Egyptian Gumbo

Recently, a brother commented on my recent post about “Bad Marriage Proposals.” He concluded by stating, “Girls should not be allowed to post on the internet without their Mahrams supervising them.” I went to the brother’s website to see him post this:

This basically says:

New Fatwa:
No Internet for women except with a Mahram

Riyad - Aylaf

Two Saudi Sheiookh, Uthman AlKhamees and Saad Al Ghamdy, decreed a fatwa making the Internet haram for the woman because of the “Evil Vileness of her Turned Page”. The Fatwa added that, “The woman is not allowed to open the Internet except in the presence of a mahram knowledgeable about the woman’s whoredom and wileyness”

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This quite frankly came as a shock to me because I’m a huge “fan” of Sheikh Uthman AlKhamees.

Now, as anyone who works in journalism would do, one would at least try to see if this was fabricated or not. After all, Uthman AlKhamees is mostly known for his debates with Shia scholars. Shia scholars always lie.

So as it turned out this is actually a FABRICATED fatwah. Because on Sheikh Uthman’s offical website was found this:

Which basically after the questioner described what he saw, he asked the sheikh if he really wrote the fatwah, to which sheikh Uthmaan replied:

“(Subhanak) this is a great slander (buhtaan), this is a lie I didn’t say, and, I haven’t come across the fatwa of Shaykh Saad al-Ghamdi”"

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On top of that, this fatwah is all over the internet and is found on ( surprise, surprise) mostly Shia and Coptic websites.

Don’t believe everything you see. Brothers and sisters please verify information before you go spreading it around everywhere.

Does not Allah ‘az wa jal say in surat Al-Hujuraat:

“O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done.”

While I do agree that there should be certain etiquette and rules to be followed, but we shouldn’t go to extremes on either end.

WAllahu alem.

As *Eman Hamadah was growing up, she was blindly unaware of the severe abuse her father inflicting upon her. To her it was just a normal part of her life.

As she grew older and older, the abuse got worse. It use to be something that happened maybe once a week but soon turned into every day. And only when she became older and aware of what was really happening, she soon realized how painful her life had just become.

One day, Eman approached her father about the abuse he was inflicting on her and the family. She sat down in front of him and boldly said,

“Ya Abi, you’ve abandoned your prayer and the pain it has caused me is too much. I love you very much and am scared for you; I’m scared that you might die in this state and meet Allah this way.”

Her father replied, “I get it, I’m a kaafir… you happy? Yes I’m bad, I’m going to hell, now leave me alone. ”

Eman still has sleepless nights sometimes, worrying about her father.

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Not praying to Allah is perhaps the most selfish action a person can do.

Allah ‘az wa jal created a Mankind and Jinn so that we can worship Him. As Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” [Quran 51:56]

But subhanallah, it’s even much much deeper than that; our lack of praying to Allah affects everyone around us as well.

We hear the reminders all the time, “We could die tomorrow.” But very few of us stop to think about what that could mean for us. One of the worst pains someone can inflict on another person is to stop the worship of Allah, know you are wrong, but not doing anything about it until it’s too late. Sure, Allah is the one who guides the hearts and similarly, whoever dies a disbeliever in Allah it is by Allah’s will. But there is no one to blame but oneself in the end.

So I’d like you to put yourself in this scenario, May Allah forbid:

Imagine you are with your mother, the woman who would give anything, even her own life if she had to, in order to see you live a healthy life. She is the one who is the most empathetic with you when you are sad, the one who stays by your side when you are sick, the one who no matter how bad you messed up at the end of the day will tell you she loves you, and the one who strokes your head until you fall asleep. Now imagine… her dying upon kufr.

Wallahi, this is the reality of many of us today. And it’s one of the scariest realities some of us will have to face in our lives. But what if it’s not someone we love who is inflicting this pain upon us, but it is us unknowingly inflicting pain on someone else? Subhanallah, how could we be so selfish. How could we completely be so ungrateful to our creator? And at the same time how can we knowingly inflict pain on the most beloved people to us?

It’s not too late to change and in fact NOW is the BEST time for change. The gates of hellfire are closed. When a believer, a sinner calls upon his lord and says “Ya Rabbi!”  Allah replies, “Labbaik ya Abdi! (I am here O my slave)”

This is a month full of forgiveness, mercy and blessings from Allah. If we aren’t practicing now is the best and easiest time to start worshiping Allah the way He deserves to be worshiped. If we are sinning constantly, now is the easiest time to rid of the weight of these sins.

Every soul will stand in front of Allah alone. But we don’t have to be alone in Jannah.

Wallahu ta’ala alem. Food for thought during your fast.

_______

*Real name not used.

This post is for all of those brothers and sisters who are thinking about approaching someone for marriage.Take heed from this post. Do everything differently from what these guys did.

I was thinking about the typical harassment in Egypt and wondering how guys keep trying over and over again to use the same pick up lines with no avail. And I started wondering out of how many times they harass a girl, how many actually amount to anything more than a girl hitting the guy with her purse. “Hmm…,” I wondered.  I also was curious if at any point in time it resulted in the harasser marrying the harassed.

That led me to think about bad marriage proposals, but I thought it’d make for a good post.

I asked a couple of friends to share any stories they may have about them or someone they know. I’ll list a couple here, but I’d be very interested in hearing stories from the rest of you in the comments section.

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1. “The Choo Choo” sister.

A friend of mine told me this story of a brother who was interested in his friend’s sister. He convinced his friend to let him “observe” the sister in her natural surroundings by letting him hide behind a door in his house. The interested brother hid, while his friend sat down and called his sister to make him some tea.

The girl went into the kitchen made the tea, and as she was coming with the tea she started to head towards her brother making ‘train noises.’ “Chooo choooo,” the sister came howled as she came toward her brother.

By this time both the interested brother and his friend were trying as hard as they could not to laugh. As soon as the girl left the room, they busted out laughing.

If i were that sister I would have killed my brother, if I had one.

2. The Bollywood Big Shot

A friend of mine related this story to me:

“Thankfully, my parents never put me in a rishta-like situation after the first one went disastrous:

My mom was being super nice to me, and so my sister and I got really suspicious –my mom’s generally a sweet and jolly lady, mashaAllah, but it was a little off this time. Anyway, next thing we know some limo pulls up in front of our house and it’s this dude my dad knows - guy doesn’t even drive it on a regular basis. So after laughing till our sides ached (who pulls up in a limo?! just for the getting-to-know and check-the-larhki-out?!), we snook out of the house, hopped into my sister’s car and didn’t come home till late in the evening when we were sure mr.im-oh-so-impressive would be gone. so aside from the bummy look as totally not attractive, overdoing it on the bling-bling side is a bit of a throw-off (if not ridiculous), too

4. The Playing Hoops Brother.

There was a brother who went to go propose to a sister. When he came to meet the parents, not only was he extremely nervous as he was sweating like crazy, but he looked like he just came back from playing basketball because he had jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes on. Not only that, he had the nerve to be “In a rush because he had to go somewhere.”

Needless to say, the answer was no.

5. The Single Guy in New York.

A brother approached a sister but wanting to get married ASAP, meaning like two weeks from when he started emailing her. The sister was in no rush and likewise couldn’t move in with the brother even if she wanted because she lived far and had to finish college. She was to be done in only a year. He told her that a year was wayyyy too long and that he’s a single guy living in New York. And although the girl was “Everything he would look for in a wife” he told her he didn’t want to come see her because if he liked her, he didn’t want to be  “stuck” in an engagement just in case he found someone who was willing to get married sooner.

So the brother told her that if in another year he doesn’t find someone, he’ll come back. (!!!!!!!!) Not only did the sister laugh really hard and sent him an email telling him he’s got to be kidding (not to even bother),  the sister also gave him naseeha telling him not to ever tell another sister something like that, or else he’ll have a hard time getting married.

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Brothers, if you want to propose to a sister, please don’t do what these guys did. I want to hear all your stories if you have any that happened to you or a friend of yours. Please don’t put any names. Enjoy

Sun, Moon, stars — all ayat of Allah; all prove his existence.  However, very seldom do we look toward the other ayat of Allah for lessons in our deen. And for the Muslim youth out there, inshaAllah I hope this post will be a profound reminder.

The first time I saw this clip I was in awe, because it immediately reminded me of a hadith of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam which teaches the insaan an important life lesson and advice to staying on the correct path.

First, I want you to watch the clip. Then, I want you to reflect for a moment and try to see what hadith I could possibly be referring to.

Allah ‘az wa jal shows us through nature sometimes lessons to be learned and adopted by humans.

After all, look at the story of the two sons of Adam, Qabil (Cain) and Habil (Abel), in the Quran. When Qabil killed his brother Allah ‘az wa jal sent a crow/raven before him who dug up the earth to show him how to cover the body of his dead brother.

Perhaps there are quite a few lessons one might have derived from the above clip, but the ahadith that clearly came to my mind when I first watched this, were the ahadith about friends.

In one hadith the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“The example of a good companion and a bad companion is like that of the seller of musk, and the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows. So as for the seller of musk then either he will grant you some, or you buy some from him, or at least you enjoy a pleasant smell from him. As for the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows then either he will burn your clothes or you will get an offensive smell from him.”

In another hadith, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

“A person is likely to follow the faith of his friend, so look at whom you befriend.”

The ant in the above clip was inflicted with a deadly disease. Any ant nearby that saw the deranged ant would move it far away from the rest of the colony as to not infect and ruin the other ants.

Subhanallah, Allah ‘az wa jal showed us sacrifice, hardship, straying from the correct path and saving those around you all in this short nature scene.

If you want to become closer to Allah, you have to look at those around you to get a better outlook on your own state. If you see that the company you have isn’t the type to remind you of Allah, the type that gossips or constantly gets in trouble or arguments with others, than take that as a sign to start finding a new group of people to keep you company.

There is always a certain point someone can look back and say, “This is when I started to change and started to become more religious.”

I find a common thread between everyone who’s said this statement. These three things are what lead people to change into a better slave of Allah:

1. Changing friends/ environment

3. Going to the Masjid more/ seeking more knowledge

Today, I want all of us to focus on the first one. Deep down we know the type of people we should keep as company.

Just like the ant in the video, we know sometimes it requires a greater sacrifice.

In the video you saw that as cruel as it was for the other aunt to leave it to die far away and alone, sometimes this is what is needed to save the rest of those around you. When sin becomes well known others will begin to follow in it’s footstep (which is why it’s best that we not reveal our sins.) Sure, we will lose people we may care about greatly, but the greater sacrifice is for Allah; seeking His face. When you take away the root of the problem, you will see that everything else inshaAllah will fall into place and your environment will be much safer from diseases of the heart– not only for you but for those around you as well.

One ant sacrificed leaving one deviant ant to tend to itself, so that it could save not only himself but those around him.

It truly is amazing to see the profoundness of the creation of Allah and His Ayat.

wallahu alem.

Bismillah,

It’s time to offer a different type of analysis of an already huge story.

As most of you have heard, Why Islam has been under a lot of heat lately because of their attempt to do dawah on New York subways. The goal is to place ads within the subways that provoke thought with those who see the ads thus, drawing them to their website where they can learn more about Islam. The controversy? The controversy arises with the sponsors of the ads and some bigoted republican, Peter King, who is calling on the Metropolitan Transit Authority to take down the ads claiming Sheikh Siraj Wahaj, a supporter of the ads, is “linked to terrorism.”

I thought it was time for me to do my research and analyze the subway controversy.

As I was doing my research the first place I went to look for information was WhyIslam.org. To my surprise they had nothing on their Web site mentioning anything about the controversy.

This in turn, provoked me to write this post offering my advise to both Why Islam and anyone else who may be put in the situation of crisis communication (may Allah protect us from this):

1. Information on Web site*

From a public relations perspective, not having information on the website is not a very good idea. So far, it seems Why Islam has really defended themselves well, mashaAllah. However, in crisis communication you should always provide outsiders with information.

I understand that millions of people must have gone– and are still going– to the Web site. And I also understand the over all goal is to educate the public about Islam. However, know that millions of reporters are also going to the Web site looking for any information about the controversy and looking for any statements from the organization. This is perhaps the first place a reporter looks. So my advice to Why Islam is to place a section on the Web site with a statement about the controversy, and any other information debunking myths surrounding the crisis situation.

If you don’t already have a communications director get a PR person to write the pieces that will go up on your Web site. This is extremely important for the credibility of your company. The way it looks as of now is that there is something shady that no one wants to talk about.

May Allah make it easy on all those involved.

2. Get people to write letters to the editor (opinion pieces), in defense of the ads.

Get public figures to back you up and support you. I saw that the mayor was not against the ads saying that if people wanted to spread Islam, they are protected by free speech. When writing press releases or opinion pieces one should mention these big public figures and their stance with your campaign. It will build your credibility, and get you more public support.

The most important aspect of this is to get people who are well informed and preferably people from your communication/PR department to write any press releases or other statements that will be sent to major media.

3. Always have a calm and collected spokesperson.

The general image of Muslims today is that they are violent and always angry. Having a spokesperson who is both eloquent in speech but not someone who gets angry easily is the way to go. CAIR does a great job of this with their spokesperson, Ibrahim Hooper. He knows when to be tough when he needs to, but he’s also not raging with anger.

The video with Br. Azeem Khan was a great example of this as well:

4. Be proactive, not reactive. Take advantage of the media blitz.

This is hard with crisis communication, only because you have to be reactive to the issue that has just ensued. However, be prepared and minimize the possibility of the situation getting any bigger.

Be prepared for anything they might throw at you. With the media spotlight on you, do more dawah activities and work. Make pseudo events and invite media to your events, give back to the community and during Ramadan give lots of food to the poor.  This should all of course be done purely for the sake of Allah, but there is no problem using this opportunity for spreading Islam by inviting the media. This can be done in various communities sponsored by Why Islam. And each locality can invite the media of that area to attend an iftaar or any other event sponsored by Why Islam.

5. Build good relations with reporters, and get contact information.

Not all reporters are out to make you look bad. Be nice and courteous with them and exchange contact information. Let them know that if anything new happens you’ll call them to report on it. That way anytime you have a major event in the future, you build a good relationship and can have a nice story about Islam run in the paper or on the news.

6. Pray istikhara before making any moves.

This is especially important for Muslims because we may think that we will say something that will make the situation better, but wallahu alem things get turned on us very quickly and easily. Seek Allah’s help in everything that you do and put your trust in Him alone.

For anyone in a crisis communication situation, be sure to follow these few guidelines of many.

We ask Allah ‘az wa jal to make it easy on the Muslims everywhere, and to give us success in this life and the hereafter, ameen.

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

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*If anyone is wondering why I wrote “Web site” rather than “website”then this is because this is the way it is written in Associated Press style.

During my first few days here in Egypt I went out with my cousin and her friend Lena* to this beautiful restaurant over-looking the beach. It was the first time I met Lena. She was sweet, kind and polite — she also happened to be a hijabi.

We went out and had a great time. I don’t know if i’ll see her again any time soon. But I was happy my cousin had such wonderful friends, mashaAllah.

Two days later, I’m with my cousin in the car stuck in traffic and she tells me “Did you know Lena took off her hijab?” I was like, “When? You mean a couple of years ago?”She replied, “No… I mean like yesterday. She’s been wearing it for seven years now.”

I was baffled. The thought of going out without my hijab after putting it on - especially for so long- is unthinkable to me. Not only because 1.  I do it for the sake of Allah, but 2. Because it would make me feel so exposed and naked without it.

I proceeded to tell my cousin that the intention probably wasn’t right from the beginning. After all, a lot of people in Egypt do it because of culture, not religion. But my cousin refuted that and told me that she was very sincere when she put it on and Lena told her that she wore it for the sake of Allah.

But WHY? What is the reason a person takes off their hijab if we know it is fard and we know that we are doing it to please Allah? What are the possible reasons that we might take off our hijabs?

Not everyone who takes off their hijab does so because they never had the right intention. And not everyone takes it off because they have low self-esteem or family pressure.

But still the question lingers… why? What is missing in our lives that we feel will be fulfilled with taking off our hijabs? One answer?

The love and attention of people, whether we know it consciously or subconsciously.

Allah ‘az wa jal says in surat Al-Baqarah:

“And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah more (than anything else). If only, those who do wrong could see, when they will see the torment, that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is Severe in punishment”

It’s seeking love from other than Allah. It’s obeying (worshiping) society and desires and leaving the worship of Allah ‘az wa jal.

And wallahi dear sisters, it is this seeking of filling the void in the heart in places other than with Allah that brings a person to the edge of a very steep cliff — a cliff that can lead to a person’s spiritual death.

What we truly miss in our hearts that needs fulfilling, is the love of Allah.

Dear sisters, whether we’ve never worn hijab at all or recently have decided to take it off, first, know that we do not judge anyone and what another’s heart contains. The hearts belong to Allah and no one can know what is in another person’s heart other than Allah. There are girls who wear hijab and commit shirk with Allah. And in the eyes of Allah they are nothing.

Second, know that Allah ‘az wa jal says in His noble book:

“Say: “O Ibadee (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

It does not matter what people think of us. If you feel, since you’ve taken off your hijab, people have judged you, then know that Allah ‘az wa jal is the one who will judge between people on the day of judgment. So what matters is what Allah ‘az wa jal thinks about you. And we should not seek love and attention from people before we seek it from Allah. Truly if you seek the love of Allah, then you will follow what Allah has sent with Muhammad Salallahu alayhi wa sallam and in turn you will gain the love of Allah and feel it in your hearts and be fully content.

As Allah ‘az wa jal says,

“Say (Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam): ‘If you really love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you. He will forgive your sins and Allah is the Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.’”

Third, every girl who starts to wear hijab late in her life always goes through this stage in which she thinks about what it will be like to “never go out with her hair done again.” I know many sisters who set a time period of when they will start to wear hijab. They tell themselves, “I’m going to start wearing hijab FOR SURE, inshaAllah, when Ramadan starts.” (Hopefully Allah allows them to live that long.)

And we want to enjoy their time while we can before we actually commit to wear the hijab and never take it off.

Subhanallah, we know what you are going through, sisters. But know that while we think that we are “enjoying your time before commitment,” we will soon regret that time we spent before committing to hijab.

When you do something purely for the sake of Allah, then you regret all the times you didn’t do it.

It’s like a Muslim who starts to pray later in life, they soon regret all the times they didn’t pray when they were supposed to.

Allah ‘az wa jal clearly gives us an order in the Quran to wear our hijabs, and who has more right to be obeyed and fully submitted to other than the one who created us, nurishes and provides for us? No one.

Allah ‘az wa jal orders the believing women surat An-Nur to:

“…not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms)…”

We all say that we want to get closer to Allah. And it’s always about taking that next step. Everyone deep down knows what that next step is in their life, whether it’s actually doing something or even just refraining from one particular sin.

“Taking Off Hijab Syndrome” or “Didn’t Start Wearing Hijab Yet Syndrome” have cures. And that cure is found only with Allah. Seek help from Allah more than you would seek help from a doctor for a fatal disease. Because even doctors cannot cure diseases without the will of Allah.

Take the first step and Allah will help you take care of the rest inshaAllah. He will take care of all the people who have ever judged you, he will take care of your beauty and most of Allah he will take care of that void in your heart.

Wallahu alem. May Allah ‘az wa jal guide us to the path that leads to seeing His Face in Jannah, and may Allah make it easy for all our sisters. Ameen.

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* Real names were not used.

She said she felt like dying when things didn’t go exactly how she wanted. I’ve known the sister for a long time now. She always seemed like she knew her bounds; like she knew Allah ‘az wa jal. But soon, all of what was inside her would come out and no one was expecting it.

It is the fuel for An-Nafs al-Ammarah bis-soo’ (the self that is inclined to evil), and it is the disease of An-Nafs al-Mutma’innah (the self with complete rest & satisfaction).

It is Al-Hawaa.

Fatima* had been wanting to marry this brother for a long time but she was scared of what her father would say. When the day came to tell her father and he refused, her hidden shirk had become apparent. She was committing shirk Al-mahabah.

She cried until she fell asleep from exhaustion. She wanted nothing more than to die. Fatima had grown obsessed over the months and no one knew about it. She kept saying that she wants nothing more than to marry the brother.

But what about Jannah? What about seeing Allah’s face?

Fatima had been living on the edge. Not in terms of lifestyle, but the edge of the fold of Islam.

Al-Hawaa, or desires, is not something that is disliked in and of itself. But it is the extremes that become despised. In fact, because it is rare to find someone that seeks to strike a balance in his desires,  Allah ‘az wa jal only mentions hawaa in the Quran when He dispraises it. And there are only very few instances in the sunnah when the term is used in a positive manner.

Sisters tend to over think and over analyze situations. It’s in our nature. And truly that is where some of the dangers of shirk al-mahabah lies. The more a person thinks about a desire, the more obsessed they become with it. And the more obsessed a person is, the more they want to break free from it but find themselves unable to do so.

Ibnul Qayyim describes this person: “He is like a bird that was deceived by a grain of wheat, neither was he able to get it, nor was he able to free himself from the trap he got caught in.”

Perhaps the most profound statement in all of Imam Ibnul Qayyim’s chapter on the dispraise of Al-Hawaa was the anaology he used when describing how man can be more astray than animals when it comes to desire, as Allah ‘az wa jal says in surat Al-Furqaan:

Have you (O Muhammad SAW) seen him who has taken as his ilah (god) his own desire? Would you then be a Wakeel (a disposer of his affairs or a watcher) over him?

Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are even farther astray from the Path. (i.e. even worst than cattle).

To which imam Ibnul Qayyim said, “An animal takes a share of enjoyment in the taste of food, drinks, and sexual relations that is not attainable by man, and that it lives a comfortable life free from thought and worry. Hence it is driven to its slaughtering place preoccupied with its lusts due to the lack of knowledge about the consequences.” (Whereas man is given reason and intellect therefore man follows his desires to his doom, and is therefore even more astray than cattle.)

Hawaa linguistically means fell down. And the one who indulges in their desires in excess of what is desired by Allah, is only preparing himself to fall on his face.

I am given the opportunity to teach sisters, the youth, at our masjid. And one common thread is the reality of sisters and their obsessions. And the dangers of shirk al-mahabah are very real and very common. And although most people don’t realize it that they have elements of it. I realized that weakness in a person’s iman can be caused by this type of shirk, because the heart wants and yearns for other than Allah, thus causing a person to be unhappy and ultimately lowering their iman.

I’m sure many of you reading this know a case of someone who has gone crazy over another person, or “can’t live without” a certain food or drink to the extent that it not only makes their soul sick, but also their body.

Let every person look to his or her heart to see if this is the case with them. And know that it can all be solved with the help of Allah ‘az wa jal– by getting closer to him and distancing yourself enough from that which you love, whether that be food, drink or love.

Just a friendly reminder. Wallahu alem.

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*real name not used.

For more on the topic of Al-Hawaa, please read “A chapter on The Dispraise of Al-Hawaa (Desire)” By Imam Ibnul Qayyim, prepared by sheik Saleh As-Saleh, rahmitullahi 3alayhom.

Bismillah,

Virtually on every blog people get into discussions/debates over the “Music Issues:” What’s halal and what’s haram? There are different of opinions — but what are the different opinions and what are the PROOFS behind the opinions? There is the view of ibn Hazm (rahimahullah) and others.

My blog is mainly about media with an Islamic view. I promote videos, I make videos (rarely), and I do PR work under certain conditions.

I asked a student of knowledge to write something up about music so that I can post it here. Everything written is from this student of knowledge and not my own words, and if it weren’t for the fact that the brother asked not to have his name mentioned, I would have mentioned it because I realize it’s important to know who you are taking knowledge from. However, the evidence speak for itself.

Before anyone decides to write a comment, I ask you to be rational and not in attack mode. I do not write to please other people, but rather inshaAllah to please Allah ‘az wa jal. Therefore, I decided to post this. And I hope that this can be a reference to you and your friends, and anyone else you would like to advice against the evils of shaytaan. Feel free to pass it on inshaAllah. This post is a little long, but worth it, inshaAllah. And I was asked not to edit anything, and that’s an amanah on me so here it is inshaAllah:

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This is a small collection of Ayaat, Ahadeeth and statements of Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah regarding musical instruments & singing…

Proof 1 -

And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (lahwal hadeeth) to mislead from the Path of Allah without knowledge… [Luqmaan 31:6]

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: “lahwal hadeeth/idle talk” means falsehood and ghinaa’ (singing).

‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood said: Wallahi (three times) lahwal hadeeth means ghinaa’. And the same interpretation was also given by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar.

Al-Nadr ibn al-Haarith used to tell to the people of Makkah stories of the Persians and their kings and the kings of Romans and so on, to distract people from the Qur’an. Whether it is with stories or any words drawing people away from Allah’s Words or singing, both of them are idle talk. This is why ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: “Idle talk” is falsehood and singing.

[Tafseer at-Tabari/Ibn Katheer]

Proof 2 -

(Allah said to Iblees) And befool those whom you can among them with your voice… [Israa' 17:64]

‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood said: bi sawtik (with your [iblees] voice) is ma’aazif (musical instruments).[Tafseer at-Tabari]
Proof 3 -

Do you then wonder at this recital (the Quran)?
And you laugh at it and weep not; Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements. [Najm 53:59-61]

Verse 61 says wa antum saamidoon (wasting your lifetime in pastime & amusement). ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said regarding “sumood” (noun and saamiddon is verb) means ghinaa’ (singing)

And this is Yemeni dialect, “ismad lanaa” means “sing for us”…

[Tafseer ibn Katheer]

Point to note –

After the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, no one knows more about the meaning of Allah’s Words than the Companions.

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: Allah’s Messenger embraced me and said, “Oh Allah given him the knowledge of the Qur’an”. [Bukhari]

Seeing this proof how can someone reject Tafseer coming from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas?

Proof 4 -

Narrated that Abu ‘Aamir or Abu Maalik al-Ash’aree that he heard the the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saying: From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments (ma’aazif), as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection. [Bukhari # 5590]

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam included musical instruments along with zina and khamr which shows how heinous of an action it is.

However due to many misconceptions, lack of information, etc we need to mention a few more things about this Hadeeth.

First argument : Imam Ibn Hazm said music is not Haraam.

Imam Bukhari recorded this Hadeeth by saying wa qaala hishaamubnu ‘ammaar/and Hishaam ibn ‘Ammaar said…

Imam Ibn Hazm - rahimullah - said that there was no link between Imam Bukhari and Hishaam ibn ‘Ammaar and therefore considered this Hadeeth to be da’eef (weak). Imam Ibn Hazm made it clear that no Saheeh report reached him stating Musical instruments was Haraam. Al-Haafidh al-’Iraaqi, al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, Ibn al-Salaah, and all the other great Hadeeth Scholars have clearly pointed out that this was Ibn Hazm’s mistake and recognizing an authentic chain. [Fath ul Baaree v.10]

No Muhaddith of the past or present has classified this Hadeeth from Saheeh al-Bukhari as weak. Those who look for excuses, point out Imam Ibn Hazm allowed Musical instruments. He simply said no Saheeh Hadeeth reached him and if he heard any authentic Hadeeth prohibiting music, he would have said so. [also check Ighaathat al-Lahfaan by Ibn al-Qayyim]

Imam Ibn Hazm was one of the Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah, people do not follow his ‘Aqeedah or his Manhaj, but they will use this one statement from him to fulfill their desires.

Second argument: no this Hadeeth is saying that if musical instrument is accompanied by zina and alcohol then it is Haraam, otherwise it is fine.

It is very silly that many Muslims will make such a conclusion from this Hadeeth. If we follow the logic of such people then we can say “oh guess what, zina is fine as long as it is not accompanied by alcohol and music!”…or “hey alcohol is fine just don’t listen to music and fornicate while drinking”

Sheikh Albaani said: This Hadeeth indicates in two ways that musical instruments and enjoyment of listening to music are Haraam. The first is the fact that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “[they] permit” which clearly indicates that the things mentioned, including musical instruments, are Haraam according to Sharee’ah, but those people will permit them. The second is the fact that musical instruments are mentioned alongside things which are definitely known to be Haraam, i.e., zinaa and alcohol: if they (musical instruments) were not Haraam, why would they be mentioned alongside these things? (al-Silsilah al-Saheehah)

Proof 5 -

It was narrated that an-Naafi’ said: ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar heard a woodwind instrument, and he put his fingers in his ears and kept away from that path. He said to me, O Naafi’, can you hear anything? I said, No. So he took his fingers away from his ears and said: I was with the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and he heard something like this, and he did the same thing. [Abu Dawood]

Some people do not understand the meaning of this Hadeeth and will argue how it is forbidding music. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar just happened to have heard while walking by (i.e. unintentionally) even then he put his fingers in his ears so as not to hear it! And he said the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did the same. We all know that “unintentional” acts are not held accountable by Allah. Yet the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his Companion put their fingers in their ear so as not to even let the voice of Shaytaan enter their ears unintentionally.

Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi said: the listener is the one who intends to hear, and that was not the case with Ibn ‘Umar; what happened in his case was hearing. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) needed to know when the sound stopped because he had moved away from that path and blocked his ears. So he did not want to go back to that path or unblock his ears until the noise had stopped, so when he allowed Ibn ‘Umar to continue hearing it, this was because of necessity. [al-Mughni, 10/173]

Proof 6 -

Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah said: “The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam went to to al-Nakhl with ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, when his son Ibraaheem was dying. He took the child in his lap and his eyes filled with tears. ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said, ‘Are you weeping when you have forbidden us to weep?’ He said: I do not prohibit weeping, but I prohibited two foolish immoral voices: A voice during a calamity while clawing at one’s face and tearing one’s clothes, and Shaytan’s scream. [Tirmidhi # 1005]

Anas ibn Maalik (the servant of the Prophet) said the “wa rannatish shaytaan/and the scream of Shaytaan” refers to musical instruments.

Other proofs can be given, but for the true believers just one verse prohibiting something should be more than enough!

All the Imams of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah are in unanimous agreement that singing/musical instruments are strictly forbidden in Islam. And Imam Abu Haneefah was the strictest stating the one who listens and enjoys musical instruments has committed kufr.
Not to be confused, he didn’t call the listener of music a kaafir (disbeliever), he said listening to music is a type of kufr (disbelief)
Imam Maalik, Shafi’ee and Ahmad said: Only a faasiq will listen to music.

[Ighaathat al-Lahfaan by Ibn Qayyim/Tafseer al-Qurtubi]

Having said all this we know that the only musical instrument that is allowed in Islam is the daff (i.e. tambourine without any bells).

Proof 1 -

Narrated ‘A’ishah: Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came to my house while two girls were singing beside me the songs of Bu’aath (a story about the war between the two tribes of the Ansar, the Khazraj and the Aus, before Islam). The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam lay down and turned his face to the other side. Then Abu Bakr came and spoke to me harshly saying, “instruments of Shaytaan near the Prophet?” Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam turned his face towards him and said, “Leave them.” When Abu Bakr became inattentive, I signaled to those girls to go out and they left.

So it is allowed for girls to sing/use daff (words of good meaning) on the days of ‘Eid. The reaction of Abu Bakr saying “mizmaaratush shaytaan” (instruments of Shaytaan) again points out that music/singing generally is something that is prohibited in Islam.

Proof 2 -

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: The thing that will distinguish between Halaal and Haraam in marriage is the beating of the daff. [Bukhari, Ahmad]

Women are allowed to beat the daff during weddings…in fact, it is something Mustahabb (highly recommended).

Nasheeds -
The recent trend of Nasheeds have changed dramatically and many times we see men and women together (or by men only) using all sorts of musical instruments and calling it “Islamic songs.”

Such a way of spending hours practicing, recording, selling/buying of Nasheeds is totally unheard of in the past. It has reached a point where the youth are flocking towards memorizing the lyrics of Nasheeds rather than memorizing and understanding Kalaam ul Allah, al-Qur’an.

Also there are some Nasheeds without the use of musical instruments or women where the men are making flute/drum, etc noises with their mouth and considering it to be Halaal since they are not “using any instruments but just the natural voice”.

Sh.’Uthaymeen said: There has been a lot of talk about Islamic nasheeds. I have not listened to them for a long time. When they first appeared there was nothing wrong with them. There were no duffs, and they were performed in a manner that did not involve any fitnah, and they were not performed with the tunes of haraam songs. But then they changed and we began to hear a rhythm that may have been a duff or it may have been something other than a duff, and they began to choose performers with beautiful and enchanting voices, then they changed further and began to be performed in the manner of haraam songs. Hence we began to feel uneasy about them, and unable to issue fatwas stating that they were permissible in all cases, or that they were forbidden in all cases. If they are free of the things that I have referred to then they are permissible, but if they are accompanied by the duff or performers are chosen who have beautiful and enchanting voices, or they are performed in the manner of indecent songs, then it is not permissible to listen to them. [Al-Sahwah al-Islamiyyah pg.185]

Sh. Al-Fawzaan said: As for that which is called Islamic nasheeds, they have been given more time and effort than they deserve, to such an extent that they have become an art form which takes up space in school curricula and school activities, and the recording companies record huge numbers of them to sell and distribute, and most houses are full of them, and many young men and women listen to them, and it takes up a lot of their time, and they are listened to more than recordings of Qur’an, Sunnah, lectures and useful lessons. [Al-Bayaan li Akhta' Ba'd al-Kuttaab pg. 342]

Statements from many other Scholars from Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah of our times can be given, but to keep this short we can conclude by stating the Shari’ guidelines for any Nasheed to be considered Halaal:

1. The words of the nasheed must be free of Haraam and foolish words.

2. The nasheed should not be accompanied by musical instruments. No musical instrument is permitted except the duff for women on certain occasions. See the answer to question no.

3. It should be free of sound effects that imitate musical instruments, because what counts is what appears to be the case, and imitating haraam instruments is not permissible, especially when the bad effect is the same as that which happens with real instruments.

4. Listening to nasheed should not become a habit which takes up a person’s time and affects his duties and mustahabb actions, such as affecting his reading of Qur’an and calling others to Allah.

5. The performer of a nasheed should not be a woman performing in front of men, or a man with an enchanting appearance or voice performing in front of women.

6. One should avoid listening to performers with soft voices who move their bodies in rhythm, because there is fitnah in all of that and it is an imitation of the evildoers.

7. One should avoid the images that are put on the covers of their tapes, and more important than that, one should avoid the video clips that accompany their nasheeds, especially those which contain provocative movements and imitations of immoral singers.

8. The purpose of the nasheed should be the words, not the tune.

I end by mentioning the verse:

Have you (O Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wa allam) seen him who has taken as his Ilaah (deity) his own desire? [Furqaan 25:43]

When clear prohibition comes from Allah and His Messenger, we still disobey and follow our desires. Truly we are guilty of taking our desires as deities besides (or along with) Allah. May Allah protect us all from such misguidance…

—-

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

If you read past the headline, congratulations, you are one of the few individuals who care. I wanted to write about this since I saw the video on Mujahideen Ryder’s blog. These past couple of days, I kept opening WordPress wondering if I should just write about something else — something more people would enjoy reading. I even made a whole other post ready to publish, but something stopped me.

I don’t want to be one of those people who just write for entertainment purposes. I will never write something just to cause controversy. I guess you can say I’m the black sheep of the journalism industry. While everyone else writes what will get more readers and more subscriptions, I’ll write what needs to be said no matter the reaction from the audience or even if there is no audience at all.

I guess you can say I’m a little disgusted with those methods, since I worked at a paper that used them — but then again, which newspaper doesn’t?

The reality is, the media dictates what we should think is important in the world and what we shouldn’t care too much about. You have media gatekeepers, people you don’t know anything about, saying, ‘This is what society should be talking about and this is something that is not really important or interesting to anyone.’

According to gatekeepers, people should care about Donald Trump’s hair or Barack Obama wearing Kenyan clothing.

One of those topics gatekeepers are telling us is not important is Iraq. Iraq won’t bring readers anymore. Iraq is something so, so far away; old news.

As you know, the video I’m posting is not pleasant in nature. It will cause emotional distress for those of you with a heart. And while I’m telling you this, perhaps half of you have already closed the window or have navigated away from this site. For those of you who haven’t, take a look at the video:

I don’t want to be another one of the ones who just turns away from the remembrance, just because it’s not pleasant to think about. I’ve done it before and I’m sure you have too. You see something depressing, you get sad for a couple of moments then block it out as something far and away; something you have very little to do with.

Reading this post is painful and uncomfortable for you. Because you know it’s exactly what you’ve done in the past and you don’t know how to stop from doing it again, today.

For one, we need to make dua for our brothers and sisters in Iraq and ask Allah to ease their hardship soon.

And lastly, for those of you with blogs, in journalism, or those of you who give lectures frequently don’t write with your viewers in mind, but write with your viewers in mind. Don’t write because you know it’s what they want to hear and will bring more fans your way, write because it’s what they need to hear. And leave the rest for Allah.

In a way I guess I, too, am a gatekeeper now. And Iraq, and the state of Muslims around the world is what I think is important and it’s something we should never forget. May Allah ease their hardship and strengthen the Muslimeen. ameen.

wallahu ta’ala alem.

Sheikh Muhammad bin al-Uthaymeen -rahimahullah- said in his sharh of the first of the 40 hadith An-Nawwawiyyah (”innamal ‘amaallu bin-niyyat…”– all deeds are but by intention…):

“The worship of the heedless ones are habits and the habits of the people of awareness are worship”

When we eat, most of the time we do it for enjoyment and it being just a normal part of our day. However, if a person really takes heed and changes his intention he could get rewarded by Allah ‘az wa jal. So when you go to eat, eat because it will give you the energy you need to worship Allah — and that is what will give you good deeds.

—–

I started my YouTube account a little over a year ago. I made the account so that I could comment on other people’s videos as well as use it to upload videos in the future.

This was around the time I had come across the very well known recitation of Sheikh Fahd Al-Kanderi of surat Al-Qiyyamah. It’s a recitation that made most of our eyes well with tears and shook (and still shakes) us to our very core. A couple of days later, I came across a set of eight Quran recitation videos someone had uploaded by the same sheikh. And I thought to myself, “These are GEMS. I need to upload them unto YouTube for everyone else to benefit from; And perhaps for every person who listens and watches these videos, Allah ‘az wa jal will reward me.”

That was my intention, and may Allah ‘az wa jal keep my intentions purely for His sake. Ameen. I uploaded the videos.

Alhamdulillah, I checked back recently and found that this one video I had uploaded over a year and a half ago has gotten over 450,000 views. Here is the video, I really love his recitations:

It is my hope that Allah ‘az wa jal will reward me — and I humble myself unto Him.

Anyway with that said, most of my YouTube channel is Quran recitations that I’ve uploaded. I go to certain Islamic forums in Arabic that post all sorts of recitations — so I find those videos and I upload them unto YouTube. I really love the khaliji style of recitation. Some of my favorite reciters are Mishary Rashid (of course), Maher Al-Muayqilly, Fahd AlKanderi, Majid al-’Anzi, Yasir Al-Filkawi, Muhammad Al-Luhaydaan, Salman bin al-’utaybi and Salah Al-Hashem.

So here are just a few of my videos and Insha’Allah I hope you contemplate and enjoy the recitations as much as I do:

Majid Al’Anzi: Surat Al-Hujurat

Fahd Al-Kanderi: Surat At-Tahreem

Yasir Al-Filkawi: From Surat Az-Zummar

Oh, and This Really Cute Baby “Khateeb” (not Quran):) :

Lessons:

Make your intentions purely for Allah’s sake and leave the rest for Allah — He will give you success. And continue to KEEP those intentions pure.

Take a break and contemplate the Quran. I’ve provided in the description section — with a lot of my videos — the translation of the verses for those who do not understand Arabic. Follow along. Find a Quran reciter that YOU enjoy listening to and follow along with your mushaf and contemplate.

A lot of us, including myself, spend a lot of time on the computer. Despite how busy we might be, we don’t even need to leave our desks to raise our own iman. Take time away from your busy life to remember Allah — find your special recitation today.

WAllahu ta’ala alem.