Striving Against Da'esh

9:73. O Prophet! strive hard against The Unbelievers and the Hypocrites,
And be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,—An evil refuge indeed.

74. They swear by God that they Said nothing (evil), but indeed
They uttered blasphemy, And they did it after accepting
Islam; and they meditated A plot which they were unable
To carry out: this revenge Of theirs was (their) only return
For the bounty with which God and His Apostle had enriched
Them! If they repent, It will be best for them;
But if they turn back (To their evil ways),
God will punish them With a grievous penalty
In this life and in the Hereafter: They shall have none on earth
To protect or help them.

In these ayaat of Surah al-Tawbah, Allah SWT commands us to strive against all who plot against our Deen of Islam, be they from without and from within.  The fact that there are those who have used our own Deen against us to seek revenge against us, should not be a surprise.  Such people have always sought to destroy us.  We only have to remember Abdullah ibn Salul and his followers.  They claimed to be Muslim.  They even prayed as we do, attended the masaajid, made salaat and paid zakat.  But, in secret, they plotted revenge on the believers, the Mu'minoon.

They swear by Allah, "Wa Llahi this, Wa Llahi that..."  But, in the end, they make all kinds of invalid, foolish arguments.  They use brainwashing techniques and separate our youth from knowledgeable people.  They uses ever trick up Shaytan's sleeve to destroy our Deen.

61:8  They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.

Here is Surah as-Saff, Allah reassures us that they will not be able to extinguish His Light, His Deen of Islam.  

The followers of Shaytan, the Dawlat ash-Shaytan, cite ayaat of the Qur'an and hadith in support of their agenda.  They take ayaat out of contexts or purposefully lie about the meaning of ayaat.  The most abused Surah by these devils is Surah al-Tawbah.  They distort the meaning of the Arabic text and brainwash our youth into thinking that Islam calls them to violence, killing and terror.  Most of the followers of these Shayateen are not fluent in fusa'a Arabic and do not know the Seerah of the Prophet.  Hence, they are easily misled by these liars.  

Not only do they tell our youth lies, but they tell them not to speak to those who do have knowledge.  The problem with being ignorant is that you are ignorant of the fact that you have no knowledge.  None of us has knowledge. NO OF US HAS KNOWLEDGE!!  Only Allah is Alim.  ONLY ALLAH IS ALIM!!!.  

If you want to learn the Deen, learn it from Allah.  His Kitab, the Qur'an, is mubin.  It is clear.  Just read it. Read it in context all the way through before you even start to study tafsir or listen to anyone else try to interpret it.  Ask Allah, make du'a to Allah, as the Prophet SAW once made du'a to Allah for Abbas, to give you understanding.  Too many recite beautifully, yet do not understand a single word.  A Qari is not an Alim!!!!.  An Alim may be a Qari, but a Qari is not an Alim.  Do not be fooled.  

Dae'sh and the Hubb al-Duniya

Recently, a young man who had been brainwashed into following Da'esh pleaded to be allowed to go home. He said he wanted to come home because he was disillusioned by Da'esh and he was upset because his i-Pod no longer worked over there.  Look in the mirror.  Are you living in a virtual world?  Does Da'esh and its activities sound fun to you?  It's not a video game.  You will have to kill real people.  And why?

Da'esh is selling antiquities to raise money for its cause.  Despite the videos of blowing up Palmyra and bashing statutes, they are also collecting artifacts and selling them.  To who?  One has to wonder?  Who buys ancient artifacts?  Museums, art galleries, private art collectors, rich people... So that is who is financing Da'esh.  Did the Prophet take money from the Qur'aish?  Did he ask the Romans or the Persians for money? Did he sell statutes to them?  Why is Da'esh doing this?  It's certainly not the Sunnah. 

But then Da'esh has no interest in the Sunnah.  They have burned people alive.  The Prophet said this form of punishment is reserved for Allah alone.  Muslims are not even permitted to burn palm trees.  Da'esh is only interested in the money.  And where is the money going?  Remember, the leadership of Da'esh were all former flunkies of Saddam Hussein.  They got fat off his money, and now they want to get fat off of your money.  And all while you, the youth, fight for them, so they do not have to get their hands dirty.  They learned how to use people from Saddam, and now they are using you.  

Baiyyah

We hear alot about youth pledging allegiance to these Shaytans.  Do you really want to sell your soul to the devil?  In Surah al-Tawbah, Allah reminds us that the followers of Shaytan, the kafirun and munaafiq are going to hell.  It is they who are told to make Tawbah in Surah at-Tawbah.  Using the teachings of Islam for your own ends to get money and girls, and big screen TVs and i-Pods is to be a munaafiq, "one who spends himself wastefully." "One who blows his wealth and himself on foolish nonsense."  Keep in mind the hadith recorded in al-Bukhaari that we are rewarded according to our intentions.  If you migrate for a woman or for money or for an i-Pod, that's what you'll get, but what good will it do you in the end.  What will that woman, that money, that i-Pod do for you in hell?

And what about this pledge or Baiyyah?  The only Baiyyah that is Sunnah is to Allah and His Messenger. Yes, the community continued to use it after his death.  They made baiyyah to Abu Bakr, to Umar, to Uthman, to Ali, to Muawiyyah...  But, the only evidence in the Sunnah is that baiyyah is to Allah and Rasulallah.  That is it.  If we are really "ahl as-Sunnah" then this should be our baiyyah as well - to follow Allah and the Sunnah, the two sources of wahy, revelation from Allah SWT to mankind.  Anything else is interpretation and IS NOT INFALLIBLE.  Whether the interpretation is from Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali , Hassan, Hussein, Muawiyyah, Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Taymiyyah - whom ever, they are human beings.  They are not prophets, they are not infallible.  No matter who they are, to say their opinions are binding is to say that those opinions are somehow wahy.  THIS IS FALSE.  Allah SWT sent a prophet, Muhammad, SAW. We do not need another prophet after him.  He delivered the message.  We testified that he had completed his mission on his Hajj al-Wadaa'.  We need nothing else.  

What we fail to understand is the difference between Shariah and Fiqh.  Shariah is divine legislation, fiqh is human understanding.  Yes, fiqh is subject to change because it is subject to greater understanding.  Shariah, the objectives, basic principles and clear nass, are divine and do not require change.  They remain inviolate. Interpretation is important.  It is key to helping us apply the Shariah in our present circumstances. Because the Qur'an is the last revelation, it must be applicable long after its revelation.  So, each generation must look at it and apply it to its circumstances.  Understandings can change, but the Shar' - the Law and its objectives do not change.

So, again the Baiyyah is Sunnah, and the Sunnah is to make Baiyyah to Allah and to Rasulallah alone. The early Muslims not only stated the Shahadah but took the Baiyyah to Allah and to Rasulallah, when they became Muslims.  We should all do the same.  Even those who are born into Muslim families, must take the Shahadah and Baiyyah upon reaching majority.  Islam must become OUR religion, not just the religion of our ancestors.  The religion of your ancestors will not save you. Only submitting to Allah yourself will save you.

Munaafiq

N-F-Q means to spend.  We are encouraged, as Muslims, to spend fi sabillillah, in the path of Allah, to spend in Jihad.  Jihad, as we have noted before, means to strive in the path of Allah, not to be violent or to kill.  Qital fi sabillillah means to engage in military action for the sake of Allah and His Deen, but that does not necessitate killing either.  Striving, jihad, is physical, mental and spiritual.  Qital is military action in defense of the Islam.  Allah reminds us that violence is unfortunately necessary in this world.  

22:40. (They are) those who have Been expelled from their homes

In defiance of right, (For no cause) except That they say," Lord

Is God". Did not God Check one set of people
By means of another, There would surely have been
Pulled down monasteries, churches, Synagogues, and mosques, in which
The name of God is commemorated In abundant measure. God will
Certainly aid those who Aid His (cause);—for verily
God is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (Able to enforce His Will).

Islam means surrender and submission to Allah and to His Will.  Da'esh only calls to rebellion against Allah by calling people to destroy mosques, churches, synagogues and other houses of worship of other religions, and in killing anyone whom it unilaterally declares to be against it.  Allah has repeatedly said that if anyone inclines to peace, them we, as Muslims, must incline to peace as well.  (8:61).  

9:9. The Signs of God have they sold
For a miserable price,
And (many) have they hindered
From His Way: evil indeed
Are the deeds they have done.

10. In a Believer they respect not
The ties either of kinship
Or of covenant! It is they
Who have transgressed all bounds.

Not only has Da'esh killed thousands ahl al-Kitab, but they have butchered thousands of Muslims.  One recently slaughtered his own mother in the street.  Read the above ayaat.  This is clear evil and these Shayateen will take everyone to hell with them.  

Striving Against Shaytan

Allah SWT orders us to strive against all munafeeq and kafirun, all enemies from within and without.  We must strive against this evil that is destroying us.  Too many Muslims don't want to get involved.  On hajj, we kill one another to stone a brick pillar, but we do nothing against a real flesh and blood Shaytan in our midst. In the West, we just want to fit in.  Here's a piece of news.  I was born and raised in the US.  YOU WILL NEVER FIT IN.  Not because you are Muslim, but because you are not European, White and Atheist.  Even Christians today are being discriminated against.  Many are harassed for their beliefs.  Unless we act and speak out, we will end up like the Jews in Nazi Germany, the Japanese in internment camps, the intellectuals in Cambodia and Ethiopia... we will be the victims of the next pogrom.  And not only will that pogrom be carried out by Western powers, but by so-called "Muslim" governments.  These puppet states use Islam for their own benefit as well.  So do you think they want to have real Muslims in their midst?  They want compliant, greedy, worldly, atheistic, stooges, not thinking servants of Allah.  

Shaytan is winning against us.  What are we doing to fight back...  Physical violence is not working and only plays into his hands.  So what now?  Have we actually tried peace, have we actually tried understanding and seeking real knowledge?  Have we actually tried following the Sunnah?  

Strive against our age old enemy.  We must continue to strive.  We cannot give up. When faced with utter destruction of his mission, the Prophet prayed in the garden in Taif.  

"O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me?

To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased.

There is no power and no might except by You."

Quranic quotes are from www.sacred-texts.com, and the prayer of Taif is from:
http://www.nuradeen.com/archives/CurrentIssues/PrayerOfTaif.htm

Remembering Death

Death Lies Waiting in the Wings

Once a woman came to Buddha, carrying a child in her arms.  The child was dead.  She cried for Buddha to bring her child back to life.  She clasped the child to her breast and begged.  The Buddha comforted her and said he would bring the child back to life if the mother could collect a mustard seed from a family that had not been touched by death.  

The mother cried tears of joy.  With hope in her heart, she set out to collect the mustard seed.  Just one tiny mustard seed.  She came to the first house and knocked on the door.  A boy answered.  She told him her story.  Yes, he would love to give her the mustard seed, but just the past week, his uncle had died.  He was very sorry.  At the next house, a woman answered.  Oh, she too would love to help, but two months ago, her father had died.  Another house, a man answered.  He too was sorry, last year his grandmother had died.  Another house, a child had died.  Another house, a grandfather.  Another, a mother.  Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, children, adults in their prime, elderly in the old age.  

The mother returned to the Buddha.  She laid the child at his feet.  She understood.  Death is something we all share.  We are all born, we all live, even for a moment, and we all die.

Hans Ruedi Giger was fascinated with these realities.  His images airbrushed onto canvass are haunting.  We humans are composed of flesh, blood and bone.  Allah SWT describes the process in the Qur'an.  Sperm and egg join, then cling like a leech to the wall of the womb, then are shaped into a chewed morsel, then become skin, tissue, blood, and bone.  This physical creature is then born, moving down the birth canal from a world of fluids to a world of air.  We gasp, like fish floundering.  We cry as we struggle to adjust to breathing.  We proceed on through the physical process of maturing.  We grow strong, vigorous.  And then one day, we look in the mirror.  We become weaker.  Then we turn to face both the physical and mental consequences of ceasing to breathe.  When we do, our bodies will slowly decay into dust.  

Giger painted bodies. Living mechanisms, bio-mechanics.  Our bodies cry, laugh, orgasm and scream.  Our emotions, our body's reaction to stimuli that signal us how to react, trigger chemical responses causing us to take flight or fight, care or caress.  But is there more?  Is there a ghost in the machine?  

I am not a Cartesian dualist.  There is only one substance, Ruh.  What we call "physical" or "mental" are not two distinct substances, but are the result of our perceptions of the multitude of wavelengths at which the underlying Ruh vibrates.  Some of these vibrations are perceivable by the senses and hence ":physical;" while others are not perceivable by the sense, but are detected by their effects, hence "mental."  We are not ghosts in the machine.  We are a composite of vibrations.  That which I call "me," my nafs, is just a small part of me.  Allah SWT has said He will raise us up on Yawm Al-Qiyamah.  What ever that means, and Allah Ta'ala Alim, something of "me" will persist, will be judged, and will be saved by His Mercy.

Giger's painted bodies are disturbing.  Strangely beautiful, yet terrifying.  Paintings and statutes Allah SWT has warned us about.  They are disturbing because they are made of the same constituents as us.  They are mud, rock, stone, wood, etc; but they are soul-less.  Giger used his art, not to try to imitate nature or create something, but to expose something.  How macabre would be life if it had no Ruh.  Without Ruh, without the spark of life, the light of creation, the created universe would be cold, dark, lonely, and macabre.  

Several great men have written about the experience of dying.  Today, with the ability to record one's life in video, some have filmed the process of facing their own demise.  Recently, David Robert Jones, aka David Bowie died.  His presence was a great influence on my life.  He gave me courage to seek truth, even if that search took one out of the path upon which most people walk.  His last record was released on his birthday, Jan. 8th of this year.  He died two days later.  In his last work, he speaks of the reality of his own future.  He faces physical death, and what death means for the soul.  Every soul will taste it.  

Regardless of the nature of an after-life, we will all taste death.  I have tried to imagine ceasing to breath.  Sacratul-mawt,  The Death Throes.  What does this do to the body?  I have faced physical pain, and have experienced difficulties breathing - allergic reactions and such; but what will this be like?  And what will the nafs experience?  What I do know is that many have gone before me.  And Allah SWT will be with me.  

Moreover, I have died before.  Allah SWT says in the Qur'an that we have died before from the world of "alaisa Rabbikum?"  We died and were born into this world.  We also transitioned from womb to the world of air.  We have done this before.  We only need to remember.

Remembering Death

Many Daiyyas counsel us to remember death often.  Death puts our lives into perspective.  When we remember how we are going to end up, we do not seem so important, special, super-powered, as we may think we are now.  All those cars, TVs, iProducts, gold rings, fancy things are meaningless.  We cannot use them in the next life.  And what did they really get us here?  Where your friends really impressed by the fact that you could spend money?  That you could rack up debt for a bunch of toys?  They were all too busy trying to impress you, or talk about behind your back.  What did all those things ever really get you?

Only sincere belief in Allah, and demonstrating that belief through righteous actions will ever get you anything worthwhile.  Only Allah can save you, only Allah can reward you.  

Remembering death reminds us of the amazing way you came into this world.  That random change meeting of egg and sperm, that birth, and all the amazing things you have experienced during life.  Allah SWT shared a lifetime with you.  Only He knows what you have seen, heard, smelled, tasted, experienced.  The beauty of a sunset.  A single snow flake drifting softly to earth.  He shared it with you.  

After death, He will share those memories with all creation, and all creation will know that He chose you for those special memories.  Death is a reminder that Allah SWT loves each and every one of us.  

Some day He will call us home.  Until that day, let us not forget who created us, who sustains us, and to whom we will return.  Allahu Akbar!

Allah is Light

Al-Nur 24:35

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. Light upon light. Allah guideth unto His light whom He will. And Allah speaketh to mankind in allegories, for Allah is Knower of all things.

36 (This lamp is found) in houses which Allah hath allowed to be exalted and that His name shall be remembered therein. Therein do offer praise to Him at morn and evening.
37 Men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned;
38 That Allah may reward them with the best of what they did, and increase reward for them of His bounty. Allah giveth blessings without stint to whom He will.
39 As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are as a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one supposeth it to be water till he cometh unto it and findeth it naught, and findeth, in the place thereof, Allah Who payeth him his due; and Allah is swift at reckoning.
40 Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covereth him a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layer upon layer of darkness. When he holdeth out his hand he scarce can see it. And he for whom Allah hath not appointed light, for him there is no light.

In the midst of legislating the punishment for one of the most serious crimes, Allah SWT reveals on of the most beautiful of ayaat.  One of the gravest crimes is sexual crime.  In America, sexual predators are given harsh sentences and must forever register as sex offenders.  Allah SWT has consistently, through His revelations, told us that sexual crimes are heinous and that we should treat them seriously.  Even slandering another person by accusing them of a sex crime is taken very seriously.  Allah SWT says, "You count it as a trifle.  In the sight of Allah it is very great."  (al-Nur, 24:15).  However, in the midst of discussing the punishment for zina and qadhaf, Allah SWT reveals the most amazing ayaat.

Allah is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth.  Allah SWT makes it clear that He is using a mithlu or parable/similitude, a metaphor to explain something to us.  Then, for five ayat, He uses the concept of light to demonstrate the wonderous nature of His revelation and how it affects the hearts of mankind.  

Allahu Nur

It is reported on the authority of Abu Darr, "I asked Rasul Allah SAW,  'Did you see your Lord?' He SAW said, "He is Light, how could I see Him?"  In a narration reported by Abdullah ibn Shaqiq, Abu Darr said that Rasul Allah SAW said, "I saw Light."

Light upon Light.  What is Light?  Light is something primordial, apriori.  It behaves as a particle and as a wave.  We can either know where it is at a given instant or how fast it is moving over time, but never both.  A human can see one single photon of light, yet as waves we see a rainbow of colors, and there are colors we cannot see, but we can detect.  Ultraviolet light and infrared light are not visible to humans, but they are to other creatures.  And we can now detect x-rays and other wavelengths of light that no other creature can see.  

And now we know that light has a sound.  Scientist studying the sun notices vibrations on the surface of the sun. Upon closer study, they discovered that these vibrations were sound waves.  Of course, we may not hear these sounds as the sun is so far away.  Because light travels faster than sound, we see the lights, but we don't hear the sound.  And the speed at which light travels is a constant in our universe.  Nothing substantial or meaningful can travel faster.  

So what is Allah SWT telling us with this similitude of Light?  The hadith points out an important point.  How can you see a lamp in the dark?  You cannot.  The light has to be on in order to see the lamp.  How do we see Allah?  All we can "see" of Him is what he reveals to us - His Light.  Allah SWT then uses the mithlu to explain, there is a niche, and a lamp and a glass.  Remember that in our Prophet's time, they did not have electric lights.  My father knew Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb.  He remembered gas lamps and oil lamps.  We used them when I was a child for light out side or when the electricity was not working.  I remember the smell of kerosene and the burning cloth wick.  I remember the lamp black soot on the glass.  I also remember the light - warm - glowing.  It attracted moths who would sometimes disintegrate like dust in the hot wind created near the top of the flew of the glass.  And if you placed the lamp in a niche, the niche could act as a reflector and magnifier for the light, broadcasting it out into the night, out into the heavens and the earth.  

Here, the niche of the world reflects His ayaat out into the world.  We cannot help but see His signs everywhere, if we only pay attention and look.  And the light coming from this blessed lamp is there so that we cannot fail to see.  The oil is blessed.  It is so blessed that it glows even if it were not lit.  Light upon Light.  It overwhelms us.  But, understand, that even though this Light surrounds us, Allah SWT only guides those whom He will.  For that, we cannot be anything but totally and sincerely grateful.  Despite this overwhelming Light, many are in darkness.  

Allah SWT tells us about mankind.  This Light is found in houses.  What are these houses?  They are individual hearts - the houses of worship within each of us; and they are communal hearts.  The heart of a community is the masjid.  We are told in the Qur'an the Iqama Salaat, establish the salaat, and to do this, we must establish gatherings for that purpose.  A masjid is not a building, but it is an establishment - a jamaa - an ijtimaa of individuals who gather together to offer salaat in congregation, in jamaa.  Masjid, of course, means place of prostration, but that can be anywhere on the earth, as Allah SWT tells us in the Qur'an.  We are attracted to certain masaajid, not so much for the building, as for the community of believers we pray with in that place.  Islam is unique.  Our prayers are individual AND communal.  Other religions have community prayers, but we have communal prayer.  An essential feature of that prayer is that it is in jamaa.  We even make our pilgrimage together.  And this is in perfect conformity with human nature which is both individual and social.  

So the houses are our hearts and our communal heart, the masjid community to which we belong.  And the light shines forth from both,  It is warm, and inviting and it brings us guidance.

As for those who disbelieve, they have a mirage.  What is a mirage?  A false reflection, an illusion of light and water.  They are deluded into thinking that the illusion is life-sustaining water.  But when they taste the illusion, it is nothing but parching sand.  Lost in a desert, desperate for water, some have drunk sand.  Lost at sea, surrounded by water, yet you no matter how much you drink, your thirst will not be quenched for the water of the sea is salty.  If you keep drinking it, you will die.  And then veils and veils of darkness cover you.  In a dark storm over the sea, you cannot see where the sky ends and the water begins.  If Allah SWT does not guide you by appointing for you a light, there is no light for you.  May Allah SWT guide us and grant us light and save us from such a fate.

How many today are lost in the mirage?  We live in a virtual world.  Too many of us are not able to see anything.  When little rays of reality creep in, we freak out.  We are totally lost in iSpace.  And this iSpace is dividing us and preventing real community.  The light cannot penetrate the darkness of iSpace.