The Muslims – my kind of people

In Bosnia, there is a big difference between a “Muslim” and a “muslim”. The latter refers to a religious group regardless of ethnicity or race while the former refers to a nation and an ethnic group, namely the South Slavic Bosnian speaking Muslims (such as myself). This means that my sole identity, ethnicity wise, is “Muslim”. I am a Bosnian, yes, but that word hasn’t got anything to do with ethnicity or nationhood since it only refers to a citizen of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This understanding of the word “Muslim” is illustrated in this video clip. It is a scene from some movie (which I’ve never heard of before, I just stumbled upon that clip) in which a Croatian father wants to know whether or not the guy that wants to marry his daughter is a Muslim or not. The father and his friend (they are the ones with moustaches) try to determine whether or not he is a Muslim by discussing his physical features (“He isn’t a Muslim, just look at his head”). They decide that the only way to find out is for the guy to disclose whether or not he’s circumcised and that’s when he fesses up and reveals that he is “partially” Muslim. I also had a guy in my school who said he was “half Muslim” as he came from a mixed marriage. Another thing that shows you what I mean is an admonition I received from my grandmother. She told me to memorize suwar from the Qur’an and learn about my religion, not for the sake of Allah (even though this is obviously implied, don’t get me wrong) but so that, as she put it, “I would know to what nation I belong to”.

All of this had practical consquences during the campaign of ethnical cleansing in Bosnia. It didn’t matter to them if you were a pinko commie atheist or a “hadzija” who just returned from his third Hajj trip, if your name was “Husejn” or “Fatima” you had to die or give up your house and belongings to the Serbs (the different authoroties in the various areas had their own approaches, some conducted the ethnical cleansing through executions and others only expelled the Muslim population).

Also, all of this meant that growing up I had the perception that Muslims, in general, are my people because of the semantics issue. I didn’t differentiate between ethnicity and religion in the sense that I considered Muslims to be my co-religionists and some other group to be my people. No, if I found out that someone is a Muslim then I instantly considered him to be “my kind”, in every sense. This wasn’t necesserily about religion (even though I knew that this was the common denominator such that I would never include an atheist or a blatant apostate as part of my people), it was all about nationalism which is kind of funny and absurd now in retrospect. I say that because I can only imagine how a black guy in America would react if I, a white European, were to tell him that I consider Malcolm X to be ”my kind” and a part of my people. He’d probably think I’m a wigger.

I’m in no way claiming that the Bosnian Muslims, because of using the term “Muslim” in this particular sense, don’t differentiate between themselves and other Muslims. In fact, I’ve found out that many Bosnian Muslims, for instance, dislike Arabs and some are even racists (although I have to say that there aren’t really that many of the last category). Neither do I claim that I didn’t acknowledge the differences between Bosnian Muslims and other Muslims or that I didn’t feel closer to the former group. But for me personally (and this whole post is nothing but an account of my own personal subjective perspective which I know that many Bosnian Muslims don’t share) I felt about non-Bosnian Muslims in a way I would imagine a European Jew feels about, for instance, a Yemenite Jew.

And I would say that in general there are many similarities between the way people include both ethnicity and religion in the term “Jew” and the way people in Bosnia do the same with the word “Muslim”. There are two main differences here, though. First of all, the Jews in general accept this definition of the word “Jew”. This isn’t the case with the word “Muslim”. There aren’t many people outside of the Balkans that use the word in such a way. And the second, more important, difference is that whereas Jewish Halacha accepts such a definition of the word “Jew”, the Islamic Shari’ah doesn’t do the same with the word “Muslim”. Being a Muslim has nothing to do with ethnicity.

Having a capital M as the differentiation between a Muslim in the ethnic and religious sense can be kind of confusing. Consider the fact that in Bosnia, a Muslim isn’t necesserily a muslim and vice versa. Partially for this reason, but overwhelmingly due to political reasons, a new term is now officially used to describe the “Muslim nation”. We are now known as “Bosniaks” which makes it easier. It doesn’t change much, though, since we still call ourselves Muslims and are known as such by the Serbs, at least in my original home town. And it hasn’t changed my mindset. I still consider every Muslim to be my kind and my people. When Real Madrid is playing, I look for Mahamadou Diarra. When Sevilla is playing I hope that Frederick Kanouté will score. Last year’s summer, I wanted France to win because of Zidane. I prefer watching Chappelle than some other comedian and I get gitty when I go to the mall and hear a Cat Stevens or Mos Def song. That’s just where I come from. I guess that having a people hate you so much just for being Muslim that they are prepared to have you perish, will give you that sort of feeling of love for Muslims. But I don’t have a utopian kind of outlook where I imagine that this is reciprocated by Muslims in general. I think that Zidane, Chappelle, Mos Def etc. would consider me to be their brother, but not necesserily their kind (this obviously comes down to how you define “your kind”, but what I’m going for here is the feeling that your kind are those that are the closest to you and are considered by you to be your people in the fullest sense of the word).

I was recently watching a video with Abdullah El-Faisal. Now, I find some of this mans views to be appaling. The mere mention of his name would make me feel uncomfortable. But, I came across this video (start watching from minut 02:00) and when I actually saw him sitting there and calling to Tawhid… How can I help but to feel a sense of love? How can I not feel that this person, despite his otherwise repugnant views, is my kind in the fullest and truest sense? How can I not, upon seing that short clip, feel that the concept of nationality and ethnicity is so silly and futile in comparison to the real issue that should determine who I identify with and who I love? In the end, it is all about Allah. Whoever wants to worship Him alone and follow Him, and rejects the worship of anything created, this person is my kind and my brother. Everything else that is used to determine who is part of ones people diminishes in comparison.

Blessings of Allah

We all have times, down periods, when we feel kind of sorry about ourselves. Not that I’m going through one right now, but me and a couple of my friends were praying in the mosque after school the other day and I realised how much blessings I’ve received in my life and how silly one’s state of mind is in those down periods. In fact, basically every wish I’ve ever had, every du’aa I’ve ever made about the dunya, has been accepted. A couple of years ago, when I started practising, I could only dream about having friends whom I would go with to the mosque to pray in between classes and after school. Now, that is what happens basically every day. There have been personal, family related problems, that could’ve resulted in a totally different life for me, but alhamdulillah it turned out exactly as I wanted. I mean, if I think about it, my life could’ve gone in a totally different direction but instead it turned out in a way which I, thinking back, always wanted. Religion-wise, something that is a huge deal and means the world to me is that I am now able to stand in prayer, recite from the Qur’an and have a basic understanding of the meaning. For many Muslims, this is something normal but growing up in a non-religious home where learning Islamic knowledge wasn’t a priority, this took me some time to be able to do. We are all created on the fitrah, and this is something I know from direct experience. When I was 4-5 years old, my biggest dream was to learn how to pray and to submit to Allah. When I was taken to the masjid, I saw people praying and doing sujud and it is like they say, it instantly clicked. Now, add to this the fact that even at such an age I knew, instinctively, about tawhid (and all it intails, like the Names and Attributes of Allah, His Mercy etc.), the akhirah etc., you can imagine my reaction when I got a chance to read parts of translations of the Qur’an. It is like my innermost thoughts and feelings that I’ve carried with be are being verbalized, or like meeting your parents after having been separated from them. It is like ibn al-Qayyim explained what Noorun ‘ala Noor (light upon light) means:

Something similar happens to the believer. His heart is lit such that he almost knows the truth by means of his fitrah and intellect. His heart, however, has no maadah (substance) within itself. But when the maadah of the al-Wahy (Revelation) touches his heart and the latter rejoices in its company, its light [of fitrah] increases by the light of al-Wahy. The light of al-Wahy adds up to that of fitrah and it becomes a light upon light. So, the believer would almost speak the truth even though he may have not heard an evidence. He later hears of the evidence to be identical to what has been attested to by his fitrah. Thus, it is being a light upon light. This is the status of the believer. He acknowledges the truth, in general, by means of his fitrah. He then hears of the textual proofs and [authentic] traditions presenting what he has acknowledged, but in details. His faith, therefore, stems from the attestation of al-Wahy and fitrah…” Source

So the beauty of the concept of Salat, standing in front of your Lord and devoting oneself to Him in prayer, combined with the recitation of His Words that affect your heart and trigger your innermost emotions… You can see why this is an incredible blessing.

My point is, we should appreciate the blessings in our life, because they are so great and we take them for granted. If we just stop and reflect about it for a little bit, we will have more appreciation for Allah’s Mercy and we will love Him even more.

I’ll just mention one more thing. The fact that I’ve found friends who can, if anything, bear with me and my type of humor, is quite a blessing in itself. To illustrate what’s funny to me (but probably not to the majority of the world’s population): I made a short Windows Moviemaker video where the prologue states that my story, which is that of a teenager with puberty related problems (you’ll have to figure out what I’m implying here, it’s nothing gross) was included in the (fictional) book “Tarikh al-Masakin”, which was then translated to English. Woody Allen reads it, and decides to make a movie about it. Christopher Plummer hears about it and suggests that he tell the story through an allegory. They have a vote in Nicaea with the studio executives and vote in favour of that idea. I then include the supposed movie in my video, and it is basically the final scene of the movie “Ali” with Will Smith, depicting the ”rumble in the jungle”. This would be an allegory of young “Miskeen” battling with his demons. It’s such a silly joke (and the video such a waste of time), but I have my “audience” who will at least get the references. For another one of my attempts at comedy (this time, a school assignment, so not a complete waste of time), you can read this old post.

Tafsir of al-Fatiha

Read this:

http://musaalmuslim.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/tafseer-of-fatiha/

Shaykh Abdul-Qadir Arnaut rahimahullah

This was a great ‘alim orginally from Kosovo, here is a video of him. It is in Albanian with Bosnian subtitles, but you will get to see this scholar of hadith who was based in Syria.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1506271648310494523&hl=en

Can’t wait

Eid was about a month ago and the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah will be in about a month and then after that Eid al-Adha insha’Allah.

The first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah are the best days of the year so if you haven’t already, do your research about those days (and if you already know a few thing about the subject, refresh your memory during this month so that you are prepared when it arrives). But don’t take it for granted that you will live to see those blessed days, rather start today and try to live your life in a way that you look forward to meeting Allah ‘Azza wa Jall.

Just a reminder (to myself, first and foremost).

An interesting argument

I was listening to a lecture by Ali Tamimi and he mentioned an interesting argument which I have always kind of had somewhere in my subconcious, but never heard verbalized before and I thought I’d share it since it is a powerful one.

Bascially, he said that someone that believes in a perfect and Merciful Creator will also, by necessity, believe that this Creator will not leave humankind without guidance. He will send some type of message which is unadulterated and from Him. So, keeping this in mind, let us look at the various religions. Buddhists and Hindus do not claim to posses God’s message to humankind. Neither do the Jews (they believe that the revelation was exclusively to them). The Christians do not claim that the Gospels contain the direct Word of God, rather they are accounts of the life of Isa ‘alayhi salam as (allegedly) witnessed by some men. So, this only leaves Islam. The Muslims are the only ones claiming to have God’s unadulterated message (which is His Speech) to all of humankind. So if someone believes in God and that He would never leave His creation without guidance, then Islam is the only option since it is the only religion which claims to have His Speech and pure message to all of humankind. Now (and this is something that Yasir Qadhi stresses), add to this the fact that the message itself is a coherent one which is in total harmony with the fitrah, being the only religion preaching pure monotheism as opposed to claiming that God has children, or that He changes His mind, or that you should wear a red string to protect yourself and other such nonsense.

This is a powerful argument for the seeker of truth, I believe.

Allah’s Greatest Name

Muslims often point to the connection between the word “Allah” and the Hebrew ”El” or its plural “Elohim” (which is used in the Bible as a reference to God) to show that Muslims don’t worship a pagan Arab god (as claimed), but rather the God of Abraham and all the Prophets. One Christian argument has been that even though the connection between “Elohim” and “Allah” (and the Aramaic equivalent “Alaha“) may be there, Muslims still don’t worship the One True God since His name, according to them, is Jehova or Yahweh. And this is supposedly alien to the Islamic tradition. And since we don’t worship Yahweh, we are worshipping a false god say some of the Christians.

I saw an interesting reply to this on youtube from a Muslim. It was a while ago and I couldn’t find the video but I’ll just summarize the arguments and add a few things. Basically, the video focused on the meaning of the word “Yahweh” instead of its pronounciation. Before I start discussing its actual meaning, there is an interesting thing I found about its pronounciation. The wikipedia entry on this subject states:

During the Babylonian captivity, the Hebrew language spoken by the Jews was replaced by the Aramaic language of their Babylonian captors, which was closely related to Hebrew and, while sharing many vocabulary words in common, contained some words that sounded the same or similar but had other meanings. In Aramaic, the Hebrew word for “blaspheme” used in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of YHWH must be put to death” carried the meaning of “pronounce” rather than “blaspheme”. When the Jews began speaking Aramaic, this verse was understood to mean, “Anyone who pronounces the name of YHWH must be put to death.” Since then, Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing the name, but use Adonai (“my Lord [plural of majesty]”) instead. During the first few centuries AD this may have resulted in loss of traditional memory of how to pronounce the Name (except among Samaritans).

I am myself a bit sceptic about this piece of information. I mean, it is after all taken from wikipedia and I am sure that Orthodox Jews dispute this and have their own explanation. But if it is true (and it does seem to make sense), then this explains why there is so much controversy around the pronounciation of the name.

As for the meaning of the name, wikipedia touches on this as well and I think that the information found in that particular section is less controversial and they provide sources so I’ll use that site as my reference. Any Muslim, with basic knowledge of the Names and Attributes of Allah, who reads the wikipedia article about the derivation of the word will see where I’m going with this…

What is the Greatest Name of Allah? Some scholars say it is Allah, others say it is al-Hayy al-Qayyum. Since the name Allah includes the meaning of the name al-Hayy al-Qayyom, both names prove the same point but I will focus on the latter.

So, what does the name al-Hayy al-Qayyom mean? My notes from Ali al-Timimis explanation of al-Aqidat al-Wasitiyyah basically say that the name al-Hayy referes to Allah being Ever-Living. He has a perfect life and this Attribute, by necessity, also includes every other Attribute of Allah that has to do with His Essence. So since He is al-Hayy, He is also the All-Hearing, All-Seing, etc. The name al-Qayyum means that He is living without any need or assistance from others, i.e. His living and existence is established on its own without any wants or needs from others. Also, it means that everything that exists is in total and utter need of Him for its existence and living. This includes every Attribute that is a reference to Allahs actions. So al-Qayyum includes His Attributes of giving life, providing etc. So this name al-Hayy al-Qayyum describes every Attribute that pertains to Allahs Essence as well as every Active Attribute. This is why it is the Greatest Name of Allah, some scholars said. By the way, this was a really short and summarized explanation so please take time to learn more about this subject. The knowledge of Allahs Names and Attributes is the most noble type of knowledge one can attain.

Now, knowing what al-Hayy al-Qayyum means, let us take a look at what “Yahweh” means. Here are some quotes:

The ancient explanations of the name proceed from Exod. iii. 14, 15, where “Yahweh^[42] hath sent me” in v 15 corresponds to “Ehyeh hath sent me” in v. 14, thus seeming to connect the name Yahweh with the Hebrew verb hayah, “to become, to be”. The Jewish interpreters found in this the promise that God would be with his people (cf. v. 12) in future oppressions as he was in the present distress, or the assertion of his eternity, or eternal constancy; the Alexandrian translation ‘Eγω ειμι ο ων. . . ‘ O ων απεσταλκεν με προς υμας understands it in the more metaphysical sense of God’s absolute being. Both interpretations, “He (who) is (always the same);” and , “He (who) is (absolutely the truly existent);”

Modern scholars have sometimes found in the name the expression of the aseity^[43] of God

Another explanation, which appears first in Jewish authors of the Middle Ages and has found wide acceptance in recent times, derives the name from the causative of the verb; He (who) causes things to be, gives them being; or calls events into existence, brings them to pass; with many individual modifications of interpretation—creator, life giver, fulfiller of promises.

Another tradition regards the name as coming from three verb forms sharing the same root YWH, the words HYH haya היה: “He was”; HWH howê הוה: “He is”; and YHYH yihiyê יהיה: “He will be”. This is supposed to show that God is timeless, as some have translated the name as “The Eternal One”. Other interpretations include the name as meaning “I am the One Who Is.” This can be seen in the traditional Jewish account of the “burning bush” commanding Moses to tell the sons of Israel that “I AM (אהיה) has sent you.” (Exodus 3:13-14) Some suggest: “I AM the One I AM” אהיה אשר אהיה, or “I AM whatever I need to become”. This may also fit the interpretation as “He Causes to Become.” Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be “He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists” or “He who causes to exist”. Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, which is based on the King James Version, says that the term “Jehovah” means “The Existing One.”

The quotes speak for themselves. I would like to say, though, that we obviously don’t accept the verb “to become, to be” as an acceptable thing to attribute to God since there was a never a time when He didn’t exist and had to come into being. And this was not the interpretation either, the word was just derived from the verb (according to this opinion). Also, we don’t accept what is mentioned in this wikipedia article as acceptable descriptions of the Names and Attributes of God unless they agree with Islam. I only quoted the article for the sake of information, not to use as a source of our understanding of the Names and Attributes of Allah. If we want more knowledge about that, we go to the appropriate Islamic sources.

In conclusion, the meaning of the word “Yahweh” isn’t alien to Islam. In fact, God is described as the Perfect Ever-Living God who gives, cherishes and sustains life and has no wants or needs and His are the most perfect names and attributes. Not only that, the name that has this type of meaning, al-Hayy al-Qayyum, is also described as Allahs Greatest Name by some scholars. And according to most experts, the name “Yahweh” carries a very similar meaning. In addition to that, since both Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages, there is also a similarity between the pronounciation as well (for those that are hung up on that). Remember that many derive the word Yahweh from the Hebrew “hayah”, whereas in Arabic the word for life is “hayat”.

If anyone finds something incorrect, please make sure to bring it to my attention. Barak Allah fikum.

Science in the Qur’an

I wrote this as a reply to someone who was convinced that the Qur’an is the word of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala through reading about the scientific and mathematical miracles in the Qur’an. He was, however, concerned about the Christian argument that it was Satan, who posessed this scientific knowledge, who authored the Qur’an (audhubillah). I thought it may be interesting to read (also, read this and this):

I feel that there is a fundamental problem to the reason why you came to be convinced that the Qur’an is the word of God. You seem to have focused on the scientific and mathematical miracles. If you do that, then the argument about Satan having used this can perhaps make some sense. But if your primary and preponderant reason for believing in the Qur’an is its message of pure and strict monotheism, then it becomes evident that it isn’t from Satan.

You say that you have read about the Qur’an. Well, try reading the Qur’an. Read about God’s Names and Attributes, read about the pure monotheism in the sense that nothing can be loved as God, nothing can be feared as God and we can’t put our hope in anything like we put our hope in God. And of course, we may not turn to anything or anyone but God when supplicating (asking for something in a supernatural sense), praying, etc.

I am myself a non-Arab (but a Muslim all my life) and I know how hard it can be to appreciate the meaning of the Qur’an without knowing the language. I’m just starting to learn and the more I do the more I am in awe of the Qur’an, and especially when it comes to the description of God’s Names and Attributes. The Prophet (sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said that the greatest verse in the Qur’an is 2:255 which deals only with the Names and Attributes of God. And he described chapter 112 which consists of only four verses as a third of the Qur’an, and this chapter deals only with the Names and Attributes of God. My point is that when you focus on these aspects of the Qur’an, then you will know that it is from God and Satan had nothing to do with it.

My recommendation is to take a look at these videos where the Qur’an is being recited during prayer in Makkah, with English subtitles with the meaning:

http://www.aswatalislam.net/DisplayF…om_Makkah_2005

The “scientific” verses in the Qur’an, if you actually look at them closely they are about God’s Majesty, His role as a Lord, Owner, Master, Sustainer, Ruler etc. of the creation. They show you that why should you turn to anyone but God when He is the one that created everything and controls everything. Go directly to God, and love Him and worship Him. That is the message.

Not much happening here…

But I have a word of advice for you. If you picked up your gym training after the hiatus during Ramadan (and also ended up not working out more than half of Shawwal due to laziness), please make sure not to be an idiot. Take it easy your first session and don’t use the same weights you did before your break. Or else you wont be able to move the following day. Just throwing this out there.

Why we place one hand over the other in Salat

Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal was asked about the meaning of placing one hand on top of the other (folding them) when standing in prayer. He said: “It is humility before the Almighty.” [Recorded in Al-Khushoo’ fi’l-Salaah by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali page# 21] Ibn Hajar said: “The ‘ulamaa’ said: the meaning of this posture is that it is the attitude of the humble petitioner, it is more likely to prevent fidgeting, and it is more conducive to khushoo’.” [Fath al-Baari, Vol.2 Page#224]