A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The problem as to whether human beings were free to determine their own destiny or whether their being was determined by the Creator was also one of the central disputes in a rift within the Khwarij movement.  For the first time, the Ajarridi Khwarijiyyah split into two sub-groups, the Maymuniyyah and the Shu’aybiyyah .  The reason for this division originated in an argument between Maymun and Shu’ayb, the leaders of the groups.  Shu’ayb had some money belonging to Maymun, and when Maymun demanded repayment, Shu’ayb said to him, “I shall give it to you, if Allah Wills.”   Maymun replied, “Allah has Willed that you should give it to me now.”   And Shu’ayb said, “If Allah has Willed it, I could not have done otherwise than give it to you.”   Maymun continued by saying, “Verily, Allah has Willed what He Commanded; what He did not Command, He did not Will; and what He did not Will, He did not Command.”   The...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller said, “If a low thought enters one’s mind, send swalawat on the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) to banish it.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) said, “The part of your life that has gone by is irreplaceable, but that which has arrived is priceless.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Khwaja Shams ad-Din Muhammad Hafizh ash-Shirazi ( q.s. ) said, “If your patience is like that of Noah in the sadness of the storm, affliction will leave you and the hopes of a thousand years will be fulfilled.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ All that we do has consequence.  When we consider, we realise that we are the architects of our pain and our suffering, whether individually or collectively.  Just as each individual drop does not consider itself responsible for the flood, each individual act contributes to it.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The problem of free will was discussed by Bishop Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis of Hippo Regius in De Civitate Dei contra Paganos before the rise of Islam, and it is possible that the ideas of this Christian thinker later influenced Islamic theology, particularly groups such as the Mu’tazilah .   Bishop Augustine’s idea was developed in response to Marcus Tullius Cicero, who rejected God’s Foreknowledge of the future, meaning there would be no prediction of events, and human actions would be free.   Cicero’s argument is quite simple to understand, as it asserts that if predestination prevails, then there can be no free will. Against Cicero, Bishop Augustine argued that God, as the Creator of all beings, has Bestowed power in them to will, but that all wills, including wicked wills, are human products because wickedness cannot be ascribed to God; that it is not then the case that since God Foreknows what will happen to an individua...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas ( r.a. ) said, in Bahr al-Muhith , “The limits and vastness of the Earth are many and plentiful, and it is not possible for anyone to gather all of the sayings of the scholars, and one who even tries to claim this; then his lie is not hidden to anybody.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Habib ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Jifri said, “To deem the value of human blood insignificant is worse than shedding it.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ) wrote, in his Majma’ Fatawi ibn Taymiyyah , “To celebrate and to honour the birth of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and to take it as an honoured season, as some of the people are doing, is good and in it, there is a Great Reward, because of their good intentions in honouring the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ) wrote, of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ):   “When you were born, the Earth was shining, And the firmament barely contained your light, And we can pierce through, Thanks to that radiance and light and path of guidance.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Tafsir originated in the era of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ).   When the companions were puzzled by a certain verse, they would ask the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and he would clarify to them anything that they did not understand or anything that was obscure.   Sayyidina Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud ( r.a. ) said, “When the verse:   سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنعَام ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَلَمۡ يَلۡبِسُوٓاْ إِيمَـٰنَهُم بِظُلۡمٍ ... (٨٢)   “It is those who believe and mix not their beliefs with wrong ...” (Surah al-An’am:82)   was Revealed, the companions of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) were distressed by it and said, ‘Who of us does not wrong himself!’   So, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, ‘It is not what you think, but it is only as Luqman said to his son:   سُوۡرَةُ لقمَان ... يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تُشۡرِكۡ بِٱللَّهِ‌ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشِّرۡكَ لَظُلۡمٌ عَظِيمٌ۬ (١٣)   … “O my son!   Join not in worship (others) with Allah: f...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ) said, “The Qur’an is an ocean, and that it is from the Qur’an that the sciences of the ancients and the contemporaries branch off, just as rivers and brooks branch off from the shores of an ocean.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The theological issues discussed by the Mu’taziliyyah , such as free will and predestination, the relationship between the Divine Attributes and the Essence of Allah ( s.w.t. ), were also debated by some Muslim thinkers during the Umayyad period prior to the rise of the Mu’taziliyyah .  These thinkers can be divided into two groups.  The first group included al-Ja’ad ibn Dirham, al-Mughirah ibn Sa’id al-‘Ajali, and Jahm ibn Swafwan, who rejected the Reality and Eternity of the Divine Attributes and also believed in the createdness of the Qur’an.  al-Ja’ad ibn Dirham was from Damascus.  He was arrested and sent to Iraq by Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad caliph.  He was beheaded by the Iraqi ruler, Khalid ibn ‘Abdullah al-Kisri, who was the uncle of Hisham, in 742 CE.  al-Mughirah ibn Sa’id al-‘Ajali was killed by the ruler of Iraq, Khalid ibn ‘Abdullah al-Kisri, in 737 CE.  Jahm ibn Swafwan was killed in 745 ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhyi ad-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Swalih ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ( q.s. ) said, “Do not become subservient to the gifts in such a manner that you forget the Bestower of the gifts.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi ( q.s. ) said, “The difference between birds with wings and gnostics with the wings of passionate love, is that birds with their wings fly in a certain direction, which is always changing, and gnostics with wings of love long only to fly away from all directions.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Taj ad-Din Abu al-Fadhl Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Atha’illah as-Sakandari ( q.s. ) said, “When He Gives, He Makes you witness His Benevolence and when He Denies you, He Makes you witness His Supremacy.  And in both situations, He is Making Himself Discernible to you, and Approaching you with His Gentleness.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad ( q.s. ) said, “Be in the world as though a stranger or a wayfarer, and consider yourself one of the inhabitants of the graves.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ When our practices and our beliefs are no longer based knowledge and understanding, but on custom and blind taqlid , Islam has ceased to be a religion and is reverted to mere superstition.   It is not enough to merely follow and to believe; we have to know why.   It is this mere following without understanding that has constrained something very vast.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Mu’tazilah school emerged as the result of the ethical and political turmoil of its own time, and then ventured into the realm of speculative theology.  After the assassination of Sayyidina Abu ‘Amr ‘Utsman ibn ’Affan ( r.a. ) in 656 CE, Muslims divided into various political groups which mutually fought each other.  This political division continued during the period of the Umayyads and the Abbasids.   Muslims debated whether it was Allah’s ( s.w.t .) Will, or human beings responsible for this bloodshed.  If people were responsible for such corruption, what would their punishment be - as Muslims or apostates?  The traditionalist relied on the literal interpretation of the Qur’an, the Khwarij maintained that the committer of a grave sin was not a believer, and another group, the Murjiyyah , claimed that the case should be left to Allah ( s.w.t. ) to Decide.   It is reported that one day, in the second century ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A sister I know, just before her conversion, did not exactly have it easy trying to find out about Islam.  She said, “It was just after I left ‘Turn to Islam’ forum, which was a Wahhabi forum, where I was accused me of being paid by the Zionists for simply asking questions about things I did not understand.  I joined the chat forum run by Yusuf Estes.  They would have weekly question and answer video chats with various ‘scholars’.  Great, I thought.  I would be able to learn from the boys in the know.   At the time, I did not feel comfortable referring to myself as a Muslim.  I just felt that I did not want to take on a moniker that I might be able to live up to.  It felt like cultural appropriation to me, a big no-no in the native world.”  She is Native American.   “Anyways,  Nu’man  Ali Khan was the featured speaker and to ask questions, you sent an email to the site.  I address...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The religious scholars are the heirs of the prophets, so the quest for nearness to them is absolutely essential, since they have said, “If someone is affected with a condition that he cannot cure, they will coax him out of it.”   Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri ( r.a. ) wrote, in his ar-Risalah al-Qushayriyyah , “It is necessary for the seeker to be educated by a shaykh , for if he has no teacher, he will never succeed.”   Shaykh Bayazid Tayfur ibn ‘Isa al-Bisthami ( q.s. ) said, “If someone does not have a teacher, his teacher is Satan.”   According to Sidi Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Kunti ( r.a. ), “As for the reality of the litanies, they are contracts and covenants, which Allah has Imposed upon His servants by means of the shuyukh .  If someone reveres the shuyukh , complies with the contracts and fulfills the covenants, he will, therefore, be entitled to the benefit of the two abodes,” meaning this wor...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) said, “If you see anyone speaking ill of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ), doubt his Islam.”  This means that we stay away from people who curse or denigrate them.  However, we must also understand that not every person who met the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) and took Islam at his hand is universally considered a companion.  There are those who turned against his family, and the ummah after his passing, and it is perfectly reasonable to doubt their Islam.  Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) himself recounted the conduct of Marwan ibn al-Hakam, and his murder of the swahabah , and other foul deeds.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Yusuf al-Kuzani al-‘Ajami ( q.s. ) reported, in his Risalah , that Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ) once implored the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), saying, “O Messenger of Allah, guide me to the nearest of the paths toward Allah ( s.w.t. ), the easiest of them for His servants, and the best of them in the sight of Allah ( s.w.t .).”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied, “O ‘Ali, you must make a constant practice of remembering Allah ( s.w.t. ) in the places of private retreat.”   Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) then asked, “Does this excellent merit of the remembrance depend on its being practiced by all people?”   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) replied, “O ‘Ali, the Final Hour will not arrive, so long as someone on the face of the earth is saying, ‘ Laa ilaha illa Allah .’”   Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) then asked, “So, how should I perform the remembrance, O Messenger of Allah?”   To this, he replied, “You must close your eyes and h...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh  Abu ‘Ali  Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyadh ( q.s. ) said, “Indeed, I love those whom Allah ( s.w.t. ) Loves.  They are those from whom the companions of Muhammad ( s.a.w. ) are safe.  I hate those whom Allah ( s.w.t. ) Hates.  They are the people of the deviant sects and innovation.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding the source of the method of teaching the remembrances, adzkar , and the litanies, awrad ; it has been reported by Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad Hanbal ( r.a. ) in his Musnad , with an excellent chain of transmission, and by Imam Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ayyub ath-Thabarani ( r.a. ) and others, that Hadhrat Ya’la ibn Shaddad ( r.a. ) said, “My father, Shaddad ibn Aws told me, in the presence of ‘Ubadah ibn asw-Swamit, who said he was telling the truth, ‘We were together with the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), and he asked, ‘Is there a stranger amongst you?’ meaning one of the People of the Scripture.   We said, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah,’ so he ordered the door to be locked.   Then he said, ‘Raise your hands and say, ‘There is no god but Allah!’  So, we held our hands up for a while, then he said, ‘Praise be to Allah!  O Allah, You have Sent me with this declaration.  You have Entrusted me with it, and You have Promised me th...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu Darda’ Uwaymir ibn Zayd ( r.a. ) said, “Fast the hot days in anticipation of the Day of Resurrection, and pray in the dark night in anticipation of the dark grave.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A group of scholars in Baghdad asked Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a. ) about Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah.   He responded, “What do you say about a man who ruled for three years; in the first he murdered al-Husayn, in the second he sacked Madina for three days, and in the third he assaulted the Ka’bah with catapults until it was destroyed?”   They said, “Verily, we curse him!”   Imam Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a. ) said, “So curse him!”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Proof for Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah’s hatred and vile behaviour can be seen in his summoning ‘Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad to Damascus after Karbala, and bestowing upon him illustrious gifts and large sums of money, elevating his status, granting him access to his women and making him his intimate boon-companion.   One night, after becoming drunk, Yazid ordered his slave-girl to sing but before she began, he recited the verses:   “Pour me a drink that will satisfy my innermost soul! And fill a large cup like it for ibn Ziyad. Verily, he is my most intimate companion and I trust him absolutely! For he realised my deepest goal and struggle! He killed the Kharijite, the treacherous rebel al-Husayn, And terrified my enemies and those who envy!”   Imam Abu al-Wafa’ ‘Ali ibn ‘Aqil ( r.a. ) said, “Among the many things that reinforce the fact that he was a disbeliever and an apostate, and not merely someone who should be condemned an...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Khwaja Mu’in ad-Din Hasan Shishty ( q.s. ) emphasised the importance of prayer and said that it is a great necessity for the development of the soul.  He did not restrict prayer in its implications, expressions, and meaning, giving a broad connotation to the word.  According to him, prayer consists of selfless service, sympathy, and empathy.  Thus, helping the weak, the aggrieved, the needy, to feed the hungry, and to have the captive freed all constitute prayers.   He said that to see six things constitutes prayer for the gnostic: to see one’s parents in the morning and greet them with salaam ; to see one’s own children with love and affection; to see the Holy Qur’an; to see the face of the learned with respect; to see the gates of Ka’bah; and to look towards the face of one’s own murshid and to devote oneself to his service.  According to him, fear, respect, and modesty are the three things that go to make one enlighten...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In Iqazh al-Himam , Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ajibah ( r.a. ) quoted Imam Ahmad ibn Ahmad az-Zarruq’s ( q.s. ) commentary on the sayings of Imam  Abu ‘Abdullah  Malik ibn Anas (r.a.): “He who practices taswawwuf without acquiring knowledge of fiqh , is a zindiq .  He who acquires knowledge of fiqh but does not practice taswawwuf , is a fasiq .  He who combines the two, has achiever the Truth.”   Imam az-Zarruq’s ( q.s. ) commentary on this saying is that the atheism of the first is due to the fact that he professes the doctrine of jabr , which entails the negation of wisdom, and the rules of law.  The immoral depravity of the second is due to the fact that his conduct is devoid of the genuine dedication that prevents disobedience to Allah ( s.w.t. ), and of the sincere devotion that is stipulated for all actions.  The correctness of the third is due to his fulfillment in reality of his essential adherence t...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ I could not understand why this “Zakir Naik” is so popular with certain groups of people.   They would even attend the talk of his son, who is even less qualified.   No one can name a single one of Zakir ‘Abd al-Karim Nayk’s teachers.   Shaykh Ahmed Diydat ( r.a. ) was never his teacher.   His supporters say he is famous because he is qualified.  And they also say he is qualified because he is famous.  He is so “brilliant that he does not need a teacher.”  He is “great scholar” because thousands follow him, as if our learned were identified by popular acclaim instead of scholarship.  He is “calling people to Islam,” despite the fact that he contradicts the Qur’an, the sunnah and the actual scholars of Islam.   I see the sort of following that would draw.  In summary, Zakir ‘Abd al-Karim Nayk is the “Donald Trump” of Islam and people who are his supporters are just like Trump supporters.  I...