Talk with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Illusion and Reality

If God wills it, plain as it is, after every delusion there is light. But I cannot think of delusion following light (awareness, knowledge, etc.), because after light there can be only light, more light or nothing. Why 'nothing'? As Imam al-Ghazali puts it, knowledge with no action is nothing. It's nothing. O Allah! Give me light (noor), give light to my eyes, give light to my tounge, to my ears; light to my right, to my left, light in front and behind me, give light to my qalb (heart). Give us the Light O our Generous Lord! Ameen.

Why to abandon things like facebook?

I
have successfully abandoned sites like facebook and God knows I am not tempted to activate my account again. Horrible images pop up in my mind when I think of these. I feel as I would become thirsty if I go back there. I feel I will be left behind. I feel as if I will burn out and exhaust all of my energies. What's important here is to analyze and judge whether it is really a useful tool or not? And, secondly, even if I am unclear about its real worth, what am I doing on these places? My only premise in relation to the second point is that if I am wasting my time there, then I have no other option than to abandon such sites. Therefore, responding the second question first, what I did: I spent half of the day through internet and mobile - playing Mafia Wars, 'a delusion of grandeur', as they happily call it, updating my status as to 'what was on my mind', even if it were to be ":)"; checking all kind of notifications with a hunger/lust; interacting with people I know, especially with those living far away from me (after having some conversations with them all spirits and emotions part of human relations seem to slow down); and indulging in hundred other, most of which were utterly rubbish sort of activities that consumed my time like a hard acid consumes flesh.

Such sites (as our champion facebook) are built to engage its users in activities most of which are purely useless, filled with all sorts of illusions, and are seriously meant for 'fun' just to increase the number of visitors and members on their sites. The term 'fun' is important here. Muslims are not people of fun, nor any serious person who is true his human nature. 'Fun means activity of fools'. How can a Muslim be like the people of fun, who are non-serious and have no desire to dominate their self (nafs), and 'be like great people', the God-conscious people? Nonetheless, I found that only an iota of this social networking website (facebook, I was heavily addicted to), everything else I did was rubbish, addiction. And they openly say that this is addictive, inviting us to have fun with their services, openly fooling everyone. How can a serious person fall victim to something that is proclaiming "I am dangerous for you"? A serious person is one who spends his whole life to discern between the Illusion and the Real and to assimilate the Real consequently. In an effort to imitate such people, i decided to leave it for some good. Notice their users' reactions: So you've left facebook? As if it was not to be!

But what about its usefulness? Isn't that immensely useful? Yes, it is for its core feature which is 'connecting with people'. But if I really need to contact people far off, I need to limit its use. When I couldn't help myself abstain from its overwhelming useless features, what best should I have done? I did that and left it. I admit the matter is somewhat complex. A paradox that has been recognized by an able and reflective blogger is being quoted here, which is to make us stop and think, and be not afraid of self-examination:

We are the generation of communication, we network busily like bees setting up profile pages on websites which gather a little too much information, we tweet our daily, habitual routines and make idle chatter with our cult followers. We blog of anecdotes, obsessions and random news articles which perk our interests for the day. We text, email, chat on instant messenger and still wonder why we're so out of touch with our loved ones. ("Todays's Generation," Drinking Raindrops.)

As for Muslims, what we have to do is 'to look at what prophet SAW said and did'. Prophet said that he who would disconnect his relations would not enter in jannah (paradise). (Bukhari, Muslim). Therefore, such sites as Orkut or Facebook may only be used for connecting with others, and not a single second may be spent on useless, rubbish things it is right now filled with. I know a good deal of my friends who miss fajr prayer owing to their duties towards such places facebook. Nevertheless, many verses of Quran and traditions prove that our top priority should be our parents and relatives, and then other people. Prophet said: Father's brother is like father for a person (son) (Bukhari, Muslim). We don't need such sites to serve our parents. We don't need it to fulfill our obligations towards our relatives. They need us with our physical and mental presence with them. And I have felt that nothing is more healthier emotionally and spiritually than meeting people in person, and this was the sunnah of our Prophet. 'Let's enrich our lives a little by interacting with others'. People who make board games like Monopoly know the worth of humans interactions that is why board games have an edge over highly addictive and rubbish electronic/computer games. So why should we deprive ourselves of interaction with people that matter so much to us? Tell me, how would you express a smile to your dear one virtually, and how would he or she catch the spirit? And we are depriving our beloved ones of such inestimable and infinitely cheap human gifts, even to those who live in the very room adjacent to our highly exclusive, private, secluded dwellings.

Honour people, be merciful to them, do not backbite

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An unjust king asked a devotee what kind of worship is best. he replied, "For thee the best is to sleep one half of the day so as not to injure the people for a while."

Sa'adi

In the context of present condition of religiosity of Muslim Ummah, the above quote by Shaikh Sa'adi (RA) without doubt fits more for ordinary Muslims than for their not-so-extra-ordinary rulers; because as per a tradtion of Prophet, rulers treat their people according to their piety and God-consciousness (Taqwa), or obedience to God. If the people disobey Him, He punishes them through their rulers, and vice verse. I only need here to point out one of the greatest mischief and sins committed by the Muslims by and large against their own brothers in faith (which may only cured by the advice of Shaikh Sa'adi (RA) to the unjust king as you will see). The sin is called backbiting (geebat).

The life, wealth, and honour - according to a hadith narrated by Hazrat Abdullah bin Umer - of a Muslim is greater in value than Baitullah, Ka'aba shareef. If one attacks on the honour of a Muslim, let alone his life and wealth and property, he is actually striking on the very house of God dear to us more than our lives and families. Imagine. Everyday, in almost every gathering of ours, when we backbite we actually, by attacking on the honour and dignity of a Muslim, are ruthlessly destroying the house of Allah! However, we don't get sick here, we don't even deem it to be a crime, and we have got our own explanations that only amplify our foolishness and expose how irreligious we really are.


In an another hadith, the messenger of Allah said, which may allow us to a lend a few moments for little self-examination over how severe the sin we so easily commit: Backbiting is a crime more severe than fornication. No religion of the world appreciates fornication. We all denounce it openly. There are severe punishments for those who commit this sin in Islam. Yet...! The former is a sin more wicked than fornication. It's because is related to the rights of human beings, it's because its an attack on someone's dignity. And finally, as the whole point of this post was to raise a question to Muslims: Is our religion, i.e., Islam, lacking in wisdom and profundity, or our actions and commitment to its ideals? Answer is quite simple and much evident for the people of understanding. May Allah give us the ability to act upon and fully realize in our actions the ideals of His Last Revelation. Ameen.

O man! what has deluded you from your Generous Lord?

Quran says in chapter no. 2, verse 28, 29, asking man to use his intellect (al-aql) to surrender before the Truth most evident, then how can one deny it?; and may it just not become unclear to us like that moon which seemed to be fogged high in the sky once on a clear dark night:

Ch # 2: Verse # 28: How can you refuse to acknowledge Allah [when your very existence is a living evidence of the Creator. There was a time when you were a thing not worth mentioning (76:1)] You were lifeless and He it is Who gave you life [and made you worthy of being addressed as 'you' (32:9)] Then He will cause you to die and then bring you back to life again whereupon unto Him you will be made to return. (40:11, 7:25, 22:66, 26:81, 30:40, 45:26, 71:17-18) (2:281, 10:56, 32:11)

2:29: He it is Who created for you all, everything that is in or on the earth; then He directed His design to the regions above (the earth) and fashioned them suitably into seven layers of the atmosphere (67:3, 71:15)(11:7, 17:44, 23:86, 41:11-12, 57:4, 65:12); He knows all about everything, (truly and
certainly).

God reserves the right to wonder as to inquire: O man ! what has beguiled you from your Lord, the Generous (or Gracious) one? Seriously...

Two Devastating Causes of Muslims' Disintegration

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Muslims should not fall apart. They are not here to disintegrate. They are the best Ummah. They command good and forbid evil. But why have they disintegrated? Why there condition is most pathetic of all the nations of this world?

Sheikh ul Hind, Maulana Mahmood Hasan, after getting free by the grace of God from the harsh and oppressive imprisonment in Malta by the Britishers, happened to find himself in a company of a group of scholars in Deoband. What else could he say to them other then presenting the fruits of this arduous experience, i.e., the wisdom (hikmah) extracted. He said to them that from this whole experience of Malta he had learned (only) two lessons. The scholars around him became attentive as to what could be those two important lessons the leader (imam) of scholars of his time had learned. The Shakyh said: I have learned that two things have destroyed us (Muslim Ummah): one is our abandoning of Quran; and second is the disunity among us. (From Ikhtilaaf Rehmat Hai.) Firqabandi is haram for us, proclaims Mufti Rafi Usmani.

We are not people of argumentation. Those who wish or try to disperse us are shaitaan, devils. Yet the balance is needed, which can be better understood from the little booklet already quoted and the following lecture by Hamza Yusuf. Insha Allah!

Sufism

Dr. Agha: I have your image in my eyes so much that whatever I perceive I think it is you. This is Sufism.

I am my beloved and my beloved is I,
We are two spirits residing in one body,
So when you see me you see her,
and when you see her you see me.

Mansoor Hallaj

'And proclaim the Grace of your Lord'

Quran, chapter # 93. "The morning hours."

Bashfulness in Islam

Prophet SAW said, “There is an Akhlaaq (moral, virtue, ethics, manners) for every Deen and the Akhlaaq of Islam is Haya.”

(Quoted from: "In the Name of love")

Superiority of Fasting (Saum)

Narrated Abu Huraira (ra): Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: Allah said: Every good deed performed by son of Adam is a credit for him but fasting is exclusively Mine and I give reward for it. Fasting is a shield against sins. Therefore, when any of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor raise the voice. If any one abuses him or quarrels with him he should say: I am fasting. By Him in Whose Hand is Muhammad’s soul! The smell coming out of the mouth of a person fasting is more pleasant to Allah than the smell of musk . And he who fasts has two occasions if joy. One is when he breaks the fast, and the second is when he meets his Lord.

(This Hadith is sound and reported by Bukhari and Muslism.)

Four Preambles to Salat (Canonical Prayer)

According to Mufti Moulana Taqi Usmani (db) there are four preambles to namaz (canonical prayer in Islam) which when performed before the main prayer create humiliation (khushu, which actually stands for surrending the heart to God; and successful is one in this world and the hereafter who achieves khushu) in one's prayer:

1. Taharat: Cleanliness, attaining bodily purity as per the rulings of Islamic law (based on Koran o Sunnah)

2. Wudu: Ablution when performed exactly the way Prophet performed

3. Two rakah teh-tal-masjid: Better if performed before sitting in the mosque

4. Performing the Sunnats before the farz prayer whether compulsory or not.

After passing through these introducing acts to salat, insha Allah, attentiveness and concentration will be achieved in one's prayer. Prosperity and prosperity for us - if our canonical prayers get corrected.

(From Islahi Khutbaat, vol. # 14.)

Islamic Law vs. Tahafaz-e-Haqooq-e-Nisawan (Women rights protection bill)

(Click to enlarge)

The Demons of "Blackwater"

Oriya Maqbool's Jan article on the artifices of something known as Blackwater imported from U.S. with love

Daily Reflections

Learning from the life of Prophet Muhammad

Since Prophet Muhammad is the best model for whole of humanity, his words and actions are for us to follow. Recently, after a little study of a book mentioning the times and ways of Prophet Muhammad, I noticed that two things must be made a part of character:

1. Pacts should be written down so as to make them binding.

2. Decision of majority of the concerned person of a party precede the opinion of the leader. Many-a-time did Prophet (may peace be upon him) acted upon this principle. He surrendered before the will of his people in worldly matters.
Economic philosophy of Islam

There are some principles on which the economic life of a Muslims revolve markedly different from the principles of other systems, say capitalism - a Muslim is unique in his identity as this is just a manifestation of the very principle of Tawhid (that God is one and that there is nothing like Him, see surah Ikhlas):

Firstly, wealth/money is not the purpose or end-goal of life, but it can be used to succeed in the life after death.

Secondly, "The life of this world is but comfort of illusion." (Quran) And that the real life is the life of hereafter, which is eternal. What matter are good deeds in the way of Allah.

(Adopted from a booklet by Dr. M. Islam, "Ghulami say Nijat ka Wahid Zariya".)

Is secularism compatible with Islam (at all)?

This is a very simple question. According to Wikipedia, "Secularism is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs." Therefore, God and His voice/message no more are seen to be commanding on earth, only human spirits reign. This is done even by some of those (who while hiding truth) accept Him as the Lord of heavens, but deny Him access to their matters on earth. Whereas a Muslim is bound to accept God not only as the Lord of heavens but that of earth as well. He, being a slave of Him, must give Him the authority to rule, as Quran states:

O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination. (Surah An-Nisa, verse # 59)

Since Islamic shari'ah covers every aspect of human life, it becomes compulsory for a Muslim to obey the commands of His Creator and Sustainer in all aspects of his life. Only then will he may be able to answer rightly in grave as to "what is your religion?" which is only possible if he has tried to implement completely his religion in his life.

God knows best!

Definition of 'Adab'

"Adab (a creative literary word/work) is that which connects the 'seen' to the Unseen/Real (Haqq), (or, in simple terms, to Allah Ta'ala, who is One, the Real, the Absolute)."

- Ahmed Javaid, Principal Iqbal Scholar, Iqbal Academy. From his lecture on "Religion and Culture."

Therefore, any literary word that fails to connect us to the Truth fails to be a literary word at all, he added. Since when I heard these words, I have developed an awe for the kind of work an 'adeeb' (one who does 'adab') perfoms, and it has become a desire to be a man of that rank. But it seems impossible to be so without actualizing the message of this art in one's own self at first, because the term 'adab' has another meaning as well, and on the whole, there is no such word in modern English that can match this word which is at once used for a literary piece of work and ettiqutes, manners, etc. Nonetheless, both meanings start and end with the Truth, both are destined for it. Therefore, how can one be ignored in the favor of the other?

May Allah give me the power to preceive the truth as it is, and help me to utilize it so that I become His useful servant. (Ameen)

"What are Pakistanis searching for on the Google?"

Source

Top searches made on Google.Com by Pakistanis:

1. Pakistan (cool)
2. Songs
3. Games
4. Youtube
5. News (good)
6. Google (?)
7. Yahoo (??)
8. Videos
9. Song
10. Nokia (Allah!)

Interestingly or not, in the 'Rising Searches' - Michael Jackson = +3300%; Micheal Jackson = +3000%, scholars beg to differ.

Source: Taken from the web magazine "@internet, August 2009, Vol. 11, issue 08"

Importance of Reading Seerat Ibn-e-Hishaam

The significance of reading Seerat un Nabi by Ibn-e-Hishaam, a book on the life of Prophet Muhammad, is that, apart from authentically telling us about the life of Prophet, the book correlates the events with certain verses of the Quran for which they were revealed. This is called shaan-e-nazool (the context in which the Quranic verses are revealed), which is a very crucial tool in explaining/decoding the true meaning of revelation.

Self-Control

According to a hadith of the last and the final prophet of God:

One who can control himself in anger, in passion, in fear, and in attraction is safe from the hands of the devil and the fire of hell.

(Quoted from Essential Sufism, ch # 7.)

The Overthrowing

Quran declares:

And when the infant girl, buried alive, is asked;
For what crime she was slain

Surah At-Takwir, Ayah # 8-9

I have been mesmerized by the recitation of this particular Surah, whose two verses have been just quoted, by this little boy (see the following video), and by its meaning - with little imagination you're forced to tremble before your Lord who alone is worthy to be worshiped.


Read translation and tafsir (explanation) here.

Limitation of Doubt

Source

In the previous post was mentioned the famous dictum of a skeptical philosopher 'who forgot to mention the right consequence' of the word 'therefore' in his dictum, and what that original quote of Descartes proves is what Nasr states as:

You can negate everything, doubt everything, but you cannot doubt the instrument by which you are doubting (everything else).

Nasr also goes on to mention the "hanging man" of great Persian philosopher Ibn-e-Sina which not only explains the dilemma of men 'bend on denying the Truth', but also the great difficulty they face in rejecting practically everything (which is simply impossible): "Ibn-e-Sina talks of a hanging man, who is hung in the middle of space. His feet don't touch anything; his legs don't touch anything. He doesn't know where he is. [Thus] he can doubt the existence of earth, he can doubt the existence of air - there is nothing he cannot doubt! The one [and only] thing he cannot doubt is himself that is doubting everything."