Assalamu alaykum and hello!
As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t posted anything in a few days. Well, my days have been a bit hectic so I haven’t had a chance to write any posts lately. Currently I’m in the process of figuring out when and how to return to the US. Hopefully I’ll be done with everything tomorrow insha’Allah so I can get back to writing!
Iman
Assalamu alaykum and hello!
Today has so far been an okay day; the windy, cold, and wet weather is a bit depressing, but overall things have gone well. I spent the morning on a road known as Green Street. For any of you who have been to Devon Avenue in Chicago in the US, Green Street is much like that, especially the Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani sections. For any of you who read the past post in which I mentioned Manchester’s Curry Mile (Wilmslow Road), Green Street is similar to that as well.
Thanks to a primarily Pakistani Muslim population, Green Street is lined with an array of shops specializing in Pakistani goods. There are several masjids as well as the shops, some of which are rather large. Many women wear the niqab as many are followers of the strict orthodox Sunni Deobandi and Salafi traditions of Pakistan. In other words, Green Street is a fairly good representation of the eastern part of Greater London.
The reason I went to Green Street was to find something specific, something I had never seen in any of the shops where I’m currently staying. I’m not going to tell you what that something was, but it will be the subject of a post either tonight or tomorrow insha’Allah! Hint: it has something to do with a post I published last week!
There really isn’t anything exciting to mention about the blog, but there are a couple things I should mention. First, I again won’t be publishing a chapter of my novel for two reasons: 1) I didn’t have any time to write so there isn’t a third chapter yet, and 2) I’m preparing to publish the first book in that series, ‘The Bond of Sisters.’ Insha’Allah I’ll write something about that Sunday for those of you who want to know more. Tomorrow I will most likely be doing some serious editing so I won’t have much time to actually write anything.
The second thing I would like to mention is an idea for a series of posts about some of the more important Sahaba, companions of the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam. Muslims know plenty about the Prophet, how he lived his life, what his character was like, and the like. However, many do not know nearly as much about the Sahaba, but they are also good sources of inspiration and knowledge. There is a verse of the Qur’an – which I need to find – that states the Sahaba were the best community brought for mankind.
I do not know exactly what I’m going to do, but what I’ll probably do is take a specific person and then write a post about them: their conversion to Islam, their relationship with the Prophet, what we can learn from them, etc. There is no set schedule as to when each post will come; I’ll publish them when I finish writing them. It might take some time and energy to write each one because truthfully I myself do not know much about the Sahaba; it will be a learning experience for me insha’Allah.
My lack of knowledge also includes a lack of knowledge in who were the more important among the Sahaba. So far my list includes Abu Bakr, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them all. That’s it. As you can see I need more, so if any of you have any suggestions as to who you think are the most important Sahaba, I would love to hear them. Just leave a comment or email me!
I think that’s all for this update. I have no idea what I will be writing about this upcoming week; it’ll be a surprise for all of us. So, on that note, have a good weekend!
Iman
The field of comparative religion has always interested me. This is especially true for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as they are all closely related. But other religions, specifically Hinduism, have captured my attention in the past. In becoming a Muslim, the place of Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam in other religions intrigues me. The scriptures of Jews and Christians do mention the Blessed Prophet salallahu alayhi wassalam, but what about a religion like Hinduism?
Now, I will be the first to admit that I do not know much about Hinduism beyond the basics, and I certainly do not know much about the Hindu scriptures. The closest I have ever come to them was the novel ‘The Palace of Illusions,’ which is a fictionalized account of the Mahabharat. Since ‘The Palace of Illusions’ was a great novel, I considered reading the Mahabharat and other Hindu scriptures for a time. However, I decided it was better to read the Qur’an in its entirety before moving on to the books of another religion.
So, because I am greatly unaware of any references to the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam in the Hindu scriptures, I will be referring to an article published by Dr. Zakir Naik. Dr, Naik is a well-known and respected scholar from India, having authored many articles and books. To prevent a long post and thus boredom, I will choose only one section to analyze insha’Allah. If you would like to read the rest of the article, it can be accessed here.
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Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam prophesized in Bhavishya Purana
From Bhavishya Purana in the Prati Sarag Parv III Khand 3 Adhay 3 Shloka 5 to 8:
‘A malecha (belonging to a foreign country and speaking a foreign language) spiritual teacher will appear with his companions. His name will be Mohammad Raja (Bhoj) after giving this Maha Dev Arab (of angelic disposition) a bath in the Panchgavya and the Ganga water (i.e. purifying him of all sins) offered him the present of his sincere devotion and showing him all reverence said, ‘I make obeisance to thee. O ye! The pride of mankind, the dweller in Arabic, Ye have collected a great force to kill the Devil and you yourself have been protected from the malecha opponents.’”
How does this passage of the Bhavishya Purana prophesize Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam?
First, the prophecy clearly states the name of the prophet as Mohammed.
Second, it states the prophet will come from Arabia; the Sanskrit word marusthal means a sandy track of land or a desert.
Third, special mention is made of the companions of the prophet. The Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam had many companions (Sahaba), more than any other prophet in history. Allah knows best, but scholars have estimated there were more than 100,000 companions at the farewell Hajj.
Fourth, the prophet is referred to as the pride of mankind. The Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam is considered the greatest of mankind in Islam. Indeed, there are a couple of verses in the Qur’an which confirm the status of the Prophet Muhammad.
‘Truly you [Prophet] have a strong character.’ Qur’an 68:4
‘The Messenger of Allah is an excellent model [of conduct].’ Qur’an 33:21
Fifth, the prophet will kill the devil. In this case, this means he will abolish idol worship and all sorts of voices, which the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam did.
Lastly, the prophet will be given protection from the enemy. The Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam had the best protection of all: the Magnificent and Great, Allah. If one were to study the seerah of the Prophet, they would see how many times his life could have been in danger, but every time he continued with the protection of Allah.
Some might question the line ‘bath in…the Ganga water’ as the Prophet lived exclusively in the Middle East. How could he have been bathed in the holy water of the Ganges? This line is not literal, but is rather an idiom. Here, taking a bath in the Ganges mean washing away sins or immunity of all sorts of sins. Thus, this implies that the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam was sinless.
When all seven of the above explanations are put together, it is hard to argue that the prophecy in this particular section of the Bhavishya Purana does not point towards the Blessed Prophet salallahu alayhi wassalam. Even Hindu scriptures, depending on how one analyzes specific passages, speak to the truth of the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam.
A tweet caught my attention a few days ago: 25 US states already have anti-Shari’ah bans, in some capacity or another, in place. These bans usually pertain to all ‘foreign law,’ but the media always speaks of Shari’ah when it comes to them. Indeed, these bans are more for the prevention of Shari’ah law overtaking the US than any other form of foreign law.
But is Shar’ah law really overtaking the US? Is the US even in any sort of danger of such an event?
According to some of the politicians mentioned in Monday’s article, Muslims are pushing to instill Shari’ah law in the US. Whether it is a small community or nation-wide, We Muslims obviously want the current laws to go and replace them with Shari’ah law. Therefore, politicians must take action and stop us before we can do anything.
The funny thing is, I don’t know any American Muslim who wants Shari’ah law to replace what’s already in place. There is no doubt in my mind some American Muslims are pushing for Shari’ah laws. However, I believe it’s safe to say they represent the minority, not the majority.
I started out simply enough by asking the Muslims in my family and my Muslim friends if they wanted Sharia law to be the new law of America. After they stopped laughing, they all responded "no."
This isn't surprising to me because I have never met an American-Muslim who has commented: "America is great, but you know what would make it even better? More laws like Afghanistan."
There are plenty of high-importance Muslims in America – and none of them want Shari’ah law. Neither of the two American Muslim representatives in Congress have a history of pushing for Shari’ah law. The same is true for any state elected legislators; none of them have supported Shari’ah law. Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Muslim community in the US, is devoid of great support in implementing Shari’ah law in the US. Even the large American Muslim organizations like CAIR and ISNA have no agenda to push Shari’ah law into use.
Plus, only about 2% of the US population is Muslim, and even then that’s a very generous estimation. It would be impossible for such a small number of people to impose Shari’ah law on all Americans. That is simple common sense.
Instead, it would seem certain Republicans and other politicians are trying to scare people in order to gain something. Fear tactics tend to work quite well.
It appears that certain Republicans have created this "Sharia monster" for their own purposes. They scare us with their monster, and then they want to take credit for saving us from their own creation.
So the next time you hear or read a news report, ignore what they say or do the research yourself. There are very few Muslims trying to make Shari’ah law override the current US system of laws. Yes, there may be some, but that is far from the majority. Don’t believe everything the media says and don’t assume anything.
"No one group in this country is better than another. No one race or religion or sex or color is better than another. ... It's time we erased the last vestiges of intolerance, bigotry and unkindness from our hearts. Decency demands this and so does our history."
-- US President Ronald Regan
I have a lot to do today so instead of writing a full post I’m simply going to give you an article from CNN about Republicans and Shari’ah law. I personally thought it was well written, much better than I could ever write. Plus, I’m not into politics so I’m not even going to try to write about something I don’t fully understand or even care about. However, I will post my thoughts about it tomorrow insha’Allah!
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To be fair, I'm not sure if all Republicans love Sharia law, but they certainly do love talking about it.
Republicans Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum don't agree on everything, but they all concur that we must stop Sharia law from being imposed upon America.
And Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, winner of a Tea Party convention straw poll in February, went a step further when he recently declared that he would not even nominate an American-Muslim to his Cabinet because in his words, Muslims "are trying to force Sharia law on the people of this country." (Although to be honest, Charlie Sheen has a better chance of "winning" the 2012 presidential election than Cain.)
Add to this mix Republican state legislators in more than a dozen states who have introduced legislation to ban state court judges from considering Sharia law. And in Tennessee, Republican state Sen. Bill Ketron has upped the ante by proposing a law that would make it a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison for any person who knowingly supports Sharia law.
To warrant this hysterical call to arms by these Republicans, American-Muslims must certainly be aggressively pushing for Sharia law to be imposed upon all Americans -- which would be an especially amazing feat considering only about 2% of our nation's population is Muslim.
Sharia is a system of law based on the tenets of Islam. Certain Republican politicians have claimed that American-Muslims want to replace our Constitution and system of law with Sharia. So I went to see which American-Muslims are calling for this.
I started out simply enough by asking the Muslims in my family and my Muslim friends if they wanted Sharia law to be the new law of America. After they stopped laughing, they all responded "no."
This isn't surprising to me because I have never met an American-Muslim who has commented: "America is great, but you know what would make it even better? More laws like Afghanistan."
OK, then maybe it's the American-Muslims in elected office? In their positions of power, they could easily propose legislation calling for Sharia law.
First stop, the two American-Muslim representatives -- Keith Ellison and Andre Carson. But both their records are devoid of pushing for Sharia law.
Well, then maybe it's the American-Muslim state legislators who serve in places such as New Hampshire, Missouri, Michigan and North Carolina -- including the longest-serving Muslim state-elected official, Larry Shaw, who has been a member of the North Carolina General Assembly for 16 years. Maybe they're the ones hankering for Sharia law? But alas, I came up empty.
Oh, I know, how about Dearborn, Michigan, the city with the highest concentration of Muslims in America? If there is any place in America that wants Sharia law, it has to be there. However, Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly -- clearly a very Muslim name -- said in an interview last year: "There's no Sharia law in Dearborn, Michigan. ... It isn't even talked about in Dearborn."
I keep striking out. Then it occurred to me, perhaps Sharia law is part of the agenda of the biggest American-Muslim organizations in the country: the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Islamic Society of North America.
So I reached out to the Islamic Society of North America's national director, Sayyid Syeed, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations' national outreach coordinator, Aseel Elborno, and asked them point-blank: Do you want to impose Sharia law across the United States? Their answer: a resounding "no." They explained they simply want to be able to practice their faith just like all other proud Americans. Nothing more.
This is now getting confusing. My Muslim friends and family members don't want Sharia law, neither do the Muslim elected officials nor the biggest American-Muslim groups -- not even the people of Dearborn. Then who is furthering this dastardly plan?!
The best evidence these Republicans cite in support of their claim is a case from New Jersey where a trial judge sided with a Muslim man who had raised Sharia law as a defense to the charge of marital rape. The state that brought us "Jersey Shore" actually brought us something worse with this court decision. However, thankfully, the New Jersey appellate court correctly overturned the trial judge's decision, alleviating any concern about Sharia law trumping American law.
If religious law -- regardless if it is Muslim, Jewish or Christian -- does not comport with the principles of U.S. law, our courts will not follow it. It's that simple. This is a well-established principle of our American legal system -- one that I would have hoped the Republican politicians would have been known. Of course, maybe I'm assuming they know more than they do, as I was reminded by Bachman's recent gaffe in saying the American Revolution began in New Hampshire instead of Massachusetts.
It appears that certain Republicans have created this "Sharia monster" for their own purposes. They scare us with their monster, and then they want to take credit for saving us from their own creation.
To those Republicans who continue to stoke the flames of fear and bigotry to attract media attention and benefit their own political careers, I hope you will heed the words of your fellow Republican Ronald Reagan, who famously stated: "No one group in this country is better than another. No one race or religion or sex or color is better than another. ... It's time we erased the last vestiges of intolerance, bigotry and unkindness from our hearts. Decency demands this and so does our history."
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This article can be found here.