A Muslim Convert Once More

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Yahya Rhodus said, “Seeing a person of humility is better for you than reading twenty books on the theory of humility.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab al-Faruq ( r.a. ) said, “Try to be powerful without violence, and to be gentle without weakness.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ I believe that it is important for us to live life on our own terms.  People waste time chasing approval, and affirmation from others.  I can understand the logic of being liked – it makes things convenient.  However, we must also acquire the value of not being afraid to offend.   Good people spend much of their lives being apologetic for who they are, what they like, what they enjoy, what they believe.  It is this ingrained need to be accepted by some imaginary majority.  The fact of the matter is that every other person is apologising for who they are.  They want to fit in somewhere so they claim to like the things their circle of friends do, and dislike what they dislike.  This is societal bandwagoning on a massive scale in all areas of our lives.  This s how we arrive at silly fads, and how we make stupid people famous because of some gimmick.   I want no part of that.  I am here to be myself.  To paraphrase Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Do Muslims believe that all humans are children of Allah ( s.w.t. ), so there is no need for jihad ? ”   This question does not make sense.  “ Jihad ”, striving, refers to the struggle and perseverance in the path of Islam.  There are several categories of jihad , but the primary struggle is against the lower self, the base desires.  Since it is an internal striving, it is irrelevant what other people are.   Since God is the Creator, then every person was Created by God.  There is no such thing as a person or anything in Creation that is created by other than God.  It implies a distinct divine, and precludes God from Being Unique, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent.   These two concepts are not related since belief one does not preclude belief in the other.  If you are referring to jihad as-sayf , colloquially translated as “striving by the sword”, it means to take direct action to addre

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Is it not impossible for faith to ever be completely reasonable? ”   Reason is the ability to arrive at conclusions through logical thinking, deductive reasoning, and evidence.   Faith, on the other hand, is conviction in something in the absence of conclusive evidence, or despite the inability to prove it beyond reasonable doubt.   On the surface, they seem irreconcilable, but the world is not based on absolutes.   There has to be a basis of reason in faith, otherwise faith is no more than superstition.   For example, the average person believes others when they tell them things about themselves in the absence of corroborating evidence.   It is natural that people want to believe the best of each other, in the absence of evidence otherwise.   This good thoughts is extended in the theists’ belief in a Divine.   The atheist argues that there is no proof of God; however, there is also no pro

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Despite what many people believe, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) had nothing to do with non-Muslims being disallowed in the Haramayn , the region of Makkah and Madina.   This is something that the Salaf gradually arrived at.   We know that there were many non-Muslim delegations that came to see the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in Makkah, and Madina.   This is established in the sirah .   If they were banned, how could they meet him?   We also know that Madina, as the de facto capital of the Caliphate, received ambassadors and delegations from non-Muslims, even polytheists.   This is established in historical accounts.   This verse was revealed in the 9 th year, after Hijrah :   سُوۡرَةُ التّوبَة يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡمُشۡرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ۬ فَلَا يَقۡرَبُواْ ٱلۡمَسۡجِدَ ٱلۡحَرَامَ بَعۡدَ عَامِهِمۡ هَـٰذَا‌ۚ وَإِنۡ خِفۡتُمۡ عَيۡلَةً۬ فَسَوۡفَ يُغۡنِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦۤ إِن شَآءَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِ