A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following was posted, by me, on The Sharing Group, on the 06 th March 2016: “Considering developments in the Muslim world in the last few days, is there a place for blasphemy laws in a modern, secular state?   Are blasphemy laws in accordance to the values that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) taught us?”   Brother Nick Orzech : I do not have an easy answer, but I will say that from my experiences, I have much greater respect for critical and scholarly rabbis in their approaches to religious law than I do for many of the fuquha’ these days.   My gut says no because the context is simply not there anymore and, frankly, that seems to be a part of the shari’ah that is contingent, in that it is subservient to the higher maqaswid which are simply not being met in many Muslim societies.   They say that only ‘urf rulings are subject to change with time but I find that to be a load of nonsense.   We do not need to throw ou...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   There is a reason why the birth of Christ ( a.s. ) is set on the 25 th December, and the Annunciation on the 25 th March.   This is based on the belief in the Integral doctrine, or the integral age.   Integralism is the belief, common in ancient Judaism, that prophets died on the same day that they were born, or the day they were conceived.   This has been carried over to Islam, in the birth and death of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).   Thus, the prophets were said to have lived entire years.   “Integral” is derived from the Latin “integer”, meaning “whole”.   It was the belief of many of the early Christian that Jesus ( a.s. ) was crucified on 25 th March.   Based on integralism, that would mean he was either conceived or born on the 25 th March.   The consensus then was that it was the conception, because that was what the angel Gabriel announced:   Luke 1:26-38 26 When the sixth m...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is this time of the year that I am reminded that as a convert to Islam, I am of Portuguese Catholic heritage.  Christmas is very much part of my heritage and my culture.  I see no harm in having the Christmas tree, no issues with the visits, the food, the exchange of presents and greetings.  I am not in need of Muslims telling me this or that is haram , or shirk , or of pagan origins.  I ignore them and move on.  The world is full of voices, and noise.  We discern which is which, and listen to the voices, and shut out the noise.   If people are looking for genuine dialogue, however, I point out my reasons: that everything is halal unless there is proof that it is haram in fiqh al-mu’amalah , and that the mere performance of one haram act does not make the entirety of something haram .  If we go by that logic, some go to the mosque to look at girls and steal.  Should we ban mosques then?  Som...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ According to Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali ( r.a. ), Jesus Christ ( a.s. ) said, “You will never obtain what you desire except through patience with what you despise.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The English alphabet was invented in spurts and stages as different civilisations borrowed ideas about writing from their peers.  The practical effect of this is that some letters are older or younger than others, the youngest of them being the letter “J”, which did not appear until some time in the Middle Ages.   The letter “J” was originally a modified “I”.  These long “I”, J-looking things would have still been pronounced as “I” for a while, but at some point, in the Middle Ages, they took on that “J” sound we are familiar with.  Once that process began, all sorts of “I” words were given the new, trendy “J” sound for no real reason.  The most notable of these was the name of Jesus ( a.s. ), who was previously known to English speakers as “Iesus”, and “Yeshua” way before that.  This was more in line with Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic.  And that is how “Iesus” became “Jesus”.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hakim ( r.a. ) recorded that Sayyidina ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ( r.a. ) narrated that Allah ( s.w.t. ) Inspired Jesus Christ ( a.s. ) Saying, “O Jesus, believe in Muhammad, and whosoever from your ummah finds him, should believe in him.  If I had not Created Muhammad, then I would not have Created Adam.  If not for him, I would not have Created Paradise and Hell.  When I Made the Throne on water, it started to shake.  I Wrote ‘ Laa Ilaha Illa Allah Muhammadar Rasulullah .’  Due to which, it became still.”   Imam al-Hakim ( r.a. ) wrote, concerning the above narration, in his al-Mustadrak asw-Swahihayn , “This hadits has a swahih chain.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In this season of Christmas, we should not allow some Muslims to convince us that it is haram to receive gifts from our non-Muslim family and friends.  That is not the sunnah .  There are many ahadits that demonstrate that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) accepted gifts from non-Muslims.  These ahadits are swahih .   For example, it is recorded that the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) sent Sayyidina Hathib ibn Abu Balta’ah ( r.a. ) to the Christian ruler of Alexandria with a message for him, and the Patriarch accepted the letter, honoured Sayyidina Hathib ( r.a. ), and made his stay comfortable.  The Patriarch then sent him back with a garment for the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), a mule with its saddle, and two slave girls as gifts.  One slave girl was Sayyidatina Umm Ibrahim Mariyah bint Sham’un al-Qibthiyyah ( r.a. ), and the other one, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) gave as a gift to Sayyidina Jahm ibn Qays al-‘Abdari ( r.a. ).  The slave girls ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Jesus Christ ( a.s. ), the son of Mary ( a.s. ), was walking with his apostles when they passed a dead dog by the side of the road.   One of them said, “What can be worse than the corruption of the unclean dog!” And Jesus ( a.s. ) replied, “His teeth, how brightly they shine.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Izz ad-Din Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Atsir al-Jazari ( r.a. ) was an Arab or Kurdish historian and biographer who wrote in Arabic and he was from the famous ibn al-Atsir family.   Shaykh ibn al-Atsir ( r.a. ) lived a scholarly life in Mosul.   He often visited Baghdad and for a time, travelled with Sultan Swalah ad-Din’s ( r.a. ) army in Syria.   He later lived in Aleppo and Damascus.   His chief work was a history of the world, al-Kamil fi at-Tarikh , “The Complete History.”   Shaykh ibn al-Atsir ( r.a. ) wrote, in al-Kamil , concerning Jesus Christ ( a.s. ), “The learned have differed concerning his death before his being raised up.   Some say, ‘He was raised up and did not die.’   Others say, ‘No, Allah Made him die for three hours.’   Others say, ‘For seven hours, then He Brought him back to life.’   And those who say this are expounding His Saying:   سُوۡرَ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Brother Nick Orzech posted this, on The Sharing Group, on the 09 th March 2016: “While educated and relatively well versed in a good amount of Sunni orthodoxy, my own beliefs tend towards the heterodox, a fact I have no problem admitting.   And I also share many beliefs that are traditionally seen as Shi’ah.   While I have been a Muslim officially for a couple of years now, I come from a background in Hermeticism and Judaism, particularly Jewish mysticism and Rabbinic literature.   I have a great love of the Hebrew scriptures, and am fully aware of the complications in their composition and compilation, and was wondering what some of your opinions are concerning them as well as the Jewish scholarly tradition surrounding them.   I am currently very deep in Jewish mystical and rabbinic literature, as I am finishing a minor in Jewish Studies in Palestine, and it has refreshed my intense love of the Hebrew scriptures that has been...