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Islam

Books, Dawah, Islam, Latino Muslims, Other

Representation Matters: Islamic Books for Latino Children

By Wendy Díaz

May 8, 2021

Original link: Representation Matters: Islamic Books for Latino Children | About Islam

Fifteen years ago, my husband and I, both Latino converts to Islam, welcomed our first son to this world. Alhamdulillah, he was the first Muslim child born into our families, a blend of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian heritages living here in the U.S.

His fitra, that innate faith in one Supreme Creator, was untainted unlike ours had been. He did not have to discover Islam later in life in his teens and twenties like his parents had.

We named him Uthman after the third Khalifa in Islam, the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, bearer of the two lights. And so began our Muslim parenting journey, one that we are still striving to navigate efficiently as more and more challenges and blessings present themselves.

As convert parents, our objective is to raise righteous Muslims by Allah’s Will; as Latinos, we endeavor to preserve our culture within the confines of Islam. We learned early that despite what we heard from some well-intentioned Muslims, Islam did not come to take away our identity.

In fact, Islam is part of our rich history as Latinos – an inheritance left behind by our ancestors that has been buried and forgotten.

Unfortunately, this reality is one that has not been explored enough in contemporary circles of knowledge. Muslims from other parts of the world do not consider Latin America part of the Islamic narrative. Yet, as more of us return to Islam, we are unearthing this truth and we are eager to pass it on to our children with pride.

When we began searching for Islamic books and material to teach our first son in our native language, we were unsuccessful. However, as a mother who wanted to instill a love of reading in my child, I settled with purchasing books in English and translating them simultaneously as I read them to Spanish.

Soon I began reaching out to publishing companies that specialized in Islamic books and offered to translate their children’s books. After receiving no response or downright rejection because as they said, there was “no market for Spanish material,” I realized that if I wanted books for my children, I would have to create them.

Thankfully, I loved writing as much as I loved reading, but I knew from my experience with traditional Islamic publishers that it was unlikely my manuscripts would be accepted. My husband and I investigated self-publishing, and after investing our own capital, we published our first bilingual Islamic children’s book in 2010 called, A Veil and a Beard.

Other books followed, including a series on the Prophets, a book about Ramadan and one on Friday prayer, an artistic representation of the hadith of Gabriel for children, and others. We sought support from friends and family through our non-profit social project and dawah organization, Hablamos Islam, Inc.

Due to a high demand for these books all over Latin America, we were able to supply needy communities with Islamic children’s books in their own language in over a dozen countries.

Alhamdulillah, we also began creating children’s programming in Spanish on our YouTube channel, Hablamos Islam, that has been viewed in over 40 countries worldwide. Nevertheless, this was not enough.

After my first, then second, then third child entered school, I began to see another concerning trend. The three of them were the only Latino children in their Islamic schools.

As such, they experienced some alienation and bullying. My eldest was often taunted by his classmates, who called him Mexican and said he ate tacos, despite him telling them that he was half Puerto Rican, half Ecuadorian and tacos are not a staple of either country.

My second son’s teachers complained about his behavior and suggested that the reason for his troubles in class were due to him not having many Muslim relatives as role models (because we were converts). Their last name, Guadalupe, that is in fact, a blend of Arabic and Latin (Wadi – valley, al – the, and lupus – wolf) was always mispronounced and ridiculed. Despite bringing this up to the school’s administration, little was done to curb these occurrences and the misconceptions that fueled them.

At this point, I understood that it was not just Islamic books in Spanish that were missing for Latino children, but also Islamic books with Latino representation for all Muslims – children, parents, and educators included.

Latin-American Muslims needed to see themselves represented in Islamic literature and it was imperative that other Muslims accept them as part of the general Islamic community.

Later, when we moved and I was forced to put my children in public school, there emerged a need to also educate non-Muslims about my Latin American Muslim family. This is when the idea for my most recent books was born. 

Since the beginning of 2020, I have published six important pieces of literature that represent our experiences as Latino Muslims here in the U.S., both inside and outside the Islamic community. They are:

De Puerto Rico to Islam With Love: A collection of poetry about identity and faith – A book of memoir and poetry detailing the events that led to my conversion to Islam and the aftermath of that decision.

The Secret of My Hijab (English and Spanish) – a children’s picture book reaction to the questions my daughter encountered in public school while wearing the Islamic veil.

The First Day of Ramadan/El primer día de Ramadán (second edition)– a bilingual children’s book that follows a Muslim family on their first Ramadan fast with a glossary of both English and Spanish vocabulary related to Ramadan.

Yo Hablo Islam/I Speak Islam – A Spanish-English dictionary for Muslim children to learn Spanish vocabulary, including terms related to their identity as Muslims.

Why Do Muslims… ? 25 Questions for Curious Kids – A Q&A children’s book with other 25 facts about Islam and Muslims with a Latino main character.

Eid Empanadas – A book celebrating the Ramadan and Eid traditions of a Latin-American Muslim family.

My mission is to be a voice for the underrepresented Latin American Muslim community, and especially for our children. Insha’Allah, I hope these books and more to come, will help us understand each other and be more welcoming to those we do not know.

After more than a decade of being involved in this work, my family and I are now beginning to see other authors and even publishing companies starting to work towards filling this gap of missing Spanish material and representation for Muslim children. For that, we are profoundly grateful.

However, there is still a lack of support for these important resources. I hope that you, my dear reader, will aid us in raising awareness for this cause by adding these books to your home library, discussing diversity within the Islamic community with your children or students, and sharing this article for others to benefit. May Allah reward you and may He bring back the unity in our commUNITY. Ameen!

About Wendy Díaz

Wendy Díaz is a Puerto Rican Muslim writer, poet, translator, and children’s book author. She is the Spanish content coordinator for ICNA-WhyIslam and a MuslimMatters columnist. She is also the co-founder of Hablamos Islam, a non-profit organization that produces educational resources about Islam in the Spanish language.

Books, Dawah, Islam, Latino Muslims, Muslim converts

A Book About Our Journeys to Islam

By Aaron Siebert-Llera

As a light-skinned (Chicago winters will do that to anyone) Mexican-American, I have often had to deal with the frequent ‘you don’t look Mexican’ comments. Now that I am also Muslim (13 years & counting), I am more often mistaken for being Arab or Bosnian, so I actually blend in at the mosque. But when people find out I’m Mexican, they then ask the question ‘wait, how can you be Mexican and Muslim?’

Part of the issue for people not being aware of our presence has always been that the greater Latino/a community does not do a good job of marketing our stories. This is not totally our fault because Hollywood has not deemed us important enough to be featured in movies, even though we make up more than 30% of the movie-going audiences. Latinos/as have been even further delegitimized over the years when white actors simply put on brown face (ala West Side Story) to play Latinos/as or just chose non-Latino/a actors and actresses (an actor like Lou Diamond Phillips should thank Latinos every day for his roles) to play the roles of Latino/a characters. So it is not surprising that Latino/a Muslims are not a very well-known community since the larger community’s story is already not being told.

The importance of the book ‘Latino Muslims: Our Journeys to Islam’ is rooted in the fact that the Latino/a Muslim community deserves the opportunity to share our stories with the world.

The importance of the book ‘Latino Muslims: Our Journeys to Islam’ is rooted in the fact that the Latino/a Muslim community deserves the opportunity to share our stories with the world. Too often our stories are left unheard and this is sad to me because I know how much can be learned through the personal narrative. One can theorize for years about the reasons a group of people may be embracing a new religion, but if that same group of people is given the platform to speak and present their stories, it is so much stronger and impactful.

LatinoMuslims.net
Book Website: LatinoMuslims.net

Take for instance the story of Ricardo Pena. His path to Islam was one that included a thirst for knowledge that started with simply reading the daily newspaper on the bus on the way to school each day. But eventually, it led to his further desire to know about various religions in a search for his own truth, finally leading him to Islam. His story holds a common thread amongst many converts to Islam, the desire to know truth and have a personal connection to a faith that just feels right, feels like home. This book is hopefully the start of many narratives to be written about Latino/a Muslims and I pray that it is one that opens the eyes of many people to the often courageous, uplifting and emotional journeys many of us have taken in our spiritual paths.

Aaron Siebert-Llera, Esq. is the Staff Attorney for the Inner-City Muslim Action Network.

Islam, Oct - Dec 2012

The Kalimah & the Shahādah in Various Languages

From MuslimSpeak

July 3, 2008

The Kalimah & the Shahādah in Various Languages

If one were to search the net they would find various pages dedicated to demonstrating how to say and write ‘I love you’ in as many languages as those making the list can compile. One might also find less meaningful phrases such as ‘Where is the bar?’ or ‘Cheers!’. For any Muslim there is indeed no phrase more dear to them than the Shahādah or the Kalimah, so I decided to compile such a list for surely it would be far more useful and beloved to us than any other phrase. For those wondering, the shahādah and the kalimah are not the exact same thing, rather they are 2 similar phrases.

Basically, the Shahādah is in English – “I testify that there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is Allāh’s Messenger” whereas the kalimah is “There is no god but Allāh, Muhammad is Allāh’s Messenger“.

The shahādah then is when one expresses their belief in the kalimah. The word shahādah itself means ‘testimony’ and the word kalimah means either ‘phrase’ or ‘that which is spoken’, granting to this specific phrase the honour of being the most beloved and central phrase to a Muslim so much so that it only needs to be called ‘the phrase’ almost as if it were saying it were ‘the phrase of phrases’. It is commonly said in error that the shahādah appears on the flag of Saudi Arabia, I hear this commonly amongst non-Muslim vexillogists (those who study flags) and possibly from this influence also Muslims repeating this. When the kalimah is displayed it is commonly mistakenly referred to as the shahādah. As the above explanation would show, the kalimah is what appears on the Saudi Arabian flag, not the shahādah, the 2 although similar are indeed different things. For the time being I have supplied only the kalimah where available, however some of the additions are the longer shahādah. I will identify those which are the shahādah with a star (*) after the phrase so as to not confuse between the two.

There are currently 168 translations available and 28 transliterations. If you can help add to this list please let me know! If you can speak the following languages also it would be a great help if you could proof read the translations before I put them up – Wolof

Arabic –لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله“There is no god but Allāh, Muhammad is Allāh’s Messenger“
(lā ‘ilāha ‘illallāh muħammadur-rasūlullāh)

Translations

English – There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger

Afrikaans – Daar is geen God behalwe Allah, en Muhammad is sy Boodskapper

Afrikaans (Arabic Afrikaans script) – دَار گَِين اَندَِر خُوَد اَسْ الله نِي، اَِنْ مُحَمَّد اِس سَيْ پْرَُوفَِيت (image)

Albanian (Shqip) – Ska zot qe meriton te adhurohet vec Allahut, dhe Muhamedi eshte i derguari i Tij

Amharic (አማርኛ) – አላህ አንድ ነው ሙሀመድ መላክተኛ ነው (image)

Amharic (Latin script) – Allah anədə nawə Muhammad malakutaña nawə

Anglo-Saxon (Englisc) – Nán god ácorenlic of gield nemne Allah, Muhammad sy þæs ár of Allah

Australian Creole Language – Dea nomo digan la top nada den Allah en Muhammad im mesinja Azerbaijani (Azərbaycan) – Şahid dururam ki, Allahdan başqa heç bir tanrı yoxdur və şahid dururam ki, Məhəmməd Allahın elçisidir *

Azerbaijani (Азәрбајҹан) – Шаһид дурурам ки Аллаһдан башга һеч бир танры jохдур вə шаһид дурурам ки, Мəһəммəд Аллаһын елчисидир *

Aztec (Nāhuatl) – Ahmo mantimani teōtl zan cē Alá, auh īāchtopaihtohcāuh ca Mahoma

Banguingui (Sama Banguingui) – Saniya’ tuhan bang dumain in Allah maka si Muhammad sohu’ na

Basque (Euskara) – Ala da Jainko bakarra eta Mahoma da bere profeta

Belarusian (Беларуская) – Няма Бога апрача Алаха і Мухамад пасланец яго

Belarusian (Latin Script) – Njama Boga aprača Alaxa i Muxamad paslanec jago

Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa) – Вера ў Бога і тое, што Мухаммад Ягоны пасланьнік

Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa – Latin Script) – Vera ŭ Boga I toe, što Muxammad Jagony paslan’nik

Bengali (বাংলা) – (image)

Bengali (Latin Script) – Allah chara kono upassho nei, Muhammad Allahr rosul

Bosnian (Bosanski) – Svjedočim da nema drugog boga osim Allaha, i svjedočim da je Muhammed Božiji rob i Božiji Poslanik*

Bosnian (Arebica Script) – نهمآ درۆغۉغ بۉغآ اۉسيم الله اى محمّد يه بۉژييي پۉسلآنيق

Breton (Brezhoneg) – Ur feizad a dlee anzav eo Doue an doue nemetañ ha eo bet Mouhammad e brofed

Bulgarian (Български) – Няма друг бог освен Аллах и Мухаммед е Негов пратеник

Bulgarian (Latin Script) – Nyama drug bog osven Allah i Muhammed e negov pratenik

Catalan (Català) – No hi ha cap Déu tret de Déu, i Muhàmmad n’és el profeta

Cebuano (Sinugbuanon) – Akong gitabi nga walay laing angayan nga simbahon kondili ang Ginoo lamang ug mitabi usab ako nga si Muhammad ang Propeta sa Ginoo *

Chechen (Нохчийн) – АллахI воцург кхин Дела а вац, Мухьаммад Цуьнан элча а ву аьлла

Chechen (Latin script – Noxçiyn) – Allah vocurg qin Dela a vac, Muẋammad Cünan elcha a vu älla

Chinese (Simplified) (中文 – 简化字) – 万物非主,惟有真主,穆罕默德是真主的使者 (image)

Chinese (Traditional) (中文 – 繁體字) – 萬物非主,惟有真主,穆罕默德是真主的使者

Chinese (Pinyin) – wàn wù fēi zhǔ, wéi yǒu zhēnzhǔ, mùhǎnmòdé shì zhēnzhǔ de shǐzhě

Chinese (Tongyong Pinyin) – wàn wù fei jhŭ, wéi yǒu jhen jhŭ, mù hǎn mò dé shìh jhen jhŭ de shĭh jhĕ

Chinese (Wade-Giles) – wan⁴ wu⁴ fei¹ chu³, wei² yu³ chen¹ chu³, mu⁴ han³ mo⁴ te² shih⁴ chen¹ chu³ te shih³ che³

Chinese (Bopomofo) – (image)

Chinese (Cantonese/粵語 – Jyutping) – Maan⁶ mat⁶ fei¹ zyu², wai⁴ jau⁵ zan1 zyu², muk⁶ hon2 mak⁶ dak1 si⁶ zan1 zyu² dik1 sai² ze² Chinese (Xiao’erjing) – وًا وٌ فؤِ جُو وْ يوْ جٍ جوْ مُو هًا مْ دْ شِ جٍ جْو دْ شِ جْ

Chinese (Cyrillic) – вань⁴ у⁴ фэй1 чжу³, вэй2 ю³ чжэнь1 чжу³, му⁴ хань³ мо⁴ дэ2 ши⁴ чжэнь1 чжу³ дэ ши³ жэ³

Cornish (Kernewek) – Nyns eus dyw saw Dyw; Mahomm yw kannas Dyw Croatian (Hrvatski) – Nema drugog Boga, osim Allaha, a Muhamed je Božiji rob i Božiji poslanik

Croatian (Glagolitic Script) – ⰐⰅⰏⰀ ⰄⰓⰖⰃⰑⰃ ⰁⰑⰃⰀ, ⰑⰔⰉⰏ ⰀⰎⰎⰀⰘⰀ, Ⰰ ⰏⰖⰘⰀⰏⰏⰀⰄ ⰊⰅ ⰁⰑⰆⰉⰊⰉ ⰓⰑⰁ Ⰹ ⰁⰑⰆⰉⰊⰉ ⰒⰑⰔⰎⰀⰐⰉⰍ

Czech (Čeština) – Není Boha kromě jediného a opravdového Boha, Muhammad je Prorokem Božím

Danish (Dansk) – Der er ingen andre guder end Allaah, Mohammed er Allah’s budbringer

Dhivehi (ދިވެހ) – (image)

Dhivehi (Latin script) – Allāhu fiyavai ehen ilāhaku nuve eve, Muhammadgefānī Allāhuge rasūlāeve

Dutch (Nederlands) – Ik getuig dat er geen godheid is dan God, ik getuig dat Mohammed Gods boodschapper is

Egyptian Arabic – مافيش إله غير الله، محمد رسول الله

Egyptian Arabic (Latin Script) – Māfīsh ilāh ghayr Allāh, Muhammad rasūl Allāh

Esperanto – Estas neniu dio krom Dio, kaj Mohameto estas la profeto de Dio

Estonian (Eesti) – Kuulutan, et ei ole jumalat peale Jumala, ja kuulutan, et Muhammad on Jumala saadik*

Farsi – هیچ خدایی جز الله وجود ندارد ، محمد پیامبر الله‌ است (image)

Faroese (Føroyskt) – Tað er ongin gud uttan Gud, og Muhammed er profetur hansara

Finnish (Suomi) – Ei ole muuta jumalaa kuin Jumala ja Muhammad on Hänen lähettiläänsä

French (Français) – Il n’y a pas d’autre Dieu qu’Allah et Mohammed est Son messager

Friulian (Furlan) – A nol è Diu fûr di Allāh e Maomet al è il messazîr di Allāh

Gaelic (Gaelige) – Níl de dhia ach Dia, agus is é Muhammad A theachtaire

Galician (Galego) – Non hai ningún deus ademais de Deus e Muhammad é o profeta de Deus

German (Deutsch) – Es gibt keinen gott außer Gott, Mohammed ist der Gesandte Gottes

Greek (Ελληνικά) – Θεός δεν είναι παρά ο Αλλάχ και Προφήτης Του είναι ο Μωάμεθ

Ancient Greek (Αρχαία ελληνική γλώσσα) – Οὐκ ἔστιν θεὸς εἰ μὴ ὁ θεὸς μόνος· Μααμὲτ ἀπόστολος θεοῦ

Hausa – Ma’anarsa shine shaidawa babu abun bauta bisa cancanta sai Allah, sa’annan Muhammad Manzon Allah ne

Hausa (Ajami) – مَعَنَرسَ شِن شَيدَوَ بَبُ بِسَ ثَنثَنتَ سَي الله سَعَنَّن مُحَمَّد مَنزُن الله نيٰ

Hawaiian (Hawai’i) – ʻAʻohe akua koe Ke Akua (Allāh), ʻo Mohameka ka ʻelele a Ke Akua

Hebrew – אין אלוהים מבלעדי אללה ומוחמד שליח אללה (image)

Hebrew (Latin Script – Biblical Hebrew) – ‘Eyn Elohīm mibil’aday Allāh, wa-Muhammad shalīh Allāh

Hebrew (Latin Script – Modern Hebrew) – ‘Eyn Elohim mibil’adey Allah, ve-Mukhammad shalyakh Allah

Hindi (हिन्दी) – अल्लाहके सिवा और कोई देवता नहीं और मुहम्मद ईश्वर के दूत हैं (image)

Hindi (Latin Script) – Allaah ke sivaa aur koee devataa nahĩ aur Muhammad eeshvar ke doot haĩ

Hungarian (Magyar) – Tanúsítom, hogy nincs más isten Istenen kívül, és tanúsítom, hogy Mohamed Isten Prófétája *

Old Hungarian – Egy az isten, Allah (incomplete)

Icelandic (Íslenska) – Það er enginn guð nema Guð; Múhameð er spámaður Guðs

Ilonggo – Wala sang iban nga dios, kundi si Allah. Si Muhammad ang iya mensahero

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) – Tiada Tuhan yang berhak disembah selain Allah, Muhammad adalah utusan Allah

Interlingua – Il ha necun Deo que Allah e Muhammad es le messagero de Allah

Italian (Italiano) – Non c’è divinità se non Dio, Maometto è il Messaggero di Dio Japanese (日本語) – 一人の神様しか他に神はない、ムハンマドは神様の使徒(預言者)です (image)

Japanese (Romaji) – Ichi nin no kamisama shika ta ni kami ha nai, Muha mmado ha kamisama no shito ( yogen sha ) desu

Javanese (Bahasa Jawa) – Aku anyekseni menawa ora ana sesembahan ingkang haq kajaba Allah, lan aku anekseni menawa Muhammad kuwi utusan Allah*

Judeo-Arabic – לא אלה אל אללה מחמד רסול אללה (image) also, with complete vowel markings – (image)

Kazakh (Қазақша) – Аллаһтан басқа тәңір жоқ, Мұхаммед оның елшісі

Kazakh (Latin Script) – Аllahtan basqa täñir joq, Muxammed onıñ elşisi

Kazakh (Arabic Script) – اللهتان باسقا تأڭﺊر جوق، محمّد اونىڭ ﻩلشﺊﺳﺊ

Korean (한국어) – 하나님 이외에 다른 신은 없으며 무함마드는 하나님의 예언자 (image)

Korean (Romaja) – hananim ioee dareun sineun eobseumyeo muhammadeuneun hananimui yeeonja

Kurdish (Latin script – Kurdî) – Xwedê qet xuda din tune û Mihemmed resûlê Xwedê ye

Kurdish (Cyrillic script – Кöрди) – Хwəде qəт xöда дън тöнə у Мъһ’əммəд рəсуле Хwəде йə

Kurdish (Arabic script) – ﺧﻮﻩﺩﻯ ﻗﻪﺕ ﺧﻮﺩﺍ ﺩﻥ ﺗﻮﻧﻪ ﻭﻭ ﻣﺤﻪﻣﻪﺩ ﺭﻩﺳﻮﻭﻟﻰ ﺧﻮﻩﺩﻯ ﻳﻪ

Ladino (Djudeo-Espanyol) – No ay más Dio ke Ala, Mahomat es el mesajero de Ala Ladino (Hebrew Script) – נו אי מאס דיו ק אללה מחמט אס אל מסכרו ד אללה

Lak (Лакку) – Нет иного божества, кроме Аллаха, Мухаммад посланник Его

Latin – Non est deus praeter Deum et Machometus est nuntius Dei (image)

Latvian (Latviešu) – Nav cita dieva kā Dievs un Muhameds ir Dieva ziņnesis

Lithuanian (Lietuvių) – Ne Dievas, bet Dievas ir Muhammad yra poslancem Dievą

Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch) – Et gëtt nëmmen ee Gott, Mohammed ass dem Allah säi Prophéit

Macedonian (Македонски) – Нема друг бог освен Аллах и Мухаммед е Божјиот пратеник

Maguindanao – Kaisa isa bu nu Allah, da din kap’dnin, si Muhammad na sugo nu Allah

Malayalam (മലയാളം) – അല്ലാഹു അല്ലാതെ ഒരു ദൈവമില്ലെന്നും , മുഹമ്മദ് അവന്റെ ദൂതനാണെന്നും ഞാന്‍ സാക്ഷ്യം വഹിക്കുന്നു

Malayalam (Latin Script) – Allahu allathe oru daivamillennum , Muhammad avanrge dothananennum nan saqshyam vahiqqunnu

Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia) – Tiada tuhan melainkan Allah; Muhammad ialah pesuruhnya

Malaysian (Jawi Script) – تياد توهن ملاءينكن الله; محمد اياله ڤسوروحڽ

Maltese (Malti) – M’hemmex alla ħlief Alla l-waħdieni li m’ għandux xirka , u Muħammed ir-rasul tiegħu

Maranao – Da a tohan inonta bu so Allah gu so Muhammad na sugo iyan

Marathi (मराठी) -अल्लाह हा एकच इश्वर असून कोणीही त्यापेक्षा वरचढ नाही मुहम्मद हा अल्लाहचा शेवटचा प्रेषीत आहे

Marathi (Latin Script) – Allaah haa ekach ishavar asoon koneehee tayaapekshaa varachadh naahee Muhamamad haa Allaahachaa shevatachaa paresheet aahe

Minangkabau (Baso Minang) – Ambo basaksi bahsonyo indak ado Tuhan salain Allah dan nabi Muhammad adolah utusan Allah

Mirandese (Mirandés) – Nun hai outra Debindade senó Dius, Maomé ye sou mensageiro

Moldovan (молдовеняскэ) – Ну eксистэ алта дивинитате афарэ де Аллах, яр Mухаммад есте тримисул луи Аллах

Mongolian (Монгол) – Аллахаас өөр бурхан үгүй, Мухаммэдээс өөр элч байхгүй гэдгийг гэрчилж байна

Mongolian (Mongolian Script/Монгол бичиг) – (image)

Morisco – نُ هَي ماس دِيُس كَا الله اِ محمد ءَاس ءَال مَانسَخَارُ ذَا الله (image)

Norman (Nouormand) – N’y’a qu’un dgieu est qu’Mahoummé est san prophète

Norwegian (Norsk/Bokmål) – Det finnes ingen Gud unntatt Allah, og Muhammed er Hans sendebud

New Norwegian (Nynorsk) – Ikkje finst nokon annan gud enn Alláh, og Muḥammad er Bodberaren åt Alláh

Oromo (Afaan Oromoo) – Rabbi tokicha male khabira hin jiru, muhammadis ergamaa isaati

Ossetian (Иронау) – Кувыны æккаг Хуыцау Хуыцауы йедтæмæ нæй, æмæ Мæхæмæт Хуыцауы минæвар

Ossetian (Latin Script) – Kuvyny ækkag Xuycau Xuycauy jedtæmæ næj, æmæ Mæxæmæt Xuycauy minævar

Pashto – نشته بل کوم خدای يا معبود پرته د الله نه او محمد د الله پيغمبر دی (image)

Polish (Polski) – Nie ma boga prócz Allaha, a Mahomet jest Jego prorokiem

Portuguese (Português) – Não há outro deus além de Deus; Muhammad é o mensageiro de Deus

Quechua (Runa Simi) – Huklla Dyusmi kan, Muhamad-qa paypa willaq runanmi

Romanian (Română) – Nu există alta divinitate in afară de Allah (Dumnezeu), iar Muhammad este trimisul lui Allah

Romanian (Cyrillic Script) – Noу eѯистъ алта дивиɴитате афаръ де Аллах, iaр Moyхаммад есте тримисoyл лoyи Аллах

Romansh (Rumantsch) – Jau conferm ch’i na dat nagina divinitad danor Dieu e che Mohammed è vegnì tramess da Dieu

Russian (Русский) – Нет Божества достойнного поклонения, кроме Аллаха, Мухаммед посланник Аллаха

Russian (Latin Script) – Njet Bozhestva dostoynnogo poklonenija krome Allakha, Mukhammed poslannik Allakha

Sami (Sámegiella) -Ii leat eará ipmil go Allah ja Muhammed lea su profehta

Serbian (Српски) – Нема Бога осим Бога, а Мухамед је његов пророк

Sicilian (Sicilianu) – Esisti un Diu sulu Allah e Muhammadu è lu sò prufeta

Simple English – There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger

Slovak (Slovenčina) – Niet boha okrem Boha a Muhammad je posol Boží

Slovene (Slovenščina) – Ni božanstva razen Boga; Mohamed je Božji prerok

Somali (Soomaaliga) – Ma jiiro Illah oo Allah ka ahayn, Muxammad wa na Rasuulki Allah

Somali Waxaan qira’yaa in uusan jirin ilaah, Allaah mooyee, waxana qirayaa in uu Muxammad yahay rasuulkii Allaah *

Spanish (Español) – No hay más dios que Alá y Muhammad es el mensajero de Dios

Sundanese (Basa Sunda) – Teu aya pangéran anging Allah; sarta Muhammad rosul Allah

Swahili (Kiswahili) – Hakuna mungu ila Allah, Muhammad ni mtume wa Allah

Swedish (Svenska) – Jag bekänner att det inte finns någon gud utom Allah, och att Muhammed är hans profet *

Tagalog/Filipino – Walang ibang diyos maliban kay Allah, si Muhammad ang sugo ni Allah

Tagalog/Filipino (Baybayin script) – (image)

Tajik (тоҷикӣ) – Нест Худое ба уз Алло ва Муҳаммад расули ӯст

Tajik – Nest Xudoe ba uz Allo va Muhammad rasuli ?st

Tatar (Tatarça) – Inanu, Allahnıñ berlegen, Möxämmädneñ şäyğämbärlegen tanu

Tatar (Cyrillic script) (Татарча) – Ынану АллаҺның берлеген, Мөхәммәднең шәйгъәмбәрлеген тану

Tausūg – Wayruun tuhan malaingkan ha Allāh, hi Muhammad ing rasūl sing Allāh

Tausūg (Arabic script) – وَيْرُٷنْ تُهَنْ مَلَئِڠْكَن هَ الله هِ مُحَمَّدْ ئِڠ رَسُولْ سِڠ الله

Telugu (తెలుగు) – అల్లాః తప్ప వేరే అరద్యుడు లేదు ముహమ్మద్ అల్లాః యొక్క ప్రవక్త

Telugu (Latin script) – Allaah tappa vere aradyudu ledu Muhammad Allaah yokka pravakta Telugu (Archaic) (తెలుగు) – సర్వేశ్వరుడైన అల్లాహ్ ఒక్కడే, ముహమ్మదు అతడిచే అవతరింపబడ్డ ప్రవక్త

Telugu (Archaic) (Latin script) – Sarveshvarudain Allah oqqade, Muhammadu atadiche avatarinpabadd pravaqt

Thai (ภาษาไทย) -ไม่มีพระเจ้าอื่นใดนอกจากพระเจ้าและมุฮัมมัดเป็นร่อซู้ลของพระเจ้า

Thai (Latin Script) – mâi mee prá jâao èun dai nôk jàak prá jâao láe móo-ham-mát bpen rôr-sóon kŏng prá jâao

Turkish (Türkçe) -hiçbir İlah yoktur, ancak Allah vardır, Muhammed onun kulu ve elçisidir

Turkish – Shahādah – Tanıklık ederim ki hiçbir İlah yoktur, ancak Allah vardır ve yine tanıklık ederim ki Muhammed onun kulu ve elçisidir *

Ottoman Turkish (lisân-ı Osmânî) – هچبر إله يوكتور انجق الله واردير محمد انون كولو و الچيسيدير

Ukrainian (Українська) – нема Бога крім Аллаха, Мухаммад посланець Його

Urdu – نہیں ۓ کوئی معبود سواۓ اللہ کے محمد اللہ کے پیغمبر ہیں

Urdu (Latin Script) – nahĩ hai koyee ma’bood sivaye Allaah ke, Muhammad Allaah ke payghambar haĩ

Uyghur – بىر اللەدىن باشقا ھەقىقى مەئبۇد ي (incomplete)

Uzbek (Ўзбек) – Танхо Аллохдан узга ибодатга сазовор илох йуқ, Мухаммад у зотнинг росулидир

Uzbek (Latin script – O‘zbek)- Tanxo Alloxdan uzga ibodatga sazovor ilox yuq, Muxammad u zotning rosulidir

Uzbek (Arabic Script – Chagatai) – تانخو اللهدان اوُزگا عبادتگا سازوڨور إلٰه يوُق، محمّد اوُ زوتنيڭ رسوُليدير

Venetian (Vèneto) – Dio el xe uno solo e Maometo el xe el so profeta

Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) – Không có thần linh nào khác ngoại trừ Thượng Đế (Allah), và Muhammad là Người đưa tin (Thiên Sứ) của Thượng Đế

Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm/字喃) – (image)

Visayan (Bisaya) – Walay diyos na lahi’ maura jud ang Allah ug si Muhammad ang iyang sugo’

Walloon (Walon) – N’ a rén diu.. Allah.. et Mawoumet est li messaedjî d’Allah (incomplete)

Welsh (Cymraeg) – Nid oes Duw ond Duw a Mohamed yw Negesydd Duw

Yiddish – קיינער איז נישט ווערט מען זאל אים דינען נאר גאט אליין, און אז מוחמד איז דער שליח פון גאט (image)

Yiddish (Latin script) – Keyner iz nisht vert men zol im dinen nor got aleyn, un Muchamad iz der sheliyekh fun got

Transliterations

Latin script – lā ‘ilāha ‘illallāh muħammadur-rasūlullāh

French variation – lâ ilâha illallâh, Muhammadur-rasûlullâh

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) – læː ʔɪlæːhæ ʔɪlːallˁːaːh mʊħæmːædʊ̃ rːasʊːlʊlˁːaːh

Amharic – ላኢላሃ-ኢለሏህ ሙሃመድ ረሱሉሏህ (image)

Armenian – Լա իլահա իլլալլահ Մուհամմադու ռասուլուլլահ

Braille (Arabic Braille) – (image)

Greek script – Λά ιλάχα ιλλ Αλλάχ Μουχαμμαντουρ ρασουλουλλάχ

Georgian Script – ლა ილაჰა ილლ ალლაჰ მუჰამმადუ რასულულლაჰ

Ashuri (Hebrew) script – לַא אִלַּהַה אִלַּאלְלַה מֻחַמַּד רַסוּלֻלְלַה – [with vowels] (image) לא אלהה אלאללה מחמד רסולללה – [without vowels] (image)

Japanese script – ラー・イラーハ イッラッラー ムハンマド ラスールッラー (image)

Devangari (Hindi) – ला इलाहा इल अल्लाह मुहम्मद उर्रसूल अल्लाह (image)

Cyrillic (Russian) script – ля Иллаха Иль-ла Аллах Мухаммаду расулуллах

Cyrillic – Chechen variation – ЛаилахIа иллаАллахI, Мухьаммадур расулуллaхI

Cyrillic – Bashkir variation – Ләә иләәһә илләл-лааһү Мүхәммәдүр-расүүлүллааһ

Coptic Alphabet – (image)

Korean – 라 일라하 일랄라 모함메단 라술울라 – [kalimah] (image) 아슈하두 안 라일라하 일랄라 와 아슈하두 안나 모함메단 라술울라 – [shāhadah]

Lontara Script – ᨒᨕ ᨕᨒᨕᨖᨕ ᨕᨒᨒᨕᨒᨒᨕᨖ ᨆᨕᨖᨕᨆᨆᨕᨉᨕ ᨑᨕᨔᨕᨘᨒᨕᨒᨒᨕᨖ

Malayalam – ലാ ഇലാഹ ഇല്ലല്ലാഹ്, മുഹമ്മദര്‍ റസൂലുല്ലാഹ്

Morse Code (Arabic) – •-•• •- •- •-•• •••• •- •-•• •- •-•• •-•• •••• – •••• – -•• •-• ••• •– •-•• •- •-•• •-•• ••••

N’ko Alphabet – (image)

Osmanya Alphabet – (image)

Phoenician Alphabet – (image)

Sabaean Alphabet – (image)

Syriac (Madnḥāyā/Eastern script) – ܠܵ ܐܝܠܵܗܲ ܐܝܠܠܐܠܠܵܗ ܡܘܚܲܡܡܘܕ ܪܲܣܘܼܠ ܐܠܠܵܗ (image)

Telugu Alphabet – లా ఇలాహ ఇల్లల్లాహు ముహమ్మదుర్ రసూలుల్లాహ్ (image)

Ugaritic Cuniform – (image)

Islam, Oct - Dec 2012, Quran

Conference on the Real Personality of Prophet Muhammad

Centro Islámico Para Asuntos de la Mujer
www.centroislamicoparaasuntosdelamujer.webs.com

In the name of Allah, most gracious and most merciful
All Praise be to Allah
Peace and blessings upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions
Peace be upon you

ISLAMIC CENTER OF WOMAN’S AFFAIRS in order to provide the correct information about Islam and Muslims to the Guatemalan society, the center has done its first Islamic conference to general audience on the topic: “THE REAL PERSONALITY OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD” on
Saturday, October 6th, 2012.

For this activity, many Muslims and Non-Muslims have come and paid special attention to the topic and also asked questions which were answered.

People who came to the conference was given a free gift bag with Islamic books and pamphlets, they were also offered some food.

For this first conference, Muslims along with Non-Muslims have worked together. We ask Allah subhana wa ta’ala to reward them with the best…Ameen.

May Allah subhana wa ta’ala accept this work…Ameen.

Fátima Arias

Islam, Oct - Dec 2012

La Identidad del Musulmán Latinoamericano

Por Imam Juan Suquillo

Latinoamérica el terruño de las nuevas generaciones de musulmanes en occidente.

Veinte años atrás cuando decidimos con mi esposa y un grupo de hermanos musulmanes fundar el primer Centro Islámico reconocido oficialmente por el gobierno Ecuatoriano, jamás pensé que este decisión sería la semilla edificadora de una nueva identidad naciente en Ecuador: El Musulmán Latinoamericano.

Interpretando la marca de identidad de las jóvenes generaciones que han transcurrido en estos años en nuestro Centro Islámico, se puede colegir con certeza, que el Musulmán Latinoamericano no pertenece al estereotipo del musulmán inmigrante en Latinoamérica, pues su pertenencia geográfica es el suelo Latinoamericano, su religión es el Islam, las pinceladas de sus rasgos culturales pertenecen, en gran parte, a la del hispano- hablante de Latinoamérica.

Latinoamérica se vislumbra como el terruño de las nuevas generaciones de musulmanes en occidente, quienes rechazan la mentalidad “auto excluyente” que prevalece en ciertos recientes grupos migratorios de musulmanes asentados en occidente y que probablemente, debido a cargas culturales, falta de idioma y preparación adecuada, se introvirtirtieron formando gethos religiosos.

Latinoamérica será percibida a futuro cercano, como el terruño natural para todo musulmán que anhela el respeto a su creencia, que rechazar la segregación e intolerancia religiosa. Latinoamérica desconoce el fenómeno de la Islamofobia, ampliamente experimentado en Norte América y Europa. Cuyas culturas pueden contribuir con elementos democráticos, libertades e igualdades que necesitan ser reforzadas en América Latina.

Ciertamente los Principios Islámicos emanados del Corán y la autentica Sunnah constituyen un factor contributivo esencial para forjar la solida identidad del musulmán en Latinoamérica, quien definitivamente necesita mejorar en su espectro moral, ético, con una gran dosis de auto estima proveniente de la honra y dignidad que Dios Todopoderoso le ha otorgado como ser humano.

Por cierto que hemos honrado a los hijos de Adán, y les hemos facilitado los medios para transitar por la tierra y por el mar; les hemos proveído de cosas buenas y los hemos preferido por encima de muchas otras criaturas. Sagrado Corán 17:70

Geopolíticamente, Latinoamérica ha logrado consensuar últimamente avances significativos en cuanto a la integración de sus pueblos y la calidad de vida de sus habitantes, a sus vastos recursos naturales. A estos antecedentes se suma el factor aglutinante de su único idioma, el español, hablado por más de 580 millones de habitantes; colocándole a este continente a pocos pasos competitivos de culturas emergentes de la actualidad: India, Sudáfrica y China.

El segundo punto que debe remarca la identidad del Musulmán Latinoamericano, es su rol como “Ansar”- ayudante protagónico de una hermandad bien entendida. Así como su rol de no identificación con prejuicios y nacionalismos provenientes de agitadores de otras latitudes, cuyo proselitismo religioso y la práctica de su fe, distan diametralmente.

Tercero, el Musulmán Latinoamericano debe ser un individuo renovado moral y espiritualmente, que busca el equilibrio en sus acciones – producto de su compromiso y encuentro inminente con Allah SWT. en la Otra Vida. Al mismo tiempo, el Musulmán Latinoamericano debe ser desde el inicio un ente integrado a las actividades productivas, educativas, de la sociedad a la que pertenece, con una independencia económica que le permita tener un solo discurso.

Cuarto, el Musulmán Latinoamericano no siente pertenecer a ninguna minoría religiosa o racial, pues contribuye en términos de igualdad – con sus congéneres ciudadanos – a la construcción de la sociedad civil. Además, está en condiciones de defender los valores más caros que la Patria así lo demande.

Final e independientemente, si esto complace o no a ciertos grupos o individuos… el Islam es parte de la realidad histórica de Latinoamérica. Los registros históricos no puntualizan fechas y citaciones, más bien ellas se difuminan en el tiempo y el espacio, pero jamás se puede negar el carácter moldeador – con la llegada de musulmanes inmediatamente después de Cristóbal Colón – en el mestizaje latinoamericano.

Lingüísticamente, más de cuatro mil palabras de origen árabe se usan a diario en el léxico del hispanohablante. La Ciencia social que estudia el comportamiento familiar y sus roles protagónicos, hallan mayor asidero en las similitudes de la familia en Latinoamérica con el concepto familiar en el Islam.

Arquitectónicamente, el arte Mosaico, torres que semejan minaretes, cúpulas de iglesias presentes en Quito, Lima y México, forman parte de la herencia Musulmana (780 años) en el Andaluz, innegable en Latinoamérica, por sus edificaciones, testigos mudos de lo que pudo ser asiento de las sociedades musulmanas, ampliamente reprimidas por el brazo ejecutor de la Santa Inquisición en Latinoamérica. Pero hoy, en los albores del nuevo milenio, estos mismos elementos se revierten en un despegue fulgurante sin retorno, precisamente para que el Islam y los musulmanes sean parte definitiva de la realidad Latinoamericana.

Imam Dr. Juan Suquillo
Director del Centro Islámico del Ecuador – Mezquita “Assalam”

Islam, July - Sept 2012

Once Upon a Time in Andalusia

By Dr. Abdellatif Charafi

This article is intended to be a trip in time to a very special period in world history: from the ninth to the thirteenth century in Andalusia, and more specifically in Córdoba, where a million people lived in Europe’s largest city, the cultural center of that period. There existed no separation between rigorous scientific study, wisdom and faith. Nor was East separated from West; nor was the Muslim from the Jew or the Christian. It was there that the European Renaissance actually began, and from where it grew.

By examining the trajectory of Islam in Andalusia, the objective is not to praise an illustrious dead, but to reintroduce in our life the affirmation of absolute and universal values of Islam without which our society will inevitably disintegrate.

The Myth of the Muslim Conquest of Spain

More than five hundreds years have elapsed since Islam was irradicated from Spain. The event was celebrated in grandeur at Expo ’92 in Seville, during which the organizers tried to make us believe that Spain was formed by over seven centuries of continuous struggle against Islam. But was the defeat of the Muslims on 2 January 1492 a liberation for the Spaniards? Was the reign of the Muslims a colonization of the Iberian Peninsula?

When looking at the Muslim expansion in Spain one is struck by its speed, its generally peaceful aspect and civilizational component. It took the Muslims less than three years (from 711 to 714) and one battle (at Guadalete, near Cadiz) to spread throughout the whole of Spain. In contrast to this, it took the Prophet Muhammad twenty-two years (from 610 to 632) and nineteen expeditions to get Arabia to accept Islam. This difference in both time and effort, to gain Arabia and Spain to Islam, is due to theological affinities as well as socio-cultural and politico-economical reasons which appealed to the Spaniards.

Pre-Islamic Arabia was predominantly polytheist, with small Jewish and Christian communities. There, Islam had to fight against a ‘world without law’ (Jahiliyya) to make monotheism prevail. Pre-Islamic Spain was Christian with important Jewish communities. This difference, according to Roger Garaudy, not only explains the speed of the expansion, but also its type.

W. Montgomery Watt in A History of Islamic Spain states: It is a common misapprehension that the holy war meant that the Muslims gave their opponents a choice “between Islam and the sword”. This was sometimes the case, but only when the opponents were polytheist and idol-worshippers. For Jews, Christians and other “People of the Book”, that is, monotheists with written scriptures – a phrase that was very liberally interpreted – there was a third possibility, they might become a “protected group”, paying a tax or tribute to the Muslims but enjoying internal autonomy The case of Spain is therefore not exceptional and that is due to the very essence of Islam.

The Prophet Muhammad never pretended to create a new religion: ‘Say: I am no bringer of a new-fangled doctrine among the Messenger’ (45:9); and ‘Nothing is said to thee that was not said to the messengers before thee’ (41:43).

He came to remind the people of the Primordial Religion: ‘Say ye: We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to all the Prophets from their Lord: we make no difference between one and another of them: and we bow to God (in Islam).’ (2:136).

Islam came to confirm the previous messages, to purify them from historical alterations to which they were subjected and to complete them. The Qur’an says: ‘If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee.’ (10:94). The Muslim community was then opened, without distinction to all those who believe in the unity and transcendence of God.

Besides, in the Iberian Peninsula there raged a civil war between Trinitarian Christians, who accepted the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, and Arian Christians, who saw Jesus not as God but as a Prophet inspired by God. The Council of Nicea in 325, invoked by the emperor Constantine in order to unify ideologically his empire, imposed the dogma of Trinity and condemned the teachings of Anus of Alexandria who refused these dogmas. The conflict erupted, when in 709, the Trinitarian Christians declared Roderick as king. The archbishop of Seville opposed him and the inhabitants of present Andalusia (Bétique) revolted against his rule. When Roderick invaded Andalusia, the inhabitant of the latter looked south help. The able Berber General Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed to Algeciras and a battle in Guadalete, near Cadiz took place. The Bishop of Seville as well as that of Toledo rallied to the Muslim army.

The peasants had a very difficult time, were ill-treated and reduced to the status of slaves. Poverty, corruption, ignorance and instability were the order of the day. Even the free men felt themselves to be underprivileged. There was much discontent, and many ordinary people looked on the Muslims as liberators and gave them all the assistance they could. The Jews who have been persecuted for a long time under the Visigoth rule (e.g. a special decree in 694 enslaved all those who did not accept baptism), opened the gates of many cities. So deep and widespread was the satisfaction given to all classes that during the whole of the eight century there was not a single revolt of the subjects.

It is difficult to understand how a small army could cross the whole of Spain in less than three years if one imagines a military invasion. The historian Dozy, in Histoire des Musulmans d’Espagne, describes the event as ‘a good thing for Spain’ which produced an important social revolution, setting the country free from the chains it was groaning under for centuries. Taxes were much less compared to those imposed by previous governments. The Muslims introduced land reforms by taking land from the rich and distributing it equally among serf-peasants and slaves. The new owners worked it with zeal. Commerce was liberated from the limitations and high taxes that caused its demise. Slaves could set themselves free in return for a fair compensation, something which threw in new energies. All these measures, says Dozy, created a state of well-being which was the reason behind the welcoming of the Muslims.

The great Spanish writer Blasco Ibanez in Dans l’ombrc de la cathédrale talks about a ‘civilizational expedition’ coming from the south rather than a conquest. To Ibanez, it was not an invasion imposing itself by arms, it was a new society whose vigorous roots were sprouting from everywhere. Describing the conquering Muslims, he says: ‘The principle of freedom of conscience, cornerstone of the greatness of nations, was dear to them. In the cities they ruled, they accepted the church of the Christian and the synagogue of the Jew.’

History, therefore makes it clear that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through Spain and forcing Islam at the point of the sword is an absurd myth. The expansion of Islam in Spain was not a military conquest, but a liberation.

The Meaning of Life in Andalusia

The meaning of life and its goal in Andalusia at the time of its Islamic apogy, directed each act of day to day life, as well as scientific and technical research. The spiritual giants like the Muslims Ibn Rushd (i (1126-1198) known in the West as Averroës and Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), or the Jewish philosopher Maimonides (11351204), are some of the men who put across most brilliantly the message of Andalusia. This spirit lay behind all the scientific and technical progress of those golden centuries.

Science was not set apart from wisdom and faith, and nothing can express this fact better than Ibn Rushd when he writes: Our philosophy would serve for nothing if it were not able to link these three things which I have tried to join in my ‘Harmony of science and religion’: A Science, founded on experience and logic, to discover reasons.

A Wisdom, which reflects on the purpose of every scientific research so that it serves to make our life more beautiful.

A Revelation, that of our Qur’an, as it is only through revelation that we know the final purposes of our life and our history.

The unity of the Abrahamic tradition and the critical approach to philosophy are expressed with the same force, in the work of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who was a contemporary of Ibn Rushd. At the synagogue before the Torah, he said: If for Ibn Rushd the Holy Book is not our Torah but the Qur’an, we both agree about the contributions of reason and of revelation. These are two manifestations of one same divine truth. There is only a contradiction when one is faithful to a literal reading of the scriptures, forgetting about their eternal meaning. In Andalusia, Islam takes a new dimension with Ibn ‘Arabi, nicknamed Muhyi al-Din (the one who gives life to faith). What interested Ibn Arabi was not what a man said about his faith, but rather what this faith makes of that man. He states: God is unity. The unity of love, of the lover and the beloved. Every love is a wish for union. Every love consciously or unconsciously is a love for God.

Bear witness to this presence of God within yourself, of God’s creation, which never ceases. The act is the exterior manifestation of faith. Islam recognizes all the Prophets as messengers of the same God. Learn to discover in each man the seed of a desire for God, even if his belief is still dim and sometime idolatrous. Help to lead him towards the fullest Light.

Ibn Rushd endeavours to bring to light the universal message of Islam overshadowed by regional traditions, when he defines the best society as, ‘That where every woman, every child and every man is given the means of developing the possibilities God has given to each of them.’ The power to establish it ‘will not be a theocracy, like that of the Christians of Europe, a power of religious accomplices or tyrants: God says in the Qur’an, “He has breathed into man His spirit”. Let us make Him live in every man!’ When asked about the conditions ofsuch a society, he answers: ‘A society will be free and pleasing to God, when none acts either out of fear of the Prince or of Hell, nor the wish of a reward from a Courtesan or of Paradise, and when no-one says: This is mine.’

Islam in Andalusia gave birth to a number of spiritual giants who have shown that humanity has no future without the warmth and the spiritual values that emanate from the belief in the transcendence and oneness of God. Men such as Ibn Massara of Córdoba (883-931), for whom man was responsible of his own history; Ibn Hazm of Córdoba (994-1064) who was a pioneer of the comparative history of religions; Ibn Gabirol of Malaga (1020-1070) whose fundamental work was the synthesis of the Jewish faith and the philosophy of Ibn Massara; Ibn Bajja (1090-1139) with whom the Islamic philosophy xvas presented in a systematic way with its own direction; Ibn Tufayl from Cádiz (1100-1185) whose central theme was the relation between reason and faith.

All these men of knowledge, wisdom and faith stand as memories to a glorious past when true Islam was preached and practised; a time when the beautiful example of the Muslims won them fame and respect; a time when these peace-loving people would rise simply because injustice was being practised and would fight in the name of God with a strength that led handfuls of believers to victory over armies of non-believers.

The Style of Life in Andalusia

Andalusia was unique in terms of its tangible accomplishments in all spheres of life. Learning was emphasized, marked by a fascination with science, the Arabic literature and the philosophical discourse on reason and faith. In the world created in the land of Andalusia, there was commercial wealth, wealth in terms of consumption, and wealth of productivity and exchange. There was also a wealth of information, thanks to the libraries of Córdoba and a wealth of thinking about the meaning of life, God, and material things. And there were even poets who sang to all the ways of wealth.

We will restrict ourselves to a brief description of the scientific and technical achievement, and a more detailed account of the Mosque of Córdoba as it is one of the first monumental expressions of Muslim rule, and arguably the building that most fully embodied an image of the Muslim hegemony in Andalusia.

Scientific and Technical Achievement

When discussing the scientific development in Andalusia, one cannot separate it either from the contributions of the other great civilizations, nor from the wisdom and faith that inspired the efforts of all researchers in Andalusia: science is One because the world is One, the world is One because God is One. This principle of tawhid commanded all aspects of scientific research in Andalusia as well as in other parts of the Islamic world, at its period of apogy. The following are some of the achievements of such a philosophy of life.

The first attempt to fly was in Córdoba by Abu Abbas al-Fernass. Al-Zahrawi, born near Córdoba in 936, was one of the greatest surgeon of all times. His encyclopedia of surgery was used as a standard reference work in the subject in all universities of Europe for over five hundred years. Al-Zarqalli, who was born in Córdoba, devised the astrolabe: an instrument which is used to measure the distance of the stars above the horizon. The astrolabe made it possible to determine one s position in space and the hours of the day, to navigate and to call the faithful to prayer at the given time.

Al-Idrisi, who was born in Ceuta in 1099 and studied at Córdoba, drew maps for the King Roger II of Sicily in which he used methods of projection to pass from the spherical shape of the earth to the planisphere that were very similar to those used by Mercator four centuries later.

The agricultural and irrigation methods of the Muslims of Spain were revealed by the great Italian engineer Juanello Turriano, who came to Andalusia to study the hydraulic and agricultural techniques of eleventh century Muslim Spain to solve his problems of the sixteenth century in Italy.

The Great Mosque of Córdoba

Córdoba deserves its titles of the ‘bride of the cities’ and the ‘jewel of the tenth century’. A city of factories and workshops, which attracted many scholars and produced her own. It was the first city with street lights in Europe. It rose to eminence as the torch of learning and civilization at a time when the Normans had savaged Paris and England had been ransacked by the Danes and Vikings. Its showpiece was its magnificent mosque, which is the most famous building of Spain after the Alhambra palace in Granada.

The foundations of the mosque were laid by Abd al-Rahman I in 785 on the site of an old Christian church. Since the time of the conquest in 711, the church had been used by both Muslims and Christians. The Muslims bought the church because of the growth of the population at that time, and not because of religious intolerance. It had been enlarged between 832-848, then in 912, and mainly in 961, by al-Hakam II, with its splendid mihrab. Al-Mansur, in 987, doubled the prayer hall which then contained 600 columns. It had already been perturbated in 1236, when Córdoba fell to Ferdinard III of Castille and chapels were inserted, and further in 1523 when a cathedral was built in the heart of the mosque. King Charles V is recorded to have remarked upon seeing the new cathedral: ‘Had I known what this was, I would not have given permission to touch the old, because you are making what exists in many other places and you have unmade what was unique in the world.’ As we can see it today, despite the opposition of the Spanish government to a UNESCO project to move the cathedral as it is without omitting the least detail (as the temple of Abu Simbal in Egypt was moved), the Mosque of Córdoba still reflects the image of the Muslim art at its best.

The practical problem faced by the architect of the Córdoba Mosque for the construction of a huge room for a big community, was to raise the roof of the oratory to a height proportionate to the extent of the building, so that a feeling of depression-like the one we feel when we get into an underground parking can be dispelled. The antique columns, or the building-spoils which were available, were insufficient. It was therefore necessary to supplement them, and the example of Damascus suggested arcades on two levels. But the model of Córdoba has a very surprising feature: the lower and upper arcades are no longer part of a wall, but are reduced to their pillars and arches without any intermediate masonry. The upper arches which support the roof, rest on the same pillars as the lower arches. Such a concept, without precedent in the history of architecture and unique to the Córdoba Mosque, is a real defiance to the weight and inertia of stones.

Let us say, to give a better picture of the image evoked by this architecture, that the curves of both series of arches soar like palm- fronds from the same trunk, which rests upon a relatively slender column, without the feeling of being too heavy for it. The arches with their many-coloured and fan-shaped wedge-stones have such expansive strength that they dispel any suggestion of weight. This _expression in static terms of a reality which goes beyond the material plane, is due to the outline of the arches. The lower ones are drawn out beyond the shape of a pure semicircle, whereas the upper ones are more open and purely semicircular.

Many archaeologists have suggested that the composition of the arcs used by the architect of Córdoba was inspired by the Roman aqueduct in Merida. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two compositions. The Roman architect had respected the logic of the gravity, a building’s support must be proportionate to the weight, thus the upper arcs must be lighter than the supporting elements. For the Córdovan architect-and more generally for all Islamic architecture-this rule does not work. Why?

To answer this question we have to move from the technical considerations, to the symbolic _expression of space in the Muslim prayer, which was the most important factor preoccupying the ‘Master’ of Córdoba. The purpose was not to achieve an architectural exploit, but rather to create a new type of space-one that seems to be breathing and expanding outwards from an omnipresent centre. The limits of space play no role at all; the walls of the prayer hall disappear beyond a forest of arcades. Their sheer repetition (there were 900 of them in the original mosque) giving an impression of endless extension. Space is qualified here not by its boundaries but by the movement of the arcades, if one may describe it as movement. This expansion which is both powerful yet in reality immobile. Titus Burckhardt describes this as being ‘a logical art, objectively static but never anthropomorphic.’

It is to al-Hakam II that we owe the marvellous mihrab, the master piece of Córdovan art, as well as the various copulas which stand before it, including their substructures, of interlacing arcades. The niche of this mihrab, which is very deep, is surrounded in its upper part by an arch, that is like an apparition and a source of light, of which the very curve seems to dilate, like a chest breathing in the air of infinity. According to the highest Muslim spirituality, beauty is one of the ‘signs’ which evokes the Divine Presence. The inscription above the symphony of colours, in severe Kufi script, proclaims the Oneness of God.

The Mosque of Córdoba is the embodiment of the universal message of Islam. Muhammad Iqbal in his poem A Ia mosquée de Cordoue wrote: Oh! Holy Mosque of Córdoba Shrine for all lovers of art Pearl of the one true faith Sanctifying Andalusia’s soil Like Holy Mecca itself Such a glorious beauty Will be found on earth Only in a true Muslim’s heart

Who Killed Islam in Andalusia

The scientific and philosophical learning of the Andalusians was channelled off beyond the Pyrenees, to irrigate the dry pastures of European intellectual life. Students from Western Europe flocked to the libraries and universities set up by the Muslims in Spain. This decisively changed the European mind, and it is no exaggeration to say that Western civilization owes its regeneration to the intellectual energy released by the dynamo that was Islam. The period of regeneration, which started in Florence in sixteenth century Italy, is referred to by the West as the Renaissance. It was a direct result of another European Renaissance which began at the university of Córdoba in ninth century Spain. This profound truth of our common history becomes clear when we know how to listen to the music of the stones of Córdoba. There is, however, a fundamental difference between the two ‘renaissances’: the one which started in Córdoba was based on faith and was conscious of the universality of the divine; the one which began in Florence was made against God with its essential project of secularising all aspects of life.

The reasons leading to the death of the Córdovan-type renaissance generated by Islam, can be understood best by reference to the causes of its success. Islam owed its spectacular success entirely to the teachings of the Qur’an and the example (Sunna) of the Prophet Muhammad (s). The active vigour of the system was neutralized as soon as the Muslims relegated the Qur’an to the status of a treatise on dogmas, and the Sunna became a mere system of laws and a hollow shell without any living meaning. In his Muqaddima, Ibn Khaldun condemns the methods of education practised by some of the fuqaha’ of Andalusia when, he says that, instead of helping the student to ‘understand the content of the book on which he is working’, they force him ‘to learn it by heart’.

The Maliki school of thought (madhhab) was so dominant in Andalusia to the point that no other madhahib were taught, and knowing by heart the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik and its commentaries was enough to make a faqih a renowned scholar. This closure of the door of ijtihad (independent judgement), which would have been condemned by Imam Malik himself were he to witness it, was encouraged by most of the rulers of Andalusia for it implies an unconditional obedience to the established power. It led to an intellectual degeneration, the treatment to those spiritual giants mentioned before illustrates this best. Ibn Massara was forced to exile; Ibn Hazm was evicted from Majorca; al-Ghazali’s books were burned; the universal library of al-Hakam II was thrown into the river; Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Rushd were expelled; and Ibn Arabi evicted. All these acts were not performed by Christians, but by fellow Muslims! These were but signs that this grand structure represented by Islam which had weathered many a storm, had reached a stage when its inner vitality had been slowly sapped away and one powerful blast might well uproot it from the soil on which it has been thriving for centuries.

The early Muslim conquerors in Spain had a mission which made it impossible for them to be selfish, cruel or intolerant. The moment this was lost on their successors, their clannish spirit replaced their unity of purpose. At one time there were as many as twelve Muslim dynasties. That was a signal for collapse. The Muslim society came to represent a decadent social order incapable of dynamic growth and with no capacity for effective resistance. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for any society to survive a serious external threat. The Muslim rule over the Iberian Peninsula started to shrink on account of the treachery of the different Muslim Princes until Granada fell to the hands of the Crusades on 2 January 1492.

When Abu Abdullah the last king of Granada, looked at the Alhambra for the last time, tears came into his eyes. At this, his aged mother Aisha said: ‘Abu Abdullah Cry like a women for a kingdom you could not defend as a man.’ But our history should play a more inspiring and guiding function than to reminisce about the past. When one sees all these marvels, and all these palaces left in Andalusia-one wonders: Surely, there must have been injustice, there must have been oppression. As Abu Dharr said to Mu’awiya: ‘0 Mu’awiya! If you are building this palace with your own money, it is extravagance and if with the money of the people, it is treason’. We should not glorify our past and our ancestors regardless of their mistakes. Our study of the history of Islam should be more objective, and not a mere justification of all acts by our predecessors.

Conclusion

We must aim to ensure that the tragedy of Andalusia is not repeated. To do that we must not address our children: Once upon a time in Palestine… Once upon a time in Bosnia… We need a true Islamic Renaissance that will lead us to the eternal and universal Islam. An Islam that is the constant appeal for resisting all oppression because it excludes any submission other than to the will of God and holds man responsible for the accomplishment of the divine order on earth. An Islam, in the words of Roger Garaudy, whose principles are: in the economical field: God alone possesses, in the political field: God alone commands, in the cultural field: God alone knows. It is for us to respond to this eternally living call: without imitating the West and without imitating the Past.

April - June 2012, Islam

Latin American & Carribean Muslim & Jewish Leaders Conduct High-Level Talks in Washington DC

From IslamToday

April 1, 2012

http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-230-4429.htm

A delegation of Muslim and Jewish leaders representing five Latin American countries and two Caribbean islands ended two days of high level meetings in Washington, DC vowing to strengthen ties between their two communities.

The Mission of Latin American Muslim and Jewish Leaders to Washington, DC was hosted by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). 14Fourteen Muslim and Jewish leaders from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay, Barbados and St. Croix were introduced to the pioneering work spearheaded by FFEU to strengthen Muslim-Jewish relations in North America and Europe. The major goal of the mission was to jumpstart the process of dialogue and cooperation between the Muslim and Jewish communities throughout Latin America.

Participants in the Mission held meetings with high level officials at the White House and State Department, met with Muslim and Jewish Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, visited the U.S. Holocaust Museum and were hosted at the Embassies of Argentina and Brazil.

At the end of the Mission, the participants issued a joint statement affirming a commitment to build “solid Muslim-Jewish relations in our countries and communities and show our two peoples and the world that Muslims and Jews can work together fruitfully for the betterment of all, while building ties of friendship and trust.”

In pursuit of that goal participants in the Mission promised to endeavor to take part in the upcoming 5th Annual Weekend of Twinning to take place on the weekend of November 16-18, 2012. During that weekend, mosques and synagogues and Muslim and Jewish student, young leadership and women’s groups around the world will join together with each other to hold Muslim-Jewish encounters.

FFEU President Rabbi Marc Schneier commented, “I am deeply inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment expressed by the visiting Latin American Muslim and Jewish leaders for the cause of strengthening Muslim-Jewish relations. We welcome them to our ever-growing international movement dedicated to bringing about Muslim-Jewish reconciliation and cooperation.”

According to Muhammad Yusuf Hallar of Argentina, Secretary General of the Islamic Organization for Latin America and the Caribbean, “This Mission is very important for the future, because it will start a process of strengthening ties not only between participants in the Mission, but between Muslim and Jewish communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Dr. Juan Suquillo, chairman of the Islamic Center in Quito, Ecuador, also emphasized the importance of the Mission.

Rabbi Michel Schlesinger of Sao Paulo, Brazil, commented, “Until now, dialogue between the Muslim and Jewish communities of Brazil have not reached their full potential. But after taking part in the Mission I am optimistic that we can learn from the experiences of the Jewish and Muslim communities in the United States to strengthen our own efforts to build understanding and trust.”

Dr. Juan Suquillo, chair of the Board of Directors at the Islamic Center in Quito, remarked, “I am inspired by taking part in this Mission that we can do so much more in strengthening Jewish- Muslim ties. After this Mission, we understand each other and our needs much more than before.”

Rabbi Daniel Goldman of Buenos Aires, Argentina, commented, “It is vital for both of our communities that we stand together to fight Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. This must be our common cause.”

During a meeting at the U.S. State Department, Hannah Rosenthal, Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told the Mission, “No words can express how important is your work to build partnerships between Muslims and Jews in Latin America and around the world.”

According to Joshua DuBois, Special assistant to President Obama and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, “As a former community organizer, President Obama understands very well the importance of building positive relations across religious lines. He sees tremendous value in the work that FFEU is doing in bringing together Muslims and Jews.”

Representative Andre Carson (D-Ind), one of two Muslims in the U.S. Congress, commented, “I believe that this effort to build Muslim-Jewish understanding in Latin America and around the world is a game changer. Those of you involved are dragon slayers overcoming bigotry and hatred.”

Sources:

“Latin American Muslim and Jews Vow To Strengthen Ties During Mission to Washington” Capital Wire April 1, 2012

“Come Together! Latin American Muslim & Jews Mission To Washington” Global Grind March 30, 2012

Nathan Guttman, “Interfaith Effort Boosts Latin Ties” Forward March 30, 2012

April - June 2012, Islam

Muslims discriminated against for demonstrating their faith

From Amnesty International

23 April 2012

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/muslims-discriminated-against-demonstrating-their-faith-2012-04-23

European governments must do more to challenge the negative stereotypes and prejudices against Muslims fuelling discrimination especially in education and employment, a new report by Amnesty International reveals today.

“Muslim women are being denied jobs and girls prevented from attending regular classes just because they wear traditional forms of dress, such as the headscarf. Men can be dismissed for wearing beards associated with Islam,” said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination.

“Rather than countering these prejudices, political parties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes.”

The report Choice and prejudice: discrimination against Muslims in Europe, exposes the impact of discrimination on the ground of religion or belief on Muslims in several aspects of their lives, including employment and education.

It focuses on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland where Amnesty International has already raised issues such as restrictions on the establishment of places of worship and prohibitions on full-face veils. The report documents numerous individual cases of discrimination across the countries covered.

“Wearing religious and cultural symbols and dress is part of the right of freedom of expression. It is part of the right to freedom of religion or belief — and these rights must be enjoyed by all faiths equally.” said Marco Perolini.

“While everyone has the right to express their cultural, traditional or religious background by wearing a specific form of dress no one should be pressurized or coerced to do so. General bans on particular forms of dress that violate the rights of those freely choosing to dress in a particular way are not the way to do this.”

The report highlights that legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment has not been appropriately implemented in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Employers have been allowed to discriminate on the grounds that religious or cultural symbols will jar with clients or colleagues or that a clash exists with a company’s corporate image or its ‘neutrality’.

This is in direct conflict with European Union (EU) anti-discrimination legislation which allows variations of treatment in employment only if specifically required by the nature of the occupation.

“EU legislation prohibiting discrimination on the ground of religion or belief in the area of employment seems to be toothless across Europe, as we observe a higher rate of unemployment among Muslims, and especially Muslim women of foreign origin,” said Marco Perolini.

In the last decade, pupils have been forbidden to wear the headscarf or other religious and traditional dress at school in many countries including Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

“Any restriction on the wearing of religious and cultural symbols and dress in schools must be based on assessment of the needs in each individual case. General bans risk adversely Muslims girls’ access to education and violating their rights to freedom of expression and to manifest their beliefs.” Marco Perolini said.

The right to establish places of worship is a key component of the right to freedom of religion or belief which is being restricted in some European countries, despite state obligations to protect, respect and fulfil this right.

Since 2010, the Swiss Constitution has specifically targeted Muslims with the prohibition of the construction of minarets, embedding anti-Islam stereotypes and violating international obligations that Switzerland is bound to respect.

In Catalonia (Spain), Muslims have to pray in outdoor spaces because existing prayer rooms are too small to accommodate all the worshippers and requests to build mosques are being disputed as incompatible with the respect of Catalan traditions and culture. This goes against freedom of religion which includes the right to worship collectively in adequate places.

“There is a groundswell of opinion in many European countries that Islam is alright and Muslims are ok so long as they are not too visible. This attitude is generating human rights violations and needs to be challenged,” said Marco Perolini.

————

Europe: Choice and prejudice: Discrimination against Muslims in Europe

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/001/2012

Muslims across Europe belong to many different ethnic groups and follow diverse cultural, religious or traditional practices. They are discriminated against for different reasons, including their religion or belief, ethnicity and gender. This report highlights discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief and illustrates some of its consequences. Restrictive dress-code policies and legislation are enforced in several states. Muslims, and especially Muslim women, who express their cultural or religious background by wearing specific forms of dress or symbols have been denied employment or excluded from classrooms.

April - June 2012, Islam

Hablamos Islam – Exclusivo/exclusive

By Wendy Diaz

April 4, 2012

(English below)

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu Queridos Hermanos y Hermanas,

¡Hablamos Islam Niños está en el proceso de publicar nuevos libros, insha’Allah! Alhamdulillah, hemos tenido éxito con los primeros 3 y estamos anciosos de terminar los próximos, insha’Allah, pero necesitamos su ayuda.

Si nos ayudan a recaudar fondos, podremos procesar e imprimir los nuevos libros más rapidamente, insha’Allah.
Pueden donar por medio de nuestra página: www.hablamosislamninos.com (opríma el boton para “chipin” en el derecho de la pantalla) y también enviarle este mensaje a sus contactos.

Para las personas que contribuyan $50 o más, pondremos su nombre en una sección especial en nuestra página web dedicada a nuestros patrocinadores y les mandaremos una copia de uno de los nuevos libros, gratis, insha’Allah.

¡¡¡NOTICIA EXCLUSIVA!!!!

Los proximos títulos seran: (insha’Allah)

Las aventuras de Suleiman/ The Adventures of Suleiman

Yaumal Yummah con Ahmed/ Yaumal Jummah with Ahmed

¿Qué puede ser un musulmán? Libro para colorear/ What Can a Muslim Be? Coloring Book

Que Allah los recompense por sus esfuerzos y todo su apoyo. BarakaAllahu fikum.

As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Hablamos Islam Niños is in the process of publishing more books, insha’Allah! Alhamdulillah, we have been successful with the previous 3 and we are anxious to finish the next ones, insha’Allah, but we need your help.
If you help us to fundraise, we can process and print these new books much faster, insha’Allah.
You can donate through our website: www.hablamosislamninos.com (click on the “chipin” button on the right of the screen) and you can also forward this message to your contacts.

For those people who donate $50 or more, we will put their name on a special sponsors section of our website and we will send them a free copy of one of the new books, insha’Allah.

EXCLUSIVE NEWS!

Here are the new book titles: (insha’Allah)

Las aventuras de Suleiman/ The Adventures of Suleiman

Yaumal Yummah con Ahmed/ Yaumal Jummah with Ahmed

¿Qué puede ser un musulmán? Libro para colorear/ What Can a Muslim Be? Coloring Book

May Allah reward you all for your efforts and your support. BarakaAllahu feekum.

www.hablamosislam.com
www.hablamosislamninos.com

Islam, Jan - Mar 2012

Muslim and Muslim Characteristics

http://nurelislam.com/caracter.htm

Introduction:

Praise be to Allaah who gave us this life and the opportunity to worship him, and blessings be upon the last of his messengers, Muhammad saw. Good manners are indispensable in the life of the believer and every believer should try to put them into practice.

This little book does not explain all the manners of Islam being that these are many, however it is an effort to make you know some of them. Islamic manners are a way to get closer to our creator, and by putting these into practice we can obtain a personality according to what Allah has revealed. Muhammad (saw) told us that having good manners is better than fasting during the day and praying all night.

Characteristics of the Muslim and Muslim:

Manners in Islam are external behaviors that reflect the personality of the believer, which is made up of a series of characteristics, among these are:

Patience: A basic attribute of a good believer is not to get angry. Once a companion of the prophet asked for advice and he said: “Do not be angry, do not be angry”.

And Allah – Praised and Exalted – exalts those who are patient by saying “by the way Allah is with the patients”. and in another verse it says: “; Believers are those who seek the help of Allah through patience and prayer”;

Al Dikr: Another basic characteristic of a good believer is that he always remembers Allah. As Allah says “; Believers are those who remember Allah sitting or lying down.” The good believer looks for the ideal reminder for every moment and place. The believer makes a lot of du a (supplications to allah). He is always aware that Allah hears him and pleads with him to forgive him, guide him, give him

Paradise, and all the good stuff.

To love Allah and his messenger: Another characteristic is to love Allah and his Prophet above all things, the Prophet (pb A. e.) Informs us that to be good believers we need three characteristics: 1. To love Allah and his messenger above all things, 2. Loving and hating for God alone, 3. Fearing becoming unbelieving as fearing being thrown into the fire.

It is indispensable for the believer to love the Prophet (pb A. e.) And everything he taught us because it was him who chose Allah to teach us how to worship him.

Good wishes: Another characteristic of the believer is wanting for his brother what he wants for himself. Said the Prophet (pb A. e.) That: “; He is not a believer who does not want for his brother what he wishes for himself” ;.

Commitment to others: Continuing, the Muslim has obligations to his parents, his relatives, his neighbors and Muslims in general. A Muslim cannot stop greeting his brother for more than three days. A person who eats his fill knowing that his neighbor is hungry is not a Muslim.

Respect for the affairs of others: Muhammad (saw) told us that one’s best Islam is not to meddle with other people’s affairs. Allah and his messenger have warned us not to slander our brothers, not to talk about them when they are absent, even if we know of their mistake it is better to hide it and not tell it to others. He who covers the error of a brother Ala will cover his errors on the day of judgment.

Knowledge: Another characteristic of the believer is wanting to increase his knowledge. Muhammad (pb A. e.) Constantly asked Allah – Praised and Exalted – not to allow the sun to set until he learned something new. In other words, every day I wanted to know something more about their Faith. Allah also says in the Qur’an: “Perhaps those who know are the same as those who do not know”;

And Allah also teaches us a supplication in the Qur’an which is: “; OH Allah! Increase my knowledge”;

Tell the truth: Another characteristic of the believer is to always tell the truth. Muhammad was once asked (pb A. e.) Can the believer be a coward? and he answered Yes. Again they asked him if he can be the miserly believer? and he said yes, and then they asked him if he can be a Muslim who is lying? and he said No. The Muslim is by word of mouth and lying is characteristic of the hypocrite.

Repentance: The believer always seeks forgiveness from Allah, since he does not feel like an angel or anything like that. Muhammad (pb A. e.) Said “; ask God for forgiveness, by the way I do it more than 100 times a day”; Says the Qur’an: “; Allah loves those who repent”.

Al Tawaqul: Putting dependence on God. The believer knows that all dominion is in the hands of Allah, that something does not happen without God’s will and that God provides food to his servants like a bird when he leaves his nest in the morning and returns in the afternoon fed.

Works: Another characteristic of the believer is wanting to carry out good works [sabiq bil jairat] out of fear of God. Doing more than God requires you to do, hoping that what you do more will complete what you failed to do.

Cleanliness: Another characteristic of the good believer is that he is clean (mutajr). Always know that God loves the clean and orderly.

Ihsan: Another characteristic of the believer is knowing that God always watches over him, even though one does not see or hear him.

The characteristics of the good believer in Islam are many and the best were from the Prophet (pb A. e.) As Allah tells us: “; by the way, the Prophet have the best of examples to follow”. So we just have to study the life of Muhammed (saw).

The Prophet also says (pb A. e.), That “he who has good manners is better than the one who prays and fasts all day and all night”. Let us ask Allah Most High to give us some of these characteristics.

Some manners of the daily life of the Muslim man and woman:

When we start something, we must say:

Bi-smiLlaji-r-Rajmani-r-Rajim (In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Merciful)

When we meet a Muslim, we say: As-Salamu Alai-kum (Peace be with you)

The person answers: Wa-Alai-Kumu-s-Salam (And with you be peace)

When we wake up in the morning, we should thank Allah (Praised and Exalted) and say

Al-jamdu li-Llahi-l-Ladí Ajya-na Ba da Ma Amata-na Wa-laihi-n-Nushuur

(Praise be to Allaah, Who brought us back to life after killing us, we will return to Him)

The beautiful sunrise. When we see the beauty of the morning we must say:

A baj-na wa-A baja-l-Mulku Li-Llahi Rabbi-l-} lamîn (a)

(We enter in the morning, and the entire kingdom belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds)

Instead when we see something man-made that impresses us we should say

La Jawla, wa-La Quwwata Illa bi-Llahi (i) There is no power or strength but that of Allah.

When we go into the bathroom we don’t do Dikr. We sit down so that our urine (which is impure) does not splash on us.

When we leave the bathroom after washing, we say:

Gjufarana-ka, Al-Jamdu Li-Llaji-L-Ladhi Adhhaba Anni-l- Ad ha wa- Afani
(Forgiveness OH Allah! Praise be to Allah who caused me to heal from what was bothering me and gave me relief)

Finishing going to the bathroom we wash our hands and </p>
<p> preferably we do Wudhu (ablution) to continue in a state of purity.

It is better for us to pray together in the mosque. When we enter the mosque, we enter with the right foot first, and we say:

Alaumma Iftaj Lî Abwaba Rajmati-k (a) (O Allah! Open the doors of Your mercy for me)

When we leave the mosque after praying, we say:

Alaumma Innî Asalu-ka min Fadli-k (a)
(O Allah! I ask you to give me your goodness)

When he meets his brothers, he greets them in an Islamic way, trying to be the first to give salams. When you talk to them, try to smile at them and if
<p> they are gathered in a circle, do not point your feet towards them. When he sits down to chat about something, he tries to remind himself of God, and at the end he says:

or Sbjanaka Ala Juma hua bijamdika ashadu an la ilaha il-la anta astagfiruka hua atubu ileika. Glory to You OH Allah, and praise be yours, I am a witness
<p> that there is no God but You, I seek your forgiveness and I repent to You. If you say this, anything wrong you have said is forgiven.

When we are ready to leave the house, we say:

Bi-smiLlah, Tawakkaltu Ala Llah (i) wa-La Jawla, wa-La Quwwata Illa bi-Llahi (i)

(In the name of Allah, I depend on Allah, and there is no greatness or power except that (it is permitted) by Allah)

We should visit sick people and pray to Allah (Praised and Exalted) for their recovery:

As alu-Llaha-l- Adzima Rabba-l-Arshi An Yushfik (a) (I ask Allah, the Almighty, Lord of the Throne, to heal you)

When we sneeze we say:

Al-jamdu Li-Llahi Ala Kulli Jal (in) (Praise be to Allaah under all circumstances)

And when we hear someone sneeze, we say: Yarjamu-ka Ala (u) (May Allah have mercy on you)

When we travel in a car, on a train, or on an airplane, we must say this du {SYMBOL 145 \ f “; Calligrapher Euro”;} to:

Bi-smiLlahi wa-l-Jamdu li-Llah. Subjana-l-Ladhi Sakjkjara La-na Hadha wa-Ma Kun-na La-hu Muqrinîn. Wa- Inna ila Rabbi-na la-Munqalibun.

(In the name of Allah, and praise be to Allah. Glory to Him who has created this transport for us, even though we were unable to create it (by ourselves
<p>); we will return to our Lord)

When we return home safe and sound from a trip we should thank Allah (Albados and Exalted) and say: Alaumma Inni As alu-ka Kjair-l-Maulich (i) wa-

<p> Kjaira-l-Makjrach (i). Bi-smiLlahi Walach-na wa-Bi-smiLlahi Kjarach-na wa- Ala-Llahi Rabbi-na Tawakkal-na.
(Oh Allah! I ask for the best entrance and the best exit. In the name of Allah we go out, and in Allah our Lord, we put our trust)

When we sit down to eat our food together he remembers that Allah is the one who provided him with food and he begins by saying:

Alaumma Barik Lana Fî-ma Razaqta-na wa-Qi-na Adhaba-n-Nar, Bi-smiLlah (O Allah! Bless the provisions that you have given us, and protect us from the punishment of hell, in the name of Allah) When eating

The one who serves does it from the right, eats what is in front of him (if they eat from a plate all together) and with the right, he makes sure that his brother serves before himself and does not eat lying down or blow his food .
After we have finished eating and drinking, we should give thanks for the food and drink that Allah has provided for us, and we say:

Al-Jamdu li-Llahi-l-Ladhî At ama-na wa-Saqa-na wa-cha ala-na mina-l-Muslimîn (Praise be to Allaah, who has fed and watered us and made us Muslims)

If we are angry, we must control ourselves by saying these words:

To udhu bi-Llahi Mina-sh-Shaitan (i). (I seek refuge in Allah from Satan.

When we hear good news, we should say:

Al-Jamdu li-Llahi-l-Ladhi bi-Ni mati-hi Tatimmu- – alijat (u) (Praise be to Allaah, with whose benevolence good things are perfected)

Whenever we are sad, or in trouble, we ask for Allah’s help by saying:

La Ilaha Illa Anta, Subjana-ka Innî Kuntu Mina-zd-Zdalimin (a) (There is no deity but You, Glory to You, OH Allah !, surely I was one of those who do evil)

We should end our day by saying this du to when we go to bed:

Bi-smi-ka Llahumma Amûtu wa- Ajya (In your name, OH Allah, I die and live)
Let us ask our creator for the Most Merciful and Merciful to allow us to put into practice some of these manners. and allow us to enter paradise and protect us from the tortures of hell. Ameen.

Islam, Jan - Mar 2012

Abdullah Ibn Hudhafah As-Sahmi

From: “Companions of The Prophet”, Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.
MSA of the University of Missouri-Rolla
http://web.umr.edu/~msaumr/reference/companions/English/sahmi.html

History would have by-passed this man as it had by-passed thousands of Arabs before him. He, like them, would have had no claim to attention or fame. The greatness of Islam, however, gave to Abdullah ibn Hudhafah the opportunity to meet two world potentates of his time “Khusraw Parvez the King of Persia and Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor.

The story of his encounter with Khusraw Parvez began in the sixth year of the hijrah when the Prophet decided to send some of his Companions with letters to rulers outside the Arabian peninsula inviting them to Islam.

The Prophet attached great importance to this initiative. These messengers were going to distant lands with whom there was no agreement or treaty. They did not know the languages ​​of these lands nor anything about the ways and disposition of their rulers. They were to invite these rulers to give up their religion and forsake their power and glory and enter the religion of a people who shortly before were almost their subjects. The mission was undoubtedly hazardous.

To make known his plan, the Prophet called his companions together and addressed them. He started by praising God and thanking Him. He then recited the Shahadah and went on:

“I want to send some of you to the rulers of foreign lands but don’t dispute with me as the Israelites disputed with Jesus, the son of Mary.

“O Prophet of God, we shall carry out whatever you wish,” they responded. “Send us wherever you desire.”

The Prophet commissioned six of his Sahabah to carry his letters to Arab and foreign rulers. One of these was Abdullah ibn Hudhafah. He was chosen to take the Prophet’s letter to Khusraw Parvez, the Persian king.

Abdullah got his camel ready and bade farewell to his wife and son. He set out, alone, and traversed mountains and valleys until he reached the land of the Persians.

He sought permission to enter into the king’s presence informing the guards of the letter he was carrying. Khusraw Parvez thereupon ordered his audience chamber to be made ready and summoned his prominent aides. When they had assembled he gave permission for Abdullah to enter.

Abdullah entered and saw the Persian potentate dressed in delicate, flowing robes and wearing a great, neatly arranged turban. On Abdullah was the plain, coarse clothes of the bedouin. His head though was held high and his feet were firm. The honor of Islam burned fiercely in his breast and .he power of faith pulsed in his heart.

As soon as Khusraw Parvez saw him approaching he signalled to one of his men to take the letter from his hand.

“No,” said Abdullah. “The Prophet commanded me to hand over this letter to you directly and I shall not go against a command of the Messenger of God.”

“Let him come near to me,” Khusraw said to his guards and Abdullah went forward and handed over the letter. Khusraw then called an Arab clerk who originally came from Hira and ordered him to open the letter in his presence and read its contents. He began reading: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of God, to Khusraw the ruler of Persia. Peace on whoever follows the guidance…”

Khusraw only heard this much of the letter when the fire of anger burst within him. His face became red and he began to perspire around the neck. He snatched the letter from the clerk’s hand and began tearing it to pieces without knowing what else it contained and shouted, “Does he dare to write to me like this, he who is my slave”? He was angry that the Prophet had not given him precedence in his letter. He then commanded Abdullah to be expelled from his assembly.

Abdullah was taken away, not knowing what would happen to him. Would he be killed or would he be set free? But he did not want to wait to find out. He said, “By God, I don’t care what happens to me after the letter of the Prophet has been so badly treated.” I have managed to get to his camel and rode off.

When Khusraw’s anger had subsided he commanded that Abdullah be brought before him. But Abdullah was nowhere to be found. They searched for him all the way to the Arabian peninsula but found that he had gone ahead.

Back in Madinah, Abdullah told the Prophet how Khusraw had turned his letter to pieces and the Prophet’s only reply was, “May God tear up his kingdom”.

Meanwhile, Khusraw wrote to Badhan, his deputy in the Yemen, to send two strong men to “that man who has appeared in the Hijaz” with orders to bring him to Persia.

Badhan despatched two of his strongest men to the Prophet and gave them a letter to him in which he was ordered to go with the two men to meet Khusraw without delay. Badhan also asked the two men to get whatever information they could on the Prophet and to study his message closely.

The men set out, moving very quickly. At Ta’if they met some Quraysh traders and asked them about Muhammad. “He is in Yathrib,” they said and they went on to Makkah feeling extremely happy. This was good news for them and they went around telling other Quraysh, “You will be pleased. Khusraw is out to get Muhammad and you will be rid of his evil.”

The two men meanwhile made straight for Madinah where they met the Prophet, handed him the letter of Badhan and said to him, “The king of kings, Khusraw, has written to our ruler Badhan to send his men to get you. We have come to take you with us. If you come willingly, Khusraw has said that it will be good for you and he will spare you any punishment. If you refuse, you will know the power of his punishment. He has power to destroy you and your people. “

The Prophet smiled and said to them, “Go back to your mounts today and return tomorrow.”

On the following day, they came to the Prophet and said to him, “Are you prepared to go with us to meet Khusraw?”

“You shall not meet Khusraw after today,” replied the Prophet. “God has killed him and his son Shirwaih has taken his place on such a night and on such a month.”

The two men stared in the face of the Prophet. They were completely dumbfounded.

“Do you know what you are saying?” they asked. “Shall we write about this to Badhan?”

“Yes,” replied the Prophet, “and say to him that my religion has informed me about what has happened to the kingdom of Khusraw and that if he should become Muslim, I would appoint him ruler over what he now controls.”

The two men returned to the Yemen and told Badhan what had happened. Badhan said, “If what Muhammad has said is true, then he is a Prophet. If not then we shall see what happens to him.”

Not long afterwards, a letter from Shirwaih came to Badhan in which he said, “I killed Khusraw because of his tyranny against our people. He regarded as lawful the killing of leaders, the capturing of their women and the expropriating of their wealth When. this my letter reaches you, take the allegiance of whoever is with you on my behalf. “

As soon as Badhan had read Shirwaih’s letter, he threw it aside and announced his entry into Islam. The Persians with him in the Yemen also became Muslim.

That’s the story of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah’s meeting with the Persian king. His meeting with the Byzantine emperior took place during the caliphate of Umar ibn alKhattab. It too is an astonishing story.

In the nineteenth year after the Hijrah, Umar despatched an army to fight against the Byzantines. In it was Abdullah ibn Hudhafah. News of the Muslim force reached the Byzantine emperior. He had heard of their sincerity of faith, and their willingness to sacrifice their lives in the way of God and His Prophet. He gave orders to his men to bring him any Muslim captive they might take alive.

God willed that Abdullah ibn Hudhafah should fall captive to the Byzantines and he was brought before the Emperor. The Emperor looked at Abdullah for a long time. Suddenly he said, “I shall make a proposal to you.” “What is it?” asked Abdullah.

“I suggest that you become a Christian. If you do this, you will be set free and I shall grant you a safe refuge.”

The prisoner’s reaction was furious: “Death is preferable to me a thousand times to what you ask me to do.”

“I see that you are a bold man. However, if you respond positively to what I propose to you, I will give you a share in my authority and swear you in as my aide.”

The prisoner, shackled in his chains, smiled and said, “By God, if you give me all that you possess and all that the Arabs have in exchange for giving up the religion of Muhammad, I shall not do so.” “Then I shall kill you.”

“Do what you want,” answered Abdullah.

The emperor then had him put on a cross and ordered his soldiers to throw spears at him, first near his hands and then near his feet, all the while telling him to accept Christianity or at least give up his religion. This he refused over and over again to do.

The emperor then had him taken down from the wooden cross. He called for a great pot to be brought. This was filled with oil which was then heated under a fierce fire. He then had two other Muslim prisoners brought and had one of them thrown into the boiling oil. The prisoner’s flesh sizzled and soon his bones could be seen. The emperor turned to Abdullah and invited him to Christianity.

This was the most terrible test that Abdullah had had to face up till now. But he remained firm and the emperor gave up trying. He then ordered that Abdullah too be thrown into the pot. As he was being taken away he began to shed tears. The emperor thought that he had at last been broken and had him brought back to him. He once more suggested that Abdullah become a Christian but to his astonishment, Abdullah refused.

“Damn you! Why did you weep then?” shouted the emperor.

“I cried,” said Abdullah, “because I said to myself: ‘You will now be thrown into this pot and your soul will depart’. What I really desired then was to have as many souls as the number of hairs on my body and to have all of them thrown into this pot for the sake of God. “

The tyrant then said, “Will you kiss my head? I will then set you free?” “And all the Muslim prisoners also?” asked Abdullah.

This the emperor agreed to do and Abdullah said to himself, “One of the enemies of God! I shall kiss his head and he shall set me and all other Muslim prisoners free. There can be no blame on me for doing this.” He then went up to the emperor and kissed his forehead. All the Muslim prisoners were released and handed over to Abdullah.

Abdullah ibn Hudhafah eventually came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and told him what had happened. Umar was greatly pleased and when he looked at the prisoners he said, “Every Muslim has a duty to kiss the head of Abdullah ibn Khudhafah and I shall start.”

Umar then got up and kissed the head of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah.

Islam, Jan - Mar 2012, Latino Muslims

The Message to non-Muslims

By The LADO Group

بِسْمِاللَّهِالرَّحْمَنِالرَّحِيمِ

What is the reason for this paper? Why do we need a message for non-Muslims? Why do we need a message to Latinos? The whole purpose or existence of LADO (Latino American Dawah Organization) is the propagation of Islam to anyone interested. However, LADO’s emphasis is to show Islam to Hispanics or Latin Americans. Our basic mission is “… to promote Islam among the Latino community within the United States by becoming better-educated Muslims and by working with like-minded Muslims …”

From the beginning of recorded history, humanity has been seeking the meaning of life – Why are we here? Who am I? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What happens after death? Does another supernatural world exist? What is the purpose of my creation? Islam answers these questions and many more. For a run down, let’s start with the basics of Islam.

Basic Islamic beliefs (Aqeeda)

Five Pillars of Islam

1. The testimony of faith or the shahaadah (šhahadah, شهادة) is the first of the five pillars of Islam. “Shahaadah” means “to testify” or “to bear witness” in Arabic. The shahaadah is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and in Muhammad as his final prophet. Recitation of the shahaadah is done publicly. It is said daily by Muslims. Merely saying this out loud and in public automatically makes one a Muslim. The declaration goes:

أشهد أن] لا إله إلاَّ الله و [أشهد أن] محمد رسول الله]

“I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is His messenger.”

2. Prayer (Salat, صلاة) – the establishment of five daily obligatory prayers is the second pillar of the Islamic creed. It is the ritual prayer practiced by Muslims in supplication to God. The salaat is compulsory upon all mature Muslims. In central and south Asian languages ​​such as Persian, Urdu, Hindi and Turkic languages ​​it is commonly known by the term namaz (نماز).

The purpose of salaat is primarily to act as an individual’s communion with God. It enables one to stand in front of God, thank and praise Him, and ask for Him to show one the “right path” (as mentioned in the opening chapter of the Quran “Suratul-Fatihah” [Chapter of Opening] which is recited in every prayer). In addition, the daily ritual prayers serve as a constant reminder to Muslims that they should be grateful for God’s blessings. It ensures that every Muslim prioritizes Islam over all other concerns, thereby revolving their life around God and submitting to His will. The salaat also serves as a formal method of God’s remembrance.

The salat is also mentioned as a means to keep the believer safe from social wrong and moral deviancy (Qur’an 29:45):

“Recite what has been sent down to you of the Book, and establish the prayer. Prayer forbids indecency and dishonor. The remembrance of Allah is greater, and God knows what you do.”

3. The paying of obligatory alms (Zakât, زكاة) is the third of the five pillars of Islam. It refers to spending a fixed portion of one’s wealth, which is generally 2.5% of the total savings, for the poor or needy, people whose hearts need to be reconciled, slaves, those in debt, those in the way of God, and the travelers in the society.

The basis of zakaat is given in the Qur’an: “Of their goods take alms, that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them; and pray on their behalf, verily thy prayers are a source of security for them.” (9: 103)

4. Fasting (Sawm, صوم) is the refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and for married couples, satisfying sexual needs from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is specifically mentioned in three consecutive verses of the Qur’an:

“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.” (2: 183)

“(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (Should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (With hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will, – it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew. ” (2: 184)

“Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur’an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. God intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful. ” (2: 185)

Prohibitions during Ramadan include not eating, drinking and having sexual intercourse between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib). During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, angry and / or sarcastic retorts, and gossip. Muslims should make an extra effort to get along with each other better than normal. All obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided. Purity of both thought and action is important. The fast is an act of deeply personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities and its purpose being to cleanse your inner soul, and free it of harm.

Fasting during Ramadan is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would be excessively problematic. Children before the onset of puberty are not required to fast, though some do. Also some small children fast for half a day instead of a whole day so they get used to fasting. However, if puberty is delayed, fasting becomes obligatory for males and females after a certain age. According to Qur’an, if fasting would be dangerous to people’s health, such as to people with an illness or medical condition, and sometimes elderly people, they are excused. For example, diabetics and nursing or pregnant women usually are not expected to fast. According to Hadith, observing the Ramadan fast is not allowed for menstruating women. Other individuals for whom it is usually considered acceptable not to fast are those in battle, and travelers who intended to spend fewer than five days away from home. If one’s condition preventing fasting is only temporary, one is required to make up for the days missed after the month of Ramadan is over and before the next Ramadan arrives. If one’s condition is permanent or present for an extended amount of time, one may make up for the fast by feeding a needy person for every day missed.

The Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (عيد الفطر) marks the end of the Islamic fasting of the month of Ramadan. Eid ul-Fitr is known by various other names throughout the Muslim world as well.

5. Pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca is called Hajj (حج) and is the fifth of the Islamic pillars. This is done during the Islamic lunar month of Zul-Hijjah. It is compulsory once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so.

In spite of some physical hardships, pilgrims who complete the Hajj consider it one of the greatest spiritual experiences of their lives. Many Muslims regard the Hajj as one of the great achievements of civilization because it brings together people from around the world and focuses them upon a single goal: the worship of God without pretensions to race or social status.

The Hajj rituals have a deep psychological significance for Muslims. The pilgrimage is usually a very profound experience for those who participate. When life is lived according to the precepts of the religion and the mind is in a suitable condition, the pilgrimage can spiritually transform the individual.

Six articles of belief

In the Hadith of Al-Muslim and Al-Bukhari, Muhammad (pbuh) the messenger of Almighty God explains: “That faith (or al-Imán)) is to affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His revealed books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in the divine destiny whether good or bad. “

The six articles of the faith are:

1. Belief in God (Allah), the One. There is no one and nothing else worthy of worship (tawhid). Tawhid (توحيد) means the unity of God. It is the basic pillar on which all of Islam stands. Such is the importance of Tawhid that the following chapter of the Qur’an (112) is said to be 1/3 of the whole scripture:

“[1] Say: He, Allah, is One. [2] Allah is He on Whom all depend. [3] He begets not, nor is He begotten. [4] And none is like Him.”

Fakhrud-Din Ibn Asakir, a prominent scholar, in his book Brilliance of the Minarets wrote the following on Sunni creed:

Know, may Allah guide us and you, that it is obligatory upon every accountable person to know that Allah is the only God in His Dominion.

I have created the entire world, the upper and lower, the Arsh and Kursiyy, the heavens and earth, and what is in them and in between them. (See Surat al-Furqan, 2).

All the creation is subjugated to His Power. No speck moves except by His will. He has no manager for the creation with Him, and has no partner in Dominion. (See Surat at-Tawbah 129, Surat al-An’am 110, and Surat Az-Zumar, 62).

He is attributed with Life and is Qayyum (the Sustainer of All that exists). He is not seized by somnolence or sleep. (See Surat al-Baqarah, 255).

He is the One Who knows about the unforeseen and what is evidenced by His creation. Nothing on earth or in heaven is hidden from Him. He knows what is on land and in sea.

Not a leaf does fall but He knows about it. There is no grain in the darkness of earth, nor anything which is moist or dry but is inscribed in a clear Book. His Knowledge encompasses everything. He knows the count of all things. (See Surat al-Jinn, 28).

He does whatever He wills. He has the power to do whatever He wills. (See Surat Qaf, 29 and Surat at-Takwir, 29).

To Him is the Dominion and He needs none; to Him belong the Glory and Everlastingness. To Him are the Ruling and the Creating. He has the Names of Perfection. No one hinders what He decreed. No one prevents what He gives. He does in His dominion whatever He wills. He rules His creation with whatever He wills. (See Surat al-Ma’idah 120, Surat Adh-Dhariyat 58, Surat Fussilat 12, Surat ‘Al’ Imran 4, Surat al-‘Isra ’23, Surat adh-Dhariyat 56, Surat Yunus 99, and Surat al-Qasas 68).

He does not hope for reward and does not fear punishment. (See Surat adh-Dhariyat 57).

There is no right on Him that is binding, and no one exercises rule over Him. Every endowment from Him is due to His Generosity and every punishment from Him is just. He is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned. (See Surat an-Nur 21 and Surat al-‘Anbiya ’23).

I have existed before the creation. He does not have a before or an after. He does not have an above or a below, a right or a left, an in front of or a behind, a whole or a part. (See Surat ash-Shura 11).

It must not be said: When was He? Or where was He? Or how is He? I have existed without a place. I have created the universe and willed for the existence of time. He is not bound to time and is not designated with place.

His management of one matter does not distract Him from another. Delusions do not apply to Him, and He is not encompassed by the mind. He is not conceivable in the mind. He is not imagined in the self nor pictured in delusions. He is not grasped with delusions or thoughts. (See Surat Yasin 82, Surat ash-Shura 11 and Surat al-Ikhlaas 112: 4).

The goal of Muslims is to obtain perfection in worship. There is a famous saying to attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that we should worship God as if we can see Him. And, although we cannot see Him, Muslims undoubtedly believe He is constantly watching over us.

2. Belief in all of the Prophets (nabi) and Messengers (rusul) of God. Islamic tradition dictates that prophets were sent by God to every nation. Each prophet, with the exception of Muhammad (pbuh) was sent to convey God’s message to a specific group of people or nation. Muhammad’s mission is one for the whole of humanity.

The concept of prophecy in Islam is broader than Judaism and Christianity. Muslims distinguish between a “rasul” (a messenger) and a “nabi” (a prophet). Both are divinely inspired recipients of God’s revelation. However, messengers are given a message for a community in book form and, unlike prophets, are assured success by God. While all messengers are prophets, not all prophets are messengers. All prophets are held in high esteem and many are mentioned by name in the Qur’an. All prophets received wahi (revelation) from God. The revelations to the prophets who received a Sharia (divine code of life) were ultimately collected together in the form of a holy book. These prophets are also messengers.

The first prophet is Adam and the last prophet is Muhammad. Many prophets have titles by which they are called by. Muhammad’s (pbuh) title is Seal of the Prophets. Jesus’ (pbuh) title is Messiah and Word of God. Jesus is regarded as a prophet like others before him. He is one of the greatest prophets and like many Christians, Muslims believe that he was the result of a virgin birth. There are traditionally five prophets that are regarded as especially important in Islam: Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Jesus (Isa) and Muhammad. Together these special prophets are known as Ulul Azmi (or the Resolute). There are many incidents and narratives from the lives of many prophets mentioned in the Qur’an. The Qur’an has a special focus and rhetorical emphasis on the careers of the first four of these five major prophets. Of all the figures before Muhammad, Moses is referred to most frequently in the Qur’an.

The Prophet Muhammad is the last Prophet sent to Humanity. He is the best example of the Muslim character. Much has been written about him. He has been consistently shown to have been sincere, truthful, courageous, wise, patient, forgiving, compassionate, humble, respectful, generous, grateful, and optimistic.

3. Belief in the Holy Scriptures (kutub) sent by God (including the Qur’an) is a fundamental tenet of Islam. The holy scriptures are the records that were dictated by God to prophets. They are the Suhuf-i-Ibrahim (the Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (the Psalms), the Injil (the Gospel), and the Qur’an.

4. Belief in angelic beings (malaa’ika). In the Qur’an, angels are called “Malaa’ikah” (singular form is malak, similar to the Hebrew word mal’ach). The belief in angels is central to Islam. As with the Qur’an, it was dictated to the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by the chief of all angels, the archangel Gabriel (Jibreel). Angels are the agents of revelation in Islam.

In Islam, angels are benevolent beings created from light and do not possess free will. They are completely devoted to the worship of God and carry out certain functions on His command, such as recording every human being’s actions, placing a soul in a newborn child, maintaining certain environmental conditions of the planet (such as nurturing vegetation and distributing the rain ) and taking the soul at the time of death. Angels are described as being beautiful and having different numbers of wings (Gabriel is attributed as having 600 wings in his natural form, for example). They have no gender. They can take on human form but only in appearance. As such, angels do not eat, procreate or commit without as humans do.

According to the majority of Islamic scholars, angels are incapable of committing sin and therefore cannot fall from grace. Satan, who is described as a fallen angel by Christians, is considered a separate entity made of fire. These are called jinn. The jinn, such as Satan, can choose to do evil because they have free-will. In Islam, Satan is not considered as a fallen angel. The following Quranic verse states this succinctly:

“And when We said to the Angels; ‘Prostrate yourselves unto Adam.’ So they prostrated themselves except Iblis. He was one of the jinn … “(Surat Al-Kahf, 18:50).

Angels, unlike the fiery nature of jinn, are beings of goodness and cannot choose to disobey God, nor do they possess the ability to do evil.

The angels have various functions. The archangel Gabriel is credited with sending the message of God to all the Prophets (including the Psalms, Torah, other books from the Bible and the Qur’an). Other angels include Michael who discharges control of vegetation and rain, Israfil (Sarafiel) will blow the trumpet at the Day of Resurrection, and Azrael, the angel of death. The angels Nakir and Munkar are assigned to interrogate the dead before Judgment Day; and there are nineteen angels over-seeing the punishments of hell unflinchingly (Surat Al-Muddaththir, 74:30). There are eight massive angels that support the Throne of God (Surat Al-Haaqqa, 69:17). Every human being is assigned two angels to write a record of all actions done by the individual throughout their life, which will be used in evidence for or against the person by God on the Day of Judgment.

Humans do not turn into angels upon death as is commonly thought nowadays. Rather they are physically resurrected in body and soul to be judged by God on judgment day. This brings us to our next point.

5. Belief in the Day of Judgment and in the Resurrection (life after death). Yawm al-Qiyamah (يوم القيامة literally “Day of the Resurrection”) is the Last Judgment in Islam. Belief in Qiyࢠmah is a fundamental tenet of faith in Islam. The trials and tribulations associated with it are detailed in both the Qur’an and the Hadith. There are many commentaries of Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, Muhammad al-Bukhari, and Ibn Khuzaimah who explain Qiyamah in detail. Every human, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, is held accountable for his or her deeds and are judged by Allah (God) accordingly (Qur’an 74.38). Al-Qiyࢠmah is also the name of the 75th Sura or chapter of the Qur’an.

Qiyamah is known by many names. It is called “Day of the Resurrection” in the Holy Qur’an 71:18. It is also known as “the Hour” (Qur’an 31:34, 74:47), “Day of the Account” (Qur’an 72: 130), “Day of Gathering,” “Day of Reckoning,” and “Day of Distress” (Qur’an 74: 9).

At a time unknown to man but preordained, when people least expect it, Allah will give permission for the Qiyࢠmah to begin. The archangel Israfil, referred to as the Caller, will sound a horn sending out a “Blast of Truth” (Qur’an 50: 37-42, 69: 13-18, 74: 8, 78:18). This event is also found in Jewish eschatology, in the Jewish belief of “The Day of the Blowing of the Shofar” found in Ezekiel 33: 6

The Qu’ran mentions the duration of the Qiyamah as 50,000 years. Maulana Muhammad Ali interprets this verse (ayat) as, “… A day of the spiritual advancement of man is spoken of as being equal to fifty thousand years to show immense vastness of that advancement. Or, the day of fifty thousand years may be the day of final triumph of Truth in the world, from the time when revelation was first granted to man. “

During judgment, a man’s or a woman’s own book of deeds will be opened, and they will be apprised of every action they did and every word they spoke (Qur’an 54: 52-53). Actions taken during childhood are not judged. The account of deeds is so detailed that the man or woman will wonder at how comprehensive the account is. Even minor and trivial deeds are included. When the Hour is at hand, some will deny that al-Qiyࢠmah is taking place and will be warned that al-Qiyࢠmah precedes the Day of Pining (distress) (Qur’an 30: 55-57, 19:39 ). If one denies a deed he or she committed, or refuses to acknowledge it, his or her body parts will testify against him or her.

Throughout judgment, however, the underlying principle is that of a complete and perfect justice administered by Allah. The accounts of judgment are also replete with the emphasis that Allah is merciful and forgiving, and that mercy and forgiveness will be granted on that day insofar as it is merited.

The coming of the Mahdi (“the divinely guided one”) will precede the Second Coming of Jesus (‘Isa). It is agreed that ‘Isa (Jesus) and the Mahdi will work together to fight evil in the world and to cement justice on Earth.

“Even if the entire duration of the world’s existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before Qiyama (Day of Judgment), Allah will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person out of my Ahlul Bayt (family) who will be called by my name. He will then fill out the earth with peace and justice as it will have been full of injustice and tyranny before then. “
Sahih Tirmidhi, V2, P86, V9, P74-75.

6. Belief in Destiny (Fate) (qadar). Qadar is usually translated as “predestination” in the English language. It is a rendering of the belief called al-qada wal-qadar in Arabic. The phrase means “the divine decree and the predestination.” This phrase reflects the Muslim belief that God has measured out the span of every person’s life, their lot in life whether good or bad, and whether they will follow the straight and righteous path or not. This is why when Muslims refer to the future, they will say the phrase “Insha’Allah,” or “if God wills.” This is also found in Spanish – “ojalá” and “si Dios quiere.” The phrase recognizes that human knowledge of the future is limited and that all that may or may not come to pass is under the control of God.

Muslims believe that the divine destiny was written down in the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawhul-Mahfuz) by God and that all that has happened and will happen and which will come to pass is written. Many westerners have a problem with this concept because it is misunderstood. According to this belief, a person’s action is not caused by what is written in the Preserved Tablet but rather the action is written in the Preserved Tablet because God knows what the person’s nature will cause them to do.

Another perspective asserts that God is Omniscient and therefore has foreknowledge of all possible futures. With divine power, God then also deems which futures will be allowed and man’s choice is between those possibilities approved by God.
Misconceptions

Is Islam an Arab religion?

Only about 12% of the world’s Muslims are Arabs. There are more Muslims in Indonesia, for example, than in all Arab countries combined. Large populations of Muslims also live in India, China, other parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. There are also significant Muslim populations in Europe.

Arabs belong to many religions, however, including Islam, Christianity, Druze, Judaism and others. There are further distinctions within each of these, and some religious groups have evolved new identities and faith practices outside of the Middle East. One must be careful to distinguish religion from culture. Although Arabs are connected by language and culture, they have different faiths. Common misperceptions are to think that Arab traditions are Islamic, or that Islam unifies all Arabs. Most Arabs are Muslim but most Arabs outside of the Middle East are Catholic or Orthodox Christians, for example.

Islam and Terrorism

When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiamen rape and kill innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith. Never are these acts attributed to the religion of the perpetrators. Yet how many times have we heard the words ‘Islamic or Muslim fundamentalist’ etc. linked with violence?

It should be clear that to use the term “Muslim terrorist” or “Islamic terrorist” or whatever is favored nowadays is an oxymoron. By killing innocent civilians, a Muslim is committing a tremendous sin. The very phrase is offensive and demeaning of Islam. It should be avoided. As the general level of awareness and understanding of Islam increases, it is hoped that people will keep “terrorism” and “Islam” separate from each other.

The Holy Qur’an, the word of God, teaches us a number of things with regards to human life:

“Nor take life – which Allah has made sacred – except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority (to demand retaliation or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life , for he is helped (by the Law). ” Qur’an 17:33

“If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in Allah for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.” Quran 8:61

“Whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption done in the land, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely” Qur’an 5:32

If when one analyzes the situation, the question that should come to mind is: Do the teachings of Islam encourage terrorism? The answer: Certainly not! Islam unequivocally forbids the terrorist acts that are carried out by some misguided people. They are totally against the norms of Islam. It should be remembered that all religions have cults and misguided followers, so it is their teachings that should be looked at, not the actions of a few individuals.

Muslims and the Media

In many cases, the press seems to prefer to publish or air images of people who look different and/or exotic. In trying obtain a more interesting image, they may emphasize the difference between Muslims and non-Muslims. There is actually much variety among Muslims, though. Most American Muslims do not wear traditional clothing, for example. News organizations whose collective reports give the impression that American Muslims generally dress differently than non-Muslim Americans are being inaccurate. This is also the case in the Muslim world as well.

Then there is the problem of what passes for news. Many times people’s opinions are what count as newsworthy items. Some of these people may include so-called ‘experts’ who have an agenda or an ax to grind. This is particularly the case since 11-09-2001. What Muslims would like to see portrayed in the media is fairness, accuracy, and responsibility.

Like many groups, Muslims say that reporters stay away unless there is a problem to report, or if there is a national or global crisis for which they want reaction. This keeps people out of sight except when they are associated with trouble. The solution is to cover Muslims consistently and continuously. By paying attention to what this community says is significant, reporters can offer deeper and fuller coverage. An example of this is how a spate of hate crimes against Muslims and mosque desecration is on the rise the world over but hardly any reporting makes it into news broadcasts.

Islamic Spain

Al-Andalus or Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims from 711 to 1492. It refers to the Governorate (ca. 711- 740), the Emirate (750-929) , the Caliphate of Cordoba (929-1031) and its taifa successor kingdoms.

Prior to the arrival of the Moors, the Visigothic rivals of King Roderic had gathered along with Arians (followers of Arius; an early Christian sect) and Jews fleeing forced conversions at the hands of the Catholic bishops who controlled the Visigothic monarchy. The Egyptian historian Ibn Abdel-Hakim relates that Roderic’s vassal, Julian, count of Ceuta had sent one of his daughters to the Visigothic court at Toledo for education and that Roderic had impregnated her. After learning of this, he made his way to Qayrawan (in modern day Tunisia) and requested the assistance of Musa ibn Nusayr, the Muslim governor in North Africa. Power politics and a personal vendetta may have played a larger part, as Julian and other notable families were extremely discontented with the existing status quo in the Visigothic kingdom. In exchange for lands in Spain, Julian promised ships to carry Ibn Nusayr’s troops across the Strait of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar). Hence the ‘invasion’ was more of an invitation.

Under the command of Tariq ibn Ziyad, a small force landed in Gibraltar on April 30, 711. After a decisive victory at the Battle of Guadalete on July 19, 711, Tariq ibn-Ziyad brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim occupation in a seven-year campaign. They moved northeast across the Pyrenees and into France but were defeated by the Frank Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The Iberian peninsula, except for the Kingdom of Asturias, became part of the expanding Umayyad empire, under the name of al- Andalus. This was the start of nearly eight centuries of Islamic rule in Spain from 711-1492. Muslim influence in Spain extended until at least 1614, however.

Things did not remain under Moorish control, though. Slowly the Christian reconquest (commonly referred to as La Reconquista) of Spain was under way. In 1236 the Christian Reconquista led to the conquer of the last Islamic stronghold of Granada under Mohammed ibn Alhamar to the Christian forces of Ferdinand III of Castile. From there on Granada became a vassal state to the Christian kingdom for the next 250 years until January 2, 1492 when the last Muslim leader Boabdil (Abu Abdillah) of Granada surrendered complete control of the remnants of the last Moorish stronghold Granada, to Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catà ³licos (“The Catholic Monarchs”). The Portuguese Reconquista culminated in 1249 with the subjugation of Algarve (Arabic: al-Gharb, the extreme west) by Afonso III.

At first the Muslims were promised freedom of religious practice. They were called Mudejars (from the Arabic word Mudajjan, meaning tame or domesticated. It was a derogatory term for Muslims living under Christian rule). In 1499 the primate of Spain, Ximénez de Cisneros, arrived in Granada and was soon applying strong pressure on the Muslims to become Christian. About 50,000 Moors in Granada were coerced by Cardinal Cisneros into mass baptisms and conversion. They were given the option: they must convert or leave. Many chose to leave even though they could not take their properties with them. These refugees found their way to various parts of the world including Latin America (see below) as well as the various countries in North Africa, Mali, Sicily and Turkey. Soon after, an uprising followed known as the First Rebellion of the Alpujarras. In 1526 the Inquisitor General moved to Granada to speed things up. But the process dragged on for years with many Muslims pretending conversion (taqiyya) to survive. They were called Moriscos (Moor-like). People who refused the choices of baptism or deportation to Africa were systematically eliminated.

Serious uprisings began in the Alpujarras (Arabic: al-Bajara, literally The Highlands) mountains near Granada; one was so long and well fought that Philip II of Spain finally had to call in Austrians to help him put an end to it. What followed was a mass exodus of Moors, Jews and Gitanos (Gypsies) from Granada. They left the city and the villages to the mountain regions (and their surrounding hills) and the rural country. In time, Cisneros reported that “There is now no one in the city who is not a Christian, and all the mosques are churches.” Eventually, between 1609 and 1614, Spain gave expulsion orders to the Moriscos. Only six percent were to be allowed to stay, most of who were children and their mothers, and some 250,000 to 500,000 Moriscos were driven out. The Muslims were never to be heard of again in Spain until recent times. To this day, many of the descendants of the Moriscos within Morocco still own the keys to their ancient homes within Spain.

Islam in Latin America

Islam came to the Americas via three routes. The first, which is contentious, was before Columbus. The second was the immigration of refugees escaping the Catholic Inquisition. The third was the enslavement of Muslims, mostly Africans.

In his book, “They Came Before Columbus,” Professor Ivan Van Sertima argues that African and Arab Muslims as well as others knew of the New World before Columbus set sail. Indeed, he offers intriguing facts to argue his point such as linguistic cues within Native American languages. The Taino Indians (the Native Americans of the larger Caribbean islands) of Hispaniola (today’s Dominican Republic and Haiti) reported that a black-skinned people had previously come before Columbus with spears tipped with a metal alloy called gua-nin. The alloy was found to have a similar composition to those found in the West African nation of Guinea. The very word, gua-nin, appears to have come from one of the West African tribes: Fula, Mandingo, Bambara, Mande, Kabunga or others that share linguistic traits.

Van Sertima and others also argue that cultural dissemination was facilitated because many Native Americans were not so different from the Muslim explorers, allowing more than one wife, being very religious but at the same tolerant, and being keen on learning new things. Some tribes are said to have even worn turbans and hijab- like dresses. Indeed, the very myth of the god Quetzalcoatl returning from a distant land in the west may have been inspired by Muslim explorers. Quetzalcoatl was described as being white or wearing white (there are many contradicting traditions relating to this – white was and is a common color worn by Muslims) and having a beard (which is a strange description considering that many Native American tribes are literally beardless) .

The Moorish Muslims also came to the New World escaping the Inquisition. Many came quite legally being that lots were forced to convert to Catholicism. At first, their conversions were taken for granted and thought of a genuine which is why they had leeway to travel. Later, their travel was restricted because many of the conversions were false-conversions or conversions made in order to survive (taqiyya). As early as 1503, Nicolás de Ovando, the royal governor of Hispaniola, requested of Queen Isabela the banning of slaves with the knowledge of Portuguese and Spanish, specifically Jews and Muslims, who “were a source of scandal to the Indians and caused some to flee their owners “to establish Maroon communities in the mountains. In 1543, a royal decree was passed forbidding Gypsies, Jews, Moors and Protestants from immigrating to the New World. In 1574, Las Leyes y Ordenanzas Reales de las Indias del Mar Oceano – The Royal Laws and Ordinances of the Indies of the Ocean Sea – insisted that “all Berbers, male and female slaves, as well as Moors recently converted to Christianity, including their children, should be expelled from the Indies. ” After such laws were enacted to prevent free movement, these Muslims came to the New World illegally. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. In 1574, Las Leyes y Ordenanzas Reales de las Indias del Mar Oceano – The Royal Laws and Ordinances of the Indies of the Ocean Sea – insisted that “all Berbers, male and female slaves, as well as Moors recently converted to Christianity, including their children, should be expelled from the Indies. ” After such laws were enacted to prevent free movement, these Muslims came to the New World illegally. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. In 1574, Las Leyes y Ordenanzas Reales de las Indias del Mar Oceano – The Royal Laws and Ordinances of the Indies of the Ocean Sea – insisted that “all Berbers, male and female slaves, as well as Moors recently converted to Christianity, including their children, should be expelled from the Indies. ” After such laws were enacted to prevent free movement, these Muslims came to the New World illegally. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. Las Laws y Ordenanzas Reales de las Indias del Mar Oceano – The Royal Laws and Ordinances of the Indies of the Ocean Sea – insisted that “all Berbers, male and female slaves, as well as Moors recently converted to Christianity, including their children, should be expelled from the Indies. ” After such laws were enacted to prevent free movement, these Muslims came to the New World illegally. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. Las Laws y Ordenanzas Reales de las Indias del Mar Oceano – The Royal Laws and Ordinances of the Indies of the Ocean Sea – insisted that “all Berbers, male and female slaves, as well as Moors recently converted to Christianity, including their children, should be expelled from the Indies. ” After such laws were enacted to prevent free movement, these Muslims came to the New World illegally. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity. The dissemination of these laws indicates that a significant amount of Mudejars were already living in the Spanish colonies. Many of these Muslims were helped by their Christian comrades, however, because of their (the Muslims’) superior naval knowledge. In a world hungry for knowledge, they were a sought after commodity.

The Spanish administration brought to the New World a fanatical fascination with race. These they termed castes or castes. So- called pureblooded Spaniards were almost guaranteed high-ranking positions or access to them but any hint of mixed blood was looked down upon. Different ethnic groups were looked on as dangerous, immoral, uncivil, and prone to sin. Gradually, a racial classification system evolved. They included such common terms as mulatto and mestizo. The racial categories, however, also included Moriscos, Albinos (the offspring of one Morisco parent and one Spanish parent), Lobos (the offspring of several races including Moriscos) as well as several others. The casta or racial system was systematized in the 16th and 17th centuries, which goes to show that the Moors were still active in this period in the New World.

Slaves from various stock also reinforced the hidden Islamic culture prevalent in the early colonization of the New World. Berbers, Moors, East and Sub-Saharan Africans made it to the New World bound in chains. Of the Sub-Saharan African Muslims, various tribal groupings survived the treacherous trek to the New World. Some such tribes were the Mandingo, Hausa, Bambara, Yoruba, Mande, Kabunga, Kankana, Toranka, and Vei just to name a few. Laws and royal decrees were also enacted to prevent particular tribes of African Muslims from coming to the New World because of their objectionable (to the Spaniards) influence on other African slaves. Many of the slave revolts that occurred in the colonies were due to these African Muslims organizing for their freedom. It was because of unscrupulous slave traders, however, that many of these decrees and ordinances were ignored.

Unfortunately, the Islamic practices of the slaves, ‘new Christians’ and freed caste peoples was eventually eradicated. Centuries of regularized assaults on the religious convictions of these people made it difficult for the transmission of Islamic knowledge to pass from generation to generation. Up until recently, with the immigration of Muslims to the New World again, most knowledge of an Islamic distinction was lost. Some peculiar Islamic cultural holdovers (such as the prohibition of eating pork, wearing the scarf and mantilla, attending church on Fridays, etc) may have remained until this day, however. The eradication of Islam took centuries, though, and the memory of Islam was not wiped out overnight. As it beats as 1835, the African Muslims in Brazil (known as Males) conducted the largest slave revolt in the Americas which culminated with more than 500 being sentenced to death, prison, whippings, and deportation. Even as late as 1910, the Brazilian government counted an estimated 100,000 African Muslims living there.

How did Islam come to benefit and influence our lives today?

Erudite traditions, diverse inventions and cultural innovations were passed onto the West by Muslims. This happened particularly through Spain where scholars from the rest of Europe would come to study. The idea of ​​a school “graduation,” from which we all take part of nowadays when our studies finish, complete with cap and gown (tunic and skullcap) is in complete imitation of the Muslims. Another innovation is the use of symbols for numbers instead of the clumsy Roman system of letters. They were adapted from the numbers used in India by Muslims. We can thank the Muslims for the use of paper. Although a Chinese invention, its use was spread throughout the world because of Muslims. Who doesn’t wake up in the morning to the smell of coffee? Some people cannot make it through the day without it. The use of coffee is one particular ‘Saracen’ habit that the world has yet to acknowledge. A host of diverse topics never heard of in Europe were studied: zoology, sociology, and algebra, to name a few, thanks to Muslims. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. habit that the world has yet to acknowledge. A host of diverse topics never heard of in Europe were studied: zoology, sociology, and algebra, to name a few, thanks to Muslims. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. habit that the world has yet to acknowledge. A host of diverse topics never heard of in Europe were studied: zoology, sociology, and algebra, to name a few, thanks to Muslims. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. A host of diverse topics never heard of in Europe were studied: zoology, sociology, and algebra, to name a few, thanks to Muslims. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. A host of diverse topics never heard of in Europe were studied: zoology, sociology, and algebra, to name a few, thanks to Muslims. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. A noteworthy effect on Europe that helped bring about the renaissance was the translation and transmission of classical and philosophical works and ideas from ancient Greece (as well as Persia, India and China). Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age. Muslims also brought foreign foods (fruits and vegetables) and spices with them which they introduced to Europe. The list of things they brought and did for Europe is enormous and can go on and on. They were directly responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages and into the Renaissance which in turn brought us into the industrial revolution and the modern age.

Other ways they have influenced us, specifically people of Hispanic descent, are through culture and language. Even after 400 years of the last known Moriscos being heard from, people of Hispanic heritage can boast having Moorish blood as many of their last names attest. Old Arabic names still survive with us to this day, such as Alameda (al-Muwatta), Baez (Bayás), Cid (Sayyid), Guadalupe (Wadi al-Lupus), Medina (Madinah), Toledo (Tulayta), etc. There are literally dozens upon dozens of Arabic surnames among Hispanics. There are also customs that are (or were) customs attributable to the Moors, for example, the saying and refrain ‘mi casa es su casa (my home is your home),’ ‘go con Dios (go with God),’ ‘ if God wants (God willing), ” I wish (God willing), ‘etc. There are other Moorish concepts and ideas that are still part of Hispanic culture such as the idea ‘vergüenza’ which is a mixture of honor and shame. The idea is originally an Arab concept called “‘ar.” Other concepts are those of measurements which are still in use today in many countries. Some of these measurements are the ‘arrelde’ and ‘arroba’ – their Arabic equivalents are ‘ar-Ratl’ and ‘ar-Rub’ah.’ Lots of people nowadays resent Muslims, however, if you think of it – where would we truly be without them? Other concepts are those of measurements which are still in use today in many countries. Some of these measurements are the ‘arrelde’ and ‘arroba’ – their Arabic equivalents are ‘ar-Ratl’ and ‘ar-Rub’ah.’ Lots of people nowadays resent Muslims, however, if you think of it – where would we truly be without them? Other concepts are those of measurements which are still in use today in many countries. Some of these measurements are the ‘arrelde’ and ‘arroba’ – their Arabic equivalents are ‘ar-Ratl’ and ‘ar-Rub’ah.’ Lots of people nowadays resent Muslims, however, if you think of it – where would we truly be without them?

Latino Muslims Today

Latino Muslims come from all walks of life. Most choose Islam as a way of life because they like the simplicity of just praying directly to God instead of an intercessor. If you ask a Latino Muslim why they chose Islam, they will invariably say “because it’s the truth.” Conversion is personal thing, of course, and many factors may influence why a personal chooses Islam.

Islam among Latinos has a long history of which we touched upon here. Today, there are approximately six million Muslims in Latin America. There are about 1½ million Muslims in Brazil and close to a million more in Argentina. The rest are scattered throughout Latin America. In the United States, there are anywhere from 100 thousand to 200 thousand Muslims of Hispanic descent. Hispanic Muslims are made up of people who converted to Islam or were born to converts of Islam as well as Muslim who were born to the faith from immigrants to Latin American countries.

Islam is a brotherhood – a brotherhood of believers. Islam is a universal brotherhood that transcends all brotherhoods (see Surat al-Hujurat 49:10). Islam is the truth. In fact, Islam is a guidance and a mercy to humanity from God. It teaches truth, justice, mercy, unity and equality (see Holy Qur’an 112: 1-4, 17:54, 59:10 and 16:97 respectively). The goals of Islam are simple: belief in the One God and obedience to Him, the brotherhood of humanity, justice and the protection of people’s rights.

Conclusion

To conclude, this message is an invitation to Islam – an invitation for a better world society. This message is not intended solely to Latinos – this message is for all humanity. All of the world’s problems (drug addiction, promiscuity, poverty, robbery, corruption, etc) have a solution in Islam. Look into your hearts – is there something missing? Discover Islam – it can help fill the gap. This message is from our Creator – verily, He does not need us but we are always in need of Him.

“O humankind! It is you who stand in need of God, whereas He alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due.” The Holy Quran 35:15.

Notes:

Al-Djazairi, SE, “The Hidden Debt to Islamic Civilization” Bayt Al-Hikma Press 2005 ISBN # 0-9551156-1-2

Boyd Thatcher, John, “Christopher Columbus, His Life, His work, His Remains” GP Putnam & Sons 1903

Esposito, John L., “Islam: The Straight Path” Ed. Oxford University Press 2005

Esposito, John L., “Oxford Dictionary of Islam” Ed. Oxford University Press. 2003.

Gomez, Michael, “Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas” New York University Press, ISBN # 0-521-60079-0

Harvey, Leonard Patrick, “Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN 0-226-31962-8.

Kennedy, Hugh, “Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus” Longman 1996 ISBN 0-582-49515-6

Latino American Dawah Organization, Muslim Organizations in Latin America www.LatinoDawah.org & www.HispanicMuslims.com

Lovejoy, Paul E, “Muslim Encounters with Slavery in Brazil” New York University, ISBN # 1-55876-378-3

Luscombe, David, “The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4” Cambridge University Press 2004 ISBN # 0-521-41411-3

Manuela, Marin, “The Formation of Al-Andalus: History and Society” Ashgate 1998 ISBN 0-86078-708-7

Menocal, Maria Rosa, “Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain” Back Bay Books 2002 ISBN 0-316-16871-8

Netanyahu, Benzion, “The Origins Of The Inquisition In Fifteenth Century Spain” Random House, Inc. 1995 ISBN 0-679-41065-1

Olson, Christa Johanna, “The Construction and Depiction of Race in Colonial Mexico” http://institutohemisferico.org

Reis, Joao Jose, “Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia” John Hopkins University Press, London 1993

Sanchez-Albornoz, Claudio, “The Islam of Spain and the West” Madrid 1974

Saudi Aramco World, “The Islamic Connection” May / June 2004 www.SaudiAramcoWorld.com

Saudi Aramco World, “The Second Flowering: Art of the Mudejars” January / February 1993 www.SaudiAramcoWorld.com

Van Buren, Thomas, “Transnational Music and Dance in the Dominican Republic”

Van Sertima, Ivan, “The Came Before Columbus” Random House 2003

Islam, July - Sept 2011

Your Assistance is Always Needed

By Yusef Maisonet

August 3, 2011

As Salaamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatullah,

I serve the Muslim community in the most treacherous prison in the United States. We have approximately fifteen Muslim brothers on Death Row and a large Muslim community in regular population. All members of the Holman Islamic Community have many needs.

They all want to learn the way of (Ahlus sunnah wal Jamaah). Alhamdulila. They make Wudu and Salah like the Prophet (SAW), as explained by Shaykh Muhammad S. Adly. The need is great but I am counting on those that know that this work is hard but fruitful. As many of you know, I also do work in Puerto Rico and Cuba, and your financial support allows me to continue all of this much-needed work.

This Ramadan we are trying to raise a minimum of five thousand dollars ($5000.00) to send a believer to hajj (inshAllah). I am asking you for your help during this Blessed Month of Ramadan. We are getting ready to open a grocery store to help us achieve our goal of being a service to the Muslim and Non-Muslim community. We want to create jobs and make decent food products more available. This is to implement all that I have learned from my Muslim brothers and sisters from overseas. I’m appealing to the Muslim in you for your assistance.

We are also doing everything that we can for the Muslims that are incarcerated, so that they may have a prosperous Ramadan. And, during this Blessed Month, they continue to have many needs including Islamic literature, prayer rugs, kufis and for the Eids, halal food slaughter by Muslims and cooked for the Muslim inmates. I just wanted to make you aware of some of the blessings that you can earn as caretakers of this Deen. Again, please consult your hearts.

We have a Paypal account on our website:
http://masjidassalaam.bbnow.org/

Ramadan Mubarak to all of the believers.

Imam Yusef Maisonet
Masjid As-Salaam
313B Houston St.
Mobile, Al 36606

Islam, July - Sept 2011, Women in Islam

“Aren’t You Hot in That?” – My First Summer in Hijab

By Holly Garza

http://ww2.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/living-islam/personal-stories/in-their-own-words/409345.html

July 14, 2009

As-salamu Alaykum! This just means “peace be upon you” or, in Spanish, “La paz sea con usted”.

Am I hot in my headscarf with covered arms and legs? Yes, I am hot, but I’m not any hotter than you not covering like I do. Honestly, at times I’m even four to six degrees cooler than you.

Now, a few degrees cooler will not make me feel cool in 95 degree weather, but I am not really suffering much more than someone who is not covered. This I know for a fact.

At home I do not dress this way, and when I go out to the back yard with my daughter to hang laundry, boy, does the sun bite and eat at my skin, I get very hot and very itchy very quickly from the sun.

These are some tips I use to avoid the all-feared heat stroke, and you can use them too to stay comfortable in the summer.

1- Stay hydrated. I force myself to drink that water. You have to and besides, it’s great for your skin and hair.

2- Use sunscreen on your face and carry an umbrella to make your own shade. We all know the umbrella makes it at least 2-3 degrees cooler, and you can try staying to the side of the road with trees as well.

What I do to dress Islamically, and stay somewhat comfortable, is to dress in appropriately light and loose clothing whenever I can. Wide-leg pants let the heat out, and a gentle breeze in, every now and then. I admit that I don’t have many of these, but they make all the difference. Currently I am purchasing more for my wardrobe.

Underneath my tanks, or dressy short-sleeved shirts, I like wearing a long-sleeved, super thin, white, or very light-colored, garment. It helps so much in this weather to wear light, breathable fabrics.

I have three main shirts I always wear: a white long-sleeved shirt of super thin material, a grey long-sleeved shirt also of super thin material, or a thin off-white turtleneck. These shirts compliment 90% of my clothing colors and styles and are perfect for the heat.

You are probably thinking long sleeves = HOT. But not really, just try it. The real truth is, light-colored and loose-fitting articles of clothing which reflect heat are much better for keeping cool than bare legs and bare arms. And I don’t know about you, but I burn easily in the sun’s harsh rays.

Honestly, it’s perfect because I cover my skin from sun damage, and because the fabric actually is breathable, I get the random cool breeze. So while its still very warm outside, I’m not burning up or catching a sun burn.

And the best thing is that I can be identified as a Muslim. If it gets very hot for me, I remind myself that even if I take it off, it won’t really make me any less hot. And there is only so much clothing you can remove; I’m not about to go into work wearing a bikini, so why not be an Islamically-dressed woman and proud?

I love for the world to know that I’m Muslim; it’s a huge part of who I am and I love the questions I get because of it. I don’t want to take off my little super thin scarf over two extra degrees of heat. Why should I?

I’ll keep my sleeved, breezy, non sun-burned scarf-wearing self and be happy.

Islam, July - Sept 2011, Other

Andalucia Raises Funds and Awareness at their 2011 Fundraising Gala

From the Andalucia Center Blog

August 27, 2011

http://www.andaluciacenter.org/profiles/blogs/andalucia-raises-funds-and-awareness-at-their-2011-fundraising-ga

In efforts to raise awareness and support for its groundbreaking project, the Andalucia Center and IslamInSpanish hosted a Fundraising Gala on August 17th. Entitled “Serving Humanity in the Multimedia Age”, the Gala affair featured various figures that spoke openhearted about the impact the Center has made so far in the community and its need to be recognized as a headquarters of using media to promote social change.

An assortment of videos played which not only highlighted the targeted demographics that the center caters to–Youth, Women, New Muslims, Latinos and the General Society–but it also put on display the capabilities the center has to offer. For one, the KnewU Program was presented in a lively informercial format. A dramatic short film was screened featuring youth who participated in the Media Summer Camp in June and IslamInSpanish’s efforts were highlighted in a interesting newscast.

The Fundraiser was a sellout at Signature Manor, the beautiful and spacious ballroom which hosted the event. The nights festivities were capped off with Keynote Speakers Khurram Mujtaba, CEO of Guide US TV and creator of Islambox.com, urging the guests to believe and get behind the center and the concept of using multimedia to raise the status of the Muslim community in the mainstream. Imam Siraj Wahhaj also had a touching speech and gave a fine endorsement for the Center being a platform for the people to let their voices be heard and their ideas come to life.

Other notable items were a special art auction that took place where Houston artists put on display unique pieces in efforts to raise funds for the Center.

All in all, the gala was a memorable affair that created a buzz in the community and caused people to take notice of the Andalucia Center as a valuable resource designed to Make Media Social.

Related Links:

IslamInSpanish/Andalucia Fundraising Gala 2011 Promo Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V22fvGzGevs

Andalucia Social and Educational Media Center
http://www.AndaluciaCenter.org

Islam, July - Sept 2011

God’s Mercy to All

By Imam Yusuf Rios

http://www.thelastingmiracle.com/eng/article.aspx?id=383&cat=164

God Almighty says in the 107 verse of the 21st chapter of the Qur’an

“And we have not sent you except as a mercy to all of Creation”

A Thematic Introduction to the Verse

Theme One: Islam Is Peace And Justice For All

This verse of the Holy Qur’an, defines the reality of the person of Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessings of God be Upon him) emphasizing him as primarily characterized by mercy. The most prominent feature describing the Prophetic mission of Muhammad (PBUH) besides his comprehensiveness is just this -his being a mercy to humanity not to mention to the whole of creation. The mission of the Prophet (PBUH) then is to communicate the mercy of Almighty God to the whole of humanity without restriction. This message is to be communicated by mercy and not by force based upon the well-known verse

“there is no compulsion in religion.” (Qur’an 2:256)

This then can be said to be the first unique characteristic of Islam, that it is a divine message rooted in unrestricted mercy and this is defined by its universality and its invitation to the brotherhood of humanity based on a life of justice and spirituality both of which are marks of mercy.
Theme Two: Islam Caters To The Life Of The Soul As Well As The Body

Islam is a way of life aimed at catering to and facilitating the needs of life whether they are material or spiritual. Islam looks to preserve the life of the Soul, Intellect, Family, as well as the Economic life in addition to protecting the Physical life of the individual, which is highly valued in Islam. It is these five arenas that Islam looks to develop and create the conditions for growth and well being because these are the essential arenas, which support and sustain living. So it was a demonstration of God’s all-encompassing mercy that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent to teach Islam and how Islam facilitates the needs of all facets of life and how we may achieve eternal peace with our creator. So humanity is not left unto itself without guidance, but rather it is aided in the process of life and assured in time of hardship that life is more than just material existence it also has a spiritual component that transcends death. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) teaches humanity what is the purpose of life and how to establish justice in the process of realizing the needs and demands of daily life without forgetting or neglecting the demands of the heart, soul and intellect.

Theme Three: Islam And The Environment

The role of the Prophet (PBUH) according to the above verse is that of servant and educator. The Prophet (PBUH) is characterized as a vehicle of Divine Mercy that is expressed to humanity in specific and all creation in general. The Prophet (PBUH) taught humanity how to live in the most productive and meaningful way. He taught that human beings are not just responsible for being just to one another but also to other life forms. It is in establishing the justice that Islam preaches that business and science is conducted in an environmentally friendly manner because the ethics of Islam demand that the human being be charitable and not greedy, that he be considerate and not indifferent, and that his action promotes life and does not reduce or stifle life. In fact, the role of the human being, in relation to the creation, according to Islam, is one of stewardship, stewardship that is bound by self-accountability in this life and the next.

The problems of today when we look to the environmental crisis are rooted in a lack of consciousness of the real role of humanity which is clear in Islam.

Likewise, much of the environmental crisis is because of the greed and corruption run rampant in business dealings and the management of the world’s resources. Islam teaches that all creation is “Muslim” in a state of submission to the Creator. So from the lens of Islam all of creation, including human beings, are servants and guests of Almighty God as long as they remain in existence. Therefore, humanity is obliged to act responsibly and not arrogantly, to act wisely and not hastily, to act sincerely and not hypocritically, and to act in frugally and not extravagantly.

Theme Four:

Even in the time of war, Muslims are obligated not to kill women, children, monks and priests, or even to destroy trees or animal life. So what is to be said of a time of peace? Islam commanded in the time of war for non-human life to be regarded because it serves life and to destroy it is an encroachment on the right of others to live. The teachings of Islam order its adherents when camping or out in the desert or forest regions for example, not to relieve themselves on the road people travel on nor under trees which people may seek shade under or on things of value. All these injunctions are aimed at instilling a character that is concerned with others and we see in these injunctions that we are to act in the environment in a way that promotes a high standard of living free of pollution caused by irresponsible action. Because living involves cooperating with others the Muslim is obliged to act responsibly and justly.

Theme Five: Reaffirming the Identity of the Prophet Muhammad

The uniqueness of person of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is that history has left us with a very accurate and detailed record of his doings, sayings and life history all which indicate to the reality of his mission and life. As an educator he was occupied and concerned with the affairs of human life and how to teach humanity to realize that life is meaningful when informed by the worship of The One God who created us. The power of Islam lies in this teaching that the human being was created to worship or to serve his Maker with sincere devotion. This worship is the purpose of our existence in that we must submit in gratitude to our Creator worshipping Him alone while seeking his guidance and forgiveness. The test of life is about realizing this truth thereby attaining serenity, hope, and fulfillment which inspires life filling it with hope of a greater sense that gives meaning to death.

So he or she who wishes to understand what Islam is and who was the person of the Prophet Muhammad {PBUH} is not restricted to imagination, emotion, and/or scanty records as a basis for drawing up an understanding of who he was and yet with this overabundance of information we have the Qur’an testify to who he was and what was his purpose. The single verse mentioned above illustrates in detail his mission and identity.

The Arabic version of this verse is much richer in meaning as it is the original language by which the final message of God was revealed. Arabic is the language of the revelation and the oldest living language on the earth. There are other tongues like Sanskrit older than Arabic but they are all dead languages, no longer spoken. Given this reality we wish to expound upon this verse from its original language so that the most meaning can be derived from it. Let us begin to ponder the meaning of the verse as it is traditionally done in the Arabic language.

An Analytical View of the Verse

“And we have not sent you except as a mercy to all of Creation”

1. And We:

In these two words the message related is that it is the one and only God, the Exalted who commissioned the Prophet so that the origin of the Prophetic effort and message is not the wisdom of a wise man or an ascetic, but rather it is Divine.

In addition His speaking in the singular first person “I”, in many places in the Qur’an God talks in the “royal” we. In many languages there is a mechanism for one to speak in the plural giving the meaning of elevated status. For example a chief of an Arab tribe might address his people as “We” when talking to them. Of course after the Qur’an and the conversion of Arabia to Islam this became restricted to the Qur’an since by Islam people were generally humbled.

2. Have not sent you except as a mercy:

This part of the verse is very profound and deserves the most attention possible in that its meaning becomes apparent with reflection. Here Almighty God is declaring why He commissioned the Prophet (PBUH). The Arabic reflects a restrictive meaning so that it reads as such- the Prophet was sent for no other purpose except to be a means for humankind to realize and attain God’s Mercy. There is an emphasis on the role of the Prophet as a vehicle of mercy sent from God in addition to the point that this mercy is to be shared with all of humanity.

The mission with which God sent the Prophet (PBUH) is not restricted to a particular audience but rather it is an inclusive message; it is a message to all of humanity. In other words Islam is a message for all of humanity. It is comprehensively characterized by mercy for all of humanity and all of creation thereby inclusive of the eco-system. This Mercy even applies to those who choose not to believe in it, of course with the exception of those who attack it or its adherents. Even then, as mentioned above, the rules of war are merciful to non-combatants.

To understand on a much more profound level what this small verse contains it is necessary to key in on the notion of “Mercy” in this verse. Mercy here means that God sent the Prophet (PBUH) with “guidance to a meaningful existence”. He was sent to teach humankind the path to a communal and social life which is pleasing to God. It teaches respect and love in a way that grants all the right to co-exist and lead a full life. This understanding of mercy is a path to a peaceful existence in this world and a path to a blissful eternity after death can only be understood in the context of God having created the human being to lead a purposeful life, a life of worship, a life in which the purpose of existence is fulfilled by living a committed and profound relationship with the Creator, to live in commune with action and spirit. It is the Prophet (PBUH) who guides us to understand the nature of our purpose in life and teaches us the path to self-fulfillment and how to be humane not only to fellow human beings but also to fellow creatures and this wasn’t merely done by wise sayings it was through his lived example. The thousands of authentic narrations related about his life (known as Hadith) were either; statements he made, actions someone saw him doing or silent approvals which he passed by something and didn’t prohibit it. The large majority of these narrations start and so and so saw the Prophet do this or that.

3. To all of Creation:

This part of the verse makes clear that the message of Islam is universal and directed at all peoples of all walks of life and backgrounds no one is discriminated against with regard to participating in the mercy of living a full life of not being left to a life of despair and misdirection, left to be bewildered as to what is the aim of life and what is the best means to live the most joyful and peaceful existence possible. Neither is anyone left alone to make sense of the aim of death and its meaning.

In fact this part of the verse is a declaration that Islam calls humanity to brotherhood and cooperation and rejects tribal, nationalistic and racist thinking. Islam considers all humanity brothers, but demands that humanity work to cultivate that brotherhood by doing good deeds and cooperating on a moral basis and especially in the worship of the One who created all of humanity. Islam declares that the unity of humanity lies in recognizing God’s Mercy as presented by all Prophets. The noble Prophets of God all taught that even though life is not without hardship that life has meaning and that existence is not haphazard. The aim of life is to contemplate our origin and our end and to reflect on the deeper order of Creation which indicates to the existence of purpose in the Universe and from here Islam enjoins humanity not only to accept the message of all the Prophet’s but rather enjoins humanity to reflect upon creation utilizing the intellect to see that all things point to order and purpose. It is through this intellectual objective reflection upon the life of the Prophet that the reality of Muhammad’s being sent as “a mercy to mankind” can be more firmly grasped and better understood.

The following are a list of authentic narrations of the Mercy propounded by Almighty God by means of the Prophet Muhammad for all of mankind to embrace-

The Prophet only invoked God against a few people who went to extreme inhuman measures to assasinate him, curse him and the divine message he was sent with, and torturing and killing the other beleivers. In each one of these cases a miracle took place as to their demise. Besides these few men there were hundreds of enemies to the Prophet and they did many horrible tings to the beleivers. But when asked by his companions to invoke God against them the Prophet (PBUH) said-

“I was not sent to curse people. In reality the main purpose I was sent as a Mercy from God.”(Muslim)

It is also well known that the Arabs were harsh hearted and that the men rarely ever interacted with their children much less show love to them. Once a man came to the Prophet (PBUH) and saw that He (PBUH) was holding his grandson Husain and that He (PBUH) even kissed him. The man said to the Prophet “I have ten kids and I have never kissed one of them”. The Prophet said

“Whoever is not Loving and Merciful will not recieve Love and Mercy (in the Hereafter).”(Bukhari)

The Prophet tells us a Parable-

“A man was walking through the desert dying of thirst when he suddenly saw a well. So he crawled down and drank (there was no bucket). When He emerged from the well he saw a dog lapping foaming at the mouth of thirst. He said to himself- that dog is in the state I just was- so he took off his shoe went down and scooped some water for the dog until its thirst was quenched. Almighty God was pleased with this and forgave the man his sins. Then one of the Prophet’s companions “Are we rewarded for being good to animals?” The Prophet replied “There is a reward for being good to all living beings”(Bukhari)

he also said

“A woman went to Hell becasue she caged a cat and didn’t feed it until it died.”(Bukhari)

It is also well known that the Arabs used to view their women and servants as lesser than human and they would often beat them in a fit of anger. The wife of the Prophet (PBUH) and beloved mother of the beleivers said about her husband-

“He never hit a women or a servant.”(Bukhari)

It was also narrated that he said

“I would come to prayer sometimes intending to read a long portion of the Qur’an. Then I would hear a baby crying and I would shorten the prayer so his mother who wishes to leave the prayer can attend to him.”(Bukhari)

The Prophet was even Merciful and Compassionate when in war. He commanded his companions-

“Do not kill women, old men, children, or religious monks and priests. Do not cut or burn down trees.”(Tirmidhi and Bukhari)

April - June 2011, Islam

The Latest News from PIEDAD

By Nylka Vargas

http://www.llamo.org

LLAMO Newsletter
April 13, 2011 – Vol. 1, Issue 1

PIEDAD (Propagación Islámica para la Educación y Devocion a Allah el Divino) is a national network of Muslim women coming together for the common good: spiritual development, community building, sisterhood, and educational outreach, with a focus on the Latina/Hispanic community.

As-Salaamu Alaikum! Thank you for your interest in PIEDAD. The following is an outline of our programs. We hope that you enjoy reading about the and ask for your feedback. If you have any questions, or would like to help us out please send us an email. Do keep us in your duas. Baraak Allahu Feekum. May Allah bless you all!

***

PiedadOnline.com

For sure, having an online presence is important to get the message out of who we are and what we do. That being said, it is also a vehicle to help others learn about Islam, giving them reliable reading material, most up to date information available, and relevant happenings in the Muslim Community. The PiedadOnline website is designed with that in mind! For example, the newcomer to Islam can easily browse our Intro to Islam section, access learn how to pray resources, and be linked/directly access Quran recitation with narrations in English and hard to find Spanish. At our women’s page, one can find articles and audio files on Women in Islam plus direction to other works by women’s related websites and projects will be easiliy acessed, again in the Spanish language. At our resource page, links to other Latino Muslims or Spanish Language. We are always collecting New Muslimah stories for those interested in sharing. Do visit us often and stay informed of our latest schedule! Send us a message through our website at PiedadOnline.com.

Quarterly Informational Sessions

We host quarterly information sessions or get-togethers, where topics are presented, ideas are shared, and agenda items to benefit the ummah are put into action!

Dawah Tables at Street Festivals

Piedad coordinates dawah tables at various street festivals throughout the year: Masjid Al-Huda Jersey Heights “Everything Festival”, North Hudson Islamic Educational Center “Street Festival” , Journal Square “Egyptian Cultural Festival”, in New Jersey.

The primary purpose at these festivals and dawah events is to outreach to the community and offer free Quran, introductory pamphlets, and cds on Islam. It is amazing how often spectators are curious about Islam, having heard something about Islam on the news or through friends. Also too, we get a large turnout of Muslims visiting the booth asking for basic information on Islam or directory of Islamic programs in the area . Recently our own misconceptions were put to the test at the 2010 “Egyptian Cultural Festival” where we had to turn away many requesting Qurans and basic reading material in Arabic or Urdu. There definitely is a demand to host more informational tables, especially in multi-languages. To do so, we need more funding for Qurans, pamphlets, booklets, and volunteers to help coordinate, set-up and service the table. The source of our literature comes from 1-877-WhyIslam (www.whyislam.org) and Islam in Spanish (www.islaminspanish.org) May Allah give us the ability to continue hosting many more. Insha’Allah.

P.I.E.D.A.D at the 8th Annual Hispanic Muslim Day, September 2010

The Annual Hispanic Muslim Day is the hotspot for many of the Latino Muslims, coming from as far as California. Every year topics include: Fundamental of Islam, The History of the Latino Muslim, The Growth of the Latino Muslims, and Personal Journey to Islam Accounts. Piedad members volunteer to make the day a success!

Sisterhood & Mentorship: As individuals we are all developing, Insha’Allah, for the better and moving forward. Development is a non-linear process with its setbacks and gains. Mentorship/tutelage/guidance means many things. From the Islamic perspective it means both assisting a fellow brother/sister learn the din and also lending them some social support. Sisterhood is not limited to the formal Islamic discourse and classes. We set up events that celebrate significant life events (marriage, newborn, graduation, etc.) We also coordinate Ramadan Iftars and Eid gatherings. inshaAllah. There are no set guidelines, really.

Purple Hijab Day (February 2010)

P.I.E.D.A.D hosted a private sister’s gathering on February 14, 2010 to remember Sr. Aasiya Zubair’s (Hassan) domestic violence. Our remembrance was in the form of prayer, education, and discussion. A Domestic Violence power point was presented and discussed in a halaqa type style; attendees included Fatima Kaba, Fatima Vargas, Gretel Martinez, and Nylka Vargas. Jazaakum Allahu Khairun to all participants. Together we can make a difference to end injustice of all forms. Amin.

Purple Hijab 2011

On February 13, 2011 at the North Hudson Islamic Center, in Union City, NJ. At this in-house community event, Piedad volunteers researched DV topics, custom made a display board and baked desserts for the DV fundraiser.Topics displayed/presented were: Defining DV, Domestic Violence Prevalence within the Muslim and general community, Domestic Violence Resources/Info display of various localities/organization throughout the U.S., The Islamic Perspective of Elevated Status of Women and Islamic legal verdicts of various misconstrued verses and ahadith on the Muslimah. We also handed out out free Why Islam Pamphlets, “Unveling the Hijab” and “Status of Women in Islam”, plus Message International’s special edition on “Domestic Violence in the Muslim Communities”. We were fortunate to have WAFA House board members, Sr. Huma, Wafa, and another sister, with us. They gave a very informative lecture on their objectives and the endeavors at the organzation. Areas of concern found at WAFA House: lack of volunteers and funding.

Many thanks to all the diligent workers and supporters who made the even a success: Sheikh Mohamed Al-Hayek from NHIEC, Jennah (Stephanie) Perrotta, Dominique Castro, Ida Netanhou, Gretel Martinez, Nahela Morales, Vanessa Rivera, Jennielle Yasell, Linda Rodriguez, Sumaya, Damaris Tapanes, Michelle Garcia, Fatima Vargas.

Iftar Get-Together Ramadan 2010

Ramadan is the season of fasting, reflection, remembrance and seeking forgiveness. Having at least one sister’s iftar is a MUST but so worth the effort.

Piedad participates at Masjid Annual Iftar

Every year, a number of reverts gather to break fast together at the NHIEC masjid. In addition to the main course prepared and donated by members of the Muslim community, Piedad volunteers bring in a selection of desserts and appetizers. Alhamdullilah, it was an affair to remember, but most importantly a time to give thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon us by Allah (subhanhu wa ta ‘ala).

Piedad hosts Hijab Party, November, 2010: Sr. Miriam Colon’s Dignity Apparel Inc.

“It’s not just a business, it is where Modesty meets Fashion Industry”, says designer Miriam Colon, who’s already worked in NYC’s fashion scene and is now pursuing a degree in Fashion Designing in Chicago, Illinois. Masha’Allah. May Allah make her reality true, and give her success in all her endeavors.

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Islamic Studies: The sisters of PIEDAD will strive to learn and implement the Islamic principles in their daily lives according to the Qur’an, Sunnah and ijma’ of the scholars. To achieve this goal an Islamic Studies program of Aqeedah, Seerah, Quran memorization, tafsir and tajweed will be designed and completion/attendance will be tracked through several mediums tailored to meet individual needs: Online studies, Sister’s Halaqas, Islamic Studies class at mosque choice or self-paced study for the exceptional case. PIEDAD sisters will be assessed through a written test and presentation.

Introduction to Basic Tenets of Islamic Faith

The purpose of the program is to help new Muslimahs and reverts learn about the basics of Islam and the Salat essentials in either Spanish or English. The instructor is a qualified PIEDAD sister, either through certification or intensive studies program. We are also part of the masjid dawah and sister’s committees. It’s all about working together and often times our programs supplement or are an extension of another program. Please see our schedule at piedadonline.com.

Expanding the Amando Nuestra Religion to Hackensack, NJ masjid! Sr. Orbe Acosta and Sr. Flor Maza will lead the effort. Insha’Allah.

Love for the sake of Allah, Islamic Study Program: Whether in the traditional classroom, study socials, at the masjid, or online; coming together to learn and share Islam is to Love for the Sake of Allah. Upcoming program is focused on reading essential works on women’s issues by qualified authors. Check the website for details.

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Youth development: PIEDAD will support, advocate, and train young Muslimahs to be vibrant leaders of tomorrow.

Youth Halaqa

We’re happy to announce that PIEDAD will begin a Young Muslimah Halaqa at the NHIEC masjid. In 2008 we had a 6-month Muslimah Halaqa at the Masjid Al-Huda in Jersey City, NJ. The Youth Halaqah initiative allows us to create a platform for the young and developing Muslimahs to talk, be heard, express, and receive adult feedback. We have on staff a mental health counselor who will lend that listening ear, integrating both the psychological, social, and Islamic modules. Moreover, evidence based studies will be referred as well as prominent works of researchers in this area.

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Children’s Activities and Affairs: Now let us face it, children require a whole lot of our attention! They are dependent on us from infancy through their formative years to be healthy, happy and rightly individuals! PIEDAD sisters know first hand the motherhood experience, by way of on the job training or theory in practice. We are ready to tackle the issues most needed: support programs, babysitting for sister studies, Eid parties, play-dates, networking with mommies, providing online educational material, etc. Remember we are a WOMAN’S organization; CHILDREN ARE WELCOME!

Ready, Set, it’s Ramadan: 3-WEEK kidz workshop, ages 5-12

Every year we try to do a number of fun things for the kids. The “Ready, Set, It’s Ramadan” workshops were designed to promote educational, social and emotional competencies in pre-school and early elementary aged children, intended to better prepare children to enter Ramadan 2010. The curriculum is summarized below. Our apologies for not displaying the bulletin board pictures this year but they were lost.

STORY TIME: THE APPROACH OF RAMADAN SIGHTING THE MOON, WHY DO WE FAST DURING RAMADAN? GOOD DEEDS AND SADAQAH, LAST TEN NIGHTS OF RAMADAN, LAYLATAL QADR, PREPARING SUHOOR AND IFTAR CHOICES, CHILDREN AND FASTING, RAMADAN AROUND THE WORLD, HOW DO WE FAST RECAP/ PREPARING FOR EID, ITIKAF, SALAATUL TARAWEEH. ARTS AND CRAFT: MOON PHASE CALENDAR FOR RAMADAN, START RAMADAN BULLETIN BOARD, RAMADAN BULLETIN BOARD CONT’D & SADAQAH TREE, SADAQAH / GOOD DEED TREE CONT’D, FANOUS MAKING!, FANOUS, DUA BOOK, RAMADAN GREETING CARDS, LET’S DECORATE, ITIKAF, SALAATUL TARAWEEH, LET’S DECORATE!

Children’s Learn Islam Workshops at Hackensack Masjid, NJ (soon to come in 2011, inshaAllah)

Thanks for reading. Jazaakum Allahu Khairun.

Sr. Nylka Vargas is the P.I.E.D.A.D Coordinator.

April - June 2011, Islam

Mosque Open House in English/Spanish

Peace be with you,

We hope that you are enjoying a spring season of warmth, blooming, renewal and growth. We’d like to inform you of a mosque open house at the Islamic Association of North Texas on April 2, 2011. The open house will include a tour, information booths, English and Spanish presentation, Q & A sessions, free gifts, free literature, and of course, free Mediterranean food!

Please feel free to share this information with anyone who might be interested to attend.

The details are as follows:

Mosque Open House
April 2, 2011, 2:30 — 5:30 PM
Islamic Association of North Texas
840 Abrams Rd. Richardson TX 75081

As salam aleikum,

Juegue su rol invitando a la gente a el Din de Allah, el camino correcto, la religion del Islam.

Insha Allah proximo Open House para No Musulmanes a realizarse el IANT(Islamic Association of North Texas (Dallas Central Mosque) (Richardson, Texas). patrocinada por ICNA, si conoces a alguien interesado en conocer del Islam, por favor invitalo a este evento.

Abierto a todo publico, principalmente No Musulmanes hermanos y hermanas, si conocen alguien en el area de Dallas Tx. que este interesado en el Islam haganle saber de este evento, habra hermanos y hermanas de habla Hispana que los podran orientar y dar un recorrido por el Masjid.

April - June 2011, Islam

Children’s Books from HablamosIslam

By Wendy Diaz

In English:

Bismillahi ar Rahmani ar Rahim.
As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu dear brothers and sisters,

Hablamos Islam and Hablamos Islam Niños are established programs that provide Islamic resources to the Spanish-speaking community. However, in our efforts to expand and meet the needs of both our Hispanic/Latino and English-speaking brothers and sisters, we have published our Islamic children’s books in both English and Spanish, alhamdulillah.

Our newest book is called “The First Day of Ramadan/El Primer Día de Ramadán” and is priced at $11.99. This is the perfect pre-Ramadan gift for your child!

All proceeds go towards printing more such books. These are the ONLY bilingual English/Spanish Islamic children’s books available in the world! Help out your Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters in Spain, Latin America, and North America by purchasing a book and making it possible to distribute these type of resources where they are needed most, insha’Allah.

Other titles include: “A Veil and a Beard/Un velo y una barba” and “The Questioner/El Preguntador” ($9.99 each)

Visit our website: www.hablamosislamninos.com to purchase a book (go to “Libros”/Books) or to see what we have to offer. Our site includes free coloring pages, videos, poems for kids, and much more.

“Like” us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hablamosislam

JazakumAllahu khaiyran wa as salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

Umm Uthman/Wendy Diaz
Author, Founder
Hablamos Islam & Hablamos Islam Niños
www.hablamosislamninos.com

En Español:

Bismillahi ar Rahmani ar Rahim.
As salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu queridos hermanos y hermanas,

Hablamos Islam y Hablamos Islam Niños son programas establecidos que proveen recursos islámicos a la comunidad de habla hispana. En nuestro esfuerzo para crecer y hacer disponible nuestros productos a nuestros hermanos y hermanas hispanos/latinos y tambien a aquellos que hablan inglés, hemos publicado nuestros libros infantiles islámicos en ambos idiomas, alhamdulillah.

Nuestro libro más reciente se llama: “El Primer Día de Ramadán/The First Day of Ramadan” y su precio es $11.99. ¡Es el regalo perfecto para antes de Ramadán!

Todas las ganancias son para imprimir más libros parecidos. ¡Estos libros son los UNICOS libros bilingues español/inglés sobre el Islam para niños en el mundo! Ayúde a sus hermanos y hermanas en España, Latinoamérica, y Norteamérica cuyo primer idioma es español, comprando un libro y así haciéndolo posible distribuir este tipo de recursos en donde se necesitan, insha’Allah.

Otros títulos incluyen: “Un velo y una barba/A Veil and a Beard” y “El Preguntador/The Questioner” ($9.99 cada uno)

Visíten nuestra página web: www.hablamosislamninos.com para comprar un libro (vaya a “Libros”/Books) o para ver todo lo que ofrecemos. Tenemos páginas para colorear gratis, videos, poemas para niños y mucho más.

Visítenos y opríma “Like” en su Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hablamosislam

JazakumAllahu khaiyran wa as salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

Umm Uthman/Wendy Diaz
Autor, Fundadora
Hablamos Islam & Hablamos Islam Niños
www.hablamosislamninos.com

Islam, Jan - Mar 2011

Abdullah Ibn Sailam

http://www.imanway1.com/companions/biography.htm

Al-Husayn ibn Sailam was a Jewish rabbi in Yathrib who was widely respected and honoured by the people of the city even by those who were not Jewish. He was known for his piety and goodness, his upright conduct and his truthfulness.

Al-Husayn lived a peaceful and gentle life but he was serious, purposeful and organized in the way he spent his time. For a fixed period each day, he would worship, teach and preach in the temple. Then he would spend some time in his orchard, looking after date palms, pruning and pollinating. Thereafter, to increase his understanding and knowledge of his religion, he would devote himself to the study of the Torah.

In this study, it is said he was particularly struck by some verses of the Torah which dealt with the coming of a Prophet who would complete the message of previous Prophets. Al-Husayn therefore took an immediate and keen interest when he heard reports of the appearance of a Prophet in Makkah. He said:

“When I heard of the appearance of the Messenger of God, peace be on him, I began to make enquiries about his name, his genealogy, his characteristics, his time and place and I began to compare this information with what is contained m our books. From these enquiries, I became convinced about the authenticity of his prophethood and I affirmed the truth of his mission. However, I concealed my conclusions from the Jews. I held my tongue…

Then came the day when the Prophet, peace be on him, left Makkah and headed for Yathrib. When he reached Yathrib and stopped at Quba, a man came rushing into the city, calling out to people and announcing the arrival of the Prophet. At that moment, I was at the top of a palm tree doing some work. My aunt, Khalidah bint al-Harith, was sitting under the tree. On hearing the news, I shouted:

‘Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! (God is Great! God is Great!’ When my aunt heard my takbir, she remonstrated with me: ‘May God frustrate you…By God, if you had heard that Moses was coming you would not have been more enthusiastic.’

‘Auntie, he is really, by God, the ‘brother’ of Moses and follows his religion. He was sent with the same mission as Moses.’ She was silent for a while and then said: ‘Is he the Prophet about whom you spoke to us who would be sent to confirm the truth preached by previous (Prophets) and complete the message of his Lord?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied.

Without any delay or hesitation, I went out to meet the Prophet. I saw crowds of people at his door. I moved about in the crowds until I reached close to him. The first words I heard him say were:

‘O people! Spread peace…Share food…Pray during the night while people (normally) sleep… and you will enter Paradise in peace…’

I looked at him closely. I scrutinized him and was convinced that his face was not that of an imposter. I went closer to him and made the declaration of faith that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The Prophet turned to me and asked: ‘What is your name?’ ‘Al-Husayn ibn Sailam,’ I replied.

‘Instead, it is (now) Abdullah ibn Sallam,’ he said (giving me a new name). ‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘Abdullah ibn Sailam (it shall be). By Him who has sent you with the Truth, I do not wish to have another name after this day.’

I returned home and introduced Islam to my wife, my children and the rest of my household. They all accepted Islam including my aunt KhaIidah who was then an old lady. However, I advised them then to conceal our acceptance of Islam from the Jews until I gave them permission. They agreed.

Subsequently, I went back to the Prophet, peace be on him, and said: ‘O Messenger of God! The Jews are a people (inclined to) slander and falsehood. I want you to invite their most prominent men to meet you. (During the meeting however), you should keep me concealed from them in one of your rooms. Ask them then about my status among them before they find out of my acceptance of Islam. Then invite them to Islam. If they were to know that I have become a Muslim, they would denounce me and accuse me of everything base and slander me.’

The Prophet kept me in one of his rooms and invited the prominent Jewish personalities to visit him. He introduced Islam to them and urged them to have faith in God…They began to dispute and argue with him about the Truth. When he realized that they were not inclined to accept Islam, he put the question to them:

‘What is the status of Al-Husayn ibn Sailam among you?’

‘He is our sayyid (leader) and the son of our sayyid. He is our rabbi and our alim (scholar), the son of our rabbi and alim.’

‘If you come to know that he has accepted Islam, would you accept Islam also?’ asked the Prophet.

‘God forbid! He would not accept Islam. May God protect him from accepting Islam,’ they said (horrified).

At this point I came out in full view of them and announced: ‘O assembly of Jews! Be conscious of God and accept what Muhammad has brought. By God, you certainly know that he is the Messenger of God and you can find prophecies about him and mention of his name and characteristics in your Torah. I for my part declare that he is the Messenger of God. I have faith in him and believe that he is true. I know him.’

‘You are a liar,’ they shouted. ‘By God, you are evil and ignorant, the son of an evil and ignorant person.’ And they continued to heap every conceivable abuse on me…”

Abdullah ibn Sailam approached Islam with a soul thirsty for knowledge. He was passionately devoted to the Quran and spent much time reciting and studying its beautiful and sublime verses. He was deeply attached to the noble Prophet and was constantly in his company.

Much of his time he spent in the masjid, engaged in worship, in learning and in teaching. He was known for his sweet, moving and effective way of teaching study circles of Sahabah who assembled regularly in the Prophet’s mosque.

Abdullah ibn Sallam was known among the Sahabah as a man from ahl-al-Jannah “- the people of Paradise. This was because of his determination on the advice of the Prophet to hold steadfastly to the “most trustworthy handhold” that is belief in and total submission to God.

Courtesy of ISL Software, makers of the WinAlim Islamic database.

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