Recently, we had a few trolls sign up for the forum with the intent to defame, declare takfir on us for sympathizing with kufar and disrupt the forum.  Alhamdulillah, Allah has protected us from their sin.

In the process, one of the accusation levied against us was that we were “modernist”.  Somehow, being called a “modernist” was a bad thing

We were modernist as opposed to what?  The opposite to “modern” is “primitive”.  So “primitive” is better than “modern”?  By this logic we should be living in a cave as opposed to a house.

What is “modern”?  It is relating to, or having the characteristics of the present or most recent period of development.

So, are we to believe that “primitive”, which is having the characteristics of the past, is better than modern?

Look at the world we live in.  Instead of using a stick we use a toothbrush.  Instead of riding a camel, we use a car.  Instead of hunting and gathering with stone tipped arrows and grass weaved baskets we go to the supermarket.

The hallmark of the Islamic religion is its pliability to the times.  Islamic Law, according to the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) allows for this pliability in everything except one thing, the religious components of our lifestyle.  This fact is evident if one studies the seerah of the Prophet (pbuh) over the course of his life and the lives of the sahabbah during the first 100 years of the Islamic Empire, which is the rough timeframe in which our scholars extrapilate much of the rulings of Shariah.  Many more rulings of shariah are directed at the changing times and often do not even have a basis in Quran or Sunnah because the situations in modern times have changed and have not been experienced by the Prophet (pbuh) or the sahabbah.

For example, in modern times, we face issues of the harvesting of human stem cells from new born babies to correct diseases that may exist later in the childs life.  Is this acceptable in Islam?  Well, the Prophet (pbuh) and the Sahabbah did not experience science on this scale and such things were unheard of in their time.  Thus, our scholars work out a morally acceptable shariah on the topic.  They can draw off of what we do know of Quran and Sunnah that is totally unrelated to the topic and apply it to make a ruling.

Islam is not a primitive religion, nor is it meant to be.  Islam is for all time.

People who call us modernists because we stand for progress in society according to Islamic values are missing the purpose of Islam.  Islam is not a religion.  It is an entire way of life that includes religious doctrine.  It regulates much more than religion.  Religion is perhaps 10% of Islam.  The remaining 90% is Economy, Science, Governance, Military, Diplomacy and many many other things.

These “primitive” Muslims make the 10% seem like 90%.  It is these types that wish to rule a country without knowing how to build roads, schools, colleges, using diplomacy to avoid warfare, establishing justice systems for all people (muslim and not), bringing economic prosperity and many other essential aspects of our lives.

I have seen these “primitive” Muslims tout the Taliban as the model Islamic government….

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Modernizing Islam

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

I read the FBI Most Wanted woman thread with interest and had some thoughts I wanted to post but that killjoy Admin closed the thread whilst I was getting my ducks in a row.

I have no idea if this Siddiqui woman is innocent or guilty. I think she stands a better chance of a fair trial in the US, despite its heightened paranoia than if she had ommitted a crime and been tried in say Afghanistan. However, the US stance of holding endlessly without representation and trial is reprehehnsible and a step backwards in terms of civilisation. in the abc news report there is no mention of her being detained and tortured although other articles suggest she was….we can only hope the truth will out and there will be justice rather than another case of wrong place, wrong time, oh I’ve ended up in Gitmo. I feel sorry for her kids as her young son is being held too. Note however news articles suggest that she as arrested by Afghan police and then handed over - does that make her arrest legitimate?

So I have a question. Having narrowly escaped being a vicitim of the 7/7 london bombings myself by about 15 minutes, I have very little sympathy, well none, for the brothers who wear strap ons. Misguided, stupid and murderous, whether they quote passages from the quran or not. If I had known about it beforehand, if I had known about 9/11 i would definitely have shopped those guys and tried to prevent it.

If I found out something was being planned anywhere I would definitely report it but it appears that preventing an act of murder because its being done in the name of Islam would earn me the enmnity of my fellow muslims. Does it make a difference if its being done in the West, in the land of the so called kuffars even though some of them may sympathise with your viewpoint and the cosmopolitan nature of many of the cities means fellow muslims will certainly be victims. Does it matter? What about attacks in muslim countries, take Pakistan and Iraq for example where muslim victims far outweigh the foreign soldiers (in Pakistan, they are all Pakistani victims). If you knew about it, what would you do?

I was extremely dismayed by the viciousness and hate spewed by some supposedly well educated posters in the previous thread - where have all the sane bros gone??

Read more and post discussion or debate:  FBI Most Wanted

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

Perfecting one’s Ramadan experience can be a lifetime achievement. We should not expect that we can perform the fasts perfectly or in their entirety when we have not had the benefit of many years of practice. To do so would undoubtedly be counterproductive as it would be overwhelming and cause burn-out. Even those who are born Muslim and those who have been Muslim for many years struggle in perfecting the important aspects of Ramadan.

It’s for this reason that for new Muslims, the scholars often agree that reverts (and those born Muslim who are rediscovering their Islamic faith) should “ease” themselves into it by whatever way possible. Allah is Most Merciful and Forgiving of our situations and does not hold it against us.

For those who are not Muslim but following the fast in solidarity or for the experience, it is beneficial to follow the same guidelines as new Muslims. It would take a serious effort for someone not already acclimatized to performing all 30 days of Ramadan fasts perfectly from dawn to dusk and is not necessary for you to benefit from Ramadan.

There are many things to discuss about Ramadan and many more suggestions but I will try to focus on but a few to get you started.

The following is some tips on preparing for Ramadan for those who are taking on the fast…. (Remaining article published at link below)

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Ramadan for New Muslims and non-Muslim Friends

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

This goes out to those of you who think for the past week or so you have gone through a lot of Salafi bashing. Who like to play the “victimized” role.

Playing their Salafist victimized role is like a person who slaps himself in the face and then complains that his cheek hurts. They bash themselves.

Stop crying.

They don’t like freedom of speech because freely speaking exposes them so they have to run off and backbite you elsewhere. They are those who cannot hack it on a place that allows people to freely speak their minds. They are fitna nay sayers who love to criticize others but then decry fitna at the ability of people to freely speak their minds when they begin to criticize a few Salafi. Lastly, they are those who think they are doing good by maintaining a presence and punitive to people by leaving a group. The reality is their presence rarely without agenda.

If they aren’t intelligent enough to get a clue, no one is trying to modernize Islam. They are trying to bring Islam to a “pre-Islamic” (primitive) state. Oh, that’s right, they worship scholars! Yeah, maybe the ones that live in a cave in fricken Afghanistan. Yeah, the one’s who are to cowardly to kill themselves and get others to do the work instead. No, I take that back, maybe they are those who wouldn’t go that far. I know the scholars they worship, the Saudi (or Saudi fashioned) Salafi women haters. Worshipping these scholars is like a black man who bows before the great knowledge of the Klu Klux Klan or the Jewish person who bows before the majestic wisdom of the Nazi Party. Self-oppressive, hypocritical, oxymoronic, and truly a juxtaposition for them. There are many scholars, a great deal more than the Salafi, yet they claim the glories of your Saudi and Saudi influenced non-Saudi Salafist (Wahabi) Sheikhs. Actually, I go back on myself, they claim the glories of your Saudi Sheikhs. Perhaps they know better than the Prophet (pbuh) himself. Perhaps the Majestic Salafi scholars will intercede on their behalf to Allah on the day of judgment. Allah must have passed them up for brains on the day of creation if they think that the scholars will give a *** about them on the Day of Judgment.

Let’s read a play of the final events:

Read more and post discussion or debate: Retaliate

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

Muslims don’t believe in Jesus

The fact that Muslims do not believe Jesus (a.s.) is God does not mean that Muslims are non-believers in Jesus (a.s.). In all the reported accounts of Jesus (a.s.) that exist, Prophet Jesus (a.s.) asserts the same title concerning himself that God gave to the Prophet Ezekiel (a.s.), that he is the Son of Man. The Son of Man is a title that represents every human-being because we are all born of Mankind. The Son of Man (any single one of us or plurality of us) is not begotten of God, therefore God Himself. Prophet Jesus (a.s.) never is reported to have asserted that he is begotten of God as if God produced offspring, nor is in any way God Himself in the flesh. The Qur’an confirms this.

Assigning or to ascribe partners to God is shirk, blasphemy of the Spirit of God! God’s Spirit is His Nature or Being, i.e. Existence as One God without plurality. A God who has no others besides Himself (the core teaching of monotheism), is Unique among all created things and not begotten nor can beget. Blasphemy of God’s Spirit, or His Nature (or Existence) as a God with no partners, is strictly forbidden in the Scriptures and in the Qur’an alike! It is a sin against the God’s very core existence. God, the One Unique God, is God that has the power to bring order among chaos and confusion, the proof being all of creation itself. A god who gives offspring to many other lesser gods, like mankind gives offspring to many other members of mankind, has no power among the chaos and confusion of its equals, as seen in mankind itself which accepts the differences of its equals. In fact, this type of blasphemy, blasphemy of God’s Spirit which is a Spirit of Oneness, is an unforgivable sin. In the Jewish Scriptures (the Older Testament, the Torah section), Deuteronomy 5:7-9 says:

Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me…

In the Christian Scriptures (the Newer Testament), Prophet Jesus (a.s.) is reported to have said in Matthew 12:31-32:

Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come…

The Qur’an confirms that what Prophet Jesus (a.s.) is reported to have said is true. “Verily! Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners (in worship) with Him, but He forgives whom He wills sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far away,” Qur’an 4:116. Of course the person in question must be given the chance to repent of this sin first by being made aware of what shirk, or blasphemy of God’s Spirit, is before God holds them accountable.

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Muslims Don’t Believe in Jesus

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

I am categorically opposed to female circumcision. It is a vile practice among many African regions and promoted by some Islamic scholars. I also heard a scholar from Al-Azhar university say that it is a favorable and recommended practice that serves the purpose to keep a woman chaste so that she doesn’t desire the pleasures of sex and follow after them like western women do.

I think it is backwards, barbaric, harmful and against Islam altogether.

Here is a fatwah from Islam QA that supports it:  Female Circumcision

Well, again, this is a salafi fatwah and most all salafi will agree to this.

Women who are salafi or married to salafi’s often are the one to bear the brunt of the burden to prevent men from acting on their sexual whims.

Thus why niqab is made obligatory, women are prevented from working and travelling, women (who are married to a salafi) cannot smile at non-maharam men even in an exchange of pleasantries while conducting business (say at the supermarket), when talking to non-maharam men they must distort their voice with rocks of marbles, and the list goes on.

lastly, sex is not seen as something to be enjoyed by a woman but for procreation instead. In this extreme view, women are not to have enjoyment in sex but to bear children. Enjoyment belongs to the man alone it seems in their view.

All of this of which is contrary to the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh) and Islam.

The use of the word Jihad in reference to a holy war is an entirely incorrect usage. Since the aggression of earlier Christians in the 11th century the term Holy War has been used in the Christian sense. A Holy War is waged without rational justification but by the warped vision of a religious leader to conquer the Promised Land (i.e. in the Crusader’s mind it was Palestine which was promised to the descendants of Prophet Abraham (a.s.)) and spread their religion. In the 4th century the standards for such wars was set by the Papacy (i.e. the Pope). The first criteria for a holy war was that it was to be violent. Killing was not seen as evil and was to be done deliberately or not. The second criteria for a holy war was the establishment of the Christian Republic. Christ was seen as a political figure who had political ambitions set for his people, i.e. the Christians. The Christian Republic was to be ruled by Christ whose representatives on earth were the Pope, bishops, emperors and kings. The Muslims in Palestine were seen as tyrants who occupied Christian territory which was sanctified by the presence of Christ. Pagans in the Balkans were seen as a threat to Christendom, as well as, Muslims in Spain. The Jews were viewed as a people rejected by God for murdering their Messiah.

Prior to the first millennia, the predominant thought in the Church was that Jesus (a.s.) second coming would come, along with the end of the world, which would occur at the turn of the first millennia. The calendar years were calculated according to the Roman calendar. One Christian writer wrote, “On new year’s eve, 1000, a crowd gathered at Rome, awaiting the end of the world. Midnight came, nothing happened and the pope, Sylvester II, blessed the crowd and sent them home.”¹ Not long afterwards came the crusaders.

At the request of various popes, beginning with Pope Urban II, between 1095-1270 A.D., military expeditions against the Pagans, Jews and Muslims were carried out from Europe. Christ was seen to have authorized the Crusades himself and the Pope, who exorcised his authority, was his representative on earth. Many Christians in Palestine, and elsewhere refused to join in on the wars even though the Crusades were seen as an international event. The crusaders believed that if they began to conquer Palestine then Jesus (a.s.) would return, fulfill the promises of the Bible and finish establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. This meant that they must launch a Crusade to liberate Palestine from Muslim rule and rid the land of the Jews who, in their opinion murdered Jesus (a.s.) and forfeited their right to God’s promises. The European Christians united under the belief that the conquest of Palestine would usher in the second coming of Jesus (a.s.), and the kingdom of God on earth (i.e. the Christian Republic), swept in massive force across Europe and Asia murdering and burning Jews in their synagogues and attacking Muslim and Pagan settlements. Those Jews who did not die and were found out were forced by the sword to abandon Judaism and confess Christianity. Those who did not….

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Jihad and Holy War

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

Muslims follow Louis Farrakhan

The Nation of Islam Movement (then known as the Black Muslims) was first founded by Wallace D. Fard, founder of the Temple of Islam in Detroit. In 1934 he disappeared and Elijah Poole declared himself the leader of the movement. Soon afterward Elijah Poole changed his name to Elijah Muhammad. The movement has nothing to do with Islam in practice but uses the terminology for identification. The teachings of black nationalism and civil disobedience are not Islamic teachings. Elijah Muhammad believed that he was the final prophet sent to earth. He taught that there is a mother spaceship in orbit of the earth prepared to bomb the United States for the evil they committed against blacks. White people are taught to be the creation of an evil scientist from long ago.

In 1952, Malcom Little (known as Malcom X), became a member of the Black Muslims. After attending the Hajj (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia he converted to Islam and accepted the unity of the races, which formed a rift between him and Elijah Muhammad. In 1964 he formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Subsequently, he was assassinated by the Black Muslim Movement.

Louis Eugene Wilcott became a member of the Black Muslims in 1955. He adopted the name Abdul Haleem Farrakhan and became commonly known as Louis Farrakhan. When Elijah Muhammad died in 1975 his son, Wallace Muhammad, succeeded him. Wallace Muhammad downplayed black nationalism and disbanded his fathers organization. In 1978 Louis ….

Read more and post discussion or debate: Muslims and Louis Farrakhan

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

“The prophet said: ‘Do not write anything from me EXCEPT QURAN. Whoever wrote, must destroy it” (Muslim, Zuhd 72; Hanbel3/12,21,39)

If Non-Muslims made that claim, some Muslims would oppose it out of ignorance, given that they themselves are Ahadith followers.

Hadith are “stories” they are not “Islamic rules”.

Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maja, and Al-Nasa’I - Ahadith collectors - have confused and mislead the masses, and worst part yet, they convinced people that the Quran is not good enough to be followed on its own.

Once again I can’t help but ask, what did the Muslims that lived for 200 years before Ahadith were introduced to the masses - do? Where they bad Muslims? According to Ahadith, they were not even Muslims, because they rejected to use any other book but the Quran, and the Quran, once again, is not enough for the confused Muslims that follow Ahadith.

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Hadith Debate

Or, visit: Islamfactor.org

There is no god but God
Mohammed (sas) is the prophet of God

Allah(swt) is the Arabic word for the GOD, it is not a name given to God of Muslims as usually thought of by some non-muslims. the word Allah is used by all Arabic speakers muslims, christians and pagans etc for the God.

SWT= subbhana watala which is for Allah(swt) SAS is sallillah hu alhiwaslim which means peace be upon him and is reffered with respect to Prophet Muhammed.

It is customery for muslims to use swt and sas respectively for Allah(swt) and Muhammed(sas).

So by speaking these two sentence with sincerety in front of a muslim a person becomes muslim, shahada means to testify, so basically a person is testifying that he/she believes that there is only one God and Muhammed is His messenger.
basically we are testifying to the oneness of God, The God of Abraham, Moses, david, Jesus and all other prophets know and unknown.

As to having doubt about certain things, as brother Jim said it is human nature to doubt and question everything, Allah(swt) says in the Quran to question, challenge, inspect and satisfy yourself about every thing. Do not follow anything or any advice blindly, Allah(swt) encourages us to use our intellect, be inqusitive.

The only way to remove doubts is to study and ask questions to knowledgeable scholars, and there are many available.
Reading Quran by ourselves is great, but to really undersatnd it we have to either have a teacher or read different tafsirs, and we need to read atleast a couple of tafsirs to actually get the gist of it.

One more aspect of being muslim is practicing moderation, Prophet(sas) said the best is to follow the middle path. that is avoid either exterme. In essence as Allah(swt) says in Quran, we have made this deen(religion) easy for you.

So once a person says his/her shahada, He/she is a muslim. but there are certain obligations on him/her to become a practicing muslim.

1. obligatry prayers 5 times a day
2. Zakat
3. Fasting during Ramadan
4. Hajj

Islam defines anything which is harmful to you, your family, your community, humanity at large and all living things to be sin, as a muslim we are commanded to stay away from sins.

Read more and post discussion or debate:  Beyond Shahada

Extremist ideology, as we have learned in the last 8 years, is just as prone to attract highly-educated members of the professional class as unemployed, frustrated youth. We have to delve deeper into Pakistan’s recent past if we are to understand the crisis it faces at the present. Sub-continental history is dotted with intermittent mass movement of people – usually triggered by famine, war or worse – replete with attendant tales of distress and misery. In my reckoning, the early 1970s saw the another key migration that has so far received little analysis. It involved vast numbers of men from the rural and semi-urban parts of Pakistan moving to the emerging oil-based oligarchies in the Gulf.

Just as significant was the religiosity that came back with the workers. Historically speaking, the Wahhabi reading of Islam had found little purchase on the subcontinent. Mainly because Wahhabi ideology is at odds with practices in Pakistani culture, which cherished its sufi saints. However, this migration allowed a vast population to unlearn their “decadent” and “deviant” practices from the “pure practitioners” in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or the Emirates.

In the southern valleys and northern mountains dupattas were replaced with burkas and sufi shrines with madrasas. This cultural turn dovetailed with Zia ul-Haq’s policies of Sunnification and the selling of jihad as a necessary commodity to the Pakistani people.

Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir became the de-facto topics at every Friday sermon from Doha and Riyadh to Dera Ghazi Khan and Rawalpindi. However, this Wahhabisation, which included a stricter, more literal interpretation of Qur’an, the demonisation of non-believers, antisemitic rhetoric, racism, the desire to “fund” jihads and so on, was never a straightforward process of important. Its progress was gradual and organic in a way that slowly de-legitimised established practices while distorting others: the spiritual guide was transformed into one who cast, or fought, black magic.

It is hard to find a household, a conversation, in current day Pakistan that is free of such concerns. The practitioners combine the zeal of the Wahhabi imam with the bank-teller’s command of charges due: $10 for the destruction of a marriage, $20 for an incantation for a ruined libido. All wrapped in literal reading of Qur’anic text.

Read more and post discussion or debate: The Wahhabisation of Pakistan