From Jubair bin Nufair who said that he heard Abu ad-Dardaa, while he was at the end of his prayer, having finished the tashahhud, seeking refuge in Allaah from nifaaq (hypocrisy), and he exceeded in seeking refuge from it.  So Jubair said: And what is it with you O Abu ad-Dardaa, and with nifaaq?  So he said: Leave us alone, leave us alone.  For by Allaah, a man turns away from his deen in just a single hour, and so he becomes totally devoid of it (i.e. loses it altogether).” (Siyar A’laam in-Nubulaa 2/383 and ad-Dhahabee said “Its Isnaad is Saheeh”.).

Quoted from “Imaan Builder 4: The Observance of Sincerity in One’s Speech and Action,” accessible via SalafiPublications.com, and Allah knows best.

From Abdullaah bin Mas’ood who said that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallahAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) say, “This knowledge will be inherited by the trustworthy ones of each generation.”

From Abu Hurairah who said that Allaah’s Messenger (sallahAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The trustworthy ones in every generation will carry this knowledge. They will remove from it the distortions of the excessive ones, the false claims of the liars and the false interpretations of the ignorant people.”

From Usaamah bin Zaid who said that Allaah’s Messenger (sallahAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The trustworthy ones in every generation will carry this knowledge. They will remove from it the distortions the ignorant ones and the false interpretations of the liars.”

Ibraaheem bin Abdur-Rahmaan al-Udhree who said that Allaah’s Messenger (sallahAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The trustworthy ones in every generation will carry this knowledge. They will remove from it the distortions of the excessive ones, the false claims of the liars and the false interpretations of the ignorant people.”

And from Mu’aadh bin Jabal who said that the Prophet (sallahAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The trustworthy ones in every generation will carry this knowledge. They will remove from it the distortions of the excessive ones, the false claims of the liars and the false interpretations of the ignorant people.”

Takhreej: Majmoo al-Fataawaa of Ibn Taymiyyah (15/298), ar-Rawd al-Baasim of Ibn al-Wazeer al-Yamaani (1/21-23), Takhreej ul-Mishkaat of al-Albaani (1/82-83, no.248), Hadiyy

Tahdheeb Sharaf Ashaabul-Hadeeth of al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadee (p.57-58)

quoted from SalafiPublications.Com,  Trans. Abu Iyaad

waAllahu a’alem, waAllahul-musta’aan.

I think most people have seen the following two interviews on the Daily Show by now, but if you havent, its really worth watching:

Message from Anna Baltzer:

Dear friends,

Last night Dr. Barghouti and I were on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart talking about Palestine.

The show was overwhelmed with angry emails and phone calls prior to the appearance, and up until the last minute it seemed like they might cancel. During the taping the show had it’s only heckler in 11 years.The entire staff were very nervous and may come to regret the monumental decision (and not make it again) as they will surely be inundated now that the show has aired.

That is why it is CRUCIAL that the show receive letters of support from anyone who appreciated the interview.

PLEASE take a moment to give a quick thank you to the Daily Show. I’m sure they will likely be affected by numbers rather than length, so it’s OK to make it short, but spread the word to others! Be sure to put”Thank you” in the subject, and maybe Dr. Barghouti & my names. Fill out the form here: http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml (make sure to choose The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as your topic). You can also try calling 212-468-1700.

Many of you who watched the show on TV noticed that everything of real substance that I said was edited out. The major issues cut out were (1) the US role in aiding Israel, (2) the lack of adequate coverage in mainstream US media, and (3) the Palestinian-led movement for Boycott / Divestment / Sanctions (BDS) to nonviolently pressure Israel to comply with international law.

The full, un-cut interview is available on the Daily Show homepage www.thedailyshow.com and will eventually be moved to:

Part I: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-28-2009/exclusive—anna-baltzer—mustafa-barghouti-extended-interview-pt–1

Part I: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-28-2009/exclusive—anna-baltzer—mustafa-barghouti-extended-interview-pt–2

It’s worth watching and comparing with what they allowed said in the TV version.

Regardless of the cuts, this was a huge step for the movement(and Dr. Barghouti’s left-in parts were excellent, in my opinion). If you agree, do make your letters positive, even if you decide to mention the disappointing discrepancy between the full interview and what was aired. Again, please take a moment to fill out the form here: http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml (make sure to choose The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as your topic).

I believe the interview wouldn’t have happened 3 years ago. Times are changing. Keep on keepin’ on…

Anna

PS. I launched a new version of my website in time for the show, in case you’re interested: www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com

Original Source

The Quran and Sunnah both emphasize the importance of time in the life of a Muslim. Allaah swears in the beginning of many Soorahs (chapters) by time or moments in time, for example Allaah Says (what means): “By the dawn and the ten nights (i.e. the first ten days of the month of Thul-Hijjah)…” [Quran 89: 1-2]

And also Says (what means): “By the night when it covers, and by the day when it appears…” [Quran 92:1]
And also Says (what means): “By the morning brightness and by the night when it covers with darkness…” [Quran 93:1]

And also Says (what means): “By the time…” [Quran 103:1]
When Allaah swears by something of His creation, it directs our attention to the benefit of that thing. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, further emphasized the value of time in many authentic Hadeeths. For example, Mu’aath bin Jabal  related that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The slave will not go forward on the Day of Judgment until he is asked four questions: about his age and how he spent it, about his youth and how he used it, about his wealth and how he acquired it and spent it, and about his knowledge and what he did with it.”

Youth is considered the peak stage in human life, because young people have the capacity and energy to accomplish many good deeds, but when they get older, they cannot do as much. These are stages of development as mentioned in the Quran, for example in Soorah Ar-Room (The Romans), Allaah Says (what means): “Allaah is He Who created you in (a state of) weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave (you) weakness and grey hair …” [Quran 30:54]

If we do not use our time effectively for something good, then we will definitely use it for something bad, which destroys our rewards and our lives. For example, if you do not make Thikr (mentioning Allaah and praising Him), then you will be saying something else, perhaps backbiting or perhaps talking about your children, your work, your neighbors, your friends or your enemies. What counts for you is using the time for something useful, doing good deeds and saying good things.
Try to make a short revision at the end of each day about what you did during that day. Ask yourself: What did I do today? What did I do that was bad today? Make repentance for the bad things that you have done and said, sincerely determining not to repeat such things. With the good, determine to do it again, do it more often and do it in a better way.

Our lives are judged according to what we did, not according to how many years we lived. We know that life is very short, and at the end of it comes death. We do not know when we are going to die, so we have to make sure that we do many good deeds before we pass into the next life and we are unable to return to repent from our bad deeds, or to do more good deeds. Time passes very quickly as Allaah Says (what means): “The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had not tarried (in this world) except an afternoon and a morning.” [Quran 79:46]

And also Says (what means): “And on the Day when He shall gather (resurrect) them together, (it will be) as if they had not stayed (in the life of this world and graves, etc) but an hour of a day.” [Quran 10:45]
Time is very precious and if it passes, you cannot make use of it again. If yesterday passed without the performance of good deeds, then it is gone; you cannot reclaim any benefit from yesterday’s time. For example, if you came to travel from one city to another and you found that the airplane that you were supposed to travel on has already left, do you think that it will be back to pick you up? Or if you were traveling by train and you missed the train, do you think that the train will reverse to come back to get you?

When it is time for a person to die, he may ask for more time to do good deeds, as Allaah Says (what means):“Therein they will cry: ‘Our Lord! Bring us out, we shall do righteous good deeds, not what we used to do.’ (Allaah will reply): ‘Did We not give you long enough lives so that whosoever would receive admonition could receive it, and the warner came to you? So taste you (the evil of your deeds). For the wrongdoers, etc, there is no helper.” [Quran 35:37]

We say that we are so busy with our work and our children, but Allaah warns us against this saying (what means): “O you who believe! Let not your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allaah. And whoever does that, then they are the losers. And spend (in charity) of that which We have provided for you before death comes to one of you and he says: ‘My Lord! If only you would give me respite for a little while (i.e. return to the worldly life), then I should give sadaqah (i.e. Zakaah) of my wealth, and be among the righteous (i.e. perform Hajj). And Allaah grants respite to none when his appointed time (death) comes. And Allaah is All-Aware of what you do.” [Quran 63: 9-11]

Many people before us used their time effectively by performing good deeds, teaching, doing something for the benefit of the Muslims, their families and their relatives, or by advising others to be good, and calling others to Allaah and Islam, etc. They considered every day that passed which they did not use effectively for the sake of Allaah as denying the favors of Allaah.

Today we have those who “kill time.” These people gather to talk about things that are not related to Islam or the Muslims’ affairs; they play around or talk about others. These people are not killing time, but they are committing slow suicide because they are killing their time — and their time is their lives! So they are slowly killing themselves and after they die, what good deeds have they done?

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “There are two favors (or bounties) of Allaah’s bounties, and in them many people are cheated (or deceived): health and free time.”

People underestimate the value of these two favors, and thus, they are cheated. This is like a person who has a house that he wants to sell. Someone comes and offers him 50,000 dollars for it. He isn’t sure of its value, so he hesitates. Finally, he agrees and sells it for that amount. Later he finds out that his house was actually worth a million dollars. Imagine how cheated he feels; imagine that feeling that if he had only known beforehand what it was really worth, he could have gotten more!

It is the same with our time. We underestimate its great value, and then when it is gone, we feel that we have been cheated because we didn’t get everything out of it that we could have. But just as the one who sold his house below its value cannot get it back and sell it at its true value, we also cannot go back and do more with the time that is already gone. At the end of our lives, we will not be able to go back and live our lives over again and we will not be given more time to do good deeds, to try to make up for the time we wasted.

So we must organize our time wisely, being very careful about what we use it for. We must treat the free time that we have, in which we could do good deeds as a precious resource, guarding it against waste or misuse.

Scholar talks of Jihadists during Muslim educational forum

by Matthew Brown- Baltimore Sun (source)

The use of Islam to justify killing is “an innovation” in the religion, a Muslim scholar told a Baltimore conference Saturday, and warned: “Most innovations lead to hellfire.”

“The Satan always has people that he will be able to deceive,” Dr. Waleed Basyouni said during a presentation he called “Reclaiming Islam from the Jihadists.”

Hundreds of Muslims went to the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday to hear Basyouni and others promote what organizers described as a moderate, modern interpretation of Islam for the United States and the West. It was the opening day of Ilm Fest, an annual education conference previously staged in New York, Chicago and Toronto.

On the agenda for this year’s event, which concludes today, are talks on reconciling Muslim practice with U.S. citizenship, Islam and social justice, and domestic violence in the Muslim community.

“One of our main focuses is to try to tackle different challenges that Muslims face today, particularly youth growing up here,” organizer Mobeen Vaid said. “It’s really to give people a way to maintain their Muslim identity in America and telling them how to positively contribute to society.”

For the Saudi-educated Basyouni, that meant speaking openly about terrorism.

Basyouni said he did “not want to be among” his brothers who “still insist” that violent extremism is not a problem, or has been exaggerated by the CIA, the Israeli intelligence service or autocratic Islamic regimes, or is justified by injustices perpetrated by those groups.

He began his talk by describing “a very difficult image to forget:” the devout young man, wearing an explosive vest or wielding a machine gun, preparing to carry out an attack that he believes is righteous.

What saddens Basyouni, he said, is that the young man is wasting the one life he has been given on a false interpretation of Islam spread by “certain groups and certain individuals who … know how to quote a verse from here and a hadith from there” – referring to the two major sources of Islamic teaching, the Quran and accounts of the life of Muhammad – “to deceive those who are still not fully aware and fully educated” in the faith.

He described killing as one of the worst sins in Islam.

“The good news is that the nature of the Muslim community is to fight terrorism,” he said. “The nature of the Muslim community is to reject extremism.”

This year’s Ilm Fest has drawn Muslims from Virginia to New York. The event culminates a year’s worth of teaching by the AlMaghrib Institute, which was founded in College Park eight years ago and now presents one- and two-weekend seminars in 25 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Britain.

“When we do our weekend seminars, usually it’s students who are serious about Islamic knowledge, and we get a lot of them,” said Muhammad Alshareef, founder and president of the institute. “We do events like Ilm Fest to reach out to the broader Muslim community and others who want to basically get a glimpse of the scholarship of our teachers, get a glimpse of the atmosphere, make it more of a community effort.”

so how was ilmfest?….it was awesome mashaAllah! inshaAllah i’ll be posting thoughts on it coming up, but for the time being, suffice it to say that all of the masha’ikh did a phenomenal job, and for those of us who were there, we thank Allah for being able to witness that.

Asalamualaykum,

I’ll make it brief: if you havent registered yet, REGISTER!!!!

www.ilmfest.com

Look forward to seeing you there inshaAllah.

By

Gary Meenaghan  on Friday, September 11, 2009

For many involved in basketball, Michael Jordan is God. But for former Houston Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon, Jordan has an altogether different meaning: it means home. And his God is Allah.

The 46-year-old Muslim’s “open and quiet life” in the Hashemite Kingdom is almost the antithesis of his years as arguably the best centre basketball has ever seen.

When the 6ft-10in Nigerian joined the Rockets in the 1984 NBA Draft from the University of Houston, he was the first pick – ahead of Jordan and Charles Barkley. Within a decade he had not only led his side to two successive championships, he also became the first player in NBA history to be simultaneously voted Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP in a single season.

Born in Lagos, Olajuwon became a naturalised American in 1993 after moving to Texas in 1980 and went on to help the United States win gold at the Atlanta Olympics. The same year, he was selected by a panel of experts as one of the “50 Greatest Players in NBA History” and when he stepped off the court for the final time six years later, the Rockets retired his No34 jersey in testament to his talents.

Olajuwon moved to the Middle East shortly after, having visited the region throughout his 18-year career. Now settled in Jordan – a country he says offers a “balanced, neutral society” – his children Rahmah and Aisha attend one of its many international schools, he visits the mosque as often as possible, and he and wife Dalia practise Arabic in a conducive environment. He seems content. He sounds comfortable.

Despite being close to midnight, he has just returned from his local mosque when he speaks to Emirates Business by phone from his family home in Amman. It is Ramadan and he is fasting, just as he did when he was playing.

“It is not difficult because it is something you look forward to,” he says. “Fasting is really a training programme for your willpower. The concept of Ramadan is to control yourself – to restrain.

“Whether people around you are fasting or not doesn’t make any difference. If people are eating and drinking in front of you, the willpower of the Muslim should be stronger. That’s what the training is for.

“It’s like somebody who swims in a pool or somebody who is swimming in the ocean. The ocean is stronger so makes a better swimmer.

“I find in the Arab World that when they are fasting, they say they are weaker and they don’t work as hard. But it should be the opposite.”

So does he explain this understanding to his local Muslim friends, I ask?

“Yes… but they think I am crazy,” he says with a deep, hearty laugh.

“But it’s true. When I was playing, we were travelling and all my team-mates were drinking water. To me, it didn’t matter. It made me stronger and my statistics went up; I was better during Ramadan, more focussed… lighter.”

During his career, Olajuwon was for ever the focus of the sports media throughout the holy month. His fasting was analysed across America and The New York Times described him as “depleted but dominating” in a 1997 match against Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

But this was the 1990s; Muslims in North American sports were not commonplace. Nowadays there are players such as Toronto Raptors’ Hedo Türkoglu and, if rumours are to be believed, Shaquille O’Neal who have found faith in Islam.

“At the beginning of my career, when my team-mates heard I was fasting during the season they thought it would affect my game and were concerned,” explains the 12-time All-Star. “But when they saw that it actually made me better there was a lot of admiration and intrigue: ‘How can you play at this level without drinking water, when you must need water and must be thirsty’ they would ask.”

Despite some reports claiming Olajuwon persistently tried to convert his Christian team-mates, he insists, now at least, he simply just goes about his day.

“I don’t go out to try and speak about Islam,” says Olajuwon, who recently returned from a family pilgrimage to Mecca.

“If someone asks me a question about Ramadan I speak about Ramadan, if they ask me a question about basketball, I speak about basketball. If you don’t ask I don’t volunteer, and that’s how it should be. That’s what’s so cool about it.”

Basketball has faced a bad rap in recent years, from rape allegations levelled against Kobe Bryant in 2003 to Orlando Magic’s Rashard Lewis’s failed drugs test last month. But Olajuwon says the increased exposure is not to blame for players’ actions, and neither are high salaries.

Olajuwon amassed a reported $99 million (Dh363m) during his career, but he maintains there is no such thing as too much money in professional sports – so long as those receiving it remain grounded and appreciate there are virtues more valuable than money.

“There can never be too much money in basketball – it’s a business,” says Olajuwon, who during his playing days donated two-and-a-half per cent of his annual income to the underprivileged.

“What’s more important is that they can manage their fame for a good cause – there are lots of people like that. But you also have a lot of people where they don’t know how to handle success and end up destroying their career. Someone who is rich, but who doesn’t have [positive] principles – these people have no value.”

Olajuwon returns to the States every so often – “whenever I have an engagement,” as he puts it – and made the trip last year to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Less than a week later, a monument was unveiled outside the Houston Rockets’ Toyota Center arena.

However, aware that a picture or likeness is against Islamic beliefs, the Rockets instead erected a 12-foot high bronze sculpture focussing on his famed No34 jersey. Now, even though Olajuwon may call Jordan home, he will for ever be in Houston.

Two Simple Reminders:

`Â’ishah tells us: “During the last ten nights of Ramadan, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would tighten his waist belt and spend the night in worship. He would also wake up his family.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1920)]

Abû Hurayrah relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever spends Laylah al-Qadr in prayer, believing in Allah and seeking His reward, will be forgiven all of his past sins.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1802) and Sahîh Muslim (760)]

I spent almost the entire day on Saturday at the Gaylord National Convention Center at the Malaria Fundraiser hosted by Islamic Relief.  It was the largest fundraising event that I’ve ever been to aside from those done specifically during conventions and although the turnout wasnt as large as I had anticipated, the organization- from registration, program management, and speaker services- seemed to be handled very well, walhamdulillah.

The program was scheduled to begin at 10AM but they ran a little behind schedule to start the morning.  I was able to sit in and listen to a few speeches throughout the day- I heard Shaykh Yasir Qadhi’s speech where he spoke on the future of our ummah in America, most of Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s speech where he addressed the same issue, heard the majority of Imam Zaid Shakir’s speech which was focused on our need to donate to this cause, and listened to Imam Siraj Wahhaj’s speech which was very heartfelt.

Alhamdulillah all were good…actually, they were better than good, and I would say that each speaker has set such a high standard when it comes to addressing the Muslim Community that their speeches, in a sense, offset one another.  Perhaps in a speaker lineup of less esteem each individual speech would have garnered more attention/praise, but all were generally considered good speeches alhamdulillah.

The one speech that was head and shoulders above the rest was the final speech of the night delivered by Shaykh Humza Yusuf.  It garnered the largest attendance, and he was able to speak not only on the need to donate, but addressed the social and political ramifications of disease and what causes lead them to come about.

His charisma and articulation was unmatched, and that’s not a knock on anyone else, but rather a testament to his ability to captivate a crowd through his speaking ability.  I, like hundreds of others, sat in the room completely at awe by his critique of the growing political order in America; his analysis of wealth and poverty was also spot-on, as was his mention of the psychological disorder present in our society versus others.

As someone who is occasionally asked to give speeches, I didn’t notice him refer to his notes a single time during the entire speech which spanned about an hour (not even sure if he had any).  His hand gestures were completely fluid, voice inflection appropriate for each point being made, and his word selection was, as always, very well done.

Simply put, it was a phenomenal speech, and at the end of it all, I thank Allah for having been able to attend yesterdays program and ask Allah to accept from all the efforts of those present.  May Allah preserve our masha’ikh in this country and Guide them to that which pleases Him.  Ameen.  W’Allahu T’ala A’alem.