A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى عَيْنِ الرَّحْمَةِ الرَّبَّانِيَةِ Allahumma swalli wa sallim ‘alaa ‘ayni ar-Rahmatir ar-Rabbaaniiyati O Allah, Bestow Your Benedictions and Your peace upon the Source of Divine Mercy وَ الْيَاقُوتَةِ الْمُتَحَقِّقَةِ الْحَائِطَةِ بِمَرْكَزِ الْفُهُومِ وَ الْمَعَانِي Wa al-yaaquwtati al-mutahaqqiqati al-haa’ithatihi bimarkazi al-guhuumi wa al-ma’aanii The True Ruby enclosed in the citadel of every understanding and meaning وَ نُورِ الْأَكْوَانِ الْمُتَكَوِّنَةِ الْآدَمِي صَاحِبِ الْحَقِّ الرَّبَّانِي Wa nuuri al-akwaani al-mutakwwinati al-adamii swaahibi al-haqqi ar-rabbanii And the Light of the Creatures becoming human beings, the Possessor of the lordly truth الْبَرْقِ الْأَسْطَعِ بِمُزُونِ الْأَرْبَاحِ الْمَالِئِةِ لِكُلِّ مُتَعَرِّضٍ مِنَ الْبُحُورِ وَالْأَوَانِي al-Barqi al-asthaa’ bimuziin al-arbaahi al-maali’iti likulli muta’arridhin min al-buhuuri wa al-awaanii The Brightest Li...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is extracted from a transcript of a discourse delivered by Mawlana Wafi’ Muhammad.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Says:   سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان كُنتُمۡ خَيۡرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَتَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنڪَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ‌ۗ … (١١٠)   You are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. … (Surah Ali ‘Imran:110)   After Allah ( s.w.t. ) sent 124,000 Messengers, after He Gave so much Tangible Care and Blessings to the previous nations, He then Sent Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).  With his coming, we no longer see any such visible favours.  Of course, generosity flowed from his personality; but compared to how Allah ( s.w.t. ) Treated the Israelites, for example, He did not treat the Muslims like that.  The Muslims were subjected to a lot of trials in the early stage of Islam.   In s...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is extracted from a transcript of discourse delivered by Mawlana Wafi’ Muhammad ( r.a. ).   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Reminds us in so many chapters of the Qur’an of the activities of Pharaoh and Prophet Moses ( a.s. ) and the consequences of their respective actions.  These reminders are one of the qualities of the Qur’an; that is dzikr .  On one hand, we gain knowledge of Allah ( s.w.t. ), and on the other, we are Given information of the past nations and the impact on our own lives if we should follow similar courses of actions.   Allah ( s.w.t. ) Says:   سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡحَىُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُ‌ۚ لَا تَأۡخُذُهُ ۥ سِنَةٌ۬ وَلَا نَوۡمٌ۬‌ۚ … (٢٥٥)   Allah!  There is no Allah but He ― the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal.  No slumber can seize him nor sleep. ... (Surah al-Baqarah:255)   And He has Knowledge of every single one of us.  ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Dr. Colin Turner wrote, “I cannot pretend that this is an academic paper, although at some point it may grow into one.  At the moment it is merely an exercise in thinking aloud, so please bear with me.   In a sense, this paper represents the confluence of two streams of thought.  The first stream, the smaller of the two, concerns the notion of uswatun hasanah or the ‘excellent pattern’, which is an epithet given to both the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) and the Prophet Abraham ( a.s. ), in the Qur’an.  The second stream, and the more substantial one, concerns an on-going research interest of mine in the concept of the ‘vital lie’, popularised by Ernest Becker, a cultural anthropologist who died some forty years ago now and whose main claim to fame is the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, ‘The Denial of Death’.   Let me start with the first stream of thought, which concerns this notion of uswatun hasanah – the notion of th...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is an extract of “From Points of Light”, by Shaykh Harun Michael Sugich.   He wrote, “Muhammad ‘Amir Ahmad Khan was the Raja of Mahmudabad, one of the richest estates of the Awadh in what is now Uttar Pradesh.   Born in 1914, ‘Amir Ahmad succeeded his father as Raja in 1931.   He was a deeply devout Muslim, an ascetic and, in his youth, a great idealist active in the All-India Muslim League.   He formed the All-India Muslim Students Federation in 1937 and supported the Pakistan Movement.   He was, however, adamantly against the creation of an independent state.   Muhammad ‘Ali Jinnah, who was a family friend, eventually won him over but he did not immigrate to Pakistan until 1957 and then he was almost immediately disillusioned by the country’s political turmoil.   He left Pakistan two years later to settle in Iraq and later in England, where he became the director of the Regent’s Park Mosque, a p...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) gave the following swuhbah , on the 01 st January 1997.   Is it possible for an ant to understand a bee?   Is it possible for a cat to understand a dog?   If a cat is not a dog, he cannot know the real position of a dog.   A dog will understand a dog, a cat will understand a cat.   Everyone understands their own level.   An ant cannot understand a man.   All it knows, is that if it lands under the foot of a man, it will be finished.   It knows we are a great creature which moves, but it cannot give any description.   Only a man can know about another man.   A man cannot even know about a woman, just like a woman cannot know everything about a man, because they are different beings.   So how could it be possible for mankind to understand the Creator?   Only another creator could do that.   But there cannot be two creators; it is impos...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What is tabarruk in Islam? ”   “ Tabarruk ” is derived from the same root as “ barakah ”, “blessing”.   Tabarruk is to seek Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Blessing by virtue of something associated with those close to Allah ( s.w.t. ).  This is also known as “ tawaswswul ”, “intercession”.  It is part of ‘ibadah , worship, and is found in orthodox Islam, both Sunni and Shi’ah.  Only the Wahhabi sect, and those associated with these heretics claim it is shirk , polytheism, but to paraphrase Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ), that is because they mistake the means from the Giver.   The following are examples of tawaswswul , intercession, by the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) and others, from the Qur’an and ahadits , to clearly show that tabarruk is a valid doctrine and practised by the pious. As such, there is no basis within the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah to ...