converts to islam

Friday, April 26, 2013

I Love Imam Ali - part 1

Salamun alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
Allahumma shalli ala Muhammad wa 'ala ali Muhammad,

Despite many endless arguments about the position of Ali bin Abi Thalib among the four khalifas, it is undeniable that he is one of the most acknowledge companions of our beloved prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). This ILIA (I love Imam Ali) section is my compilation of everything regarding to him, that I found and I like. Enjoy!

This is a piece of the story of Commander of the Faithful Ali ibn Abi Thalib kwh.
One day, Anas bin Malik saw a Jew who came to the Caliph Abu Bakr and said, "I want to meet the caliph of the Prophet."
The friend took him to the Caliph Abu Bakr. Before Abu Bakr, the Jew said, "Are you Caliphs Prophet?"
Caliph Abu Bakr said, "Yes, do not you see me on the spot and his sanctuary?"
The Jew said, "If you do as you say, O Caliph Abu Bakr. I want to ask you about some of the issues."
Caliph said," Ask all you want!"
The Jew asked, "Tell me about something that is not owned by God, that something that is nothing in God and that God does not know?"
Caliph said, "It is the zindiq (atheist) people's problems , O Jew!"
Then, Muslims people who listen to them want to kill the Jew.

Ibn Abbas immediately shouted and said, "O Caliph Abu Bakr, do not be hasty to kill him!"
Caliph Abu Bakr said, "Did not you hear what he said?"
Ibn Abbas said, "If you have the answer, answer! If not, let him go to a place he like."
Finally they throw him out. Jew said, "May Allah curse the people who sit not in his place. They want to kill the soul which Allah has forbidden to kill without knowledge."
He was finally walking out as he boasted, "O people, Islam have vanished. They can not answer my question. Where is the Prophet and the Caliph of Allah?"
Ibn Abbas followed the Jews and said to him, "Go to the house of prophethood, Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Thalib, the gate of prophethood knowledge?"

Meanwhile, the Caliph Abu Bakr and the Muslims people are looking for the Jew. They met him on the road and brought him to Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Thalib. They asked his permission to enter, then the people gather in front of the house.

Caliph Abu Bakr said, "O Abu al-Hasan, this Jew asked me some problems from those zindiq (atheist) problems."
Sayyidina Ali said, "O Jew, what did you say before?"
"I want to tell you but you will do the same with their deeds."
Sayyidina Ali said, "What are they going to do?"
Jew said, "They want to kill me!"
Sayyidina Ali said, "Do not worry. Ask anything you want!"
Jew said, "This question, no one know the answer except by a prophet and prophet's replacement."
Sayyidina Ali said, "Ask as you please."
"Please answer about something that God does not have, and something that does not exist in God, as well as well as something that is unknown by God? ", asked the Jew.
Sayyidina Ali replied, "O brother Jewish, I have a condition though!."
"What condition?", he asked.
Sayyidina Ali said, "You say correctly and sincere with me, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God."
Jews said, "Yes, O my lord."
Sayyidina Ali said, "O my Jewish brother, as for your question about something that is not owned by God is wife and children."
Jews was flabbergasted. He said, "You are right, O my lord."
"As for your question about does not exist in God is tyranny."
"As for your question about something that unknown by God is an ally and friend. He is The Most Sustenance over everything ", said Sayyidina Ali.
He heard his answers, then he said, "Give me your hand, I testify there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God. You are indeed his caliph(successor) and his heirs."
Spontaneously people cheered.
Caliph Abu Bakr said, "O remover of grief, O Ali, you are indeed the relieving of anxiety and thirst".

Ali Syari'ati, one of Iranian poet, when he wrote Fatima as, he said, "Fatima is Fatima". No words can describe the glory of the Prophet's daughter in his eyes. The tongue is tied when trying to express the life of her husband, Imam Ali ibn Abi Thalib. Suffice here I quote the words of Imam Shafi'i and Ibn Sina about Ali. Imam Shafi'i said, "What can I say about someone who has three properties coupled with three other properties, which were never found join together in anyone. Generosity by indigence, courage along with intelligence policy, and theoretical knowledge with practical skills ". Meanwhile Ibn Sina says, "Imam Ali and Al-Quran is the two miracle of the Prophet. Life of Imam Ali in every phase of the history of Islam becomes a mirror - reflection of the life of the Prophet".

Translated from : http://ibonkbloggers.blogspot.com/2011/01/sayyidina-ali-menjawab-pertanyaan.html

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A New Beginning : Preface

Assalamu alaikum warrahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Allahumma shalli ala Muhammad wa 'ala ali Muhammad

Hello readers,
Just as I expected at the first time I made this blog (and other blogs of mine), I couldn't keep it active for a long time. Excuse me for that, I am a moody after all *grin*. My poor English, my poor writing skills, and my characters are all take part in this hibernation.

So, anyway, let bygone be bygone. This is my new beginning. I have few things I want to write so here I am, back again. *smile* Okay, what should I said in this new introduction? Hmm...

Many things happen to me in this spiritual journey of mine. By the way, have I told you in the beginning why I made this blog? Yes, I am sure most people can guess it correctly. I want to share my very happiness of being a Moslem. I am a revert, and even to this very day, I feel so blessed to be able to find my path in Islam. Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar! Allahumma shalli ala Muhammad wa 'ala ali Muhammad.

After that, I have a passion of learning more and more about Islam and in a while, doing self improvement to become a better and better Moslem. If you take notice of all my previous posts, you will find that most of them were not my original writing. Being new in this religion, I felt that I still didn't have enough knowledge and confidence to be able to make a good writing about Islam by myself. Moreover, in English!! *phew* I had a little bit perfectionist characters inside, so... please bear with me. *wink* For all the original writers, I am sorry for copying your writings to my blog, but at least I always try to mention the original sources/links to all my copied articles, inshaAllah, so I hope it would make up for my action.

Still, I can't promise that I won't do that again *grin*. I will always do it as long as the article impresses me in some way, and I feel I have a connection with it. After all, most articles I post here are representative of my feelings and expressions. All takes part in forming my fragments of life, with uncountable exclusive memories I have in it, and the most important is most of them explain my heart in a better way than I can.

So, what makes me decide to write now? Well, I am learning to write. I believe people are grown up by time. I don't say that I have my capability now, but let's say, I want to write something now, okay? *big smile* Okay, to make it short, thank you for visiting my blog, and enjoy. I wish you will find what you're looking for. Wassalam.

Regards,

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Shalawat Nariyah

Allohumma sholli ’sholaatan kaamilatan wa sallim salaaman taaamman ‘ala sayyidina Muhammadinilladzi tanhallu bihil ‘uqodu wa tanfariju bihil qurobu wa tuqdho bihil hawaaiju wa tunalu bihir roghooibu wa husnul khowaatimu wa yustasqol ghomamu biwajhihil kariem wa ‘ala aalihi wa shohbihi fie kulli lamhatin wa nafasim bi’adadi kulli ma’lumin laka

Artinya : Ya Alloh berilah shalawat dengan shalawat yang sempurna dan berilah salam dengan salam yang sempurna atas penghulu kami Muhammad yang dengannya terlepas segala ikatan, lenyap segala kesedihan, terpenuhi segala kebutuhan, tercapai segala kesenangan, semua diakhiri dengan kebaikan, hujan diturunkan, berkat dirinya yang pemurah, juga atas keluarga dan sahabat-sahabatnya dalam setiap kedipan mata dan hembusan nafas sebanyak hitungan segala yang ada dalam pengetahuan-Mu.

Ahlul Bayt and Shia

Allahumma shalli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala ali Muhammad

Monday, January 09, 2012

Shaytan Make People Sad

Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani qs
Singapore 4 January 2012
www.sufilive.com

The busy one you must not make him busier. It has many meanings. One of the meanings which is important to us, is that the one who is busy remembering Allah swt don't make his attention go somewhere else. And don't bother him. Similarly it also goes for people who are busy with their families and trying to provide for their families, don't make them busier.

So I hope we are not keeping you busy and giving you a lecture until midnight. Kalimatan Adil, two words, means two sentences, SubhanAllah wabihamdihi, SubhanAllahil Adzim astaghfirullah, they are very light on the tongue, but they are very heavy on the scale. It's better than all lectures from beginning to end. All these lectures are not worthy of these two sentences,"SubhanAl lah wa bi hamdihi subhanAllah il Adheem astaghfirullah" ..

Sound system doesn't work, have to keep changing (laughing) it has jinn now. Audhu billah min ash-shaytan r-rajeem Bismillahir Rahmaanir Rahim, madad ya Sayyidi.

So whatever lecturer around the world making lectures saying, these two sentences are better than anything you can say. They are very light on the tongue and very heavy on the scale on Day of Judgment. Say it. If you add all your deeds even all the deeds of all Bani Adam, subhanAllah wa bi hamdi, subhanAllah il Adheem astaghfirullah is better.

Now they say it is shaped like a trumpet

By Charles Arthur
Source : The Independent

At first they thought it was flat. Then that it was shaped like a football. But now, scientists believe the universe could be shaped like a flat-sided trumpet.

That would lead to strange effects in some parts of the universe, where time and light would be so curved that you could see the back of your own head. Also, a long-held theory about the universe - that it looks much the same anywhere - would have to be abandoned. And finally, the universe would be finite, rather than extending in every direction forever.

Shalawat Badariyah

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Islam in Brief

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Is Allah Pleased with Me?

by Sheikh Sâlih al-Zahrânî

It should be known that obedience to Allah is one of the chief reasons for attaining Allah's pleasure, while disobedience to Him is a reason for being subject to His wrath. This point is emphasized repeatedly in the Qurân and Sunnah.

"And He is pleased with Islam for you as a religion." [Sûrah al-Mâidah: 3]
"And He is not pleased with ingratitude in His servants; and if you are grateful, He is pleased with this in you." [Sûrah al-Zumar: 7]

Allah is pleased with those who are truthful. Allah says: "Allah will say: This is the day when their truth shall benefit the truthful ones; they shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow to abide therein for ever: Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Allah; this is the mighty achievement." [Sûrah al-Mâidah: 119]

He is pleased with the believers. Allah says: "Their reward with their Lord is gardens of perpetuity beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein for ever; Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him; that is for those who fear their Lord." [Sûrah al-Bayyinah: 8].

Hadith for today 1

"An abi Yahya Suhaibib ni Sinan RA qoola : qoola Rasuulullahi SAW : Ajaban li amril mu'min inna amrahu kullahu lahuu khairun..walaisa zaalika li ahadin illa lil mu'min...in asoobathus sarraa'u syakara fakaana khairan lahu..wa in asoobathud dharraa'u sobara fakaana khairan lahu..( rowaahu Muslim )

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2999).

The Explanation of the Beautiful and Perfect Names of Allaah

*In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful*
*by Shaykh 'Abdur-Rahmân ibn Nâsir as-Sa'dî (d. 1383 AH / n/a CE)*

Translated by Abu Rumaysah
[Taken from Tayseer al-Kareem ar-Rahmaan, Abdur-Rahmaan Naasir as-Sa`dee's Tafseer]

A large number of the Beautiful Names of Allaah are repeated manifold in theQur`aan as demanded by the occasion and it is necessary to explain their meanings in a succinct way. So we say:

Ar-Rabb (The Lord)This name has been repeatedly mentioned in many verses. Ar-Rabb is the One Who nurtures and sustains all of His servants through regulating the affairs and granting all types of favours and blessings. More specifically He is the One Who nurtures and sustains his sincere friends by correcting and purifying their hearts, souls and manners. This is why their supplications are frequently made with this Noble Name because they seek this specific nurturing.

"And your Lord is Most Forgiving, Owner of Mercy. Were He to call them to account for what they had earned then surely He would have hastened on their punishment. But they have their appointed time beyond which they will find no escape." (18:58)

Respect for Mothers

Mawlana Syaikh Nazim Adil al Haqqani
Liberating The Soul Volume 1

All praise is for Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad SAW, May Allah send peace and blessings upon him. After Allah and his Messenger May Allah send peace and blessings upon him, the most beloved and respected person to a Muslim should be his mother! Allah has given the mother such status that He says, Paradise lies under the feet of mothers.

Narrated Abu Huraira :

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?." The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?." The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?." The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?." The Prophet said, "Your father." (Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 2)

Obedience and respect towards your mother is a very important duty in Islam and is similar to performing Salaah and keeping fast. To hurt your mother in any way is the second biggest sin and those who commit this evil sin will be harshly punished by Allah in the hereafter or maybe even in this world!

Dead Hearts and Empty Supplications

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu
(May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you)

It is reported that Ibrahim b. Adham (May Allah have mercy on him) (d162H), once passed through the market of Basrah. People gathered around him and asked:

O Abu Ishaq, Allah the Exalted says in his Book. "Call on me, I will answer your prayers", but we have been calling on Him for a long time and He does not answer our prayers. [Ibrahim] replied, "O people of Basrah, your hearts have died in respect to ten things :

1. First, you know Allah but you do not give Him His rights;
2. Second, you have read Allah's Book but you do not act by it;
3. Third, you claim to love Allah's Messenger (Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) yet you abandon his Sunnah;
4. Fourth, you claim to be enemies to Shaytan but you conform to [his ways];
5. Fifth, you say you love Paradise yet you do not work for it;
6. Sixth, you say you fear The Fire yet you put yourselves closer to it [by sinning];
7. Seventh, you say death is true but you do not prepare for it;
8. Eighth, you busy yourselves with the faults of others and disregard your own;
9. Ninth, you consume the favors of your Lord but are not grateful for them; and
10. Tenth, you bury your dead but take no lesson from them."

License to Exploit Servant Abuse Case Could Challenge Diplomatic Immunity

By Andreas Wassermann

Diplomatic immunity was originally meant to protect embassy personnel from arbitrary harassment. But a new case in Berlin, involving the alleged abuse of a Indonesian servant, makes it clear that human rights sometimes get lost in the shuffle. The case could go to Germany's highest court.

Where else could Devi Ratnasari have gone? Should she have gone down to the nearby river and jumped in? Or perhaps to the junkyard lying across the bridge behind the house? Or to the four-lane street where the No. 139 bus stopped? And what then? She doesn't speak a word of German, and she also didn't have any money for a ticket.

Instead, the petite Asian woman opted to stay in her employer's apartment on Boca Raton Street, in northwestern Berlin. For more than a year and a half, laboring seven days a week, usually until late into the night. She was humiliated, kicked and beaten with a stick -- like a serf. That, at least, is what she told the police.

Devi Ratnasari, not her real name, is from Indonesia. The 30-year-old had been working as a household employee for a Saudi Arabian diplomat until eight months ago. And if it hadn't been for Nevedita Prasad at Ban Ying, a center focused on combating human trafficking, she would likely still be slaving away in the diplomatic residence -- just like so many other women in Berlin from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Excellence of Adhan and its Relevant

1. Narrated by 'Abdul Rahman: Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri told my father, "I see you liking sheep and the wilderness. So whenever you are with your sheep or in the wilderness and you want to pronounce Adhan for the prayer raise your voice in doing so, for whoever hears the Adhan, whether a human being, a jinn or any other creature, will be a witness for you on the Day of Resurrection. "Abu Sa'id added, "I heard it (this narration) from Allah's Apostle." (Saheeh Bukhari - Volumn 001, Book 011, Hadith Number 583)

2. Narrated by Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "If the people knew the reward for pronouncing the Adhan and for standing in the first row (in congregational prayers) and found no other way to get that except by drawing lots they would draw lots. (Saheeh Bukhari - Volumn 001, Book 011, Hadith Number 589, and
Muslim - Book 004, Hadith Number 0877)

3. Yahya narrated it on the authority of his uncle that he had been sitting in the company of Mu'awiya b. Abu Sufyan when the Mu'adhdhin called (Muslims) to prayer. Mu'awiya said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) saying The Mu'adhdhins will have the longest necks on the Day of Resurrection. (Saheeh Muslim - Book 004, Hadith Number 0750)

10 Famous Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

Asalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,

There is a wide gap between the lives of Muslims today and the lives of the first generation of Muslims. Many of those who study Islam know more about the lives of scholars than they do about the Sahaba and the rightly-guided Caliphs, even though the era of the rightly-guided Caliphs offers all Muslims a rich source of knowledge about all the Islamic sciences. The Sahaba laid the foundations of a strong Islamic nation. The Companions of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saas) are some of Islam’s greatest heroes and played a great role in the history of Islam. Their struggles for the sake of Allah and their complete devotion to Islam are examples that all Muslims can feel inspired by and inshaAllah, emulate.

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His final Prophet and his noble Companions. These short descriptions of the lives and merits of these Companions hardly do them any justice. It is highly recommended that each Muslim do some further investigation by reading biographies of the Companions. Here are some facts about only a few of the Prophet’s Companions.

Sincerity Towards Allah

by Imaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
Translated by Abu Rumaysah

Allaah says,
"There is not a single thing except that its depositories and treasures are with Us." [Al-Hijr (15): 21]

This verse comprises a [great] treasure from the treasures [of the Qur`aan], this being that nothing is sought except from the One Who possesses its depositories and treasures, the One in Whose Hands lie the keys to these treasures. Seeking [things] from anyone else is seeking something from one who does not possess them or possess any authority over them.

The saying of Allaah,
"And that to your Lord is the final goal." [An-Najm (53): 42]

Comprises an immense treasure, this being that every desired objective that is not desired for His sake and is not connected [in any form or fashion] to Him then it is temporary and soon to disappear for its final goal is not with Him. The final goal lies only with the One to Whom all matters find their conclusion, terminating at His creation, Will, Wisdom and Knowledge. Therefore He is the source of every desired matter.

Why Hundreds of Ordinary West Aussies Convert to Islam

by Paul Lampathakis
Source: The Sunday Times

With defined rules for life and a strong sense of community, Islam is attracting many Perth converts. Axel Cremer used to turn heads when he'd roar up to prayer time at the Rivervale mosque on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

"When I first turned up, I freaked them out," the 50-year-old reticulation company director said.

"They'd see someone in black leather flying down the road, who stopped, then all of a sudden took all the leather off and walked into the mosque in Islamic clothing. Now they know me and miss me when they don't hear the bike."

Mr Cremer, whose Muslim name is Mohammed, is one of hundreds of West Australians who have converted to Islam in recent years, despite the stigma surrounding the religion that has grown since the 9/11 terror attacks.

Local converts say they number about 200, among about 20,000 Muslims in WA from more than 70 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and eastern Europe. Nationwide, numbers increased about 40 per cent between 1996 and 2001, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, mainly because of migration.

Converts say that in Islam they have found clearer answers to questions of spirituality than in Christianity, a stronger sense of community and rules to live by.

"There are guidelines for everything. It shows you how to do the right thing, to be nice to people," said Mr Cremer, a former Catholic. "The Bible does this as well, but it has been translated too much, it has been tampered with too much.

"And one major difference with Islam is there is no hierarchy above me, no priests, no bishops, no Vatican.

"Imams (holy men) lead you in prayer. But beyond that it's just you and Allah. You're talking directly to God, that simplifies things."

Mr Cremer was also attracted to rules such as Muslims donating a percentage of their annual income to the poor.

The fact that Islam was a lifestyle rather than a weekend event was appealing too, because it advocated morality in all areas, including politics and work, where he believed morality was sorely needed.

The southern suburbs father of four, who migrated to Australia from Germany 22 years ago, said his Indonesian wife triggered his "reversion" in Jakarta seven years ago. Muslims believe people revert, not convert, because they say everyone is born Muslim.

But Mr Cremer said he became enthusiastic about Islam while researching the religion before his marriage – after years of questioning other faiths.

Mother-of-two Nicole Banks, 36, said non-Muslim women were not compelled by the religion to switch to Islam if they married a Muslim and were allowed to keep their maiden names.

But the former Church of England follower chose to convert in 1999, two years after marrying her now-estranged Egyptian husband. She had admired aspects of the religion, such as its focus on family and respect for elders, which she saw while travelling in the Middle East in 1996.

"For instance, you wouldn't send your parents off to a nursing home. They're looked after in the home by their kids," she said. "(In Muslim homes) wives are doing the chores, while grandmothers are looking after the younger children. Whereas here, you might not see your family from one week to the next.

"If someone's sick within the community, the other girls will bring food to the house. If somebody has a baby, people will bring food and help clean the house.

"That feeling of closeness is very much missing in Australian society."

The former optician/retail manager said the religion taught her not to be so materialistic and to be thankful for God's blessings, such as good health.

"Before, I was a workaholic, six days a week, 10 hours a day," she said. "I drank alcohol . . . smoked cigarettes, about a pack-plus a day, partied very hard. Now my days are spent looking after my kids, helping the community, still taking Arabic, Koran and religion classes twice a week."

Ms Banks's family was apprehensive about her conversion, but she had subsequently grown closer to her parents.

Comments on the street about her hijab (head scarf) had sometimes been a problem, but most people were just curious.

She said people should not connect Islam with terror because suicide and hurting innocents, particularly women, children and the elderly, were forbidden by the Koran.

Perth banker Maariyah, 62, converted from Catholicism last February after reading books presenting evidence against the claim that Jesus was the son of God.

She preferred Islam's belief that Jesus was a prophet.

"And I like the feeling of one big family. We call each other brother and sister and we mean it," she said. "I also like the idea of kneeling five times a day and talking to God rather than once a week or once a year – we see praying as a privilege, not a duty."

Her husband was not a Muslim and neither he nor other family members understood her move to Islam.

Carlisle trainee English teacher Jeremy Meredith, 33, became a Muslim in Jakarta in 2003 because he also liked the sense of community and the guidelines.

"People say they want freedom, they want liberty," he said. "But the bottom line is people want to know what they can and can't do. They want rules, they want guidelines, something to believe in, something to follow.

"In Islam, there's a rule for absolutely everything – how I eat my food, how I go to the toilet, how I get married, how I lend money."

He said Muslims should not be lumped with extremists because that was as stupid as saying that because Hitler was a Christian, all Christians were genocidal maniacs.

Eliza-Aisha, 26, switched from Catholicism about four years ago before marrying her Pakistani husband, whom she met in university.

In the northern suburbs home she shares with her Catholic mother and Muslim husband, she said she had researched different faiths from the age of 13 and had never been content with Catholicism. She liked the clarity of Islam; that you prayed just to God, not saints or others.

Eliza-Aisha said she had met converts from areas including Walpole and Bunbury, and they shared common reasons for changing.

"They want to know the purpose of their life. They don't just want an empty life filled with material things, a great house and a car. They want to know more," she said.

"Every week you hear about converts, people in the country, in the local area. A university professor, I heard, recently became a Muslim."

She disagreed with the assumption that women were repressed under the religion. If so, why did so many change, because she had heard about 80 per cent of converts were female.

Other converts said they disliked Christianity's hypocrisy in preaching peace and love while being responsible for many atrocities, including the Crusades and Inquisition, and playing a big role in Northern Ireland's bloody conflict. They also believed the Bible had been edited so much it was no longer the true word of God, while the Koran had not changed.

But Father Brian O'Loughlin, Vicar-General for Perth's Catholic Archdiocese, said he did not accept that Islam offered a "simpler" way to God. There were imams and ayatollahs (religious leaders), and in most Islamic countries it was a state religion with a structure that went much further than Christianity.

He said tolerance was lacking in Islam because it wanted to be the one and only religion. For instance, Saudi Arabia had built mosques worldwide, including in Rome, but would not allow churches in its boundaries.

He said many of the admired aspects of community in Islam were also present in southern European culture. But he conceded that such values might have been eroded in Western culture.

Regarding charity, he said Christians had been outstanding for living the commandment of love that Jesus had taught, to include not just Christians.

"And let's go back to the Boxing Day tsunami. Wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia had to be embarrassed into contributing some substantial amount," he said.

Father O'Loughlin said a worrying aspect was Islam's concept of education, which in many cases was breeding fanaticism.

Peter Rosengren, editor of Catholic newspaper The Record, said it was not surprising that ordinary Australians were attracted to Islam.

A major phenomena of the past 40 years in developed areas such as the US, Australia and Europe had been an intensifying secularisation.

"But human beings are fundamentally religious. When you reject belief in God as a society . . . people still search for the meaning of their lives. Where do I come from? Where am I going? What is my life all about?" he said.

While he was a convinced Christian, he admired the fact that converts to Islam were going against the general trend and trying to put God first and he felt the same about Christians who were doing the same.

http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,17822298%255E2761,00.html

Advice to fellow new Muslims

Get a Good Teacher!

Advice from American convert Abdul-Lateef Abdullah to fellow new Muslims

Assalamualaikum new brother or sister!

Alhamdulillah that Allah has guided you to our blessed deen. Islam is truly a blessing and we should all feel overwhelmed with gratitude to Allah for guiding us to the straight path, the path of real success and peace.

My advice to you as a new Muslim is to find and learn the deen from a teacher. In my year and a half of being Muslim (I'm 28 years old), one of the most important experiences for me has been the guidance and support of a very knowledgeable and pious teacher. Islam is a not a religion of self-interpretation. It is a straight path based on knowledge that must be acquired. It is a lifestyle that has to be adhered to, and is unfortunately being influenced by many negative elements, both within and outside Islam.

Although many new Muslims, especially in the US, choose to teach themselves Islam through books, lectures and videos, there are many pitfalls to doing this that should be avoided. Without a teacher or a guide, one who armed with the combination of knowledge and experience, the pitfalls of the ego and desires can confuse and lead us astray quite easily. Self-teaching is a western phenomenon, and because many of us are brought up in the west, we assume we can apply our cultural norms to Islam as well. However, Islam is not of the west, thus, our western norms cannot be applied to it with much success.

For centuries, classical Islamic education was taught through direct contact with teachers. This is how wisdom, not just knowledge, was acquired. You cannot gain wisdom from just reading. Anyone can read and parrot, but how many can read and apply in the way Allah intends? One of the problems with the Muslim Ummah today is that there are too many of us reading and parroting, but not enough applying in the way truly put forth by Allah and His Messenger (SAW). Put simply, this is because we have stopped learning from those with true knowledge and wisdom. We have stopped becoming students. It takes humility to be a student and to give our trust over to someone to teach us, which is why fewer and fewer are willing to do it.

The easiest way to know the true akhlaq (character) of a teacher is to look at how he lives. How does he live his life? Does he live the deen or just talk about it? Does he say one thing and do another? Does he invite you into his home and show you how to practice Islam, not just tell you? Does he make five solats a day? These are some ways of knowing the authenticity and genuineness of a teacher. Unfortunately, in this day and age, many people claim to be sheikhs and imams, yet have very little knowledge or wisdom of Islam. So don't be fooled by titles in your search for a teacher.

I don't mean to put fear into anyone's heart on this matter. I have seen, however, the importance of having guidance and the consequences of what happens without it. How we learn and are indoctrinated into Islam will greatly effect our appreciation for it, our love of it, our devotion to it, and most importantly, our ultimate success or failure with Allah. Knowledge with wisdom will make you LOVE Islam, not just blindly follow it. So I urge you to go out and find a good teacher to help you along the path to Allah. May Allah bless you and guide you further in your journey.

Assalamualaikum!

Source : http://www.islamfortoday.com/abdullah03.htm

The 1st confirmed British convert to Islam

From Drury Lane to Makka

Abdal-Hakim Murad recounts the tale of artist, Hedley Churchward, who in 1910 became the first confirmed British convert to Islam to make the Hajj pilgrimage.

History has not recorded the name of the first British Muslim to carry out the rites of Hajj. Rumours abound of converted Crusaders who made the trip in medieval times, and of British Muslims in Ottoman naval service who visited the hallowed precincts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But the first detailed account of the Hajj by an English Muslim had to wait until the Edwardian era, when the artist Hedley Churchward became the first recorded British ‘Guest of God.’

Like many Anglo-Muslims of his day, Churchward was the conservative, gentlemanly scion of an ancient family; indeed, his ancestors possessed the second oldest house in Britain. His father ran a successful business in Aldershot, and was well-received in regimental circles, enabling the young Churchward to meet Queen Victoria and the philanthropist Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Showing an early artistic talent, Churchward studied art and became a recognised painter, specialising in the then highly prestigious field of theatrical scene painting. A familiar figure in London’s West End in the 1880s, he worked closely with celebrities as varied as Tennyson, Millais, Lord Leighton, and the most famous of all Victorian ‘supermodels’, Lily Langtry.

A leisurely trip through Spain opened the young scene-painter’s eyes to the glories of Moorish architecture, and he was tempted to venture across the Straits to Morocco. Here, in a world still untouched by Western influence, he quickly fell in love with the gentle and beautiful lifestyle of Islam. After several visits, he gravely announced to his startled family that he had become a Muslim.

Churchward travelled on to Cairo, where he studied for several years at Al-Azhar, the Muslim world’s highest seat of learning. His scholarship developed apace, enabling him to preach Friday sermons at a small mosque, and even landing him an appointment to the prestigious post of lecturer in Sira (the Prophet’s biography) at the Qadis’ Academy - no small achievement for a convert.

In need of more lucrative work, Churchward then sailed for South Africa, where his art and his elegant drawing-room manner soon won him the favour of Cecil Rhodes, who made him the gift of a rare pink diamond. Moving effortlessly between the Muslim community and the Transvaal’s white elite, it was thanks to Churchward’s earnest intercession that President Paul Kruger granted permission for the erection of the first mosque in the Witwatersrand goldfields.

On his return to Cairo, Mahmoud Churchward married the daughter of a prominent Shafi‘i jurist of Al-Azhar, and continued his Arabic lecturing. But both his head and his heart told him that his Islam was not yet complete: the magnetic pull of the Fifth Pillar was becoming impossible to resist. As he later recorded: ‘One evening, as I strode along the looming Pyramid in the sunset, and saw the jagged skyline of Cairo behind the dreamy African dusk, I decided to carry through what I had intended to do ever since I turned a Moslem - I would go to the Kaaba at Mecca.’

As an Englishman he realised that this ambition might prove hard to fulfil: there was a danger that the Caliphal authorities at Jeddah might distrust the sincerity of his claims to be a Muslim, and unceremoniously turn him away. He therefore petitioned the senior Ulema for a letter of recommendation. In the awe-inspiring presence of the Chief Qadi of Egypt, together with Shaykh al-Islam Mehmet Jemaluddin Efendi (the Ottoman Empire’s highest religious authority, who happened to be on a visit to Cairo), he submitted to a three-hour examination on difficult points of faith. Passing with flying colours, he received a beautifully-calligraphed testimonial signed by the scholars present. This religious passport was to serve him well in overcoming the bureaucratic obstacles which lay ahead.

In 1910, after a further year in South Africa, the would-be Hajji packed his trunks and set out from Johannesburg for Arabia. Steamers in those days were slow, and Churchward faced the added impediment of having to travel via Bombay, where he spent weeks in frustrating negotiations with shipping-clerks, officials, and an urbane Lebanese Christian who was the Ottoman consul. At last he found an elderly pilgrim ship, the SS Islamic, and this vessel, captained by an irascible Scotsman and armed with cannon against the threat of pirates, chugged slowly across the shimmering heat of the Indian Ocean, visiting the poverty-stricken Arabian Gulf before wending its leisurely way up the Red Sea.

The days passed slowly, and the time for Hajj was fast approaching. Steaming at six knots, halting at small ports to deliver sacks of mail, which had to be handed over with six-foot tongs because of the fear of plague, there was little to do except watch the dolphins, eat curry, and pray on deck with the Indian pilgrims.

Landing briefly at the Sudanese port of Suakin, Churchward dropped in on the British Consul, who airily told him that his plans to visit Makka were doomed. ‘My dear chap,’ he told him, sipping an iced drink on the Consular veranda, ‘to begin with you will not be allowed to land at Jeddah.’

But two days later, the Islamic steamed into the roadstead of the Arabian port. ‘On the Indian deck,’ he recorded, ‘there started a great packing of pots, portable stoves, babies and sacks of rice.’ It proved necessary to row ashore in a small dinghy, plunging through the hot spray past a Turkish battleship that had been moored for so long that the coral had grown up around it, immobilising it forever. Once his little boat was beached on the sands, a short conversation with the Ottoman officials established that all was well, and Churchward went into the town to make contact with the local representative (wakil) of Sharifa Zain Wali, a rich businesswoman of Makka who ran a large organisation of ‘mutawwifs’ - pilgrim guides. Naturally, she could not attend him here in person - as Churchward later observed: ‘Owing to the immense numbers of pilgrims, hundreds of thousands, who reach Jeddah each year, it is as impossible for these much-respected dignitaries to escort their customers personally as it would be for Mr. Thomas Cook to chaperone every Cockney globe-trotter through Europe. Like all her colleagues, she employed a considerable staff, who saw that the Hajis carried through the ritual prescribed by the Prophet.’

The Wakil took Churchward to his beautiful Arab house, and explained how to don his Ihram clothing before letting him settle down for the night. ‘Finding a level place on the irregular stones I lay down anew’, he wrote. ‘This time a thousand million mosquitoes hovered over me.’ The following day, he telegraphed most of his money through to Makka, and entrusted, as was the custom, the remainder of his funds to the Mutawwif. That evening, ‘while the lamps of Jeddah glowed in a tropic sunset, two donkeys arrived.’ The road beyond Jeddah was little more than a camel track, but the Wakil confidently led the small party towards the nocturnal east, with Halley’s Comet hanging splendidly among the stars above. ‘Against the stars I saw rock faces; we seemed to be trotting through a kind of canyon. Saving the fall of our donkeys’ feet there was nothing to be heard, not even a jackal. ... Bang! Explosions suddenly rang from some place high in the dark hills. No mistake, those were rifle shots ... The growing brightness showed a very picturesque old building, a kind of tower several hundred feet above the road. From the steep path serving the structure some fez-adorned figures ran down. They wore uniforms and held guns in their hands.’

An Ottoman officer came up, and politely explained that his men had successfully chased off a band of robbers. In those days, attacks by desert Arabs on pilgrims were distressingly common; but Churchward and his party rode on, trusting in God. In the oven-like heat of the early afternoon, after several stops at roadside coffee-houses, they passed the stone pillars which indicated the beginning of the sacred territory into which no non-Muslim may intrude.

‘On entering here my guide signed to me that we should say the proper prayer. Touching his heart and forehead he muttered the Fatiha and held his hands together as if to receive Heaven’s blessing. Then he said, Hena al-Haram (Here is the Holy Ground).’

‘Some pigeons, wild doves and other birds were the first specimens of desert fauna I came on. They appeared perfectly tame, and fluttered a few inches from our faces. Some sat on the hard stones and allowed the donkeys to go right upon them. Very carefully the Wakeel led his beast around the little creatures, for no man will dare to kill a living thing here.’

In the Holy City at last, after almost two days on the road, Churchward and his companions entered the tall mansion-cum-hotel of the Sharifa. This pious and aristocratic lady, a direct descendent of the Holy Prophet, had family connections in Cape Town, where her company of pilgrim guides had been recommended to Churchward. Unpacking his goods, he sent her a gift of a Gouda cheese, which was borne up to her unseen presence by excited servants. The Sharifa herself shortly called to him from behind a wooden mashrabiya screen: ‘Mubarak! Welcome to my house.’ ‘I replied that I felt proud to live in her house, whereat she answered that she was proud of me. ‘The Kafirs make good cheese,’ declared the lady, ‘they must have many cows.’’

The English pilgrim struggled up seven flights of stairs, bathed, and slept on the roof. He was awoken before dawn by the strange lilting sound of Ottoman bugles, and after prayers and a breakfast of melons he set off behind the Mutawwif towards the Sacred Mosque. Taking care to scuff their feet disdainfully on some well-worn flagstones, which the Mutawwif declared were some former idols of Quraish which had been cast down there by the Prophet to be humiliated, Churchward and his companion finally entered the House of God. The first stage of a five-month journey had finally come to an end.

British convert to Islam, Abdal-Hakim Murad, was born in 1960 in London. He was educated Cambridge University (MA Arabic), and at al-Azhar University, the highest seat of learning in Sunni Islam. He has studied under traditional Islamic scholars in Cairo and Jeddah, including Shaykh Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, and Shaykh Ismail al-Adawi. Abdal-Hakim Murad has translated several classical Arabic works, including Imam al-Bayhaqi's 'Seventy-Seven Branches of Faith', and 'Selections from the Fath al-Bari'. He is also the Trustee and Secretary of The Muslim Academic Trust and Director of The Anglo-Muslim Fellowship for Eastern Europe.

Source: http://www.islamfortoday.com/murad09.htm