Lessons in Shirk: The Salat al Ghauthiyya.

Al Salamu 'Alaykum.

There are certain people who are very fond of an invented form of Salah (Namaz) called the Salat al Ghauthiyya or the Salat al Asrar.

Some salient points about this "Salah" are as follows:

It is specially offered in the month of Rabi' al Aakhir, probably because its proponents celebrate the 'Urs of Shaykh 'Abdil Qadir Gilani in this month. According to them, the prayer can be offered in other months as well.

According to them if one needs help and solutions for his problems then he should perform this 'prayer'.

The method is as follows:

After the Fard and Sunna of Maghrib, one is supposed to offer two rakahs of prayer.

In each rakah, after Sura Fatiha, the person is supposed to read Sura Ikhlas eleven times.

After Sura Ikhlas the person is supposed to read the following "dua":

<Ya Rasoola Allah hi Ya Nabi Allah hi Aghisni wa Amdidni Fi Qadi ai Hajati Ya Qadi al Hajaat>

After reading the above supplication to the Prophet (saws), the person is supposed to take eleven steps towards Iraq.

On every step, the person is supposed to supplicate to Shaykh 'Abdil Qadir Gilani in the following words:

<Ya Ghaus Saqalaini Ya Kareem-at-Tarfaini Aghisni was amdidni fi Qada-e-Hajati Ya Qaadi al Hajaat>

After this the person is supposed to make dua' using the wasila of Rasulullah (saws). The proponents of this prayer say that all needs will then be fulfilled.

May Allah guide all Muslims to Tawhid and Sunna and save them from Shirk and Bida'.

'Alaykum salam.

Rasulullah(sall Allahu 'alayhi wasallam).

O Muhammad (saws)! I request from you the Knowledge of Allah,

O Allah (swt)! I request of You the love of Your Prophet (saws).

The pride of Adam (as) is this man of noble descent,

Of Makkah; of Madinah; of Banu Hashim; of ‘Abdul Muttalib.

The pure skies and Paradise,

Are but a resting place for the Messenger of Allah (saws)

Tread lightly – lower your voices and your gaze –

The ruh of the Messenger of Allah (saws) sleeps here.

O visitor to this noble house! Beware!

All vain talk is disrespectful here.

How glorious is the beloved of Allah (swt)!

Whoever loves him also becomes the beloved of Allah (swt).

Hadrat ‘Allama Syed Sulayman Nadwi (rah).

Taken from ‘Ishq-e-Rasul (saws) by Shaykh Zulfiqar Naqshbandi(db)

Converts to Islam double in the UK.

Al Salamu 'Alaykum.

Interesting study:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Converts-to-Islam-double-in-Britain-says-study-/articleshow/7217065.cms?intenttarget=no

"Fain would they put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light however much the disbelievers are averse."
Al Qur`an, Sura Saff, Ayah 08, English Translation by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall.

Wa salam.

Badr Hari: Wasted Oppurtunities for Da'wah.

Al Salamu ‘Alaykum.

Some of you may have heard of Badr Hari (pronounced Haari with a soft ‘h’). He is also known as the “Golden Boy” of the K1 (professional kickboxing) circuit. He is a Muslim super heavyweight kick boxer and very popular among kick boxing fans. Unfortunately, this Moroccan-Dutch Muslim is not as popular with the Police in the Netherlands.

Since 2006, Hari has been arrested repeatedly on charges of assault outside the ring. In the ring, he has been guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct against his opponents twice. After being disqualified a second time, Hari took off a year from the sport and returned to it on 15^th May 2011, easily defeating the French boxer, Gregory Tony by a technical knockout. 

The following article is about his arrest in 2010:

“Former world champion kickboxer Badr Hari is being held in custody after being arrested on Wednesday for assaulting a doorman in Amsterdam.

The incident took place last February, when the kickboxer was refused entry to a nightclub because his clothing was not in line with the dress code. The doorman suffered a broken nose and eye socket.

A police investigation led to Dutch Moroccan Badr Hari. However as Mr Hari was in Morocco, the police were unable to trace him. They had been looking for him since June.

Hari is considered one of the world's best kickboxers and is famous in countries like Japan. Nevertheless he has been disqualified twice during important boxing galas for kicking his opponent while he was on the floor. After his second disqualification he announced he would be retiring from the sport temporarily.”

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide

This is a great tragedy for the Ummah. People like Badr are adored by literally hundreds of thousands of Muslim and non Muslim fans across the world. They are followed, commented upon, their relics are collected, their words are remembered and their actions emulated. If Badr were to put on his best behaviour then he could be an ambassador of Islam to these hungry millions. Instead of this, he has chosen the way of a brutish lout and confirmed for many of his fans their unsaid criticisms of Islam.

May Allah guide him to the Sunna of the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) and make him a da’i par excellence.

Wa salamu ‘alaykum.

Muntazir al Zaidi.

Al Salamu 'Alaykum.
The following video from youtube shows Muntazir throwing his shoes at the tyrant George Bush. Live long and prosper, Muntazir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx6EG5tlLtw

Wa salam.

Uncouth Hindu versus Undaunted Muslim.

Uncouth Hindu versus Undaunted Muslim

Indian Muslims form a sizeable minority in India. They are an oppressed people, sometimes openly and sometimes subtly, but suppressed they are. Regular riots, police raids, refusal to give jobs to them, refusal of their constitution given rights etc is common in this third world country. 

However the Muslims of India are undaunted by the grace of Allah. There are two manifestations of Islam on the body of the Muslim which the Hindu hates like snake venom: the shari’i beard on the face of the Muslim male and the burqa on the body of the Muslim female. In general, because women are the weaker sex, they face a much greater amount of discrimination in government and municipal institutions and also in private places than men. This particularly applies to illiterate Muslimahs who are amongst the most down trodden of people in this dirty nation.

My wife is Chief of Unit of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in the largest teaching hospital in Asia which is in Bombay. Some days back she went to the Critical Care Unit to see a patient that she had operated on in the night. As usual she was in her burqa and there was a stethoscope around her neck. The policewoman on duty at the CCU door tried to stop her. My wife who had spent 8 hours in the night operating on emergency patients and was extremely tired simply said to her, ‘Cant you see the stethoscope?’ and walked in. However her resident doctor who was accompanying her picked a fight with the constable. In defense the Hindu said, “Well if she is a doctor, then why is she wearing a burqa?’ She should not be wearing a burqa!” (this was said in the local language which is known as Marathi).

Anyways there are lessons to be learnt here:

1) There is a feeling amongst non Muslims which is often expressed that the burqa is a sign of backwardness and the lot of uneducated Muslim women. Educated and ‘class’ Muslim women do not wear the burqa. (Unfortunately, this thinking has also permeated modern Muslims in Mumbai and many have abandoned the Hijab on this pretext)

2) Despite knowing that my wife was Head of Unit, the constable was adamant in her behaviour. The reason for this is to make us fearful and daunted. The Kuffar will place obstacles, arguments and troubles in our path in the hope that we will become sick and tired of fighting them and give in.  Marathi Hindus are particularly uncouth, offensive and anti Muslim as the behaviour of this woman showed. However I think that my wife took the right way out. She did not argue, fight or create a scene. She did not compromise on her right to wear the hijab. At the same time she left a door open for da’wa, inshallah. Perhaps tomorrow the lady will think for a moment before creating problems for Muslims.

3) Umm_Tamim has faced this problem before. When entering the hospital lift sometimes, the lift man would refuse to take her in because she was wearing hijab and no obvious sign of being a doctor. It has to be admitted that later on when they were informed of her status many came and apologized to her. But the problem is not just of one Muslimah. Rather it is of the women of our nation who live in India and are humiliated by the kuffar day in and day out because of their modesty. We must find a way out of this.

We must never be daunted in the practice of our religion and despite being surrounded by a sea of saffron we must never be scared.

O Allah! Grant istiqamah to the nation of Muhammad (sall Allahu ‘alayhi wasallam) and make us instruments of da’wah in this nation.

Aamin ya rabb al ‘Alamin.

Peace and Blessings on Muhammad al Mustafa, his family and his companions.

Wa salamu 'alaykum.

Gujarati Politicians & Mahatma Gandhi.

Mawlana Hanif Luharvi (hafidhahullah):

Some months back I was blessed with the company of Mawlana Hanif Luharvi, Shaykh al Hadith of Jami’a Qasimiyya, Kharod, Gujarat. We were traveling in a car to Surat where Hadrat was going to solemnize a nikah. In Surat city, we passed by a statue of an Indian freedom fighter on a steed.

Hadrat saw the statue and then said, “I will tell you a joke. Once a man went to sleep beneath a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. That night, Gandhi appeared in a dream to him and said, “Every freedom fighter worth his salt is shown riding a steed except me. They put a stick in my hand. I want a horse of my own. Tomorrow, kindly bring me a horse.”

When the person woke up, he wondered what to do. Finally he decided to go to a local politician in the area and put the matter in his hand. The politician however refused to believe the dream. After a long argument, he said, “OK! I will also sleep with you beneath the statue today. If Gandhi comes in my dream and says the same thing then I will arrange for a horse for him.”

That night the Mahatma came back in the dream of the first man and he was furious. He said, “I asked you to fetch a horse for me. From where have you brought this ass?”

Wa salamu ‘alaykum.

Adhan(Azaan) over graves.

The Practice of Calling Adhan Over Graves

June 26, 2009

An original Deoband.org article
By Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi
Translated by Shaykh Tameem Ahmadi

 

Question
These days, in the city of Surat, I have been lecturing on the calling of adhan (call to prayer) over a grave after a burial. The reasoning behind this is that Satan comes to a Muslim at this juncture and that when the deceased person hears the caller to prayer giving the adhan, he answers on account of which Satan flees. The calling of the adhan is also a sunnah and this practice has also been carried out in the graveyards of Seoram-Pura and Hasan-Ji Sahib.
When this issue was put before the ‘ulama of Surat, they answered by encouraging the hymning of Subhanallah, Alhamdu-lillah, and Allahu Akbar. They also mentioned that the fuqaha (jurists) have not mentioned the permissibility of any such practice in their books at any place. Therefore, my question is: Who is correct with regards to this matter? I would be grateful if you would answer this question with references from the reliable books of jurisprudence.

Answer
First of all, it is not established from any authentic hadith that Satan comes in the grave. But, if we do [hypothetically] accept that he does come in the grave, then his coming poses no possibility of harm (or threat), because the ability of misleading others is particular to this world [and not to the realm of barzakh and akhirah (hereafter)] as this world is a source of burden and tribulation. As is mentioned in a hadith: “The living cannot be guaranteed safety from fitnah (trials and tribulations) …” When a person passes away, he cannot be now led astray if he was on guidance and cannot be guided if he was astray. Therefore, prescribing the adhan at this juncture is basing an unsound practice on an unsound [and invalid] proof.^[1]
Irrespective of this, this would be considered qiyas (analogy) due to the fact that this practice has not been reliably transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Firstly, this is not the place to do qiyas. Secondly, this qiyas is being done by a non-mujtahid (one who is not qualified for this task) because the fuqaha have explicated that after the fourth century of Hijrah, ijtihad (inference) ended. Anyway, due to the absence of any shar‘i proof in this regard, this practice is a reprehensible innovation (bid‘ah). More than just absence of proof in this regard there is also proof of absence here due to the fact that the scholars have explicitly rejected this innovated practice.
As is mentioned in Radd al-Muhtar, in the first section in the chapter regarding the call to prayer, “… and it has been said: it is desirable to give the adhan at the time of lowering the deceased into the grave on the analogy of his (man’s) first coming into the world. But this has been rejected by Ibn Hajar in Sharh al-‘Ubab.”
[An action is even more reprehensible] when it is given extreme importance and overly adhered, and this is such in this case. In the case where people are over-emphasizing what is not to be emphasized, then even a mustahab (preferable) act will become impermissible, just as the fuqaha have explicated in their works and derived other issues on this same principle.
And Allah knows Best.
19th Muharram 1326
Imdad al-Fatawa; 5/301-302
_____________________________

1. بناء الفاسد على الفاسد [↩]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 

http://www.deoband.org/2009/06/fiqh/bidah-fiqh/the-practice-of-calling-adhan-over-graves/

 

'Alaykum salam.

 

Taken with thanks from deoband.org

Islamophobia in English Novels.

Presently I am reading a novel by Wilbur Smith called, “Those in Peril”.

I have read several of his novels before and enjoyed them because of their tightly knit themes, racy story telling and the fact that many of them were based in Africa.

In this novel, Smith has gone hammer and tongs at the Muslims and Islam, misrepresenting our religion, its culture and its people in such an amateurish, flag waving way that I was quite astounded. As a matter of fact, he reminded me of another bigot, Tom Clancy.

It is a simplistic story about the heroine who is the owner of an Oil Company. The hero is a security man and the first victim is the heroine’s daughter who is kidnapped and held for ransom, tortured and raped. And all this is done by “Muslim” pirates for some kind of obscure vendetta against the hero and heroine.

At every opportunity and every turn, Smith has tried to represent Islam as the cause of what happens in the novel. The White Caucasians are pure and principled. The Black Muslims are impure and impious in the extreme. There is no need for subliminal messages in this book. It is full of one long diatribe against Islam.

Read the following ridiculous passage on page 23 where the “Muslim villain” is “praying” in the following words:

‘In the sight of Allah the Merciful and of his prophet I declare that I am Adam Abdul Tippoo Tip and that from the day of my birth I have embraced Islam and I am now and have always been a true believer. I confess my sins in that I have cohabited with the infidel and have taken unto myself the infidel name of Rogier Marcel Moreau. I pray your pardon for these deeds; which I have committed only in the service of Islam and of Allah the most Merciful and not by my own wishes or desires.’

Not a single Muslim in the world would recognize this as some kind of Muslim prayer or dua’. May Allah guide all the Wilbur Smiths of this world to the truth and justice. In the meantime, this rotten book is definitely not recommended.

Wa salamu ‘alaykum.

Racism against Asians in the West.

Al Salamu 'Alaykum:

Indian newspapers today are full of the wrongful arrest of Krittika Biswas, daughter of an Indian diplomat in the US. The girl has now sued New York city for 1.5 million dollars.
The article in the TOI can be read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Wrongfully-arrested-diplomats-daughter-sues-NY-for-15m/articleshow/8580603.cms

Many Muslims ardently desire to shift to the US or UK. They are willing to put their Iman, 'Amaal and assets in danger for what they view as a better "quality of life". They fail to realize how deeply racist Western societies are and how deeply Islamophobic. The Hindus of India, in general, are staunch supporters of the American war on Islam. And the girl who was wronged so horribly in NY was also a Hindu. Her only crime is that she was brown. This should be a wake-up call for those Muslims who always see the grass as greener on the other side and fail to weigh the issue with the seriousness that it deserves.
'Alaykum salam.

Al Salamu `Alaykum

As salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you, gentle reader.
I am Dr Abu Tamim and this is my first post on the blog. I am a Consultant Physician from India and this blog is about my thoughts, Islam, family, gratitude and various other things that flit through my mind and disappear before I can hold onto them. Hope you understand.
Peace upon you and yours.
Peace and blessings upon the Holy Prophet, his Family and his beloved Companions.