Thursday, November 30, 2006

Movie: Empire of Faith

What is Islam? Who is Muhammad (peace be upon him)? This is the first of 3 part documentary narrated by Ben Kingsley about Islam which attempts to answer these important questions.

This part deals with the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his early life, his encounter with God Almighty and the birth of the Islam. Islam would become the revitalizing force of a barbaric Arabia, returning people to God and bringing back the monotheistic message of Christianity and Judaism in its most powerful way: Women were given rights over there husbands, racism was annihilated and the rich were made equal to the poor. This religion is the solution to all of humanities problems and it is important to learn about it today.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Biography: Mus'ab Ibn Umair

Big city, bright lights. Cars flash in fast lanes. Young Muslims are getting ready to hit the “night scene”. Branded shoes and designer clothes in place, clutching the latest mobile gizmos and sporting the trendiest watches.


You can see them sipping cappucino at a Starbucks cafĂ© …watching people go by, sharing a joke and laughing loudly; their eyes fixed to huge tv screens for the latest football score. You can see them racing cars dangerously late into the night, music blasting from the stereos, startling passersby while they laugh in their faces. A standard sight.

Each time I see this scene, I find myself thinking of someone. Someone who lies buried in the blood-wet earth of ‘Uhud, feet covered by scented grass and his body covered only by a square woollen sheet that was not even sufficient to cover him completely. Someone who was his mother’s pampered son, he wore the best clothes his rich mother’s money could buy, his perfume scented the streets he walked through. The talk of Makkan matrons and maidens in their plush salons, the toast of his peers in the city’s clubs, the most flamboyant young man of the Quraysh, who left a life of pleasuring the Self to gain the pleasure of Allaah: Mus’ab bin Umair bin Hashim bin Abd Munaf who was also known as Mus’ab al Khair.

Mus’ab was only a youth when he heard of the new Prophet who had arisen among the Quraysh and his Message of monotheism; Makkah talked of very little else in those days. His curiosity piqued by all the talk, Mus’ab decided to approach the Prophet sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam on his own to determine the truth of his Message.


One night, instead of joining his friends in their customary revelry, Mus’ab made his way to the house of Al-Arqaam Ibn Al-Arqaam which came to be known as Daar al Arqaam among the Muslims. It was here that the Prophet met with the growing band of Muslims, away from the eyes of the Quraysh. It was here that the Companions talked over the future of their faith, heard and recited newly revealed portions of the Qur’aan and prayed behind the Prophet (saw) to Allaah.

That night, Mus'ab sat down among the g
athering of the faithful and heard the Prophet sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wassallam recite verses of the Qur’aan. From that moment on he forgot for ever his life of luxury and indolence, in the ecstasy of discovering the key to eternal life.

Mus’ab’s path to the faith w
as not easy – his mother, Khunnas bint Maalik, a strong willed woman infamous for her sharp temper and sharper tongue – was his chief opponent. In order to avoid an unpleasant confrontation with his mother, Mus’ab initially avoided telling her about his new faith. However, people found him frequenting Daar Al-Arqaam more than his usual haunts and saw him coming under the influence of the Prophet sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wasallam. It wasn’t long before news of his conversion reached his mother.

Reacting with the imperiousness of her nature, her pride in her lineage and her age-old allegiance to the gods, she commanded Mus’ab to return and repent to the gods he had abandoned in his “foolishness”; and when he refused, she had him shackled and imprisoned in a corner of the house.

Somehow, news of the first emigration of some Muslims to Abyssinia reached Mus’ab in his incarceration and his heart longed to join his brothers in the faith. Using his ingenuity, he managed to delude his mother and his guards and escaped to Abyssinia with other emigrants. Later, he returned to Makkah with them for a short while and emigrated a second time, this time as the Prophet [SAW]’s chosen envoy to the new centre of faith: Yathrib (Medina).

When Mus’ab returned from Abyssinia, his mother sought to imprison him yet again. But this time he vowed that if she attempted that, he would kill all those who came to her aid to lock him up. She knew the intensity of his determination better than anyone else and so she bade him a final farewell, crying bitterly: Go away, I am no longer your mother.

At this, Mus’ab went close to her and said: O Mother, I am advising you and my heart is with you, please bear witness that there is no God but Allaah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

Enraged, she swore: By the stars, I will never enter your religion, to degrade my status and weaken my senses!


But Mus’ab entered Islam in the spirit of the Qur’aan when it says:

O You who believe! Enter into Islam completely (by obeying all the rules and regulations in Islam) and do not follow the footsteps of Shaytan (Satan).Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. (Quran 2:208)

He forsook every semblance of satisfaction of the Self for the sake of Allaah – his dress was tattered, his food was simple, the bare earth was his bed. One day he went out to meet some Muslims while they were sitting around the Prophet sall Allaahu alayhi wassallam, and when they saw him they lowered their heads and shed silent tears at the sight of the pampered youth of their memory , moving about in wornout patches held together by thorns, which barely covered him. After Mus’ab moved away from the gathering, the Prophet sall Allaahu alayhi wassallam recalled: I saw Mus’ab, and there was no youth in Makkah more petted by his parents than he. Then he abandoned all that for the love of Allaah and His Prophet.

Recognizing Mus’ab’s noble manners and patience, the Prophet [SAW] commissioned him to instruct the people of Yathrib who had pledged their allegiance to the Prophet at ‘Aqabah, to call others to Islaam and to prepare the city for the eventual migration of the Prophet [SAW]. Mus’ab entered Yathrib as a guest of Sa’ad ibn Zurarah of the Khazraj tribe. Together they went approached the citizens of Yathrib, explaining the message of Monotheism and reciting the Qur’aan. Once Musa’ab and Sa’ad were sitting near a well in an orchard of Banee Zafar, when they were approached by Usayd ibn Khudayr brandishing a spear in obvious rage. Sa’ad whispered to Mus’ab: This is a chieftain of his people. May Allaah place the truth in his heart. Mus’ab replied calmly: If he sits down, I will speak to him.

Usayd was angry at the success of Mus’ab’s mission and shouted angrily: Why have you both come to us to corrupt the weak among us? Keep away from us if you want to stay alive. At this, Musa’ab smiled and said softly: Won't you sit down and listen? If you are pleased and satisfied with our mission, accept it; and if you dislike it we will stop telling you what you dislike and leave. Sticking his spear into the ground, Usayd sat down to hear them out. As Musa’ab began telling him about Islaam and reciting portions of the Qur’aan to Usayd’s expression changed. The first words he uttered were: How beautiful are these words and how true! What does a person do if he wants to enter this religion?


Mus’ab explained: Have a bath, purify yourself and your clothes. Then utter the testimony of Truth (shahadah), and perform pra yers. Usayd testified that there is no god but Allaah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, prayed two rakaats of salaah and was followed by another influential man: Sa’ad ibn Muaadh. By the time the Prophet [SAW] emigrated, there was not a single household in Yathrib in which Mus’ab had not endeared himself and the Message of Islaam. In the subsequent pilgrimage, he led a company of 70 people went from Yathrib to pledge allegiance to the Prophet.


At ‘Uhud, the Prophet (saw) chose Mus’ab to bear the battle standard. In the melee that followed the archers descent from the hill where they were stationed, in violation of the Prophet [SAW]’s orders, the Makkans fought back fiercely. Taken unawares by the cavalry of the Quraysh attacking from the rear, the Muslim ranks scattered. Intent on harming the Prophet [SAW], the Makkans searched for him while he was being guarded only by a handful of companions. Suddenly, someone shouted that the Prophet [SAW] was no more.

It was at this juncture that Mus’ab’s glorious life reached a fitting culmination: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad related from
his father, who said: Mus’ab ibn ‘Umair carried the standard on the Day of Uhud. When the Muslims were scattered, he stood fast until he met Ibn Qaami'ah who was a knight. He struck him on his right hand and cut it off, but Mus'ab said:And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him . He carried the standard with his left hand and leaned on it, when his left hand was cut off, he leaned on the standard and held it with his upper arms to his chest. Then a third soldier struck Mus’ab with his spear, and the spear went through him, all the while saying:


And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have pass
ed away before him. (Quran 3:144)


After the battle, the Prophet and his companions came to the plain of ‘Uhud to bury the martyrs, some of whose bodies had been mutilated by the marauding women of the Qur’aysh. Pausing when he saw Mus'ab, the Prophet [SAW] recited:


Among the believers are men who h
ave been true to their covenant with Allah. (Quran 33:23)

Then he [SAW] looked at the remains of his companions in the battlefield and said: The Prophet of Allaah witnesses that you are martyrs to Allaah on the Day of Resurrection. Then turning to the living companions around him he said: "O People! Visit them, send peace on them for, by Him in whose hand is my soul, any Muslim who sends peace on them until the day of Qiyamah, they would return the salutation of peace."

As-salaamu alayka yaa Musab...
As-salaamu alaykum, ma'shar ash-shudhadaa.
As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu.
Peace be on you, O Musab...
Peace be on you all, O martyrs
Peace be on you and the mercy and blessings of God


There wasn’t enough material to serve as a shroud for Mus’ab. Khabbaab ibn Al-Arat narrated: We emigrated with the Prophet for Allaah’s cause, so our reward became due with Allaah. Some of us passed away without enjoying anything in this life of his reward, and of them was Mus'ab ibn 'Umair, who was martyred on the Day of Uhud. He did not leave behind anything except a sheet of shredded woollen cloth. If we covered his feet with it, his head was uncovered, and if we covered his head with it, his feet were uncovered. The Prophet [SAW] said to us: Cover his head with it and put lemon grass over his feet.

It was this memory of Mus’ab in his grave, that caused companions like Abdur Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf to cry in fear of having no share in the Hereafter, because they had been granted a life of plenty and ease right here in this world. Once his servant brought him a meal to break his fast and ibn ‘Awf burst into tears, remembering Mus’ab who had passed away without tasting the good of this world, to the certainty of eternal pleasure in the Hereafter.

As time passes I think of the shadows lengthening across ‘Uhud where the martyrs lie buried, when visitors drive off leaving the plain quiet, dark and peaceful. I think of the graves of the shuhadaa, resplendent with the dazzling light of the truly fortunate: those who are pleasing to Allaah and are pleased with Him.

Islamic Teachings: Hajj

For 14 centuries, countless millions of Muslims, men and women, from the four corners of the earth, have made the pilgrimage to Makkah, the birthplace of Islam. In carrying out this obligation Muslims fulfill one of the five pillars of Islam. No annual event on the face of the globe, religious or non-religious, compares to hajj in terms of the sheer number of participants, duration of the event and the breadth of agenda. The annual Hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year. The Islamic year is lunar, consequently Hajj occurs throughout all seasons during one's lifetime.

In essence, hajj is man's evolution toward Allah; his return to Him. It is a symbolic demonstration of the philosophy of the creation of Adam (peace be upon him). It is a ritual that is designed to promote the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. This ritual allows Muslims to feel real importance of life here on earth, and the afterlife, by stripping away all markers of social status, wealth, and pride. Hajj is a show of creation. It is a show of history and a show of unity. It is a show of Ummah, the community of Muslims. The pilgrimage to Makkah (the Hajj) is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for those who are physically and financially able.


Hajj is a duty unto Allah for mankind, for him or her who can find a way or means to get there (Quran 3:97).

Thus, to qualify, a Muslim must be sane and wise t
o understand what they are getting into, and able-bodied to go through this task, and lastly, have the means or resources to perform hajj. Pilgrims enter a state of sacredness where arguing and fighting, cutting a plant or even harming a fly is prohibited. They wear simple garments that strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God.


Hajj shall be observed in the specified months. Whoever sets out to observe Hajj shall refrain from sexual intercourse, misconduct, and arguments throughout Hajj. Whatever good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof. (Quran 2:197)


The rituals of Hajj date back to the time of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). They include visiting the Ka'bah and standing together on the wide plains of 'Arafat (a large expanse of desert outside of Makkah). Here pilgrims pray for God's forgiveness, in what is often considered a preview of the Day of Judgment. The Hajj provides a unique opportunity for Muslims to reflect on their lives, to refocus on God, and to return to their families and homes spiritually rejuvenated.


The close of the Hajj is marked by the Festival of Sacrifice, Eid al Adha. Pilgrims sacrifice a sheep or goat, commemorating Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his own son. The sacrificial meat is distributed to the needy. Muslims around the world celebrate this day with prayers, ritual sacrifice, and an exchange of gifts.


Experience the epic journey of Hajj through this movie.
(Muslims do not portray images of any prophets, as seen here in the depiction o
f prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him, due to fear of polytheism. Caution: some of the content in this movie does not represent true Islamic teachings, and some women are not wearing hijab. The purpose of this movie is to give a general picture of the Hajj experience.)

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Quran: The Opening Chapter


Summary


The honorable Surah Al-Fatihah contains seven Ayat including the praise and thanks of Allah, glorifying Him and praising Him by mentioning His most Beautiful Names and most high Attributes. It also mentions the Hereafter, which is the Day of Resurrection, and directs Allah's servants to ask of Him, invoking Him and declaring that all power and strength comes from Him

It also calls to the sincerity of the worship of Allah alone, singling Him out in His divinity, believing in His perfection, being free from the need of any partners, having no rivals nor equals. Al-Fatihah directs the believers to invoke Allah to guide them to the straight path, which is the true religion, and to help them remain on that path in this life, and to pass over the actual Sirat (bridge over hell that everyone must pass over) on the Day of Judgment. On that Day, the believers will be directed to the gardens of comfort in the company of the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous.

Al-Fatihah also encourages performing good deeds, so that the believers will be in the company of the good-doers on the Day of Resurrection. The Surah also warns against following the paths of misguidance, so that one does not end up being gathered with those who indulge in sin, on the Day of Resurrection, including those who have earned the anger and those who were led astray.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Hadith: Intentions for Actions

Listen to Hadith in Arabic


Listen to Hadith in English

'Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) reported: Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "The deeds are by the intentions, and a person will get the reward according to his intention. So whoever emigrated for Allah and his Messenger, his emigration will be for Allah and his Messenger; and whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration would be for what he imigrated for. [Bukhari & Muslim]

Background

This hadith was said by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, at the time when a man emigrated from Makkah to Madinah during the Hijrah for the sake of marrying someone and not for the sake of Islam. It is considered to be one of the greatest hadiths in Islam.


Lessons

This hadith emphasises ikhlas (sincerity - to be truthful and honest to Allah alone, performing an act solely for Allah's sake whereby no other witness except Allah is sought). Ikhlas is one of the conditions of accepting good deeds. The other condition is that the actions must be done in accordance with the Shariah.

Ways to obtain Ikhlas :

1. Doing righteous deeds

2. Seek knowledge (ilm)

3. Ask yourself: "Is this deed for the sake of Allah?"

Friday, November 24, 2006

Islam Live is now Online!

As-salamu Aleykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,

Islam Live! is now Online. In the coming weeks we will be posting weekly ayahs from the Book of Allah and hadiths from the sunnah of our Prophet (saw). We will also post articles, movies, and lectures that will increase our iman. So stay tuned!

Wasalamu Aleykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.