#like. i am not muslim i have not read the quran i do not closely know any muslims

[realbeefman]

hazbin hotel feels like whenever the most annoying athiest you know tries to #epicallypwn a Christian by making the most base level critique that rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of what Christians ideology actually entails. and then if they made a really mediocre adult cartoon about what an epic pwn it was.

[almaqead]

"The Pleasures." Surah 30, Ar Rum, "Stripped!"

The Authority Allah gave to the Prophet consisted of protection of a short list of what are called Pillars. I added Articles because the Pillars did not include a path to "Muslim Enlightenment" as they do not include adherence to secular law as the Quran states is essential, nor do they specify one must study the Quran itself.

As we will see when we read on, Authority, which is based on firm seizure of what Muhammad meant by faith, Zakah, Sawm, Hajj, etc. but it must also include commitments or responsibilities. These are sewn together by the personal experiences of the Quran.

I am not an Imam or a Mufti, my authority was recognized through my published work as an outsider which qualifies me as what is called a Sabin, a foreigner, a missing link from outside the religion. My objectives for this forum include shielding the Muslim people from the forces of darkness in the west, and the delivery of the Quran to the world as a common every day experience.

Everyone who reads and studies the Quran and benefits becomes another Sabin or link in the chain. The stronger the chain, the more likely the Mosque has a chance of implementing the Masjid, the salvation of the human race and this world from lies and fear.

30: 35-38:

"Or have We sent down to them an authority which attests to what they associate ˹with Him˺?

If We give people a taste of mercy, they become prideful ˹because˺ of it. But if they are afflicted with an evil for what their hands have done, they instantly fall into despair.

Have they not seen that Allah gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills? Surely in this are signs for people who believe.

So give your close relatives their due, as well as the poor and the ˹needy˺ traveller. That is best for those who seek the pleasure of Allah,1 and it is they who will be successful."

Commentary:

There must not be despair in the religion or the lives of those who believe. Those who follow Allah must seek His pleasures, which I mentioned in the prior frame. This includes mercy but so much more: whatever pleasure God gives us in life, He will give us in heaven. But first Godly pleasures on earth must be made possible.

This is the mission of the Mosque all around the world to make sure none go without anything God said was appropriate for us.

So all Fatwas and analyses of the Quran must include ways man and God can welcome pleasure together into this world:

From Baqarah, 212:

"Beautified for those who disbelieve is the life of this world, and they ridicule those who believe. But those who fear Allah are above them on the Day of Resurrection. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account."

Baqarah 246:

 "So they defeated them by permission of Allah, and David killed Goliath, and Allah gave him the kingship and prophethood and taught him from that which He willed.

And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds."

And from Baqarah 125-135:

"And [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people and [a place of] security. And take, [O believers], from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer.

And We charged Abraham and Ishmael, [saying], "Purify My House for those who perform Tawaf and those who are staying [there] for worship and those who bow and prostrate [in prayer]."

And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits - whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day." [ Allah ] said. "And whoever disbelieves - I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination."

And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing.

Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.

Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise."

And who would be averse to the religion of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself. And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous. When his Lord said to him, "Submit", he said "I have submitted [in Islam] to the Lord of the worlds."

And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."

Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac - one God. And we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."

That was a nation which has passed on. It will have [the consequence of] what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do.

They say, "Be Jews or Christians [so] you will be guided." Say, "Rather, [we follow] the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth, and he was not of the polytheists."

God promised men and women who follow the Quran the chance to be kings, queens, prophets, and all who believed could live in secure cities and powerful nations overflowing with bountiful fruits. But first, all must read and comprehend the Quran. Otherwise a bunch of bigots and fucktards from Texas will overrun this world and there will be no way to get it back.

[basicsofislam]

THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET (PBUH) : Ubada bin Samit (r.a.)

One of the notables of Ansar, who showed the greatest hospitality of human history to the Prophet and the distinguished group of people and who were his friends in his cause, is Ubada bin Samit (r.a.).

Hz. Ubada was among the Muslims of Madinah who were present in the First and Second Pledges of Aqaba, which took place before the Migration and who promised that they would be together with the Prophet in any case, that they would sacrifice their lives for him and they would prevent him from all kinds of danger. He was one of the 12 people who talked the Prophet personally by representing more than 70 people in the Second Pledge of Aqaba. Ubada bin Samit was also among the distinguished people who vowed that they would never oppose the orders of the Prophet and that they would obey him unconditionally in the Pledge of Ridwan, which was one of the unique incidents of the Era of Bliss.

When the muhajirs arrived in Madinah, the Prophet established brotherhood between them and the Muslims of Madinah. He made Hz. Ubada brother of Abu Mursad, who was one of the first Muslims. Ansar made their muhajir brothers their partners in their fields and orchards. They worked in the fields of Ansar and had half of the crops as partners. This cooperation continued until the conquest of Khaybar. When Khaybar was conquered, the Muslims obtained ample land and there was no need for partnership.

Hz. Ubada became a Muslim when he was 35 years old. The Prophet appointed him as a teacher for the students of Ashab as-Suffa since he could read and write. Masjid an-Nabawi, the house of the Prophet and the school of Ashab as-Suffa were close to one another. All of them were built at the same time. The Prophet dealt with the issues of all Muslims in the mosque and he took care of all of the issues, from the food to the education, of about 100 students in the adjacent school.

Once, somebody from Ashab as-Suffa whom Hz. Ubada taught how to read and write and the Quran gave him a bow as a present. He asked the Prophet about it. The Prophet said it would not be permissible for him to accept that present.

In the first years of Islam accepting money for teaching the Quran was not regarded appropriate since there were a lot of people who taught the Quran; however, when the number of the people who carried out the religious duties in the centuries that followed decreased, mujtahids regarded it permissible to accept money for teaching the Quran.

Ubada bin Samit took part in all of the battles with the Prophet. The duty of driving Qaynuqa Jews away from Madinah was given to Hz. Ubada.

Hz. Ubada was a shrewd and talented person. During his caliphate, Hz. Abu Bakr sent Hashim bin As and Ubada bin Samit as envoys to Heraclius, the Byzantine king. After they visited Damascus and had a long journey, they arrived in Istanbul. They approached the palace of the king, with their swords hanging around their necks. The people of Istanbul watched them in surprise and with admiration. They saw that the palace was shaken like a date tree when the visitors dismounted their animals by shouting, “Lailaha illallahu wallahu akbar! (There is no god but Allah; Allah is the greatest!)”

They went into the presence of the king. The king asked them several questions about the Prophet and Islam:

“What is your greatest word?”

“Lailaha illallahu wallahu akbar.”

“When you utter this in your hometown, do your houses not shake and your floors not collapse on you?”

“No, we have never seen it do something like that. We saw it here with you. It is nothing but advice for us.”

“If my soul liked it to leave my land, I would be subject to you and want to be a slave of yours.”

After this confession, the king sent the envoys to their homeland with valuable presents.

When Amr bin As asked for help during the conquest of Egypt, Hz. Umar said to him, “I am sending you four people. Each of them is equivalent to one thousand people.” One of them was Ubada bin Samit. Hz. Ubada, who worked as the governor of Palestine afterwards, spent the rest of life in the region of Damascus.  

Hz. Ubada was among the scholars of the Companions. He had very good knowledge of hadith and fiqh. When he stayed in Damascus, he taught people hadith and fiqh. He worked hard to make that region a place of knowledge. He narrated more than 80 hadiths.

One of the hadiths narrated by him is as follows:

Once, I was ill. The Prophet (pbuh) came to visit me with some people from Ansar. When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) mentioned martyrs, he asked, “Do you know who are martyrs?” Everybody kept silent. The Messenger of Allah repeated the question three times. The people there still kept silent. I told my wife to make me sit up. She lifted me. I answered as follows:

“A martyr is a person who became a Muslim, migrated and died in the way of Allah.”

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said,

“In that case, the number of the martyrs of my ummah would be very small. A person who dies in the way of Allah is a martyr. Those who are drowned in the sea are martyrs. Those who die of tummy ache are martyrs. A woman who dies in the puerperum period is a martyr.”

Hz. Ubada bin Samit died in Ramla, which is near Damascus, in the 34th year of the Migration when he was 72 years old. He was buried there.

May Allah be pleased with him!

[spelllingandthemysteryschool]

i like this kaveh akbar essay about ramadan a lot... i remember first reading it a few years ago and going oh! this is very good 🤍 (the paris review sometimes puts up a paywall, so you can also read it under the cut ↓)

Emerson said, “If you go expressly to look at the moon it becomes tinsel.” He preached self-reliance—the importance of being with yourself in nature—but he also lived with his mother, who cooked for him and cleaned his muddy boots.

The new moon at the start of May this year signaled the beginning of Ramazan, which the rest of the world calls Ramadan, which I call Ramadan when I speak with my friends, but which I grew up calling Ramazan because that’s how we say it in Farsi. In Farsi there are four different letters that all make the same z sound and maybe we figured if we didn’t use them enough they’d disappear.

This year, for the first time in my life, I have fasted for all of Ramazan. The Quran says during Ramazan you’re supposed to “eat and drink until the white thread of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread of night.” And then fast until sunset—no food, no drink. The black thread/white thread part fascinates me, eating in the predawn morning until it’s light enough outside to tell the white thread from the black.

Nowadays there’s an app called Muslim Pro (a hilarious name) where you enter your location and it tells you exactly what time to stop eating. But I like to imagine a time when someone was sitting outside eating bread and cheese alone in the dark, checking and rechecking their two threads. They’d eat a bit more, yawn a bit, and then, suddenly, rubbing their eyes, they’d catch a gleam of light against the white thread and shout “Stop! Stop!” to their family inside.

That’s probably not how it ever worked.

I suppose I am looking for God, for a feeling of transformative belief. I am hoping that fasting might thin the membrane between me and a feeling of the divine. That it might open a channel between us, a tin-can telephone line. Prayer is a way of speaking to the divine. Meditation is a way of listening for it.  I’m not sure yet which one fasting is for me. Maybe both. But I figure, if I can talk to God, shouldn’t I?

Ramazan is based on the Islamic calendar, which every year moves backward about eleven days on the Gregorian calendar. When I was a kid, Ramazan was in the middle of winter, which meant fasting from dawn until sundown. My parents only ever let me “kiddy fast,” which is what they called waking up early for predawn breakfast, then drinking plenty of water and milk throughout the day, then eating a big dinner. And I could only do it on days off school, to ensure my elementary school academics wouldn’t suffer.

The short winter days in Wisconsin meant fasting was essentially a big brunch and then a big dinner around normal dinnertime, with plenty of Diet Pepsi and chocolate milk in between. And even then, I would cheat. I remember once sneaking stale chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the afternoon, then feeling so ashamed I went to the bathroom to vomit them back up. I remember the gold-black vomit in the toilet bowl looking almost beautiful, a mural of my penance.

I worry that fasting expressly to look for God will turn God into tinsel. I worry fasting is a piece of tinsel I am trying to pin to my spiritual lapel, a little kid showing off his participation ribbon. I worry I am already tinsel, flattened and ornamental, a cosmic nothing turning meaninglessly in the light.

Here in Marfa, Texas, fasting means not eating or drinking from about 5:45 A.M. each day to about 8:45 P.M. Most days I wake up around 5:20, snooze for ten minutes, then storm around the house, gulping down as much water as I can, eating spoonfuls of cereal and taking quick bites of banana, carrot, dry bread, nuts. I swig almond milk and grapefruit juice from their cartons, then brush my teeth. It all feels very animal, governed by bodily need.

Before I go back to sleep for a couple hours, though, I make my little ablutions and say a morning prayer. I pray in Arabic, a language I don’t speak or understand. It is a lifelong fascination of mine, the way parroting the sounds of devotion can become an incantatory act, the way the sonic textures of language itself, stripped of direct semantic meaning, can carry me to a place of communion with the divine.

Poetry works this way, too. Language organized mellifluously, delivered earnestly, can thin the partitions between worlds, whether or not we have a perfect denotative understanding of what is being spoken. Poets have invested themselves in this promise for millennia.

The prophet Muhammad said a full stomach was one that contained one-third food, one-third liquid, and one-third air. I am constantly messing this up.

Yesterday I went to the park to shoot hoops with my friend Natalie in the early afternoon. We took it easy, talking and laughing between baskets, dribbling slowly around, pausing to watch a roadrunner walk along the park fence with a lizard in its beak. But, even in our relative ease, the sun held hard above us and kept us dewy in hot light.

I read once that if outer space were filled with air, the sun, 93 million miles away, would be as loud to us on earth as a train whistle one foot away. I never think about sound in relation to the sun, but yesterday back home after playing basketball, my shirt drenched, my ears ringing with thirst, I thought about the volume of the sun, how loud its desiccation could be, how immutable. I could taste the furnace of it in my mouth.

Maybe this is meant to be a metaphor about hell, except I don’t really believe in hell, at least not in the eternal-lake-of-fire way. I believe in rehabilitation and reconciliation, spiritual and otherwise. I have trouble reconciling retributive, punitive justice with a rigorously compassionate faith.

Hell is a prison. Hell is separation from your divine, whether that divine is God or your children or your land. We’ve made enough of these hells on earth; our work now is to dismantle those, not to imagine more.

I spend a lot of my days fantasizing about how I’ll break my fast. I look in my fridge, imagine what sort of dishes I could make with what’s in there. I google the menus of local restaurants online—there are only a couple places here that stay open past nine—and I read each ingredient in each item: a citrus salad with toasted quinoa and rhubarb, roasted chili with red peppers and jalapeño cornbread. Even writing these words now, I can taste each sliver of fiery jalapeño, each crunch of quinoa against wet greens.

I wonder if part of the point of fasting is this: keeping the body enamored of the particular delights of nourishment. It is so wild, so unimaginably lucky, to live in a world where rhubarb grows, and in a world where I can eat it with ease. It could so easily be otherwise. For many people, it is. What responsibility does my luck, my ease, imply?

Or maybe the point of fasting is the way these wonders recede from my view the more I imagine them. The taste of the citrus is there, then it’s gone. It’s like a theological exercise. Take a second: picture a bladeless knife with no handle. Where’d it go? Now, with that same clumsy brain, imagine God.

The Muslim Pro app on my phone beeps when it’s time to eat at night. I build this moment up so much in my head, it’s hard for the reality to match. I immediately chug a giant 32-ounce Nalgene of water. Some nights I go out and reward myself with a fancy dinner planned out earlier in the day. Others I stay in and eat like a teenager—chicken tenders dipped in barbeque sauce and frozen mushroom pizza and cookie dough ice cream.

Now that Ramazan is almost over, I find myself surveying the month: lazy afternoons in bed slipping in and out of consciousness, trying to read and failing, counting down minutes until sunset. The long day hiking a national park with friends, desperately thirsty by nightfall but also deliriously happy.

One night my friend Carolina invited Natalie and me over for her homemade pozole. Embarrassed by my hunger and not wanting to show up ravenous, I surreptitiously ate a small dinner of fried potatoes and hot dogs before going over. Still, I remained hungry enough to eat two bowls of pozole on her porch. The three of us talked there and laughed. We spilled a bag of party mix onto the patio. We saw a fox lope slowly across the road. We watched the stars hang silent in the sky millions upon millions of miles away—like tinsel, or like little bits of white string.

[pyaasa]

Hi, you dont have to answer this but I just wanted your view. i have been thinking of reverting to Islam since the start of the year, but held off since i didnt know any Muslims and lived in quite a white area. I have moved to London now and there is a mosque near me and I am thinking of going in to read the declaration of faith. So would it be offensive/appropriation if I went in already wearing a hijab when im not muslim yet? How accepting would they be of an white Trans woman?Thank you in adv

(Not gonna lie I really don’t feel qualified to answer this question I don’t think I’m the best person to ask but I’ll try my best)

Yes you should defo wear hijab. Whether you are Muslim or not, you should observe hijab when entering the mosque it’s just basic respect and etiquette

I wouldn’t rush to take the shahada btw make sure you’ve done your research on the religion (assuming you haven’t already) and be aware that you might find it isolating and difficult to practice Islam without friend and family support; in my experience this is what revert Muslims struggle most with

With regards to you being white and trans… your whiteness won’t be a problem, reverts are always very welcomed in the community especially white ones are adulated to a degree that always irritates me no offence. I honestly can’t comment on what your experience of being trans will be like tho cos I don’t know any trans Muslims irl or even any openly LGBT Muslims. I dont want to give you false hope or anything because if you judge by online spaces you might see a lot of LGBT Muslims with large platforms and that might give you a false impression of what Muslim communities are actually like. Truth is I don’t think you will find it easy or maybe even safe. I’m still closeted and I don’t think I’ll ever have the courage to come out, but like I can hide being gay so I’ve never even had to consider how safe it is or isn’t, but it’s different if you’re trans. I think the best thing for you to do is speak to trans Muslim women about this I think only they will be able to give you the perspective you need on this

Also don’t go to that mosque just cos it’s the one nearest to you. As a revert you should try find an Islamic community centre that provide Quran/tajweed/fiqh classes, are involved in community projects and have a mostly young congregation. There are several mosques like this in London but obviously it’s London so they might not actually be close

Good luck btw…I’ll pray that Allah makes your journey easy for you

[widebodymasi]

Islam and Muslims in the U.S. Prison System

I believe that every American has the duty to know what is going on with incarceration in our country. We house the largest number of prisoners in the world, pay for it with our tax dollars and support it by legislation that we vote for. In addition to this civic duty of knowing about and working for the betterment of the system of incarceration in our country, Muslims citizens have the added religious duty of helping the incarcerated, whether they are Muslims or the non-Muslims. We should know where this religious duty comes from and why. Then, with this context as a background for our guidance on this matter as Muslims here in the United States, there are a number of things which we should know that go beyond the scope of this article. Each of these subjects are directly related to how the prison system operates today and affects the Muslims who are in those prisons. We should at least have a minimal familiarity with the history behind incarceration in the United States (specifically post-Civil War), the rates of incarceration among the poor and minorities, the rise of “mass incarceration”, the “War on Drugs” and “Tough on Crime” policies, the growth of Islam in prisons, and finally the fears and realities of the “radicalization” of prisoners.

THE STANCE OF ISLAM ON HELPING PRISONERS

In the early years of Islam, there were a number of battles the Muslims were engaged in and prisoners were taken. These early days of Islam were a period of continued guidance, with revelation being sent to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as events occurred. In response to having prisoners and as a guidance for the treatment of these prisoners, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed saying, “And they give food, in spite of the love for it, to the needy, the orphan and the prisoner". The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave further emphasis to this in a Hadith which states, “I enjoin you to treat the captive well”. The result of this guidance was that the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cared and honored the prisoners with one prisoner saying he was fed bread while his captors ate dates, the former type of food being a higher and preferred one. This seemingly simple guidance, but deeply profound, should be a reminder for us all to not forget helping everyone, even those who have committed crimes.

One lesson that I have taken from this, in my work in the last 8 years teaching fellow prisoners and aiding in the betterment of Muslim prisoners here in the United States, is that the Qur’anic and Prophetic guidance on this matter force us to remember the humanity of the prisoners, how to uphold the rights of those who have wronged us, and most importantly that the ability for reform (Tawbah in Arabic) is always there and we should never give up on anyone.

Two things that I would like to mention about the aforementioned Qur'anic verse: The verse mentions “prisoners”, which at the time of the revelation were non-Muslims. Secondly, the verse is an order to give “food.” Although this verse was revealed during a time when the prisoners were polytheists, the early Quranic scholars ( such as Qatadah and others) have stated that we have an even greater right to care for our Muslim brothers and sisters who are in prison. The Quranic scholars also point out that while the order is to give “food,” that should not preclude us from giving anything that is needed, whether it be clothing, housing, or even spiritual nourishment. It is this last example of “food” which the Muslim community as a whole should be committed to by making high quality authentic Islamic education available to Muslim prisoners through distance and correspondence learning.

Mass Incarceration in the United States

Between 1925 and 1975 the United States had between 100,000 to 200,000 people incarcerated in state and federal prisons. Starting in the 1980’s, various policies that were part of the “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” movements increased the U.S. incarcerated population over 500% in 30 years with now over 2.3 Million people in jails and prisons. Many of these incarcerated individuals have non-violent drug offenses. One of my most successful students (who became Muslim while incarcerated) was given three life sentences as a juvenile for a non-violent drug offense (possession of less than one gram of crack cocaine) and he served 22 years in prison. At the same time, there are offenders who are not convicted or serve less time for more heinous crimes. Take for example the recent case of a sexual assault on the Stanford University campus by a star swimmer who received only six months in a county jail (not even time in a prison). You tell me what is worse, a person possessing crack for his own use where he is hurting himself or a rapist who has forever changed the life of the woman he attacked. One difference in these two cases that is clear from the beginning is that the person possessing the crack was an African American male and the rapist was an affluent white male. Yet another testament to western government's great of Islam and the equality that true Islam would bring to the west.

A second cause of the increase in the U.S. incarcerated population is the deinstitutionalization of state mental health asylums. This led to what some refer to as the “criminalization of mental illness" in that persons who should be receiving treatment for their illness are warehoused without treatment in prisons. Dr. Terry Kupers has done amazing work on this subject and his book “Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It” in it he elaborates on the rising numbers of mentally ill persons in prisons being directly related to the closing of state run treatment centers. Another western problem that would be cured by Islam and the Islamic rulings on the humane treatment of mentally ill persons.

Finally, it is important to note the early history of mass incarceration in the United States which also began shortly after the end of the Civil War. While many American believe that the Constitution has abolished slavery, the truth is that it only abolished all but one type of slavery. The 13th amendment states in Section 1 that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” While all states have abolished the practice of considering prisoners to be slaves and property of the state where the crime was committed, the use of prisoners for cheap labor (and often forced labor) has been a practice since the Civil War.

Recidivism: Going Back to Prison

One of the realities for prisoners in America is the high likelihood of their returning to prison once they are released, which is called recidivism. This recidivism rate can range from 70-90%. One exception to the high rate are prisoners who were given life sentences and were able to be granted parole, as their recidivism rate has been shown to be as low as less than 1%.

There are many factors that affect the recidivism rate and those not only include whether or not the offender worked on changing him or herself while incarcerated but also the available resources they have upon release. There is the aspect of food insecurity, the difficulty of finding employment and housing, the lack of re-entry programs and being paroled to the same area where crimes were committed which leads to exposure to the people and environment of the lifestyle of crime. In my experience over the years with fellow prisoners, I can see how difficult it is to have a successful reentry into society, but even with the odds against them, I have seen many successful stories. Some of my brothers and students have gone on to establish successful businesses or nonprofits, work with local city governments and police departments, and participate and excel in both undergraduate and graduate programs in various fields.

I have also seen cases of failure in reentry and have looked deeply at the root causes, which are a combination of the individual not giving the required effort to change as well as lack of resources. Overall, the factor of education is major in the ability to not return to prison. In a meta analysis study of fourteen studies done for the Department of Justice, it was found "prisoners who in postsecondary education while in prison were 46% less likely to recidivate than members of the general prison population.". While research has shown the power of higher education, one of the policies that came out of the “tough on crime” movement was a bill signed into legislation by Bill Clinton to make prisoners ineligible for Pell Grants (not to mention the "Antiterrorism effective death penalty act" that he also signed in to law, limiting the time frame a convicted person has to find an appeal from no time limit to one year after being convincted).

In addition to education, the need for support upon release is crucial. Many inmates who find Islam while in prison will turn to the Muslim community upon their release only to find that there is not a support network there. Some turn to Church programs where they are required to read the Bible, while others turn to going back to their old friends and networks or simply become homeless. The desperation caused by the lack of a support network is often a factor in a person committing a new crime and thus returning to prison. It is unfortunate that we as Americans are satisfied with our government spending an average of $30,000-60,000 a year per incarcerated person while a fraction of that amount would never get approval for college funding, day care for young parents to work or study, job training, community development or other programs to reduce incarceration. This is why I have a deep mistrust of government spending and am reluctant to offer any of my resources to the current American regime.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN PRISON

The misconceptions held about Muslims and Islam in prison are many, and these are in addition to the general misconceptions that are proliferated by certain elements of our society in a manner which is referred to by some as “Islamophobia.” Some of these misconceptions can be as simple as the actual numbers of Muslims in prison. Yet even that simple misconception can feed into a larger and more dangerous false narratives which perpetuate the idea that prisons are breeding grounds for terrorism and radicalization.

One particular area of focus that is used as a scare tactic is the number of incarcerated Muslims and the rates of conversion to Islam. Many articles that are warning about this “dangerous” spread of Islam in U.S. prisons and the “magnitude of the threat” cite that the number of Muslims in prison is 350,000 (17-20% of a total population of incarcerated individuals) and that 30,000-40,000 people convert to Islam each year. Many of these articles cite the 2003 testimony of Dr. Michael Waller before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Senate Committee. A reading of that transcript shows that Dr. Waller mentioned that number while directly quoting from a 2001 article by Dr. Siraj Islam Mufti, Islam in American Prisons. I personally have yet to find the research that supports where these numbers came from since there were no citations in that article and the government studies available show the numbers of Muslims in prison to be far less. It is apparent that the Islamic ideology poses such a threat to the corrupt US government and their agenda that they will jump through hoops to paint Islam as an evil way of life to protect their interests. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) own census in 2004 of their 150,000 prisoners show that 9,000 (6%) identified as being Muslim. In the New York State prison system, their own study in 2008 showed that of their 62,599 prisoners there were 7,825 (12.5%) who identified as being Muslim. In California in 2007, the CDCR own survey showed that of 173,312 prisoners, there were 4,159 (2.4%). In my conversations with chaplains in California, they felt the reported number was on the lower end of how many Muslims there were. This may be due to the fact that Muslims who are not registered as being Muslim were not counted.

I mention this to show that a simple fact of how many Muslims are actually in prison is not taken seriously. Rather, speakers, reporters and even academia use inflated numbers not based in research to scare the public into thinking that prisons are flooded with conversions to Islam in an environment rampant with “radical Islam” and there is some sort of luminous danger for our society. Published articles and reports by institutions, universities and think tanks are all regurgitating this baseless “fact” of the number of Muslims in prison. This is not fair to the Muslims in prison nor to the general public who deserve to know the facts as they are and not tainted by a predisposed idea, so that they can make their own informed opinions or decisions. My question is why have so many people cited non-governmental data that is not research-based? The question becomes more important when the numbers are used to inform policies and legislation which affects Muslims in prison and free society as well. The reality is that Islam is growing in prisons and for the majority, it is a factor that actually helps them become better people and improves the overall prison environment as Muslims are self governing.

Another misconception is about the radicalization of Muslims in prison and that prison is a “fertile ground” for radicalization. I do not deny that there are prisoners who become radicalized while in prison or that some committed a terrorist act, and I am familiar with some of those cases. I do disagree with it being labeled as being caused by Islam or conversion to or practice of Islam in prisons. In his research on the subject of radicalization in prisons, Dr. Mark S. Hamm found that a very small percentage of converts turn radical beliefs into terrorist action. "Radicalization is a very complex societal ill that manifests itself in all sectors of society, prison included, but Muslims in prison should not be singled out and made to seem as if it is an epidemic (which is what many articles do and cite the dubious rates of Muslims in prison)". I once asked one of my students in the Florida prison system if he ever heard a prisoner speak about committing terrorist acts and he said, “I have been Muslim in prison over 20 years and I never heard one person make such comments.”

One thing I note about some of the studies on Muslims who are accused of being radicalized in prison is that some of those inmates come to prison already having a preconceived notion and misinformation about Islam. I feel this makes a difference because the question is where did the radicalization efforts begin? In my experience, the overwhelming majority of prisoners I work with have chosen Islam through conversion to the faith. Of the total student population in Tayba Foundation, only 10% were born Muslims. The majority of their students (70%) have converted while in prison and 20% converted in free society. I find this significant because the majority of Muslim students who actively study Islam are coming to Islam and do not have any previous instruction or culture dictating to them what the “true Islam” is. Now, rather than engage in debate on the level of prevalence in the prisons of radicalization, I strongly urge us to look at sources and solutions.

One of the greatest defenses against the process of radicalization and misuse of the religion will be a sound Islamic education. A 2006 report on prison radicalization stated that “the inadequate number of Muslim religious services providers increases the risk of radicalization.” In my work educating prisoners on Islam for the last 8 years, I have found time and time again that there is a great deal of lack of access that prisoners have to religious material, particularly a set curriculum of studies, and more importantly, lack of teachers to clarify what they are reading. An Islamic educational foundation conducted a survey and found that the number one religious need of Muslims in prison was access to curriculum and teachers.

Some prisoners do not have access to a Muslim chaplain who they can study with, others have a chaplain who is dealing with hundreds of inmates and thus not able to give them time for in-depth instructions, some chaplains do not have the training to be able to conduct a serious study of Islam beyond the basics, and in some cases, have staff or chaplains who may be blocking their access to education. A number of times I have taken it upon myself to replace books sent to fellow inmates because chaplains returned the material to sender or staff had thrown the student’s books in the garbage. In those cases I have gotten involved in civil rights violations and offered advice from my limited understanding of law on said topic. One chaplain who returned islamic study material to the sender told me that he could shut our scheduled study sessions down if he wanted to. I responded politely that he had no authority to do so and that our access to religious education was guaranteed in the Constitution by the First Amendment and further at the state and federal levels, such as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA") passed by Congress in 2000. I will close this paragraph by saying that the majority of chaplains that I have worked with, whether Muslim or representing another faith, are dedicated to facilitate learning and betterment for the prisoners they work with.

Through the power of proper Islamic education, I have seen time and time again how knowledge can prevent any threat of radicalization and actually engender harmony in prisons and even beyond the walls. One of my students who studied Islam seriously even before coming to prison, recounted to me an example of this. He said that when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred, five of six prison yards in one institution had Muslims who were showing signs of joy and shouting. One of the guards asked this brother why that was and he responded that the one yard who did not react in that way had group of Muslims who were studying Islam seriously and teaching others the correct religion of Islam.

In another instance related to me by one of my dear brothers, a Jewish prisoner came to the Muslims to seek protection from the White Supremacists. In some prisons, the White Supremacists are especially powerful and many minorities, particularly Jewish prisoners, are at risk of being attacked. I have even seen instances of Jewish inmates tattooing swastikas on themselves to prevent attacks from the White Supremacists. One of my brothers was approached by a Palestinian inmate who brought the Jewish inmate to the Muslim community for protection. That in and of itself is a story of peace, but it goes further. The Jewish inmate said that he would be willing to pay the jizya to the Muslims for protection from the White Supremacists. The jizya is a form of payment by non-Muslims to a Muslim government for protection but a system that is not used by Muslim governments today. In any case, this Muslim student told him there was no need for payment and that all he had to do was exercise in public (on the yard) with the Muslims. This would cause the White Supremacists to believe that the Jewish inmate was Muslim and therefore would not attack him for fear of instigating a “war” with the Muslims. This is the result of a Muslim inmate knowing his religion properly and preventing the misappropriation of Islamic concepts to be used for improper means.

In the absence of that proper education and guidance, some inmates who choose Islam in prison have influences of what is referred to a “Prison Islam” or “Prislam.” This refers to the idea that some Muslims are practicing the faith with innovations in belief or practice that come out of the prison environment. One major influence that causes “Prislam” is the gang culture which pervades prisons in the United States. Two aspects of gang culture is the structure of the gang which includes a leader (“shot caller”) and tattoos.

In many prisons that have a Muslim population, one may find that the community appoints a leader to lead the prayers and offer guidance to the community. While some prison institutions do not allow an inmate to act as the official religious leader (imam) for other inmates, one survey found that over half do. This is acceptable and even encouraged in Florida prisons. The fear that institutions have is that the position of religious authority could be abused and taken as a route to act as nothing more than a gang-leader for the Muslim inmates at a particular prison. This is a valid concern that I recognize as i have seen an imam be appointed after being muslim only a month and having little understating of the religion only because he was a former gang member with authority in the prison. The fear in this situation is clear. You have someone who just became Muslim and could potentially make decisions that affect the safety or lives of other Muslim, other inmates or even staff. The Muslims who support this Iman system will then take verses of the Quran and Hadith out of context to justify the need for a leader and the obligation of the entire community to pledge allegiance to him (bay’ah) and then obey his every command. Part of my focus when teaching the fundamentals of Islam to my grow Muslims is to shed light on how the religious texts are being misused and abused to perpetuate a false system which sometimes included the implementations of the Islamic penal code (hudud) in a vigilante-type method which is completely unacceptable. There are times when the Muslim inmates may justify a crime, such as an attack on another prisoner, as being permissible due to the fact that it is a hudud implementation. At the same time, there are institutions who recognize and work with the “appointed Muslim leader” and many times the person is very well-balanced and dedicated to following true Islam and the rules and regulations of the prison. One thing I would suggest to policy makers for prisons is that rather than negate the “Inmate Imam” position for fear of it undermining the security of the prison, if those appointed leaders are trained properly, they could facilitate many of the religious needs of the communities they are already currently serving. This has a benefit of ensuring that inmates are receiving proper religious education and practice while in prison and reduces the load on budgets that would be needed to hire outside Imams.

Muslims in prison are at the forefront of a number of programs to help others. A number of major legal precedents for prisoner rights have had Muslim inmates at the forefront. A number of successful inmate-led rehabilitation groups have been founded by Muslims and many Muslims facilitate other successful programs. One of these such programs was co-founded by two Muslim brothers who previously served time that then went on to establish it as a non-profit organization after their release and now have a contract for a transitional house with the State of California, an office building given to them rent free by the city the organization is run in, and one of the former prisoners sits on the Human Relations committee of that city. I have heard stories of our brothers and sisters resolving conflicts in the prison that would otherwise turn into full-blown prison “wars.”

Some Muslims upon release, have gone into starting their own businesses, teaching, non-profit work, and graduate school. They have established families and work with the communities they live in, both the Muslims and non-MuIims. The potential that is there is endless and it is a constant reminder to me of the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) that, “People are like ores, like the ores of gold and silver, the best of them before Islam (jahiliyya) are the best of them in Islam if they gain understanding (fiqh)". Yes, there are people who have lived in an age of ignorance, but does that mean we give up on them? Is that the approach that the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) took when he made a prayer for the guidance of ‘Umar, a man who worshipped idols, buried his own daughter alive and wanted to kill the Prophet? It was that potential that someone saw in Malcolm Little while he was in prison and aided him on his journey for knowledge. He would later become El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, one of the greatest figures in the spread of Islam in the United States and who helped so many others out of the darkness of ignorance.

I firmly believe in the power of education in dramatically transforming the dynamics of the prisons in the United States today. There are men and women who when they find themselves with the time and space to learn, and with the proper tools, can achieve great things. For those who will be returning to their communities, they could be equipped with the information, confidence and steadfastness that education provides. Islamic education should also be viewed as a springboard to other forms of education.

Remember, even a caged bird can sing.

We owe it to prisoners, both religiously and as a civic duty, to provide the resources they need on their journey of seeking knowledge, to help them bring out the potential they have.

Nima Al Farsi

Muslim

Prisoner of the state of florida

[b-lessings]

Tips to stick to your athkar ( morning/ evening remembrance )

This post was recommended by my amazing sis @doulunay Allahuma barik laha 💛

We all know the importance and the benefits of saying your daily athkar especially in the morning (after fajr or upon waking up), in the evening (after asr) and when going to bed. For one, it brings you closer to Allah set. In fact, by uttering those phrases daily you reaffirm your tawhid and keep close to Allah. They always remind a believer to accept his own weakness and remain in awe of His Lord – whom he always praises and seeks assistance from for every need. Alhamdulillah. Besides, it has been agreed upon among the ulama'a and scholars that daily remembrance and duaa protects the person from su' ,illness, sadness and all evil.

Ustadha Yasmine Mogahed even goes to say that your athkar can help you calm your anxiety given that:

" الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلوبُهم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Allatheena amanoo watatmainnu quloobuhum bithikri Allahi ala bithikri Allahi tatmainnu alquloobu

Those who believed, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.

So, the question is, in the middle of all this busy life full with distractions and fake attractions, how do we stick to our athkar? How do we make it a habit to say our morning/ evening remembrance?

These next few tips that I am sharing with you are from my personal experience, so please tell me what do you think and if you have anything to add, please do!

1) Go Small but keep going:

This one tip I learned from a lecture of Ustadha Yasmine Mogahed. She said that Allah swt loves consistency. It is okay to just start small, you don't have to read or say the whole list of athkar every morning and every evening, you can choose even just one or two utterances, but you have to stick to them daily. And it's actually a great hack. Some of us look for perfection. SubhanAllah, they will say I should recite the full list of athkar but today I don't have the time to do that so there is no point, maybe tomorrow, maybe after tomorrow, maybe next week. However, even if you recite one or two utterances every single day, that's good enough.

My personal go-to utterances when I don't "have the time" to go thru the whole list are :

- بسم الله الذي لا يضر مع اسمه شيء في الأرض و لا في السماء و هو السميع العليم ×3

In the Name of Allah with Whose Name there is protection against every kind of harm in the earth or in the heaven, and He is the All-Hearing and All- Knowing (x3)

- حسبي الله لا إله إلا هو عليه توكلت و هو رب العرش العظيم × 7

Allah is sufficient for me, there is no god but He; on Him do I rely, and He is the Lord of mighty power (×7)

I can't leave the house without them.

2) Use visuals:

If you are a person who relies on their visual memory and need to see things in front of you to remember them, then here's a hack for you: get a paper (preferably colored), write down the utterances and duaa you want to remember and put it on a wall in your bedroom or somewhere you can see it so often during the day. I have only managed to say the " upon waking up " duaa by writing down on a big paper and hanging it facing my bed in a way that I see it as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. And it works 👌🏼.

3) Use audios:

So it happens to be busy and running late or running errands in the morning that you can't get your phone out to google or read from an app your morning or daily remembrance. In this case and on busy mornings what I do is I play the audio on my phone, put my earphones on and go on about my day, whether I'm traveling or using transportation or walking down the street, the recitation is playing in my ears and I get to repeat along with the qari'. There are plenty of morning athkar recitations on youtube, you can download the one to your liking, with your favorite sheikh or qari', convert it to any audio version and save it on your phone. They usually don't exceed 20 or 25mins and they are very relaxing and pleasant to hear, Alhamdulillah.

4) Use technology:

This one is the easiest. I think most of us if not all of us have a Muslim/ Salah/ Azan/ Quran app on our phones. There is a hundred of them on the play/ istore. Just choose the one that is most convenient for you, easiest or most user-friendly. Some apps offer to set notifications and reminders to the morning/evening remembrance, you can even select your favorite utterances and not all of them, set the time, and everyday it will remind you to recite them.

In this respect, what is your favorite Muslim app to use?

I hope this post brings you some benefits and helps you in any way. Thank you so much for reading through, and please leave some feedback 🤍

Assalamu Alaikom.

- bintafriqiya.

[islamicrays]

Hello! I just wanted to ask you, I feel like I have gone too deep in sin that there is no point in trying anymore. I stopped praying, I only fast, but I masturbate a lot, watch pornography, yet I wear hijab and try to speak modestly. I feel like such a hypocrite, I don’t see the point in trying anymore. Do you have any tips for me, and can I possibly become a good Muslim one day? Thank you

Assalamu Alaikum

As long as we are alive we have chance to lead a life pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in shaa Allah. Don't despair of His mercy.

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy!  Surely,  Allah forgives all sins.   He indeed is the All Forgiving,  All Merciful.  Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you;  for then you may get no help from anywhere.” (Quran)

Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala is the most forgiving and merciful. If we sincerely repent He will forgive us. No matter how many times we sin and after every fall we turn to Him and ask for His forgiveness sincerely He will forgive us in shaa Allah.

The temptation will be there but you have to suppress your desire for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. Keep striving and never give up. Keep yourself busy and do productive things that will benefit you in the hereafter. Make dua and ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala for help. Cry and beg to Him that He give you strength to fight with your desire and help you abstain from sin. Avoid all the circumstances that trigger your feeling and strengthen your relationship with Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala.

“The more you go against the self, the more light will be put in the heart.”

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

First of all find out what are the triggers and avoid being in those circumstances. Secondly fast if you are having problem in controlling desires or eat less. Thirdly temptation will always be there, throughout our life. But we have to abstain from the temptation. When you think about the desires and it gives you joy. The first thing you have to do is to repel that thought, before it becomes an action. Try to distract yourself, do something read books, talk to your family or anything that may help you to get distracted from the thought. If you keep thinking about it, it will become a stronger desire and it may happen you may end in doing sin.

Following are some tips that will help you to reduce sin in shaa Allah

1.      Fix your prayers.

Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do. (Surat Al-`Ankabūt 29:45)

2.      Being God conscious, always keep in mind that whatever we do, we have to be accountable to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and He’s watching us all the time.

3.      When you get tempted to do sin think of the death because it is the cutter of delights.

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said:“Remember often the destroyer and cutter off of delights, which is death.” (Sunnan Trimidhi:2229)

4.    Have friends that remind you of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala not those whose company makes you forget Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

5.    Strive to get closer to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. When our connection is stronger with Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala it will be easy for us to fight with the desires.

6.    When you get tempted think of the following things:

·         Allah is watching you

·         Angels are recording your deeds

·         Punishment of the grave

·         You have to answer on the day of Judgement

Here are some tips to get closer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala that will help you in shaa Allah.

1.If we want to get closer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, we have to fulfill our obligatory duties and follows the command of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and his messenger (peace be upon him) wholeheartedly.

2.Being God conscious, always keep in mind that whatever we do, we have to be accountable to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and He’s watching us all the time.

3.Whenever we do a good work, always make the intention that you are doing this to please Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

4.Be thankful to Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala in every situation and be happy with the Allah decree.

5.Try to do dhikr all the time, it will make us closer to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

Following are some dhikr that we can do all the time:

1.  Asthaghfirullah

2.  Subhaanallah

3. Alhamdulillah

4. Allahu Akbar

5. Laa ilaaha illallah

6. LA HAWLA WA LA QUWWATA ILLA BILLAH-HIL ALIYYIL ADHEEM

7. Asthaghfirullah-halladhee Laa ilaaha illa-huwal Hayyul Qayyuumu Wa athoobu Ilay

Or Asthaghfirullah

8. SUB-HAAN’ALLAAHi WA BI-HAM’DIHI SUB-HAAN’ALLAH-IL ADHEEM 

Or SUB-HAAN’ALLAAHi WA BI-HAM’DIHI

9. Subhāna-llāhi, wa-l-hamdu li-llāhi, wa lā ilāha illā-llāhu, wa-llāhu akbar. Wa lā hawla wa lā quwwata illā bi-llāhi-l-aliyyi-l-azīm

10. Lā ilāha illā-llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu lahu-l-mulku wa lahu-l-ḥamdu yuhyi wa yumītu wa huwa ḥayyu-llā yamūtu abadan abada, ḏū-l-jalāli wa-l-ikrām, biyadihi-l-khayr, wa huwa alā kulli Shay-in qadīr

Or 

Laa ilaaha illal-laahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa huwa ‘alaa kulli shay-in qadeer

We should also recite much of durood e Ibrahim which is the durood that is recited towards the end of Salaah. 

Or the shortest durood is: Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallim

6. Dua and Repentence:

Almighty Allah says in the Qur’an: “When my servants ask you concerning me, (tell them) I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on me.“ [2:186] 

The place of Dua is so high in front of Allah, that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallim) has said:”Nothing is more honourable to Allah the Most High than Dua.”[Sahih al-Jami` no.5268]. 

Allah loves repentance & loves those who turn to him in sincere repentance: 

Truly Allah loves those who turn [to Him] in repentance… (Qur’an 2:222)

Narrated ‘Ubaadah that the Messenger of Allah said, “Whoever seeks forgiveness for the believing men and believing women, Allah will write for him a good deed for EACH believing man and believing woman.”(Tabarrani) 

Subhanallah this deed can be done in EVERY dua and can you imagine how many rewards can be gained for each and every Muslim you make dua for from Adam alayhis ‘salam until now and the last Muslim on earth. This is the easiest way to earn rewards that go into the billions and the more you make these dua’s then the more your good deed account will get filled!

Here are some baby steps that will help you in shaa Allah

1, Fix your prayers.This is the best act to pray salaah at the fixed time.

2. Be dutiful to your parents. Be good with them for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. Love them and spend quality time with them.

3. The most beloved of deeds to Allah are those that are most consistent, even if it is small.

4. Be good with people for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala.

5. Be patient when something goes wrong and don’t get angry. Patience is difficult to do but it has countless reward.

6. Make habit of doing dhikr all the time. It will help in shaa Allah.

7. Send blessing upon Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

8. Gain knowledge and try to implement in your life.

9. Implement Sunnah in your daily life.

10. Make lots of dua. Ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us to do deeds that will please Him  and grant us jannah and save us from punishment of Hell.

11. Spread Salaam when you meet a Muslim say Assalamu Alaikum.

12. Never think you are better than others. Always be humble

13. Don’t get jealous and pray for others

14. Be happy with Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala decree and always be thankful. It will increase your blessings in shaa Allah.

Ask Allah for the help and try to do dhikr all the time, it will help you in shaa Allah. Recite Astaghfirullah, Durood Shareef and kalma as often you can. Desire will always be there, nafs and shaitan is our enemy and this battle will continue till our last breath. On our shortcomings we should repent to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala sincerely. He is the most forgiving and merciful.

I hope it will be helpful. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make things easier for you.

Allahumma Ameen

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): The Conquest of Makkah and Afterwards

The Siege of Taif

The people of Thaqif, who were defeated by Muslims in the Battle of Hunayn, took refuge in their land, Taif; they closed the gates of the city and prepared to fight.  

It was one of the last shelters of polytheism. They had to be defeated so that they would never have the courage to oppose Islam. Malik b. Awf, who had made the tribes of Hawazin and Thaqif revolt against Muslims, took shelter there, too. It was necessary to catch him and punish him.

Therefore, the Prophet set off toward Taif with the mujahids. He knew Taif very well. Years ago, he had experienced the most painful days of his life there. He had gone to Taif to invite them to Islam but they had stoned him and he was drenched in blood.

The Islamic army reached the land of Taif soon. However, the people of Thaqif had locked themselves into their castle and stocked plenty of food as a precaution.  

It was not possible to enter the city by climbing the walls. Therefore, the Messenger of God besieged the city. The headquarters of the Islamic army was near the city walls; therefore, the mujahids received many arrow shots. Meanwhile, several mujahids were martyred by arrows.

Thereupon, the Messenger of God moved the headquarters back, near the place where the Mosque of Taif is located today. Two tents were put up for Umm Salama and Zaynab, the wives of the Prophet. The Messenger of God performed his prayers between these two tents and sat there. After the people of Thaqif became Muslims, they built a mosque there and named it “Sariya Mosque”

During the siege, fighting continued in the form of throwing arrows.

The People of Thaqif are Stoned Through Catapults

When the Prophet saw that the siege prolonged and that the people of Thaqif had no intention of surrendering, he talked to the mujahids to set up some catapults and throw stones at them.

Salman al-Farisi said, “I find it appropriate; we used to set up catapults in Persia in the castles and the enemy also used to set up catapults against us. Thus, it was easier to defeat each other. When there were no catapults, we had to wait for a long time.”

The Messenger of God liked the idea of Salman and ordered a catapult to be set up. The order was fulfilled. There were two catapults in the army; with the new one that was set up, the number of the catapults amounted to three. There were also two dabbadas (strong carriage made of cowhide) in the Islamic army.

The mujahids tried to go under these dabbadas and approach the castle and break through the wall but they could not manage it because the arrows, hot pieces of iron and pokers thrown by the enemy soldiers pierced the hide and made it difficult for them to proceed. Meanwhile, a few mujahids were martyred.

Attempt to Cut off Grapevines

The siege prolonged and the aim could not be realized. Thereupon, the Messenger of God took a different measure: In order to suppress the enemy economically, he announced that the vineyards and orchards that belonged to the notables of Taif and where high quality grapes were cultivated would be destroyed; and he ordered the mujahids to cut off the grapevines.

When the people of Thaqif saw that their vineyards and orchards, which were their only source of income, were being destroyed, they said to the Prophet, “O Muhammad! Why are you cutting off our plants? If you defeat us, you will take them. Otherwise, leave them to us by considering the consent of God and the rights of kinship.”

Thereupon, the Messenger of God said, “I am leaving your vineyards considering the consent of God and the rights of kinship.” Then, he prohibited the mujahids from cutting off their grapevines.

Meanwhile, Khalid b. Walid, the heroic Companion asked the enemy to send someone to fight him one-on-one. However, there was no reaction from the enemy. One of them said to Khalid,

“None of us will leave the castle to fight you. We are going to continue sitting in the castle. We have enough food stock for years. If we run out of food and if you prefer to wait until then, we will draw our swords and fight you until we die.”

A New Tactic

The siege went on and on. The people of Thaqif had no intention of leaving their castle and fighting one-on-one. They did not think of surrendering, either.

Thereupon, the Prophet used a different tactic. He had an announcement made: “Any slave that leaves the castle, joins us and becomes a Muslim will be free.”

Upon this announcement, about twenty slaves left the castle, joined the Islamic army and became Muslims. The Prophet freed them and surrendered each of them to a wealthy Muslim so that they will teach them how to read the Quran and teach them about the sunnahs.

When the people of Thaqif later became Muslims, they asked the Prophet to return those slaves to them. However, the Prophet rejected their request by saying, “God freed them; I cannot return them to you.”

The Hypocrisy of Uyayna b. Hisn

Meanwhile, Uyayna b. Hisn went to the presence of the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of God! Let me go and talk to them; I will invite them to Islam. Maybe God will grant them guidance.”

When the Messenger of God let Uyayna, he went to the people of Taif and talked to them contrary to what he said to the Prophet, “By God, Muhammad has never encountered any people like you. Your castles are well-protected. Go on resisting.”

After that, Uyayna returned.

The Messenger of God said, “O Uyayna! What did you tell them?”

Uyayna spoke as if he was telling the truth: “I invited them to become Muslims. I said, ‘Muhammad will not return unless you surrender. Surrender and ask for forgiveness.’”

When Uyayna finished his talk, the Prophet said to him furiously, “You are lying. You said this and that.” The Prophet told him exactly what he had said.

Uyayna’s face blushed. He said, “You are telling the truth, O Messenger of God! I ask God to forgive me for what I said. I regret it. I repent to God.”

Meanwhile, Hazrat Umaru’l-Faruq said, “O Messenger of God! Let me kill him.”

The Messenger of God said, “No! People will say I am killing my Companions then.”

The Dream of the Prophet

One night, the Prophet saw a dream. He saw that he was offered a bowl of butter but a cock turned over the bowl with its beak and spilled the butter.

When the Prophet told his Companions about his dream, Hazrat Abu Bakr said, “O Messenger of God! I think you will not attain what you wish about the people of Taif today.”

The Prophet had the same idea. He said, “I do not think it is possible, either.

The Siege is Lifted

The Messenger of God realized that he would not be able to conquer Taif at that time. If he continued the siege, he would lose time.

Mnawhile, he told his Companions that he was not given the permission to conquer Taif for the time being.

Thereupon, Hazrat Umar said, “Shall we tell people to get ready to retreat?”

The Prophet said, “Yes...”

Thereupon, Hazrat Umar told the Muslims to get ready to leave Taif. Hazrat Umar also asked the Prophet, “O Messenger of God! Will you pray against the people of Thaqif?”

The Prophet said, “God did not allow me to pray against them. Get ready to move.”

However, some of the mujahids did not want to leave without attaining anything. The even said, “Where are we going without conquering Taif?”

They applied to Hazrat Abu Bakr. He said to them, “God and His Messenger know it better. The Messenger of God receives orders from the sky.”

Thereupon, they went to Hazrat Umaru’l-Faruq and talked to him. Hazrat Umar said to them,

“We experienced the Incident of Hudaybiyah. In Hudaybiyah, I had some doubts that only God knew. That day, I uttered some words that I had never uttered before to the Messenger of God (pbuh). My family and property were almost destroyed. There was no conquest better than the Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyah for the people. The number of the people who became Muslims   after the Hudaybiyah was bigger than the number of people who became Muslims during the period between the day the Messenger of God (pbuh) was sent as a prophet and the day the Peace Treaty was signed in Hudaybiyah; and they became Muslims without any fighting. Whatever the Messenger of God does is good. After the Incident of Hu­daybiyah, I cannot object to him for anything. This is God’s affair. He reveals to His Prophet whatever He wishes.”

When the Prophet noticed that the general opinion of the mujahids was to stay in Taif for some more time, he said to them, “Get ready to fight tomorrow morning.”

In the morning, they fought. However, this fighting brought about nothing but some wounds. The mujahids also believed that they could not conquer Taif. When the Prophet said, “Inshaallah, we will return tomorrow”, they were happy. The Prophet smiled at their state.  

The Messenger of God and his army left Taif after a siege that lasted for about thirty days.

The people of Thaqif struggled with the mujahids a lot; they tired and wounded them; they also martyred about fourteen mujahids. Therefore, when the mujahids were about to leave, they asked the Prophet to pray against the people of Thaqif. However, the Prophet, who was sent as mercy to the realms, prayed as follows: “O God! Show the people of Thaqif the right path and make them come to us.”

The Messenger of God had such a vast feeling of mercy and such a big ocean of compassion that he did not want even his fiercest enemies to be destroyed; on the contrary, he wanted them to live with the light of Islam and belief. He asked his Lord to do it.

Returning to Jirana

After the Messenger of God lifted the siege, he left Taif together with the mujahids for the place called Jirana, where the booty obtained in Hunayn and Awtas was kept.

Suraka b. Jushum Becomes a Muslim

While the Messenger of God and his Companions were going to Jirana from Taif, they noticed someone approaching them. The Muslims wanted to stop him because they did not know him. They even wanted to harass him lest he should be someone with evil intentions. They asked him, “Where are you going? What do you want to do?”

When he realized that the Muslims would not let him approach the Prophet, he held the writing written by Hazrat Abu Bakr for him during the Migration between two of his fingers and shouted by showing it: “O Messenger of God! This is what you wrote for me. I am Suraka b. Jushum.”

The Prophet recognized him. He said, “Today is the day to keep my promise and to do you a favor.” Then he called out to the Muslims, “Let him approach me.”

When Suraka went to the presence of the Prophet, he uttered kalima ash-shahada and became a Muslim.

Suraka later said,

“I asked the Messenger of God, ‘O Messenger of God! Some camels at large come close to my pools that I fill with water for my camels. Will I have rewards if I give water to them, too?’ The Messenger of God said, ‘Yes... There is reward for giving water to any being that has lungs.’ I did not ask anything else. I returned to my tribe. I separated the zakah for my goods and sent it to the Messenger of God (pbuh).”

The Booty and the Captives

The Prophet proceeded and reached Jirana.

The booty and the captives obtained by the mujahids during the fighting were quite a lot. The number of the women and children held captive was about six thousand.

The booty that they obtained consisted of twenty four thousand camels, forty thousand sheep and four thousand uqiyyas of silver.

The Messenger of God did not start to distribute the captives among the mujahids in case Hawazins came and became Muslims. Meanwhile, he sent a Companion to Makkah o bring clothes for the captives; he clothed all of them.

Though the Prophet waited for more than ten nights, Hawazins did not come; so, he distributed the captives among the Muslims.

Hawazin Delegates Arrive

The captives had just been distributed among the mujahids when Hawazin delegates arrived. They said they had become Muslims and that the people in their land had become Muslims.

Halima, the foster mother of the Messenger of God belonged to the tribe of Hawazins. It was a tribe that looked after the Prophet when he was an infant. They mentioned it and asked the Muslims to treat them well; they also demanded their goods and the captives.  

The Messenger of God said, to them, “I postponed distributing the booty and the captives for a long time in case you came. However, you came too late. I distributed the captives among the mujahids. It is very difficult for me to return them to you.”

After this talk, the Prophet offered them to choose one of them: If they wanted, they would prefer to receive their goods or women and children back.

Hawazins preferred their women and children.

Thereupon, the Prophet said, “I am returning the captives that were my share and the shares of Sons of Abdulmuttalib.” Then he said to them, “After I lead the noon prayer, stand up and say, ‘We want the Messenger of God to intercede with the Muslims for us and the Muslims to intercede with the Messenger of God for us.’ I will repeat that I have waived my share and I will ask the Muslims to waive their shares.”

When the Prophet led the noon prayer, Ha­wa­zins stood up as the Prophet had advised them and asked the Messenger of God and the Muslims to return the captives.

The Messenger of God declared loudly in the presence of the Muslims that he waived his shares and the shares of Sons of Abdulmuttalib. When the muhajirs and Ansar heard it, they waived their shares.

Thus, thanks to the two sentences uttered by the Messenger of God, about six thousand women and children held as captives were released at once.  

This event is interesting because it shows both the vast compassion and mercy of the Prophet and the Muslims’ absolute loyalty and obedience.

Malik b. Awf Becomes a Muslim

After the Messenger of God returned the women and children to Hawazins, he asked, “What is Malik b. Awf doing?”

Hawazin delegates said, “He escaped and took refuge in the Castle of Taif. Now, he is together with the people of Thaqif.”

Thereupon, the Prophet said, “Go and tell him that if he becomes a Muslim and comes here, I will return him his family and give him one hundred camels.”

When the Hawazin delegates told him what the Prophet said, Malik came to the presence of the Messenger of God and became a Muslim. The Messenger of God surrendered him his goods and his family as he had promised; he also gave him one hundred camels. Apart from giving him one hundred camels, the Messenger of God gratified him by appointing him as the administrator of the Muslims in his tribe.

Affected by the grant of the Prophet, who conquered hearts through his nice attitudes, sweet words, grants and compliments, Malik b. Awf said, “I have neither seen nor heard anyone like Muhammad so far. When he is asked to grant something, he grants more than he is asked. If you ask him, he will tell you about the events that will take place tomorrow.”

Ma­lik b. Awf, who had prepared a great army against the Muslims about a month ago, became a Muslim and entered the service of Islam.

Distribution of the Booty

After the captives were returned to their owners, the Messenger of God was going to start to distribute the booty.

Meanwhile, it was seen that some Bedouins disturbed the Prophet and pulled his garment by saying, “O Messenger of God! Distribute the booty of camels and sheep among us.” The Bedouins went so far that the Prophet had to lean back to a tree. Thereupon, the Messenger of God said, “Do you think I will not distribute the booty that God granted among you? By God, if the booty was as much as the number of the trees of Tihaman, I would distribute them among you without fear and stinginess.” Then, he picked a camel hair and held it between his fingers and showed it to them. He said, “O people! By God, apart from the one-fifth, there is nothing, not even something like this camel hair, that I have from the booty. And the one-fifth is spent on you when it is necessary.”[26] After that, he had the booty items counted and distributed everybody their share.

Grants to the Muallafa al-Qulub

In the Islamic army in Jirana, there were about two thousand people who had just become Muslims on the day of the Conquest of Makkah and some notables of Makkah that had not become Muslims yet. The Prophet used a new method in order to strengthen the belief of the new Muslims and to gain over the hearts of people who had not become Muslims yet.  

As it is known, the Prophet had the right to use one-fifth of the bounty. He could spend this one-fifth for necessary things and people.

Due to the purpose mentioned above, he gave abundantly from the one-fifth to the new Muslims and the notables of the Quraysh in order to soften their hearts.

He gave Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Qurayshis, his sons Yazid and Muawiya one hundred camels each and forty uqiyyas of silver each. Thus, Abu Sufyan and his sons received three hundred camels and one hundred and twenty uqiyyas of silver totally. Abu Sufyan, who was received such great generosity and grants said,   “May my mother and father be sacrificed for you! You are so generous and charitable. When we fought against you, you fought so nicely. When we made peace, you made peace so nicely. May God reward you with good things.” Thus, he expressed the generosity and philanthropy of the Prophet.

Besides, the Messenger of God granted two hundred camels to some of the notables of the Quraysh and fifty camels to other notables each.

Safwan b. Umayya Becomes a Muslim

Safwan b. Umayya was one of the people who opposed and acted against the Prophet and Muslims severely. He was one of the people that had been ordered to be killed wherever they were seen on the day of the conquest of Makkah. However, when he took refuge in the Prophet, who was like an ocean of compassion, he was forgiven. He asked for a period of two months to become a Muslim. The Prophet gave him four months.  

He also joined the Islamic army.

While the Messenger of God was checking the booty in Jirana, he spotted Safwan, who had not become a Muslim yet. He was staring at the valley full of camels and sheep.

The blessed eyes of the Messenger of God noticed this careful look and senses what he was thinking about. He said,

“Abu Wahb! Did you like the valley a lot?”

Safwan said, “Yes...”

Thereupon, the Prophet said, “Then, the valley belongs to you with all the things in it.”

Safwan was astonished; he could not believe his ears. After waiting for a while in astonishment due to the grants and generosity of the Prophet, who never said no to the requests of people, Safwan said, “The heart of nobody except a prophet can be so pure, good and generous.” He stated that his heart had been conquered.

Safwan was affected by the attraction of the light of Islam and the sun of the prophethood. He uttered kalima ash-shahada there and became a Muslim.

Thus, Safwan b. Umayya, who was the enemy of Islam for years and who was given permission for a period of four months to become a Muslim, embraced Islam at the end of the first month.  

Safwan, who beautified his Islam through good deeds, later stated the following about the effect made by that generosity:

“The Messenger of God was the person that I hated the most among the people until he granted me the valley. However, after his grant, he became the most beloved person for me.”

This incident is an example showing clearly how skilled the Messenger of God was at knowing people and treating them accordingly. Sometimes one compliment of his, sometimes a sweet word, sometimes a smile, a nice act and sometimes a grant was enough to gain over people. Only this characteristic of his is a topic that can be researched. When this research is made, it will be seen that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) determined the rules and principles of making friends and gaining over the hearts of people more than fourteen centuries ago uniquely through his acts, attitudes and words.

To be able to make people loyal to you with one look, sign, word, smile or act is a characteristic of the Prophet that needs to be learned by the humanity.

The Objection of the Companions

Some Muslims who did not know the reason behind this act of the Prophet that aimed to affect the spirits of the people who had not become Muslims yet or who had just become Muslims felt disturbed by this act. They thought those people were preferred over them and that they were regarded superior. However, the Messenger of God did not do so with such thoughts.

As a matter of fact, when he was granting the people whose hearts he wanted to gain over (muallafa al-qulub), Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas, one of the Companions, went to his presence and said, “O Messenger of God! You gave people like Uyayna b. Hisn one hundred camels each instead of people like  Juayl b. Suraka.”

The Messenger of God realized the reason of the opposition very well. Juayl was really poor in terms of money and goods but he was very rich in terms of belief. The Messenger of God knew that it was the reason of opposition; so, he answered Sa’d as follows:

“By God, if the earth was full of people like Uyayna and Aqra, Juayl would be better and more virtuous than them. However, I am giving them abundantly to make them like Islam and belief. I refer Juayl to his Islam and the rewards prepared for him in the hereafter.”

Some People from Ansar Talk Critically

What distressed the Prophet was what he heard from some Madinah Muslims. In fact, the Prophet had expressed his loyalty and love about them as follows: “My life is together with your life; my death is together with your life.”

The Messenger of God was granting abundantly to the people who had been fierce enemies of Islam and the Muslims until yesterday, who had not made a sacrifice for the religion and who had not undergone any troubles for the religion. That was what made the Companions think about it. They felt distressed by the act of the Prophet because they had not realized the real wisdom behind the act of the Prophet and they showed their distress by their attitudes. Some of them even uttered unpleasant words.

Sa’d b. Ubada told the Prophet about the distress and discontent of some Ansar. Thereupon, the Prophet summoned Ansar and addressed them as follows: “O Ansar! I heard that you uttered some words that you should not have uttered. You said this and that.”

Upon the words of the Prophet, some Ansar apologized; they said, “O Messenger of God! We did not say so; some of our young people spoke like that.”

Despite their apology, the Messenger of God continued speaking: “O Ansar! Did I not come to you when you were in the wrong path? Did God not grant you guidance through me? Did God not make you rich when you were poor through me? You were enemies of one another. Did God not soften your hearts and unite you?”

Ansar said, “Yes, O Messenger of God! You found us in darkness; we attained light thanks to you. You found us near a hole of fire; we got rid of it thanks to you. You found us in aberration; we attained the true path thanks to you. We accepted God as Lord, Islam as the religion and Muhammad (pbuh) as the Prophet. The rights and bounties of God and His Messenger on us are superior to everything. We are grateful to God and His Messenger. O Messenger of God! Do whatever you wish.”

Despite this, the Messenger of God continued speaking. He did not want any anxiety or resentment to remain in the hearts. He added,

“O Ansar! If you had wished, you could have said this and it would have been true: ‘You came to us when you were rejected by others and we confirmed you. You came to us when you were left alone and we helped you. You had been deported but we looked after you like our souls.’  Yes, if you had said so, I would have confirmed you.”

After this conversation, the Messenger of God expressed what he meant to say through the following laconic sentences:

“O Ansar! Do you not want to return to your land with the Messenger of God while some people leave with the goods, camels and sheep that they have obtained?”

The Muslims of Madinah answered this question by shouting, “Yes, O Messenger of God! We do.”

Upon this answer, the Prophet ended his speech, which changed the situation altogether, as follows:

“I swear by God, in whose hand of power is the existence of Muhammad that, if it were not for the virtue of the Migration, I would want to be a member of Ansar!

O God! Show mercy on Ansar, their children and the children of their children!”

Upon these sincere and loving words of the Messenger of God, the Muslims of Madinah sarted to cry sobbingly; their beards got wet due to the tears coming down.  

They made their final decision. They said, “We consent to the Messenger of God as our share of the booty even if we do not receive anything else.”

A unique share of the booty!

God Almighty granted His beloved Messenger such unexceptional persuasive ability. On the one hand, he affected the spirits of his fierce enemies and attracted them to Islam through his words; on the other hand, he eliminated all of the resentment of his friends through one speech.

From Jirana to Makkah

There were twelve days left for the month of Dhulqada to end.

When the Messenger of God was in Jirana, he performed prayers in the mosque there; he went to the mosque again, performed prayers, prayed and entered ihram for umra. Then, he left Jirana and entered Makkah at night with his Companions. The Prophet uttered talbiya during the journey; when he saw the Kaaba, he stopped uttering talbiya. In the morning, he circumambulated the Kaaba with his Companions. Then, he performed sa’y between Safa and Marwa. After the seventh sa’y, he cut his hair near Marwa.

The Prophet did not sacrifice an animal during this umra.

Returning to Madinah

The Messenger of God wanted to return to Madinah.

He appointed At­tab b. Asid as the governor of Makkah again. He ordered Muadh b. Jabal to stay there so that he will tell people about Islam and teach the Quran.

Then, he set off from makkah. He reached Madinah a few days before the end of the month of Dhulqada.

[iam-an-archer]

I am not Muslim or much of a religious person. My whole family is Hindu and like I have never felt close to God . During the times I went through a shit load of things I tried so hard to connect to God and my roots and I couldn't. And that's the reason I became non religious person. And I do think I resent God a little bit. But it is so hard to get representation of a religious person and their relationship with faith on mainstream media these days . Everything I have seen in television has this wrong shade of religion depicted . It's either anti-religion or religion depicted in a stereotypical matter. This is so wrong. It dissociate a religious person with his/her faith and puts a wrong concept on rest of us. We don't see religion depicted in a good light anymore . It's either very restrictive or abusive to the environment. I do believe it depends on the person on how they perceive their faith but you know, when the whole media is trying to sabotage your faith, people don't have much choice left . Skam españa or skam in general depicting Sana's religion as her strength and not a burden put on her by her parents is so important. Especially religious parents shown in a good light is such a great step. According to media , a stereotypical religious person is homophobic, sexist and transphobic . In the world were teens look to media for representation of their life, it is so important to show something that impacts them. No any person should be brainwashed to a point where they are driven away from their faith. Religion isn't evil , people are . Most of the parents, religious or not just want the best for their kids. I haven't read Quran, Bible or Geeta but I don't think any of them says to judge people or sabotage them because of their choices. If media can show different shades of a white mass shooter (they make him look this great kid and self defense master) then why can't they show some respect towards religion and show different sides of it that generally remains hidden from general population?

[questionsonislam]

What are the fundamental rights Islam gives to man?

To comprehend the importance given to human rights in Islam, it is better to have a glance at the circumstances of the world before Islam. As follows:

1. All of the states in the world were ruled by monarchy. The ruling king, monarch or emperor had full authority over the people he ruled. He used to kill or exile the people he desired, and he did not have to account for anything he had done to people.

2. People were divided into classes. The monarchs close acquaintances and relatives (the nobles) were in the privileged class. Besides, a large group of people who were despised and whose rights were violated constituted a separate class. There was a deep gap between those classes.

3. Slavery was carried out in the most barbarous way. Personal dignity was flagrantly violated.

4. People were treated depending on their races and color of their skins; the superiority of the lineages were accepted as the unique superiority measure. People were not appraised according to their intelligence, knowledge, competence, morals and virtue.

5. There were no fundamental rights or freedoms. None of the fundamental rights or freedoms such as freedom of conscience and religion, right of property, freedom of having a residence, freedom of opinion were considered for an ordinary person. People were subjected to oppression and persecution because of their belief and opinions; and consciences were under oppression.

6. The fundamental principles of law were disregarded. It was even impossible to imagine fundamental judicial concepts like equality in law, domination of the laws, individuality and legality of the punishments. Personal desires and commands were deemed as law, different punishments were applied to the persons committing the same crime but belonging to different classes.

The religion of Islam came and committed the greatest revolution in the history of humanity when the world was in such a dark state.

If it is examined fair-mindedly, it can be seen that the ultimate humane targets that have been attained today were realized many centuries before the human rights declarations were published in the Western World both in the Noble Quran and in the practices of the Prophet (PBUH),

As a matter of fact, the principles included in the speech (the Farewell Sermon) the Prophet (PBUH) gave during his Farewell Hajj are the clearest examples about the issue.

This sermon was read in the year A.D. 632 in the presence of more than 100,000 Muslims. That is, 1157 years before the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which is regarded as the first written text concerning human rights.

The new principles Islam brought to human rights also had major effects on the struggle of the human rights in the West.

Man has a different value from the other beings. That value increases through belief in Allah and obedience to His commands. Thus, man becomes the most honorable guest in the universe. Man gets the value of humanity by his birth, in fact by the beginning of his formation in the uterus and he bears that value throughout his life.

The value of being a human surrounds everyone. Woman-man, elder-younger, black-white, weak-strong, poor-rich, no matter from what religion and nationality, race or color; the shadow of that compassion encompasses all.

Thus, Islam protects the blood of every person from being shed illegally, his chastity from being violated, his property from usurpation, his dwelling from being violated, his lineage from being deteriorated, his conscience from being under constraint. Islam assures the honor and dignity of humanity.

The fundamental rights and freedoms Islam has provided humanity are as follows:

1. Islam put an end to the discrimination of race and color. All people descended from Hazrat Adam. It is not possible for a person to choose his own race and color. It is completely by Allahs determination. It is extremely wrong and harmful to make discrimination and to regard some races and colors as supreme by condemning some races and colors both from the point of view of Islam and humanity.

Almighty Allah says in the noble Quran that He created mankind from a male and a female, and that when their numbers increased, he made them into nations and tribes so that they would know and help each other easily and they would make friends . (al- Hujurat, 13)

As it is seen, the fact that people are from different races and colors are not for superiority to each other but for getting acquainted with and helping each other.

An event illuminating that approach of Islam is as follows:

Abu Dharr, from the companions (sahaba), got angry with Bilal al-Habashi and insulted him by saying: Son of the black woman. He despised him because of his mothers color. When the Prophet (PBUH) was informed of the event, he got very angry and told Abu Dharr the following:

— O Abu Dharr. You have despised Bilal because of his mothers color, is that so? Then, you still have the mentality of the age of ignorance (jahiliyyah).

Hazrat Abu Dharr felt very sorry and repented for those words that slipped out of his mouth with a momentary anger without his intention. He began to cry, threw himself to the ground and put his face on the ground and he said:

— I swear, I wont raise my face from the ground unless Bilal threads and tramples on my cheek with his foot.

He apologized to Bilal al-Habashi repeatedly.

2. Islam put an end to the superiority of family and ancestry and being proud of that. During a meeting that the Companions (sahaba) were present, Sad b. Abi Waqqas offered some of the notables to mention the names of their ancestries. He named his ancestors from the beginning to the end. Salman al-Farsi, who was originally from Iran, was also present there, He didnt have a famous lineage as the notables of Quraish. He did not know his ancestors in detail, either. When Hazrat Sad offered him to name his ancestors, he found this offer strange and gave him this answer: I am Salman, son of Islam. I dont know my ancestors like you. I know one thing that Allah has honored me with Islam

Hazrat Umar also felt uncomfortable with that unnecessary offer of Sads about naming ancestors that reminded the mentality of the age of ignorance . He was so pleased with Salmans meaningful answer that he likened his answer to Salmans answer saying, I am Umar, the son of Islam, too.

When the Prophet (PBUH) heard the case, he also liked Salmans answer and he said: Salman is from me, from my family.

The Prophet demolished the mentality of ignorance based on the superiority of the lineages by giving the noblest families daughters in marriage to some companions that were slaves set free.

3. Islam brought the citizens the right to control and supervise their administrators. It aimed to put an end to the arbitrary management, injustice and illegality in the administration of the state. Hazrat Abu Bakr expressed that issue as follows in his speech when he was elected as the Caliph: O people! I have been elected as your administrator although I am not the best one among you. Obey me if I perform my duty in accordance with Islam. If I go astray, warn me.

One day, Hazrat Umar asked the Muslims in the mosque, If I go astray, what will you do? They replied: We will straighten you with our swords. Hazrat Umar was very pleased with that answer.

4. Freedom of Thought and Conscience. Freedom of thought and conscience is the most important human right after right of living. Not giving this right to man means reducing him to the degree of the animals by getting him out of his real essence. Therefore, Islam by no means allows thoughts and consciences to be kept under oppression. With the principle There is no compulsion in religion, Islam does not approve of making people accept the fundamentals of belief by force.

5. Islam has paid attention to the establishment of slavery painstakingly and brought it to a judicial regulation.

When the religion of Islam arose, slavery was prevalent as he most barbaric and inhuman practice all over the world. Islam, of course, could not have been expected to abolish that establishment completely that was prevalent all over the world. So, Islam did not choose to abrogate slavery completely at once but gave it the most humane and civil form by making great reforms regarding it. In addition, Islam supplied some formulae to make slavery abolish indirectly by increasing and facilitating the ways of passing to freedom from slavery.

6. Freedom of Property. Love of property and desire to have goods are among the various feelings Allah has given to man. That issue has been specified clearly in the Quran. Islam has given man the right to have property and has laid the groundwork for satisfying that feeling in a legal way. Nobody can interfere in any way with anybodys right of having property that Islam gives to him without his permission.

7. Equality before Law. Islam accepts all people equal before law like the teeth of a comb. Islam does not allow making a privileged treatment to the people in accordance with their social status and pedigrees.

In Islam, the dominance and the superiority of the laws are essential. The president and any of the citizens are treated equally before law. The guilty one is penalized even though he is a president. The most striking examples of it are that Fatih Sultan Mehmet and a Greek architect; Hazrat Ali and a Jewish; Salahaddin al- Ayyubi and an Armenian were taken to the court to be judged.

A woman from a noble family of the Mahzum tribe committed a theft on the conquest day of Mecca and she was caught in the act. She had to be punished. But, since the woman belonged to a noble family, they were afraid to blacken the name of the family so they wanted her to be forgiven and not to be punished. But how would they attain it? How would they tell it to the Prophet? Eventually, they sent Usama b. Zayd, the beloved one by the Prophet, to the Prophet as an envoy. Usama entered the presence of the Prophet and told him about the case. He asked him to forgive the guilty woman. The Prophet (PBUH) got very angry with this offer. He got out right away and made this historical speech:

O Muslims, do you know why the nations before you had been demolished and destroyed and had become a thing of the past? When a person from the notables committed a crime, they would not punish him. However, when an ordinary person committed a crime, they would desire strongly to apply the punishment. This injustice caused them to be destroyed. I swear, if the person committing the crime were my daughter Fatima, I would not hesitate to punish her at all.

Thereupon, the punishment was applied immediately.

The following sentences from the speech that Hazrat Abu Bakr made when he was selected as the Caliph also attract attention from that point of view: The weakest ones among you are the strongest before me till they take their rights. The strongest ones are the weakest before me till I take others rights from them.

8. Individuality and Legality of Punishment. In Islam, there can be no illegal punishment, and punishing somebody else instead of the person committing the crime is not in question.

The principle of the individuality of punishment is expressed in Chapter al-Anam as follows: Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden (sin) of another. (Verse: 164)

9. Independence and Impartiality of the Courts. Courts, which are the establishments for justice in Islam, have been kept away from all kinds of outer oppressions, personal animosities, spites andarbitrary applications; and the judges havent been allowed to lose their impartiality. In Islamic courts, presidents were tried with ordinary people and they were punished if they were found guilty.

10. Inviolability of Residence and Immunity of Private Life. In Islam, nobody has the right to interfere with an individuals private life and to enter his residence without his permission. In Islam, it is forbidden inspecting peoples confidential affairs.

11. Freedom of Travel. In Islam, traveling is accepted as a cause to learn lessons and to get healthy. Therefore, people are encouraged to travel.

12. Right of living, assurance of protecting lives, property and chastity from violation. That issue has been manifested in the most beautiful way in the Farewell Sermon by Allahs Messenger:

O people! Just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. They are protected from all kinds of violation.

13. Social Security. The religion of Islam patronizes man so that he wont be aggrieved and wretched due to old age, illness, disasters and accidents, and Islam takes the future of the needy under assurance through social security measures it supplies. Above all, Islam incites people to take themselves under assurance economically by encouraging them to work. Besides, Islam supplies a distinct security in the family, in the circle of neighbors and relatives by various measures it has taken. The state itself takes the individuals security under assurance when all of these security precautions are insufficient. The establishment of zakat (alms) and waqfs are the perfect social security foundations.

14. Freedom of Labor, Justice and Equality of Payment. In Islam, working and endeavoring are appreciated and encourageed greatly. Begging, being a burden to someone else is not welcomed. What is more, working to provide a living for ones family is regarded as worship as long as (fardhs) obligatory duties are performed. The verse, That man can have nothing but what he strives for. shows the importance Islam gives to endeavoring and working

Islam, which assures the freedom of working fully –on condition that it is a legal earning way-, also organizes the relationship between the employee and the employer in the nicest way.

The principle Pay the wages of a worker before his sweat dries assures the rights of workers in the perfect way.

The worker, in return, will try to complete the work assigned to him perfectly and completely and he will accept trying to deserve the wages he receives as a principle.

15. Patronage of Children. Islam patronizes children beginning from their birth; several aids are made to parents for their children nutrition and clothing expenses and subsidies are allocated from the treasury of the government. Today, that aid is supplied in all rich states under the name money for children. Allahs Messenger insistently warned the army of Islam against killing women and especially children in the wars.

16. Fundamental Education is Obligatory and Free of Charge. The hadith Seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman. makes the fundamental education obligatory. The curriculum of the fundamental education has been prepared very carefully in Islam.

The fundamental education includes vocational education besides religious, ethical and moral knowledge. Islam considers it necessary for children to be trained for a profession along with religious knowledge.

[simplelittlebrowngirljae]

What being a black student at a PWI taught me

I grew up in working class family. My father was in the military and my mother was a civil servant. Neither had went to college, but they did have job training. My sister was a first generation college student of our immediate household, although I had an aunt who had her PhD and her daughter had gone to college and had her Master’s and was officer in the Air Force, we didn’t speak much about college in my family until it was time for my sister to graduate. I went along on college tours, financial aid nights and many other things associated with getting ready for the college experience. It was very exciting to see what this was all about because this was not anything we had ever experienced. My mother became ultra-educated and an advocate for my sister and wanted to get the most for our dollar and the best experience possible for my sister’s college years. My sister ultimately landed on attending Norfolk State University, and urban Historically Black College and University or HBCU for short. She also received a prestigious scholarship. When the time came, we dropped her off the short 30 minute drive and wished her well. She came home virtually every weekend or we went over there to attend events and football games and I got to see what it was like to be in college too. And I learned what things I wanted in a school and started to think about if I even wanted to attend college.

College was a foreign concept because many of my peers came from these legacies of college graduates from specific schools and that is all the spoke about, even when I was in middle school. They pretty much already knew where they were going because their parents graduated from a specific school, and their grandparents graduated from there and their great grandparents graduated as well. I was not so lucky and had to do so much research about degree programs and campuses and what I actually wanted in a school because well, college just didn’t run in my family like that. While yes my sister went to college, and I had an aunt and a cousin who attended school, we just didn’t openly discuss life after high school except that you had 3 options: get a job, go to school or join the military. I knew I couldn’t join the military because I was flat footed and had asthma so it was get a job or go to school. If I wanted any type of future, I was told going to school was the path I should take. So I started exploring colleges and then I took the SAT’s and ACT’s and school brochures started flooding my mailbox. I started making a list of schools I wanted to see because of what they offered. I attended local alumni events of schools to chat with past students and get a feel if that school could be for me.

The summer before my senior year I took a road trip to visit several schools in South Carolina and North Carolina. I loved them but then my mom broke my heart and told me if I go too far away from home I wouldn’t be able to come home like I want. So I started to factor distance into my choices. As my senior year began, I started looking at schools close to home and there was one school in particular that was just AMAZING and I fell in love with. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was just different. It was in an urban setting and just yelled ‘’Hello Opportunities”. I went to the campus many times, worked hard and applied. I received acceptance letters from so many schools and waited anxiously for my decision from VCU. The day it came I was beyond elated I almost hit the roof! I was ready to start this next chapter of my life.

Now, I applied to a variety of schools, to include HBCUs and PWIs or Predominantly White Institutions. I didn’t even think about if a school was an HBCU or a PWI. I just applied based on how their programs ranked. I wanted a good education. And honestly when counselors were working with us, that did not even come up and my counselor was black and graduated from an HBCU. So why does it matter? I will tell you why. In this day in age, it is almost as if you are judged about your blackness by where you went to college or the things you did while in college. HBCUs do provide a very unique experience and are the pillar of the black community, I will say that. There is a magic and wonder that is unparalleled, especially at their sporting events and homecomings. I will say I did not have that where I attended college. And HBCUs were there when White schools would not allow us to attend. I respect them. However, it was not for me. I visited several and did not feel at home. When I walked on VCU’s campus I felt at home. And that is why I chose to attend. But because I chose to attend a PWI does not mean I do not support HBCUs. I 100% do. And because I did not attend an HBCU does not mean I am any less of a black person. I am still very black, please remember that. I have been made fun of and criticized for my choices, or told I am not really black because I went to a PWI and didn’t pledge as well ( meaning join a black sorority during my time there. That is not true either. Newsflash: you can attend a PWI and be black and not join a sorority or fraternity and maintain your blackness. My choice to attend was to grow myself and learn things and well, all of that happened. Let me share what I learned during my 4 years there:

 1. I can hold a diverse conversation- While at VCU, I came across some unique individuals. And for that reason I have had to adapt and adjust my conversations and ways of talking to many situations. I am grateful to have been in an environment that allowed to experience such because it has made me more aware of the population I am engaging with and tune into sensitive to topics of conversation, in addition forcing me listen to understand and not just respond.

 2. I am very cultured – VCU is one the most diverse schools in the world. We actually have a campus in Qatar! We have so many countries represented it is just overwhelming! I remember checking into my dorm and seeing people from India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Laos, Israel, Nigeria, Puerto Rico among other countries and it just blew my mind. Where I am from, we had some diversity, but nothing as rich as this! With so many diverse cultures I learned about different traditions, their food and other great things. Around campus we had food from these different cultures as well. I remember tasting Indian food for the first time, and then Thai and then Venezuelan. It was like “whooooaaa… what have I been missing my whole life?!?!”

 3. I know how to network- now, not saying I would not learn this at an HBCU but I had many an opportunity to attend so many events at the State Capital and with other officials which has made me learn to network and engage with others. These opportunities have been unparalleled and I am beyond grateful to have attended this institution and to have had mentors who worked hard to present these opportunities to us students.

 4. I have refined my public speaking skills- this is self-explanatory. I had to give umpteenth presentations and take God knows how many classes on public speaking, but I am thankful for the rigorous curriculum that was provided to me that made me refine these skills. With my public speaking skills also came great research skills so I am grateful for that as well.

 5. I learned about topics I would have never imagined to include veganism, Islam, Celiac’s disease, and various holidays- this is pretty self-explanatory. Being around so much diversity and around many unique persons allowed me to learn about many different things. So many things I had not been exposed to and I was beyond thankful to have been in an environment to learn, experience and understand.

 6. I met my best friend who is from a totally different county and culture than myself- my best friend is form Sudan and is Muslim. She has taught me so much it’s unreal. Like I learned about different foods, about Africa, about Islam, the Quran, and not just learned about these things but have developed a strong respect from African culture and Islamic culture. She is one of the best things to happen to me and I swear I learn so many things from her every day…yes you read that correctly, I learn something new daily from her.

 7. I was presented with many opportunities to travel and participate in conferences and events- many of my professors belonged to many organizations and would speak at many conferences, they would have spaces available to take us to conferences with them and we would get credit for it! So I was able to travel to several conferences and meet amazing people and learn about various career paths and how to integrate what we were learning into the real world. All of that was invaluable.

 8. I learned it is okay to ask for help – this was a big one. I found myself in many a situation where things were not going as planned and I was epically failing. And my pride would not let me ask for help. But then things got so bad to where I had no choice. The crazy thing is, I should have asked for help sooner because I would have been better off. Like, those who were providing the help were more than kind and more than gracious and wanted to help. So the moral of the situation, don’t let your pride stand in the way of you getting what you need.

 9. I learned that therapy is great and not a bad thing- in Black culture, therapy is shunned. And we often suffer in silence. I was very stressed out one semester and it came out as anger. So I went to the Student Counseling Center and go help. It was the best thing I ever did. At VCU, they publicize and encourage students to use counseling services. It is a beautiful thing. Never feel ashamed of needing therapy. It is there to help you, not harm you.

 10. I learned a lot about poverty and its effect on communities and America- VCU is an urban campus. The downfall of that is that there is a large homeless population that roams around the campus. Many of these persons have mental illness, and in a few of my courses we learned about whey people are homeless and how the resources for those with mental illness are almost nonexistent once they are discharged from inpatient care. We also learned how community mental health is a joke as well and many families often disown their family members who have mental illness because it becomes too much. We also learned that there are some homeless people who are actually not homeless and who have a lot of money and who just sit on the corner asking for money for fun. It was quite interesting to learn about such. On the flip side of all that we learned about the ‘working poor’ which are folks who may be working and barely providing for themselves but they live in substandard housing but cannot afford much else. We learned about the implications of such on public health and it taught me so much and guided my whole career essentially. Because of where VCU is located we actually got hands on service learning in such topics and it made our education worthwhile.

 11. I learned about drugs, alcohol, their distribution and economic impact in society – so many men would hang out on campus during the day trying to pick up women. And the sad part is, many were drug dealers and these young innocent girls did not know. After a while one would pick up on such, however we wouldn’t engage them to the point of a relationship. I would say I would engage theme enough to learn about drugs, and how they system worked and that was enough. Ladies, just know everything that glitters isn’t gold and you should respect yourself enough to walk away from situations. Know better, do better.

 12. I learned that self-care is imperative – we all take on so many things and it can get overwhelming. I learned in my 4 years it is essential to take breaks and set boundaries in order to protect your peace. People may get mad but you cannot pour from an empty bucket.

 13. I learned it is okay to not have it all figured out- college is supposed to be the best time of your life. However, as you get closer to graduation things get a bit scary. And there are some people who expect you to have it figured out. Well guess what, it is okay to not have it figured out. VCU had a great internship program and Career Services department. And it was mandatory for me to have a 700 hours of an internship to graduate and go to the Career Center 3 times before I graduated. I learned that it was okay not to have a concrete plan during these times. I learned that sometimes the plan you had will change direction because of circumstances. And that made me feel great.

14. I learned to hold my own- because there were so many races and cultures, I had to hold my own. I had to ensure my voice was heard among the other while still portraying a positive image. I broke stereotypes and learned to outshine others. I learned to be loud without saying a word. Sometimes I was the only black female in a class but I learned to be comfortable with that and how to contribute in my own way. I learned from my professors who looked like me and who didnt look like me and it made me a stronger woman...it molded me to be the woman I am today.

 15. I became comfortable in my own skin- this is the biggest lesson I learned. I have always been judged for how I look and how I talk. I have been called white girl, told I talk white criticized for how I dress among many other things. But being in this unique setting at VCU taught me it was okay to be me. There was nothing wrong with how I dressed or spoke or the music I listened to or any of that. I am fearfully and wonderfully made and all of these things make me who I am. I am no blacker because of my likes and dislikes or how I talk or because of my hobbies. And that alone is worth gold.

 Now, am I saying that I could have only learned these lessons at a PWI? No. But I know that my experiences at my school made me who I am and even made me more comfortable in being a black female in today’s world. I feel more prepared to handle certain situations because of my situations which caused me to learn certain things. My experience was amazing. Now, if giving advice to a young black student trying to choose I would tell them this: explore your options, do your research, pick the school that feels most comfortable to you. It can be an HBCU or a PWI. But don’t ever think that going to a PWI makes you less black. You are black regardless of your choice.

[sraliz]

Assalamualaikum, I'm 21 and still struggling with faith. There are times when I feel incredibly close to God but there are times when he seems to gone, like he ain't even there at all. This ramadhan I'm trying to bridge the gap, I've been reading the Quran since i was 8 and today I started with the book of Moses (Torah) just to gain a deeper understanding. Just one question, how does one know that they believe?

Wa’alaikum as-salaam wa rahmatullah 😊

I don’t usually get too many anons on here and I don’t answer most of them because I normally see them weeks after they were sent, but I caught this one on the day you sent it so here’s some thoughts.

I’m not quite sure what your question means about “how does one know that they believe?” Do you mean belief in God? In Islam? What I would say to you is that it’s absolutely okay to be struggling with faith, and to sometimes feel close to God and sometimes feel less close- faith fluctuates, it’s natural. Actually, the fact that you’re aware of it is something that indicates you have a degree of self-awareness, that you are ‘awake’ to your own state which many people aren’t (and others, myself included, fall in and out of).

Some people will give you technical and theoretical answers telling you what is faith according to Quran and hadith, what scholars have said etc. and i don’t think it’s wrong to do that (I sometimes do it too), but given the way you’ve worded your question I think you’re maybe looking more for a personal answer about “feeling God being there.” Even if that’s not what you’re looking for, that’s what you’re getting  😅

Feeling close to/far from God is an odd thing to try and describe, maybe which is why I write poetry to try and grasp the experience and understand it. i feel closest to God in many places, at various times and through a number of activities. 

Sometimes it’s when I’m listening to my friend reciting Quran and tears start to form; sometimes when I’m out in nature and I see the sea, or the sky, or the trees, or the mountains and I am left astonished and in awe at their beauty; and sometimes I’m just sat in my room, about to fall asleep, and the noise of the day quietens down in my mind, the worries about tomorrow and the regrets of yesterday are about to disappear... and when everything is about to vanish into dreams, but I’m still awake, I become aware of the presence of God not out of any virtue of mine but simply because I’m too tired to fill my mind with any other distractions. When everything else perishes, God remains, as he always has done. 

All these situations have one thing in common: they direct my mind and my soul from this creation to the Creator; they made me enter into a state of awareness of the Divine. That’s what I think is closeness to God. You can have as much theoretical knowledge as you like- there are non Muslim experts on Islam who probably know more than you and me- but knowledge doesn’t necessarily lead to belief and neither of them lead necessarily to Divine proximity.

I’m not too much older than you, but I don’t think I name you one or two things that are the foundation of my belief. Sure, I could mention a few big ones that someone could use in a polemic situation when trying to argue for Islam or whatever- but again I feel that’s not what you’re looking for. 

There have been so many experiences, some of which I remember and others which I don’t, but together they have left many deep marks on my soul and psyche. They are pretty much all also intensely personal and what resonated with me may not chime with you- I believe and have found that God personally tailors our experiences for us to guide us and strengthen our faith in him. We just need to wait and when we ask for guidance, in prayer in Surah al-Fatiha, or elsewhere, and we just need to trust and wait.

That’s one thing I would recommend though. Dua. If you want something, anything... Ask God, keep asking God, nag God until you’re exhausted. A hadith I heard mentioned that if you want anything at all, even if it is shoe laces, ask God first. If you want knowledge, faith, certainty... make that dua. In whatever language you want, with whatever words rile up your soul and most connect you with God.

I’ll leave you with this to listen and watch, I think it’s relevant:

If you want to message me privately please do, I can’t guarantee that I can help but inshaAllah you are in my prayers. :) 

-R

[mysmedrabbles]

RFA Reacting to a Muslim MC

requested: twice by the same anon :P

a/n: note that I am not a muslim nor am i a hijabi, so if i get a detail wrong, im super sorry and please pLEAse let me know so it can be fixed!! :D this was really interesting to write, enjoy!! 

would you like to support this Muslim MC? want more specific WoC MC’s? buy me a coffee to support my dangerous coffee addiction so i can do em for ya!

warnings: n/a

-hyped mod alex

Jumin

-his strong faith in Christianity was admirable, his ideals set in stone as he abided by them; but of course there was the smallest bit of apprehension in getting to know him, how would he react to someone with ideals different than his?

-he was never one to announce his faith publicly, he still isn’t, however he likes taking with you about your respective religions, sitting on the balcony of his penthouse taking in the cool night air,,, wine for him and Aryana’s Halal Cola shipped all the way from Montreal for you

-orders you the finest hijabs for you to wear, most of them custom made exactly the way you love them, elegant and refined. he also learns the level of modesty you tend to wear your clothes, buying you occasional stunning gala outfit that he knows you’ll both love and feel comfortable with

-you own the most stunning abayas

-absolutely takes you with him on his trips to the middle east. he’s an avid believer in learning about your own roots, and especially if you have family there, he’ll more than certainly take you, going together to see all the sights, take private tours of museums and enjoy life

-makes Chef learn specific halal recipes, and is more than willing to import any food you want from other countries that you cant get in Korea

-learns Arabic in about a year flat,, of course his Korean accent hits heavily, but its so sweet hearing him carefully pronounce sentences to your parents and or relatives

-on eid al-adha he’s aware of the old tradition to sacrifice animals and share with the poor, needy and family; so as a compromise he decides to donate 300 lbs of meat to various homeless shelters and soup kitchens. both you and him going down to help with transport, hand every box to the people, a sort of community service combined with observing a time old tradition.

-comes down with you to the night prayer at the mosque during ramadan, and even though he stays near the entrance and the garden out front, hearing the prayers coming from the inside and seeing all the people that you know and love around you, smiling and having a good time, it makes him happy

Jaehee

-she grew up catholic, lives catholic; but this isn’t to say she’s close-minded to other religions,, she always loves learning more, especially if its about you, who she loves with all her heart

-when youre cuddling, she likes fiddling with the edge of your hijab, just feeling the material and knowing you’re there makes any day of hers better, no matter how hard it may have been

-you being muslim doesn’t have much of an impact, she’s respectful to your beliefs, and even puts in halal foods in the cafe

-this is, of course, after months of her experimenting with different recipes, often finding her in the kitchen at midnight, flour on her face and apron dirtied, sleeves rolled up in a frenzy as she mutters under her breath 

-shes so proud to finally present the finished deserts and foods to you!!

-one time you used one of her woven silk scarves as a makeshift hijab when all of yours were in the wash and she almost cries seeing how pretty you are in her stuff (the scarf is yours now)

-always interested in your religion, and she likes learning the differences between the traditions she was raised with and the ones you were

-during Ramadan, the two of you keep the shop open later for anyone wanting to eat after the sun has set, figuring that no one had to break their fast alone if they didn’t want to

-she gets up very early to prepare Suhoor for you in the morning, a simple oatmeal with dates, blueberries, grapes, almonds and honey

-likes to read her own books aside you while you read the Quran and do your morning prayer, its often the most peaceful part of your day, just having a clean and quiet space as you both enjoy each others company while also doing your own morning routines

Yoosung

-sweet boy, he knows very little of,, well any religion to be honest, and outside of 10th grade history, his knowledge on Islam as a whole is quite limited

-always asking questions about your traditions

-he reads the Quran at some point, wanting to understand you better,, and even though it takes him a long time (mostly due to having to re-read the passages over and over again to understand what was going on), but he’s devoted to learning about your culture

-he drives/walks you to the mosque, but doesn’t leave,, he’s not sure if he can go in, so instead he opts to walk around the area, enjoying the park and waiting for you to come back out so you can walk/drive back together

-he learns so many recipes specifically for you everything from mawmenye, harira, and moroccan krsa to berber bread

-he loves spending time with your family, he loves the sense of community and the celebrations that take place in your household, specifically during religious holidays

-he legitimately cries when you eventually decide to go to Mecca, leaving for hajj, because he knows he cant be with you for around a week and a half,, he can’t help it, he’s so sad he won't be able to see you for more than a week

-he’s so used to stopping all gaming and quieting down devices during salah, that even when you’re not around he still stops for five minutes at the designated times, mostly out of habit, but it also serves as a break from working, studying or gaming

-Lisa,, lisa loves your prayer mat, always trying to knock it down from its rolled up position next to the couch and sleep on it, so instead yoosung buys her a smaller prayer rug to lay on and its the cutest thing you've ever seen

Seven

-although he’s always been the one to mention his own faith in Catholicism, he’s also the one to be most curious about other faiths.

-he likes hearing you talk about the way you grew up, specifically hearing you talk about Islam and asking questions about traditions and practices you have to do

- “wait y/n!!,,, are honey buddha chips halal???”

-if theyre not, he opts to buy pringles in bulk instead. hes going to binge eat chips and damnit he wants you to join him!!! 

-when it comes time for you to perform Salah, he makes sure that you have total peace, even stopping his typing for the duration, letting you connect fully with Allah and your spirit

-since theres little to no sunlight that appears in the bunker, he makes a simple little app that alerts you when the times of prayer come, pre-dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night, using the bells that are primarily heard in mosques as the ringtone for the app

-if anyone dares to mess with you or insult you in any way, Defender of Justice 707 will send a nasty virus their way, because theres no way anyone is getting away with hurting his angel

-its canon that he knows Arabic, and often times, when you can’t go to sleep he’ll sing to you in the language, and although his singing isn't the best, focusing on the strength and passion in his words, the almost comforting way he sings, it sends you calmly to sleep

Zen

-incredibly respectful of your religion and the fact that you’re Muslim

-he sets himself to learn everything he can about your faith and things he might have to change or alter in his own life to be respectful of the way you live yours

-he cuts down on alcohol. a lot.

-this isn’t to say he stops drinking altogether but he certainly cuts down, only having a beer or two in the fridge for emergencies

-bursts in one day, phone in hand as he wheezes, leaning on the couch for support, “y/n ArE wE hALaL dATiNg Or?”

-if you believe that sex should be saved to be only after marriage, he respects that, if not,, well he respects that too

-WILL spend extra money on an abaya from serenity scarves as a gift, just for you being you

-his only goal is to make you as comfortable as you can be, and he Will Not Stand for islamophobic comments directed towards you, but in most cases he won't even let them reach you, cutting off interviewers before they can say anything with a stream of gushing about how perfect you are, and smoothly taking you to the other side of the room if he thinks someone is looking at you, shooting them a mean glare before looking back at you and smiling, whispering something to make you laugh as you guys walk away hand in hand

-respect is this mans middle name, he’ll meet your family the second you start officially dating, making sure to make a good first impression, the second, and third, and fourth impressions

-likes going shopping with you, and is constantly in awe of how stunning you can make anything look, going to the little middle eastern kiosk in the mall to buy food

-he’s such a shameless fan of those cute matching couples outfits, and his heart bursts everytime your hijab matches the colour or pattern of his shirt or jacket

[solutionspotlight]

The Love She Waged from a Prison Cell

How environmental justice activist, Siwatu-Salama Ra, dug deep while incarcerated, and the community that lifted her up.

When Siwatu-Salama Ra arrived at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility last year to serve a two-year mandatory sentence, she was in shock, six months pregnant, and not sure how she would live through the ordeal. She spent her first days in an isolation cell staring at the wall. And yet, somehow, through the harrowing nine months that she was there, she advocated for Muslim incarcerated women, organized around birthing and parenting rights for herself and others in the pregnant and postpartum unit of the prison, and convened a poetry group where women inside wrote and shared their deepest selves. 

Now, after being released on bond since November 2018 with a GPS tether on her ankle for almost a year, Siwatu’s conviction was reversed on August 20, 2019, and the tether finally removed in late October. Her legal team is urging prosecutors to dismiss the case and not recharge her. Her next hearing is scheduled for November 15, 2019, and the tentative trial date is February 18th, 2020.

The environmental activist has spent much of her life as a community organizer. As a teen, she worked with other youth to tackle environmental concerns affecting their local communities and later became the co-director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, where her voice and ability to resonate with people was crucial. She was following the footsteps of her mother, Rhonda Anderson, who has been an environmental justice organizer for the Sierra Club for almost two decades. In her interviews, she expresses how being convicted of felonious assault and felony firearm was not like anything she’d ever experienced in her life or could have been prepared for. 

Michigan’s Stand Your Ground

The details of Siwatu’s case were reported by many including dream hampton in Essence, the New Yorker, and Democracy Now! as it became clear that pieces of the case weren’t adding up. 

In July 2016, Siwatu was visiting her mother at her Detroit home with her two-year-old daughter when a young girl came by to visit Siwatu’s niece, who also lived in the home. The family became concerned about the presence of the girl as the niece was recently jumped by her at school. They decided it was best she leave. The girl’s mother, Chanell Harvey, arrived to pick her up, infuriated that her child wasn’t welcome. 

Siwatu testified that she’d asked Harvey repeatedly to leave the premises. Harvey then drove her car and rammed into Siwatu's parked vehicle, where Siwatu’s two-year-old daughter was playing inside. Then she tried to hit Siwatu's mother—she’d forcefully brought the car within a hair of her. At that point, after taking her daughter inside, Siwatu reached into her car's glove compartment and brandished her licensed, unloaded gun to demand Harvey leave. 

Harvey took snapshots of Siwatu, took the pictures to the police, and filed a report that Siwatu had assaulted her and her daughter by pointing a gun at them. Siwatu dropped off her daughter and picked up her husband from work, and arrived hours later to report the incident as an attack on her family by Harvey. One day, after over a month with no response from police, Siwatu’s home was surrounded by police who arrested her because Harvey’s report, in which Siwatu had been named the aggressor, had been on file first.  

Of the many controversial details of Siwatu’s case, the most impactful one is the fact that Michigan is a self-defense "stand your ground" state, which gives a legally licensed, law-abiding gun owner the right to use deadly force if they believe it is necessary to prevent death or great harm to themselves or another person. 

Siwatu was a licensed gun owner with a concealed carry permit and her gun was unloaded. And Michigan law has consistently interpreted aiming an unloaded gun as non-deadly use of force, according to Wade Fink, one of Siwatu’s attorneys appealing the case. He also states that her case should have hinged on whether Siwatu used reasonable force to meet the threat posed by Harvey, rather than whether or not she feared for her life. 

Another issue, Fink points out, is that at the time of the event Harvey was on probation for assault; it was her third felony, and violating probation would have gotten her into trouble. Fink contends this could've been a valid motive for lying. But the defense wasn’t allowed to pursue this line of questioning. 

A YES! article that details the rise in Black gun ownership despite the racist origin of the second amendment, explores the perspective of Black gun groups who view the right to self-arm as basic for self-defense in a climate of constant violence. Yet, we also see where laws like Stand Your Ground don’t always work out positively for people of color, as we saw with Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander. 

As reported by Vox, the Urban Institute found that Stand Your Ground laws seem to worsen racial disparities. When the shooter is Black and the victim is white, only 3 percent of deaths are ruled as justifiable versus the 34 percent when the shooter is white and the victim is Black.  “Even when black shooters kill black people,” the article states, “those shootings are less likely to be deemed justifiable in a court of law than those involving white shooters who kill white people.” 

The dominant, false narrative that Black people are intrinsically violent obscures genuine issues of equity. It’s why we can have a criminal justice system that operates on implicit biases, even when all persons concerned are Black. 

Siwatu’s jury had to ultimately decide, based on Michigan self-defense law, whether Siwatu was truly afraid in that moment to warrant invoking self-defense. Despite the question as to why a woman whose daughter and mother are being endangered by a vehicle would not be afraid and feel a basic human need to protect, the jury ruled guilty because they didn’t believe Siwatu could be afraid, only angry. And the felony firearm charge, which means that a firearm was used in an assault, came with a two-year mandatory minimum. 

The power of a community

As she details in conversation with adrienne maree brown on The Practice of Freedom: A Conversation with Siwatu-Salama Ra and Rhonda Anderson on the How to Survive the End of the World podcast, when Siwatu learned that she was having charges brought against her for, essentially, acting within what she believed were her rights to defend her family, she couldn’t wrap her mind around how to continue. But then community showed up.

Siwatu was showered with love. Fellow activists, co-workers, and friends poured in. They showed up at her house asking what they could do to help. There were so many people coming to meetings that were organized on her behalf that they moved gatherings to the larger home of a friend.

At one point in The Practice of Freedom, Siwatu's mom remarks that what was truly notable was how many of the people that came to support were women with children. 

They formed the Siwatu Freedom Team and have not only accompanied Siwatu on her journey for full freedom and justice, but also collaborated with a broad coalition on several campaigns including: developing a set of bills to fight for the rights of incarcerated pregnant and postpartum mothers, parents, and caregivers in Michigan; working to end the felony firearm mandatory sentences that disproportionately criminalize Black people in Michigan; and continuing to support and work in solidarity with women Siwatu met inside prison as they return home. 

Finding a way through madness

From the moment that charges were brought against Siwatu—through her court case and eventual sentencing, right up to her release and the reversal of her conviction, and now as her legal team works to put this case to rest completely —countless people have poured enormous dedication towards supporting her, spreading the word about her case, raising legal funds, writing letters, and organizing meetings. In prison, however, she was alone, facing close walls and prison bars. The letters that poured in from community across the country were like beacons of light in the darkness. 

In the isolation of her experience, she stumbled across a book called Deep and Simple, by Bo Lozoff, who had co-founded the Prison-Ashram Project and worked for 20 years guiding people behind bars to reach their own inner peace. “He was able to steer men and women who were inside of a prison to that oneness,” Siwatu says in The Practice of Freedom. “My community, Bo, my mom, literally saved my life in prison.” 

“I remember reading this book and being just so blown away...it was answering the questions I had, the why me, the what do you want, what am I supposed to do?” Then one day she noticed a copy of Deep and Simple on her pregnancy counselor’s office desk; the counselor offered her all the Bo Lozoff books she had in her office. 

Siwatu reflects that in prison, a person is stripped of everything and anything that could offer them comfort. Reading Bo Lozoff helped her reach a place of peace inside herself despite the deep sadness all around her. “If anybody walks out of a prison...who is enlightened,” she says, “it is the work of themselves, and it is despite of the prison. Bo helped me take advantage of that hell.” 

She also witnessed the spirit of fellow inmates around her. They inspired her. She said in a recent interview with Earth First! “You normally see women on the frontlines fighting, and you saw the very same thing inside the prison: women fighting to hold on to some of their dignity and humanity to say, ‘This is not how we will live.’” 

She says there were women working on so many issues—from trying to get treatment for the yellow water coming out of prison pipes to making sure the food on their plates was sanitary.

When Siwatu learned that her challenge getting a hijab, a Quran, and the meals she required for the daily practice of her faith was not her challenge she faced alone, she led other Muslim women prisoners in organizing for religious rights that legally should have been accommodated by the facility. Her efforts attracted attention from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan, which filed civil rights complaints on a number of the prison’s practices regarding religious freedom.

Disheartened by the ways in which life behind bars was designed to cut down a person’s humanity, Siwatu also created a poetry group and fostered close bonds with the women around her as they co-created a space of beauty, where poetry offered gateways to emotional freedom.

Finally, her harrowing experiences of pregnancy and birth in prison led her to inform herself of her rights as a parent and mother, which she then shared with other prisoners. At the time of Siwatu’s delivery, the Michigan Department of Corrections did not allow loved ones to be present at labor or delivery although Siwatu’s family, community, and other activists and organizations made every effort to get the MDOC to humanely shift its position. 

In early October 2019, as a direct result of this organizing, the Michigan’s House Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections added new language to the budget bill that states that anyone in prison due to give birth in prison can consent to one visitor being present during labor and delivery. The language states that person must be an “immediate family member, legal guardian, spouse, or domestic partner.” It’s a signal that change is happening. 

A more humane and discerning system of justice

For every person that is able to have a protest, or national news attention, or a community of devoted people call out that a wrong be brought to light, there are hundreds more sitting in a jail cell without any of these options. 

Siwatu, speaking to Earth First!, said that knowing she was innocent only made it easier for her to see how many more women were likely in prison unjustly. 

“...You have a large population of women who will be returning citizens who have literally been face to face with the very beast we’re fighting,” she said. “They are walking out of that prison cell, out of custody, with much knowledge, so resilient, and so beautiful. I encourage that everybody support women and men coming out of these prisons because they have seen so much. They know what it will take to win this.” 

When asked how being incarcerated changed her perspective on environmental issues, she explained how it strengthened her belief in looking at how different issues are connected.

“It took me to literally be taken away from my family and taken away from my children and placed in a prison cell to understand we have to step away from... self-identified work and dedicate our entire selves to a better world.”

“You have to look at everything,” she said, “and take everything into consideration of how all these injustices are interconnected and feeding off one another.”

And then what could justice look like? Life-valuing structures that value healing more than they value practices that dehumanize, and where deeper understandings of history and social problems are incorporated, so that there are sustainable options for actual accountability, wellness, and growth in communities. 

Showing up to speak, listen, learn, share, and organize wherever and whenever possible is essential for this shift to take place. We can learn from and build upon cases and experiences like Siwatu’s.

ACTIONS:

Support Siwatu’s legal fees as her hearing approaches on November 15, 2019, help sustain her family throughout this arduous process, or support continued organizing Siwatu’s freedom and policy changes, by donating here. 

Go to FreeSiwatu.org to learn more, stay posted, and find more ways to get involved.

Host a house party or community gathering to share Siwatu's story, have discussions, process the impact of this and similar stories, and brainstorm organizing ideas.

Get involved with local groups in your area fighting for prison abolition, environmental justice, and supporting people directly impacted by the prison and criminalization industrial complex who are working for liberation.

[shiaat]

Omar ibn khattab(la)'s letter to Muawiya (la)

#Omarkilledfatema

#omarkilledmuhsin [Muhsin ibn Ali(asws) unborn child of Fathima(saws)]

Omar ibn khattab(la)'s letter to Muawiya ibn Abu sufyan(la) showing their level hypocrisy :

It was narrated that when Hussain ibn Ali was killed, the news of his martyrdom reached Medina, narrating how he was beheaded, alongside 18 members of his family, 53 of his companions, the slaughter of his infant son Ali, and how his women were taken captives. The wives of the Prophet gathered at the house of Umm Salamah and proceeded to hold funeral processions there, as well as in the houses of the Muhajireen and the Ansar.

Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab left his house weeping, hitting his forehead and ripping his clothes, yelling out: ‘O’ Banu Hashem, O’Quraysh, O’ Muhjireen O’ Ansar, is this what happens to the family of the Prophet while you are alive?! There is no need for Yazid!’

He then left Medina, and in every city he passed by, he would yell at it’s people what Yazid did and would try to encourage the people to raise up against him. Every time he passed by someone, he would curse Yazid and insult him. The people used to say: ‘This is Abdullah, the son of the Prophet’s Caliph. He is against what Yazid did to the household of the Prophet and is encouraging the people to raise up against him. And whomever doesn’t love Abdullah has no religion and is not a Muslim’.

A group of people captured him and took Abdullah to Damascus where they entered the court of Yazid and informed him of what Abdullah had done. Yazid made the order to bring Abdullah in while his hands are on top of his head, and the people were walking in front of him and behind him. Yazid said: ‘This is a normal tantrum of Abu Muhammad. Soon he’ll awaken from it’.

Yazid ordered to keep himself and Abdullah alone, so Abdullah yelled out: ‘I shall not enter O’ Amir al-Momineen after what you have done to the family of Muhammad. Even the Turks and the Romans wouldn’t have done what you did! Get off from this throne, and let the Muslims pick someone more worthy of this matter than you’.

Yazid welcomed him and hugged him, and said: ‘O’ Abu Muhammad, calm down and be wise. Look with your own eyes and hear with your own ears; what do you say about your father Umar Ibn al-Khattab? Was he a guided and a man of guidance, a successor of the Prophet, and was among his supporters and son in laws through your sister Hafsa?’

Abdullah said: ‘He is just like you described him, so what are you trying to say?’

Yazid asked: ‘Was it your father who appointed my father a governor over the Levant or did my father appoint your father a Caliph?’

Abdullah said: ‘My father gave your father the governorship of the Levant’.

Yazid said: ‘O’ Abu Muhammad, would you accept what he willed to my father or not?’

Abdullah said: ‘Yes’.

So Yazid took Abdullah’s hand and said: ‘Come with me O’ Abu Muhammad, I have something for you to read’.

Abdullah went with Yazid to one of Yazid’s storage rooms. He took out a box, unlocked it, and took out a letter. He asked Abdullah: ‘O’ Abu Muhammad, does the handwriting resemble your fathers?’

Abdullah said: ‘Yes By God!’ He took the letter and read what Umar wrote to Mouwiya. The letter said:

‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent. He who forced us to submit to his ways forced us through the swords. We accepted although without agreement of what he claimed to preach. We only accepted due to the threat of the swords being drawn against us, and his constant invitation towards his faith, and after seeing so many people leave behind the religion of their forefathers and following him.

By Hubal I swear, that I never left worshipping the idols, gods, Allat and Uzza since I started worshipping them! And never did I ever prostrate towards the Kaaba, nor did I believe what Muhammad came with. I haven’t entered that religion but to only serve my interests through trickery and creating chaos. For he came to us using never before seen magic that outweighed the magic of Musa, Haroun, Dawoud, Suleiman and Isa. He came to us preaching what they preached, but he surpassed them in magic to the extent that if they returned, they’d bear witness that he’s the Master of Magicians.

So O’ son of Abu Sufyan, take the traditions of your people, follow your original faith and be loyal to what your forefathers were loyal to in regards to disbelieving in their nonsense such as:

Having a God who ordered them to guide us, making the Kaaba a direction to face. Making prayer and pilgrimage as a pillar of their religion, and claimed that God sent Muhammad, and among those that helped him was that Persian individual. They claimed that a revelation was sent down upon him, saying:

‘Surely, the first house appointed for men was the one in Bekka, blessed and a guidance for the worlds’ (3:96) and ‘Indeed, We see the turning of your face to heaven, so We shall surely turn you to a qiblah which you shall like; turn then your face towards the Sacred Mosque, and wherever you are, turn your face towards it’ (2:144).

Then they faced the rocks and prayed. So why did they reject us for praying to the idols, gods, Allat and Uzza when they were made from rocks, wood, copper, silver and gold? By Allat and Uzza, we didn’t find any reason to leave our religion even if they showcased their magic against us. So open your eyes, listen very carefully, and ponder in your heart and mind about those people. Thank Allat and Uzza, and give the wise fellow, Ateeq ibn Abdul Uzza, a governorship position over the nation of Muhammad and give him authority over their wealth, blood, religion and themselves.

I have taken the shining star of Banu Hashem, it’s illuminated horn and victorious knowledge, a man by the name of Haydar who was the son in law of Muhammad through his daughter that they claimed she was the Chief Mistress of Women in Paradise, whose name was Fatima. I went to the house of Ali and Fatima, their children Hassan and Hussain, their daughter Zainab and Umm Kulthum and their female servant Fidha. Khalid ibn Walid, Qunfidh, and other companions came alongside me. I knocked on their door very violently. Their female servant answered the door. I said to her:

‘Tell Ali: Enough with your nonsense. Don’t be greedy for power, for this matter doesn’t belong to you, but it belongs to whomever the Muslims unanimously agreed to’.

By Allat and Uzza, if the matter and order was depended on Abu Bakr then he would have failed to become the Caliph. But I gave him my advice and suggestions. I had enmity for the son of Abu Taleb because of how he shed blood during the conquests of Muhammad, repaying his debts, which was eighty thousand dirhams, his success in everything, and his compilation of the Quran. When I said that the Caliphate is for Quraysh, the Muhajireen and the Ansar said:

‘It is for the brave warrior Amir al-Momineen Ali ibn Abi Taleb whom the Prophet made pledging allegiance to him available for his nation, and we pledged allegiance to him in four different situations. O’ Quraysh, if you forgot about that, then we didn’t. Pledging allegiance, Imamate, Caliphate and Successorship is a matter that is obligatory, truth and concrete; not volunteered nor claimed’.

But we accused them of lying, and presented forty individuals that testified that Imamate was by choice. The Ansar then said:

“We are more worthy of this matter than Quraysh, because we were the ones who supported the Prophet, and the Muslims migrated to us. So if you try to pick a group that deserves power, it cannot be achieved without us’.

A few people said:

‘Pick a leader from among your group, and we’ll pick one from amongst us’.

We said: ‘Forty individuals testified that the leaders are from Quraysh’.

Some people agreed while others didn’t, so there was a commotion until I said to everyone:

‘Let’s pick our eldest, and our most lenient’.

They asked: ‘Who are you referring to?’

I said: ‘Abu Bakr, whom the Prophet requested that he lead prayers. He was the one who was sitting alongside him during the Battle of Badr, asking for his advice. He was his companion in the cave, and married his daughter Aisha to him, who is now referred as The Mother of the Believers’.

Banu Hashem became angry, and Zubayr drew his sword and yelled out:

‘No one will be pledged allegiance to except Ali or no head will be safe from my sword!’

I said to him: ‘Zubayr! You are just from a minor branch of Banu Hashem, as your mother is Safiyah bint Abdul-Mutalib’.

He said: ‘By God, this is nothing but honour and pride for me. What about you O’ son of Hantama and Suhak? Be Quiet! You have no mother!’

Forty men who attended the Saqifa then rushed towards him and were able to disarm him, and no one came to his rescue. So I hurried towards Abu Bakr and pledged allegiance to him, Uthman ibn Affan followed my suit, and everyone else except for Zubayr. They demanded he pledge allegiance or else they’d kill him, but I ordered to let him go, as he didn’t get mad except for his inclination towards Banu Hashem. I took Abu Bakr by his hand, he appeared to be shaking and afraid. I took him and sat him at the pulpit of the Prophet. He said to me:

‘O’ father of Hafsa, I fear Ali’.

I said: ‘Ali is busy’. Abu Obaydah al-Jarrah helped me with trying to calm Abu Bakr.

I instructed Abu Bakr to give a sermon. But he became scared, started shaking, stuttered and closed his eyes. I bit my hand in anger, and said to him:

‘Say whatever, before this matter turns against us’. But nothing came from him, and I wanted to remove him from the pulpit and take his place. However, I didn’t want people thinking I was a liar after all that I said. A group of people present asked me about Abu Bakr’s virtues. I said:

��I heard many of his virtues from the Prophet to the point that I wish I was just a hair on his chest’.

I said to Abu Bakr: ‘Either you talk or get down’. But he saw from my facial expression that if he got down, I’d take his spot. So he said in a very faint voice:

‘I have become your leader; but I am not the greatest among you when Ali is present. Know that I have a Satan who tempts me, and doesn’t want anyone but me. So if I trip, then help me get back up, may Allah forgive you and I’.

He then came down from the pulpit. I took his hands, gave him a dirty look, and sat him down, where then I instructed the people to pledge allegiance to him, or else I’d terrorize the people who won’t. Abu Bakr asked where Ali was, so I informed him that he had forsaken his claim to the Caliphate and was forced to pledge allegiance. When the allegiance was paid, we found out that Ali took Fatima, Hassan and Hussain to the houses of the Muhajireen and the Ansar to remind them about their pledge of allegiance to him that was given to him in four different occasions. They agreed to support him during the night, but all have forsaken him when daylight came. So I went to his house wanting to take him out, I said to his servant Fidha:

‘Tell Ali to come out and pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr, for the Muslims have unanimously agreed to that’

She said: ‘Amir al-Momineen is busy’.

I said: ‘Do what I tell you or else I will come inside and forcefully take him out’.

Then Fatima came and stood behind the door, and said:

‘O’ liars and deviators, what are you saying? And what do you want?!

I said: ‘Fatima!’

She said: ‘What do you want?!’

I said: ‘What is this, why did your husband send you to answer us, while he lays behind the veil?’

She said: ‘Because of your tyranny, you wretched individual, that compelled me to come here so that I may place the hujjah upon you, and upon every loudmouth deviator’.

I said: ‘Leave this womanhood nonsense aside and tell Ali to come out’.

She said: ‘You have no dignity. Do you threaten us with the Party of Satan O’ Umar? The Party of Satan is weak!’

I said: ‘If he doesn’t come out, I will bring forward the wood and light it on fire and burn everyone in your house, and drag Ali to pledge allegiance’. Then I took the whip from Qunfidh and struck Fatima with it and told Khalid ibn Walid: ‘Bring firewood’, then again I told her, ‘I will burn down the house!’

She said: ‘O’ enemy of Allah and enemy of the Prophet and enemy of Amir al-Momineen!’

Two hands came out from behind the door to stop me from entering the house, however I pushed back the hands and then pushed the door with force, while striking at her hands with the whip, so that she would let go of the door. She wailed and wept due to the intense pain of the whip and her weeping was such a heart-rendering scream that it was as if my heart was going to melt and I almost retreated. Suddenly, I recalled the envy and avarice which I had towards Ali because he was the one that had shed the blood of the eminent Quraysh apostates and thus, I kicked at the door, however she had grasped the door such that it would not open. When I kicked at the door, I heard the cry of Fatima and thought that this cry would topple the entire city of Medina. In this state Fatima called out: ‘O’ Father! O’ Prophet of Allah! How do they treat your beloved and your daughter! O’ Fidha! Hasten to my aid, for by Allah, the child in my womb has been killed’.

I presumed that Fatima had stood with her back to the wall due to the extreme pain of labour and at this point, I pushed at the door with intense force and the door opened. When I entered therein, Fatima came and stood in front of me but my intense anger had overwhelmed me as if a veil was cast before my eyes. In this state, I slapped her on her face, striking her veil, and she fell down to the ground’.

Ali then came out, and when I sensed his arrival, I ran out of the house and told Khalid, Qunfidh and whomever was with them: ‘Surely I have survived a great ordeal’.

In another narration: ‘Surely, I have survived a great ordeal that I wouldn’t have survived. There is Ali, he had come out. Neither you nor I have the capability of taking him on’.

Ali went to her, and she exposed her injuries to him, and complained to the Lord of what happened to her. Ali covered her injuries and said:

‘O’ Daughter of the Prophet, Allah has sent your father as a Mercy to Humanity. If you were to expose your injuries and asked the Lord to annihilate these people, the Lord would surely answer your prayer until not a single soul among them shall remain alive because you and your father are far greater to Allah than Nuh, whom Allah had drowned every creature on Earth at that time except those who were aboard the ark. He also destroyed the people of Hud who accused him of lying by sending the strong winds, but you and your father are far greater than Hud. He also punished the people of Thamud, whom were eighteen thousand people, for slaughtering the camel. O’ Chief of Mistress of Women, be a mercy to the creations, and don’t be a cause of wrath for them’.

Her pain intensified, she entered her room and miscarried her child that Ali had named Muhsin. I had gathered many people to outnumber Ali, we circled him and dragged him forcefully to get his allegiance. We took him to the Saqifa of Bani Saidah, and when we got there, Abu Bakr stood up alongside those with him to mock Ali. So Ali said:

‘O’ Umar, do you want me to hasten what I delayed for you?’

I said: ‘No O’ Amir al-Momineen’.

Khalid ibn Walid heard me, so he hurried towards Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr told him three times:

‘What is wrong with Umar?!’ while the people were listening.

When Ali entered the Saqifa, Abu Bakr went to him. I said:

‘Abu Hassan has pledged allegiance!’ Abu Bakr then retreated, but I testify that Ali didn’t pledge allegiance, nor did he shake his hand. I didn’t want to ask him for allegiance as I didn’t want him to hasten what he has delayed for me. Abu Bakr feared keeping Ali, as he was afraid of him. So Ali left the place. We asked where he went, they informed us that he went to the grave of the Prophet. Abu Bakr and I went to him. Along the way, Abu Bakr said:

‘O’ Umar, what have you done to Fatima? By God, this means our damnation!’

I said: ‘What’s more important now is that he didn’t pledge allegiance, and I fear that the Muslims might join him’.

He said: ‘What shall we do?’

I said: ‘Let us claim that Ali pledged allegiance to you at the grave of the Prophet’.

We went to him and found him sitting at the grave; around him were Salman, Abu Thar, Miqdad, Ammar and Huthayfah ibn al-Yaman. We sat at the opposite side, I signaled to Abu Bakr to put his hands on the grave just like Ali was doing, then to drag his hand closer to Ali’s hand. When he did that, I took Abu Bakr’s hand and wiped it on the hand of Ali. I stood up and said:

‘May God give Ali all the good, we had given you the allegiance at the grave of the Prophet’. Abu Thar rose up and yelled out:

‘By God O’ Enemy of God! Ali did not pledge allegiance to Ateeq (Abu Bakr’s real name)’.

Whenever Abu Bakr and I went to a group of people and told them Ali had pledged allegiance, Abu Thar was there falsifying our claims. By God, he hadn’t pledged allegiance during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, nor during my reign, nor did he pledge allegiance to the one after me. With Ali, twelve individuals also didn’t pledge allegiance, not to me nor Abu Bakr.

O’ Mouwiya, who has more hatred towards Ali than me?!

As for you, your father Abu Sufyan and your brother Utbah, know that there was no one but you individuals who accused the Muhammad of lying and tried to entrap him, such as the battle whereby Muhammad said:

‘May Allah curse the passenger, the leader and the driver’. Your father was the passenger, your brother Utbah was the leader, and you were the driver.

I shall never forget your mother Hind who tasked Wahshi with killing Hamza, who was referred to as the Lion of the Merciful on His Earth. He stabbed him, cut his body up, and took his kidney that was taken to your mother where she then ate it. After which Muhammad and his companions referred to her as the Eater of Kidneys. Her women wore yellow, put makeup to beautify themselves, all the while calling upon people to fight Muhammad. You didn’t become a Muslim by choice, but became Muslims forcefully after the conquest of Mecca. He wanted to put his household as rulers over us, but his magic perished and his goals were ruined as Abu Bakr took his spot, and I took Abu Bakr’s spot after he died. Therefore, I request the tribe of Banu Umayyah to continue our prospects, for this reason I had given you a governorship position and attributed virtues upon you in contradiction to what they have said about you, as I do not care about Muhammad’s poems who he claims were revelations, where he said: ‘The accursed tree in the Quran’ (17:60) which he claimed were you Banu Umayyah. With that, he showcased his enmity when he became powerful, as the children of Hashim are the enemies of the children of Abd Shams.

O’ Mouwiya, by reminding you of this and explaining everything, I am writing this to advice you as I am compassionate towards you. I want you to hasten the destruction of the religion of Muhammad and his nation. But, don’t do it by oppression nor execution, and don’t showcase your belittling of his sayings and what he came with as that will surely make you perish, and you will ruin all what we have built. So be extremely cautious when you walk into his mosque and get up on his pulpit, reiterate what Muhammad said in everything he came with. Showcase your care to the people and be generous towards them. Let them see your religiousness by always making Dua, never missing an obligatory action, and don’t innovate in his religion. If you do that, you will cause the people to revolt against us. Therefore, be lenient towards the people and don’t kill them, but open your courts for him, honour them while they’re at your presence. By that, you will become their leaders with your love in their hearts. Always have a smiling face on, control your anger, be compassionate, so they can love you and obey you.

We aren’t able to suppress the revolt of Ali and his two cubs Hassan and Hussain, and if you have a group of individuals who’ll support you then fight them, and don’t pay too much attention to the small things.

Act according to my will, hide this fact and follow my footsteps. Be obedient to me, and the Caliphate is yours. So follow the path of your ancestors, seek revenge, destroy their heritage, as I gave you my secret”.

When Abdullah ibn Umar read the letter, he went to Yazid and kissed his forehead, and said: ‘Praise to the Lord, O’ Amir al-Momineen. You have killed the evil one, son of the evil one. By God, my father has not told me anything of what he told your father, nor has he shown me anything. Surely, his ending was good, and returned pleased’.

Abdullah then left the palace of Yaizd laughing. When the people saw him, they asked: ‘What did he say to you?’

Abdullah said: ‘Nothing but the truth. I wish I took part in what he had done’.

Abdullah went back to Medina, and every time he was asked the same question, he replied with the same answer.

It was also mentioned that Yazid showed a letter written by Uthman to Mouwiya that had even greater and worse things than what the letter of Umar contained. When Abdullah read Uthman’s letter, he stood up and kissed Yazid’s forehead and said: ‘Praise to the Lord, you killed the evil one, son of the evil one. I shall not see anyone from the family of Muhammad nor his Shia except that I wish evilness upon them’. Yazid instructed him to keep it a secret.

Ibn Abbas said: ‘They showcased faith, but hid their disbelief. When they saw they had supporters, they showcased their disbelief’.

[Bihar al-Anwar, volume 30, page 287, h 151]