Imam Suhaib Webb

Children of Gaza Victims of Israeli Terror

Dominic Nutt, of the aid agency Save The Children, told the BBC that workers in the territory were reporting rapidly deteriorating conditions:

“They don’t have any water most of the day, there is no electricity, they are freezing cold, the windows have to be left open to stop them smashing when the bombs fall.

“Children are at risk from hypothermia, they are malnourished, there is not enough food, the situation is getting desperate.”

<object width=”425″ height=”344″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/GDjthFt6EZg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/GDjthFt6EZg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″></embed></object>

First Question

I was told that you are an athari in aqeedah. is that true? if so what books are available in regards to the difference between the athari, ashari, and salafi aqeedah?

First Answer:

In English or Arabic?

Second Question

English. However you didn’t answer the question about whether you are athari or not. My main issue is asharis and salafis calling each other deviants and not just the laymen but the ulama (ibn taymiya and ibn hajr al-haytami for example) and was wondering whether athari is accpeted by both and who are the athari ulama?

The Answer

Asalamu alaykum wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

I think it would be very difficult to find a monolith within any group if that’s what your looking for. Yes, I consider myself aspiring to be an Athari, and take the position articulated by al-Saffarni in al-Lum’a and, in more recent times, that of the Islamic movements and what was taught to me by my Sheikh Muhammad al-Hassan Walid al-Dido al-Shanqit, a man who memorized the Sahih Sita before he was 30 years old:

The Position of the Islamic Revival

Ahl-Sunna are three:

1. Than Athari and their Imam is Imam Ahmed
2. The Ashari’s and their Imam is Abu Hassan al-Ash’ari
3. The Maturidi’s and their Imam is Abu Masur al-Maturidi

That does not mean we can’t have spirited discussions, enlightened discourse and so on if done with sound scholarship, or under the guidance of scholars. I share your feelings on the issue and feel that most people are really burned out. The most important Athari text is the Tahawiyah, then the introduction to Aqidah found in the Epistle of Abi Zaid al-Qayrawani, the Lum’a of Imam al-Maqdasi, the works of Ibn Taymiyah and so on. I would also strongly encourage one to read Imam Hassan al-Banna’s Epistle on Aqida and the recent work of Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi “The differences between the creed of the salaf and the creed of the khalaf.”

If you want to cross check these ideas with your Ashar’i brethren then read the Jawhar al-Tawhid with the explanation of al-Bayjouri who states, “Regarding these sifaat, there are two schools, the school of the Salaf was to pass these verses, affirm them, leaving the meanings to Allah without going into explaining them.” As for the Khalaf, “They would adopt an explanation of the attribute that was fitting for Allah’s sublime majesty.” As one of my teachers told me, “They had the same destination; they just took two different paths.” Both, at the end of the day, affirm Allah’s sublime nature, that He is not like his creation and His creation is not like him. Thus, as Sheikh al-Qaradawi stated, “They agree on the general principles of creed, and differed on the secondary issues.”

The Western Muslim Dilemma

Western Muslims have failed to grasp the danger of engaging in discussions on creed as many have no knowledge to empower themselves to understand with maturity. For that reason, most are using creed as a means of identification, thereby diagnosing other Muslims, categorizing them and using that as a means to feel a sense of importance and self-worth.

This is very dangerous as the objective of creed is closeness to Allah, love and following the prophet, loyalty to the Muslim community, and standing up for the truth, being good to other not fearing those who reject Allah. These qualities are very important in the post 9/11 world where Muslims in the West are sinking into hyper liberalism, inviting lesbians to sing at their events and proud to announce the tazkiyah of Juan Cole. I’m not saying this to create any type of static, but if we are honest with ourselves, the number one component that has shaped our discourse in the West is fear. Fear of the Man and fear of each other. As Dr. Sherman Jackson told me, “Suhaib, you’ve got to reach a point in your life where you’re comfortable with yourself.” Meaning, we cannot allow fear of others to shape us. The magicians stood up to Pharaoh without a second thought. Our fear of prison, being antagonized, kicked off planes and our love for being accepted by others, caused many of us to swerve somewhat, lose our balance and do anything in our power to appear domesticated. These type of actions, taking pride in sitting with lesbians, turning away from Allah’s commands and being weak in worship are signs that our faith is in the ICU.

Where Are We Now

As an American community we need to ask, where have the current approaches to faith brought us? I’ve meet Salafi and Sufi couples who are talking divorce, friends who’s children were abandoned by the other children because they were told that their parents were deviants; I know brothers who left a Sufi order and the murids were ordered never to talk with them again!?

The Prophetic model brought enemies to the table, nurtured love in their hearts, created a community that was divided, about which Allah said, “You were enemies to another, we brought your hearts together and you became, by the blessing of Allah, brothers.” and made them into a strong cohesive society. Where are we from that? We were Muslims, learned Creed, and became enemies? Thus, was the enmity due to Allah’s blessing or His wrath?

Be careful of those who Seek to Weaken Us

We need to be careful of teachers who come to us with these things; seeking to sow the seeds of hatred between us, making us weak and open for problems. And as students of studying overseas, we must be careful in adopting everything were learn. For, indeed, we cannot take everything we’ve learned an apply it in the West.  This was my point during the ISNA speech about “A theology of complexes.” Many of these theological disputes were nurtured by intelligence agencies to weaken Muslims in the Muslim world. Low and behold, we must be weary that such ploys are not brought to the West. In order to do that, we need a commitment to live as brothers. Scholars need to interact with each other beyond simple pledges, debate issues at times, and most importantly cool their follower’s heels.

An Interesting Story

Once I sat with a Salafi teacher and I ask him, “What are you teaching the people akhi? Why are you engaging the ‘Awam in these issues?” His response, “Because the Sufi’s are attacking us, so it is kind of a back and forth thing?” I told him, “You are making the masses the subject of a theological tug of war?” He quieted and said, “I regret and asked myself, what I’m teaching the masses?” The sad thing is I’ve had the same discussion with a prominent Ashar’i sufi teacher and got the same answer. I remember hearing from one of them, “We are going back to America to destroy the Salafis!” This type of understanding is not going to bring any good to us. As a community we must censure theological bigotry and learn to accept those who fall under the general, wide understanding of Ahl Sunna. And please, don’t say Jam’ah.

Take the Good from the Muslims

I have benefited from a large number of Salafi teachers just as I have from the Sufis. I have studied with both and, while I don’t agree with everything, tried to take the good from them. “I do not declare my innocence.” as two years ago I made some very tragic mistakes in this regard. One thing I would encourage all to do, if they are serious, is to memorize the Qur’an, study the sunna, with qualified scholars and take their Aqidah from there on a general level. I remember that statement of Sh. Muhammad Hassal al-Dido about sitting with one of his teachers, “When I went to him, one of two things happened: I found him crying from the fear of Allah, or I left him crying from the fear of Allah.”

In English it is hard to find such works without one group or another using them to attack the other. Read what you can and try and sift through the group though, group attack.

A Good Compass for Creedal Studies

Know, that if you study creed and you find yourself harsh and tired with the Muslims, you have failed to achieve it purpose. If you study it and your feel humble in front of Allah, in service to others, wanting to spread its truth with wisdom and mercy, then you have done well.

Think About Your Question

To be honest, I find your question a little frightening. Instead of studying your creed to know who you are and what others are not, study creed to know your Lord, understanding Him correctly and serve Him according to the way of the Prophet and the early generations. Leave the Aqidah wars to the scholars, focus on your studies, memorize the Qur’an, the Mutun and build your knowledge base.

What Set You Banging Suhaib?

Recently a good hearted brother visited me and said, “You need to declare your loyalty to someone akhi. Folks are worried, where do you stand. You can’t be………”

A Muslim! I hope I can and ask Allah for thabat. While I will critique and offer my advice at times towards things I have learned are wrong, I hope to do so in a spirit of adab and fraternity that will help us maintain our ties as Muslims. If that means calling to the way of the Ahari, then so be it. However, let’s do so with knowledge, respect and admiration for others.

Athari Ulema:

Dr. Zakkariyah al-Sidiqi

Sh. Juma Amin

Sh. Muhamamd al-Shanqiti and his family

Dr. Muhammad Akram Nadawi

The Students of Sh. Ibrahim al-Jarah in Kuwait

Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi

and others…………….

May Allah bless us to aspire to the way of the athar, make our creed pleasing to Him alone; empowering us to stand in the face of evil and corruption

Suhaib

The Question:

Is it prohibited to remove the hair exceeding from the eyebrows? Is it prohibited to remove the hair between the two eyebrows?

The Answer:

Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated through Abdu Allah ibn Mas’oud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

Allah curses the woman who perform tattoos, get tattoos, the woman who pluck the eyebrows of others, and those women who get their eyebrows plucked, and part their teeth for adornment; who change Allah’s creation.

The statement of Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud reached a woman from Bani Asad who was called Um Ya’cub. She came to him and said: “It came to my knowledge that you have cursed so and so. “He replied: “Why would I not curse the one the Prophet [PBUH] cursed. The one mentioned in the book of Allah the Almighty [Meaning the Prophet]

Allah says:

So accept whatever the Messenger gives you, and abstain from whatever he forbids you. [59:7]

• Plucking:

The ruling of plucking parts of the face other than the eyebrows varies between prohibition and permissibility. Upon this the scholars based their difference.

Important Terms:

• Al-Namsa: is the one who plucks her or others eyebrows.
• Al-Mutnamsa: is the one who orders others to do so.

• The ruling for unmarried woman:

Threatening one to with the curse of Allah and his Prophet  is a sign that an action is from the Major sins. In Islamic law when such a threat is issued it is evidence that the act is a major sin and a sign that the act is impermissible.

It is forbidden for a non married woman to have her eye brows plucked, except for the purpose of treatment, removing a defect, or refining excessive hair. Things other than this are prohibited.

• The ruling for a married woman:

It is permissible for a married woman to pluck her eyebrows with her husband’s permission according to the majority of scholars, since, it is considered from what are classified in Islamic law as adornments [Ar: Zenah].

The narration of Bukra bint ‘Uqba was used as evidence, when she asked ‘Aisha may Allah be pleased with her about plucking her eyebrows, ‘Aisha responded:

If you are married, and by plucking your eyebrows you will make them attractive, then do it”. Ahkam al-Nis’a Ibn al-Jawsi p.49

Al-Tabari mentioned a narration through the wife of Abu Ishaa, who was an attractive woman when she came to ‘Aisha may Allah be pleased with her—she asked:

“Should a woman pluck her facial hair for her husband?”

She answered:

“Keep disturbances [from you and your husband] away as much as possible.”

Allah the Majestic knows best.

Egyptian House of Fatwa

Click here for original

December 31, 2008, Tariq Ramadan

Startling—and stomach turning : where Palestinians are involved, memory and sense of proportion fail us. The Jewish conscience, justifiably, has long called upon the world’s powers and upon their citizens to remain vigilant, never to forget -in the name of “the duty of memory”- the atrocities, massacres and genocides of the past. But where the State of Israel is involved, we are expected to set all sense of proportion aside, to leap to conclusions. Suddenly, it would be assumed that these are two equally powerful belligerents. After a six-month ceasefire, one of the two parties to the conflict (the Palestinians) is said to have broken the truce by unleashing its rockets. The victim of aggression (Israel) is acting solely in self-defense—if we are to believe the version sold to the world by Israel, and relayed by complacent and complicit Western media with the full support of the Bush administration and of many European governments. The bravest among them can barely bring themselves to point out Israel’s “disproportionate” reaction. What courage !

And, most of all, what lies ! For decades—long before Hamas came to power—the Palestinians have seen their dignity trodden underfoot, their legitimate rights denied. From the Oslo “peace” accords to a succession of negotiations (more frequently compromises), from the repeated broken promises to media circus withdrawal schemes, the Palestinian representatives have achieved nothing for their people. Israeli governments, whether of the Left or the Right, stall for time, resort to lies, summarily execute their adversaries, and dismiss Palestinian civilian deaths as collateral in the name of Israel’s security while continuing to expand illegal settlements and pursue a policy of “facts on the ground.” Many experts, including Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur for Human Rights in Occupied Palestine, have confirmed that Israeli policy fails to respect the Geneva Convention ; that it has, by default, made the two-state solution almost impossible.

The Israeli government has fenced in the population of the West Bank (in complete disregard for United Nations General Assembly resolutions and the International Court) ; it has subjected the population of Gaza to a siege coupled with a blockade that has brought hunger, a shortage of medical supplies and care, and mass unemployment ; it has created a state of despair. International humanitarian relief organizations are sharply restricted in their activities ; badly needed food supplies are not getting through. The June 19 - December 19 truce was conditional on an end the siege and the blockade of Gaza, and partial opening the Egyptian border crossing. Neither Israel (nor Egypt) has respected these conditions ; the Palestinian population has been the victim of inhuman treatment, for weeks, months and years now. Are we to ignore these realities in order to justify the massacres now unfolding before our eyes ? Are the Palestinians responsible for their own misfortune because rockets were launched from Gaza ? The failure of memory is compounded by a loss of all sense of proportion : the number of Israeli victims is now multiplied by a factor of one hundred, two hundred, three hundred Palestinian civilians murdered by Israeli government fiat.

Israel flaunts its contempt for the self-styled “international community”, secure in unilateral support of the United States and the silence—in silent complicity—of European governments. An efficient communication strategy and a complacent media establishment (accompanied with the usual dose of predictable disinformation) allows the Israeli government to play for time, to inflict upon a population of one and one-half million human beings an inhuman siege, and now, a full-scale massacre. We have been reduced to spectators and our “neutrality” should have to protect us from our guilty conscience. Cynicism is at its paroxysm when we understand that the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians depend upon the political calculations of Israel’s leaders, eager to demonstrate their strength and determination with a view to the upcoming elections. The Lebanese disarray during summer 2006 should be rectified. Mission accomplished : 80% of Israelis support the murderous operations in Gaza ! Frightening !

Can we expect anything better from the “international community” of governments and states as we observe their reactions, both East and West ? Theirs is the guilty silence of the accomplice ; the hypocrisy ; the waiting game ; contempt for Palestinian lives—for whom the ideal solution would be Jordan, Lebanon, or some “permanently temporary” refugee camps. The time has come to create an international, global non-violent resistance movement against the violent, extremist policies of the State of Israel. We must mobilize world opinion by keeping the Palestinian issue in the public eye through ongoing, scrupulously accurate information ; by writing articles, organizing conferences and demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, and by improving synergy between the efforts and activities of existing organizations. We know this much : the Palestinians may bend, but they will not break. We must continue to defend their legitimate rights on the ground. Around the world, we must support their resistance in a determined, peaceful way. Israel, for all its awesome firepower, has not won the conflict ; Israeli society faces deepening crises. It is a matter of utmost urgency that the State and the people of Israel realize that, for them, there can be no secure future, and ultimately, no survival, without recognition of the legitimate rights and the dignity of the Palestinians. The strategy of playing for time, of willful blindness, of “shock and awe”, of bloodshed and massacre offers no assurance of victory. On the contrary, it is a formula for defeat.

Israel’s righteous fury and its victims in Gaza

By Ilan Pappe
Source: The Electronic Intifada

(2 January 2009) — My visit back home to the Galilee coincided with the genocidal Israeli attack on Gaza. The state, through its media and with the help of its academia, broadcasted one unanimous voice — even louder than the one heard during the criminal attack against Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Israel is engulfed once more with righteous fury that translates into destructive policies in the Gaza Strip. This appalling self-justification for the inhumanity and impunity is not just annoying, it is a subject worth dwelling on, if one wants to understand the international immunity for the massacre that rages on in Gaza.

It is based first and foremost on sheer lies transmitted with a newspeak reminiscent of darker days in 1930s Europe. Every half an hour a news bulletin on the radio and television describes the victims of Gaza as terrorists and Israel’s massive killings of them as an act of self-defense. Israel presents itself to its own people as the righteous victim that defends itself against a great evil. The academic world is recruited to explain how demonic and monstrous is the Palestinian struggle, if it is led by Hamas. These are the same scholars who demonized the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in an earlier era and delegitimized his Fatah movement during the second Palestinian intifada.

But the lies and distorted representations are not the worst part of it. It is the direct attack on the last vestiges of humanity and dignity of the Palestinian people that is most enraging. The Palestinians in Israel have shown their solidarity with the people of Gaza and are now branded as a fifth column in the Jewish state; their right to remain in their homeland cast as doubtful given their lack of support for the Israeli aggression. Those among them who agree — wrongly, in my opinion — to appear in the local media are interrogated, and not interviewed, as if they were inmates in the Shin Bet’s prison. Their appearance is prefaced and followed by humiliating racist remarks and they are met with accusations of being a fifth column, an irrational and fanatical people. And yet this is not the basest practice. There are a few Palestinian children from the occupied territories treated for cancer in Israeli hospitals. God knows what price their families have paid for them to be admitted there. The Israel Radio daily goes to the hospital to demand the poor parents tell the Israeli audience how right Israel is in its attack and how evil is Hamas in its defense.

There are no boundaries to the hypocrisy that a righteous fury produces. The discourse of the generals and the politicians is moving erratically between self-compliments of the humanity the army displays in its “surgical” operations on the one hand, and the need to destroy Gaza for once and for all, in a humane way of course, on the other.

This righteous fury is a constant phenomenon in the Israeli, and before that Zionist, dispossession of Palestine. Every act whether it was ethnic cleansing, occupation, massacre or destruction was always portrayed as morally just and as a pure act of self-defense reluctantly perpetrated by Israel in its war against the worst kind of human beings. In his excellent volume The Returns of Zionism: Myths, Politics and Scholarship in Israel, Gabi Piterberg explores the ideological origins and historical progression of this righteous fury. Today in Israel, from Left to Right, from Likud to Kadima, from the academia to the media, one can hear this righteous fury of a state that is more busy than any other state in the world in destroying and dispossessing an indigenous population.

It is crucial to explore the ideological origins of this attitude and derive the necessary political conclusions form its prevalence. This righteous fury shields the society and politicians in Israel from any external rebuke or criticism. But far worse, it is translated always into destructive policies against the Palestinians. With no internal mechanism of criticism and no external pressure, every Palestinian becomes a potential target of this fury. Given the firepower of the Jewish state it can inevitably only end in more massive killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing.

The self-righteousness is a powerful act of self-denial and justification. It explains why the Israeli Jewish society would not be moved by words of wisdom, logical persuasion or diplomatic dialogue. And if one does not want to endorse violence as the means of opposing it, there is only one way forward: challenging head-on this righteousness as an evil ideology meant to cover human atrocities. Another name for this ideology is Zionism and an international rebuke for Zionism, not just for particular Israeli policies, is the only way of countering this self-righteousness. We have to try and explain not only to the world, but also to the Israelis themselves, that Zionism is an ideology that endorses ethnic cleansing, occupation and now massive massacres. What is needed now is not just a condemnation of the present massacre but also delegitimization of the ideology that produced that policy and justifies it morally and politically. Let us hope that significant voices in the world will tell the Jewish state that this ideology and the overall conduct of the state are intolerable and unacceptable and as long as they persist, Israel will be boycotted and subject to sanctions.

But I am not naive. I know that even the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinians would not be enough to produce such a shift in the Western public opinion; it is even more unlikely that the crimes committed in Gaza would move the European governments to change their policy towards Palestine.

And yet, we cannot allow 2009 to be just another year, less significant than 2008, the commemorative year of the Nakba, that did not fulfill the great hopes we all had for its potential to dramatically transform the Western world’s attitude to Palestine and the Palestinians.

It seems that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as discrete events, unconnected to anything that happened in the past and not associated with any ideology or system. In this new year, we have to try to realign the public opinion to the history of Palestine and to the evils of the Zionist ideology as the best means of both explaining genocidal operations such as the current one in Gaza and as a way of pre-empting worse things to come.

Academically, this has already been done. Our main challenge is to find an efficient to explain the connection between the Zionist ideology and the past policies of destruction, to the present crisis. It may be easier to do it while, under the most terrible circumstances, the world’s attention is directed to Palestine once more. It would be even more difficult at times when the situation seems to be “calmer” and less dramatic. In such “relaxed” moments, the short attention span of the Western media would marginalize once more the Palestinian tragedy and neglect it either because of horrific genocides in Africa or the economic crisis and ecological doomsday scenarios in the rest of the world. While the Western media is not likely to be interested in any historical stockpiling, it is only through a historical evaluation that the magnitude of the crimes committed against the Palestinian people throughout the past 60 years can be exposed. Therefore, it is the role of an activist academia and an alternative media to insist on this historical context. These agents should not scoff from educating the public opinion and hopefully even influence the more conscientious politicians to view events in a wider historical perspective.

Similarly, we may be able to find the popular, as distinct from the high brow academic, way of explaining clearly that Israel’s policy — in the last 60 years — stems from a racist hegemonic ideology called Zionism, shielded by endless layers of righteous fury. Despite the predictable accusation of anti-Semitism and what have you, it is time to associate in the public mind the Zionist ideology with the by now familiar historical landmarks of the land: the ethnic cleansing of 1948, the oppression of the Palestinians in Israel during the days of the military rule, the brutal occupation of the West Bank and now the massacre of Gaza. Very much as the Apartheid ideology explained the oppressive policies of the South African government, this ideology — in its most consensual and simplistic variety — allowed all the Israeli governments in the past and the present to dehumanize the Palestinians wherever they are and strive to destroy them. The means altered from period to period, from location to location, as did the narrative covering up these atrocities. But there is a clear pattern that cannot only be discussed in the academic ivory towers, but has to be part of the political discourse on the contemporary reality in Palestine today.

Some of us, namely those committed to justice and peace in Palestine, unwittingly evade this debate by focusing, and this is understandable, on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) — the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Struggling against the criminal policies there is an urgent mission. But this should not convey the message that the powers that be in the West adopted gladly by a cue from Israel, that Palestine is only in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and that the Palestinians are only the people living in those territories. We should expand the representation of Palestine geographically and demographically by telling the historical narrative of the events in 1948 and ever since and demand equal human and civil rights to all the people who live, or used to live, in what today is Israel and the OPT.

By connecting the Zionist ideology and the policies of the past with the present atrocities, we will be able to provide a clear and logical explanation for the campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Challenging by nonviolent means a self-righteous ideological state that allows itself, aided by a mute world, to dispossess and destroy the indigenous people of Palestine, is a just and moral cause. It is also an effective way of galvanizing the public opinion not only against the present genocidal policies in Gaza, but hopefully one that would prevent future atrocities. But more importantly than anything else it will puncture the balloon of self-righteous fury that suffocates the Palestinians every times it inflates. It will help end the Western immunity to Israel’s impunity. Without that immunity, one hopes more and more people in Israel will begin to see the real nature of the crimes committed in their name and their fury would be directed against those who trapped them and the Palestinians in this unnecessary cycle of bloodshed and violence.

Ilan Pappe is chair in the Department of History at the University of Exeter.

By Richard Falk
Source: Huffington Post

Richard Falk’s ZSpace Page

Join ZSpace

For eighteen months the entire 1.5 million people of Gaza experienced a punishing blockade imposed by Israel, and a variety of traumatizing challenges to the normalcy of daily life. A flicker of hope emerged some six months ago when an Egyptian arranged truce produced an effective ceasefire that cut Israeli casualties to zero despite the cross-border periodic firing of homemade rockets that fell harmlessly on nearby Israeli territory, and undoubtedly caused anxiety in the border town of Sderot. During the ceasefire the Hamas leadership in Gaza repeatedly offered to extend the truce, even proposing a ten-year period and claimed a receptivity to a political solution based on acceptance of Israel’s 1967 borders. Israel ignored these diplomatic initiatives, and failed to carry out its side of the ceasefire agreement that involved some easing of the blockade that had been restricting the entry to Gaza of food, medicine, and fuel to a trickle.

Israel also refused exit permits to students with foreign fellowship awards and to Gazan journalists and respected NGO representatives. At the same time, it made it increasingly difficult for journalists to enter, and I was myself expelled from Israel a couple of weeks ago when I tried to enter to carry out my UN job of monitoring respect for human rights in occupied Palestine, that is, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as Gaza. Clearly, prior to the current crisis, Israel used its authority to prevent credible observers from giving accurate and truthful accounts of the dire humanitarian situation that had been already documented as producing severe declines in the physical condition and mental health of the Gazan population, especially noting malnutrition among children and the absence of treatment facilities for those suffering from a variety of diseases. The Israeli attacks were directed against a society already in grave condition after a blockade maintained during the prior 18 months.

As always in relation to the underlying conflict, some facts bearing on this latest crisis are murky and contested, although the American public in particular gets 99% of its information filtered through an exceedingly pro-Israeli media lens. Hamas is blamed for the breakdown of the truce by its supposed unwillingness to renew it, and by the alleged increased incidence of rocket attacks. But the reality is more clouded. There was no substantial rocket fire from Gaza during the ceasefire until Israel launched an attack last November 4th directed at what it claimed were Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing several Palestinians. It was at this point that rocket fire from Gaza intensified. Also, it was Hamas that on numerous public occasions called for extending the truce, with its calls never acknowledged, much less acted upon, by Israeli officialdom. Beyond this, attributing all the rockets to Hamas is not convincing either. A variety of independent militia groups operate in Gaza, some such as the Fatah-backed al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade are anti-Hamas, and may even be sending rockets to provoke or justify Israeli retaliation. It is well confirmed that when US-supported Fatah controlled Gaza’s governing structure it was unable to stop rocket attacks despite a concerted effort to do so.

What this background suggests strongly is that Israel launched its devastating attacks, starting on December 27, not simply to stop the rockets or in retaliation, but also for a series of unacknowledged reasons. It was evident for several weeks prior to the Israeli attacks that the Israeli military and political leaders were preparing the public for large-scale military operations against the Hamas. The timing of the attacks seemed prompted by a series of considerations: most of all, the interest of political contenders, the Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in demonstrating their toughness prior to national elections scheduled for February, but now possibly postponed until military operations cease. Such Israeli shows of force have been a feature of past Israeli election campaigns, and on this occasion especially, the current government was being successfully challenged by Israel’s notoriously militarist politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, for its supposed failures to uphold security. Reinforcing these electoral motivations was the little concealed pressure from the Israeli military commanders to seize the opportunity in Gaza to erase the memories of their failure to destroy Hezbollah in the devastating Lebanon War of 2006 that both tarnished Israel’s reputation as a military power and led to widespread international condemnation of Israel for the heavy bombardment of undefended Lebanese villages, disproportionate force, and extensive use of cluster bombs against heavily populated areas.

Respected and conservative Israeli commentators go further. For instance, the prominent historian, Benny Morris writing in the New York Times a few days ago, relates the campaign in Gaza to a deeper set of forebodings in Israel that he compares to the dark mood of the public that preceded the 1967 War when Israelis felt deeply threatened by Arab mobilizations on their borders. Morris insists that despite Israeli prosperity of recent years, and relative security, several factors have led Israel to act boldly in Gaza: the perceived continuing refusal of the Arab world to accept the existence of Israel as an established reality; the inflammatory threats voiced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad together with Iran’s supposed push to acquire nuclear weapons, the fading memory of the Holocaust combined with growing sympathy in the West with the Palestinian plight, and the radicalization of political movements on Israel’s borders in the form of Hezbollah and Hamas. In effect, Morris argues that Israel is trying via the crushing of Hamas in Gaza to send a wider message to the region that it will stop at nothing to uphold its claims of sovereignty and security.

There are two conclusions that emerge: the people of Gaza are being severely victimized for reasons remote from the rockets and border security concerns, but seemingly to improve election prospects of current leaders now facing defeat, and to warn others in the region that Israel will use overwhelming force whenever its interests are at stake.

That such a human catastrophe can happen with minimal outside interference also shows the weakness of international law and the United Nations, as well as the geopolitical priorities of the important players. The passive support of the United States government for whatever Israel does is again the critical factor, as it was in 2006 when it launched its aggressive war against Lebanon. What is less evident is that the main Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, with their extreme hostility toward Hamas that is viewed as backed by Iran, their main regional rival, were also willing to stand aside while Gaza was being so brutally attacked, with some Arab diplomats even blaming the attacks on Palestinian disunity or on the refusal of Hamas to accept the leadership of Mamoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority.

The people of Gaza are victims of geopolitics at its inhumane worst: producing what Israel itself calls a ‘total war’ against an essentially defenseless society that lacks any defensive military capability whatsoever and is completely vulnerable to Israeli attacks mounted by F-16 bombers and Apache helicopters. What this also means is that the flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, as set forth in the Geneva Conventions, is quietly set aside while the carnage continues and the bodies pile up. It additionally means that the UN is once more revealed to be impotent when its main members deprive it of the political will to protect a people subject to unlawful uses of force on a large scale. Finally, this means that the public can shriek and march all over the world, but that the killing will go on as if nothing is happening. The picture being painted day by day in Gaza is one that begs for renewed commitment to international law and the authority of the UN Charter, starting here in the United States, especially with a new leadership that promised its citizens change, including a less militarist approach to diplomatic leadership.

Startling—and stomach turning : where Palestinians are involved, memory and sense of proportion fail us. The Jewish conscience, justifiably, has long called upon the world’s powers and upon their citizens to remain vigilant, never to forget -in the name of “the duty of memory”- the atrocities, massacres and genocides of the past. But where the State of Israel is involved, we are expected to set all sense of proportion aside, to leap to conclusions.

Suddenly, it would be assumed that these are two equally powerful belligerents. After a six-month ceasefire, one of the two parties to the conflict (the Palestinians) is said to have broken the truce by unleashing its rockets. The victim of aggression (Israel) is acting solely in self-defense—if we are to believe the version sold to the world by Israel, and relayed by complacent and complicit Western media with the full support of the Bush administration and of many European governments. The bravest among them can barely bring themselves to point out Israel’s “disproportionate” reaction. What courage !

And, most of all, what lies ! For decades—long before Hamas came to power—the Palestinians have seen their dignity trodden underfoot, their legitimate rights denied. From the Oslo “peace” accords to a succession of negotiations (more frequently compromises), from the repeated broken promises to media circus withdrawal schemes, the Palestinian representatives have achieved nothing for their people. Israeli governments, whether of the Left or the Right, stall for time, resort to lies, summarily execute their adversaries, and dismiss Palestinian civilian deaths as collateral in the name of Israel’s security while continuing to expand illegal settlements and pursue a policy of “facts on the ground.” Many experts, including Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur for Human Rights in Occupied Palestine, have confirmed that Israeli policy fails to respect the Geneva Convention ; that it has, by default, made the two-state solution almost impossible.

The Israeli government has fenced in the population of the West Bank (in complete disregard for United Nations General Assembly resolutions and the International Court) ; it has subjected the population of Gaza to a siege coupled with a blockade that has brought hunger, a shortage of medical supplies and care, and mass unemployment ; it has created a state of despair. International humanitarian relief organizations are sharply restricted in their activities ; badly needed food supplies are not getting through. The June 19 - December 19 truce was conditional on an end the siege and the blockade of Gaza, and partial opening the Egyptian border crossing. Neither Israel (nor Egypt) has respected these conditions ; the Palestinian population has been the victim of inhuman treatment, for weeks, months and years now. Are we to ignore these realities in order to justify the massacres now unfolding before our eyes ? Are the Palestinians responsible for their own misfortune because rockets were launched from Gaza ? The failure of memory is compounded by a loss of all sense of proportion : the number of Israeli victims is now multiplied by a factor of one hundred, two hundred, three hundred Palestinian civilians murdered by Israeli government fiat.

Israel flaunts its contempt for the self-styled “international community”, secure in unilateral support of the United States and the silence—in silent complicity—of European governments. An efficient communication strategy and a complacent media establishment (accompanied with the usual dose of predictable disinformation) allows the Israeli government to play for time, to inflict upon a population of one and one-half million human beings an inhuman siege, and now, a full-scale massacre. We have been reduced to spectators and our “neutrality” should have to protect us from our guilty conscience. Cynicism is at its paroxysm when we understand that the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians depend upon the political calculations of Israel’s leaders, eager to demonstrate their strength and determination with a view to the upcoming elections. The Lebanese disarray during summer 2006 should be rectified. Mission accomplished : 80% of Israelis support the murderous operations in Gaza ! Frightening !

Can we expect anything better from the “international community” of governments and states as we observe their reactions, both East and West ? Theirs is the guilty silence of the accomplice ; the hypocrisy ; the waiting game ; contempt for Palestinian lives—for whom the ideal solution would be Jordan, Lebanon, or some “permanently temporary” refugee camps. The time has come to create an international, global non-violent resistance movement against the violent, extremist policies of the State of Israel. We must mobilize world opinion by keeping the Palestinian issue in the public eye through ongoing, scrupulously accurate information ; by writing articles, organizing conferences and demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, and by improving synergy between the efforts and activities of existing organizations. We know this much : the Palestinians may bend, but they will not break. We must continue to defend their legitimate rights on the ground. Around the world, we must support their resistance in a determined, peaceful way. Israel, for all its awesome firepower, has not won the conflict ; Israeli society faces deepening crises. It is a matter of utmost urgency that the State and the people of Israel realize that, for them, there can be no secure future, and ultimately, no survival, without recognition of the legitimate rights and the dignity of the Palestinians. The strategy of playing for time, of willful blindness, of “shock and awe”, of bloodshed and massacre offers no assurance of victory. On the contrary, it is a formula for defeat.

Sh. Abul Hussein studied for 7 years in Egypt with some of her top scholars. He currently resides in the Detroit area where he teaches a number of classes.

The Question:

The life and death of planet Earth byastrophysicist Donald Brownlee and paleontologist Peter Ward. Now these two men are saying is that the world will end on some time in 2012. Allah says in the Quran that only he knows when the world will end these men are saying that there calculations are based on the mayacalendar, the calendar has been used to predict the future before also and so far it has only been 43 seconds off. Is there anything in the quran that agrees with this matter? i need some reassurance because i want to get it of my head its bothering me a lot.

The Answer by Imam Mustafa ‘Umar, Imam of Masjid Fahd, L.A, California

In the name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

You have made a very wise decision in asking this question on two counts. First, because many young people nowadays have several questions and/or misgivings about their religion but keep them inside. As time goes by, these ideas pile up and then might trigger some day and lead to numerous doubts about their religion without anyone understanding what happened. Therefore, it is beneficial to express what you feel and to ask questions.

Second, you have asked the right people who grew up in an environment similar to yours and have knowledge of Islam. Many people end up asking the wrong people who either can’t relate to them or have no knowledge. This would only end up causing more problems.

The stance of the Qur’an on this issue is clear from the following verse: “They ask you [Prophet] about the end of the world, saying, ‘When will it be?’ How can you tell them that? Its time is known only to your Lord. You are only sent to warn those who fear it.” (Qur’an 79:42-45)

The point is that when Allah says that something is “known only to your Lord”, it means that it is something that cannot be discovered by man, such as a person’s lifespan. Many people try to predict a number of things and we assume that, because of the advances in science and technology, we can also have knowledge similar to what Allah has. However, think about how many times the weather report has been wrong despite all the satellites and advanced equipment, how many people were supposed to die but lived, and how many people were supposed to have lived but died. All of these things remind us of how far we really are from Allah’s knowledge. As for using the Maya calendar, we need to stop and think about a number of things. First, how many predictions did they make? Second, what were their predictions about? Third, what was the rate of accuracy in all of their predictions and why they aren’t being used as mainstream evidence? Fourth, where did they get this knowledge from?

We must be very critical of people who claim to know the future. Most people who make such a claim are frauds while the others are merely guessing. It’s like horoscopes which are written in such a general way that people think they can actually tell the future when, in reality, they don’t. We shouldn’t be fooled by such things,even if they are packaged and presented in the name of science. Science is a very useful tool, but it is often misused and twisted to fit a certain agenda or just to sell a book. When all is said and done, remember that just because the sun has risen from the east for millions of years doesn’t mean that Allah can’t change it tomorrow and make it rise from the west.  We must remember that just as our own lives are in the hands of Allah, so is the life of the world, and He can end it whenever He likes. May Allah allow us to utilize our limited lives with what pleases Him before our time is up.

Mustafa

Click Here

On Trials

By Andrew Booso

The arrival of the new year, 1 January 2009, was welcomed in my part of the world with playful and cheerful fireworks; yet there is a painful reminder that there are other people in the world whose lives are currently interacting with a less benign variant on fire. To remind and reflect on such realities should evoke from us a heartfelt ‘To God we belong, and to Him we shall return’ (inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un). This, in turn, makes one ponder on the reality of life itself, and God’s Word – the Noble Qur’an – is always the place to start: ‘Glorious is the One in whose Hand is the Kingdom (of the whole universe), and He is Able to do all things; the One who has created death and life so that He may try you, as to which of you is best in conduct. He is the August, the Forgiving’ [67:1-2].

Muhammad al-Jibaly, in Sickness: Regulations & Exhortations, has done a commendable job of articulating the reality of trials in this life. He introduces this particular topic with the following: ‘Our life in this world is precarious. We pass through alternating periods of happiness and sadness, vigor and weakness, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, and so on – until we die.’ He goes on to narrate a wonderful narration of the Prophet Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him), narrated by Bukhari in Adab al-mufrad: ‘Indeed, amazing is a believer’s affair! It is always best for him – and this is for no one except a believer. If he is granted ease of living, he shows gratitude (to Allah), and this is best for him. And if he is afflicted with a hardship, he perseveres, and this is best for him.’ Thus al-Jibaly points out that the believer must encounter a trial with patience and ‘should never rebel or express dissatisfaction with Allah’s decree’ (sabr); and ‘a believer should trust that Allah (great and glorious is He!) will reward him for his affliction’ (ihtisab).

Al-Jibaly highlights, with sources in the Qur’an and hadith, the great benefit of afflictions for the believers:

• • As expiation of sins until, as recorded in a hadith, a people meet Allah ‘burdened with no sins’;
  • A sign of Allah’s love, as in the hadith narrated by Tirmidhi: ‘When Allah (great and glorious is He!) loves some people, He subjects them to affliction’;
  • Indication of righteousness, as in the hadith narrated by Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others: ‘The most afflicted among the people are the prophets, then the best, then the (next) best. A person is afflicted in accordance with his faith. If his faith is firm, his affliction is intense. And if his faith is weak, his affliction is light…’

Nevertheless, one is reminded by al-Jibaly that the sunnah indicates that one must not wish or ask for affliction, but rather we are instructed to ask for ‘well-being’. For instance, the hadith narrated by Ibn Majah and Ahmad: “There is no supplication that a person can make better than, ‘O Allah, I ask You for well-being in this life and the hereafter’ (Allahumma inni as’aluk al-mu’afata fid-dunya wal-akhirah).”

One can take the following hadith, narrated by Muslim, as a basis for helping someone who is harmed: ‘Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart – and that is the weakest faith.’ The benefit of such aiding can be seen in another hadith recorded by Muslim: ‘Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Judgment. Whosoever alleviates [the lot of] a needy person, Allah will alleviate [his lot] in this world and the next. Whosoever shields a Muslim, Allah will shield him in this world and the next. Allah will aid a servant [of His] so long as the servant aids his brother…’

The first duty of the one trying to deliver aid is spiritual, in the form supplication. As expounded by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi in his Du’a: The Weapon of the Believer, supplication has conditions for acceptance, manners that should be adhered to, and recommended times.

A second duty for those far away is to send financial aid to the oppressed, and numerous worthwhile charities operate in the oppressed parts of the world (even under very strenuous conditions – may God reward them.).

A third activity that God might bring benefit through is taking certain means, such as public protest (which can be through marching or petitioning).

From a beautiful narration of Ibn ‘Abbas (may God be well pleased with him and his father) recorded by Tirmidhi, the Messenger (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) said:

‘O young man…If you ask, ask of Allah. If you seek help, seek help in Allah. Know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you. If they gather to harm you by something, they would not be able to harm you by anything except what Allah has already recorded against you…’

Ibn Rajab, in his Compendium of Knowledge & Wisdom, states that one should only ask Allah for things. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo, in his Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi, endorses the view of Ibn Rajab, but also states that there is a permissible asking; and that ‘is where people ask of each other what is normally within the ability of a human being’ – which he calls ‘the kind of mutual assistance and help that takes place all the time among mankind.’ Zarabozo adds: ‘when turning to other humans for this permissible type of request, one should realize that the request will only be satisfied by them if Allah guides them to that decision.’ Hence even in this scenario, the refinement of one’s exertion is spiritual. Such an attitude would transform protest marches into being more like vigils.

In conclusion, one must recall that our lives are short, and history is long. Thus we must exert a great deal of personally beneficial action into our short lives. While history is a long running narrative where the tale of tyranny often runs into eventual ruin, but not before it has often blighted a generation, or two, or more. The story of all history is bound to the ultimate fate of all things; but, in reality, our lives are strictly concerned with our individual fate. Therefore we operate personally within the knowledge of higher purposes and vision, without losing focus on perspective at any given moment. That vast perspective takes into concern the lives of others and grand scales, but the individuality can never afford to be lost in the midst of the crimes that man commits. Nevertheless, such a personal focus does not do away with the hearts bleeding, tears flowing and limbs serving others – as one can see in the sunnah. Soft-heartedness is a mercy of God to whom He wills – and may He save us from its opposite. Amin.

Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah – my success is only through Allah. Rabbana atina fi’d-dunya hasanatan, wa fi’l-akhira hasanatan, wa qina ‘adhab an-nar – Our Lord, give us good in this world and the next, and save us from the punishment of the Fire. Amin – and may Allah give good to everyone who says ‘amin’ to this supplication.

www.suhaibwebb.com

“If it is established that a person is a beginner in his understanding of the Arabic language, then he is a beginner in understanding Shari’ah; if he is average in his understanding of Arabic, then he his average in his understanding of Shari’ah and if he attains mastery in his understanding of Arabic, then the same will hold true for his understanding of Shari’ah. Thus, [if he masters the language] his understanding of the Shari’ah and its objectives will be like the understanding of the Companions.”

Imam al-Shatibi al-Muwafatqat vol. 4 pg. 115

Traducido por: Aliyyah Pérez.

Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi ante la Opresión

“Bin Nuh Saman fue un mal gobernador, cerca de Samarcanda que vivió en el siglo 3 º después de la Hégira. Decidió rebelarse en contra de los líderes de Samarcanda y de todo el poblado poniendo a todos en gran riesgo. Envió un mensajero al líder de Samarcanda para intimidarlo. El líder lamó a los estudiosos y nobles para escuchar y buscar su consejo. Entre ellos, fue el gran erudito e Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. Después de escuchar a los mensajeros de bin Nuh Saman, al-Maturidi le dijo que entregara el siguiente mensaje a bin Nuh Samán:

زدنا ظلماً حتى نزيد في دعاء الليل

“Increméntanos en opresión hasta que nuestras súplicas se incrementen durante la noche!”

El mensajero salió y a los pocos días Nuh bin Saman fue encontrado muerto. A su lado había una lanza y escrito sobre ésta lo siguiente:

بغى وللبغي سهام تنتظر   أتته من أيدي المنايا والقدر
“Opresor! Y para el opresor la flecha espera.
Viniendo a él de la muerte y el destino

سهام أيدي القانتات في السحر…………………………..
Flechas de la mujer obediente [suplicante] al amanecer “

Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi in the Face of Oppression

“Nuh bin Saman was an evil governor near Samarqand who lived in the 3rd century A.H. He decided to rebel against Samarqand’s leaders and her entire populous putting many in great harm. He dispatched a messenger to the leader of Samarqand to intimidate him. The leader called the scholars and noble men to listen and seek their consultation. Amongst them was the great scholar and Imam, Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. After listening to Nuh bin Saman’s messenger, al-Maturidi told him to deliver the following message to Nuh bin Saman:

زدنا ظلماً حتى نزيد في دعاء الليل
“Increase us in oppression until we increase our supplications in the night!”

The messenger left and a few days latter Nuh bin Saman was found dead.
In his side there was a spear and written on it was the following:

بغى وللبغي سهام تنتظر   أتته من أيدي المنايا والقدر
“Oppressor! And for the oppressor is the arrow waiting.
Coming to him from death and destiny

سهام أيدي القانتات في السحر…………………………..
Arrows from the obedient women [supplicating] at dawn”

As-salaamu ‘alaikum my dear Brother in the Deen, Suhaib Webb,

If a non-mahrem relative is living at my home alongside my family (Mum, Dad, Brothers, Father of the non-mahrem relative (Paternal Uncle)) does it become incumbent upon me to wear the outer garment ‘jilbab’ in the home

It is incumbent upon you to cover your Awrah as you would in front of any strange person.

You should not wear clothing that shows your shape, nor should you allow Shaytan to play with your heart and cause you to relax on this issue. The Prophet [sa] in a sound hadith warned us about close relatives saying, “They are death.”

Next Question

“Lastly, I’m REALLY confused about cameras/pictures etc. I was informed that a hadith (not sure of its strength) where the Prophet (PBUH) said ‘Woe to those who make pictures” - is this a weak hadith? Does this mean we shouldn’t take photos? So does this rule out having camera phones?”

There was no Kodak nor Photoshop during the time of the Prophet [sa]. Thus, the majority of the scholars hold that these prohibitions do not include modern day photography. This was articulated by al-Azhar, Sh. Abdul Halim Mahmoud, Dr. Sadiq al-Ghiryani and recently by al-’Allama Sh. Muhammad al-Hassan Walad Dudu al-Shankiqti.

Please keep us in your prayers and Allah knows best

SDW

Donate to Islamic Relief for People of Gaza
http://www.islamic-relief.com/

Donate to Interpal
http://www.interpal.info/get-involved/donate-for-palestine

Publicado por Suhaib Webb 23 de Diciembre de 2008 en Traducciones Generales de Legislción, Usol al-Fiqh.  Traducido por: Aliyyah Pérez.

La Pregunta:

Asalamu alaykum,

Hace unas noches entré en una acalorada discusión con mi esposa. Durante el transcurso de la discusión ella alzó la voz, me maldijo y pronuncio una larga cadena de palabras hirientes. En el calor del momento, miré a mi esposa y me dije a mi mismo: “Yo te divorcio” haciéndolo con clara intención. Permítanme aclarar que no le dije nada en ese momento ni tampoco se lo mencioné después. Al día siguiente prevalecieron las mentes calmas i comencé a arrepentirme de lo que dije. Entonces pensé Me he divorciado de ella? Es este el caso? .

La Respuesta:

El Profeta [sa] dijo:, “Allah ha perdonado a mi nación por las inclinaciones de sus almas, por aquello que no pronuncian o actúan” [Relatado por Muslim]  Basado en el hadith anterio y en la pregunta, los Malikis mencionan el axioma legal: “No hay divorcio basado en la intención a menos que se haya pronunciado” Ver Sharh al-Zarqani Vol. 4 Pg. 105.  El Dr. Sadiq ‘Abdu al-Rahman al-Gharyani dice, “El Divorcio no ocurre con la intención solamente a menos que venga acompañada de las palabras. No hay divorcio basado en la voz interior, ni cuando proviene de los susurros  del diablo.” Mudawanah fi  al-Fiqh al-Maliki wa al-Dilatuhu vol. 2 pg. 677  Por lo Tanto. Tu matrimonio está bien y no hubo divorcio.

Allah sabe mas.  Suhaib

www.suhaibwebb.com

The First Answer

Number Two: Don’t become upset