A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ There was once a highway robber.   He lived in a small village, and was noted for his brutality.   Two or three months before he died, he got married, also by force.   When he died and they did not bury him in the cemetery, but alone, away from the Muslims.   At night, the villagers heard sighs or moans of torture coming from his grave.   It was so loud that it was heard throughout the village.   There was always heat coming from his grave.   Nothing grew on it, and the sand was so hot that no one could put their hand on it.   Months after that man died, his wife gave birth to a baby boy.   She raised him alone because she was shunned by the village.   As a single mother, it was a great struggle.   She wanted him to learn the Qur’an, but no madaris in the area would accept him because of who his father was.   Finally, an old shaykh decided to take them in, and teach him the Qur’an. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   What a Reserved Election in Singapore has highlighted is the incongruent definition of “Malay”.   The problem with the Constitutional definition of “Malay” essentially inherited from the British is that Malays who are not Muslim are not considered “Malay” according to the Constitution, but Indians, Arabs and others who are born as Muslims - not converts - are “Malay”.   One issue here is that there is a growing community of Malays who are not Muslim, including senior people in academia, the judiciary, in government and business.   Those who are converts to Christianity have non-Malay names even, but ethnically, they should be Malay.   The British used to call them Native Christians.   Are we going to bring that back?   From a Muslim convert perspective, this is also problematic because it means that Malay issues are necessarily Muslim issues, and that is not right.   Why should the issues of a separate...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ During the night of the Mi’raj , the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), accompanied by Jibril ( a.s. ), travelled to a place where he saw a people who wore loincloths on the fronts and on their backs.   They were roaming the way camels and sheep roam about.   They were eating thistles and Zaqqum, the fruit of a tree that grows in hell and whose fruit resembles the head of devils, and white-hot coals and stones of Jahannam.   سُوۡرَةُ الصَّافات أَذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ نُّزُلاً أَمۡ شَجَرَةُ ٱلزَّقُّومِ (٦٢) إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَـٰهَا فِتۡنَةً۬ لِّلظَّـٰلِمِينَ (٦٣)   Is that the better entertainment, or the Tree of Zaqqum?   For We have truly Made it (as) a trial for the wrongdoers. (Surah asw-Swaffat:62-63)   He asked, “Who are these, O Jibril?”   He replied, “These are the ones who did not meet the obligation of paying swadaqah from what they possessed, whereas Allah ( s.w.t. ) never kept anything from them.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “Islam, Spirit, & Form”, one of the important aspects of preparation for prayer is, in view of the saying of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ), “A few acts of worship based on knowledge are better than many acts of worship done in ignorance”, to know its prerequisites, traditions, and necessities.   Then again, we should try our best to be ready for prayer by purifying our hearts from enmity, malice, and other moral weaknesses, as we clean our outer organs.   We should remain vigilant about the tricks and traps of Satan and satanic people who keep us away from this preparation.   Wise people understand and put into practice, the verse:   سُوۡرَةُ المدَّثِّر وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرۡ ( ٤ )   And your garments keep free from stain! (Surah al-Muddatstsir:4)   This meaning, “Purify yourself inwardly and outwardly for the prayer, which means being in the presence of Allah ( s.w.t. ); h...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The religion is easy if taken like a good meal, in small bites that are savoured.   Should one attempt to devour the whole banquet, it would lead to indigestion.   Religion is about dzawq , taste, so we eat from that which is prepared for us.   And that is why it is important to find a good cook, who is able to prepare the dishes according to our taste.   And since different people have different palates, they have different preferences, so one cannot say to another, his dish is better.   When it comes to the uswul , such as the ayat of the Qur’an, the ahadits , and the tools used to derive rulings; they are like raw ingredients.   Some ingredients may be eaten raw, such as the Qur’an, but the full flavour is only apparent when the dish is prepared; and that is where the tafsir comes in.   Some ingredients, such as the ahadits , may not necessarily look appealing since they belong in a dish, and need t...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) said, “There will be, in my ummah , dissent and a faction; a people with excellent words and vile deeds.   They will read Qur’an, but their faith does not go past their throats.   They will pass through religion the way an arrow passes through its quarry.   They will no more come back to the religion than the arrow will come back to its original course.   They are the worst of human beings and the worst of all Creation.   The one who kills them or is killed by them is Blessed.   They summon to the Book of Allah ( s.w.t. ) but they have nothing to do with it.   Whoever kills them is closer to Allah ( s.w.t. ) than they.   Their sign is that they shave.”   He also said, “A people will come out at the end of times, immature, foolish and corrupt.   They will hold the discourse of the best of creation and recite Qur’an, but it will not go past their throats.   They will pas...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Nur ad-Din  Abu ‘Ubadah   ‘Ali ibn Juma’ah wrote, “On the science of exegesis, its inception and development itself, exegesis or interpretation, tafsir , refers in the Arabic language to ‘explanation’ and ‘uncovering’.   The word ‘ tafsir ’ is derived from the Arabic root ‘ f-s-r ’ which means uncovering a mask or lid or making manifest a meaning that is to be understood.   Tafsir is technically understood as the elucidation or clarification of Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Speech or as the explanation of the words and meanings of the Qur’an.   As reported by Imam as-Suyuthi ( q.s. ), in his book, al-Itqan , some scholars have defined tafsir as the science of the Revelation of verses, the occasions or context of their Revelation, the reasons for their Revelation, as well as knowledge of verses that are Makkan, versus those that are Madinan, the clear versus the unclear verses, the abrogated versus the abrogating verses, the ...