Democracy is the Greatest Shirk !

By our honored Shaykh Abdullah el-Faisal (may Allah keep him firm upon deenul haqq always and Ya Allah hasten his release from the dungeons of Your enemies-Ameen!)

Difficulties... For the sake of Allah !!!

When people talk about Jihad on the path of Allah, it sounds so beautiful. What a beautiful word - "Jihad on the path of Allah". But, in reality, not all outcomes and events of jihad are that beautiful.

While in jihad, there are not always high-sounding speeches and fiery sermons, not always trophies and booties, and not always victories. But there is the death of loved ones, suffering of wounded friends, torn up body parts, loss of property, lack of aid and support.

In addition to that, jihad has many other difficult aspects: the blend of different personalities of men, with disputes erupting among them ... this man was punched by that man, another one had an argument with somebody over there ... It is a human nature (Muslims are not angels): errors, opinions, views, some of which are permissible (in Islam), and some are not. There is an obvious and huge diversity between the beauty of the Noble Objective (reestablishing of the Caliphate) and the price (souls and wealth spent in Allah's cause) to implement it.

If we study people's assumptions on an Islamic state, we find that they represent rather a dream world, a world full of beautiful pictures, on the verge of flying carpets, intoxicated by brilliant colours, with constantly pouring rain out of the skies, full udders, and our enemies fearing us, knowing about us being supported by Angels during warfare.

They imagine an Islamic state, in which neither poor nor sick, and if someone wishes something, it appears right in front of him. But if we study the Islamic state of the Medina period, we would not find that paradise; instead we will learn that the followers of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him, his family, and the companions, and grant them Peace, suffered not less than they had in Mecca.

Fitnah from the East???

What is meant by fitnah from the East?

Each group makes its own interpretation of the fitnah that comes from the East.
Some parties, including among others, right away claim that the fitnah comes from Najd, Riyadh-Saudi. The fitnah itself was interpreted by them as the Wahhabi movement.

Generally, the ulama's of Ahlus Sunnah refer that the Najd (Highland) that was meant is Iraq. The country that is always stricken by fitnah, starting from the war among the Sahabahs, to the martyrdom of Husein Radhiyallahu 'anhu. In fact, even until today, it still continues to be unstable.

Regardless of the difference of opinions and intentions, let's try to correlate the hadiths of Rasulullah about this issue, perhaps we would understand a bit.

First: The Fitnah of Dajjal

Dajjal was mentioned near Rasulullah (saws) so he said: "Verily, the fitnah of some of you is more fearful to me than the fitnah of Dajjal, and no one can be safe from the storms of the fitnah before the fitnah of Ad-Dajjal except that he will also be surely safe from the fitnah after it (fitnah of Dajjal). And there is no fitnah created since the existence if this world –be it minor of major- except that it is for (facing) the fitnah of Ad-Dajjal." (Imam Ahmad, no. 22215)

Note: Before the fitnah of Dajjal, there has been a lot of fitnah that emerged from Iran-Iraq. In fact most of the deviated sects were developed in Iraq, such as: Shi'ah, Khawarij, Jahmiah, Mu'tazilah, Qadariyah and Murji'ah.

Dispatching the Army of the young Sahabah Usamah

Reference: by Shaikh Fazl-e-Ilahi, Raheeq al-Makhtoom by Safi-ur-Rahmaan Mubarakpuri, The History of Islam by Akbar Shah Najeedabadi, 'Difference of Opinion amongst the Scholars' by Shaikh Ibn Saleh al-Uthaimeen, Tafseer Ibn Katheer, and others.

Stories of the pious predecessors contain lessons, advices and wisdom for us. The importance of these stories is known from the fact that a large portion of the Qur'aan enumerates stories of pious individuals.

After the Prophets of Allah (as), the companions of Allah's Messenger (saws) hold the elevated position of piety and honor. And among the companions of Allah's Messenger (saws), the most pious and honored is, 'the Prophet's Companion of the Cave' Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq (ra) - the First Khalifah of Islam, regarding whom Allah's Messenger (saws) said: "There is no one among the people who has been more generous to me with his life and his property than Abu Bakr ibn Abi Quhaafa (ra) and if I was to take a bosom friend, I would take Abu Bakr as my bosom friend. But, the friendship of Islam is better. Block off every door in this Masjid except the door of Abu Bakr" [Saheeh Al-Bukhari] This article features an exemplary accomplishment of Abu Bakr Siddeeq (ra) in the very beginning of his Khilafah (Caliphate) and lessons to be learnt from it.

The Complete Story:

Working with Intelligence Services?!?

Question

What is the Islamic verdict on those Muslims who are working with intelligence services such as the ISI, MI5, CIA, FBI and so on?

Answer

Praise be to Almighty Allah, and may the peace of Allah and His Mercy be upon the Messenger Muhammad (SAW), his family and his Companions and those who ally with them.

Using intelligence services against Muslims or working for or co-operating with such organisations is prohibited (haram) according to the Sharia.

One of the calamities faced by Muslims world-wide in their own countries nowadays is having kufr (un-Islamic) dictatorships ruling over them which control Muslim resources without their consent. These regimes rule by oppression and aggression as opposed to ruling by Islam and good governance. Their governance is more aggressive control than managing the affairs of the people, governing Muslims with animosity rather than looking after their affairs. These countries have become police states. They set up the intelligence services specifically against Muslims to monitor their affairs and livelihood. These bodies have been given absolute power to deal with the citizens as they wish as long as they maintain the interests of their leaders.

The intelligence services use many weapons against Muslims including spying on them, tracking them down, punishing and torturing them. They even ensure that positions in state departments are only given to those who support the tyrannical regimes. Consequently, the government departments are solely made up of corrupt people, to the extent that Muslims detest and curse them the way the Messenger Muhammad (SAW) prophesized: 

Am I sincere, Am I sincere?

Once ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azîz (rahimahullâh) was advised, 
“O ‘Umar, beware of being the ally of Allâh in open, while being 
His enemy in secret. If one’s nature in open and secret do not 
equate then he is a hypocrite, and the hypocrites occupy the lowest level in the Hellfire.” 

From amongst the most difficult things one can acquire is sincerity and because of this, the pious predecessors ( as-salah as-salih) would try to block off all their acts of worship from riyaa (showing off) by hiding their good deeds just as they would hide their evil deeds. 

They would advise each other with words such as “Do not be an enemy to shaytaan in public and his friend in private”; or in other words, make sure you are the same person in public as you are when in seclusion. Because of this, they loved to be alone and busy in acts of worship wherein only Allah could see them. 

As for those deeds which were public, then the following story would suffice: a student of Abdullah bin Masoud once hosted a blind man for a meal and decorated his meal as if he could see. When the people inquired as to why he was decorating the food to for a man who couldn’t even see, he replied by saying “But Allah can see! Because of this, one of the best definitions of sincerity is to forget about the creation by constantly looking at the Creator (in terms of gaining admiration for your deeds); thereby not caring whether or not the people see any single act of worship. So when a man gets up to worship, he does not think about the people’s thoughts and does not care whether they praise him, or if they criticize him because he only sees Allah in front of him, thereby reaching the level of ihsan.

Submit to Allah - Do not custom-make Islam!

This article is inspired by one of our favorite Shaykh, Imaam Anwar al-Awlaki (may Allah accept him amongst the shuhadah)

Allah says in Qur'an (Surah 13: Verse 29):
"Verily! Only in the remembrance of Allah will your heart find peace."
The word Islam means 'Submitting oneself to Allah (Subhanu wa ta'ala)'

One is able to say that he has completely submitted himself to Allah when:
 
- He obeys Allah by performing the obligatory deeds enjoined upon him (five daily prayers, zakah, charity, fasting in Ramadan and completing Hajj) .

"And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (death)" (Al-Hijr:99)

"It is not fitting for the believing man nor for the believing woman, that whenever Allah and His Messenger have decided any matter, that they should have any other opinion." (Quran 33:36)
 
- He forbids the evil and enjoins what is good.
 
"You are the best community that has been raised for mankind. You enjoin good and forbid evil and you believe in Allah." (Al-Imran, 3:110)

"The believers, men and women, are protectors of each other: they enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil." (Tauba, 9:71)

ALL ARTICLES ON MUHARRAM AND IT'S FASTS !

INSHA'ALLAH CLICK TO VIEW THE REQUIRED ARTICLE:

• All About MUHARRAM
• Sacred Month of Muharram
• Muharram has started...
• Muharram is here - FAST!!!
• Muharram & it's Biddah! Taasoaa’ & Aashoraa’...
• Day of Ashura' – In Commemoration of Musa & his Struggle with Firaun!
• Events that took place on 10th Muharram !
• REMINDER : Fasting on 9 & 10 Muharram

Hijrah of the Prophet (saws) !

The Hijrah – emigration of the Prophet (saws) to Madinah – constitutes a wonderful memory honored by many annually. But, it is only the wise who recognize its full magnanimity: as a victory for the believers and their escape from a life of injustice and subjugation to a free and respectable one. It marked a new phase in the struggle between Islam and disbelief, and between truth and falsehood, hence only fit to signify the start of the Muslim calendar.
And for us to appreciate it so, we must go back in history more than ten centuries, to the thirteenth year after Muhammad (saws) was given the mission of Prophethood. It was a time when Muslims were permitted to leave Makkah and escape persecution; many succeeded, managing to overcome the obstacles put in their way by Quraysh, to hinder them from reaching Yathrib (the former name of Madinah). When they arrived, they found their brothers from the Ansaar (their supporters among the locals) welcoming them warmly, opening up their hearts and homes to them. That greatly boosted their morale, so much so that only a few believers remained in Makkah, and only because they were oppressed or captured.
 
Sensing their vulnerability, the Quraysh believed the situation could only be restored if they managed to prevent the emigration of the Prophet (saws) by any means possible.
 
As a result, conspirators secretly agreed to eliminate him (saws) before he was able to leave for refuge in Madinah. On a Thursday of the month of Safar, the disbelievers assembled at Daar -un-Nadwah to decide on the best course of action. One suggestion expressed the necessity of killing the Prophet (saws) while others advocated either imprisonment or exile.

The Baghdad Massacre of 656H !!!

Regarding massacre that occurred in Baghdad in 656H, Ibn Katheer states:

“When the Tartars descended on the city of Baghdad, they killed whomever they met of men, women and children, young and old. Many people tried to hide in wells, rubbish dumps and sewers, where they stayed for several days. Some people locked themselves in inns and guesthouses, but the Tartars broke into every such house, and chased the people they found there to the roofs where they killed them.

Gutters and alleys were overflowing with blood, and so were mosques and other places of worship. The only survivors were the Jews an the Christians in the city and those who sought refuge with them, and those who were given shelter in the house of Ibn Al-‘Alqamee, the Shee’ah minister. A group of businessmen were also spared and given safety after they had paid large sums of money for the purpose. Baghdad, which used to be the most friendly and peaceful of cities, was totally in ruin, inhabited only by a small portion of its original population, and even these were living in fear, hunger and humiliation.

Reports on the number of Muslims killed in Baghdad in this battle vary, with some estimating the dead to be 800,000, while other reports suggest the dead numbered 1,000,000, and still others putting the estimate at 2,000,000 people. We can only sy what Muslims are recommended to say at the time of a calamity, “To God we belong and to Him do we return… All power belongs to God, the Most High, the Almighty.”

The Initiation of the Hijrah Calendar

The Hijrah calendar is regarded as a development that had a major cultural impact. The first one to introduce this was ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab. There are several reports which speak of the reason for that. 

It was narrated that Maymoon Ibn Mahraam said:

“A document that was dated in Sha’baan came to ‘Umar, and he said, “Is this Sha’baan of last year, or Sha’baan of the coming year, or the Sha’baan we are in now?”

Then he gathered the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said to them, “Set up something for the people that they can refer to.”

Someone suggested using the Byzantine (Roman) calendar, but it was pointed out that it was too long as they dated it from the time of Dhul-Qarnayn. Someone else suggested using the Persian calendar, but they said that every time a new king came along, he abolished what had gone before. Then they agreed to look at how long the Messenger of Allah (saws) had stayed in Madinah, and they found that he had stayed there for ten years, so they based their calendar on the Hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).”

[Mahd As-Sawaab, 1/316; Ibn Al-Jawzee, p.69] 

It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan Ibn ‘Ubaydillaah said that he heard Sa’eed Ibn Al-Musayyib say:

” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab gathered the Muhaajiroon and Ansaar together and said, “From when should we date our history?”

‘Ali Ibn Abi Taalib said to him, “From the time when the Prophet (saws) came out of the land of shirk (i.e. from the day he (saws) migrated).”

So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab adopted that date for the beginning of the calendar.”

And it was narrated that Sa’eed Ibn Al-Musayyib said:

“The first one to establish the calendar was ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, two and a half years into his caliphate. He reached a decision in consultation with ‘Ali Ibn Abi Taalib.

[Taareekh Al-Islaam, by Adh-Dhahabi, p.163]

The Dark Cell

How many times have you looked back at a particular event or occurrence in your life and thought to yourself, ‘How did those days fly by?’

When you were an infant you wished you were a little bigger; when you were a child you wished you were a teenager; and when you’re a teenager you can’t wait to become an adult.

While you were young you thought you had your whole life ahead of you, but as an adult you can’t help but feel that you are getting older and older by the day, and that time is running out for whatever you are hoping to achieve.

Life is full of distractions. Before you know it, a week has gone by; then a month; and then a year. Soon afterwards you’ll be wondering how five years have passed.

Every day is a constant battle with time. We’re constantly preparing for engagements and making plans – whether it is getting ready for work or school, or to see friends or go shopping; or making plans for a wedding, celebration, trip, event, or to meet someone, and so on.

But there’s one particular event (or journey) which we all fail to prepare for sufficiently – and that is death and life in the barzakh (the intermediate period of time between death and the Day of Resurrection).

Even though life in the barzakh is likely to be longer than our present life, we are all guilty of making very little, if any, preparation for it – just think about how long the millions of people who have passed away over the last few centuries have been waiting for the Final Hour. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur’an:

Imaam Abdul Wahhab’s letter after conquest of Makkah

Ash-Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ibn ash-Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (rahimahUllah) said:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all that exists, and may blessings and peace be upon our trustworthy Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Sahaabah and the Taabi’een. To proceed:
We, the assembly of the ghazw (military expedition) of the muwahhideen, when Allah blessed us – and to Him is due all praise – with entering Makkah al-Musharrafah at midday on yawm as-sabt (Saturday), the eighth day of the month of Muharram al-Haraam in the year 1218 after the Hijrah, after the chiefs of Makkah, its ‘ulamaa’ and all of its general public had sought the covenant of security from the ameer of the ghazw, Sa’ood; after they had previously agreed with the leaders of the hajeej and the ameer of Makkah to fight him or to make a stand in the Haram, to prevent him from the House; so when the troops of the muwahhideen marched against them, Allah cast fear into their hearts, so they scattered in disarray, each one of them considering retreat their best option;

And the ameer at that time offered the covenant of security to everyone in al-Haram ash-Shareef, and we entered, our slogan being the talbiyah, in safety, our heads shaved and trimmed, not in fear of anyone of the creation, rather of the Master of the Day of Judgement;

And from the time that the troops entered the Haram, in their great numbers, self-controlled, well-mannered, without cutting down any tree, nor chasing any game animals, nor shedding any blood except for the blood of the hady, or whatever animals Allah had made lawful according to the legislated manner;

Contemporary Sodomy !!!

The grave and evil act of sodomy has various names in the Arabic language, some of which mean:

·        The act of the people of Loot (as).
·        Sodomy.
·        Homosexuality.
·        Entering a person from the rear.
·        Same-sex relationships.

This evil act has become widespread in the west and is being practised by vast numbers of people. The west approves of this evil act, and has introduced new laws in its favour of same-sex marriage.

In the year 1967, the British government introduced a law which stated that it was no longer a crime for people of the same sex to have sexual intercourse if they have reached the age of puberty. The result of this was that this evil act became widespread, as did many diseases. It is still considered a crime in that country for people of the same sex to have a sexual relationship if at least one of them have not yet reached the age of puberty, although this is something that the homosexuals are pressuring that government to change.

In Europe, same sex marriage is becoming widespread with official recognition and approval, and many governments authorize same-sex marriages. Amsterdam witnessed the first official same-sex marriage in the world with a party that was attended by the ministers of the Dutch government and other celebrities, in addition to being broadcast live on television.

On 4th March 2001, it was announced in Holland that three male and one female couple immediately married after the announcement of a new law that permitted same-sex marriage. Moreover, the Dutch government gives the same rights to married couples of the same sex as it does to those of the opposite sex, such as government financial assistance, lower taxes, the right to adopt and the requirement of a court order in order to divorce.