What. The. Hell.

Neil Cavuto and guest discuss how universal healthcare can open the doors for terrorist Muslim doctors to be allowed into the country. No, seriously.



Or watch here.

I don't understand how it's okay to make some of the comments/conclusions he does on a nationally syndicated "news" channel and not get reprimanded. I really hope we can look back years from now and be astonished at what was deemed somewhat 'acceptable.'

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)'s Last Sermon

I went through my blog to relink, but I guess I haven't posted this before. Surprising.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)'s Last Sermon

Date delivered: 632 A.C., 9th day of Dhul al Hijjah, 10 A.H. in the 'Uranah valley of Mount Arafat.

After praising, and thanking God, he said:

"O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present here today.

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. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital , however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.

Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.

O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste...

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the QUR'AN*) and my SUNNAH (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray.

All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people.

*The Qur'an: Revealed to Prophet Muhammad during the period from 610-632 AC. The first five verses revealed are: (1) Read in the name of your Lord, Who created. (2) Created man out of a clot that clings (in the womb). (3) Read and your Lord is the Most Bountiful. (4) Who taught by the pen. (5) Taught man that which he knew not.

Source, and a short article on how "The Last Sermon Confirms the Main Points from the Quran" by Dr. Shahid Athar

Hiatus

I love that it took 4 days at home for me to remember that I'm not the person I want to be.

Small towns suck, but man are they an impetus for reflection. Time to restart.

Islam & Hip Hop Debate on Imam Suhaib Webb's blog

There seems to be quite the debate going on at Imam Suhaib Webb's blog. If anyone's interested...

The original post: Hip Hop in the 21th century: The Rise Of Satanism In Urban America by Sh. Abul Hussein

To Muslim Hip Hoppers and Entertainers -- where Imam Suhaib encourages "our dear brothers and sisters to take a year off, learn the religion, learn tajwid, getting an ijaza in one of the 7 ways of reading, master a book in every major science; and participate in one of their local Islamic Centers dawa programs. If one is already doing this, or done it, then do it again. Perhaps one would say that this applies to all Muslims? No doubt, learning here is of greater importance because our artists are trying to shape a discourse. This discourse must be based on knowledge and submission. I would encourage Muslims to avoid these superstars, inviting them to events, paying them big sums of cash and treating them with such pageantry."

An Important Post By Br. Mustafa Davis

Muslim Entertainment-An Insider’s Perspective by Brother Dash

my personal fav: Islam and Hip Hop by Brother Ahmad James


---------------

a couple of others that I don't necessarily think are as relevant to the discussion (or at least not as eloquent and clear), but include for the sake of completeness:

Muslim Hip Hop an Important Conversation

A Response to A Well Intended Hip Hop Brother

A Young Muslim Diver's Passion for the Sea (Video)

"Eat and drink from the provision of Allah, and do not commit abuse on the Earth," says the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim faith. Though Islam's tenets contain similar calls for revering and protecting nature as does the Bible, the idea of Muslim environmentalism is far less known than that of Christian evangelicals promoting "creation care." No wonder a short film about a young Muslim scuba diver comes across as such a breath of fresh air--or, perhaps more appropriately given the subject, a cool drink of water.

San Francisco-based director Rolla Selbak's Green Blue Sea won first prize in the "Youth Story" category of the second annual "One Nation, Many Voices" online film contest. Sponsored by Link TV and the nonprofit group One Nation, the competition aims to bring "compelling stories about the American Muslim experience" to a larger audience and broaden people's images of who Muslims are. This film does a bit of the same for stereotypes about environmentalists as well.

Via TreeHugger.com

"The dark side of Dubai" (The Independent)

Scary read, but well worth it. Yes, I know everyone posted this last week. I'm a slow reader, sthu.

' Updating the Mosque for the 21st Century' By Carla Power (Time)

A new generation of Muslim builders and designers, as well as non-Muslims designing for Muslim groups, often in Europe or North America, are updating the mosque for the 21st century, sparking not just a hugely creative period in Islamic design, but one riven by controversy. The disputes over modern mosques echo larger debates taking place in the Islamic world today about gender, power and, particularly in immigrant communities, Islam's place in Western societies.

Interesting. Wish there was a slideshow with it, though.

Highlights:

The most daring buildings are dreamt up by second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants, who have the confidence and cash to build stone-and-glass symbols of Islam's growing strength in places like Europe. Simply importing traditional mosque architecture "doesn't express loyalty to your current surroundings," says Zulfiqar Husain, honorary secretary of an innovative new eco-mosque in Manchester, England. "It almost expresses that you want to be separate from the society you live in."

Particularly in Europe, mosques have become the architectural equivalent of the veil: visible signs of Islam's presence and thus sites for tension between Muslims and non-Muslim traditionalists.

Hm. The minaret (or not) debate (page 2) is pretty interesting...

Unsurprisingly, it's immigrant Muslim communities that are pushing the biggest changes. "The Western mosque is fast becoming the site of contestation between the kind of Muslims who espouse the traditional mosque, and those who want to win proportionate space for women," says MIT's Khalidi. "The second generation are the ones demanding, and often getting, that kind of space." Architectural historian Khan estimates that until recently, North American mosques gave only about 15% of their space to women. Over the past five years or so, the space women have access to has increased to at least 50%.

In the main hall hangs a bronze chandelier, dangling with hand-blown glass raindrops — a visual allusion to the Koranic verse that says Allah's light should fall on believers like drops of rain.

:)

“Life is on hold until you get married” by Zahed Amanullah

Author Shelina Zahra Janmohamed sits down with us to discuss the issues brought up in her new book Love in a Headscarf, which documents Janmohamed's search for a partner in a landscaped blurred by culture clashes, mixed identities, and double standards.

Really nice read...

Highlights:

Of course, it’s everyone’s personal choice as to who they marry, but it raises questions to me about the nature of that relationship and what men are expecting from their wives and what women are expecting from their husbands. Certainly in my experience, there was a lot of cultural discussion that goes on with women on not just how to get married but how to be married and how to maintain that relationship and what your expectations should be and about being realistic.

And I always found it really unfair that men never seemed to get that same kind of discussion. When we would go to weddings or mehndi parties or sit around with the aunties, there would be a lot of discussion about being married. But boys never got that. I kind of felt it was very unfair that women had the burden of carrying the relationship and men could kind of just swim along and it would all be fine because women would – I was certainly advised to – give in for the first 2 to 5 years and then it would all be fine.

As I explored more this idea of Divine love, I started to understand that the love you have for your partner is actually part of that greater Divine love. And you need to see yourself through that other person’s eyes to realise where you fit in to the bigger scheme of things. Nobody ever told me that.

...if you want somebody to get married, there’s no point in telling them just to accept anyone. You’ve actually got to take some responsibility to help them and not just send any old anyone their way. Which I think was, perhaps, the traditional way. “Oh, she’s not married. Anyone will do.”

But I think there are similar problems among men. They’ve just been less eloquent and lyrical about them than women. I think we need to start to hear from them and what exactly is going on and where they are in this picture.

From what you’ve gone though, this process seems to be an accelerated process of learning, if taken seriously. Learning about yourself and, on both sides, revealing who you are. Like you said, it’s the one time where you actually have to put your cards on the table and say, “This is exactly who I am.” If you have secrets at that point, then you’re putting your future marriage at risk.

It does take a certain amount of self-awareness, though. You have to know what you’re saying you are is actually what you are.

I gotta disagree with that, a bit. Some people (rishtas) can handle candid conversations about expectations and self evaluations; others cannot and really dislike it. I think that discrepancy adds another layer of complexity in the process...

Are you optimistic that in generations to come, this situation will change?

I’m not very hopeful, actually. Because it seems that it’s women who are perpetuating it. That’s what really concerns me. Because all that will happen is that there will be a lot of single women who are older, very well educated, very sharp, very religious. It is heartbreaking. The men who are their equivalents, many of them who are not married, many of them don’t want to marry women of that age. And the mothers and matchmakers are encouraging them.

If the mothers [of sons] are saying, “Well, we’re going to take you back home to marry your wife” or “you can do what you like, if you’re a boy, until you get married. If you’re a woman, you need to maintain your reputation,” then I don’t really see how that can ever change unless there are mothers of sons who are brave enough to change that. And men themselves who are brave enough to change it.

Hadith of the Week 20

Narrated by Abu Huraira:


The Prophet said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; and do not look for the others' faults and do not spy, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert (cut your relation with) one another, and do not hate one another; and O Allah's worshipers! Be brothers (as Allah has ordered you!)"

[Bukhari'

Eco Font

Cool idea.

Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink. Free to download, free to use.

http://www.ecofont.eu