Does the Friday congregational prayer benefit us?

This is a question that I have been asking myself for many months. Each Friday goes past and it still seems like there was a missed opportunity. 

The real point that I am getting at is how we can benefit from the prayer and most of all, the rest of the day.

Speaking for myself, I seem not to use the day to attain maximum reward. We seem to dither about with trivial matters instead of going to masjid on time (we are not talking about going early!) then we get there in time for the prayer and the final supplication, then we run away like the build is on fire!

Many of us try to squeeze the prayer in our lunch times and leaving early is not possible. One of the real problems of the Jumma’ prayer is the sermon, the khutba. There are very few people giving sermons that help people.

Most sermons fall into these categories:

1) Repeat information - The same info delivered as last week, the week before...

2) Irrelevant information - Disputes that have no relevance in our time.

3) Unqualified instructors - this can occur almost everywhere.

4) Complex information - Information given is too complicated to be understood.

5) Offensive information – people or groups are attacked unnecessarily.

I know of people who attend the prayer and miss the sermon deliberately, so they do not have to hear it. This is really upsetting and depressing to know all these are going on. The sermon should be uplifting and full of glad tidings for the believers. Instead, the opposite is true.

In some Masjids we have endless set of names that have given monies and request supplication. This is part of the times we live but can the amounts be omitted to save time?

One of the best sermons that I heard was from an Imam who has now passed away. Even though it was seven ago, I still remember the words that he said. He talked about how the media were attacking Muslims by accusing them of forcing a way of life into western lands. He spoke very passionately and eloquently about how this was the same refrain that the pagan Meccans used. He spoke mainly in Urdu but gave the meanings in English and Arabic. As the people in the masjid were either Pakistani or Arab. So no one was left out and everyone got something. We were praying in the spaces inbetween the feet of those infront of us. But never since that time I  have heard a better sermon. 

Allah (the Exalted) sent every Prophet on the tongue of the people. But masjid committees are not bothered about the Quran so they suffice with their native language which excludes everyone who does not understand.

One of the things that I find really strange, after prayer, is when you see people supplicating to Allah (Ta'ala) and they are looking around at the people moving about. I wonder if we were talking to someone directly and we kept moving our heads looking side to side, would they not get annoyed? I would and this is Allah (ta'ala) who we are asking for forgiveness. It seems so insincere to me.

What is the cure?

The sermon should be uplifting, eloquent and concise. Full of inspiring information that infuses the attendant. There should be no attacks on people or on groups unless it is about a tribulation that becomes common knowledge and not an issue that only a few of the audience can understand.

The time of the prayer should be when the most people can attend as sometimes 2pm is a little late! The speaker needs to be able to speak English (or the common language of the area) if he cannot then other Imams should assist him on a rota basis. It should contain some practical information that the attendant can take away with them.

Concerning the individual

We should try to bathe on Friday this means after true dawn, clean ourselves up by trimming and shaving. Imam Ghazali recommends that people begin preparing for the Friday prayer on Thursday. One of the amazing habits of the Moroccans was that they attend the masjid early and recite the Quran together for over two hours before the sermon. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recommended reading Surah the Cave (Surah eighteen).

We should be attentive when listening to the sermon and be silent. No one should be speaking or causing some sort of distraction that can draw the attention to him and not the speaker. I used to get annoyed when I saw  this but now it does not bother me. Why? because no one is listening. It is disliked to say anything when the Imam is speaking and its disliked to tell people to be quiet. When are we going to change?

We hope this benefits people and provides food for thought.

Islam in Spain and the Moriscos

"Now, what I want is facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to the facts, Sir!"
(1)

The Islamic period of Spain is stated as 711 to 1492 as we are lead to believe by various reports. This does not explain the whole story of Islam in Spain. This is the period of Islamic rule but this is not the full story. Islamic Spain began in 711but it did not end officially until 1610 when the Muslims were expelled from Spain after being oppressed since the fall of the khaliphate in Granada in 1492. This period was something that I was totally unaware of and I felt that some study in this area was needed.

The period after the fall of the khaliphate makes for grim reading. Many a time we have read the blood soaked pages of history but nothing we had read previously could prepare us for what we read. All of the knowledge I knew about Christianity was about to be confirmed and it made the Crusades look like a minor skirmish. In fact the pacifying of the Iberian Peninsula from Islam to Christianity was the most brutal and unforgiving ethnic cleansing that Europe had seen, up until that point. Within less than one hundred and twenty years, Islam was taken off the map in Spain and was replaced with a cross covered in the blood of men, women and children. Many accuse the Muslims of converting by force. This is a normal argument of Orientalists and it is about as unfounded an argument that there could ever be. Forced conversion into Islam is not accepted as is forced apostasy from Islam not accepted. You see forced conversion happens within a very short period of time and actual conversion takes time. It took several hundred years for Muslims to reach fifty percent in many countries of the Middle East. As it did in Spain, Egypt, Syria and other places that you can read about in Thomas Arnold's book "The Spread of Islam."

The Spanish inquisition was one of the world's first organisation of terror who tortured and killed without prejudice of gender or age. This was with the total acceptance of the pope at the time approved of their methods. Anyone with a sound mind can only look back and see that these are nothing but a wretched organisation who fed on the extortion and murder of people. Just because someone is of another faith than what you follow does not mean that they should be killed just because they do not follow your religion. Leave them alone, you force something into someone's heart and claim that they have accepted it! Their methods were brutally over the top and would make you weep if you read what they did. Islam was removed from the public spaces with the 'Reconquista' and then they sought to remove it from the private domain. Spain was not reconquered by the Christians straight away, it was done over centuries and it took many rulers. The real sad part of these conquests was that the Christians did not see any reason why they should not massacre the civilians of the cities and the places they defeated. This included men, women and children; if the latter two were lucky they would be killed or sold into slavery where they would face more humiliation. For me this leaves as indelible stain on Christendom similar to that of the Crusades. If you do not believe me then pick up any book about Muslim Spain by English writers and read. I really find it odd when people slander Islam and make claims that Christianity is a less violent religion, when anyone with sound intellect who has read history can read the most horrific tales of murder, massacre and torture.

For something like five hundred years, Islam was banned as a religion and it was until 1975 when Islam became legal. People who were Muslims who had kept their faith secret came out; it was something that they had hidden from everyone. So you could say Islam began in 711 but did not end in 1492 or 1610 it kept going until today and it will keep going; until an appointed time will come.

We really wanted to write more about this but because of the amount of detail and the time needed to write something to do the subject justice. We hope that we have done the subject some justice. We have read several books about the subject and it is not always comfortable reading.


The Beginning

There are two reports that relate to the coming of the Muslims to the Iberian Peninsula. The first report is in Moorish Spain by Richard Fletcher(2):

"A king of Spain in ancient time built a tower in which he deposited a secret. He sealed the tower with a mighty padlock, and laid upon his successors the obligation each by turns to add an extra padlock so as to preserve ever more inviolable whatever was concealed within. Twenty-six kings came and went, respecting his wishes. Then there succeeded a rash and headstrong young king named Roderick. Resolved to penetrate the tower's secret, and against the advice of all his counsellors, he had the twenty-seven padlocks opened. Then he entered the chamber within. On its walls were painted Arab horsemen, scimitars at their belts, spears brandished in their right hands. In the middle of the room stood a table made of gold and silver set with precious stones, upon it carved the words: 'This is the table of King Soloman, son of David, upon whom be peace.' There was an urn on the table, which was found to contain a scroll of parchment. When this was unrolled, the following words were revealed: 'Whenever this chamber is violated, and the spell contained in this urn is broken, the people painted on these walls will invade Spain, overthrow its kings, and subdue the entire lands.'

Fletcher states that this is recorded in both Christian and Muslim sources but the author does not state where. Although a similar story is reported in Stanley lane-Poole's Muslims in Spain.

There is the more factual report which comes in addition to this report and compliments it. The count of Ceuta (In Northern Morocco but is still part of Spain) Julian sent his daughter to Roderick's court to be educated among the queen's waiting women; instead Roderick put her to shame. (3) Julian desired revenge and met with Musa ibn Nosayr, the Governor of North Africa, and said that they are comrades now and that he would assist him conquering Spain. (4) After sending out an investigatory party the governor then sent out Tariq ibn Zayd who with seven thousand troops crossed the land between Africa and Europe. He landed on a lion's rock that has bore his name ever since Jebal Tariq, Gibraltar or the mountain of Tariq. (5) Roderick had an army of one thousand men (6) and Tariq had his army reinforced by five thousand to a total of twelve thousand. After a fierce battle, the battle of Rio Brante, lasting one week the Muslims triumphed and slowly the Iberian Peninsula was assimilated into Islamic territory. The year was seven hundred and eleven, 28th Ramadan ninety two Islamic years;(7) this was the beginning of the story of Islam in Europe. There is a report in Islam in Andalus that there were exploratory forays during the khaliphate of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), (8) although it wasn't until the above events that any headway was made.


A Summary of the major events

Muslim advancement continued further into Spain and into Southern France where it was halted after the Muslims were defeated at the battle of the Tours. This is seen as a turning point for Europe because if the Muslims had defeated the Christian forces then there would have been little resistance left in Europe. This did not occur and in the year seven hundred and thirty two the advancement stopped. What occurred after was one of the glorious times in Spanish history that the world has ever seen and even now so few have yet to comprehend. I would just like to say that it is great that Muslims look back at the amazing achievements of the past and rightly so but we must ask ourselves one question. What are we doing, right now, that we could be remembered? Right now it seems that we can be remembered for very little.

Initially, governors came and went (9) until an exiled leader came, Abdurrahman ibn Mu'awiya who had fled the killing of his family after the collapse of the Ummayyad dynasty at the hands of Abbasids. He would become the leader that would establish Islam in Spain. (10)

Subsequently, began a new era of the Ummayyad dynasty in the West after its fall in the East. Leader after leader would come and go, none more so than his namesakes such as Abdurrahman the second and Abdurrahman the third. Abdurrahman the third in particular was one of the just and well remembered of the Muslim rulers of Al-Andulas.

One of the greatest leaders of Al-Andalus was Al-Mansur. During his lifetime was the pinnacle of the Spanish khaliphate and after his death began the decline of the Islamic rule in Spain. After the death of Al-Mansur's son Al-Muzaffar who heralded the beginning of what is known as the "party kings" they were rulers of their own provinces who did not accept or follow a centralised authority. There were many factors that lead to most of the civil wars that broke out between rulers.

There were at least thirty five small kingships (11) which rivalled and competed with each other but the most shocking fact was that they allied themselves with other Christian rulers which made their dream of taking the land back from the Muslims all the more simple. It would have been virtually impossible for them to fight the combined armies of all the forces of Muslim Spain but it would be much simpler to fight small kingships and defeat the Muslims gradually. (12)

Without the ruling of a centralised authority coupled with the rulers to busy indulging themselves in the worldly desires, the ranks of Muslims were easily picked off one by one. Thus the wheel for the conquest of Spain was set in motion and this started with the massacre and murder of Muslim civilians. This was precursor to the event of the Crusades (13) in the Middle East and begin in the East before similar bloodshed it reached the areas around Palestine.

Barbastro, at the foot of the Pyrenees, was taken in 1064 and after a long siege the surviving civilians were massacred, numbering into the thousands and most shocking of all was the rape of women in front of their families. (14) And other atrocities that there is no pen eloquent enough to describe. (15) This was also going to be a glimpse into the horror that the Muslims and to a certain extent Jews would face as the Christians gained more area.

After a seven year siege Toledo fell into the hands of Alfonso VI and from here proclaimed himself 'Emperor of Spain' (16) and from here he would extract tributes from all the Muslims kingships in the land. (17)

"The fall of Toledo was the beginning of the end of Islam's long sojourn in Europe. Toledo was the first domino." (18) As it was the major city of central Spain and this proved to be an ideal base from which the remainder of Spain would return into the hands of the Christians. Almost as suddenly as the sun of Islam rose upon the Iberian Peninsula it was now fast declining.

Following these events the reformists movement of the Almoravids came, who came with religious zeal aimed at reinvigorating Islam in Spain. (19) They made a concerted effort to realign the kingship rulers to their way of governance which unfortunately it was set to be ruled from North Africa and not Spain. From 1145 they defeated various rulers; Algerciras was conquered then they occupied Seville and Malaga. (20) The Muwahidun were next to follow up the Almoravids with a similar zeal to defeat the Christians. The Muwahidun pinnacle was under their leader Abu Yusuf Yaqub, he became the leader in 1184 and his greatest victory was at the battle of Alarcos (21)in 1195. Against the forces organised by Pope Innocent the third. (22) It was said that the Christians lost 146,000 and more than 30,000 were taken prisoner. Unfortunately, this victory was not taken advantage of because at this point Toledo was open to attack but there was no attack and this gave the Christians chance to re-group. Sun Tzu would have approved of taking advantage of their forces that were in disarray. It wasn't until nearly 16 years later did his son Muhammad An-Nasir would try to belatedly take advantage but the advantage was lost. An-Nasir gathered a huge army of 600,000 and subsequently ignored the advices of his generals (23) and it was stated that less than one thousand soldiers escaped the slaughter. (24)

This defeat meant that the Muslims could no longer muster a force needed to fight the Christians because many soldiers were North African. This defeat meant that Muslims could not re-take the land that was lost to the Christians over two hundred years of reversal. Cordoba fell in 1236 followed by Valencia in 1238 and Seville in 1248. (25) The Kingdom of Granada remained and this was the final standing of the Spanish Khaliphate left. Bani Nasr were descendants of the companion Sa'ad ibn Ubaydah and their chief was Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Al-Ahmar; it would be known as Nasrid Kingdom which would rule until 1492.

This was the point that we would see the Muslims who were not in Muslim controlled areas face torture, death and or various other demeaning punishments metered out to them by the Christians. This would begin the punishments that would lead to the gradual expulsion of the Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula.

In 1329 Don Pedro would attempt to finally remove Muslim influence from Spain by conquering Granada. After breaking a pledge to accept a tribute and leave the Muslims alone, (26) he decided to attack the forces of Abu l'Walid Ismail ibn Faraj. The Muslims had only five thousand warriors to call upon compared to the fifty thousand solders that the Christians contained. (27) Some reports as little as ten or thirteen Muslims soldiers were killed. (28) This victory was later reversed when Abu I'Hassan's forces were defeated in the battle of Rio Salado this loss allowed the Christians to make inroads to Granada. (29)

As the decay continued so did the re-taking of land by the Christians. Malaga and its surrounding areas were taken by 1487 and only the citadel of Granada remained by 1489. (30) The prince at the time Abu Abdullah or Boabdil surrendered the citadel after a siege of seven months. Musa, one of the military commanders, refused to capitulate and rode out to meet the Christians; he died the death of a martyr. The treaty was signed on the 25th November 1491 and the gates were opened on the 2nd January 1492. Boabdil was allowed to leave with whatever he could and just before he left he gave Granada once last glance. He sighed and began to cry, his mother's response was withering, and it became known as the 'el ultimo suspiro del Moro' (31) or the Moors last sigh, she said, "Do not weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man." (32)

This was the end of Islamic rule at one end of Europe and the beginning on the other side; The Ottomans would conquer Constantinople in a few years. What follows was the main reason for writing this essay. The next chapter of Islam in Europe was brutal history of torture and punishment that was ever to be documented. The Muslim leadership had gone but the Muslims were still present in large numbers and this is the subject of the next section.


The Moriscos

"You have built here what you, or anyone else, might have built anywhere; to do so you have destroyed what was unique in the world." Said Charles the fifth after he entered in the masjid of Cordoba, which had been converted into a church. (33) It is also a summary of the damage that the Christians had done when they regained political power.

After the fall of the last khaliphate in Spain, the Christians did not cease their conquest; they wanted to retake the hearts of Muslims back to their faith. The physical battle had been lost over four hundred or so years and now the spiritual battle was about to be fought and the victory could not be measured in the same way.

Although in many ways the battle for the hearts had already started. In 1216 the Lateran Council ordered that all Muslims and Jews to wear what became known as the 'san benito.' This distinguished them from the Christians and made them open to humiliation and attack with recourse in some cases. (34) In 1248 Pope Innocent IV ordered the king of Aragon to only allow Muslims as slaves in his kingdom. (35) In 1250 no one could buy or sell from a Muslim without a licence. (36) In 1312 the Council of Vienna ordered that the princes of Spain to suppress Islamic worship and offer Christian worship or else endure a 'terrible punishment.' (37) Worse was to follow, in 1385 and 1387 more slavery was introduced. 1388 saw a law pass that all Muslims had to kneel when Christian 'sacraments' were being paraded in the streets and the Friday was made obligatory for them to work. (38) In 1412 there was further legislation preventing Muslims and Jews from holding office, taking up certain professions and worse. (39) This is the real beginning of the punishment that anyone other than the Christians would face in that time and it really is shocking but it wasn't until 1483 that the Spanish inquisition was established even though the Holy office of the inquisition existed in Europe from 1184.

Systematically anything that was Muslim was removed from the public space and replaced by something Christian. There was destruction of people, masjids, books, public baths, libraries and worst of all was the history of forced conversion en masse. Anyone who wants to read about forced conversion should read Henry Charles Lea's book the Moriscos of Spain and they will see that the forced conversion is almost strictly a Christian phenomenon in Spain. For further information of how Islam spread see T. Arnold's work 'How Islam spread in the world' or 'The Preaching of Islam' they are both the same book.

The treaty of Granada, which was agreed to by Ferdinand and Isabella, was broken within seven years of it being ratified in November 1492. (40) The treaty contained articles that protected Muslims in fields of their religion and many other aspects. The breaking of this treaty paved the way for the Spanish inquisition.

Pope Innocent the 3rd commanded that all heretics be punished (41) what they meant was anyone who was not Christian should be punished and this would be a century for it. There was an incident in Granada that led to a riot because of a claim of a Muslim girl that she was being taken to be forced into Christianity. The Cardinal Ximenes denounced the uprising as a rebellion and said that there were only two choices left for the Muslim: expulsion or conversion. (42) Thousands were forcibly converted but in name only and because of this, they were given the insulting title Moriscos which means little Moor.

The Grand Mufti of Oran, Ahmad ibn Abu Juma'a, issued an edict in 1504 that allowed Muslims act like Christians and accept the Christian faith on their tongues as long as they rejected it in their hearts. (43) Faith in Islam is defined as belief in the heart with affirmation on the tongue (also performing actions by the limbs) so the affirmation of the Christian faith did not mean anything as long as they did not believe it in their hearts. Also note that this was in a situation of life and death, this was a dispensation given to Muslims in such times.

Armies of Christian militia randomly attacked Muslim areas, in Andarax a masjid was burned down, in it were women and children and in Belfrique all the men were killed and the women were taken as slaves. (44) The children were taken from their parents, sold into slavery never to be seen again. Copies of the Quran were burnt as were any Arabic books. (45) If the Muslims wanted to leave they had to pay a sum of money but people who had converted were not allowed to leave. (46) There was also the massacre of the Muslim population of Lisbon which lasted three days and three nights. (47) The Muslims were told to keep their doors open during wedding and feast celebrations, (48) and a Christian midwife had to be present during birth of a child thus preventing the call to prayer being announced into the newborns ear.

The Spanish inquisition would confiscate the land of anyone they suspected as not being a true Christian and anyone else they suspected of being dangerous. They used many different methods of torture and the most famous was the 'auto de fe' which was the burning at the stake of the accused. The Spanish inquisition did not discriminate women from men, even if the women were pregnant this did not matter, they would torture them for days, weeks and sometimes months. Majids were changed into churches, some were demolished totally and people were preventing from bathing! (49)

Part of the reason why they called them Moriscos was they were for all intents and purposes Christians in the public space but in the private space they acted as Muslims. This caused resentment from the Christians and thus this name was insulting because their forefathers adoption of Islam, before them.

Charles the fifth addressed notables in early September 1525 informing them of his determination not to allow a Muslim or other infidel to remain in his dominions except as slaves; he recognised that expulsion would affect their revenues and leave their lands 'depopulated.' (50) He followed this with an edict that stated that no other faith but Christianity would be allowed to be present in Spain. (51)

These false 'converts' had their lands confiscated by the Spanish Inquisition (52) so in some bizarre way the Inquisition funded itself on the misery of these illegal acts. The Moriscos were disarmed during Ximenes mass baptism thus leaving them defenceless (53) and open to attack from Christians who saw it as their religious duty to kill the moors.

The edict issued by Phillip II in 1567 that forbade the customs, language of the Moors namely Arabic and Moorish clothes were forbidden. (54) The public baths were finally all closed and destroyed; and the people forgot the custom of washing themselves in Spain well into the 19th century. (55) This is very strange for us to understand, the Christians were happy with being dirty and unclean. If we look at the Quran it describes polytheism/Shirk as filth from the devil. Moorish names and surnames were not used because of the harm that they would receive for it. Silk clothes were all forbidden (56) all of these prohibitions make for difficult reading for anyone living in a time when these things are normal in most western societies. So this was an active and deliberate intention to bring forth the Spain that they knew and remove any Spain that made it anew. They wanted to bring everything back the clothes, landscape basically everything.

Many other stories can be related and some contain the saddest stories of human suffering that you could ever read. Amid various rebellions that were lead by the Muslims was the one of the brutal massacres on Spanish soil. Phillip Don John put down the rebellion in 1569 by force; he and his forces massacred the three thousand men, women and children in Gelera. As he did in the villages of Alpuxarras, butchered the inhabitants and raised them to the ground. (57) For this, the Pope, at the time, called him 'a champion of Christianity.' (58) The survivors were sold into slavery and exiled but there were few. (59) Twenty thousand were massacred and a further seventy thousand were butchered during the celebrations of All Saints day in 1570. (60)

These massacres that occurred are some of the worst acts of religious intolerance that could ever fill the pages of the books of history. A reader of history will find it difficult to really look at these events and not feel a sense of great grief over the loss of life. Did it matter that the people had a different religion? Why did they feel it their religious duty to murder thousands if not millions of people just because they saw them as heretics? The Muslims did not do this to them, there was no mass massacres of the people carried by the Muslims in Spain when they came into the country in 711. Any act of genocide and violence on this scale and to this grandiose scale was rarely repeated in Europe. As the crusaders were sent home during the 13th century this internal crusade continued until there was no one left to kill! (61)

After these events there no more cause for 'rebellion' by the Moriscos because it was impossible as there was not enough people to even speak up now never mind to organise forces.

Families were broken up further with children separated from their families, some were sent to Priests to learn texts, (62) and most were sold as slaves. (63)

In the Early period of Islam in Spain the ratio of Muslim to others was 1 to 8, in the ninth century the number was 1 to 4 and by the tenth Century the Muslims began to outnumber the other groups. (64) This also proves that this was gradual and not sudden which was like the massacre of the Muslims was, sudden. The converts to Islam were gradual, in number, and occurred over a number of years. The population who they were killing were Muslims who were genetically of Spanish stock. This may have been strange for the Christian Spaniards to see the Muslim Spaniards. People who had taken on this 'foreign' religion as their own and they did whatever they could to remove it from the Iberian Peninsula. Worse was to come for the Moriscos and it came with the brutality that they had come to know under the rule of the Christians.

Another edict issued on the 6th October 1572 meant that they were under perpetual surveillance. (65) It meant that the Moriscos could be punished with various punishments depending on the extent of the 'crime.'

From 1591 to 1593 two inquisitors collected all weapons that the Moriscos held in their possession. (66) This effectively meant that any proposed rebellion did not have the means to occur. The Christians were afraid that the Ottomans would attack and seek assistance from the Moriscos which never occurred and their fears were unfounded.

By 1595 the numbers of the Moriscos began to increase as did their wealth. (67) This was also seen as a danger by the Christian rulers and because these reports came from a Vatican envoy. They lived an existence outside the influence of the ruling elite and stayed away from entering the army or engaging in religious education. Despite all the massacres, killings and the brutal force of the Spanish Inquisition the Moriscos clung to their faith in the darkest moments of their time. Even at this late juncture all was not lost.

King Phillip II, who had engineered the massacres and killings of Moriscos, lay on his death bed for two months. (68) Covered in tumours and abscesses he died a painful death. The power shifted from him to his son Phillip III then to Duke of Lerma.

There was a supposed 'plot' that was uncovered that somehow the Moriscos and Henry IV of France were about to conspire. This lead to a decree that stated that all the Moriscos had to leave Spain, within one month. The deportation continued until 1610 when half a million Moriscos were expelled from Spain. (69) Other books state that the deportation started on 6th October 1609 and finished in 1614. (70) Also the number of people deported ranged from half a million to three million. (71)

The expelled fled with virtually nothing and spread across parts of Northern Africa and other areas of the Islamic world.

The revenue that the Muslims brought in because of their trades and farming was lost. This caused problems because many work practices for farming were only known to Moriscos. (72)


Final remarks

Islam remained banned until 1975 when it was 'allowed' again. Many families who had hid their faith for centuries came out as Muslims. Today around one million (2.3%) Muslims live in Spain (73) according to National statistics. Many are from migrant communities living and working in Spain.

With this essay we wanted to primarily highlight the suffering of the Moriscos. It was something that I was in total ignorance of and I decided to read about it until my ignorance was removed. At the beginning of the essay I stated Islam in Spain is wrongly understood to be from 711 to 1492 and that it should read 711 to 1614 but the real date should be 711 to date, because Islam is still there. The first set of dates was the Islam as the political power, the second was Islam as an active force and the third is Islam's survival as a religion.

When we look back at history we normally feel sadness at the loss of Spain but really all that was lost was the political power. It also behoves us that we look at history using eyes that do not concentrate on a single event or events but look at the whole period.

Islam as a religion survives in modern day Spain. The blood of the martyrs who fought and the Moriscos, who died needlessly, was not in vain. And despite all the centuries of effort by the Christians of the time, Islam was never removed from the hearts of the people. It remained there like a flag blowing in the storms but never coming down. People do not realise that land can be conquered very easily but hearts are not conquered completely except by the truth.



With thanks to Adnan for proofreading.

Sources
1. P.1 Dickens C 1854 Hard times Penguin popular classics
2. P. 15 Fletcher Richard 1992 Moorish Spain Weidenfeld and Nicolson London
3. P.10 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
4. P.11 Ibid
5. P.13 Ibid
6. P.14 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
7. P.22 Azizurrahman Syed 2002 The Story of Islamic Spain Goodword Press
8. P.10 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
9. P.31 Ibid
10. Ibid
11. P.216 Azizurrahman Syed 2002 The Story of Islamic Spain Goodword Press
12. P.79 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
13. P.81Ibid
14. Ibid
15. Ibid
16. P.82 Ibid
17. Ibid
18. P.357 Lewis D.L God’s Crucible Norton
19. P.247 Azizurrahman Syed 2002 The Story of Islamic Spain Goodword Press
20. P189 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
21. P.105 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
22. Ibid
23. P.106 Ibid
24. P.106 Ibid
25. P.107 Ibid
26. P.161 Ibid
27. Ibid
28. Ibid
29. Ibid
30. P.163 Ibid
31. P.305 Azizurrahman Syed 2002 The Story of Islamic Spain Goodword Press
32. Ibid
33. P.3 Fletcher Richard 1992 Moorish Spain Weidenfeld and Nicolson London
34. P.114-5 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha publishers
35. P.115 Ibid
36. Ibid
37. Ibid
38. Ibid
39. Ibid
40. P.166 Ibid
41. P.16 Plaidy J 1959 the Spanish Inquisition Robert Hale London
42. P.167 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
43. P.281-303 1966 Monroe James, ‘A Curious Morisco Appeal to the Ottoman Empire,’ Al-Andalus, 31.
44. P.169 Ibid
45. Ibid
46. Ibid
47. P.218 Plaidy J 1959 the Spanish Inquisition Robert Hale London
48. P.280 Ibid
49. P.239 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
50. P.83 Lea H. C. 2001 The Moriscos of Spain Goodword press
51. Ibid
52. P.190 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
53. P.199 Ibid
54. P. 234 Plaidy J 1959 the Spanish Inquisition Robert Hale London
55. P.200 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
56. P.201 ibid
57. P.231 Lea H. C. 2001 The Moriscos of Spain Goodword publishers
58. P.244 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
59. P.411 Plaidy J 1959 the Spanish Inquisition Robert Hale London
60. P.244 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
61. Ibid
62. P.204 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
63. http://freewebs.com/qalam2/muslimexpulsion2_boase.htm
64. P.205 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
65. P.49 Fletcher Richard 1992 Moorish Spain Weidenfeld and Nicolson London
66. P.205 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
67. P.215 Ibid
68. P.209 Ibid
69. P.217 Ibid
70. P.245 Lane-Poole Stanley 1901 Muslims in Spain Goodword press
71. P.351 Azizurrahman Syed 2002 The Story of Islamic Spain Goodword Press
72. Ibid
73. P.248 Thomson Ahmad and Muhammad Ata Ur Rahim 1996 Islam in Andulus Ta ha Publishers
74. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4385768.stm

Do we know how to live in the West?

Do we know how to live in the UK?

We were talking to a friend the other day who was shocked at local events which lead to many problems. There seem to be real deep seated social problems with second generation immigrants. Then he said something that I could not disagree with. He claimed that the second generation and third generation did not know how to live in the UK. He had a good point. Is this our problem? Do we not know how to live into this land in which we have been born? There seemed to be more questions and not answers that would occur to me after hearing what he said.


Many immigrant communities come to the UK with the promise of a better life. They escaped the poverty that they were born into, of their countries. As we know the Maliki School of law does not allow someone to live in an area were Islam is not practiced over one where Islam is not. Yet we came over in significant numbers to work as cheap labour and then we were disguarded when situations changed.


So for the first time in Islamic history we have many Muslims who have left their countries and sought to achieve other goals outside their homelands. Not just in small numbers, like in previous centuries, but in large and significant numbers. The other only other historical example that we can think of are those Muslims who remained in Spain after the last caliphate ended in 1492. They remained there in large numbers but suffered for their beliefs as the Christians sought to ‘cleanse’ Spanish soil of Islam. The bitter fruits of this were mass murder and eventually expulsion of all the Muslims by 1610.


We now live in a secular society which does not hold any religion superior but the roots of Christianity can be clearly visible in every town and city. There could be a valid argument that could claim that if the UK was a Christian country then it would not allow other races of other religions to live in such large numbers on its land.


Although at the same time we do benefit greatly, living in the UK, from the places and the communities we live in. Sometimes I feel that this is taken from granted. Local governments do a great deal to assist their minorities. Sometimes they fail but they do a lot.


Going back to the question; do we really know to live in the UK? As children growing up we really need to understand our environment, this is something that we really lack. We give our children two almost polar opposite environments to live in, side by side. The first is our home environment which can be harsh and doctorial; the second is our work or education environment which seems to have the attitude that anything goes! So how can we understand this? How can we live with these contradicting environments?


The way our minds work is that we incline to ease and thus so many Muslims incline to the world. Then we incline to what others are doing and this is about following the machinations of the self. Now we are on the downward spiral to ruin.


If we look at many Asian youngsters they seem bereft of any manners at all. This thought alone should scare everyone half to death! How can we as Muslims not know good manners? Is this down the fact many of our houses have parents who do not understand the world and thus their children do not? We know that we have to make lots of money but are we taught how or does that not concern us?


We bring our children up as we were brought up but hang on a moment; we are not in the same environment or country. So many we should do some things differently.


The solution

The education of children is something that we have to take great care in and we cannot leave our children to the public education system. What a parent can do at home with a child is more than what a teacher can do given the same amount of time. The second generation parents must take their roles seriously and set examples of ways in which they educate and support their children.


The parents have to know exactly where the child’s weaknesses are and try to develop them but at the same time the children should be allowed to play because they develop whilst playing as well.


This type of mob mentality really needs to be erased is it not needed and not welcome. Drugs and alcohol are things that should never be part of any Muslim community and these need to be erased from our areas.


We really need to look at the role that Masjid committees play in our societies. They should be at the forefront of the good work that comes out of our communities. Rather than the forefront of local petty politics, rivalry and family politics which is what are great deal of them are.


People should be honest and step down and allow people who are willing to work and build a better future for their children through correctly applying Islamic teachings. How many a masjid fails to do this?


We need to give children the balance of religious and non-religious teachings because they will need both to succeed. A good level of English is needed as well as understanding the language of their ancestors. Many first generation parents totally neglected the religious education of their children which caused the children problems later on in life; there needs to be a balance. We need to guide our children through the jungle of this world.


Their free time should not be filled with games consoles or endlessly watching television because children with too much visual stimulus are unable to concentrate for long. As the games have already done their damage. We need to know that education is the sound grounding of all children and then we must encourage them to follow a profession; a profession that is not illegal or harmful to people. We must encourage honesty and truthfulness in our children.


Parents have a massive role to play to solve these problems. I have seen some parents do wonderful things with their children but this needs effort and time, on behalf of the parent.

As for those who are older then we have to try to support them and assist them securing honest professions for their future. Even if they do not follow our career choice for them.

We as a community must learn from the mistakes of our past and move forward. We have to learn to live in the West because were else would we able to live?



See other posts about the rights that Muslims have over each other

http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2009/08/rights-that-muslims-have-over-each.html

Asian culture stuff?

A few years ago I was standing in front of an Islamic stall, outside a masjid, before me were books, perfume, posters and all manner of religious material. We have a specific interest in books and that is where I was. The owner had some books about Sira (the life story of the Prophet (May Allah send him peace and blessings)). These books had caught my eye at the time.

Then I saw two non Muslim Englishmen who were passing by at the time. One asked the other about the contents of the stall. He replied, “It's Asian culture stuff.” In a manner that suggesting that he was brushing off the question.

They passed by and I looked again at the contents of the stall, bemused. As it was religiously related, the posters contained calligraphy, the perfumes smelt fresh; to me it was all Islamic and had little to do with ‘Asian culture.’

Maybe he meant that the Muslims were all from the Indo-Pak culture; I was not sure. It was at a time that a far right party had penetrated local councils unlike ever before and maybe they were influenced by them. Or maybe that this was their limit or experience of the religion.

After some reflection I realised what they meant; he meant that our religion was our culture. He meant that the culture had a place in our lives that our religion did not. Not all Asians are Muslim some are Christians, Hindus and other traditions so his statement was false. Islam is not specifically allocated to one particular group it is for people of all races and all religions. Islam is not anyone’s property anyone can come and take their share of the religion without diminishing anyone else’s reward. Anyone claiming that it is theirs or just for their race or nationality has claimed something which they have no right to claim. This is a very dangerous game so don’t play it.

The problem with seeing Islam as a culture is that we leave that which is difficult and do whatever is easy. Islam is our religion and it transcends all negative practices of any people. At the same time positive practices of a people do have a place in Islam, as long as it does not contradict the religion.

We should try to distance ourselves from displaying a type of Islam that is only for one set of people. Our Masjids should be open for people to come and ask questions but what we find in many communities is that the masjid is for one set of people and one only. No people of different Muslim groups intermingle and these groups remain strangers. Each Nationality sticking to its own people which is really sad.

We have much work to do in order to really explain Islam to our own communities; they need this now more than ever. What I mean is people who are Muslim and those who are not because they all need help, we all need some sort of help. Who will stand now and really try to explain our religion correctly to the people we live around? If we did this correctly then when people would go past they would say, “That is Islamic stuff.”

Adherence to our culture will not allow us to enter paradise only adherence to religion will allow us to do that. So make your choice.

The Ending of Those Who Torment Muslims

We have been reading about history frequently recently. In particular events surrounding the killing and massacre of Muslims in different geographical regions, which is something that is happening as we write and as you read.


This matter weighs heavy on my heart and whenever I read anything along these lines then it is as if another weight is placed on it. At times it makes me feel powerless, although I have no strength, and I would like to see some recognition from the living. The events that lead to fall of the Ottoman Empire are rarely read or related. There was a terrible loss of life during the time leading up the collapse and there remains a terrible loss of Muslim life, ever since.


Although this is not our only problem we have many problems in the Muslim world that need to be overcome before we can re-assert our Muslim identity on a political level.


We were reading the Quran and fell upon this verse:


“Say: “O Allah, O Lord of the Kingdom, You give kingdom to whom You will, and take kingdom away from whom You will; and You bestow honour on whom You will, and bring disgrace to whom You will.” The Family Imran 3:26


Everything is up to Allah (Exalted and Mighty) and it is up to Him how he decides to carry out affairs not us.


Although the Quranic passage that we really wanted to highlight was this one:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ فَتَنُواْ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُواْ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ ٱلْحَرِيقِ

“Surely, those who persecuted the believing men and the believing women, then did not repent, for them there is the torment of Hell, and for them there is the torment of burning.”
Sura Baruj 85:10



This verse is enough solace for any Muslim who has lost a loved one and has yet to see justice manifest on Earth. Know that justice will be done, if not on Earth then on the Day of Judgement.

Nations who have attacked Muslims for Islam have been brought to destruction and then ceased to be powerful. People who think that they are above the law and can do as they like should know that they will be brought into justice, if not now then later. You can be sure of that the promise of Allah is true and you can rest assured that those who have caused great corruption on the Earth will see their punishment on the Day of Judgement.


In reality, we are a means for their torture because the more they hurt us the more they will be tortured on the Day of Judgement and after. They will feel and taste everlasting torture for harming Muslims. Believers of previous nations have suffered great loss as we have, but the punishment for harming a Muslim is much worse. And if you read the Quranic passage carefully it is double the 'normal' punishment.


Commentating on this verse Imam Qurtubi said the torment of burning is extra punishment upon the disbelievers for their actions. The Quran is a hopeful book and this is a message of hope, so be hopeful.


The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "My nation has Allah's mercy and will not be punished in the afterlife. However, they will face trails, mischief, killings and corruption upon the Earth." (Abu Dawood)


Be hopeful because our day is coming and the pain that we felt in this life will be recompensed and their punishment will be everlasting. Do not worry about the oppressors of the Earth they will not get away with punishing Muslims. They will be brought to a court where everything will be clarified and no one will be wronged, as for those who did great wrong they will taste everlasting pain for what they have done.


The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) knew of the punishments that Yasir and his family faced and he said, "Be patient, O' Family of Yasir, your appointment is with Paradise." Shortly, after this, Yasir's mother and father were butchered by Abu Jahl.

So be patient, O' believers in tribulation your appointment, in sha Allah, is with Paradise. Muslims are hopeful not hopeless because we know that this world is not the be all and end all, as Shakespeare may have said!

Qurtabi source


http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=5&tSoraNo=85&tAyahNo=10&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1


Please see links below for further hope.

Life is better...
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2008/11/life-is-better.html


How to understand tribulations
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-understand-tribulations.html

Allah knows - a song of hope
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2009/07/allah-knows.html

Satan's Post Ramadan Trick

(As with all the written posts here, these are reminders to myself/Naafs first and foremost.)

Now that Ramadan is over satan’s comes out with another trick, which is an old one, it tries to convince you that now Ramadan is over you can do anything you like. Ramadan is over and I can do what I like! Well, this is true in one aspect but in another way it is false. The greatest lies are a mixture of falsehood and truth, this is no exception. Satan has been around for a while and he knows all the tricks but if you are ready then you can stop him in his tracks!

Now that Ramadan is over you can eat, drink and maintain conjugal relationships with your legally wedded partner during the day but that's it. What was prohibited for you in Ramadan is prohibited for you now. So do not let you Naafs think, 'Yeah I don’t have to lower my gaze anymore,' no; you still have to lower your gaze. 'I do not need to pray anymore;' yes you still have to pray.

Yes sins commited in Ramadan are worse but outside Ramadan they are the same so don’t be fooled into thinking its okay to miss a prayer outside Ramadan and not okay during Ramadan. It's sinful to miss an obilgatory prayer any time of the year, month or day!

You have to be aware of this and mentally prepare yourself for this attack as well as the internal attack of the naafs, which is greater. By seeking refuge with Allah (mighty and exalted) satan goes away but your naafs doesn’t, so that is why we have to purify it.

All the good work that you have done during Ramadan cannot be allowed to go to waste. Now that you have purified yourself of many sins maintain this and you will see the benefits, as will other people around you.

We are aware that some people find it much easier to practice in Ramadan so if you are one of these people then please focus on one thing, try not to miss any daily prayers and if you do then make them up.

Your responsibility is the same now as it was in Ramadan so please beware of Satan’s trick. Ramadan is over but that does not mean that you can do what you want now, you still have to do what Allah wants. And if you do what Allah wants then you'll get what you want, Paradise.

Choice Ramadan Thoughts

Previous years we have spoken about Ramadan and this time I was wondering what to write. Then I started to wonder about time; time is something that we become aware of during Ramadan.

Time is something that we do not think about until we see the month come around again then we wonder where did the time go?

Have we used the time in-between well? If we did then would it come around so fast? Ramadan is time to remind ourselves of the place that we are going to go one day, the grave. The length of these fasts will begin at longest time and then it will slowly ease off. Also note that because of the Lunar cycle we will miss ten days of the longest days and the remainder will be shorter. So despite the length of these fasts the coming fasts will not be so long.

Although, we should not be concerned about the time we have to fast because the longer we fast the more reward will we get, if Allah facilitates. Does anyone have a problem with getting more reward? Difficulty will be replaced with riches; so do not concern yourself and know that even at the longest fast in this climate; it will only be ten days in any one period of fasting.

Time is something that we have to use well because the time in Ramadan is unlike any other time during the year. The reward of this time we will never receive again and this may be our last Ramadan. Who knows if we will see next year’s Ramadan? We may not even live through this year!

Time is something that we have wasted and not realised the blessing that we could have attained in time that is lost.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with) states that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “There are two blessings which many people lose; Health and free time.” (Bukhari 76:421)

Time means so much more in Ramadan; more so that the rest of the year. The blessings in this month are greater than those of the previous months. The jurists remind us that if we miss a day of fasting that we can never make up for the blessings of that day even though we can make the number. Once it is lost, it is gone, gone forever.

Ibn Abu Shayba reports in his al-Musnad from Anas that: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was ascending the pulpit. He climbed a step and said, “Amin.” Then he climbed a second and said, “Amin.” Then he climbed a third and said, “Amin.” He reached the top and sat down. A companion asked, “Prophet of Allah, Why did you say Amin three times?” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Jibril came to me and said, ‘Disaster befalls the one who knows that both or one of his parents are alive and does not enter Heaven (through serving them). I said, “Amin.” “Disaster befalls the one who exits Ramadan and did not attain forgiveness. I said, “Amin.” Then he said, ‘Disaster befalls the one who hears your name mentioned and does not say, Peace upon you.’ So I said, “Amin.” (`Asqalani al-Matalib al-A`liyya 3/223, Ibn Hibban 2/140 (409), Tabarani 11/67)

Use your time well because you never know this may be your last Ramadan and what a loser that person will be who did not attain from Ramadan the maximum. Time is ticking away!!!

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) stated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the most generous of all the people, and he used to become more generous in Ramadan. When Gabriel met him, Gabriel used to meet him every night during Ramadan, to revise the Qur'an with him. The Messenger of Allah was more generous than a steady breeze." (Bukhari V4/bk 56/No 754 and Muslim)

This narration made me ponder to why the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was more generous in Ramadan that other months. Here are three possible meanings:

1. He was more generous because he is a teacher and he had to teach us.

2. To share in the generosity shown to him by Allah (mighty and exalted).

3. He knew the value of this month and increased his generosity accordingly.

He showed us the way and Ramadan is the time that even people who are religious all year around need to increase their actions. The reference to the breeze is metaphorical in that the generosity of the wind knows no bounds. This is one of the beauties of this narration; just because we pray normally does not mean we are exempt from performing more actions. In fact if a religious person does not perform more actions this month, then this is like a normal month for them and they have lost the special benefits.


Use your time well my friend before you come to a time in which you’ll wish you did.

Ramadan Karim everyone and make dua for this lost soul.


Other posts from previous years

Imam Al-Ghazali section on fasting
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2007/08/imam-ghazali-mysteries-of-fasting.html

Considered Ramadan thoughts
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2008/09/considered-ramadan-thoughts.html

Random Ramadan thoughts
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2007/09/random-ramadan-thoughts.html

(Please click on Ramadan label for other posts on Ramadan.)

Hypocrisy/Nifaq

The reason why I am writing this is because I recognise this in myself and I need to do something about it.


“The hypocrites will be in the lowest depth (grade) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them.”
(The Women 4:145)

“Give to the hypocrites the tidings, that there is for them, a painful torment.”
(The Women 4:138)

'Abdullah bin 'Amr narrated that The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever has the following four (characteristics) will be a hypocrite and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless and until he gives it up. 1. Whenever he is entrusted, he betrays. 2. Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie. 3. Whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous. 4. Whenever he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner." (Bukhari Book 2, Hadith 33)


Abi Waih narrated from Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman said, “The hypocrites of today are worse than those of the lifetime of the Prophet, because in those days they used to do evil deeds secretly but today they do such deeds openly.” (Bukhari Book #88, Hadith #229)


Yahya related to me from Malik that al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "We visited Anas ibn Malik after Zhuhr and he stood up and prayed Asr. When he had finished his prayer, we mentioned doing prayers early in their time, or he mentioned it, and he said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say, “The prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites, the prayer of the hypocrites is that one of them sits until the sun becomes yellow and is between the horns of satan, or on the horn of satan, and then gets up and rattles off four units, hardly remembering Allah in them at all." (Al-Muwatta Book #15, Hadith #15.10.46)



Roots


The word hypocrisy comes from an Arabic word Nafaqa which means exhaust or spend out. Nafaq means to tunnel an underground passage. (Hans Wehr p.987) Imam Ghazali in the Ihya said that Nifaq came from a word that relates to how a rat looks like it is about to leave from one hole but exits from another. A Munafiq is someone who displays this type of behaviour. In the Mujam Al-Arabi Al-Musir (p.502) it states that a Munafiq is someone who displays faith but hides disbelief or ones outward is different to ones inward.


In English the word can be seperated into two parts: hypo comes from the Greek hupo that means under and hypokrisis which means acting or feigning. It’s like actor who feigns illness to us all; but is perfectly healthy inside, whilst the remainder of us are under his spell.


Faith is defined as belief in the heart with affirmation of the tongue. (with the condition of not doing that causes disbelief) So hypocrisy is the outward present and the inward vacant.



Words


One of the things that really annoys me about listening to the sermons on a Friday, is the warning about the hypocrites. It is repeated every week, every lecture, every time I step into the masjid. Some people think they are able to declare who the hypocrites are and who are not; then they declare openly and sometimes to the face of others. This is not based on anything except opinion and not knowledge. The image that is painted is that some are free from it and everyone else needs to be careful; because anyone unlike them is a hypocrite. When you can walk into any masjid in the country and hear the same message then it is a concern. How can we be sure that we are free from it? If we are not, then how can we feel so comfortable?



Guidance


The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The signs of a hypocrite are three: When he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is given a trust he breaches it." (Bukhari)




So if someone has all three qualities then that person is a true hypocrite and if someone has one or two qualities then they have to be aware they have a portion of hypocrisy. Look into yourself and ask yourself these questions; do I have any of these qualities in me? If you lie then tell the truth, if you break promises try to keep them and if someone gives you something then return it.




I have lost count of the amount of items that I have lent out which I never see again, where is the trust? I remember there was one brother who refused to give an item to someone who asked for his friends item because he did not own it and he was looking after it. The person who was asked for it fought the brother. How many of us would do this? Despite being attacked he never gave up the trust that he was given.




Nifaq is a form of disbelief and the notes of lecture on disbelief can be found on here. (see Kufr/disbelief label)


Distribution

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was distributing spoils to the companions. One of the known hypocrites said, “This distribution is not what Allah desired.” He was angered (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) until his face reddened; he said, “Woe betide you, if I am not just then who will be?” he did not follow up his anger by taking recompense for himself; he is far from that (upon him peace and blessings); nor did he add to the advice or admonition. Umar and Khalid ibn Walid (may Allah pleased with them) said, “O’ Messenger of Allah, tell us to smite his neck.” He said, “No, perhaps he prays.” Khalid ibn Walid said, “How many person who prays say with their tongue what is not in their hearts?” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I was not ordered to search the hearts of the people nor to split their chests.” (Light of certainty by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khudri p.227 from Al-Bukhari 4351)

This story needs no interpretation; it just needs to be understood.


Ali and the Kharijites


During the caliphate of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) a group appeared who would be known as the first sect of Islam, the Kharijites. From the Arabic word kharaja which means to leave – this group had left the majority and went against the Caliphate. They caused the death of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) then Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). They contributed to the first civil war in Islam. They were outwardly pious they would pray and fast excessively but would go against the leadership of the Companions!


Ali ibn Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was once asked whether the sectarian groups who disagreed with him were disbelievers. “No.” He replied. “They have fled from disbelief.” He was then asked, “So are they hypocrites?” And he replied, “No. Hypocrites remember God little, and these remember Him abundantly.” “So what are they?” he was asked. And he said, “They are people afflicted by a sedition (fitna), so they have become blind and deaf.” (Key to the Garden Imam Haddad p.84)

Look at the mercy of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), these people are not just disagreeing with him but they are people fighting him. And like the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) he does not return evil with evil. When people argue with each other they call each other disbelievers, just for having a different opinion than them! Did Ali?



The Sincerity of Umar


Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) found out that Hudhayfa Al-Yaman was informed of the names of twelve hypocrites by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Umar asked Hudhayfa, “I adjure you by Allah! Tell me, am I one of them? Hudhayfa replied, “No, and I will not tell anyone anything further after this.” (Sh. Gibril Haddad Sunna notes p.126 from Tabari in his Tafsir (11:11), Al-Bazzar through trustworthy narrators according to Al-Haythami (3:42), Al-Bayhaqi in Sunan Al-Kubra (8:200))


This is not an ordinary person, this is Umar ibn Al-Khattab! He was present at Badr, Uhud, Trench and other battles, he was there at the treaty of Hudaybiyya, satan would cross the street when he saw him (according to hadith), he was the second greatest ruler of Islam, he gave away half his wealth for the sake of Allah and he is the one who asking if he is one of the mentioned names of the hypocrites! We are not better than Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) so if he was concerned about being hypocrisy then shouldn’t we be more scared!



We will never get to the level of one of his good actions. This is due to his sincerity and his concern for being on the right path. So how could we call other people hypocrites and how can we not be scared that hypocrisy has not affected us?

We should be terrified of being hypocritical; each one of us. Anyone who thinks that they are safe from it then they are either asleep or have not read this piece correctly. We should all be scared but this is being sincere about our religion and if we are not sincere then what are we?


Lets go back to the hadith, The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "The signs of a hypocrite are three: if he speaks he lies, if he makes promises he breaks them and if he is given a trust he betrays. Even if he fasts, prays and claims, "I am Muslim." Narrated by Muslim.


One of the things that I have witnessed the most Nifaq, this year, is the love towards the family of the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings). Most people curse and praise the family within the same sentence. This is nothing but abhorent and this is true Nifaq. If there is something bad that one of the family are doing then advise them but do not curse them or make the sin known to people. This makes the situation worse. Keep quiet for the sake of his grandfather.

Even if you pray and fast do not think that you are alright and there is nothing wrong. Yes you are doing good actions but you need to remove these traits from yourself. There is no sincere Muslim who should not be terrified of hypocrisy as for those who are not scared of hypocrisy then I fear that you have already fallen into it...even the insincere ones should be scared.

Some points of Aqida/Doctrine/Theology

This is a response to a request made by a brother a few months ago.

I was recently in a debate with someone who I had met, about Aqida/Islamic belief/Islamic theology. The fruits of that debate were bitter and it left me with a taste that I did not like.


It seems that this is the debate of this century, to argue about positions of belief. It does not matter what position someone will disagree with someone else about it. We are not talking about scholars here we are talking about the average person who has read a few books and thinks he knows the subject well.


Basic belief is easy to get your head around and it does not take that much time to understand. Read the Hadith Gibril and this explains the basics of faith. As for the remainder, these are issues that are the branches of faith and not the source. To reject the source, a Muslim leaves faith but to reject the branch; a Muslim can become an innovator. But it is these details that people seem to disagree upon the most.


The major thing that we must all know is that we are not scholars and therefore we are not the ones who should be sat around debating whether you agree with the Maturdi or Ashari schools. Your job, as an average person, is to follow one of the sound schools of relied upon belief; the Ahl As-Sunna wa Jamma’; namely, the Ashari, Maturdi or Athari schools.


Your job is not to think about which school is correct and not to declare that I agree with this position and not that. When you have not studied the reasons for what they are stating.


Muslims seem to get bogged down with all the information then become confused. Or even worse still they “think” they understand; when they clearly do not. The person, who I was speaking to, told me opinions that were held by one school which were not of that school but were of another. I could see that he had become mixed up because he was trying to understand all the schools. You will get so mixed up that you will not know what you are following.


The Tahawiyyain doctrine/Aqida Tahawiyya is a great basic text that does not delve into these issues but even that some people have a problem with. This was the teaching of Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah show him mercy) which was dictated to from student to student until it reached Imam Tahawi who recorded it. If this is all you study then it is sufficient for you. Imam Abu Hanifa states in Fiqh Al-Akbar; if a person has a question in belief he should find a scholar and get the answer.


One of our problems is that we have people who have no qualifications to speak about Islam or doctrine, yet give out legal verdicts that Muslims are disbelievers because of this or that issue. Only a Qadi/Islamic Judge can decide who is a disbeliever. What happens now is that some of us listen to unqualified people and repeat what they say. We call each other disbelievers on a whim! Don’t we think that something is going wrong here?


How can the religion that supersedes all other traditions have so many people calling each other disbelievers! When we call each other disbelievers we mean anyone who does not believe in the ethos of our group. In other words that person does not believe in our group and therefore he is a disbeliever. This conclusion is a wrong one and not yours to make.


Where we have a focus on the correct belief, in some groups, we have an abandonment of righteous actions, almost. We need both the correct belief and righteous action which is the best mixture.


As bad actions will lead a person to the hellfire and bad belief will put someone into the hellfire. Good actions will lead a person to the garden and good actions will put someone into the garden.

So do not waste your time debating about issues of belief this is not your job nor are you taxed to do this nor should you attempt to do this. Aqida Tahawiyya separates Muslims into two parts: one is the Ahl As-Sunna and the other is the Ahl Qibla. So as long as we do not reject the foundation or the sources of belief we are still Muslim.


Rant over!!





Here are some quotes to back up my argument!


The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Reflect upon creation of Allah, do not reflect on Allah."

Abu Naeem Al-Hilya



The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Reflect on the favors of God, do not reflect on His Essence, for you will never be able to give Him His due."

Imam Al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab Al-Imam (120)



Someone asked our master Ali (may Allah ennoble his face), "Dear cousin of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) where is our Lord? Or is he in a place?" His face changed and he remained silent for a moment.

Then he said, "You are saying where is Allah? questioning about place? Allah was before there was place, then he created time and place. He is now, as he was, before time and place." Meaning, Allah was and nothing besides, he is now as he was, so understand.

(Ibn Ajiba in Miraj at-tshwafa Haqiaq at-Tassawaf p.55)



When Imam Shafi delivered his first speech about “The Treatise” he said, “All praise is for Allah, who is as he described himself, beyond how creation describe him.” Then he explained (may Allah show him mercy), “Allah is described, as he described himself, in his book and upon the tongue of his Prophet peace and blessings of God be upon him.”


Likewise, Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal said, “There is no description of Allah except as he described himself or as his Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did."

Amongst the people are those who purchase foolish speech

We were reading Al-'Awarif Al-Ma'rif and fell upon a verse that made us ponder. It read:

"Amongst the people are those who purchase foolish speech."

Luqman 31.6

This had us pondering on the possible meanings. The text states that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said it is singing and listening to it. And elsewhere Ibn Mas'ud states that, "Singing sows the seeds of hypocracy in the heart." (p.114)


We also wanted to dive into the depths of the commentators of the Quran read what they say


Abu Layth As-Samerqandi states in Bahr Al-'Ulum/Ocean of knowledges:

"Amongst the people are those who purchase foolish speech." It means that the people purchase useless speech. Nadar ibn Al-Harith would go to Persia on business and purchase from there speech and bring it back to Mecca. He would then say, "Muhammad speaks you with words incomplete and I speak to you with complete words."
http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=2&tTafsirNo=11&tSoraNo=31&tAyahNo=6&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1


Ibn Jawzi (may Allah show him mercy) states in Zad Al-Musar fi 'Ulum at-Tafsir:



"Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "This verse was sent about a man who purchased a singing female slave."



http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=2&tTafsirNo=15&tSoraNo=31&tAyahNo=6&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1

Singing encompasses almost all the pop song writing industry at this time. Popular music is all about violence, aggression and how to attract the opposite gender. There is very little music that has any redemming qualities to it. You either have to go back to a different time or look at other forms of singing. One other point about modern music is that most of the music that is elevated into the manistream is music made by athiest and those singing about sins. This means that they sometimes sing about beating people up and other times they say things that could be classed as statements of disbelief. What do we do? We sing along with it without realising the implications of some statements. This is another reason why we should give these types of music a wide berth.



If you look at many newspapers the stories that they carry are the worst stories of murder, degredation and stories that demean people. The tabloid newspaper some of the most bizarre news headlines and stories that someone may ever read! But somehow they manage to come up with more everyday! Are the newspaper editors look for stories of goodness or are they looking for stories about death, murder and depravity? The answer is clear and you do not need to look!



Most of the news reports in most of the media are about foolish, useless speech and the highest prices are paid for them. They even vie for the for the front page news headlines all in the desire for money.

The Station of the Hadith of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

The place of the blessed practice/Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is something that people are now debating, without truly understanding the elevated station of the Prophetic tradition.


I was shown a verse of the Quran and from that, we formed the basis of an argument against those who play with words and reject in part or whole the legacy of the Prophetic practice of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.)



"They wish to separate between Allah and his Messenger."


The Women 4:150


There are other possible translations use the word distinguish, or something similar, instead of separate. The point being there are those who wish to separate the two. Some classical commentary follows:


Ibn Al-Jawzi (may Allah show him mercy) states in "Tafsir Zad al-Musayr fi 'Ilm Al-Tasfir" the following:
"There are two opinions: 1) The Jews believed in Musa, Uzar, the Torah and rejected Isa, the Gospel, Muhammad and the Quran.
2) It was said to Ibn Abbas that the Jews and Christians believe in the Torah and Musa but reject the gospel and Isa. Whilst the Christians believe in the Gospel and Jesus then reject Muhammad and the Quran."

Qatada said, "They wish to fragment the belief in God and the belief of the Messenger; faith is not correct like this..."

http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=15&tSoraNo=4&tAyahNo=150&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0



Imam Nasafi (may Allah show him mercy) states in "Tasfir Mudarik Al-Tanzil wa Haqaiq Al-Tawil" that: "On the final part (they mean), "Meaning a religion between faith and disbelief, yet there is no medium between these. "Those are disbelievers." (the Women 4:150) They are total disbelievers because disbelieving in one (prophet or message) is disbelief in all of them."


http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=17&tSoraNo=4&tAyahNo=150&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1




Imam Tabari (may Allah show him mercy) states in "Jama' Bayan fi Tafsir Al-Quran" said:

"This passage was revealed concerning the Jews and Christians. The Jews believe in Musa and the Torah but reject in Isa/Jesus and the gospel. Whilst the Christians believe in Isa and the gospel but reject Musa, the Torah, Muhammad and the Quran; both of them reject Muhammad and the Quran. So Allah explained that belief is not is partial and believing in part of the religion is taking this way." (Disbelieving in part means disbelief in it all).


http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=91&tSoraNo=4&tAyahNo=150&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0




Imam Qurtubi (may Allah show him mercy) states in "Jamia li ahakm Al-Quran":
"The text of the Almighty states that those who distinguish between Allah and his Messenger are disbelievers; because Allah, the Almighty, made it an obligation upon people to worship him according to the explanation on the tongue of the Messenger. If they renounce the Messenger, rejecting their law or do not except it from them then they have rejected that which they their obedience committed them to accept. So they reject their Maker, the Almighty, rejecting the Maker is disbelief, so that causes them to leave the commitment of obedience and worship; likewise separating between his Messenger in matters of faith is disbelief."


http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=5&tSoraNo=4&tAyahNo=150&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0




Who are they?


This passage (4.150) really struck a chord in me and I wanted to share some thoughts, hopefully they will benefit someone. It states that they want to separate God from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Messenger is Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and those who want to separate him from God are the disbelievers. The commentators have referred to the Jews and the Christians; as many of them rejected the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) during his lifetime. This passage takes a new meaning when we understand that there a groups of modernists and other more radical groups who seek to "reform" (deform) Islam. Part of this process is throwing out just about everything except the Quran; everything else is under scrutiny and ultimately rejected. These "modern" groups wish to throw out the Hadith/Prophetic practice completely, they want to separate the Quran on one side and the hadith on the other. This is not just dangerous this is a disaster for anyone who believes that this method can bear anything except bitter and rotten fruit. They accept what comes from God but not his Messenger; in that they accept the Quran but not the hadith/prophetic narrations. We will now see how dangerous this is...



Rejecting the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)


So when someone rejects the Messenger (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) they reject all that he came with. This is one of the definitions of disbelief; when someone rejects anything that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came with; with the condition that it is definitive/Qat'i. In other words, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, to its authenticity.


Now, those people who reject the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are not just rejected him but also rejecting whatever he came with. This includes his sayings, actions or silent approval (this is the definition of hadith) including those that came through mass transmission; by which we know that there could not be such a lie fabricated by so many people and all their stories be the same.

Just to confirm, rejecting the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) means that someone is rejecting Allah (mighty and majestic). Even if someone believes in God and do not believe in a Messenger (of their time) then they are still disbelievers. The Messenger of our time is Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).



Hadith a source of Law


Their ways may have changed but the refrain remains the same! Someone told me about how he was having a debate with someone online about the subject of Islam reform. He was explaining to a pro-reform (deform) guy that some of his statements constituted to disbelief. From which he responded by saying that he was a Christian and not a Muslim! If he was not Muslim why did he care then? The answer is simple this is part of the strength of the Muslims is sourced from; the Prophetic narrations/hadith are a great source of blessing, knowledge and guidance for us.

For us to throw all that out would be another disastrous move. Like the abandoning of the four schools of jurisprudence (in some places not all) in many places it has made us stumble from misunderstanding to misunderstanding. Fiqh means to understand and without fiqh we cannot understand the legacy of the Prophetic tradition.


Speaking without knowledge


Modernists of this ilk talk about Islam without knowledge of jurisprudence, Arabic, principles of jurisprudence, Arabic rhetoric or any other kind of Islamic knowledge. All they know is how to speak English and read translations or even worse that they know the Arabic Language and explain everything according to their understanding; which is mostly (99.999%) erroneous.

Just because someone is an Arabic speaker does not mean that they can draw ruling from the Quran directly. As we would not dream of speaking about brain surgery after reading a book; then going into a operating theatre to perform an operation!

Be serious, do you really expect me to listen to someone who has a "feeling" and goes with that "feeling" to form a ruling. No way!



Rational thinking


We need to think clearly, when they want to throw out the hadith they accuse God of not sending someone to explain the Quran; and that they know better than the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! And even worse than that they know better than God! This on its own is insanity and it does not matter how many times that we explain to them, they do not refrain or reflect.

It's only arrogance that causes people not to change their minds. This should be enough for any rational person but those who understand Islam emotionally will always misunderstand it; because Islam is not understood in the way that we understand it; it is taught in the way the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was taught by God! So this is God's way taught through the prism of Prophethood. This is not an easy matter; disbelief is not an easy matter.



The Quran came from the same sources


The whole point of the passage is that how can progressive/modernists groups only accept the Quran yet reject the one to whom the Quran was revealed to, the one who the Quran was sent to, the one that was the way station between God and the world; then they reject what he had to say!! Anyone who does this is not just lost but is astray.

What is the point of sending a book without sending someone to explain it? Every single manufacturer of a new product have product launches, where they have people who know the product well explain it to others. So if this is how people in the world act; where do you think that they learnt this from??

The whole point, the whole focus, of the religion is to rectify the human being to the Prophetic example. If you throw out the Prophetic example then what are you left with? How can you say that you are trying to be a good person with it, on whose example are you following? Your own? Most people think they are good but in reality they are not; the best way is to compare yourself with the Prophetic example. Then and only then will you find yourself trying to aspire to greater acts and excellent moral conduct. You cannot do this according to your own mind which could be wrong or could be right.



This also proves that the are not reading the Quran because it states:


"You have had a good example in God’s Messenger for whosoever hopes for God and the Last Day." The confederates 33:21


The passage that this post is based on continues:

"They are in truth (equally) unbelievers; and we have prepared for unbelievers a humiliating punishment." The Women 4:151




Concluding remarks

If you meet someone like this, know that their logic is flawed but it can be hard to break down their arguments without knowledge. So my advice is avoid talking about it but if they are adamant then do not remain in their company. Why, because they want to take your belief from the Messenger and be like them, true disbelievers.

Know that is a process of trying to take Muslims out of Islam by attacking each process one by one thus stripping it of anything of value, is an old ploy. It can be traced about the occupation of Muslim lands by foreign forces; this process started by attacking the four schools of law, then the schools of belief/theology and continues today with modernist/progressive groups attacking hadith. We just have to hold strong, don't lend them our ears, refute if we can and pay no attention their nonsense.




The Sura of the Star should be enough for anyone, "Your companion is not astray, neither errs, nor speaks he out of his whims. This is naught but a revelation revealed. He was taught by one Mighty in Power." (The Star 53:2-5)

Is not this passage enough to know that the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) have a special station in Islamic law?


Also note this Quranic passage in the Women (4:65):

"No, By your Lord! Never shall they become believers, unless they make you the judge in the disputes that arise between them, then find no discomfort in their hearts against what you have decided, and surrender to it in total submission."

Is this not about making the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a judge between our affairs and how else can we do this without following the hadiths? The truth is clear.

Here are other links to related to this subject:


How Hadith/Prophetic narration was gathered
http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-was-hadithprophetic-narrations.html




Quranic passages on the obedience to Allah (mighty and majestic) and his Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him

http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2008/07/quranic-passages-on-obedience-to-allah.html



Was the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent to all nations?

http://sheikhynotes.blogspot.com/2008/09/was-prophet-muhammad-peace-and.html