Great British Islam

Alhamdulillah last week I watched the documentary on BBC iplayer . It is not available on iplayer anymore. So I tried to search on YouTube. Alhamdulillah you all can watch this good video inshAllah. These three Muslims loved their faith and did their best to serve Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. Do watch the video as it inspires us to be better Muslims inshAllah.

You can also watch another video done by Tim (Yusuf) Chambers as he explores the life of Henry William Abdullah Quilliam.

Abdullah Quilliam open the first Islamic Centre in 1889 en -in the heart of Liverpool. Abdullah Quilliam was born in Liverpool to a wealthy Manx family in 1856. His father, Robert Quilliam, was a watch manufacturer. William was educated at the Liverpool Institute and King William's College on the Isle of Man. He began work as a solicitor in 1878, building a successful legal practice in Liverpool.

Courtesy of  BBC

Quilliam was brought up a Methodist but converted to Islam after visiting Morocco to recover from an illness at the age of 17. Returning to Liverpool, he began to promote Islam in Britain as Abdullah Quilliam. He had earlier learned about Islam while visiting southern France in 1882 and crossing over to Algeria and Tunisia.

Quilliam established the Liverpool Muslim Institute at 8 Brougham Terrace, West Derby Road, Liverpool in 1889, opening on Christmas Day. This was England's first mosque, accommodating around a hundred Muslims, This was followed by a Muslim college, headed by Haschem Wilde and Nasrullah Warren, which offered courses for both Muslims and non-Muslims. A weekly Debating and Literary Society within the college attracted non-Muslims.

Quilliam influenced the paths of other converts, including his mother Harriet, his sons, and scientists and intellectuals and his example lead to the conversion of over 150 Englishmen to Islam. Quilliam was influential in advancing knowledge of Islam within the United Kingdom and gained converts through his literary works and the charitable institutions he founded.

An active writer and essayist, he produced a weekly paper, The Crescent, from 1893 until 1908. He published three editions of his The Faith of Islam which, translated into thirteen languages, gained him fame across the Islamic world.

He travelled extensively and received many honours from the leaders of the Islamic world. He had contact with English-speaking West African Muslims and toured the region's coastal cities on his way to Lagos to attend the consecration of the Shitta Bey Mosque in 1894. He was appointed Sheikh-ul-Islam of the British Isles by the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II in 1894 and Persian Vice Consul to Liverpool by the Shah. He also received money from the Emir of Afghanistan to help fund the Islamic Institute in Liverpool.

Western Muslims, particularly converts to Islam, see Quilliam as a pioneer of the path they have taken. His legacy is maintained by the Abdullah Quilliam Society which was formed in 1996. The Society is raising funds to restore 8-10 Brougham Terrace to re-open the historic mosque and establish an educational centre. For more info visit: http://www.abdullahquilliamsociety.org/aboutus.htm

Some beautiful suggestions mashallah

Mashallah my beautiful sister-in-faith Eva Zaynab wrote some beautiful comments after reading my post on having the right intention I have benefited a lot from her beautiful advice that's why I would like to share her comments with you. Jazakllah khairan sis Eva :-)

She wrote: Your article mashAllah was beautifully written and you gave one of the most important reminders- always have an intention. In Hadith one of the famour 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi says:

‎" Actions are ( judged) by motives ( niyayah, so each man will have what he intended. Thus he , whose migration ( Hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some worldly thing he might gain, of for a wife he might marry, his migration is that for which he migrated." Al Bukhari and Muslim). when I was in Tarim, there was not a single time, where the word intention was not mentioned. Actions are indeed by intentions and the intention has to come from the heart. So a reminder to myself first, whateever we do, before we embark on any journey or any task have the right intention, always only for Allah swt and always , as you mentioned in your article with the " Bismillah".

Habib Umar bin Hafiz mentioned ones to the nearest meaning :" Any action that starts without the Bismillah is corrupt of blessings. A deed is not a deed unless there is a pious intention".Before every action, we must have a true sound will. and intention. May Allah swt give us all the ability to not be negligent in remembering intentions and honesty. I am sorry for the longish comments, but I wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed your last three articles. MashAllah, May Allah swt reward you, sis, for giving such reminders, for dedicating ur time and effort in writing them. Ameen

 

My little boy Muhammad Hamza is now 5 months old and exclusively breastfed. InshAllah I will do my best to fast, but if I see that my breastmilk is being affected or that my health deteriorates then I will stop. At the end of the way we need to remember that above all Allah subhana wa Ta Allah is Ar-Rahman and nursing mums and also people with health problems such as Type 2 Diabetes are excluded from fasting. And we should not feel in anyway that just because we do not fast, Allah swt is not going to shower his Mercy on us . We can do so much ibada during this month-Night vigils, reading Quaran and inshAllah finishing a Khatam, Dhikr, extra nafl prayers, getting up for Suhr and preparing the Iftar for ur spouses or our parents, giving sadaqa and so much more.Two years ago , as my daughter was born 10 days before Ramadhan, I really thought that I will not be able to make the most of that blessed month, as it can be quite tiring with a newborn and constantly breast-feeding . I had to remind myself that I have a limit in regards to what I can achieve and I should be realistic in my goals rather than having some very high expectations. so the end result- I didnt do a Khatam of the Holy Quran, but I made sure during the day , I read a few ayas. Some nights I was not able to do Qiyamat Layl but alhamdullilah i observed the blessed 27th of Ramadhan. But above all I made sure that I honoured the rights of my child and my husband , and no matter how tired I was, even if my husband insisted not, I would make sure I get up and prepare the suhur( which can be very hard when you lack sleep) and always did my best to cook our own iftar, At the end of the day instead of throwing a whole banquet of samosas, spring rolls, ahne, dali borah etc, we always had milk, dates, a rice dish and some fruits and my hubby alahmaudllilah loved it.

 

So a reminder to all the nursing mums or people with health problems, lets not forget that just because we dont fast, we cannot do other ibadah during this special month. Have the right intention and make the most of this scared month. Dont just let it pass and then feel guilty about it. As scholars have said : if we only knew the blessings of this month, we would want every month to be Ramadhan. May Allah swt give us all the tawfeeq to make the most of the coming Ramadhan and inshAllah to bring us close to the Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him and ultimately to Allah subhana Wa Ta Alla. Ameen.

And sorry just another thought about Tarawih prayers. For the last two years I never did my Tarawih prayers in the masjid and I often felt very lonely or as if I am missing something or not making the most of Ramadhan in that aspect. I shared this with my husband and he reminded me that my Salah at home is far superior than Salat in the Masjid. Narrated Umm Humaid As-Sa’diyah who once said to the Prophet (SAW): Messenger of Allah (SAW)! I love to pray with you (i.e. in the mosque)! Upon hearing this, Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said:

"I know that you love to say your prayer with me. However, the prayer you offer in your residence is more excellent than that you offer in your people’s mosque. And your prayer in your people’s mosque is better for you than you prayer in the (lager) congregational mosque." (Abu Dawud; Musnad of Imaam Ahmad; & At-Tabarani)


And to be honest I think I had the wrong intention as well, which was very sad, I used to think that if I go to the masjid with my baby, I can meet other women as well and have a chit chat after our Tarawih prayers. Masjid=barakah tots playgroup. Before having children , I used to see always mums with their newborns in their carseats or toddlers and you could see that some of them really came for the chit chat and it was quite disturbing. Some sisters used the opportunity to show off the latest designer abayas from Dubai , especially for Ramadhan. Some sisters were not even able to perform their Tarawih prayers because their babies were crying , some due to hunger, some due to the uncomfortable car seat ( believe me you may think it is comfortable, but come on, it is not the same as their comfy cot bed, or moses basket). So alhamdullilah the solution for me was- praying at home without a disturbed routine for my child, without dragging her out at 10 pm,when most babies are asleep and as for my chit chat or catch up with the sisters, I did it during the day.

Do we Muslims really need Valentine's Day to show our love?

Subhanallah so many Muslims (?) are now celebrating the Valentine's Day. Seeing friends on FB sharing their ‘Valentine’ wishes makes me quite confused. What’s going on? Are we really allowed to celebrate this day? Why do we need this one day to show our love and affection to our loved one? Our beloved Messenger Muhammad (SAW) showed love and affection to his wives every single day of his life through his beautiful action. He (SAW) never treated them with harshness and always been very kind and gentle to the mothers of believers. Even the companions (RAW) were so good to their wives mashallah. Our faith teaches us to love and show respect to people who are very close to us every single day of our life, not just this one day! Life is just a moment for us so we are told to make it a moment of loving Allah swt and His beautiful creation insha-Allah.

If we know the origin of Valentine day, I don’t think as Muslims we would like to celebrate this day anymore. It’s due to utter ignorance that most of us are getting swept by the culture of the majority of people who love to celebrate this occasion. The origin of this day, known as ‘Valentine day’ or ‘Festival of love’ is based on festivals celebrated by pagan Romans, when paganism was the prevalent religion of the Romans more than seventeen centuries ago. For them it was an expression of spiritual love. The Romans used to celebrate this event in mid-February each year with a big festival. So what was the connection between Saint Valentine and this festival? Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient "martyrs" of the Christian Church.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of "spiritual love" to another concept known as the "martyrs of love", represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems etc.

As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih, professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the following:

“There are forms of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It stands to reason that the love for Allah swt, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.

Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.

Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.”

There is a short talk done by Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick on the history of Valentine's day.

There is also quite an emotinal talk done by a shaykh in Middle East. May Allah swt reward these people who are trying to educate and enlighten Muslims , alhamdulillah.

Muslim New Year 1432: Month of Muharram and Ashura

On Tuesday is the Islamic New Year insha-Allah. It is the first day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar and the start of 1432 AH. The New Year date changes every year as the Islamic calendar is roughly 11 days shorter than the Gregorian (solar) calendar.

The Islamic or Hijrah calendar is lunar-based, consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar) and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals. The first year was the year the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his companions (RA) migrated from Makkah to Al-Madinah where He (SAW) set up the first Islamic state in 662 CE, known as the Hijra. Each numbered year is designated either H for Hijra or AH for the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra).

Muslims in general don’t really celebrate the New Year but the 10th of Muharram (the day of Ashura) is very significant to us. Most probably it is going to be 15th or 16th December the day of Ashura, insha-Allah. We should fast this day as recommended by the Prophet (SAW):

'Ibn Abbas (RA) said "I never saw Allah's Messenger (SAW) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other day than this day, the Day of Ashura and this month, meaning Ramadan" - (Bukhari, Hadith 1867)

According to one narration, Muharram is called the month of Allah (SWT). Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said, “The month for observing Saum (fasting) next after Ramadan is the month of Allah, the Muharram; and the best salat (prayer) next after the prescribed salat is salat at night (Tahajjud prayers) (Muslim).

Muharram is also one of the sacred months. The other three sacred months are Rajab, Dhul-Qadah and Dhul-Hijjah. It has been reported from Ibn Abbas (RA), the Messenger of Allah (SAW) observed fasting on the day of Ashura and commanded all the Muslims to fast on this day (Al-Bukhari & Muslim).

In another hadith, it is stated that when the Prophet (SAW) emigrated from Makkah to Al-Madinah, He (SAW) saw that the Jews were fasting on this day. He (SWT) asked them why they did this on that day and they told him that they did it for the reason that Allah (SWT) granted Prophet Musa (AS) emancipation from Pharaoh on this day and so they observed fasting as a token of their joy. On this, the Messenger (SAW) said that in this happiness of Prohet Musa (AS), Muslims have a greater right to observe this fast than the Jews. Consequently, He (SAW) also observed fast on 10th of Muharram. Then He (SAW) said that if he lived the following year, He (SAW) would fast on 9th of Muharram also so that they would make themselves different from the Jews. According to another Hadith, He (SAW) ordained Muslims to observe the fast of Ashura and in addition one more fast on 9th or 11th of Muharram in opposition to the Jews (Musnad Ahmed, Vol.4,p-21). That is why fasting two days either 9th and 10th or 10th and 11th of Muharram is a Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (SAW). We are also recommended to fast anytime during this month as it is one of the sacred months.

It is recommended to bring the night of Ashura to life with prayers, supplication and remembrance of Allah (SWT). It is also good to expand generosity upon children by giving them food they like and other gifts.

As today is probably the last day of Hijri year 1431, I would like to share with you a beautiful dua I have found in one of the Zaytuna journals, alhamdulillah. Now some people may question what the source of this is exactly. I must admit I don’t know but I believe my intention is pure and I want Allah (SWT) to forgive me insha-Allah. Just read the dua and you can decide yourself whether you would like to make this dua or otherwise. Allah (SWT) knows best.

It was mentioned in the book. The Treasure of Success and Felicity in the Supplements that expand the Chests (Kanzun-Najaah was-Surur), that if a person reads the following supplication three times at the end of the year, the Devil will say, “We tired ourselves with him/her all year and he/she ruined all that we have done in one moment.”

“In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful and Allah bless our teacher Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah, whatever actions I have committed this past year which have not pleased You, which I may have forgotten though You do not forget, while You are forbearing with me though fully capable of punishing me, while You called me to relent and atone even after my audaciousness before You – O Allah, I surely seek Your forgiveness for that, so forgive me! O Allah, and as for my actions that have pleased You and for which recompense and forgiveness has been promised, please accept them from me. And do not dash my hopes in You, O Generous, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. And Allah, the Exalted, bless our Master Muhammad and his famly and companions and grant them peace. (Seasons: Journal of Zaytuna Institute Autumn – Winter Reflections 2003-2004).

May Allah SWT keep us blessed in the new year and help us to be better Muslims, ameen !

The new Hijri year 1431

All praise to Allah swt, tomorrow is going to be the start of new Hijri year 1431 Insha-Allah. Most times due to ignorance, we Muslims tend to miss the start of the Islamic New Year and are unfortunately more aware of 31st December and tend to celebrate this ‘happy new year’ more seriously. Alhamdulillah our new generation of Muslims are trying to learn more about Islam and Insha-Allah very soon, we Muslims will be able to celebrate the new Hijri year with the proper understanding. We need to remind each other of the significance of Islamic year Insha-Allah.

The other day, I found a very beautiful supplication in Zaytuna Institute journal ‘Seasons’. This is a very beautiful dua which someone can do at the end of the Hijri year.

It was mentioned in the book, The Treasure of Success and Felicity in the Supplications that expand the chests (Kanzun-Najah was-Surur), that if a person reads the following supplication three times at the end of the year, the Devil will say, “ We tired ourselves with him all year, and he ruined all that we have done in one moment.”

“ In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful and Allah swt bless our teacher Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace. O Allah , whatever actions I have committed this past year which have not pleased You, which I may have forgotten though You do not forget, while You are forbearing with me , though fully capable of punishing me, while You called me to relent and atone even after my audaciousness before You – O Allah, I surely seek Your forgiveness for that, so forgive me ! O Allah, as for my actions that have pleased You and for which recompense and forgiveness has been promised, please accept them from me. And do not dash my hopes in You, O Generous, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. And Allah, the Exalted, bless our Master Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace.” ( 3 times)

May Allah swt grant us a very blessed new Hijri year, ameen. May the next year be the year of seeking more knowledge of our beautiful faith and actions inspired by the knowledge acquired! May Allah swt accept our deeds and grant us Jannahtul Ferdous, ameen.