Mere Islam

Sheikh Nuh Keller on Good Character

2008-05-14T12:49:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I was listening to a lecture by Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller which he was giving to a group of his female students regarding proper Islamic adab (i.e. etiquette, manners and morals) when this gem of wisdom really struck me:

“First of all, to have the utmost concern for good character…to have the utmost concern for good character. Because good character—generally meaning being affable, and friendly, and helpful instead of the opposite of these things—it has a good affect on one’s self, first of all. It has a good affect on those around one—one’s husband and one’s children—and it has a good affect on one’s relations with other people. It has a good affect on the whole environment, and so this is the first thing. It’s a corrective; it’s something that if you do it, everything else will get straight—and so it’s of the utmost importance.”

Hearing the summary, which I’ve taken the liberty to highlight in bold, that good character is “being affable, and friendly, and helpful instead of the opposite of these things” made me seriously, and rather painfully, reflect on how well I live up to these ideals. Keeping in mind that it is related in the Muwatta of Imam Malik that the Prophet—salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa salam—said: "I was sent to perfect good character", there should be no doubt that trying to obtain such a state (hal) should indeed be of the utmost importance to every Muslim…thus I wanted to post this as a reminder to myself and to others.

On that note, I’ll mention that some new lectures by Sheikh Nuh are now available in the publicly-accessible Lessons section of the ShadhiliTeachings.com website, including important discussions on the impermissibility of pictures and musical instruments, as well as a profound exposé of the new fangled “fiqh of minorities” that we hear a lot about these days. To download these lessons in MP3 format, just click on the Frequently Asked Questions link after clicking on the Lessons tab (and I'm describing it in this way since direct links to the material on this site tend to be problematic).

As for the adab lesson for women which I mentioned initially, it can be found under the Lessons for Women header here.

Deen on...

Criticism of Israel and Anti-Semitism Are NOT Synonymous

2008-05-08T11:37:00.005-04:00

Here's some thoughtful and engaging commentary by Johann Hari who, in addition to his time spent undercover in extremist Islamist and neo-Nazi organizations, has become a critic of (at least some of) the actions of the State of Israel:

The Loathsome Smearing of Israel's Critics
by Johann Hari
The Independent - Thursday, 8 May 2008

Although in years past Hari worked undercover as an investigative reporter uncovering the ugly face of anti-Semitism in various places, which included the unfortunately rather easy job of documenting its prevalence amongst Islamic extremists, he has now been labeled an anti-Semite since he has the gall to criticize the inhumane actions of the Zionist government and their oppression of the Palestinian people. This gem of an article discusses everyone from Melanie Phillips and former President Jimmy Carter to Alan Dershowitz and Norman Finkelstein, and is thus highly recommended. It demonstrates once again that not only do the pro-Zionists not entertain such effrontery very well, but their responses are getting increasingly irrational and transparent. This is probably because the non sequitur of the "Criticism of Israel = Anti-Semitism" formula should be obvious to any morally decent person with a single active brain cell...especially when an increasing number of the critics are Jews and Israelis themselves.

For readers who may have been duped into believing that Islam condones anti-Semitism, then I suggest taking a look at Holocaust Denial Undermines Islam, by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, as well as all of our postings on the topics of Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Israel...keeping the title of this posting in mind while reading.

On that note, I'll add that there are a couple [(1)(2)] of new interviews with Norman Finkelstein out on YouTube.com that are well worth a watch. In the first one, although edited by the pro-Zionist group MEMRI, the truth still manages to come out...and it's great watching the former professor at DePaul University chastise the Lebanese interviewer. The latter video contains an interview with Riz Khan, formerly of CNN but now with Aljazeera, from July 2007, and focuses on the circumstances surrounding Finkelstein's denial of tenure by DePaul University, which was largely due to the efforts of Alan Dershowitz—Professor of Law at Harvard University, Advocate of Torture, Denier of the Plight of the Palestinian People, and Documented Plagiarizer.

Deen on...

Anis Shorrosh and the Fire

2008-05-04T02:04:00.008-04:00

The American Muslim (TAM) recently posted an interesting story which contains some links [(1)(2)] about the infamous Islam-basher and Arab Christian Evangelist Anis Shorrosh:

Anis Shorrosh and the Suspicious Fire
The American Muslim - May 1st, 2008

Allahu 'alim, but since I don't see Dr. Shorrosh as the worst of the worst as far as Islam bashers go, maybe God is trying to send him a wake-up call before it's too late. However, we should not be surprised when people who knowingly lie about Islam and our Noble Messenger—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—are brought low.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Shorrosh's book Islam Revealed: A Christian Arab's View Of Islam is a masterpiece of double-standards, bigotry and laughable ignorance. And for those who haven't seen it, his debate with Ahmed Deedat, which took place in London's Royal Albert Hall, is a classic. I believe that all or most of it can be found on YouTube.com.

Which reminds me...seventeen or so years ago when I first became interested in Islam, I ordered a copy of Anis Shorrosh's debate with Ahmed Deedat directly from his evangelical organization in Alabama. Even though one of his newsletters claimed that Muslims, allegedly fearing that more people would see his devastating anti-Islamic material, were editing out portions of his debates when they published them. However, I noticed that in the video that I received from his organization, Ahmed Deedat gave a very brief reply to a question from a Christian who wanted to know how we can be sure that Prophet Muhammad—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—is not the Anti-Christ. Even at that time I'd seen enough of Shaykh Deedat to know that if you give the man two minutes for a rebuttal, he was going to take all or most of the two minutes. In this case, however, his reply was oddly brief.

My curiosity got the best of me, and I ended up ordering a video of the same Shorrosh-Deedat debate from the New York office of Deedat's own Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI). As soon as the video arrived, I anxiously fast-forwarded to the part where Deedat is asked the question about Prophet Muhammad—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—being the Anti-Christ. However, on this tape...surprise, surprise...Ahmed Deedat was shown giving a lengthy response to the question...and a rather pointed one at that. Thus it was Anis Shorrosh, or at a minimum his organization, that I had caught red-handed editing the responses of the Muslims...seemingly out of fear of its potentially devastating impact. The TRUTH has a way of doing that, you know!

"Truly, those who oppose God and His Messenger will be disgraced, as those before them were disgraced..." (Qur'an 58:5)

Deen On...

Vatican: Islam is "World's Largest Religion"

2008-03-31T01:31:00.004-04:00

I just saw this a few minutes ago:

Muslims More Numerous Than Catholics
Vatican: Islam Surpasses Roman Catholicism As World's Largest Religion

The article stated that the Vatican newspaper admitted on Sunday that "Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion."

This should come as no surprise to believing Muslims, since the Qur'an says (9:33, 48:29 and 61:9): "It is He (i.e. Almighty God) Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth (i.e. Islam), to make it manifestly superior over all (other) religions even though the polytheists detest it."

Deen on...

Suhaib Webb on the Danish Cartoons

2008-02-15T11:29:00.002-05:00

Imam Suhaib Webb, the notable American Muslim scholar, has provided some wise and balanced advice in response to the question, "Please tell me as to what you think we can do as Muslims on the issue of the Cartoons?" Also, since the Danish cartoon controversy unfortunately surfaced in recent days, an excellent answer by Ustadh Abdul Sattar has been posted on SuhaibWebb.com which states that "It is time for Muslims to stop burning flags, and start burning their desires". Amîn!

Deen on...

Memorizing at Mount Hira

2008-02-15T11:07:00.002-05:00

A kufi-tip to Godblogger.org, which is a nice looking blog which I just came across this morning, since they let me know about MountHira.com—a site for memorizing the Qur'an and various du'a (supplications) that many Muslims will, insha'llah, find very useful.

Hifz on...

BBC: Sharia - The Clear Path

2008-02-15T10:26:00.004-05:00

The BBC has seen fit to post an excellent overview of the Islamic shari'ah by Sidi Faraz Rabbani of Seeker's Digest and SunniPath fame.

Sharia: The Clear Path
What is the the Philosophy of the Shariah?
By Faraz Rabbani
BBC Religion & Ethics - February 13th, 2008

While on the subject of the shari'ah, and in light of the recent remarks by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, I'll mention that there is some interesting discussions ([1][2]) going on which point out that separate Jewish religious courts already exist in the UK. However, this article, although from an oft-Islamophobic source, argues that Muslims are going further in their demands for official recognition of their religious courts than British Jews ever have...but Allahu 'alim on that.

I'll say that I was disappointed by the sensationalist—if not outright incorrect—title on the Pixelisation blog which claims "British Jews Support Dhimmitude" since nothing in the posting, nor in any statement that I've heard coming from a Jewish spokesperson in Britain, seems to support such a claim. Perhaps it would have been better if the author explained what type or interpretation of "Dhimmitude" that Jews (and was he making a sweeping and generalized statement about all of them?) in Britain allegedly "support".

As usual, Sidi Abdal Hakim Murad had some wise and level-headed thoughts to offer on the subject of Islamic shari'ah courts in Britain and the Archbishop of Canterbury's statement...so please read them here.

The BBC Religion & Ethics entry on Sharia actually contains four ([1][2][3][4]) parts, and I'm relieved that they didn't call it "Sharia Law" since that sounds rather redundant to me.

Deen on...

Alan Dershowitz and the Identical Errors Issue

2008-02-13T10:21:00.003-05:00

Here's a link to the latest CounterPunch Special Report, which offers a detailed analysis of the charges of plagiarism leveled against Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz by Norman Finkelstein. In his discussion of this ongoing debate, Frank J. Menetrez shows how Dershowitz is both desperately trying to avoid discussing the detailed evidence against him and has deliberately misrepresented the issues as presented by Finkelstein. This is a fascinating issue, which has still managed to stay under the radar of the mainstream media, that I've been tracking for a couple of years now since I find what Dershowitz has managed to get away with to be truly outrageous. Even though this latest article is rather lengthy, it actually serves as a rather useful summary of this ongoing and heavily documented saga. Due to this, I strongly recommend reading it since it not only cuts to the chase and focuses on the real issues, but also provides some perspective on what's really at stake in all of this:

The Case Against Alan Dershowitz
Plagiarism, Cover Up and Misrepresentations
By Frank J. Menetrez
CounterPunch.org - February 11, 2008

As the article points out, what lies at the heart of the case against Alan Dershowitz is the "identical errors argument"—which is why he has not only continually avoided discussing it, but deliberately misrepresented Finkelstein's case in order keep attention away from it. Upon looking at the evidence, Dershowitz's desperation is understandable, since he could be in some real hot water if Harvard ever initiated a forthright and detailed investigation. As Frank J. Menetrez states, "If Harvard never investigated the identical errors issue and Dershowitz has always known that, and if I am also right that Finkelstein's charge concerning the Twain quote is sound, then Dershowitz has committed academic misconduct on several levels." These "several levels" are then expounded upon. Once these are considered, along with the rest of the evidence that the article puts forward, I think any honest person should be outraged and frustrated by the fact that "No honest and competent investigation by Harvard would have held Dershowitz to a lower standard than Harvard sets for its freshmen." So what are they waiting for?

Well it seems that for awhile Dershowitz had them duped, but the article in question might just be one more step towards waking the Harvard University administration from their stupor. As Menetrez explains, "Dershowitz's characterizations of the dispute are demonstrably incorrect. The identical errors argument, which lies at the heart of Finkelstein's case, shows that the plagiarism charge is not a technical matter about citation style or about the definition of plagiarism. Rather, it is factual dispute about whether Dershowitz copied primary source material directly from Peters without citing Peters and without checking the primary source himself. Again, Dershowitz has known this since the fall of 2003. It thus appears that Dershowitz's strategy from the start has been to pretend that this factual dispute does not exist and to hope that no one will notice." Ouch!

And keep in mind, that this isn't just a petty squabble between a couple of Ivory Tower academics, since there are looming questions concerning not only ethics and the long-term reputation of one of the most respected universities in the world, but academic freedom as well. As Menetrez puts it, "this is not just between Harvard and Dershowitz, or between Dershowitz and Finkelstein. Rather, Harvard has a moral obligation to Finkelstein to acknowledge, at a bare minimum, that it has never completely cleared Dershowitz of Finkelstein's plagiarism charges, because it has never rejected Finkelstein's argument concerning the identical errors"—so don't let Dershowitz's smoke screen fool you.

We've blogged on The Dershowitz Hoax and related topics quite a few times before ([1][2][3][4][5][6]), so hopefully this latest post will server as a good synopsis for those who don't have the time to read Norman Finkelstein's entire book Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History and the whole host of articles on this topic. However, if you have time, take a few minutes and watch these videos, since they provide ample evidence on just how pathetic Alan Dershowitz really is.

Deen on...

James Carroll on Islam

2008-02-08T17:26:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a quick interview with James Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews—A History, An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us and House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power. In the former book, he—a former Roman Catholic priest—serves the church a large slice of humble pie, spiced up with a bitter dose of historical memory and topped off with some painful analysis. Indeed, the number of embittered one-star reviews on Amazon.com which the book spawned serve as sufficient proof that, at least in some cases, denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Keep in mind (since most of the one-star reviewers obviously didn't) that this certainly isn't the only reputable book that examines the Christian roots of anti-Semitism and the role the church played in Hitler's so-called Reich ([1][2][3][4][5][6][7]).

Anyway, I thought the brief interview with him was worth a link not only because he's someone who is trying to fight bigotry and educate people about Islam, but also because a few of his statements are real gems. Take, for example, the following:

"We reacted very quickly against the Muslim world after September 11, and we were unable to make distinctions within the Muslim world. We saw an enemy in a very generalized and undistinguished way. George Bush's ignorance was our ignorance—we'd never heard of Al Qaeda. Americans didn't know that the largest Muslim country in the world is Indonesia, and it's not Arab."

"Mark Twain said that God created war so that Americans would learn geography—there's some truth in that. I would add that it's so that Americans would learn about other religions. We didn't know the difference between the Sunni and the Shia, and all of a sudden we're discovering that the war in Iraq is about a conflict within the Muslim faith. The Taliban was a despicable dictatorial regime, but the Taliban did not attack us on 9/11—yet we went ruthlessly to war against them. Looking back, it's an astounding act of ignorance. I believe Osama bin Laden was counting on it. So we've learned a lot about Islam over the past five years, thank goodness, and we won't be that ignorant again, I hope."

That Mark Twain quote almost made me laugh out loud! And by the way, I'm a firm believer that educating people about history is one of the best ways to cure their bigotry. That's because it's a lot harder to have hypocritical double-standards once you become aware of the crimes and injustices committed in the name of, or by members of, your own religion. Although plenty of determined and hard-hearted bigots often show a remarkable ability to turn a blind-eye to the crimes of their own side, from what I've observed, most people out there are usually just passively ignorant about what has gone on in the past. Which is not meant to imply that two wrongs make a right, since I intend this more along the lines of not worrying about the speck in someone else's eye when you've got a plank stuck in your own...wa Allahu 'alim.

Deen on...

The Mercy Warrior

2008-02-08T17:15:00.000-05:00

A big kufi-tip to Sidi Faraz of Seeker's Digest for pointing out this excellent article about Habib Ali al-Jifri:

Habib Ali al-Jifri - The Mercy Warrior
By Abdul-Rehman Malik
Q-News Magazine - May 2006

Please read the entire article and pray that Almighty God continues to bless and protect this pious sage.

Deen on...

More on Politics 2008...

2008-02-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

Since Super Tuesday is tomorrow, I'll mention that I found James Antle's recent comments to be spot on:

Dark Side of the Clintons
Liberal disquiet with the tactics of Hillary and Bill suggests their critics on the right had a point
by James Antle
GuardianUnlimited - February 4, 2008

Recent issues of The American Conservative magazine have contained the four pieces below—which are all worth a read whether you agree with them or not:

Untested Savior
Barack Obama answers Democrats' longing for a candidate who is above politics, but he would probably lead them to disaster in November.
by Scott McConnell

The Audacity of Huck
The Religious Right roils the establishment by backing one of its own.
by Michael Brendan Dougherty

The Madness of John McCain
A militarist suffering from acute narcissism and armed with the Bush Doctrine is not fit to be commander in chief.
by Justin Raimondo

The Paleocon Dilemma…
The Ron Paul campaign illustrates the choices facing the antiwar Right.
by W. James Antle III

The American Conservative magazine, co-founded by Pat Buchanan, which purveys traditional conservative, paleoconservative, libertarian and even paleolibertarian views, has endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican nomination. I enjoy hearing their writers' points-of-view since they're hostile to both the so-called Religious Right and the Neocons, including their foreign policy misadventures and their blind support for Israel, and try to counter the media dominance which the neoconservatives currently enjoy.

And for the sake of balance, here's a bit about Mitt Romney which may raise a few eyebrows:

Romney believes Jesus visited America
by Damian Thompson
Telegraph.co.uk - 21 Jan 08

Deen on...

The Ten Rules of Imam al-Ghazali

2008-02-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, I was listening to an audio lecture by Sidi Hamza Yusuf Hanson in which he mentioned a book, originally published in 1964, by Eugene A. Myers, which discusses in detail how key Western theologians and philosophers, from Thomas Aquinas ("considered by many Catholics to be the Catholic Church's greatest theologian and philosopher") to David Hume ("considered among the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment"), borrowed considerably from Muslim scholars such as Al-Farabi, Ibn Seena and Al-Ghazali. The title of this unfortunately out-of-print book is Arabic Thought and the Western World in the Golden Age of Islam, and it really is a treasure. The description on the front cover reads as follows:

"A survey of Islamic scholars and translators, especially at the height of Moslem dominance, who profoundly influenced Western science and culture."

In light of the fact that there's a lot of ignorance—and bullheaded outright denial—regarding the degree that the eventual flowering of Western civilization was influenced and spurred along by Islam, starting today I plan to post and discuss a series of excerpts from Arabic Thought and the Western World in the Golden Age of Islam and other books of a similar nature. Actually, it's only the first five chapters (66 pages) of Myers' work that discusses various Muslim scholars and the particular influence they had, including plenty of examples of renowned Westerners who borrowed from them, since the later chapters are spent discussing translations from Arabic, listing the various books that were translated, and the impact which they had. Due to this, posting the various nuggets from it should not take a too considerable number of posts.

And finally getting to the issue that related to the title of this post…in the section sub-titled Al Ghazzali in Arabic Thought and the Western World in the Golden Age of Islam (pages 35-45), the author took the trouble to explain (pages 40-42) "The Ten Rules", that were "a summary of his ethics," which Imam al-Ghazali laid down for himself after "becoming a mystic." These Ten Rules, although in a somewhat archaic translation (i.e. "Moslem" instead of the more phonetically accurate "Muslim"), serve as a very thoughtful and useful summary of the Islamic spiritual life, and are as follows:

"Intention, he declared, is the first rule of conduct. This intention should be good and stable, good insofar as it tries at all times to accomplish its objective, leaving the rest to God, and stable insofar as it continues to be good, that is, persists in seeking its objective without being dissuaded from it by anything worldly.

Al Ghazzali's second rule is unity of purpose. This involves preparing for the hereafter, to be done by only serving God alone. We know we are serving God when we are satisfied only with the truth and when we deem everything else unworthy.

Realizing that this is a difficult rule to follow in a world where man is tempted at all times to become the slave of false values, and having himself earlier doubted the goodness of this rule, al Ghazzali warns against doubt as the most painful and deadly of all diseases. The outward sign of obedience to this rule is to prefer the hereafter to worldly affairs.

His third rule is conformity to truth, even at the expense of forsaking pleasure, by resisting desire and renouncing luxury and ease.

In his fourth rule al Ghazzali urged orthodoxy among Moslems. He believed that the variety of doctrines and sects divided men, fostered hatred, and led to the saving of no one. He therefore insisted that Moslems conform to established practice and avoid all innovations in religion.

The fifth rule forbids procrastination and urges daily examination of one's duties and actions.

In his sixth rule, al Ghazzali reminded his fellow men that they were incapable of doing anything without the help of God, that they should acknowledge that fact daily but not use it as a pretext for laziness in good works or neglect of independent action.

Al Ghazzali's seventh rule is one of fear and hope in which he preached salvation by faith.

The eighth rule recommends a life of devotion and prayer. To neglect devotional exercises is to shut oneself from the only source of spiritual power.

The ninth rule calls for continual observation and watchfulness. He who persists in meditating about God and banishes from this heart everything but Him will find God and will move from groping to tranquility, from tranquility to reality, and finally will attain true faith.

Al Ghazzali's tenth rule is consecration to a knowledge wherein one may see God. This rule should be pursued with diligence, both outwardly and inwardly. Its outward sign is perseverance in good works, since he who thinks that he can do without good works is morally bankrupt."

I'm not sure which original work by Imam al-Ghazali these Ten Rules came from, since the footnote in Myer's work refers to "Nabih Faris, in Philip K. Hitti and others, The Arab Heritage (Princeton, N. J., Princeton University Press, 1944), pp. 142-158".

I should mention, in regards to the statement "one may see God" in the tenth rule, that this refers to seeing with the heart, not a physical seeing with the eye…since Almighty God, the Sublime and Glorious, is above all that.

If you want to learn more about what I call "The Good News of Imam al-Ghazali," I highly recommend the film, now out on DVD, Al-Ghazali: The Alchemist of Happiness, which is available from both the Rumi Bookstore and Amazon.com. Although I was somewhat skeptical of this movie at first, since being a grumpy old traditionalist, I wasn't sure if I like the idea of the life a great Muslim scholar treated in such a profane way. But try as I might, I couldn't help but really appreciate this film (and the two interviews, in the DVD Extras, with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Dr. Karim D. Crow are excellent as well). Indeed, the film shows how the life of this great Muslim scholar and sage offers a great hope to mankind in a way that should appeal to Westerners and Easterners alike—indeed every human being who finds a deep yearning for God deep in their soul. This manifest good news in the search for true happiness is that the way to God and sure knowledge of Him is there for all who want it—a step-by-step path and established methodology is waiting for you, so set your doubts aside and get busy!

If you want to know more about the path, follow this link. Once there, download and listen to The Sufi Path CD and the Virginia Suhba - Jan 1998 audio files that can be found by clicking on the Lessons tab at the top of the page. These lectures, given by a traditional scholar of Islamic spirituality, should be enough to get you started, insha'llah.

Tasawwuf on...

InFocus Interview with Imam Zaid Shakir

2008-02-02T07:47:00.001-05:00

Thanks to DeenPort.com, I just came across this:

Zaid Shakir: Homegrown Imam and Leader
By Asma Nemati, Contributing Writer
Souther California InFocus - February 2008
The largest Muslim newspaper in California
http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/20105/135/

He has some wise words regarding traditional Islam:

"It's very important for traditional Islam to be rooted in real tradition, and not in the superficial veneer of traditionalism. For example, we have proliferation of Sufi tariqas, but the deeper lessons of tasawwuf are escaping people as they become arrogant. “My tariqa is better than your tariqa. My Shaykh is better than your Shaykh. I'm better than you because my Shaykh is better than your Shaykh." Tasawwuf is about humility; and it's about addressing defective character; it's about remembering Allah so one can get closer to Allah, not so one can lord himself or herself over other Muslims who aren't remembering Allah. All of that has nothing to do with traditionalism. It is just using some of the institutions associated with traditionalism to stay on the same ego trip that you were on before you ever got involved with [anything]."

Although it wasn't positive coverage, I was happy to see that Imam Zaid mentioned Ron Paul twice during the interview, since this forthright and interesting candidate deserves more attention due to the fact that the mainstream media refuses to give it to him. Please take the time to read the entire interview here.

Deen on...

Is the New Testament Preserved in the Writings of the Early Church Fathers?

2008-02-01T11:42:00.000-05:00

There's a widespread misconception amongst Christians that, in spite of the relative dearth of early manuscript evidence, the text of the New Testament can be almost completely constructed from quotations found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers (i.e. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Eusebius et al). Indeed, a quick Googling using "new testament quotations writings early church fathers" as key words provides a whole host of sites ([1][2][3][4][5][6]) which make this rather vacuous claim. However, the following article from the Islamic-Awareness.org site makes it patently clear that this is not the case:

Sir David Dalrymple (Lord Hailes),
The Patristic Citations Of The Ante-Nicene Church Fathers
And The Search For Eleven Missing Verses Of The New Testament
by 'Abdullah David & M S M Saifullah

Keep in mind that the authors, seemingly for the sake of brevity, actually tread rather easily on this topic. They explain why in saying this: "It must be noted that it is not our aim to show whether or not Dalrymple was correct in his assessment that a particular verse was cited/alluded by a Church Father. The enormous project of verifying whether a Church Father actually cited/alluded to a verse in the New Testament is still being undertaken today. Modern studies on the issue of Patristic citations of the New Testament, specifically those of the apostolic fathers, will be briefly discussed in the next section."

Indeed, a critical stance in regards to the questions of authenticity which plague the manuscripts of the writings of the Early Church Fathers, documents whose authenticity Sir David Dalrymple seems to have just taken for granted, and whether they themselves suffered pious manipulation over the centuries is certainly called for. Maybe the team at Islamic-Awareness.org will provide us more details on that at a later date...wa Allahu 'alim. As it stands right now, the New Testament does not constitute sound enough evidence to justify one abandoning pure Abrahamic monotheism for un-Semitic and Greek-influenced Trinitarianism...as if even a soundly preserved and authentic text would ever justify that!

Deen on...

Learning Arabic...

2008-02-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

Although it was posted under the heading of Advice on Studying in Syria, I think this post about Learning Arabic contains beneficial advice for students of the Arabic language regardless of where they are. Indeed, the basic methodology and suggested texts seem to be very sound.

On that note, please have a look at our current Book of the Month, since it will be replaced with a new title any day now...

Deen on...

The Empire That Must Be Obeyed

2008-01-31T11:17:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a great rant by Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration:

The Empire That Must Be Obeyed
What Gives the US the Right to Claim
a Moral Monopoly Over the World?
By Paul Craig Roberts
CounterPunch - January 23, 2008

Here are some noteworthy excerpts:

"The West must nuke other countries in order to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction! In Westernspeak, the West nuking other countries does not qualify as the use of weapons of mass destruction."

"Who, what is threatening the West's values and way of life? Political fanaticism, religious fundamentalism, and the imminent spread of nuclear weapons, answer the five asylum escapees."

"The 'increasingly brutal world,' of which the leaders warn, is 'over there.' Only Muslims are fanatics. All us white guys are rational and sane."

"Unable to impose its will on countries it has invaded with conventional arms, the West's military leaders are now prepared to force compliance with the moral world's will by threatening to nuke those who resist. "

"Meanwhile, the United States, the great moral light unto the world, has just prevented the United Nations from censuring Israel, the world's other great moral light, for cutting off food supplies, medical supplies, and electric power to Gaza. You see, Gaza is in the outside world and is a home of the bad guys. Moreover, the wicked Palestinians there tricked the US when the US allowed them to hold a free election. Instead of electing the US candidate, the wicked voters elected a government that would represent them. The US and Israel overturned the Palestinian election in the West Bank, but those in Gaza clung to the government that they had elected. Now they are going to suffer and die until they elect the government that the US and Israel wants. I mean, how can we expect people in the brutal world to know what's best for them?"

As the saying goes, if you're not outraged, then you really don't know what's going on....

Deen on...

Race Relations Update

2008-01-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

Although it came as no surprise, I found this article about NASCAR and racism quite interesting:

NASCAR's Race Problem

In case you don't know, word on the street has it that NASCAR really stands for Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks.

In the same vein, a few weeks ago I saw this article on CNN, which is equally disturbing:

Study: Whites more likely to get narcotics in ER

Well it seems that America just might not be ready for Barack Hussein Obama to be President after all...

Goodbye Giulliani...And Good Riddance

2008-01-30T00:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight, CNN reported that Rudy 9iu11iani, now speaking of his campaign for the presidency in the past tense (thank God!), said: "I'm proud I ran a positive campaign...I ran a campaign that was uplifting." Gee, I must have blinked and missed that part of his campaign propaganda, but I did see one of his official campaign ads, which he endorsed, that called Muslims "A people perverted". The transcript of this advertisement can be found here, straight from the horse's mouth at the (now defunct) JoinRudy2008.com website. A discussion of this misguided ad, entitled Who You Callin' a Pervert?, is also well worth a read.

This, however, wasn't the only part of Rudy's campaign that wasn't "positive" and "uplifting". A couple of weeks ago, John Deady, the co-chair of New Hampshire Veterans for Rudy Giulliani, stated that in regards to "the Muslims", we need to "keep pressing these people until we defeat or chase them back to their caves or in other words get rid of them." As discussed here, when asked whether he stands by this statement, Deady replied: "I am talking about the Muslims in general. I don't subscribe to the principle that there are good Muslims and bad Muslims. They're all Muslims."

I'm sorry, but any presidential candidate who tries to get into office by riding a wave of this type of narrow-minded bigotry doesn't deserve a single vote. America can definitely do better than this...

Media Matters and "Gunny" Bob

2008-01-29T11:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a link where you can get the latest updates on the bigotry and hate-mongering being spewed by radio talk show host "Gunny" Bob Newman. This is the guy who last year said, while hosting his The Gunny Bob Show, that he wants "every Muslim immigrant to America...to be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet." Well here's the full quote:

"I want every Muslim immigrant to America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen to be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times. And the FBI and the NSA should monitor their phones and their emails, all communications — electronic — at all times, as well as bug their places of work and their residences. If they don't like the idea, or if they refuse, throw their asses out of this country. All mosques and community centers as well as Muslim organizations must be monitored."

It's sad seeing a person who seems to take pride in the fact that he is spreading hate and misinformation, but the good news in all of this is that his comments generated "intense public criticism".

Deen on...

Charles Dickens On Loving Before It's Too Late

2008-01-24T23:31:00.000-05:00

Ten year old orphan, Oliver Twist, thinking about his sick benefactresses who had nursed him to health when he was in peril of death:

"Oliver turned homeward, thinking on the many kindnesses he had received from the young lady, and wishing that the time could come again, that he might never cease showing her how grateful and attached he was. He had no cause for self-reproach on the score of neglect, or want of thought, for he had been devoted to her service; and yet a hundred little occasions rose up before him, on which he fancied he might have been more zealous, and more earnest, and wished he had been. We need be careful how we deal with those about us, when every death carries to some small circle of survivors, thoughts of so much omitted, and so little done—of so many things forgotten, and so many more which might have been repaired! There is no remorse so deep as that which is unavailing; if we would be spared its tortures, let us remember this, in time."

A kufi-tip to Abid for this...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and the Fate of America

2008-01-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a heartfelt and thought-provoking article by Imam Zaid Shakir that was just posted yesterday:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and the Fate of America
By Imam Zaid on 23 January 2008

"While it is certainly heartening to see such a strong candidacy from an African American, Obama’s run for the presidency sheds light on the nuances of race relations in this land in ways that many who admire or support him might not wish to discuss."

"As long as we politely skirt the fundamental problems plaguing our country, starting with the superficiality of our race relations, Obama’s candidacy and possible election do not represent any real change, they represent a re-entrenched status quo, and illustrate the sort of duplicity that would hound Dr. King as a traitor and communist at the end of his life yet enshrine him as a martyr after his death."

Foundations of the Spiritual Path

2008-01-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

An excellent translation of words of wisdom on an all-important topic:

Foundations of the Spiritual Path
By Sidi Ahmad Zarruq
Translated by Hamza Yusuf

This article originally appeared in Seasons, the journal of the Zaytuna Institute.

Enjoy and Deen on...