "On the Passing of Rosa Parks"

No comments that I could make would do this article justice, so just read it...

On the Passing of Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
by Imam Zaid Shakir

"...because she sat a nation’s conscience was roused."

“How will history remember us?”

“Will we stand or will we sit?”

Deen On...